Turbo Pascal Programming "•-.SIS Strategies^ $10.00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate! Own Turbo GameWorks® Also recently released, Turbo GameWorks is what you think it ]& "Games" and "Works." Games you can play right away (like Chess, Bridge and Go-Moku), plus the Works— which is how computer games work All the secrets and strategies of game theoiy are there for you to learn. You can play the games "as is" or modify them any which way you want. Source code is included to let you do that, and whether you want to write your own games or simpfy play the off-the-shelf games, Turbo GameWorks will give hours of diversion, education, and intrigue. George Koltanowski, Dean of American Chess, and former President, United States Chess Federation, reacted to Turbo Game- Works like this:" With Turbo GameWorks, you're on your way to becoming a master chess player" And Kit Woolsey, writer, author, and twice Champion of the Blue Ribbon Pairs, wrote, "Now play the world is most, popular card game—Bridge . . . even pivgram your own bidding and scoring conventions" Suggested retail: $69.95. Use a $10.00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate and you're talking an incredible $59.95! Minimum memoiy: 192K. Turbo GameWorks' Chessboard 6 : 5 im Recognition lor Borland International has come Irom business, trade, and media, and includes both product awards and awards lor technical excellence and marketing. -America's Cup. Coming Soonl B5T— - $10.00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate! Turbo Graphix Toolbox® It includes a library of graphics routines for Turbo Pascal programs. Lets even beginning programmers create high- resolution graphics with an IBM, Hercules,™ or compatible graphics adapter. Our Turbo Graphix Toolbox includes all the tools you'll ever need for complex business graphics, ea^y windowing, and storing screen images to memoiy. It comes complete with source code, reajdy to compile. Suggested retail: $69.95, but with a $10.00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate, on\y $59.95! Minimum memoiy 192K. i nit' 11 * 1 !; Learning ::ixperi enCB - $10.00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate! Turbo Tutor® 2.0 The new Turbo Tutor can take you from "What's a computer?" through complex data structures, assembly languages, trees, tips on writing long programs in Turbo Pascal, and a high level of expertise. Source code for every- thing is included. New split screens allow you to put source text in the bottom half of the screen and run the examples in the top half. There are quizzes that ask you, show you, tell you, teach you You get a 400- page manual— which is not as daunting as it sounds, because unlike many software manuals, it was not written by orangutans. Suggested retail: $39.95. Use a $10.00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate and you're down to an unheard of $00.95! Minimum memoiy 192K How to use Scratch 'n Win Rebates It's really simple. You purchase the product between 9/5/86 and 3/31/87, and return the license agreement along with dated proof of purchase and your rebate card. Well mail you a check for $10.00 on single product purchases or a check for $15.00 when you buy an advertised "bundle"— which means our Turbo Pascal Jumbo Pack, or Turbo Lightning and Lightning Word Wizard, or Reflex: The Analyst and Reflex Workshop, or SideKick and Traveling SideKick. (Restrictions do apply. See Official Rules on back of Instant Winner card). Send a buck to the boat! If you'd like to help America's effort to recapture the America's Cup from Australia, you can make a tax-deductible donation to "Heart of America" Challenge, 11 South LaSalle St., Suite 1670, Chicago, Illinois 60603 Sail designs generated from Shore Sails' Turbo Pascal programs. ■Telli!l en i e! LaI1 guage- $10.00 Scratch 7? Win Rebate! Turbo Prolog 1 " "Borland International, Inc. is gunning onto the fast trackin the artificial Intelligence and engln- eering-language-eotimre race, tiding aboard a new $99 Turbo Prolog, " says Tom Schwartz in Electronic Engineering Times. And 80 we are. Our new Turbo Prolog has drawn rave reviews— which we think are well deserved— because Turbo Prolog brings 5th-generatlon language and supercomputer power to your IBM PC and compatibles. Turbo Prolog Is a high- speed compiler for the artificial intelligence language, Prolog, which Is probably one of the most powerful programming languages ever conceived We made a worldwide impact with Turbo Pascal and you can expect the same results and revolution from Turbo Prolog, the natural language of artificial intelligence. Dariyl Rubin, writing in AI Expert, said, "Turbo Prolog offers generally the fastest and most approachable implementation of Prolog. " Suggested retail, $99.95. Use a $10,00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate and that goes down to only $89,961 Minimum memoiy: 384K Technical Specifications: TURBO PASCAL 3.0 Minimum memory. 128K; includes 8087 and BCD lealures (Of 16-bit MS-DOS and CP/M-86 systems. CP/M-80 version minimum memory 48K; 8087 and BCD features not available TURBO DATABASE TOOLBOX Minimum memory 128K CP/M-80 minimum memory 48K. Requires Turbo Pascal 2 or later. TURBO GRAPHIX TOOLBOX' Minimum memory 192K Requires PC/MS-DOS 2 or laler. Turbo Pascal 3.0. and IBM CGA, Hercules Monochrome Card or equivalent TURBO TUTOR 2.0 Minimum memory. 192K. CP/M-80 version minimum memory 48K Requires PC/MS-0OS 20 ot later and Turbo Pascal 3 TURBO EDITOR TOOLBOX' Minimum memory 192K. Requires PC/MS-00S 2.0 or later and Turbo Pascal 3.0 TURBO GAMEWORKS' Minimum memory 192K. Requires PC/MS-00S 2 or laler and Turbo Pascal 3.0 TURBO PROLOG' Minimum memory: 384K. REFLEX: THE ANALYST' Minimum memory: 384K Requires IBM CGA, Hercules Monochrome Card or equivalent. Woiks with Intel's AboveBoard-PC and -AT, AST's RAMpage 1 and RAMpage 1 AT: Ouadram's Liberty-PC and -AT; Tecmar's 640 Plus; IBM's EGA and 3270/PC. AT&T's 6300 and many others. REFLEX WORKSHOP' Minimum memory 384K. Requires Reflex The Analyst TURBO LIGHTNING' Minimum memory 256K. Two disk drives required Hard disk recommended. LIGHTNING WORD WIZARD' Minimum memory: 256K Requires Turbo Lightning Turbo Pascal 3 required to edit source code SIDEKlCr Minimum memory. 128K TRAVELING SIDEKICK' Minimum memory 256K SUPERKEY' Minimum memory t28K "for IBM PC. AT, XT, PCjr and true compatibles only, running PC/MS-DOS 2 or later Turbo Pascal Programming S1S5- $10.00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate! Turbo Editor Toolbox™ Recently released, we called our new Turbo Editor Toolbox a "construction set to write your own word processor." Peter Feldmann of PC Magazine covered it pretty well with, U A "write your own word processor 1 program for intermediate level programmers, with lots of help in the form of prewritten procedures covering ever/thing from word wrap to pull-down windows!' Source code is included, and we also include Micro- Star, a M-blown text editor with pull-down menus and window- ing. It interfaces directly with Turbo Lightning to let you spell-check your MicroStar files. Jeriy PoumelleofB™ magazine said, "The new Turbo Editor Toolbox is the Turbo Pascal source code to just about anything you ever wanted a PC- compatible text, editor to do! 1 Suggested retail: $69.95. Use a $10.00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate and you'll get all this for only $59.95! Minimum memory: 19SK MicroStar file directory accessed by putt-down menu Borland's Business Productivity Programs: Reflex: The Analyst' Analytical database manager. Provides complete, new look at data normally hidden by programs like 1-2-3* and dBASE" Besl reporl generalor tor, and complement lo, 1-2-3. Reflex Workshop" Important new addition to Reflex: The Analyst. Gives you 22 dillerent templates to run your business right. SideKick' Complele RAM-resident desktop management includes notepad, dialer, calculator and more. Traveling SideKick* Electronic version ot business/personal diaries, daytime organizers; works with your SideKick tiles; important professional tool. SuperKef Keyboard enhancer. Simple macros turn 1000 keystrokes into 1. Also encrypts your files to keep confidential files confidential. Borland's Electronic Reference Programs: Turbo Lightning" Works wilh all your programs and checks your spelling while you typel Includes 80,000-word Random House* Concise Word List and 50,000- word Random House Thesaurus. Forerunner of Turbo Lighlning Library." Lightning Word Wizard' Includes ingenious crossword solver and six other word challenges. If you're inlo programming, Lighlning Word Wizard is also a development toolbox and the technical reference manual for Turbo Lighlning. Ail Borland products are regislered trademarks or trademarks of Borland international. Inc. or Borland/ Analytica. Inc. Turbo Lightning Library is a trademark ot Borland International Inc. AST TurboLaser, RAMpage! AT, AdvanlagePremium. SixPakPremium. 3G Pak and RAMpage! are trademarks ol AST Research, inc. Lotus 1-2-3 is a regislered trademark ot Lotus Development Corp. dBASE is a regislered trademark ol Ashton-Tale IBM is a registered trademark ol International Business Machines Corp Random House is a regislered trademark ol Random House. Inc. Hercules is a trademark ol Hercules Computer Technology. CP/M is a registered trademark ol Digital Research, Inc. Tiavelng SideKick is not in any way associated with Traveling Software, Inc ol Seattle. Washington Copyright 1986 Borland International BI-1075A ,^ News from Borland International! Vol 1 No. 2 How Borland is helping bring the America's Cup back to America! "I think those who grasp the technology will prevail' ,'i" Bill Shore, Presidnt, Shore Sails Co., N wport, EI America's Cup challenger "Head of A with Shore Sails' President Bill Shore "The wrong sails will sink your chances— if not your boat —so we wrote Turbo Pascal programs" * HLAKT OF AMERICA ■ Sail-making is traditional— a craft— but I think we're huge steps ahead of the competition when we get involved with higher technology," esp Shore. He and Shore Sails' 17 different franchisee! sail lofts in the U.S. are in what Shore describes as a "highly competitive business, whether it's America's Cup racing or any race." And he adds, "You guys (Borland) do good stuff that's affordable, which is one of the reasons why we wrote all our sail design programs in Turbo Pascal.®" "These dqys," he sqys, "there are many parts to a sail, and Turbo Pascal lets us arrange all the parts properly. We design what the garment industry calls a 'marker 1 — and rely on Turbo Pascal to do j critical things like getting thread '. in the same direction as load lines. We take the diskette to our i $250,000 laser cutter, which follows the Pascal program precisely, draws out the sail and cuts out the sail. We glue and sew and you've got the best there is." BORLAND "Heart of America" sporting its new Borland spinnaker, suifing downwind, Santa Cruz, California The right sail design, at the right price, right now, has to happen in 17 different Shore Sails Lofts across America It had to happen with America's Cup challenger Heart of America which carries Shore sails— and it has to happen with the (cur- rency) 7(» different boats that Shore Sails has in their Turbo Database Tbolbox.'" Sail design, sail pricing and "beating the handi- capper" are ail done at Shore Sails with Turbo Pascal In case you don't know the sharp end from the blunt end of a boat, the right sail design for any boat is more than design and price. It's tactical advantage. Design- ing sails that take the greatest advantage of the boat's basic design and rigging without getting stuck with a heavier-than-deslrable Official Handicap. (Handi- caps can eat your chances faster than a Great White.) The "right sail" design bends but doesn't break the Win Fowler, Shore Sails Co., Portland, Maine. racing rules written by, amongst others, MORC (Midget Offshore Racing Club) or IOR (International Offshore Rules). Turbo Pascal spills out "right sail" designs for Shore Sails so their cus- tomers tend to "handicap" the Rules Committee Instead of the other way around. Shore Sails' connection with Borland doesn't end with Turbo Pascal and our Database Toolbox. Shore's Fowler has also written SuperKey® macros for "eveiy file we have" and says, "We'd be lost without them." He uses SideKick* to dial eveiy phone call and Side- Kick's Notepad to commun- icate between ail the Lofts, saying, "That way we don't need a word processor." Shore Sails also uses Turbo Lightning* and Reflex: The Analyst,® So why so many Borland products in one company? Win Fowler says, Wed be sunk without theml" Sail designs geneiated Irom Shore Sails' Turbo Pascal programs. Borland's Instant Winner Game Scratch this card now and you could instantly win 2 free round-trip airline tickets to Australia for the America's Cup Race! f First Prize ($10,000 value!) includes $10,000 "^^fe>. accommodations for two in Perth, Australia during the final America's Cup races, which JB~~^\ $6,895 start January 31, 1987. See America win it back after our only loss in 134 years! There's more than one instant winner in Borland's Instant Winner Game, because you could win one of two new $6,895 4-WD Suzuki Samurai convertibles, ^^^l ov a $4,995 AST TurboLaser™ printer, or a $4,499 ^ti^^* Toshiba T3100,™ or a $2,399 Toshiba Tl 100™ W^ Plus, or a $595 AST SixPakPremium™, or a $69.95 Traveling SideKick, @ or any one of hundreds of other Borland products— and at the very least a Borland Rebate Coupon, good for $10 off any single product or $15 off any bundled product offer! $4,499 $69.95 See Official Rules on the back of this card for details. Don't delajrl There will be a second-chance drawing for the trip If not claimed by 18/30/86. There's also a eeeond-chance drawing for the two Suzukis If not claimed by 2/26/87. All rebate coupons are good for products purchased 9/5/86-3/31/87. Product prices above are suggested list prices. Rub the silver box to reveal whether you win a prize or get a rebate coupon. Then fill in the second- chance entry blank to the right. Second-Chance Sweepstakes Entry! We're running two Second- Chance Sweepstakes drawings to award the trip and cars. They will be won by some- one—it could be you! Fill in the entry coupon and mail it now. Winners will be notified im- mediately, because the final America's Cup races start in Australia on January 31, 1987, and you'll have to pack in a hurry. (You will need a valid passport and the ability to comprehend Australian versions of the English language.) Name Address City State _ Zip- OFFICIAL RULES- BORLAND INSTANT WINNER GAME 1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY: To participate, you may obtain a game card inseited into the October, November, December, or January issue of the following magazines: PC World; Byte; PC Tech Journal; PC Magazine You may also obtain a game card by mailing a self- addressed, stamped envelope to: Borland International Game Card, P. 0. Box 870, Wilton, CT 06897. ( Washington State residents send self-addressed envelope.) Limit one game card per stamped request All requests must be received by January 15, 1987. 2. TO PLAY: Remove the rub- off area on the game card to reveal what prize or rebate offer you have obtained. 3. PRIZES/REBATES: Beneath the rub- off area one of the following prizes may be revealed: Trip for Two to America's Cup Races or S 10,000; 1986 Suzuki 4W Samurai Convertible or $6,895; ASTTurbo Laser Toshiba 1100 Portable Com- puter;; Toshiba 3100 Portable Computer: AST Sixpakpremium; AST Advantagepremium; AST 3 G Pa k; AST Rampage; AST Rampage AT; Free Borland Product or you may obtain the following rebate offer S 1 rebate offer on any individual product or $15 rebate offer on any single adveitised Borland bundle (See rule #11 for prize details). 4. PRIZE CLAIMS: if you obtain one of the prizes stated in Rule #3, sign your full legal signature on the game card and send via certified mail ( copy should be made for your records) along with your name and address to: Borland International Prize Claim 196 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT 06897. All prize claims must be received or postmarked by February 15, 1987. (See Rule #12 for Trip for Two to America's Cup exception.) 5. REBATE CLAIMS: Rebates are good for products purchased from September 5, 1986 through March 31, 1987. The S10 rebate is good forany individual Borland product and the S15 rebate is good forany advertised Borland software bun- dle To receive your rebate you must return your completed license agreement from the manual this game card and dated proof of purchase to: Borland International Game Card Rebate, 4585 Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley, CA 95066. Upon receipt of the license agreement game card and proof of purchase, Borland will send your check. Rebate is not valid with any other rebate or promotion offered directly from Borland. 6. VERIFICATION: All game materials are subject to verification Game materials are void and will be rejected if not obtained through authorized, legitimate channels, and may be rejected if any part is reproduced, counterfeited, torn or altered in any way, or if materials contain printing, typographical, or mechanical errors. Decisions of the Redemption Center are final. Game pieces from any game other than the Borland Instant Winner Game may not be used in this game. 7. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION: Material submitted becomes the property of Borland International The submission of game pieces is the sole responsibility of the individual seeking verification who is solely responsible for lost late, or misdirected maiL All taxes, registration and inspection fees are the sole responsibility of the verified winner. Winners may be required to execute an affidavit of eligibility and name and likenesspublicity release. By participating in the game you accept and agree to be bound by these rules and the decision of the Official Redemption Center which will be final 8. ELIGIBILITY: Participation is open solely to residents of the UnitedStates 18 years of age and over, except employees and agents of Borland International service agencies, and individuals engaged in the development production, or distribution of game materials, The Merritt Group, Inc. and their immediate family or members of their households. Void in Vermont and where prohibited by law. 9. GAME SCHEDULE AND AWARD OF PRIZES: The Borland Instant Winner Game will commence on or about September 5, 1986 and end on January 30, 1987. It will officially end, however, when all game pieces are distributed. Verified game prizes will be awarded within thirty (30) days from the date of their receipt for verification at the Official Redemption Center. A major prize winners' list can be obtained by sending a stamped, self- addressed envelope to: Borland Instant Winner Game Winners' List P.O. Box 7069. Wilton CT 06897. 10. ODDS CHART: The odds of winning prizes are based upon obtaining the one rare game piece among the applicable number of game pieces. PRIZE Qty. Total Value Odds of Winning Trip for Two to America's Cup or $10,000 1 S 10,000.00 1 in 6,458,000 Suzuki 4W Samurei Convertible JA or $6,895 2 $ 13,790.00 1 in 3,229,000 AST Turbo Laser 1 S 4,995.00 1 in 6,458,000 Toshibe Portable Computer 2 S 6,898.00 1 in 3,229,000 AST Memory Boards 25 $ 15,025.00 1 in 258.320 Borlend Products 1,000 $149,000.00 1 in 6.458 OVERALL TOTAL 1.031 $199,708.00 1 in 6.264 All remaining game cards will contain a $10 rebate good on any individual Borland product or a S15 rebate good toward any advertised Borland software bundle. 11. PRIZE DETAILS: Trip for two to America's Cup Races ( or SI 0,000) will include coach seating round trip aiifare on regularly scheduled commercial airline from San Francisco, California to Perth, Australia and up to two weeks hotel accont- modations in Perth, Australia plus $4,500 spending cash. Winners will be responsible for obtaining visa, passport and all other travel documents. Trip does not include meals, taxes, excess baggage charges and other hotel charges. Minor must be accompanied by parent or legal guardian Suzuki 4 W Samurai Convertible JA Standard Equipment Package ( or $6,895), verified winner will be responsible for all registration, insurance, and licensing fees AST Turbo Laser Toshiba Portable Computer Model # T1 1 00; Toshiba Portable Computer Model # T3 1 00; AST Memory Boards and Free Borland Products are non- substitutional except by sponsor due to product availability and all warranties and guarantees are subject to manufacturers terms. All prizes are non- transf errable. Winning consumer is responsible for all local state and federal taxes. 12. SECOND CHANCE SWEEPSTAKES: There are two Second Chance Sweepstakes drawings scheduled to be conducted on December 31, 1986 and February 28, 1987. Random drawing from all entries received by December 30, 1986 will award trip for two to America's Cup Races (or S1 0,000). Random drawing from all entries received by February 26, 1987 will award two (2) Suzuki 4W Samurai (or $6,895). All remaining prizes that are unclaimed after February 15, 1987 will remain unclaimed Send entry to: Second Chance Entry P.O. Box 870 Wilton CT 06897. If you have any questions concerning the Borland Instant Winner Game, calt 1-800-451-4471. Th . W orm* ide Standard Turbo Pascal Programming! K& Version $10.00 Scratch 7? Win Rebate! Turbo Pascal® 3.0 "For the IBM 9 PC, fee benchmark Pascal compiler Is undoubtedly Borland International's Turbo Pascal /'says Gary Ray of HJWeelc. We and more than 500,000 other people around the world think Mr. Ray got that right. Since launch, Turbo Pascal has become the de facto worldwide standard in high-speed Pascal com- pilers. Described by Jeff DuntemannofKJ Magazine as the "Language deal of the century" Turbo Pascal is now an even better deal than that— because weVe included the most popular options (BCD reals and 8087 support). What used $10.00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate! Turbo Database Toolbox' A perfect complement to Turbo Pascal, because it contains a complete library of Pascal procedures that allows you to search and sort data and buM powerful database applications. Having Turbo Database Toolbox means you don't have to re-invent the wheel each time you write a Turbo Pascal program. It comes with source code for a free sample database-right on disk The database can be searched by key words or numbers. Update, add, or delete records as needed. Just compile it and it's ready to go to work for you. (Shore Sails has to cost $184.95 is now only $99.95! You now get a lot more for a lot less: the compiler, a completely integrated programming environment, and BCD reals and 8087 support- all for a suggested retail of only $99.95. And with a Scratch 'n Win $10.00 Rebate, you pay only 189.95-which really is the "language deal of the centuiy"! Minimum memoiy: 188K WW*""" more than 700 boat designs and rlg3 in their I Toolbox. See - frontpage story.) Su.'^ -/etafl: $69.96. With a $10.00 Scratch 'n Win Rebate check back from us, onfy $B9J95i Minimum memory: 128K VALUE! I ACT NOW! ?0 Turbo V b ?' Graph*'^ 6 Tu rbo aw*? $ , 1 7, Win Resale! Thai's a& ou ' $ l|, and leaf's a cfeal. WTwSSandan ,0,on ' y .n 1134.95* a $ ,5.00Scrat* nW,n Rebate! \e^\ ,125.00 bul only t0 oi.IV $« 4 95! YES! I want the best! For credit card orders or the dealer nearest you call (800) 255-8008 in CA call (800) 742-1133 Copies Product Price Totals _ Turbo Pascal 3.0 WI8087 & BCD _ Reflex: The Analyst — Reltex Workshop — Reltex, Reltex Workshop _ Turbo Prolog _ Turbo PascallorCP/M-80 _ Turbo Database Toolbox _ Turbo Graphix Toolbox _ Turbo Tutor 2.0 _ Turbo Editor Toolbox _ Turbo GameWorks _ Turbo Lightning _ Lightning Word Wizard _ Turbo Lightning, Lightning Word Wizard _ SideKick _ Traveling SideKick _ SideKick, Traveling SideKick _ SuperKey __ Turbo Jumbo Pack $99.95 J_ 149.95- J_ 69.95' J_ 799.95* 99.95 69.95 69.95 69.95 39.95 69.95 69.95 99.95 69.95 149.95 84.95 69.95' J_ 125.00' J_ 69.95 $. 299.95 J_ Outside USA add $10 per copy CA and MA res . add sales tax $ _ Amount enclosed J_ Prices include shipping to all US cities. Carefully describe your computer system: Mine is: —8-bit —16-bit I use: _ PC-DOS _ CPIM-80 — MS-DOS —CPIM-86 My computer s name and model is: The disk size 1 use is: □ 3 W □ 5 W □ 5* Payment: VISA MC Money order Check Credit card expiration date 1 w» 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Name: hipping Address Cty Sfoftr 7m- Jplpphnnp- CODs and purchase orders WILL NOT be accepted by Borland. Outside USA make payment by bank draft, payable in US dollars drawn on a US bank. r>cic limited Time Oiler GF15 NOT COPY PROTECTED 60-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE II within 60 days ot purchase you lind that this product does no; pertorm in accordance with our claims, call our cvslon)er service department and we will gladly arrange a refund Ail prices are suggested list prices and are subject to change without notice . BORLAND INTERNATIONAL \fi* Inquiry 50 for End-Users. Inquiry 5 1 for DEALERS ONLY. Pictured on the cover is the GT180 color graphics dis- play board from Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar. The printed circuit board was made by drawing a schematic and producing a net list using SCHEMA and then using a Calay auto-routing CAD system at Custom Photo and Design (Wallingford, CT). The finished films were given to 'lech Circuits (Wallingford. CT) for production of the PCB. The entire schematic-to-board process took 24 hours. Steve Ciarcia would like to extend special thanks to Greg Peterson, Phil Walton, Ray Long, and Jim McGrath for their fast turnaround on this project. CONTENTS y 146 FEATURES Introduction 82 Product Preview: The Compaq Deskpro 386 by Tom Thompson and Dennis Allen 84 A high-performance PC AT-compatible system based on Intel's 80386. Product Preview: Lotus Manuscript by George A. Stewart 91 Designed for scientists and engineers, this technical word processor is worth looking into. Ciarcias Circuit Cellar: Build the GT180 Color Graphics Board, Part 1: Basic Technology by Steve Ciarcia 105 lb achieve inexpensive PGA resolution on the SB 180. Steve designed the GT180 project using Hitachi's advanced CRT controller and Borland's Graphix 'toolbox. Programming Insight: Extracting the nth Root from a Binary Number by Lau Siu Wo 115 A general algorithm developed for extracting any real root from a binary number. Programming Insight: Passing Filenames to Compiled BASIC by Bruce Hubanks . . 119 An assembly language subroutine retrieves the command-line text for a compiled BASIC program. Memory Management Units for 68000 Architectures by Gregg 2e.hr 127 A look at currently available MMUs and design options that speed up memory management. The State of Soviet Microelectronics by Paul Walton 137 To say the least, the Soviet computer culture is weak. THEME: REPRESENTING KNOWLEDGE Introduction 146 Finding Rules in Data by Beverly Thompson and William Thompson 149 The 1D3 algorithm lets you obtain knowledge directly from a set of data. A Bit-Mapped Classifier by Peter W. Frey 161 This unconventional expert system is based on pattern recognition. Predicting International Events by Philip A. Schrodt 177 Modeling political knowledge and making short-term forecasts with a Holland classifier. Handling Conflicts in Data by Clara Y. Cuadrado and ]ohn L. Cuadrado 193 A decision support system in Prolog helps managers make the right choice. The Art of Deduction by J.-G Emond and A. Paulissen 207 Watson, an Al program in Prolog, plays the mystery game CLUEDQ Rule-based Programming by Leonard Moskowitz 217 A look at OPS5, the production-system language popular with Al researchers. Machine Learning by Angelos T. Kolokouris 225 leaching computers to learn with a language that grows. REVIEWS Introduction 234 Reviewer's Notebook by ]on Edwards 237 Three IBM Clones by ]ohn D. Unger 239 Offerings from Kaypro, Epson, and Multitech. The Macintosh Plus by Chris Crawford 247 The first major redesign of the Macintosh. BYTE (ISSN 036O 5280) is published monthly with one extra issue per year by McGraw-Hill Inc. Founder: lames H. McGraw {1860-1948). Executive, editorial, circulation, and advertising offices: One Phoenix Mill Lane. Peterborough. NH 034 58. phone (603) 924-9281. Office hours: Monday through Thursday 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM. Friday 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM. Eastern lime Address subscriptions to BYTE Subscriptions. RO. Box 590. Martinsville. NJ 08836. Postmaster: send address changes. USPS Form 3579. undellverable copies, and fulfillment questions to BYTE Subscriptions. P.O. Box 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 S2I for one year. S38 for two years and $55 for three years in the U.S. and Its possessions. In Canada and Mexico. $23 for one year. $42 for two years. $61 for three years. $69 for one year air delivery to Europe. 31.000 yen for one year air delivery to Japan. 15.600 yen for one year surface delivery to lapan. $37 surface delivery elsewhere. Air delivery to selected areas at additional rates upon request. Single copy price is $3.50 in the U.S. and its possessions. $4.25 in Canada and Mexico. $4.50 in Europe and $5 elsewhere. Foreign subscriptions and sales should be remitted in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery of first issue. Printed in the United States of America. BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 COVER PHOIO BY PAUL AVIS VOLUME 11, NUMBER 12, 1986 Three 24-pin Dot-Matrix Printers by Robert D. Swearengin 255 A trio of models with reasonable speed, quality, and flexibility. Digitizers for Data Entry by Eldon D. Hearn 261 Eight devices for transferring coordinate data to personal computers. Two C Compilers for the Amiga by Charlie Heath 271 Lattice C versus Manx Aztec C68K. SPSS/PC+ by Jeffrey M. Jacques 279 An analytical production tool with three modules. Aegis Animator and Aegis Images by Warren Block 285 Software for creating video sequences on the Amiga. Turbo Lightning and Strike by Ross Ramsey 289 Two RAM-resident spelling checkers. filePro 16 and filePro 16 Plus by Richard Harkness 297 Database management software for a variety of systems. Review Feedback 301 KERNEL Introduction 304 Computing at Chaos Manor: A Graphic Display by \erry Pournelle 307 Jerry signs up Big Kat for the EGA tour. According to Webster: 68000 Wars: Round 3 by Bruce Webster 323 Bruce compares various flavors of the Macintosh. BYTE Japan: Technical Curiosities by William M. Raike 347 On-line info from vending machines, an NEC export machine, and a Japanese-language BBS. BYTE U.K.: Integration on a New Scale by Dick Pountain 351 Water-scale integration is starting to yield its first products. Applications Only: Resident Headaches by Ezra Shapiro 361 More memory-resident programs and Works for the Macintosh. Mathematical Recreations: Paradoxes of Probability by Robert T. Kurosaka 373 Some classic sucker bets and how they work. BEST OF BIX Amiga 385 Atari ST 386 IBM PC and Compatibles 390 departments Editorial: BYTE and the 80386 6 MlCROBYTES 9 Letters 16 What s New 29 Events and Clubs 50 Ask BYTE 52 Circuit Cellar Feedback 58 Book Reviews 65 Macintosh/Apple II 394 Ada 405 Chaos Manor Mail 381 BOMB Results 453 Reader Service 455 Listings From BIX 372 From BYTEnet (617) 861-9764 On Disk see card after page 352 In Print see card after page 352 Address editorial correspondence to: Editor. BYTE. One Phoenix Mill lane. Peterborough. NH 03458. Unacceptable manuscripts will be returned if accompanied by sufficient postage. Not responsible for lost manuscripts or photos. Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of BYTE. Copyright© 1986 by McGraw-Hill Inc All righ* reserved. Irademark 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 (CCC) to photocopy any article herein for the flat fee of SI. 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 or internal reference use without 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 48106 or 18 Bedford Row. Dept. PR. London WC1R 4E], England. Subscription questions or problems should be addressed to: BYTE Subscriber Service. P.O. Box 328. Hancock. NH 03449 234 304 SECTION ART BY ROBERT TINNEY NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 3 BYTE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER Harry L. Brown EDITOR IN CHIEF Philip Lemmons BIX MANAGING EDITOR. BYTE Frederic S. Langa EXECUTIVE EDITOR, BIX George Bond ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Glenn HARrwic CONSULTING EDITORS Steve Ciarcia Jerry Pournelle Ezra Shapiro Bruce Webster senior technical editors Jon R. Edwards. Reviews G. Michael Vose, Themes Gregg Williams, Features TECHNICAL EDITORS Dennis Allen Richard Grehan Ken Sheldon George A. Stewart Jane Morrill Tazelaar TOm Thompson Charles D. Weston Eva White Stanley Wszola ASSOCIATE TECHNICAL EDITORS Curtis Franklin. Jr.. Best of BIX Margaret Cook Gurney. Book Reviews Brenda McLaughlin. Applications Software Reviews. San Francisco COPY EDITORS Bud Sadler. Chief Jeff Edmonds Faith Hanson Nancy Hayes Cathy Kingery Paula Noonan Warren Williamson Judy Winkler ASSISTANTS Peggy Dunham. Office Manager Martha Hicks L. Ryan McCombs June N. Sheldon NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY Gene Smarte. Bureau Chief, Costa Mesa Jonathan Erickson. Senior Technical Editor. San Francisco Rich Malloy. Senior Technical Editor, Nw York Cindy Kiddoo. Editorial Assistant. San Francisco ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS Dennis Barker. Microbytes Cathryn Baskin. What's New Anne Fischer Lent. What's New CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jonathan Amsterdam, programming projects Mark Dahmke. video, operating systems Mark Haas, at large Rik Jadrnicek. CAD, graphics, spreadsheets Robert T. Kurosaka. mathematical recreations Phil Lo piccolo, computers in medicine Alastair J. W. Mayer, software Alan R. Miller, languages and engineering Dick Pountain. U.K. Roger Powell, computers and music William M. Raike, lapan Phillip Robinson, semiconductors ART Nancy Rice. Art Director Joseph A. Gallagher. Associate Art Director Jan Muller. Art Assistant Alan Easton. Drafting PRODUCTION David R. Anderson, Production Director Denise Chartrand Michael J. Lonsky Virginia Reardon TYPOGRAPHY Sherry McCarthy, Chief Typographer Len Lorette Donna Sweeney SENIOR EDITOR David Betz ASSOCIATE EDITORS 'IONY LOCKWOOD Donna Osgood, San Francisco MICROBYTES DAILY Dennis Barker, Coordinator. Peterborough Gene Smarit, Bureau Chief, Costa Mesa Cathryn Baskin, Peterborough Jon Erickson, San Francisco Martha Hicks. Peterborough Cindy Kiddoo. San Francisco Anne Fischer Lent. Peterborough Rich Malloy. New York Lynne Nadeau, Peterborough David Needle, San Francisco Wayne Rash. Washington. DC GROUP MODERATORS David Allen. Applications Frank Boosman, Artificial \ntelligence Leroy Casterline, Other Marc Greenfield. Programming Languages Jim Howard. Graphics Gary Kendall. Operating Systems Steve Krenek, Computers Brock Meeks. Telecommunications Barry Nance. New Technology Donald Osgood. Computers Sue Rosenberg. Other Jon Swanson. Chips BUSINESS AND MARKETING Doug Webster, Director. (603) 924-9027 Patricia Bausum. Secretary Denise A. 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Group Vice President: Peter B, McCuen, Communications Information. Vice Presi- dent: Fred O. Jensen, Planning and Development. Officers of McGraw-Hili. Inc.: Harold W. McGraw, Jr.. Chairman: Joseph L. Dionne, President and Chief Executive Officer: Robert N. Landes. Executive Vice President and Secretary; Walter D, Serwatka. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Shel F. Asen, Senior Vice President. Manufacturing: Robert J. Bahash. Senior Vice President. Finance and Manufacturing: Ralph R. Schulz. Senior Vice President. Editorial; George R. Elsinger, Vice President. Circulation; Ralph J. Webb. Vice President and Iteasurer. BYTE. EVTE . and The Small Systems Journal are registered trademarks of McGraw-Hill Inc. CIRCULATION (800-258-5485) Laurie Seamans. Assistant Manager Susan Boyd Louise Menegus Agnes E. Perry Jennifer Price James Bingham, Single-Copy Sales Manager Cathy A. Rutherford. Assistant Manager Claudette Carswell Karen Desroches PERSONNEL Cheryl Hurd. Office Manager Patricia Burke. Personnel Coordinator BUILDING SERVICES/TRAFFIC Anthony Bennett. Building Services Manager Brian Higgins Mark Monkion RECEPTIONIST Donna Healy EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICE: One Phoenix Mill Lane. Peterborough. New Hampshire 034 58. (603) 924-9281. West Coast Offices: 425 Battery St.. San Francisco. CA 941 1 1, (415) 954-9718: 3001 Red Hill Ave. Building #]. Suite 222, Costa Mesa. CA 92626. (714) 557-6292. New York Editorial Office: 1221 Avenue of the Americas. New York. NY 10020. (212) 512-2000. BYTEnet: (617) 861-9764 (set modem at 8-1 -N or 7-l-E: 300 or 1200 baud). BYTE ' NOVEMBER 1986 Circuit-Board-Artwork Software: - $895. And guaranteed. «* smARTWORK® lets the design engineer create and revise printed-circuit-board artwork on the IBM Personal Computer. You keep complete control over your circuit-board artwork— from start to finish. And smARTWORK® is reliable. When we couldn't find a pack- age that was convenient, fast, and affordable, we created smARTWORK? to help design our own microcomputer hardware. We've used it for over two years, so we know it does the job. That's why we offer every design engineer a thirty-day money- back no-nonsense guarantee. smARTWORK* advantages: D Complete interactive control over placement and routing D Quick correction and revision □ Production-quality 2X artwork from a pen-and-ink plotter D Prototype-quality 2X artwork from a dot-matrix printer □ Easy to learn and operate, yet capable of sophisticated layouts D Single-sided and double-sided printed circuit boards up to 10 x 16 inches □ Multicolor or black-and-white display System Requirements: □ IBM Personal Computer, XT, or AT with 320K. RAM, 2 disk drives, and DOS Version 2.0 or later D IBM Color/Graphics Adapter with RGB color or black-and- white monitor □ IBM Graphics Printer or Epson FX/MX/RX series dot-matrix printer □ Houston Instrument DMP-41 pen-and-ink plotter □ Microsoft Mouse (optional) The Smart Buy At $895. smARTWORK* is proven, convenient, fast — and guaran- teed. Call us today. And put smARTWORK* to work for yourself next week. Try it for 30 days at absolutely no risk.That's smart work. Wintek Corporation inquiry 375 1801 South Street Lafayette, IN 47904-2993 Telephone: (317) 742-8428 Telex: 70-9079 WINTEK CORP UD -.- In Europe contact: RtVA Terminals Limited, Woking, Surrey GU21 5JY ENGLAND, Telephone: 04862-71001, Telex; 859502 "smARTWORK", "Wintek" and the Wintek logo are registered trademarks of Wintek Corporation, EDITORIAL BYTE AND THE 80386 During the next several months. BYTE will cover Intel's 32-bit microprocessor, the 80386. in unprecedented breadth and depth. We will offer articles in print in BYTE and interactive on-line events on BIX. The combination of in-depth articles with open on-line discussions promises to give BYTE's readers a head start into an exciting new world. BYTE has already covered the 80386 ex- tensively. In our special issue. Inside the IBM PCs (which is still available on newsstands), we provide Paul Wells's introductory arti- cle "Intel's 80386 Architecture." Bill Nicholls's lucid sidebar "Systems Implica- tions of the Intel 80386." and Jon Shiell's insightful "Virtual Memory. Virtual Machines." This issue of BYTE contains a preview of Compaq's impressive Deskpro 386 by lorn Thompson and Dennis Allen on page 84. We posted the same article on BIX on September 9. the date of the Compaq an- nouncement. As is the case with other 80386 systems that have so far appeared, the Deskpro 386 is much more powerful than an 80286-based system despite the lack of systems software to tap the new chip's full power. To the user, the Deskpro 386 seems to be a blazingly fast IBM PC AT. the culmination of the IBM PC-com- patible movement rather than the first brave inhabitant of a new world. Only new systems software can give the Deskpro 386 and other 80386-based sys- tems the full benefit of their magnificent new microprocessor. Two BIX events re- lated to the 80386 are now under way. One of these concerns 80386 systems software; the other event provides a forum for users of the early 80386-based ma- chines. The systems software picture on the 80386 is fascinating and complex. Users have a choice of DOS under UNIX, from either Phoenix Software or Interactive Systems; DOS merged with UNIX, from either Locus or Microport; Softguard's VM-like VM/386. which also has a DOS emulator; XENIX from Microsoft; or the forthcoming and as yet unnamed Micro- soft operating system that succeeds MS- DOS. In order to choose among these, computer users need to ask themselves what, if anything. VM. the mainframe operating system, and UNIX, the popular minicomputer and supermicrocomputer operating system, can provide users of small computers who have done nicely with operating systems like MS-DOS and CP/M. Clearly, access to large memory is a must— but what else? Operating systems designed to divide the resources of one big machine among several users may or may not have special advantages for the user with an individual dedicated ma- chine—in short, a personal computer. Peter Calingaert's Operating System Elements: A User Perspective (Prentice-Hall. 1982) points out that the provision of a virtual machine "costs both storage and speed of execution." In a personal computer, is the virtual machine worth the price? The BIX conference on 80386 systems soft- ware is an ideal place to seek the answer. You can take part in this conference by logging on to BIX and typing "join OS386." The BIX conference on early user expe- rience with 80386 machines will let us all explore these new machines even if we don't yet have access to one. We are of- fering free BIX connect time for the first 10 users who will share their experiences with 80386-based machines like Compaq's Deskpro 386. (See the accompanying text box for more details.) Other users are welcome to participate as well, lb join this conference, log on to BIX and type "join users386." Highlights of the 80386 conferences will appear in print in BYTE. We will also of- fer several more 80386 articles in the next few months. Ion Shiell is preparing three more articles— one on what is involved in a VM operating system on the 80386; a second on VM and what it has to offer; and a third on the Cheetah CPU/386, a kit for upgrading an IBM-compatible 80286- based system to use an 80386. The kit and support from Cheetah will be available to BYTE readers who want to explore the 80386 now but aren't yet ready to take the plunge and buy an 80386-based system. BIX will be the setting for a users group for the Cheetah CPU/386. We also will offer a multipart introduc- tion to Microsoft's new operating system, which is sure to be an important one for the 80386. In fact, it may prove to be as dominant in the single-user environment as MS-DOS has been on the 8088/86 and 80286. Gordon Letwin. a BYTE author from way back (October 1978. to be ex- act), heads up the Microsoft project to develop this new operating system. Micro- soft has released no information about it yet. but industry sources have provided us with some of the system's important generalities. First, although this new software bor- rows some features from UNIX, it is in- tended as an ideal environment for in- dividual users of personal computers in networks. The original design goals of UNIX were quite different. The new Micro- soft operating system is based on algo- rithms that optimize response time for the user, rather than throughput for the system as a whole. Second, the operating system is not a mere extension of MS- DOS. It is a truly new system that has back- ward compatibility as one of its features. To appreciate and exploit the new powers of this operating system, users will need to learn its ins and outs. Gordon Letwin's introductory article will give the structure of the new operating system and explain how programmers can use it to their advantage. We will provide discussions of the new Microsoft operating system on BIX when information becomes available from Mi- crosoft and early users of the new soft- ware. See you there. — Phil bemmons Editor in Chief Free BIX Hours to Discuss 80386 Machines The first 10 owners of 80386-based machines who contact us will receive 10 free connect hours for the subse- quent month if they agree to share their experiences with the machines with other BIX users, lb pursue this. 80386-system owners should contact BYTE Associate 'technical Editor Curt Franklin at (603) 924-9281. All BIX users are welcome to participate in the BIX conference "users386" at regular BIX connect-time charges. BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 When computers get down to business, they move up to Maxell. Maxell is ready when you are with the newest technology in magnetic media. A perfect example is this double-sided Z l h" microdisk. maxBll CS FLOPPY DiSK 8F2-DD maxell THE GOLD STANDARD Maxell Corporation of America, 60 Oxford Drive, Moonachie, NJ 07074 smarferm The Communications Software That Knows You Can't Ignore Evolution 7 he world of computing has much in common with nature: Those who adapt to their en- vironment flourish. Those who can't— go the way of the dinosaur. If your computing environment includes mini computers, you can access them using standard terminals. But the smarter alternative is an IBM* compatible PC* and SmarTerm terminal emulation software— an advanced species of communications software. Persoft began where most terminal emulation software companies strive to end— with exact, feature-for- feature emulation. Then Persoft took SmarTerm software to the next stage of evolution: superiority. SmarTerm 240, the latest in the SmarTerm series, not only provides the ReGIS* and Tektronix* graphics capabilities of a DEC* VT240* terminal, but adds capabilities that are only possible through the power of a PC. Features like error-free data transfer (using Kermit or XMODEM protocols), on-line help screens, remappable keyboard layouts, and programmable softkeys. SmarTerm 240 is just one example of the most advanced line-up of DEC, Data General and Tektronix terminal emulation software in the industry. Make the "natural selection." Ask your local dealer about SmarTerm terminal emulation software. Or contact: Persoft, Inc. 465 Science Drive Madison, WI U.S.A. 53711 (608) 273-6000 Telex 759491 Visit Booth #8624 Hilton Pavillion West COMDEX/Las Vegas Inquiry 257 SmarTerm Terminal Emulation Software . . . The Natural Selection •SmarTerm is a registered trademark of Persoft, Inc. IBM and IBM PC are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. DEC, VT and ReGIS are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix. Inc. ©Persoft. I98(i. All rights reserved. MICROBYTES Staff-written highlights of developments in technology and the microcomputer industry. "Neuron" Chips Emulate Brain Cells, Hold Promise of Much Faster Processors Perhaps the most complex data communications system of all is the neural network found in even the simplest of animals. These extremely complex interconnecting structures allow most animals to perform pattern-recognition tasks that even today can be approximated only by the largest supercomputer. One division of AT&T's Bell Laboratories (Holmdel, NJ) is trying to develop better pattern- recognition capabilities by emulating very simple neural networks on integrated circuit chips. Some of this work has evolved from studies at another division of Bell Labs concentrating on the neural networks of slugs. So far, the researchers have designed three electronic neural network (ENN) chips. The first, with 22 neurons and 22 input channels, was successfully tested last March. A second chip, with 54 neurons and input channels, was successfully tested in September. This chip contains almost 3000 synapses, connecting each input with each electronic neuron. Each synapse is a programmable resistor, which can be adjusted during the ENN's learning period. Design work has just been completed on a 256-neuron chip, which will be built using a combination of standard CMOS and electron beam lithography. A fourth chip, with 512 neurons, is in the design stages. The 54-neuron chip has been tested using simple search tasks. The chip was first "taught" a list of names. It was then shown a new name and asked which name on the list was most like it. Because of the inherently parallel structure of the network, it can perform such tasks much faster than a conventional processor. According to Larry Jackel, head of Bell Labs' Device Structure Research Department ENN chips can perform these tasks 100 to 1000 times faster than a conventional computer, and perhaps 10 to 30 times faster than special- purpose hardware. The response time of each electronic neuron is only 400 nanoseconds, much faster than a biological neuron. The relatively small size of the resistors used on these chips makes possible a very high chip density, higher than that associated with conventional transistor-based circuits. Com- plexity of future chips may be somewhat limited, however, by the number of input connec- tors that can be added. Multiplexing the connectors may ease this problem but then might cause its own bottleneck. Jackel says his group is also working on combining the ENNs in hierarchically structured gangs. IBM to Drop CGA; EGA Next on Chopping Block IBM has moved to drop the Color Graphics Adapter from its line of available video cards. The company will also drop its CGA monitors, which have been the mainstay of color video for IBM since the introduction of its PC five years ago. According to a highly placed industry marketing executive, IBM's Enhanced Graphics Adapter and monitor are next on the chop- ping block. "IBM will move to a system called the EGA Plus," the executive told Microbytes Daily. "Video is the only area where IBM can make big improvements quickly, and this is what you'll see," he said. He added that the EGA Plus will have higher resolution than the cur- rent EGA card but will not achieve the sought-after goal of 1024 by 1024 pixels. "That sim- ply requires too much video memory to fit into their cost structure." the executive said. The source declined to say when Big Blue would make the changes, but he did say it would be "within 12 months." He added, however, that other companies are on the trail of the EGA Plus. "Keep your eye on Paradise [Systems]," he said. "That's the same system that IBM will be using, but Paradise will release it first." [continued] NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 9 Math Model Lets Engineers Simulate Earthquakes Engineers at EPI-Center (Palo Alto, CA), an environmental engineering firm, and the Stan- ford University Earthquake Engineering Center have developed an earthquake analysis pro- gram. Called the Seismic Survival Indicator (SSI), the program is a mathematical model that's used with Lotus 1-2-3. SSI, which runs on an HP-110 portable computer for on-site analysis, provides structural analysis of a building's resistance to earthquakes. Once the engineer enters data, including information about horizontal and vertical sym- metry of the building, weight of the roof, amount of glass, and type of building material, an earthquake is mathematically simulated; the program returns the amount of structural damage as a percentage between and 100 (0 indicating no potential damage, 100 mean- ing total collapse). When the data is used in conjunction with a review of building plans and local geography, recommendations regarding building design and insurance requirements can be made. Beta tests on the program were run in the Coalinga and Morgan Hill districts of California, areas that have received heavy earthquake damage within the last three years. Engineers compared program results with real results and found that virtually all simulated results were within I or 2 percentage points of actual damages. SSI is limited to single-site analysis and structures less than three floors in height. Macintosh Helps Shape New Techniques in Metalwork Mark Stanitz, an assistant professor in the School for American Craftsmen at Rochester In- stitute of Technology (Rochester, NY), is using an Apple Macintosh and Imagewriter for goldsmithing and other metalwork. He does design work on the Macintosh, removes the Imagewriter's ribbon, and then runs pure 24K gold or silver foil 3/1000 inch thick through the printer. The Imagewriter's printhead replaces the hammer and tool traditionally used to shape and decorate metal; it creates a shallow bas-relief of 15/1000 inch, similar to the impression on a quarter. Stanitz coats the back of the foil with an epoxy resin, which fills the negative areas and hardens. He can then cold-set his creation with prongs or bezels into a superstructure (a piece of jewelry, for example). Other applications include copper wall murals created with MacDraw and hollowware fashioned by molding the foil and electroplating the back of it. Advantages to Stanitz's method include faster and more exact geometric design and more efficient production work. Also, a goldsmith can incorporate pure materials, such as 24K gold, into jewelry at a small price. And perhaps most important, artists can spend 90 to 95 percent of their time on creative design and only 5 to 10 percent on mechanical processes. Talking Tablet Speaks in Different Voices Personal Data Systems (Campbell, CA), an electronics design firm specializing in computer aids for the visually handicapped, is working on an 8086-based briefcase-size computer called the Talking Tablet. The computer, designed and built by Noel Runyon, a blind elec- tronics engineer and computer scientist who is president of the company, consists of a CPU and a detachable IBM-like keyboard. The CPU includes an 80-column by 25-line touch tablet that "displays" data that normally appears on a CRT. As you pass your fingers across the tablet, a built-in speaker 'Voices" the information that "appears on" the tablet. The speaker also repeats whatever you type in character, word, or line format. The Talking Tablet is intelligent in the sense that it recognizes emphasis and format. Words that appear on a CRT in boldface or reverse video are spoken in a different voice pitch. Date, time, dollar, address, abbreviations, and other formats also are understood. For exam- ple, if you enter ,l 1986," the Tablet returns it as "one-thousand nine-hundred eighty-six"; if you enter the address "St. John St.," it is returned as "Saint John Street." The speech circuitry is proprietary but uses a commercially available speech-synthesis chip. The Talking Tablet's internal data storage is 756K bytes with a nonvolatile RAM disk; there's battery backup for static RAM. The built-in word processor can read MS-DOS text files as long as special graphics characters aren't present. Delivery dates and prices were unavailable at press time. Zenith Chief Forecasts Multimegabyte Floppies, 386-based Machine Multimegabyte floppy disks and a Zenith 80386-based machine will soon be with us, ac- cording to Robert Dilworth, president of Zenith Data Systems (Glenview, IL). Speaking at the [continued) 10 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 We invented the modem that makes fewer demands onyourPC. The Ven-Tel Half Card™ modem. All the power and speed of our regular modems, but with some major advantages for people who demand versatility from their PC. Regular modems plug into one of your computer's full-size slots. Just like expan- sion boards— color boards, graphics cards and memory expanders. The Ven-Tel Half Card modem is different. It plugs into a short slot, freeing up a long slot so your PC can handle an addi- tional function. And while other modems have about 300 components, ours has 70. So it not only demands less space from your computer —it also demands less power and generates less heat. Your PC > lively priced, the Half Card modem is avail- able in both 1200 baud and 2400 baud speeds. And it's backed by Ven-Tel's free five-year warranty. No other major manufacturer even comes close. If you make a lot of demands on your PC . . . demand the less-demanding modem: The Ven-Tel PC Modem Half Card. Verifel Modems Our free 24-page booklet, "How To Select The Correct Modem" contains specific information about our full line of modems.To request your copy, call 800-538-5121. In California, call 408-727-5721. Inquiry 362 Air Force Small Computer Conference. Dilworth also indicated that a read/write optical disk may already be in final development. Dilworth told Microbytes Daily that he expects big changes in mass storage. His forecast includes 20-megabyte floppy disks, hard disks that are so rugged they can be dropped on the floor without damage, and optical disks with full read/write capability. He said that all these products are under development and should be available soon. He also announced that Zenith would begin designing products that use 1-megabit RAM chips. Dilworth said ZDS would introduce a computer based on the Intel 80386 "earlier than any other major company." (Compaq Computer Corp. of Houston, certainly a major com- pany, rolled out the Deskpro 386 in early September, less than a month after Dilworth's claim.) Zenith has already introduced a 32-bit bus for its 240 line of IBM PC AT clones. Dilworth said most manufacturers will introduce 80386 machines that are simply faster ver- sions of 80286 machines. French Firm's System Allows Handwritten Input Anatex has developed a combination software/hardware package that lets users input handwritten notes into a Macintosh. The system, called Personal Writer, uses special soft- ware with a Summagraphics graphics tablet. The software lets the user emulate both the keyboard and the mouse merely by moving the stylus of the graphics tablet in a certain way. Since handwriting varies dramatically from person to person, the user can teach the system to recognize his or her own style. According to Xavier Maury, general manager of the company, the system can be taught to recognize the handwriting of almost every possible user, except those with bizarre penmanship. Personal Writer will be available initially for the Mac in the first quarter of next year. An IBM PC version will reportedly be available in the second quarter. Anatex is located at 18 Rue Troyon. F-75017, Paris, France; the telephone number is (I) 47 66 02 60. NANOBYTES Xerox Palo Alto Research Center and Xerox Artificial Intelligence Systems (Palo Alto. CA) have jointly designed the Xerox VLSI Common LISP Processor. The microprocessor, which has a reduced LISP instruction set hard-coded on the chip (hence its nickname "LISP-on-a-chip"), supports both Common LISP C'CommonLoops") and the Xerox Artificial Intelligence Environment. The 40-bit device is the first object-oriented-program chip of its kind .... At the Seybold Desktop Publishing Conference. Microsoft's Bill Gates said that at least 10 firms would introduce plug-in full-page displays with graphics coprocessors for IBM PC compatibles at COMDEX this month .... Fairchild Semiconductor (Cupertino. CA) will begin snipping early in 1987 a 40-MHz version of its CMOS 32-bit Clipper microprocessor. The new chip set will execute as many as 6.5 million instructions per second, Fairchild says. The current Clipper— actually a CPU chip and two cache/memory-management chips mounted on a 3- by 4 /2-inch printed circuit board— executes 5 MIPS at 33 MHz and sup- ports floating-point arithmetic. . . . Locus Computing (Santa Monica. CA) has licensed its PC-Interface software to Motorola Computer Systems. The software will be ported to the UNIX-based System 6300. 6350, 6400, and the 68020, as well as the VME-based 8000, for use as an MS-DOS file server. A Locus spokesperson said this will give users of IBM PCs and compatibles access to Motorola systems running UNIX System V. . . . Atari Corp. Ltd. (Berkshire. UK) unwrapped two new models of its ST. as well as a blitter chip that speeds graphics performance, at the Personal Computer World Show in London. The new 2080STF and 4160STF have memory capacities of 2 and 4 megabytes, respectively. The blit chip increases the speed of graphics applications by at least five times, the company claims .... lalking about microcomputers, Richard Carver, assistant secretary of the Air Force, said. "We can't go to war without these computers." Opening the Air Force Small Computer Conference, Carver said microcomputers "should be viewed as another weapon system." TECHNOLOGY NEWS WANTED. The news staff at BYTE is always interested in hearing about new technological and scientific developments that might have an impact on microcomputers and the people who use them. We also want to keep track of innovative uses of that technology. If you know of advances or proj- ects that involve research relevant to microcomputing and want to share that information, please contact us. Phone the Microbytes staff at (603) 924-9281. send mail on BIX to Microbytes. or write to us at One Phoenix Mill lane, Peterborough, NH 03458. 12 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 G i WELL MISS YOU! W95'V . r:rtl m INTRODUCING THE A* STAR II TM Were having a party! It's a going away party. And, it's for IBM. But, shhhhh! Don't tell them. We want it to be a surprise! Why a party? Well, it's because we've been told that more than a few of IBM's customers have been "going away" ever since we introduced our A*Star™ PC/AT compatible micro- computer. Now that we've announced our new A*Star II, we figure a lot more of their customers will be going away. That's because the A*Star II is the only "network ready" PC/AT compatible that can operate at 6, 8, 10 and 12 MHz. And because it's available in a super selection of models starting at only $995! The A*Star II is not just another clone, it's better... much better! Not only is it faster and more powerful than IBM's model, it's also incredibly less expensive. Better yet, the A*Star II is built and backed by Wells American - a company that's been making micro- computers longer than IBM. (We bet that surprises even you!) Plus, the A*Star II is serviced nationwide by RCA Corporation - one of the world's largest and most respected consumer electron- ics firms. And if that's not enough, every unit includes free schematics and a money back guarantee! If you'd like to be a part of our IBM going away party, clip and return the coupon or call us at the number below. But don't tell IBM! If they find out how many of their cus- tomers are going away, they might just go away themselves! Of course, that would be okay with us. We never really invited them anyway! A PC/AT FOR ONLY $995? WHAT A REASON TO CELEBRATE! Special Introductory Offer: Order now and receive a $395 option - absolutely FREE! Limit one per customer. Hurry! This offer and quantities are limited. Name: Company: Phone: Address: City:. i Stats:. ■ Zip:. <^> Wells American 803/796-7800.TWX 510-601-2645 Sunset Boulevard • West Columbia, SC 29169 I. J Corporate Headquarters: 3243 Sunset Boulevard • West Columbia, South Carolina 29169«803/796-7800«TWX 510-601-2645 IBM. Personal Computer AT and AT are trademarks of International Business Machines. Inquiry 368 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 13 w & . . - There are enough copies of Symphony® software in use today to make Symphony, by itself, the fourth largest independent microcomputer software company in the world. Now let's discuss why. It's a truly complete workstation for the modern manager. . .incorporating 1-2-3 's® powerful spreadsheet capability with Symphony's own word processing, graphics, database and communica- tions. All of them working together, all in one program. As your computer knowledge grows, so Symphony grows. The more you use Symphony, the more you find you can do with it. And with a growing line of Symphony add-in products from Lotus® (Tfext Outliner, Spelling Checker, Symphony Link™ etc.), Symphony offers steady and seem- ingly endless potential for expansion. A workstation. Thoroughly integrated. Geared for growth. That's why Symphony is one of the world's most successful business software programs for IBM® personal computers and compatible products. And that's why you ought to get a complete demonstration. Lotus Symphony A complete general-pwpose software tool built around the world's leading spreadsheet technology. © 1986 Lotus Development. Corporation. Lotus, 1 -2-3 and Symphony are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. Symphony Link is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. u^U^vfe'.^-v,,.' ,,..,*■■'. '',r,f. ■;.;■..,.. LETTERS Isocrates Project Clarified As the result of a telephone interview by a member of your New York-based editorial staff. BYTE published a small description of the Isocrates project here at Brown University in your July issue (Microbytes). While we appreciate the at- tention your publication has brought to our work, the description, as published, misstated what we are doing. Isocrates is very much a collaborative project, and much of what your description has at- tributed to "researchers at Brown Univer- sity" is in fact the work of others who have been kind enough to share their work with us. The Greek database itself (i.e.. the machine-readable version of Greek authors) is the result of over a decade of data entry, verification, and maintenance by the staff of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TUG) at the University of Califor- nia. Irvine, and is the property of the TLG. It is used by Brown University under license from the TLG. Any distribution or use of a CD-ROM containing this database is at the discretion of the TLG. The TLG has in fact produced two CD-ROMs, re- ferred to as the A and B disks. The A disk was produced in 1985 and contains the texts of the Greek database as well as I^atin. Hebrew, and Coptic texts. The B disk, which was produced this spring, con- tains the Greek database plus indices. The role of the Institute of Research in Infor- mation and Scholarship (IRIS) in the pro- duction of the "TLG Pilot CD-ROM #B for Experimental Purposes" (the B disk) was limited to the creation of the index files and the formatting of the data for press- ing. The production of the CD-ROM is the work of the TLG under the direction of Theodore Brunner and was supported by a grant from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. The ability of "Greek scholars. . .to find. . .every occurrence of a particular word in the work of an ancient author" has existed for some time now and is not the result of work done at Brown University. Our part has been in porting programs that do this to the IBM RT PC and inte- grating them with one of the TI.G's CD-ROMs. The modification of the Macintosh ter- minal program you mention that allows the Macintosh to display Greek text is the work of SMK (5760 South Blackstone Ave.. Chicago. IL 60637). maker of GreekKeys. classical Greek fonts for the Mac. It is used at Brown and at a number of campuses around the country. Paul Kahn Institute of Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) Brown University Providence, Rl Skip the Menu Ezra Shapiro's August column provided a brief look at Microsoft Word 3.0. the latest version of that valuable program. Since he seems to be undecided about the overall value of what is one of the best word pro- cessors for MS-DOS machines. I thought I'd clear up one point. Shapiro says. "I loathe the Microsoft in- terface ( . . .with the useless box around the screen and the menu along the bot- tom)." Well, nothing can be done about the box. but the menu is easily eliminated. If he will select "Options" from the first menu, he can eliminate the menu display by selecting the "Menu: no" option. Word then drops the menu, adding room for three extra lines of text to the screen. When Escape is pressed, the menu pops back into view, disappearing again after a command is chosen. Given Word's outstanding printer sup- port and other powerful features, it seems a shame to judge it on an easily correct- able interface. George Campbell Los Osos, CA Comparing Clock Rates When I upgraded myself from my 1977 Apple to a new Leading Edge, one of the reasons for the change was the attractive clock rate of the 8088 processor, which is 4.66 times faster than the old 6502. Thus, my programs should run faster, which is nice. Indeed, modest research into the execu- tion times of various 8088 commands in- dicated that increased speed could be ex- pected. Using the timing technique I've outlined elsewhere (Computing with the Apple, Reston. 1984). I obtained the following figures for some 8088 operations, ex- pressed in terms of number of executions per second: NOP 1.300.000 MOV BX.CD 3 50.000 MOV BX. AX 990.100 INC BX 1.080.000 ADD BX.CD 3 50.000 ADD BX.|1001] 165.000 MOV BX. 1 1 00 1 1 235.000 Corresponding times for the 6502 are simpler: Except for NOP and BRK. every instruction executes at the rate of 262.000 per second. But such comparisons don't show what one really wants to know, namely, what can one expect in the way of speedup for ordinary, run-of-the-mill programs? After all, it is difficult to imagine a meaningful program made up of NOPs and register- to-register operations. On the other hand, it is an ancient prin- ciple in computing that benchmarks can be devised to show that any machine is faster than any other machine. A program that capitalizes on certain characteristics of the 8088 (e.g.. the inclusion of multi- ply and divide commands) should beat any program for the 6502 (or the 8080. or the Z80) that needs multiplication or division. Similarly, it should be possible to find features of the 6 502 that would run circles around the 8088. So, to satisfy my own curiosity. I decided on this program: 1. Generate ten random bytes. 2. Bubble-sort them. 3. Repeat 2000 times. The ingenious random-number genera- (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 clearly and concisely as possible. Listings and tables may be printed along with a letter if they are short and legible. Because BYTE receives hundreds of let ers each month, not all of them can be published, letters will not be returned to authors. Generally, it akes four months from the time BYTE receives a letter until it is published. 16 B YTE • NOVEMBER 1986 AST SetsThe Multifunction Standard Again SIXPAKPREMWM enhanced CMS MaltifnoClkm Board for the IBM* PC, PC-XT and Compatibles Offering Up*R)2 MegdiyiMoffefUodcd .VtrutoryDvuSctiol Pun*, Parallel Pott. Battery -Backrd CJoc&CalerMUr, Game Port. SuperPak" Utility Software . S^lSv:S m *~. BBS slkpakPlus Single-Slot Multifunction l'uihanceracrt Product for the IBM PC.XT and 1HM PC-CompatiblM Offering tip la 3B4Kh tit Memory, Willi a Serial lvm, .1 TUr.sU'd l\m, Clock.- Calendar .mi J an ojjjioiui Game R»n First there was SixPakPlus®...the single most popular PC enhancement product in history. Now AST has made the best even better. And SixPakPremium™ sets the new standard for multifunction boards More Memory, More I/O And More Capa- bility. We boosted SixPak memory with our Enhanced Expanded Memory Specifications (EEMS). SixPakPremium now gives you up to 2 megabytes of memory. Plus there's up to 2 serial ports, a parallel port, optional game port, clock/calendar and SuperPak™ utilities. And to take full advantage of your ex- panded memory, we've included a powerful operating environment software package. It allows you to load all the applications you use during the day into SixPakPremium's memory once in the morning. Now you can FastTask™, that's what we call the ability to move instantly between applica- tions. FastTasking saves time because there's no fussing with diskettes or closing down one application to open another. Certified By Lotus.® SixPak- Premium is fully compatible with all the new, expanded-memory (EMS) versions of your favorite software packages. It's even certified by the Lotus Development Corporation to be compatible with its EMS versions of 1-2-3® and Symphony®. Give us the test. Buy SixPakPremium. If within 90 days you find an EMS application incompatible, we'll either establish compatibility or buy you a comparable EMS board of your choice? You know us. You know SixPakPlus. Now get to know SixPakPremium— the new stan- dard in PC functionality. Now Call (714) 863-1480 For More Information. Or send the attached coupon to AST Research, Inc., 2121 Alton Ave., Irvine, CA 92714-4992, Attn. M.C. R€S€RfKH INC. Lotus Yes! Tell Me More About SixPakPremium. Title Company Address _ City Zip Phone ( Seftd to: AST Research, Inc., 2121 Alton Ave. Irvine, CA 92714-4992, Attn. M.C 01BB059A02SS 'Applies lo boards purchased after 9/1/86. Valid only in USA. Some additional restric- tions apply. For complete details write to AST Research. Attn. M.C.G. The ASTSixI'akl'remium expanded memory multifunction board has successfully passed compatibility testing with Symphony Release I.I. and 1-2-3 Release 2 and Release 2.01 on an IBM Personal Computer using I'C DOS 3.1. Two megabytes of expanded memory were installed. SixI'akPIus registered and SixPakPremium, Superl'ak, Premium Guarantee, Premium Series, and FastTask trademark AST Research, Inc. Lotus, 1-2-3 and Symphony registered trademarks lotus Development Corp. Copyright 1986, AST Research, Inc. All rights resei LETTERS Super Power Compatibility The POWER SYSTEM™ from PECAN has set a new standard for comprehensiveness in program development environments that you won't find anywhere else: PORTABILITY: Whether you're an ardent beginner or a seasoned pro, THE POWER SYSTEM lets you design software that can run on virtually any mini or micro without having to rewrite the program. The program you write on one computer will operate on another— even if the two hardware systems are incompatible . Your software never becomes obsolete — even if your hardware does. INTEG RATABILITY: The versatility and flexibility of THE POWER SYSTEM enables different users to exchange program modules freely with one another, even though the modules may be written in different programming languages. LANGUAGE INTERCHANGEABILITY: THE POWER SYSTEM lets you customize the modules of your application in the most appropriate of Pecan's powerful languages including UCSD PASCAL, BASIC, FORTRAN-77, ASSEMBLER, or MODULA-2. Once you've created your multi-language program, the modules are linked automatically. The application then runs as if you'd written it ali in one language. THE POWER SYSTEM FEATURES: • NATIVE CODE • SEPARATE COMPILATION OF UNITS • EXTENDED PRECISION ARITHMETIC • DYNAMIC MEMORY MANAGEMENT • EVENT-DRIVEN MULTI-TASKING • CONFORMANT ARRAYS • PROCEDURAL PARAMETERS • 8087 AND BCD SUPPORT (PC'S AND COMPATIBLES) • LARGE FILE EDITOR • LIBRARY UTILITY • ON-LINE HELP SYSTEM • FILE MANAGER THE POWER SYSTEM Only $99.95 For PC-DOS, MS-DOS, AMIGA, ATARI ST, MACINTOSH, RAINBOW, TANDY, STRIDE, as well as most popular 8/16/32 bit systems. Also available in VAX, UNIX, PDP-11 OS's & others. THE POWER SYSTEM includes the language of your choice: UCSD PASCAL, MODULA-2, BASIC, ASSEMBLER and FORTRAN-77. Choose an additional language for only $79.95. Buy three and we will send you a fourth one FREE! To custom-tailor software, PECAN offers such programming tools as: CROSS-ASSEMBLER/NCG PACKAGE $79.95 SOFTEACH TUTORIAL $49.95 KEYED SEQUENTIAL ACCESS METHOD. . . .$59.95 MENUMAKER $49.95 CODE OPTIMIZER $59.95 PROGRAM ANALYSIS TOOLKIT $59.95 SYMBOLIC DEBUGGER $59.95 SORT UTILITY $59.95 Write for complete list of development aids. ATTENTION CORPORATIONS: Call and ask about our training seminars. SCHOOLS: Special Educational Discounts NOT COPY PROTECTED Mail Your Check Or Money Order To: Pecan Software Systems, Inc. 1410 • 39th Street Brooklyn, New York 11218 (718) 851-3100 ITT TELEX NUMBER: 494 8910 COMPUSERVE CODE: 76703,520 Please add $2.50 for shipping within the US. Foreign orders add $10.00 and make payment by bank draft payable in US dollars on US bank. New York State residents add appropriate sales tax. UCSD Pascal is a trademark of The Regents of University of California. Inquiry 255 The UCSD Pascal Company Credit Card Orders -|.800-63-PECAN Call Toll Free (NYS) 1-800-45-PECAN tor of Art Matheny (Micro, August 1982) is short and simple, passes every test except the correlation test and uses only simple addition. It can be coded identically on the 6502 and the 8088. After many trials, to cancel out any ex- tremes caused by randomness, the time for the runs of 2000 was 6.38 seconds for the 6502 and 6.90 for the 8088. This will lead to lots of wailing on the part of 8088 devotees. I would suggest that you take some program that you devise and make your own comparison. My point is this: The widely acclaimed clock speed of the 8088 is almost mean- ingless, since the number of bytes per in- struction can range from one to six. What counts is the mix of commands that your work requires. I was astonished, however, to discover that, for the first program I could think of for a test, the 6502 turned out to be nearly 8 percent faster than the 8088. Fred Gruenberger Northridge, CA In Search of Cheaper Transmission More people are spending a lot of time communicating via modem these days. One major hassle with Buzby (British Telecom) and Ma Bell is uploading and downloading large amounts of text. Even at 1200 baud (not too common in Britain yet), it seems to take several eternities for even a short piece of text to wend its elec- tronic way. Higher baud rates tend to re- quire special (expensive) leased lines and require the user at the other end to have similar (expensive) equipment. When dealing with text, the same char- acters often keep appearing in the same order: In this letter, the word "the" ap- pears 24 times; including the terminating space, this requires 32 bits each time you want to send the same word. Given the move to 16-bit machines, perhaps it is time for an extended ASCII set to be intro- duced for datacomm transmission of text. I envision it as something like this: The basic ASCII code would be a subset of this new code. With bit 7 = 0, the byte would be treated as a single standard ASCII code. If. however, bit 7 = 1. the lower 7 bits of this byte and the 8 of the following byte would be treated as a single 15-bit entity giving 32,768 separate meanings. This could be an index to a standard predisseminated dictionary of common words and regularly occurring letter groups (the latter technical terms). Each language could have its own dictionary; by selecting the same code for the word [continued) Inquiry 309 for End-Users. Inquiry 310 for DEALERS ONLY. __► To Over 30,000 Installations, MultiLink® MEANS Multi-User. At over 30,000 sites, as many as one-quarter of a million users tap into the power of MultiLink® Advanced everyday. Since 1983, they've come to rely on our multi-tasking, multi-user system for compatibility with their favorite software, and the ability to share disks, files, printers, and programs in a true PC-DOS environment. From the largest of the Fortune 500 to the smallest in small business, MultiLink® has provided a fcost-effective multi-user solution that's available from no one else. MultiLink® Means Cost-Effective Timesharing on a PC. MultiLink® Advanced utilizes the principle of timesharing by sharing a central PC's peripherals, files, and processor time among nine users. Up to eight in- expensive terminals can be connected to a single non- dedicated IBM PC, XT, AT or 100% compatible using standard RS-232 ports. Each terminal effectively emu- lates a PC having up to 512K RAM. PC-Shadow™ Workstations, shown below, even have an AT look-alike, as well as work-alike, keyboard, dis- play, and serial port. In addition, password-protected remote access via modem can be made with either dumb terminals or PCs running our terminal emulation software. MultiLink" is a registered trademark of The Software Link, Inc, MultiLink* Advanced & PC-Shadow' , ' are trademarks of The Software Link, Inc. IBM PC, XT, AT, PC-DOS, Token Ring, & NETBIOS are trademarks of IBM Corp. WordStar, dBASE III, Multimate, Lotus 1-2-3 & Symphony are trademarks of MicroPro, Ashton-Tate; Multimate International, & Lotus Development Corp., respectively. MultiLink® Means PC-DOS Compatibility with a Software-Driven System. Lotus 1-2-3, Symphony, WordStar, dBASE III, & Multimate are just a sampling of the wide variety of PC-DOS software that's fully compatible. Our software-driven system is also IBM NETBIOS compatible, so programs that are written for IBM's Token Ring will run on our multi-user system, as well. MultiLink® Means Multi-User to Leading Computer Publications. Whether you read PC Magazine, "MultiLink® Advanced delivers on. ..convenience, speed, and flexibility," orlnfoWorld, "If you want a low-cost multiuser system with up to eight terminals, MultiLink® Advanced is worth a serious look; 1 it becomes clear that MultiLink® Advanced is a formidable contender in the multi-user marketplace. See What MultiLink® Can Mean to You. Learn, firsthand, how our multi-user system can benefit your company. Call The Software Link TODAY for complete information and the authorized dealer nearest you. MultiLink® Advanced is $595 and comes with a money-back guarantee. t (McsMobBs ^^-^/ THE SOFTWARE LINK, INC. 8601 Dunwoody Place, Suite 632, Atlanta, GA 30338 Telex 4996147 SWUNK CALL: 404/998-0700 Dealer Inquiries Invited THE SOFTWARE LINK, INC/CANADA !50 Cochrane Drive, Suite 12 Markham, Ontario L3R 6B7 CALL: 416/477-5480 &r '<& fmm\* Inquiry 252 | Finally, software | ou don't have to i e rich to own. LETTERS E We're PC-SIG. The worlds la tl library of user-supported programs where authors ask that you send a donation— and free public domain programs. For only $6, you buy software thatls been selected from leading authors, thoroughly ana- lyzed, and technically supported. Perhaps thatls why weVe bee referred to as the Robin Hood of software publishers. □ *499 PROCOMM Professional communications program written in compiled Microsoft C and assembly code. □ *523 SIDE WRITER Perfect for spreadsheets, this applica- tion prints text files sideways. D "528.529 NEWYORKWORD Powerful word processing with split-screen editing, mail merge, auto hyphen, and more. □ *574 FREECALC Word processing and spreadsheet application for forecasting and budgeting. □ *78 PC WRITE Our mast papularword processor. "I'm more ateasewith PC WRITE than WordStar." D *521 FREE FILE Easy-to-use and learn relational data base manager. D *522 INSTANTRECALLMemoiy-residentprogramfor storing and retrieving a wealth of information. □ *405 DESKMATE Desk organizational tool with phone dialer, notepad.calendar. and calculator. □ *478 HARD DISK UTlLITIESThe best and most useful utili- ties forthe hard disk user. D * 1 33 ULTRA LTTILmESA must for every PC owner. For recovering lost or accidentally erased files. □ *558 PC-PROMPT A memory-resident help utility that provides formatting forDOScommands online. □ *429 ELEMENTARY C Application for leamingC language. D *424 PASCALCOMPILER Popularcompilerwritten in Turba Pascal. D *423 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PCmanagement system capable of handling 1000 tasks. □ *237 PC-GENERAL LEDGER For the serious bookkeeper. All the controls needed for balancing the books. Plus an audit trail. □ *404 EZ-FORMS Program for generating tailor-made forms. "Compared to $80 packages, this is super." □ *518 EXPERT SYSTEM Now your computer can act as if it were actually thinking. For diagnosing situations and formulating solutions. D *480 PC OUTLINE Like Thinktank. this is a greatway to organize, outline, and classify ideas. □ *515. 5 1 6 THE DRAFTSMAN Createdata graphs or slide shows from Lotus 1-2-3. Symphony, or Visicalc. □ The PC-SIG introductory special: any 5 diskettes plus 1 -year membership... $39. Dl year PC-SIG Membership ($35 foreign). Includes printed directory, supplement, quarterly magazine . . . .$20. Total Enclosed $_ Card No Signature Exp. date Name Address byD Check □ VISA DMC City_ State. .Zip_ Toorder. call: 800-245-6717 InCA: 800-222-2996 For technical questions or local orders: (408) 730-9291 1 030-D East Duane Avenue. Sunnyvale. CA 94086 Dealer inquiries invited. Software in the public interest. Add $4 postage and handling ($10 foreign)— CA residents add state sales tax. with the same meaning in different lan- guages, it would even provide the basis for a crude language translator. There are other refinements, such as using bits to switch trailing space" or "Leading character capitalized" on and off for individual codes, but the fine details would be better left to a standards com- mittee to nail down and enforce. It is worth noting that this will also allow large text databases (such as the text of a mega- blockbusting novel) to be compressed to perhaps 25 percent of their original storage space. My own personal dream is to have the complete runs of Astound- ing/Analog. Fantasy and Science Fiction. Galaxy, and all the other SF magazines on one CD-ROM in machine-readable and machine-searchable form; duplication cost: about ten bucks. The transcription and royalty costs are another problem, but we have the technology. Robert Sneddon Glasgow, Scotland Not Your Basic BASIC ZBasic is fast and is the only interpiler that creates .COM files in CP/M (and so it has no BASIC competitors) but I had hoped for more when I bought it. In fact, I had hoped for what the ZBasic ad promises: "It retains the old commands you already know." Well. some, but not all. Its dif- ferences require hours to convert MBASIC-80 programs to ZBasic. For exam- ple. SORT works fine in MBASIC-80 but not in ZBasic. because SORT contains OR. a reserved word, within it. (Microsoft solved the embedded-words problem five years ago!) SORT is only one of many examples of translations that ZBasic requires. MBASIC allows periods in variables (SORT.SCORES). but ZBasic allows only underlines (SORT_SCORES). ZBasic is a hacker's paradise, with data types carried to absurdity, making it totally wrong for education. For example, for PRINT 1/3. ZBasic gives the false answer of zero! To get a correct answer. ZBasic needs one of these: 173. or l!/3. or l#/3. And as if four compulsory data types were not enough. ZBasic also provides 2 to 54 digits of precision, which programmers may use to produce data files with enough variations in numbers to confound and confuse not only others, but even the un- wary programmer himself when he at- tempts to use such data files later without knowing the exact digits of precision in the data file. Applesoft. North Star BASIC, and Turbo Pascal opted to keep data simple- much to the convenience of the users— and ZBasic could have provided a default of one precision (maybe II digits, like Tlirbo Pascal) and allowed other options for the hackers. In many ways ZBasic is a modern, powerful, fast, ingenious implementation of BASIC, but in other ways it is five years out of date. Edward L. Tottle Baltimore, MD Computers in Music I think BYTE is missing an opportunity. I expect that there is a large portion of your readership that would be interested in a regular column that examines the MIDI in- terface and MIDI devices. Computers and music seem to go to- gether, especially in this digital age. and many programmers are also interested in music. After having my interest piqued by your June (Computers and Music) issue. I started to look through music stores and picked up a copy of Keyboard magazine. Al- though I've been a loyal BYTE reader since 1978 and have read several other personal computer magazines as well. I was caught completely by surprise by the capabilities of even inexpensive MIDI synthesizers and the scope and state of the art of MIDI software. Your June issue presented an excellent overview of the hardware and software that's now literally taking over the music world, but an issue every year or so that deals with music can at best hit only the very high spots. Keyboard has a regular col- umn on programming. Perhaps BYTE should have a regular column on music. Ben Barlow Rochester, NY CRT Radiation Regarding the letter by Forrest Mims III in the August BYTE (page 20) where he cor- rects a previous author's comments about CRT radiation levels: Mr. Mims's work is itself not without fault. I am familiar with some of his previous work and have no quarrel with his hardware expertise; I am sure that he has built a very sensitive radiation detector. However, there is a problem involved in the nature of the measurements he is making. Measurement of ionizing radiation is a textbook example of a random process. In this case, the random factor is the time between events; thus, in a given time period the number of events (counts of the Geiger counter) is also random. The mathematical properties of phenomena that have random components have been studied for a long time, and in modern times we have a fairly good understand- ing of them. The twin sciences of prob- ability theory and statistics allow certain types of predictions to be made concern- [continued) 20 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 » . : 'il!!i! ' I : W Enter the world of professional CAD applications with Houston Instrument's low cost DMP-41/42 series plotters. These single-pen plotters give you the fea- tures you need — C and D size plots, extensive software compatibility, and proven reliability — for a very afford- able no frills price of $3295.* The DMP-41/42 series' large C and D size formats are ideal for a wide range of CAD applications, from architectural elevations to assembly drawings. And a .005 inch resolution ensures crisp drawings on a variety of media — paper, matte film, or vellum. With the DMP-41/42 series, you can choose from an impressive selec- tion of off-the-shelf graphics software packages such as VersaCAD, AutoCAD, and CADKEY. Or, by using Houston Instrument's popular DM/PL IM language, you can create your own custom software and be assured of upward compatibility with Houston Instrument's entire line of plotters. The DMP-41/42 series. The plotters that offer superb reliability, comprehen- sive graphics capabilities, and a no frills price. The proven performers for low-cost CAD. For more information, call 1-800-531-5205 (512-835-0900 if in Texas), or write Houston Instrument, 8500 Cameron Road, Austin, Texas 78753. In Europe, contact Houston Instrument, Belgium NV., Rochesterlaan 6, 8240 Gistel, Belgium. Tel.: 32-(0)59-277445. Tlx.: 846-81399. *U.S. suggested retail price. Pricing subject to change. DM/PL is a trademark of Houston Instrument. GOfDDOSSflXjD instrument A Division of AMETEK Inquiry 152 LETTERS ing the behavior of such phenomena. In the case at hand. I'm sure Mr. Mims has noticed that, when repeating either of his measurements (background or CRT), the value obtained was not exactly the same each time. This difference is a fun- damental property of the nature of the random process being studied. In the case of ionizing radiation measurements, the amount of variation to be expected is a well-known quantity and is described by a mathematical construct called the Poisson distribution. One of the properties of the Poisson distribution is that the amount of variation you might expect to encounter depends upon the number of events involved. This translates, in the particular case we are discussing, into the fact that the variation in the number of counts per minute de- creases as the total measurement time gets longer. Mr. Mims gives no details as to how he made his measurements; there- fore, my best guess is that he counted for FoxBASE wins the dBASE race! 6.43 times faster than dBASE ffl PLUS New FoxBASE+ sweeps the field: runs 2.26 times faster than Clipper, 6.69 times faster than dBCOMPILER, and 10.86 times faster than dBMAN! And FoxBASE compiles programs up to 60 times faster than other compilers. The others aren 7 even close! New FoxBASE+ is totally compatible with dBASE III PLUS as is original FoxBASE with dBASE II. No changes in your present programs, databases, screens, or reports! Though FoxBASE is a super-fast compiler, it offers the familiar, user-friendly interactive features of dBASE and the full power of "dot prompt" mode plus many signif- icant enhancements. FoxBASE is available in single and multi-user versions for MS-DOS, | XENIX, UNIX, many net- I works, and other envi- > ronments. Best of all, FoxBASE is economical. Single-user FoxBASE costs just $395, multi-user FoxBASE $995**-no matter how many workstations you have. So call (419) 874-0162 now, and ask for a copy of our detailed benchmarks. After all . . . Nothing Runs Like a Fox. Fox Software 27475 Holiday Lane, Perrysburg, OH 43551 (419) 874-0162 Telex: 6503040827 otmAW. oranu * "'for MS-fj( Muitt-userXEl " dBASE SM PUIS are trademarks ot Ashton- Tate - Clipper is i trademark of Nantucket - dBCOMPILER is a " ot WurrlTech Systems Jnc - dBMAN Soli Corparal'on is 3 trademark ot ruiLaf XENIX teied trademark^! Microsoft C«i 1-minute intervals and reported the number of counts measured in that time period. If. in one case, you have measured 17 counts (as Mr. Mims did for the back- ground), then the properties of the Poisson distribution tell us that in other measurements of the same quantity you will get a variation that has an upper limit of just about 35. the count found for the CRT. In other words. Mr. Mims's measure- ment of 3 5 counts does not prove that the CRT has higher radiation levels, because he could have gotten the same measure- ment from a repeat reading of the back- ground! For this reason I find his measure- ments less than convincing. A much stronger case could be made simply by counting for intervals of several minutes in both cases and calculating the average counts per minute from that data. Howard Mark New York, NY Mr. Mark incorrectly assumes that my conclusion that some CRTs can emit ioniz- ing radiation was based on a single 1-minute measurement of two CRTs. In fact, I made several such measurements and reported a representative set of results in my letter. For the purpose of this reply I placed a commercial radiation counter adjacent to the screen of a color television set and made a series of six 5-minute measure- ments. Between some of these measure- ments I monitored the background count for 5 minutes at a point I meter from the TV set. The results (counts per 5 minutes) were: TV On TV Off Background 119 III 72 122 108 67 110 87 58 The averages of these data are 23.4 counts per minute when the TV was on and 20.4 when the TV was off. The back- ground count averaged 13.1 events per minute. The most interesting aspect of these results is the high count when the TV set is off. Apparently, the CRT or other com- ponents of the set are slightly radioactive. My guess is that the phosphor coating behind the faceplate of the CRT is the source. In any event the conclusion of my original letter that CRTs can emit low but measurable levels of ionizing radiation re- mains valid. Readers of BYTE with access to a radia- tion meter may wish to automate CRT radiation-level measurements. I have described a simple optocoupler interface for a radiation meter and a computer in [continued) 22 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 133 You can buy the Leading Edge Model "L" Series 24006 Modem with communication software for less than what you'd pay for a Hayes I200B Modem. And the Leading Edge Model "L" Series 2400B is fully Hayes and IBtT-compatible, has auto-answer and auto- dial features, fits in a half-size expansion slot and operates at 300, 1200 and 2400 bps as well. It's priced at only $23900 Also available, the Leading Edge* Model "L" Series I200B Modem priced at $149.95 Call l-800-USA-LEAD for more information or a dealer near you. In MA call (617) 828-8150. LEADING EDGE Leading Edge Hardware Products, Inc. 225 Turnpike Street, Canton, MA 02021 l-800-USA-LEAD or (617) 828-8150 in MA Leading Edge is a registered trademark and Model "L" Series is a trademark of Leading Edge Products, Inc. Hayes is a registered trademark of Hayes Microcomputer Products. Inc. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. Inquiry 176 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 23 LETTERS Forrest Mims's Computer Projects (Os- borne/McGraw-Hill, 1985, pages 55-60). I plan to describe a similar technique for long-term radiation measurements in my column in Modern Electronics. Forrest M. Mims III Seguin, TX Mathematics of Programming While Prof. Hoare's objective of applying mathematics of programming (August) is laudable, he starts off on the wrong foot. Many mathematical laws do not apply to truncated or rounded numbers of fixed word length. Consider, for example, the following instance of the associative law (his figure I), in which the numbers are rounded to two significant figures after multiplication: 12 x .95) x .67 = (.II)x .67 - .074(1) 12 x (.95 x .67) = .12x (.64) = .077(2) In programming many numerical tasks (for example, finding all of the roots of a polynomial), coping with finite-digit arithmetic is the only nontrivial part of the job. Philip R. Geffe Salisbury. MD Compatibility— A One-Way Street There is one aspect of computer com- patibility that appears to have been largely overlooked: the reverse compatibility of the IBM microcomputers with their vari- ous compatibles as well as the compati- bility of the compatibles with each other. Here is how I came face to face with this problem. I have recently compiled a GW-BASIC program on a Zenith Z-l 58 computer using the Microsoft BASIC compiler version 3.02. The compiler created an .EXE file that worked beautifully on the Zenith. However, to my great surprise, when I tried the disk with my .EXE file on IBM. 'Iandy, NCR. Leading Edge, and Epson com- puters, the program would not work. In each case the computer returned the mes- sage "Cannot execute a child of BASIC" As far as I could ascertain, the only com- puter other than the Zenith Z-l 58 on which the program did work was a Hewlett- Packard. I then compiled the same BASIC pro- gram on the Zenith by using the Microsoft QuickBASIC compiler version 2.0. As before, the compiled program worked beautifully on the Zenith and also on the IBM PC. But the IBM PC XT and Epson Equity I would not even read my .EXE file, returning the message "Not ready error reading drive A." although both com- puters properly showed the disk directory in response to the DIR command (I did not try this compiled program on the other computers). I then compiled the same BASIC pro- gram on the IBM PC XT by using the same Microsoft QuickBASIC compiler. Now the program ran perfectly on the IBM and on all other computers. Thus, computer compatibility is mostly a one-way affair. The "compatibles" are de- signed to execute machine-language pro- grams created for the IBMs on the IBMs. But, in general, neither the IBMs nor the compatibles can execute, or even read, machine language programs created on a different machine. Let this be a warning to those who in- tend to create IBM software by using a compatible computer. Better make sure beforehand that your intended compati- ble is two-way compatible. Oleg D. Jefimenko Morgantown. WVM State of the Smart * FCC APPROVED SmarTEAM 2400B • Internal slot modem for IBM PC, XT, AT and compatible computers • 7.5 inches length with the same great features of SmarTEAM 2400 • MITE + software optional SmarTEAM 1200 AT • Bell 103, 212A standard • Fully Hayes compatible. Auto dial (pulse or tone), auto answer • 2 self test modes (analog loop back and remote digital loop back test) • Call progress detection (dial tone, busy) Quality Communication HEAD OFFICE: TEAM TECHNOLOGY INC. 2F,No.2, Alley 2, Szu Wei Land Chung Cheng Rd.,Hsin-Tien City Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. TLX: 19725 PETRCHEN FAX: (02)7251830 TEL: (02)918-9249- 7252836 (Sales Dept) marTEAM 1200 BH 5Va' length with the same great features of SmarTEAM 1200 AT Internal slot modem for IBM PC, XT, AT and compatible SmarTEAM 2400 • 0-300, 1200, 2400 bps. Bell 103, 212AT CCITT V22, V22 bis. Full duplex • Auto dial (pulse or tone), auto answer automatically switches between tone and pulse • Hayes 2400 commands compatible • 6 self lest modes • Call progress detection (ringing, dial tone, busy) SmarTEAM 1200 CT • Compatible with CCITT V.21 and V.22 Alternate B 1200bps asynchronous • 0-300, 1200 bps full duplex • Compatible with Hayes commands Auto dial (pulse or tone), auto answer * OEM WELCOMES U.S. Soles And Service SmarTEAM INC. 1 9205 PARTHENIA St. Ste. J Northridge, CA 91324 TEL(8 18)886-9726 Service No.: (818)8869729 FAX:(81 8)886-6731 CANADA BUDGETRON INC. TEL:(4 16)673-7800 SINGAPORE: PET Computers TEL5331313 SPAIN ARCE IBERICA. S.A TEL : (4)4440462 HONG KONG QUANTUM DATA SYSTEMS LTD. TEL: 3-897278 Hayes is a registered trademark of Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. IBM PC. XT. AT are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. MITE is a registered trademark of MYCROFT LABS INC. 24 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 336 LANGUAGES THAT ARE CAUSING THE BIGGEST PROGRAMMING BACKLOG IN HISTORY ARE ALSO Whether it's BASIC, COBOL, Pascal, "C" or a data base manager, you're being held back. Held back because the language has frustrating limitations, and the programming environment isn't intuitive enough to keep track of what you're working on. In the real world, there's pres- sure to do more impressive work, in less time, and for more clients. We've been given some incredibly Eowerful hardware in recent times, ut the languages aren't a whole lot better than they were 20 years ago. So, whatever language you have chosen, by now you feel it s out to get you — because it is. Sure, no language is perfect, but you have to wonder, "Am I getting all I deserve?" And, like money, you'll never have enough. Pretty dismal, huh? We thought so, too. So we did something about it. We call it CLARION™ You'll call it "incredible." Distributed on 7 diskettes, CLARION consists of over 200,000 lines of code, taking 3+ years to hone to "world-class" performance. With CLARION you can write, compile, run and debug complex applications in a New York afternoon. Even if you're in Savannah. It gives you the power and speed to create screens, windows and reports of such richness and clarity you would never attempt them with any other language. Because you would have to write the code. With CLARION you simply design the screens using our SCREENER utility and then CLARION writes the source code AND compiles it for you in seconds. Likewise, you can use REPORTER to create reports. Remember, only CLARION can recompile and display a screen or report layout for modification. And with no time wasted. All the power and facilities you need to write great programs, faster than you ever dreamed of. Programs that are easy to use. Programs that are a pleasure to write. And to you that means true satisfaction. You've coveted those nifty pop-up help windows some major applica- tions feature. But you can't afford the time and energy it takes to write them into your programs. That's the way it used to be. So we fixed that, too. CLARION'S HELPER is an interactive utility that let's you design the most effective pop-up help screens that you can imagine. And they're "context sensitive, meaning you can have helf> for every field in your application. Unlike the other micro languages, CLARION provides declarations, procedures, and functions to process dates, strings, screens, reports, indexed files, DOS files and memory tables. SAY IT IN 3ICLARION ^^^m DEPT. A4BY/7 1-800-354-5444 Imagine making source program changes with the CLARION EDI- TOR. A single keystroke termi- nates the EDITOR, loads the COM- PILER, compiles the program, loads the PROCESSOR and executes the program. It's that easy! Our data management capabili- ties are phenomenal. CLARION files permit any number of compos- ite keys which are updated dynami- cally. A file may have as many keys as it needs. Each key may be com- posed of any fields in any order. And key files are updated when- ever the value of the key changes. Like SCREENER and RE- PORTER, CLARION'S FILER utility also has a piece of the CLARION COMPILER. To create a new file, you name the Source Module. Then you name the Statement Label of a Me structure within it. FILER will also automatically rebuild existing files to match a changed file structure. It creates a new record for every existing rec- ord, copying the existing fields and initializing new ones. Sounds pretty complicated, huh? Not with CLARION'S docu- mentation and on-line help screens. H you are currently competent in BASIC, Pascal or "C" vou can be writing CLARION applications in a day. In two days you won't believe the eloquence of your CLARION programs. Okay, now for the best part of all. You can say it in CLARION for $295.00— plus shipping and handling. All you need is an IBM® PC, XT, AT or true compatible, with 320 KB of memory, a hard disk drive, and a parallel port. And we'll allow a full 30 day evaluation period. If you're not satisfied with CLARION, simply return it in its original condition for a full refund. 2 you're not quite ready to take advantage of this no-risk opportunity, ask for our detailed 16 page color brochure. It vividly illustrates the elegance of CLARION. Consider it a preview of programming in the fast lane. Either way, the 800 call's a freebie. BAMBN0T0NSY5TEMSJNC 150 EAST SAMPti ROAD POMPAHO BEACH FKHBM 33064 305/785-45SS IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. CLARION 7 * 4 is a trademark of Banington Systems, Inc. ©1986 Barrington Systems Inquiry 36 NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 25 STATE OF THE Tech PC Desktop Computers are de- signed for survival . The XT's leave your desktop looking comfortably empty with their slim non-obtrusive profile; The AT's give you a powerful presence with a clean lined sturdy chassis. Com- bined with a 14 inch, 800 by 400 line amber monochrome monitor or a 14 inch, 1280 by 800 black and white monochrome monitor you 7 ve got State of the Art staring straight back at you. If 8 MHz 80286 power isn't fast enough for you ... try the Tech Turbo PC/AT with its 10MHz 80286 and 10 MHz 80287 math co-processor socket. The Tech Turbo PC/AT gives you the strongest, most powerful 80286 perfor- mance available from anyone, anywhere . . . available with up to 16 megabytes of memory and hard disks up TECH PC DESKTOP COMPUTERS are available now in 4 different base models: TECH PC/XT DESKTOP $529 Options: Tech PC/XT with 20MB Hard Disk $979 Tech PC/XT with 20MB Hard Disk, Monochrome Monitor, Hercules® Compatible Mono/Graphics Card $1179 TECH TURBO PC/XT DESKTOP $629 Options: Tech Turbo PC/XT Desktop with 20MB Hard Disk . . $1079 TechTurbo PC/XT 20MB Hard Disk, Monochrome Monitor, Hercules® Compatible Mono/Graphics Card $1279 26 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1986 ART DESKTOPS to 1 gigabyte with our new optical stor- age disk, the Tech Personal Computer Desktops represent the cutting edge of desktop microcomputer technology. Tech Personal Computers, Inc. is a full service manufacturer of Micro Com- puter Products and offers a complete line of Desktop, Portables and Multi- User Computer Systems as well as an accessory line of over one hundred enhancement products. Tech Personal Computers, Inc. are all backed by a full one year warranty with additional maintenance coverage and extended maintenance contracts available through Momentum Service Corp. For more information concerning hundreds of Service Centers throughout the United States, contact Tech Personal Computers, Inc. at (714) 754-1170. TECH PC/ATDESKTOP $1399 Options: Tech PC/AT with 20MB Hard Disk $1799 Tech PC/AT with 20MB Hard Disk, Monochrome Monitor, Hercules® Compatible Mono/Graphics Card $1999 TECH TURBO PC/AT DESKTOP $1599 Options: Tech Turbo PC/AT Desktop with 20MB Hard Disk . . . $1999 Tech Turbo PC/AT with 20MB Hard Disk, MonochromeMoni- tor, Hercules® Compatible Mono/Graphics Card .... $2199 All TECH PC DESKTOPS available with tape backups, hard disks up to 1 gigabyte, networking systems, and hundreds of other hardware and software accessories. TfetOT **** (714) 385-1711 1911 Betmor Lane, Anaheim, California 92805 Telex 272006 Answer Back - TECH FAX: 7143851523 Inquiry 337 for End-Useis. Inquiry 338 for DEALERS ONLY. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 27 EXPAND YOUR PC TO NEW HORIZONS PC-Slave II The Ultimate Two- User Card Advanced Digital now offers you two additional users for the price of one! With our PC-Slave II, you can quickly turn your personal computer into a host computer for a complete 3- user system. The PC-Slave II lets two additional users share one PC and all the expensive hardware and peripherals that you've already paid for. Plus you share access and communication between users and PC's. Each slave has two CPU's, two 512K bytes of memory, keyboard and monitor inter- face, making it possible for each user to work on the same program or two entirely different programs... as if they were two independent PC's. PC users often ask us how to network their many PC's. The solutions are many but expensive and slow. Advanced Digital's answer — the PC-Slave II — allows you to add additional workstations at a more reasonable cost... and with much faster performance than any local area network or software package. All you need to complete your 3-user system is the PC-Slave II, IBM's PC-NET software, and two low-cost monochrome monitors and keyboards. No new operating system, no new commands and no complications of a LAN. Each PC-Slave II gives your PC the full capabilities of two PC's and can support DOS 3.1 providing each user 100% compatibility with PC prbgfiajtfs. Advanced Digital offers many other PC products including the ADC-TAPE60. PC-EXBUS, PC-Slave, and more! For more information, call 1-800-251-1801 (outside California). Advanced Digital Corporation 5432 Production Drive Huntington Beach, CA 92649 (714) 891-4004; (800) 251-1801 Telex 183210 ADVANCED HTBH Advanced Digital U.K. Ltd. 27 Princes Street Hanover Square London W1R8NQ- United Kingdom (01)409-0077 Telex 265840 FINEST IBM. PC -©OS. PC-NET ate trademarks o'fi International Business Machines Corp. ADO ADVANCED DIGITAL CORPORATION Inquiry 402 for End-Users. PC-Slave II is a trademark of Advanced Digital Corp. Inquiry 403 for DEALERS ONLY. WHAT'S NEW DEC Introduces VAXmate PC Digital Equipment Corp. announced the VAX- mate computer, an IBM PC AT compatible capable of networking with VAX and MicroVAX computers. At the same time, the company introduced PC All-in- 1. a MicroVAX (I-based system that can connect up to 30 computers including VAX- mates, and VAX/VMS Ser- vices for MS-DOS. software that links the VMS and MS- DOS operating systems. The VAXmate. which runs on an 8-MHz 80286 micro- processor, consists of a system unit with a built-in monitor and 5!/4-inch floppy disk drive. The $404 5 com- puter comes with a mouse and a keyboard that sup- ports both DEC and IBM key functions. In addition to MS-DOS 3.1. the system's software includes Microsoft Windows. Microsoft's Net- works software, and VT220 and VT240 terminal emulators; the software license costs $2 50. The net- working software and Win- dows run in the upper 360K of the computer's I mega- byte of RAM. The VAXmate is also equipped with an Ethernet transceiver that supports the company's DECnet and Thin- Wire Ethernet local area net- work, which transmits infor- mation at 10 megabits per second. Via a server, the VAXmate can store and ac- cess files on VAX and MicroVAX systems. Besides VAX-based computers, the network can connect DEC Rainbows and IBM PC Xts and ATfc running Digital's DEC'S VAXmate, a networking AT compatible. DECnet software, as well as IBM mainframe systems linked to the network through DECnet/SNA Gate- way software. Network in- tegration kits for IBM PCs and Rainbows will be avail- able in 1987. the company says. Additional features of the VAXmate include serial and parallel ports and a video controller that supports DEC and IBM graphics modes, in- cluding CGA. EGA, and PGA standards. The VAXmate can hold an optional 2-megabyte memory-expansion board ($1600). an internal Hayes- compatible 2400-bps modem ($995). and a math coprocessor ($500). Other options can be added with an expansion box ($1945) that has a 20-megabyte hard disk and two AT-compatible expansion slots. With PC All-in- 1. the VAX mate can access services of DEC'S All-in-1 integrated of- fice system, such as docu- ment processing and elec- tronic mail. Priced at $81,160. PC All-in-1 contains all the MicroVAX II hard- ware, software, and services for linking up to 30 com- puters; several PC All-in-1 systems can also be connected. Using Microsoft Windows as an interface. VAX N MS Services for MS-DOS enables PC-compatible com- puters to store and access information on VAX. Micro- VAX, and VAXmate com- puters acting as servers. With the software, com- puters can access MS-DOS applications software and files, share laser printers and other peripherals, and ac- cess VMS-based files from remote systems on the net- work. The software ranges in price from $650 to $19,500. depending on configuration; the company plans to offer versions for Rainbows and IBM PC Xls and AIs in 1987. Digital will also sell server- based licenses for Micro- soft's Multiplan. Project, and Chart and Access tech- nology's 20/20 spreadsheet package. According to DEC. third-party software com- panies will offer versions of their software for use on the servers. For more information, con- tact Digital Equipment Corp.. Maynard, MA 01754-2 571. (800) 344-4825. Inquiry 550. AshtonTate Brings dBASE to the Mac Ashton-late introduced dBASE Mac. designed with pop-up menus and dialog boxes to enable you to create and modify the program's data files. A feature called Quick Create provides you with a template for data entry screens and reports, or you can customize the templates with dBASE Mac's graphic layout capabilities. Using the mouse, you can combine up to 36 data files through common fields, To create custom reports, you can select type styles and sizes, design and draw on the screen, and store and in- corporate graphic images. Software developers can create turnkey applications, including customized alerts and pull-down and pop-up menus. A procedural lan- guage includes pre- and postprocessing, add. delete, and write records pro- cedures, if-then statements, and mathematical calcula- tions. A Protect mode prevents you from altering applications. A 512K Macintosh or a Macintosh Plus, with at least one 800K floppy disk drive, is required. The program costs $495. For more infor- mation, contact Ashton-'Iate. 20101 Hamilton Ave.. Torrance. CA 90502-1319. (213) 329-8000. Inquiry 551. [continued) NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 29 WHAT'S NEW Works for the Mac Microsoft Works contains a word processor, database, spreadsheet with graphics, and a communica- tions module. You have the ability to work with up to ten files at once, and Microsoft reports that you can combine information from one module into another with a click of the mouse button. The word processor has a drawing facility that lets you draw lines, boxes, and circles around or on top of your text. It also has automatic background pagination, a copy format option to copy paragraph formatting from one paragraph to another, and an option for printing mail- ing labels in custom sizes. With the word-processing module, you also have the ability to create form letters, and text and graphics can be mixed on screen. With the database, you can add. delete, or rename fields, and you can store data in up to 60 fields per form. The spreadsheet has 256 columns and 9999 rows with 54 built-in functions that enable you to perform financial, scientific, or logical calculations. You can also create pie. bar. line, or combination charts for display with data. The communications module enables you to transmit all spreadsheet, database, and word-pro- cessor files without conver- sion. It also allows you to store up to eight telephone numbers for each document. XMODEM and MacBinary file transfer protocols are supported. Microsoft Works sells for $295 and runs on a 51 2 K Macintosh or a Macintosh Plus. For more information, contact Microsoft Corp.. P.O. Microsoft Works' word-processing module mixes text and graphics on-screen. Box 97017. Redmond. WA 98073-9717. (206) 882-8080. Inquiry 552. Corvus Announces 80386-based Series Corvus Systems intro- duced the Series 386 workstation and 70- and 126-megabyte file servers, all based on Intel's 80386 microprocessor. The ma- chines' 80386 operates at 16 MHz and provides 32-bit memory two 32-bit expan- sion bus interfaces for RAM expansion, and enhanced BIOS functions. The workstation, which is compatible with the IBM PC AT. and file servers come with 51 2 K bytes of RAM on the motherboard and a 16-bit. 2-megabyte RAM ex- pansion board. Each unit can hold six half-height storage devices. Standard features include an AT- compatible keyboard, a 1. 2-megabyte floppy disk drive, and a 200-watt power supply. The workstation and lower-capacity file server are equipped with a 70-mega- byte hard disk drive with an average access time of 40 ms; the higher-capacity file server uses a 126-megabyte hard disk with an access time of 30 ms. The file servers also incorporate a 60-megabyte streaming tape drive and come with Novell 2.0a software, available in 8086 or 80286 protected- mode versions. The workstation sells for $12,795; the 70- and 126-megabyte file servers cost-$16.595 and $19,795. respectively. The company says that it is working with Award Software of Los Gatos. California, to develop an extended ARompatible ROM BIOS for use on the Series 386. According to the company, the extended BIOS will take advantage of the 80386's advanced capa- bilities and maintain com- patibility with the 80286 BIOS used in the IBM PC AT. For more information, contact Corvus Systems Inc.. 2100 Corvus Dr., San Jose. CA 95124, (408) 559-7000. Inquiry 553. SCSI based Hard Disks for the Mac Plus General Computer an- nounced an external 20-megabyte hard disk drive, the HyperDrive FX/20. for the Macintosh. The drive uses the SCSI port that's standard with the Macintosh Plus and with upgraded ver- sions of 512K Macs. The drive's data transfer rate ranges from 51 OK bytes per second to 1.25 megabytes per second (peak). Priced at $1199. the drive includes a print spooling utility that enables you to queue several documents for print- ing on a LaserWriter while the computer performs other tasks. Also bundled with the drive are a backup utility and a security pro- gram that encrypts data in a file and destroys ali traces of the original. For more in- formation, contact General Computer Corp.. 2 1 5 First St.. Cambridge. MA 02142. (617) 492-5500. Inquiry 554. Supra Corp.. manufac- turer of the SupraDrive hard disks for the Atari ST computer, also introduced a 20-megabyte external hard disk drive for the Macintosh Plus. The 3 /2-inch drive con- nects to the Mac's SCSI port and sells for $799. The drive comes formatted and boots without the use of a floppy disk. The drive's software uses Apple's Hierarchical File System and. the com- pany says, is compatible with all Macintosh applica- tions. For more information, contact Supra Corp., 1133 Commercial Way. Albany, OR 97321. (503) 967-9075. Inquiry 555. ProAPP introduced the ProAPP 40S, an external 40-megabyte hard disk drive that connects to the SCSI port on the Macintosh Plus. The drive operates with an average access time of less than 30 ms and is compati- ble with the original version of the Finder as well as with Apple's Hierarchical File System. Priced at $1995. the drive comes preformatted and with menu-driven in- stallation software. Contact ProAPP Inc.. 10005 Muir- lands. Suite O. Irvine. CA 92718. (714) 855-9088. Inquiry 556. [continued] 30 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 RAM-Resident Program Users... IT'S EASY TO WIN WHEN YOU BUY THE REFEREE With Referee, you make the rules. If you use desktop organizers, spell checkers, keyboard enhancers or other RAM-resident programs, you may have already discovered the horror of "RAM Cram RAM Cram occurs when memory resident programs compete with each other (and with applications programs) for control of your keyboard or other computer resources. It's a fierce competition that can cause your computer to lock up completely. Then you pay the penalty— in lost time and lost data. Referee, by Persoft, is a new type of software that puts you in total control of your RAM-resident programs. And that puts Referee in a league all its own. You can create your own RAM Teams™ for specific applications programs. Team Superkey™ and Sidekick™ with Lotus 1-2-3™. Or call in Prokey™ and bench the others when you switch to dBASE Load all the programs you need at the beginning of your workday. Referee auto- matically activates and deactivates the ones you need according to your set of rules. Instantly. Invisibly. You can also use Referee to unload programs from memory— even those with no unload option of their own. Referee's Sideline™ menu enables you to control RAM-resident programs from within an applications program! 's ideal for integrated pack- ages like Symphony™. You can use a keyboard enhancer with the spreadsheet module. Or deactivate it, enter the word processing module and activate your favorite spell checker. It's easy. And you never have to back all the way out of the program! Referee puts an end to RAM-resident program conflicts. At $69.95, it solves a very big problem for a very small price. It's easier to win with the Referee on your side. For more information, and for the dealer nearest you, contact: Persoft, Inc., 465 Science Drive, Madison, Wl 53711, (608) 273-6000-Telex 759491. KBi persap © Copyright 1986 Persoft. Inc. All rights reserved. Referee. Sideline, and RAM Teams are trademarks of Persolt. Inc. Sidekick and Superkey are registered trademarks of Borland International, Inc. Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony are registered trademarks of Lolus Development Corp. Prokey is a trademark of RoseSoft. Inc dBASE 111 is a registered trademark of Ashlon-Tate. Visit Booth #8624 Hilton Pavillion West COMDEX/Las Vegas Inquiry 258 NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 31 WHAT'S NEW Sperry Introduces Fast AT Clone Sperry introduced the PC/microIX a smaller, lower-cost, speeded-up ver- sion of the firm's PC/IT. The new machine features a 1 5-inch-square footprint and five expansion slots, ar- ranged horizontally. Like the older PC/IT. the new com- puter is manufactured by Mitsubishi but features a slightly faster processor. The PC/microlT's processor runs at a top speed of 8 MHz with no wait states, whereas the older processor has a top speed of 7.16 MHz with no wait states. A standard feature of the computer is support of synchronous communications as well as the more common asyn- chronous communications. According to Sperry. all one has to do is attach a modem and the appropriate terminal emulation software in order to communicate with various mainframe com- puters. The system can also be configured to support five users under XENIX System V. A diskless version of the PC/microlT with 512 K bytes of memory and a Key Tronic-type keyboard costs $2345. A version that in- cludes a 20-megabyte hard disk drive, but no floppy drive, costs $3 590. A 20-megabyte hard disk card is available for $995. and a 1.2-megabyte floppy drive costs $275. Monitors are ad- ditional. For more informa- tion, contact Sperry Corp.. World Headquarters, Blue Bell. PA 19424-0031. (215) 542-4213 or 542-4217. Inquiry 557. Modular Business Software Open Access II is a six- function modular busi- ness system. The modules include a database with a Sperry 's PC/microlT runs at a top speed of 8 MHz programming language, spreadsheet, graphics, word processor, communications, and utilities. The programming lan- guage within the database module controls window generation and other screen functions. It uses a free-text format that eliminates line numbers and column restric- tions. The database also features global update func- tions and a status window that shows calculation results as you add. change, or delete records. With the spreadsheet, a goal-seeking function enables you to define up to five target values, then work backward to perform "what if" calculations automatically. The spreadsheet also fea- tures three-dimensional, high-resolution graphics. And you can use the cross- table analyzer to summarize data and incorporate it into specific tables. The spread- sheet also features a text editor, mail-merge and calc- merge capabilities, and the ability to display up to four spreadsheets on-screen simultaneously. According to the manufac- turer, you can use the desk- top utilities no matter where you are in the Open Access II system. Utilities include appointment scheduling, a business-card file with auto- dial, a calculator, alarm, three-time-zone clock, and a calendar. Open Access II runs on IBM PCs. XIS. Aft. and com- patibles with at least 256K bytes of RAM. The program costs $595. and a network version is available for $995. For more information, con- tact Software Products Inter- national. 10240 Sorrento Valley Rd.. San Diego. CA 92121. (619) 450-1526. Inquiry 558. External RAM Storage for IBM PCs Santa Clara Systems an- nounced a nonvolatile RAM-based external storage system called BATRAM (short for "battery RAM") for use with the IBM PC and compatible computers. The unit is functionally the same as a hard disk drive al- though it has no internal moving or mechanical parts. According to the company, the device can transfer data at rates as high as 4 mega- bytes per second, up to 700 percent faster than hard disk drives. The BATRAM's re- chargeable electrolyte gel batteries provide up to two weeks of uninterruptible power so that no data is lost when the system is turned off or power is inter- rupted. The unit can also be treated as extended memory. The basic model comes with a 4-megabyte memory board and has four slots available for memory up- grades. The system can be expanded with 4- or 16- megabyte memory cards, to a maximum of 80 mega- bytes. The unit's interface card plugs into a short slot and supports 8-bit and 16-bit architectures; inter- rupts and DMA channels are not used. Other features in- clude full error detection and correction capabilities and support for Novell Net- Ware utilities. The unit also supports all DOS utilities and lets you create and use multiple DOS partitions. The BATRAM's base price is $1895 for a 4-megabyte sys- tem; additional 4-megabyte cards cost $1295 each. Memory cards with 16 megabytes of RAM will not be available until next year. The company also plans to introduce next year optional software that automatically backs up data onto a hard disk connected to the unit. For more information, con- tact Santa Clara Systems Inc.. 1610 Berryessa Rd.. San Jose. CA 95133. (408) 729-6700. Inquiry 559. [continued] 32 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 IeasyWjvse^ powerful jxpandabjlity^ syppoKfT ^INTEGRATION FLEXIBILITY'' PERFORMANCE" ) $69.95 Perfect Balance Now the scales are .in your favor. Dac-Easy Accounting gives you the best price plus tremendous performance. That means value, and the experts agree. Dac-Easy Accounting was recognized by InfoWorld as 1985's overall "BEST SOFTWARE VALUE." No other accounting package can match the explosive user base or the unanimous acclaim from industry experts. Dae is the perfect choice for your first accounting system or for upgrading from a single module system. Either way compare, and you will join over 150,000 people who have computerized with Dac-Easy. J> PERFORMANCE Accurate information when you need it is what performance is all about. Fast, flexible reports give you what you need to know to manage cash-flow, rum inventory and increase profits . . . Listen to the skeptics-turned-believers. "Dac-Easy Accounting is so inexpensive . . . we were skeptical . . . We expected to find a program that couldn't compete on a feature- by-feature basis . . . We were wrong." Info World, 1985 V* EXPANDABILITY You never have to worry about outgrowing the Dac-Easy Series, which offers seven software products, support, and ten different business forms. All of our products are top performers offered at amazing prices. Dac-Easy Payroll is the best full featured payroll system on the market. Dac-Easy Tutors are disk-based tutorials available for Accounting and Payroll. Dac-Easy Port sends accounting and payroll files to your favorite spreadsheet. Dac-Easy Mate is the perfect companion to Accounting and Payroll offering file look-up, macros, calculator, color, and much more. Dac-Easy Word is our easy to use word processor that is packed with powerful features. Dac-Easy Forms and Fast Forms offer the best in continuous, multi-part forms, and checks. V* INTEGRATION Dac-Easy's seven modules work together perfectly. Enter data once and it's posted to the other modules automatically. Also, most modules can be used stand-alone. I> FEATURES V* SUPPORT Subscribe to our toll free support agreement and join the best support program in the industry. Our friendly 12 person support staff are trained to answer your accounting and technical questions. No'excuses, and no delays. Find out for yourself why Dac- Easy is the fastest selling accounting package in history. Call us today! General Ledger • Unlimited multi-level accounts with screen inquiry for three years • Pencil and pen correction option • Automatic budgeting by department • Unlimited journals and departments • Excellentaudit trail and flexible financial statements Accounts Receivable • Open invoice or balance forward per customer for unlimited number of customers • Multi-sorted mailing labels product 'needs' • Statements and invoices . Automatic forecast of support automatic finance charges and special comments • Detailed history for three , years for number of invoices, sales, cost, and , profits • Customized aging report • Automatic sales forecasting Accounts Payable • Checks handle multiple invoices, unlimited allocations and cash available protection • Multi-sorted vendor labels and directories • Customized aging report • Automatic forecasting of purchases Inventory • Average, last purchase, and standard costing • Physical inventory with perpetual comparisons • Accepts fractional measure such as dozens Automatic forecasting of Eroduct sales detailed three-year history for every product Automatic pricing, alert and activity reports Screen inquiry for on-hand/ on-order/sales/cost/profit/ turns/GROI/etc Purchase Order • Inventory and non- inventory items • Allows up to 99 lines • Per line discount in % • Accepts generic deductions • Accepts back orders and returns • Purchase journal Billing • Service or Inventory invoicing on plain or pre- printed Forms with remarks • Prints sales journal • Allows return credit memo Forecasting Unique program that auto- matically forecasts using your three-year history: • Revenue and expense accounts • Vendor purchases Customer^ales, cost and profit Inventory item usage Four different forecasting methods OVER 80 ROUTINES AND 300 REPORTS l> FLEXIBILITY Dac offers the rare ability to handle either service or product- oriented companies without sacrificing features. "Dac-Easy Accounting is everything its designers say it is . . . It is also flexible enough to fulfill the accounting needs of almost any type of business." Journal of Financial Computing, 1985 NOW FOR ATARI & APPLE Dac-Easy Accounting and Payroll are now available for the Atari 520 & 1040 ST. Dac-Easy Accounting is also available for the Apple II + , He & Ik. Minimum hardware requirements All Dac-Easy products run on IBM or other compatibles. 256K memory, two disk drives, MS-DOS, PC-DOS 2.0 or later, 132 column printer in compressed mode, color or monochrome monitor. Selected products availableon the Atari STand Apple II series. eSfB/Accounting~ t& ■/ ; TO ORDER CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-992-7779 Ask for Operator #829 IN TEXAS CALL 1-214-458-0038 or mail the order form below. I! Mail to: dac software, inc. 4801 Spring Valley Rd Bldg. 110-B Dallas, TX 75244 Yes, please rush me the following Dac products: Product Qtv. Price Total Dac-Easy Accounting 69.95 Dac-Easy Payroll 49.95 Dac-Easy Word 49.95 Dac-Easy Mate 39.95 Dac-Easy Port 29.95 Dac Accounting Tutor 19.95 Dac Payroll Tutor 19.95 Add Shipping Charge 7. Texas Residents Add Sales Tax (bWk) TOTAL □ Check □ Money Order □ AMEX D VISA D MASTERCARD Account # Expires Signature Name Company - Address — City Phone Computer Brand _ Type of Business — No. of Employees _ .Zip. Inquiry 95 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee Dac Software offers an uncondi- tional guarantee on all Dac-Easy products (less shipping charges). There is a $10 restocking fee if the disk seal is broken. This guarantee 1 is available on all products bought directly from Dac Software. MS-DOS is a trademark of MicroSoft Corp. IBM and PC-DOS 2.0 are regis- tered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. #829 WHAT'S NEW Compaq Adds Hard Disk, RAM to Deskpro 286 Compaq Computer Corp. announced a new ver- sion of the Deskpro 286 that features a 20-megabyte hard disk. 640K bytes of RAM, and a 1.2 -megabyte floppy disk drive. The new machine, the Model 20. car- ries a suggested retail price of $3999. The Model 20 in- corporates an 8-MHz 80286 processor and can hold four storage devices. At the same time, the company reduced the price of the Model I, the earlier version of the Deskpro 286. from $3999 to $2999; the Model I has 256K bytes of RAM and a 1.2-megabyte floppy disk drive. For more infor- mation, contact Compaq Computer Corp.. 20555 FM 149. Houston. TX 77070. (713) 370-0670. Inquiry 560. Bubble-Memory Card for IBM PCs Intel introduced a mem- ory-expansion board for IBM PCs and compatibles that provides up to I mega- byte of nonvolatile storage. The PC-Bubble Card fits into an expansion slot and emulates the functions of a hard disk drive. According to the company, the card's bubble memory enables it to withstand harsher en- vironmental conditions than traditional hard disk drives. The card comes with 51 2 K bytes ($895) or I megabyte of bubble memory ($1545). It's equipped with a con- troller, a PC bus interface, PC I/O channel interface logic, and an EPROM-based I/O driver that makes the unit compatible with all versions of MS-DOS and PC-DOS. An evaluation version of the card is also available and includes software that enables designers to pro- gram a bubble-memory con- troller and build prototype bubble-based systems. A half-megabyte evaluation board costs $495; a 1 -mega- byte board costs $945. For more information, contact Intel Corp.. 3065 Bowers Ave.. P.O. Box 85065. Santa Clara. CA 95052-8065. (916) 351-2746. Inquiry 561. C++ Translator for the IBM PC Guidelines Software has released a low-cost C++ translator for the IBM PC family of computers. Developed by Bjarne Stroustrup of Bell Labs, the translator allows you to add features such as object- oriented programming, con- structors and destructors, and data abstraction to C programs. The package re- quires a 640K-byte IBM PC and currently works only with Microsoft's C compiler version 3.0. According to Nathaniel Stitt. a cofounder of the company, Guidelines is currently working on ver- sions for the Lattice and Computer Innovations com- pilers. The C++ translator sells for $195. Contact Guidelines Soft- ware. P.O. Box 749. Orinda. CA 94563. (415) 254-9393. Inquiry 562. T\irbo Pascal for the Macintosh Borland announced that TUrbo Pascal for the Macintosh features pull- down menus and dialog boxes. The program makes use of the Macintosh point- and-click interface and the Hierarchical File System. The company reports compilation speeds of over 12,000 lines per minute. You can create large programs with the feature called Unit Structure, which allows you to link separate units to form one TUrbo Pascal program. Multiple editing windows enable you to edit, compile, and excecute each window individually. You can switch from one window to another with several windows open at the same time. f You also have a choice of how to compile pro- grams, and you can define default volume and folder names for filenames used in compiler directives. TUrbo Pascal for the Mac is not copy-protected. It sells for $99.95 and runs on a Macintosh with at least 256K bytes of RAM and a 400K disk drive. For more information, contact Borland Interna- tional. 4585 Scotts Valley Dr.. Scotts Valley. CA 95066. (408) 438-8400. Inquiry 563. IBM PC Compatibility for the DEC Rainbow 100 Code Blue is a conver- sion program that trans- forms the DEC Rainbow 100's operating system into IBM's PC-DOS. Intersecting Concepts, the manufacturer, reports that you do not need to add to or modify the Rainbow's hardware to use Code Blue. A DEC Rainbow 100 run- ning MS-DOS 2.05 or higher with a minimum of 256K bytes of RAM is required. The company suggests 768K bytes or more for best results. Code Blue costs $99.95 and is not copy-protected. For more information, con- tact Intersecting Concepts. 4573 Heatherglen Court, Moorpark. CA 93021. (805) 529-5073. Inquiry 564. Develop 68000 Software on IBM PCs Language Resources has introduced a hardware/ software system that enables users of the IBM PC. XT. AT. and compatibles to develop software for the Motorola 68000 processor. The sys- tem, called the 68000 SDS. includes a 68000 plug-in board, an in-circuit emulator, and development software. Programs developed on the system can run in any 68000 operating environment, the company claims. The plug-in board has an 8-MHz 68000 and 512 K bytes of zero-wait-state, dual-ported RAM. The board can run user-developed pro- grams in real time or under the control of the symbolic debugger, which provides load, execution, breakpoint, and single-step functions. The debugger also has com- mands to address, display, and modify memory and registers. The system's in- circuit emulator provides real-time emulation of the 68000 in the target hardware. The MASM-68 assembler ' that comes with the system is a Motorola-compatible assembler incorporating ad- vanced features such as string macros, conditional assembly, structured control, and INCLUDE statements. The system comes with either a C or Pascal com- piler, both of which have a run-time interface and floating-point libraries, as well as a linker/locator. The system sells for $4700. Additional utilities and upgrade options are available. For more informa- tion, contact Language Resources Inc.. 4885 River- bend Rd.. Boulder. CO 80301. (303) 449-6809. Inquiry 565. {continued) 34 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE SEDUCED BY POWER AMD MONEY. Admit it. You're intrigued with the idea of C programming. You may be working in BASIC, Pascal or Assembler now But you're drawn to the power, por- tability and flexibility of C. And if money is what motivates you, imagine having it all for just $75 with Mark Williams Let's C* EVERYTHING YOU COULD ASK FOR IN A C COMPILER. Let's C is no mere training tool. It's a complete, high quality C compiler. With the speed and code density to run your programs fast and lean. It won't get you side- tracked on some quirky aberration of C; Let's C supports the complete Kernighan & Ritchie C language-to the letter. And it comes from the family of Mark Williams C compilers, the name chosen by DEC, Intel, Wang and thousands of professional programmers. POWERFUL UTILITIES ARE A REAL BONUS Let's C doesn't stop with being a high performance C compiler. It includes utilities you'd expect to pay extra for-like a linker and assembler plus the MicroEMACS fall screen editor with source code included. Having the source code not only allows you to customize the editor, it offers a close up, fully commented view of C programming at its best. REVIEWERS ARE SOLD ON LET'S C, TOO. "Let's C is an inexpensive, high-quality program- ming package... with all the tools you will need to Features • For the IBM-PC and Compatibles • Fast compact code plus register variables • Full Kernighan & Ritchie C and extensions • Full UNIX compatibility and complete libraries • Small memory model • Many powerful utilities includ- ing linker, assembler, archiver, cc one-step compiling, egrep, pr, tail, wc • MicroEMACS full screen editor with source MARK WILLIAMS LET'S C $75 60 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE • Supported by dozens of third party libraries • Upgradeable to C Program- ming System for large scale applications development • Not copy protected Let's C Benchmark Done on an IBM-PC/XT, no 8087. Program: Floating Point from BYTE, August 1983. Exec Time in Seconds Let's C 134 MS 4.0 147 create applications." -William G. Wong, BYTE, August 1986. "Let's C is a thoroughly professional C environment loaded with tools and pro- gramming utilities. . .another fine Mark Williams product" -Christopher Skelly, COMPUTER LANGUAGE, Februaiyl986 ^ , j ^ ' The performance and t/ ;S; documentation of the $75 J\ Let's C compiler rival those of /fi\ C compilers for the PC currently &£$ W\ being sold for $500... I;)/ V \ highly recommended..." V-. ~T -Marty Franz, PC TECH r S^.M JOURNAL, August 1986 ADD THE csd DEBUGGER AND CUT DEVELOPMENT TIME IN HALF. Invest another $75 and you've got Mark Williams revolutionary source level debugger, csd lets you bypass clunky assembler and actually debug in C. That's a big help when you're learning C and indispensable when you're programming, csd combines the interactive advantages of an inter- preter with the speed of a compiler, slicing development time in half. This is how Byte Maga- zine summed it up: u csd is close to the ideal debugging environment " William G. Wong, BYTE, August 1986 ARE YOU STILL RESISTING? If there's any doubt that now's the time to get your hands on the power of C, consider Mark Williams 60-day money back guarantee. You can't lose. But with Let's C and csd, imagine what you could gain. Ask for Let's C and csd at your software dealer's, in the software department of your favorite bookstore, through the Express Program at over 5500 Tandy stores or order now by calling 1-800-MWC-1700 * *In Illinois call 312-472-6659 Mark Williams Company 1430 West Wrightwood, Chicago, Illinois 60614 © 1986, Mark William s Company Let's C is a registered trademark of the Mark Williams Company UNIX is a trademark of Beil Labs. Inquiry 198 MARK WILLIAMS LET'S C. ONLY *75. WHAT'S NEW SYSTEMS MC-32 Personal Supermini Mighty Computers Co. has introduced its MC-32 Personal Supermini, an IBM PC-compatible com- puter equipped with a 32-bit coprocessor. The copro- cessor board features a 10-MHz 32032 processor with 32-bit data paths and addressing, a 32081 floating- point coprocessor, and 1.5 megabytes of RAM that can be expanded to 8 mega- bytes. The machine's main processor is an 8088 run- ning at 4.77 MHz. Under the MS-DOS operat- ing system, the MC-32 runs standard PC-compatible pro- grams. Software develop- ment for the 32032 is han- dled through the host com- puter. Three high-level languages-C. FORTRAN, and Pascal— are available, in. addition to the assembler/ linker/debugger/loader soft- ware that comes with the computer. An optional vir- tual I/O package lets developers write code that can occupy up to 15.5 megabytes. The MC-32 can also run UNIX System V version 5.2. With 1.5 megabytes of RAM and a 20-megabyte hard disk, the system sells for $3 500. For more informa- tion, contact Mighty Com- puters Co.. 4529 Angeles Crest Highway, Suite 207, La Canada Flintridge. CA 91011, (818) 952-8832. Inquiry 566. Low-Cost AT Clones HHech International is offering the SAM 3001. an IBM PC AT compatible, for $995. The computer, manufactured by Samsung, is based on an 80286 run- ning at 6 or 8 MHz and in- cludes 640K bytes of on- The dual-processor MC-32 Personal Supermini. board RAM. a 1.2-megabyte floppy disk drive, two serial ports, one parallel port, eight expansion slots, and a color graphics board. An en- hanced version, which sells for $1595, is also available. For more information, con- tact HHech International Inc., 1180-M Miraloma Way, Sunnyvale. CA 94086. (408) 738-0601. Inquiry 567. Computer Direct's CD/286 computer runs on a 10-MHz 80286 processor and offers compatibility with the IBM PC AT. Priced at $1295, the system is equipped with a 1.2-mega- byte floppy disk drive. 512K bytes of memory on the motherboard, an AT-style keyboard, and a 192-watt power supply. Various peripherals and add-ins. in- cluding monitors, hard disks, and tape backup units, are available as options. The company's $1795 system includes a Hercules- compatible monochrome graphics card, a mono- chrome monitor, and a 20-megabyte hard disk. A $2295 system comes with an EGA-compatible monitor and EGA-compatible graphics card with 2 56K bytes of video RAM. Con- tact Computer Direct. 7801 North Lamar. Suite E-216. Austin. TX 78752, (512) 459-4199 or 459-4190. Inquiry 568. ACP International is sell- ing the Advanced 286, an IBM PC AT-compatible computer that's based on a 6- or 8-MHz 80286 micro- processor. With a price of $1495, the basic system (Model I) comes with 640K bytes of memory on the motherboard, a 1.2-mega- byte floppy disk drive, a keyboard, eight expansion slots, a 200-watt power supply, a clock with battery backup, and Phoenix ROM BIOS. The Model II adds a 30-megabyte hard disk drive. Either system can hold three half-height storage devices ' and use VA- or 5^-inch floppy disk drives. Upgrades and options for the systems are available. Contact ACP International Inc.. 1310 East Edinger. Suite C. Santa Ana. CA 92705, (714) 558-8822. Inquiry 569. 32-bit VME Computer Runs at 25 MHz Heurikon's HK68/V2F is a 68020-based VME single-board computer de- signed for real-time applica- tions, including robotics and high-speed communications control. The board features a 68020 processor operating at speeds of up to 25 MHz. up to 4 megabytes of dual- ported RAM. up to 128K EPROM, 128 bytes of non- volatile static RAM. and an RS-232C serial port; an RS-422 port is an option. Among the other features of the board are four 8-bit counter timers, mailbox in- terrupt support, and a master/slave interface to a VMEbus with 32-bit data paths. 3 2 -bit addressing, and single-level arbitration. A 68881 floating-point co- processor and clock with battery backup are available as options. The board sells for $1695. It supports Hunter and Ready's VRTX and Micro- ware's OS-9 operating sys- tems. Contact Heurikon Corp., 3201 Latham Dr.. Madison. WI 53713. (800) 3 56-9602; in Wisconsin. (608) 271-8700. Inquiry 570. [continued) 36 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 MARK WILLIAMS C. AN ENLIGHTENING DEVELOPMENT FOR ATARI ST USERS. If you've tried your hand at developing applications on the Atari ST, you know the problem. Pro- gramming tools aren't only hard to come by they're hard to use. One might even say primitive. But now for some enlightening news: you can have all the power, portability and versatility of the C language from a leader in professional C pro- gramming tools, Mark Williams. BRING YOUR PROGRAMMING UP TO SPEED. The Mark Williams C compiler ~^G* .' produces fast, dense code and supports the ^>,. complete Kernighan & Ritchie industry stan- dard C. You'll have access to GEM's AES and VDI libraries for programs using graphics, icons and the Atari mouse. And Mark Williams C lets you take advantage of the full 16 megabytes in Atari's 68000 microprocessor. STREAMLINE DEVELOPMENT WITH POWER UTILITIES. Mark Williams C is loaded with everything you'll need for professional development. Bring the power of the UNIX environment to your Atari ST with our Features C compiler • Complete Kernighan & Ritchie C plus extensions • Up to eightregister variables • Full access to AES and VDI libraries for programs using graphics, icons and mouse • Complete UNIX-compatible libraries allow easy portability to and from UN IX development environment. • Over 300 Atari-specific routines • One-step compiling, linking with cc command • English error messages • Lint-like error checking Microshell Command Processor, powerful UNIX style shell includes I/O redirection, pipes, command substitutions MicroEMACS Full Screen Editor with commented source code included Make Program Building Discipline Complete symbolic debugger with single-step, breakpoints and stack traceback Assembler, linker and archiver Powerful Utilities Package: egrep, sort, diff.cmp, pr,tail, uniq,wc and more Over 600 pages of documentation including 1 20 sample C programs Not copy protected MARK WILLIAMS C FOR THE ATARI ST $179 95 60 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE Microshell Command Processor including pipes, I/O redirection and more. Edit your program with the highly acclaimed MicroEMACS full screen editor. Accelerate and simplify compiling with make which finds and recompiles only those modules affected by your changes. Then, when you're ready for debugging, call on our db Symbolic Debugger with single step, breakpoint and stack traceback functions. Over 40 commands, including a linker and assembler, provide a total development package for your Atari ST. DEPEND ON A NAME WITH A HISTORY OF PERFORMANCE. Mark Williams C for the Atari ST is part of our growing line of C compilers. A line that includes the C compiler chosen by DEC, Intel, Wang and thousands of profes- sional programmers. Now our Atari C compiler is earning its own reputation: "Finally a great C compiler that exploits the power of the ST"-Sigmund Hartmann, President, Atari Software Group "The all-around best choice for serious software development on the ST/'-Douglas Weir of ANALOG COMPUTING GET WHAT YOUR ATARI ST HAS BEEN WAITING FOR. Mark Williams C is just what your Atari ST was made for powerful, professional programming. So now that you can have Mark Williams C for just $179.95, what are you waiting for? Ask your Atari dealer about Mark Williams C or order today by calling 1-800-MWC-1700.* •In Illinois call: 312-472-6659 Mark Williams Company 1 430 West Wrightwood, Chicago, Illinois 6061 4 © 1986, Mark Williams Company UNIX is a trademark of Bell Labs. Inquiry 199 WHAT'S NEW PERIPHERALS Book-size Tape Backup for IBM PCs Irwin Magnetics intro- duced its 400 Series Backup tape subsystems for the IBM PC XX AT. and compatibles. The units come with 10, 20, or 40 mega- bytes of storage capacity and measure about 2 inches by 7 inches. The 10- and 20-megabyte models for the IBM PC XT and compatibles transfer data at a rate of 2 50.000 bits per second. The 20- and 40-megabyte models for the PC AT and compatibles feature a data transfer rate of 500.000 bps. The units have the ability to read tapes created on lower-capacity drives. All models come with a tape cartridge and software; op- tions include an external power supply and cables. Retail prices are $799 for the 10-megabyte model; $950 for the 20-megabyte models; and $1095 for the 40-megabyte model. For more information, contact Irwin Magnetics. 2311 Green Rd.. Ann Arbor. Ml 48105. (313) 996-3300. Inquiry 571. Add PostScript to LaserJet Printers The Laser Connection, an affiliate of laser-printer maker QMS. unveiled an add-on for the Hewlett- Packard LaserJet that gives PostScript compatibility to the printer. The $2995 upgrade, called the PS Jet consists of a top-cover assembly that includes a controller board. The PS Jet supports a graphics resolu- tion of 300 dots per inch, which is superior to normal LaserJet output, and it includes 2 megabytes of RAM and an AppleTalk connection. In addition to the LaserJet, the unit works with other \rwin Magnetics 400 Series tape backup system. laser printers based on the Canon print engine. The one-piece unit, the company says, can be installed in a printer in 1 5 minutes with a screwdriver. Contact The Laser Connection Inc.. 7852 Schillinger Park West Mobile, AL 36608. (205) 633-7223. Inquiry 572. AST's TlirboScan Digitizes Text, Art The TUrboScan page scanner from AST Research converts color or black-and-white text, art, and photographs into binary code for further processing with a Macintosh or IBM PC and compatible computers. The scanner digitizes images with a resolution of up to 300 dots per inch and uses data compression and DMA transfer to scan an 8/2- by II -inch document in less than 10 seconds, the com- pany says. The scanner's line-art mode converts images, in- cluding those with shades of gray, into black and white. Its halftone mode, which provides 12 screening op- tions, simulates the shades of the original document You can also mix the two modes when scanning a single image. The TUrboScan. which costs $2395, is equipped with a parallel and a serial port and bundled with soft- ware that lets you incor- porate scanned images into WordStar documents. Con- tact AST Research Inc.. 2121 Alton Ave., Irvine, CA 92714, (714) 863-1333. Inquiry 573. Okidata's Highest- Speed Printer The Microline 294 dot- matrix printer from Okidata prints at a rate of 400 characters per second in draft mode and at 100 cps in near-letter-quality mode. The printer can also output bit-mapped graphics at a resolution of up to 288 dots per inch. The 294 comes with one of six plug-in modules that emulate an IBM Graphics Printer or other Microline printers and provide a parallel. RS-232C or RS-422 interface. Software for type font selection and color printing is bundled with the IBM-compatible module. The printer can handle continuous forms or cut sheets up to 16 inches wide. An 8K buffer is standard; a 32K buffer is optional. Sug- gested retail price for the 294 is $1499, which includes one plug-in module; addi- tional modules cost $12 5 each. Contact Okidata. 532 Fellowship Rd, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054, (609) 235-2600. Inquiry 574. SCSI Tape Backup for Mac Plus The TDBK-20+. a tape backup unit from MDIdeas for the Macintosh Plus, can back up 22 mega- bytes of data on each tape cartridge. The unit connects to the computer's SCSI port and works with MDIdeas' HD-20 and HD-30. Apple's Hard Disk 20, and most other hard disks for the Macintosh. The unit is compatible with Apple's HFS and the original version of the Finder. Suggested retail price is $1095. which in- cludes a 110/220-volt power supply Contact MDIdeas Inc.. nil Triton Dr.. Suite 205. Foster City CA 94404, (415) 573-0580. Inquiry 575. Test Scinch Disk Drives Proto PC has introduced a 3 /2-inch adapter kit for its EX2000 Disk Drive Exerciser. When purchased as an option for current models of the EX2000. the adapter kit costs $29 and comes with cables for the connectors on 3!/2-inch drives. The upgrade kit. sold to owners of older models of the EX2000. costs $49 and includes a ROM up- grade with 3 , /2-inch drive tables in addition to cables. Contact Proto PC Inc.. 2424 Territorial Rd., St. Paul. MN 55114, (612) 644-4660. Inquiry 576. [continued) 38 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 226 for End-Users. Inquiry 227 for DEALERS ONLY. Clipper is the fastest dBase III ai._ dBase III Plus 1 -compiler available. Nothing else comes close. When performance counts, experts rely on Clipper for more speed, more power, and more creative freedom. You can, too. Call for details. • C I i p pe r compi led p rograms run 2 to 20 tiriigs faster* • No royalties.,. no runtime fees. • Source code security. • User defined functions. • Arrays. • Simple menu commands. • Context sensitive help can be included with programs. • More fields; more memory variables. • Call C and Assembly programs. • Complete debugging facilities. • Multiple file relationships. Wf!% •IBM PC, XT, AT, 3270 compatible™. • Multiuser capability. Clipper jji. 1 1 - i fmS CLIPPER. THE dBASE COMPILER. A WINNING PERFORMANCE EVERY TIME. Nantucket™ Nantucket Corporation 5995 South Sepulveda Boulevard Culver City, California 90230 (213) 390-7923 Outside California call toll-free: 1-800-251-8438 dBase, dBase 111, and dBase 111 Plus are trademarks of Ashton-Tate, Inc. IBM PC, XT, AT, and 3270 are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Clipper and Nantucket are trademarks of Nantucket Corporation. *y f\ xrax "Xerox Desktop Publishing makes every document look like the work of a genius: —Leonardo da Vinci A lot of the success you have in selling your ideas depends upon the success you have in putting those ideas on paper. That's why we invented the Xerox Documenter desktop publishing system. A system that encourages you to express your original ideas quickly, more easily, and with better results. Our Documenter desktop publisher is built around the Xerox Workstation. It makes it easy to lay down your text in any format you choose. In an amazing array of typefaces and in 30 languages. Convert data TeamXerox to charts. Create your own graphics. Enlarge or reduce any element. Then combine them, easily revising the page until it's just the way you want it. When you're satisfied (what you see on the Work- station screen is what you get on paper), you send it to the other half of our desktop publisher— the Xerox Laser Printer. With a mere button-push, you get fin- ished originals that come out laser-perfect. The Documenter desktop publisher is another Xerox innovation designed to help you put your ideas on paper. For more information, call your local Team Xerox sales office or: 1-800-TEAM-XRX, extension 291A. Xerox brings out the genius in you. Xerox Corporation, RO. Box 24, Rochester, NY 14692. Show me how to make my documents look like the work of a genius. □ Please have a sales representative contact me. □ Please send me more information. COMPANY TITLE ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE Or, if you can't wait, call 1-800-TEAM-XRX, ext. 291A 29ia (1-800-832-6979, ext. 291 A) Inquiry 379 XEROX® is a trademark of XEROX CORPORATION. NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 41 WHAT'S NEW A D D - I N S Drive Uses Bubble Memory The BDH-1 Bubbl-Dek. a solid-state replacement for floppy disk drives, is the same size as a standard full- height 5^-inch drive and fits in the same mounting holes in an IBM PC or compatible computer. The system pro- vides an average access time of less than 14 ms, the company says, and offers data storage at temperatures ranging from -40° to +80° C. The unit is available with one or two front-panel slots for plug-in Bubbl-Pac car- tridges. A one-slot model costs $1199; a two-slot model, $1689. Each car- tridge ($17 5) provides 128K bytes of nonvolatile storage and measures less than 3 square inches. The car- tridges can be write- protected or write-enabled at any time. The drive's data transfer rate is 90,000 bps when used with an external controller and 30,000 bps when used with the optional internal controller. The unit has five internal slots, three of which can be used for add-on boards, in- cluding the optional con- troller, processors, memory, I/O, and others. For more in- formation, contact Bubbl-Iec, 6805 Sierra Court. Dublin, CA 94568. (415) 829-8700. Inquiry 577. Mac Video Adapter The DVA Composite Video Adapter lets you connect a Macintosh or Macintosh Plus to high- resolution monitors and pro- jectors. The board attaches to the power supply connec- tor inside the Mac and comes with a cable that connects to monitors and projectors. Packaged with tools and instructions for installation, the board costs $99.95. Also available for use with the adapter is slide show and presentation software that's capable of producing special effects such as block fade. For more information, con- tact Julian Systems Inc.. 4345 Fairwood Dr., Concord, CA 94521, (415) 686-4400. Inquiry 578. MIDI Interface for Amigas The Bright-1 MIDI inter- face connects MIDI in- struments to the Com- modore Amiga and works with music software such as Activision's Music Studio. The $39.95 device at- taches via cable to the com- puter's serial port and pro- vides 5-pin connectors for MIDI-In and MIDI-Out. Its two bicolor LEDs verify proper connection and monitor activity on the inter- face. Contact Micro Engi- neering of Northern Virginia. P.O. Box 11780. Alexandria, VA 22312, (703) 750-7860. Inquiry 579. Boards Support X.2 5 Standard The PCX.2 500 series of plug-in boards from EDA Instruments gives users of IBM PCs and compatibles access to digital communica- tions facilities on packet- switching networks, such as lelenet and Tymnet, that use the X.25 protocol. According to the company, benefits of the boards include in- creased speed, error check- ing, more reliable com- munications, and cost sav- ings in some instances. Two versions of the board are available. The PCX.2 501 card interfaces a single com- puter to a packet-switching network and supports com- munications at speeds of up to 9600 bps with two logical channels configured. The PCX.2 505 card supports a computer and up to four ad- ditional devices— including computers, terminals, and printers— and allows them to communicate simultaneously at speeds of up to 9600 bps with six logical channels configured. Both versions are compati- ble with communications and file transfer software for IBM PCs. support XON/XOFF or ENQ/ACK flow control, and come with a network management package that provides diagnostic and other capabilities. Prices for the boards start at $675. For more informa- tion, contact EDA In- struments Inc.. 4 Thorncliffe Park Dr.. Tbronto. Ontario, Canada M4H IH1, (416) 425-7800. Inquiry 580. VMEbus/PC AT Adapter A two-board set from Bit 3 Computer, the 403 IBM PC/AT VME Adaptor, enables the IBM PC AT to act as a VMEbus processor. The boards' address map- ping permits the AT to directly address VMEbus memory as though it were AT memory. More than 14 megabytes of VMEbus memory can appear as AT memory. The adapter also enables the AT to control VMEbus I/O devices. One of the boards fits in a slot in the AT, and the other occupies a slot in the VMEbus card cage. The two are connected by cable up to 50 feet long. The boards support three modes of communication. Direct ad- dressing maps 65 K bytes to 14 megabytes of VMEbus memory onto the AT's memory address space. Page-mode addressing per- mits the AT to control VMEbus memory through a 65K-byte window in the AT's memory address space. Dual-ported RAM-shared memory addressing enables both the AT and VMEbus devices to use the optional dual-ported RAM memory. The adapter, which sells for $1280. can function as a bus slave, bus master, or one of several bus masters in a multiprocessor VMEbus application. For more infor- mation, contact Bit 3 Com- puter Corp., 8120 Penn Ave. S. Minneapolis. MN 55431, (612) 881-6955. Inquiry 581. Graphics Processor for Apples XOR Systems' Mega-Pix board adds graphics capabilities to Apple lis. The board contains a 16-bit graphics processor, 12 8K bytes of RAM that can be expanded to 51 2 K bytes, composite video circuitry, a TTL connector, and an ex- pansion bus for upgrading to color, when available. Resolution starts at 640 by 200 pixels and can be pro- grammed to 1024 by 1024. 'lb provide a variety of resolutions and configura- tions, you can add up to six boards to one computer. A graphics software package is bundled with the board. The monochrome version of Mega-Pix costs $299. For more information, contact XOR Systems, 986 Live Oak Dr.. Santa Clara. CA 95051. (408) 249-5388. Inquiry 582. (continued) 42 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Presentations! Newsletters! Flyers! Signs! Overhead foils! Invitations! Menus! Logos! Announcements! Banners! Layouts! When you need a good-looking visual quickly, you need FONTAS Y — superb typefaces, drawing, and pictures in one easy-to-use package. FONTASY gives you a "what-you-see what-you-get" picture, as you type and draw on the graphics screen of your IBM-PC. You can create a page at a time, see a mini- picture of it, print it, and save it on disk. Page size is limited only by memory, not by screen size. Highlights Proportional space, justify, kern, boldface, re-position, magnify and shrink, black/white reversal, rotate, mirror image, lines, rec- tangles, ovals, draw, fill-in, undo (and un- undo), on-line help, 200-page book, and easy control from keyboard or mouse. Fonts, fonts, and more fonts! We have over 275 Add-On typefaces in our growing library. Each disk of about 10 fonts costs $24.95 and we will be happy to send you free print samples on request. Picture Library! Each of the six FONTASY ART FOLDERS™ contains about 100 large (full-screen), high-quality add-on pictures and costs $29.95 per disk. Please see back issues of this magazine for examples, or ask us for free print samples. Inquiry 267 What You Can Do With Fontasy printed all of these. Includes 28 Fonts & 60 small pictures Equipment Needed PC, XT, AT, or true compatible (Compaq, etc. ) with or Hercules graphics adapter and graphics monitor. 256K memory needed for partial pages, 448-640K recommended for full pages on most printers. Mouse optional. MS-DOS 2.10 or above. FONTASY supports: IBM Graphics Printer, Proprinter; Epson FX, JX, LX, MX, RX, and LQ; C.Itoh 8510, 1550, 1570, Prowrlter-Jr; H-P LaserJet, LaserJet-Plus, ThinkJet; Microline 92-293 {native or IBM-compatible); Gemini 10X, 15X; Radio Shack DMP 105-430, 2100; Toshiba 351, 1340-1351; Star; and most IBM / Epson-compatible printers. Money-Back Guarantee FONTASY is not copy-protected and has a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you order now, we will include 28 fonts (a $50 value) at no extra charge. So, call today, TOLL-FREE: 1-800-824-7888, operator 669 (orders only) For further information and same day shipping, call: (818) 765-4444 moms® 7248 Bellaire Ave., Box 560 No. Hollywood, CA 91603-0560 FONTASY $69.95 Tax Shipping Total Name Address . . Company _ . Telephone . City, State, ZIP . Visa/MC Computer . . Exp. Date . . Memory . . Printer . Terms: M/C, Visa, checks. Please add $3.00 shipping and handling in U.S. or Canada, $15.00 overseas, $2.00 for C.O.D., and sales tax in Calif. WHAT'S NEW SOFTWARE • PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES AND AIDS FORTH Compiler for the Atari ST Palo Alto Shipping an- nounced the Mach 2/ST FORTH-83 multitasking de- velopment system for GEM and non-GEM applications. The system has a text editor, Motorola assembler, sym- bolic debugger, and floating- point math capability. The $59.95 Mach 2/ST runs on the Atari 520ST and 1040ST with either a monochrome or color monitor. Other Mach 2 systems are available for the Macintosh and the Amiga. For more information, con- tact Palo Alto Shipping. P.O. Box 7430. Menlo Park, CA 94026, (415) 854-7994. Inquiry 583. C Database Management System Toolkit Iaybe Software has re- leased Cdb. a C database management system toolkit for UNIX systems. The toolkit comes with 25 pro- grams that you can use alone or with other UNIX tools for developing UNIX applications. Cdb is driven by a dictionary that you set up with descriptions of databases, indexes, and reports. You can then edit and scan the databases, which are made up of variable-length records and allow unlimited fields per record, unlimited records per file, formula fields, and unlimited key fields, ac- cording to Jaybe. You can also split or connect databases, or you can run them through filters to create new databases. Cdb supports fixed or float- ing-pojnt decimal, dollar amount, date, and alpha- numeric field types. You can reorganize and re- structure records with the index generator and main- tain multiple indexes at once. For security in a multiuser environment, Cdb also features record locking, password protection, and read-only restriction. The toolkit is priced at $495. For more information, contact Iaybe Software, 2 509 North Campbell. Suite 259. Tucson. AZ 85719. (602) 327-2299. Inquiry 584. LISP Library and C Programming Environment Clisp is a LISP library and a programming environ- ment for C that runs on IBM PCs, XTs, and AIs. The pro- gram contains over 100 functions, including LISP primitives, predicates, and conditionals, a context- sensitive database and stack, and an interpreter to which you can add your own functions. The price of ■ $189 includes source code. Contact Frederick J. Drasch Computer Software, RFD 1, Box 202, Ashford. CT 06278, (203) 429-3817. Inquiry 585. dBASE III Plus Compiler Wordlech Systems an- nounced Quicksilver, a dBASE 111 Plus compiler that features assembly code out- put, networking, and win- dowing. You can define your own functions, and you have the ability to link compiled C routines into dBASE ap- plications. The company reports that you also have access to dBASE Tools for C and up to 4000 memory variables. A set of dBASE-like win- dowing commands, dB FRAME, is incorporated in Quicksilver. The commands enable you to use source code instructions to create up to 99 active on-screen windows. Quicksilver runs on IBM PCs. AIs. XTs. and com- patibles with 256K bytes of RAM and MS-DOS or PC- DOS 2.1 or higher. The basic Quicksilver package costs $599 and in- cludes the compiler, linker. PC-DOS libraries, debugger, and assembly code transla- tor. MS-DOS libraries are available for $79. For more information, con- tact WordTech Systems. P.O. Box 1747, Orinda. CA 94563. (415) 2 54-0900. Inquiry 587. Generate Screens in Any Language Softway, publisher of the screen generator High Screen, reports that you can design screens in almost any language. When designing with High Screen, you can open windows, display and manage pull- down menus, and manage an on-line help facility. Cur- sor positioning and manage- ment, as well as tests and message displays, are per- formed by the resident module. High Screen sells for $199 and runs on IBM PCs, Xls, AIs, and compatibles with PC-DOS or MS-DOS 2.0 or higher. A minimum of 256K bytes of RAM is required. Contact Softway Inc., 500 Sutter St.. Suite 222. San Francisco, CA 94102, (415) 397-4666. Inquiry 586. SOFTWARE • SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING Scientific Word Processing ChiWriter, a scientific word processor from Horstmann Software Design, runs on IBM P k Cs and com- patibles with a minimum of 2 56K bytes of RAM and a Color Graphics Adapter, The word processor features cut- and-paste. search-and- replace, margin justification, and pagination. The com- pany reports that it can han- dle up to 20 fonts, which you switch by pressing func- tion keys, and you can use an unlimited number of superscripts and subscripts. The program is not copy- protected and costs $79.95. For more information, con- tact Horstmann Software Design. P.O. Box 4544, Ann Arbor. Ml 48106. (313) 663-4049. Inquiry 588. Schematic Drawings Output to Plotter or Dot-Matrix Printer HiWIRE is a menu-driven schematic design pack- age that has a library of over 700 common com- ponents. Using a mouse, you choose the components, and they are then connected with wires and buses. You can modify the symbols and also create new ones with labels, lines, and arcs. You can output hard-copy sche- matics to either a plotter or a dot-matrix printer. lb use HiWIRE. you need an IBM PC or compatible with at least 320Kbytes of RAM and a Color Graphics Adapter or Enhanced Graphics Adapter. The pro- gram sells for $895. For more information, contact Wintek Corp.. 1801 South St.. Lafayette. IN 47904- 2993. (317) 742-8428. Inquiry 589. [continued) 44 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 ■ V* COMPUTER | ^NOVATIONS UPRE L T i UTi C COlAIbirEB C9~ mi mm ■ WHAT'S NEW SOFTWARE • SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING Monitor the Wind and Seismic Activity Lbs Engineering an- nounced Lbs-Wind, a wind and seismic analysis program. The program uses wind and seismic building- code data to calculate forces and moments at which they occur. The user can change the data once it is entered into the data file. Lbs-Wind sells for $19.95 and runs on an IBM PC with at least 96K bytes of RAM and PC-DOS 2.0 or later. For more information, contact Lbs Engineering Inc.. 1320 Lincoln St.. Hollywood, FL 33019. (305) 920-1584. Inquiry 590. ELI-41 Emulates the Hewlett-Packard 41 Calculator Eclipse Logic has re- leased the ELI-41 pop- up program that emulates an HP-41. The screen dis- plays the calculator's keypad layout, and all the calcu- lator's functions are included in the program, along with a view of the stack, flags, and registers. You can program ELI-41 using nested subroutines and an unlimited number of program statements, accord- ing to Eclipse. You can also develop conversion tables with standard text editors or tLBL EL HI ;PR0GRAH AND COWIEKT HEX ; EDI TOR ALLOWS FULL BIN iDOClffiENTATlON OF YOUR DEC ; PROGRAMS. OCT PRREGS ; PRINT ALL REGISTERS PRSTK ; .STACK AND FLAGS, 8 PRFLAG 9 AMD ;V 38 OR ; 11 XOR IIN.OCT.ltt. I 13 « S H » 8 15 CONVERSION: LENGTH |{ CONVERT FR0H: 1 ; CONVERSION TABLES 17 CONVERT TO: 4 ; ■ END ;END OF EL141 PROGRAM EDITOR. t-i T h CX f ilfht Ex 1 I I ail x (tain t nd hi 1 C3QQE3Q CATALOG ISG MTU 4 QX K=.j1 i i sf 1 cf i m -i 1 i K ^jj^ ELI-41 emulates the HP-41. with the calculator's keypad ■ onscreen. word processors. The calculator functions with 1 5-digit precision and has binary, octal, decimal, and hexadecimal display and input. There are also 500 registers you can use to store data. The program is not copy- protected and sells for $74.95. It runs on an IBM PC. XT AT or compatible with at least 192K bytes of RAM. A monochrome or color monitor and card are necessary, and you must have MS-DOS or PC-DOS 2.0 or higher For more information, con- tact Eclipse Logic Inc.. P.O. Box 2003, Huntington Park. CA 90255-1303. (213) 569-6020. Inquiry 591. Exploring the Fourth Dimension With 4D Graphics Laboratory, you can rotate and view four-dimen- sional objects in each of six reference planes— in one frame at a time or all six at once. You can create your own four-dimensional shapes or modify the sup- plied shapes by controlling the color and position of each line. The program is written in 8086 assembler and runs on an IBM PC. XT. AT. or com- patible with MS-DOS or PC- DOS 2.0 or higher and a Color Graphics Adapter. It costs $44.44. For more in- formation, contact 4D Graphics Lab. 12021 Wilshire Blvd.. Suite 537, Los Angeles, CA 9002 5, (213) 479-4792. Inquiry 592. Perform Statistical Analysis on the Macintosh Data Desk enables you to interpret statistical relationships by displaying variables as icons. Rotating plots are displayed so you can see the structure of the data, and you can reshape the display to view alternate scalings. It is also possible to compute and display the calculations performed. The program records the date and time that you created or modified a variable, and you can store background information on any variable. Editing and data entry are performed as word-pro- cessing tasks and include searching and replacing. You also have the ability to move data to other Macin- tosh programs for spread- sheet analysis, word process- ing, graphical data analysis, and presentation graphics. Data Desk runs on a 512 K Macintosh and sells for $17 5. A student version is also available. For more in- formation, contact Data Description Inc.. P.O. Box 4555. Ithaca. NY 14852. (607) 2 57-1000. Inquiry 593. SOFTWARE • BUSINESS AND OTHER Two Desktop Publishers FTL systems announced MacT E X. a $750 desk- top typesetting program that offers hyphenation and justification, kerning, ligatures, automatic pagina- tion, headers, footnotes, and automatic generation of in- dexes, tables of contents, and bibliographies. There are over 1 100 commands and macros, as well as a multi- window text editor. MacTjrX automatically ad- justs the space between words, lines, and paragraphs, so the document fits the page layout. Standard tem- plates for letters, reports, ar- ticles, and other types of documents are included, and a single command changes the style of the document. You can create your own macros and libraries of customized page or document styles, and mathematical symbols are available for typesetting. For more information, con- tact FTL systems Inc.. 234 Eglinton Ave. E. Suite 205. Toronto. Ontario. Canada M4P IK5. (416) 487-2142. Inquiry 594. You can use memory- resident LaserWare with any application program to produce laser-quality output, according to SWFTE Interna- tional. LaserWare works with the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet and an IBM PC or compati- ble. The program's com- (continued) 46 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 SUBSTANTIATED. SUPREMACY It's a bold claim. A claim we're prepared to stake our reputation on. And at Computer Innovations, we've always taken our reputation very seriously. It's no industry secret that the competitive C Compilers are at the end of their optimization cycle — they're just about as good as they are going to get. C86PLUS begins where everybody else has left off. It's an entirely new technology based on artificial intelligence and advanced compiler design techniques. Designed with the serious programmer in mind, C86PLUS provides the ultimate development environment, matching unparalleled execution speed with a host of productivity features. FAST EXECUTION • 20% faster than Microsoft C, version 4.0 • 70% faster than existing C86, version 2.3 (timings based on the classic sieve benchmark) ANSI C COMPILER FEATURES • Register variables • Structure assignment • Function prototypes • New type modifiers -near -far -signed -const -volatile • Long double 80 bit floating- point • Enumerator data types (enums) • Extended preprocessor capabilities FULL CONTROL OVER COMPILATION ENVIRONMENT • Small, Medium, and Large memory models • 8086/80186 and 80286 code generation options • In-line 8087/80287 floating point • 8087/80287 auto detect emulator • Source level debugger support • Wild-card compilation • Make utility • ROMable code • Linkable with macro assembler output • Intel-standard OMF object files • Optional assembly language output • Warning level control EXTENSIVE FUNCTION LIBRARIES FOR INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY • Over 250 library functions • Full ANSI C library • Functional equivalents to most UNIX System V libraries • Shared file and network support • Low-level machine access functions • IBM ROM BIOS support routines • Fully compiled small, medium and large model libraries • C library source code • Run-time start-up source code • Source code librarian • Object code librarian COMPUTER INNOVATIONS COMPUTER INNOVATIONS MICROSOFT COMPATIBILITY If you're a current Microsoft user, we invite you to consider this simple point' C86PLUS will recompile most applications developed using MS-C with- out changes to your source code. You'll find that your application runs much faster. PROVEN EXPERIENCE In 1981, Computer Innovations and its founder, George Eberhardt, revolutionized the DOS programming world with the introduction of the first C Compiler for the PC called C86. Today, C86 boasts a satisfied and loyal user base of over 20,000 programmers worldwide. C86PLUS represents an extension of this expertise and reputation. It's backed with more than a decade of intensive research and develop- ment. PROVEN SUPPORT Making the claim that C86PLUS is supreme is one thing, standing behind it is another. Computer Innovations has always offered timely and in- telligent technical support, and this is an important customer service which we do not intend to change. CALL TO ORDER The call is on us. For more < information or to order call: 800-922-0169 or 201-542-5920 (in Nj) 980 Shrewsbury Ave. Tinton Falls, NJ 07724, USA Telex: 705127 COMP INNOV UD C86 PLUS is a trademark ol Computer Innovations Inc Microsoft is n registered trademark ot Microsoft Corporation UNIX is a registered trademark ol AT&T Bell Laboratories IBM is a regislered Irndemark o( International Business Machines >/ v Corporation jS •&*$ G'>1986 Compuier Innovations Inc Inquiry 83 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 47 WHAT'S NEW SOFTWARE • BUSINESS AND OTHER mands operate with all the LaserJet cartridge-based fonts, and you also have the ability to make font changes, center, justify, indent, and set decimal tabs. Graphics capabilities in- clude capturing graphic plots as they are printed, saving the images to screen, merging graphics directly into text, and printing in variable resolutions. Forms management fea- tures include line and box drawing, shading, and data integration. LaserWare's typesetting capabilities enable you to produce custom forms. LaserWare sells for $99.95. Contact SWFTE Interna- tional, P.O. Box 219, Rockland. DE 19732. (302) 658-1123. Inquiry 595. Sales Repeater Salespeople can keep track of their current customers' buying habits, patterns, and preferences with Sales Repeater's customer database, which stores addresses, phone numbers, and purchase history. Sales Repeater also has a tickler and a business- card file. A search-and-call feature enables you to sort customer files by specific category and create a list of customers who might respond. The program comes with seven modules directed toward specific industries, and if your industry is not covered, you can use the general module that is available. The utility Call Log Reports produces reports on sales calls. Another utility, Print Menu, produces mail- ing labels or prints on envelopes. With Sales Repeater, you can store 300 customer and prospect names per floppy disk and 10,000 on a 10- megabyte hard disk. The Timepiece, a project management program for the IBM PC. program requires an IBM PC or compatible with 128K bytes. The list price is $249. Contact Streamline Software Systems, 14 Perimeter Center E, Suite 1406, Atlanta. GA 30346. (800) 624-5886; in Georgia. (404) 392-9500. Inquiry 596. Amiga Telecommunications Kent Engineering & Design introduced MacroModem. a telecommu- nications program for the Amiga. With MacroModem you can create sets of macros and companion help screens. One macro can in- clude up to 3 5 keystrokes and can load a new set of macros from disk. You can also create files of macros and edit them while on-line. MacroModem supports the Amiga's windowing en- vironment, enabling you to display your current capture file, read forward or back- ward, and run the capture file as an independent task in its own window You can also prepare up to 10 lines of an electronic message in the compose window while the terminal window con- tinues displaying the conference. You can store up to 36 phone numbers in Macro- Modem's phone directory, and the program also features auto-dial capability. An Amiga with 256K bytes of RAM and one disk drive is required to run the pro- gram, which sells for $69.95. Contact Kent Engineering & Design, P.O. Box 178. Mott- ville. NY 13119-0178. (315) 685-8237. Inquiry 597. WHERE DO NEW PRODUCT ITEMS COME FROM? The new products listed in this section of BYTE are chosen from the thousands of press releases, letters, and telephone calls we receive each month from manufacturers, distributors, designers, and readers. The basic criteria for selection for publication are: (a) does a product match our readers' interests? and (b) is it new or is it simply a reintroduction of an old item? Because of the volume of submissions we must sort through every month, the items we publish are based on vendors' statements and are not individually verified. 1/ you want your product to be considered for publication (at no charge), send full infor- mation about it. including its price and an address and telephone number where a reader can get further information, to New Products Editor, BYTE, One Phoenix Mill lane, Peterborough, NH 03458. Manage Multiple Projects Timepiece, project man- agement software for the IBM PC family, lets you manage projects, perform "what if" scenarios, create custom calendars for each project, and produce reports in 19 formats. You can also add graphics and sound to reports and output them to printers, plotters, film recorders, and slide-making devices, according to Com- munication Dynamics. Timepiece runs on an IBM PC XT, AT, or compatible with a minimum of 512K bytes of RAM and MS-DOS or PC-DOS 2.0 or higher. The company recommends a hard disk, and to produce reports with graphics, you need a graphics display device. The program sells for $695. Contact Communi- cation Dynamics Inc., 7300 Southwest Hunziker. Suite 200, Tigard, OR 97223, (503) 684-5151. Inquiry 598. WriteNow The Macintosh word- processing program WriteNow enables you to do WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing in up to four columns on-screen. You can also insert graphic images in a line of text. Written in assembly lan- guage, WriteNow saves, scrolls, finds, replaces, prints, reformats, and repaginates. There is a 50.000-word spelling checker, and the program handles unlimited headers, footers, and auto-numbering of footnotes, according to T/Maker. WriteNow is priced at $17 5. Contact T/Maker Co.. 1973 Landings Dr.. Mountain View. CA 94043. (415) 962-0195. Inquiry 590. 48 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 V 6 Come see us at Fall Comdex, West Hall Booth #W948. Open Access II Comparison Chart z* o CD OO _Q 03 CD C_^ c: o L — ' CD CD O "^ -2 § Q_ CD jo Ct5 O CD =5 CD QlldcOdc go o CD CO <~ CD c CD CO -^ CD CO O CD CZ CD j= CD -j£ O OO Q_ -f= CD O i ^ -S ,g a: 2 P Q_ O O CD ob co CD m CJ) ( > CCS CZ L_ CD F ^ F CD CD O o i= CJ t— Q_ [ Open Access II s/i/ssisssss s • 595 00 1 Lotus 1.2-3 \/ s S 495°° Symphony \S s \S S V s S 695°° Framework \S s \S S V* s S 695°° Enable s s S \S \S \/ s 695°° Smart s V> \S \S s s s 1/ 895°° NETWORK VERSION AVAILABLE INTRODUCING OPEN ACCESS* II THE FULLY INTEGRATED BUSINESS SYSTEM WITH THE WORLD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Open Access II is a new, super-program which can perform virtually every managerial and business task you'll ever need with performanceandease-of- use unheard of in the industry. Open Access II combines an extremely powerful relational data- base and superior spreadsheet with data communications, word processing, 3-dimensional graphics, and time management. Information is conveniently changed from module to module. Open Access H's Database features an effective and flexible report generator and user definable screens. "Programmer," our new Database language, features simple interacting English-like commands to produce your customized applications. Open Access H's Spreadsheet offers a unique combination of business problem solving capabilities; including goal-seeking, and an advanced table look-up command. Professional business presentations are easily produced by the enhanced graphic capabilities. Open Access H's improved Word Processor can merge data from Spreadsheet or Database easily to produce reports, mail merge and graphic presentations. Inquiry 311 for End-Users. Inquiry 312 for DEALERS ONLY. Open Access H's data communications provides you with the capabilities to handle any of your micro computer communications needs. All of Open Access H's modules work together and data is easily communicated to the rest of the world. BEST OF ALL, THE PRICE U.S. Version Only $595. Open Access H's super program is also available in the network version. Askfor details. Call (619) 450-1526 in California, or (800) 521-3511 if outside Cali- fornia for your nearest authorized dealer or distributor and expand your business base with Open Access II, the fully integrated business system. SPI SOFTWARE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL 10240 Sorrento Valley Road San Diego, California 92121 (619)450-1526 For Your Authorized Dealer In California (800)621-7490 Outside California (800)521-3511 .;' 1986 Sollware Products International, Inc. AH rights reserved. Open Access is a registered trademark of Sollware Products International. Inc. OpenAccess llisa trademark ol SoftwareProductslnternalional.lne Lotus 1-2-3 andSymphonyare registered trademarks oILotusDevelopmenl Corp. Framework is a registered|trademarkofAsrilon-Tate. Enable IsaltrademarkolTheSollwareGroup. Smart i s a trademark ollnnovaliveSoltware,lnc "Price: U.S. Version Only EVENTS AND CLUBS November 1986 Events Exploring the Knowledge-based Soci- ety: Association for Computing Machinery-IEEE Computer Society 1986 Fall Joint Computer Conference (FJCC '86), Dallas. TX. Dr. Stanley Winkler, FJCC '86, 1730 Massachusetts Ave., Washington, DC 20036-1903, (202) 371-0101. November 2-6 7>ie Communications Connection, Portland, OR. lerrie Walker, lelecom- munications Association. Portland Com- munity College, 12000 Southwest 49th Ave.. Portland. OR 97219. November 3-5 Electronic Imaging '86. Boston, MA. Electronic Imaging '86, Institute for Graphic Communication Inc.. 375 Com- monwealth Ave.. Boston. MA 02 1 1 5. (61 7) 267-942 5. November 3-6 PC FAB Expo '86. Long Beach. CA. PMS Industries, 1790 Hembree Rd.. Alpharet- ta GA 30201. (404) 475-1818. November 11-12 Winter National Design Engineering Show. San Francisco, CA. Winter National Design Engineering Show, 999 Summer St., Stamford. CT 06905. (203) 964-0000. November 11-13 EDUCOM '86. Pittsburgh. PA. EDUCOM. P.O. Box 364, Princeton, NJ 08540. (609) 734-1888. November 11-14 Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Society for Computers in Psychology. New Orleans, LA. Cyndi McDaniel. Psychology Department, Northern Ken- tucky University. Highland Heights, KY, 41076. (606) 572-5310. November 12 Clubs Intellog Association for the Applica- tion of Artificial Intelligence, 85 rue du Fbg. St. Denis. 75010 Paris. France. STM Users Group (Not affiliated with STM Corp.). 3778 Hitching Post Road, lackson. MI 49201. (517) 782-2297. ZSIG (Z-System Special Interest Group), Michael Broschat, 2610 East Aloha, Seat- tle. WA 98112, (206) 328-0561. MESA (Macintosh Enthusiasts of San Antonio), J. Eddie Field. Rt. 4, Box 2151. Lakehills. TX 78063. (512) 751-2947. (They are also seeking exchanges with other Mac users groups.) PC Word Processing Newsletter, Leo Dmitri. 60 West 1 0th St.. New York. NY 10011. Implementing Clinical Computer Systems. Phoenix. AZ. American Society for lesting and Materials. 1916 Race St.. Philadelphia. PA 19103. (215) 299-5526. November 5-6 Computer Security and Access Con- trol. Milwaukee, WI. Peter L. Tocups. Center for Continuing Engineering Educa- tion, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 929 North Sixth St.. Milwaukee. Wl 53203. (414) 224-3952. November 5-6 Tools for Rendering 3-D Images. Recur- sion in Computer Graphics, and Com- puter Graphics in the Classroom, New York University. New York, NY. Gideon Net- tier. 80-40 Lefferts Blvd.. Kew Gardens. NY 11415, (718) 849-6313. November 17 Wescon/86. Anaheim. CA. Electronic Conventions Management, 8110 Airport Blvd.. Los Angeles. CA 90045. (800) 421-6816; in California. (800) 262-4208 or (213) 772-2965. November 18-21 New Haven ST's, Robert Fischer, 80 Killdeer Rd.. Hamden, CT 06517, (203) 288-9599. (Atari ST users group.) North American Amstrad User Sup- port Group (NAAUSG). Sage Enterprises, Rt. 2. Box 211. Russellville. MO 65074. Amiga Users Group/Hudson Valley (Amicus/ H.V.), Ralph Blanchette. Box 327 Willowbrook Rd.. Clinton Corners. NY 12514. (914) 266-5606. Scientific Computing & Automation Conference and Exposition, Atlantic City. NJ. Expocon Management Associates Inc.. 3695 Post Rd.. Southport. CT 06490. (203) 2 59-5734. November 5-7 North American telecommunications Association Convention & Exhibition Showcase (N ATA 86). St. Louis. MO. North American lelecommunications Associa- tion, 2000 M St. NW, Suite 5 50, Washington, DC 20036. November 5-7 Association for the Development of Computer-based Instructional Systems 28th International Conference, Washington. DC. Gordon Hayes. ADCIS. Miller Hall Room 409. Western Washington University, Bellingham. WA 98225. (206) 676-2860. November 10-13 COMDEX/ Fall '86. Las Vegas. NV„ The Interface Group, 300 First Ave., Needham. MA 02194, (617) 449-6600. November 10-14 TEnth Annual Western Educational Computing Conference. Irvine, CA. Alex- ia Devlin. California Educational Com- puting Consortium. San Francisco State University. Accounting Data, NADM-358, 1600 Holloway Ave.. San Francisco. CA 94132. November 20-21 Eighth Annual FORTH Convention & Banquet. Santa Clara. CA. FORTH Interest Group. P.O. Box 82 3 1 . San Jose. CA 9 5 1 5 5. (408) 277-0668. November 21-22 FORTH Modification Laboratory (FORML), Pacific Grove. CA. FORTH In- terest Group. P.O. Box 823 1, San Jose. CA 95155, (408) 277-0668. November 28-30 1/ you send notice of your organization's public activities at least four months in advance, we will publish them as space permits. Please send them to BYTE (Events and Clubs), One Phoenix Mill lane, Peterborough, NH 03458. H/P Desktop Users Group. Metro Area. Bruce E. Baxter. IRS D:R:R:M. 1111 Constitution Ave. NW! Washington, DC 20224, (202) 566-6759. GSBUG (Greater South Bay PC User Group). P.O. Box 1937, Redondo Beach. CA 90278. Amiga Guru, CA-AUG. 3715 Townley Rd. Shaker Heights. OH 44122. A.L.I. E.N. (Atari Lovers of Illiana Equal to None), Richard Thompson, 7609 Jarnecke Ave.. Hammond. IN 46324 (219) 932-2866. Denver Area TRS-80 Association (D.A.T.A.), Frank Berndt. 1799-D South Lee St., Lakewood, CO 80226. (303) 989-6068. C0C0 Cartel. A Color Computer Users Group, Dennis Weldy 4059 Acacia Dr., Columbus. GA 31904. ■ 50 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 MINUTE. MAN UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLIES ii PROTECTION FROM: * BLACKOUTS * BROWNOUTS * INTERRUPTIONS * SPIKES * SURGES * EMI/RFI See Us At: Comdex-Las Vegas Nov. 10-14, 1986 EVALUATION PROGRAM (30-DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE) • Completely automatic operation • From 1 msec to 4 msec switching time • Audible and visual status indicators • Order - ship same day • Toll Free ordering • Full one year warranty MINUTE MAN 250 250 WATT (120V) STEPPED SQUAREWAVE 359 00 Suggested Retail U.L. and C.S.A. Approved MINUTE MAN 300 300 WATT (120V) SYNCHRONIZED SINEWAVE 549 Suggested Retail 00 MINUTE-MAN 500 500 WATT (120V) SYNC. STEPPED SQUAREWAVE 699 00 Suggested Retail U.L. and C.S.A. Approved MINUTE . MAN 1000 1000 WATT (120V) SYNCHRONIZED SINEWAVE 1399 Suggested Retail 00 230 V Units Also Available I 1425 Mathis St. Suite 404 Dallas, Texas 7 5234 PARA SYSTEMS, INC. Telephone: (214) 869-1688 Inquiry 247 1 '800-238-7272 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 51 ASK BYTE Conducted by Steve Garcia Encoding a Keyboard Dear Steve. Can you tell me how to encode an unen- coded keyboard? I have a surplus key- board from a Coleco Adam that I would like to use in building the Term-Mite smart terminal (January and February 1984 BYTE). I need to know how to produce the parallel data needed by the Term-Mite board from the keyboard matrix. I have the pin-out diagram that shows which in- tersection corresponds to which key. Is there a chip that performs the encoding automatically, or do I have to work out my own logic? Mark T. Johns Naperville, IL There are a number of ways to encode an unencoded keyboard. All of the methods generally rely on a scanning technique so that when a keypress is generated, the circuitry senses this and reports the address of the key Usually, debouncing of the switches is done to im- prove the reliability of the encoding. A chip that is readily available and "does it all" is the KR-360ChStd (also an AY-5-3600) and is intended for a 90-key keyboard, something like the keyboard you mentioned. You can buy one of these from Jameco Electronics 13 55 Shoreway Rd. Belmont, CA 94002 (415) 592-8097 You can also purchase a data sheet from them for this chip for 50 cents, which I highly recommend— Steve One Thing at a Time Dear Steve. Here's a software problem that gets down to hardware constraints: Can an IBM PC's (or PC XT compatible's) disk drives be used in I/O interrupt mode? I have often wished that I could run programs concurrently with I/O processing. Al- though MS-DOS does not support multi- tasking, the PC's hardware does provide interrupt capability and has DMA (direct memory access) circuitry. A simple algorithm featuring "double- buffered" I/O would allow a program to use one buffer while the disk driver soft- ware is filling or emptying the other. The completion of the two processes could be synchronized and the role of the two buf- fers could be switched so that I/O would take place continuously Are there any disk drivers available for the PC that start an I/O operation, return control to the call- ing program immediately, and then signal completion at a later time? Greg Denton San Jose, CA It is possible for you to run the disk drives using DMA and interrupts, but you'll gain no practical advantage. The reason, as you have already stated, is that DOS does not support multitasking. The implications of this are more restrictive than you imagine. Let's suppose you add overlapped I/O without changing any- thing else. Consider what happens if a program writes two buffers of data to disk. It issues a write request for the first buffer, DOS starts the I/O operation, and control returns to the program while the data is being transferred. The program issues the second write request DOS puts the new request into a queue because the first one isn't done yet, and control returns to the program again. Now, if a glitch occurs, the data in the first transfer is corrupted. DOS knows that there has been an error, but how does it signal the program that all is not well? The two write requests were issued in the past and the program is off and running something else. Of course, if you write the program and the disk driver together you could make it work the way you want, but then your system isn't MS-DOS-compatible. The Fastback hard disk backup program works this way Its authors wrote a special device driver for the floppy drive that bypasses DOS and uses DMA data trans- fers with interrupts to stream data onto the floppy The resulting disks can't be read by DOS, but the program is the fastest disk backup utility around. Oddly enough, the device driver pro- gram format used by PC-DOS and MS- DOS has two entry points called STRATEGY and INTERRUPT, which are obviously designed for use in a multitask- ing interrupt-driven system similar to the one we'd both like to have. The currect versions of DOS fake a device interrupt and enforce the single-threaded method of handling devices, but at least there's hope. —Steve Disabling Auto-Repeat Dear Steve. I want to disable the automatic-repeat feature of the keyboard on an Apple He. My objective is to make the machine easierto use forpeople with poor manual dexterity (cerebral palsy). The He was rec- ommended because of its expansion slots that allow for special peripherals. I asked a local Apple repair department how to disable the auto-repeat feature, and the responses J got included "It can't be done" and "It can only be done by changing a ROM, but we don't know how you could get the right ROM." I looked at the Sams Computerfacts schematics and troubleshooting informa- tion for the lie and it appears that capacitor C70 and resistor R32 are in- volved in the auto-repeat function. It looks like C70 charges or discharges through R32 and thus generates a time delay that is used by the decoder chip El 4. I don't have enough information to know exact- ly what to do; a technician at an Apple dealer suggested removing C70. but my theory is that putting a resistor in parallel with C70 would be better. [continued) IN ASK BYTE. Steve Garcia answers questions on any area of microcomputing. The most representative questions received each month will be answered and published. Do you have a nagging problem? Send your inquiry to Ask BYTE do Steve Garcia P.O. Box 582 Glastonbury, CT 06033 Due to the high volume of inquiries, personal replies cannot be given. All letters and photographs become the property of Steve Garcia and cannot be returned. Be sure to include "Ask BYTE" in the address. The Ask BYTE staff includes manager Warv Reiner and researches Eric Albert. Bill Curlew. Ken Davidson, \eannette Dojan. ]on Elson. Roger ]ames, Frank Kuechmann. Dave Lundberg, Edward Nisley. Dick Sawyer. Andy Siska. and Robert Stek. 52 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 COPYRIGHT © 1986 STEVEN A. CIARCIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MICROSOFT LANGUAGES NEWSLETTER Vol. 1, No. 11 News about the Microsoft Language Family Compiling Efficiently with Microsoft® QuickBASIC Microsoft QuickBASIC Version 2.0 offers you a wide range of choices when you compile. You can compile programs directly into memory, or create executable programs on disk depending on your needs. To get the most out of the compiler, you should know the various size/speed tradeoffs associated with each compile option. In-memory compilation places an executable file directly into memory from the Microsoft QuickBASIC programming environment. This is the easiest way to compile and run Microsoft QuickBASIC programs during program development. The advantage of this method is that it allows you to compile and run without leaving Microsoft QuickBASIC. However, the program can only be executed from inside the Microsoft QuickBASIC programming environment. You can also use Microsoft QuickBASIC to create an executable file on disk that can be run without entering the pro- gramming environment. There are two different kinds of stand-alone executables: programs that include the run-time environment in the .EXE file and programs that require the presence of the run-time module BRUN20 . EXE when run. The .OBJ(BCOM . LIB) or /o option creates an object file that when linked to the BCOM20.LIB library becomes a program that runs without the presence of the run-time module BRUN20 . EXE. Programs linked with the BCOM20 . LIB are larger, but execute much faster than programs that require the run-time module. Besides execution speed, the advantages of this method are that the program does not require an additional file to run and the program can be conveniently copied to other disks. The .OBJ(BRUN.LIB) option creates an object file that when linked to the BRUN20.LIB library requires the presence of the run-time module BRUN20.EXE to execute. Programs linked with BRUN20.LIB are smaller, but run slower than programs linked with BCOM20 . LIB. The speed degradation results from the fact that BRUN20 . LIB uses software interrupts to call the run-time routines, whereas BCOM20.LIB uses direct calls. The Speed or /q option explained below can minimize this difference. Depending on your size and speed requirements, you should probably link with BCOM20.LIB if you are distributing only one program, or if the user might copy the program to another disk without also copying the run-time module. If your application chains programs, or your distribution will include several programs, you should link with BRUN20 . LIB and distribute BRUN20 . EXE with your programs. There are no licensing requirements and no fee for distributing the BRUN20.EXE run-time module. The .EXE option creates an executable program on the disk. This program requires the presence of BRUN20.EXE to execute. The Debug or /d option should be used in debugging your program during development. It generates larger and slower code by including debugging and error handling code in the executable program that checks for arithmetic overflow/underflow, array bounds and the existence of GOSUBs with each RETURN statement. When the program is completely debugged and ready for distribution, you will want to compile the program without this option to maximize speed and minimize size. You must use the On Error or /e option in programs that contain ON ERROR GOTO and RESUME linenumber statements. This option creates a larger program (by building a table of entries for each line number). Use the Resume Next or /x option in programs that contain RESUME, RESUME NEXT and RESUME statements. Compilation takes longer and results in larger object files than the On Error or /e option because it increases the table of line number entries. The Checking Between Statements (/v) and Event Trapping (/w) options enable event trapping for communications, lightpen, joystick, timer and function keys. Both of these options increase code size and slow execution. The Event Trapping (/w) option checks between lines for the occurrence of an event and takes less space and execution time than /v. The Speed or /q option optimizes the programs compiled using BRUN20 . LIB to be nearly as fast as programs com- piled using BCOM20 . LIB, but results in a larger executable because every call has two bytes more overhead. If you do not specify this option, the program will be as small as possible but the execution speed is slower than if you specified /q.The size and speed effects of this option depend on the number of repeated statements in loops you use in your program. If you are compiling in memory and you are getting "Out of Memory" errors, you may want to use the Minimize String Data or/s option. This option writes quoted strings to the .OBJ file instead of the symbol table. This allows you to compile a large, string-intensive program without getting "Out of Memory" errors when compiling in memory, but it increases the size of the .OBJ file. De-selecting the Debug option may also solve out of memory problems in large programs. For more information on the products and features discussed in the Newsletter, write to: Microsoft Languages Newsletter 16011 NE 36th Way, Box 97017, Redmond, WA 98073-9717 Or phone: (800) 426-9400. In Washington State and Alaska, call (206) 882-8088. In Canada, call (416) 673-7638. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Look for the Microsoft Languages Newsletter every month in this publication. Latest DOS Versions: Microsoft C Compiler 4.00 Microsoft COBOL 2.10 Microsoft FORTRAN 3.31 Microsoft Macro Assembler 4.00 Microsoft Pascal 3.31 Microsoft QuickBASIC 2.00 ASK BYTE I would greatly appreciate any assis- tance you could give us in solving this problem; I'm sure that many handicapped users of the lie would be interested in a solution to "unwanted auto-repeat." THomas K. Johnson Crystal Lake, IL Capacitor C70 and resistor R32 in the Apple He keyboard circuit are part of the oscillator that causes the decoder IC to scan the keyboard. They have nothing to do with the keyboard auto-repeat func- tion. Altering the values of either will do nothing but damage, and if you remove either, the keyboard encoder will cease functioning. The auto-repeat feature of the Apple lie is located in a custom IC called the "IOU" chip on the motherboard. You would have to replace this chip in order to disable the function, but there is nothing available to replace it with. Con- sequently, there is no reasonable way to disable this feature.— Steve Compaq Reset Switch Dear Steve. 1 am interested in adding a reset switch to my Compaq Portable. I would appre- ciate it if you could show me a schematic of such a circuit. Such a switch would prove invaluable, especially when debug- ging assembly language programs that in- variably freeze up the computer. I under- stand that grounding the microprocessor's RESET pin does not result in a complete reset. Rick Retter Danbury, CT There is more to resetting a computer than grounding the RESET pin on the CPU chip. If you want to find out where your code is hanging, you need to do something more sophisticated. Grounding the RESET pin on the CPU will initiate the memory test routine— thus erasing the code you are trying to debug— and then go about the process of restarting DOS. This will probably get the computer back up and running, since most of the resetting of the hardware is done by ROM code. It would be nicer if you could get into a debugger program while the system is hung. Unfortunately, the 8088 does not have many features to protect the monitor, debugging facilities, and interrupt vectors from damage done by a runaway pro- gram. So, if these areas are damaged, a reset through a software vector to a debugger would be useless anyway. There are several reset cards on the market, but I cannot say with confidence that any particular one will work on the Compaq (although they all should). Still, the problem of code damage may make these cards less than perfect. To reset the CPU, you need to follow the signal back from the CPU RESET pin (pin 21) to the device that drives it. It will have an RC timing circuit attached that applies a proper RESET signal level for a time after the power comes on. Grounding this circuit with a push-button switch will reset the processor; but, as I have said, you will lose all history of what went wrong.— Steve Reading Catalog into Array Dear Steve, I would like to be able to read the con- tents of a DOS 3.3 disk catalog into an ar- ray, so that the name of every text file (file type "T") on the disk is loaded into its own [continued] BX-VIEW 86 Application Program Unmodified DOS Application _ t4 , X-VIEW 86 DOS Debug Dynamic Execution Information X-VIEW 86 profiles the execution of DOS software, and displays information needed to improve program performance, identify compatibility issues, and pinpoint conversion problems. Profiles DOS application software and solves problems Debug can't touch. X-VIEW 86 is a DOS software X-ray machine. X-VIEW 86 monitors internal software oper- ations during execution to help you debug, test, port, or convert programs. X-VIEW 86 adds new features to Debug to profile either your own applications software or top- sellers like 1-2-3.® You get fast, reliable results. Real solutions to technical challenges. Save hours of time-consuming, tedious work using data from X-VIEW 86's built-in reports that identify: ■ Execution hotspots ■ I/O port references ■ Segment usage ■ Interrupt calls ■ Memory map ■ Instruction set references usage Report information is displayed on screen. And new breakpoint commands added to Debug stop a program on: ■ I/O port references ■ Memory data ■ Interrupt calls references Hardware and software requirements. X-VIEW 86 runs on the IBM PC and compat- ibles with DOS Debug 2.x or 3.x. Even if you use a different debugger, X-VIEW 86 turns Debug into your program profiler. And it's not copy protected. Priced at an affordable $59.95. Get a whole new outlook on your work with X-VIEW 86. We've made it easy: Order today by calling 1-800-227-0900; in Califor- nia, 800-772-2531; or outside the U.S., call 415-549-6625. We accept Visa, MC, and AmEx cards. Or order by writing to: Osborne/McGraw-Hill, Software Dept., 2600 Tenth St., Berkeley, CA 94710. X-VIEW 86 is just $59.95 plus sales tax and $3.00 ship- ping ($9.00 outside the U.S.). Be sure to include credit card number and expiration date with mail orders. Orders paid by check are subject to delay. m Osborne McGraw-Hill 2600 Tenth Street. Berkeley. California 94710 X-VIEW 86 is a trademark of McGraw-Hill. Inc.; IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines; 1-2-3 is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. 54 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 200 SOLUTIONS! POWE assemblers, compilers, word processors, spreadsheets, etc. Included with each Z-80 card is our incredible RUN/CPM rM emula- tion software which will allow your PC to emulate 100's of popular CP/M com- puters, such as "Kay pro/' "Osborne," "Mor- row," Etc. Your CP/M programs will run up to 300% faster, with full color, and you can run them from your PC shard disk or "RAM" disk, and run MS-DOS background programs such as Borland's "Sidekick" on top of your CP/M programs. RUN/CPM™'s amazing disk emulation feature will actually allow your PC's floppy drives to Directly READ, WRITE and FORMAT over 165 differenf CP/M disks, offering you the utmost in data disk compatability. The RUN/CPM software and Z-80 Co- processor are the perfect solution to bringing the power of the Z-80 to the PC Call today and order the most affordable Z-80 Co-Processor ever! RUN/CPM M V20/30 Emulator RUN/CPM™ is also available for the popular N.E.C. V-20 micro- processor chip. This version supports the 8080 instruc- tion set and runs on PC's and XT's. Order now at only $99.95 soft- ware only, or $124.95 includ- ing an 8 mhz V-20. The Power to Run Z-80 software on a PC! Never before has it been easier, or more affordable to add the power of Z-80 compatability. Plug this half size card in your PC, XT, AT or compatible and within min- utes you will be running the most powerful CP/M soft- ware available including the most popular K Z-80 Coprocessor $199. 95 Run INTEL® on a PC ■ Fast! Hard Disk Back Up. t Quiksave 1M is the solu- tion to all of your hard disk back up needs. Quiksave's incredible speed will allow you to back up 10 megabytes of data in only 10 minutes! Because Quiksave backs up data on to standard floppy disk- ettes, there is no need for an expensive tape drive system. Best of all, Quiksave comes with 20 Tree" pre-formatted floppy disks* so you can start backing up your valu- able hard disk data immediately. Don't risk costly data loss, order Quiksave™ today and rest assured. Enough disks to backup 10 Megabytes of data on most systems. Transform an IBM PC, XT, AT, or compatible into an Intel" Micro Development System, capable of running 8 bit ISIS-II, and 16 bit ISIS-III (UDI) soft- ware while remaining 100% MS-DOS com- patible. MICRUN 80, our 8 bit ISIS-II Interface is priced at $495 and includes the above pictured Z-80 card plus all necessary software for running 8 bit Intel software on PC's and AT's. MICRUN 86, our 16 bit Interface is $450 and does not require hardware, MICRUN 80 and MICRUN 86 are the solutions to Intel compatability on a PC. QUIKSAVE only $99.95 Backup lO Megab in JO Minutes Call to Order, or for more Information. All products come with a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. 1-80O637-7226 "d : MICRO INTERFACES / 6824 NW. 169th Street ' / Miami, Florida 33015 ' / (305)823-8088 / Telex 5106004680 MICRO INTER CO. Inquiry 2I0 for INTEL on PCs. Inquiry 2Il for RUN/CPM. RUN/CPM is a registered trademark af Micro interfaces Corporation; Sidekick is a registered trademark of Borland international; Kaypro is a registered trademark of the Kaypro Corporation. Intel is a registered trademark of the Intel Corporation; CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research; Z-80 is a registered trademark of Zifog Corp.; Quiksave is a registered trademark of Micro Interface Corp. NOW POWERFUL WITHOUT POWE Aunt Betty's Baked Goods 5CLCCT ALU PROM callfRt SORTfcD'BY calldate WHCKC,. —Choose an operator to combine conditions-Choose (Done) when done- AMD OR AMD MOT 08 MOT (Done). Column district district caudate comment Value Boston Mew Yorh March 12, 1985 American Baking Company Transaction date: 6/23/86 D Trans ctfon number: 4609 Customer number: 666 Mame: 5peedy5hopper,lnc. Address: 4092 Industrial Way City. State. Zip: Dryden. tlew Yorh 13053 Phone: 800-555-0661 Brand 207 Bake-A-Batch Cookies 308 Peanut Butter Crunch 619 Double Rich Brownies Price 2.00 2.50 Extended Price 18600 25000 74250 A typical DBMS user's screen, after the 497th line of code. With most database management soft- ware for the IBM PC family and com- patibles, you're quickly confronted with a painful reality: the only way to make your package live up to its promise is to learn its program- ming language. Which can take months. Then you have to write the code, line after frustrating line. But now, there's R:BASE™ System V. And for the first time, you can quickly create programs that automate your most impor- tant data management tasks. Without programming. Of course, with R:BASE System V, you can enter, query, and report on data in a non- automated, ad hoc fashion. With- out programming. And there's a high-level procedural language for rogrammers. But that's just the eginning. RtBASE SYSTEM V • IT GIVES NON-PROGRAMMERS POWERFUL PROGRAMS. With the EXPRESS System in R:BASE System V, you can access powerful features, without programming, that other data management software can't touch. With Definition EXPRESS, An R:BASE System V Prompt-By-Example (PBE) screen. With PBE's query capabil- ities, you can retrieve just the information you need. Without programming. you can build a database structure with advanced features like com- puted columns, and searchable note fields. VIEWS that combine up to five tables in a single, powerful table. Data validation rules that check incoming data for errors. All without programming. Then you can use Forms EXPRESS to create customized data entry forms. The forms you create can load data into five different tables, linked in One-To- Many relationships. You can also include scrolling regions, custom borders, and custom colors, all without programming. And with Reports EXPRESS, you can design reports exactly the way you want. And see what they'll look like, right on the screen. To see how complex your reports can be, take a close look at the example at the end of this page. Finally, you can tie it all to- gether with Application EXPRESS. First, you design your own multi- level system of menus. Your first menu level might look like this: Aunt Betty's 5ales Reporting System" (1) Enter 5ales Data (2) Edit 5ales Data (3) Print Daily 5ales Report (4) File Processing (5)Exit For each menu choice, you assign an action. For example, to define A data entry screen designed without programming, using Forms EXPRESS. menu choice #3, choose the action "PRINT," select the report you just created in Reports EXPRESS, and specify the appropriate data sorting and selection criteria. Then Application EXPRESS auto- matically writes the program code. Which means you've just created a very sophisticated pro- gram to deliver the full power of your DBMS. And youve done it all without learning how to program. From this point on, every time you want to run a report, all you do is choose item #3. With one simple keystroke, youve got it. R:BASE SYSTEM V IT GIVES PROGRAMMERS A POWERFUL ENVIRONMENT. If you're an experienced pro- grammer, you can use R:BASE System V to tackle the most demanding applications. You can use Application EXPRESS to create prototypes faster than with any other microcomputer- based DBMS. There's a high-level proce- dural language, and a full set of relational operators that can lever- age up to 80 tables, all of which can be open at once. While you're racing along, a data dictionary DBMS PROGRAMS RFUL DBMS PAIN. keeps track of the action. Automatically. For demanding analyses, there's a set of 70 math, statistical, financial, scientific, and string manipulation functions. You also get more capacity for your data. Comprehensive menu-driven import/export capabilities. Super- ior relational power. And much, much more. THE MOST POWERFUL DBMS FOR ONE USER OR A WHOLE NETWORK- ALL IN ONE PACKAGE. In addition to its standalone personal computing power, R:BASE System V has all the fea- tures you need to share data on a local area network (LAN) built right in. When you're ready to network— now or later— this is the only DBMS package you'll ever need. And no matter how many users you add, you'll never have any growing pains. Because an unlimited number of users, attached to a LAN, can access R:BASE System V. SEE FOR YOURSELF: $15.95. We're confident you'll find R.BASE System V the shortest distance to your data management solution. Visit your computer dealer for a trial run. Or, if you prefer, we'll send you a Trial Pack Pa«e; I r"^ AU, " Be "^ Baked c. oH , %'* Sale* Rep r "■" ' nf orma,; on 1 OI-J986 Z Southern CnJfrornla 5Crac ^P^c, s 4. Wheat Crisps R^ Crackers Total Cracker Pr a Sw ,^ kerProdu ct Sales Sw eet Goods Prod ucts Bak e -A-B atch C C Q S ^"•"Butter cS? Coconut Macaroons D oub, eRic h Bro ^ es To ^' ^eet Goods Produ ct Sales Northern Cali^ -~-^!^2Hi T °TAL SALES 97,536.22 2 35, 223. j i 332,759.33 25-006.23 8623.30 19.446.90 JJ3.636.0J Cracky Products Wheat Crisps R y e Crackers Total Cracker Product Sales »*n — 49 c ,66 .7J2.44 499.471.77 57,406.25 '75,223.56 232,629.81 45. J 46.55 47.J23.80 9.390.99 5 J 7, 446.25 6 1 9, J 07.59 851,737.40 for only $15.95, plus shipping. It's a fully functional, row-limited version of R:BASE System V. Just call 1-800-547-4000, Dept. 980. In Oregon or outside the U.S., call 1-503-684-3000, Dept. 980. What if you already own R:BASE 5000? If you bought your copy before June 30, 1986, you can trade it for the full power of R:BASE System V. For only $99. (Offer expires January 31, 1987.) Just give us a call at 1^800-248-2001. Outside the U.S., call 1-206-885-2000. A program to print this report daily, with a one-keystroke menu pick, was developed without program- ming using R:BASE System V's EXPRESS Technology. Whether you know how to program or not, R:BASE System V is the shortest distance to your data management solution. NEW R:BASE SYSTEM V Trademarks/Owners: Microrim, R:BASE/Microrim, Inc.; IBM/International Business Machines, Inc. © 1986 Microrim, Inc. FROM MICRORIM ASK BYTE array entry. I have tried a number of ways to do this, but to no avail. David Freibrun Los Angeles, CA Call— A.P.P.L.E. in Depth. Number Three: All About DOS (A.RRL.E. Co-op, 290 SW 43rd SL Renton, WA 98055) con- tains a program that will read a disk catalog into an Applesoft array. Using it as a starting point you should be able to create the program you want— Steve CIRCUIT CELLAR FEEDBACK Voice Recognition Technology in Dental Research Dear Steve. I am the director of a clinical research group in Boston. Our work includes the testing of diagnostic methods for early signs of periodontal (gum) disease. Al- USRobotics' COURIER 2400™ . . The most dependable at 2400- or 1200-bps You get 2400/1200/300-bps data communications and every first-class feature you'd expect in an auto-dial, auto- answer modem... at a surprisingly affordable price. But a modem at any price is only as good as its performance... And that's where Courier 2400 really shines. Don't take our word for it. Ask any of the nearly 2,000 electronic bulletin board system operators who have chosen the Courier 2400 for one of the most demanding modem applica- tions imaginable. Listen to the unanimous chorus of praise for the Courier 2400 from tough reviewers at more than a dozen highly respected computer magazines. Consider Courier 2400's perform- ance record— less than one percent of all Courier 2400s sold have been returned for service, a record we chal- lenge the industry to match. And we back up our confidence in Courier 2400 58 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 with a full two-year parts and service warranty. Quality, performance, value— your modem should be this good. It is, if it's the Courier 2400 from USRobotics. Tfiohotics The Intelligent Choice in Data Communications 8100 McCormick Blvd., Skokie, Illinois 60076 Phone toll free 1 (800) DIAL USR In Illinois C312) 9B2-5001 To learn more, send for our FREE booklet: "24 Questions and Answers on 2400-BPS Modems!' NAME ADDRESS- CITY- STATE- COMPANY- TITLE- PHONE ( PERSONAL USE □ BUSINESS USE □ Inquiry 356 for End-Users. Inquiry 357 for DEALERS ONLY. though several methods being tested can be interfaced to a computer (e.g.. tempera- ture, tooth mobility, and periodontal pocket depth), inevitably we are faced with the need to compare results with older, subjective rating schemes. Thus, voice recognition becomes a technology worth considering. My principal concern is the expected er- ror rate of this methodology. Although the vocabulary requirements are small, our current methods achieve error rates on the order of I in 1000 or better and we would not consider 1 in 100 acceptable. I don't know the expected error rate of current voice recognition technology. The problem I am describing is general for clinical research. Classically a second individual is employed to write verbal in- formation (usually numbers) on a piece of paper, so the design of a total computer interface environment creates the poten- tial for single-clinician diagnosis, thereby multiplying productivity. I would appreciate your thoughts on the practicality of conducting clinical ex- periments using voice recognition and if you think it practical, could you recom- mend specific hardware and software to accomplish this task. I. Max Goodson, D.D.S.. Ph.D. Department of Pharmacology Forsyth Dental Center Boston, MA While voice recognition is indeed a viable method of accomplishing your needs for data collection, the level of ac- curacy you're looking for is dependent on a number of factors both inside and outside the system you choose to do the recognition. Hobby-style boards typically achieve successful recognition rates in the 95 to 99 percent range at best with vocabular- ies of 30 to 60 words. Room noise is a factor, as are variations in voice. Usually, a system is "trained" to recognize a specific individual, so that every time a new researcher uses it, retraining is re- quired for full recognition. To achieve the error rates you indicate, even with the low vocabulary, would re- quire a relatively expensive system. On the other hand, 1 can think of other ways to accomplish the same thing with no er- rors associated with the data collection process and no writing involved. The suggestion I have is to use a sim- ple, reduced keyboard that has one key for each of the possible responses. Prompting could easily be done using voice synthesis with the clinician in- dicating his or her answer by pushing the {continued) IBM AT Compatible Features: $1125 ■ 512K RAM expands to 1MB • 33% faster than IBM AT ■ 1.2MB floppy drive - 8/6 MHZ CPU 80286-8 - USA BIOS fully compatible - Clock/calendar w/battery - Hard disk/floppy controller - AT style Keyboard - 195 watt power supply - 48 hour burn in ■ Full documentation ■ Includes setup software - One year limited warranty MADE IN U.S.A. Hard Disks Let PC INNOVATIONS provide, Install, and test the proper Hard Drive for your A T (drive only) SEAGATE 225 65MS SEAGATE 402639MS SEAGATE 4038 39MS SEAGATE 4051 39MS TOSHIBA 70MB 23MS 10MHz Zero Walt State SI Rating 11.7 $310 $549 $595 $699 $1395 $1495 ' Monitor no! Included EVEREX EGA GRAPHIC CARD - 16 colors 640x350 res. - 256K video memory - Parallel port $249 NEC MULTISYNC ■ EGA. PGA.CGAmonitor <£l*£\Q -800x560 VOU& EVEREX TAPE BACKUP § Y§ TEMS Tne ^ est ta P e backup money can buy INTERNAL 20 MB $589 60 MB $759 100MB Complete subsystem w/software i? EXTERNAL $639 $829 $929 TRY PC INNOVATIONS PERIPHERAL CARDS FCC CLASS 'B f APPROVED I/O for AT * XT Version available — Half slot — Parallel port — Serial port — Optional 2nd serial THE EDGE $215 — Color display — Hercules mono — 132 column — Printer port — Software — Lotus 123 graphiics HERCULES COMPATIBLE SE $99 - Monochrome graphics - Requires no software - Printer port - Optional serial port - Runs Lotus 123 graphics AT MEMORY CARD $165 -Up to 3MB No piggy back ■ Split memory - Uses 64K or 256K chips - Software MULTIFUNCTION CARD FOR AT $175 -Up to 3MB - Serial port -Optional 2nd serial port - Parallel port - Game adaptor - Software HAYES 1200B MODEM With SmartCom II PC INNOVATIONS SPECIAL OFFERS $349 2400 BAUD EVE ROOM 1200 BAUD U.S. Robotics: 2400 Internal 2400 External CALL $128 $389 $389 TEAC floppy disk 360K $89 1.2MB $119 Toshiba floppy disk 360KS951.2MB $125 Floppydisk controller $40 Multifunction floppy disk controller $95 XT 150 watt power supply $75 AT 192wattpowersupply $109 Memory chips. Eproms. 8087,80287 CALL EPSON FX 286 EPSON FX 85 EPSON LQ 800 EPSON LQ 1000 Toshiba P321 printer Toshiba P341 printer Leading Mfg. 13" RGB display MS400 AT 4 port serial card MS400 XT 4 port serial card $539 $379 $379 $739 $525 $757 $259 $115 $110 PC INNOVATIONS ESTABLISHED SINCE 1980 10 Hughes Street, Suite A-200 • Irvine, CA 92718 631 S. Main Street • Plymouth, Ml 48170 *%>%. <&&> IBM. IBM AT, Hayes, Hercules are trademarks of their respective companies. (714) 768-8130 (313) 451-0664 VISA & MasterCard Welcome Prices subject to change Our trained sales and technical staff is ready to serve you. Inquiry 74 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 59 NOW, REAL C ADD FOR ATARI ST JUST $49.95 FirstCADD™, w Now For Atari 520ST&1040ST, and IBM PC & Compatibles ///////////////J If you draw, design, draft or doodle use FirstCADD™ to do it faster and do it better. FirstCADD™ can change the way you do business! If any part of your business calls for putting pencil to paper, then FirstCADD™ is for you. For anyone who uses a pencil ... for anything! If you're an executive, use First- CADD™ to do flow charts, graphs, presentations. We make it a snap to combine words with pictures. If you're a contractor, plumber, electrician or building manager, use FirstCADD™ to do floor plans, elevations and alterations. With FirstCADD™ you can change your mind without having to start a whole new drawing — from scratch. FirstCADD™ is ideal for the architect or interior designer, store owner, developer, graphic designer, engineer, draftsperson. Anytime you have to draw with precision. Any time you have to combine drawing with words, FirstCADD™ can help you do it quicker, cleaner and a lot easier. FirstCADD™ is so easy to use that all you do is pop in the diskette and you'll be on your way! In minutes you'll be draw- ing lines,circles, arcs with ease. Plot your work on virtually any popular dot matrix printer. Don't go another day without FirstCADD™. Call our toll free hot-line today. We'll give you the name of your nearest dealer or have FirstCADD™ in your hands in just a couple of days. Not copy protected. Sy.*lfiii Requirements: A*tari520STor Atari 1040 ST PC or compatible with 256k RAM ruin., graphics rard and (*,> disk drin-s. IBM is a registered trademark (»r International Business Marhines Ci.rp. .Atari ST and 1040 ST is a trademark of Atari Corp. FirstCADD and Generic CADD 2.0 ;irr registered trademarks »l (iiii.rn- Software. Inc..8T63 l+8lh N.K. Building C. Hedmimd. W.A 98052 Inquiry 134 for End-Users. Inquiry 135 for DEALERS ONLY. A full featured, 2-dimen- sional drafting and design package. ■ Automatic line drawing ■ Draw points, lines, arc, circles, ellipses, rectangles, polygons, Curves ■ Snap-to and "rubber banding" I Two-key commands ■ On-screen menus ■ User defined menus ■ Create your own fonts ■ Create libraries of frequently used components , ■ Zoom ■ Edit ■ Measure lines, angles, areas ■ Drawing size limited only by memory From the makers of Generic CADD 2.0™ (just $99.95) the industry's first completely modular, expandable CADD package. Generic SOFTWARE ASK BYTE proper key on either a wired or wireless keyboard. I demonstrated a wireless key- board project in the July 1980 issue of BYTE. -Steve AUDlO-AND-VlDEO MULTIPLEXER Dear Steve. I have attempted to build a simpler ver- sion of the system you described in your February Circuit Cellar ("Build an Audio- and-Video Multiplexer"). I wanted to use my Atari's 5-volt DC discrete-output joy- stick port to control the CD4066. I tried to make a simplified circuit that would allow my computer to select whether 1 was allowing my VCR output or the computer video output to be displayed on the TV set. I'm not sure why I had problems, but the pictures were too snowy to use and the VCR signal would completely block out the computer video when the VCR was connected as an input. 1 tried to provide noise protection by using in-line capacitors grounded to the metal box for the two 5-volt control lines, the 5-volt supply line, and the ground line. I used your low-pass filter on the chip input and a matching load for the untransmitted signal to no avail. Can you help? Harry Maltby Cypress, CA From your description, I fear that you have misunderstood what I tried to ac- complish with the audio-video multi- plexer. The display you describe and the associated problems indicate that you were probably trying to use the RF chan- nel outputs of both your computer and VCR to feed your TV set, using the CD4066 as a switch. First, the CD4066 does not have the bandwidth capabilities to pass a video or audio signal without distortion of the signal. Second, neither the CD4066 nor the multiplexer system could sufficiently isolate or switch RF without severe crosstalk and signal de- gradation. Unfortunately, in this instance, the easiest solution is still the "A-B switch." You might consider controlling a coaxial relay with your computer. However, the crosstalk problem could still exist, since your TV input stage is very sensitive, and the RF feeding from your two sources is much stronger than a normal antenna signal.— Steve SB180 Dear Steve, I read with great interest your SB 180 ar- ticle tSeptember and October 1985). It {continued) HARMONY COMPUTERS 2357 CONEY ISLAND AVE.. (Bet. Aves. T & U) BKLYN. NY 11223 80CM/IDEO84 or 800-441-1144 or 718-627-1000 JL Commodore 128 PANASONIC 1091 W $259.95 $206.95 rf*-V* ©TARN -10 IBM (268) *Co^ $219.00 $1399.00 "PRINTER SPECIALS" Brother HR 15XL 289 Epson 286 459 Okidata 292 w/INTFC 468 Star SD 10 289 Brother 1509 359 IBM Proprinter 359 Okidata 293 w/INTFC 599 Star SD 15 386 Brother HR 35 (Comrex C4 419 IBM Proprinter XL 519 Panasonic KXP 109" 207 Star SR 10 419 Citizen 120D 169 Juki 6100 409 Panasonic KXP 1092 285 Star SR 15 539 Citizen MSP 10 269 NEC 3550 719 Panasonic KXP 313 234 SR 10, SR 15 Sheetfeed 49 Citizen MSP 15 369 NEC 8850 1039 Panasonic KXP 315 369 Star SB 10 389 Citizen MSP 20 319 NEC P6 449 Panasonic KXP 1592 389 Star NB 15 998 Citizen Premier 35 398 NEC P7 619 Panasonic KXP 1595 529 Silver Reed Exp 550 279 Epson LX80 (Homewriter 10 169 Okidata 182 209 Star NX-10 219 Silver Reed Exp 800 619 Epson LO600 489 Okidata 93 289 Star SG-10C 189 Toshiba 341 634 Epson LQ 1000 699 Okidata 192 284 Star LV 1210 169 Toshiba 351 949 Epson FX 85 339 Okidata 193 Plus 494 Star SG 15 331 Toshiba 321 429 IBM SEAGATE MODEMS MONTTORS AT Unenhanced 2495 Hard Drives Hayes 1200 349 Amdek 300 Green 113 AT Enhanced IBMffllteg 3499 20 Meg. No Controlle 329 Hayes 1200B Amdek 300 Amber 119 AT Enhanced IBMSOIteg 3999 10 Meg. w/controller 369 w/Smartcom 323 310 Amber 139 IBM Monitor 219 20 Meg. w/controller 419 Hayes 300 124 Color 600 374 IBM PC 799 30 Meg. w/controlter 479 Hayes 2400 559 Color 722 454 PC XT 268 1399 30 Meg. AT 639 Hayes 2400B Princeton HX12 394 PC XT Clone 359 40 Meg. AT 760 w/Smartcom 499 Princeton HX12E 479 AST Six Pack 384K 189 Tftndom 20M*g. Hayes 2400B Princeton Max 12E 148 AST Advantage 12BK 329 Hard Card 469 No Smarlcom 459 SR12 529 Hercules Color Card 139 COMPAQ Micromodem 2E 125 Scan Doubler 159 Hercules Monochrome Card 179 Portable 256K 2-360K Promethias 1200 249 NEC Multisvnc 529 Quad EGA+ 319 Compaq Drives Portable 256K 1-360 1499 Promethias 1220B 149 Video7 EGA+ 289 K ATARI 130 XE 65 XE Atari 801 Printer 1050 Drive Ataii Writer+ COMMODORE STB EGA+ 259 1-20MB Hard 1B99 Commodore 128 258 Multifundion Card IBM Disk Orive 8087 Chip ■ 80287 Chip Everex EGA+ 109 104 112 174 229 Deskpro640K 1-360K 1-20MBHarrl 1999 APPtE 2E Enhanced W/128K 119 89 145 116 37 1571 Drive 229 1670 Modem 159 Commodore 64 149 1541 Disk Dnve 172 1802 Monitor 174 Everex Graphics Edge Everex Edge Everex Graphics Pacer Joystick for IBM 214 219 189 29 & Apple Drive Drive Apple Drive AT4T 256K 2-360K 929 159 229 1499 Atari Modem 301 59 Comrex Printer 99 520 ST Color System 759 520 ST B & W System 629 1902A Monitor 274 MSP 1000 Printer 228 Comrex Printer 109 Star SG10C 189 640K 1-360K 1-20MB 1899 Leading Edge Model 256 K 2 Dr. Monitor S11M Leading Edge Mooel D30MB w/monrtor $1585 Commodore Amiga 256K, DOS Mouse, Amqa co lor monitor $1049 800-441-1144 Items reflect 4% cash or check discount. For your protection we check for stolen credit cards. m.c. visa welcome. Personal checks cause 4 week delay. Shipping & Handling charge extra. Ail Sales Final - Price and avaMablrty subject to change without notice. Inquiry 304 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 61 UNLOCK" Removes Copy Protection RUNS YOUR SOFTWARE ON ANY HARD DISK UNIock "copying" disk allows you to make "unprotected" DOS copies of popular original program disks. Unpro- tected backup copies perform per- fectly, as do copies of these copies. UNIock copies run on any hard disk, including Bernoulli Boxes. No original required in drive "A." Run on a RAM disk simply and conveniently. Also, copy DOS 5 1 /T programs to 3 1 / 2 " diskettes. For IBM® PC, XT, AT, com- patibles, 256K or more, DOS 2.1 or higher. Choice of the critics! Guaranteed to work only with programs below: UNLOCK" ALBUM "A" PLUS $69.95 (Plus $4 ship/handling. Foreign orders $10) • d BASE III & d BASE III PLUS™ • LOTUS 1-2-3™ (1.A.2.0) • FRAMEWORK I & II™ • IBM WRITING ASSISTANT™ (tot) • CHARTMASTER™ (6.1) • IBM FILING ASSISTANT™ (1.0) • SIGNMASTER™ (5.1) • IBM REPORTING ASSISTANT™ (to) • FASTBACK™(5.3) • GRAPH WRITER™ (4.3, 4.31) • HARVARD TOTAL PROJECT MGR .™ (1.10) • REALIA COBOL™ (1.2, 2.0) • THINKTANK™ (2.0,2.1) • MULTILINK ADVANCED™ (3.02, 3.03) • DOLLARS & SENSE™ (2.0) UNLOCK" ALBUM "B" PLUS $69.95 (Plus $4 ship/handling. Foreign orders $10) • SYMPHONY™ (i.i) • CLIPPER™ • LOTUS 1-2-3 REPORT WRITER™ (1.0) • DOUBLEDOS™ • smARTWORK™ (1.0 Rev. 8 ihru 10 & 1.1) • DISK OPTIMIZER™ • MANAGING YOUR MONEY™ (1.5,1.51,2.0) • DATABASE MANAGER II— THE • MICROSOFT WORD™ (1.15,2.0, 2.01) • PFS: ACCESS™ (1984 Ed.) • PFS:PLAN™(B) • PFS: GRAPH™ (B) • PFS: WRITE™ (1.01, • PFS: REPORT™ (B,c) • PFS: FILE™(B,C) INTEGRATOR™ (20, 202) SPECIAL OFFER •Best of UNLOCK" ALBUM D PLUS (Plus $4 ship-handling. Foreign orders $10) $74.95 • d BASE III & d BASE III PLUS™ • FRAMEWORK I & II™ • CLIPPER™ • FASTBACK™ (5.3) • CHARTMASTER™ (6.1) • SIGNMASTER™ (5.1) • DOLLARS & SENSE™ (2.0) • LOTUS 1-2-3™ (1.A-2.0) • SYMPHONY™ (1.1) • LOTUS 1-2-3 REPORT WRITER™ (to) • DOUBLEDOS™ • HARVARD TOTAL PROJECT MGR.™ (1.10) • MANAGING YOUR MONEY™ (1.5,1.51,2.0) • THINKTANK™ (2.0, 2.1) • MICROSOFT WORD™ (1.15, 20, 2.01) i UNLOCK" FLIGHT/JET #202 • FLIGHT SIMULATOR*"* • JET™ • SCENERY DISKS $29.95 (Plus $4 ship/handling. Foreign orders $10) CHOICE OF THE CRITICS! LPERfQNAJU "UNIock has two particularly en- I VJhU' I IUi*! dearing characteristics: It works, and works simply. I was able to quickly produce unprotected copies of Lotus 1-2-3 release 2, Symphony 1.1, Microsoft Word 2.0, dBase III 1.1, and Framework II. These copies performed flawlessly, as did copies of these copies." Christopher O'Malley, PERSONAL COMPUTING, April '86 R VTP " UNIock47 defeatsthe latest Pro- DT I Clok and SuperLock type of copy protection scheme. It's menu-driven and works fine on the programs it's supposed to work on: Lotus 1-2-3, d Base III, Framework, Symphony, Paradox, and several others." Jerry Pournelle, BYTE, Feb. '86 "Because copy protection can interfere I with the ability to back up a hard disk, business-oriented users may prefer programs like TranSec's UNIock series." Winn L. Rosch, PC MAGAZINE, May 27,1986 UNLOCK Personal COMPUTING 'The Best Software Utilities For Under 5100 ORDER TODAY TOLL FREE: 1-800-423-0772 IN FLORIDA: 1-305-474-7548 m TranSec Systems, Inc., 220 Congress Park Drive, Delray Beach, FL 33445 Trademarks are the sole property or their respective owners. UNIock Is for use only to improve the useabllity of legally acquired and operated software. ASK BYTE seems that such a unit would be ideal for my application. But before I commit to this product it would be helpful if you could answer the following questions: What ZCPR3 utilities and documentation are included as part of the $499 price? What disk format does it use for the 3 /2-inch. 5/4 -inch, and 8-inch drives? My application depends heavily on the use of all three disk sizes. You mention optional disk format con- version programs. I am interested in the following formats: CP/M 8-inch IBM standard CP/M 8-inch Heath/Magnolia MS-DOS 5 /4-inch IBM PC MS-DOS 3 /2-inch DG/One Will the SB180 work with any 3^-inch drives, or do you have recommendations as to drive manufacturer or model? Does the unit include documentation of the HD64180 chip? Will a Z80 CP/M program run "as is" under ZCPR3 without modification? Thanks for your help. Allyn Roth man Syosset. NY I will answer your questions in the order you pose them. First, the SBI80- 1-20 includes the full set ofZCPR3 utilities (far too numerous to list here) plus an assembler, linker, debugger, and source for the monitor ROM, the BIOS, ZCPR3, and SBl80~specific utilities. The docu- mentation includes the book ZCPR3: The Manual, descriptions of the utilities not covered i n the book, a technical manual for the SBI80 that has full setup details and schematics, and finally the HD64I80 data book. The SBI80 BIOS supports six 5M-inch disk formats and three 8-inch formats. (The SBI80 doesn't know the difference between a 3 'A- inch drive and a 5 l A-inch drive, so the formats are the same for both sizes.) The software comes on double-sided, double-density, 40-track, "native" format disks. Other formats sup- ported include the Kay pro 2, Osborne I, Hitachi QC-IO, Ampro SS, and the stan- dard IBM 8-inch format In order to use the other formats you mention, you need a utility called Uni- Form. It supports over two hundred 3'A-inch, 5!4-inch, and 8-inch formats and is available from us or its authors at Micro Solutions for $69.95. It's impossible to say that the SBI80 will work with any 3 'A-inch drive. I have used Teac 35F drives successfully Own- ers of the SBI80 have reported success with other drives, but since I have only [continued) CoTwerf-ariy dBASE III Program to dBASE III Plus... ocgSSS^^ itfSEsr jirjffB 1 Jff iffB i3D . . .automatically, with true record and file locking for multiuser operation • dANALYST features syntax/blocking analysis, tabbed file output, variable cross reference • dANALYST gives the programmer a graphic picture of a program structure • dANALYST saves programmer's time and helps to analyze common programming errors • dANALYST supports many multiuser networks TranSec dANALYST™ automatical- ly converts any dBASE III program to dBASE III PLUS with true record and file locking for multiuser oper- ation. Features include syntax/ blocking analysis, tabbed file out- put, variable cross reference lists. Now, program with the speed, sim- plicity and convenience of Frame- work-type interface command windows, pop-up menus, and graphic analysis REPORTS menus. Graphic Command Structures The graphic display of nested command structures helps in form- ing good structured programming techniques. The separation of com- plex instructions, through proper tabbing by dANALYST, provides clarification of today's sophisticated dBASE applications. Using dANA- LYST you will be able to quickly check and make sure that the pro- grams you are writing will not mal- function due to simple program errors. Save Debugging Time Graphic reports are prepared, along with "variable status tables" that track all of the variables in a program. These reports can reduce hours of tedious debugging in ex- tensive, sophisticated applications. Wide Multiuser Support Full support is provided for multi- user Clipper™ and the network ver- sion of the WordTech™ compiler for true record and file locking. TranSec dANALYST will support multiuser operation on the following networks when used with Clipper and the Communications Horizons™ multi- user library: Novell Netware™ 4.61 or Advanced, IBM® PC Network dANALYST Makes dBASE Easier to Program, Reduces Logic Errors, Bugs FILE HMre:SWiPLEl DATE: t/t/M SET EXCLUSIVE OFT 1 use cose Index cost 2 CLEM 1 STORE .T, TO TEST c IT FLOCK!) .*HD. RELEASE YIJ WHILE TEST CLEAR -IF TEST DO CKKTEST ACCEPT TO HVAR1 MVAK1 = VAUHVAH1) IF WAR <= .OR. SVAR > 7 Out of range: do WAIT TO Changing -ELSE STORE . F. TO TEST Edit MVAfll m ■ 'v CIF .NOT. RLOCIU) DO RECLOCK WITH W ENOIF FILE NAME;TEST.Pf CLEAR STORE .T. TO TEST • Error: LOOP statement r . EHODO block. CASE ASE Costing - DELETE ALL CLEAR DO CHKTEST ACCEPT TO MVAR1 MVAR1 * VALtMUARll r ig Errc r STORE ,F. TO TEST WAIT T Multiuser example of record and file locking as formatted by dANALYST i.LLL^o, Debugging for the programmer is simple, fast with errors clearly visible (DOS 3.1) NetBIOSs Multi-Link™ Orchid Technology™ Alloy,™ AST,™ 3Com Ethernet.™ dANALYSTalso supports and can create CLP files for Clipper, LNK files for PLINK86™ Tree Files, RSP Files for dBASE runtime support, and variable tabbing. Automatic Documentation Automatic Programmer docu- mentation also can be added to files, along with an efficient Search Program to allow users to search for any text string occurence in the file. The Productivity Utility! dANALYST is an efficient time- saver for the IBM® PC, XT, AT and compatibles, whether programming in dBASE II, dBASE III, dBASE III PLUS or other supported multiuser or network programs. NOT COPY PROTECTED $74.95 9S plus $5 s/h 3 ORDER TODAYTOLL FREE: 1-800-423-0772 IN FLORIDA: 1-305-474-7548 dBASE, dBASE II and dBASE III are registered trademarks of AshtonTate TRANSEC dANALYST THE dBASE PRODUCTIVITY UTILITY TranSec Systems, Inc., 220 Congress Park Drive, Delray Beach, FL 33445 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 63 Inquiry 390 "We shall create a computer that will be a landmark in the history of computers " ^ j ATARI CORP. u> Recently, a writer compared the revolutionary 1040ST™ to Henry Ford's Model T.™ You may be surprised to learn that we were very complimented. The truth is that both the ST™ and the Model T were designed to be machines of great power and usefulness at a price that was affordable to everybody. The only difference is that the 16-bit 1040ST uses the most advanced technology in the world. And the result is a computer that has 1024 Kbytes of memory for the amazingly affordable price of $999. That's actually less than $ 1 per Kilobyte. We think Henry Ford would be very proud. _ The ATARI 1040ST is at your computer retailer now. AATARI © 1986, Atari Corp. ATARI, 1040ST, and ST arc TM's or reg. TM*s of Atari Corp. Model T is a TM of Ford Motor Company. 1 ASK BYTE What is a Best Western? The right place at the right price Make reservations at any Best Western, see your travel agent, or call toll-free 1-800-528-1234 INDEPENDENT WORLDWIDE LODGING "World's largest chain of independently owned and operated hotels, motor inns and resorts" tried the Teacs, I can't make any specific recommendations. Any CP/M 2.2 program that makes stan- dard CP/M calls will work unmodified on the S8/<30.-Steve Build Your Own Expansion Chassis Dear Steve. In light of the number of relatively in- expensive IBM-compatible motherboards, power supplies, and computer cases cur- rently available, is there a way to use them to construct an expansion chassis for the IBM PC? R. L. Cline. Ir. Littleton, CO The motherboards that you see adver- tised in a number of computer publica- tions are just that— motherboards. A motherboard contains all the circuit traces and pads required for a working PC when populated with the proper in- tegrated circuits. Using a motherboard is an expensive way to go when all you re- quire are expanded control, data, and address buses. A few years ago, when expanded func- tion boards were not as integrated as to- day, expansion slots were quickly filled. In order to expand the system, you could purchase an additional box (with or with- out a power supply) tha t provided addi- tional card slots. You would connect the expansion box to the motherboard of the host PC via cable that plugged into one of the host's card slots. With today's integration of electronics, expansion chassis are not as common as they used to be. You can build one using an enclosure, power supply, etc., that you have seen advertised. If you use a motherboard, you will have to ensure that all com- ponents are removed, since all electrical signals will be generated by the host PC. Then it's a simple matter of connecting one of the expansion card connectors in the host PC to one in the expansion chassis on a pin-for-pin basis— Steve ■ Over the years I have presented many dif- ferent projects in BYTE. I know many of you have built them and are making use of them in many ways. I am interested in hearing from any of you telling me what you've done with these projects or how you may have been influenced by the basic ideas. Write me at Circuit Cellar Feed- back. P.O. Box 582. Glastonbury, CT 06033. and fill me in on your applications. All letters and photographs become the property of Steve Ciarcia and cannot be returned. 64 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 ur~r r r r rn+m 7 f r r v rr r r '/ / / i ii i . COMPAQ advances personal COMPAQ announces a major improvement to the industry standard, one that carries you far beyond the limits of today's ''advanced technology" per- sonal computers. It's the new COMPAQ DESKPRO 386™ and it reaches far higher levels of speed, compatibility, perform- ance, and expandability than have ever been attainable in personal computers. Dozens of separate Introducing the new COMPAQ DESKPRO enhancements have been combined in one desktop computer to make the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 the most advanced personal com- puter in the world. There's no per- sonal computer more ideal for power users, networking, and connecting to a mainframe. The most advanced personal : COMPAQ" is ;i registered trademark; arid COMPAQ DLSKPKO 386 I'M j s ;i trademark of COMPAQ Computer Corporation. advanced-technology computers The new high-speed, 32-bit, 16- MHz Intel* 80386 microprocessor forms the heart of this breakthrough. It's the latest from Intel's popu- lar family of micropro- cessors that now power well over nine million industry-standard PC's. As such, it runs all the popular personal pro- ductivity software you already own two to three times faster than ever and now lets you do things never before possi- ble on personal computers. But the chip is only the beginning of this story. The Intel S03S6 micro- processor is faster and much more powerful than any of its predecessors. Each component the very best Performance enhancements go far beyond the microprocessor, however. Every component has been optimized to take advantage of the increased speed and power of the 80386. We offer, for instance, far greater memory than other advanced- technology personal computers. Plus faster access. Enhanced color graphics. A built-in interface for your Hghtpen. And even a built-in expanded memory manager that breaks the "640K barrier" of current operating systems. We made improvements to the keyboard and the internal fixed disk drive backup, and added a host of other features, which taken together, make this the most advanced personal com- puter available, and the very first to offer a true minicomputer level of performance in an industry- standard desktop computer. The COMPAQ Color Monitor works with software designed for a wide variety of display standards: EGA, more Storage With CGA and monochrome. The winning numbers The new COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 features advanced 32-bit architecture that pro- cesses twice as much information as 16-bit computers in the same amount of time. Coupled with a much faster 16-MHz processing speed, it radically improves the respon- siveness of spread- sheets, databases, and networks; the ease of multi-tasking; and the power of engineering software. Because the 80386 is compati- ble with today's soft- ware, it is setting a clear direction for the future. It preserves your investment in software and train- ing while allowing the devel- opment of powerful business programs, far more advanced en- gineering software and artificial intelligence applications. No compromises From the integrity of its compo- nents, to its unquestionable com- patibility and connectability, to its numerous enhancements, the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 pushes all of the limits of Run industry-standard software 2-3 times faster than ever. advanced technology— with no compromises. It's clearly the computer of choice for today's and tomorrow's most demanding users. From the company that has the highest user satisfaction rat- ings in the industry. It simply works better. computer in the world comPAa Why the COMPAQ continue to be the world's most long after others The 80386 microprocessor is just one of the many ways COMPAQ increased system performance. For that reason, other 80386- based personal computers will be measured by how well, or how poorly, they stack up to the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386. / / i The most advanced personal IBM* and IBM Personal Computer-AT* are registered trademarks of International Business MachinesCorporation. Lotus* is a registered trademark of Lotus Corporation. DESKPRO 386 will advanced personal computer copy its engine Greater stores of knowledge The COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 provides the most storage capac- ity and performance available in any personal computer. High- performance 40- and 130- Megabyte fixed disk drives are 50 to 150 percent faster than those used in other PC's. And they store a to- tal of 5,000 to 50,000 more pages of data. We also developed a fast, economical way to protect all that data. You can back up and verify 40 Megabytes of data on a single formatted cartridge at the timesaving .rate of one Megabyte per minute. spreadsheets, sort larger data- bases and run more programs. And unlike other personal com- puters, this feature requires no additional software, and the high-speed RAM uses no expan- sion slots, leaving more for you. Storage drives access data faster, enhancing performance The most memorable personal computer Break the 640-Kbyte memory barrier and use up to 8 Mega- bytes of high-speed 32-bit RAM with the COMPAQ Expanded Memory Manager. This software comes standard and works with programs that follow the Lotus7 Inter/Microsoft" (LIM) Expanded Memory Specification, allowing you to build bigger Lead a much more colorful life When combined with the COMPAQ Enhanced Color Graphics Board, the new COMPAQ Color Monitor can display 16 colors at once from a 64- color palette. And this same board provides the high-resolution graphics— 640 X 350— that many users require. Expanding horizons Exceptional expandability lets you add as many as four internal storage devices. You can add more RAM, too. Up to 10 Mega- bytes of RAM can be placed on the system board with- out using an expansion slot; 14 Megabytes using only two. You can also add our Enhanced Color Graphics Board that has a lightpen interface built in. This leaves four expansion slots compatible with industry-standard expansion boards. So you can communicate with mainframes, in a network, or in a multi-user environment. Built to higher standards, with "more" standards We build more into the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386, with more care. We have included interfaces for printers and modems. We pro- tected storage devices with shock isolation systems. We improved the keyboard to help touch typ- ists avoid mistakes and simplify common chores. And we offer a full one-year warranty. Some companies may copy one or two features of our latest com- puter. But it will be years before they copy them all. That's just one more reason why COMPAQ Computers are recognized as best in their classes by industry ex- perts and users alike. The most advanced personal computer because it incorporates the most advances. Use a mouse with an expansion board. Or a lightpen with a built-in interface on the COMPAQ Enhanced Color Graphics Board. It simply works better. computer in the world comflAa COMPAQ creates computer that The COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 is so advanced it will replace many larger, more expensive computers. Engineers and other power users will now be doing many things on personal computers once thought impos- sible or impractical. The new COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 breaks all the barriers of personal computing. The speed and power of the COMPA Q DESKPRO 386 make it the personal computer of choice for CAD/CAE, networking, and multi- task ing/mult i- users. The most advanced personal : d*||p05WS8WW'SHtt«v, Inter is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Microsoft" and XKNIXiarc registered Irademarksof Microsoft Corporation. AutoCAD - ™ is a trademark of AUTODESK, Inc. the first personal thinks it isn't The better alternative to the dedicated workstation The COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 is a powerful alternative to dedicated systems that do one thing, like computer aided design, extremely well. Now, you can match their performance, and still run hundreds of industry-standard pro- grams as well, with a system costing thou- sands of dollars less. A desktop minicomputer? Faster disk drives, 32-bit architec- ture and a large linear address space allow software developers to easily modify minicomput- er programs for use on the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386. Plus, you get minicomputer- level performance _ __ with your current personal productiv- Thcsossoruns ~ ~ software written for ity Software. earlier chips and adds more power. 80386 80286 H0H8 Net gain With the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 as your network file server or multi-user host computer comes greater productivity. Your system will run faster than ever. And you CAD/CAE programs like AutoCAD™ enable you to do detailed electronic modeling, and the speed of the 80287 coprocessor provides real-time response. can handle additional users with no loss of performance. Multi-task master Running several programs si- multaneously, and switching between them, has never been better. Its speed and vast memory capacity make the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 ideal, especially when running software under XENIX* System V/286 by COMPAQ. Exceptional speed and memory make the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 ideal I or multi-tasking. You can run several programs at the same time and switch between them. Building bridges to engineers Engineers can now turn to the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 instead of costly minicom- puters or mainframes. Used with the 80287 co- processor option, it gives you the speed you need. In addition, the new COMPAQ Color Monitor and Enhanced Color Graphics Board offer resolution required for most graphics applications with a built-in interface for those who use a lightpen. Artificial intelligence The speed, memory and storage of the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 now make artificial intelligence in personal computers a real pos- sibility. Soon available, these new AI programs promise to make personal computing even easier than it is now. The COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 is an investment in the future that pays handsome dividends today. It simply works better. computer in the world comPAa History in the making from a company that knows how Very few per- sonal computer companies have managed to gain the worldwide respect and acceptance from computer users that COMPAQ has. That's because from the outset, we made clear our in- tentions—no compromises. First and best The COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 is the first PC from a major manu- facturer based on the new 80386 microprocessor. Its power, speed, performance, and built-in fea- tures exceed every other per- sonal computer you can buy. Not surprising from a company with a history of being first with the best. A long line of firsts COMPAQ was the first to intro- duce a full-function portable computer that could do more than most desktops. We were the first to offer desk- tops that were faster and more expandable than the IBM*-PC. The first to offer an internal fixed disk drive backup system. The first to introduce a desktop more powerful than the IBM PC- AT. And the first to offer an equally powerful, yet portable 80286-based personal computer. COMPAQ makes the widest line of desktop and portable business personal computers, each tops in its class, giving COMPAQ the highest user satisfaction ratings in the industry. One good thing leads to another Available only at Authorized COMPAQ Computer Dealers. Over 3000 worldwide offer outstanding service and support. The COMPAQ Portable led the company to the most successful first year in American business history. Each successive product led COMPAQ to the Fortune 500 faster than any other company in history. By refusing to compromise, we'll keep making A history For the Authorized Dealer nearest you, call 1-800-231-0900 and ask for Operator 23. In Canada, call 416-449-8741, Operator 23. It simply works better. comma: c)986 COMPAQ Computer Corporation, all rights reserved. BOOK REVIEWS EXPERT SYSTEMS 85: PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIFTH TECHNICAL CONFERENCE OF THE BRITISH COMPUTER SOCIETY SPECIALIST GROUP ON EXPERT SYSTEMS Martin Merry, ed. Cambridge University Press New York: 1986 334 pages, $39.50 STRUCTURE AND INTERPRETATION OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman with Julie Sussman MIT Press Cambridge, MA: 1985 542 pages. $34.95 SOFTWARE VALIDATION, VERIFICATION, TESTING AND DOCUMENTATION (A SOURCE BOOK) Stephen ). Andriole, ed. Petrocelli Books Princeton, NJ: 1986 300 pages, $49.50 / r / J -r f * <* J - X EXPERT SYSTEMS 85: PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIFTH TECHNICAL CONFERENCE OF THE BRITISH COMPUTER SOCIETY SPECIALIST GROUP ON EXPERT SYSTEMS Reviewed by Paul E. Hoffman Dozens of expert system products are available for microcomputers, but the concepts and the tech- nology they represent are not the most advanced avail- able. The articles in Expert Systems 85 indicate that the cur- rent generation of expert system shells is only a first step in the evolution of expert systems. Apparently, current research is rapidly advancing the usefulness of expert systems. Expert Systems 85 is a col- lection of 24 papers presented at the British Computer Society's ex- pert system conclave held in December 1985 at the University of Warwick in England. The papers are strictly academic and do not propose to be related to the current family of microcomputer expert system packages, fudging from the range of these papers, it is evident that the increasing power of expert systems will con- tinue to diversify. Overview The papers in Expert Sys- tems 85 cover many of the major topics in expert sys- tem research: the user in- terface, planning systems, uncertainty, and the def- inition of knowledge. While some focus on very small areas, others deal with large issues that also relate to areas of com- puter science well outside of expert systems. The first paper is by Martin Merry, both the program committee chairman and editor of this collection of proceedings. While he theorizes on the potential of expert system research, he regards the current state of expert systems skeptically: "The well- known early expert systems. DENDRAL and MYCIN, date from the late 60s and early 70s. . . . Most current applica- tions work involves very few substantive new ideas over these early systems." Merry goes on to describe three topics of expert systems research: knowledge-based planning, new architectures for expert systems, and qualitative reasoning. He assesses these fields realistically, pointing out that although a great deal of theory has been described, very little of it has been [continued] ILLUSTRATED BY LINDA SCHARF NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 65 ARTEKADA TAKE THE NEXT STEP F OR ONLY $485 ! Ada's powerful features make it the programming language of choice for today's complex software. Artck Ada is the most advanced Ada compiler for PCs. Artek Ada is a new approach to personal computing. Our fast and efficient Ada compiler runs on a vanilla PC, XT or AT with 384 Kb RAM, giving you unprecedented power and ease of use. But don't take our words for it. Take Artek Ada out for a test drive yourself. Order a Demo diskette today! Artek Ada is an extensive, totally upwards-compatible implementation of the 1983 ANSI Ada military standard. It compiles amazingly fast and includes an Ada Programming Support Environment to greatly enhance productivity. In the APSE we have integrated the compiler with a powerful editor and a high-level debugger. True to Artek's PC heritage the compiler is not copy- protected, and the complete source code for the Ada library is included free of charge. We are now working on a new, validated version of Artek Ada, expected to be available in the first half of 1987. You will be able to trade in your compiler at full price, if you decide to upgrade. Artek Ada is ideally suited for universities and in-house training. Our new, low price and aggressive educational and volume discounts won't stretch your budget. For orders or information call toll-free 1-800-PC-ARTEK, in New Jersey or outside the continental U.S.A. call 201-867-2900, or write to our address. A free brochure is available on request. Our Demo kit, including the real compiler with a 40-line maximum program length costs $ 29.95, including p&p anywhere in the world. The compiler costs $ 495.00. VISA, MC and AMEX accepted. In New Jersey add 6% sales tax. Outside the U.S.A. add $20.00. Please pay with credit card or a bank draft, payable in U.S. Dollars, drawn on a U.S. bank. BOOK REVIEWS Dealer and distributor inquiries welcome. CALL: 1-800-PC-ARTEK Artek Corporation, 100 Seaview Drive, Secaucus, NJ 07094 r t e A Arlek is a trademark of Arlek Corporation. Ada is a registered trademark of the U.S. Government, AJPO. applied to working systems. Merry is optimistic about the future of academic expert systems research and feels that the current attention will help advance the field. International Research The remaining 23 papers deal with much more specific issues and are often based on the applied research proj- ects of the authors. Some are implementation discussions of specific systems, such as a browser for a knowledge base of ecological facts, which I'll go into shortly. Others are attempts to define some of the key terms in knowledge engineering, such as those found in the paper titled "Deep Knowledge Representation Techniques." Expert Systems 85 is interesting in that none of the papers are from Americans. In the U.S.. we are accustomed to reading mostly American research papers. Many of the researchers published in Expert Systems 85 work in the U.K., although researchers from France, Italy Bulgaria, and Holland also have papers in this collection. User Interface One of the many problems that expert system designers face is taking in and displaying knowledge. For input, these problems include validation that user input can be con- sidered factual— that an input is not a conclusion based on other facts and rules that should be used instead. To add further complications, there are many levels of knowl- edge. For output, an expert system must decide what the user really wants to find out and how to convert the in- formation in the knowledge base into a form that is best suited to the user. For example, 'The ECO Browser," prepared by a group of people at the University of Edinburgh, describes the design considerations for a system that lets users browse through a knowledge base of ecological information. The program has to cope with a loosely structured knowledge base, inexperienced users, and users who don't know what they want to get out of the system when they start using it. The paper describes how the browser program achieves these goals. "What Do Users Ask?— Some Thoughts on Diagnostic Advice" explores one of the major acknowledged weak- nesses of current expert systems, namely the mismatch between the user's needs and the system's abilities. The author, who works for British Telecomm, defines the methods that human experts use to suggest remedies for any kind of problem: negotiated remedies, evaluation of a proposed remedy, and explanation of existing remedies. He goes on to describe how these different methods of arriving at a goal will affect how users interact with com- puter experts. Uncertainty Many computer users marvel at the fact that knowledge bases can deal with uncertain information. MYCIN can use rules that include a relative amount of uncertainty and come up with a result that includes the degree of con- fidence it has in that result. However, simple values of (continued) Lotus 1-2-3 s 319 Software Word Processing FANCY FONT $139 FINAL WORD II $219 MICROSOFT WORD 3.0 $279 MULTIMATE $249 MULTIMATE ADVANTAGE $279 OFFICE WRITER/ SPELLER $239 PFS: WRITE $ 89 SAMNA WORD III $279 THINK TANK $109 TURBO LIGHTNING $ 65 VOLKSWRITER 3 $159 VOLKSWRITER SCIENTIFIC $259 WORDPERFECTS $209 WORDSTAR 2000 $249 WORDSTAR 2000 + $289 WORDSTAR PRO $259 XYWRITE III $199 Database Systems CLIPPER $359 CONDOR III $339 DBASE III PLUS $389 KMAN 2 $339 PARADOX $469 PFS: FILE/ REPORT $169 Q&A $249 QUICK CODE III $159 QUICKREPORT $159 R BASE SYSTEM V $359 REFLEX $ 89 REVELATION $499 Spreadsheets/ Integrated Packages ENABLE $3' FRAMEWORK I! $3J JAVELIN $4 LOTUS 1-2-3 $3" MULTIPLAN $1J OPEN ACCESS II $2! SMART SYSTEM $4! SPREADSHEET AUDITOR $ ! SUPERCALC 4 $2! SYMPHONY $4. TWIN $ 'CALL FOR SHIPPING COSTS I Paradox $ 469 dBase III Plus $ 389 FrameWork II Graphics CHARTMASTER DIAGRAPH DIAGRAM MASTER ENERGRAPHICS2.0 FREELANCE GEM DRAW GRAPHWRITER COMBO IN-A-VISION MAPMASTER MS CHART PC DRAW PC PAINTBRUSH PFS: GRAPH PICTURE PERFECT SIGNMASTER WINDOWS/DRAW Project Management HARVARD TOTAL PROJECT MANAGER MICROSOFT PROJECT PROJECT SCHEDULER NETWORK SUPERPROJECT+ TIMELINE 2.0 Communications/ Productivity Tools CARBON COPY CROSSTALK PROKEY RELAY GOLD REMOTE SMARTERM SMARTCOM II SUPERKEY Statistics SPSS/PC + STATGRAPHICS STATPACGOLD- WALONICK SYSTAT-NEW Accounting BPI GREAT PLAINS IUS EASYBUSINESS ONE WRITE PLUS OPEN SYSTEMS REAL WORLD STAR ACCOUNTING PARTNER II $219 $309 $199 $299 $209 $149 $309 $259 $239 $189 $209 $ 99 $ 89 $245 $149 $119 $279 $249 $339 $269 $239 $129 $ 99 $ 85 $149 $109 SCall $ 99 $ 55 $699 $449 $399 $499 $309 $479 $309 $159 $409 $399 $529 Network Applications DBASE III LAN PAK $599 KMAN 2 $899 MULTIMATE $639 MULTIMATE ADVANTAGE $749 OPEN SYSTEMS $459 RBASE 5000 $799 REVELATION $999 SAMNA WORD III $799 WORD PERFECT SERVER $309 WORDPERFECT STATION $ 75 Languages/Utilities C86C COMPILER $319 COPYWRITE $ 45 FASTBACK $ 89 LATTICE C $ 259 MICROSOFT C COMPILER $289 MS BASIC COMPILER $249 MS FORTRAN $229 NORTON UTILITIES $ 59 QUICKBASIC $ 69 TURBO PASCAL $ 69 TURBO PROLOG $ 69 XENIX SCall ZERO DISK $ 70 Desktop Environments DESQVIEW $69 GEM DESKTOP $39 MS WINDOWS $69 SIDEKICK $49 Hardware * Multifunction Boards AST ADVANTAGE (128K) $349 AST 6 PAK PLUS (64K) $169 AST I/O MINI $139 AST MP MINI $199 AST PREMIUM PAK(512K) $359 AST RAMPAGE PC $249 AST RAMPAGE AT $459 ASTSHORTRAM(OK) $159 INTEL ABOVEBOARD PS AT $399 JRAM AT-3 (OK) $239 JRAM 3 (OK) $179 ORCHID CONQUEST (OK) $279 ORCHID ECCEL(OK) $399 PCTURB0 286(1MB) $799 PC TINY TURBO 286 $459 QUADBOARD (64K) $139 Disolav Boards Monitors HERCULES GRAPHICS AMDEK310A $159 CARD $199 AMDEK 600/722 $429/539 HERCULES COLOR NEC MULTISYNC $619 CARD $159 PRINCETON HX-12 $449 PARADISE MODULAR PRINCETON MAX-12E $179 GRAPHICS $259 PRINCETON SR-12 $499 QUADRAM EGA+ $369 PRINCETON HX-12E $539 SIGMA COLOR 400 $449 PRINCETON HX-9 $529 STB EGA PLUS $299 TAXAN 122 AMBER $159 TECMAR EGA TAXAN 630/640 $469/539 MASTER $299 TSENG ULTRAPAK $429 Networks TSENG EVA-CM II $379 AST PC NET SCall TSENG EVA 480 SCall NOVELL SCall ORCHIDPCNET SCall Emulation Boards Printers/Plotters AST 521 1-11 + $649 BROTHER AST 5251-12 $499 TWINWRITER $ 939 AST BSC $489 DATA PRODUCTS SCall AST SNA $599 DIABLO 635 $1149 IRMA $725 EPSON FX-85 $ 399 SMART ALEC 5251 $699 EPSON FX-286 $ 579 EPSON LQ-800 $ 589 Modems EPSON LQ-1000 S 769 AST REACH 1200 $359 HP 7475A $ Call HAYES 1200 $389 NEC 3550 $ 799 HAYES 1200B $349 OKIDATA 192 $ 379 HAYES 2400 $579 OKIDATA 193 S 519 HAYES 2400B $549 OKIDATA 292 $ 539 TRANSNET1000 $279 OKIDATA 293 $ 689 VENTEL 1200 TOSHIBA P321 $ 499 HALF CARD $369 TOSHIBA P341 $ 829 VENTEL 1200 PLUS $299 TOSHIBA P351 S1069 WATSON $339 Input Devices KEYTRONICS 5151 $169 Mass Storage/Backup IOMEGA 10 + 10 KEYTRONICS5153 MICROSOFT MOUSE $299 $129 W/INTFC $1999 PC MOUSE W IOMEGA 20 + 20 PAINT + $139 W/INTFC $2599 Accessories IRWIN 120D 20MB CURTIS SURGE TBU $ 599 PROTECTORS SCall IRWIN 145AT40MB DATASHIELD BACKUP TBU $ 699 POWER SCall MOUNTAIN DRIVECARD DATASHIELD SURGE 20MB $ 719 PROTECTORS SCall PLUS HARDCARD 10MB $ 569 GILTRONIX PLUSHARDCARD20MB $ 719 SWITCHES SCall PRIAM42MBAT $949 MASTERPIECE PLUS $135 SYSGEN SMART IMAGE MICROFAZER INLINE 20MB (INT) $ 625 BUFFERS SCall TALLGRASS $ Call 256KRAMSET S 39 TECMAR QIC-60AT TBU 8087 MATH CHIP $119 (INT) $1199 80287 MATH CHIP $189 NEC Multisync s 619 FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $1000.00, credit card orders and prepaid orders. P.O.Box 729, Brooklyn, NY 11230 TELEX: 421047 ATLN Ul : AX: 718-972-8346 Chalcedony PROLOG A REAL $QQ95 Clocksin & kJ kJ Mellish Prolog for BOTH major microcomputing operating systems — with full cross-compatibility. Complete with the predicates necessary for POWER AI programming: op () name () functor () clause () = .. ("Univ ...And no constraining data typing. ■ Floating point ■ Step-by-step tutorial ■ Math functions ■ Integrated editor PROLOG0 Extensible overlay library, 8087 support, large memory model (up to 640K) PROLOG0 Complete Macintosh en- vironment with extensive pull-down menus and dialogue boxes. No Risk Otter: Examine the PHOLOG/i or PROLOG/ m documentation at our risk for 30 days. If not completely satisfied, return with disk still sealed for refund. APPLICATIONS - Complete with SOURCE CODE NFL X-pert $49 95 A tiiie interactive expert system written by a professional knowledge engineer. A valuable learning tool for any Prolog programmer inter- ested in using Prolog to develop expert systems. TOOLBOX $29 95 More than 50 subroutines that speed and com- press list handling, searches, sorts, and reversal algorithms. An inside look at the tricks of the professional Prolog programmer. TOYBOX $ 29 95 Written by an academician to help his students understand Prolog, this collection of puzzles and mind-teasers will illustrate how the Prolog programmer creates programs that find the best solution to the problem. Turn your com- puter into a super reasoning machine! ■ < System Requirements: Minimum 256K RAM (320K recommended) PC DOS/MS-DOS ANSI Standard Support Minimum 512K Macintosh Macintosh-plus and HFS Compatible CHALCEDONY SOFTWARE, INC. 5580 LA JOLLA BLVD. SUITE 126 B LA JOLLA, CA 92037 (619) 483-8513 SAVE 10% when you buy either PROLOG/i orPROLOG/mandall 3 applications. I PHONE ORDERS: 1-800-621-0852 EXT 468 1 □ PAYMENT ENCLOSED % CA residents add 6% sales tax D CHARGE MY: □ MasterCard I ■ Card No. Sig □ Visa Exp. Date . nature , PROLOG/i PROLOG/m Check: MS-DOS D NFL X-pert TOOLBOX TOYBOX Complete Pack $99.95 ■ 99.95 I MacD _ 49.95 I 29.95 29.95 H 188.82 Mr/Mrs. /Ms. Address e print lull name) 1 I City/State/Zip SHIPPING: $ 5.00 U.S. 7.50 Canada 10.00 Carribean, Hawaii Air 20.00 Overseas Air shmo wmwmm BOOK REVIEWS uncertainty, such as "if A and B are true, then C is 90 percent certain to be true," are inadequate at describing the way that most humans confront probabilistic choices. In "Inference Under Uncertainty," the authors explain some of the many problems faced by expert systems when they have to confront uncertain data. The authors point out significant areas where human experts perform sig- nificantly better than their computer counterparts. For ex- ample, most experts must cope with cases where there is inconsistent information. Human experts can take this into account on a case-by-case basis much more easily than expert systems are able to. To overcome some of these problems, the authors of "Symbolic Uncertain Inference: A Study of Possible Modalities" formulate a mathematical notation for uncer- tainty in expert systems. They show that there are many types of uncertainty (such as imprecision, guesses, etc.) and that expert systems must be very careful in their handling of uncertainty. They conclude that, "Using clas- sical expert systems techniques and logic, we hope both to have a better intelligence of inexact reasoning and to build efficient mechanisms." Applications Many of the articles in Expert Systems 85 also cover future applications of expert systems. In "An Application of Knowledge Based Techniques to VLSI Design," the authors show how expert systems can be embedded in CAD soft- ware to help designers connect parts of a VLSI chip. The decisions that go into device interconnection are based on a very large set of rules. Instead of forcing the person designing part of the VLSI to test the interconnections, an expert system can suggest connection strategies. Other articles in this collection cover the application of expert systems to real-time process control, hardware troubleshooting, and office management. Some of the more theoretical articles point out the massive difficulties involved in implementing applied expert systems. For in- stance, "ESCORT: The Application of Causal Knowledge to Real-time Process Control" discusses an expert system that can control part of a chemical separation process on North Sea oil platforms. However, "Real Time Multiple- motive Expert Systems" cites many examples of conflicts that real-time expert systems will encounter when they are forced to simultaneously evaluate sensor data, formulate plans of action, and act on those plans. The paper con- cludes that current expert systems are not nearly flexible enough to mimic human experts. Forecast Expert Systems 85 provides a very broad view of the academic research being done on expert systems. It is clear from the book that the systems in use today will be vastly improved as more effort goes into solving some of the thorny problems relating to knowledge and represen- tation. Merry sums up the near future by saying, "We must be careful not to assume that mere publicity is sufficient to solve these problems; mounting large scale projects [continued) 68 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 63 for End-Users. Inquiry 64 for DEALERS ONLY. CHASSIS • C-600 A AT Jr. Case , $39 XT Size. AT Style. Open Top • C-600 XT Case 529 For IBM XT Boards & 5-1/4" Disk Drives. Open Top/Slide Off • C-700 AT Case 599 For IBM AT Boards. With Lock Key For Extra Security POWER SUPPLY • P-150 Switching Power Supply 565 150 Watt Output ■ P-200 Switching Power Supply for IBM PC/AT $115 Max. 200 Watt Output • Power Center. 540 100% Burn-In Test. Short Circuit Protection. Meets UUCS/UVDE standards AT SYSTEM DRIVES • Fujitsu 360K Drive $85 • Teac 360KDrive $90 • Teac 1.2MB Drive $135 • Mitsubishi 1.2 MB Drive .$125 • 20 Meg Hard-drive Seagate w/ Controller $399 • 30 Meg Hard-drive Seagate Call • 40 Meg Hard-drive Seagate Call KEYBOARDS • K-139 AT/XT Keyboard $75 Large Return Key. 12 Function Key. Enhanced Keyboard • K-136 AT/XT Keyboard $65 Software Switchable, Large Return Key • K-135 XT Keyboard $70 FeaturesSeparate Num. & Cursor ParJs/LEO Cap Lock & Num. Lock w/Large Return SAMSUNG MONITORS • M0-1252G Amber or Green $79 12" Monochrome Monitor TTL, Swivel Base. 720 x 350 Dot Resolution, 80 character x 25 Rows • CD-1464W RGB , $269 16 color, 640 x 200 Dot Resolution, 80 Character x 25 Rows • CD-1452M EGA— Hi Resolution RGB CALL 640 x 350 Dot Resolution PC/AT SYSTEM 1000 Mono $1549.00 Color $1739.00 • 200W Power Supply/Case •K-136 AT/XT Keyboard • 1024K Memory On 80286 Mother Board • 1.2M High Capacity Floppy Drive • AT HCD/FDC Controller • Mono or Color Graphic Adapter • Monitor • Assembled and Fully Tested PC/AT ADD ON BOARDS • MGB-201 • MGB-202 • MGB-205 • MGB-205-1 • MGB-208 • MGB-210 • MGB-231 • MGB-109-1 • MGB-135 AT Mother Board Bios AT3MMultiCard AT 1:2M Floppy Disk Card AT 1:2M 360K Controller AT 2.5M RAM Card AT HDC/FDC Controller w Cable . ATl/DCard AT/XT Parallel/Serial EGA Card . .$575 . .$179 ...$82 ..$119 . .$109 ..$225 ...$80 ...555 . $285 CABLES 8510 Computer To Printer 6ft $7 10ft.. 15 ft $8 8511 RS 232 Sen'al Cable DB25 6 ft $7 8512 Computer To Printer Centronic 36 pin c/c 6 ft $8.50 10ft.. 25 pin c/c 6 ft $7.50 10 ft . 8513 RS 232 Serial DB25 6ft $7 10 ft.. 8514 RS232 Serial DB 25 m/m 6 ft $7 8515 Computer To Modem 6 ft $4.50 10 ft . 8519 Computer To Modem DB 25 M/DB 9F 6 ft $7 8524 Gender Changer D825 m/m .$4 8525 Gender Changer DB825f/f $4 4 Ways Switch Box-Serial 4 Ways Switch Box-Parallel $37 A/B Switch-Serial $25 A7B Switch-Parallel $25 Power Outlet Strip UL. $9.99 Monitor Cable $750 . .$9.50 . .$8.50 .$35 XT SYSTEM • Slide Off case - Power Supply • 640K Expandable Mother Board • 256K Installed • K-136 AT/XT Keyboard • Floppy Control Card • 360K Drive • Mono or Color Graphic Adapter ■ Monitor • Assembled and Fully Tested Runs all major software PC/XT SYSTEM 800 Mono $569.00 Color $759.00 XT TURBO SYSTEM 900 Mono $599.00 Color $789.00 PC/XT ADD ON BOARDS • MGB-101 XT Mother Board $105 • MGB-102 Multifunction Card .$78 • MGB-103 Monochrome Graphic $65 • MGB-103-1 Monographic Printer $75 • MGB-104 Color Graphic $55 ■ MGB-105 Floppy Disk Card 1 port $29 - MGB-105-1 Floppy Disk Card 2 port $38 • MGB-106 RS 232 Card 1 port $25 • MGB-106-1 RS232 Card 2 port $30 • MGB-107 Game I/O Card $20 • MGB-108 XT512K RAM Card $44 • MGB-109 XT Parallel Printer Card $21 • MGB-110 6220 XT HD & FD Controller $125 • MGB-111 XT Color Graphic Printer Card $66 • MGB-112 Monochrome Card $50 • MGB-113 XT 640K RAM Card $46 • MGB-128 XT 640K Turbo Board $130 • MGB-129 Clock Card $29 • MGB-131 XT l/D Plus Card $49 • MGB-132 XT Multii I/O Card '. .$79 • MGB-133 6210 XT HOC $105 MAGITRONIC TECHNOLOGY INC. 9-02 43 Road, Long Island City, NY 11101 ORDERS ONLY: 1-800-227-5454 PLEASE CALL FOR QUANTITY PRICES NY & West Coast Information: 718-706-7670 West Coast Shipping Available All Orders are Shipped UPSCOD Cash, Certified Check or Money Order Within 24 Hours. IBM* PC/XT and Hayes are registered trademarks of their respective companies. Inquiry 195 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 69 BOOK REVIEWS [^COMPATIBILITY \SC RELIABILITY B'AFFORDABILITY ^EXPANDABILITY IBM XT/AT COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS BY b-AFTON COMPUTER INC. QUANTUM 286 TURBO Made In The USA ■ IBM AT COMPATIBLE ■ PHOENIX BIOS ■ 8-10 MHZSWITCHABLE CLOCK SPEED ■ 512K UP TO 1 MB RAM ON BOARD ■ 2 SERIAL PORTS 1 PARALLEL PORT ON BOARD ■ 20 MB HARD DISK ■ 1.2 MB FLOPPY ■ 8 EXPANSION SLOTS ■ AT KEYBOARD ■ 200 WATT POWER SUPPLY ■ ONE YEAR WARRANTY All For Only $1995 00 QUANTUM XT TURBO (Made in the USA) ■ PHOENIX BIOS ■ 4.77-8MHZ SWITCHABLE CLOCK SPEED ■ 640K ON BOARD ■ SERIAL, PARALLEL AND CLOCK ■ AT STYLE KEYBOARD ■ 360K FLOPPY ■ 135 WATT POWER SUPPLY ■ ONE YEAR WARRANTY All For Only $745°° Quantum XT 4.77 MHz. . .Call For Pricing AFTON COMPUTER INC. (714) 863-6951 24825 Calle El Toro Grande El Toro, California 92630 Customer Service (714) 553-1701 Telex 756731 Prices and Configurations Subject To Change. which require unsolved research questions to be answered before they can be completed is rather unwise." Paul E. Hoffman (2000 Center St.. Suite 1024, Berkeley. CA 94704) consults on artificial intelligence and edits Text in Com- puters, a new scholarly journal STRUCTURE AND INTERPRETATION OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS Reviewed by Haim Kilov Though Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs by Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman with Julie Sussman is intended as a textbook for entry-level com- puter science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Massachusetts, it is also recommended for professional programmers who are really interested in their profession. The book is based on the idea of abstraction, success- fully used throughout to "increase the conceptual clari- ty." Indeed, the titles of three of the five chapters use the term "abstraction." The language used is Scheme, a modern dialect of LISP with lexical scoping. The authors show quite a lot of programming paradigms that are lan- guage-invariant. One can wholeheartedly agree with the choice of paradigms, which are not just proclaimed but actually used repeatedly. However, the authors simulta- neously ignore both the use of the same paradigms in traditional imperative language programming and, more strikingly, in program correctness and related method- ology issues as stated by Dijkstra, Hoare, Wirth. Gries, and others. In some cases, the authors succeed in not using the classical terminology when they present well- established paradigms. No reference is made to program correctness or to contributions in programming method- ology by the authors mentioned, despite a lengthy reference list. (Note, however, that these authors also do not usually refer to the subculture presented in the book.) Experienced programmers as well as readers with some maturity will find the presentation interesting, useful, and instructive. Although the main underlying topic of the book— the use of abstraction in controlling complexity- is convincingly shown throughout, the intended audience (entry-level students) will need to have a gifted instructor to keep pace with the chapters presented here. Most readers could benefit from rereading some parts of the book. The authors use a case study approach, and the reader is encouraged to actually use the computer with the Scheme interpreter. Nevertheless, it is possible, though more difficult, to follow the book without access to such an interpreter. The authors show only a part of the story— the means to trace a particular execution: to test a pro- gram, to simulate its execution, or to use the interpreter in order to convince the reader of something. This is not enough because, remembering Dijkstra's remark, testing can show the presence of errors, but not their absence. {continued) 70 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1 986 Inquiry 10 for End-Users. Inquiry 1 1 for DEALERS ONLY. PANASONIC PRINTERS. THEY'RE GENERATING A LOT OF GOOD PRINT The good reviews keep rolling in. And, as you can see, the critics agree: Panasonic printers are real winners! But that shouldn't come as too big of a surprise. After all, Panasonic printers offer the advanced features and »y ^ad. .^^e their c^ „>j.»uuOii, the Panasonic machines are well made, sturdy printers that should serve well in the vari- ous applications for which they were de- -quality text. PC WEEK- JUNE 17, 1986 ease-of-use you've come to expect from Panasonic. So, whether your business is big, small or in- between, you'll find a printer with features to love every bit as much as the critics. Like— as one with (Iris JJttk, 1 *.«Mier. As far as I'm concerned, the KX-P109 1 produces not near letter quality but rather true letter quality in this mode. You'd real- ly have to strain to distinguish it from type- writer quality. KnowijQ?jh|g|a^e^ company produced fast, courteous, and knowledgeable answers^ PC-SEPT. 17, 1985 reviewer observed— extraordinary near-letter- quality on our dot matrix models. They also come standard with impressive high-resolution graphics capability. So you can add graphs, charts, illustrations— even your company's logo. Not to be outdone, all our daisy wheel printers give you sophisticated advances like boldface, shadow and underline. Of course, we've put just as much care into the human side of our printers, too. You'll find switches and buttons that let you change print sizes and styles right on the printer rather than through the computer. And, with our continuous, self re-inking ribbons, you'll find yourself changing ribbons • u "" p ,;j - a,, * e oi iric KX-Pji51. It is a well-built product that promises to deliver many hours of trouble-free operation. The print quali- ty is clear and well-defined. The align- ment of characters on adjacent lines is also excellent, a sign of a well-designed paper and printwheel transport system^ less often. When you do, our snap-in cartridge makes it a snap. fggjipi Finally, just when pc products-april, 1985 you thought all this would be hard to top, there's more: all our printers are backed with an unprecedented two-year limited warranty. Now that you've reviewed all of this for yourself, call toll-free 1 (800) PIC-8086 for the name of the dealer nearest you. Or you can write to: Panasonic Industrial PRINTERS 8UYERS GUIDE & HAND800K #3 Company, Computer Products Division, Two Panasonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094. You'll see how easily Panasonic printers generate good print for you. And you'll agree: THE EASIER, THE BETTER. ed: as- iap- ;re is r in- / J* 30. i pounds. Like all the Pan- asonics we tested at, the 1592 comes with the company's exceptional two- year warranty. And like all of them, it definitelyratesalook. Panasonic Inquiry 245 ANYONE CAN BUILD ACLONLBUL. MAIN CIRCUIT CARD CONTROLLER CARDS POWER SUPPLY ROM/BIOS CHIP FLOPPY DISK DRIVES METAL CHASSIS AND COVER ONLY PANASONIC GIVES YOU A BUSINESS PARTNER Everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon. Today, companies that weren't there yesterday, and may not be there tomorrow, are building computers from easily assembled components. The result is a sea of computer clones with little to distinguish one from another. THE PANASONIC DIFFERENCE-A POWERFUL BUSINESS ALLY. Our approach to offering you a computer was entirely different. We looked at what would work best for you and your business. The result is the Panasonic Business Partner and Panasonic Business Partner 286. Two powerful business allies, designed to answer your most demand- ing computer requirements. YOU CAN SEE THE DIFFERENCE PANASONIC MAKES. With our long, unparalleled heritage in video tech- 1 nology, you get high-quality, high resolution monitors. An optional Panasonic CGA PLUS board is switchable to let you use a color or monochrome display for both graphics and text. BUILT-IN FLEXIBILITY. No two businesses run exact- ly the same way. So you can configure the Business Partners to your own individual needs. In addition to their built-in floppy ■ I-. ) i il l J iii .iP!W i W PBBW M disk drives, you can add a hard disk drive, addi- tional half-height drives— even a magnetic tape drive. SPEED AND PERFORMANCE. The Business Partner 286 is built with maximum power and speed. Its 80286 processor runs at 6 MHz or 8 MHz, with the ability of addressing up to 15Mb RAM. The Business Partner, with its 8086-2 processor, runs at 4.77 MHz, Ww and for projects that need added acceleration, it will run up to 716 MHz. " FUTURE GROWTH. Both Business Partners have been designed to grow as your business grows. Extra slots are built in to offer you the flexibility- 's^ HI now and in the future— to add on cards for high resolution graphics, communications accessories and other peripherals. *IBM is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corp. POWER TO SPARE. As your business grows, you'll put greater demands on your Business Partner. Don't worry, it can handle it. With 130 watts on the Business Partner and 220 watts on the Business Partner 286, you'll be able to drive additional peripherals and expansion boards. IMPORTANT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS. The deluxe, detachable keyboards on both models have been designed for comfort and ease of use. We've separa- ted the cursor keys and numeric keys for quick, convenient access. Swivel monitors adjust for each operator. On the Business Partner 286, you can lock the cabinet with a key to help prevent tampering and prying. SOME REASSURING LAST WORDS. You'll find the Business Partner compatible with the IBM* PC/XT. And the Business Partner 286, with the PC/AT So you'll be able to run the most popular software. You'll also get compat- ibility with Panasonic's wide range of quality peripherals, for the complete Panasonic office. And more importantly, both Business Partners are from Panasonic, the company firmly committed to building a high-quality and dependable reputation in computer pro- ducts. So both are backed with a full-year limited warranty. zr BSM Hifc S^-H For more information, and the location of the dealer nearest you, call 1-800-PIC-8086. Or write: Panasonic Industrial Company, Computer Products Division, Two Panasonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094. And discover how the right Business Partner can make running your business easier You'll see THE EASIER, THE BETTER. Panasonic, Office Automation/^^l Inquiry 246 \z = z/ \\ SCSI ENGINES BOOK REVIEWS $495 Little Board/186™. High Performance, Low Cost PC-DOS Engine Boots IBM PC-DOS (not included) ► Three times the COMPUTING POWER of aPC ► Data and File Compatible with IBM PC, runs "MS-DOS seneric" prosrams I 8 MHz 80186 CPU, DMA, Counter/Timers, 128/512K RAM zero wait states, 16-128K EPROM ► Mini/Micro Floppy Controller (1-4 Drives, Sinsle/Double Density, 1-2 sided, 40/80 track) ► 2 RS232C Serial Porte (50 -38,400 baud), 1 Centronics Printer Port • Only 5.75 x 7.75 Inches, mounte directly to a 5-1 /A" disk drive • Power Requirement: +5VDC at 1 .25A; +12VDC at .05A; On board -12V converter • SCSI/PLUS™ multi-master I/O expansion bus • Software Included: • PC-DOS compatible ROM-BIOS boots DOS 2.x and 3.x • Hard Disk support OPTIONS PROJECT BOARD/ 186"* - adds 25 square inches of wire wrap prototype area with buffered and pre-decoded 80186 bus interface for Little Board/186 EXPANSION/186" - adds five key options to Little Board/ 186 • 512KRAM • 8087 co-processor • Battery-backed Real Time Clock • 2 RS232/422 sync/async serial ports • I/O expansion bus VIDEO RAM EMULATOR" -allows use of software that writes to display controller "VIDEO RAM" SCSI/IOP ,M -permits connection of off-the-shelf STD bus industrial I/O interfaces (analos, disital, serial, display, power control, etc.) DISTRIBUTORS ARGENTINA: FACTORIAL, SA, 41-0018 TLX 22408 AUSTRALIA: ASP MICROCOMPLTTERS, (613) 500-0628, TLX 36587 BELGIUM: CENTRE E1ECTRONIQUE LEMPEREUR, (041) 23-45-41, TLX 42621 BRAZJU COMPULEADER COMPUTADORES LTD A., (41) 262-1939, TLX 416132 CANADA: TTOA4, (604) 438-9012 DENMARK: DANBI1, (03) 66 20 20, TLX 43558 UK: AMBAR SYSTEMS LTD., 0296 3551 1, TLX 837427 FINLAND: SYMMETRIC OY, 358-0-585-322, TLX 121394 FRANCE: EGAL PLUS, (1 ) 4502-1800, TLX 620893 ISRAEL: ALPHA TERMINALS, LTD., (03) 49-16 95, TLX 341667 SWEDEN: AB AKT A, (08) 54-20-20, TLX 1 3702 USA: CONTACT AMPRO COMPUTERS INC,. IBM®, IBM Corp.; 801B6®, Intel, Corp,. COMPUTERS, INCORPORATED 67 East Evelyn Ave, • Mountain View, CA 94041 • (415) 962-0230 TELEX 4940302 • FAX (415) 962-1042 Correctness arguments are needed but are not mentioned anywhere in the text. (See "Program 'Transformation" by lohn Darlington, August 1985 BYTE.) The range of topics covered is very wide. The book begins with "Building Abstractions with Procedures," which instills the idea of procedures as black box abstrac- tions, and goes through "Building Abstractions with Data," which includes information hiding, data structures, and data representation— right up to top-down design of siz- able programs using data-directed programming and generic operators. Then assignment is introduced, and problems dealing with local state are considered, giving rise to the notion of mutable objects. Streams and lazy evaluation are next, and the authors discuss the merits and shortcomings of functional programming. "Metalinguistic abstraction" is covered in a chapter that establishes (and interprets) new descriptive languages de- veloping the ideas set forth earlier. A LISP dialect evaluator is shown as well as a logic-programming-based query lan- guage and its evaluator. In the last chapter, a more tradi- tional register machine is designed to execute the LISP evaluator (to do this a language is developed!). As an alter- native, a LISP compiler is designed next for this machine. The last section shows the implementation of list- structured memory on top of "conventional" computer memory (including garbage collection). In such a manner, the authors mention diverse and important programming concepts, including not only a lot of textbook ones, but also query optimization in DBMSs, infinite loops and the meaning of "not" in logic programming, various primali- ty tests, functional programming problems with bypass- ing assignment using streams, possible inadequacy of pure syntactic reasoning, and so on. Many of these are topics of active current research, and references are made to results published in the 1980s. This enthusiastically written book is not easy reading, but neither is programming. When the authors develop solutions for nontrivial problems, they convincingly show the only right way of doing this— erecting abstraction bar- riers. First, abstract operations are presented without regard to implementation details, and only then is their implementation given; moreover, at times a hierarchy of such abstraction layers is used. This main idea is used time and again, and the authors' justifications of the decisions made in building abstractions are excellent, irrespective of the technical means used, which become more involved from chapter to chapter. Such presentations include elegant top-down developments of systems for symbolic differentiation, database query management, and com- pilation for a register machine. (Again, the use of this same principle in such imperative languages as Modula-2 or Ada is not even mentioned, as if these ideas were nonexistent there; the idea of abstract data types and encapsulation is mentioned only in passing.) The more experienced reader will find the book instruc- tive because of its new look at familiar concepts as well as for its many novel and interesting ones. The authors include a lot of suitably annotated programs [continued] 74 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 29 $2000? That's Too Darned High! Why should a CAD package cost more than a Word Processor? It shouldn't! Lots of people ask how we can offer a CAD system as good as ProDesign II at a price as low as $299. It's easy. A PC Software Package does not cost S2000 to manufacture. It doesn't even cost S200. It makes us ask the questions "Why do comparable CAD packages cost S2000 and more? What makes a CAD package cost more than a Word Processor?" ProDesign II doesn't. ProDesign II is the complete CAD package you get for S299. With ProDesign II, you get such advanced features as Auto Dimensioning, Area Fill (Hat- ching), Fillets, Mirroring, Isometrics, Curve Fitting, Object Snap, Attributes, Drawing Merge, Area Calculation, Parallel Lines, Parallel Curves, Tangents, Perpendiculars, and many many mare. Features once available only for S2000 or more. Features you get at no extra charge with ProDesign II. But there is another, very important reason you should get ProDesign II. ProDesign II is very unique among CAD packages. It is easy to learn and use. When we call ProDesign II "The Easy to Use CAD System", we're not joking. You will be productive with ProDesign II in an hour or two instead of a week or two. In fact, we are confident that ProDesign II is without a doubt the easiest CAD system in the world to learn and use! What else does ProDesign II offer? Compatibility. Com- patibility with over 1 50 printers. Compatibility with over 80 plotters. Compatibility with most graphics adapters, digitizing tablets, and mice. Compatibility with most display adapters. Compatibility with any software that can produce HP plotter commands. Compatibility with mainframe CAD systems (IGES). All at no extra charge! (You can also get an AutoCAD Interchange Utility for $99 that converts drawings to or from the AutoCAD format.) What additional hardware do you need? None! An IBM PC compatible and 51 2K RAM is all you need. ProDesign II produces high resolution drawings on your dot matrix printer - better than .005" resolution on a IBM/Epson compatible printer. And you don't have to get a mouse or digitizing tablet. ProDesign II is designed for easy and efficient keyboard use. You won't even need a math coprocessor, although it is supported. From a small drawing on a dot matrix printer to an E-Size drawing on a large platter, ProDesign II is the one to use! ProDesign II — Affordable, Compatible, and Usable! Where do you get it? See your local dealer or contact: American Small Business Computers 118 South Mill Street Pryor, OK 74361 Inquiry 28 91 8/825-4844 TELEX 91 02400302 PRODESIGN II — ONLY $299! jSjfflg^ffi ivy DRAWN USING PRODESIGN 2fl 21 22 23 2* ?5 26 272829 3« 31 BOOK REVIEWS TIME IS MONEY. . . 10 MHz IS FAST!!! FULL IBM PC-AT* COMPATIBILITY IF YOU ARE TIRED OF WAITING FOR A 'SOMEDAY' PRODUCT OR YOU DON'T WANT TO BUY YESTERDAY'S TECHNOLOGY, THEN TREAT YOURSELF TO THE PERFORMANCE & FEATURES OF THE "WESTECH 286 TURBO™" 10 MHz PHOENIX BIOS - THE MISSING LINK IN SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY - ON BOARD LOWEST COST 10 MHz AVAILABLE COMPLETELY DESIGNED, MANUFACTURED, ASSEMBLED AND TESTED IN U.S.A. • 8 I/O Slots • Onboard Battery • Parallel Port • CMOS Clock Calendar • Up to 2 RS-232 Ports • Standard Power • 1 RS-232 Included Connector • Phoenix BIOS • Low,, Power Circuitry • Up to 1 MB Onboard • 10 MHz 80286 • 512K Included 120ns • Socket for 80287 • 4 Layer Mother Board • One-Year Warranty HIGH SPEED INDUSTRIAL GRADE COMPUTER FOR: • Industrial • Engineering • Medical • University/Education • Scientific • Artificial Intelligence QUANTITY DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE FOR QUALIFIED DEALER, OEM, UNIVERSITY AND CORPORATE ACCOUNTS. $599.00 OEM Quantity Price Call for other pricing Vvestech, Inc. (714) 474-6022 17781 Mitchell, Irvine, CA 92714 FAX (714) 553-0236 • TELEX 756731 Answer Back: Western Comp Prices and availability subject to change. ' IBM AT Is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Westech 286 Turbo is a trademark of Westech, Inc. and program fragments. Some of them are simple, others more complex. The development of the latter is shown usually in a mixture of top-down and bottom-up ("tools to construct a language of") approaches, with more em- phasis on top-down, and the reader can, with some ef- fort, understand these programs. The amount of in- teresting examples presented by Abelson and the Sussmans make reading and studying their book fun. All the procedures are included in a thorough index. The typographic quality of the text is unusually high; I did not notice any misprints. Ample stimulating exercises (without solutions) are an integral part of the text. The choice of the particular abstract operations and the choice of par- ticular representation is often elegant, but how and why it was made remains at times a secret of the authors. Despite its shortcomings, this experiment in creating an unusual, modern, and demanding first computer science text is successful. Haim Kilov (Karl MarxSt. 7 5- 1 3, Riga 1 1 , U.S.S.R.) is involved in both the design and implementation of relational database manage- ment systems and computer science education. His papers and reviews have been published in the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. SOFTWARE VALIDATION, VERIFICATION, TESTING AND DOCUMENTATION (A SOURCE BOOK) Reviewed by John McCormick Software Validation. Verification. Testing and Documentation is a collection of government publications whose aim is to develop software that is easy to use and maintain. The techniques and methods described by the collection's various authors are not language- or operating-system- specific; they are well-organized general procedures that can be applied to almost any software production prob- lem. Each report also contains its own glossary and bibliography. "Planning for Software Validation, Verification and Testing" is edited by Patricia B. Powell of the National Bureau of Standards. An overview of the software develop- ment process and management, it contains some software maintenance considerations. Detailed examples, among them code excerpts, are included to clarify points devel- oped in the text. This report's primary goal is to ensure not only that the finished software works but that the development team and its management can have a high level of confidence in its quality and reliability. Testing Book TWo, entitled "Validation, Verification and Testing of Computer Software," covers validating software at the ap- plication level. Reliability and testability are the bywords of this book, with an emphasis on the importance of test data and especially test results. Statistical analysis of test data to determine its appropriateness is stressed, as is the technique of inserting errors statistically similar to those anticipated in the actual application. TWenty-one [continued] 76 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 369 for End-Users. Inquiry 370 for DEALERS ONLY. Explore AI on your PC Smalltalk/ V transforms your PC into a versatile AI workstation Only Smalltalk/V lets you experience the thrill of a responsive AI work- station while learning artificial intelligence techniques and using them to create practical applications. "Smalltalk/V gives me the feel of an AI workstation on my PC." — Darryl Rubin, Technical Editor, AI Expert Magazine Watching someone use an AI workstation is a vision of what the computer was meant to be. Fingers dance across the keys as windows dilate, shift, overlap, and disappear on the bit-mapped display. Ideas spring to life as program fragments execute, are modified, expanded, combined and tried again in a creative arabesque of text and graphics. The interface vanishes, man and machine are one. Smalltalk/V brings that experience to your IBM-PC. "We use Smalltalk as our primary language for teaching artificial intelligence." —Dr. John Pugh Director, School of Computer Science Car let on University Of the three main AI languages, Smalltalk, LISP, and Prolog, only Smalltalk was intended for individual use on a personal computer. Only Smalltalk was designed to provide a match between human and computer models of reality. Only Smalltalk is easy to learn, easy to read, and easy to use. "We found Smalltalk/V excellent for developing advanced decision- support tools based on decision analysis and AI techniques." — Dr. Samuel Holtzman, Professor, Stanford University Smalltalk/V is pure object-oriented programming — a powerful tool for designing frame/script- based knowlege representations, inference engines, expert systems, simulation environments, intelligent interfaces, network control software, communications interfaces, and much more. Methods, our character-based Smalltalk, is now available for $79- It has all of the features of Smalltalk/V except graphics, rules, source-level debugger, and object-swapping. However, it supports color, includes the communication package, and does not require a mouse. BvrE and BIX are trademarks of McGraw-Hill, Inc. IBM, IBM-PC, and IBM PC-AT are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Unix is a trademark of Bell Laboratories. Inquiry 107 "Smalltalk/V is the highest performance object-oriented programming system available for PCs." — Dr. Piero Scaruffi Chief Scientist Olivetti Artificial Intelligence Center Smalltalk/V Features • High-performance object-oriented programming Integrates object-based and rule-based programming with object-oriented Prolog A user-extensible, open-ended environment A responsive graphical user interface Supports exploratory programming and prototyping Class hierarchy with inheritance creates highly re-useable code Smalltalk source code included, with browser windows for easy access and modification A huge toolkit of classes and objects for building a variety of applications Object-swapping creates virtual memory on hard or RAM disk Bit-mapped graphics with bit and form editors A sophisticated source-level debugger Automatic change log for easy recovery from errors Powerful directory/file browser system for organizing DOS files Optional communications interface to Unix™ and other systems Access to other languages and DOS functions DOS command shell Detailed owners manual designed for both beginners and advanced programmers YES! I want to turn my PC into an AI workstation. Send me . . ^| Smalltalk/V $99 I | Communications for Smalltalk/V . . .$49 | Methods (including Communications) $79 Shipping and Handling J I enclose □ Check □ Money Order □ Credit card information □ mc □ visa Number:. . Expiration CA residents add applicable sales tax .$_ Signature . Name: TOTAL $_ Shipping and Handling U.S., Canada, and Mexico $ 5.00 Elsewhere $15.00 Street Address:. City/State/Zip: _ Phone: NOT COPY PROTECTED, 60-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE ON-LINE USER-SUPPORT CONFERENCE ON BYTES BIX™ Smalltalk/V requires DOS and 512K RAM on IBM PCs (including AT) or "compatibles," a Microsoft or compatible mouse, and a CGA, EGA, Hercules, or AT&T Hi-Res graphic controller. digitalk. inc. 5200 West Century Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90045 (213) 645-1082 Inquiry 203 New Quark /PC Single Board Computer 1 Base model 5.75" x 8" Only$ 495. 1 1 Quantity discounts available • IBM PC® compatible single board computer mounts to 5W drive • Includes Floppy Disk & Color Graphics CRT Controllers plus more AISO includes: Legal BIOS* Boots PCDOS® 2.1 • Printer Port • 2 Serial Ports • 256K RAM • Clock Speed at 4.77 MHz • Alphanumerics and Graphics Modes for Color Video Controller • Standard IBM® Keyboard Port. Options include: 512K RAM • Piggyback I/O channel OEM Expansion Board • XT -Compatible Hard Disk SCSI Interface • Real Time Clock with battery-back-up • Clock speed of 9.5 MHz (Twice as fast as a PC) The Megatel Quark/PC is for OEM and end user applications that require PC compatibility in a compact single board computer. The Quark/PC BIOS will run most IBM PC® software including Flight Simulator and Lotus®. To meet your specifications a set of options let you add memory, speed and an XT-compatible hard disk interface. Not only does it quickly mount to a 5 Va " drive, it also comes with floppy disk and CRT color graphics controllers — all for just $495. To order or enquire call us today. Dealer enquiries welcome. Megatel Computer Technologies(416) 745-7214 150 Turbine Drive Weston, Ontario M9L2S2 Telex: 065-27453U.S. Address: 1051 Clinton St., Buffalo, N.Y. 14206 Distributors: NCS Electronics Varese. Italy • SES Electronics Nordlingen, Germany • Perdix Microtronics Biggin Hill, U.K. • Microcomputing Ghent, Belgium • Asp Microcomputers Melbourne, Australia. Quark is a registered trademcrkof F. and K. MfG. CO. LTD IBM. IBM PC and PCDOSare registered trademarks ol Internattonol Business Machines Corp. lotus is a registered trademark ot Lotus Development Corp. MSDOS is a registered trademark ol Microsolt Corp. megatel BOOK REVIEWS Visit us at Comdex Booth 0H7642 Interactive Voice Response System I Computerfone" -*-© # • • • • %TouchTone In/Voice In/Text in Excellence in-Woice Quality • Text-to-Speech • Digitized Speech • Synthesized Speech • Auto Answer/Auto Dial • Host Independent Call to hear our demo: 1-800-843-9363 In Florida call 904-478-6477 • 1 986 Suncoast Systems, Inc. 24 HrS./7 DayS/Wk. automatic and manual testing and verification techniques, including peer review and simulation, are described. Approach The highly structured approach to software testing is dis- cussed in "Structured Tfesting: A Software Testing Method- ology Using the Cyclomatic Complexity Metric" by Thomas ). McCabe. This piece uses graph theory to develop a complexity measure that is used in determin- ing whether particular software is inherently untestable due to its complexity. Testability is a measure of whether the software is so complex that the task of testing it becomes unreasonably expensive or time-consuming. This section is devoted to determining the complexity and testability of particular software and ultimately determining whether the complex- ity must be reduced or the testing technique improved. 30 Tools From algorithm analysis and analytic modeling of systems designs to test support facilities and walk-throughs, Book Four, entitled "Software Validation, Verification, and Test- ing Technique and Tool Reference Guide," describes 30 verification, validation, and testing tools. This section on practical applied testing contains a wealth of information for someone actively seeking a tool for a specific testing purpose. This book includes specific references for each of the 30 tools. The discussion of each tool includes a description of its basic features, the input and output information, an example, the difficulty in learning the technique, costs, and effectiveness. This information will help you quickly nar- row down the search for the appropriate tool. Management Level "Management Guide to Software Documentation" by Albrecht ). Neumann explores the management aspects of documentation production and includes a number of checklists intended to guide managers in the production of software documentation. Each book in this volume begins with a short abstract and list of the section's keywords. This entire work is dis- tilled from reports published by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Bureau of Standards. The text is liberally sprinkled with charts, tables, graphs, and ex- amples. Some sections deal with general managerial con- siderations, and others deal with specific programming applications, providing useful information for a variety of software development specialists. This publication is for the serious professional who deals with software at the production level and not for the soft- ware user. While the book does not deal specifically with software maintenance and operation, these topics are cer- tainly made easier with well-verified, -tested, and -docu- mented software. \ohn UcCormick (Box 99. RD#l, Mahaffey, PA 1 5757) is a free- lance writer specializing in personal computers. Formerly with Wang Labs, he has also worked with IBM mainframes, m 78 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 328 Attention Microsoft Word Users If you are a Microsoft Word user, using a dot matrix or laser printer, you now can print your letters, reports and presentation materials in near typeset quality with FancyWord. You simply use Microsoft Word like you always have, including the paragraph and character format commands. The difference is superior quality and font variety! In fact, the copy and sample page in this ad were printed on an Epson FX80 printer using FancyWord. Standard FancyWord font styles include Roman, Sans Serif, Bold, Italic, forUd, (Qlbi£xtqlisi\ and many more in 10 to 24 point sizes. SoftCraft offers hundreds of optional fonts in sizes from 6 to 72 points. There is also an option that enables you to create your own special characters and logos. Impact Your Laser Combine the high quality of the HP LaserJet printer with the font styles and sizes of FancyWord for the ultimate in visual impact Cost Effective FancyWord is available from your local dealer or direct from SoftCraft for only $140. You get near typeset quality at a small fraction of the time and cost of using art or typesetting services. FancyWord runs on PCDOS and MSDOS systems with Epson, Toshiba, LaserJet and compatible printers. Call TOLL FREE today to order FancyWord. We'll also be happy to answer any questions or send you additional information including actual samples and independent reviews. CALL TODAY 1-800-351-0500 MasterCharge and Visa accepted So/iCraft, Inc. 222 State Street, Madison, WI 53703 (608) 257-3300 Inquiry 303 ^^HHHBBBni For Fancy letters, take our "WORD" for it. SoftCrafl Inc. B8 ffwct/ WORD, from the developers of the highly-acclaimed S\im£jj%nt personal typesetting system, brings Microsoft Word users the amazing print quality and variety of ^mcujF&nfc and the ease-of-use of Word. Use the Word "Format Character" command to select bold or italic for emphasis, (#lb fErujliarj for formality, a clean Sans Serif font or *yr±fdL twruL-rdLm, LJL Print with superscript^ subscri t or fine print or use a large, bold produce headlines with impact, such as: Printed on an Epson Printer All of Word's powerful formatting and on-screen editing features can be used with ^w^WORD, in- cluding justification, multi- ple columns and footnotes. This entire page was pre- pared with Word and printed with 3u ^t WO RD. In addition to the fonts that come with ffwg word hundreds of fonts~!n sizes from 6 points to 72 points are available, at a nominal charge, from SoftCraft's foot library. You can also purchase the ^Wu ^ffw T font editing utilities to cre- ate your own characters or logos, up to 1 inch by 1 inch in size. The special math and sym- bol fonts available from the font library can be used in many special app- lications, such as printing equations: .cyn a, font to w («) = 2 k-2 4>W k-\ <<&. ^J FIRST QUARTER TOTALS AND RESULTS (86-1) Quality in Star's line of advanced printers begins with the exceptional appearance of their letter quality printouts. They're crisp. Professional. The images sharp. And true letter quality is fast and quiet. But whether it's a spreadsheet, graphics, or a letter, all our printers give you Star quality output, because of Star's quality input. We design our printers. We make our own precision parts. In fact, we even make the machines that make the parts. But what good is quality without control? NB-15 The top of the line 24-wire business printer. 300 cps draft 100 cps true letter quality. SR-10/SR-15 The Ngh speed printers for home or office. 200 cps draft 50 cps near letter quality. SD-10/SD-15 The no-nonsense printers that are flexible and affordable. 160 cps draft 40 cps near letter quality. Control begins with the convenient front panel. With advanced features at your fingertips you'll find touch control throughout the entire line of Star printers. Our premiere printer; the 24-wire NB-15,™ lets you select draft or letter quality at a touch. Choose type style— either standard, or any two of five optional fonts. Print pitch— pica, elite, standard or proportional. And you can also feed in single sheets of paper automatically. Star's line of printers also has standard memories ranging up to a 16K buffer that can expand to 32K. Draft speeds as fast as 300 characters per second (cps). True letter quality as fast as 100 cps. And of course, there's compatibility with all major personal and business computers. Discover the quality and control of Star's entire printer line at participating ComputerLand and other computer products retailers. ■ ■■ Hi NX-lO/NX-15 The economical printers that combine speed and convenience. 120 cps draft 30 cps near letter quality. NL-IO The versatile printer with inter- changeable interface cartridges. 120 cps draft 30 cps near letter quality. c r © i c s 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166 Inquiry 323 Regional Offices: Atlanta, GA (404) 441-3126 Chicago, IL (312) 773-3717 Irvine, CA (714) 768-7203 BITE Features Product Preview: THIS MONTH'S FEATURES include two Product Previews. The first, "The Com- The Compaq Deskpro 386 paq Deskpro 386" by Tom Thompson and Dennis Allen, offers an advance by Tom Thompson and Dennis Allen 84 \ OQ ^ at Compaq's new high-performance IBM PC AT-compatible system based Product Preview: on Intel's 80386 microprocessor. The second, "Lotus Manuscript" by George Lotus Manuscript A. Stewart, previews Lotus Development Corporation's technical word pro- by George A. Stewart 91 cessor Watc h f or com plete reviews of both products in the near future. Ciarcias Circuit Cellar: Build the Steve Qarcia begins the Circuit Cellar by saying, "Graphics has more of a pLt 8 ? C Basic Te^hnowgy ^ direct influence on user satisfaction than any other aspect of a computer." by Steve Garcia 105 ^p unt *' now ' ^ ls SBI80 computer has had graphics capabilities that paled '''"-" in comparison to the graphics on other popular computers. This is no longer Programming Insight: Extracting , ^ , ,. fe f , , \. ■ c< . a U «.u ptioa the mh Root from a Binary Number the case - In the f,rst P art of a three-part series. Steve describes the GT180, by Lau Siu Wo 115 which is both an expansion board and an intelligent graphics system. The Programming Insight: Passing GT18 ° wil1 combine with the SB180 to provide high-quality graphics at a low Filenames to Compiled BASIC cost - by Bruce Hubanks 119 We also have two Programming Insights on the agenda this month. In "Ex- Memory Management Units tracting the nth Root from a Binary Number," Lau Siu Wo explains the general for 68000 Architectures algorithm he developed for extracting any real root from a binary number. by Gregg lehr 127 in "Passing Filenames to Compiled BASIC," Bruce Hubanks walks us through The State of Soviet an assembly language subroutine he created to retrieve the command-line Microelectronics text for a compiled BASIC program. by Paul Walton 137 Gregg Zehr's "Memory Management Units for 68000 Architectures." this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ month's 68000 feature, looks at the design options that speed up memory management. Finally, Paul Walton takes us into the Soviet Union for an inside look at the state of microelectronics. Is Russia's computer culture anywhere near as ad- vanced as ours? The answer is a resounding "Nyet." NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 83 PRODUCT PREVIEW The Compaq Deskpro 386 A high-performance PC AT-compatible system based on Mel's 80386 Editor's note: The following is a BYTE prod- uct preview. It is not a review. We provide an advance look at this product because we feel that it is significant. A complete review will follow in a subsequent issue. About a year ago, Intel began selling samples of its latest-generation micro- processor, the 80386 (see Microbytes, November 1985 BYTE). After much anticipation this pro- cessor has finally made its way into the design of several new microcom- puter systems. Compaq, the Houston- based manufacturer widely known for its IBM-compatible computers, intro- duced one of the first such systems, the Compaq Deskpro 386. The new Compaq machine was designed to be compatible with 80286-based sys- tems, such as the IBM PC AT, yet take advantage of the 80386's processing power for better performance. Like the PC AT, the Deskpro 386 was also designed to run much of the existing software written for the older 8086/ 8088 Intel microprocessors. System Description From the outside, the Deskpro 386 is Spartan in design (see photo 1). The system is housed in an IBM PC AT- style box with indicator lights, a security key, and space for up to four half-height disk drives or other stor- age devices. The back panel of the system unit has a 9-pin serial port and a 2 5-pin parallel printer port. The sys- tem comes with your choice of a stan- dard 84-key PC keyboard or the Com- paq Enhanced Keyboard, an IBM RT PC-style 101-key keyboard. The standard configuration, called the Model 40, sells for $6499 and in- cludes I megabyte of RAM, a 1.2- megabyte floppy disk drive, and a 40-megabyte hard disk. Compaq also offers a system configured with a 130-megabyte hard disk (instead of the 40-megabyte hard disk) called the Model 130, which sells for $8799. Because no production machines were available at press time, we ex- amined a preproduction Model 40 system with an additional megabyte of RAM (2 megabytes total), a numeric coprocessor, a 360K-byte floppy disk drive, a 40-megabyte tape cartridge unit, and a color graphics adapter. The system runs MS-DOS 3.1. Inside the machine is a 192-watt power supply, a fan, and a single motherboard (see photo 2). The motherboard contains a real-time clock with battery backup, seven ex- pansion slots, the CPU, and a 32-bit slot occupied by the System Memory Board. Four of the expansion slots are full-size 8-/1 6-bit slots and three are 8-bit slots, of which two are full size and one is half size. Compaq's multi- purpose disk controller, which is in- cluded with the base system, occupies one of the full-size 8-/1 6-bit expansion slots. The disk controller supports two 1 .2 -megabyte floppy disk drives, a 40- megabyte hard disk, and either a sec- ond 40-megabyte hard disk or a 40- megabyte tape backup unit. The Model 130 requires an additional drive controller in one of the full-size 8-/1 6-bit expansion slots for the 130- megabyte hard disk. Unleashing the 80386 The CPU is a version Bl 80386 micro- processor running at 16 MHz. The 80386 has built-in memory manage- ment and supports a numeric copro- cessor, but the motherboard has a socket for only a 4- or 8-MHz 80287- not an 80387. The 80386 uses two separate 3 2 -bit buses for addressing and data. The processor can dynami- cally size its data bus to handle 32-bit or 16-bit data bus operations. Also, the address bus can be pipelined; the processor can perform address de- coding for the next bus operation dur- ing the previous bus cycle, allowing for overlap of bus activity. To tap the performance potential of the 80386, Compaq designed a high- bandwidth CPU bus and memory bus. The CPU bus is a 32-bit nonmulti- plexed address and data bus that pro- vides signals for interfacing to both the 32-bit memory bus and the 8-/ 16-bit expansion bus. In the event of bus contention between the memory bus and the expansion bus, the mem- ory bus has priority. The expansion bus is electrically compatible with existing plug-in cards for the PC AT. However, we did not test any plug-in cards in the system. The memory bus provides the band- width necessary to take advantage of the 80386's speed and bus pipelining. It uses a paged memory architecture to improve access times. The memory bus does not include I/O status or control signals, and it is not intended to be used as a general-purpose bus. 84 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 by Tom Thompson and Dennis Allen Photo I: The Compaq Deskpro 386 with optional color monitor. AO-megabyte backup unit, and extra 1 2-megabyte floppy disk drive. The maximum physical memory this bus can address is 16 megabytes. However, using Compaq options you can expand the system only to 10 megabytes of RAM on the 32-bit bus. Faster Memory Naturally, a faster memory bus re- quires faster memory. The System Memory Board is equipped with thirty-six 2 56K-bit static-column RAM chips soldered directly to the board for a total of I megabyte of memory with 4 bits for parity. Using this ar- rangement with 100-nanosecond RAM reduces the number of wait states required for memory access in the paged mode to nearly 0. Memory cells within the same physical page can be accessed rapidly by keeping the row address of the RAM constant while modifying the column address. For such consecutive memory fetches within a page, access times can be as low as 50 ns. During nonpaged opera- tions, access times are about 100 ns. A PC AT, on the other hand, is equipped with 150-ns RAM. The System Memory Board has sockets for another megabyte of RAM chips, which costs $549. Additional memory must be added in 1 -mega- byte increments. When upgrading memory, you must change a set of [continued] Tom Thompson and Dennis Allen are BYTE technical editors. They can be reached at BYTE, One Phoenix Mill Lane. Peter- borough, NH 03458. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 85 COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 IN BRIEF Compaq Deskpro 386 Company Compaq Computer Corporation 20555 FM 149 Houston, TX 77070 (713) 370-0670 Price Model 40: $6499 Model 130: $8799 Microprocessor Intel 80386 16-MHz, 32-bit microprocessor Main Memory 1 megabyte of 100-ns RAM, expandable to 14 megabytes 128 K ROM containing system code Disk Memory 1.2-megabyte 5 1 /4-inch double-sided floppy disk drive 40-megabyte hard disk with 30-ms access time (Model 40) 130-megabyte hard disk with 25-ms access time (Model 130) Keyboards Detachable 84-key IBM PC keyboard plus numeric keypad and 10 function keys; Detachable 101-key IBM RT enhanced keyboard with numeric keypad, cursor keys, and 12 function keys Ports 9-pin serial port 25-pin parallel port Optional Peripherals Compaq color monitor (EGA compatible) $799 Color adapter card $599 Monochrome monitor (amber or green) $255 Video display controller board $199 40-megabyte tape backup unit $799 8-MHz 80287 math coprocessor $349 Deskpro 386 Technical Reference Guide $149 Additional 1 megabyte of RAM for System Memory Board $549 2-megabyte piggyback board with 1 megabyte of RAM $849 2-megabyte piggyback board with 2 megabytes of RAM $1398 8-megabyte piggyback board with 4 megabytes of RAM $2999 Additional 4 megabytes of RAM for piggyback board $2699 9-pin jumpers on the memory board. You can also set the jumpers to reduce the 640K-byte base memory of the system to 512K or 2 56K. A special expansion board can be piggybacked on the System Memory Board to bring the total memory to 4 megabytes using 256K-bit chips. Compaq also offers a piggyback board with 4 megabytes of RAM using 1-megabit chips for $2999. This board has sockets for another 4 megabytes of RAM ($2699), again using the 1-megabit chips. Together, a fully populated System Memory Board (2 megabytes) and expansion board using 1-megabit chips (8 mega- bytes) give you a total of 10 mega- bytes of 32-bit high-speed memory. You could also use two 16-bit boards configured with 2 megabytes each to bring the Deskpro 386 to a maximum of 14 megabytes using Compaq op- tions. In doing so, however, you would lose the speed advantage of the 32-bit memory bus. The Virtual Machine An important feature of the 80386 CPU is its virtual mode. Combined with memory paging, this mode allows a real mode environment (64 K- byte segments, I megabyte of physi- cal address space, no memory protec- tion) to be emulated anywhere within the 80386's physical address space of 4 gigabytes. The virtual mode also features I/O protection so that the host operating system can imitate various I/O ports. Compaq claims to have successfully "virtualized" an 8086 machine in the Deskpro 386. In other words, MS-DOS programs should run on the Deskpro 386 with little or no modification. More impor- tant, ill-behaved programs— programs that read or write directly to hardware I/O ports rather than using DOS func- tions—should operate properly. To access memory beyond the 640K bytes of base memory under MS-DOS control the Deskpro 386 uses a pro- prietary software driver called the Compaq Extended Memory Manager (CEMM). The CEMM takes advantage of the 80386's memory paging fea- tures to emulate the Lotus/Intel/ Microsoft (LIM) expanded memory specifications in the Deskpro 386's 32-bit memory system. In effect, it vir- tualizes an Intel AboveBoard. You can install the CEMM and define the memory size (up to the 8-megabyte LIM limit) using the MS-DOS con- figuration file. CONF1G.SYS. Using the CEMM with the Deskpro 386's 32-bit memory should result in favorable speeds compared to using the LIM specifications with a 16-bit memory board. This virtual machine arrangement promises to resolve possible software compatibility problems with existing 8086/8088 and 80286 real mode pro- grams, at least in the single-user mode. In fact, the 80386's virtual mode will allow copies of different operating systems to execute real mode applications concurrently with memory protection and privilege con- trol. But for now at least, Compaq [continued) < c SIEVE ' : 5 1C BAS 1£ ;ic pe 2( [RFOF )0 2 1MANCE so c (IN SE CALCUL 5 ECON .ATIONS t( DS) 10 1! iO 2( 30 2 )0 23 1 7 ■ 13 27 HB 81 COMPAQ 386 - 16.0 MHz h IBM AT - 11.5 MHz ■■ IBM AT - - 6.0 MHz Figure l : The results of two BYTE BASIC benchmarks. Calculations and Sieve, run on the Compaq Deskpro 386. These times are compared with the same benchmarks run on a 6-MHz IBM PC AT and a PC AT specially equipped with I00-ks memory running at II. 5 MHz . 86 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 Photo 2: The Compaq Deskpro 386 motherboard. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 87 COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 does not support host software that allows different operating systems to run concurrently. System Speed Control Another feature promises compatibili- ty with programs that use time-depen- dent code that relies on the computer system to be operating at a particular speed. Compaq hopes to trick copy- protection schemes and certain pro- gram displays (typically games) by simulating 8088- and 80286-based computers with the Deskpro 386's System Speed Control. Speed control is accomplished by lengthening the refresh cycles on the system bus, effectively slowing the CPU. However, lengthening of the refresh cycles is done in a way that does not interfere with direct memory access (DMA) transfers or the bus bandwidth. The Deskpro 386 normal- ly operates in an automatic mode where the CPU speed is reduced to 8 MHz— essentially mimicking a PC AT— each time a program accesses a floppy disk drive. The system resumes its high-speed operation as soon as the disk I/O is finished. Performance is not degraded since the system must wait on the slower disk drive. An MS-DOS command. MODE, allows you to select a system speed manually. You can select a 4-MHz 8088. a 6- or 8-MHz 80286. or a 16-MHz 80386 system speed using this command. The speed remains the Other 80386 Offerings Compaq is not the only company involved in 80386 systems devel- opment. At press time, at least two other hardware manufacturers had in- troduced 80386-based systems, and several software companies were work- ing on new 32-bit system software. Corvus Systems of Santa Clara. California, began shipping its Series 386 systems in September. The Corvus machines include a 16-MHz 80386 with 512 K bytes of RAM and two 32-bit memory expansion slots, and either a 70- or 126-megabyte hard disk. The Corvus systems use a PC AT-compati- ble BIOS developed by Award Soft- ware. Depending on the configuration, prices range from about $13,000 to $16,500. Also. Advanced Logic Research of Irvine, California, had announced its Access 386, which uses a 16-MHz 80386. It includes a socket for an 80387 numeric coprocessor. 51 2 K bytes of 32-bit RAM, and a 1.2-mega- byte floppy disk drive. A 30-megabyte hard disk is available as an option. Ac- cess 386 is one of the first systems to use Phoenix BIOS; many more are ex- pected. The basic system sells for $3999. Getting into the 80386 system soft- ware battle with Microsoft, which is working on XENIX System V/386 (see accompanying article), are companies such as Softguard of Santa Clara, Cali- fornia. Softguard says it is developing host software, called VM/386. that will allow you to run several virtual 8086 machines simultaneously on an 80386- based system. According to Softguard, each virtual machine could be running a different operating system. For example, you could run Lotus 1-2-3 under MS-DOS 2.1. dBASE 111 under DOS 3.1. UNIX, and perhaps a proprietary operating system such as Convergent Ifechnolog- ies' CTOS. all at the same time. Better still, the company claims that because its software will also create virtual I/O devices, such as displays, even ill- behaved programs that bypass DOS can run in the VM/386 environment. The company also claims its software will support popular user interfaces such as Microsoft Windows and IBM's IbpView (VM/386 does not add a new user interface). If successful, VM/386 certainly rep- resents a major innovation for personal computers, but neither the concept nor the technology to implement the sys- tem is new. The VM/386 software stems from the mainframe world and 1 5-year- old technology. In fact it is modeled after IBM's VM/370 operating system. Softguard says VM/386 will incorporate many of VM/370's commands and functions to let you set priority levels and so forth. The package will retail for less than $300. and though the com- pany would not reveal the name, at least one 80386-based system manu- facturer will bundle the software with its computer. same (even through a keyboard re- boot) until you alter the setting or a power-on reset occurs. Fast Disk Drives To complement the Deskpro 386's data processing performance. Com- paq used high-speed disk drives. The 40-megabyte hard disk has an aver- age access time of under 30 millisec- onds, and the 1 30-megabyte hard disk's average access time is under 2 5 ms. In contrast, the PC AT's 20- megabyte hard disk has an average access time of 40 ms. Data transfer rates are 5 megabits per second (the same as the PC AT's 20-megabyte hard disk) and 10 megabits per sec- ond, respectively. For hard disk backups, the 40-mega- byte tape drive has a transfer rate of 500 kilobits per second, which is about twice the speed of the drive previously offered for the Deskpro line of computers. The tape drive uses a new DC2000 tape cartridge, unlike its predecessors, which used the DC1000. However, the Deskpro 386 can read— but not write to— the older tape cartridges. Display Adapters The system we examined was equipped with Compaq's new En- hanced Color Graphics Board ($599), which also made use of the system's virtual mode. The graphics board pro- vides 640- by 3 50-pixel resolution with 16 simultaneous colors, and it is compatible with IBM's Enhanced Graphics Adapter. Although the graphics board has only an 8-bit data path, the system cleverly relocates the board's ROM to the 32-bit RAM area. As a result, Compaq claims that graphics execution speed is increased by approximately four times. (The system also relocates the contents of its 16-bit ROMs to the 32-bit RAM area for speed improvement.) Com- paq offers a 13-inch RGB color monitor to go with the color board for $799. In a departure from previous Com- paq systems, the Deskpro 386 does not include a monochrome display controller. Instead, the company sells its Video Display Controller Board separately for $199. It provides the 88 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 291 for End-Users. Inquiry 292 for DEALERS ONLY. COMPAQ DESKPRO 386 same video control as that found in other Compaq systems and is com- patible with IBM's Color Graphics Adapter. The controller board can be used with either an RGB monitor (such as Compaq's), a composite col- or monitor, or Compaq's Dual-Mode Monitor, a monochrome monitor that sells for $2 5 5. Compatibility and Performance The 80386 CPU is object-compatible with 8086/8088 and 80286 code. To examine how well Compaq imple- mented this capability, we first ran several programs that we considered thorough in their use of memory and I/O operations. The BAS1CA present on the machine accepted and ran the IBM PC tokenized versions of two BYTE benchmark programs (the Sieve and Calculations benchmarks) without problems. The programs convenient- ly provided us with a performance estimate. The results of these preliminary benchmarks are impressive when compared to a 6-MHz PC AT (see figure 1). Generally the Deskpro 386 ran about three to four times faster. We also compared the Deskpro 386's times to those of a PC AT specially equipped with !00-ns memory run- ning at 11.5 MHz, and the Deskpro 386 was about twice as fast. Next, we compiled several small C programs with Manx's Aztec C. ver- sion 3.20C. using the small memory model. We used the two floppy disk drives to compile and link the pro- grams without any problems. Not only did these programs run flawlessly, but they also ran faster than we had ever seen before. Then we ran two programs that are considered ill-behaved in their use of DOS. the XyWrite editor, version 3.05. with SideKick version 1.52 A resident. The XyWrite editor responded correct- ly to the cursor and function keys, and SideKick responded properly when invoked. Admittedly, these tests are less than comprehensive. But they do indicate a high level of software compatibility. Unfortunately, the only operating system offered for the Deskpro 386 at press time was MS-DOS. Only a true 3 2 -bit operating system could push the system to its limits. Compaq did say that it would offer Microsoft's XENIX System V/386 during the first half of 1987 (a developer's toolkit is available now). According to Compaq, the new XENIX will be demand-paged and allow multitasking operations. We did not. however, see even a prelimi- nary version of the package. For a Select Few There are a number of folks who might benefit from using the Deskpro 386. First, there are those who need the raw processing power to run very large spreadsheets or simulations. The linear address space provided by the 80386 combined with the Desk- pro 386's processing speeds not only makes such work possible but also makes it bearable. And large, com- plicated programs, such as expert systems, should run with respectable performance on this machine. There are also software developers who need a high-performance machine to shorten their software development cycle. Here, fast storage devices are particularly helpful. Moreover, the system's 80386 CPU allows devel- opers to begin writing the next gen- eration of software. For others, the large storage capacity of the Model 1 30 and its claimed compatibility with networking software should make it a high-powered file server. But like any new system, the Desk- pro 386 is not without its disappoint- ments. Although CAD and desktop publishing are likely candidates for development on the machine, with no I/O signals on the memory bus and the CPU's 32-bit bandwidth to periph- erals effectively halved by the expan- sion bus. we don't see the Deskpro 386 as a serious threat in the high- speed graphics workstation arena. Also, the Deskpro 386 seems like overkill in the single-user mode. Cer- tainly a multitasking 32-bit operating system would put the system to fuller use. More powerful 32-bit peripherals and operating systems are coming for the 80386-based systems. For now, the Deskpro 386 appears to be a well- engineered bridge to a new genera- tion of those machines. ■ No Computer ^iDMl Without It! No matter how you stack it up, SAFE has it all with the most complete line of power pro- tection products in the industry. Why settle for less? Get the Facts -Free! Send for our "Inside Story" booklet. It's packed with the information you need to know about power protection. Fall '86 SAFE POWER SYSTEMS, INC. November 10-1 4. 1986 Las Vegas. Nevada 1-800-325-5848 S THE DEAL: $895 PORTABLE/DESKTOP COMPUTER SERIES MPC-160V - FULLY IBM-PG CpMPATIBLE * MS-DOS 3.1 * TWO SERIAL AND ONE PARALLEL I/O PORT * RGB AND COMPOSITE MONO- CHROME OUTPUTS * 512K RAM, RTC ON BOARD * WEIGHS 11 POUNDS * ONE 5 1/4" FLOPPY DISK DRIVE OPTIONS: * SECOND FLOPPY DRIVE * 3-SLOT EXPANSION BOX * MONOCHROME OR RGB MONITORS * 640K RAM * HANDSOME CARRYING BAG UTITAN SERIES MPC-2100 • IBM PC/AT COMPATIBLE * 80286 CPU, SOCKET FOR 80287-8 • SOFTWARE-SELECTABLE 8- OR 6- MHz CPU SPEEDS * MS-DOS 3.2 AND GW BASIC * 640K RAM ON BOARD, EXPAND- ABLE TO 1MB * ONE 1.2 MB FLOPPY DRIVE • SIX AT SLOTS AND TWO XT SLOTS ' 84-KEY AT-STYLE KEYBOARD • 192-WATT POWER SUPPLY ■ REAL-TIME CLOCK SERIES MPC-160T • IBM PC/XT COMPATIBLE * SOFTWARE SELECTABLE 8/4.77 MHz CPU • MS-DOS 3.2 • 640K RAM • ON-BOARD FLOPPY DISK CON- TROLLER * ONE 5 1/4" FLOPPY * 84-KEY AT-STYLE KEYBOARD * 135 WATT POWER SUPPLY ' REAL-TIME CLOCK FAMOUS-NAME QUALITY, A GREAT PRICE, AND NATIONWIDE SERVICE. THAT'S THE DEAL. THERE ARE CHEAPER COMPUTERS THAN MITAC, BUT THEN... ...we don't make cheap computers. Mitac takes pride in maintaining some of the highest quality control and quality assurance standards in the industry. * THERE ARE MORE FAMOUS COM- PUTERS THAN MITAC, BUT THEN... ...if you buy a famous name, there's a good chance you're buying Mitac anyway. Mitac has been supplying major computer and telecom- munications manufacturers with high-quality equiptment since 1974, producing over forty thousand systems annually. LOOK AROUND. YOU WON'T FIND A FINER COMPUTER AT A FAIRER PRICE THAN MITAC. What Mitac is offering is this: Major brand quali- ty, a fair price, plus the support of Mitac's nationwide service network — we stand behind everything we make. That's the deal. If this makes good sense to you, do the sensible thing and call the toll-free number below for the name of the Mitac dealer in your area. Each Mitac computer undergoes a total of seventy-two hours' burn-in and forty-eight quality auditing processes before release. mitac When reliability is a decisive factor WELCOME IONWIDE SERVICE! American Mitac Corp. 3385VisoCt.. Santa Clara. CA. 95054. TEL: (408) 988-0258, 988 7508; TOLL FREE: l-(800) 321-8344 TLX: 910-338-2201 MECTEL; FAX: 408-980-9742. Mitac Inc. No. 585 Ming Sheng E. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. TEL: (02) 501-8231; TLX: 20261 MECTAC, 11942 TAIAUTO; FAX: 886-2-501-4265. IBM. PC, PC/XT, AND PC/AT are registered trademarks of International Busir MS-DOS and GW BASIC are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp 90 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 220 PRODUCT PREVIEW by George A. Stewart Lotus Manuscript An innovative word processor for technical writing Editor's note: The following is a BYTE prod- uct preview. \t is not a review. We provide an advance look at this product because we feel that it is significant. A complete review will follow in a subsequent issue. Lotus Development Corpora- tion's newest product is Manuscript, a word pro- cessor designed for scien- tists, engineers, and others who work with technical documents. Manu- script, which runs on IBM PCs and compatibles, combines the features of an outline processor, a word pro- cessor, and a sophisticated print for- matter. With the program, a writer can incorporate text, formulas, graphics, and tables into a single document that can be printed in presentation quali- ty on a laser printer or in draft quali- ty on a dot-matrix printer. Lotus plans to sell its word pro- cessor for $495 and expects to begin shipping in November. This early look at Manuscript is based on interviews with Lotus pro- grammers and managers, preliminary documentation and specifications, and use of a preliminary version. Product Philosophy The basic assumption of Manuscript's designers was that existing, "stan- dard" word-processing programs for personal computers are not well suited to writing and editing technical documents. Manuscript is designed to handle the specific demands of tech- nical word processing. Let's take a look at these requirements individ- ually. Document length. Many word pro- cessors require that long documents (over 100 pages) be broken up into smaller files. Other programs will ac- cept very large files, but moving from chapter to chapter or from beginning to end can be slow and awkward. Manuscript handles documents up to 800 pages long, and moving from beginning to end takes very little time, regardless of document size. Structure. With a standard word processor, you can type in a manu- script in outline form, but the word- processing software is oblivious to the structure. Thus, adding a section in the middle of a document means that you must renumber manually all following sections on the same logical level. Manuscript renumbers sections automatically. Format. Setting the format of a long technical document can be tedious and inefficient with a standard word processor. Suppose you want to start a new right-hand page at the begin- ning of every level-2 subheading, or you want to set every level-2 subhead- ing in 1 4-point bold italic type. Stan- dard word processors have no way of referring to structural entities within the document; instead, you must locate the specific level-2 subheadings and insert the necessary formatting codes. Manuscript lets you define for- mat templates that individually govern the first five structural levels within a document. Graphic images and tables. Stan- dard word processors have limited facilities (or none at all) for including this type of data in a document. Usually you have to paste in the graphic or table after the document is printed. Manuscript lets you incor- porate graphic images into the docu- ment at print time (graphics are not shown on the screen during editing). Tables. Typing in tables is especial- ly tedious with standard word pro- cessors. Revising them is even more so. Manuscript has a table editor that vastly simplifies the process. Mathematical formulas. Producing [continued] George A. Stewart is a BYTE technical editor. He can be reached at BYTE. One Phoenix Mill lane. Peterborough. NH 03458. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 91 LOTUS MANUSCRIPT formulas and equations with most word processors is a matter of com- promise and approximation. A better alternative is to have them typeset, but this is expensive. Manuscript in- cludes a command language for specifying equations precisely and uniformly. The results obtained on a laser printer are quite acceptable for mass printing quality in many appli- cations. Print quality. The advent of laser printers has made it feasible to pro- duce documentation in-house without typesetting, but not many word pro- cessors are able to take full advantage of laser printer technologies. Manu- script's print formatter comes with drivers for the Apple LaserWriter and other laser printers and PostScript devices, so you can take full advan- tage of the various typefaces and styles available on a given printer. Structured Document Features Manuscript works on two kinds of documents: structured and unstruc- tured. The latter is simply a sequen- tial file of text— a standard word-pro- cessing document. In contrast, struc- tured documents are made up of several entities: text, columns, blocks, and sections. Figure I shows the elements of a structured document. Document structure enables you to manipulate text in new ways. You can, for instance, contract or expand the text to any level of detail, automatical- ly number the sections, sort all the sections within a "parent" section, and insert a section and have all "sib- ling" sections renumbered automati- cally. Text is the lowest-level entity in Manuscript. Each character of text can have its own attributes (normal, italic' bold, underlined, subscript, superscript, strike-through, and "printer-dependent"). The next higher level is the column, which refers to parallel sets of text that are at- the same level in the outline. A block con- (amtinued) 3 Community Issues 3.1 Neighborhood Support The development of the park must be responsive to the needs of the neighbors as well as the city at large. Meetings will be held to ascertain the feelings of the community and to respond to these needs. Safety and security on the site as well as traffic, noise, lighting, and visual impact will all need to be addressed in public meetings. 3.2 Park Security Police and fire department access to the site, fencing, and area lighting all will be investigated in the promotion of park security. Both the city and the neighbors will have input on this important topic so that all parties feel their concerns have been considered. Any pathways will accommodate police and maintenance vehicles. Special fencing to protect private property may be required in places. 3.3 Parking and Traffic Parking requirements will depend on the access routes, park user type, and the method of transportation that park users choose. A thorough study involving communication with city and neighborhood groups will be completed before determination of the amount of parking. The Preliminary Traffic Survey results appear in the graph. These findings will be reviewed following the established community guidelines prior to final determination. Preliminary Traffic Sumy «B-5 ■ I 2^_ i I I 1 DOM EM-DB 08-12 12-16 IB - 70 20 - Code* Corporation. M..I v trademarks of Motorola. Inc. Code* a regiMrn-J Ira Jc mark of CuJi-i Corporation LOTUS MANUSCRIPT Lotus Manuscript Type Structured document processor (includes spelling checker) Company Lotus Development Corporation 55 Cambridge Parkway Cambridge, MA 02142 (617) 577-8500 Computer IBM PC and compatibles; requires MS- DOS version 2.0 or higher and 512K bytes of RAM; hard disk required Printer Support Apple LaserWriter; Hewlett-Packard ThinkJet and LaserJet (all font cartridges); Epson LQ-1500, FX-80/100, FX-85, FX-286; IBM Proprinter, Quietwriter, and Graphics Printer; Okidata ML92, ML93, ML193, and ML293; Toshiba 1300 series and P351; Diablo 630; NEC 3550; other PostScript printers; other printers to be announced Documentation Reference manual and tutorial Price $495 needs of expert users and the needs of novices. You can specify most operations by moving the cursor through a series of menus or by one or more keystrokes. When you have to input a variable parameter, the pro- gram offers a pop-up data-entry menu showing the various options available for that field. An experienced user can simply type in the needed param- eter without stopping to look at the options. A context-sensitive help facility makes it possible to use Manuscript without relying on printed reference materials. Pressing the Fl key calls up a help screen appropriate to the cur- rent operation. Utilities Manuscript includes an 80,000-word spelling checker from Proximity Soft- ware. The same package is integrated into Lotus Symphony. The spelling checker lets you create and maintain your own auxiliary dictionary, which would be essential in many of the technical fields for which Manuscript is intended. An important feature for technical writers in large organizations is Manu- script's document comparator. This utility program compares two ver- sions of the same Manuscript docu- ment and prints a reconciled text showing how the later document dif- fers from the earlier one. Inserted material is underlined, and deleted material appears with a "strike out" line through it. Revision bars in the margin highlight lines that contain changes. Importing and Exporting Data Switching to a new word-processing program might be impractical if none of your existing text files could be ported over to the new system. Manuscript can read any ASCII-en- coded text file; however, control char- acters other than tabs, carriage returns, and linefeeds may cause problems and should probably be re- moved before the file is imported. For instance, printer control codes should not be included in a text file to be im- ported by Manuscript. Extended ASCII characters (codes greater than 127) should also be removed. Initially, Manuscript puts the im- ported ASCII text into a structured or unstructured document (your choice). In the former case paragraphs become separate blocks. In the latter case, you must break up the blocks manually. In both cases, you must define your own section boundaries between the blocks. Manuscript can import two other forms of text files: DCA and Think- Tknk. DCA (document content archi- tecture) is an IBM structured-docu- ment standard used in a number of systems: these documents retain their structure and can be revised when im- ported into Manuscript. Think^nk is a popular outliner and was one of the early models for Manuscript. (The product's code name was SOL, an ap- parent acronym for scientific outliner.) Manuscript also lets you export documents in ASCII and DCA formats. Exported DCA documents retain their structure when read in by DCA-con- forming programs, but Manuscript features not supported by the DCA system are lost in the process. Ex- ported ASCII documents resemble the text as it appears on the screen in terms of indentation and carriage returns. Manuscript can incorporate a vari- ety of graphic images into a docu- ment: Lotus PIC, PostScript (for out- put to PostScript devices only), and bit-map files. For example, a pie chart could be included in a Manuscript document with the command \ picture piechart.pic width=rm\ The width =rm parameter forces the graphic to be scaled so that it extends out to the right margin. Other scaling and sizing tools are available. The files must contain the proper header information, so not every graphic file is automatically loadable. Some processing or conversion might be necessary. Lastly, Manuscript can accept spreadsheet data in the Lotus 1-2-3 or Symphony format. Such data can be converted into a true Manuscript table structure or input as a simpler table in which tab characters separate the columns. Output Quality Manuscript outputs at highest quality and performance to devices equipped with a PostScript interpreter, such as Apple's LaserWriter. Based on the for- matting specified in a document, Manuscript prepares the necessary PostScript commands for generating both text and graphics. Outputting to non-PostScript devices is done through a set of custom drivers, one for each device. For text output, the drivers operate the printers in text mode, that is, using the printers' built-in character sets. Graphics mode is used only to gen- erate special characters in formulas and for graphic images and table borders. The advantage of this system is speed and quality of output: printing in text mode is much faster than print- ing in graphics (bit-image) mode. A printer's built-in character set is typically better designed than a bit- image character set can afford to be [continued) 98 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 , The C for Microcomputers * PC-DOS, MS-DOS, CP/M-86, Macintosh, Amiga, Apple II, CP/M-80, Radio Shack, Commodore, XENIX, ROM, and Cross Development systems MS-DOS, PC-DOS, CP/M-86, XENIX, 8086/80x86 ROM Manx Aztec C86 "A compiler that has many strengths . . . quite valuable for serious work" Computer Language review, February 1985 Great Code: Manx Aztec C86 generates fast executing compact code. The benchmark results below are from a study conducted by Manx. The Dhrystone benchmark (CACM 10/84 27:10 pl018) measures performance for a systems software instruction mix. The results are with- out register variables. With register variables, Manx, Microsoft, andMark Williams run proportionately faster, Lattice and Computer Innovations show no improve- ment. Execution Code Compile/ Time Size Link Time Dhrystone Benchmark Manx Aztec C86 3.3 34 sees 5,760 93 sees Microsoft C 3.0 34 sees 7,146 119 sees Optimized C86 2.20J 53 sees 11,009 172 sees Mark Williams 2.0 56 sees 12,980 113 sees Lattice 2.14 89 sees 20,404 117 sees Great Features: Manx Aztec C86 is bundled with a powerful array of well documented productivity tools, library routines and features. Optimized C compiler Symbolic Debugger AS86 Macro Assembler LN86 Overlay Linker 80186/80286 Support Librarian 8087/80287 Sensing Lib Profiler Extensive UNIX Library DOS, Screen, & Graphics Lib Large Memory Model Intel Object Option Z (vi) Source Editor -c CP/M-86 Library -c ROM Support Package -c INTEL HEX Utility -c Library Source Code -c Mixed memory models -c MAKE, DIFF; and GREP -c Source Debugger -c One year of updates -c CP/M-86 Library -c Manx offers two commercial development systems, Aztec C86-c and Aztec C86-d. Items marked -c are special features of the Aztec C86-c system. Aztec C86-c Commercial System $499 Aztec C86-d Developer's System $299 Aztec C86-p Personal System $199 Aztec C86-a Apprentice System $49 All systems are upgradable by paying the difference in price plus S10. Third Party Software: There are a number of high qual- ity support packages for Manx Aztec C86 for screen management, graphics, database management, and soft- ware development. C-tree $395 Greenleaf $185 PHACT $250 PC-lint $98 HALO $250 Amber Windows $59 PRE-C $395 Windows for C $195 WindScreen $149 FirsTime $295 SunScreen $99 C Util Lib $185 PANEL $295 Plink-86 $395 MACINTOSH, AMIGA, XENIX, CP/M-68K, 68k ROM Manx Aztec C68k "Library handling is very flexible . . . documentation is excellent ... the shell a pleasure to work in ... blows away the competition for pure compile speed ...an ex- cellent effort." Computer Language review, April 1985 Aztec C68k is the most widely used commercial C com- piler for the Macintosh. Us quality, performance, and completeness place Manx Aztec C68k in a position be- yond comparison. It is available in several upgradable Optimized C Macro Assembler Overlay Linker Resource Compiler Debuggers Librarian Source Editor MacRam Disk -c Library Source -c Creates Clickable Applications Mouse Enhanced SHELL Easy Access to Mac Toolbox UNIX Library Functions Terminal Emulator (Source) Clear Detailed Documentation C-Stuff Library UniTools (vi,make,diff,grep) -c One Year of Updates -c Items marked -c are available only in the Manx Aztec C86-C system. Other features are in both the Aztec C86-d and Aztec C86-C systems. Aztec C68k-c Commercial System $499 Aztec C68d-d Developer's System $299 Aztec C68k-p Personal System $199 C-tree database (source) $ 3 9 9 AMIGA, CP/M-68k, 68k UNIX call Apple II, Commodore, 65xx, 65C02 ROM Manx Aztec C65 "The AZTEC C system is one of the finest software packages I have seen" NIBBLE review, July 1984 A vast amount of business, consumer, and educational software is implemented in Manx Aztec C65. The quality and comprehensiveness of this system is competitive with 16 bit C systems. The system includes a full optim- ized C compiler, 6502 assembler, linkage editor, UNIX library, screen and graphics libraries, shell, and much more. The Apple II version runs under DOS 3.3, and ProDOS, Cross versions are available. The Aztec C65-c/128 Commodore system runs under the C128 CP/M environment and generates programs for the C64, C128, and CP/M environments. Call for prices and availability of Apprentice, Personal and Developer versions for the Commodore 64 and 128 machines. Aztec C65-c ProDOS & DOS 3.3 $399 Aztec C65-d Apple DOS 3.3 $199 Aztec C65-p Apple Personal system $99 Aztec C65-a for learning C $49 Aztec C65-C/128 C64, C128, CP/M $399 Distribution of Manx Aztec C In the USA, Manx Software Systems is the sole and ex- clusive distributor of Aztec C. Any telephone or mail order sales other than through Manx are unauthorized. Manx Cross Development Systems Cross developed programs are edited, compiled, assem- bled, and linked on one machine (the HOST) and trans- ferred to another machine (the TARGET) for execution. This method is useful where the target machine is slower or more limited than the HOST, Manx cross compilers are used heavily to develop software for business, consumer, scientific, industrial, research, and education- al applications. HOSTS: VAX UNIX (S3000), PDP-11 UNIX (S2000), MS- DOS (S750), CP/M (S750), MACINTOSH (S750), CP/M-68k (S750), XENIX ($750). TARGETS: MS-DOS, CP/M-86. Macintosh, CP/M-68k, CP/M-80, TRS-80 3 & 4, Apple II, Commodore C64. 8086/80x86 ROM, 68xxx ROM, 8080/8085/Z80 ROM, 65xx ROM. The first TARGET is included in the price of the HOST system. Additional TARGETS are S300 to S500 (non VAX) or $1000 (VAX). Call Manx for information on cross development to the 68000, 65816, Amiga, C128, CP/M-68K, VRTX, and others. CP/M, Radio Shack, 8080/8085/Z80 ROM Manx Aztec CII "I've had a lot of experience with different C compilers, but the Aztec C80 Compiler and Professional Develop- ment System is the best I've seen." 80-Micro, December, 1984, John B. Harrell 111 Aztec C H-c (CP/M & ROM) $349 Aztec C H-d (CP/M) $199 C-tree database (source) $399 Aztec C80-c (TRS-80 3 & 4) $299 Aztec C80-d (TRS-80 3 & 4) $199 How lb Become an Aztec C User To become an Aztec C user call 1-800-221-0440 or call 1-800-832-9273 (800-TEC WARE). In NJ or outside the USA call 201-530-7997. Orders can also be telexed to 4995812. Payment can be by check, COD, American Express, VISA, Master Card, or Net 30 to qualified customers. Orders can also be mailed to Manx Software Systems, Box 55, Shrewsbury, NJ 07701. How lb Get More Information To get more information on Manx Aztec C and related products, call 1-800-221-0440, or 201-530-7997, or write to Manx Software Systems. 30 Day Guarantee Any Manx Aztec C development system can be return- ed within 30 days for a refund if it fails to meet your needs. The only restrictions are that the original pur- chase must be directly from Manx, shipped within the USA, and the package must be in resalable condition. Returned items must be received by Manx within 30 days. A small restocking fee may be required. Discounts There are special discounts available to professors, students, and consultants. A discount is also available on a "trade in" basis for users of competing systems. Call for information. Inquiry 196 ■'.1 To order or for information call: 800-221-0440 LOTUS MANUSCRIPT without using up a great deal of mem- ory. The disadvantage of this system is that documents can't be printed out in the same manner on all devices. For instance, a document being prepared for a PostScript device may have specifications for large headings in four different typefaces (Times Roman, Courier, Helvetica, and Sym- bol). Before that document is printed on an Epson FX-80. the specifications must be changed to accommodate the limited type sizes and faces avail- able with that printer. When you start Manuscript, a setup menu lets you specify the printer you will use. The choice you make deter- mines what typefaces Manuscript will offer you. Manuscript allows up 10 dif- ferent faces, though few printers will actually make that many available. To print a document using a device other than the one originally speci- fied, you simply change the typeface map using a global typography menu or let Manuscript make the conversion. Requirements Manuscript runs on MS-DOS versions 2.0 and higher. It requires at least 51 2K bytes of RAM and a hard disk. (If you have very large documents, you probably need a hard disk any- way just for document storage.) The program uses standard BIOS functions for keyboard input, and thus Lotus programmers say it should be compatible with memory-resident programs like SideKick and Spotlight (a product Lotus acquired when the company purchased Software Arts). Manuscript supports the use of an extended memory board, enabling you to use memory in excess of 640K bytes. A document spooling scheme allows extended memory, RAM disk, hard disk storage, and even floppy disk storage to be treated as RAM for handling very large files. The system provides specific sup- port for various display cards, includ- ing IBM's monochrome, color graph- ics, and enhanced color graphics boards and the Hercules Graphics Card and the new Hercules Graphics Card Plus. The latter card makes it possible to display the following text attributes on the screen: normal, bold, underlined, italic, superscript, subscript, and strike-through. If the system you are using can't display all these attributes, a field on the dis- play's status bar shows the attributes of the text at the current cursor location. Figure 3: Manuscripts preview option displays text and graphics as they will appear on the page, at various levels of magnification (graphics card required). Manuscript will support use of a wide variety of popular laser, ink jet, and dot-matrix printers (see the At a Glance box on page 98). Manuscript Output vs. Typesetting A Manuscript document printed on a LaserWriter cannot literally duplicate the quality of a typesetter. For one thing, the 300-dot-per-inch resolution of laser printers does not match the quality obtained when using a 1200- dot-per-inch typesetter. It's true that Manuscript could be used to drive a PostScript-equipped typesetting machine, but the end result would still not duplicate what you would expect from a professional typesetter. Manuscript is unable to provide all the typesetting subtleties like kerning and loose and tight lines. When Manuscript underlines a word, the underline goes right through any descenders that appear on the line, contrary to typographic aesthetics. These kinds of problems can be worked out through PostScript com- mands; unfortunately, Manuscript doesn't let the user enter PostScript commands directly. On the positive side, Manuscript does give you access to all of a printer's characters, some of them through the use of special backslash sequences. In this manner, one can obtain em dashes, en dashes, minus signs, opening and closing quotes, and ligatures (combined let- ters such as fl. ff. and fi). Partial WYSIWYG Manuscript is not a true "what you see is what you get" editor. Because it supports varying point sizes and typefaces dependent on your printer and because it allows you to incor- porate graphics into documents, pro- viding a WYSIWYG system would en- tail operating the screen in graphics mode. Lotus designers chose to re- strict the editor to the text mode (no graphics) during editing for one sim- ple reason: speed. Tksks like scrolling and redrawing take far longer in graphics mode than in text mode. The editor does let you see some of the attributes of the finished prod- uct: indentation, the appearance of columnsand tables, and the presence 100 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 LOTUS MANUSCRIPT of section tags and numbers, for ex- ample. The attributes and elements you do not see on-screen are natural page and line breaks, graphics, font sizes, line spacing, and formulas. Manuscript includes a page preview utility that lets you see the document on-screen in graphics mode before it is printed. The utility scales the out- put so that one page fits on the screen. A magnification window gives you a close-up of any part of the page. Text, graphics, tables, and formulas appear in these page previews. This function is available only on systems with a graphics card (see figure 3). In the area of word processing, there's room for improvement. The pop-up windows often block the por- tion of the text you are working on, making it difficult to complete the dialogue required by the pop-up menu. For instance, when you want to make a global replacement, you might need to glance back at the text to see how a word is spelled or what its at- tributes are. You can't see the word because the menu is covering it up. The word-processing interface is not consistent throughout Manuscript. For instance, when you're editing a document, Control-arrow advances to the next word. But when you're enter- ing text to a menu field, Control-arrow has no effect. 1 wish Manuscript had more flexibili- ty in the area of global searches. For example, it would be handy if you could search for all carriage returns and insert a block or section divider wherever one was found. This would simplify the process of converting an unstructured document to a struc- tured one (the automatic conversion of paragraphs to blocks during file im- portation is a step in the right direc- tion). Keyboard macros would also be a nice feature, although Lotus says you can use keyboard enhancer programs with Manuscript if your system has sufficient memory. Suggestions for Testing Manuscript I tested a preliminary form of Manu- script. Thus it is not fair or meaningful to record any benchmark results here. However, by the time you read this, Technical Word Processor Checklist □ Does the system let you integrate text and graphics into the hard copy? □ Does it offer a way to specify mathematical and scientific formulas? □ What is the limit on document size? □ Does the product let you use extended memory? □ Does it recognize hierarchical document structure? How many levels? □ Does it let you see an on-screen facsimile of the document, or does it have a preview facility? □ What types of files can it import and export? □ Does it allow you to sort sections based on their headings? □ How fast does the word processor print a document? TVy a document that includes a graphic image, all table, and mathematical formula. Compare the speed on a laser printer and a dot-matrix printer. □ How fast does it load and convert an ASCII text file? □ How fast can you go from the beginning to the end of a very large docu- ment (several hundred pages)? □ Does the system allow you to set up templates defining the formats for the various structural levels within a document? the first release of the product should be out. Lotus believes it is creating a new product niche with Manuscript: PC- level technical/professional word pro- cessing. No doubt other companies will follow with new products for this field (or new features for old prod- ucts). The text box on this page gives a checklist to help you evaluate word processors. Personal Reactions After a week's experience using a preliminary version of Manuscript. I am enthusiastic about its potential for writers. It encourages a rapid, free- flowing style of writing and lets you put down your thoughts as they occur to you, without worrying whether the sequence is ideal from an organiza- tional standpoint. Later, you can move the ideas around to fill an outline. Manuscript is also a good tool for people with writer's block, because it encourages you to start writing, if only by producing a rough outline of what you intend to write. By successively refining the outline, you may discover that what seemed to be a formidable task has been transformed into a series of manageable short topics. The product's strongest points are its structure cognizance, its ability to integrate text and graphics in a printed document, its support for PostScript devices, and its convenient user interface. On the basis of stan- dard word-processing features, it is acceptable but not revolutionary. Pre- sumably. Manuscript will be used by people who work with computers a lot— at least for word processing. These kinds of users tend not to mind a little product complexity if it gives them more control and convenience. Many people will probably consider it a fault that Manuscript does not provide a "what you see is what you get" interface. And for shorter docu- ments where speed of access is not so important, a WYSIWYG system might indeed be preferable. But for writers who must assemble large volumes of information from various sources and fit it all together into an organized whole, the decision to favor speed of operation over on-screen graphics will almost certainly be welcome. ■ NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 101 The IBM Proprinter XL. Under $800. ■ For under $800, the Proprinter XL packs an incredible number of features into a single machine. It's the wide carriage model of the Proprinter and it attaches to most personal computers. The Proprinter XL lets you print spreadsheets (see below) on paper up to 16'4 inches wide. It lets you print on standard computer paper, too. find, without removing the. computer paper, you can easily feed envelopes or single sheets through a separate slot in the front. You can also switch between fast-draft and near-letter-quality "print modes with the touch of a button (what you're reading now was printed on a Proprinter XL). You can even do graphics. But the best thing is, you can do all this—and more— for less than $800. JAN FEB MAR J.V. ALLEN & SON, INC. YEARLY SALES (THOUSANDS) APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT Region 1 Region £ Region 3 Region 4 Region 5 Region 6 Region 7 Region B Region 9 Region 10 Region 11 Region IE Region 13 Region 14 Region 15 Region 16 Region 17 Region IB Region 19 Region SO £43.33 13E.34 ees.se IE. 34 33E. IE 89.34 99.36 65.34 13.43 96.45 143.67 3E5.43 £43.78 540.11 436.49 357.36 39E.43 431 .El 35. B6 146.73 E53.E1 1 35 . 34 £34.56 El .43 343.56 91 .S3 100.54 66.37 15.36 97. 3£ 144. 3£ 3E6.46 £45. 11 540. 7B 433.BE 35E.57 393.41 433.93 35. El 146.99 E55.45 137.45 E54.1E S3. 45 345.76 93.46 101 .45 66.98 14.9B 98.49 146.47 3E6.9B El 1. 541 . 435.99 353.1 1 3 1 1 . 84 434. E5 35.98 147.36 .36 .43 E61 .34 140.43 E55. 11 E4.9B 347.87 94.56 101 .90 67. IE 16. 11 99.31 148.73 354. 3E E01 .98 543.95 448.93 353.98 316.93 435. E6 36.31 147.93 E73.EE 141 .67 £67. £3 E5.3E 349.65 95.45 10E.E3 67.36 16.78 100.11 149.34 31E.E9 El 3. 48 544. El 451 .78 354. 3£ 3E5.3B 435.87 36. 1 1 148.91 EBO. IE 146.78 £70. £3 30.98 .354.33 96.67 10E.09 68. S3 17.3E 101 .S3 151 .£3 315.46 ££4.31 544.99 45E.E3 355. 5£ 33E.34 436.31 36.84 149.3E EBE.34 14E.34 E74.3E 145.98 355. S3 97.59 10E.B9 69.41 1B.3E 101 .98 15E.53 3E0.E1 ££3.47 545.37 453.78 356. £6 334. £9 436. £5 35.98 15E.5E £84.98 146.33 E76.75 156.90 357.89 98.31 103. S3 70. IE 18.54 10E.3E 153.EE 33E.B7 ££9.31 543.79 455.39 357.41 335. SB 437. 4£ 36.73 153.19 £91 .43 149. OS E79.65 178.89 361 . IE 99.89 104. El 70.78 18.99 10E.B7 155.78 33E.91 £31 .35 548.73 456.31 358. 3£ 335.99 437.97 36. BE 1 54 . £ 1 £93.55 151 .43 £B£. IE £10. El 33E. IE 101 .45 104.33 7E.65 19.45 103. £1 159.65 335. IE £39.43 549.39 46E.45 359. £9 338. 7£ 438. 3£ 36.89 154.79 TOTAL 6358.19 4411. 5£ 4336.36 4397.05 4E61.80 4467.34 4448.54 4496.79 4551.03 4589.78 461£.B C The IBM Quietwriter Printer Md 2^3 09 3261 51 112 9B 1700 45 292 12 3193. 9B 230 12 127^ 36 310 ^♦3 4101 . 29 103 12 1163 06 7 0) ■D C D O Soft Whisper "Quietwriter" Private Office For free literature on our growing family of remark- able personal printers — or for the authorized IBM dealer nearest you— call 1 800 IBM-2468, Ext. CP/104. Or contact your IBM marketing representative. Personal Printers. The Finishing Touch. Inquiry 156 NOW! TRANSFER DATA - PROGRAM TO PROGRAM WITH SOFTSTRIP®. Now you can move data between programs quickly and easily using SOFTSTRIP data strips. Using the Softstrip System, you can move data between computers and such programs as WordStar and Mac Write, dBASE and AppleWorks, Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel and ReadySetGo and many others. We Ve created a series of several dozen Application Notes on Softstrip data strips. These lead you through simple steps to make the file transfer as easy as possible, adding even more versatility to your personal computer whenyou purchase the SOFTSTRIP SYSTEM. The advanced system you've been hearing so much about. All you need to move data between programs is STRIPPER 7 $19.95 and the Softstrip System Reader at $199.95. software at For a complete list of Application Notes, contact your dealer or call Cauzin. NOVEMBER CASE HISTORY LIBRARY HI TECH JOURNAL and LIBRARY HI TECH NEWS, the world's leading source of information on library automation and information technology, are printing Softstrip data strips to make it easier for their readers to stay abreast of the vast amount of material published monthly. According to C. Edward Wall, Editor and Pub- lisher, LIBRARY HI TECH NEWS monitors more than 200 publications dealing with information with application to library operations. The newsletter includes bibliog- raphies of books, conference reports and articles published in hundreds of other periodicals. The newsletter prints bibliographies in Softstrip data strip form. As Mr. Wall notes, this permits any library or information center to build a valuable on-line data base of useful information. The data strips are ASCII based, and will operate with most of the information retrieval software developed for micro computers. LIBRARY HI TECH JOURNAL and LIBRARY HI TECH NEWS are published by Pierian Press, Box 1 808, Ann Arbor, MI48106(313) 434-5530 Users' Groups: Call for Special User Group Discounts. ACT NOW! Don't delay. See your local Softstrip dealer or call us at 1-800-533-7323. In Connecticut: 203-573-0150. CAUZIN 835 South Main Street Waterbury, CT 06706 (203)573-0150 For Europe and Asia Contact: Softstrip International, Ltd. 53 Bedford Square London, WC1 B3DP England 01-631-3775 Telex: 263874SOFTST G This data strip contains IBM2MAC, a utility that runs on the IBM and converts an IBM file to Macintosh format. Inquiry 6 1 CIARCIA'S CIRCUIT CELLAR BUILD THE GT180 COLOR GRAPHICS BOARD PART 1: BASIC TECHNOLOGY by Steve Ciarcia Achieve PGA resolution on the SB180 at a fraction of the cost Graphics has more of a direct influence on user satisfaction than any other aspect of a computer. For the most part, CP/M and ZCPR3 users have been excluded from a club whose ranks are swelled by owners of IBM PCs, Ataris, and Apples. With the GT180, I will endeavor to rectify this inequity and present a high-performance graphics sub- system for the SB 180 that surpasses the graphics capabilities of most presently available computers at significantly less cost. Borland International has helped supply utilities that provide the basis for ad- vanced graphics software development. The GT180 (graphics technology for the SB180) is both an expansion board and an intelligent graphics system. As a plug-in peripheral to the SB180 XBUS, it adds Pro- fessional Graphics Adapter (PGA)-type 640- by 480-pixel color graphics capability to the SB 180. When mated with the SB180. the two-board set defines a low-cost SCSI/ RS-232C ported graphics terminal for any computer system (see photo 1). Those who use the GT180 as a general- purpose workstation have the ability to add modern graphics while retaining compati- bility with existing Z-System and CP/M ap- plication software. The GTI80 can also serve as an embedded graphics engine for stand- alone applications like a graphics/videotext terminal a presentation graphics system, or image processing. Finally, the graphics sub- system design core can easily be ported for application in non-SB 180 systems like IBM PC, VME, Multibus, and S-100. In this case, the GT180 serves as a low-cost development tool for prototyping and bootstrapping the ported design. GT180 Overview The GT180 graphics specifications are com- pared to those of the IBM PGA and En- hanced Graphics Adapter (EGA), the Macin- tosh, Commodore's Amiga, and the Atari 520ST in table 1. The key to the design is a recently an- nounced CMOS VLSI graphics processor, the Hitachi HD63484 ACRTC (advanced CRT controller), and two companion chips: GMIC (graphic memory interface controller) and GVAC (graphic video attributes con- troller). These are supplemented by a highly integrated CMOS Brooktree BT4 50 palette D/A converter; a 512K-byte frame buffer that can hold three screens of data as well [continued) Steve Ciarcia (pronounced "see-fKRE-see-ah") is an electronics engineer and computer consultant with ex- perience in process control, digital design, nuclear in- strumentation, and product development. The author of several books on electronics, he can be reached at PO. Box 582, Glastonbury, CT 06033. COPYRIGHT © 1986 STEVEN A. CIARCIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 105 CIRCUIT CELLAR Table 1: The GT180's graphics specifications are compared with those of other popular microcomputers. GT180 (TTL) GT180 (Analog) Apple Macintosh Atari 520ST Commodore Amiga IBM CGA IBM EGA IBM PGA Resolution 640x400 640x480 512x350 640x200* 640x400 640x200t 640x350 640x480 Colors 16 16/4096 1 16/64 16/4096 2 16/64 256/4096 Digital/Analog digital analog digital digital analog digital digital analog Scan Mode noninterlaced noninterlaced noninterlaced noninterlaced interlaced noninterlaced noninterlaced noninterlaced Graphics Coprocessor yes yes no no yes no no yes 'Atari 520ST is 320x200 with 16 colors or 640x200 with 4 colors or 640x400 monochrome tIBM CGA is 640x200 with 2 colors or 320x200 with 4 colors or 160x100 with 16 colors. as a library of graphics objects like windows, fonts, or icons; and an IBM PC-compatible keyboard connector (see figure 1). The GTI80 display resolution is 640 by 480 pixels with 16 of 4096 colors. It can also be set to 640 by 400, 640 by 350. 640 by 200, 320 by 200, and other resolutions by changing the ini- tialization parameters (the lower resolutions also require changing the crystal frequency). The GTI80 has both TTL RGB I (red-green-blue- intensity) and analog RGB outputs and can directly connect to a number of standard CRT monitors, for exam- ple, the Princeton Graphics SR-12 and SR-12P (see photo 2). The GT1 80 is a big project that can't be easily explained in a few pages. As with any sophisticated computer pe- ripheral these days, the end product is a combination of hardware and software. So that you can recognize the dividing line between these two camps and understand why I have built the GT180 as I have, I will begin with a description of basic graphics ACRTC GMIC 512KB FRAME BUFFER (16 PCS. 64K BY 4 DRAM) DOT CLOCK DATA PC KEYBOARD PORT I GVACs (2) B1450 PALETTE /D/A CONVERTER PC-COMPATIBLE KEYBOARD { r~ CRT \ K_ ) Figure I: A block diagram of the GTI80. technology. This will also help those who may need a refresher course. The GT180 project is spread over three months. Part 1 is devoted to the basic technology and understanding the hardware/software dividing line of a graphics peripheral. Part 2 presents the hardware and details the indi- vidual VLSI components. Part 3 gives an explanation of the GTI80 Graphix Toolbox written by Borland Interna- tional and also demonstrates its appli- cation using Borland's CP/M-compati- ble Modula-2. CRT Basics While other display technology comes and goes, the dominant device remains the standard CRT The under- lying technology has been driven by one of the most popular products of all time: the TV set. Many have pre- dicted the end of this glass dinosaur at the hands of other technologies (LCD, plasma, electroluminescence, etc.), but reports of the CRT's demise may be exaggerated. (1 tend to use CRT to describe both the glass display tube and the entire terminal display unit with driver electronics.) The basic principle of CRT opera- tion is simple: An electron beam scans the CRT screen, which is coated with a phosphor. Where the beam hits the phosphor, light is generated. By varying the intensity of the beam, the amount of light generated changes accordingly In the simplest case (monochrome), the beam is either on or off— each point on the screen is either illuminated or not. The scanning pattern of the beam 106 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 CIRCUIT CELLAR is similar to the way you write with a pencil on a piece of paper. Starting at the top left corner, the beam scans to the right edge of the screen at which point the beam is brought back to the left edge of the screen, one line down from the top. This left-to-right scan- ning proceeds down the screen until the beam reaches the bottom right corner, then the beam is repositioned at the top left corner and the whole process repeats. The process of repositioning the beam is called retrace. Repositioning from the right edge of the screen to the left edge on the next line down is called horizontal retrace. Reposi- tioning from the bottom right corner to the top left corner is called vertical retrace. The beam is blanked (turned off) during retrace, just as your hand is raised off the paper when you re- position the pencil. As you might guess, the signal that causes the CRT monitor to perform a horizontal retrace is called horizontal sync (HSYNC), and the signal that causes the CRT monitor to perform a vertical retrace is called vertical sync (VSYNC). An important point to real- ize is that the times at which horizon- tal and vertical retrace occur are the responsibility of the video-signal gen- erator and not the CRT screen or monitor electronics (see figure 2). It is important that the controller provide HSYNC and VSYNC timing within the limits specified by the CRT. Some CRTS will self-destruct if sync timing is incorrect! In the case of a computer, the video controller sync timing is generally software-program- mable to allow for compatibility with different CRTS. This means the CRT has the distinction of being one of the few pieces of computer hardware that might be physically destroyed by soft- ware bugs. Read and heed! CRT Timing Scan timing involves a number of con- straints. First, the CRT phosphor, like a dynamic RAM, needs to be re- freshed. As soon as the beam passes a point on the screen, the image at that point will begin to fade. If the refresh period (time between con- secutive beam passes) is too slow, the {continued) LINE 1 X v^ LINE 2 LINE 3 _ -v^- ""*"" — V ""* -~~"""" V ^~~" LINE 638 LINE 639 LINE 640 - > ^~ --- -* C~~ -.---—--—--■""" ^<^~ HSYNC HSYNC HSYNC VSYNC _T 1_ Figure 2: The electron beam scans the CRT much as you would write on a piece of paper. HSYNC causes the beam to perform a horizontal retrace: VSYNC causes it to perform a vertical retrace. Photo 1: The GT180 board attached atop the new SB180FX single-board microcom- puter. [The SB180FX is an enhanced version of the SB180. See the September 1985 Circuit Cellar for a description of the SB180.) NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 107 CIRCUIT CELLAR result will be an annoying flicker as each point cycles through the refresh- fade sequence. One solution is to use a special CRT phosphor characterized as long persistence— this means the phosphor fades more slowly, allowing longer times between refresh before flicker becomes noticeable. Unfortunately, a phosphor with a persistence that is too long produces an effect that ( is just as annoying as flicker: smear. When Photo 2: The resolution and graphics capabilities of the SB 180 are best illustrated by borrowing a few bit maps from another computer, (a) A standard \6-color Atari 520ST bit-mapped picture with 320- by 200-pixel resolution. By setting the GT180 to a resolution of 640 by 400, four Atari pictures can be put on a single screen. The result is shown in (b). The GT180 can be set to a display resolution as high as 720 by 500. the picture on the CRT changes, a ghost of the previous image persists. If the CRT is updated quickly detail is lost as each new image is superim- posed on the vestiges of the past images. Therefore, the first major constraint can be characterized as the number of times the beam sweeps the entire screen per second (i.e., the number of VSYNCs per second). It's clear that faster is better, since a short-persis- tence phosphor (fast updating with no smear) can be used while avoiding the threshold of perceivable flicker. Most commonly designers choose 60 hertz (60 VSYNCs per second) because this provides a good perfor- mance, matches standard phosphor characteristics, and is easily derived from the 60-Hz component of the AC power line (within the U.S.). High-per- formance (and high-price) systems may offer faster vertical scan rates (i.e.. 65-80 Hz). Since we want to sweep the entire screen, line by line, 60 times each sec- ond, a rough calculation shows that very high speed is required. After all, an enhanced screen (640 by 400) con- tains 2 56.000 dots. If we insist that the dots be refreshed 60 times a second, that means the video controller must transmit more than 15 million dots per second! The scanning technique discussed so far. in which each line on the screen is scanned sequentially, is called noninterlaced. To ease the high- speed timing constraints, some sys- tems often use another scanning ap- proach: interlaced. In this scheme, the beam still scans the entire screen at 60 Hz. However, instead of scanning every line during a sweep of the screen, half the lines are scanned, re- ducing the amount of information that must be transmitted. In fact, conven- tional TVs use interlaced scanning: al- though the picture contains 52 5 lines, only half of them are refreshed each 1/60 of a second. (Note: Actually, not all lines are displayed on the TV screen; some contain supplementary information like closed captions for the hearing impaired and stereo audio.) If you've followed the previous dis- cussion, you may have deduced that 108 BYTE ■ NOVEMBER 1986 CIRCUIT CELLAR TV sets must use a long-persistence phosphor to ensure that flicker doesn't occur. The price you pay for the long-persistence phosphor is some smear, but objects on TV are moving slowly enough so that the ef- fect is unnoticeable. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for computer images, in which operations like scroll- ing quickly highlight the smear effect. Generally speaking, high-performance computer displays use only noninter- laced scanning. Accepting the 60-Hz noninterlaced vertical scan, the other important CRT timing considerations include the horizontal scan rate and video band- width. Together, these three param- eters dictate the actual resolution (i.e., the number of dots that can be dis- played on the screen). As the vertical scan rate (60 Hz) cor- responds to the rate of VSYNC. the horizontal scan rate corresponds to the rate of HSYNC. Given the con- straint of scanning all the lines of a screen in 1/60 of a second, you can see that for a given line width, the number of lines that can be displayed on 'the screen is directly related to the speed with which each line is horizon- tally scanned. For example, older dis- plays like the IBM CGA, which have a resolution of 640 by 200, use a hori- zontal scan rate of 15.75 kilohertz. Similarly, displays with a resolution of 640 by 400 have a horizontal scan rate of 31.5 kHz. The final CRT timing parameter is known as bandwidth or dot rate. This refers to the timing of the actual video signal that modulates the electron beam in the CRT. This is influenced by a number of factors, including the CRT video-signal input circuits and the re- sponse time and accuracy of the elec- tron gun. The higher the required res- olution, the higher the bandwidth needed. A 640 by 200 noninterlaced 60-Hz CRT typically requires a band- width of about 1 5 megahertz, while a similar 640 by 400 CRT needs 30-MHz bandwidth. Although CRTS have a number of other timing parameters (like sync pulse widths), the three primary pa- rameters—vertical scan rate, horizon- tal scan rate, and bandwidth— along with scan mode (interlaced or nonin- terlaced) define the overall perfor- mance envelope. Monochrome vs. Color Previously, we assumed that a single scanning electron beam could take only two states: on or off. In fact, this is the case for a monochrome display like the Macintosh. Achieving a color display is an elaboration of the same basic scheme. T\vo changes must be made: The CRT must be able to dis- play multiple colors, and the video controller must provide color informa- tion for each dot. The most prevalent technique for making color CRTS (and color TVs) is to replace the single electron beam with three beams and to coat the CRT face with three phosphors. Each beam/phosphor is responsible for generating a different color: red. green, and blue. You can generate eight different colors by combining red, green, and blue. For instance, you produce a white dot by turning the red. green, and blue beams on simul- taneously. The video controller must also pro- vide three signals, instead of the single signal required for mono- chrome. In fact, a fourth signal, inten- sity, is often provided, giving the ef- fect of 16 possible colors instead of 8. For example, white is red+green+ blue with intensity on; gray is red-i- green+blue with intensity off. This type of CRT is referred to as an RGBI monitor. Digital vs. Analog In the previous discussion, for both monochrome and color, the video sig- nal (one signal for monochrome, four signals for RGBI) was assumed to take one of two states: on or off. This is called a digital TTL monitor. An analog monitor adds the capa- bility to modulate the electron beam(s) to intermediate levels be- tween on and off. For a monochrome monitor (one video-input signal), this allows various shades of gray. For a color monitor (three video-input sig- nals: R, G, and B), it allows various tints and hues. The visual results are much more pleasing than those of digital monitors. TV sets use this ap- proach. Moving upscale from mono- Tke vertical scan rate, the horizontal scan rate, and the video bandwidth dictate the actual resolution. chrome to either digital color or analog color is just a matter of more memory and more speed— no prob- lem in this era of VLSI. The Frame Buffer I have explained how a CRT turns video signals into pictures on the screen. Where does the video signal come from? In the case of a conventional TV re- ceiver, the video signal comes from a station transmitter and is captured by the receiver in the TV for display. The TV station transmits a continuous stream of display frames, eliminating any requirement for video-frame re- tention or buffering in the TV receiver. The computer holds a digital repre- sentation of the screen in a special memory called the frame buffer. Dis- play circuits in the computer extract and condition this video information to generate the video signal(s) re- quired to recreate the image on the CRT screen. A key part of this func- tion is parallel-to-serial conversion. The display controller pulls a number of bits (8, 16, 32, or more) from the frame buffer at once and shifts them out as a serial video signal. The shift clock is also known as the dot clock and corresponds directly to the CRT bandwidth discussed earlier. To change the image on the CRT— a pro- cess known as drawing— the drawing processor need only change the con- tents of the frame-buffer memory (see figure 3). Bit Mapping The simplest frame-buffer organiza- tion is called bit mapping. In this orga- nization, a bit (monochrome) or bits (color) in the frame buffer are pro- [continued) NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 109 CIRCUIT CELLAR vided for each dot on the CRT screen. The bits in the frame buffer map di- rectly to points on the CRT screen. The minimum amount of frame-buffer memory required is equivalent to the number of dots on the screen times the number of bits required to specify the color information for each dot. For a monochrome bit map, only I bit is required for each dot on the screen. Thus, a 640 by 400 mono- chrome display requires about 32K bytes. For a 16-color RGBI display, where each dot requires 4 bits of in- formation (R, G, B, and 1), a 640 by 400 image requires about 128K bytes. Palette D/A Converter For a TTL RGBI color monitor, it is easy to see that 4 bits (R, G, B, and I) are required for each dot on the dis- play. Furthermore, the system is totally digital. The frame buffer contains Is and 0s. and the CRT itself accepts Is and 0s (i.e., the CRT R, G, B, and I in- puts are either on or off). What is the difference between it and an analog RGB display? First, there is a difference in the CRT monitors themselves. In a TTL RGBI monitor, the three beams are either at a low or high intensity as defined by the state of the intensity signal. To achieve a greater variety of colors, the intensity of each beam is varied. In- stead of on/off TTL levels that would be applied to a TTL RGBI monitor, an analog RGB monitor is sent an analog voltage for each beam. Within the frame buffer, the color in- formation is still stored digitally, but each dot must now include the inten- sity settings for each beam as a 6-bit (64 colors), 9-bit (512 colors), or 12-bit (4096 colors) data word. This digital information is converted to analog video-signal levels through a D/A converter. Since each of the three CRT guns (R, G, B) must be driven independently, we need three D/A converters. Unlike the industrial-control-oriented D/A converters discussed in previous ar- ticles, these "video D/A converters" need to be very fast: Bandwidth (the speed with which the D/A converter converts the digital frame-buffer infor- mation to an analog video signal) must match that of the CRT. Further- more, other D/A converter perfor- mance characteristics are also strict in order to produce a glitch-free display As in the case of the digital monitor, the number of colors that can be dis- played is a function of the number of bits in the frame buffer for each dot. Thus, 4 bits/dot means each dot can take one of 16 colors, 8 bits/dot=256 colors, 12 bits/dot=4096 colors, etc. Since the system drives three guns (R, G, B), we normally select a number of bits per dot that is evenly divisible by 3. A typical application might have 12 bits per dot, using three 4-bit D/A con- verters. Thus, each signal (R, G, and B) can take on 16 levels. The total number of combinations yields 4096 colors. With that in mind, it would appear that to move up from a 16-color dis- play to a 4096-color display simply re- quires tripling the frame-buffer size, since each dot now requires 12 bits. While the increased memory is sup- portable (384 K bytes for a 640 by 400 display), unfortunately a substantially higher bandwidth is also required. To HOST SYSTEM CRT CPU — , DRAWING BUS DRAWING PROCESSOR DISPLAY CONTROLLER TIMING GENERATOR DISPLAY BUS || W ' :v::'v!Y» FRAME BUFFER ~t GRAPHICS SUBSYSTEM CLOCK OSC. VIDEO SIGNAL HSYNC VSYNC CRT Figure 3: A diagram of a typical graphics system, including host computer, graphics subsystem, and CRT. Key components of the sub- system are the frame buffer, drawing processor, display controller, timing generator, and shifter. Data is read in parallel fashion from the frame buffer by the display controller, which passes it to the shifter to be serialized into the video signal The timing generator controls basic system timing and generates the HSYNC and VSYNC control signals. 110 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 CIRCUIT CELLAR display a dot on the screen, 12 bits (4096 colors), instead of 4 bits (16 col- ors) or 1 bit (monochrome), must be pulled from the frame buffer to re- fresh each dot on the screen 60 times a second. As we calculated earlier, for a 640 by 400 monochrome display with 60- Hz vertical scan, we need to extract 15,360,000 bits from the frame buf- fer each second. While this is fast, most memory ICs and display con- trollers can handle the required trans- fer rate of 2 megabytes per second. With 12 bits instead of 1 bit per dot, however, the speed requirement in- creases twelvefold! Instead of 15.36 megabits per second, the system must extract 184 megabits per second (23 megabytes per second)! This is too fast for most microcomputers. The solution is to use a device called a palette D/A converter. Like an artist's palette, this device provides the total range of color possibilities, even if we can use only a few of them at one time. The technique is straight- forward: The typical palette RAM, like the Brooktree BT450, is organized as 16 cells, each containing 12 bits of data. Within the 16 cells are stored 12-bit values representing 16 of the 4096 possible colors (these 16 cells are loaded by the CPU prior to a video scan). Each dot on the display is defined by a 4-bit value in the frame buffer. These 4 bits serve as an ad- dress selecting one of the 16 palette entries. The 12 bits stored in the se- lected cell are in turn presented to three 4-bit D/A converters connected to the RGB lines (see figure 4). While the 16 colors available through a palette D/A converter may seem to offer no improvements be- yond a 16-color RGBI system, remem- ber that we can choose 16 of 4096 colors. It is possible for the CPU to change the contents of the palette D/A converter at the end of each horizon- tal scan line. Rather than showing only 16 colors then, an entire screen can display all 4096 colors. Reloading the palette can create some interesting effects. For example, the color of a certain area on the screen can be changed by simply changing the cor- responding palette entry— this is con- siderably faster than actually chang- ing the color of each dot in the frame buffer. Split Screens and Windows A powerful visual interface like the Macintosh depends on graphics tech- niques like split screens and windows to implement popular features like pull-down menus, dialog boxes, and application windows. In a simple bit- mapped system, the display controller cycles sequentially through the frame buffer from beginning to end and back to the beginning. In other words, the relative position of an image on the screen corresponds exactly to its relative position in the frame buffer. To move a window on the screen re- quires physically moving the associ- ated image in the frame buffer. If you shrink or move a window on the dis- play, you must also restore the newly uncovered background. Having the host CPU responsible for all this is possible, but problems emerge as the amount of information to be moved increases. The screen re- sponse for tasks like dragging a win- dow can become annoyingly sluggish. In any case, CPU cycles devoted to screen housekeeping can be used for more useful work. Adding intelligence to the display controller provides hardware split screens and windows. This feature re- quires that the display controller, in- Moving a screen image becomes as simple as programming a new start address instead of actually moving each dot stead of scanning in a fixed sequen- tial order, be able to scan different areas of the frame buffer at will. The programmer defines the physical po- sition on the screen of a split or window. Then the display controller monitors the physical location being displayed and accesses the appropri- ate location in the frame buffer. This allows the various pieces of the screen image (menus, dialog boxes, windows, etc.) to be stored in separate areas of the frame buffer— the hard- ware will automatically put each piece in the right place on the screen (see figure 5). Moving a screen image be- comes as simple as programming a new start address instead of actually moving each dot. (Note that I am im- plying that the frame buffer may be (continued) DISPLAY BUS (PARALLEL) PIXEL BUS SERIAL DATA FRAME BUFFER (P-*S) SHIFTER DOT CLOCK INTEGRATED PALETTE/ D/A CONVERTER RAM D/A CONVERTERS o ANALOG VIDEO SIGNALS ^ R HOST CPU INTERFACE Figure 4: New integrated palette D/A converters, like the Brooktree BT450 used on the GT180, combine a number of functions formerly requiring separate chips. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE II CIRCUIT CELLAR larger than can fit on the screen at one time.) Drawing The process of writing into the frame buffer is called drawing, while the pro- cess of reading from the buffer to the CRT is called display. The drawing and display processes contend for access to the frame buffer. One way to re- solve such contention is to use dual- port RAMs for the frame buffer. An- other approach is timeshared access to a single-ported frame buffer. In any case, the application pro- grammer needs to be able to move pictures in and out of the frame buf- fer and issue commands like LINE, CIRCLE, PAINT, WINDOW, and ZOOM. Ideally the programmer can use logical x.y coordinate addressing, rather than being burdened with com- puting a frame-buffer physical address (e.g., "move the pointer to screen x.y position (100.200)" instead of "move the pointer to the dot in the high- order 4 bits of address 12 34 hexa- decimal"). A myriad of other graphics commands can be imagined for use in a variety of applications. Opinion has been divided as to whether the host CPU should perform these drawing algorithms, or whether a separate drawing processor should be used. My opinion has always been to do it in hardware, and I think the trend to higher resolution, more col- ors, and faster response will ultimately lead others to conclude that an intelli- gent graphics coprocessor is the only way to go. Transportable Graphics Any graphics system has several dis- tinct command levels. At the lowest level is the hardware: the registers associated with the graphics-display chips used on the display board. At the next level is usually a group of drawing primitives: point plotting and line drawing. Next, a graphics environ- ment like that found in GEM and Microsoft Windows may be defined that provides standard function calls like "draw a box containing this text" or "open this window." At the highest level is the application program that provides the user with commands necessary to complete the task the program was designed to perform. An ongoing debate is occurring over which of the above levels should be performed by hardware and which should be performed by software. (Most of the systems in use today per- form the higher two levels in software FRAME BUFFER ( CRT n ■a) i i I J > ' l_l EL b) Figure 5: (a) \f the display controller isn't "smart'.' moving a window requires actually moving the data. The algorithm might require a three-step process: Copy the window contents to a temporary buffer, erase the old window, restoring what was underneath: and copy the window contents to the new location, (b) \n a smart display controller, changing a window position is as simple as reprogramming a few display-controller address registers. This method is fast, and the time required to move the window is independent of window size. Also, the hardware window has priority, so what was underneath the moved window reappears. on the host system.) Further, there must be. at some level, a standard in- terface between the host processor and the graphics device. For example, on IBM's CGA card, the hardware level consists of the 684 5 registers (the 6845 is the PC's graphics-control- ler chip). At the primitive level, the BIOS provides simple character out- put. To remain compatible with the various graphics boards and clones on the market, programs should make calls to the BIOS for character display. Programs that access the 6845 direct- ly may run into problems. The Hitachi HD63484 ACRTC takes control of graphics operations one level higher than most graphics boards do. Most graphics boards pro- vide the host processor with a set of registers and perhaps a simple set of drawing primitives in EPROM. The host processor is still responsible for all drawing overhead, including trans- lation of x.y coordinates to absolute memory addresses, setting of color information, and calculating each dot for a given line or arc. Consequently, the graphics device/host processor in- terface takes place at the lowest level: the hardware level. The ACRTC, however, performs many primitive functions right on the chip. For example, it translates x,y co- ordinates into absolute addresses: draws lines, given the endpoints, boxes, arcs, and ellipses: and per- forms screen clears and area fills using an optional pattern. All these functions are performed in hardware. Using this as the graphics controller, the graphics device/host processor in- terface shifts up a notch to the primi- tive level. The host processor does all its communications with the graphics device via calls to primitives rather than register accesses. Another issue related to the graph- ics board/host processor interface is that of how to maintain compatibility when using a program with different kinds of hardware. There are any num- ber of ways to build a graphics con- troller in hardware that provides a given resolution and number of col- ors. Each design is bound to use a dif- ferent graphics-controller chip and, as a result, a different method of com- municating with the host processor 112 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 CIRCUIT CELLAR (the registers will probably be dif- ferent between boards). The primitive level is usually used as a buffer between a higher-level pro- gram that uses a standard set of func- tion calls and the hardware that is dif- ferent between various boards. If the higher-level program stays on its side of the fence and doesn't cross over into the hardware level, it will function properly with every graphics board, regardless of hardware configuration. When the program does start access- ing hardware registers specific to a particular graphics board, it will like- ly have trouble when used with a dif- ferent board. The implementation modules for the set of tools used with the GTI80 were written with the HD63484 in mind. However, as long as the target graphics board can display the same resolution and number of colors as the GTI80, a program written using Borland's Graphix Toolbox (designed to interface via Borland's Modula-2) can be ported with little effort to the new graphics board. The definition modules of all the tools will stay the same, regardless of what machine it is running on. The implementation modules contain all the machine- specific code. There still hasn't been a graphics standard defined that is widely used in industry. The problem is exacer- bated by a graphics technology that grows in leaps and bounds, often opening new frontiers not considered in older standards proposals. The issue of where to place the graphics board/host processor boundary is a constant issue. For example, all the IBM graphics adapter cards require hardware-level programming (even though there are BIOS calls, the pro- cessor still must do all the work). With the SB180/GT180. the ACRTC does most of the low-level primitives. The physical interface between de- vices must also be considered. Most display adapters plug directly into the backplane, allowing the processor di- rect access to all hardware registers. The GT180 also plugs directly into the SB180's XBUS, but the processor must talk to the ACRTC through a pair of I/O ports, even though the ACRTC does have internal registers. The host processor doesn't need to access the hardware registers often (if at all). Since this graphics device/host boundary is at a higher level requir- ing less information exchange, it is easier to merely send the ACRTC a stream of drawing commands. The real problem of defining a graphics standard comes down to de- fining a set of commands that is rigid enough to allow simple program transportation and that takes hard- ware differences into account while allowing the programmer to take ad- vantage of any special features of the graphics processor. There is no easy solution, as evidenced by the lack of a widely accepted graphics standard. I hope that the SB180/GTI80 with Modula-2 and Graphix Tbolbox will make the waiting more constructive. Circuit Cellar Feedback This month's feedback begins on page 58. Next Month Part 2 looks at the GT180 hardware. ■ Special thanks to Tom Cantrell Ken David- son, and Mike VJeisert for their contributions to this project. All screen pictures presented in this article were produced using the GT180 with a Princeton SR-12P monitor. The bit-mapped pictures were originally composed on an Atari 520ST using DEGAS by Tom Hudson. They are reproduced and used here by permission. The following items are available from The Micromint Inc. 2 5 Terrace Dr. Vernon, CT 06066 (800) 635-3355 (203) 871-6170 Telex: 643331 1. GT180 graphics board: RGB1 version less palette D/A converter. Comes with demo disk and user's manual. board alone $395 board with Modula-2 and GT180 Graphix Toolbox $449 2. GT180 graphics board: RGB1 and analog version with palette D/A converter. Comes with demo disk and user's manual. board alone $449 board with Modula-2 and GT180 Graphix Toolbox $499 3. Borland International TUrbo Modula-2 and GT180 Graphix Toolbox software for the SB180 and SB180FX computers, optimized for the 64180 processor. Supplied on 514-inch DS/DD SB180 format disks with 300-page manual. SB180 Modula-2 alone $69 SB180 Modula-2 with Graphix Toolbox alone $89 4. SB180FX 5.75- by 8-inch single-board com- puter, accommodates 51 2K bytes of mem- ory, two serial ports, three parallel ports, parallel printer port, floppy disk controller. SCSI controller, ROM monitor, 6-MHz 64180. Comes with ZRDOS, ZCPR3. hard disk BIOS, and user's manuals. Populated with 2 56K- byte memory, less 53C80 SCSI controller chip. SB180FX board alone $409 SB180FX board with software $499 9.288-MHz 64180 processor upgrade (SB180FX only) $50 GM1C, GVAC, ACRTC and palette D/A con- verter chip sets are available for experi- menters who wish to hand-assemble the GT180. Call for price and availability infor- mation. Borland TUrbo Modula-2 is also avail- able for most CP/M Z80 machines. Consult regular CP/M and 8-bit software distributors for various disk formats and prices. The SB180FX is hardware- and software-compat- ible with the SB180. Surface delivery (U.S. and Canada only): add $5 for U.S., $10forCanada. For delivery to Europe via U.S. airmail, add $20. Three- day air freight devlivery: add $8 for U.S. (UPS Blue), $25 for Canada (Purolator overnight). $4 5 for Europe (Federal Express), or $60 (Federal Express) for Asia and elsewhere in the world. Connecticut residents please add 7.5 percent sales tax. There is an on-line Circuit Cellar bulletin board system that supports past and pres- ent projects. You are invited to call and ex- change ideas and comments with other Cir- cuit Cellar supporters. The 300/1200/2400-bps BBS is on-line 24 hours a day at (203) 871-1988. Editor's Note: Steve often refers to previous Circuit Cellar articles. Most of these past ar- ticles are available in book form from BYTE Books, McGraw-Hill Book Company, P.O. Box 400, Hightstown, NJ 082 50. Garcia s Circuit Cellar, Volume I covers articles in BYTE from September 1977 through November 1978. Volume 11 covers December 1978 through June 1980. Volume III covers July 1980 through December 1981. Volume IV covers January 1982 through June 1983. Volume V covers July 1983 through December 1984. To be included on the Circuit Cellar mail- ing list and receive periodic project up- dates and support materials, please cir- cle 100 on the Reader Service inquiry card at the back of the magazine. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 113 Error-Correcting 2400 bps Modems from Multi-Tech Systems: When it has to be as good as it is fast • Dial-up 2400 bps modems have arrived. More datacomm users are upgrading from 1200 to 2400 than ever before. But there can be a flip side to increased speed: More transmission errors. • That's why our MultiModem224E™ offers MNP™ error correction. Available in our 2400 bps desktop, internal and rack-mounted modems, MNP gives you 100% error-free transmissions. No matter how bad the phone line. And MNP does it without the speed degradation of the less efficient, software-based protocols. • Another important point: MNP Class 3 has emerged as an industry standard. It's now in the public domain, and has been implemented in virtually all 2400 bps modems that offer error- correction. ■ft v ' 1 ^feit v >\lv\v^f IB "' ■"- "V v ■ *• • '\ : V-'.--. .'... • So, why buy error-correcting modems from Multi- Tech? There are lots of good reasons, including: 1 . Multi-Tech modems are 100% Hayes-compatible (more so than Hayes' own 2400 bps modems*). And our MultiModem224E with error-correction costs less than a Hayes Smartmodem 2400™ without error-correction. 2. Bonus features, like speed conversion. Both synch and asynch operation. And battery-backed option settings and phone number memory. 3. Versatility. The auto-dial/auto-answer Multi- Modem224E modems run at 2400, 1 200 or 300 bps, with or without error-correction, and do so automatically. 4. A two year warranty that means something. Since Multi-Tech modems are designed and manufac- tured at our Minnesota headquarters (as they have been for the last sixteen years), you know we'll be here when you need us. • Please call us toll-free, at 1-800-328-9717, to get the rest of the reasons. And get a modem that's as good as it is fast. *lnfo World-8/5/85-reprints available See Us at Comdex/Fall '86. Trademarks: Multi Modem and the Multi-Tech Systems logo: Multi-Tech Systems Inc. • MNP: Microcom Inc. Smartmodem: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. MultiTech % Inquiry 222 for End-Users. SVStGlTm ^ ^~"' Inquiry 223 for DEALERS ONLY v^Jf ULTIMO ^^ ^^F The right answer every time. Multi-Tech Systems, Inc. • 82 Second Avenue S.E. « New Brighton, Minnesota 551 12 U.S.A. 1-800-328-9717 • 1-612-631-3550 • TWX 910-563-3610 (Domestic) • Telex 4998372 MLTTC (International) MultiTechfil Systems ^fir Multi Modem 2 24E 2400/1200/300 BPS Error Correcting Modem © © © © © © © 6 nit Receive" 2400 bps 1200 bps Off Hook Term Rdy PROGRAMMING INSIGHT EXTRACTING THE nth ROOT FROM A BINARY NUMBER by Lau Siu Wo A general algorithm for extracting real roots 1 HAVE DEVELOPED a general algorithm for extracting any real root from a binary number. Figure I shows the mathematical justification for the procedure. To begin, the binary number whose nth root you want to take should be divided into groups of n bits from the least significant bit out. Thus, if n does not evenly divide the number of bits, the most significant bits group will con- tain fewer than n bits. First, you save 1 as the most significant bit of the root and subtract 1 from the most significant group of bits. Ap- pend the next n-bit group to the remainder to make a new number, REM. and calculate the comparator CMPR [(2£ + I)"-(2R)"|. as explained in figure 1. \fREM>CMPR. then the next bit of the root is 1 and the new remainder is CMPR-REM. If REMkCMPR. the next bit of the root is and the remainder is left untouched, lb obtain the succeeding remainders, shift the previous remainder n bits [continued) Lau Siu Wo is a lecturer on computer-aided engineering in the inte- grated circuit design department of the French-Singapore Institute. He can be reached at 12 Science Centre Road, )urong, Singapore 2260, Republic of Singapore. and R u R be the binary digits of two 2 n (X^-R?)+2 w -%. 1 + . . . +2X,+X . Let X m X^i, X n - 2 . . numbers such that X=2"X„+2 n -% 1 - 1 + ■ ■ . + 2X 1 + X , and R=2R X + R 0i where for all natural numbers of /', R h and X,, 1>X>0and1>fl£0 and R is the closest nth root of X Therefore, X > R", -> 2"X n +2"- 1 X /1 _ 1 +. . .+2Xi + Xo > (2R 1 + R ) n From this we derive the recursive inequality, - 2"(X n -fiV)+2 n - 1 X n _ 1 +. . .+2X 1 + X -((2H 1 +Ho) n -(2^i) n ) > This inequality suggests that if R x is the closest nth root of X n , then the next digit R can be found by making the com- parator (ZR^+RoY-iZRi)" closest to the remainder Since X„ is chosen to be nonzero, ftr=1, and R can be only or 1. For programming convenience, we can always force ft =1 and evaluate whether (2R l +1) n -(2/ : ? l )", the comparator CMPR, is smaller than 2"(X n -fi?)+2"- 1 X n _ 1 + . . . +2X 1 + X 0( the remainder REM. The recursive property of the previous inequality can be easily shown: if R m 2 m R m +2 m - l R m - 1 + . . . +2fli+fl , X = 2« m X„ m +2'""- 1 X n( n-i+ ■ • ■ +2X I + X , equating X > R", then the second and succeeding com- parator is always (2H+1)--(2fl)", where R is the value of the previous result. Figure 1: Derivation of the comparator formula. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 115 Inquiry 116 Z Best Sellers r\ EXTRACTING NTH ROOTS Z-COM (7 disks) $119.00 Easy auto-installation complete Z-System for virtually any Z80 computer presently running CP/M 2.2. In minutes you can be running ZCP.R3 and ZRDOS on your machine, enjoying the vast benefits. I ncludes 70+ utility programs and ZCPR3: The Manual. Z-Tools (4 disks) $1 50.00 A bundle of software tools individually priced at $260 total. Includes the ZAS Macro Assembler, ZDM debuggers, REVAS4 disassembler, and ITQZ/ZTQI source code converters. HD641 80 support. PUBLIC ZRDOS (1 disk) $59.50* If you have acquired ZCPR3 for your Z80-compatible system and want to upgrade to full Z-System, all you need is ZRDOS. ZRDOS features elimination of control-C after disk change, public directories, faster execution than CP/M, archive status for easy backup, and more! TERM III (6 disks) $99.00* TERM III has been called "a cosmos". Why? Because it's 29 programs, featuring T3MASTER and T3SERVER, are galactic in scope. KERMIT, XMODEM, 1 k XMODEM, ancj batch YMODEM protocols supported. DSD (1 disk) $129.95 The premier debugger, for your 8080.Z 80, or HD64180 systems. Full screen, with windows for RAM, code listing, registers, and stack. We feature ZCPR3 versions of this professional debugger. Quick Task (3 disks) $249.00 Z80/HD64180 multitasking realtime executive for embedded com- puter applications. Full source code, no run time fees, site license for development. Comparable to systems from $2000 to $40,000! Request our free Q-T Demonstration Program. *ZCPR3 required. Z-System OEM inquiries invited. Visa/Mastercard accepted. Add $4.00 shipping/handling in North America, $18.00 elsewhere. Specify disk format. Echelon, Inc. 885 N. San Antonio Road • Los Altos, CA 94022 \jll5/948-3820 (Order line and tech support) R 1 m 78125 10 1 100 1 1100010 0101101 = 11 1100010 = REM CMPR = 3 7 - -2 7 = 2059 lo =100000001011 2 CMPR>REM, so = R 1 m 78125,0 100 1100010 0101101 = 11 1100010 0101101 = REM CMPR = 5 7 - -4 7 = 6174' 10 =11110001001011012 CMPR-- --REM, so = 1 R 1 1 78125, 1 100 1100010 0101101 m 11 1100010 0101101 11 1100010 0101101 = REM REM=0, sc 101 2 is a perfect 7th root. Figure 2: Demonstration of the algorithm to take the 1th root o/78125 10 , lOOHOOOlOOlOllOU to the left and the n-bit vacancy with the succeeding group of the number. The calculation loops until the end of the significant bit count is encountered. To illustrate the procedure, let's take the 7th root of 78125. First, we represent 78125 in binary (10011000100101101) and divide the bits into groups of seven, as shown in figure 2. Next, we subtract 1 from the most significant bit group, leaving 11 2 . We calculate the comparator by substituting 7? = 1 into the formula and ob- tain 100000001011, which is larger than the remainder, 1 1 1 100010. Thus, we enter as the second bit of the root. The next comparator is formed by substituting R = 10 2 into the formula, which is 1111000100101101. Since the next remainder is the same as the comparator, the last bit of the root is 1. Thus, tf=101 2 . or 5i . and is a perfect 7th root of 7812 5 10 . ■ 116 B YTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 178 TANDY.. Better Again The New Tandy 3000 HD A powerful workstation with networking and multiuser capacities. r i ^ V V A \ The 3000 HD is compatible with the IBM PC/AT®, offers greater hard disk storage (40 megabytes vs. the PC/AT's 30), yet is priced at only $4299 (vs. $5295 for the PC/AT). Based on the 16-bit Intel 80286 microprocessor, the Tandy 3000 HD (25-4001) operates at 8 megahertz — 33% greater than the industry stan- dard. The Tandy 3000 HD features 640K main memory and a high- capacity 5V4" slim-line floppy disk drive which has been designed to read both 1.2-megabyte and 360K formats, allowing it to run either IBM PC/AT or IBM® PC software. The high-performance design of the 3000 HD makes it a natural for use in a local area network such as ViaNet®. ViaNet can link together multiple MS-DOS® computers into a powerful office automation system. The Tandy 3000 HD also uses the forthcoming XENIX® System V multiuser operating system. Up to five users with low-cost display ter- minals are capable of tapping the power of the Tandy 3000 — permitting each to work indepen- dently on such projects as accounting, word processing and electronic filing. Each remote user has all the power of a fully confi- gured computer system ... for the price of a terminal. The Tandy 3000 HD is quality- designed and built by Tandy in the U.S.A. We back the 3000 HD with full support, nationwide service, commercial leasing and professional training. Come see it today! Available at over 1200 Radio Shack Computer Centers and at participating Radio Shack stores and dealers. Radio /haek COMPUTER CENTERS A DIVISION OF TANDY CORPORATION Inquiry 282 f£i 9tum H ini ™™ * SBiB ^* iS Send me a Tandy 3000 brochure. Radio Shack, Dept. 87-A-358 300 Tandy Center, Fort Worth, Texas, 76102. H Company. mm Address _ i 1 ■ City. _ZIP. hone m Price applies at Radio Shack Computer Centers and participating stores and dealers. Monitor sold separately. IBM price is manufacturer's suggested list as of April 2, 1986. IBM and IBM PC/AT Registered TM/lnternational Business Machines Corp. MS-DOS and XENIX/Registered TM Microsoft Corp. VfaNet/TM ViaNetix, Inc. c&c Computers and Communications Your first color monitor should be good enough to be your last. SEC introduces the only color monitor you need. Superb resolution plus MultiSync for across-the- board compatibility with all three PC graphics boards made by IBM? for business graphics, CAD/CAM, computer art, and text. Now there's one high ^*==\ resolution color %f ," ? t monitor that does I 'x things your way. -> ^ The MultiSync™ monitor from NEC. It gives you the best color resolu- tion available at the price. • Compatibility with the IBM Professional Graphics Adapter, the IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter, and the IBM Color Graphics Adapter. Compati- bility with the IBM® Enhanced Graphics Adapter Board • MultiSync, the NEC feature that automatically adjusts to color adapter board scanning frequencies from 15.75 KHz to 35 KHz— suggesting the possibility that the MultiSync monitor might be compatible with all color graphics boards that are fully compatible with the IBM PC, PC/XT, and PC/AT, now and in the future. • Full implementation of high resolution graphics software for business and other applications, now and in the future. • And color capability limited only by the board being used. See Things Our Way Until now, you had to choose different color monitors for N* w rrrr llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ! : -.v.-- U L TM-S Y N The Intelligent Monitor™ compatibility with all three PC color graphics boards made by IBM. With so many board and monitor configura- tions, folks didn't know which way to look. The new MultiSync color monitor gives you unique compatibility. As well as TTL and analog color. With 7 switchable text colors. And resolution up to maximum 800 horizontal dots and maximum 560 vertical lines, on a large, 13" diagonal viewing area. It's the one color monitorthat does everything your way. Com pa ti- bility with the IBM® Color Graphics Adapter Board *£M I 0- All from NEC, a f/' x name respected around p^-n the world for advanced, ^Jgjl reliable products backed ifr^il by nationwide service. 'LJI Compati- bility with the IBM® Profes- sional Graphics Adapter Board But why talk more about it? Visit your nearest dealer and see a graphic demonstration of the new NEC MultiSync monitor's capabilities. Then draw your own conclusions. For information dial 1-800-447-4700 NEC HOME ELECTRONICS (U.S.A.) Inc. Computer Products Division 1255 Michael Drive Wood Dale, IL 60191-1094 SEC 118 B YTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 232 PROGRAMMING INSIGHT PASSING FILENAMES TO COMPILED BASIC by Bruce Hubanks This assembly language subroutine retrieves the command-line text for a compiled BASIC program WHEN YOU START an application program, it is often desirable to be able to specify a filename on the MS- DOS command line. For instance, given a hypothetical data encryption program named Encode, you might like to be able to process a data file named Filex by typing ENCODE FILEX Many language compilers provide a library function to retrieve secondary filenames and parameters from the command line. Unfortunately, Micro- soft's BASIC Compiler does not. I have written an assembly language subroutine called Getspec to remedy this deficiency. To make use of the routine from a BASIC application pro- gram, you simply include a couple of lines at the beginning of your pro- gram, as shown in listing 1. Then com- pile the program and, link it to Getspec. The result will be an ex- ecutable application. (If you use BASCOM's 10 option, you won't even need BASRUN to run the program.) Because Getspec obeys the Micro- soft conventions for parameter pass- ing, it could also be used to retrieve filenames for other language com- pilers that obey these conventions. (Getspec cannot be used with Micro- soft's BASIC Interpreter.) MS-DOS Program and Data Conventions A brief explanation of how MS-DOS handles command-line information will help you understand the program in listing 2. When a program is invoked from the MS-DOS command line, MS-DOS creates a bookkeeping area called the program segment prefix (PSP) at the lowest available memory location. Within this area, the data transfer area (DTA) contains all the characters typed after the program name. On entry to the program, the stack pointer (SP) gives the code offset ad- dress of the calling program. This ad- dress enables the subroutine to retrieve parameters from the calling program and pass values back to it. Refer to listing 2 as you read the following commentary. Getspec starts by copying the all- important SP value into BP. [BP]+4 gives the code segment address. The starting address of the PSP can be derived from this code segment ad- dress by subtracting 16. Adding 128 gives the start of the DTA, which con- tains a length byte followed by the specified number of bytes that were typed before the end of the line. The Getspec subroutine uses the stack information to locate the com- mand-string text in the DTA. The pro- gram searches for the first nonblank character and then reads the text up [continued) Bruce Hubanks (270 1-C West \5tfi St., Suite 228, Piano. TX 75075) has eight years' experience in computer systems design and is currently designing an artificial in- telligence application for military aircraft. Listing 1 10 REM 20 F$ = 30 CALL 40 PRIN1 50 END A BASIC program "FILENAME. EXT" ii it GETSPEC(F$) "Text remainir demonstrating the g on command use str of the Getspec subroutine. ing is: ";F$ NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 119 Inquiry 37 ORDER TOLL FREE 24 HOURS EVERY DAY 800-662-2686 HARDWARE COMPUTERS IBM COMPATIBLES 256K Ram Keyboard, 1 yr. war. w/1 Floppy. . . 459 Plus 20MB Hard Disk. . . 869 PANASONIC Business & Executive Partners CALL ATARI ST COMPUTERS CALL MODEMS, BOARDS, DRIVES Anchor Lighting 2400 . . . 329 Evercam 1200 Internal. ... 129 Hayes Modems CALL Practical Modem 1200 ... 135 Genoo Spectra 319 Genoo Spectrum 199 Hercules Graphics + 1B9 Mono Graphics Cord 89 Sigma Tuibo EGA! 589 ST8 EGA Plus 289 Taxon 560 EGA 375 Tecmar EGA Master 285 Video 7 Vega 369 3B4K RAM Cord 99 AST Advantage 339 AST Rampage 239 ASTRampageAT 439 Flashpak Turbo 8oard 319 SixPakPlus3B4K 209 SixPak Premium 512 K 359 Intel Above 8oard PC 225 Above 8oard PS 289 Above 8oord AT 355 Talltree J-Ram 2 145 J-Ram3/3AT .... 189/249 Practical 1200 Multiboard.,269 20M8 Hard Disk Kit 399 30M8 Hard Disk Kit 469 Seagate ST4026 499 Filecand20MB 609 Hordcard 20M8 679 Drivecard 30MB 839 Iomega 210H 1B99 Sigma Fast Track 20 749 PRINTERS, PLOTTERS & MONITORS EPS0N-AII Models 8EST NEC 1280 TTL Mono 129 LX/FX/EX/LQ PRICES NEC 1401 Multi-Sync .... 649 Citizen 120D 195 Samsung TTL 89 Citizen Premiere 35 499 Sony W/1 3 1 1 RGB/TV. ... 429 Panasonic 1092 315 SonyCPD 1302 Muiti-Sync.629 Panasonic P3131 265 Taxan 630/640 . . .. 449/519 Roland DXY-800 Plotter. . . 409 Taxon 760 EGA 539 Houston Inst DMP-29 . . . 1799 Thompson 36432 RGB . . . 309 SOFTWARE —ACCOUNTING — BPIAccntng/Mod ... from 309 BPI Enterprise/Mod 409 Peachtree/Module 259 Complete Bus Actng.. . . 159 DACE2 Accounting 42 Open Systems V3/ Mod.. .429 Paragon 569 DATABASE dBose III Plus 409 Clipper 359 Javelin 459 Paradox 449 RBaseSystemV 359 Retlex 83 Revelation 529 PFS:Pro File 145 Q&A 239 GRAPHICS Charlmaster 215 Click Art Pens. Pub 109 Energraphics 2.0 299 Fontasy 43 Fjeelance 205 Graphwriter Combo 309 Harvard Pres. Graphics . , . 229 Generic Cad 69 In'A'Vision 255 Microsoft Chart 2 179 ProDesignll 169 Dr. Halo II w/ Mouse 109 Fontn'x 89 Summosketch 379 WORD PROCESSING Volkswriter 3 149 Microsoft Word 3 249 Word Perfect 4.1 209 PFS: First Choice 89 PFS: Pro Write 115 Multimate Advantage 309 Turbo Lightning 59 — SPREADSHEETS — Lotus/Symphony CALL Framework II 419 Supercalc 4 269 Open Access II 289 Ability 61 Smait SW System 449 Mosaic Twin 57 - UTILITIES - Alice Pascal 59 Microsoft C 269 Macro Assembler 90 Quick 8asic 60 Turba Pascal Ver 3 59 Tuibo Prolog 59 Desqview 59 Windows 60 Carbon Copy 117 Fastbock 97 inset 87 Noiton Commander 44 Pop-Up Deskset 43 SQZ 56 Xtree 31 Statgraphics 449 800-662-2686 orders only for Ca Orders, Tech Support, Price Quotes, info 415-668-9350 9-5 pacific time, m-f Call or Write for Free Catalog PAYMENT: (No Fee For Credit Cards,) Visa, MasterCard, Cashier's Checks. Personal Checks with 2 week hold, Qualified P.O.'s. California residents add sales tax SHIPPING: UPS ground-2% per order, $5 mln FREE for SW orders over $1000. UPS Blue-3% per order, $7 mln. FREE for SW orders over $1500. Printers/Monitors, Disk Drives, Computers — Call for charges. All Products New with full warranties. Price & availability subject to change without notice. TH E BAY COMPANY PASSING FILENAMES Listing 2: Assembly language code for the Getspec program. ; Routine to < get a filename from the MS-DOS command line ; using a ca I 1 from a compiled BASIC program const segment word pub 1 ic 'const ' const ends data segment word publ ic 'data data ends dgroup group data, const » code segment byte publ ic 'code publ ic getspec assume cs : code ,ds: dgroup getspec proc far push bp ; save registers mov bp,sp push ax push s i push di push dx . push ex push bx push es push ds mov dx,[bp]+4 ; Get code segment address. sub dx,10h ; Adjust to PSP address mov ds,dx ; Move PSP to ds. ; Set up poin ter to dta to get | parameters . mov si,0080h ; Point to string length and mov cl ,[si] ; check that many bytes. mov ch,0 ; Make ex 16-bit. inc si i Skip over length byte. ; Scan past the spaces. mov al,' • ; Skip spaces. getsped : cmp [si],al ; Check for spaces. jne getspec2 ; Exit loop if not a space. inc si l Otherwise point to next. loop getsped ; Loop back for next byte jmp getspec3 ; unless max is exceeded. ; move the rest Into place getspec2: mov bx,[bp]+6 ; Get address BASIC string. pop ds Get original ds value. mov di,[bx]+2 Point to start of string push ds Put ds back to PSP segment mov ds ,dx address. eld Forward direction. rep movsb Make the transfer. clc No error, so clear carry jmp getspecexit and return. t getspec3: mov ax, 20 No file was speci f i ed. stc Error , so set f I ag. and exit. getspecexit : pop ds pop es [continued) 584 CASTRO ST., SUITE 487 SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114 a division of MCSS, Inc. Computer & Software specialists since 1981 How I work three times faster without • • I always considered myself a 'power' PC user. But waiting for the system to load and recalculate spreadsheets, post accounts, and sort databases,was holding me back. Then I installed Orchid's TinyTurbo 286 high-performance accelerator. It's tiny in size: just a half slot card. And tiny in price. But there's nothing tiny about the performance: now my programs run three to four times faster than before. So I get AT performance without the AT price. And without the downtime of trans- ferring my files to a new system. I count on my PC every day. So I was glad to learn that TinyTurbo 286 is made by Orchid— the leading manufacturer of turbo products for raising a sweat. accounting, finance, and other business profes- sionals. And the only company offering a full line of turbos.They've even got a super high- performance PCturbo 286e with five times the speed of the PC. Nice to know, in case the work really piles up. ORDER YOUR TINYTURBO TODAY IT WILL PAY FOR ITSELF IN FOUR WEEKS. IBM XT WITH TINYTURBO Post 700 accounts 12 sec/acct 3.5 sec/acct {2.3 hours) (0.7 hours) Sort 10,000 records 25.4 minutes 14.9 minutes Spreadsheet recalc. 44 seconds 14 seconds Integer calculation 10 minutes 3 minutes I used to panic when my boss asked me to work up some additional reports an hour before a big meeting. Now I just smile and say, "no sweat'' TinyTurbo 286 and PCturbo 286c arc trademarks of Orchid Technology IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. ORCHID When You Say Turbo, You Mean Orchid. 47790 Westinghouse Drive, Fremont, CA 94536 (415) 490-8586 TELEX 709289 Inquiry 237 for End-Users. Inquiry 238 for DEALERS ONLY. PASSING FILENAMES pop bx pop ex pop dx pop di pop S 1 pop ax pop bp ret 1*2 i getspec endp code ends end to the first blank or the end of text whichever comes first. The nonblank characters are copied into a string that was defined in the main BASIC pro- gram. The string storage location is at the address given by [BP]+6. In the demonstration program of listing 1, F$ receives the filename from the subroutine. The demonstra- tion program allocates 12 bytes to F$— enough to contain a filename— but you can allocate up to 2 55 bytes to F$ if your application program needs to retrieve additional param- eters from the MS-DOS command line. Linking Getspec to Your Program To incorporate Getspec into an exist- ing program, create a source file that matches the one shown in listing 2. Use an assembler to generate an .OBJ file. At the beginning of your application program, define a string constant to contain 12 blanks (you can use more if they are needed). Use the statement CALL GETSPEC(F$) to call the subroutine and get the nec- essary text into F$. Compile your BASIC program to produce an .OB] file. Finally, link the two .OB) files into a single .EXE file. Here is a typical command se- quence, given two source files named DEMO.BAS (listing 1) and GET- SPECASM (listing 2): MASM GETSPEC BASCOM DEMO/O LINK DEMO+GETSPEC The /O parameter tells BASCOM to create a single executable file called DEMO.EXE that contains all needed libraries. Typing DEMO FILENAME. EXT ac- tivates the program, which should produce the message "Tfext remaining on command string is: FILE- NAME.EXT." ■ LOCATIONS: ■ Atlanta, Georgia — January 5, 1987 ■ Boston, Massachusettes — November 24, 1986 • Chicago, Illinois — January 16, 1987 • Cleveland, Ohio — January 12, 1987 • Dallas, Texas — January 29, 1987 • Denver, Colorado — January 23, 1987 • Edison, New Jersey — November 17, 1986 • Los Angeles, California — December 10, 1986 • Jessup, Maryland — November 21, 1986 • Mountain View, California — December 8, 1986 • New York, New York — November 19, 1986 • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — January 7, 1987 • Portland, Oregon — January 21, 1987 • San Diego, California — December 12, 1986 • St. Louis, Missouri — January 19, 1987 • Toronto, Canada — January 9, 1987 • Troy, Michigan — January 14, 1987 Call: National Instruments (512) 250-9119 (800) 531-4742 in U.S. (800) IEEE-488 in Texas Cost is $95 per registrant Measuring Device to PC Spreadsheet Software Learn to use a new Lotus 1-2-3 add-in module. This module acquires and stores data directly into Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets using standard 1-2-3 menus and new advanced macro commands. The data is immediately available for analysis and graphic display. I/O support allows control of GPIB devices, RS-232C instruments, AID and DIA plug-in boards. The course includes a Hands-on laboratory with several PC types, assorted software analysis packages and numerous instruments. National Instruments has experience supporting more than 40 thousand GPIB users on the PC. Lotus has experience supporting more than 2 million 1-2-3 users. f fT NATIONAL Mil INSTRUMENTS 12109 Technology Blvd. Austin, Texas 78727-6204 Lotus. 55 Cambridge Parkway Cambridge, MA 02142 122 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 230 Canon presents your personal print shop. AinilNIHd Here's the laser beam printer from the company that pioneered desktop laser beam printing. From the shortest memo to the longest report, the Canon LBP-8 Al makes everything you print look hot off the presses. Your output will look so professional you'll think it came from a print shop. The LBP-8 Al is incredibly fast, producing copy at a rate of 8 pages per minute, and because it's non- impact, it prints so quietly that you'll hardly know it's working. This versatile printer lets you use a wide range of plug-in fonts. And Canon's replaceable cartridge system makes it virtually maintenance-free. Do set up your own personal print shop, get the Canon LBP-8 Al, or the LBP-8 A2 with full graphics capability. You're sure to make a favorable impression with everything you print. To learn more about Canon's advanced laser beam printers as well as the complete line of wire dot ^> -^ ^ fVfrf® matrix and bubble- j et \^ C* 1 1 " I printers, call 1-800-453-3307. PRINTERS (In Utah, 1-800-662-2500.) Printouts that stand out. Canon U.S.A., Inc., Printer Division, RO. Box 619865, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Texas 75261. © 1986 Canon U.S.A., Inc. Printility is a product of MetroSoftwarelnc. Inquiry 59 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 123 MEET DISTINGUIS 3 paper ieedin g con trols, plus paper-sa ving push/pull tractor feed. Diagnostic sell-test signals errors with flashes and beeps. Go off-line to change type styles and modes with out lengthy software commands. 12 pushbuttons to con trol prin tin g functions. Lets you feed paper line-by-line f by 1/216-inch incremen ts, or con tin u o usly. This could be the most intelligent group of buttons ever assembled. You'll find them on the front of every Alps Dot Matrix _* Printer. And you 11 /^ use them to do something most printers can't. Everything. Just push a ALPSpjioo] load paper automatically, reprint data stored in the print buffer, even over- ride your software to do things it can't. All while using your PC for other work .■ * — ^Hh % button on our front panel. You can change type styles and print modes, at hand. But of course, Alps printers are more than a bunch "-•■■ ■ of buttons . They're fast. The new P2100™ prints drafts at an amazing 400 cps, the OUR 4. PANEL. Clears prin t b uller of data without printing it. 17 LEDs indicate functions in operation. Choose three almost amazing P2000 speeds: - 250 cps draft, 125 cps memo , or 50 cps letter quality. Price: $995. A u toma tically reprin ts da ta stored in print buffer (4K expandable to 256K). Select font cartridges, prin tin g m odes, prin t pitches and spacing quickly and easily. Choose three amazing P2100 speeds: 400 cps draft, 200 cps memo, or 80 cps letter quality. Price: $1595. P2000™at an almost amazing 250 cps. They're versatile. They print everything from letters and graphs to six-part forms and 16 -inch-wide spreadsheets. And they run with all the most popular PCs and software. Best of all, they're reliable. Because Alps printers are among the most solidly built at any price. In fact, with normal care, they'll run five years or more without a breakdown. And their precision-engineered print- inquiry 13 for End-Users. Inquiry 14 for DEALERS ONLY. head will deliver over 200 million characters of superb output. So don't just get a printer that does a lot of work. Get one that doesn't interfere with yours. An Alps. For our brochure and name of our nearest dealer, call (800) 828-ALPS. In CA, (800) 257-7872. __ We'll show you A I DC how to push all the ^*MdA ij right buttons. AMERICA P2000 and P2100 are trademarks of Alps Electric Co., Ltd. £'1986 Alps America. 10 MHz 286 TURBO The Code of the West The Good Western 286 Turbo™ Western Computer Corp. has built a strong reputation in the Micro- computer Industry by sticking to a few basic principles. We call it the "Code of the West" and it goes something like this: MAKE IT BETTER. with added features like 8-10 MHz switchable, 512K of RAM expand- able to 1MB, Standard RS-232, Parallel Ports and 1 year Warranty on parts and labor. MAKE IT NOW. it doesn't matter how good a deal you make if you have to wait forever to get it! MAKE IT CHEAPER. and pass the savings on to the Buyer. 126 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 MAKE IT COMPATIBLE. we can't think of anything worse than getting a good deal on a new system, but not being able to run your favorite Software! By the way, we use Phoenix Bios for total compatibility. MAKE IT IN AMERICA. Please! ^fhe Bad $52959° What could a Personal Computer with fewer standard features, actual- ly do for you that would compel you to part with an additional $3,300.00. Will it pick-up the kids from school, wash the car or walk the dog? Think about it! & The Ugly Regardless of what you pay for it, a Foreign Import can be one big gamble, with no guarantees of com- patibility, service, or support. Western Computer Corp. has a full line of personal computers and peripherals designed around your needs and your budget including: WESTERN COMPUTER XT TURBOS WESTERN CARRY-ON™ and. . . . . .Coming soon-WESTERN 80386™ Call one of our salespersons at (714)553-1611 to find out how to hang-on to more of your money! Western Computet 17781 Mitchell St., Irvine, CA 92714 USA Phone (714) 553-1611 Customer Service Only (714) 533-1705 Telex: 7566731 Answer Back WESTERN COMP FAX (714) 553-0236 Western Computer Australasia Limited 4-82 Abbot Street, Ascot Brisba Queensland, Australia 4007 *(()7) 268-6589 - Telex: AA144746 FAX: *(07) 2685256 - Answer Back MCGUIR Western Computer Spain Diputacion, 238-6° Despacho 8 08007 Barcelone, Spain Tele: 317 7128 Western Computer Greece - Busisoft Ltd. 102 Syngrou Ave., Athens 11741, Greece Tele: 902 4248 - TLX: 210364 Inquiry 371 for End-Users. Inquiry 372 for DEALERS ONLY by Gregg Zehr Memory Management Units for 68000 Architectures Design options that speed up memory management The Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors has spawned a whole new group of computer sys- tems. The original 68000, with its large, linear addressing range, makes it a natural for single-user, personal graphics workstations such as the Macintosh. And multiuser systems based on the 68020 can offer com- puting power and speed that rival many minicomputers— often at a frac- tion of the cost. Not surprisingly many of the design features for these larger systems have evolved from well- established minicomputer architec- tures. Memory management units, or MMUs, are one example. The MMU function came about as minicomputer designers began to include special hardware to expand the amount of addressable memory. MMUs have now become a key feature in modern computer architectures. In fact, several MMUs designed specifically for the 68000-family architecture are available (see table 1). Theory of Operation The MMU functions at a very low level in the computer system. Unlike a UART or other peripheral chip that at- taches to the system bus and is idle most of the time, the MMU attaches directly to the CPU address bus and intercepts each CPU read or write cycle. The CPU and MMU combine to form a new functional unit. Several manufacturers have even moved the MMU onto the same silicon as the CPU, in effect declaring that you can't have one without the other. The most important function pro- vided by all MMU designs is the abili- ty to relocate a program to another part of memory according to a set of pre-assigned translation rules. This relocation is done in hardware, with- out requiring any modification to the application software. Before a system with an MMU runs a program, the operating system con- figures the MMU so that the program can be moved to and run in an avail- able section of memory. The program then begins execution, unaware of the MMU's actions. For example, if a pro- gram has been compiled and linked with a starting location of 400 but that location is being used for some other purpose, the operating system con- figures the MMU hardware to convert all the program's memory references to an unused section of memory. Al- though the MMU is obviously useful in a system that has multiple users running separate programs, it is just as useful in a multitasking single-user system. In a simple 68000 system that does not have an MMU (figure I), a typical memory read cycle begins when the CPU asserts an address and address strobe (AS), and the cycle ends when the memory places data on the data bus and activates the data transfer acknowledge (DTACK) line. Assuming that the memory is very fast, the cycle can be completed in eight transitions of the clock, or 500 nanoseconds for an 8-MHz CPU. In a 68000 system that has an MMU in series with the CPU's address bus (figure 2), for each read cycle the CPU asserts a logical address and logical address strobe (LAS). (The address and address strobe lines are now [continued) Gregg Zehr is a senior design engineer at Altos Computer Systems (2641 Orchard Parkway, San ]ose, CA 95121). He received his M.S.E.E. from the University of Illinois and is interested in advanced computer architectures. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 127 MEMORY MANAGEMENT UNITS prefaced with the term logical since they are the absolute addresses from the CPU's point of view.) The MMU ac- cepts the address and logical address strobe and then translates the logical address according to a set of transla- tion rules into a physical address. It then asserts a physical address and a physical address strobe (PAS). (The term physical is used to indicate that these addresses are physically at- tached to the memory.) The memory again responds by putting data on the data bus and asserting DTACK. But. as the saying goes, nothing is free. There are two penalties for at- taching the MMU in series with a bus— speed and pin count. First each memory cycle must now be slowed down while the MMU performs the Table 1: A summary of memory management units. Device Manufacturer Translation CPU Supported 68451 Motorola Segmented 68008/00/10 68905 Signetics Segmented/Paged 68000/10 68070 Signetics/Philips Segmented/Paged Integrated 68000 68910 Signetics Demand paged 68010 68920 Signetics Demand paged 68020 68461 Motorola Demand paged 68010/20 68851/MMB Motorola Demand paged 68010/20 68851 Motorola Demand paged 68010/20 68000 CPU Address MEM AS Data DTACK Block Diagram CPU sends address and AS to MEM 1 CPU MEM State Diagram MEM returns data and DTACK to CPU CLOCK CPU - AS MEM - DTACK SO S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 SO Timing Figure 1: A 68000-based system without an MMU. translation. Second, the MMU must monitor a wide input bus and drive a wide output bus. Expect a single- chip MMU for a 68000/680 10-based system to have at least 64 pins and an MMU for the 68020 to have over 120 pins. Although the cost of a device is directly proportional to the number of pins on the package, in most systems, fortunately, the cost of adding MMU hardware is less than developing a layer of software to per- form similar functions. Since the MMU operates on each memory access, it is the perfect place to add special hardware support for certain operating system functions that are not strictly related to address translation. The most important extras are memory protection, cache, and virtual memory support hooks. For example, by monitoring the three function code bits from the 68000, the MMU can divide the CPU's ad- dress space into user- and supervisor- level instruction and data areas. Thus, while you debug a program, the MMU can trap unauthorized (usually unin- tentional) attempts to access reserved system functions such as memory- mapped I/O or interrupt vectors. In this case, the MMU hardware ensures that a bug in a program does not hang the system. Paged Translation The translation rules that an MMU uses can be classified as being either paged or segmented. Paged systems usually divide memory into equal-size pieces (pages), while segmented sys- tems divide memory into variable-size pieces (segments). Both of these con- cepts first appeared in mainframe and minicomputer systems. In a paged translation (figure 3). the MMU divides the logical addresses into two parts; the upper bits are called the segment number and the lower bits are called the page index. The page index, which determines the page size, is passed directly through the MMU unmodified. The segment number is used as an address into a segment table. The data from the seg- ment table is called the page address and forms the upper part of the physical address. Logically then, a memory location is described by a 128 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 MEMORY MANAGEMENT UNITS 13-bit offset into one of 2048 pages. Physically, memory is divided into 2K pages with a fixed size of 8K bytes. Although several popular 68000/ 68010 systems have been built by simply implementing the segment table with high-speed static RAM, such an approach does not fit into 32-bit 68020 designs very well. If the lowest 12 lines are used for the page index, there are 20 lines left. This im- plies that the segment table RAM must hold 1 megabyte of page numbers. Since pages have a fixed size, this type of translation is susceptible to in- ternal memory fragmentation. This means that some segments will likely include memory that is unused. For example, suppose that a program needs 1 K byte of storage for its data. When run, the system assigns the pro- gram one 4K-byte segment. The other 3K bytes become a memory fragment that cannot be used by any other pro- gram. Most paged systems include at least two levels of translation and a smaller page size that reduces such internal fragmentation. A simple trick, however, can in- crease the capabilities of this ap- proach. The segment table RAM can be wider than the segment number to provide additional control bits, and from the physical address bus, these control bits cannot be distinguished from normal 68000 control lines. So these extra bits can be used as ad- dress lines, and in fact this technique has worked to extend the addressing capability of CPUs ranging from the 6502 to the PDP-11. Other uses for these bits include memory protection attributes, virtual memory paging in- dicators, and cache inhibit mark bits. Segmented Translation In theory, segmented translation should be more efficient since most memory requests are not integer multiples of some fixed-size page. The upper bits of the address are called the segment number and the lower bits are called the segment displace- ment or offset (figure 4). The segment number is used to address a table of descriptors. The descriptor includes a base address, which is the starting ad- dress of the segment in physical mem- ory. The descriptor also includes the length of the segment. The segment offset should be smaller than the length; if it is not, the memory cycle is aborted and an error is indicated. Assuming there is no error, the trans- lation is completed by arithmetically adding the segment offset to the base address. Physical memory can now be divided into 2 56 variable-size seg- ments. Each segment can be from 1 to 64K bytes long. Although variable segment size allows memory allocation to fit mem- ory requests better, it leads to another problem called external fragmenta- tion. This problem, which is unique to segmented MMUs, occurs when vari- able-size segments leave holes in physical memory that are too small for practical use. Several algorithms have been developed to simplify allocation in segmented systems and are described by Baer and Knowlton (see the Bibliography). Demand-Paged Translation As CPU buses become wider, the amount of memory required to store page tables or segment descriptors becomes larger. This in turn increases the cost of the MMU and the over- head associated with task switching. [continued) 68000 CPU Logical address LAS MMU Physical address PAS Data DTACK Block Diagram MMU checks authorization CPU sends logical address and logical AS to MMU MEM MMU translates logical address State Diagram CLOCK CPU - LAS MMU - PAS MEM - DTACK Timing Diagram MEM returns data and DTACK to CPU SO S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 w S6 S7 SO nrLnLnn_n n n Translation delay Figure 2: A 68000-based system with an MMU. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 129 14 Intensive On -Line Users At Same Time? Accessing a Common Data Base? No Waiting At The Terminal? No Performance Degradation? YOU BET! With CompuPro's Multi-Processor MP14 MEMORY MANAGEMENT UNITS Bill Godbout, architect of the CompuPro MPU, says, "The only way to get this kind of per- formance is to build it in, chip by chip. That's what we've done. The MP14 con- tains 8 separate 10 MHz Intel 286 and 186 CPUs, all processing at the same time. It has 6.5 megabytes of high-speed no-wait-state RAM. And it has 80 megabytes of buffered high-speed hard disk storage. " Here's the best part: With the same operating system, the same application software, you can start with the $5,995 CompuPro 10 Plus" (4 intensive users at the same time), move up to the $18,995 CompuPro MP14, and go way beyond that to the CompuPro MP42™ (42 inten- sive users on-line at the same time, 24 separate 286 and 186 CPUs, 19.5 mega- bytes of RAM, no waiting, no perform- ance degradation, $49,995!). These superb multi - processor sys- tems are completely tested, are oper- ating today at customer sites, and will be shipped 23 days after receipt of order. The MP14 is available through Compu- Pro's 127 dealers. Third party mainte- nance is available through Sperry Corp. The MP14 could be the answer to your hardware problems. Call today, (415) 786-0909, for the complete story of this remarkable multi-processor system, and the telephone number of your near- est CompuPro dealer. OEMs and VARs who wish to port their applications to the MP14, please contact Bill Godbout. /ompuPro " Trademarks: M PI4. M 1M2. 10 Plus. CompuPro: Viasyn Corporation. The demand-paged MMU provides support for 32-bit microprocessors by allowing translation tables to be stored in main memory (figure 5). When the system initializes, the CPU writes the translation tables into main memory and then tells the MMU where they are by writing a pointer in- to a control register. The MMU in- cludes bus control logic that allows it to search the tables and find the cor- rect translation information. To avoid searching the tables for each transla- tion, the MMU maintains a buffer of recently used translation information in a small cache memory called a translation lookaside buffer (TLB). Thus, once the tables are established, the MMU can translate any logical ad- dress without advance warning from the CPU (translation on demand). This arrangement also means that the MMU will only take time to fetch those descriptors that are actually used by a program; in a timeshared, multiuser system this method is usual- ly more efficient than loading all the descriptors each time the program runs. When a demand-paged MMU finds the translation information in its TLB, it translates the logical address into a physical address. If the translation information is not in the TLB, the MMU must back the CPU off the bus while it searches the translation tables in the main memory. This search pro- cess is referred to as a table walk. At the end of its table walk, the MMU writes the new descriptor into its TLB and tells the CPU to retry the access. Although the demand-paged MMU provides an elegant solution to a dif- ficult problem, the table walk process is slow. A typical table walk will cost the CPU 20 or more wait states. This means that the performance of the MMU is governed by the percentage of times that it finds the needed in- formation in the TLB-the TLB hit rate. If the CPU includes an efficient cache memory, the TLB hit rate may very 24-bit logical address 23 13 12 : 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I i Segment number 11 Segment table RAM 2048x11 -^ Page index 13 Page address 11 3 13 12 t ( ) I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 24-bit physical address Figure 3: \n a paged translation the upper bits are called the segment number and the lower bits are called the page index. 130 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 387 MEMORY MANAGEMENT UNITS well become the factor that limits system performance. If you plan to include an MMU in your next design, you must match the CPU and MMU combination with the overall system architecture and cost. For each possible MMU design alter- native you must consider hardware and software issues. The most impor- tant hardware issues include how to minimize translation delay, how the MMU should signal error conditions to the CPU, and how to reduce hard- ware overhead related to a software task. Of course, the nature of these issues depend on whether you are using a 68000, 68010, or 68020. In typical systems, a discrete paged MMU will support a simple operating system or real-time executive in a small single-user or embedded con- trol system. Segmented systems have been used in large computers for many years, but the advantages are probably not worth the additional complexity in a small system. The demand-paged memory system pro- vides the best features of both paged and segmented systems and has become the standard for multiuser UNIX machines. MMU Design Options Given an understanding of the MMU's theory of operation and the system design considerations, there remain the actual design implementation op- tions. The first and most obvious op- tion is to not use an MMU at all. That's exactly the design decision made for the Apple Macintosh, the Commo- dore Amiga, and the Atari 520ST. Al- though the graphics interface used by these machines, which includes multi- ple windows and desk accessories, may give the impression the systems perform multitasking quite naturally, none of these systems includes any MMU hardware. Instead, they place the burden of memory management on application software. In each case [continued] 24-bit logical address 23 JJJJLLLL l l 1 l l l 1 I I 1 l 11 l i Segment descriptors (256) length base 8 Segment number 8 Segment base A + 16 Segment offset 23 I I I I I M I I I 24-bit physical address Figure 4: \n a segmented translation the upper bits are called the segment number and the lower bits are called the segment displacement or offset. Boost cursor speed. Stop cursor run-on. 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Call now to order by credit card (VISA/MC/AX): 201-366-4445 Or, mail $29.95 plus $3.50 shipping and handling to: Revolution SDffftwsiircBc, ImSo 715 Route 10 East • Randolph, NJ 07869 NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 131 MEMORY MANAGEMENT UNITS the designers have provided a real- time executive with a set of low-level interface routines and a complex set of so-called gentlemen's agreements to provide multitasking. For example, an application running on one of these machines must understand when and how to call low-level rou- tines for tasks such as memory alloca- tion. It is also up to the application C TLB y t:.. TLB hit or miss ' — tf# MMU looks in TLB for page descriptor 3 \ i J 2 IF descriptor in TLB THEN MMU sends physical CPU sends logical address and logical AStoMMU / f MMU Jl k4a address and physical AS to MEM (5) ELSE MMU searches descriptor table in MEM for correct page 1// 5\ \4rX descriptor (4a), updates the TLB (4b), and signals the CPU to retry v the memory cycle (6) MEM J I Ul U y^ 7 ~~^ MEM returns data and DTACK to CPU Figure 5: Dernand-paged translation state diagram. i Function Context code register 24-bit logical address FC2 FC1 3 23 17 16 11 10 □ ±1 .Li-LLl- 1± I I I I Segment table I Segment number 13 Page table 23 Page number 6 Page address 11 10 Page index 11 I I I l I I I M I II I I I I I I 24-bit physical address Figure 6: IWoAevel paged translation. to decide what to do if those routines cannot allocate the requested memory. Also, when a program runs on one of these machines, it has access to all system resources, and a programming error can easily write over any of the other programs in memory including the operating system. This is usually a fatal situation to the system, requir- ing a power reset. Even a modest amount of MMU hardware could im- prove the performance and reliabili- ty of these machines by reducing the amount of memory management the operating system has to perform and by providing memory protection in hardware. A paged MMU can also be built using discrete logic and high-speed static RAM to hold the segment table. This approach was very common in early 68000-based multiuser systems. The basic paged-translation concept is usually extended to two levels (figure 6). In this approach, the logical address is divided into three fields. The segment number is extended to include the 68000 function code bits and a context register. The additional field, called the page number, is used to address the page table indicated by the segment table output. Most operating systems set up the segment tables once, then use the context register and page tables to allocate memory for each task. The page tables are small enough that they can be paged to main memory when a task switch occurs. THE 68451 MMU Shortly after the first 68000 CPU chip made its debut, the Motorola 68451 appeared. It was, in fact, one of the first monolithic MMUs available to system designers. The 68451 is a seg- mented MMU that comes packaged as a 64-pin DIP (figure 7). It includes 32 segment descriptors that partition memory into variable-size segments. Each of these descriptors also in- cludes an 8-bit status register that pro- vides support for a virtual memory architecture. There are several serious limitations with this device, however. The biggest problem is that 32 descriptors are not enough. The 684 51 includes special 132 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 207 MEMORY MANAGEMENT UNITS lines that allow several chips to be chained together to expand the number of descriptors, but since the MMU still costs almosttwice as much as the CPU, this is an expensive op- tion. The 68451 is also relatively slow. Typically, translation requires more than one wait state (especially in a multi-MMU system), and if a task switch requires CPU intervention (and most do), the overhead is greater than that of a simple paged system. The 68451 also lacks support for CPU cache memory or the 32-bit 68020. Since all of these problems have been resolved with a new Motorola MMU chip, the 68851, the 68451 will prob- ably not be used in many new designs. If you are porting an operating sys- tem to a machine that does use this device, you should consider using the binary buddy memory allocation algorithm as described by Knowlton. This algorithm should allow you to take advantage of the variable seg- ment size while reducing fragmenta- tion and operating system memory allocation overhead. THE 68905 BMAC The 68905 basic memory access con- troller (BMAC) is the first in a series of ambitious announcements by Signetics and its parent company, Philips. The BMAC integrates MMU and cache control functions for (continued) Logical address A8-A23 FC0-FC3 Address space table Cycle address space number R/W Logical base address Logical address — mask Mask Logical compare Address space mask Address space number Mask Logical compare Range match I f Physical base — i address Physical address formation I Write protect bit Write violation logic Space match No write violation w 1 of 32 descriptors Physical address Descriptor format Logical base address Logical address mask Physical base address Address space number Address space mask Segment status Segment status register u I IP M WP E Figure 7: 68451 MMU. 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Although most operating systems do not currently support this third level, local memory could be used to provide improved performance in a multiprocessor sys- tem. Using this local memory would provide fast access to private data structures. The BMAC also provides support for a logical bus cache memory. Plac- ing the cache on the logical bus allows translation and cache searches to oc- cur in parallel, but in order to avoid cache coherency problems, care should always be taken to flush the cache at each task switch. Although a logical cache is fast, it may not, how- ever, be transparent to the operating system. Signetics has also announced the 68910 and 68920 memory access controllers, or MACs, that extend the BMAC design by including a micro- Cache memory (TLB) Page description PA10- PA23 CAM A10-A23 Register bank TT Cache controller ^ CAM RAM <~>~ Cache control and CADD0-CADD4 Control register TT Bus controller A1-A9 S.2. Register select D0-D15 Control signals Figure 8: 68905 block diagram. LA10-16. FC1, FC2 Address TAG comparator 2 x TMS2150 Data HIT1, 2 TLB RAM (1K x 22) Data LA10-31 Logical address bus 68461 MMC LAO-9 Data bus DO-31 7> PA 10-31 > Physical address bus PAO-9 ) Figure 9: Block diagram o/MMU using 68461. controller that effectively provides demand-paging capability for 68010 and 68020 systems. THE 68461 MMC Shortly after introducing the 32-bit 68020 CPU chip, Motorola an- nounced its plans to develop a demand-paged virtual MMU which would support multitasking, multiuser environments such as UNIX. Unfor- tunately the new MMU chip was not ready in time to be shipped with the first CPUs. Recognizing the need for MMU support, Motorola made the 68461 memory management con- troller (MMC) available as an interim solution— until the single-chip 68851 paged MMU is available. The 68461 is fast; it's built with Motorola's 2800-series bipolar gate array, and it can translate a 16-MHz 68020 access in one wait state. The MMC is housed in a 1 47-pin grid ar- ray package, which requires a heat sink. The MMC does not include everything required to implement a demand-paged MMU. To use this device, you must use external logic to implement the TLB function. A single- set-associative TLB can be built with 1 5 or 16 external chips (figure 9). Even this simple TLB architecture, however, offers a hit rate in the UNIX environ- ment of better than 90 percent, which is high enough to provide good sys- tem throughput. An MMU incorporating the MMC can provide demand-paged memory support for either the 68010 or the 68020. It includes the extra control bits that are required for memory pro- tection, virtual memory, and CPU cache memory functions. It maintains its translation descriptors in a tree structure in main memory The trans- lation process divides the logical ad- dress into three fields, which are used to search three levels of descriptors (figure 10). Limit fields at each level of the table reduces the total amount of RAM needed to hold the descrip- tors. Yet a typical system requires about 128K bytes for the MMU. Pro- tection bits at each level of the table can provide read and write access protection based on the function codes. For example, you can con- figure a page to allow supervisor read 134 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 MEMORY MANAGEMENT UNITS and write access while a user mode write will generate an error. THE 68851 PMMU The Motorola 68851 paged MMU or PMMU, provides complete demand- paged MMU support in a single chip. This advanced design includes a 64-entry fully associative TLB that is more efficient than the single-set design of the 68461 MMC. Since the PMMU attaches to the 68020's co- processor interface, its registers are extensions to the existing program- mer's model of the CPU. The CPU/ PMMU combination adds new MMU instructions to the existing 68020 in- struction set. While all the other devices discussed here decode the MMU's control registers as mem- ory-mapped I/O. this coprocessor ap- proach integrates the PMMU into the programming environment. For exam- ple, a single instruction allows a con- ditional branch based on the condi- tion of the PMMU status register. The PMMU's translation mechanism is similar to the MMC, but the PMMU offers more flexibility. The PMMU page sizes can range from 2 56 to 32 K bytes, and page tables are not fixed at three levels. The PMMU can parti- tion the logical address into one to four fields, each of which serves as an index to the table at that level. PMMU hardware includes arbitra- tion logic for both the logical and the physical bus. A separate pointer register is provided for an alternate logical bus master, such as a DMA controller. In a multiprocessor en- vironment, PMMU's can share de- scriptor tables in main memory, reducing storage requirements. The PMMU offers full support for system functions such as virtual memory, cache memory, and a floating-point coprocessor. Besides using the CPU function code bits for memory protection, the PMMU adds up to eight levels of ac- cess authorization. This concept is also extended into the 68020 call module (CALLM) and return from module (RTM) instructions so that authorization can be verified at the subroutine level. For the faint of heart, Motorola also offers the 68461 and discrete TLB FC2-0 2 o Logical address LA31-0 31 25 24 18 17 10 9 Root *- 8B Fetch 8-byte pointer Fetch 8-byte pointer Fetch 8-byte pointer Fetch 4- byte page descriptor Fill TLB TLB forms physical address on retry 8B Limit J L 4B Limit 10 PO Limit 22 TLB entry 10 i r 31 10 9 Physical address PA31-0 Figure 10: Dernand-paged translation. already assembled on a printed cir- cuit board, which is pin-for-pin com- patible with the 68851. You can plug this board-level product, the 68KVMMB851, into your next 68020 design to provide MMU support until the 68851 is available in production quantities. Future Trends It's difficult to determine which has advanced more rapidly, the micropro- cessor or the MMU. Certainly the supermicrocomputers available today depend on the MMU just as much as the microprocessor to provide high performance for a lower-than-ever cost per user. If history is any indica- tion. IC manufacturers will continue to integrate more and more system func- tions onto silicon. Integrated units that combine the 68000 CPU and a simplified 68920 MMU in a single device, such as the recently announced Signetics/Philips 68070. are sure to abound in the future. The advantages of putting the CPU and MMU on the same silicon in- clude faster translation, lower pin count (and therefore cost), and im- proved software portability. Moreover, by offering silicon that can simplify the layer of software required for multitasking, this device is sure to find its way into the next generation of mouse-and-windows machines. ■ BIBLIOGRAPHY Baer, Jean-Ijoup. Computer Systems Architec- ture. Rockville, MD: Computer Science Press. 1980. Knowlton, Kenneth C. "A Fast Storage Al- locator." Communications of the ACM, vol. 8 (October 1965). pages 623-62 5. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 135 a COMPU-BRUSH™ EGA/CGA GRAPHICS CONTEST American MOUS&. 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DOUBLE YOUR CHANCES! Phase One of the "1 V American" graphics contest concludes at Comdex/ Spring '87 in April. Keep the creative flow going and enter Phase Two of the "1 V American" contest to con- clude at Comdex /Fall '87 in November. Look for specially marked packages of American sys- tems and American hardware products and create winning graphics with your FREE Compu-Brush! CRT (EGA) DISPLAY USING COMPU-BRUSH COMPUTER & PERIPHERAL, INC. Corporate Office: 2720 Croddy Way, Santa Ana, C A 92704 USA Tel: (714) 545-2004 • Fax: (714) 545-2146 • TELEX: 3710523 AMERICAN Northeastern Office: 830 Busch Court, Columbus, OH 43229 USA Tel: (614) 846-5433 • Fax: (614) 846-7656 Contest rules and entry forms maybe obtained from AC&P. Deadlines for receipt of entries are April 1, 1987 for Phase One and November 1, 1987 for Phase Two. Void where prohibited, licensed or taxed by law. ■ IBM AT and XT are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. *On all American 88 and 286. Effective October 1, 1986. Subject to Intelogic Trace geographic restrictions and regulations. Inquiry 21 for End-Users. Inquiry 22 for DEALERS ONLY. by Paul Walton The State of Soviet Microelectronics Is the Soviet Union doomed to lag behind the West? When microelectronic technology and per- sonal computers first appeared in the West 15 years ago, the Soviet Union was building the versions of third-genera- tion IBM mainframe computers on which it still relies. While the East Bloc covertly acquired minicomputers for reverse engineering, IBM overtook Apple in the personal computer market, and the first 32-bit micropro- cessors put the power of a minicom- puter on a single chip. But only now are microcomputers becoming avail- able to the children of those party members allowed to buy them. To say the least, the Soviet com- puter culture is weak. Original and copied IBM PCs and Apple lis are reserved for the state, military, and party elite. Packaged software is scarce, printers are poor, disk drives are rare, modems are virtually unob- tainable, and there is no public digital data communication network. Enthusiasm for personal computers is muted because East European copies of Western computers are un- predictable, inefficient, and garish in design, with their heavy gray or black metal cases, bright emerald-green phosphor screens, and sticky, unre- sponsive keyboards. The few office systems in the U.S.S.R. are based on CP/M and MS-DOS operating systems. Popular applications packages from the West such as WordStar and Visi- Calc are available, but not with Cyrillic scripts. In fact, the Soviet Union seriously lags behind and greatly relies on the West, according to Professor Seymour E. Goodman at the University of Arizona's Department of Manage- ment Information Systems (see refer- [continued) Paul Walton, a freelance journalist with an electronics background, is interested in the social, economic, and political influence of high technology. He can be contacted at 175 Swaton Rd„ Inndon E3 4EP. U.K. ILLUSTRATED BY TOM CENTOLA NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 137 SOVIET MICROELECTRONICS The Soviets recognize the need for small systems, but so far have failed to match Western technology. ence 1). In effect, he argues, the Soviets go about things in entirely the wrong way. They decided to follow the West, ditching almost all indigenous developments in favor of copying— to the extent that they are sentenced to lag several years behind. Goodman is roundly skeptical of the East Bloc's capabilities, yet other observers are more optimistic. A British study of Soviet microelec- tronics to 1982 states that the West has underestimated or even ignored Soviet accomplishments (see refer- ence 2). Paul Snell from Birmingham University's Centre for Russian and East European Studies says that copy- ing can bring rewards. Pentagon research on covert Soviet acquisition supports Snell's arguments. According to one study, the Soviets saved bil- lions of dollars on military develop- ment costs by obtaining thousands of items for subsequent copying. As a result, their microelectronics industry made significant advances, which "reduced the overall Western lead . . . from 10 to 12 years in the mid-1970s to 4 to 6 years today" (see reference 3). Developing a New Industry The Soviet electronics and computer industry is highly diffuse, controlled by the defense-oriented Military- Industrial Commission (VPK) and spread across several ministries. The State Committee for Science and Technology acts as the domestic policy-making body for a large domestic manufacturer and a few smaller subsidiaries, while the Coun- cil for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), a body designed to ensure the socialist division of labor, coor- dinates Warsaw Pact activities on research, standards, and production levels. In practice' each ,CMEA member country is charged with producing a different component part or micro- computer peripheral, and in each country a separate organization or factory might further subdivide pro- duction. Managing this system with- out access to computers is a night- mare. Parts are often mismatched, testing is poor, and software and sys- tems are often left to the unfortunate end user to sort out. This organization coped well enough with the supply of mainframe and minicomputers, copying IBM and DEC hardware and software, with satellite states manufacturing periph- erals such as disk drives, printers, and terminals. But it failed to track innova- tions in microcomputers until the late 1970s. The Soviets then recognized the need for small systems, but so far have failed to match Western tech- nology. There has been no competitive cus- tomer demand, entrepreneurial spirit, or free exchange of ideas to match Silicon Valley. For instance, the output of the main VPK-run factory, which produces microelectronics, minicom- puters, and microcomputers in the Zelenograd high-tech park 30 miles outside Moscow, has been reserved first for the military, second for GRU/KGB state security services, and third by special edict from the Polit- buro. Zelenograd has been closed to Soviet citizens. Development has also been stifled by technological shortcomings. Small systems began as a development of minicomputer technology in the U.S.S.R., aping the development of PDP systems and later LSI board-level systems. Bit-sliced processor design was taken up, but the gains of LSI microcircuits could not then be real- ized. Sophisticated software was as- siduously copied. But basic innova- tions such as simplified programming languages like BASIC were ignored. Indigenous developments were quashed by the Soviet computer in- dustry, despite the capabilities ex- hibited. (Centers of excellence exist: The Central Scientific Research In- stitute in Moscow designed 8- and 16-bit mini- and microcomputers, and the National Cybernetic institute in the Ukraine developed a microcom- puter DOS, which was dropped in favor of CP/M.) Copying was prefer- able because it was thought to be more reliable. It was perhaps essen- tial when the Soviet authorities dic- tated that space and nuclear weapons programs must keep up with Western technology, which was growing many times faster. The bureaucratic party attitude became "West is best; East is least." The party even declared a second space race, this time in computers. President of the Moscow Academy of Sciences and chief Soviet scientist Alexi Alexandrov said that despite the technology gap, and in the face of a technology embargo, the U.S.S.R. would go all out to catch up: "Have |the Americans] forgotten that prob- lems of no less complexity, such as the creation of the atomic bomb or space rocket technology, . . . |we| were able to solve ourselves without any help from abroad, and in a short time" (see reference 4). Brave words, but the reality is a little different. According to Snell, an air of con- fidence returned to the Soviet com- puter industry in 1979. He even sug- gests that the industry could now pro- gress independently. Microelectronics production has been mastered, thanks to an infusion of Western manufacturing equipment prior to the tough embargo introduced by Presi- dent Ronald Reagan. In fact, direct copies now make up only part of the Soviet microelectronics inventory, and Snell adds that there are signs of in- genuity in the designs of the micro- electronic devices he has studied. The East Bloc is not standing still; the Soviet Union has established a commission to consider ways in which it can overstep the present tech- nology gap and move directly from third- to fifth-generation technology. And CMEA is organizing a research and development program for the socialist member countries, and it is improving the standard of production facilities. Hungary has unveiled its own am- bitious project to develop VLSI cir- [continued] 138 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 MICRO CAP and MICRO LOGIC put your engineers on line., not in wyohtN WORKSTATION ( uSW&p- 1 How many long unproductive hours have you spent "in line" for your simula- tion? Well, no more. MICROCAP and MICROLOGIC can put you on line by turning your PC into a productive and cost-effective engineering workstation. Both of these sophisticated engineering tools provide you with quick and efficient solutions to your simulation problems. And here's how. MICROCAP: Your Analog Solution MICROCAP is an interactive analog circuit drawing and simulation system. It allows you to sketch a circuit diagram right on the CRT screen, then run an AC, DC, or Transient analysis. While pro- viding you with libraries for defined models of bipolar and MOS devices, Opamps, transformers, diodes, and much more, MICROCAP also includes features not even found in SPICE. MICROCAP II lets you be even more productive. As an advanced version, it employs sparse matrix techniques for faster simulation speed and larger net- "Typical MICROCAP Transient Analysis" works. In addition, you get even more advanced device models, worst case capa- bilities, temperature stepping, Fourier analysis, and macro capability. MICROLOGIC: Your Digital Solution MICROLOGIC provides you with a similar interactive drawing and analysis environment for digital work. Using standard PC hardware, you can create logic diagrams of up to 9 pages with each containing up to 200 gates. The system automatically creates the netlist required for a timing simulation and will handle networks of up to 1800 gates. It provides you with libraries for 36 user-defined basic gate types, 36 data channels of 256 bits each, 10 user-defined clock wave- forms, and up to 50 macros in each net- work. MICROLOGIC produces high-resolution timing diagrams showing selected waveforms and associated delays, glitches, and spikes — just like the real thing. "Typical MICROLOGIC Diagram" Reviewers Love These Solutions Regarding MICROCAP ... "A highly recommended analog design program" (PC Tech Journal 3/84). "A valuable tool for circuit designers" (Personal Software Magazine 11/83). Regarding MICROLOGIC . . . "An effi- cient design system that does what it is supposed to do at a reasonable price" (Byte 4/84). MICROCAP and MICROLOGIC arc available for the Apple II (64k), IBM PC (128k), and HP- 150 computers and priced at $475 and $450 respectively. Demo versions are available for S75. MICROCAP II is available for the Macintosh, IBM PC (256k), and HP- 150 systems and is priced at $895. Demo versions are available for $100. Demo prices are credited to the purchase price of the actual system. Now, to get on line, call or write today! Spectrum Software 1021 S. Wolfe Road, Dcpt. B Sunnyvale, CA 94087 (408)738-4387 Inquiry 322 DISCOVER LISP MACHINE PERFORMANCE WITH YOUR PC/AT AND GOLD HILL. It's hard to believe that you can do serious AI development on a PC. But one look at the Gabriel Bench- marks ( see chart) will convince you. You'll see that Gold Hills com- piled GCLISP 286 Developer runs faster than the Xerox 1108, and ap- proaches the speed of the VAX 750. Put that performance together with the power of 3 5-Mbyte (that's Performance Benchmarks 122.5 ^ -120 ■ 100.0 -loo 93<0 -80 9B HI - oo o Q* o S -60 rfs J=i IT) -40 2. GCL 6Dev VAX -20 oo WWMm rsi right, 15 MB!) AT-Optimizer memory boards and you turn your PC/AT into a very serious LISP development and delivery environment indeed. This powerful programming envi- ronment includes: •enhanced EMACS editor with over 150 commands including keyboard macros, LISP and text mode, and the ability to compile from the edit buffer •debugging tools including step, trace, backtrace, pprint, break, and complete on-line help • interface to C and Assembly language • lexical scoping. In addition, GCLISP 286 Developer supports Ethernet (GCL NET), graphics (Halo Graphics), and run- time delivery (GCL RUN). If you want to get serious about AI development on your PC/AT, talk to Gold Hill today. We re the expert in AI on PCs. 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It has developed a local micro- computer industry around the state- owned manufacturer Videoton and small software houses. And Hungary now has the capability to produce ar- tificial intelligence systems using the Prolog language. Poland was similar to Hungary before the present civil and economic clampdown. Small-scale enterprises were developing software and micro- computer-based systems for sale in and out of the East Bloc. Advanced fourth-generation software, especial- ly in the field of database manage- ment, is a notable Polish achievement. East Germany's state-owned Robotron is producing an office sys- tem and general computer line that matches Western suppliers like Wang or IBM, and the country has turned the precision camera-maker Zeiss to making display units and optical drives. East Germany is the largest East Bloc supplier. Czechoslovakia, like East Germany, has the task of mass-producing a full range of microelectronic devices. That country's automated factories and skilled workforce tend to produce more reliable products than the U.S.S.R. Together, Czechoslovakia and East Germany are expected to pro- duce 2 million ICs annually Bulgaria produces traditional mag- netic storage media, including tape and disk drives, at the Beroe plant on the Black Sea. This plant also refined basic microelectronic production techniques to produce RAM chips. Yugoslavia has historically had a strong telephone industry, and the semiprivate Iskra Associated Enter- prise (IAE) has the job of producing advanced telecommunications prod- ucts—digital switching, modems and multiplexers, and laser and satellite links. IAE also trades with the West, exporting $106 million in 1984. Manufacturing Limitations Manufacturing is generally the big headache for all these countries— Soviet production techniques are way behind those in the West. (Czecho- slovakia is more advanced in the pro- duction of some microprocessors, East Germany in making memory devices.) Manufacturing problems are exacerbated by the logistics of reverse engineering, or the process by which copies are made of basic com- ponents. Goodman says, for example, that miniaturization of microelectronic circuits has made it more difficult to interpret the original design of micro- processors that cannot be bought directly by the U.S.S.R. r It> make matters worse, Soviet scien- tists do not have the benefit of CAD/ CAM. They cannot define a circuit by minimizing the distance between in- ternal connections, so Soviet chips tend to locate similar functions together, regardless of the resultant inefficiency, 'together with the ag- gravation in covertly obtaining all the component parts or information, even for a single device, the overwhelming efforts involved in reverse engineer- ing do not yield comparable rewards. The Soviets have generally shied away from the highest technologies such as LSI and VLSI, and sophisti- cated fabrication techniques such as that for CMOS (with the exception of a military-led initiative to develop GaAs production in space). A few VLSI devices, such as the KI80IVEI 16-bit single-chip microprocessor, do exist, but they are the exception. Instead the Soviets have concen- trated on traditional design, fabrica- tion, and packaging of traditional devices, such as bit-sliced micropro- cessors. This has meant that small sys- tems are limited to the speed, capaci- ty, and functionality of the very first microcomputers. (The Apple 11-com- patible Agatha, named after a favorite niece of Brezhnev, is perhaps an apt example of leading-edge Soviet products.) Paradoxically, Soviet-designed 8-/ 16-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit micropro- cessors exist. But these are short-run devices intended primarily for the military, for nuclear or space research, and for use in prestige factory auto- mation and robotics projects. Mass- market microcomputers take a back seat. The staple diet of homemade de- vices is supplemented with other copied devices including the Zilog Z80, Intel 8080, 8086, and 8088, and Motorola's 64K-byte static and dynamic RAM— all known to be in The staple diet of homemade devices is supplemented with other copied devices. large-scale (several thousands) pro- duction in at least three Warsaw Pact countries. Technology Embargo The Pentagon has successfully lob- bied for tight export controls to restrict the trade in basic manufactur- ing capability. The argument is that U.S. products and know-how go into Soviet weapons systems, giving them an edge and saving R&D expenditure. One section of a report (reference 3) on the covert acquisition of com- puters and microelectronics fabrica- tion equipment suggests that "near- ly half" of the covert trade diversions fall into this category. A catalogue of equipment obtained in one year during the early 1970s in- cludes 30 sophisticated crystal pullers, 99 diffusion furnaces, 3 integrated cir- cuit testers, and 10 mask aligners. The list for the following year includes 24 crystal pullers, 64 diffusion furnaces, 3 photorepeaters, 3 pattern genera- tors, 3 epitaxial reactors, and an IC tester. Raw materials, too, are required by the U.S.S.R. By 1980-before ex- port controls— the Soviets had pur- chased hundreds of tons of elec- tronics-grade silicon. The report alleges that integrated circuits are also obtained in great quantity— as many as 100 million cir- cuits a year. Suppliers face stiff penal- ties under the U.S. Export Administra- tion Act, but the trade still continues. Export law (defined under the CoCom rulings and translated into law by each of the Western allies and Japan) allows certain small systems to be exported but denies others that are more powerful. It is illegal to ex- port the IBM PC for instance, but not the Commodore 64. A simple, single- user accounting package can be sold across the Iron Curtain, but not the [continued) NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 141 SOVIET MICROELECTRONICS multiuser version. And while a mono- chrome monitor is okay, a high-resolu- tion color monitor is not. Ambiguity in these laws, their com- plexity, and the lure of greater profits have conspired to produce "gray" exports to the Warsaw Pact. BK Dynamics estimates the value of hard- ware alone to be in the billions of dollars. In Europe and Japan many traders simply ignore export laws. The trade in other component parts— drives or expansion boards, complete small systems, systems soft- ware and applications— is probably impossible to quantify given the ease with which products can be obtained. One U.S. export official in London says that this illegal trade is "a mist floating Eastwards: How can we grab mist?" Another by-product of the embargo has been increased Soviet efforts to coordinate computer research and development, improve manufacturing, and rely less on imports. Snell points out that Pravda (July 10, 1984) even says the Soviet Union benefited from the trade sanctions. Soviet Outlook lb date, the Soviet Union has devel- oped 15 distinct microprocessor Table I : The Soviet microcomputers DOS and Model Processor Bits Programs Major Uses Elektronika-60 K581/K536 16 BASIC FORTRAN Assembler Word processing, data storage, and accounting (a wide range of peripherals such as printers and extra ter- minals is available) Elektronika-S5 K536 16 Assumed to have ported MS-DOS (2.0 or higher), MBASIC, etc., on to later machines such as S5-21 Multiboard and single-board microcontrollers, and single-chip, 16-bit microprocessors Elektronika-NT K587 or 16 MS-DOS 2.0 or higher Largest selling micro for K1801VE1 Now porting CP/M-86 business use in USSR; designed at the Central Scien- tific Research Institute (TsNII) Kristall-60 K80IK80 8 Intel 8080A look-alike chip running CP/M Large seller, educational ver- sion available to schools Agatha (or Agat) K587 8 Supposedly running Apple ProDOS under a copy of the 6502 instruction set Apple II copy, packaged in a single unit; small pro- duction run only; difficult to obtain Apple peripherals, software, add-ons, etc; popular with scientists and programmers. Iskra 580 16 Direct copy of IBM Very few Russian PCs series PC; runs English have been made; chips PC-DOS, GW-BASIC, MicroCOBOL, and POP software packages (Cyrillic DOS being developed) copies are significantly slower, have poor (mono only) display, and consist of 5 system components (rather than 3); hard disk to 5 mega- bytes only; few peripherals and little or no add-ons 142 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 160 SOVIET MICROELECTRONICS devices, including direct copies like the K580 (Intel 8080A), K589 (Intel 3000), and KI804 (Advanced Micro Devices 2900). The KR580IK80A microprocessor is a modified version of the Intel 8080A that even bears the U.S. part number (note the "8080A" in KR5801K80A). But the Pentagon report confirms that copying is getting more difficult, and so reverse engi- neering is expected to be less fre- quent in the future. From the basic Soviet components, at least four major small system com- puters have been produced (table 1). These small systems are based on im- plementations of either CP/M or MS- DOS. These small systems conform to Western operation but are lacking in functionality and speed! Although most are obtained only through work organizations, party members and local officials can buy home com- puters priced from around 300 rubles (about $22 5), but that price might represent three months' pay. Western machines are not available— even in the elite Moscow party shops such as GUM. The Kristall-60 (presumed to be the biggest seller) and other 8-bit micros with ancient versions of CP/M are just now reaching the mass market. Some Moscow schools are even getting edu- cational versions of the Kristall. The Agatha is particularly popular with programmers and scientists, but it is in short supply. Thje 16-bit micros are rare in the Soviet Union. The IBM PC-compati- ble Iskra is reserved for the important state bodies. local party dignitaries, and the GRU/KGB. But the Electronika NT line of MS-DOS 2.0-based com- puters has been taken into mass pro- duction. In fact, one model has sold several tens of thousands. But the lack of good software has created a major problem. The Soviets do not tend to produce Cyrillic-based operating systems, compilers, and programming languages. A drive to collect indigenous programs, to com- mission basic packages, and to con- vert more Western software is now being promoted by the old Algorithm Committee at the Moscow Academy of Sciences. (Many Western firms report that customer support and ser- vice notes and inquiries about soft- ware often find their way from the Soviet Union, even though no record of a sale can be found.) The solution to this software prob- lem involves the mass availability of systems and a higher level of com- puter literacy than currently exists. Although numerous training schemes have been considered, little has been done to provide more machines. A microcomputer education course by mail, for example, instructs students in DOS and BASIC commands— but without the luxury of a computer. And the story in schools and colleges is the same. Peripheral devices such as second floppy disk drives, hard disks, daisy- wheel printers, and graphics output devices are even more difficult to ob- tain. Expansion boards are rare. Magnetic media are expensive. And to be caught with a modem or acoustic coupler would be viewed as a reprehensible civil offense by the KGB. The State is paranoid about the free flow of information. In the end, a combination of Soviet technical inability, strict administra- tion, and the lack of a computer culture will inhibit the growth of this industry. And because of this, the ef- ficiency of Soviet administration and economy and the freedom of its peo- ple will suffer. On technology alone, the Soviets may appear doomed to lag behind the West. But that view of the Soviet microelectronics and small- system industry may soon change. Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev has addressed every major political meeting and organization to the prob- lem of technological rebirth. ■ REFERENCES 1 . Goodman, S. E. Technology Transfer and the Development of the Soviet Computer \ndustry. University of Arizona: March, 1984. (Research sponsored by The Center for Strategic and International Studies. Georgetown University, Washington, D.C) 2. Snell, P. Soviet Electronics: The Case of Micro- processors. Centre for Russian and East Euro- pean Studies. University of Birmingham, England, 1985. 3. Soviet Acquisition of Militarily Significant Tech- nology: An Update. September 1985. (BK Dynamics for the Pentagon.) 4. Alexendrov, A. \zvestiya. January 19, 1984. DRIVE INN Enclosures & power supplies for FLOPPY, WINCHESTER, TAPE DRIVES, SINGLE BOARD COMPUTERS & S-100 SYSTEMS. 8 inch 5 inch 3 inch CUSTOMIZING AVAILABLE Call or write for free catalogs and a pplication J ifiiiiiiiiifiiifiiiiiKiiiiiiitiiiiiiifiiiiifiiiiiiiiiiiii « assistance. J : J « iI!l ' RESEARCH CORPORATION 8620 Roosevelt Ave. • Visalia,CA93291 209/651-1203 TELEX 5106012830 (INTEGRAND UD) EZLINK 62926572 We accept BankAmericard/VISA and MasterCard NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 143 Smart. "Undoubtedly the most powerful," Software Digest. I i I The difference is speed. The Smart Spread- sheet is the fastest, most powerful mathe- matical modeling soft- ware you can buy. That's not just our opinion; in recent tests by the indepen- dent National Soft- ware Testing Labora- tories Smart out performed Lotus 1-2-3 in 39 separate tests of speed and capacity. But if speed alone doesn't impress you, these facts will: Smart's 'Virtual memory" lets you build models nearly ten times larger than you could with 1-2-3. Smart's windows let you reference up to 50 worksheets at once (that's 49 more than Lotus). Then there's the built-in Business The difference is more than speed. Smart 1-2-3 • Virtual Memory Yes No • View Multiple Spreadsheets Simultaneously Yes No • Full-Screen Formula Editing Yes No • Link Spreadsheets Yes No • Records English Commands Yes No • Designed For Multiuser LAN [file locking] Yes No • Programming Language Yes No • Built-in Communications Yes No • Not Copy Protected Yes No List Prices: single-user $495 $ 495 3-user LAN $995 $1485 Ask for a Smart Demo-Pack. Now for just $24. 95, you can experience the complete Smart System on your single-user PC or LAN workstations. The Demo-Pack includes all of Smart's powerful features, along with a complete set of disk tutorials. To order, just call toll-free 800- 438-7627 (in Kansas, Alaska or Canada call 913-492-3800, ext. 3800). Once you see the difference, you'll get Smart. Graphics package: 78 colorful ways to display your data. Pies, bars, scatters, stacks, 3-D, ex- ploded, you name it. Application Pro- gramming couldn't be easier. Smart records English commands instead of key- strokes, so editing is quick and simple. A set of advanced statistical functions (regression, N-solve, etc. ) are included. Best of all, Smart integrates with a whole family of pow- erful applications. You can pull sales figures from The Smart Data Base Manager, then send graphs and charts to a report in The Smart Word Processor. The Smart Spreadsheet © 1986 Innovative Software, Inc. Inquiry 159 t^J&i ' BOTE Representing Knowledge Finding Rules in Data by Beverly Thompson and William Thompson 149 A Bit-Mapped Classifier by Peter W. Frey 161 Predicting International Events by Philip A. Schrodt 177 Handling Conflicts in Data by Clara Y. Cuadrado and John L. Cuadrado 193 The Art of Deduction by J.-C. Emond and A. Paulissen 207 Rule-based Programming by Leonard Moskowitz 217 Machine Learning by Angelos T. Kolokouris 225 REPRESENTING KNOWLEDGE, some researchers say, is the key issue right now in the development of artificial intelligence. There's no doubt that prog- ress in recent years has been impressive, especially in commercial knowledge- based or expert systems. But AI researchers still struggle with the problems of encoding massive amounts of information and formal reasoning procedures as data structures that computers can manipulate with ease. This month's theme presents new approaches to the problems of represent- ing knowledge. In the articles that follow, the programming techniques vary. Most rely on general-purpose programming languages like Pascal and BASIC, a couple make use of Prolog, and one is based on a specialized AI language. The types of knowledge-based systems vary as well, reflecting the thought that the merits of a particular scheme depend on the eventual use of the knowledge. Leading off, Beverly and William Thompson examine a technique based on the 1D3 algorithm, an induction method often used for building commercial expert systems. Implemented here in Pascal, the algorithm reduces redun- dancy in the knowledge base, organizes the data to recognize patterns, and produces a set of rules that can then be manipulated by an expert system shell. In a more unconventional approach, Peter Frey presents a BASIC program that forgoes symbolic reasoning and uses bit mapping as the basis for a pattern-matching scheme. Based on John Holland's work on classifying infor- mation, Frey's simple expert system can be implemented in almost any stan- dard high-level language. Also using Holland's classifier, Philip Schrodt presents a political expert system in Pascal designed to make short-term forecasts. Schrodt's system relies on an elaborate bit-mapping scheme that matches pat- terns in a detailed database of past political behavior. One of the problems encountered in any approach to representing knowledge is that of maintaining consistency and minimizing conflicts in a changing knowledge base. John and Clara Cuadrado tackle this problem with a Prolog frame-based technique. Their decision-support system adjusts its deductions when information is added or deleted and provides "what if" capabilities as well. In a lighter vein, J.-C. Emond and A. Paulissen deal with the problem of incomplete knowledge with their Prolog program, Watson, which simulates the reasoning of a player in a game called CLUEDO. Many well-known expert systems have been built not with general-purpose programming languages but with specialized rule-based or production systems. Len Moskowitz explains the workings of one such system, OPS 5. Although developed and used for years on mainframes, OPS 5 is now available in ver- sions for a variety of microcomputers. For a glimpse at where knowledge representation can lead, our final article in this month's theme examines machine learning, an area still in its infancy. As Angelos Kolokouris explains it, machine learning involves teaching a com- puter to form concepts. What this requires is a language that can grow as its knowledge increases, which is exactly what Marvin, a Prolog program, does. —Cathryn Baskin, Associate Editor NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 147 We have 100's of Software and hardware items in stock. Shipments on almost all items within 24 hours! Call for programs not listed wAREHOUS DATA PRODUCTS SPECIAL WORD PERFECT $195 Technical & Other Info. (602) 246-2222 TOLL-FREE ORDER LINE 1-800-421-3135 FREE! UP TO $100 SOFTWARE FREE! With every purchase over $100.00 you can select one of the following MS/DOS diskettes at no charge. Please indicate choice(s). 1 . 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Shipping on most software is $5.00. AZ orders +6.7% sales tax. Personal check - allow fourteen (14) days to clear. We accept purchase orders from authorized institutions for 1.5%. All returns are subject to our ap- proval. There will be a 20% restock fee. Minimum phone order $50. No Charge for Master Card or Visa TOLL-FREE ORDER LINE 1-800-421-3135 WAREHOUSE DATA PRODUCTS 2701 West Glendale Ave. • Phoenix, AZ 85051 Hours 7 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. M.S.T. - Mon. thru Fri. Saturday 10.-00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. 148 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 367 REPRESENTING KNOWLEDGE FINDING RULES IN DATA by Beverly Thompson and William Thompson An algorithm for extracting knowledge from data MUCH OF THE FOCUS of computing in the past has been on collecting, manipulating, and disseminating data. Many people are now saying that the primary focus of computing in the future will be on the collection, ma- nipulation, and dissemination of knowledge and that our view of it will be profoundly changed in the pro- cess. Much artificial intelligence research to date has been concerned with representing knowledge in a way that can be efficiently collected, stored, and utilized by a computer. In this article we describe one method of obtaining knowledge directly from a set of data. This knowl- edge will be represented in a series of if-then statements called rules. The method used, the 1D3 algorithm, was developed by ). Ross Quinlan (refer- ence 1) and is the method most com- monly used in the commercial expert systems that employ induction methods to generate rules. Classification Trees One structure that has been exten- sively used to represent knowledge is the classification tree (also called the "decision tree"). A simple example is the best way to show how a classifica- tion tree works. Suppose that you want to invest money in a company in the computer industry and are seeking advice from a friend who is a financial expert in that industry. When you call him on the phone, something like the following conver- sation may take place: Expert: Is the company a hardware or software company? You: Software. Expert: Would you say that the com- pany's main product is new, in midlife, or old technology? You: Midlife. Expert: Does this product have any significant new competition? You: No. Expert: From what you've told me, it seems that the company's profits should continue to go up. Figure 1 shows how this same ex- change could be represented as a classification tree. This partial tree completes only the branch of the tree that represents the answers you sup- plied during your conversation. A complete tree would fill in all of the questions and answers that could possibly take place during a consulta- tion session. Although trees show the relation- ships that exist among the various components, they can be very difficult to manipulate. One structure that can represent similar information but is easier to use is called a rule. The rule that can be made from the tree in figure I is this: If type is software and age is midlife and competition is no then profit is up. One rule is made to represent each completed branch of the tree, with the subject of each question being repre- sented by a keyword called an at- tribute. The question associated with the attribute can be stored along with the rule in the form of a prompt. An example of a prompt would be prompt type Is the company a hardware or soft- ware company? The entire collection of rules and [continued) Beverly and William Thompson are con- sultants specializing in the design of knowl- edge-based systems for microcomputers. They can be contacted at MicroExpert Systems, R.D. 2, Box 430. Nassau. NY 12123. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 149 FINDING RULES prompts is called a knowledge base. Each rule is a single fact that can be easily verified or modified. In addi- tion, work done on expert system shells provides us with many excellent methods for using a set of rules to conduct a consultation. For a detailed description of one of these methods (called a backward-chaining inference engine), see our article "Inside an Expert System" in the April 1985 BYTE. The Knowledge Acquisition Bottleneck If the problem of selecting a winning company were as easy as our exam- ple makes it appear, there would be no problem stating all of the knowl- edge about the subject in a simple set of rules and we could make a fortune in the stock market. Unfortunately the complexity of real-world problems often makes it difficult to design a detailed set of rules. In some problem areas the amount of information needed for a solution is prohibitively large. In others, the knowledge is not well enough defined to put into rules. Even in cases where the problem is manageable, the number of experts with the inclination and the time to work on these systems is small. This situation is often referred to as the knowledge acquisition bottleneck. In order to solve the problem of ac- quiring expertise, we should ask ourselves how the experts became experts in the first place. Why, for ex- ample, did our financial analyst ask those specific questions? People learn through their experiences. The finan- cial analyst, for instance, constantly absorbs data about different com- panies, their products, and their finan- cial situations. His mind has the abili- ty to observe patterns in data and organize it. This process allows a per- son to extract meaning and thus knowledge from data. As we said, the computer has revolutionized the col- lection and storage of data, but have we really been able to make the most use of that data? Shouldn't it be possi- ble to find some way to organize data to recognize patterns and extract knowledge directly from it? The ID3 algorithm attempts to do just that. No one claims that it works in any way like our own brains, but it does provide a way to produce a classification tree directly from a set of examples within a problem area. Once we can make a classification tree, it is a direct step to rules that can be manipulated by an expert system shell. To illustrate how the algorithm works, let's return to the problem of predicting whether a given company's profits will increase or decrease. This time, let's suppose that when you ask your friend for advice he tells you that he makes it a policy not to give finan- cial advice to friends. Instead, he sug- gests some magazines that you could read to familiarize yourself with the ups and downs of the industry. You take his advice but find it's very dif- ficult to make use of all the reading material. So you make a table that lists some of the companies, some facts about them, and whether their profits have increased or decreased in the last quarter. A sample of this table is shown in table I. The labels on the columns "profit," "age," "competi- tion," and "type" are the attributes for which the values are stored in the table. Each row in the data table is called an example. The first attribute, "profit," is called the class attribute. Your goal is to determine a relation- ship between the class attribute and the values of the other attributes. The first example says that "profits were down in a company whose product was old, had no significant competi- tion, and which produces software." You can see that the table alone does not give you much insight into predict- ing when a company's profits are like- ly to increase. What is needed is a way to use the examples in the table to produce a classification tree. Building the Classification Tree To build a classification tree, you select one of the attributes to be the starting point or root node of the tree. Once you select this attribute, you split up (partition) the example set in- to a number of smaller tables, each containing examples with the same value of the selected attribute. If you select "age" as the root of the tree, the table will be split into the sets shown in figure 2. You can see in figure 2 that when "age" has the value "old," the value of the class, "profit," is always "down." When the value of "age" is "new," the class value is always "up." In these two new exam- ple sets, no further classification is necessary. However, in the example containing "age = midlife," you must select a new attribute and split the set again. Figure 3 shows the results of a split on the attribute "competition." Since each partition now contains only a single value for the class at- tribute, the tree-building process is complete. You can produce a set of if-then rules from this tree by following each branch from the root to a terminal node. Each rule is a series of condi- tions consisting of attribute and value pairs, followed by a single conclusion that contains the class and the cor- responding class value. The inter- What is type of company ? ► hardware - software - What is -►• the age of product ? ► old -midlife - ►new Any -►competition? -yes profit -►should go up Figure 1 : Classification tree showing the results of one consultation session. 150 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 FINDING RULES mediate nodes and their branches form the conditions of the rules; the terminal nodes form the rules' conclu- sions. For example, following the first branch on the right results in the rule If age is old then profit is down. One rule is produced for each ter- minal node of the tree. The rules that can be formed from this tree are shown in figure 4. Figure 3 illustrates an interesting side effect of the tree-building pro- cess. Even though the original exam- ple set contained three attributes, you did not need the attribute "type" to classify the examples in the set. This is a valuable result because it can reduce the amount of data that needs to be collected. Brieman et al. (refer- ence 2) used a classification-tree- building technique called CART to classify the mortality risk of heart at- tack victims. This process allowed them to reduce the number of attri- butes in the data set from 19 to 3. Why This Tree? The tree in figure 3 is certainly not the only possible tree that could have been generated from this set of ex- amples. Rather than selecting "age" as the first attribute on which to split the example set, you could have selected [continued) Table 1 : Table of example set Profit Age Competition Type Down Old No Software Down Midlife Yes Software Up Midlife No Hardware Down Old No Hardware Up New No Hardware Up New No Software Up Midlife No Software Up New Yes • Software Down Midlife Yes Hardware Down Old Yes Software "to. -ilH 1 — ►down old no software .^010. ■ — ►down old yes software 1 — ►up new no hardware age — ►up new yes software ' — ►midlife — ►up midlife no software — ►down midlife yes hardware Figure 2: Example set from table I split on attribute "age.' — ►down old no software "h. nIH no nardware i — ^OICI ' — ►down old yes software — ►up new no hardware ' • no software ago w ew 1 — ►up new yes software -i m- • midlife midlife no no hardware software "—►up — ►midlife ►competition- — >>yes — 1 — ►down 1 — ►down midlife yes hardware midlife yes software Figure 3: Example set of figure 2 after second split—this time on "competition." NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 151 FINDING RULES one of the other attributes. This would have resulted in a different tree and a different set of rules. Since some at- tributes tell us more about how to classify an object than others (in our example, 'type" was not even needed), it is important to split the example set using attributes that lead to efficient classification trees. Put another way, how do you measure the amount of information about classification con- tained in a single attribute? Entropy If we turn to communication theory, we find that there is a precise mea- sure of information called entropy. Applying this concept to the classifi- cation problem, we find that if an ob- ject can be classified into one of several different groups, the entropy is a measure of the uncertainty of the classification of that object. As the en- tropy increases, the amount of infor- mation that we gain by knowledge of the final classification increases. Mathematically if an object can be classified into N different classes, a. .... Cm and the probability of an ob- ject being in class i is p(c t ], then the entropy of classification. H(C). is H(C) = -£ p(c,) log 2 rtc) 1=1 If you are a bit rusty on logarithms, recall that log 2 (x) = y means the same as 2 X = y or. more plainly, the log to the base 2 of any number is the number of bits that it would take to represent that many different objects. Consequently, log 2 (16) = 4 tells you that it takes 4 bits to uniquely repre- sent 16 different objects. (All loga- rithms mentioned in this article are assumed to be taken to base 2.) Let's apply the entropy formula to the example set in table 2. In this set there are two possible values for the class attributes, "up" and "down." The probability (actually the frequency of occurrence) of the class having the value of "up" is 5 out of a total sam- ple set of 10. or 5/10. The probability of "down" is also 5/10. The entropy of classification for the total set is H(C) = -p(up) log p(up) - p(down) log p(down) = -5/10 log (5/10) - If age is old then profit is down. If age is new then profit is up. - If age is midlife and competition is no then profit is up. If age is midlife and competition is yes then profit is down. Figure 4: Rules produced from the classification tree of figure 3. Table 2: Part of the example set split on "competition." Competition Profit No Down No Up No Down No Up. No Up No Up Yes Down Yes Up Yes Down yes Down 5/10 log (5/10) = 1.00 Although this number represents the uncertainty about profits going up or down based on the data in table I . it does not tell us anything about the amount of information contained in the individual attributes. Calculating the Entropy of Classification of an Attribute What we really want to know to help us decide the attribute on which to split is the entropy of classification after deciding on a particular attri- bute. This entropy represents the amount of uncertainty about a par- ticular outcome, so we'll want to split on the attribute that results in the smallest entropy of classification. The first step in calculating the en- tropy of classification after deciding on a partitioning attribute, symbolized by H(C\A). is to split the table into subtables where each example has the same value of the partitioning at- tribute. Tcible 2 shows a partition of the example set after splitting on the attribute "competition." The entropy of each subtable. H(C\aj), is calculated for each value of the attribute. a y H(C\aj) is given by the expression N H(C\aj) £ p[d\aj) logp(c,|fl,) 1=1 The function p[d\aj) is the probability that the class value is d when the at- tribute has its ;th value. We can now calculate the entropy of each subtable: H(C|competition=no) = -p(up|competition=no) x log p(up|competition=no) - p(down|competition=no) x logp(down|competition=no) = -4/6 log (4/6) - 2/6 log (2/6) = 0.918 H(C|competition=yes) = -p(up|competition=yes) x log p(up|competition=yes) - p(down|competition=yes) x log p(down|competition=yes) = -1/4 log (1/4) - 3/4 log (3/4) = 0.811 The expression p(up|competition=no) is the probability that the class value is "up" when the value of the attribute "competition" is "no." It is just the number of times class "up" appears in a row with "competition" equals "no" divided by the total number of cases in which "competition" equals "no." In order to find the entropy of the entire table after the split. H(C|com- petition). we must take the sum of the entropy of each of the values of the attribute multiplied by the probabili- ty that the value will appear in the table. Stating all of this concisely, the entropy of classification after choos- ing a particular attribute. H(C\A), is the weighted average of the entropy for each value a s of the attribute. Mathematically this is expressed as AT H[C\A) = E P(aj)H(A\aj) y=i M is the total number of values for the attribute A. In this example this gives [continued) 152 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Is this the best monitor for desktop publishing? You can make book on it. Sometimes, you can't tell a book by its cover. And that's particularly true of the new 1280 graphics subsystem by Amdek. It's designed specifically for the high resolution demands of desktop publishing and CAD applications. But it's still completely compati- ble with all standard IBM PC software. Amdek's 1280 consists of a high-contrast, non-glare 15 " white phosphor monitor and a bit-mapped graphics board. The extra-large CRT can display up to 160 charac- ters per line by 50 lines of text (vs. 80 x 25 for IBM). 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Clearly the finest in monitors. 2201 Lively Boulevard, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007, Phone: 312/364-1180 TLX: 280-803 Inquiry 18 FINDING RULES ( ( down old no software ) ( down midlife yes software ) ( up midlife no hardware ) ( down old no hardware ) ( up new no hardware ) ( up new no software ) ( up midlife no software ) ( up new yes software ) ( down midlife yes hardware ) ( down old yes software ) ) Figure 5: Lists used to represent the example set. ( ( profit down up ) ( age old midlife new ) ( competition no yes ) ( type software hardware ) ) Figure 6: List used to store attributes and their values. H(C\ competition) = 6/10 x 0.918 + 4/10 x 0.811 = 0.8752 If we perform these same calcula- tions for the other attributes in our ex- ample, we find that H(C|age) = 0.4 and H(C|type) = 1.0. Since H(C|age) gives us the smallest entropy and thus the least uncertainty, "age" is the best attribute to select for the initial split. Implementing the Algorithm To implement this algorithm we need to make some decisions about how to represent the example tables in the program. We will store the table of ex- amples as a list. Each element of the list is another list that contains one ex- ample. Figure 5 shows the list contain- ing the example set from table I . Each list is enclosed in parentheses. Even ( age ( old classify ( ( ( down old no software ) [ down old no hardware ) [ down old yes software ) ) ) ) ( new classify ( ( ( up new no hardware ) ( up new no software ) ( up new yes software ) ) ) ) ( midlife classify ( ( ( down midlife yes software ) ( up midlife no hardware ) ( up midlife no software ) ( down midlife yes hardware ) ) ) ) ) Figure 7: The list equivalent to the tree in figure 2. call to the classify routine. This list is returned after the first ( age ( old ( profit ( down ) ) ) ( new ( profit (up ) ) ) ( midlife ( competition ( no classify ( ( ( up ( up midlife midlife no no hardware ) software ) ) ( .yes classify ( ( ( down midlife yes software ) ( down midlife yes hardware ) ) ) Figure 8: The list equivalent to the tree in figure 3. ( age ( old ( profit ( down ) ) ) ( new ( profit ( up ) ) ) ( midlife ( competition ( no ( profit ( up ) ) ) ( yes ( profit ( down ) ) ) ) ) Figure 9: The final list returned by the classify routine. though considerable overhead is as- sociated with the use of list structures in a program, lists provide a great deal of flexibility and allow us to use a single representation for both the ex- amples and the final classification tree. We will also use a list to keep track of the attributes and their values. This is another list of lists. The first sublist consists of the class name and as- sociated class values. The other sub- lists contain the attribute names and each attribute's values. Figure 6 shows the attribute list for the example set. The actual tree-building procedure is performed by a function called classify. If you pass an example list to this function, it returns the classifica- tion tree for that example set. This tree is also represented by a list. The first element in the list is an attribute or class name, and it is followed by a series of lists. Each list contains a class value if the first item was the class name; otherwise, each list con- tains a value for the attribute followed by the tree produced by classifying the partition of the example set that has that value. In other words, classify is a recursive procedure that either returns the class name and the class value of the example set or calls itself to classify the new partitioned exam- ple set. The clearest way to explain classify is to demonstrate how it would process our example set. Figure 7 shows a list that is equiva- lent to the tree returned by classify. By calculating H(C\A) for each at- tribute, classify has chosen "age" as the attribute on which to split. It returns the attribute name followed by three lists. Each list contains a value of the attribute followed by the classification of the appropriate sub- set of examples. The calls to classify in the first two lists (the values "old" and "new") will result in no further recursion because each of the lists contains only a single class. In both cases, classify will return the class name, "profit." and the appropriate class value. The third list requires a new partitioning of the example set. Figure 8 shows the results when clas- sify splits the new example set on "competition." The final tree returned [continued) 154 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 OUR PLUG-IN CARD GIVES YOU PLUG-IN CONTROL. PCW488 allows your IBM PC/XT/AT or com- patible to control IEEE-488 instruments. WHAT ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE DO I HAVE TO BUY? 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Order today by calling (61 7) 273-1 81 8 or Telex 24731 6. oec Capital Equipment Corporation 10 Evergreen Ave., Burlington, MA 01 803. (617)273-1818, Telex 247316. Inquiry 60 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 155 FINDING RULES by classify is shown in figure 9. If you examine the "list of lists" in figure 8, you can see that its structure is similar to the classification tree shown in figure 3. The classify function produces the tree in a depth-first manner. In our ex- ample that means classify would con- tinue to the end of the branch for "age" is "old" before looking at the other values for "age." Handling Conflicts in the Data Conflicts among the examples can lead to the generation of erroneous rules. A conflict occurs when two ex- amples contain identical values for all attributes but have different class values. A conflict usually signifies that the attributes chosen are inadequate for the classification task. You can remove this problem by introducing additional attributes. Deciding which new attributes to include is a task for an expert in the problem domain being considered, but identifying con- flicts is relatively easy. Since each ex- ample is stored as a list, you can recognize a conflict by comparing the list representing an example against each of the other lists. A conflict oc- curs when the tails (the entire list ex- cept for the first item) of two lists match, but the first items on the list are different. "Dont Care" Values When creating examples, we find it useful to specify that a particular at- tribute does not play a role in the clas- sification. We use a special symbol, called a "don't care" value, to indicate this fact. For instance, (down old no *) indicates that if the value of the at- tributes "age" and "competition" are "old" and "no." respectively, the class value is "down" no matter what the value of "type." An asterisk repre- sents a "don't care" value. Examples containing "don't care" values are ex- panded into a new set of examples. each containing one of the possible values for the "don't care" attribute. The example above would be ex- panded to (down old no hardware) and (down old no software). Attributes with Numeric Values All of the attributes in the example set had values chosen from a limited group of possibilities. Suppose that instead of assigning the values "old," "new," and "midlife" to the attribute "age," you wanted to assign numeric values. In this case, you would use the numeric values of "age" to create a set of new attributes that contain the ranges of possible values. For exam- ple, assume that you have four com- panies with products aging 6, 10, 16. and 36 months. You would make three new attributes, each representing the range formed by splitting the con- secutive values at their midpoints. The new attributes would be "age < 8," {continued) vtsfi&i INT'L, INC. liiOt?. f 80286^8(3287 WiseTEK International, Inc. 513 Valley Way Milpitas, CA 95035 Micronic 108 East 16th Street New York, NY 10003 + TURBO AT 80286 IBM Compatible 6 MHz, 8 MHz, or 10 MHz Keyboard Switch 5 CHIPS SET-(Lower Heat. Higher Quality) or 1 Wait State 1 MB Memory On Board Battery 80287 Socket Ready 3MB with serial/parallel port on board XT size AT JR motherboard available 5VLS1 TURBO XT* • 6088-2 IBM-XT Compatible • 4.77 MHz or 8 MHz Keyboard Switch • 4 Layer PC Board • 640K Memory 8087 Socket Ready See us at MITCH November 10-14, 1986 Riviera Hotel Las Vegas, Nevada Booth #8421 Distributors, Dealers, OEM Welcome Fall '86 TEL: (408) 263-1237 (212) 529-4699 FAX: (408) 263-1870 156 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 377 Y)ur free ticket toThe Source. Save $49.95! Join The Source Information Network before November 30th! Send the coupon below or call The Source right now. 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The Source is a service mark of Source Telecomputing Corp., a subsidiary of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. ® 1986 Source Telecomputing Corp. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 157 ACTUAL SIZE. FINDING RULES ACTUAL PRKL Introducing The Turner Hall™ Card. The lowest priced complete 256K memory expansion board you can buy. We made it so inexpensive by using the very latest 256K RAM chips instead of four times as many 64K chips. That same technology makes the Card fit in a half-length PC/XT™ slot. And the reduced chip count increases reliability, so we can offer a 30-day money-back guarantee and 1-year warranty. The Card comes with a clock/calendar with replaceable battery backup, illustrated Owner's Manual, and software including clock, print spooler, and disk emulator. That's everything the most popular multifunction boards have. Except a couple of extra ports and a lot of extra cost. IBM® or Compaq® owners will find the Card remarkably easy to install. 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The entropy of classification after splitting is calculated for each new attribute along with the other at- tributes to determine the best at- tribute to use to partition the data set. The Completed Program A TUrbo Pascal program called INDUCE for the IBM PC and compat- ibles implements the techniques described above. [Editor's note: INDUCE is available on disk, in print, and on BIX; see the insert card following page 352 for details. It is also available on BYTEnet: see page 4.] The program contains a col- lection of low-level routines for the manipulation of the list structures described in this article. Since lUrbo Pascal is not optimized for list pro- cessing, the program is slow com- pared to some of the commercial im- plementations of the 1D3 algorithm, but we hope that by examining the commented source code, program- mers can gain some insight not only into the ID3 algorithm but also into the power of symbolic computation using list-like structures. The program produces rules in the format accepted by the expert system shell MicroExpert, but you can easily modify the program to produce rules for another expert system shell. You can also modify the program to pro- duce Prolog sentences. Also available is Crossref, a parser that reads and parses rules that use the same rule syntax as the one we have described. A description of this program and how to write an in- ference engine that uses the rules can be found in our April 1985 article. | Editor's note: Crossref is available on BIX and BYTEnet. \ ■ REFERENCES 1. Quinlan, j. Ross. "Learning Efficient Clas- sification Procedures and Their Applica- tion to Chess End Games." In Machine learning: An Artificial Intelligence Approach. R. S. Michalski et aL eds.. Palo Alto, CA: Tioga Publishing Co., 1983. 2. Brieman, Leo, et al. Classification and Regression Trees. Belmont. CA: Wadsworth In- ternational Group, 1984. 158 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 354 S01DTO ,.„ "^1 °- M ^HATTA N EXPORTS South Seas Shi pping Company November 20, 1966 Ms. Cathy Lyons Import Officer Botanical Research Ltd. 55 Wewak Road Moresby, Papua, New Guinea Dear Ms. Lyons: Re ; Palm Fruit Research deling last week in San Francisco. This letter confirms the agreement we reached at our n Botarucai Research, Ud. wfU recommend th« optimal conditions for shipping palm fruit and pain, oiL tnsidaration are: temperature during shipping and length aflimo between -"«l important issues for con. - -w shipping. ■« completed by June 1, 1987. South Se as Qhl borate OrcS* 9 Com P*ny (''In Mat I. YOU GOULD PRINT EVERYTHING ON THIS DESK FROM A BUSINESS PC? The world's best-selling desktop laser printer has something in store for just about every business that's ever dealt with the printed word. Because the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Printer is the only printer of its kind specifically designed to work with over 300 software programs. And since it hooks up to almost any business PC, it's right for all kinds of users—not just the art department. So you can print everything on this desk— from simple memos to your life's memoirs. And get high-quality [ professional-looking output. Combined with our very fast, very versatile HP Vectra PC (it's IBM PC/AT compa tible) and the software of your choice, the HP LaserJet is the cor- nerstone for a complete desktop publishing solution. One your whole company can easily use. Of course, the HP LaserJet also works with IBM PC's and compatibles. As well as software like Lotus 1-2-3, VferdStar and d:BASE 11. And, for around $3,000, it's the laser printer you can afford. We can't print all the reasons our HPi*ara.re HP LaserJet is the printer of choice. But if you stop by an authorized HP dealer or call us at 1 800 367-47721 Dept. 276E for the one nearest you, we'll show you why HP quality printing makes very good business sense indeed. Print samples produced on a LaserJet Plus with the lolkwvtnq software packages: Studio Software Spellbinder* Desktop Published MicroPro WordStar 2000* Lotus 1 2-3* and f o • -IP Vectra PC is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard. IBM PC is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp lotus I -2-3 is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corp, WordStar ts o registered trademark of MicroPro International. (fBASt II is o registered trademark of Asbfon fate © 1 986 Hewlett • Packard Co S3; _iS ■El HEWLETT mLzM PACKARD Business Computing Systems inquiry 149 pg6oibtx.;: Announcing BYTE's New Subscriber Benefits Y .our BYTE subscription brings you a complete diet of the latest in microcomputer technology every 30 days. The kind of broad-based objective coverage you've read in this issue. 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They are an evolutionary out- growth of early work in artificial in- telligence on search-based problem solving and theorem proving. In their most common form, these systems use simple IF . . . THEN productions to represent a wide range of ideas, concepts, and actions in a uniform data structure. Conclusions are drawn and advice is given by reasoning in a sequential manner. Sometimes the expert system uses forward chaining by starting with initial observations and working through the list of pro- ductions until it can derive an ap- propriate conclusion. In other in- stances, the inference engine works by backward chaining. In this case, the system starts with the desired conclu- sion and attempts to work through the production list to find a link to the conditions of the specified problem. Classifier Systems In what follows. I describe an un- conventional expert system that is based on pattern recognition rather than on reasoning. This approach can be implemented in conventional pro- gramming languages on an inexpen- sive desktop system. The architecture is surprisingly simple, and the pro- gram can be modified or extended easily. When implemented cleverly, expert systems based on this ap- proach can provide advice or conclu- sions rapidly even when the knowl- edge base is extensive. I hope to show that a simple method can sometimes be a good one. The literature on expert systems shows that most existing programs function as categorizers. A set of en- vironmental stimuli (features or symp- toms) is classified into one of many possible categories. For example, medical diagnosis is performed by assigning each set of symptoms to a specific illness category. Other diag- nostic programs work in a similar manner to deal with mechanical mal- functions in automobiles, airplanes, or air-conditioning systems. Systems for speech recognition or visual object identification can also be treated as classification systems. Expert systems that provide travel recommendations or suggest where to drill for oil can also be placed in this same category. The pattern-recognition program described in this article is based on a familiar concept that is commonly known as a classifier system. The ter- minology 1 use is based on the recent work of John Holland (see reference I ) at the U niversity of Michigan. Infor- mation about the set of conditions is encoded as a string of bits where each bit represents a specific feature that is typically binary in nature (pres- ent or absent). This bit string, which can be 10 or 12 bits for simple prob- lems or several hundred bits for com- plex problems, is usually referred to as a message. For example, a system for recognizing a particular person at a sports event might have specific bits representing such features as blue eyes, black hair. 6 feet tall, 190 pounds, blue jacket, brown pants, gray sideburns, shoulder-length hair, wire- rim glasses, etc. The set of features can be broad enough to uniquely categorize thousands of different in- dividuals. The message for any given person would have a 1 in locations representing specific attributes that [continued) Peter W. Frey (Northwestern University, 2021 Sheridan Rd., Evanston. IL 60201) is a professor at the Cresap Neuroscience Laboratory. He has interests in decision pro- cesses, expert systems, and machine learning. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 161 A BIT-MAPPED CLASSIFIER are present and a in locations for features that are not present. This bit- map approach is very general and yet is extremely simple to implement. A particular pattern of features, such as those associated with a target person, is denoted by a bit-string pat- tern called a classifier. Classifiers are more complicated than messages because they are based on a multi- letter alphabet rather than a two-let- ter alphabet. One way to represent a classifier in a binary system is to use one bit string to denote present or ab- sent and other bit strings to represent the relative importance of different bits. I will refer to the first string as the classifier and the others as classifier masks. Eleanor Rosch (see reference 2) has argued persuasively that natural categories do not have fixed boun- daries. Instead, members of a category vary in their characteristics depending on how many of their attributes are central or peripheral to the category. To represent this aspect of categoriz- ing people, objects, or events, we employ three classifier masks speci- fying which attributes are absolutely essential to the category (type A), which ones are usually present (type B), and which ones are sometimes present (type C). This strategy permits flexibility in defining category pro- totypes (the classifiers) that seem necessary for real-world applications. To perform a task such as finding a specific person at a sports event, you would create a classifier that specifies which attributes among those possi- ble are possessed by the target in- dividual. A message would then be created for each individual at the sports event by specifying the at- tributes that each possessed. The classifier would then be compared to each message, and the message that was most similar would be identified as the target individual. This strategy is conceptually simple. Note, however, that several very important matters need to be considered. In particular, you must specify the global set of at- tributes. The effectiveness of the pro- cess depends critically on a judicious choice of attributes. The process can discriminate among similar in- dividuals only if the bit map includes the right features. Knowing in advance what these features should be usual- ly requires an expert's knowledge. The second major problem of the description given above is the phrase "most similar." There are many ways to measure similarity. With simple bit maps, the most obvious measure of similarity between a message and a classifier is the number of relevant bits in common. A relevant bit is one indicated by the classifier mask as being important. By comparing each of the three classifier masks with the message, you can determine if all the essential bits (type A) in the classifier are matched exactly, how many of the type B bits are set properly, and whether any of the type C bits match. 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With over 200 built-in applications— like graphics, report formatting and communications— you have all the tools at your fingertips to quickly and easily solve those seemingly impossible problems. Best of all, the APL*PLUS System interfaces well with software packages you're already using — like databases, spreadsheets, and graphics packages. The APL*PLUS System also makes it easy to link those packages that aren't 162 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 A BIT-MAPPED CLASSIFIER size some bits more than others. Some attributes are absolutely critical (type A). If one or more of these are absent, the message is not compati- ble with the classifier. In a sense, each of these crucial attributes is given an absolute veto in the matching pro- cess. T/pe B and type C attributes in- fluence the judgment of similarity but in a less central way. The proportion of type B matches is important because bits that do not match are negative evidence. T/pe C attributes are diagnostic when present but not damaging when absent. To be most similar to a classifier, a message must match all the critical features exactly and match more type B and type C features than any other message that meets the type A conditions. This im- plementation of the similarity idea provides a very powerful method for approximate pattern matching. Another device that increases the generality of this procedure is to represent higher-level concepts with more than one classifier pattern. For example, you might wish to identify a specific person at a sporting event and not know what clothing the per- son was wearing. But you might know that the person was likely to be wear- ing one of three favorite outfits. An easy way to deal with this ambiguity is to define three separate classifiers for the target person, one for each outfit. These three classifiers would be identical except for the bits represent- ing clothing. This capability of defin- ing more than one classifier for a given category is a powerful way to deal with concepts that are not precisely defined. In medical diag- nosis, there are illnesses in which the pattern of symptoms is quite different for men and women or different for children and adults. These complex- ities are easy to deal with when separate classifiers can be defined for each special case. When classifiers differ in the number of relevant features, the yard- stick for measuring similarity needs to be modified to take into account the specificity of the classifier (see refer- ence 1). One classifier is said to be more specific than another when it has more bits that are designated as relevant. Similarity is then defined as a joint function of the proportion of relevant bits that match and the total number of relevant bits. An additional complication in many expert systems is that all aspects of the problem are not known in ad- vance. For example, in medical diag- nosis, it is usually necessary to ask the patient a series of specific questions or to administer specific medical tests in order to uncover the relevant infor- mation. This process of sequential in- formation acquisition complicates the procedure since the computer system must decide in what order to ad- minister the questions and/or tests. In medicine as well as in other ap- plications, there is a financial cost (continued) /tftV/S The APL* PLUS System and You. currently talking with each other. With all this problem-solving power, it's no wonderSTSC's APL*PLUS System is the personal choice of so many business professionals— financial planners, business analysts, actuaries, scientists, mathematicians, engineers, statisticians, and consultants. Especially since the APL*PLUS System is available on a full range of computers from desktops to mainframes. Put the power, speed, and flexibility of the APL*PLUS System to work for you. See your local dealer today to get your APL*PLUS System. If they don't have it, refer them to STSC or call STSC toll-free, (800)592-0050. In Maryland or Canada, (301)984-5123. SEE US AT COMDEX. Available nationally through Softsel, M icro Central, and distributors worldwide. Dealer inquiries welcome. Problem-Solving at the Speed of Thought STSC STSC, Inc. 21 15 East Jefferson St. Rockville, MD 20852 APL*PLUS is a service mark and trademark of STSC, Inc. PLUS*WARE is a trademark of STSC, Inc. Lotus and dBASE are registered trademarks of Lotus Devel- opment Corporation and Ashton-Tate, respectively. A PLUS*WARE PRODUCT Inquiry 326 ©1986 STSC, Inc. FOR PEOPLE WHO WANTMORR BUT ARENT WILLING TO PAYTHE PRICE. Citizen™ just took all the features of a high-end printer and made a small change. We put them into a low-end printer The Citizen 120D. We created a dot matrix printer with more features and a lower price than any other printer in its class. One that produces clean ; pre- cise letters at a draft speed of 120 cps ; with superior correspondence quality at 25 cps. we added little extras ; Iike a 4K-byte buffe^ proportionally spaced printing, full graphics capabilities ; and a unique paper loading system that ; s a small wonder. And we gave it the ability to survive the long run with most leading computer systems. Because after 50 years of placing a world of precision on your wrist ; we've come to realize something. Good things do come in small packages. For more information; call 1-800-5564234 Ext. 34. Or in California; call 1-800-441-2345 Ext. 34. The Citizen 120Q. Never has so much been offered to so many for so little. . : '.v- w *-!I2SSS2M' • xn'cUion. Citizen and theCitUen ltd) Company, Ltd.' .'. inters that run like clockwork. Inquiry 65 Inquiry 153 A BIT-MAPPED CLASSIFIER associated with information gather- ing, and experts should be skilled at making the proper diagnosis at a minimal cost. This complication can be addressed within the message- classifier system by defining a message mask that indicates which at- tributes are known at any given time. Similarity between a message and a classifier is then measured by ex- cluding features for which no informa- tion is available as well as excluding features that are not marked by the classifier mask. You can develop many strategies for determining what feature to ask about next. A simple strategy is to identify the classifier that currently has the greatest similarity to the message and ask about its unknown features. If the answer to the question increases the degree of similarity, continue to seek information relevant to this classifier. If the answer decreases the similari- ty, check to see if another classifier is now more similar. If so, switch the line of questioning to features that are relevant to the second classifier. This strategy approximates the hypothesis- testing approach that is commonly observed in humans. Doctors try to gather information that will confirm or disprove the most likely diagnosis. Criminal investigators also usually concentrate their information- gathering efforts on their prime suspect. Implementing a Bit-Mapped Classifier System The pattern-recognition system de- scribed above is well suited to the ar- chitecture and instruction set of a modern microprocessor. In particular, registers and memory locations are physical representations of a bit map. There are instructions such as EQUAL, NOT-EQUAL, AND, OR, and XOR that are designed to compare and manipulate whole strings of bits as a single operation. The bottleneck that determines execution speed is the time required to match classifiers with messages. In some applications there are many messages and a few classifiers. In others, there is only one or a few messages and many classi- fiers. For medical diagnosis, you might [continued] One minute it's hot war. With tantrums and back talk. The next minute it's cold war. 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About the only thing the competition offers is the chance to spend big bucks to upgrade their systems to where the ST™ started in the first place. Were pretty sure which computer smart shoppers will buy. The ATARI 1040ST is at your computer retailer now. AATARI © 1986, Atari ATARI, 1040ST, Corp. and ST arc TM'sor rcg. TM's of Atari Corp. Inquiry 391 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 165 A BIT-MAPPED CLASSIFIER Knowing which attributes to include separates an expert from a novice. have a single message with 500 or 600 features (all of the symptoms the patient might have) and 300 or 400 classifiers (symptom patterns that fit particular illness definitions). To match this long message against each long classifier, you want to compare bit patterns at a very high rate. To implement this process, the com- puter starts by performing an XOR operation between the message and the classifier. The resulting string is negated (NOT), reversing all 0s and Is. Next, an AND operation is performed between the string representing the message mask and the string repre- senting one of the classifier masks, setting the bits in those locations where the feature is relevant and is currently known. This hybrid mask is then ANDed with the result of the first two operations. The number of bits set in this last string provides a count of the relevant matching bits between the classifier and the message. This process requires two ANDs, one XOR, and one NOT to produce the two rele- vant strings. Some mainframes have machine-level instructions that count the number of bits that are set in a word. Microprocessors do not have this instruction, so the only way to do a speedy bit count is to examine the word in 8-bit sections and use a table with 2 56 entries to look up the prop- er bit counts. This is not very elegant, but it is reasonably fast. For messages that are longer than the word size of the machine (usually 16 or 32 bits), the matching process must be re- peated in 16- or 3 2 -bit segments until the entire message has been exam- ined. For most applications, the matching algorithm described above Tkble 1: A partial list of architectural attributes. Date of Construction 1. before 1820 2. between 1820 and 1880 3. between 1880 and 1940 4. after 1940 Roof Pitch 5. flat 6. low slope (less than 30 degrees) 7. moderate slope (30 to 45 degrees) 8. steep slope (more than 45 degrees) 9. combination of the above Exterior Walls 10. wood 11. stone 12. brick 13. stucco or adobe 14. combination of the above 15. other Junction Between Roof and Exterior Wall 16. absence of eaves (little or no overhang) 17. parapet (exterior wall extends above edge of roof) 18. slight overhang with exposed rafters 19. slight overhang with boxed rafters 20. wide overhang with exposed rafters 21. wide overhang with boxed rafters 22. other executes rapidly. For the program described below, you get responses in about 2 to 3 seconds, using a BASIC interpreter. An Example Based on House Architecture The advantages of this bit-mapped approach can be demonstrated by ap- plying the method to a realistic exam- ple. I have chosen house architecture because the ideas and terminology are familiar to a general audience. Because I am not an expert on this topic, the program's knowledge is derived almost entirely from a recent book (see reference 3). Unlike many examples that are based on "toy" problems, house architecture pro- vides a level of complexity and con- ceptual richness that is equivalent to applications addressed by serious commercial expert systems. The im- plementation I describe covers over 58 distinct house styles and involves over 160 descriptive attributes. It can be extended without any major changes to encompass an even broader range of architectural themes and subtypes. The first step in developing a knowl- edge base is to specify the attribute classes that define group member- ship. To identify the architectural style of a house, you focus on specific features, including date of construc- tion, roof shape, roof pitch, nature of the junction between the roof and the exterior wall, material composing the exterior wall, type of windows, shape and decorations of the front door, or- namental details, and a multitude of other possible features. A partial list of relevant attributes is presented in table I. The list is organized by general categories start- ing with date of construction. Any given house is designated by creating a bit map (a message) that has a I set in the bit position for each attribute that is present and a set in the bit position for each attribute that is not. The number associated with each at- tribute represents the location of this attribute in the bit map. In the begin- ning, the proper identity of these bits is unknown. Appropriate values are assigned in a sequential fashion on (continued) 166 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 A MEGABYTE FOR DOS! 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The system I describe ad- justs for weak performance in a similar manner by modifying or add- ing to the attribute list. Almost any two styles can be distinguished by identifying critical differences and adding features that are sensitive to these differences. A powerful tech- nique in this regard is to note which attributes never appear and include their negations as part of the clas- sifier. Sample classifiers are presented in table 2. Each architectural style is defined in terms of features from the attribute list that are assigned a type A (must be present), type B (usually present), or type C (sometimes pres- ent) role. Each number corresponds to a bit in a descriptive string. An at- tribute in the table that is underlined is one that should not be present (negation). Note that the Italian Renaissance style is defined with two classifiers because there are two distinct variations on the theme. These examples give the flavor of this flexible way to represent knowledge. By using messages and classifiers in combination with a carefully devel- oped attribute list, the method can easily deal with a broad range of ob- jects and concepts. The program HOUSE. BAS was writ- ten in Microsoft BASIC version 2.0 to implement this system on the Macin- tosh. Double-clicking on the file loads MS-BASIC, which then executes the program. | Editor's note: HOUSE. BAS is available on disk, in print, and on BIX; see the insert card following page 3 52. It is also available on BYTEnet; see page 4.| You will see a banner announcing HOUSE.BAS's purpose and will have to wait several {continued) Table 2: Sample classifier definitions. The number indicates the bit position in the classifier string: an underlined value indicates negation. Queen Anne Victorian A. 3, 8, 80, 83 B. 41, 131 C. 14, 42, 43, 45, 122, 132, 133, Colonial Revival 48 49, 55, 57, 60, 69, 82, 84, 105, 116, 134, 153 117, 118, 120, 121, A. 3, 60 B. 7, 19, 26, 61, 83 C. 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, Tudor 55, 70, 81, 87, 89, 91, 96, 116, 135, 136, 137, 138 A. 3, 8, 41 B. 90, 105 C. 12, 23,33, 63 Italian Renaissance I 64, 98, 126, 130, 156 A. 3, 6, 21, 93 B. 10, 115 C. 25, 26, 65, 71, Italian Renaissance II 76, 109, 110, 136, 137 A. 3, 5, 11 B. 83, 116, 123 C. 25, 26, 43, 44 65, 71, 76, 136, 137 168 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Get a new handle on your business with SBT. tefes ; >■ Now you can handle up to 254 users, all working in the same data files, with the SBT MultiNet Database Accounting Library. The accounting software written in dBASE III PLUS. So whether your business is large or small, you can grow to the limits of the most advanced PC networks available. 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(415)331-9900. * THE SBT DATABASE ACCOUNTING LIBRARY. dProfessional Time & Billing $395 dOrder Sales Order processing $195 dlnvoice Billing/Inventory Control $195 dStatement Accounts Receivable $ 95 dPurchase Purchase Order $195 dPayable Accounts Payable $295 dPayroll Payroll/Labor $395 dLedger General Ledger /Finance $395 dAssets Asset/Depreciation $295 dProject Project/Job Accounting $395 dProperty Tenant/Unit Management $395 dBackup Menu/Backup $ 65 MultiNet versions $200 additional per module Call today for the name of the SBT consultant in your area. SBT * Compiled versions also available. dBASE III and dBASE II are registered trademarks of Ashton-Tate, Inc. Copyright 1986, SBT Corporation. Inquiry 294 NOVEMBER 1986 "BYTE 169 A BIT-MAPPED CLASSIFIER The bit-mapped classifer approach is a model of organizational simplicity. seconds while lists and masks are loaded. Click inside the banner win- dow when the program is ready. Ini- tially, you are asked to indicate the date of construction by pointing and clicking the mouse on one of four choices. A similar procedure is used to determine the roof slope, the material composing the exterior walls, and the type of junction between the roof and exterior wall. After these four attributes have been determined, the program continues by asking about one feature at a time. I have also added graphic examples of three features, namely, a board-and-batten door, a front door with recessed panels, and pilasters alongside the front door (see figure 1). These are in- cluded to demonstrate how an expert system can define unknown technical terms. Unfortunately. I don't have the time to develop a graphic depiction of the other 1 57 features. Questions then follow in a variable sequence un- til the program determines that it has only one candidate that is consistent with the information. The reasoning process that is used by this program is remarkably simple. A goodness-of-fit value is computed for each classifier by accumulating points when information relevant to the classifier is obtained. After the first four attributes (construction date, roof slope, exterior wall material, and roof-wall junction) have been deter- mined, the program assigns 5 points for each match. If there is a type A mismatch, the house type is elimi- nated from further consideration. For each type B or type C mismatch. 5 points and I point are deducted, re- spectively The cumulative total for each house type is treated as a measure of goodness of fit. The clas- sifier with the highest score is then given priority for determining which information to seek next. If there are type A attributes that are unknown, a question about one of these is asked next. If all of the type A at- tributes are known, type B questions and then type C questions are posed to the user. If the score of the leading candidate drops below that of a rival, the questioning process immediately switches to the rival to determine at- tribute selection. There are two termination condi- « Rica Edit S - -=;. ■ HiaxAM ?;"a«»o] q q o P-CD EGA mode (640x350) Sometimes life gives you less than you bargained for. Taxan would like to even that out a bit by giving you more than you'd expect— our Multi-Resolution System.™ Our display products not only give you EGA software compatibility, but also switch modes to CGA or TGA (640x400). This eliminates the hassles of swapping adapter cards or resetting internal switches. And, at the same time, it gives you three modes for the price of one. Because of its ability to automatically switch modes, the Taxan Gold Card™ graphics adapter allows you to add new programs, with different display standards, to your software library without the worry of compatibility. The Taxan Gold Card is also equipped with a built- in serial port. 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Give us a call at your regional Taxan office for performance data on the Multi- Resolution product family. And remember that the best things in life are free. XAX/MV 18005 Cortnev Court, Citv of Industrv, CA 91748 Taxan East (201) 769-6500. Taxan Central (214) 550-1244. Taxan Midwest (312) 299-1060. Taxan West (818) 810-1291. I'lAXAAl ;-_"S40! OOO O'CD Improved CGA Icxl mode Inquiry 334 for End-Users. Inquiry 335 for DEALERS ONLY. Multi-Resolution System ant ' Taxan Gold Card are trademarks of Taxan USA Corporation. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 173 a If you can EVEREX Streaming Tape Family If you can find better streaming tape software, buy it: User Interface ■ Menu driven. ■ Multiple windows (nestable and movable). ■ Context sensitive on-line help. File selection from directory listing or command line. ■ Constant tape status display. ■ Menu driven hardware configuration guide. Tape Functions ■ Multiple tapes allowing unlimited backup capacity. Multiple datasets for multiple backups on the same tape. Tape sequence management recorded on the tape. ■ Programmable messages. File-by-file and image backup on the same tape. ■ Installation program. Functionality ■ Physical image backup/restore of local disks. ■ Logical image backup/restore of local or remote disks. ■ File backup from any local or remote disk of any file size. ■ File restore from image backup or file backup. ■ Allows wildcards for selection of files. ■ Automatic scheduler for unattended backups. ■ Backup across networks (using logical image or file-by-file). ■ Real time clock display. ■ Backup any disk whether formatted for DOS or not ■ Escape to DOS while in backup/restore operation. 174 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 If you can find a company with better tape achievements, buy from them: ■ Over 30,000 streaming tape sub-systems, Vfe height, 5Vi" form factor industry standard QIC 24 recording format, QIC- 36 hardware interface and largest installed customer base worldwide. 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Manager Mouse is a registered trademark of The Torrington Company; AutoCAD of Autodesk, Inc.; CADKEY of Micro Control Systems Inc.; CADVANCEof Calcomp; ClickArt Personal Publisher of T/Maker company; Front Page of Studio Software Corp; Dr HALO of Media Cybernetics, Inc.; drafix 1 of Foresight Resources Corp., EasyCAD of Evolution Computing, Inc.; EE Designer of Visionics Corp.; EGA PAINT of RIX SoftWorks, Inc.; EnerGraphics of Enertonics Research, Inc.; Freelance of Graphic Communications Inc.; IPRINT of Indigo Software Ltd.; Lotus 1 -2-3 of Lotus DevelopmentCorp.; Generic CADDof Generic Software, Inc.; Harvard Presentaiton Graphics of Software Publishing Corp., Procad of Procad Systems, Inc.; ProDesign II of American Small Business Computers; RoboCAD-PC of Robo Systems Corporation; smARTWORK of Wintek Corporation; TelePaint of LCS Telegraphies; VERSACAD of T + W Systems, Inc. smARTWORK 1 VERSACAD™ EGA PAINT" TORRINGTON Part of worldwide Ingersoll-Rand 176 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 347 REPRESENTING KNOWLEDGE PREDICTING INTERNATIONAL EVENTS by Philip A. Schrodt Using a Holland classifier to model political knowledge and make sfiorMerm forecasts WHILE POLITICAL events occasional- ly appear random and capricious, to an expert politics is, for the most part, regular and predictable. Even though a single event may be devoid of prac- tical consequences, foreign policy ex- perts are able to see meaning in or- dinary political behavior and accu- rately forecast its effects on interna- tional behavior. The existence of regu- larities in international behavior makes politics possible; it also makes feasible at least some formal model- ing of political behavior. Representing Political Knowledge With the development of improved communications and computers in the 1950s, the prospect of systemati- cally studying politics attracted a number of political scientists. Armed with statistical techniques borrowed from the life sciences and em- boldened with the new computing technology that reduced months of manual statistical computations to hours, these researchers led the statistically oriented behavioral revolution and changed the face of political science. The most conspicuous success of the behavioralist effort has been in the field of voting behavior, where ad- vanced statistical and measurement techniques enable the prediction of elections. By questioning only a cou- ple of thousand properly selected potential voters, we can predict the outcome of tens of millions of votes. Nowadays a politician would no sooner consider running a national campaign without survey research than he or she would consider using a Conestoga wagon as a primary means of transportation. Some political behavior that can be described numerically— such as bureaucratic budgeting and interna- tional arms races (see Schrodt, 1982)— has been modeled with dif- ference equations. And researchers have progressed in theoretical under- standing of some political processes using models similar to those used in economics. Luterbacher and Ward (1985) provide a survey of the con- temporary formal modeling effort in the international relations field. Surveys, difference equations, and economics-based preference order- ings are, in fact, forms of knowledge representation of political behavior. If you can predict an election using results of a 2000-person survey or predict an arms race by plugging a few numbers into the appropriate equations, you can represent political behavior in a compact form. With few exceptions, these representations are numerical and usually involve classical statistics and mathematics. Political behavior, however, is often not easily understood through numer- ically oriented techniques. Here, political science differs substantially from economics, where almost all of the interesting variables are numeri- cal. In retrospect, political science lacked a systematic means of dealing with rules: the specific conditional (if- then) statements about nonnumerical factors that appear to be regularly used in political decision making. Al- though behavioralists hoped to reduce this conditional information to a small number of numerical indica- tors—in the same manner that eco- nomic indicators such as unemploy- ment rate, inflation rate, and GNP [continued] Philip A. Schrodt teaches mathematical modeling and international relations at North- western University. He can be contacted at the Department of Political Science. Northwestern University, Evanston. IL 60201. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 177 PREDICTING EVENTS characterize the overall state of an economy— or reduce political knowl- edge to a small number of categori- cal indicators, neither approach was universally successful. AI Approaches Around the beginning of the 1980s political scientists began to experi- ment with alternative models based on concurrent developments in arti- ficial intelligence and expert systems. Spearheaded by work at Mil! Ohio State, and Syracuse, this effort has focused on two problems that had. for the most part, remained intract- able to existing statistical techniques: the prediction of individual votes by a member of Congress and the short- term prediction of international events. By embodying political knowl- edge in a conditional rule base rather CONSIDERTHISJUST ABRIEFAUDITION. ACTOR™ is a new, interactive pro- Moreover, ACTOR is a new, object- gramming system, the first with Micro- oriented programming language. Wind- soft® Windows. 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TheWhitewaterGroup Technology InnoTation Center -*- 906 University Place, Evanston, IL 60201 than in statistical distributions, alge- braic equations, or preference order- ings, a means of systematically study- ing political behavior gradually developed. Aside from their intrinsic impor- tance, these two problems have a cou- ple of advantages. They are easily testable: congressional votes are known, and testimony relating to these votes is readily available; and accounts of day-to-day international events are available through historical and journalistic sources. More impor- tant, human experts can readily fore- cast these political behaviors. Lobby- ists and congressional aides constant- ly calculate voting probabilities; inter- national relations experts can usual- ly make fairly precise short-term predictions. Since political predictions are indeed possible, surely we can at least approximate those and similar predictions using AI techniques. The dominant cognitive mode of traditional international analysis in- volves a combination of analogy or pattern matching based on historical precedent and some general rules. The incidence of analogy as justifica- tion for policy actions is very high. For example, the analogical terms "Munich,'" "Vietnam." and "Pearl Har- bor" are some of the most powerful constructs in the foreign policy lex- icon of the United States. These analogies use a very large database of past events, and the acquisition of that database is a major part of the training of an expert. In hindsight, the use of these analogies may some- times seem inappropriate or inconsis- tent, yet they are accurate with suffi- cient frequency to be effective in policy formulation. Precedent is probably used in lieu of statistical knowledge because the international system is a variable-rich but sample-poor environment. The in- ternational system changes very slow- ly and hence provides little new infor- mation at any given time. The number of potential variables that are impor- tant is very large, and repeated ex- perimentation is virtually impossible. Therefore, the number of occasions on which variables co-occur under a roughly similar set of conditions is [continued] 178 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 373 YOUR #1 CHOICE 5830 E. Washington Blvd. City of Commerce, CA 90040 Technoland We used to be PC 1 , Were still your #1 Choice ! 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Available on orders 11-30 lbs. $17 forairseivice. Prices & availability subject to change without notice. Send cashier's check or money order...all other checks will delay shipping two weeks. visa I ^3 ~^B PREDICTING EVENTS Inquiry 318 limited. This complex, uncontrollable unrepeatable nature of international events means that statistical methods requiring large sample sizes, con- trolled conditions, or random sam- pling techniques cannot be used in this task. Analogy and pattern match- ing seem to fill the gap. In addition to analogy, other con- siderations are important. These in- clude, for example, various common- sense rules of inference knowledge of how the resources available to a na- tion constrain its scope of action, and knowledge of the existing policies of a state. In many cases, repeated pat- terns of behavior imply certain knowl- edge. For example, while large states sometimes invade small states, small states almost never invade large states. Thus, in attempting to duplicate political expertise a plausible starting point is to look for historically based rules and pattern matching. Holland Classifiers Over the past year I've used a learn- ing system called the Holland clas- sifier to model a simple but real prob- lem of short-term international behavior prediction. Simply put, a Holland classifier solves classification problems; that is, it takes a set of at- tributes about a situation and clas- sifies that situation into one of a number of discrete categories. If used in a medical expert system, for exam- ple, a Holland classifier would accept a large number of characteristics about a patient (including symptoms, results of medical tests, reactions to medications, and so forth) and on the basis of this information classify the patient into a disease and treatment category. In the general scheme I'm using, the Holland classifier has three com- ponents: messages, a "bulletin board," and a rule base. Messages posted on the bulletin board describe the situation. The rules then scan the bulletin board for messages that match the classifier of the rule. If there are matches, the rule "bids" for the right to replace that message with the rule's result. Bids are based on the strength of the rule and the specifici- ty of the match. The highest-bidding [continued] 4& PROLOG ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE <%& <*' LPA micro PROLOG and LPA mac PROLOG now being used by major corporations, universities and middle schools as a teaching and learning toolandfor building intelligent Expert Systems. PROLOG was chosen by the Japanese as the core language for their Fifth Generation Project for building "thinking machines". NEW LOW PRICES i^irnac— . 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Rules in the Holland system consist, then, of three parts: classifier, result, and strength. Like messages, the clas- sifier and the result are simple strings of characters; the strength is repre- sented by a number. Rules are, in ef- fect, IF. . .THEN statements similar to those used in expert systems; The classifier is the antecedent, and the result is the consequent. In Holland's scheme, the characters that represent the classifier and the result come from an alphabet that has only three values: Feature is absent. * Pass-through: Feature may be pres- ent or absent. 1 Feature is present. When a pass-through value occurs in a result, the value encountered in the message that was matched is sub- stituted for the pass-through charac- ter. Thus, messages contain only (0.1| characters. The process of competitive bidding and payoffs for posting terminal mes- sages ensures that the rules that have been most successful in posting useful messages in the past are most likely to be successful in the future. Rules that post meaningless or incor- rect messages diminish in strength so that they are less likely to succeed in [continued) Listing 1 : The Holland classifier main evaluation loop. The loop is continued until one of the following three conditions has been met (1) There are no messages left on the board] (2) All bids for rules are below a set threshold (none of the rules match the messages particularly well); (3) The loop has been repeated more than a set number of times. This rule prevents infinite looping due to recursive parasitic rules whose classifiers match their own output messages. Loop With each message do With each rule do 1. Compute Match(Rule. Message) 2. Compute Bid=Match*Strength*Bid_Weight 3. If Bid>Highest Bid for Message Then Replace Bid Winner with Rule End_With {rule} With Bid_Winner do 1 . Subtract Bid from Strength 2. Add Bid to Strength of Rule which posted Message 3. If Bid Winner's Result is a Prediction Then 1. Compute Payoff by comparing prediction to actual events. 2. Add Payoff to Strength 3. Remove Message from Board Else 1. Replace Message with Result on Board End_With { Bid_Winner } End With {message} End Loop 182 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 LYCO COMPUTER MARKETING & CONSULTANTS, INC L Y C O STAR MICRONICS LV 12-10 (New) . CALL NL-10 CALL NX-10 CALL NB-15 . . 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Like natural problem-solving systems— the brain and DNA— a Holland classifier is very robust. Because the "knowl- edge" in the system is spread over a number of rules, the failure of one or two rules due to a change in the sys- tem is unlikely to have much effect on the overall behavior. Another advan- tage of the system is that while parts of it are intrinsically parallel (in prin- ciple, at least, all rules could scan the message board simultaneously), it is sufficiently simple that it can be im- plemented efficiently on a serial sys- tem—even on a microcomputer. Predicting with a Holland Classifier The work I have done uses interna- tional relations "events data" to ap- proximate international behavior. In its most basic form, events data sum- marizes the daily interactions be- tween nations. The summaries use four variables: date, actor nation, event, and target nation. For example, to summarize that on May 28, 1986, the United States (ac- tor) protested (event) the Soviet Union's (target) behavior during the Chernobyl nuclear accident, you would code: 860528 002 09 365 In this example, 002 and 365 are stan- dard codes for the United States and the Soviet Union, respectively; 860528 is the date, and 09 is an event code indicating a protest. (For more information on events data, see the International Studies Quarterly issue cited in the Bibliography.) While a single event carries very lit- tle information about the relations between two nations, using events gathered over a long period of time, you can ascertain distinctive patterns of interactions. The use of events data sacrifices short-term detail to facilitate coding and statistical analysis and then reestablishes detail by looking at thousands of events. In my experiments, l have used the Conflict and Peace Data Bank (COP- DAB) events data set collected by Ed- ward Azar and Thomas Sloan and provided through the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. The COPDAB set uses only 15 codes, ranging from 01 for inter- national unification to 1 5 for violent conflict such as war. To get the highest density (events per day) of data, I focused on events between the United States and three European na- tions: the United Kingdom. France, and West Germany. COPDAB covers the period 1948-1978. I analyzed events nondirectionally; for example, the U.S./U.K. data set includes events in which the U.S. was actor and the U.K. was target as well as events in which the U.K. was actor and the U.S. was target. I coded data only for oc- currence, not frequency, so that each of five instances of an event code 07 appeared the same as one instance. You could, however, expand the sys- tem to use frequencies. I used the COPDAB data to gener- ate a large number of event "ar- chives." An archive is the set of events that occurred in a time period. In the experiments, each prediction problem is created by choosing a random date T and then coding the following ar- chives: Input messages: [T-l to T— 10) [T-II toT-20) IT- 21 to T-30| (T-3I to T-40J Output occurrence: |T to T+20| The specific coding I used allocated 16 bits to the events and 4 bits for the lag. For example, if only interactions of types 07 and 08 occurred during the period 1 1 and 20 days prior to the date, that archive would be coded 000000 1 1 0000000000 10. This gives a surplus of at least 2 bits (and actually more, as event types I. 14, and 15 aren't found in this data), which the system could use to iden- tify intermediate rules. While these ar- chives consist primarily of coopera- tive events, they show quite a bit of variety and there are no obvious ways (continued) 184 BYTE • NOVEMBER 19S6 Breaking the 640K DOS Barrier: New version of Alsys PC AT Ada* compiler improves speed, adds application developer's guide, brings seven 80286 machines to latest validation status. Alsys' landmark Ada compiler for the PC AT, the first to bring Ada to popu- lar-priced microcomputers, has been upgraded to Version 1.2 with significant improvements. The new version compiles faster than its predecessor, is validated for a full range of popular compatibles using the latest AJPO test suite 1.7, and includes a Developer's Guide in the documenta- tion set. The price remains at $2,995 for single units, including a 4 megabyte RAM board. Both the original and the newly upgraded versions utilize the inherent capabilities of the 80286 chip and ' Virtual mode' ' to eliminate the 640K limitations of DOS. 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Alsys isthe trademark of Alsys, Inc. References to other computer systems use trademarks owned by the respective manufacturers. Inquiry 17 ovu PREDICTING EVENTS to produce accurate predictions. The initial rules in the system were generated by reading a random set of data records, randomly choosing one of the input archives as the classifier and the output archive as the mes- sage. Both parts of the rule were then randomly mutated with a fixed prob- ability called Mutation Probability, by changing some of the feature- absent and feature-present characters to the pass-through character. This captures, in a very primitive fashion, the process of precedent-based pre- diction: The initial rules are based directly on earlier observed events with some random modification. 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I defined a match simply as Match = 40 - £, | Classifier,- - Message,- 1 with the summation over the event types, and the characters having the numerical values of = 0, * = I, and I = 2. Consequently a perfect match would have a value of 40; a perfect mismatch would have a value of 0, and a match against a classifier con- sisting solely of pass-through charac- ters would have a value of 20. A rule may bid for a message provided the degree of match exceeds a level called Match Minimum; this is a minor modification of Holland's scheme, which required perfect matches but didn't penalize pass- through codes. This is only a first ap- proximation to a matching criterion and one chosen largely for computa- tional efficiency; an obvious alter- native measure would be a more complex pattern-match measure such as a Levenschtein metric. A prediction— which is the terminal message in this system— is identified by coding 1 1 ll as the final 4 bits of the message. The payoff function compares the output predicted in the message to the observed outcome. This function is similar to the match function except that it can take nega- tive values: Payoff = 20 - £,• |Outcome ( - - Message,! The use of negative values means that if the prediction is particularly inac- curate, the payoff will be negative and decrease the strength of the rule that posted it. Finally to allow the system to rec- ognize that it has not seen a situation before and respond by not making a prediction, the Match Minimum is (continued) 186 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 31 \Nhaf s New at AMERICAN DESIGN COMPONENTS? "The Source" of the electro-mechanical components for the hobbyist. We warehouse 60,000 items at American Design Components — ex- pensive, often hard-to-find components for sale at a fraction of their original cost! You'll find every part you need — either brand new, or removed from equipment (RFE) in excellent condition. But quantities are limited. 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This process guarantees that if the system en- counters behavior it has not seen before, it will incorporate that new behavior into its rule base. Results I implemented the Holland classifier in UCSD Pascal on an Apple II. The program involves about 1000 lines of code, around half of which deal with output and statistical monitoring routines. To limit the amount of run time to something reasonable, 1 used a set of only 32 rules; in almost all my experiments, strength concentrated in about eight or fewer rules. | Editor's note: HCLASS, a TUrbo Pascal translation of the program, is available on disk, on paper, and on BIX; see the insert card following page 352. Listings are also available on BYTEnet; see page 4.] Keep in mind that this classifier is a stochastic process and its perfor- mance must be measured statistical- ly. Random behavior enters in because of random selection of the initial rule set, random sampling of the database, random mutations of the rules, and some randomness in the ordering of rules (if two rules make identical bids, the first bidder will win). Usually, the random variation of the performance of the classifier is tightly bound, but unusually high and low values occur occasionally. To measure the prediction success, I computed a statistic (unoriginally called S) for the classifier and a varie- ty of alternative estimators. S is equal to correct predictions - incorrect predictions total predictions Here, S takes on values between -1.0 (all predictions incorrect) and 1.0 (all correct). To ascertain whether the Holland classifier was doing anything other than simply making random predic- tions, I made comparisons with three other predictors: a random predictor based on the observed event frequen- cy alone, a prediction that simply repeated the previous observed ar- chive, and a statistically optimized predictor 1 labeled "Best." I computed the average value of S for 100 trials of the predictors, then for a summary statistic used the ratio of S for the classifier with S for the Best predictor: Rioo = (average S/, 0/ , „ rf )/(average S*„,) If Rioo is greater than 1.0, the classifier is doing better than the statistically optimal predictor; if Rioo is less than 1 .0, it is doing worse. The overall per- formance of the classifier is summa- rized in figure 1, which shows the distribution of the value of Rioo over about 200 runs of the classifier (in- volving about 500 hours of computa- tion) with various parameter values. This distribution is more or less nor- mal with a mean around 0.94. Similar ratios for the random and previous predictors to the Best predictor are about 0.88 and 0.85, respectively, so the Holland classifier is usually doing considerably better than these, par- ticularly since figure 1 includes a number of experimental runs with pa- rameters that produced low success. The classifier has several free pa- rameters, such as the amount of reward given, the probability of a I or mutating to a pass-through charac- ter, and the minimum acceptable {continued) 25 t 20 Frequency 15 10 : . ■ <0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 1. 1. 1. >1.03 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 Value Figure I: The distribution of Rioo over about 200 runs of the Holland classifier using various parameter values. 188 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 NOW $599. LAUGH, CLONE, LAUGH! Who would guess that our AT jr. has more on the ball than his big brother? 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I experimented with a variety of values for these, but only the Muta- tion Probability seems to have a consistent impact. With that param- eter, higher mutation probabilities (30 to 40 percent) seem to produce bet- ter predictors than low mutation prob- abilities. Some fine-tuning in Match Minimum is also needed. When a strict matching criterion (40 or 38) is used, rule replacement occurs with very high frequency: Few rules get an opportunity to build up any strength, and all rules are vulnerable to being wiped out in a replace operation when matches fail. Conversely, loosening the match criterion to 34 seems to allow too much flexibility and encourages random bidding. While I have not done sufficient ex- perimenting to draw a firm conclusion on this issue, slight looseness on matching (one or two mismatches) seems best. A key characteristic of most self- organizing systems based on John Holland's work is the use of "evolu- tion" involving genetic-like mutation and recombination of rules. I have done some experimental work with the full Holland evolutionary system, but dueto the length of time required for the programs to run, only a few sequences are available. Most of these exhibit a weak upward trend, though even this is very uneven and in some cases the performance of the classifier will rapidly deteriorate. It ap- pears that you gain some predictive value from the evolutionary scheme but not a great deal and without a lot of consistency. The weakness in the evolutionary system for this problem seems to lie in the lack of new input. Once a few strong rules are established, replace- ment of rules by outside data rarely occurs, and hence the only source of "innovation" is recombination and mutation. This means that the Holland predictions after, say, 1000 trials are still based on the original 32 samples while after about 200 samples the Best estimator has attained its asymp- totic value and fluctuates only moderately around it. This genetic "aging" (or genetic drift, to use the more appropriate biological term) of some of the rule sets may account for the tendency to see long downward trends in some sequences. The ob- vious cure for this would be to allow the system to recognize when new rules should be brought in from the data to provide variability. The poor evolutionary performance may also be due to the original rule set being precedent-based and allowing for some rule replacement, so it is dif- ficult to improve upon. Optimistic Future That the Holland classifier managed only a mean success of 94 percent of the statistically Best estimator was somewhat disappointing— J had hoped to do better. However, the [continued) For serious hackers... 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All orders filled immediately, following complete systems checkout and 72-hour factory burn-in. FREE A S185 Value. Case style may vary from photograph. With any order •/ SI, 000 or ?mre, AMT will send y mi, absolutely FREE, a Micro brand dress wristwatch. Finest precision Japanese quartz movement. Specify male or Jemale size. Only one watch per customer. Inquiry 2 5 for End-Users. Inquiry 26 for DEALERS ONLY. AMERICAN MICRO TECHNOLOGY 14751-B Franklin Avenue llistin, California 92680 Phones: In Orange County call (714) 731-6800 In LA call (213) 477-6320 In Bay area call (415) 490-7967 TWX 5106003265 AMT USA 'Dealer inquiries accepted 'Prices and availability subject to change without notice NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 191 PREDICTING EVENTS I had to use calculus to figure out Best but the Holland system did well on its own. result is more impressive when you consider the following factors. First, the Holland success is far better than what would be produced by chance, almost never dropping to the level of the random and previous estimators, so the system is indeed learning. Sec- ond, the Holland estimator comes close to the Best estimator despite the fact that it has absolutely no in- formation about what this optimal predictor is. In other words, I had to use calculus to figure out Best, but the Holland system was able to do almost as well (and, about 7 percent of the time, better) on its own. Another problem with the test is that there was not a great deal of vari- ability in the data, and hence a statistic predicting modal behavior (which Best did) was difficult to beat. However, during the process of debugging I discovered some circum- stances where the Holland system would be better suited. Having clever- ly turned off array bounds checking to save 10 percent on run times and then forgotten to initialize an index, I did about two days' worth of runs where the system roamed for hours through RAM reading data until it evoked some fatality in the operating system. Here, interestingly, the Holland estimator did considerably better than the Best estimator because, with rule replacement, it adapted fairly quickly to the changing data while Best was slower to re- spond. In these experiments, Rioo values of 2.0 and greater were not un- common. In a denser, more varied event data set. the Holland system would probably be far superior to the statistical techniques. The system discussed here is only a first, highly simplified approxima- tion to the knowledge base and learn- ing techniques of a political expert. The system is not a Metternich nor anywhere close. But similar tech- niques used with a vastly larger and more detailed database of past political behavior and probably with some systematic training by human experts (as is now done with some ad- vanced chess-playing programs) could well be capable of predicting many political situations at least as ac- curately as a human expert. A computer-based knowledge sys- tem would be useful in at least two ways. First, a machine can process large amounts of new information more rapidly than a human can, so that it could presumably master, for example, the complex internal politics of a new governing political party based on historical data more quick- ly than a human analyst could. Sec- ond, the machine is insensitive to the tendency of human decision makers to ignore precedents that point to un- desired outcomes and would at least call these to the attention of the ex- perts. Moreover, Al-based techniques such as the Holland classifier and rule-based systems are expanding the ways we have available of represent- ing political knowledge and may, in the long run, lead to techniques as profound in their impact on the prac- tice of politics as survey research. ■ ACKNOWLEDGMENT Partial support for this research was pro- vided by the Gordon Scott Fulcher Chair of Northwestern University. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cimbala. Stephen, ed. Artificial \ntelligence and National Security. Lexington. MA: Lex- ington Books. 1986. Holland. John H. Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems. Ann Arbor, MI: Univer- sity of Michigan Press. 1975. . "Escaping Brittleness: The Possibilities of General Purpose Algo- rithms Applied to Parallel Rule-Based Systems." in R. S. Michalski. J. G. Car- bonell. and T. M. Mitchell, eds.. Machine learning 2. Los Altos. CA: Morgan Kauf- man. 1986. Chapter 20. Luterbacher. Urs. and Michael Don Ward, eds. Dynamic Models of International Conflict. Boulder. CO: Lynn Reinner Publishing. 1985. Schrodt. Philip A.. "Microcomputers in the Study of Politics: Predicting Wars with the Richardson Arms-Race Model." BYTE. July 1982. . " Set Prediction of Interna- tional Behavior Using a Holland Classifier." Paper presented at the Inter- national Studies Association. Anaheim. CA. March 1986. "Symposium: Events Data Collections." In- ternational Studies Quarterly, vol. 27. no. 2. 1983. PC/AT/XT, TURBO, ADD OJV CARDS. IS TOUR RIGHT CHOICE A TURBO- 10 ■ ERSO BIOS ■ 640KB EXPANDED • CPU 8088-10 10/4.77 MHz AT COMPATIBLE • DATATECH S BIOS • 640K OR 1MB EXPANDED • CPU 80286, 6/8MH2 TURBO-640 • ERSO BIOS • 640KB EXPANDED • CPU 8088-2, 8/4.77 MHz • OPTIONAL 70108-8 CPU. 3 TIMES FASTER PC/XT COMPATIBLE • EROS BIOS • CPU 8088 • OPTIONAL CPU 70108-5. 1.7 TIMES FASTER ADDON CARD FOR AT: • DISK DRIVE CONTROLLER. SUPPORTS 2x1.2 MEGA FLOPPY DISK DRIVE. • I/O CARD • 2 MEGA M/F CARD. • 3 MEGA RAM CARD. • SERIAL + PARALLEL PRINTER CARD AND MORE.... FOR PC/XT AND COMPATIBLE: • ENCHANCE COLOR CARD • MULTI I/O CARD. • MONOCHROME GRAPHICS PRINTER CARD. • COLOR GRAPHICS PRINTER CARD AND MORE... ** ALL PRODUCTS HAVE FCC APPROVAL* ' DATATECH ENTERPRISES CO.. LTD. 3RD FL. NO. 68 PA TE RD., SEC. 4. TAIPEI, TAIWAN. R.O.C. TEL: (02)7672553 (4 LINES) FAX: (02)7610681 DATATECH TPE TELEX: 12086 DATATECH P.O. BOX: 96-361 TAIPEI, TAIWAN 192 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 102 DOING IT RIGHT! A SIMPLE FORMULA FOR SUCCESS FROM THE IBM OF THE MAIL ORDER BUSINESS FLIGHT SIMULATOR 1 HAYES MACH III JOYSTICK When we founded PC Network, our goal was to create the IBM of our Industry. in three short years, we have grown to an annual sales volume of over $79,000,000 employing over 200 people! We have served over 200,000 members. We ship over 7,000 orders per week. We hare become the world's largest PC Mail Order Firm. 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Cuadrado A decision support system in Prolog ONE OF THE major research areas of artificial intelligence concerns the rep- resentation and maintenance of knowledge. A problem of first-genera- tion expert systems is that they can- not handle perturbation of their knowledge bases. Since in reality it is virtually impossible for us to provide exactly the right amount of knowl- edge and information to achieve our goals, we must be able to reason with incomplete and inconsistent knowl- edge and handle the removal or change of portions of the knowledge base. In drawing inferences from in- complete or inconsistent data, A I systems must be able to make choices among plausible alternatives and, if necessary, retract the inferences, un- do the effects, and make new choices based on revised beliefs or new evidence. A related problem is carry- ing out deductions based on different beliefs and multiple sets of criteria. Thus, an important component of state-of-the-art inference systems is a belief/evidence/truth maintenance subsystem. The responsibilities of such a subsystem include the accumu- lation of supporting evidence for each major deduction that the system car- ries out and the provision of mechanisms for the propagation of automatic maintenance of such sets of supporting evidence. Today there are many competing approaches to achieving these goals. (See references I, 2, 3, and 4.) In this article we will illustrate the knowledge representation and belief maintenance functions via a simple decision support system that has two major capabilities. First, based on in- complete or inconsistent data, the sys- tem may reach certain conclusions. When information is added or deleted, the deductions are adjusted or retracted, which entails forward and backward evidence propagation. Second, the system provides for "what if" analysis capabilities. We can make certain assumptions, let the sys- tem make deductions based on them, then withdraw a set of the assump- tions and bring the system back to a consistent state. The system pre- sented is implemented in Prolog. For a short introduction to how Prolog works, see reference 5. To facilitate understanding, we have chosen an area of application that is both relevant and self-explanatory. Our example is based on a fictitious situation where personnel selection is supported by different individuals' beliefs about such "hard" evidence as technical competence relative to a specific project and such "soft" fac- tors as interpersonal relationships. As it is, this simple decision support model can be used in any level of the control hierarchy of a corporation. It can also be expanded to help develop management strategies or to aid crisis management. The ideas illustrated here, however, are generic and can be used in any domain. A Decision Support Example One of the most frustrating duties of corporate managers is dealing with in- [continued) Clara Y Cuadrado and \of\n L. Cuadrado (Octy Inc., 10920 Oxford Court. Fairfax Station. VA 22039) both earned PfiDsfrom the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. They taught at the University of Maryland and Dartmouth College, respec- tively, and now run their own company de- veloping A I systems. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 193 Master of Possibilities: JohnE. Hulse pS?TckTG?ou P FC Long distance or local, Pacific Telesis gets great reception with the MasterCard BusinessCard. Pacific Telesis chose the new MasterCard BusinessCard™ because it is consistent with the company's philosophy . . . progress, intelligently planned. It's a philosophy Pacific Telesis is bringing to life in many ways-from providing quality phone service in California to operating a paging company in Thailand. And, it's a philosophy that warrants the best corporate card program possible. 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Ext. 706 PACIFIC EJ TELESIS Group ©THE MECHANICS BANK 1234 5bl8 S123 45bl MasterCard. JORH E HBtSE .' ■■•• . PACIFIC TELfSfS GHOOP'' 1 ™' : : Master The Business Possibilities PACIFIC * TELESIS Group II I! Ill 111 I: HANDLING CONFLICTS terpersonal conflicts in their organiza- tion. While most experienced manag- ers will tell you that interpersonal rela- tionships greatly impact the structure and the efficiency of an organization, somehow the illusive quality of these relationships prevents them from be- coming an acknowledged factor in a formal decision-making process. This is not difficult to understand; interper- sonal relationships are complex, tenuous, and unstable. They are often difficult to detect and even more dif- ficult to describe. Rumors and whispers in the office, "gut feelings," and 'vibes" are not the kind of stuff our traditional corporate decision- making process is made of. We will demonstrate our system with a fictitious case. Let's say that a middle-level manager. Mike, has a project that requires two engineers to work closely to develop a new design. He has four possible candidates: Alan, Bob. Charlie, and Dan. Assum- ing for now that all other qualifica- tions of these candidates are irrele- vant (we will introduce an important qualification later), we want to help Mike make his choice of a team based solely on one criterion: that the two individuals be able to work well to- gether. We know a few things about this selection process: First. Mike decides that he wants to be open-minded about the selection and therefore asks each of the four candidates to state his belief as to whether they can work with each other. Mike will try to base his decision on the mutual evaluation of his subordinates. For simplicity and clarity, in our example we allow the candidates to say only "yes," "no." or "don't know" to straightforward ques- tions such as "Do you think you can work well with Dan?" "Do you believe Dan will be able to work well with Charlie?" We do not ask them to supply weights to their beliefs, nor do we consider the reasons for their answers. In a more complex decision support system, naturally, all these weights to answers would be included. The in- dividuals' justifications would consist of hard facts as well as less tangible evidence. The point is. the evidential hierarchy can be made arbitrarily deep and complex, but then at some point computational requirements for the system become an important con- sideration, a consideration beyond the scope of this article. Next, Mike gives us a ranking of his opinion of the judgment of the four subordinates. He also supplies us with weights and justifications for his belief in the judgment of his subordinates, which we summarize in table 1 . As we can see, Mike values Bob's opinion a great deal, not only because Bob is a good judge of character and always tells the truth but also because Bob knows the other three better than Mike himself. For this reason, Mike has assigned a "3" for his own judg- ment on the compatibility issue. After Mike makes his choice of the engineering team based on compati- [conllnued) svmmETRic campUTER svsTEms THE 375 - A SOFTWARE DEVELOPER'S DREAM THE BEAUTY AND THE BSD $4,995' Loaded With Languages Turn on your 375 and start developing your own applications. It's that easy. C, FORTRAN, PASCAL, BASIC, APL, Assembler, LISP and PROLOG: tney all come standard on every 375. OVER 1,000 PROGRAMS, 3,000 FILES ! Full 4.2BSD UNIX™ Each 375 comes standard with a complete configurable 4.2BSD UNIX system. We don't skimp on software. And we can even give you EMACS, INGRES, TEX and SPICE for those special applications. 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Please inquire or specify at time of order. Order Toll Free. Call or write for free brochure. 1-800-547-3303 In Oregon 503-297-2321 (24 hours line) Computer Friends® 6415 SW Canyon Ct., #10, Portland, OR 97221, telex 4949559 Dealer inquiries welcome. HANDLING CONFLICTS A selection can be made by combining the compatibility and competence analyses. bility, he will present his decision to his boss, Penelope. Penelope has the final say on the selection of the team, and she wants to be able to play "what if" games to see what the results will be when changes are made in the assumptions. For exam- ple, because Dan is a new employee, the others have little to go on in judg- ing whether he can work well with a particular colleague. Penelope may test out several assumptions. In one scenario she may make Dan a Mr. Congeniality, and in another she may make him Enemy-of-the-People. In this way she can get a feel of the impact Dan's personality may have on Mike's group. Penelope also has considerations other than personal compatibility in mind. She calls in Jack, the chief scien- tist of her division, and asks him to rate the four candidates on the basis of their respective technical com- petence. The list Jack gives her is sum- marized in table 2. Penelope wants to combine Mike's compatibility analysis and Jack's tech- nical competence analysis to arrive at a reasonable selection of the team. She first obtains a list of qualified teams that have a compatibility rating of, say, 3 or above. Then she ranks these eligible teams according to their technical competence (based on lack's beliefs) and picks the team with the highest technical rating. Here, for illustrative purposes, we chose to use a naive rule of combination. A more sophisticated approach such as the Dempster-Shafer mathematical evidential theory (see reference 6) should be incorporated in an in- dustrial-strength system. In this manner, Penelope knows she (continued) T^ble I: Mike's ranking of the judgment of the four subordinates. ■ Name of Employee Weights (5: most credible, 0: least credible) Justification Bob 4 Good judgment, intuition; always says what he means. Charlie 3 Observant, reliable. Dan 2 New employee, can't quite judge others' relations yet; seems smart and trustworthy. Alan 1 Tends to be opinionated, emotional; distorts facts occasionally. Mike 3 Manager; does not know the others very well on a personal level. -foble 2: lack's ranking of the technical competence of the four subordinates. Name Weights of (5: best Employee 0: worst) Justification Dan 5 Recent Ph.D.; has excellent new ideas. Bob 3 Good command of general knowledge. Alan 4 Veteran engineer; very experienced. Charlie 2 Skills somewhat outdated. 196 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 148 HANDLING CONFLICTS Listing I: The Decision Support System program illustrates the flexibility of a simple knowledge representation and belief maintenance system. \n walking through the Prolog code, the comments are enclosed in /* */ pairs [for general comments) or preceded by a % (for clarifying specific functions of the code). % The various possible teams are: t earns ([teamTchar I I e,bob) ,team(charl ie,a Ian), team (char I ie.dan) , team (bob, a I an), team (bob , dan) , team (a I an , dan ) ] ) . % Mike's opinions are: mikefcredibi ! i \y( assumpt ion ,3) , [opinion], []). mike(credibi I ity(bob,4) , [opinion], []). mikefcredibi I t tyfchar I le,3) , [opinion], []). mike(credibi I ity(dan,2), [opinion] , [1 ) . mike(credibi I i ty(a Ian, 1), [opinion ],[])• % Jack's opinions are: j ack ( t echn i ca I _competence( assumpt ion, 3) , [opinion] , []). jaekf technica Incompetence ( dan ,5) , [op in ion] , N) . jack(technical_competence(alan,4) ( [opinion], []). jackCteehn lea Incompetence (bob ,3), [opinion] , []). jack(technical_competence(char I ie,2) , [opinion] , []) . % Bob's opinions are: bob(can_work_wi th(no,bob f al an) , [opinion] , []). bob (can - work_with (yes, bob, char I ie), [opinion], []). bobfcan__work_wi th ( yes, bob, dan) , [opinion] , []) . bob(can_work_wi th(no,alan,charlie),[opinion],[]^. bob(can_work_with(yes, charl ie,dan), [opinion] , [ J ) . % Alan's opinions are: alan(can_work_with(yes , a Ian , bob) , [opinion], []). alan(can_work_wi thfyes , a I an, char I ie) , [op in ion] , []) . alan(can_work„with (yes, bob, char I ie), [opinion], []). % Charlie's opinions are: _ arl fefcan_work_wi thfyes, _. charl i e(can_work_wi th(yes ,a I a char I ie(can_work_wi thfyes.cha char I ie(can_work_wi th(yes,bob,cha charl le(can_work_wi th (yes, char I ie, a I an), [opinion], an , char I t e) , [op in ion] , char I ie(can_work_wi th (yes, char I ie,bob), [opinion], f ). r I ie) , [opinion J , [ J) . B: % Dan's opinions are: dan(can_work_wi th(yes ,dan , a I an) , [op in ion] , []) • dan(can_work„with(yes ( dan,bob), [opinion], []). dan(can_work_wi thfyes, dan ,charl ie), [opinion ],[]). dan(can_work_wi th(yes ,alan,charl ie), [opin i on ],[]). dan(can_work_wi th(no,alan,bob),[opinion],[]). /* The main predicate of the system is "decide." This is what a top-level manager, like Penelope in our story, would use to produce rankings for each of the possible teams for a given project. */ decide evaluate (mike, [bob, char I ie, a I an, dan]) , % generate Mike's view r a nk_t earns (Rank i ngs) , el I gf bl e(Rank ings ,EI igible), % determine eligible teams sort em (El igible, Sorted), els, reporter anks (Sorted), nl . The "eligible" predicate is a filter that applies a threshold criterion to each of the possible teams. [continued) MAKE YOUR PC SEEM LIKE AN AT! 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GA 30084 404-491-8044 Inquiry 401 HANDLING CONFLICTS % It discards those teams whose compatibility is below % the given threshold (specified as 3 in this case). eligible([],[]). eligible([team(P1,P2,R1,R2)|Teams],[team(P1,P2,R1,R2)|Es]) R1 >= 3, % teams with Compatibility 3 or higher are OK el igibleCTeams^s) . el igible([„|Teams] ,Es) :- % teams with low Compatibility we discard el igibl e(Teams,Es). % the "rank_teams" predicate produces rankings for each % of the teams based on both compatibility (according % to Mike) and competence (according to Jack). rank_teams(Rankings) :- els, wr i t e( 'Please wait while') wr i te( 'el igl b I e teams are ranked.'), teams(Teams) , % fetch the possible teams from the database rank em (Teams ,Rank ings). ■(!].[]}. i([te< rankemf rankem([team(P1 ,P2) | Teams] , [team(P1 ,P2,R1 ,R2) | Rank ings]) assess_compat ibi I ity(mike,P1,P2,R1), assess_competence( jack ,P1 ,P2,R2) , rankem (Teams ,Rank ings). report_ranksf []) . report_ranks([team(P1 ,P2,R1 ,R2) | Teams]) ;- report_ranking(P1 ,P2,R1 ,R2) , report_ranks(Teams). report_ranking(P1 ,P2,R1 ,R2) :~ n I ,wr i te( ' f or the team of ' ) ,wr i te(P1 ) , write(' and ' ) ,wr i te(P2) ,ni , wr i te( 'compat ibi I i ty (according to '), write('Mike) ~ > ' ) ,wr i te(R1 ) , writef' competence (according to '), write('Jack) — > ' ) ,wr i te(R2) ,n I . assess_competence(View,P1 ,P2,R) :- V1 =.. [jack , techn ical_competence(P1 ,R1 ),_,_] , V1, V2 =.. [ jack,technical_competence(P2,R2),_,_], V2, R is R1 + R2. % We do not assume that the compatibility relation % "can.work.with" is symmetric. That is, it may be % possible to have "can_work_wi th(yes , bob, char I ieV 1 % and yet also have "can_work_wi th(no ( char I ie,bob)" % Therefore, in assessing compatibility we look at % the relation going both ways and then take an average. assess_compat ibi I i ty(View,P1 ,P2,R) :- assessment (View.P1 ,P2,R12), assessment(View,P2,P1 ,R21), R is (R12+R21)//2. assessment(View,P1 ,P2, Result ) :- rank (View,can_work_with (yes, P1 ,P2) , Yes), rank(View,can_work_wi th(no,P1 ,P2) ,No) , Resu It is Yes - No. rank(View, Predicate, Rank) :- V =.. [View, Predicate, Sby,_], V, ana lyze(View,Sby ,Rank) . rank(_,_,0). 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Why should your valuable data or useful software program become available in the Public Domain? Call or write for more information. GLENCO ENGINEERING INC. SERVING THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY 3920 Ridge, Arlington Hts., IL 60004 (31 2) 392-2492 Telex 493-71 09 200 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 analyzed , [] ,0) . analyze(View, [Sby |Sbys],I) :- V = .. [View,credibi M ty(Sby ,W) ,_, J , V, analyze(View,Sbys ,11), I is 11 + W. /* Typical output for the "decide" predicate, when run with the database of workers' opinions about their mutual compatibility and their managers' evaluations, Is as follows: for the team of bob and dan compatibility (according to Mike) — > 3 competence (according to Jack) — > 8 for the team of char lie and dan compatibility (according to Mike) — > 3 competence (according to Jack) — > 7 for the team of char lie and bob compatibility (according to Mike) — > 5 competence (according to Jack) — > 5 */ /* Predicates to propagate "new" information */ % % % % The "evaluate" predicate cycles through a list of Persons and ascertains their opinion on the compatibility of the various workers. It installs these views in the View frame. evaluate(View, Persons) :-cis, wr i te('Piease wait for propagation of information.'), inv(View, Persons .Persons) . inv(_,[],_). i nv(V,[P | Ps], Persons) :- inv1(V,P, Persons), inv(V,Ps, Persons) . i nv inv i(v._,m. l(V.P f [P|F Ps]) :- nv1(V,P,Ps). inv1(V,P,[PP|Ps]) :- explore(V,P,PP, [bob, char I ie,a Ian , dan]), inv1(V,P,Ps). % The "explore" predicate determines who can work % with whom and propagates this information both % forward and backward. That is, for a given pair % of individuals it determines whether they can % work together according to the various Views and % for each of these views it manages both the % Supported_by and the Supports slots for the % "can_work_wi th" relation. explore(View,P1 ,P2, Views) :- gather^evidencefVf ew,can_work_withfyes,P1 ,P2) .Views), gather„evidence(View,can_work_with(no,P1 ,P2) .Views), assessment (View, P1 ,P2,Resu It). ga t he r_evidence (Checker .Predicate, Views) :- checkem(Checker .Predicate .Views ). checkem(_,_, []). checkem(Checker .Predicate, [V|Vs]) :- check (Checker ,V, Predicate) , checkem (Check er .Predicate, Vs ) . check(Checker ,View,Pred) :- V «.. [View,Pred,Sby,S], retract(V), update_v i ew( View, Pre d,Sby, Checker ,S) , % adjust what View supports HANDLING CONFLICTS update_checker(Checker ,View,Pred) . % adjust what Checker is supported_by check(_,_,_) . % this View does not support this Pred, no harm done. % Update the Support set for this Pred in this View updat e_v i ew( View, Pred, Sby, Check er,S) :- member (Checker ,S), % if already in Support set don't add it again V =.. [View.Pred.Sby.S], assert(V) . upda t e_v i ew(View,Pred,Sby, Check er,S) :- V ».. [View, Pred, Sby, [Checker |S]], assert(V). X Update the Supported_by set for this Pred in this View update_checker(Checker , View, Pred) :- C =.. [Checker, Pred, Sby, S], retract(C), % is Pred already supported_by other views? (member (View, Sby) , % is this View already recorded? assert(C) % yes, don't include again New_C =.. [Checker, Pred, [ViewjSby] ,S] , assert(New_C) )• updat e_checker (Checker , View, Pred) :- % Pred not supported by any C=.. [Checker, Pred, [View], []], % other views so far assert (C). % The "assume" predicate Is used in "what if" % processing. That is, the user can add % assumptions at any level and they will be % propagated through the system. For example, % Mike might find there is no information on % the compatibility of Alan and Dan. He can % then assume that is true: % assume ( mike, can_wor k_w i t h (yes , a I an , dan ) ) % and run the system to see what impact this % has on the team rankings. assume(View,Pred) :- update_checker (View.assumpt ion , Pred). /* Predicates to withdraw information */ % The "remove" predicate retracts Pred from the % given View. It also adjusts the Supported_by X set and the Supports set. It is used primarily X in "what if" processing. For example, Mike might % decide to discard Charlie's opinion on the % compatibility of Bob and Dan. He can do this % by issuing the command: % remove (char I ie ,can_work_wi th(yes , bob, dan)) % and then run the system to see the impact on the % team rankings. remove(View,Pred) :- V =.. [View, Pred, Sby, S], retract(V), adjust_Sby(View, Pred, Sby), adjust_S(View,Pred,S). adjust_Sby(_, _,[]). adjust_Sby(View,Pred, [assumpt ion|Sbys]) :- % if it was an assumption ad jus t_Sby (View, Pred, Sbys). % there nothing to go back to adjust_Sby(View,Pred, [Sby |Sbys]) :- [continued) The system lets you adjust to changing situations should new information become available. can make a reasonably good choice because all her subordinates have had some appropriate input in the selection process and she has taken into consideration both the com- patibility and competence criteria. What is more, she knows that she can adjust to changing situations quickly and logically should new information become available. For instance, if at a certain point of the project previous experience becomes significantly more important than innovation, she can raise Alan's competence weight over Dan's and run the systems through to see if the team will do bet- ter with Alan. Again, Alan's com- patibility rating will be considered along with his competence rating. The Implemented System The Decision Support System pro- gram in listing I implements the sim- ple belief maintenance system dis- cussed above. | Editor's note: The Prolog source code for the Decision Support System is available on disk, in print, and on BIX; see the insert card following page 3 52 for details. It is also available on BYTEnet: see page 4. The source code, in Arity Prolog, is compatible with any Prolog that supports Clocksin and Mellish's full standard (reference 7).] The system illustrates the repre- sentation of inconsistent and incom- plete knowledge as well as the prop- agation of beliefs through the various levels of the system. The first part of the program con- sists of the database as described in the body of this article, which can be changed and experimented with easi- ly. Next come the main driver of the program and the predicates used to propagate the addition and removal of information up and down the [continued) NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 201 HANDLING CONFLICTS V =.. [Sby, Pred, SSby.S], retract(V), ef face (View, S,New_S) , W=.. [Sby, Pred, SSby,New_S], assert(VV), adjust_Sby(View,Pred,Sbys) . adjust_Sf ,_,[]). adjust_S(View,Pred,[S|Ss]) :- V =.. [S,Pred,Sby,SS], retract(V), ef face(View,Sby,New_Sby) , check_empt y_Sby (S , Pr ed , New_Sby , SS) , adjust_S(View,Pred,Ss). % If Pred no longer has any Support under this % view then we had better adjust all other things % that depend on i t check_empty_Sby( View, Pred, [],S) :- adjust_S(View,Pred,S). check_emp ty_Sby (View, Pred, Sby ,S) :- % we still have a non-empty Sby V -.. [View, Pred, Sby, S], % so no problem upstream assert(V). /* Uti I ities */ % pretty print a Predicate according to a certain View ppr(View,Predicate/Ar i ty) :- functor(F,Predicate,Arity), V =.. [View, F, Sby, S], V, nl , write(F), n I , tab(5),wr i te('Supported_by : • ) ,wr i te(Sby) , nl ,tab(5),write( 'Supports: • ) ,wr i te(S) ,n I , fai I . ppr(_,_). % remove the first occurrence of an element from a list efface(A, [A ef facefA, [A ef face(A,rB memb memb sf facefA, f jf face(A, [ :>er(X,[X >er(X,L ]) :- !• L ,L) :- !. ,[B|M]) :- efface(A.L.M). }•- member(X,Y). % do quicksort sortem(List ,Resu I t) :- qsort(List ,Resu I t , []). qsort([H|T],S,X) :- split(H,T,A,B), qsort(A,S f [H|Y]), qsort(B,Y,X). qsort([],X,X). split(H,[A|X],[A|Y],Z) :- order(A.H), spl it(H,X,Y,2). split(H,[A|X],Y,[A|2]) :- split(H,X,Y,Z). split(_, [].[].[])- order(team(_,_,_,A), team(_,_,_,B)) :- A > B. /* End of program. */ hierarchy. Utility predicates are also included. In the database the general scheme for storing predicates under a given view is as follows: ((. . . . . .), < supported by > , < supports < ) where "supported by" and "sup- ports" are lists that refer to other views which support this predicate and which this predicate supports, re- spectively Note that we include the credibility and technical competence factors under Mike's and Jack's views, rather than making them stand-alone facts. In this way it is possible to use the "what if" mechanism (provided by the "assume" and "remove" predicates) to try various scenarios in which the fac- tors can be changed and their effects on the team rankings determined. Summary As we progress deeper into the infor- mation age, it becomes increasingly obvious that, in any decision-making process, what we need is not just more information but more intelli- gent techniques to obtain better, more pertinent, and accurate informa- tion. With artificial intelligence tech- niques, information processing can be augmented with capabilities to deal with incompleteness, inconsistency, uncertainty, different beliefs, views, and attitudes. ■ REFERENCES 1. Doyle. I.. "A Ituth Maintenance System," Artificial Intelligence, no. 12 (1979). pages 231-272. 2. McCarthy, I., "Circumscription— A Form of Non-monotonic Reasoning." Artificial In- telligence, no. 13 (1980). pages 27-39. 3. Reiter, R.. "A Logic for Default Reason- ing," Artificial Intelligence, no. 13 (1980J. pages 81-132. 4. de Kleer. I.. "An Assumption-based TMS." Artificial Intelligence, no. 28 (1986). pages 127-162. 5. Cuadrado, C, and J. Cuadrado. "Prolog Goes to Work." BYTE. August 1985. pages 151-158. 6. Shafer, G.. A Mathematical Theory of Evidence. Princeton University Press. 1976. 7. Clocksin. W. F'.. and C. S. Mellish, Program- ming in Prolog. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1981. 202 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Powerful MS-DOS Software. 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At the Holiday Special price of $250.00, it's a steal! To take advantage of these special prices, we must have your order in our offices by Jan. 15, 1987. To order, call or write: 1-800-952-0472 (for orders) or 1-317-255-6476 (tech. info.) Ecosoft Inc. 6413 N. College Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46220 Trademarks: Ecosoft: Microstat, Eco-C88; Microsoft: MSDOS: New Orleans General Data Services: Flexi-Graph 206 BYTE ■ NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 117 REPRESENTING KNOWLEDGE THE ART OF DEDUCTION BY J.-G Emond and A. Paulissen A simple program that demonstrates the deductive power of Prolog ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is a grow- ing science and the present literature refers more frequently to real-world problems and less to the domain of games. However, many logic puzzles or games can still be used for il- lustrative purposes. In this article, we present Watson, a Prolog program for an n-person. zero-sum game with im- perfect information, based on the game CLUEDO. | Editor's note: CLUEDO is a registered trademark of J. Haddington] CLUEDO uses an unusual set of playing cards that evokes the context of a detective investigating a crime. The game has three kinds of cards: suspects (potential murderers), loca- tions (places where a murder might have been committed), and weapons (murder weapons). When preparing to play the game, a referee draws, in a random fashion, one card of each type from the com- plete deck. During the game these three cards, which define the murderer, the location, and the weapon used, are kept in a box con- trolled by the referee. The remaining cards are divided at random among the competitors. Players then take turns, and each player has two op- tions: question the next player or for- mulate an accusation. A question has a fixed structure and is composed of the names of one suspect, one location, and one weapon. If the player addressed has some of the named cards, that player must show one of these to the ques- tioner (and only the questioner). If the player addressed has none of the named cards, the questioner will ad- dress the next player, and so on, until one card has been shown to the original questioner or until all of the players have been addressed. At this point, the active player may also formulate an accusation by nam- ing a suspect, a location, and a weapon card. The referee checks the accusation against the cards hidden in the box. If the accusation proves to be completely correct, the player has won the game. If the accusation contains a fault, the player is elimin- ated; however, the player will continue to answer the questions of the other players. Problem Characteristics In a game like CLUEDO. players have to cope with three very distinct prob- lems. The first is keeping track of the partial knowledge that emerges dur- ing the game. Each player has to re- member this information in a suitable form for future use. The second prob- lem is deciding which questions should be asked to solve the crime as soon as possible. The third problem is exploiting the information available, to decide whether an accusation can be safely formulated. Generally, players deal with prob- lems two and three by building hy- potheses, checking them against facts to validate or invalidate them, and building new hypotheses, Program- ming such a strategy with a pro- cedural programming language would require significant effort to administer the tree of hypotheses and their validation status. In Prolog, however, the hypotheses are handled automat- ically by the backtracking mechanism. The program has only to manage the monotonically increasing knowledge of proven facts. The Prolog program Watson simulates the reasoning of a CLUEDO player and could be used for giving advice to one of the players. The pro- [continued) J.-G Emond (Brugmann Ave. 488. 1180 Brussels, Belgium) is a project manager for Philips. A. Paulissen, D.R.S. (I.H.B.O.. AFD. HTS-I, Eindhoven, Holland), is a professor of computer science. NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 207 ART OF DEDUCTION gram not only has to answer ques- tions by combining known facts, but it also has to generate the best ques- tions for the player to ask to improve his or her position. Similar situations exist in many ex- pert systems that interact with humans, such as diagnostic systems. To have an efficient dialog the expert system must select the next question carefully in order to converge most rapidly upon the solution. A possible extension to Watson would be to create various versions that compete with each other, possibly with one human player. Our primary purpose here is to demonstrate the use of Prolog for such a project. In doing so, we'll use the Prolog syntax of W. F. Clocksin and C. S. Mellish from their book, Pro- gramming in Prolog (Springer-Verlag, ^ Amounting 2 Hew BYTE CottectorPrints by RobertTinney. Limited Edition Classics We are proud to announce the annual release of two new 16" x 20" BYTE Magazine Cover Art reproductions by renowned BYTE artist Robert Tinney. Only 1,000 of these flawless Collector Edition Classics will be produced, on acid-free 100% cotton fiber stock to ensure that they will keep their brilliance and quality over the years without cracking or yellowing. The color separations for these sumptuous prints are made directly from the original paintings, guaranteeing absolutely faithful reproduction of every subtle nuance present in the originals. Each is individually inspected, signed and numbered by the artist, and accompanied by a handsome Certificate of Authenticity (also signed and numbered). The plates are then destroyed, and no future editions of any size or number will ever be published. The price of these magnificent limited editions is just $55, or $45 each if you order two or more. Your prints will be shipped flat by UPS Blue Label (2-day delivery) and carry an unconditional 30-day guarantee. Order today! Order Form Please send me the following Limited Edition BYTE Collector Prints at $55 ($45 each for 2 or more): Qty. Title Amount $ $4 Postage & handling ($15 overseas) $_ TOTAL: $_ I enclose my □ check D money order payable to Robert Tinney Graphics; or. bill: D MasterCard □ VISA D American Express card # Expires: NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP D Please send me your FREE color catalog. VISA. MasterCard or American Express orders, call 1-504-272-7266 ROBERT TINNEY GRAPHICS 1864 N. Pamela Drive Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70815 l 1981), to develop a simple program. Interested readers can add embellish- ments to the user interface, change the number of players, introduce more elaborate strategies, or create versions for different implementations of Prolog. For those interested in a complete program with user interface, we have developed a version of Wat- son in micro-PROlJOG 1.21. The Knowledge Base The knowledge base for our program has to hold game-independent and game-dependent knowledge. Game- independent knowledge includes definitions of the elements of the game, their constraints, and the stra- tegic rules that must be applied to win. Game-dependent knowledge in- cludes the facts that emerge during the current game. To begin with, the knowledge base holds facts about the names of the players. For now, we simply call them p1, p2, and p3. By convention, p1 is the program itself or the person using the program. Similarly, we will represent the suspect cards by s1 through s6, the location cards by 11 through 19 (i.e., a lowercase L, followed by a number from I to 9), and the weapon cards by w1 through w6. To express that a player may be p1, p2, or p3 we can write in Prolog player(P) :- (P=p1); (P=p2); (P=p3). An alternative and terser expres- sion, using the list features of Prolog, may be player(P) :- member(R[p1,p2 I p3]). provided that you include the classical membership function member(X,[X|_]). member(X,[_|Y]):- member(XX). That is, X is a member of the indicated set if X equals the first element or if X is a member of the rest of the set. Using the same mechanism, we will express that C is a card if C is of type suspect or of type location or of type weapon by writing card(C) :- type(C.suspect). and C is of type suspect if C is a [continued) 208 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 ART OF DEDUCTION member of the set [s1 , s2, s3, s4, s5, s6]. as expressed by type(Csuspect):- member(C,[s1 ,82,83,84,85,86]). These rules for suspect cards and similar ones for location and weapon cards are given at the beginning of listing I. TWo rules of the game constrain the card partition: the number of cards received by each player and the number of cards hidden in the box. In our simple system with three players and 21 cards, each player receives six cards, and the solution box contains only one card of each type. Game-dependent Knowledge We must represent the information that emerges during the game. This in- cludes, to start with, the cards that p1 (the person using the system) has received (such as s3, w2. w5. and so on). This knowledge is maintained by the system as the facts has(p1,s3). has(p1,w2). has(p1,w5). and so on. Note that Watson does not know, at first, what cards are held by players p2 and p3. During the game, however, new facts about these players owning a specific card (or not owning a specific card) may emerge and be inserted into the knowledge base. First, we will get new facts when, following a question, a player (pi) shows a card (cj) to the player using the system, who will add the fact has(pi.cj). to the Watson knowledge base. If a player cannot show any of the three cards requested by the program, player p1 must insert three facts of the type has not(pi.cj). into the knowledge base. When a player shows a card upon the request of a player other than p1 , we know that this player must have at least one of the three requested cards. Therefore. p1 will insert into the knowledge base a fact of the type has at least one of three (pi.cj.ck.cl). Finally, when a player requests three cards, we can normally assume that the player does not have any of the requested cards. Otherwise, the re- quest would not provide any new in- formation. This assumption has its drawbacks: If a player requests, ac- cidentally or by guile, to see three cards he or she holds, the program will fail to produce the solution! Nevertheless, in general we will have p1 add to the knowledge base a fact of the type has not all three(pi,cj,ck,cl). Strategy As we have pointed out, the knowl- edge base will also contain the rules. The rules represent the strategic knowledge that the program needs to make inferences as an expert player would. Strategies are in general hard to come by. but in this case, we think (continued) Listing l : The source code for the simple version of Watson developed in this article. player(P):- member(P, [p1,p2,p3]). type(C, suspect):- member(C, [s1 ,s2,s3,s4,s5,s6]). typefC, location):- member(C, [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19]). type(C, weapon):- member(C, [w1 ,w2, w3,w4,w5,w6]) . cardfCj:- typefC, suspect) . card(C):- type(C, locat ion) . card(C):- type(C, weapon) . may_be_ln_the_box(C) :- cardfC), not (owns(p1 ,C)), not (owns(p2,C)), not (owns(p3,C)), not (( type(C,T), type(C1,T), not (C=C1), I s_l n_the_box(C1 ) ) ) . ls_ln_the_box(C):- owns_not(p1 ,C), owns_not(p2,Cl , owns_not(p3,C) . owns_not(P,C):- has_not (P,C). owns_notfp1 ,C):- not (has(p1,C)). owns_not(P,C):- (has_not_both(P,C,C1 ) ; has_not_both(P,C1,C) ), has(P,C1), asserta( has_not(P,C) ). owns(P,C}:- has(P,C). owns(P,C):- (has_at_l east_one(P,C,C1 ) ; has_at_least_one(P,C1 ,C) ), has_not(P,C1), asserta( has(P,C) ). has_at_least_one(P,C1 ,C2):- (has_at_least_one_of_three(P,C,C1 ,C2); has_at_l east_one_of_three(P,C1 ,C,C2^ ; has_at_least_one_of_three(P,C1,C2,C)), has_not(P,C). ask(C):- may_be_in_the_box(C) , !. request(C1 ,C2,C3):- type(C1 .suspect) , askfCH, type(C2, location), ask(C2), type(C3, weapon) , ask(C3). membe membe &I!MJ;- member(X,Y) . NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 209 ART OF DEDUCTION The order of the rules in a Prolog program is vital to its semantics. that a few strategies are sufficient to beat most human players. However, we don't claim completeness and realize that you could elaborate and implement other strategic tricks. Player p1 is confronted with two questions. The first is, "Do I have enough information to formulate an accusation?" In other words, "Can I deduce, using the current facts, which three cards are hidden in the box? If the answer to this question is no, which request will bring me informa- tion to formulate an accusation before the other players?" These two ques- tions are related to the following basic ones: 1. When is it proved that a specific card is in the box? 2. When is it proved that a player does not own a specific card? 3. When is it proved that a player does not own two specific cards? 4. When is it proved that a player owns a specific card? 5. When is it proved that a player owns at least one of two specific cards? 6. Finally, which cards should the pro- gram tell player I to ask for? We will present the rules designed to answer these questions, first in plain English and then in Prolog. "When is it proved that a specific card C is in the box?" The answer is very straightforward: If it can be shown that none of the players owns this card, the card must be in the box. That is, if it can be shown that p1 does not own card C, p2 does not own card C, and p3 does not own card C, then C must be in the box. In Prolog, we say is in the box(C) :- owns not(p1,C), owns not(p2,C), owns not(p3,C). Here we have introduced the predicate owns not which brings us to the second question: "When is it proved that a player does not own a specific card?" If the fact has not(pi,cj) is already present in the knowledge base, the proof is trivial: owns_not(RC) :- has_not(RC). We introduced the predicate owns not (which looks so similar to has not) instead of just using has not in the rule is in the box to prevent Prolog from entering endless looping in the following clauses. Then owns and has have the same meaning, but we always prove "ownership" by using "having" arguments and never the other way round. Regarding player p1, Watson can easily prove that he or she does not own a specific card by looking at the cards p1 does hold. If there is no has(p1,cj) fact in the knowledge base, it is proved that p1 does not own cj. In Prolog, this would be owns_not(p1,C) :- not (has(p1,C)). Let's remember here the difference between has not(pi.cj). which means that it is proved, as a fact or by deduction from facts, that player pi does not have the card cj. and not (has(pi.cj)). which means that Prolog cannot prove. using current facts, that player pi has the card cj. When all cards of a player pi are known (and only then), we have owns not(pi.C) :- not (has(pi.C)). as we did for p1 above. The condition "all cards of pi are known" could become true for any player during the game, but for the sake of simplicity we introduce the rule only for p1, because for this player the condition is true from the beginning of the play. How can we answer the second question, "When is it proved that a player does not own a specific card?" for the players other than p1 and using the facts emerging during the game? If we have shown that a player does not own both of two specific cards and we have shown that he or she does own one of them, we have proved that the player cannot own the other one. In Prolog, this would be owns not(RC) :- (has_noL_both(RC,C1) ; has_noL_both(RC1,C) ), has(RC1). Note the similarity between the fact has_not_both(RC,C1) and the fact has_not_both(RC1,C) in the sub- goal of this rule. Here we are merely telling Prolog that the given facts are equivalent. We have now introduced three rules containing owns not. How does Prolog know that it must not use the second rule, owns not(p1,C) :- not(has(p1 ,C). for players p2 and p3? This is accomplished by the unifi- cation mechanism of Prolog: owns not(p2,C), for example, just doesn't match the rule for owns not(p1,C). so Prolog will not try it. On the other hand, how does Pro- log know that it should use the first owns not rule first, and only when this rule fails should it go on to the second and third owns not rules? Here we see that the order of the rules in a Prolog program is vital to its semantics. In the logical formula- tion of a given problem the order of the clauses doesn't matter: in a Pro- log program it most certainly does! Prolog always starts from the top try- ing to satisfy goals and continues downward as they fail. In the third owns not rule we in- troduced the has not both predi- cate. This predicate relates to the third question, "When is it proved that a player does not own two specific cards?" The answer: When a player does not own all of three specific cards and it is known that he or she does own one of them, the player can- not hold both of the other two. Thus, in Prolog we can say has_not_both(RC1,C2) :- ( has_not_all_three(RC,C1,C2); h as_not_all_th ree(RC1 ,C,C2); has_noLall_three(RC1,C2,C) ), has(RC). We will not introduce a rule for has not all three only because [continued) 210 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 © Eastman Kodak Company, 1986 91919 W used to take up to $1 5,( and a video technician to protect real-time t*C images. flow anybody can da it m five minutes for 1. Plug the unit into your PC. 2. Place it on your overhead projector. 3. Begin your real-time presentation. New KODAK DATASHOW System Just think of all the applications. Call for details: 1800 44KODAK,Ext865 (1800 445-6325, Ext 865) The DATASHOW System is used with an IBM PC or 100% compatible computer. ; *Price shown is Kodak's suggested price only. Actual selling price is deter- mined by dealer. Eastman Kodak Company . Motion Picture and Audiovisual Products Division '■.inquiry;: 3 : %V '."■/'■ -".!' mk ART OF DEDUCTION Clearly, the program should have player 1 request cards that it believes, given its current knowledge, may be in the box. has_not_all_three(RC,C1,C2) is a fact that is inserted into the knowl- edge base during the game, as we have pointed out before, when a player shows no cards in response to a question. This brings us to the fourth ques- tion. "When is it proved that a player owns a specific card?" When the card has been shown or when we know that a player owns at least one of two specific cards and we know also that he or she does not own one of them, then clearly the player must hold the other one. In Prolog we can say owns(RC) :- has(RC). owns(RC) :- (has_at_least_one(RC,C1); has_at_least_one(RC1 ,C)), has_not(RC1). Now we will define a rule for the predicate has at least one. intro- duced above. We must answer the fifth question. "When is it proved that a player owns at least one of two specific cards?" If we can show that a player has at least one of three specific cards and at the same time that he or she cannot own one of them specifically, then he or she must own at least one of the two other cards. In, Prolog, that would be has_at_least_one(RC1,C2) :- (has at least one of three (RCC1.C2); has at least one of three (RC1.CC2); has at least one of three (RC1.C2.C)), has_not(RC). Again, we will not define a rule for has at least one of three be- cause that is a fact, inserted into the knowledge base during the game. We will now focus on the actions of the system as it advises player p1 dur- ing his or her turn. Clearly the pro- gram should have p1 request cards that it believes, given its current knowledge, may be in the box. A card may be in the box when the program hasn't enough information to tie it to one of the players and when the pro- gram knows of no other card of the same type that is in the box. In Pro- log, we can express that as m ay be i n the box(C) : - card(C), not (owns(p1,C)), not (owns(p2,C)), not (owns(p3,C)), not (( type(CT), type(C1,T). not (C=C1), is_in_the__box(C1))). Note that Prolog unifies the type T in type(C,T),type(C1,T). Now we can answer the final ques- tion. "Which card should the program tell player pi to ask for?" He or she should ask for a card that may be in the box. as shown in the code by ask(C) :- may be in the box(C). Here, it might be best to use the fact that the program probably has the most information about player p2 (the next player in the rotation of the game), but we have not added this, for the sake of simplicity. The program must request to see three cards, each of a different type. So we have, in Prolog request(C1,C2,C3) :- type(C1 .suspect), ask(C1), type(C2 1 location),ask(C2) 1 type(C3,weapon), ask(C3). Prolog Rules We have mentioned before that the order of the rules in a Prolog program matters. This means that you must consider how Prolog solves a prob- lem. A more serious difficulty arises when the program is running too slowly, as in many cases it will do when using a Prolog interpreter. Then you are faced with the purely tech- nical although important problem of speeding things up. One way is to commit Prolog to its previous conclu- sions. We will give two examples in the program we have written up to now. In the owns rule, we establish the fact that a player owns a certain card. Once Prolog has done this, it should never have to bother to establish this fact again. To accomplish this we ex- tend the owns rule by the predicate asserta( has(RC) ). which will effectively add the fact has(RC) to the knowledge base. Hav- ing ordered the owns rule the right way. Prolog will always first determine whether it has an appropriate previ- ously asserted fact in its knowledge base before trying the other rule. The same remarks apply to the owns not rule, which will be extended with asserta( has not(RC) ). Therefore we present new versions for these rules: owns(RC) :- (has_at_least_one(RC,C1); has_at_Jeast_one(RC1 ,C), has_not(RC1), asserta( has(RC) ). owns not(RC) :- (has_nol_both(RC,C1) ; has_not_both(RC1,C) ), has(RC1). asserta( has not(RC) ). To commit Prolog to choices it has made within a rule we must use Pro- log's cut mechanism, implemented via a trailing exclamation point. We have an example in the request rule. Once Prolog has found a suitable card to ask of the suspect type, it should never go back on this choice when it is trying to find suitable cards to ask of the location and weapon types. This means that we must force Pro- log to skip the ask(C) goal when back- tracking. So we have as a new version of the ask rule: ask(C):- may be in the box(C), !. Using the System Before using the simple version of Watson described here (and shown in listing 1). you must invoke the Prolog interpreter and then load the pro- gram. After this, you have two possi- ble actions: adding facts to the knowl- edge base and getting advice from the system. [continued) 212 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 Business Tools Introduces Reality Pricing J rc Relational Database rc 4th Generation Language Fa Screen Painter re Program Generator re Report Writer re Source Code Editor re Runtime Compiler ] Reality Pricing means real features + real savings. TAS-Plus just made it faster, easier and cheaper to build database appiications. 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The following are registered trademarks of these companies: TAS-Plus, The Accounting Solution, Business Tools, Inc; IBM PC/XT/AT, International Business Machines Corp; In irv c£ ® Copyright 1986 Business Tools, Inc NOT COPY-PROTECTED iCJi Rush me the following items. Shipping add S8 USA, S25 outside USA WA res add S5.59 Tax Price $69 Shipping Tax Amount Enclosed . (I'S funds only) Subtotal Shipping Address: , VISA MC Credit Card Expiration Date: Card Number: Name on Card: BUSINESS TOOLS INC. 4038-B I28th Ave. S.E., Suite 266 Bellevue, Washington 98006 (206) 644-2015 VISA ■ (MasterCard ART OF DEDUCTION Two elegant aspects of Prolog are well illustrated by the Watson example, backtracking and the use of variables. Before starting the game, you must insert facts about your cards (pi's cards) into the knowledge base, using the asserta predicate asserta( has(p1,s3) ). asserta( has(p1,w2) ). and so on. During the game, you may insert new facts into the knowledge base. When a player cannot respond to a given request, you may add three has not facts, as in asserta( has not(p2,s3) ). asserta( has not(p2J4) ). asserta( has not(p2,w1) ). When a player responds to a request from you, you can add one has fact, such as asserta( has (p2,s4) ). When a player responds to a request of another player, you may insert a has at least one of three fact, as in asserta( has at least one of three (p3.s3J7.w4) )• When a player (e.g., p2) other than yourself (p1) makes a request, you can add one has not all three fact about that player to the knowledge base, as in asserta( has not all three (p2,s3,l2,w5) ). To get advice from the system when it is your (pTs) turn, you should enter the goal request(Cl,C2,C3). The program will instantiate C1, C2, and C3 to, respectively, a suspect, a location, and a weapon that may be in the box. Early in the game, there may be many possible combinations of three cards in the box, and Prolog will present you with all of them, if you desire, usually by asking if you want to see more. You present player p2 with one of these requests and, depending on the response from p2 (and possibly p3), you may then enter new has or has not facts, as above. Eventually the program will suggest three cards for you to request, none of which is held by any player, and these are the cards that must be in the box. Finally, you may ask questions about the state of the game. To see, for instance, what facts the system has derived, you ask Prolog to satisfy the goal listing(has). and the program will present a list of which player is known to have which card. The Pros and Cons of Prolog TWo particularly elegant aspects of Prolog are well illustrated by the Wat- son example, namely, backtracking and the use of variables. The back- tracking frees the programmer from coding the search through the tree of hypotheses and from the related ad- ministration. The use of variables allows a terse formulation of the pro- gram constraints. Three less attractive aspects of Pro- log have also been encountered in the Watson exercise. The first is the danger of loops, which forced us to introduce the unnatural distinction between has and owns. We quote from the book by Clocksin and Mellish mentioned earlier: "Don't assume that, just because you have provided all the relevant facts and rules, Prolog will always find them. You must bear in mind when you write Prolog programs how Prolog searches through the database and what vari- ables will be instantiated when one of your rules is used." The second aspect is related to the fact that Prolog only accepts Horn clauses (no. disjunctions in the left part). This restriction, which permits the Prolog system to pursue goals ef- ficiently, is sometimes frustrating and leads to the necessity of describing the problem in a more complex way. For instance, in Watson the clause has at least one of th ree is required only because we are not per- mitted to write it as a fact with disjunc- tions, as in has(pi.cj); has(pi.cj'); has(pi,cj"). The third less attractive aspect is related to quantitative aspects of the problem. In the approach described in this article, Prolog investigates deeply the known facts and their con- sequences, avoiding useless ques- tions. It would be more complicated to make Prolog compare various questions, deciding which one is the best, that is, providing a maximum of information to p1 and a minimum of information to the other players. The concept of entropy can be useful in this respect. The less attractive aspects of using Prolog could be at least partially over- come by incorporating a loop-detect- ing and escape feature; a preprocess- ing step, transforming some non-Horn clauses into Prolog clauses; and a tight link to procedural programming languages. By a tight link we mean the ability to call Prolog from the procedural language and vice versa and to have an efficient transfer of data (the current instantiation of the variables) between both program parts. There is a trend to incorporate these functions into Prolog environ- ments. In our opinion this is an important aspect of the usefulness of Prolog. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors would like to thank D Connah and A. Weaver for their interest- ing suggestions and for reviewing this article. Editor's note: Watson is available on disk, in print, and on BIX (or the IBM PC and compatibles using DOS 2 . 1 . See the insert card following page 352 for details. This pro- gram is also available on BYTEHet. See page 4. Listing 1 is available as WATSON. PRO, and you will need a Prolog interpreter to use it. A more complete version of Watson, with menu-driven user interface, is also available. You will need micro-PROlOG 1.21 to run this version of Watson, or you can adapt it to work with another Prolog interpreter, m 214 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Find out how good Business Class can be. TWM ?$?&& # qsaob; IX t % TWA AND AMERICAN EXPRESS MEAN BUSINESS. Discover the _,mm ~~" peace of mind that comes with TWAk airport Express® service. TWA recommends you reserve and pay for your tickets ahead of time with the American Express® Card, and get your boarding passes even before you get to the airport. Plus, Business Class travelers enjoy many other special services like priority luggage drop-off and pick-up. YOUR COMFORT IS OUR BUSINESS* TWA goes to great lengths and widths to ensure your comfort with extra leg and shoulder room. 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Can e With TO the trigge fron adrl to adr2. bit addresses the so trigger on 20 bi will occur on the 3. LOG modes LOG TO PRINT LOG TO FILE PRINTER NHI VECTOR SHI VECTOR off on off inactive active ADR DATA 0000 31FE18 LD SP.TOP_STAK 0000 31F: 0003 DD213412 LD IX. 1234 0003 DD2 0007 FD217856 LD IY.5678 0007 FDZ 0O0B 210019 LD HL.1900 000B 210 OOOE 3600 LD (HL),0 000E 360 1900 00 write 0010 34 0010 34 INC ), and a right-hand side (RHS). The LHS has a number of patterns called condition [continued) Leonard Moskowitz (0-7 5 Morlot Ave.. Fair Lawn, NJ 07410) heads a research and de- velopment group that applies artificial in- telligence technology to the problems of maintenance and diagnostics at Allied Cor- poration's Bendix Test Systems Division. He is currently working toward a PH.D. in com- puter science at Rutgers. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 217 RULE-BASED PROGRAMMING elements. The RHS has a number of actions. If the LHS patterns are matched, or satisfied, the RHS actions are executed. You can think of a pro- duction as an IF. . .THEN rule, with the LHS corresponding to the IF part and the RHS to the THEN part. Listing I contains an example of a simple OPS5 rule that translates into English as follows (note that the at- tributes are those preceded by the symbol *): • This production's title is I'm-cold. IF • working memory has an element that has as its contents the class name temperature and the attribute value that has the value cold (call that ele- ment local-temperature), and • there is another element in working memory that has as its contents the class name window and the attribute state that has the value open (call this (literalize house address size-of-property number-of -rooms type-of-heating taxes-per-year asking-price) Figure la: A literalization. element open-window), THEN • modify the element called local- temperature by modifying the value of the attribute value to getting- warmer?, and • modify the element called open- window by changing the value of its attribute state to closed, and • tell the world that you were cold and closed the window. OPS5 keeps information in two places: production memory, which holds all the productions, and work- ing memory, which holds the data against which the LHSs are matched. The elements in working memory are time-tagged: The most recent addition has the highest time tag. In traditional procedural languages like C, Pascal or BASIC, program con- trol can be transferred via condi- tionals, subroutine calls, function calls, and explicit directions. If none of these is present, the program exe- cutes sequentially. In OPS 5, however, productions can be entered in any se- quence. Regardless of where you place a production in the program, it will be executed when the conditions defined in its LHS are satisfied best by the data in working memory. The control mechanism that deter- mines execution order is called the match-resolve-act cycle. The match part identifies the conflict set, those productions that match the current (house 1402_Main_Street 1/2-acre 7 oil/gas $1500 $120k) Figure lb: An instance of the literalization. Listing I: A simple OPS5 production. (p I'm-cold S (temperature ^va I ue cold) | (window ^state open) | — > (modify ~value get ting-warmer?) ! modify ^state closed) write (crlf) |Brrr! I was cold so I closed the window. |)) state of working memory. Since the conflict set may include more than one production, the conflict resolver selects the one production that is satisfied best and arranges for that production to act, or fire— that is, to execute its RHS. The ability to add productions to a program without worrying about where to put them is one of the nicest features of OPS 5. Production systems try to isolate the knowledge required to do a task from the way that knowl- edge is applied to teach a program what to know rather than what to do. They don't always succeed in separat- ing the knowledge from the control, but OPS5 does a much better job of it than the traditional procedural languages. A Deeper Look Literalization. In OPS5, the only ac- tual structures are the working mem- ory elements, which typically take the form of a class name followed by the values of the class's various attributes. A literalize statement is used to declare the class. Figure la shows a literalization from a hypothetical ex- pert system for real estate agents. It contains a class house with six at- tributes: address, size-of-property, number-of -rooms, type-of-heating, taxes-per-year, and asking-price. While the production system is ex- ecuting, working memory may con- tain many instances of this class that vary only in the values bound to the attributes. Figure lb shows one in- stance of this literalization. OPS5 also requires that you declare references to external functions or subroutines. This declaration uses the name of the function or subroutine as an argument to the keyword external. T^e Left-hand Side. The LHS of a production consists of patterns called condition elements, each of which consists of an opening parenthesis, some number of terms, and a closing parenthesis. The terms are typically class names followed by attribute- value pairs (as defined in the literalize statements). An attribute is usually de- noted by a preceding * symbol. For example, in listing 1. the class name is temperature, the attribute is "value, {continued) 218 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Wh et Complete Monographic 10 MHz AT Compatible System tifMono monitor ^Display card Gr*67% Faster than IBM AT ^10/6/8 MHz switchable er 512KB memory GJ'Dual HD/Floppy controller sf 1.2MB High capacity drive ef Fully IBM BIOS compatible 0" CMOS clock/calendar ef 200 watt power supply You're L Chapter 1 $1395 AT style keyboard One Year Limited warranty FCC class 'B' approved Designed, Manufactured and serviced in U.S.A. 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You can match the contents of work- ing memory in various ways: You can make an exact match by using a con- stant value or a bound variable (a variable with an assigned value); you can match any value by using an un- bound variable (a variable that doesn't yet have an assigned value); and you can place limits on the values you will match by using any of the seven predicates (the logical opera- tors <,<=,>=.>,<>,=, and < = >) combined with the disjunc- tion (<<...>>) and conjunction ({ . . . }) operators. You can also match the absence of an element. T>iE Right-hand Side. Once the LHS is satisfied and the production is selected to fire, the production's RHS executes. The RHS consists of a se- quence of actions (see table 2). These actions can add, delete, and modify elements in working memory, open and close files, perform input and out- put, assign values to variables, call user-defined procedures, and halt the program. In some implementations, an action can add productions to the program, thus allowing self -modifying, or learning, programs. Each action consists of an opening parenthesis, the action's name, its arguments, and a closing parenthesis. The arguments can be element des- ignators that provide a way for an RHS action to refer to the working memory element that a particular LHS condition element matches. (In listing 1, local-temperature and open- window are element designators.) An action's arguments can also be pat- terns similar to LHS condition ele- ments. These patterns may contain variables that must be resolved into values and function references that must return a value before the RHS action executes. When these are re- solved, the evaluated pattern is called the result element. Table 3 lists the functions that OPS5 provides. They can extract pieces of a condition element for an RHS action to use. do arithmetic computation, and read input from a variety of Table 1: The LHS pattern operators. Name Description Variable The first time a variable is used in a production, it is bound to the working memory value it matches. Every subsequent time it is used in the same production, it matches the value previously bound. Disjunction Any of the values enclosed in pointed double brackets (<<...>>) is an acceptable match. Conjunction The working memory value must match all the items in the curly brackets ({ . . .}). = Matches a value exactly. < > The working memory value may be anything but the argu- ment of this operator. <= > The working memory value must be the same type— numeric or symbolic— as the argument to this operator: <,<=,> = ■> The working memory value must be, respectively, less than, less than or equal to, greater than or equal to, or greater than the argument to this operator. // The symbol used as an argument will be matched literally and not evaluated. Table 2: The RHS actions. Name Description make Creates a new working memory element. remove Removes an element from working memory. modify Changes one or more values in a working memory element. openfile Opens a file for either reading or writing and associates a name with it. closefile Closes the file associated with the argument. default Sets the default file or stream used for input, output, and trace information. write Writes output to a designated stream or file. call Invokes user-written subroutines. halt Stops the interpreter from firing further productions once the current one has completed. bind Binds a variable to a value. cbind Binds a variable to the last working memory element created by this production. build Adds a new production to working memory. sources. Functions also return their should fulfill certain basic needs. First, results into the result element. Resolving Conflicts A conflict resolver should be simple, efficient, and straightforward and a particular production/working-mem- ory-elements match, an instantiation, shouldn't fire over and over again. This would be equivalent to getting stuck in a very tight loop. You can 220 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 RULE-BASED PROGRAMMING Example Explanation < < yes no maybe > > The matched value must be either yes, no, or maybe. {>10 <20} The matched value must be greater than 10 and less than 20. = 3 The matched value must be 3. (This is the same as just using 3 without the =.) <>3 The matched value may be anything but a 3. < = > 123 < = > ABC The matched value must be a number. The matched value must be symbolic. >= 42 The matched value must be greater than or equal to 42. <0 The matched value must be a negative number. // The matched value must be and not the value bound to the variable . Example Explanation (make house "price $120k) Adds this element to working memory. (remove 1 ) Removes the working memory elements that have been bound to the element designators 1 and < ranch >. (modify < ranch > "type Modifies the type attribute of the working element that modern) is bound to < ranch >. (openfile testfile |test.asm| out) Opens a file named test.asm for writing and assigns the name testfile to it. (closefile testfile) Closes the file associated with testfile. (default nil trace) Uses the user's terminal to display trace information. (write testfile (crlf) |Hi!|) (call calculate) (halt) (bind 3) (cbind ) (build a-new-one (3) (10) — > (halt)) Writes a new line with the string Hi! to the file associated with testfile. Invokes the user-written subroutine entitled calculate. Binds the variable to the number 3 Binds the variable to the last element added to working memory. Builds a new production called a-new-one that matches a 3 and a 10 and halts. either exclude an instantiation from ever firing more than once— OPS5's method— or ensure that it can't fire twice in a row. Second, execution should stick to one task at a time and not switch tasks needlessly. In effect there should be an attention mecha- nism. OPS5 gives preference to those instantiations that include the most re- cent additions to working memory. In this way, attention stays focused, and simple sequential execution can be implemented if necessary. Third, the more specific productions should be preferred over the less specific ones, ensuring that the rule that best fits a particular situation will fire. Finally when none of these strategies applies, you need a rule to fall back on. OPS5 selects a production arbitrarily from the conflict set. OPS5 has two conflict-resolution strategies that fulfill these needs but differ slightly in detail: LEX and MEA. LEX is simpler than MEA, but MEA provides more explicit execution con- trol than LEX. The choice of which to use depends on the application. The LEX strategy first discards from the conflict set all instantiations that have previously fired. If none remains, control returns to the top level. If more than one remain. LEX selects the most recent instantiations. If more than one are selected, LEX chooses the most specific. If more than one still remain, it arbitrarily picks one. The MEA strategy has one more step. It first discards from the conflict set all instantiations that have previ- ously fired. If none remains, control returns to the top level. If more than one remain, MEA compares the recen- cy of the working memory elements that satisfy the first condition element of the instantiations and selects the most recent instantiations. It then chooses the most recent instantia- tions considering the entire LHSs (not just the first condition element). If more than one remain, MEA selects the most specific. If more than one still remain, it arbitrarily picks one. Pattern Matching The pattern matcher is the heart of OPS 5. Estimates of the execution time spent in the match phase are as high as 90 percent of the total so optimiz- ing the match algorithm pays high dividends. OPS5 uses the Rete match algorithm, written by Charles Forgy, in which each pattern in a production maintains a list of the elements that satisfy it. When you add an element to working memory, you also add it to the lists of all the patterns that match it. When you remove an ele- ment from working memory, you re- move it from those lists as well. The [continued] NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 221 RULE-BASED PROGRAMMING lists are retained between match- resolve-act cycles. Therefore, you never have to evaluate the entire con- tents of working memory. To implement the Rete match algo- rithm. OPS5 uses a tree-structured sorting network for the productions. This Rete network is compiled for the LHS patterns and acts as a black box with changes to working memory as its input and changes to the conflict set as its output. The Rete network functions as a state memory that changes as you add or remove ele- ments from working memory. This network is the key to OPS5's effi- ciency. Control Issues When you first experiment with OPS5. you may tend to write programs with strictly sequential execution that pro- ceed from firing to firing in an explicit- ly defined order. It takes a while to realize that a large part of OPS5's power is that the language will han- dle the details of execution if you let it. Listing 2 contains a sort program that uses only one production to print a sorted list of all the numbers in working memory. The program as- sumes that working memory holds some numbers, or elements, with the class name number and a value attri- bute with the value yes or no to indi- cate whether or not this number has been printed. Initially all the printed- yet? attributes are set to no. The pro- gram translates into English as follows: • The title of this production is sort. IF • there is a number that has not yet been printed (call the number x and its working memory element small- est), and • there isn't another unprinted num- ber that is smaller than x. THEN • write out x on a new line, and • mark the working element called smallest as printed. The production fires continuously, printing numbers from the smallest to the largest. When it prints a number, it sets that number's printed-yet? at- tribute to yes so the production never Table 3: The RHS functions. Name Description substr Extracts part of a working memory element and returns it to the result element. genatom Creates and returns a new symbolic atom. compute Returns the evaluation of an arithmetic expression. litval Returns the number assigned by the literalize function, accept Returns the value received from the input stream or file. acceptline Returns exactly one line of input from the input stream or file. A Small Rule-based System AUTO.OPS is a small OPS5 produc- tion system that diagnoses some simple electrical problems in auto- mobiles. (Editor's note: AUTO.OPS is avail- able on disk, in print, and on BIX; see the in- sert card following page 3 52 for details. It is also available on BYTEnet; see page 4.] It's 36 productions long; knows about the battery, headlights, radio/cassette player, and f usebox; asks you for symp- toms of the failure (dead radio, one headlight out. etc.); and tries to gather evidence to make a diagnosis. Listing A shows a sample run. The program is broken up into four parts. The first is the literalization sec- tion, where the working memory ele- ments are described and declared. These are the current phase of the pro- gram, the symptoms noted, and the answers to the yes/no questions the program asks. The second is the data- entry section, which has seven produc- tions to print the symptom menu, ac- cept the symptoms, place them in working memory, check for invalid and duplicate ones, and set up the diag- nosis phase. The third part does the diagnosis and has 26 productions. It notes what symptoms you entered, in- fers certain things (like the battery is not dead because at least one thing is working), and asks you to run tests and report their results until it narrows the problem down. The fourth part, only three productions long, cleans up the working memory and restarts the program. The only explicit control used in AUTO.OPS is the phase working memory element. It serves to partition the productions into three groups, sim- plifying conflict resolution and debug- ging. At first its current-phase attribute is set to data-entry. When you finish entering symptoms, current-phase is set to diagnose. When no more specific rules can fire in the diagnose phase, the production entitled catch- all-production fires, changing cur- rent-phase to clean-up. TVpical of expert systems, you can ex- tend this production system incremen- tally with relative ease. If you wanted to consider symptoms associated with an alternator, you could add produc- tions to accommodate them. If the existing production system is well- structured, few of the preexisting pro- ductions should need to be modified. A good learning exercise would be to extend this system. If you do, please let me know how it turns out. matches it again. Execution halts when no more numbers have their printed-yet? attributes still set to no. On each cycle OPS5's pattern matcher tries to satisfy the LHS. The order in which the numbers are checked against each other doesn't really matter, so you needn't write detailed code to control it. In OPS5. the pattern matcher and the conflict resolver handle this chore. Listing 2 remains compact and describes only what a sort is, not exactly how to do it. (For a description of a small but 222 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 RULE-BASED PROGRAMMING Example Explanation (substr 3 3) Extracts and returns the third value from the working memory element associated with . (genatom) Returns a new symbolic atom. (compute < number > + 2) Returns the sum of 2 and the value bound to the variable . (litval price) Returns the value assigned to price. (accept input-stream) Returns the value received from the input stream called input-stream. (acceptline input-stream) Returns one line of input from the input stream called input-stream. Listing A: A sample run of AUTO.OPS (user input shown in uppercase letters). What's wrong with the old heap now? dead-radio # dead-cassette no-headl ights one-headl ight-out Choose your symptoms from the list and type "end" to finish or "quit" to exit. Symptom: DEAD-RADIO Symptom: END Is the cassette dead too? (yes/no): YES Since both the radio and the cassette are dead, check the fuse for the radio. Is it blown? (yes/no): NO Hmm. Both the radio and cassette are dead, the radio fuse is ok, and we're still not getting power. Turn on your headl ights. Are they both on? (yes/no): NO Is one headlight on? (yes/no): YES Very curious. It appears that the battery is ok, but still no radio. It could be a broken wire somewhere. Get out a voltmeter and a schematic and trace back from the radio. If there's voltage at the radio, then remove the radio for repair. Otherwise, I'm stumped. Sorry! Replace the dead headlight with one of the same type. Done. Starting over. more involved OPS5 system and ac- BLISS, with only minor variations be- cess to its code, see the text box 'A tween them. OPS5 is an interpreted Small Rule-based System.") language. As in BASIC, you can enter commands to the interpreter, or the The Top Level top level. In the LISP version, when There are two original versions of you enter OPS5, you are automatical- OPS5. one written in LISP and one in ly at the top level. In the BLISS ver- sion, you must compile the produc- tions and link in the OPS5 interpreter. You don't see the top level until you run the program. The top level is a loop that accepts one command, executes it. and waits for another one. At the top level you can enter productions (either manual- ly or by loading a prewritten file), examine and excise productions, ex- amine and modify working memory, open and close files, invoke user- defined external procedures, step for- ward (and. in the LISP version, back- ward) through the execution of a pro- duction system, run a production sys- tem, select the conflict resolution strategy, select the amount of trace in- formation the production system re- ports as it executes, show which pro- ductions are in the current conflict set, set breakpoints, and exit from OPS 5. When a production system finishes executing, control returns to the top level. Interfaces OPS5 is a language for building and applying a knowledge base, but it is not especially efficient for numerical computation, database operations, list processing, or any process that re- quires lots of file interaction. If you have an application that combines these needs, it would be nice to be able to program each section of it in the language best suited to its func- tion. This would require that all of the languages and their environment or operating system support communi- cations between programs in different languages. OPS 5 has a variety of func- tions that simplify the task of inter- facing with or embedding OPS5 pro- grams. OPS 5 supports external user-de- fined RHS actions and functions. (Ac- tions don't return a value; functions do.) The RHS action call lets you write your own actions. The language pro- vides specific functions to ease the task of interfacing with external pro- cedures by standardizing the transfer of information into and out of OPS 5. These functions can pass parameters to an external procedure, allow that procedure to add to working memory, and access objects (e.g.. files, streams) {continued) NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 223 RULE-BASED PROGRAMMING that OPS5 has opened for input or output. You can also write your own external functions. You simply declare their invocation names as external and use them as you would use any OPS5 function. Parallelism OPS5 would seem to lend itself well to an implementation on a parallel computer. Bruce Hillyer and David Shaw modeled OPS5 on a small ver- sion of the massively parallel Non-Von machine they are building at Colum- bia University. By apportioning OPS5's Rete match network among its small processing elements (SPEs), they predict improvements in execu- tion speeds on the order of 100 times the speed of the fastest currently available OPS5 implementation, or roughly 900 production firings per second. The architecture they suggest is a parallel machine with 32 large processing elements (processors with the capability of a Motorola 68020), approximately 1 6,000 SPEs (8-bit pro- cessors with only 64 bytes of RAM each), and a few intelligent disk servers. Such a machine would cost approximately what a VAX-1 1/780 costs today. Remember that the OPS5 language was written for sequential machines. You can expect that production sys- tems written expressly for parallel ar- chitectures would execute much faster than OPS5. Shortcomings Personally, I think OPS5 is wonderful, but it does have its shortcomings. The price you pay for perspicuity of knowl- edge representation is speed. The BLISS version runs at between 5 and 12 firings per second on a single-user VAX-1 1/780, The LISP version runs a bit faster on the specialized LISP workstations. While you could im- prove speed if you recoded the logic in C or Pascal, you would lose the ad- vantages of a knowledge-based sys- tem. You wouldn't be able to add knowledge incrementally and mainte- nance would be a nightmare because you would have to contend with a program that mixes knowledge and control. OPS5's Backus-Naur form (BNF) syn- tax is simple and easy to learn, tak- ing up less than two pages. (BNF is a formal language used to express con- text-free grammars.) However, it lacks some important features. You can't do computations in an LHS condition element, so the possible range of a match is restricted. There is no dis- junction across condition elements, so you must code X or Y or Z as separate productions. (Forgy suggested that an easy way around this syntactical bar- rier would be to write a preprocessor that takes a disjunctive form and generates appropriate conjunctive productions.) OPS5 doesn't provide a means of segmenting independent groups of productions into separate rule bases within a single program. A 3000-pro- duction system takes much longer to execute as a whole than three 1 000- production systems that maintain in- dependent Rete networks and are ac- tivated only when appropriate. Some programmers call the inabil- ity to do traditional procedural pro- gramming from within OPS5 a short- coming. I call it a feature. As long as it provides the "hooks" to interface with other languages, the last thing we need is another procedural language. There is a modular elegance in work- ing in the language best suited to a task. I think we need more special- purpose languages— like Prolog for logic programming, or perhaps a brand-new frame-based language— that integrate with traditional Ian- Listing 2: A one-production sort program. (p sort \ fnumber -(number "value * "value < pr inted "pr int -yet? nc ed-yet? ) | > (wr i (mod te ( i f y crlf) ) "p r inted- yet? yes )) guages as well as OPS5 does. How- ever, if this concerns you, OPS83, Forgy's latest version of OPS. has a Pascal-like syntax for doing proce- dural programming. Availability OPS5 was originally written on a DECsystem-20. It has now been ported over to the Apple Macintosh (ExperTelligence), the IBM PC (Dynamic Master Systems), CP/M-80 (Dynamic Master Systems), the LISP machines (Symbolics. LMI, and Xerox, with user-interface enhancements from Verac Inc. and SAIC), the VAX (a BLISS version supported by DEC and a version in Franz LISP), and the Apollo workstations (from Cognitive Systems via Yale's T dialect of LISP and Computer*Thought). Summary OPS5 is a powerful language that relies on some very simple ideas. Its strength is in representing knowledge in the surprisingly flexible form of IF. . .THEN rules. If such a thing as a standard tool for building knowledge- based systems exists, OPS 5 is it. Its syntax is simple, and it has a simple interface to other languages. Until recently, it was available only to those with access to large computers. Thanks to the new microcomputer versions, it's now available to all of us. ■ BIBLIOGRAPHY Brownston. Lee. Robert Farrell. Elaine Kant, and Nancy Martin. Programming Ex- pert Systems in OPS 5: An Introduction to Rule- Based Programming. Reading. MA: Addison-Wesley. 1985. Forgy. Charles L.. OPS5 User's Manual. Department of Computer Science. Carnegie-Mellon University. 1981. Forgy. Charles L.. Rete: A Fast Algorithm for the Many Pattern/Many Object Pattern Match Problem. Artificial Intelligence 19. North Holland. 1982. Hillyer. B. K.. and D. E. Shaw. Execution oj OPS 5 Production Systems on a Massively Parallel Machine. Department of Computer Science. Columbia University, September 1984. McDermott. John, and Charles Forgy. "Pro- duction System Conflict Resolution Strat- egies." in D. A. Waterman and F. Hayes- Roth, eds.. Pattern-Directed Inference Systems. 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Free 90-Day On Site Service Contract • Purchase Price: $5,499 Lease For $208 per month 110 Bi-County Blvd., Dept. 543 Farmingdale, NY 11735 CANADA: 800-433-6235 Domestic/lnt'l Telex 286905 SoftUR To order or receive technical assistance, call our National Hotline: 1-800-645-3491 NY STATE: 1-800-235-6442 (516) 249-8440 Customer Service: 1-800-431-9037 NYS: 516-249-8440 FAX #516-249-5289 EUROPE: 020-83 48 6^ Telex: 10759 Logic NL Mail orders to LOGICSOFT EUROPE B\ Baarsjesweg 224 Amsterdarr Hollanc n-gest selection of peripherals ee overnight delivery! w/0K 59 W/384K 129 W/576K 138 EVER EX Magic Card II W/384K .... 199 Logic (AST Comp.) 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Low Price Call! Carbon Copy $139 Concurrent PC DOS . . 179 Copy II PC 35 CrosstalkXVI 99 Fast Back 93 Microsoft Windows ... 67 Norton Commander . . 49 Norton Utilities 55 PC DOS 3.2 85 Prokey 4.0 77 Remote 99 Sidekick 47 Superkey 45 Traveling Sidekick .... 55 XTREE 39 2 NEW FREE CATALOGS. CALL TODAY! 1-800-645-3491 • Brand new Programmer's Language and Utilities Guide • A convenient and valuable listing of timesaving tools for the programming professional • Complete with product description. • Brand new Productivity Guide • Full line catalog of software enhancements for the business professional • Full descriptions of templates, memory management, menu management, backup software, training, and much more. /SnOb #Af\ft t REPRESENTING KNOWLEDGE MACHINE LEARNING BY Angelos T. Kolokouris One approach to teaching computers to learn is with a language, such as Marvin's, that grows IN AN ATTEMPT to make computers more accessible to humans, many re- searchers in the artificial intelligence field have been exploring ways to enable computers to learn. The motivation for machine learning is to have computers extract concepts and relations from databases or through interactive sessions with a user and then use them in any knowledge-in- tensive activity. Developing knowl- edge bases for expert systems appli- cations is one such activity. Studying computer-based learning techniques will also give us a better understand- ing of our own mental processes. A common method by which a ma- chine learns is by proceeding from specific instances to general rules that more economically capture the con- tent of the given instances. This form of inductive generalization is charac- teristic of learning from examples and improves on the performance of a knowledge-processing system by con- densing a large base of its knowledge into a considerably smaller one. This reduction in size results in a more ef- ficient search of the knowledge base. When you take a closer look at the programs that learn from examples, you can distinguish two types: those, called data-driven learners, that generalize by relying entirely on the data presented to them, and a group of more elaborate programs, called model-driven learners, that proceed by generating fairly general hypothe- ses that are subsequently tested against the given examples or against the user in a typical interactive ses- sion. In what follows I will contrast the model-driven learner with the data- driven learner and give an example of the former using a model-driven learner called Marvin. | Editor's note: The Prolog source code for Marvin is available on disk, in print, and on BIX; see the insert card following page 352 for details. \t is also avail- able on BYTEtfet; see page 4.] What Is Learning? To give you an idea of just what's in- volved in modeling learning with com- puters, I should examine just what learning is. The best definition of learning that I am aware of— that of Herbert Simon of Carnegie-Mellon University (reference 1)— is that 'learn- ing denotes changes in the system that are adaptive in the sense that they enable the system to do the same task or tasks drawn from the same population more efficiently the next time." 'Inking a closer look at this definition, however, you may realize that it deals predominantly with skill acquisition or improvement, but not all learning is so concerned. Learning systems are those that are able to ex- tract knowledge from raw data or through intersystem informative ex- changes, including conversations with the user. Learning systems ought to have the ability not only to acquire knowledge in a cumulative form but also to absorb it. Machine Learning Strategies The methodologies used in machine learning applications with some degree of success are rote learning, learning by being told, learning by analogy, and learning from examples. In rote learning the computer makes no special effort to learn. The ele- ments of new knowledge are given to it, through programming or by access- ing an external data file, and inferenc- (contlnued) Angelos T. Kolokouris. a native of Greece, holds a master's degree in physics from Penn State and is completing his PhD. at Temple University. He is co founder of Expert Systems International (1700 Walnut St.. Philadel- phia. PA 19103). NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 225 FORMATTED DISKS Ready to use in your IBM PC or compatible. 69* 'DD qty 100 ALF formats brand-name factory certified disks, and double-checks them for defects. You save the time and hassle of formatting disks yourself, and pay no more than for ordinary blank disks! Call today, toll-free, for complete information: 1-800-321-4668 in Colorado. 303-234-0871 ALF Formatted Disks on these fine brands: Nashua 3M a w- W7 1315 F Nelson St - A.MaM 4 Denver, CO 80215 Inquiry 12 The GRANDSTAND PRINTER STAND AND TRAY • Folds & Stacks Automatically • Fits ALL Popular Micro Printers • Space Saving Operation • Routes Cables Neatly Grand Union Micro Systems P.O. Box 1 880 FallbrooKCA 92028 (619)723-0882 inquiry 143 Advertise your computer products through BYTE BITS (2" x 3" ads) For more information call Dan Harper at 603-924-6830 BYTE 70 Main St. Peterborough, NH 03458 Inquiry 404 MACHINE LEARNING ing is not required. Rote learning relies entirely on memorization, and it is debatable whether programs in this category display learning at all. This simplistic learning function is demonstrated by a checkers-playing program that learns the board posi- tions it evaluates in its look-ahead search. In learning by being told general knowledge is modified into a form that the machine can recognize. The learner transforms the advice given into a set of statements that directly relate to what it already knows. This incorporation of new knowledge may facilitate further ex- planatory paths in the system's opera- tion. In learning by analogy the knowl- edge given to the computer is not directly relevant and the computer must hypothesize analogous cases to assist in solving the problem at hand. In learning from examples the com- puter proceeds from individual cases to general principles, from particulars to universal. The problem of concept learning can be seen as the task of de- veloping a classifying rule from several examples of proper member- ship in the investigated class. Learn- ing from examples is the most suc- cessful method of machine learning today and has the longest history. Categorization was seen by Aristotle as the most fundamental step toward learning. In his attempt to provide a formal framework for the study of the way people acquire and process knowledge, he noticed that it is by in- ductive generalization that people get to know the set of objects that figure in the domain of their activity. In their quest for knowledge people seek answers to basic questions like why and what. While why-questions are answered through the use of de- ductive logic, what-questions (i.e., those that relate to the task of taking stock of the foundations of descrip- tive language) are answered through inductive methods. Since Aristotle's day inductive techniques have been controversial, particularly regarding the degree of unsupervised function to which they are entitled. Knowledge Representation A related issue is representation. The properties of the objects you want to account for must be described in a particular language that accommo- dates such descriptions. A problem arises when you want a learning system to operate in different environ- ments. A way to get around it is by choosing a flexible enough language to which you can add domain knowl- edge that reflects the peculiarities of the chosen environment. In the early years of research on learning systems, R. B. Banerji (refer- ence 2) suggested that rather than choose a language that is confined by the structure of the objects it is used to describe, a better choice would be a language that can "grow." He pro- posed that such a language could be developed using the predicate calculus as a starting point. This type of language would enable a learning program to create descriptions by learning the domain knowledge. The upshot of this approach is that the language becomes richer as more knowledge is acquired. The learning system learns concepts that can be used in future learning. Data-driven Learners Here is a simple example of how a data-driven learning program func- tions. Assume that the data-driven learner is given the following data ex- pressed in a Prolog-like syntax: customer(X),profession(X,accountant), lives_in(X,cleveland),buys(X,300). customer(X),profession(X,lawyer), lives_in(X,beverly_hills),buys(X,25000). customer(X),profession(X,accountant) I lives_in(X,beverly_hills),buys(X I 30000). The data-driven learner would extract what is common to these expressions and give the following generalization: customer(X),lives in(X,beverly hills), buys(X,Z) and Z >= 25000. This example uses one of the simplest generalization rules, referred to as the dropping condition rule. According to this rule, in order to generalize a con- junction you may drop some of its conjunctive conditions. Model-driven Learners A model-driven learning program is characterized by its hypothesis forma- [continued) Aztec C ... The Best C Frees the genius inyou You've got a great idea . . . . . . you're ready to write your programs. You don't want to be sidetracked by all the paper- work. With Manx Aztec C and the ingenious make function, your creative processes won't get bogged down in program administration and housekeeping. Manx Aztec C has the most sophisticated, hardwork- ing program administrator available to you. Once you've described your project, adding new features or enhancements is simple. You never have to concern yourself with the repetitive, tedious task of rebuild- ing your systems. The development process moves quickly. Com- piles, assemblies, link edits ... all finish in record time. 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Windows for C, PC-lint, PANEL, Greenleaf, db Vista, C-terp, Plink-86, FirsTime, C Util Lib, and others. Manx Software Systems One Industrial Way Eatontown, NJ 07724 MS is a reqsteredTM of Microsoft. Inc.. CP/M TM DRt, HALO TM Media Cybernetics. PANEL TM Round hill Computer Systems, Ltd., PHACTTM PHACT Assoc. PRE-C, Plink-86 TM Phoenix, db Vista TM Raima Corp.. C-terp, PC-lint, TM Gimpel Software, C-tree TM Faircom. Inc., Windows for C TM Creative Solutions, Apple II, Macintosh TM Apple. Inc., TRS-80 TM Radio Shack. Amiga TM Commodore Intl. Inquiry 197 NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 227 MACHINE LEARNING If you travel a lot you can benefit from the AT&T Card. The AT&T Card will free you from coins and delays, give you an itemized record and AT&T's lowest rates for state-to-state call- ing, next to direct dialing. And it costs less than calling collect, or making coin calls out-of-state. So, if you travel frequently, get the AT&T Card. It's as simple as dialing 1 800 CALL ATT, Ext. 229. AT&T The right choice. © 1986AT&T 228 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 tion. Such programs form hypotheses that are then tested for verification against available data or through the assistance of the trainer. From a general standpoint, the algorithm for a model-driven learner looks like this: begin: develop a hypothesis while hypothesis does not satisfy target concept do try another hypothesis that is more general or more specific depending on how the trial concept relates to the target concept. Marvin's hypothesis formation differs from most other model-driven learners by taking advantage of what it already knows. Learned concepts that reside in memory are used to learn more complex concepts. Marvin develops concepts in much the way a human would; that is, the repertoire of concepts grows hierarchically. Expert Systems The expert systems applications at work today perform quite well in a limited domain and for routine rules of thumb in most cases. Enter the slightest novelty and deviation from the programmed knowledge and users get such discouraging answers as 'This parameter has not been defined." Worse yet, the system can- not learn the new concept or relation- ship. Users are quickly frustrated by the expert system when they notice the wasteful paths it takes time after time trying to prove the same thing, not being able to improve on its prob- lem-solving strategies, and, most im- portant, not being able to learn from past errors. The knowledge-acquisi- tion bottleneck can be eliminated by letting the expert system learn both rules and concepts in a more auto- mated fashion. Such a system should also have the ability to acquire con- trol techniques for optimizing its own processing. There are encouraging developments in all of these areas. There is a danger that I may be overselling the automated part of learning and underestimating the dif- ficulties involved. 1 would like to stress a simple point: For what the machine learns to be relevant it is necessary that humans stay close to the learn- MACHINE LEARNING ing process. Also, for what is learned to be useful it must be scrutinized before it is used. This latter point is referred to by R. S. Michalski (refer- ence 3) as the "comprehensibility principle." As for the question of relevance, even if you consider the seemingly simple case of inductive generalization, you immediately discover that a number of background assumptions go into the choice of direction along which generalization takes place. Paul Utgoff and T. Mitchell (references 4 and 5) use the term "bias" to describe that part of a learn- ing program "which influences how the concept learner draws inductive inferences based on the observed training instances." It is impossible to capture in a computerized system all the human constraints and intentions, those apparent as well as the tacit. To assure greater cooperation between machine and humans in the process of learning, the system must display a good deal of transparency effected through flexible explanatory facilities. Marvin: A Program That Learns to Learn Marvin, a machine learning program developed by C. Sammut (reference 6), pays heed to Banerji's suggestions for a language capable of growth. The description language that is used for Marvin is a subset of Horn clause logic. This language makes the learn- ing and execution of a concept fairly easy because the concept is de- scribed in terms of a logic program. Marvin depends on a human trainer to supply hierarchically structured sets of examples. The trainer presents Marvin with examples of a concept to be learned (the 'target concept"), and Marvin generalizes a hypothesis (rep- resented by a "trial concept") from the given examples. The search strategy that Marvin employs to cap- ture the target concept is specific-to- general (i.e., starting from each exam- ple, the program creates a new trial concept that is a further generaliza- tion of the first example). To find out whether the hypothesis is a proper one, Marvin comes up with objects that are adequately described by the trial concept. These objects are in turn [continued) DOES IT DO? It's called the pound button. And it lets you make multiple calls faster when you use an AT&T Card. Once you enter your AT&T Card num- ber, the AT&T Network automatically remembers it. So between calls, just press the pound button and make your next call. So, if you travel frequently, get the AT&T Card and save some time. Because time is something we can all use. Simply call 1 800 CALL ATT, Ext. 229 AT&T The right choice. ©1986 AT&T NOVEMBER 1986 • B Y T E 229 MACHINE LEARNING What is the name of the concept? letter The description can be generalized to: • Show me an example of letter: "A" X1 is [ ] X is a letter if: The tail of X2 is [ ] X is "A" The head of X3 is "A" Show me an example of letter: "B" The tail of X3 is [ ] X is a letter if: The head of X2 is a letter X is "B" |s ([ ].[B],[A]) an instance of append? no The head of X2 is the same as the head of X3 The description can be restricted to: Show me an example of letter: "Z" X is a letter if: X1 is [ ] X is "Z" The tail of X2 is [ ] Show me an example of letter: no The tail of X3 is [ ] X is a letter if: The head of X2 is a letter X is "A" The head of X3 is the same as the head of X2 or X is "B" Is ([ ],[B],[B]) an instance of append? yes [ ] is an instance of letter list. The description can be generalized to: or X is "Z" Do you want to teach me another concept? yes X1 is [ ] What is the name of the concept? letter list The tail of X3 is [ ] Show me an example of letter list: [ ] The head of X2 is a letter Xis[] The head of X3 is the same as the head of X2 Show me an example of letter list: [A] The tail of X2 is a letter list The head of X is "A" Is ([ ]i[B A],[B]) an instance of append? no The tail of X is [ ] The tail of X2 is the same as the tail of X3 "A" is an instance of a letter. The description can be restricted to: The description can be generalized to: X1 is [ ] The head of X is a letter The head of X2 is a letter The tail of X is [ ] The head of X3 is the same as the head of X2 Is [B] also an instance of a letter list? yes The tail of X2 is a letter list [ ] is an instance of letter list. The tail of X3 is the same as the tail of X2 The description can be generalized to: Is ([],[B A],[B A]) an instance of append? yes The head of X is a letter The description can be rewritten as: The tail of X is a letter list X1 is [ ] Is [B A] an example of letter list? yes X2 is a letter list Show me an example of letter list: no X3 is the same as X2 The description of letter list is: Show me an example of append: ([A],[B],[A B]) X is a letter list if: X is [] The tail of X1 is [ ] or The head of X1 is a letter The head of X is a letter The head of X3 is the same as the head of X1 The tail of X is a letter list. X2 is a letter list Do you want to teach me another concept? yes The tail of X3 is the same as X2 What is the name of the concept? append Is ([B],[ ],[B] an instance of append? yes Show me an example of append: ([ ],[A],[A]) ([ ],X2, tail of X3) is an instance of append X1 is [ ] The description can be generalized to: The head of X2 is "A" The head of X1 is a letter The tail of X2 is [ ] The head of X3 is the same as the head of X1 The head of X3 is "A" (tail of X1, X2, tail of X3) is an append The tail of X3 is [ ] Is [B A],[B],[B A B]) an instance of append? yes [ ] is an instance of a letter list. The description of append is: The description can be generalized to: (X1.X2.X3) is an instance of append if: The head of X2 is "A" X1 is [ ] The tail of X2 is [ ] X2 is a letter list The head of X3 is TV' X3 is the same as X2 The tail of X3 is [ ] or X1 is a letter list The head of X1 is a letter • Is ([A], [A], [A]) an instance of append? no The head of X3 is the same as the head of X1 "A" is an instance of a letter. (tail of X1,X2,tail of X3) is an append Figure I : A session with the model-driven learner Marvin, wherein the trainer teaches Marvin the concepts letter, letter list, and append. \t is up to the trainer to present these concepts to Marvin in a hierarchical fashion. Note about append: Append joins a new letter list onto the end of an existing letter list so in the example of append. ([A],[B],[A B]), the letter list [B] is appended onto the letter list [A], resulting in the new letter list [A B]. 230 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 MACHINE LEARNING presented to the trainer. If the trainer decides that the object is contained in the target concept (such an object is referred to as "con- sistent"), Marvin attempts a further generalization. If, however, the trainer decides that a particular object is not contained in the target concept (such an object is called "inconsistent") and there are no other possibilities for generalizing, Marvin takes into ac- count the error of overgeneralizing and creates a new trial concept that is more restricted. A concept has been learned when all possibilities for generating trial concepts have been exhausted. Marvin is composed of the follow- ing components: • A description language. • An intepreter. This interpreter for Marvin's language must recognize ob- jects described by a concept and generate instances of the concept. • An associative memory. • A generalization procedure. This procedure creates a more general description once it is given a concept. • A learning strategy. Marvin begins with an initial hypothesis and con- tinues applying the generalization procedure until the target concept is learned. The learning algorithm forms hy- potheses that are tested for verifica- tion against available data or through the assistance of the trainer. The learning algorithm is given as follows: 1. Initialize. The example given by the trainer is described in a form of clausal logic. This makes up the initial hypothesis. 2. Generalize. Attempts are made to further generalize. If these attempts are proved unsuccessful, the learning process stops. 3. Tfest. The generalization is tested by constructing an object from the trial concept. If the trainer finds the object consistent, then go to 2. 4. Restrict. If the trial concept contains objects that are not to be found in the target concept, a more specific hy- pothesis is created. Go to 3. The Description Language Following Prolog, Marvin represents concepts using Horn clauses, that is, expressions of the form Q(X) < — P(X) & R(X). The basic constructs of these expressions are predicates like father(X,Y), interpreted as X is the father of Y. The choice of Horn clause logic means you can use a uniform way of describing sets of objects and relations among objects. Also, since concepts are represented as sets of Horn clauses, they can be executed as logic programs. Suppose you want Marvin to learn the concept of New Yorker as a more specific case than that of a Manhat- tan resident. The concept could be given as new yorker(X) <-- human(X) & resides in(X,manhattan) & walks nervously(X). While at work to learn concepts Mar- vin uses two types of memory: a long- term memory that is a database of descriptive Horn clauses like the one above and a short-term memory that contains only facts, that is, instantiated predicates like resides in(fran- cois.paris). The short-term memory contains descriptions of the trainer's examples. Such an example might look like this: human(koch). resides in(koch.manhattan). walks nervously(koch). A Session with Marvin Figure I shows the transcript of a ses- sion with Marvin where the trainer teaches Marvin the concepts of letter, letter list, and append in that order. At the outset, a distinction should be made between the syntactic reper- toire of Marvin, which includes primi- tive constructs of lists, and semantic representations. Marvin's syntactic repertoire includes the properties of head and tail, which are separate from the concept of the semantic notion, list. Marvin has the ability to recog- nize when two objects are the same. All concepts known are contained in Marvin's memory, which at the beginning of the session is empty. The trainer painstakingly gives Marvin every example of a letter and in- dicates that there are no other ex- amples by replying to Marvin's query for another example of a letter with "no." Marvin then presents its con- cept of a letter and asks if the trainer wants to teach it any other concepts. The interactive session continues with Marvin, and two incrementally more sophisticated concepts are learned, those of letter list and append. Conclusion Professor Banerji and his colleagues of the Machine Learning Laboratory at St. Joseph's University are working on languages that are characterized by self-enrichment. One matter of par- ticular interest is the way research in this area can be useful in future Pro- log implementations that incorporate intelligent backtracking techniques. In a joint venture, the State of Penn- sylvania through its Ben Franklin Part- nership, St. Joseph's University and Orphic Experts Inc. are in the process of developing learning programs that could prove of significance as en- hancements for expert systems in the defense area in particular. Finally, from what has been said in the course of this article you might get the feeling that I should be talking about machine-aided learning rather than machine learning. This goes along with the realization that despite the growing sophistication of its use, the computer remains just a tool for humans, at least for now. ■ REFERENCES 1. Simon. Herbert A.. ''Why Should Ma- chines Learn?" in R. S. Michalski et sl- eds.. Machine learning 1. Palo Alto. CA: Tioga Publishing Co.. 1983. 2. Banerji. R. B., "A Language for the De- scription of Concepts." in General Systems 9. Society for General Systems Research. University of Louisville. 1964. 3. Michalski. R. S.. "Understanding the Nature of Learning: Issues and Directions." in R. S. Michalski et al.. eds.. Machine learn- ing II. Los Altos. CA: Morgan Kaufmann. 1986. 4. Utgoff. Paul E.. "Shift of Bias for Induc- tive Concept Learning." in R. S. Michalski et al.. eds.. Machine learning II. 5. Mitchell. T. 'The Need for Biases in Learning Generalizations." Technical Report CBM-TR-117. Rutgers University. 1980. 6. Sammut. Claude, and R. B. Banerji. "Learning Concepts by Asking Questions." in R. S Michalski et al.. eds., Machine learn- ing II. NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 231 ThinkRst / ! [' I' I" f.l'.f .f -l 1' i r i' r \"rrr.v.i \ j r i r I im : ri i Now thinkToshiba T1100 PLUS. The IBM^compatible portable PC that puts full desktop PC power in a package small enough to fit in a desk drawer. And light enough to make an office out of any place there's a seat SPEED IS OF THE ESSENCE. Computers can compute many times faster than our brain. But with many portable PC s, you can go out of your mind waiting for them to load a program, move around blocks of text, search through a data base or recalculate a spreadsheet Not so with the T1100 PLUS. Our 80C86 16-bit processor has 16-bit data paths and runs at 7.16 MHz. Combined with our 640KB of maximum memory capacity, it runs up to twice as fast. And that means you can get through your work faster. Whatever kind of work you do. HOW SMALL IS IT? Putting all this speed and power in a paefege only 12.1" W x 2.6"H x 12"D and weighing under 10 pounds was no small feat We did it by using our unique gate array technology to reduce the number of ICs. Which gives you exceptional reliability as well as incredible portability. IT BENDS OVER BACKWARDS. O.K., it's fast, small and light Which is enough in itself. But what else does the T1100 PLUS portable computer have going for it, you ask. Plenty, we say. Ever had to squint or scrunch down to see whaf s going on with other portable PCs' screens? Our screen is a high-contrast, high-resolution LCD that shows 25 lines by 80 characters of text with 640 x 200 resolu- tion. And it will even bend over backwards to l^fewlliirikSmall i'i-:',\i-i:\ T111©©PLUS accommodate you by tilting a full 90 degrees. Standards that SETTHE Standard. The T1100 PLUS comes with a long list of standards including dual 720KB 3.5" disk drives, MS-DOS* serial, parallel and CRT ports, an IBM-compatible keyboard with 81 full-size keys, rechargeable NiCad batteries that last up to eight hours per charge, AC adapter, user's manual, MS-DOS manual and soft carrying case. Also standard is SideKick? the best- selling utility program that includes a notepad, calculator, autodialer, calendar and appoint- ment scheduler. And our exclusive "Excep- tional Care" Program. In the unlikely event that anything goes wrong with your T1100 PLUS, we guarantee you prompt delivery of a replacement while yours is being fixed* Options for theTllOO PLUS include 300/1200 bps Hayes 1 -compatible internal modem, external 5.25" disk drive, Floppy Link to a desktop PC's 5.25"drive, IBM- compatible five-slot expansion chassis and automobile power adapter. Is there anything we left out? Oh yes, the phone number for your nearest Toshiba computer and printer dealer. It's 1-800-457-7777. Please call to let us know you're thinking of us. 1 . IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. 2; MS-DOS is a regis- tered rademark of Microsoft Corp. 3. SideKick is a registered trademark oi Borland Intl Inc. 4. Hayes is a registered trademark of Hay es Corp. *Requires rx>-cost enrollment in "Exceptional Care" Pn)gram. In Touch with Tomorrow TOSHIBA Toshiba America. Inc.. Information Systems Division Inquiry 348 : W* j '= : K-oe&n BYTE Reviews Reviewers Notebook by ]on Edwards 237 Three IBM Clones by lohn D. Unger 239 The Macintosh Plus by Chris Crawford 247 Three 24-pin Dot-Matrix Printers by Robert D. Swearengin 255 Digitizers for Data Entry by Eldon D. Hearn 261 Two C Compilers for the Amiga by Charlie Heath 271 SPSS/PC+ by leffrey M. ]acaues 279 Aegis Animator and Aegis Images by Warren Block 285 Turbo Lightning and Strike by Ross Ramsey 289 filePro 16 and filePro 16 Plus by Richard Harkness 297 Review Feedback 301 JOHN D. UNGER reviews three IBM PC clones: the Kaypro PC, the Epson Equity I. and the Multitech MPF-PC/700. He compares their performance and func- tionality, and he notes that although the hardware designs are markedly dif- ferent, all three emulate the IBM PC well. He found the Kaypro PC to be the best value, while the MPF-PC/700's faster clock speed accounts for its high performance. Chris Crawford examines the Macintosh Plus. He concludes that the com- puter solves most of the problems inherent in the original 128K-byte Macin- tosh by virtually eliminating disk swapping and providing more disk storage and RAM space. He and Tom Thompson, a BYTE technical editor, also com- pare four memory-expansion kits for the Macintosh Plus. Robert D. Swearengin looks at three 24-pin dot-matrix printers. All three are fast, versatile, and provide excellent quality, but Robert notes that there is a wide range in functionality and price. Eldon D. Hearn surveys eight digitizers. A single table summarizes the features and capabilities of the devices. The article explains the table and also provides information that should prove essential before you purchase a digitizer. Charlie Heath compares two popular C compilers for the Amiga. Both Lat- tice C and Manx Aztec C68K have strengths and weaknesses, and either should suit your needs, but the Aztec C68K compiler scored well in the benchmarks. Charlie also praises the C68K compiler for providing source code for the library functions and for generating more compact code. leffrey M. Jacques examines SPSS/PC+, an analytical software package. Jef- frey has found that the package provides a substantial but incomplete subset of SPSS-X, the mainframe version. He concludes that the package does almost everything you might want it to do, and at a reasonable price. Warren Block was among the first to use Aegis Animator and Aegis Images. His review reveals that the Amiga is getting the fine software that its hard- ware deserves. Ross Ramsey compares 'Hirbo Lightning and Strike. Both products provide RAM-resident spelling checkers that correct your spelling as you write. Ross has found that, at least for him, the programs are less useful and more an- noying when used with longer documents. Strike is less expensive, but you may require some or all of r Hirbo Lightning's options. Finally Richard Harkness recommends filePro 16 and filePro 16 Plus, two PC-DOS and MS-DOS relational database management systems. He notes that both are fast, flexible, and worth a long look. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 235 A Command Performance Your performance depends as much on your instrument as it does on your ability. Xy Write III is a critically acclaimed word processor that extends your writing and editing range — on a simple memo or letter, a complex technical or legal document, or a multi-column script. With Xy Write HI, you get nine win- dows, a redefinable keyboard, and many more features to support a truly fine performance. A pianist couldn't perform if several seconds elapsed between pressing a key and hearing the note. You shouldn't wait precious seconds for your word proces- sor to handle a command. XyWrite HI processes your commands instantly, so you get more done in less time. Enjoy the feel of a superior instrument when you sit down at the keyboard. Call (617) 275-4439 today and order our demo disk. XyQuest XyQuest, Inc. 3 Loomis Street, Bedford, MA 01730 REVIEWER'S NOTEBOOK The Mac World Expo in Boston was a big hit. The crowds were vibrant, and there were many im- pressive developments. The most ob- vious of these were in desktop publishing. Packages such as Page- Maker (Aldus Corporation, 411 First Ave. S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98104, (206) 622-5500) and MacPublisher II (BSPI, 1260 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02215, (800) 5 56-0027) were in evidence, but they will undoubtedly be even more effective when they are marketed with larger screens for the Macintosh. At the Expo we saw one such screen, The Big Picture from Levco (6160 Lusk Blvd., San Diego, CA 92121, (619) 457-2011). This upgrade for the Macintosh Plus or the 512 K- byte Macintosh provides a 17-inch display with a 1 024- by 808-pixel grid. It wasn't hard to imagine typesetting two facing pages simultaneously on this screen and future versions of the page-composition systems, lb install The Big Picture, you connect a display controller to the 68000 with a clip-on connector. IDT Systems (301 Bronxville Rd., Bronxville, NY 10708, (914) 968-7647) supplies MegaScreen, a video pe- ripheral system for the Macintosh Plus with 1024- by 1024-pixel resolution. MegaScreen also uses an internally installed card. Both units provide 128K bytes of on-board video mem- ory, and both manufacturers claim full compatibility with Macintosh soft- ware. The most interesting application that we saw at the Expo was the latest version of FullPaint from Ann Arbor Softworks (308/2 South State. Ann Arbor, MI 48104, (313) 996-3838). The application, which requires at least 512K bytes of memory to operate, allows you to paint on the entire screen and on up to four documents at the same time. You can therefore cut and paste among several docu- ments, and FullPaint is fully upward- compatible with MacPaint files. The program is also compatible with Switcher, digitizing tablets, and digi- tizing cameras. The SCSI port on the Macintosh Plus is responsible for the prolifera- tion of third-party hard disks for the computer. Perhaps the most interest- ing of these is the drive. from ProApp (1475 South Bascom Ave., Suite 101, Campbell, CA 95008, (408) 559-3552), which you can also connect to a varie- ty of other Apple computers, includ- ing the He, the He. and the earlier I28K- and 512K-byte Macintoshes. The drive hooks directly to the SCSI port but you can also connect it to the floppy disk port on an Apple II. The best feature of the hard disk is that you can partition the drive to ac- commodate both a Macintosh Plus and an Apple lie or He. For the Amiga, I looked this month at MaxiPlan, a powerful spreadsheet from MaxiSoft (2817 Sloat Rd., Peb- ble Beach, CA 93953, (408) 625-4104). The software makes full use of the Amiga's environment. It supports multitasking, and with the mouse you can easily select and drag on cells, select the numerous options from standard pull-down menus, and generate full-color charts in a variety of styles and formats. Additional features allow you to easily use the application as a database manager, and the program has voice support for the blind. Highways and Byways from New Directions Software (52 59 Sepulveda Blvd.. Suite 9. Van Nuys. CA 91411, (818) 784-9354) caught our attention. For IBM PC compatibles, the software allows you to plan your automobile trips and keep track of expenses quickly and effectively. There will be three regional maps for use with the program (at press time only the western map was available, but the company says that central and eastern maps will be out by the end of the year), each for $49.95. It was easy to generate routes, and I was impressed that the algorithm generated the same route regardless of whether I went from point A to point B or from point B to point A. The software lists the route with rea- sonable directions, and you can ob- tain an estimate of how much time is involved. You can also vary a number of parameters including the season and the type of car you drive, and you can optimize the route for either time or distance. The product seems well suited for long-distance routing. Localities are not finely mapped, however. Last month I discussed my working environment. Since then, I have added Cruise Control from Revolution Software (715 Route 10 E, Randolph, N) 07869, (201) 366-4445), which Ezra Shapiro discusses in his column this month. I can also report that the soft- ware performs extremely well. At the DOS level and with PC-Write, my favorite word processor, the cursor moves about three times faster. More importantly, perhaps, I encountered no incompatibilities with any of my other RAM-resident software. Also amazing is WildFire, a Zenith Z-151/-152/-161 speed kit from Soft- ware Wizardry (1106 First Capitol Dr.. St. Charles. MO 63301. (314) 946- 1968). The kit includes a V20. a plug- in daughterboard, and a new chip set that Software Wizardry claims will outperform a Z- 1 58 at 8 MHz. I will in- stall it this month in our Z-151 and report next month on the "new" sys- tem's performance. —)on Edwards Senior Tec finical Editor. Reviews +— Inquiry 380 NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 237 12 MHz SPEED ... . . . plus A MEGABYTE FOR DOS! THEY ALL NEED NUMBER SMASHER/ECM TM Turn your PC or XT into the machine it should have been! The 12 MHz Number Smasher/ECM is the fastest accelerator on the market It is also the most powerful, provid- ing a true megabyte for DOS! To break the 640K DOS barrier MicroWay designed a Memory Management Unit (MMU) that is tailored to DOS plus a 2000 byte resident driver- MegaDOS™. MicroWay calls this breakthrough Extended Conventional Memory. When you type CH KDSK with the board installed, your sys- tem will report 1 ,036,288 bytes total memory and 1 ,010,016 bytes free! Any conventional DOS program can utilize a full megabyte for data or code without changing a byte. Downloading a mainframe application? ECM memory runs with any program that uses DOS for screen services including RM and MS FORTRAN and MS and LATTICE C! This means you have an additional 384 K available for over- sized applications. Programs which write directly to the screen require a simple patch to adhere to the new standard. MicroWay has already developed patches for the Lotus, WORDSTAR and AUTOCAD screen drivers. Release 1 A of 1-2-3 jumps from 535,516 to 916,444 bytes available and runs faster than Release 2 for most worksheets. Micro Way Number Smasher/ECM is 100% compatible with all hardware and software including EMS and EG A boards. The compatibility is a result of control: its speed is switch, key- board or software selectable from 4.77 MHz to 12.0 MHz. Applications which have not been upgraded to ECM can still be run by setting DOS to 640K or 704K and using the memory above DOS for I/O enhancers. Number Smasher/ECM runs floating point bound pro- gramsfasterthan an AT or any other 80286 based machine. In fact, Number Smasher's 12 MHz 8087 runs a factor of three fasterthan the standard 80287 on theAT, delivering up to 125 kflops. Software is included for RAM Disk, print spooler, and disk caching, which speeds up floppy and hard disks by a factor of 2 to 1 0! Number Smasher/ECM is the most cost effective pro- ductivity tool you can buy. The base board which runs at 9.54 M Hz comes with 51 2 K and costs only $599! The com- plete system which includes a motherboard accelerator, one megabyte of memory and a 1 2 M Hz 8087 is just $1 1 99. Call today to discuss your particular configuration. Remember: "Theadvantage of buying from MicroWay is out standing per- sonal service." (PC Magazine, 6/1 0/86 - p. 1 62) The World Leader in 8087 Support P.O. Box 79, Kingston, Mass. 02364 USA (61 7) 746-7341 Tempo House, London, U.K. call 01-223-7662 Number Smasher, ECM and MegaDOS are trademarks of MicroWay, Inc. MicroWay is a registered trademark of MicroWay, Inc. 238 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 2I9 SYSTEM REVIEW Three IBM Clones by John D. Unger Three new IBM PC XT clones have recently appeared on the already crowded IBM PC clone market. TWo are from longstanding computer hard- ware manufacturers Kaypro and Epson. The third clone, manufactured by Multitech, comes from Taiwan. The $1595 Kaypro PC is the only desktop IBM PC com- patible that Kaypro is cur- rently marketing. The Epson that I reviewed is the $1295 Equity I. I also reviewed the $1230 Multitech MPF-PC/700 DI. I am intrigued by the dif- ferent hardware approaches used by the three manufac- turers to achieve com- patibility with the IBM PC. Both the hardware design and the component layout vary markedly from com- puter to computer. However, the net results are similar, and all three micros emulate the IBM PC well. The Multitech and Epson machines were limited in the amount of soft- ware that I could check for com- patibility because they use the equiv- alent of IBM's monochrome adapter board and display. The Kaypro PC also has a monochrome monitor, but its multivideo board can display colors in shades of* green as well as emulate the monochrome display of the IBM PC. All three computers come with two 360K-byte double-sided double-den- sity disk drives and 256K bytes of RAM. The Kaypro and Epson systems include a monochrome monitor, but Multitech did not include a monitor with the MPF-PC/700 that I reviewed; therefore, the Epson's monitor per- formed double duty during the A trio of IBM PC clones from Kaypro, Epson, and Multitech review. All the systems included the MS-DOS 2. 1 1 operating system. The Kaypro PC comes bundled with an im- pressive array of MicroPro software (see page 240). and the Multitech sys- tem includes an intriguing optional operating system, Concurrent CP/M. Both the Multitech and the Kaypro systems would be suitable for use as small business or home computers, but the Epson system, because of its limited expansion capability and small power supply, would be better in a home environment. Display The Kaypro PC comes with its own multivideo board, which gives you the option of using three outputs: mono- chrome, RGB, and composite video. A memory-resident utility program lets you switch between monochrome and color modes. The default mode at start-up is set by DIP switches on the video board. A green monochrome monitor comes standard with the Kaypro PC. This monitor uses a high- persistence phosphor that leaves a faint but noticeable ghost image on the screen when you scroll through text or play certain games. You can run graphics pro- grams that use color on this system; the colors are dis- played as shades of green. The Multitech MPF-PC/700 has a standard CGA (color graphics adapter) board but no monitor. I did not have a monitor compatible with this type of video adapter, but Multitech provided me with a monochrome adapter that I was able to use with the Equity I's monitor. | Editor's note: The Multitech MPF-PC/700 now includes a high-resolution soft-white (KI71 phosphor) \2Anch monochrome moni- tor in its standard configuration.] The Equity I has a monochrome dis- play board and monitor. This com- bination displays only text and the IBM graphics characters. Keyboard Both the Equity I and the Kaypro PC have IBM PC AT-style keyboards. The Kaypro PCs is complete with a System Request key, lighted indicators for the Caps. Scroll, and Num Lock keys, and it has a keyboard lock on the front [continued] ]ohn D. Unger (P.O. Box 95. Hamilton. VA 22068) is a geophysicist for the U.S. govern- ment who writes graphics software and uses computers to study the structure of the earth's crust. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 239 REVIEW: THREE IBM CLONES Name Kaypro PC Equity I MPF-PC/700 D1 Company Kaypro Corporation Epson America Inc. Multitech Electronics Inc. 533 Stevens Ave. Computer Products Division 1012 Stewart Dr. Solana Beach, CA 92075 2780 Lomita Blvd. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (619) 481-3900 Torrance, CA 90505 (213) 539-9140 (800) 538-1542 Size 19V2 by 16 by 6 inches 14 1 /2 by 15 by 6 inches 17V2 by I6V2 by 6 inches 30 pounds 23 pounds 27 1 /2 pounds Components Processor: 8088 at 4.77 MHz 8088 at 4.77 MHz 8088-2, switchable between 4.77 and 8 MHz Memory: 256K bytes dynamic RAM 256K bytes dynamic RAM 256K bytes dynamic RAM (standard); expandable to 640K (standard); expandable to 512K (standard); expandable to 640K bytes on motherboard bytes on motherboard bytes on motherboard Mass storage: Two Canon MDD 531 360K-byte Two Epson SD-500 360K-byte Two Panasonic 360K-byte double- double-sided double-density double-sided double-density sided double-density 5 1 /4-inch 5 1 /4-inch drives 5 1 /4-inch drives drives Display: High-resolution green High-resolution green High-resolution soft-white 12-inch monochrome 12-inch diagonal monochrome 12-inch diagonal diagonal screen; color graphics screen; compatible with IBM screen; monochrome display adapter (IBM compatible) monochrome adapter and IBM adapter (IBM compatible) color graphics adapter; composite, RGB, and monochrome video output connectors Keyboard: Detached QWERTY with 84 keys Detached QWERTY with 83 keys Detached QWERTY with 97 keys including 10 function keys and including 10 function keys and including 10 function keys, numeric keypad numeric keypad separate cursor keys, and numeric keypad Expansion: Three full-length and three half- length slots Two full-length slots Four full-length slots I/O interfaces: One RS-232C serial port (9-pin); One RS-232C serial port (25-pin); One RS-232C serial port (25-pin); one Centronics-compatible one Centronics-compatible one Centronics-compatible ■ parallel printer port (25-pin); parallel printer port (25-pin); parallel printer port (25-pin); speaker (accessed from BASIC speaker (accessed from BASIC speaker (accessed from BASIC or assembly language) or assembly language) or assembly language) Software MS-DOS 2.11; GW-BASIC; WordStar; MailMerge; CorrectStar; Starlndex; PolyWindows Desk; Mite MS-DOS 2.11; GW-BASIC MS-DOS 2.11; Concurrent CP/M; MASM (Microsoft Macro Assembler) Documentation MS-DOS 2.11 user's guide, MS- User's guide; MS-DOS manual; MS-DOS 2.11 user's and DOS 2.1 programmer's reference GW-BASIC manual reference guides; Concurrent manual; GW-BASIC 2.0 manual; CP/M user's and reference software manuals for WordStar; guides MailMerge, CorrectStar, Starlndex, PolyWindows Desk, and Mite Price $1595 $1295 $1230 240 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 REVIEW: THREE IBM CLONES SYSTEM FEATURES MEMORY SIZE (K BYTES) DISK STORAGE (K BYTES) I 256/512 I 256/512 i 360/720 I 360/720 I 360/720 I 360/720 I 360/720 _l WRITE 20 DISK ACCESS IN BASIC (IN SECONDS) READ I i IBHI 31 _ I 30 ■■ 29 SIEVE BASIC PERFORMANCE (IN SECONDS) CALCULATIONS I I ^^2 1 ^^™ 1 ■ 58 ■ 57 ■ 56 ■■■34 MB 69 SYSTEM UTILITIES (IN SECONDS) 40K FORMAT/DISK COPY 40K FILE COPY LOAD SPREADSHEET (IN SECONDS) RECALCULATE ■■■■KfB ).5 9.9 10 9.9 ■■■7.7 ■ 6.1 Epson Equity I n Muititech MPF-PC/700 (4.77 MHz) Kaypro PC ■■ Muititech MPF-PC/700 (8 MHz) IBM PC panel. The Equity I's keyboard lacks these features. The MPF-PC/700's ASCII keys are laid out similarly to the PC XT's, but the left Shift key is easier to reach and there is a larger Return key. The MPF-PC/700 also has a con- venient separate cursor keypad located between the main keyboard and the numeric keypad. Heavy spreadsheet users will appreciate this arrangement. The feel of all three key- boards was good, but none has an audible click like the IBM keyboards. My favorite is the Equity I's, which is somewhat firmer than the other two, but I found no strong shortcomings with any of them. Hardware and Layout Both the Kaypro PC and the Muititech MPF-PC/700 are similar in appearance to IBM machines. The Kaypro PC is almost a duplicate of the PC AT even down to the keyboard lock on the front panel. The Muititech MPF-PC/ 700 resembles the PC XT except for its color scheme and the hardware reset switch on the front panel. The Epson Equity I has a much smaller footprint and more attractive styling than the other two machines. Epson uses flip-down panels on the front of the main unit. The on/off switch is behind one panel at the top right, and a larger panel beneath the disk drives conceals a hardware reset button and ten DIP switches that you use to configure the amount of RAM. the type of monitor installed, the number of floppy disk drives in the system, and whether the parallel and serial ports are enabled or disabled. At first examination, all three com- puters seem to use a basic IBM-like layout for their internal components. However, a closer look reveals some important differences. The Equity I's small size means that internal com- ponents are tightly packed and there is room for only three expansion slots. Only two are available after a video board is installed. There is room for only two half-height disk drives, one of which can be replaced by a half- height hard disk, and they must be removed for access to the mother- board components, microprocessor chip, and RAM. (continued) NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 241 REVIEW: THREE IBM CLONES The Equity l's power supply is rated at only 55 watts. Normally this would limit expansion capability but since the machine has only three internal slots, the low power output is not critical. The MPF-PC/700's layout is similar to a standard IBM PC XT's except that the two floppy disk drives are mounted on the removable top cover of the case rather than on the main frame of the unit. You have to handle the cover carefully when removing it because of the umbilical wires con- nected to the main unit. Both the MPF-PC/700 and the Kaypro PC have space on the main chassis to add an internal full-height hard disk drive in addition to the two standard half- height floppy disk drives. The Kaypro PC's layout superficial- ly resembles the IBM PC's. However, the Kaypro PC's motherboard is used only as a mount for the expansion slots. The microprocessor and its ac- cessory chips reside on one full- length expansion card, and the RAM. disk controller circuits, and I/O ports are on another. A third full-length slot is taken up by the Kaypro PC's multi- mode video board. This layout still leaves three full-length and three half- length slots free for further expansion. Putting the microprocessor and its ancillary chips on an expansion card makes the Kaypro PC instantly up- gradable and is a guarantee against obsolescence. In fact. Kaypro is now advertising an 80286 processor re- placement board that turns the Kay- pro PC into an IBM PC AT clone. The only catch is that the Kaypro has an 8-bit data path between the processor board and RAM board because the expansion slots on the Kaypro PC are compatible with the IBM PC rather than with the AT's 16-bit data path. This degrades performance some- what because the 8-bit bus needs more clock cycles to send the same information between the micropro- cessor and memory. The hardware reset switch for the Kaypro PC is mounted on the micro- processor expansion board at the rear of the computer. It is more awkward to reach than the front- mounted reset switches on the Equi- ty I and the Multitech MPF-PC/700. The Kaypro PC's card-mounted serial port is a 9-pin connector like that found on the IBM PC AT. The Equity I and the MPF-PC/700 have standard IBM PC 2 5-pin serial and parallel ports mounted on their sys- tem motherboards. Internals More differences show up here. First, the Equity I has no socket for an op- tional 8087 coprocessor, and al- though all three use the 8088 chip for their microprocessors, the MPF- PC/700 uses the 8088-2 version of this chip. This allows switching between clock rates of 4.77 and 8 MHz. The MPF-PC/700 handles changes in pro- cessor speed gracefully. You can change speeds either by running a short utility program that is included with the operating system software or by simultaneously pressing the Ctrl, Alt, and plus (+) keys. You can change the default processor speed at start- up by moving a shorting plug on the motherboard. A green LED on the front panel lights up when the MPF- PC/700 is in its high-speed mode. The Kaypro PC that I reviewed was configured with three banks of nine 2 56K-bit RAM chips. This gives a total of 768K bytes of memory, but only 640K bytes are used by MS-DOS. The Kaypro PC comes with a RAM disk program that uses the extra 128K bytes of memory as well as any part of the regular 640K bytes. To add memory beyond the stan- dard 256K bytes in the Equity I, you have two options. Epson makes a 265K-byte piggyback board that mounts in a special system-board socket. This way you can have 51 2K bytes of memory in the Equity I with- out using one of the expansion slots. The second possibility is to add a standard IBM PC-compatible mem- ory-expansion board and bring the system memory up to 640K bytes. It should be possible to configure the MPF-PC/700 with 640K bytes on the motherboard, but the user's manual only describes how to set the machine up with 51 2 K bytes of RAM. The Multitech user's guide shows how to configure the MPF-PC/700 with either 64K-byte or 2 56K-byte memory chips in two banks of nine chips. Elsewhere the documentation states that 640K bytes of RAM can be in- stalled on the system board. My review machine had room for 36 RAM chips in four banks of nine chips. On- ly one bank was populated with 2 56K chips. The Kaypro PC is the only machine whose standard configuration in- cludes both an internal clock and backup battery. Software The Kaypro PC comes bundled with an impressive array of software, which makes this micro a good value for someone who is starting computing from scratch. This software is not a collection of freeware or little-known programs but useful, full-featured pro- grams that almost eliminate the need to buy anything else for general home or business use. The only program missing is a spreadsheet. The PolyWindows Desk software is published by Polytron Corporation and is a memory-resident desktop ac- cessory program similar to Borland's popular SideKick. One difference be- tween PolyWindows and SideKick is that you can choose to load as few or as many of the memory-resident fea- tures as you want with PolyWindows. thus conserving RAM. Mite is a com- munications software package from Mycroft Labs. It is a terminal emula- tion program that allows the Kaypro PC to communicate over bulletin boards and with other computers. Multitech gives you the unusual op- tion of choosing between two oper- ating systems for the MPF-PC/700: MS-DOS 2.11 or Concurrent CP/M. | Editor's note: Multitech is now supplying MS-DOS 3.1 with its computers.] Most users will prefer MS-DOS because of its popularity and compatibility with PC-DOS and with IBM software, but the version of CP/M included with the MPF-PC/700 allows you to run MS- DOS applications from within the CP/M operating system. Concurrent CP/M also supports multiuser and multitasking processing, making it more versatile than MS-DOS for cer- tain functions. Multitech does not provide a BASIC interpreter, but Microsoft's MASM. [continued) 242 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 LOGITECH MODULA-2/86 lOJIWmCKAGE $ 89 Price ■ Separate Compilation ■ Native Code Generation ■ Large Memory Model Support ■ Multitasking ■ Powerful Debugging Tools ■ Comprehensive Module Library ■ Available for the PC and the VAX Use LOGITECH MODULA-2/86 to decrease your overall development cycle and produce more reliable, more maintainable code. • LOGITECH MODULA-2/86 $89 Includes Editor, Run Time System, Linker, 8087 Software Emulation, Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) Module, Logitech's com- prehensive library, Utility to generate standard .EXE files. AND more! • LOGITECH MODULA-2/86 with 8087 Support $129 • LOGITECH MODULA-2/86 PLUS $189 For machines with 512K of RAM. Increases compilation speed by 50%. • RUN TIME DEBUGGER (Source level!) $69 The ultimate professional's tool! Display source, data, call chain and raw memory. Set break points, variables, pinpoint bugs in your source! UTILITIES PACKAGE $49 Features a Post-Mortem Debugger (PMD). If your program crashes at run-time the PMD allows you to analyze the status of the program and locate the error. Also includes a Disassembler, Cross Reference Utility, and Version that allows conditional compilation. ff LIBRARY SOURCES $99 Source code now available for customization or exemplification, inquiry 187 ^ WINDOW PACKAGE $49 Build windows into your programs. Features virtual screens, color support, overlapping windows and a variety of borders. £ MAKE UTILITY $29 Figures out dependencies and automatically selects modules affected by code changes to minimize recompilation and relinking. t $199 CROSS RUN TIME Debugger and ROM Package Still available at an introductory price! TURBO PASCAL to $49 MODULA-2 TRANSLATOR "Turbo Pascal. ..is a very good system. But don 't make the mistake of trying to use it for large programs.' 1 Niklaus Wirth* Our Translator makes it even easier for Turbo users to step up to Modula-2/86. It changes your Turbo source code into Modula-2/86 source, solves all the incompatibilities, and translates the function calls of Turbo into Modula-2/86 procedures. Implements the complete Turbo libraries! Call for information about our VAX/VMS version,Site License, University Discounts, Dealer & Distributor pricing. 30 Day Money Back Guarantee! To place an order call our special toll free number: ^^^ ^^^ __._ 800-231-7717 in California 800-552-8885 $199 Special Holiday Offer Step up to the power of LOGITECH MODULA-2/86 at a saving of nearly $100 off our usual low prices! We re offering a complete tool set including ourcompilerwith8087support(foruse with or without an 8087), our Turbo to Modula-2/86 Translator, Run Time Debugger, and Utilities in one holiday package at a special price! «as reported in NiieroXornucopiLL August-September 1985. Turbo Pascal is a registered trademark qf Borland International. 'V/'T^C] 1 wanttostepup to I H/O LOGITECH MODULA-2/86! Here's the configuration I'd like: D Special Holiday Package $199 D Logitech Modula-2/86 $89 □ with 8087 support $129 □ Plus Package $189 □ Turbo to Modula Translator $49 □ Run Time Debugger $69 D Utilities Package $49 □ Library Sources $99 □ Window Package $49 □ Make Utility $29 □ ROM Package $199 Add 56.50 for shipping and handling. Calif, residents add applicable sales lax. Prices valid in U.S. only. Total Enclosed S □ Visa D MasterCard □ Check Enclosed Card Number Expiration Date Signature Name Address City State Zip ffl LOGITECH Logitech, Inc. 805 Veterans- Blvd. Redwood City, CA 94063 Tel: 415-365-9852 In Europe: Logitech SA, Switzerland Tel: 41-21-879656 In Italy: Tel: 39-2-215-5622 REVIEW: THREE IBM CLONES LINK. CREF, and EXE2BIN programs for assembling and linking assembly language programs are included with the MS-DOS utility software. The Equity I is bundled with MS- DOS 2.11 and GW-BASIC As part of the operating system utilities, Epson provides menu-driven programs that format and copy disks and configure the serial port. Performance and Compatibility As the benchmark graphs show, there were no big surprises when the BYTE benchmark tests were run on these three micros. The results are similar to those obtained for the IBM PC. The exceptions are for the MPF-PC/700 running in its 8-MHz mode and for the Kaypro PCs BASIC Disk Access Read test. The former results are easily understood, but the Kaypro's in- creased performance in the Read test is less easy to decipher. It may be due to the way that the machine's file-read BIOS function is written. In terms of day-to-day performance, you would not notice very many dif- ferences while using any of the three computers unless you had the MPF- PC/700 in its high-speed mode all the time. I had no problems running any of my IBM software in the 8-MHz mode. All three micros are highly compati- ble with the IBM PC. Kaypro uses the well-known ROM made by Phoenix Software. Both Epson and Multitech have apparently developed their own versions of IBM's ROM. I could not find any IBM software that would not run on these com- puters with the exception of games and graphics programs that must run in the color graphics mode. These could not be tested on the Equity I or the MPF-PC/700 because of their monochrome display boards. As always, you should try your favorite applications program on the computer of your choice before you buy the machine. DOCUMENTATION Epson's manuals consist of two 8- by 1 0-inch three-ring binders that fit in- to one 5-inch-thick slipcase. The user's guide has clear instructions that help a beginner get the Equity I up and running quickly. The MS-DOS manual is part of the same binder as the user's guide and is about average in terms of completeness and ease of use. The explanation of the operating system commands is clearer and the examples are better than those in the IBM DOS manual. The GW-BASIC manual is adequate. Multitech includes four slim paper- back volumes with the MPF-PC/700. One pair consists of user's and refer- ence guides for MS-DOS 2.11; the other pair offers similar information for Concurrent CP/M. The operating system manuals are copies of generic Microsoft and Digital Research documents. Much of the information specifically related to the MPF-PC/700 is duplicated in the two user's guides. As you might expect with all its bundled software, the Kaypro PC has the largest number of manuals. All nine of them are inexpensively bound 7- by 9-inch paperbacks. Although the software manuals included for the MicroPro products are not complete reference manuals, they describe how to use the programs adequately. The manuals for Mite and PolyWindows Desk are written by their respective software publishers. The Mite manual is particularly well written and easy to understand. The presence of an MS- DOS 2. 1 1 programmer's reference manual is a welcome addition for users who will be writing software for the computer. Support and Service The Equity I comes with a one-year warranty on parts and labor. Epson has a widespread network of dealers throughout the U.S., so obtaining ser- vice should not be much of a prob- lem. The compactness of the com- puter and the difficulty of getting at the main circuit board makes the Equity I harder to work on than the other micros. The Kaypro PC has a 90-day war- ranty period that covers all parts and labor. Purchasers are encouraged to have an authorized dealer service the computer, presumably the dealer who sold it. However, you can ship the machine to Kaypro directly. The modular nature of the Kaypro PC makes servicing it easy. Multitech's U.S. headquarters and service repair facilities are in Sun- nyvale, California. They have technical experts on-site to answer owner's questions via a toll-free number. The technical staff proved to be both courteous and helpful when I called with questions concerning the use of some of the operating system utilities included with MS-DOS. The MPF- PC/700 comes with a six-month war- ranty on parts and labor, but you have to pay for your own shipping. For $40, you can extend the warranty coverage for an additional six months. The computer uses common generic hard- ware and should be serviceable by any knowledgeable technician. Conclusions The Kaypro PC appears to be the best value of the three computers. Its only shortcoming is the lack of a high- speed (8-MHz) mode like the Multi- tech MPF-PC/700's. It has adequate in- ternal space and power supply capacity for expansion. One big plus for the Kaypro PC is its removable microprocessor expansion card. This facilitates upgrading of this microcom- puter as future options and enhance- ments become available. But the major advantage that puts the Kaypro PC ahead of the others is the software bundled with it. The actual value of these programs, even priced at dis- count levels, is in excess of $400. I found nothing seriously lacking in either the Multitech MPF-PC/700 or the Epson Equity I; they are both good solid IBM PC-compatible clones. Certainly, the Equity I's small footprint makes it well suited to situa- tions where space may be limited. The Multitech MPF-PC/700 repre- sents a good hardware value for an average IBM PC clone, and its ability to run in an 8-MHz mode makes it the top performer of the trio. The ques- tion of how this machine will be marketed and serviced in the U. S. is open to speculation. The Kaypro PC and Epson Equity I are being discounted fairly heavily, and it would be worthwhile shopping around for either of these ma- chines. ■ 244 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1986 1DGM0USE HOUIW GRAPHEX PACKAGE $99 LOGIMOUSE C7 $219 NEW LOGIPAINT-&-DRAW s Just for the holidays we've wrap- ped up LOGIMOUSE and its Plus Software with Generic C ADD and PC Paintbrush into the graphics package of the year. LOGIPAINT- &-DRAW is the complete graphics toolkit for combining freehand and technical drawing. Use LOGIPAINT-&-DRAW to design your holiday greeting, enhance your spreadsheets,graphsand memos, or create and personalize a map or mechanical. Just create your CADD drawing, import it into PC Paintbrush, and embellish it with paint sketches and fancy fonts. At a saving of almost $50 off our usual low prices, LOG IP AINT-&-DR AW is a holiday package you can't afford to pass up. LOGIPAINT-&-DR AW includes : LOGIMOUSE C7 with Plus Software LOGIMOUSE is the high resolution (200-dot-per-inch) mouse that is ideal for CADD and paint. It connects directly to the serial port of any IBM PC/XT/AT or compatible,with no pad or external power supply required. The Plus Package is our top-of-the-line mouse software featuring a pop-up menu system, an automatic mouse configurator^ unique mouse interface for Lotus 1-2-3, and a mouse based text editor. "^s LOGIC ADD- Generic CADD 2.0 and Dot Plot Generic CADD is the sensational, new CADD package that offers the features and performance of high- priced at an unbelievably low price. The package alsoincludesDotPlot,the add-on utility that turns your dot matrix printer into a plotter. LOGIPAEVT - PC Paintbrush PC Paintbrush is the most advanced paint set available for the PC. It's the preferred choice of professional usens, but with its icon menus for both graphics and text it's easy and fun for beginners as well. It offers complete graphic capabilities as well as 11 type fonts and a palette of 16 colors. LOGIMOUSE $199 with Borland's Reflex Reflex, Borland's amazing data- base management program, flies with LOGIMOUSE! We offer Reflex with LOGIMOUSE and the Plus Package Software at a very special price! Inquiry 188 LOGIMOUSE is a registered trademark of LOGITECH. Lotus and 1-2-3 are trademarks of Lotus Development Corp. Reflex isa trademark of Borland-Analytica.Generie CADD is a trademark of Generic Software. Inc. PC Paintbrush is a registered trademark of ZSoft Corp. ► place a credit card order call our special toll-free number: 800-231-7717 Call toll-free in California: 800-552-8885 YES I want to add the power of LOGlMOUSEto my holidays! □ LOG1PA1NT-&-DRAW $219 D LOGIMOUSE w/Driver 3.0 S99 □ LOGIMOUSE w/Plus Software $119 □ LOGIC ADD w/Logimouse $189 & Plus Software D LOGIPAINT w/Logimouse $169 & Plus Software □ REFLEX w/Logimouse & $199 Plus Software Fbr my computer model: . 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee D VISA D MasterCard D Check Enclosed Add 56. 50 for shipping and handling. Calif, residents add applicable sales tax. Prices valid in U.S. only- Card Number Expiration Date Signature Name Address City State Zip Phone DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOME LOGITECH Logitech, Inc. 805 Veterans Blvd. Redwood City, CA 94063 Tel:415-:\65-9852 In Europe: Logitech SA. Switzerland Tel: A 1-2 1-879656 In Italy: Tel: 39-2-215-5622 • • • • a • • • « • *J '*■>*. < '■■'■■.■ LU6.2 LU6.2 LU6.2+2 Systems Strategies' cSNA/LU6.2, the fully portable software solution that gives your products true blue LU6.2 performance, now comes with two new pluses. PLUS ONE: DIA/DCA Supporting IBM's office automation architec- tures is a big plus for your products. With cSNA/DIA, your systems can access DISOSS applications, plus exchange documents with IBM's DIA-compatible office systems. Our cSNA/DCA package ensures compatibility with IBM's document formatting system. PLUS TWO: SNADS Adding our cSNA/SNADS software will enable your products to communicate on a SNADS network with delayed delivery ser- vices capability. Of course, all of our IBM office automation support products are fully integrated with CSNA/LU6.2 and with our entire SNA product family, over the unique cSNA/engine. EXCLUSIVE TEST PACKAGES Our internal, proprietary test packages are now available to aid your imple- mentations. Our Test 6.2 package con- - IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Madiines. System J '370. System/ 36 CICS and SSP t5us compatible interface card capabl^cf operating as a synchronous,jntj0em or as a synchronous interface card. "-SYNGmodem Is^ideal for remote PC-to- mainframe or PC-to-PC communications. It comes fully integrated with 3780Plus™, CLEO-3270 SNA or BSC, and CLEO-5250 SNA software packages. 3780Plus allows fast and efficient fik/ transfers, over common phone line^^ between your PC and any mlciwfnini, or mainframe that supports 2780/3780 Bisync protocol. CLEO-3270 SNA or BSC and CLEO-5250 SNA allow your PC to emulate a remote 327x or 525x terminal device. All you need is a phone line. The 212/201 modem includes the Mirror asynchronous software package in addition to your selected CLEO SNA or BSC package. For details call 1(800)233-CLE0. In Illinois 1(815)397-8110. CLEO CLEO Software a division of Phone 1 , Inc. 1639 North Alpine Road Rockford. IL61107 TELEX 703639 CLEO Is a registered trademark of CLEO Software. SYNCmodem and 3780P)us are trademarks of CLEO Software. HARDW REVIEW Three 24-pin Dot-Matrix Printers by Robert D. Swearengin Printer shoppers look for the best combination of speed, versatility, output quality, and price. The 24-pin dot-matrix printers generally get high marks in the first three cate- gories, but there is a wide range in functionality and price. At $184 5, the state-of-the- art Nissho NP-2410 is not for low-budget operations. On the other end of the price range, the $699 Tbshiba P32 1 has fewer frills and i s afford- able for small businesses and some home applications. Be- tween these two is the Fujit- su DL2400 for $1195, with a color model available for $1395. All three printers per- formed well during six weeks of testing. Surprisingly, print quality was not a significant variable. Such judgments are always somewhat subjective, but output from the Tbshiba P32 1 certainly compares favorably to that from the more expensive ma- chines. In fact, 1 liked Tbshiba's Courier 10, a font that is available in all three printers, the best. What do you get for more money? Speed, versatility, con- venience, and durability, assuming it's reasonable to base the latter quality on size, weight, and print-head life. Features and Operation The Nissho NP-2410's front panel is deceptively simple, considering the number of features it has. Three LEDs indicate power on, on-line, and paper out. The first of six switches controls on-line and off-line. The Reset switch clears the 4K-byte buffer and updates A look at three quality printers with various features and prices printer defaults, and TOF (top of form) advances a new page to a preset top of form. The FF (formfeed) switch feeds forms according to a preset length, LF (linefeed) advances the platen one line at a time (or con- tinuously when you hold it down), and Sheet Load advances single sheets to the proper starting position. The printer gets interesting when you discover the flip-open door just to the left of the main controls. A con- cealed panel offers a variety of op- tions including seven fonts residing on two chips inside the printer. With a thumbwheel you select draft quality in 10, 12, 15, or 18 pitch or letter quali- ty in Courier 10. Letter Gothic 12, or Century, which has propor- tional spacing. You can also dial an optional plug-in dual- font cartridge or download a font from disk. Once you've selected a font, more options await you. One slide switch changes print style from standard (roman) to italic; another gives emphasized print. Two additional switches let you select bidirectional or uni- directional printing and six or eight lines per inch. A thumbwheel lets you select ten form lengths ranging from 3 to 14 inches. Finally, eight DIP switches behind a back interface panel provide more choices. The first four set on-line, skip perforation, automatic line- feed, and IBM or Epson LQ-1500 graphics. The re- maining four switches let you select international character sets for eleven countries. The Fujitsu DL2400 offers compar- able features on its front panel that are also deceptively simple but not as easy to operate. The selection process requires a little more time and manip- ulation. An LED indicates power on. For other information, you cycle through the options on a 16-column LCD choosing different combinations from only four buttons that have three functions each. The standard func- tions are printed on the buttons them- [continued) Robert D. Swearengin (Department of jour- nalism and Printing, P.O. Box 1930, Arkan- sas State University, State University, AR 72467) is an instructor of journalism and a freelance writer. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 255 REVIEW: 24-PIN DOT-MATRIX PRINTERS selves: On-Line, FF, LF, and Reset. Pressing Reset in the on-line mode clears the 8K-byte buffer and ini- tializes the printer. When you hold it down, Reset be- comes an Alt button and changes the button functions to the commands that are printed underneath them on the front panel. LF becomes Micro LF which advances the paper only 1/180 inch for fine adjustments. FF becomes Load and sets new paper to the cor- rect starting point for printing. On-line changes to Setup and activates a third set of commands printed directly over the buttons. On this Setup line, FF changes to Function and takes you through the main menu on the LCD: style setting, interface setting, save mode, setup listing, self-test, hex dump, and default setting. LF now changes to Item and lists a submenu for each function. The Reset button changes to Select and lets you pick options from the submenu. The On- Line button, labeled Exit in the Setup mode, simply puts the printer back on-line when you've finished setting parameters. This process is confusing at first. My initial reaction was that too few but- tons control too many functions, al- though after about an hour of prac- tice I was changing setups with little difficulty. Let's say you want to change from the default, Courier 10, to Draft 12. You first press On-Line (Setup) while holding down Reset (Alt); the LCD dis- play changes from ON-LINE:READY to SETUP MODE, and then to FUNCTN:STYLE, which is the first display in the setup mode. Because this is the function you need, you don't have to press FF (Function) to go through the menu. You simply press LF (Item) until the display reads QUALITY:DRAFT. and press Reset (Select) to lock it in. Then you repeat the last two steps to select CHAR SP:12 CPI, press On-Line (Exit), and you're ready to print Draft 12. If you want Draft 12 to be the new default setting, you can put it in the printer's nonvolatile EPROM using the save mode. In addition to Courier and Draft, you can also choose Prestige Elite or an attractive Compression 18 font. Using the same process, you can change just about everything else from the front panel, including char- acter sets, ten languages, print at- tributes (italic, bold, etc.), color, line spacing, page length, margins, inter- face specifications, and IBM/Epson graphics emulation. The Toshiba P321 has a straightfor- ward control panel with no frills or programming options, and it is there- fore the easiest to operate for routine printing. | Editor's note: A model that has both parallel and serial interfaces is available for $749.] However, you must rely on control codes and DIP switches to ac- cess most of its features. Four LEDs indicate power on, alarm, paper end, and select (on-line). Three switches for paper feed, top of page, and select/ deselect complete the panel. DIP switches 2 and 3, easily accessi- ble inside the top cover, set type fonts, pitch, and several other printing options. You can select Draft, Courier, Prestige Elite, or an optional dual-font plug-in cartridge and set pitch at 10, 12, 16.7, or proportional spacing. Other switches control form length, a 256K-byte buffer, and the standard commands for carriage return, line feed, bidirectional printing, etc. You can also choose character sets for IBM and seven languages. DIP switch I (available on the parallel and serial model) comes with a dual port and sets the interface, data bits, pro- tocol, data rate, and parity. Like the more expensive printers, the r It>shiba P321 produces empha- sized, expanded, italic, underlined, and bit-imaged graphics with control and characters codes. An optional kit for downloading fonts from disk is available for $89; IBM graphics printer emulation is $49. The basic printer comes with Tbshiba escape se- quences and Qume Sprint 1 1 daisy- wheel emulation. Speed and Quality Draft 10 and Courier 10 provide a rea- sonable comparison of speed and quality since all three printers share these fonts. Factory specifications are noted in parentheses next to the throughput measured with the BYTE benchmark test, 50 lines of 60 As at 6 lines per inch. The Nissho NP-2410 printed Draft at 188 (300) characters per second and Courier at 108 (150) cps. The Fujitsu DL2400 printed Draft at 109 (180) cps and Courier at 49 (60) cps, and the Toshiba P321 printed Draft at 92 (180) cps and Courier at 41 (60) cps. Speed is not as critical with italic type because it's generally used in short measures, but 1 ran a test with Courier 10 italic out of curiosity. The Toshiba and Fujitsu printers ran at about the same speed, losing only 1 to 4 cps. However, the Nissho paused at the end of each line and slowed drastical- ly to 2 5 cps— something to consider if you frequently print large blocks of italic type. All three printers performed well on 10-page sliding-character tests, with no noticeable change in impression or alignment/All three produced quali- ty output, as the type samples in- dicate. However, the letter-quality designation for Courier 10 on the Nissho NP-2410 is questionable. The type is not as dense as the Courier from the other printers, and a near- letter-quality rating might be more ap- propriate. In fairness, the Nissho prints letter-quality emphasized Courier 10 at 73 cps, which is con- siderably faster than the other two printers. It also does letter-quality Century, a denser face not resident in the others, at 100 cps. (See page 2 57 for a side-by-side comparison of fea- tures and prices.) Complaints The access cover on the Nissho NP-2410 is not hinged; instead, it at- taches with two flexible straps and flops back in an ungainly fashion when opened. The result is too much play from side to side; you must align it carefully to snap it back in place and put the printer on-line. The paper guide is flimsy and the two sections tend to fall apart during installation, although it worked fine once it was at- tached. Front-panel programming on the Fu- jitsu DL2400 is a bit complex; if you're a casual user or don't change modes often, you'll probably have to check the manual to refresh your memory. Furthermore, this manual is the [continued] 256 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 REVIEW: 24-PIN DOT-MATRIX PRINTERS Type Company Size Features Graphics resolution: Resident faces: Print-head life: Ribbon: Options Documentation Price Fujitsu DL2400 24-pin dot-matrix printer Fujitsu America Inc. Storage and Peripheral Products Division 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose, CA 95134 (408) 946-8777 7 1 /2 by 22V2 by 15V2 inches 44 pounds Wide carriage, tractor feed, 8K-byte buffer, IBM/Epson FX-80 graphics emulation, dual interfaces 180 by 360 Draft, Courier; Prestige Elite, Compression 300 million characters " Black: $30; 15 million impressions Four-color: $39.50; 3.6 million impressions Single-font cartridge: $45 Single-bin sheet feeder: $495 Dual-bin sheet feeder: $695 Dual-bin sheet feeder plus envelopes: $900 170-page user's manual; optional programmer's manual: $15 Basic model: $1195 Color model: $1395 Nissho NP-2410 24-pin dot-matrix printer Nissho Information Systems 10855 Business Center Dr. Cypress, CA 90630 (714) 952-8700 6 by 23V2 by 17 inches 41 pounds Wide carriage, friction feed, 4K-byte buffer, IBM/Epson LQ-1500 graphics emulation 180 by 360 Draft, Courier, Letter Gothic, Century 200 million characters $15; 15 million impressions Dual-font cartridge: $60 Serial port: $100 48K-byte buffer: $250 Bidirectional tractor feed: $195 Single-bin sheet feeder: $295 Dual-bin sheet feeder: $595 80-page user's guide; 100-page technical manual $1845 ■ Toshiba P321 24-pin dot-matrix printer Toshiba America Inc. Information Systems Division 2441 Michelle Dr. Tustin, CA 92680 (714) 730-5000 6 by I6V2 by 13 inches 20 pounds Standard carriage, friction feed, 256K-byte buffer; Qume Sprint 11 daisy-wheel emulation, parallel interface port 180 by 360 Draft, Courier, Prestige Elite 100 million characters $12; 1.6 million impressions Dual-font cartridge: $69 Downloadable font kit: $89 IBM graphics emulation: $49 Tractor feed: $99 Single-bin sheet feeder: $219 154-page user's manual Parallel-only model: $699 Parallel and serial model: $749 PRINT SPEED (CHARACTERS/SEC) DRAFT 10 25 COURIER 10 25 50 . NWMN IIS 108 — . . .,41 LIST PRICE ($100) 6 12 1 $1845 :,; $699/57 49 t FUJITSU DL2400 NISSHO NP-2410 TOSHIBA P321 t Parallel and Serial * Color Model Benchmark comparisons of the Nissho NP-2410, the Fujitsu DL2400, and the Toshiba P321 using 10-pitch Draft and 10-pitch Courier fonts. For each font, print speeds were determined by timing in seconds how long it took to print 50 lines of 60 As. For more information on benchmark tests, see 'The Art of Benchmarking Printers" by Sergio Mello-Grand, February 1984 BYTE. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 257 REVIEW: 24-PIN DOT-MATRIX PRINTERS weakest of the three; the program- ming information needs more detail, particularly the section on graphics, An optional programmer's manual costs $15. The Toshiba P321 advances the rib- bon with a length of cord that stretches across the inside of the printer and wraps around a wheel underneath the carriage. For me, this was a trap. The manual's setup in- structions say to remove the white "plastic tie wrap" to free the carriage for printing. Mine had no such wrap, and I assumed the company had switched to a cord, which I dutifully removed. The ribbon didn't advance when I started the printer and I spent half an hour figuring out what was wrong and reinstalling the cord. After that, it worked fine. I was nervous about this low-technology hookup. We Beat The Systems. 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POWER SUPPLY 130 Watt -Rear Power Switch Display Telecommunications Corporation 8445 Freeport Parkway • Suite 445 • Irving, TX 75063 1-800-227-8383 • For Technical Calls Only: 1-214-929-1382 TELEX 5106000176 DTC UD which reminded me of the dial cords on old radios, but I experienced no problems during operation. Pick a Printer Complaints aside, all three printers performed as advertised and elimi- nated most of my reservations about dot-matrix machines in general. The Nissho NP-2410 control panel beats any I've seen for features and ease of use. With its speedy output, wide car- riage, and hefty proportions (6 by 2Vh by 17 inches and 41 pounds), it should nicely handle high-volume pro- cessing. The print-head life is rated at 200 million characters. However, with a tractor feed and other options such as a serial port, you'll pay over $2000. With the Fujitsu DL2400 you'll sacri- fice some speed, operating ease, and convenience for a much lower price tag. but it's also a wide-carriage, hefty machine [V/i by 22'/2 by I5'/2 inches and 44 pounds) with a print-head life of 300 million characters. Dual inter- faces and a tractor feed are included in the $1195 base price, an important . consideration if you're watching your budget. The color model, which is $200 extra, is also attractive: It prints black, yellow, magenta, cyan, violet, orange, and green from a four-color ribbon. The Toshiba P321, with a print-head life of 100 million characters, weighs 20 pounds with its standard carriage and small footprint (6 by 1 6/2 by 13 inches). Aside from the cord on the ribbon advance, it seems to be stur- dily built. It has no special features, and you'll pay extra for tractor feed and such niceties as IBM emulation, the downloadable font kit. and the parallel and serial interface model. Nevertheless, in output quality and overall printing capability, it held its own against the more expensive printers. This one is a contender for small- to medium-volume users. If you need reasonable speed, quali- ty, and flexibility but don't want to pay for a laser printer, consider one of these printers as a viable alternative. Let the trade-offs between functionali- ty, reliability, and price be your guide. You must make the final choice by as- sessing the costs and benefits for your particular application. ■ 258 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 112 Si©u? and CmfawM Javits Convention Center* New York City • December 17-19, 1986 Compare Thousands of Advanced Graphics Applications for PCs ... Micros ... Super micros Yesterday, advanced graphics cost six figures. And microcomputers were only for people who could type. Today, the marriage of graphics and micros is improving the produc- tivity of everyone who would rather use a mouse than a keyboard. 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Pastoria Blvd, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Inquiry 319 HARDWARE REVIEW Digitizers for Data Entry by Eldon D. Hearn A survey of eight into personal computers A digitizer is an electronic tablet used to enter the coor- dinates of specific points of - ~ ? . graphic information into a devices \or entering graphics computer. You point at the location on a map or draw- ing with a stylus or cursor and the coordinate data is automatically sent to your computer. Once installed, it's simple to use and usually accurate to within a few hun- dredths of an inch. 'Ikble 1 lists the eight digitizers I have compared, with a compilation of each machine's attributes. The list contains 80 percent of the digitizer manufacturers in the U.S. My com- pany's development laboratory has used at least one model of each digi- tizer. Price Several prices are listed in table I if a digitizer is available in more than one size. These prices include no op- tions, although options can add sub- stantially to the overall price of the digitizer. All sizes represent the active area of the digitizer. All manufacturers buffer the active area by various distances, so the overall size of the digitizer is somewhat larger. One model, the Microgrid series, is con- tained in a drafting table and is quite large. It can be turned vertically and used in that fashion. RS232C Serial Ports Some digitizers have more than one RS-232C port, some have parallel ports, and some have both. You will require the parallel port option if you need faster coordinate transmission. The Intelligent Digitizer (ID) series, the Microgrid series, and the Digi-Pad 5 series have their RS-232C serial ports configured as DCE (data communica- tions equipment) or DTE (data ter- minal equipment). The ID series also has one 26-pin and one 50-pin printed circuit card connector for other applications. Special Cables Every manufacturer will provide a cable that matches the digitizer to your computer for an extra cost. Some digitizers will operate without a specially prepared cable. A standard serial cable will provide all the nec- essary connections for the Microgrid series and the Numonics 2200/2400 series. The other digitizers require some variations in the cable wiring to attach to a computer. The RS-232C standard has been fol- lowed by all manufacturers except Houston Instrument. Although its HIPAD digitizer is nonstandard, Houston Instrument will supply you with a cable, depending on your ap- plication, to make all the necessary connections between your digitizer and computer. Program control of serial port pin 20 (DTR) in your program is essential. If pin 20 of the serial port is enabled, the computer will accept serial trans- fer with a digitizer that follows the RS-232C standard. Most communica- tions programs do this. PC-lklk and Crosstalk will communicate with your digitizer if you set both the digitizer and the program to the same data rate, word length, parity check, and stop-bit parameters. Data Format All digitizers transmit their coor- dinates in either ASCII or packed binary code. Packed binary can represent the same data j but in a different binary for- datd mat. This is optional on all but one digitizer, the HIPAD, and is switch-selectable. The form differs between manu- facturers, but usually the x coordinate precedes the y coordinate. In this article, the ASCII format will be assumed. On most digitizers the coordinate format is set, but some digitizers allow certain switch-selectable options. An additional digit of x and y value may be optional, or a decimal point may be included somewhere within the formatted string. Usually, the more digits that are transmitted with each coordinate, the greater the resolution from that digitizer will be. All digitizers can send their coordinates in inches or millimeters, and that is also switch-selectable for all but the HIPAD digitizer. Included somewhere in the coor- dinate format and transmitted from the digitizer is a one- or two-character code that represents the key you pressed at the digitizer cursor when you digitized that particular point. The location of the character generally is the first or last character transmitted. Even if you have a one-button cursor or a stylus, the character or characters are transmitted with each coordinate pair. On the ID series of digitizers, a tablet identifier is the first character transmitted, and it gives you the op- tion of utilizing more than one tablet with your computer. On some digitizers, particularly the ones that allow a relocatable origin, a plus sign or a minus sign precedes (continued) Eldon D. Hearn is president ofGeocomp Ltd. (749 Wan Gordon Court. Golden. CO 80401), which develops software products for the energy and mining industries. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 261 REVIEW: DIGITIZERS the x and y coordinates. Some digi- tizers will transmit only a minus sign when the coordinate is negative, with an unsigned coordinate considered positive. The coordinate format is controlled by a ROM or PROM chip within the digitizer. Some manufacturers can emulate their competitors' digitizers by replacing this chip with another that transmits the proper coordinate format. If you have a program that works with another digitizer but not yours, check with the manufacturer. They might have a replacement ROM that emulates that digitizer, and you might be able to use the program. Binary Format The binary format allows faster com- munication from the digitizer and is often used in conjunction with a paral- lel port. The transmission from the digitizer is in binary notation and re- quires fewer bytes to transfer a coor- dinate than an ASCII coordinate. How- ever, its use complicates the interfac- ing of both digitizer and computer. Most digitizers have the capacity to overwhelm a good program with the ASCII format; thus, it seems unneces- sary to complicate your interface with this option. Bidirectional Communication Most digitizers can transfer their coor- dinates via the RS-232C connection at 1 50 to 9600 bits per second. Usually the rate is set by toggling certain switches, but one of the digitizers, the Summagraphics MMI201, will auto- matically sense the data rate of your computer. Feedback to the digitizer is called bidirectional communication, and the function of automatically sensing the data rate is called autobaud by Summagraphics. Reset Switch The Numonics 2200/2400 series of digitizers and the HIPAD have a reset switch, a handy refinement. Without a reset switch, you must turn the digitizer off and then back on again to enable changes whenever the digi- tizer switches are changed. The ID series has a "clear" switch at the con- troller to perform any switch change during power-up. Test Display Some digitizers have a test display that will let you observe the coor- dinates sent by the digitizer to the computer. You can purchase an op- tional test display if your program doesn't write the digitizer coordinates to the monitor in either numerical or graphic form and you need to see the coordinates of the point you digitized. Command Input Buffer Some newer digitizers with bidirec- tional communication have a buffer that will accept commands you trans- mit to the digitizer. The Bit Pad T\vo and the MM series of digitizers have a 10-character buffer size. The Micro- grid series has a 64-character buffer. The Numonics 2200/2400 series, the Digi-Pad 5 series, and the GP-7 and GP-8 have an unknown buffer size. You can build a file within the buffer limit that contains the com- mands to preset the digitizer to your application. You can then transmit the file to the digitizer with a communi- cations program such as PC-T&lk or Crosstalk. Switch-Select Functions There are only three digitizers that do not have the usual number of switches to preset for functions or modes. These are the MM series, in which jumpers are used, and the GP-7 and GP-8, in which some functions and modes can be picked from a com- mand menu defined just above the active area of the digitizer. The only other switches that require setting on the GP-7 and GP-8 are the com- munication switches located in the controller box. Power Supply All the digitizers discussed in this review require 110-volt AC electrical power. The ID series' power supply is in its controller and is separate from the digitizer. All the other digitizers have a wall-mounted transformer that is part of the power plug. Only the Digi-Pad 5 series has an on/off switch on its power supply. The other digi- tizers require you to remove the power supply from the outlet to power down. If you purchase one of the digitizers without an on/off switch, you may want to use an extension cord with an attached toggle to turn off your digitizer. Stylus/Cursor The Stylus/cursor category in table I has two entries for each digitizer. The first entry shows the number of stylus buttons with which the digitizer can be equipped. The second entry shows the number of cursor buttons avail- able on the digitizer's cursor. An "S" indicates a stylus without any buttons. In the case of the Digi-Pad 5 series. "5" in the first entry indicates that a 5-button stylus is available. A 5-button cursor is indicated as "5" in the sec- ond entry. Each of the digitizers listed in table I comes with either a stylus or a cur- sor as an option. These devices direct the point or points that the digitizer will transfer to the computer. When the stylus or cursor is close to the digi- tizer surface and you press the stylus or a cursor button, the digitizer will transfer to the computer the coor- dinates of the point under the stylus or the point located at the junction of the cross hairs on the cursor. If you need just the point's coordinates, a stylus is adequate. But if you need point identification along with the coordinates, you may want to choose a cursor with enough buttons to iden- tify each category of each point you transfer. The Digi-Pad 5 series of digi- tizers provides a 1-, 5-, and 16-button stylus as well as a 1-, 5-, and 16-button cursor. With the multibutton cursor you can define a certain key to call your program or terminate your digi- tizing sequence. With a two-button stylus, you can use the switch on the outside of the barrel as a terminating switch. Modes All digitizers have three modes: point, switch stream, and stream. These modes are the same for all machines, although there are other modes such as incremental and remote. Point transfer by the digitizer is a function of its data rate. A digitizer set at 9600 [continued) 262 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 T^ble I: Comparison of features for the eight digitizers. Included are the important features and options for the most commonly available models. Name Intelligent Digitizer (ID) series Bit Pad Two Microgrid series MM series 2200/2400 series HIPAD Digi-Pad 5 series GP-7, GP-8 Company Summagraphics Corp. 777 State St. Extension Faiifield. CT 06430 (203) 384-1344 Summagraphics Corp. 777 State St. Extension Fairfield, CT 06430 (203) 384-1344 Summagraphics Corp. 777 State St. Extension Fairfield, CT 06430 (203) 384-1344 Summagraphics Corp. 777 State St. Extension Fairfield, CT 06430 (203) 384-1344 Numonics Corp. 418 Pierce St. Lansdale, PA 19446 (215) 362-2766 Houston Instrument Corp. 8500 Cameron Rd. Austin, TX 78753 (800) 531-5205 G1CO Corp. 1055 First St. Rockville, MD 20850 (301) 279-9550 Science Accessories Corp. 970 Kings Highway W Southport, CT 06490 (203) 255-1526 Price $2500 $6000 $499 (Both models) $2375 to $5085 $291; $445; $895 $859 to $6595 $840 $1045 $6750 $995 $3175 Size (inches) 11 by 11 42 by 60 11 by 11 (Both models) 17by24to 42 by 60 6 by 9, 11 1 /a by 11 1 /2, 18 by 12 12 by 12 44 by 60 11 by 11 11 by 11 to 42 by 60 18 by 24 60 by 72 RS-232C serial ports 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 Special RS-232C cable Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Parallel port 2 No Optional Optional No Optional Yes Optional ASCII format SS SS SS SS SS Yes SS Yes Binary format SS SS SS SS SS Yes SS Optional Bidirectional communication No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Optional Reset switch Yes No Yes Yes (MM1812 only) Yes Yes No From menu Test display Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes No Command-input buffer N/A 10 characters 64 characters 10 characters Unknown N/A Unknown Unknown Switch-select functions Yes Yes Yes Jumpers Switches (MM1812) Yes Cable-selected Yes From menu Power supply In controller Wall-mounted Wall-mounted Wall-mounted Wall-mounted Wall-mounted Wall-mounted Wall-mounted Stylus/cursor S 1, 4, 13 S 3,4 1 3, 4, 16 1 3,4 S 1, 4, 16 S 1, 4 1, 5, 16 1, 5. 16 S 1, 4 Modes PT, SWST, ST PT, SWST, ST PT, SWST ST PT, SWST, ST PT SWST, ST PT, SWST, ST PT SWST ST PT, SWST, ST Coordinate alteration Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Self-test Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No On/off switch Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes Origin F&R F (model 1103) R (model 1105) F&R F&R F&R F&R F&R F&R Resolution (lines per inch) 100 to 200 100 to 508 (rel.mode) 400 to 508 (abs.mode) 200 to 1016 100 to 1000 1 to 1000 100 to 1000 SS 1 to 1000 100 Accuracy (inches) .004 .025 .005 .010 .005 .025 to .005 .01 to .005 .01 to .005 .010 to .003 .01 to .005 Sampling rate (counts per second) Potentiometer 1 to 100 SS 2 to 154 SS 2 to 200 SS 2 to 200 SS 8 to 200 SS 1 to 100 SS 1 to 200 SS 25 to 200 Weight (pounds) 11 105 7 (Installed in drawing table) 8 4.5 30 5 8 to 100 8 (GP-7); 12 (GP-8) Special features Configured serial ports DCE, DTE Two modes of operation Vertical use; numerous options Autobaud; two modes of operation Large menu area; easy access to switches Easy mode setting High accuracy Low price; large area REVIEW: DIGITIZERS The resolution of a digitizer is the smallest distance it can distinguish. bps will stream more coordinate pairs than one that is set at 300 bps. (The word stream is used in the sense that one coordinate pair follows another until you terminate the transmission.) Point mode will transmit one coor- dinate pair to the computer for each press of the stylus or cursor button. Switch stream mode will stream the coordinate pairs to the computer only when you press and hold down the stylus or cursor button. Stream mode will stream the coordinate pairs until you power-down the digitizer. In the Modes category in table 1, point mode is abbreviated as PI switched stream mode is SWSI, and stream mode is ST.. The ID series of digitizers' controller has buttons that let you easily access these three modes. The Bit Pad T\vo, Microgrid series, MM series, 2200/ 2400 series, and the Digi-Pad 5 series let you set these modes by either physically changing the internal switches or transmitting a certain code to the digitizer. The HIPAD lets you set three modes from buttons located on the front of the digitizer. The GP-7 and GP-8 digitizers have a menu in front of their controllers from which you can choose two modes or reset to the default setting. The easiest settings are, of course, the settings made from the computer, but they are transitory and revert to the original switch settings when you turn off the digitizer. Coordinate Alteration Coordinate alteration lets you change the coordinate format of the digitizer without changing the ROM chip. Al- teration will operate on the ASCII or binary coordinate format whether the coordinates are in U.S. customary sys- tem or metric units. If no alteration is available for a particular digitizer, then "No" is indicated in the table. If altera- tion is available, 'Yes" is used. The ID series of digitizers has DIP switches that can select many differing coor- dinate formats such as adding an- other digit in x and y coordinates or including a decimal point at specific locations. The Bit Pad r I\vo machine has only two types of alteration: absolute mode and relative mode. If you set a certain switch, the digitizer will alter its coordinate format to include a plus or minus sign in the format. This is called relative mode. In relative mode the digitizer will report its coordinates relative to the preceding point that was digitized. In absolute mode, an origin is fixed at the lower left corner of the digitizer, and the coordinate format is changed accordingly. The relative mode is not available in binary format. The Microgrid series is somewhat different in its alteration scheme. Both U.S. customary system and metric-unit formats are available in either high or low resolution. You can specify the format to include a decimal or a de- limiter (a comma or any ASCII char- acter) and to terminate the coordinate with either a carriage return or a car- riage return and linefeed. The MM series of digitizers' coor- dinate formats are dependent on the resolution setting on the tablet and whether you have set the tablet in delta mode. For the MMI20I digitizer, for instance, if you set the resolution between 1 and 508 lines per inch, the digitizer will output a coordinate pair that has one less significant digit than if you had set the digitizer's resolution above 1000 Ipi. The MM96I digitizer outputs its coordinates just like the MM1201 but does so for resolutions from I to 1016 lpi. It too can be set in delta mode. You can change the Numonics 2200/2400 series of digitizers' coor- dinate format only by sending host commands to the digitizer. By speci- fying certain commands, you can drop either the first or the last digit of the coordinate pair. You cannot enable the format by a switch. The HIPAD digitizer's coordinate format is preset and cannot be changed or enabled by setting a switch. The Digi-Pad 5 series' coor- dinate format can be changed only in the packed binary format of high and low resolution. The GP-7 and GP-8 sonic digitizers' coordinate formats are also preset and cannot be changed by setting a switch. In stream mode the coor- dinate format will change to include a flag to indicate whether the stylus or cursor is near the digitizer surface. Self-Test Every digitizer except the GP-7 and GP-8 has a self-test function to test the digitizer's circuitry. The Numonics 2200/2400 series can also check the main PROM chip and identify its number and output. You usually in- voke the self-test check by setting a switch or by transmitting a certain code to the digitizer. On/Off Switch The only digitizers that have a conve- nient on/off switch are the GP-7 and GP-8, the Microgrid series, the Digi- Pad 5 series, and the ID series. The switch on the latter is convenient only if you have placed the controller close by. The other manufacturers seem to want you to leave the machine turned on. for they have made no provision to power-down the digitizer other than by removing the power source from the wall outlet. Origin You can get the Numonics 2200/2400 series and the Bit Pad r I\vo digitizers with a fixed origin. The origin is per- manently placed at the lower left corner of the digitizer, and the letter F is used in table I to designate a fixed origin. The letter R is used where the origin is relocatable. The MM series of digitizers has a relocatable origin, but the origin can be placed only at the upper or lower left corner of the digi- tizer. The Microgrid series of digitizers' origin defaults to the lower left but can be relocated anywhere within the ac- tive area. In cases where the digitizer defaults to some origin that can be relocated somewhere else on the digitizer by setting a switch, the ab- breviation F & R is used. Resolution The resolution of a digitizer is the smallest distance or movement that 264 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 REVIEW: DIGITIZERS the digitizer can distinguish. This distance is measured in lines per inch, and you usually can set it at particular switches within the digitizer. The greater the numerical resolution of a digitizer, the smaller the movement that can be detected and reported to the computer. One digitizer, the Bit Pad TWo, is configured so that its resolution dif- fers when in absolute or relative mode. Most digitizers' resolutions vary from I to just over 1000 lines per inch. Digitizers with the highest resolution report their coordinate pairs in five significant figures. For a given digitizer of 60 by 72 inches, the coordinates would be reported as 60000. 72000 (inch units and ASCII format) plus or minus the accuracy of the digitizer. As you can see in table I, the higher-resolution digitizers are not necessarily the most expensive ones. Accuracy The Accuracy category in table I lists the claimed accuracy for each digitizer. The accuracy of a digitizer is measured by how closely a point is reported as compared to its actual location on the grid. Sampling Rate On most digitizers you can set the sampling rate, or report rate, by a switch or a combination of switches on the digitizer or by transmitting cer- tain codes to the digitizer from the computer. Rates of coordinate trans- mission depend on the digitizer's data rate. Usually data rates above the digitizer's capacity to transmit are ig- nored. You will attain the ability to transmit a maximum of 200 coor- dinate pairs per second only at data rates of 9600 bps and higher. The Numonics 2200/2400 series' sampling rate can be set to delay the transmis- sion of each coordinate pair for as long as eight seconds in stream mode. The sampling rate of the ID series can be set by means of a potentiometer, or slide switch, located on the con- troller. Special Features Each digitizer has certain special fea- tures that make it unique. The ID series of digitizers will transmit coor- dinate pairs with high accuracy. It is easy to use. with all mode switches on the front of the controller and the on/off switch on the back. You should have an application program available for the digitizer before buying it because the serial interface is some- what intimidating. The programmer will appreciate the ID series. One RS-232C port is configured as DCE and the other as DrE. The Bit Pad TWo is available in two models: the 1103. a low-accuracy model, and the 1 105. a high-accuracy model. The two models are available in only one size, 1 1 by 1 1 inches. Both models have bidirectional communi- cation. There is neither an on/off switch nor a reset switch. The sam- pling rate is switch-selectable. The sheer number of DIP switches can be overpowering at times, but an ex- perienced programmer can work with more than one application without resetting a single switch. The Microgrid series of high-accu- racy digitizers are mounted in draft- ing tables. Sizes range from 12 by 12 inches to 42 by 60 inches. The series has bidirectional communication and switch-selectable sampling rate. The tablet also contains two RS-232C ports, one configured DTE and the other DCE. The table has a tilt top and can be used in the vertical position. Its origin is relocatable, and the tablet has a convenient on/off switch. All users will find the Microgrid series easy to operate. A standard serial cable will configure the tablet to an RS-232C serial port on the computer. The MM series of digitizers is both a high- and low-accuracy series. Sizes range from 6 by 9 inches (MM691) to II l / 2 by II l / 2 inches (MM 1 201) and 18 by 12 inches (MM 181 2). The MM691 and the MMI201 have the autobaud function. The data rates of the MMI812 can be switch-selectable or selected by autobaud. The MM691 and MM 1201 have a delta mode to provide coordinates relative to the last coordinate issued. This mode is called the relative-position mode on the MMI812. The MMI812 also pro- vides a coordinate format called UIOF (universal input/output format), which is the beginning of format standar- Accuracy is measured by how closely a point is reported compared to its actual location on the grid. dization across the entire Summa- graphics product line. TheMM691 and MM 1201 are some- what difficult to initially interface to a computer, but the MM 181 2 is more convenient. The Numonics 2200/2400 series of digitizers can define a separate menu area of the digitizer, from which you can pick predefined symbols or func- tions. The number of columns and rows and cell width and height can be set anywhere within the active area of the digitizer. None of the other digi- tizers has this feature. The Numonics 2200/2400 series also provides easy access to the DIP switches located inside the digitizers' cases. Simple slots provide open ac- cess to the switches without requiring you to remove the back of the digi- tizer. This is also true with some other digitizers. Some of the HI PAD digitizer's mode switches are placed conveniently on the digitizer, giving you ready access to point mode, switch stream mode, and stream mode. A reset switch is also in this group of switches. You must remove the digitizer's power source from the wall outlet to power- down the unit. The HIPAD is the only digitizer that has a nonstandard RS-23 2C commu- nications port. Certain options must first be grounded to a particular pin before being enabled or disabled. The HIPAD transmits its coordinates with high accuracy in ASCII coor- dinates or in binary format. The HIPAD does not support bidirectional communication, but the tablet has a relocatable origin. Initially the HIPAD may be difficult to interface, but the company support [continued] NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 265 REVIEW: DIGITIZERS Let Lab Boss turn your IBM PC into a powerful instrument controller. \ 7ou can spend thousands cf dollars y for a dedicated instrument controller. ^ Or a few hundred for a controller that's dedicated to you and your IBM PC. Lab Boss™ from National Instru- ments puts you and your IBM PC (or compatible) firmly in charge of GPIB instruments. From sophisticated lab- oratory equipment, like digitizing oscilloscopes and spectrometers, to standard printers, plotters, tape drives and more. At data transfer speeds that are the highest in the industry. And Lab Boss products offer a direct data link from your measuring equipment to a full range of analysis software, includ- ing RS/l, Lotus 1-2-3, and Symphony. So you can easily report your findings on the same system you used for instrument control, data acqui- sition and analysis. Try that on a dedicated controller! So - you want to be the boss? Call National Instru- ments. 800/531-4742. f rr NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS 12109 Technology Blvd. Austin, TX 78727 512/250-9119 266 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 229 is excellent. However, an experienced user may be disappointed by the lack of options. Houston Instrument's up- coming lYue Grid series of digitizers should rectify all the inadequacies of the HIPAD. The Digi-Pad 5 contains a Z80A microprocessor. The company claims the digitizer also has a higher degree of sophistication due to its patented electromagnetic principle. The Digi- Pad 5 offers about the same options as the ID series, but with the added capability of bidirectional communi- cation. GTCO Corporation supports almost every coordinate format available in a digitizer. It supplies PROM chips that can emulate its competitors' for- mats. The stylus of the Digi-Pad 5 digi- tizer is unique. Certain configurations of a 1-, 5-, and 16-button stylus are available, including a Tilt option that lets you determine the tilt of the stylus with respect to the surface of the digi- tizer and ultimately the direction in which the stylus is angled. Thus, the stylus functions as an effective joy- stick. A pressure-sensitive stylus is also available. The only digitizers that are excep- tionally different from all the others are the GP-7 and the GP-8. They oper- ate on a sonic principle with a sound transmitter located in the stylus and two receivers located some distance apart on the controller. To digitize a point you merely depress the stylus, which transmits a sound. The sound is picked up by the receivers on the controller, and the differences in the x and y coordinates are calculated. Adjacent to the controller is a menu area from which you can pick certain functions or modes with the stylus. The GP-7 and GP-8 are easy to set up and use. Conclusion Digitizers are the most effective method of transferring coordinate data from a map or diagram to a com- puter. Each of these digitizers offers some function or combination of op- tions that makes it unique. Careful selection of the functions that best suit your applications is the only way to assure yourself satisfactory opera- tion of your system. ■ Inquiry 136—* Discover the true potential of laser printing. Unleash The Power. It has harnessed the awesome energy of light. With that power, it will move mountains of work in minutes. Introducing the Genicom 5010 Laser Page Printer; twenty-five percent faster than yester- day's laser printers. Printing everything from let- ters and legal size paper to transparencies-at 10 } pages a minute. So fasten your seatbelt. And pre- pare for laser speed. Superior Handling. When it comes to paper hand- } ling, the Genicom 501 Laser is the printer to beat. 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In seconds, the 5010 is up and running with any computer worth mentioning, plus the very latest laser software. When it comes to print styles, the 501 converts to your personality. Choose from a variety of fonts. Insert up to four font cartridges at once, and vary type styles I within the same document. L Take Command. The 501 0's prominent con- trol panel is sophisticated simplicity. Just push a button to select fonts, input cassette, forms overlay, paper size, characters per inch, lines per inch and form feed. Even the 501 0's diag- nostic readout speaks your language, with a ^ 32 character LCD that informs you of printer ? status in plain English. Pass The Limit. Genicom designed the 5010 to surpass the standard limits for printer reliability. That's why the 501 0's OPC drum and developer last 28,000 pages. And the toner cartridge has a \ ■ j^ 5000 page life, instead of just 3000 pages like other lasers. Finally, Genicom backs its laser with a full year warranty on parts ^ and labor. So stop by your nearby Genicom dealer today and dis- ^ ; cover what a true laser printer can do. Put a 501 through its paces. You'll see the light. i For the Genicom dealer I nearest you, call -> 1-800-437-7468. In Virginia, call 1-703-949-1170. Diablo * is a registered trademark of Xerox Corporation. IBM' is a regis- tered trademark of International Hewlett-Packard" is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company. $ GENICOM The Printers That Mean Business. One Genicom Drive, Waynesboro, VA 22980 NEW DASH FOR YOU GRAF Sales I 3500 Your old printer should look so good. Introducing the ImagEnhancer™ PC add- on board. It enables ordinary monochrome or color dot matrix printers to produce high- quality, plotter-like graphics. THE OUTPUT IS OUTSTANDING. The ImagEnhancer is the perfect way to get presentation- quality graphs, charts and artwork from your old dot matrix printer. What's more, it comes with a built-in 512K memory. So while your printer is printing one job, you can use your PC for another. Which will improve your productivity tremendously. And of course, the ImagEnhancer works with the same computer products most everyone works with. IBM* PCs, XTs, ATs or 100% compatibles with graphics capability. Alps, Epson* or Epson- compatible monochrome or color dot matrix printers. And Houston Instrument (DM/PL) plotter- compatible software, including Lotus* 1-2-3* Symphony* PFS*: Graph and Framework^ among others. AND THE PRICE IS RIGHT. At $595? the ImagEnhancer costs a fraction of what you'd pay for a new plotter. It's simple to install, too. And backed by a one- year warranty. The ImagEnhancer is a product of Alps America, a U.S. subsidiary of Alps Electric Co., Ltd. of Japan, an International Fortune Inquiry 15 for End-Users. Inquiry 16 for DEALERS ONLY. ImagEnhancer is a trademark of Alps Electric Co., Ltd. Other computer or software names are trademarks and/or tradenames of their respective manufacturers. ©1986 Alps America. The ImagEnhancer PC add-on board brings plotter-like output to dot matrix printers. 500 company. Other Alps America products include a full line of high-quality printers, For more information, print samples, or the name of the dealer /distributor nearest you, write to Alps America, 3553 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95134. Or call (800) 828- ALPS. In California, (800) 257-7872. In Canada, (800) 858-2577. Better yet, send in this coupon along with your payment. And teach your old dot matrix some new tricks. HOLD III T MATRIX [ICS BOARD MARKET 4r ?& recast — Off ice /Government C^ °0]jf 9°%? 800 Q# 1986 1987 EVENUES 1988 1989 1990 Source: Future Computing This image was printed with an ordinary color dot matrix printer and the ImagEnhSncer PC add-on board. With a monochrome printer, you get the same high resolution in black and white. SO ORDER TODAY. Name: Address: City: State: __ Zip:. Phone: Send_ . ImagEnhancer(s) at $595 each* *Add $10.00 shipping and handling for each. California residents add 7% sales tax. Otter available in U.S.A. only. Method of payment (circle one): Check Money Order MASTERCARD VISA Card number: Exp. date: Signature: Mail to: Alps America 3553 North First Street San Jose, CA 95134 Or call (800) 828- ALPS In California, (800) 257-7872 ALPS AMERICA Microprocessor f Development Systems & In-Circuit Emulators SA700-68000 Dedicated in-circuit emulator for 68000 Microprocessor. • Most transparent 68000 emulation. • Over 1/2MByte emulation Ram. • Command files for software/prototype/production test. SA710M 16-bit universal system analyzer and in-circuit emulator. • Symbolic features include local variables, arrays, structures • Start/Stop trace without breaking. • Stand-alone or Host operation. *ln U.S. SA2000 & SA710M with Zilog chip support can be purchased through Zilog or Sophia sales channel. *ICE™ is a trademark of Intel Corp. *No.3 universal MDS manufacturer in the world. Call toll-free 1-800-824-9294 (outside ca.) iO|MlIcl 1-800-824-6706 On ca.) » wit 270 U.S. & European Headquarters: Sophia Computer Systems, Inc., 3337 Kifer Road, Santa Clara. CA. Tel.(408)733-I57! Fax.(408)749-8I72 9505 1. Corporate Headquarters: Japan, Sophia Systems Co., Ltd. NS Bldg. 2-4-U Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku. Tokyo I63. Tel. (03)348-7000. BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 374 SOFTWARE REVIEW \Lf Two C Compilers for the Amiga by Charlie Heath r IWo good C compilers by Lat- tice Incorporated and Manx Software Systems are avail- able for the Commodore Amiga. Both compilers have their strengths and weak- nesses, and both are suitable for professional software development. Lattice C Lattice worked in conjunction with Commodore to develop its C com- piler for the earliest software devel- opers. One of the most important issues in programming the Amiga is having access to all the system library calls and data structures that the Amiga uses to access its graphics and multitasking resources. Fortunately, Lattice addressed this issue from the start; the result is a complete set of binding routines and include files that define all the Amiga data structures. Manx Aztec C68K The Manx Aztec C68K compiler ar- rived later on the Amiga scene, and its first revision was made available this spring. However, Manx Software Systems was no newcomer to the world of 68000 C compilers; it already had a C compiler available for the Macintosh. The Manx Aztec C68K compiler for the Amiga generates fast, compact code and does it quickly. Benchmark Results The benchmark results heavily favor Aztec C68K. For a comparison of the compiler and linker sizes, see table I . For the timing results, see table 2 . It is important to look at the reasons why the results are as they appear. The widest gap in benchmark results occurs in two areas: floating-point Aw all-points comparison of Lattice C and Manx Aztec C68K math and size of object code. In size of object code, the Aztec C68K compiler consistently produces benchmark results that are less than half the size of programs compiled under Lattice C In the BYTE bench- mark tests, the Lattice C programs average nearly three times the size of Aztec C programs. Since I have a strong interest in code optimization, I looked closely at the output of both compilers. My conclusion is that the Aztec compiler should generally pro- duce code about 20 to 33 percent smaller than equivalent code from the Lattice compiler. Practically speaking, the size of out- put code from these benchmarks is largely determined by the size of the printf library function. Manx Software Systems has done a good job of creat- ing a very efficient printf function, but if you want to measure the efficiency of the code that the Aztec C68K com- piler generates, you should factor out that difference, particularly if you do not use printf in your code. The code size for a program with the single statement "Hello, world" is 4720 bytes with Aztec C and 14,508 bytes under Lattice C This difference has lit- tle to do with the compiler used, ex- cept perhaps as a measure of how ef- ficient the compiler is at building the linking libraries. If Lattice Incor- porated wanted to improve its C com- piler's benchmarks, it could optimize the compiler's printf function. The other major difference in size of executable files pro- duced is due to the Aztec C68K compiler's use of 16-bit offsets for addressing data and functions. The size of int makes very little difference in the size of the executable file (although it does make a big dif- ference in the benchmarks for speed). The difference in executable file size comes from the addressing mode used for referencing variables and functions. The Aztec C68K compiler reserves register A4 as a base-address pointer, which is used to index a 64K-byte data region. This allows the use of 16-bit offset addressing rather than 32-bit absolute addresses. The result is code that is about 25 percent faster and 33 percent smaller for every memory ref- erence instruction. The same method is used for function addresses: Rather than using a 32-bit absolute address, a 16-bit program counter offset is generated for function calls. This method of addressing is the single biggest difference between Aztec C and Lattice C in the size of code generated. An overlooked fact in this assessment is that the Lattice C compiler actually supports base- relative addressing as a compiler switch. However, with the current ver- sion of ALink, it is not possible to use this feature because Metacomco, the writer of ALink. did not include sup- port for base-relative addressing in the object code specification. [continued) Charlie Heath (P.O. Box 561. Cambridge. MA 02 140). a cofounder of MicroSmitfis Ih- corporated, has developed several Amiga pro- grams including IxEd, Mean 18. and Game- Maker. NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 271 TWO C COMPILERS FOR THE AMIGA Manx Aztec C68K Type C development package and debugger Company Manx Software Systems P.O. Box 55 Shrewsbury, NJ 07701 (201) 542-2121 Necessary Hardware Amiga 1000 with AmigaDOS; 256K bytes of RAM; one floppy disk drive Copy-protected No Price Aztec C68K Commercial version: $499 Aztec C68K Developer version: $299 Lattice C Type C development package and debugger Company Lattice Incorporated PO. Box 3072 Glen Ellyn, IL 60138 (312) 858-7950 Necessary Hardware Amiga 1000 with AmigaDOS; 512K bytes of RAM; one floppy disk drive Copy-protected No Price Amiga C compiler: $149.95 Amiga IBM PC cross-compiler: $250 " A couple of limitations arise when you use 16-bit offset addressing. The first is a generic limitation similar to the segmented address space of pro- cessors like the 8086; the second is an Amiga-specific issue based on the philosophy of Amiga memory man- agement. The first limitation is that when you use only 16 bits of address, you effec- tively limit the size of the addressed object to 64K bytes. This should be considered separately for code and data, since data is addressed as an offset from a base register, whereas code is referenced as an offset from the program counter. The Aztec C68K compiler and linker solves the code addressing problem by putting jump vectors into the data segment when you try to access a function that is outside the range of the current pro- gram counter. If the code is within range (32K bytes forward or back- ward), it is directly accessed. Other- wise, an equivalent data reference in- struction is generated that jumps to a vector in the data segment. The data reference problem is more difficult to solve if you have a large data seg- ment. The Aztec C68K compiler lets you combine modules compiled with small (program-counter-relative) and large (absolute) data segments, so it is possible to separate code into modules that reference only short- range data and modules that can ref- erence any part of the data segment. I am uncertain whether you can do the same with the Lattice C compiler, assuming it is possible to use its 16-bit addressing mode. This is because Lat- tice C uses register A 5 as a base reg- Table 1: Sizes of files needed are in bytes. on disk for compiling and linking. All file sizes Aztec C68K Lattice C cc 64,776 as 36,888 In 21,296 Id 108,528 Ic2 113,228 alink 28,572 Total 122,960 250,328 ister when you use short addressing and register A 5 as a register variable if you compile without the 16-bit ad- dress switch. Since the base-relative data addressing relies on a fixed-base address register, I expect there would be problems combining relative and absolute addressing with Lattice C. The second limitation to using 16-bit offset addressing with the Amiga is the basic philosophy of the memory manager. The Amiga executive has no provisions for making available memory contiguous once it has been allocated, and the result is that often the memory map has many small regions of free memory. The Amiga's scatter-loading philosophy stipulates that the program should deal with this fragmentation by loading into a set of smaller, noncontiguous regions rather than a single large region. However, without contiguous memory you can't use addressing with a 16-bit offset; you must fall back to a 32-bit absolute address. The linker must produce code and data with many small hunks (i.e.. blocks of code or data with relocation information) rather than a single large hunk. This issue is a problem with the Aztec C68K compiler and linker, al- though Manx Software Systems has assured developers that it will address this problem in the next revision. The current revision of the Aztec C68K linker produces only a single code segment and a single data segment. This means that if your program has 180K bytes of code, it is all put into a single hunk that must be loaded into a contiguous area of memory. If there is not enough contiguous memory, the program probably will not load; if it does, it might have trouble allocating a large area of contiguous memory for the Amiga's display. The optimum size that hunks should be is subjective. The Lattice C libraries have too many hunks: In the current release. Lattice C has many segments that only load 4 or 8 bytes of code or data. For example, the SIEVE benchmark is split into about 40 hunks. Each hunk requires about 32 bytes of disk storage and about 16 bytes at run time to identify each hunk; thus. Lattice C's benchmarks have about 1200 bytes of overhead 272 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 THE 18 POUNDER That's right! 18 pounds of BYTE magazine— a year's subscription delivered monthly to the person of your choice— plus a bonus issue dedicated to IBM PCs! And, the savings to you is 50% off the newsstand price! A gift announcement will be sent in your name to the recipient. Order your gift subscription today and beat the holiday rush. MB EHE THE SMALL SYSTEMS JOURNAL 'ft' T I I I I I YES! Please send a gift subscription to BYTE at the basic subscription rate of only $21 for a full year (12 issues)— a savings of 50% off the newsstand price of $42. FROM: Name YES! Please send a gift subscription to BYTE at the basic subscription rate of only $21 for a full year (12 issues)— a savings of 50% off the newsstand price of $42. FROM: Name Address . i Address . City/State/Zip . City/State/Zip. TO: Name . Address . City/State/Zip _ □ Payment enclosed □ Charge to: □ VISA Account § Signature J TO: I Name . Address . City/State/Zip . □ Bill me D MasterCard Expiration Date . i 46BGND ] □ Payment enclosed □ Bill me □ Charge to: □ VISA □ MasterCard Account § Expiration Date . Signature 46BGND I Note: If you wish to give more than one gift subscription, simply list names and addresses for additional gifts on a separate sheet of paper and mail in an envelope with this card. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing. BUI the small systems journal Note: If you wish to give more than one gift subscription, simply list names and addresses for additional gifts on a separate sheet of paper and mail in an envelope with this card. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing. BITE THE SMALL SYSTEMS JOURNAL m THE 18 POUNDER t That's right! 18 pounds of BYTE magazine— a year's subscription delivered monthly to the person of your choice— plus a bonus issue dedicated to IBM PCs! And, the savings to you is newsstand price! A gift announcement will be sent in your name to the recipient. Order your gift subscription today and beat the holiday rush. o BYTE M THE SMALL SYSTEMS JOURNAL i cr I < Q-8 LUo 0)1 CO^ CO CD CO co LU cr Q Q < £ CO O Q_ u 0/5 ON ON MD ro oo oo O QU On rzj g a O s2 LU > uj OCTO h; <' ^ 9 ^ LOWEST PRICES ^ ^/NO SURCHARGE = WON BANK CARDS SILICON SP€CiniTI€S PRINTERS Brother All Models $ a vo Citizen MSP- 10 . . $260 MSP-15 $379 MSP-20 .$319 MSP-25* $475 Premier 35 $475 obloD-25 $509 635 $1019 EPSON I Printer Models Save IBM Proprinter $399 Juki 6100 $369 6300 $769 NEC 3510,3550 $729 8810,8850 $1039 P5 $969 P6 $439 P7 $619 Toshiba $455 321 Parallel & Seriol 341 Parallel P351 Parallel & Serial , . Laser Printer DISKETTES MoxellMD-2(Qty 100) Sony MD/2(Qty 100) MONITORS Amdex All Monitors NEC All Monitor* Princeton Graphics Zenith All Models VIDEO TERMINALS QumeQVT Green 101 QVT Amber 101 Wyse 30 . 50 . HARDWARE OKI DATA All Printer Models . . . 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Kurosaka 373 THE IMPORTANT MISSION for Jerry Poumelle this month was finishing up the report of the Sixth Meeting of the Citizens Advisory Council on National Space Policy. But computers were important here. Jerry says it couldn't have been done without BIX. Even though the report took up much of his time, he was able to do some playing around with computers. The area of particular interest this month was graphics, as Jerry installed EGA boards in Big Kat. He also looked at some new products, including the T&ndy Model 200 and Reflex. Some of you may have thought a knockout occurred in Round 2 of the 68000 wars in last May's According to Webster. Since the intervening months have seen a dearth of action, you logically might have assumed that the bout had ended. But the contest resumes this month with Round 3. Bruce's special focus this time is a comparison of four flavors of the Macintosh. Bruce also discusses Megamax C for the ST, HiSoft's DevpacST, Metascope for the Amiga. TxEd. and Tjrbo Pascal for the Macintosh. In his concluding column for us, Bill Raike looks at some recent develop- ments in Japanese computer technology. First, he discovers that vending machines are now offering on-line information. He then looks at a new com- puter from NEC, the PC-9801VM2E. This model, meant for the U.S. market, will allow its users to do Japanese-language word processing. Bill closes the column by describing the first Japanese-language BBS he has seen. The subject of BYTE U.K. is wafer-scale integration of semiconductor devices. In this process, the whole wafer is used with the chips connected on the silicon. The leader in WSI research is Ivor Catt, a veteran of British electronics. Catt is now part of a company called Anamartic, which was formed to pursue and market WSI devices. The first commercial product incorporating this technology is now scheduled to appear in late 1987. Ezra Shapiro looks at some memory-resident programs in Applications Only. Ezra begins with a cautionary message about this type of program. As a class, they cause as many problems as they attempt to solve. In fact, he has discovered that the more of them you use, the more likely you are to freeze your software, crash your system, or lose your data. He then looks at four such programs. His favorite is Cruise Control. Ezra closes the column by con- sidering Works for the Macintosh. Wow! We have a money-making article in the Kernel section this month. Watch out, Fortune. In his Mathematical Recreations column, Bob Kurosaka looks at some classic sucker bets and how they work. Even if you don't win any money, you will learn something about probability. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 305 ARE YOUR DOCUMENTS ALIEN? If capturing text or images from paper documents is alien to you, our SCANNING CONNECTION is your best plan of attack. In less than one minute, an image of your document can be read, stored, retrieved, processed, and output to a laser printer. A version of Halo DPE® is provided for processing images. Photographs, books, articles, and drawings can be scanned and saved in compressed form. The saved images can be combined with text in a wide variety of fonts and sizes. The completed document can be reproduced on a laser printer. Images can be processed with our OCR software to produce text documents. Enhanced matrix matching is used for accurate character recognition. After the system is trained for each new typestyle, the matrix pattern is saved and reused. A text editor is used to locate and correct scanning errors. The final document is stored in IBM DCA format with tabs, margins, indents, and line ends. The IBM DCA format can be read by most popular word processing programs. We specialize in conversion systems and can transport your documents or images to most computer, typesetting, or word processing systems. With our DISKETTE CONNECTION system you can read and write most 8", 5 l A", and 3W diskettes using a PC. 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We support our products because we developed them. Call us today for help in solving your conversion problems. 306 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Flagstaff Engineering 1120 W. Kaibab • Flagstaff, AZ 86001 • 602-779-3341 • telex 705609 In Europe contact Compusol 12 Rue Rosenwald • 75015 Paris tel 530.07.37 • telex 205431F Inquiry 127 for End-Users. Inquiry 12 8 for DEALERS ONLY. COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR A Graphic Display by Jerry Pournelle Jerry Well, it's done. The report of the Sixth Meeting of the Citizens Advisory Council on National Space Policy is finished. G. Harry Stine is polishing up additional materials to make it into a book— America. A Spacefaring Nation Again (Baen Books, Pournelle. G. Harry Stine and Barbara ). Clifford, editors)— but the report is finished. It simply couldn't have been done without BIX. Previous Council meeting reports have been influential but they were largely confined to the results of the meetings themselves; and the meetings were all too brief. This one is different because it is as if the meeting went on for several weeks. We're just learning how to use electronic conferencing, but the results are already spectacular. There is still much to learn. In par- ticular. BIX needs more sophisticated indexing and retrieval features. All too often I had to search through big con- ferences loaded with chatter and ir- relevancies in order to find the key document I needed. There needs to be a way to mark messages as "im- portant" so that you can search only those. We also need ways for the con- ference moderator to take out a docu- ment, change it. and put it back in. leaving in its place a pointer to the up- date' s location. For many subscribers. BIX's main value is the amazing variety of easily available technical information: it's hard to think of a question that one or another of the BIX users can't answer. But I'm interested in develop- ing the conferencing aspect. Probably the most intensive learning expe- riences of my life were graduate semi- nars; I don't see why something of the sort can't be put together electroni- cally. ]erry and Alex put enhanced graphics adapter boards in Big Kat I'm convinced that computer con- ferencing will change our whole way of thinking about education. EGA The Council report came first, but we did manage to do some playing around. For one thing, my son Alex and I installed enhanced graphics adapter (EGA) boards in Big Kat. the Kaypro 286i AT clone. Big Kat normally runs off a Hercules Color Card that is IBM Color Graphics Adapter (CGA)-compatible and plays into a 17-inch Zenith High Resolution Video Component System color moni- tor. By flipping a couple of switches, I can also make that monitor show me cable TV or the output of a VCR. Big Kat ends up doing much of the computer work here. He's the test sta- tion for most MS-DOS software. He runs SuperCalc3 to do my expense reports. SideKick is installed and I use that to keep my phone list, address book, and calendar and then print them all out with Traveling SideKick when I'm going on a trip. Most impor- tant. I suppose, is that Big Kat is set up as my main station for connecting to BIX. what with SuperKey BIX macros and all. The Hercules/Zenith setup is good enough for all that, and for most games as well. What it isn't good enough for is writing. If I had to stare at those fuzzy letters for hours on end. I'd go out of my mind. Thus, when both Orchid lkchnology and Paradise Systems sent EGA boards. I was ready for the change. I confess a certain fond- ness for Orchid. Their boards work— at least all the ones I've had here do— and in- stallation has generally been painless. Actually, that isn't always true. Sometimes what happens is that Orchid sends me something; I try to get it to work; I call them and tell them my prob- lems; and they change their docu- ments and installation instructions. The result is that it's reasonably painless for my readers. The Orchid EGA documents are clear enough and promised no dif- ficulty. The Orchid EGA comes with a pair of little programs; you run the appropriate one to tell the board whether to be EGA or CGA. However, the Paradise board offered a more in- teresting feature, automatic switching between EGA and CGA. The board is supposed to figure it out for itself. That looked like a good idea. Also, the Paradise board is half-size; not that I'm short of full slots, but waste not. want not. Installing the Paradise board— its formal name is AutoSwitch EGA Card— was simple enough. When we turned on Big Kat, he complained that something wasn't properly set up. and we had to boot with the Fl key. Everything then seemed to work fine. SideKick. SuperKey. the Logitech Logimouse software, and Ready! all came up, and all worked. We ran the Setup program that came with Big Kat. but when we tried to reboot we got the setup error again. I think we never did figure out what the machine was complaining about, since every- thing worked fine. [continued) ]erry Pournelle holds a doctorate in psychology and is a science fiction writer who also earns a comfortable living writing about computers present and future. NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 307 CHAOS MANOR The Paradise board in CGA mode performs as advertised. The scrolling is flicker-free, just as they say. Text on the Zenith screen looked sharper and crisper to me; that may be an illusion, as I had no way to make direct com- parisons. Games looked good. too. Enter EGA It was then time to try something in EGA mode. We selected RIX Soft- work's EGA Paint for the test. This is a good standard color paint program with some extra features. What made us choose it is the clear and simple documentation. It looked as if it wouldn't take much to get it running. There was only one problem. EGA Paint needs 384K bytes of available system memory. Alas, even though I begin with 65 5.360 bytes of total memory, what for Vour THE Intelligent Grammar and Style Checker RightWriter is a new tool to help you produce lean, powerful BUSINESS WRITING. RightWriter uses advanced artificial intelligence technology to flag errors in GRAMMAR, STYLE, GSAGE, and PUNCTUATION. RightWriter is the first office auto- mation package aimed at producing better writing, not more writing. • Messages are Inserted directly into text to point out possible errors and problem areas. • Easy to CIse — only one command to learn, your word processor does the rest. • Works with Leading Word Processors — including WordStar®, Volkswriter®, PFS:write®, MultiMate®, WordPerfect® and others. • Readability Index — measures the reading grade level of the docu- ment using the D.O.D. standard Flesch-Kincaid formula. • Uncommon Word list — lists misspelled, slang, and uncommon words. • Recommends — never decides. RightWriter is a writing aid. The final decision is always left to you. Price $95.00 Available from your local dealer or: DECISIONWARE. INC./RightSoft Division 2033 Wood St. • Suite 218 Sarasota, FL 33577 Call Toll Free 1 (800) 992-0244, In Florida 1 (813) 952-9211 Add $4 for shipping and handling. VISA & MASTERCARD accepted 30 Day Money Back Guaiantee with all the memory-resident pro- grams I run, 1 don't have 384K bytes of available system memory. Now true, that's my fault. I have four dif- ferent boards here that are supposed to let me put some of my memory- resident stuff in extended or ex- panded memory— that is, memory over and above the 640K bytes that DOS recognizes. My problem is that except for very brief tests I haven't in- stalled one of them and got used to it. Rather than install a new board and thus complicate things, we renamed the AUTOEXEC.BAT file that brings in SideKick, Ready!, and the other stuff and rebooted. Then we brought in EGA Paint. The result was as expected. The Zenith screen went mad. The EGA board uses different sweep frequen- cies than the CGA-compatible Zenith. In general -you can't use the same monitor for EGA and CGA. Fortunately, there are exceptions to that rule. Time, then, to bring in the NEC MultiSync color monitor. NEC Multisync Installing the NEC MultiSync turned out to be the simplest thing in the world. The Zenith was still displaying rapidly moving garbage. We discon- nected it and plugged in the NEC. The NEC itself had been running off the CompuPro PC Video board. The PC Video board is an S-100 board that emulates the IBM PC CGA, except that it's considerably sharper and doesn't flash when it scrolls; it's what allows CompuPro machines running Concurrent DOS to run a number of MS-DOS programs, including Lotus 1-2-3. Anyway, we unplugged the NEC MultiSync from the CompuPro and plugged it into the Kaypro. Presto: an absolutely gorgeous picture came up on the screen. We spent the next hour looking at some of the art provided in the RIX Softworks EGA Paint package and testing the Logimouse. Everything worked fine. Colors were really nice. Text embedded in the EGA Paint pic- tures looked good. The next thing was to try a text editor with an EGA mode. 1 won't say [continued) 308 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 104 for End-Users. Inquiry 105 for DEALERS ONLY. THE NEW FACE FOR YOUR PC The new generation Facit B-line matrix prin- ters not only provide all the printout options your office requires. They also give you extraordinarily easy access to these features. Such as when you want to change from high throughput draft to perfect NLQ - just flick the rotary switch on the front panel. When you want to change font style - just plug in a new font card. When you need to change from continuous forms to cut sheets - the printer loads the paper for you. And while the beauty oi the B-line con- cept improves the impression made by your PC, the attractive design and low noise level make the printers perfect for every office environment, too. Inquiry 123 Head Office: Facit AB, S-172 91 Sundbyberg. Sweden. Phone: 468 76430 00. USA : Facit Inc. P.O. Box 334, Merrimack. NH 03054. Phone: (603) 424-8000 Check out the facts below and go for a test drive at your nearest Facit representative. • B3100: 80 columns, 128 lines/minute* (250 cps) • B3150: 136 columns, 128 lines/minute* (250 cps) • B3350: 136 columns, 109 lines/minute* (200 cps), 18-needle printhead for 100 cps NLQ • Rotary switch for fast print quality selection • Easy operation with soft set-up in national language • Extensive paper handling - push/pull tractor, tear-off, automatic loading of single sheets. Optional single or double bin sheetfeeder • Low noise key • Facit, IBM Proprinter and Epson FX/JX emulations • Parallel and serial interfaces • 4-color option • Extra fonts by means of plug-in card • 80 col, 10 cpi. IBM and Epson are reg. trademarks AUSTRALIA.- EAI Electronics Associates Pty Ltd., 427-3322. AUSTRIA: Ericsson Information Systems GmbH, 0222-613 641. BELGIUM: Ericsson S.A.. 02-243 8211. CANADA: Facit Canada Inc., 416-825-8712. CYPRUS: LBM (Lillytos) Ltd 51646 34. DENMARK: Facit A/S. 02-6333 11. FINLAND: OY Facit, 90-42021. FRANCE: Facit S.A.. 1-47807117. GREAT BRITAIN: Facit 0634-40 2080. GREECE: Computer Application Co. Ltd., 01-671 97 22. HONGKONG: Gilman & Co. Ltd.. 5-893 0022. ICELAND: Gisli J. Johnsen HK 354-64 12 22. INDIA: Forbes Forbes Campbell & Co. Ltd.. 22-20 48 081. IRELAND: Ericsson Information Systems Ltd., 75 30 93. ITALY: Facit Data Products S.p.A.. 039-63 63 31. JAPAN: Electrolux (japan) Ltd., 03-479-7570. KOREA: True Trading Co. Ltd., 2-783-3855-7. THE NETHERLANDS: Facit BY, 3480-21784. NEW ZEELAND-. Northrop Instruments and Systems. 501-801. 501-219. NORWAY: Ericsson Information Systems A/S, 02-35 58 20. PORTUGAL Retfsconta Sari, 1-56 00 91. SINGAPORE: Far East Of fice Eqpts PteLtd.,745 82 88.S/Vl/Ar;Perifericos S.A.,4-57 90 81. SWEDEN: Ericsson information Systems SverigeAB. 08-28 28 60. SWITZERLAND: Ericsson Information Systems AG. 01-821 59 21. USA: Facit Inc., (603) 424-8000. \ VES T GERMANY: Ericsson Information Systems GmbH. 0211-61090. Inquiry 316 "BRIEF is the most incredible editor I have ever seen. Programs seem to effortlessly flow from my mind to the screen." — Glenn Ehrlich, Systems Engineer International Anasazi, Inc. Tailor Program Editing to Your Style CHAOS MANOR A high-level, readable Macro Programming Language - allows customization for programming languages . . . Complete, unlimited variables, etc. Edit multiple files of unlimited size (2 Meg is OK) Multiple Windows on screen with different or same file, fragments, etc. A bona-fide UNDO stack (up to 300) of all operations; deletions, reading files, search, translate, more. Reconf igurable keyboard Only $195 Call 800-821-2492 -Solution Systems Full "regular expression search " - wild cards, complex patterns Adjustable line length - up to 512. Keystroke macros - for common typing sequences Suspend BRIEF to execute, exit to DOS - run another program (like a compiler, dir, XREF, DIFF, or DEBUG) then resume BRIEF session Compiler-specific support like auto indent, syntax check, compile with- in BRIEF TM 335-B Washington St Norwell. MA 02061 617-659-1571 Survey Data 88% 50% 72% of survey respondents were more productive with BRIEF than other editors. were more productive with BRIEF than their previous editor in 5 hours or less. were performing all operations in 2 hours. 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To order or obtain a complete technical specifica- tion sheet call: 1-800-847-7078 In NY: 914-332-1875. 55 South Broadway Tarrytown N.Y. 10591 The Full-Service Source for Programming Software. which one we used, because it wasn't a fair test; all I wanted was to get a couple of screens full of text and see what it looked like. It looked fine. The NEC MultiSync isn't a perfect monitor. It's a matter of taste, of course, but it's too small for me. Worse, it has a tendency to pin- cushion with text— the edges of the screen bow inward like this )(. Even so, it's good enough. I could write books with the Paradise AutoSwitch EGA Card and NEC MultiSync monitor, provided, of course, that I had a good enough text editor. We did a few more tests. The NEC monitor has a couple of little switches on top. One puts it in a "text mode"; that doesn't make much difference when it's doing EGA. but when it's do- ing CGA text, you definitely want to flip that switch. The Paradise board has a little trou- ble when you're running an EGA pro- gram and flip into SideKick. SideKick is, of course, CGA-compatible. When it pops into an EGA program it con- fuses the Paradise board, and there are blinks and glitches before it set- tles down. All's well after that. Alas, there was one insurmountable problem. The Hercules Color Card has a par- allel printer port on it. The Paradise AutoSwitch EGA Card doesn't. I use Big Kat's parallel printer port to con- nect to the HP LaserJet Plus (well, actually to Applied Creative Tech- nology's Printer Optimizer, but it at- taches to the LaserJet Plus). I can't live without a printer attached to Big Kat. I have a couple of boards that do have parallel ports on them, but it was just too late to install something new. Reluctantly, we put things back the way they were. There's another problem. The Multi- Sync monitor really is too small. The screen is somewhat larger, but I mea- sure no more than 11 inches diago- nally in the actual video display area. Text in EGA mode is sharp enough that I could sit far enough away to see it without using the reading lenses in my bifocals, but it would be a strain. Incidentally, whenever I write about eye comfort I am sure to get several letters suggesting that I get bifocals (continued) 310 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 177 A JUST FELL This is the one you've been waiting for: The remarkable new BONDWELL 8.™ At $1595.00 retail, it is the lowest priced IBM compatible lap-sized portable computer on the market today. It's a great deal for a small price. With built-in fea- tures that include 512K RAM, 720K 3 1 / 2 " drive, modem, back-lit LCD display, parallel and serial ports, composite and RGB outputs, real time clock and AC adapter. High performance value. It's what you expect from Bondwell's entire line of desktop, transportable, and lap portable computers. Order your BONDWELL 8 today at (415) 490-4300. Don't let a great deal slip through your fingers. 13] Bonduuell j)1986 BONDWELL ONE BETTER Inquiry 48 Inquiry 353 TURBO PROGRAMMERS- . . .CUTS DEBUGGING FRUSTRATION. WebugPius is a new, interactive symbolic de- bugger that integrates with Turbo Pascal to let you: ■ Examine and change variables at runtime using symbolic names - including records, pointers, arrays, and local variables; ■ Trace and set breakpoints using procedure names or source statements; ■ View source code while debugging; ■ Use Turbo Pascal editor and DOS DEBUG commands. IDebugPLUS also includes a special MAP file generation mode fully compatible with external debuggers such as Periscope, Atron, Symdeb, and others - even on programs written with Turbo EXTENDER. An expanded, supported version ot the acclaimed public domain program 1 DEBUG, the IDebugPiUS package includes one DSDD disk, complete source code, a reference card, and an 80-page printed manual. 256K of memory required Simplify debugging! $60 COMPLETE. TURBO EXTENDER™ Turbo EXTENDER provides you the following powerful tools to break the 64K barrier: ■ Large Code Model allows programs to use all 640K without overlays or chaining, while allowing you to convert existing programs with minimal effort; makes EXE files; ■ Make Facility offers separate compilation eliminating the need for you to recompile unchanged modules; ■ Large Data Arrays automatically manages data arrays up to 30 megabytes as well as any arrays in expanded memory (EMS); ■ Additional Turbo EXTENDER tools include Overlay Analyst, Disk Cache, Pascal Encryptor, Shell File Generator, and File Browser. The Turbo EXTENDER package includes two DSDD disks, complete source code, and a 150-page printed manual. 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For Brochures, Dealer or other Information, PO, COD -call or write: 3109 Scotis Valley Dr., #122 Scotts Valley, CA 95066 (408) 438-8608 M-F 9AM-5PM PST The above TurboPower products require Turbo Pascal 3.0 (standard, 8087. or BCD) and PC-DOS 2.X or 3.X, and run on the IBM PC/XT/AT and compatibles. What I want is a high-res color monitor, like the MultiSync, but 14 to 18 inches in size. with the reading elements on top, or just get reading glasses and have done with it. I thank all of you for your concern. The fact is, though, that I've tried reading glasses, and it doesn't work. If I sat at the keyboard and did nothing else all day it would be dif- ferent, but I can't and don't do that. I'm perpetually getting up to find a book or a magazine or find my notes, or just to go out onto the balcony and water the plants. I've never got in the habit of keeping track of spectacles: if they're not on my nose, I'll never find them. If I had to change from reading lenses to regular bifocals, I'd probably lose both sets and be com- pletely out of business. What I really want is a high-resolu- tion color monitor that works like the MultiSync but is between 14 and 18 inches in size. So far as I know there aren't any of those, but surely it's only a question of time. I'm convinced that EGA will be the new business standard in a couple of years. If you're looking for a new monitor, you don't want to lock your- self into the older low-resolution mode. On the other hand, there's still a fair amount of essential software out there that runs only CGA, so you need something that can handle that. The NEC MultiSync makes a lot of sense. More Paradise Paradise has two other short-slot boards that I could use. Both have parallel printer ports on them. One, the Color/Mono Card, is jumper- selectable (not automatic) to operate as either monochrome or CGA. The other, the Hi-Res Graphics Card, is said to "give you the highest resolu- tion possible with standard monitors and popular off-the-shelf software" with flicker-free scrolling. With this board, the setups are done by using switches rather than jumpers. Installing the Hi-Res Graphics Card is as simple as installing any other card. The instructions are clear to the point of simplemindedness. I had no difficulty even late at night. New brooms sweep clean. When I first installed it, I had the impression that the text on the Zenith 17-inch monitor was a bit sharper and brighter than it was with the Hercules board, but I certainly wouldn't want to bet on it. By next morning 1 was convinced otherwise; see below. The parallel printer port works fine. When I first booted up. that wasn't necessarily the case. My first test was to print the screen; that seemed to work all right, but of course the Print Screen button doesn't send a form- feed, and the LaserJet doesn't print anything until it has either a full page or a formfeed. I have a file. HPINIT.BAT, that tells the LaserJet that paper is 66 lines long. It does that by "printing" an elaborate escape se- quence, and incidentally sends a formfeed to the printer. When 1 did HPINIT I got what seemed a standard reply, but then the machine locked up, and I mean really locked up; it didn't even hear Ctrl-Alt-Del. I had to turn the power off. When I turned it back on, every- thing worked. I've "printed" my HPINIT file six times, done screen dumps, printed files, and generally tested that printer port; no problems. I can't imagine what happened the first time. I left the Paradise Hi-Res Graphics Card in Big Kat overnight with the sys- tem turned on. In the morning, all the text had moved over so far to the left that part of the first character on each line was gone. There's no horizontal hold adjustment on the monitor- notice how they've automated every- thing lately, and how inconvenient that is? Also, the letters seem fuzzy, much worse than with the older Her- cules Color Card. I'm going back to the Hercules board. It's always dangerous to generalize from a sample of one. The other Paradise board worked fine. Probably this board is out of adjustment. I tried to call Paradise, but after 1 1 rings I got [continued] 312 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 helps save time, money and cut frustrations. Compare, evaluate, and find products. RECENTDSCOVERY Baby 34, 36 RPG II by California Software - complete mini RPG environments for PC include compiler, editor (SEU), OCL processor. Screen gen., sort, dataexchange, workstation I/O. Separate products for compatibility w/IBM System /38, /36, /34. PC $1250 Al-Expert System Dev t Arity System-incorporate w/C. MS $ 295 Experteach-Improved, samples PC $ 399 EXSYS - Improved. Debug, file & external program access. PC $ 339 insight 2+ - dB2, language MS $ 879 LPA MicroProlog Intro w/ APES MS $ 149 LPA MicroProlog Prof, w/ APES MS $ 595 Others: ESP ($845), Expert Choice ($449) Al-Lisp B YSO - Common, MacLISP compatible 250+ functions, fast. PC $ 150 Microsoft MuLisp 85 MS $ 199 PCSchemeLISP-byTI.SCHEMEhas simple, "orthogonal" syntax. PC $ 95 TLC LISP- classes, compiler. MS $ 225 TransLISP- Good for learning MS $ 85 Others: IQ LISP ($155), UNX LISP ($59), 1QC LISP ($269), WALTZ LISP ($149) Al-Prolog APT- Active Prolog Tutor -build applications interactively PC $ 65 ARITY Standard - full, 4 Meg Interpreter - debug, C, ASM PC $ 350 COMPILER/Interpreter-EXE PC $ 795 With Exp Sys, Screen - KIT PC $1250 LPA MacProlog - Complete incremental compiler and an interpreter MAC $ 295 LPA MicroProlog - intro MS $ 99 LPA MicroProlog Prof. - full memory MS $ 359 Prolog-86 - Learn Fast MS $ 89 Prolog-86 Plus - Develop MS $ 229 TURBO PROLOG by Borland PC $ 69 Others: Prolog-I ($95), Prolog-2 ($859) Editors for Programming BRIEF Programmer's Editor - undo, windows, reconfigure PC Call EMACS by UniPress - powerful, multifile, MLISP. Source: $929 $299 Epsilon - like EMACS PC $169 Kedit- like XEDIT PC $109 Lattice Screen Editor-multiwindow multi-tasking Amiga $100 MS $109 PC/VI - Custom Software PC $129 PMATE - power, multitask 80/86 $149 SPF/PC - fast, virtual memory PC $139 FEATURE Sentinel - Hardware debugger $269 - Sentinel is: Microsoft Codeview &Symdeb compatible. Extremely fast, 1 slot, breakout & reset switches, many features. PC $269 Inquiry 265 Free Literature Compare Products Evaluate products. Compare competitors. Learn about new alternatives . One free call brings information on just about any programming need. Ask for any "Packet" or Addon Packet D Al ADA, Modula BASIC □ "C" □ COBOL D Editors □ FORTH □ FORTRAN D PASCAL D UNIX/PC or □ Debuggers, Linkers. Our Services: ■ Programmer's Referral Lis! • Dealers Inquire • ComparePrbducts • Newsletter • Helpfinda Publisher * Rush Order • EvahiatiooLiteratvreFREE • Over700 products • BBS-7PMto7AM617-82M«86 • National AccountsCenter RECENT DISCOVERY Unishcll - Bourne UNIX shell script compiler translates to C and runs faster . Portable, hand optimizable code . Use as C program generator. PC $395 C Support-Systems Basic-C Library by C Source MS $139 C Sharp - well supported, Source, realtime, tasks PC $600 CToolSet-DIFF,xref, source MS $ 95 The HAMMER by OES Systems PC $179 Lattice Text Utilities PC $ 95 Multi-C - multitasking PC $149 PC LINT-checker. Amiga $89, MS $119 SECURITY LIB - add encrypt to MSC. C86 programs. Source $250 PC $1 25 Fortran & Supporting Forlib+ by Alpha - graph, comm. $ 59 M ACFortran by Microsoft - f ull'77 $229 MS Fortran - well liked, solid $219 No Limit - Fortran Scientific $119 RM Fortran - enhanced "IBM Ftn" $395 Scientific Subroutines - Matrix $149 MultiLanquaqe Support BTRIEVE ISAM MS $199 BTRIEVE/N - multiuser MS $469 CODESIFTER - Execution PRO- FILER. Spot bottlenecks. MS $109 Dan Bricklin's Demo Program PC $ 65 HALO Graphics -115+ device interfaces, rich, printer. Specify language interface PC $219 Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit PC $399 PANEL - data validation, no royalties Xenix $539, MS $229 Pfinish Performance Analyzer MS $249 PLINK-86 - a program-independent overlay linker to 32 levels. MS $249 PLINK-86 PLUS - incremental MS $369 PolyLibrarian MS $ 85 PVCS Version Control MS $329 Screen Sculptor- slick, thorough PC $ 99 ZAP Communications - VT 100, TEK 4 010 emulation, file xfer. PC $ 95 Atari ST & Amiga We carry full lines of Manx, Lattice, & Metacomco. Call for a catalog, literature and solid value 800-421-8006 THE PROGRAMMER'S SHOP™ 1 28-B Rockland Street, Hanover, MA 02339 Mass: 800-442-8070 or 6 1 7-826-7531 9/86 C Language-Compilers AZTEC C86 - Commercial PC $499 C86 by CI - 8087, reliable MS $299 DatalightC - fast compile, good code, 4 models, Lattice compatible, Lib source. Dev'rs Kit PC $ 85 HOT C - new, intriguing PC $ 85 Lattice C - from Lattice MS $299 Mark Williams - w/debugger MS $399 Microsoft C 4.0 - CodeView MS $299 Wizard C -full, fast. MS $389 C Language-Interpreters C-terp by Gimpel - f ul 1 K & R , .OBJ and ASM, large progs. MS $239 INSTANT C - Source debug, Edit to Run-3 seconds, .OBJs MS $389 Interactive C - interpreter, editor PC $225 Introducing C - learn C quickly PC $109 Run/C Professional - MS $189 Run/C Lite - improved MS $109 C Libraries-General Blackstar C Function Library PC $ 79 C Essentials by Essential PC $ 85 C Food by Lattice-ask for source MS $109 C Scientific Subroutines -Peerless MS $139 C Tools Plus (1&2) PC $149 C Utilities by Essential - Comprehensive screen graphics, strings. Source. PC $139 C Worthy Library MS $269 Entelekon C Function Library PC $119 Greenleaf Functions - portable, ASM $ 1 39 PforCe by Phoenix - objects PC $299 C Libraries-Files FILES: C Index by Trio - full B + Tree, vary length field, multi compiler /File is object only MS $ 89 /Plus is full source MS $349 CBTREE- source, no royalties MS $ 99 CTree by Faircom - no royalties MS $339 dbVISTA - full indexing, plus optional record types, pointers, Network. Object only - MS C, LAT, C86 $159 Source - Single user MS $429 Source - Multiuser MS $849 dBASE Tools for C PC $ 79 dbc Isam by Lattice MS $199 FEATURE 386 Assembler/Linker - Native or Cross Development. Full Microsoft M ASM compatible plus 386/387 extensions. PC $495 Note: All prices subject to change without notice. Mention this ad. Some prices are specials. Ask about COD and POs. All f ormats available. UPS surface shipping add $3/item. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 313 CHAOS MANOR I'm carrying both the Tandy 200 and the NEC PG-8201 on trips while I make up my mind. "Paradise hold please,"" and after five more minutes on hold long distance I said to heck with it. There don't seem to be horizontal controls on the board, so it's unlikely they could do anything except replace it anyway. The Great Tandy Announcement In the early days of the micro revolu- tion. I developed considerable prej- udice against Radio Shack. It wasn't unreasonable, being based on a num- ber of experiences; but it's long past time I dropped it. Radio Shack has changed. In particular, they have com- pletely revamped the quality control practices that distressed me. 1£ndy always had the potential to be a ma- jor player in the micro revolution. I think now the company is moving in the right direction. In early July r fendy announced that on July 30 they'd make a big an- nouncement at the Waldorf in New York. For weeks the micro press corps was abuzz with rumors, ranging from "they're going joint venture with AT&T" to "the mountain labors, and produces a mouse." It wasn't a joint venture with AT&T but it wasn't a mouse either. They an- nounced five new machines. Radio Shack moved into the micro field in force, with machines to challenge Atari and Commodore on the low end and direct confrontation with IBM PC AT clones at the high end. At the very low end is the Color Computer 3. which I suspect they're keeping in anticipation of big things happening on the CD-I (compact disk- interactive) front. CD-I. you may recall, is the next step after CD-ROM disk systems. It will be a disk reader that can double as a compact digital disk audio player. In addition, it will con- tain a 68000 microprocessor and be able to execute instructions from the CD-I disk it is reading. The OS-9 operating system is built into the CD-I standard; the Color Computer 3 uses OS-9. At $219, the CoCo 3 is positioned nicely to become a standard monitor for CD-I systems when those become avail- able. As for their other machines, which range from what looks like a PCjr, only done right, to a full AT clone, we'll have to wait and see. The prices seem a bit high, but price isn't everything. By the way, it's interesting to see that they've done another change of emphasis. For the past couple of years, the Ikndy exhibits at shows have tried to hide any association with Radio Shack. This announcement was by Radio Shack, a Division of 'tendy, and proud of it. That's another good move. Tandy 200 The 'fendy 200 came out during the "suppress Radio Shack" phase, I guess, since there's no TRS on it any- where. (Could they be trying to get rid of TRS because everyone pronounces it "trash"?) There's no mention of "Radio Shack." either, except that in fine print the warranty says that "Radio Shack grants to customer" a license to "use the 1£ndy software. Anyway, the l^ndy 200 is a lap- board. It has some similarities to the TRS-80 Model 100. The chief dif- ference is that there are 16 lines in- stead of the 8 on the Model 100 or the NEC PC-8201 screen. You pay for this in weight (although the increase isn't all that significant) and conve- nience; the Model 200 has a flip-up screen, which makes it significantly harder to balance on your lap in an airplane. On the other hand, it's easier to use if you have a table at the right height. Sixteen screen lines aren't enough, but one can live with it. After all, I write these columns and all my books on a 16-line CompuPro S-100 system that runs an ancient VDM memory- map video board. Alas, the Model 200 has only 40 characters per line. This keeps things readable— the Model 200'is perhaps not quite as readable as the Model 100 or the NEC, but the difference isn't much— but it also makes writing harder. There's another difference from the Model 100. The Model 200 has much nicer cursor arrow keys, reminiscent of the NEC PC-8201. Like the Model 100. the Model 200 has a built-in 300-baud modem. Other features in- clude Multiplan in ROM and the built- in ability to add three banks of 24K- byte memory. That really isn't enough memory for a long trip. One of the things I like a lot about my NEC PC-8201 is the ex- ternal memory connector port. I espe- cially like Purple Computing's Sidecar bank memory system: it gives me four banks of 30K bytes each, which is enough for a long trip. On the other hand. Iraveling Software's Ultimate ROM II for the Model 200 has both LAPDOS and TS-DOS. meaning that you can connect a 31/2-inch disk drive to the Model 200 and save your text on that. Since it's extremely unlikely that I'll ever do enough work on an airplane to use up the Model 200's 60K bytes or so of on-board memory, 1 could live with the memory limits; just carry a portable small disk drive in checked luggage and save at the hotel. I'm not sure I can live with the 40-character lines. Unfortunately, the Model 200 has a different system for writing to screen than the Model 100 uses, which means that Traveling's Ultimate ROM II for the Model 200 does not have the 60 characters/line capability it gives you in the Model 100 or the NEC PC-8201. As a result. I'm carrying both the l^ndy 200 and the NEC PC-8201 on trips while I make up my mind. It makes me look like a nerd, but it does give me a chance to test the two machines. I do find lapboard machines in- creasingly useful. Some of my readers report that they carry their lapboard machines literally everywhere, to ap- pointments, in their cars, even to lunch. Some never use any other kind of machine, not by necessity but by choice. 1 can see why. Any of these would be better to write books and do taxes than anything 1 ever had prior to the micro revolution; and once you get used to using them, they keep logs and notes, handle ad- 314 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 392 CHAOS MANOR dresses, and generally make your life run better. In The Mote in God's Eye, Larry Niven and I postulated a society in which nearly everyone carried a "pocket computer" that served as both note- book and entry to a universal mem- ory bank. It looks as if that's going to come much faster than I thought. I can't really help you choose be- tween the Model 100, the Model 200, and the NEC PC-8201. 1 do think that once you've got one, you'll wonder how you lived without it. Atari ST There still isn't enough software, and in particular there is no acceptable text editor for it. but in my subjective opinion, the Atari ST is still the most exciting machine of the year. Whenever I say that I get flak from the MacHVibesmen, who descend with fire and sword. "You early on trashed the Mac because there wasn't enough software. Now you're praising the Atari before the good software comes out." There's some justice in that. The Atari, for all its merits, has yet to come out with a text editor as good as Mac- Write. I keep hearing rumors of Word- Perfect but whenever I inquire, it's always Real Soon Now. There'd be more justice in the Mac- IVibesmen's views if Apple had sold the early Macintosh for a reasonable price. Instead, you got to pay two grand for the 128K-byte Mac just so that you could send Apple $995 for the upgrade kit, and you still didn't have color or a large-enough screen. Of course I didn't recommend the early Macintosh. Nowadays Apple is market-driven rather than guru-driven, and it's a dif- ferent story. The new Mac Plus is a good machine. On the other hand, I just don't see what the Mac can do that the Atari ST can't be made to do. Certainly the Atari hasn't caught up with the Mac yet. There is some good software for the Atari, but not enough. Still, some, as we'll see in a moment, is so good that you might want to go buy an Atari ST just for those programs. Atari continues to improve the ma- [continued] "We shall create a computer that sets a new standard for speed and performance." A ■1 ATARI CORP. £> >>~ \-- The revolutionary 1040ST™ has a sizzling clock speed of 8 MHz that the competition just can't touch. And the more speed your computer has, the less time you'll waste waiting for it to do its job. It's what you would ex- pect from a system driven by a powerful 68000 micro- processor. Similarly, the 1040ST de- livers one Megabyte of memory for you to work with, which is two to four times more than our com- petitors deliver. And we've succeeded in creating this amazing combi- nation of speed and perfor- mance for the incredibly low price of just $999. Which means the 1040ST sets new standards for speed, performance and price! The ATARI 1040ST is at your computer retailer now. AATARI" © 1986, Atari Corp. ATARI and 1040ST arc TM's or rcg. TM*s of Atari Corp. back issues for sale 1985 1986 Jan. S4.25 Feb. S4.25 S4.25 March S4.25 S4.25 April S4.25 S4.25 May S4.25 June S4.25 S4.25 July S4.25 Aug. S4.25 S4.25 Sept. S4.25 S4.25 Oct. S4.25 S4.25 Nov. S4.25 Dec. S4.25 SPECIAL ISSUES and INDEX BYTE '83-'84 INDEX SI. 75 1984 Special Guide to IBM PCs [Vol 9, No. 9) S4.75 1985 INSIDE THE IBM PCs {Vol 10, No. 11) S4.75 Circle and send requests with payments to: BYTE Back Issues P.O. Box 328 Hancock, NH 03449 □ Check enclosed Payments from foreign countries must be made in US funds payable at a US bank. □ VISA □ MasterCard Card # Exp. Date Signature The above prices include postage in the US. Please add S .50 per copy for Canada and Mexico; and S2.00 per copy to foreign countries (surface delivery]. Please allow 4 weeks for domestic delivery and 12 weeks for foreign delivery. Name ; Address . City . State. ■ Z'P- NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 315 Inquiry 115 Attention all FX80, FX100, JX, RX, & MX owners: You already own half of a great printer Now Onl- Dealer inquiries welcome. Now for $79.95 you can own the rest. You see, today's new dot matrix printers offer a lot more. Like an NLQ mode that makes their letters print almost as sharp as a daisy wheel. And font switch- ing at the touch of a button in over 160 styles. But now, a Dots-Perfect upgrade kit will make your printer work like the new models in min- utes— at a fraction of their cost. And FX, JX and MX models will print the IBM character set, too. So, call now and use your Visa, MasterCard, or AmerEx. Don't replace your printer, upgrade it! 1-800-368-7737 In California: 1-800-831-9772 g Sample of letter with Dots-Perfect (Dots-Perfect) &>D resselhaus Sample of letter without Dots-Perfect 9 837 E. Alosta Ave, Glendora, CA 91740 Tel: (818) 914-5831 An upgrade kit for EPSON FX, JX, RX, & MX printers EPSON is a trademark of EPSON America. Inc. Dysan diskettes are the ultimate in quality flexible recording media for flexible disk drives. They are certified to be 100% error free on-track and ^^g^i between tracks. Diskettes are tested on- ,^0^'i ."■/---', track as well as between tracks for ,,,. ^. : ! , ;■; missing pulse, extra pulse, and ^^ The ultra smooth disc surface is bur- nished on both sides to promote longer media life, longer head and load pad life, as \ well as better recording and playback performance. And to help introduce you to the Dysan quality standard we're running a special on their diskette product line. ;#S \& What separates us from our competition? Simply a combination of the best service in the industry, highly competitive pricing, and an ever widening range of products. Above all we care about our reputation and we are willing to work on a lower margin while delivering what others only claim— and we do it all on a day-in day-out basis. Every subscriber to Byte will receive ■ --i^-^-^ our New 96-Page Winter Spring L jf I#f9ll 1986/87 Catalog over the next few months. We hope to be your source for computer supplies & accessories. Now with 15 pages of consumer/ industrial products. computer Systems 1050 E. MAPLE RD. • TROY, Ml 48083 (313) 589-3440 WATCH FOR OUR NEW 1986/87 CATALOG CHAOS MANOR chine, and I'm told that not long after you read this they'll have upgrades like a blitter (a hardware gizmo that makes graphics software faster and easier to write) and a math chip to speed up floating-point calculations; but there is still a crying need for some pretty basic software, particular- ly a good text editor. There is also some pretty bad soft- ware out there. Antic Software Antic is a software distributor run by people who like computers. In par- ticular, they like the Atari ST. and they're publishing some great pro- grams for it. They also have some dogs, but I don't want to discourage you from dealing with them. Just be selective. This is a company that sells stuff so good you might want to get an Atari ST just to have something to run it on. Let's get the deadwood out of the way first. Some of their "entertain- ment" software, such as Mom and Me and Murray and Me. is so corny I think I'd throw my Atari away if I knew I had to run them. These are computer "biotoons." described as "artificial personalities— sort of like artificial in- telligence with a sense of humor.'" What they really are is a ghastly joke, and to add insult to injury they're copy-protected. Actually. I guess that part is just as well. Antic has some other games and gubbage I wouldn't recommend. That's the deadwood. Now for the jewels. Antic's CAD-3D is one of the best programs I've seen for the Atari or anything else. It's not a "real" CAD system, in that it doesn't have dimen- sions and some of the design features of professional CAD; but what it does have is the ability to do things in three dimensions. With CAD-3D you can draw an ob- ject, then travel about as if you were riding a camera boom, so that you can look at the object from any angle. The object and light sources don't move; you do. Once you've seen all you want, you can then rotate the ob- ject itself. When that happens, the light and shadowing change. To make drawing easy you can 316 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 191 Inquiry 288 CHAOS MANOR define a shape, then "extrude" it to give it depth. You can spin objects to generate a solid of rotation. You can snap points to a grid, connect dots, and do many of the things one ex- pects from a more expensive CAD program. AW this takes place on a small mono- chrome screen; but when you've got it all done the way you want, there's a "superview" command that gener- ates the object, in color, for the full screen, so you can see it in all its glory. One of the items that comes with CAD-3D is Stonehenge (re- stored). Zoom in close or back off and see the whole thing. It's glorious by moonlight. CAD-3D was written by Tom Hud- son, the same programmer who did DEGAS for the Atari ST.. That one is published by Batteries Included, and some of the artwork astonishes visitors here. When Hudson did CAD-3D. he included the ability to save a particular view/rotation of your CAD-3D object as a DEGAS file. You can then bring up DEGAS and call up your object to color it, add text, and do whatever you like to make a poster or a book page or whatever. Between them, CAD- 3D and DEGAS make the Atari ST worth owning. Antic also sells Flash, a communica- tions program for the ST.. I've only just got it running. It seems to be about as versatile as Crosstalk. I've been tempted to set the ST up in a place convenient to my desk and use it as a major machine just to get used to it. What stopped me was the need for a good text editor and a communica- tions program. Now that I have Flash, I only need a text editor. More on Flash another time. Interestingly, although Antic's ghast- ly joke programs are copy-protected, both CAD-3D and Flash urge you to make backup copies and put the original in a safe place. Amiga and Atari If I seem a bit more enthusiastic for the Atari ST than for the Amiga, there are a couple of reasons. One is that for all its faults— like the stupid menus that drop down whether you want them or not whenever you get any- (continued) . ATARI I v# ■-":'.-•■'"■■■■•""; *& e£5v$ *0? i ?£«*** &* ^tfSVr'c© 1 k0 t» Installation required F.CA. im CCA compatible^ 7 est Mode Switch $539 6-PAC COMPATIBLE CLUB 384 t far PCI ' 0384K Memory * Clock/ Calendar ' Parallel Port * Serial Port * Game Port and software *FCC class' ft approved $88 Quantity discounts available * Fully IBM compatible * 16 colors 6-10 x 350 resolution * 256KB video memory * Runs color/ mono di.play ' Parallel Port Made in r.SA Complies with FCC $249 CLUB TURBO $399 AT MEMORY CARD ' w/ 128K RAM ' Runs 7 times faster than PC or 33% faster than the IBM AT ' Runs 80287 math-processor in 5MIIZ or mm speed. 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I don't know how valid those arguments are. nor how much of a limitation the lack of DR format support is. Also, the assembler lets you create only one module per binary file (though that module can have multiple XREFs and XDEFs). so you can't really build libraries with the assembler. Reference is made to using a "library creation program" to do the trick, but no such program is included with this version of Dev- pacST. On the other hand. I haven't had much occasion to use the linker, so I'm not really concerned. By the way. the Amiga prerelease worked nicely. It had only the editor/assembler (GenAM). but that was enough for me to do a fair amount of coding, modifying a sam- ple program that came with it (see below). I suspect it will be shipping by the time you read this; if so. consider it strongly for your Amiga assembly language programming needs. DevpacST is a well-designed, well-implemented package with good documentation and an excellent price. It has done more to get me playing around with the ST than any other language or development system I've used to date, and the Amiga version threatens to do the same. As fur- ther proof of its utility at least one commercial package for the ST— the arcade game Star Glider, written by jez San and published by Rainbird Software— was developed en- tirely using DevpacST. HiSoft. and especially Andy Pen- nell. should be congratulated for a job well done. Metascope The Amiga version of Devpac came with a sample pro- gram that brought up a small window and displayed (in hexadecimal notation) the amount of free memory, up- dating it whenever the value would change. The source code had the comment. "Conversion to decimal is left as an exercise to the reader!" Fine. I thought, and I exercised myself, scouring a collection of 68000 texts for a binary- to-decimal routine. Unfortunately, most handled only 16-bit values, since the DIVU instruction on the 68000 is a 16-bit instruction, and I needed to be able to convert 24-bit values. However, the text Programming the Macintosh in Assembly language (by James W. Coffron. Sybex. $24.95) had a nice routine that handled 32-bit values by using a table of divisors. I keyed it in. adapting it as I went and dropping the sections that dealt with negative numbers. Unfortunately, the new. improved program (called Free- Mem) insisted on dropping the last decimal digit: Instead of printing "181253 bytes free." it would print "18125 bytes free." And so I went to the bookshelf and dug out a hither- to unused copy of Metascope. a window-based debug- ger for the Amiga. What a nice product. A quick scan through the manual- most notably Chapter 5. "Usage"— showed me how to set things up. When I ran Metascope. a status window ap- peared, showing me the contents of the 68000's registers (16 of them, plus the status flags). A few quick pull-down menu commands brought up a second window showing [continued) 334 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 81 STATGRAPHICS Powerful Statistics, Sophisticated Graphics In One Complete Software System STATGRAPHICS from STSC is simply the most complete and powerful statis- tical software available for your PC. STATGRAPHICS integrates powerful statistics with high-resolution color graphics— in one single software system— to give you an extraordinarily powerful analytical environment. "[STATGRAPHICSJ is unusually complete as software systems go in terms of statistical capabilities." (PC Week) With more than 250 statistical and math- ematical procedures, STATGRAPHICS offers you the power and precision of mainframe software— right on your PC. 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At that point, register A0 had the address of the string FreeMem was going to print in its own little window, so I clicked on the contents of A0 in the status window and used a menu command to create a memory window, displaying the memory at the string's location. I also created a memory window showing the divisor table used by BinToDec. I then was able to single-step ex- ecution through the program, watching the registers and memory locations change. The loop counter (in register D2) didn't seem to be synchronized with the divisor table, so I let FreeMem run until it hit the start of BinTbDec again, then I started single-stepping again. When BinToDec loaded the address of the divisor table into register A I, I double-clicked on the contents of Al in the status win- dow, changed the value to start at the second table entry, then let the program run. Sure enough, it worked this time. Got out of Metascope, got into Gen AM, edited FreeMem, assembled it, then ran it. Fixed! Metascope does a lot more than I've explained here. Other window types (breakpoints, hunks, symbols) can be created. Logging to disk is supported. Various forms of single-step and continuous tracing are available. Lots and lots of menu options are available for the different win- dow types, more than I care to describe here and possibly more than I'll ever use (unless I get really adventurous). What can't Metascope do? Well, Chapter 6 (entitled "Limitations") points out that Metascope can't debug any tasks or processes that your program might start; that it can't be used with programs that take over trap handling; that single-stepping through time-critical portions of code where your program must respond to the system or has seized control of certain resources can cause crashes; single-stepping through certain system routines can also cause crashes; and so on. In short, the Amiga system is a complex multitasking environment, and Metascope can't handle all possible situations in it. I'm not sure, though, if any debugger on the Amiga will be able to handle those problems. As far as I can tell, Metascope is the best debug- ger for the Amiga. It's easy to use, very flexible, and works well. TxED Up until recently, most of my program editing on the Amiga has been done with the Lattice Screen Editor (LSE), with occasional use of ED or EDIT, the two system editors that come with the Amiga. Then Charlie Heath of Micro- Smiths Inc. sent me the latest version (1.3) of TxEd, and I've dropped the other three completely. TxEd is a fast, slick program editor that eases a lot of the pain of enter- ing code on the Amiga. What's more, it's quite a bit smaller than LSE, using less disk space (or, for that matter, RAM). Yes, get TxEd if you're editing almost anything on the Amiga. It has the usual functions, though it tends to use the right Amiga key (i.e., the red "A" key to the right of (continued) 336 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 363 Inquiry 166 — * THAT IS OUT OF THIS WORLD.. $389 MODEL 2000 20MHz DUAL TRACE 1 iSjLto^H^rU. $549 MODEL 3500 35MHz DUAL TRACE DELAYED SWEEP AT A DOWN TO EARTH PRICE At fast! Truly affordable test equipment with no compromise in design, and features you would expect to find only on oscilloscopes costing hundreds of dollars more! JDR Instruments presents two, new, high-performance models backed by a two year warranty and technical support which is only a phone call away. Perfect for the technician or advanced hobbyist, both models feature Dual Trace capability and a variety of operating and triggering modes, including CH-B Subtract and X-Y operation. 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Its greatest flaw is with the Open command, which lets you leave the file you're work- ing on and start editing a new one. It does not save any changes you have made in the file you're leaving, nor does it warn you (via a dialog box) that you're going to lose those changes. Instead, before doing an Open, you are supposed to look at the top of the window, where it says "TxEd." If the "x" is uppercase (i.e.. if it says "TXEd"). you know you are supposed to do a Save before doing the Open. Unacceptable user-interface design, if you ask me. I can just see some poor hacker at 3 a.m. hastily making changes to several files, confident that the program will compile and run this time, only to discover that a Save wasn't done before one of the Open commands and all the changes to a particular file are lost. I hope Charlie fixes this defect in the next version of TxEd. My only other grumbles are more of a "wish list" varie- ty. TxEd does support auto-indent, but to do it you have to hit the Enter key (over in the numeric keypad) rather than the Return key; as a proficient touch-typist I find that awkward, because I have to stop and think about what key to hit at the end of each line. I'd rather just have a menu selection that toggles auto-indent mode, as the editor in Devpac and many other program editors do. I also wish l\Ed let you set the tab length (again, as Dev- pac does). l\Ed assumes a tab length of eight, which for my taste is too long for C or Pascal and too short for assembly language. Besides TxEd. a few other utilities are on the disk. TWo programs. Amiga'fext and IBMTfext. are used to convert text files for transmission back and forth between an Amiga and an IBM PC. Another program. R£ISb. recreates the tab characters that ED (one of the system editors, remember?) converts into spaces for you. And the final program, PROFF. is a file-printing program that lets you insert formatting commands into l\Ed files and have them come out nicely on your printer. Despite my grumbles. l\Ed is the best program editor I've seen for the Amiga. And it's only $59.95 for the latest version along with the additional utilities. Turbo Pascal for the Mac Yes. TUrbo Pascal for the Macintosh really does exist. I recently received a beta copy (I.OOB) from Borland Inter- national and spent some time playing with it. It still has a few glitches and is not 1 00 percent Lisa Pascal-com- patible yet. but it does provide the high-speed integrated {continued) 338 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 2 53 What I YOUR PRINTER WAS A SILENT PARTNER? Hewlett-Packard presents the Quietjetand Quiet Jet Plus printers. One of them will make a perfect desktop partner for your personal computer. Because both printers are designed to give you ultra-quiet performance and high-quality printing. At prices you can afford. 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IBM PC is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. PG606BTX © 1986 Hewlett-Packard Co. IF YOU STILL USE PAPER FORMS TRY FORMMANAGER II! ACCORDING TO WEBSTER Nam n Smith d'*SS I ' 1 B»AK3 W.ly City San fra.iCiSCO Sistt* CA Z,p 94 1 Description Olv rotai 122-333-33 ?33 33 33 Gaoger 10 100 •50 100000 4000 104000 MEET FORMMANAGER II. It can help automate your paper office. More than a data manager, FormManager II lets you generate forms and organize them easily. You simply lay out your forms on the screen and fill in the data. FormManager II can calculate the tax due, total amount or even set up conditional calculations. More than 26 mathematical functions are included. FormManager II can print on preprinted forms or just print on any plain paper. With a laser printer, you can even use different fonts on the same page. 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Box 360619 Milpitas, CA 95035 dBase III is a trademark of AshtonTate, lm\ FormManager and Forms Designer sire trademarks of HIT Software. Inc. Items Discussed DevpacST Apex Resources 1 7 St Marys Ct. Brookline. MA 02146 (617) 232-9686 HyperDrive 2000 General Computer Company Inc. 215 First St. Cambridge, MA 02142 (617) 492-5500 Lightspeed Pascal . . Think Technologies 420 Bedford St. Lexington, MA 02173 (617) 863-5595 .$79.95 .$3200 .$125 Megamax C Megamax Inc. PC. Box 851521 Richardson. TX 7508 5 (214) 987-4931 Metascope Metadigm Inc. 19762 MacArthur Blvd.. Suite 300 Irvine. CA 92715 (714) 955-2555 Prodigy 4 Levco Inc. 6160 Lusk Blvd.. #C-203 San Diego. CA 92121 (619) 457-2011 TML Pascal 2.0 TML Systems 4241 Baymeadows Rd., Suite 23 Jacksonville. FL 32217 (904) 636-8592 TxEd MicroSmiths Inc. P.O. Box 561 Cambridge. MA 02140 (617) 576-2878 .$200 .$95 .about $7000 .$99.95 .$59.95 development environment you've come to expect from Borland. I was able to convert several TML Pascal pro- grams with just a few changes, mostly at the start of the program (with different compiler options), as well as some file I/O commands in the programs. TUrbo uses Open( ) as opposed to TMLs Assign( ); also. Tlirbo does not (yet?) support file I/O using Get( ) and Put(). but instead uses the Read( ) and Write( ) commands just like TUrbo Pascal on the IBM PC. {continued) 340 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 43 Inquiry 208—* THE GREAT ESCAPE! FROM IVORY TOWERS AND COLD COMPUTER ROOMS TO THE WARMTH OF YOUR OFFICE. Artificial intelligence for business has arrived in a revolutionary new product . . . Guru. At last, artificial intelligence designed espe- cially for business! Guru brings together expert system capabilities of artificial intelligence, the productivity of familiar business computing tools and the ease of communicating with your computer using menus, commands or plain English. All available in a single, integrated program. 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Complete systems available. Write or call for more information. Most orders shipped same day. VISA, Mastercard, Money Order, COD. Checks allow two weeks. Purchase Orders welcome. Prices FOB Buffalo Grove, IL. IBM PC AT. PCjr. PC DOS are trademarks o I International Business Machines Corporation. Little Board is a trademark of Ampro Computers, Inc. Concurrent DOS is a trademark ol Digital Research, Inc. DISKS PLUS, INC. • 356 Lexington Drive • Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-2312 (312) 537-7888 • TLX: 650 249 2139 MCI UW. H^l^feNF^fe 9fcl H tft Distributors ol Microcomputers Table 3: Some preliminary benchmark results for two Pascals for the Macintosh. The program tested consisted of about 660 lines of Pascal source code. Turbo Pascal: compile to RAM: 3.8 seconds compile to disk: 10.2 seconds change, then run: 3.8 seconds TML Pascal: xfer to compiler: 8.3 seconds compile: 73.7 seconds include files: 43.4 seconds program itself: 30.3 seconds xfer to link: 6.6 seconds link: 33.0 seconds xfer to run: 1.8 seconds change, then run: 196.3 seconds I suppose you're itching for some benchmarks. Well, I won't publish execution benchmarks, since I'm still using a fairly early beta version, but I will say that they were comparable to TML Pascal right down the line: faster for some routines, slower for others. The only place where TML had a clear advantage was in real arithmetic, where it was about twice as fast as Tjrbo Pascal (both were using the SANE library, too). However, some compile and link times for a program that was about 660 lines long are given in table 3. A few important factors account for some of TUrbo's speed. First, the library (unit) files are in a format that doesn't require any headers or declarations to be read in by the compiler. Second, the linking stage is integrated with the compiling stage. You can produce units (libraries) with Tjrbo Pascal; you can also link in external assembly language routines that follow the MDS format. You can- not, though, produce linkable object code. By comparison, TML Pascal allows you to produce either .ASM (68000 as- sembly language source) or .REL routines, lets you link in MDS format routines, and (with version 2.0) lets you create units. Also. Think Technologies has by now started shipping Lightspeed Pascal; look for a review of this in a few months. In short. Borland will have plenty of com- petition on the Macintosh. Look for llirbo Pascal to ship in mid-November, with a price of $99.95. In the Queue Next month, I'll look at some hardware for the Amiga, soft- ware products you might want to consider for Christmas presents, and the latest in idea processors for the Macin- tosh. Until then. I'll see you on the bit stream. ■ Various folks helped in putting this column together, including Doug Gilbert at levco: Elena Gonzales at General Computer: Doedy Hunter at Apple: Neil Harris at Atari: )ay Friedman at Consulair Corpora- tion (who provided source for many of the benchmarks used): and Sandra, who's discovering what it's like being married to a computer freak, but who loves me anyway. Thanks, all. 342 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 111 o o It's becoming an epide. f isf* ■5-sa pro 1 ,tectet Split Screen Text Editor an Incredible Value AT ONLY Our high powered editor is great for edit- ing high level lan- guages. It works just like MicroPro's Wordstar® but macros allow you to create your own cus- tom editor, and the split-screen feature lets you edit two files at the same time. The MSDOS/PCDOS version is loaded with special features: • Execute any DOS command or RUN 6 the' programs from the editor. • Quickly edit files as large as 300,000 characters. • Compile MLX C programs directly from memory. The editor automatically positions the cursor to the first error in your program. ^W^^^ff^^CTjaE^^^^^yv ' '- First there ' the college students, next the major software houses, and now the rest of the programming world. Programmers everywhere are infected with the desire ft >r SPEEI ), POWER, and PORTABILITY Its-time to face the inevitable. You're gc mig to catch the fever too! When you do, give its a call We've got the best cure — an illustrated guide to the C language, plus a complete program development system. Everything you need to master the C programming language ... all at a price that's less than the cost of a book! But don't let this price fool you. Our system is powerful; it compiles twice as fast as the others, is completely standard, and its very easy to use, Most C compilers are designed for wizards. We have designed ours for you! that supports all data types and the latest features like bit fields, enumerations, structure assignment, 00f. ant ' passing/returning structures. Po ieL y^t% that loads separately compiled files, searches libraries, and builds an executable program. (including the standard C functions and the computer specific functions that provide direct access to the operating system and BIOS), your programs for minimal space or maximum speed. Operators are standing by . . . Please use this Number for ORDERS ONLY! CALL TOLL FREE FOR RUSH ORDER DELIVERY! 1-800-523-9520; For Technical Support Please call 1-214-783-6001 MIX Software, Inc. / 2116 E. Arapaho / Suite 363 / Richardson, Texas 75081 Or contact our Worldwide Distributors direct in: Canada: Saraguay Software I A 1 6-923- 1 500 Switzerland: DMB Communication CH- 1 -825-53-29 Australia: Techtlow 047-58692--* France: Info/Tech M 3 -4 4 -06-48 (RUSH REPLY ORDER FORM!) : JL Please check method of payment: □ CheckD Money OrclerD MasterCard/VISA Your Card #: Exp i res Shipping Charges: ( No charge for ASM Utility) In the U.S.A.: Add $5.00 per Order. In CANADA: Add $10.00 per Order. OVERSEAS: Add $ 10.00 per Text Editor. Add $20.00 per C Compiler. Add $30.00 for combined C Compiler and Text Editor. Operating System: (Check one) □ CP/M Z80 □ MSDOS/PCDOS Specify Your Computer Name . Specih' Disk Format NAME. ASM UTILITY an Incredible Value AT ONLY Call assembly language routines from your C programs. The ASM utility works with Microsoft's MASM or M80 assem- bler. Macros make it easy! Works just as if you were calling a C function, and you can even call C functions from assembly lan- guage. Lots of useful assembly language functions are included as examples. Inquiry 221 Quantity PRICE $29.95 $_ $39.95 $_ r«DC. ■ Description Spl it-Screen Text Editor C Compiler C and Text Editor (Special) ASM Utility Texas Residents Add 6.125% Sales TAX Shipping Charges (See at Right) Total Order Telephone A/C (. Street Citv $54.95 $_ $10.00 $_ State . _ZIP. TOTAL OF YOUR ORDER: {%_ _ Country dMDC "I Software Richardson, Texas, 7508 1 -, Ask about our Volume Discounts! J Call 1-214-783-6001 B 2116 East Arapaho Suite 363 Power has never ■ IH ' " ' j ' I S # J I I 1 i looked this good Introducing the WYSEpc286 and a brilliant new range of display options. Now you can get higher speed and higher reso- lution, together, in ex- tremely high style. TheWYSEpc286 goes from "normal" speed to full 10 MHz throttle — up to 25% faster than an IBM Personal Computer AT— with the touch of a switch. A new lineup of graphics monitors lets you choose exactly the display capability you need. Combine the WYSEpc 286 with the WY-530 monochrome or WY-630 color monitor and get outstanding performance. For enhanced color graphics, move up to the WY-640 EGA monitor. Or, bring CAD and desktop publishing applications into better focus, price Wyse and pixel- Wyse, with the WY-700high resolution gra- phics display (as shown with the WYSEpc 286 at left). With the new WYSEpc 286, you can also choose the keyboard that's the best fit: either the standard AT-style, or the IBM Enhanced PC keyboard. And you get the complete compatibility you should expect in every other way, including more than 350 tested off-the-shelf software packages. Up to 80 Mb of disk storage and 8 expansion slots give you everything you need for the most demanding single-user applica- tions, or to anchor the most effec- tive, economical multi-user systems . And behind this incredible display of power and versatility is a company that ships more ter- minals than anybody but IBM! Call toll-free or write, today, for more information. WYSE YOU NEVER REGRET A WYSE DECISION. Please send me detailed information on the WYSEpc 286 and the entire Wyse product line. Name Title Company Phone Address City State Zip Mail to: Wyse Technology, Attention: Marcom Dept. 286 3571 N. First Street, San Jose, CA 95134 Call 1-800-GET-WYSE suae Wyse is a registered trademark of Wyse Technology. WYSEpc 286, WY-640, WY-530, WY-630 and WY-7O0 are trademarks of Wyse Technology. IBM and Personal Computer AT are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporatio> <0 1986 Wyse Technology. *Dataquesl 1985 terminal shipment update. Inquiry 378 NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 345 A1WAYS PAYS TM CD/ 286 -RunsatG/lOMHz -512KRAM — Includes 1.2 Meg floppy drive -* AT-style keyboard — Combined floppy /hard disk controller card — 192 Walt power supply — 80287 math coprocessor socket — Complete operations manual $1295 m nm HARD DISK KITS For COMPAQ Portable - Cables - Instruction Manual - Software - 2 l h" Shock Mounted Winchester Hard Disk -» Hard Disk Controller - 20 Meg $469 For IBM PC For IBM AT" — Half height hard disk — Western Digital controller — Cables and instruction manual — Boots from hard disk — 20 Meg ^Half height hard disk -30 Mleg w/RLL controller — <10ms access time — Full height hard disk — Cables, mounting rails, and manual ^ OOI"k ~* Boots from hard disk O «30c7 ~* ^ ses AT controller (not included) 20 Meg Seagate for AT- $529 30 Meg Seagate for AT- Cj f) 2 Q $459 20 MB Hard Disk Drive on a Card • Low power consumption • 7>W hard disk • Western Digital controller • Easily installs in minutes $395 EGA Card - 6<»()x350. 16 colors — 100% compatible with IBM EGA™ Card $229 MonoGraphics Card — 720 x 3t>95 HERCULES" Color Graphics Card ^» "■ C C w/parallel port V *■ «J«J Monochrome Graphics Card W *■ **** A MITSUBISHI n ELECTRONICS EGA Monitor V * * 1/ -5l«(l AT Style Keyboard A £ Q -Made in USA t}Dif Math Co-Processors 8087 $119 80287 $195 Hayes Smartmodem 1200 V*'^^ 1200B . , v** * y 2400 V^J'*^ WATCH FOR OUR INDUSTRY- LEADING SPECIALS! R€S€RRCH INC. AST Advantage!" w/ 128K V^^ & AST RAMpagc!" w/256K V^^^ ASTSixPak'"' W/384K $199 IBM PC-XT IBM PC-AT comnAa COMPAQ Portable • 256K HAM - 1/360K floppy drive $1695 - 256K RAM -• One 1.2 Meg floppy drive -• Dual (loppy/hard drive controller - 20 Meg I lard Disk $2789 $1995 One year limited warranty. Visa and MasterCard accepted. UPS ground shipment prepaid in USA only. AN lirnrirla arc rr||lMi-ivd trademark* ill I heir reaper live rompanlea. 7801 North Lamar, Suite E-216, Austin, Texas 78752 (512)459-4199 TOLL-FREE SALES CALLS, 1-800-225-5655 Inquiry 79 FAX (512) 454-0986 BYTE^iA-PAN « \ Technical Curiosities by William M. Raike At this time of the year, there's usually a lull in the an- nouncement of new Japa- nese personal computers. I can't be sure whether it has something to do with the onset of the rainy season, or whether we're in between the two major Tbkyo computer shows of the year; in any case, it gives me a chance to talk about some interesting sidelights, including some services and equipment you can find here in Tokyo that you would never see else- where. A Vending B-Box On a recent trip to Akihabara. the Tokyo district that serves as the mecca of consumer electronics. I happened to be walking through a showroom in one of the major computer depart- ment stores when I literally stumbled across still another coin-operated in- formation service. Vending machines appear every- where in Tokyo, for everything from booze to batteries, but now they've got one for on-line data. The one on which I stubbed my toe was green and about the size of a Coke machine, with a sign proclaiming it to be a "B- Box." I never did find out what the name is supposed to mean, if any- thing, but it was easy to figure out how to work it. You insert a copper \0-yen coin (worth about 6 cents at the present rate of exchange) into the slot, look at the numbered menu and operating instructions on the color display screen, and make your selec- tion using a keyboard that resembles the one on a Touch-Tone telephone. The machine then dials up a central computer and queries the database stored there. The B-Box service is new. so there are only a hundred or so machines around town, concentrated in com- Vending machines now offer on-line information at bargain rates mercial locations that cater to young people. The database at this time con- sists of information that's primarily of interest to younger people: part-time job opportunities, entry-level help- wanted announcements, and informa- tion on various special-interest schools and classes. The information is updated on a continuous basis. Your 10 yen buys you a 10- by 15-inch page of hard copy, in a clear 24- by 24-dot kanji font, printed by a kanji printer in about 30 seconds and ejected through a slot. The front of the form has the B-Box logo and pro- motional information printed at the head and foot of the page; the back is a printed flier containing a variety of advertising. I've seen various public database terminals before, one of them located at the train station in Matsumoto to give free local travel information. But the B-Box is coin-operated and differs from the others in that the database is updated fairly frequently so that the information is quite current. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a similar ser- vice offered sometime soon for locating apartments for rent; with Tokyo's chronic housing shortage, it would be a natural supplement to the weekly magazines that now fill that need. THE NEC PC 9801VM2E IN THE U.S. Many of the letters I receive from BYTE readers contain requests for in- formation and assistance in finding a way to do Japanese-language word processing in the United States. Faculty and students in Japanese-language depart- ments at several universities have expressed a real need for that capability. Unfor- tunately, since I know of no adequate hardware and/or software that can let the IBM PC and its work-alikes (or other computers available in the U.S.) handle Japanese. I've had to recommend that they con- tact someone in Japan to import a Japanese personal computer. Evidently NEC. the largest personal computer manufacturer in Japan, has become aware of this potential mar- ket. The company recently announced that a version of its best-selling 1 6-bit personal computer, the PC-9801VM2. will be available shortly in the U.S. I've discussed NEC machines at length in earlier columns, so I won't go into detail here. In summary, though, this computer is based on NEC's V30 mi- croprocessor, running at either 8 or 10 megahertz. (The V30 is completely software-compatible with the 8086 processor and also offers an on-chip Z80 emulation mode.) The export model will be called the PC-980IVM2E (the E stands for "ex- port"), will contain 384K bytes of RAM and two 1.2-megabyte floppy disk drives, and will be supplied with either a monochrome monitor or an optional color monitor. The machine comes with 19 2K bytes of graphics VRAM in addition to the standard RAM and supports 640- by 400-dot graphics. Kanji characters are dis- continued) William M. Raike. who has a PhD. in ap- plied mathematics from Northwestern Univer- sity, went to ]apan in 1980 looking for 64K- bit RAMs. He has been there ever since as a technical translator and a software developer. He can be contacted do BYTE, One Phoenix Mill lane. Peterborough. NH 03458. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 347 BYTE JAPAN I came across my first BBS in the Japanese language just the other day. played on the screen in a highly legi- ble 16-dot font. The Japanese-lan- guage features include the IIS No. 1 and No. 2 kanji character sets, for a total of nearly 7000 kanji characters in addition to the alphanumeric and katakana character sets. In order to provide a complete sys- tem suitable for Japanese-language processing, NEC is also going to supply an export model of one of its popular 24-pin kanji printers, the PC-PR201HE. NEC will make the necessary modi- fications to the export models to en- sure that they meet appropriate U.S. safety standards and FCC emission standards. In Japan, NEC sells Japanese-lan- guage versions of either the MS-DOS or CP/M-86 operating systems sepa- rately from the computer; presum- ably, the company will bundle an operating system with the computer for the export market. Be warned, though, that the PC-9801VM2 is not fully IBM-compatible, although it will run much MS-DOS software. Also. NEC hasn't said whether it will pro- vide English-language documenta- tion. In any case, the documentation is unlikely to be any better than the sorry lot that comes with the com- puter here in Japan. It will be interest- ing, too, to see what kind of support a foreign-language computer gets from NEC's U.S. sales and service or- ganizations. Japanese-Language BBS Another recent Akihabara discovery 1 happened upon had to do with bul- letin board systems and computer networks. Although personal com- puter users in Japan have lagged behind their U.S. counterparts in using computers to communicate, that's been gradually changing. Besides U.S.- based services like BIX, The Source. CompuServe, and MCI Mail, which are accessible in Japan via the Japanese international telephone company's Venus-P public packet-switched net- work, a number of local English-lan- guage BBSs have been in existence for some time. But I saw my first one in Japanese just the other day. One of the better computer depart- ment stores. Laox Computer Media, employs a technically competent sales staff. During a recent visit to their showroom to clear up a question or two, 1 noticed a brochure describ- ing "LAOX NET" a "pasocom (per- sonal computer) communication sys- tem." It turned out to be a BBS. run- ning on an NEC PC-9801VM4. oper- ated by the Laox store as a free ser- Add these to your IBM Km: and surpass any other UNIX or Xenix system. BYTE JAPAN vice to customers. Customers fill out an application at the store and receive an ID and password by return mail. The board operates at either 300 or 1200 bits per second, and it offers bulletin board and electronic mail ser- vices. Text can be in either katakana alone or in conventional Japanese, which is a mixture of kanji characters and the hiragana and katakana phonetic alphabets. The ordinary alphanumeric character set is sup- ported also, of course. Prompts from the system are all in katakana. how- ever, making it possible for customers using terminals or computers with minimal or no kanji capability to com- municate with the system. Because communication between personal computers in Japan is in its infancy, Laox provides basic, easy-to- follow instructions for connecting an acoustic coupler, modem, or "modem- phone" (telephones incorporating primitive no-frills modems are avail- able, although at outrageous prices compared to customary U.S. prices). The store also provides details about logging on to its net using half a dozen different models of personal computers. Laox also sells the neces- sary communication software. The salesman I talked to, Ishikawa- san, said that the system had been in operation for a little more than a month and that more than 200 users had registered. Usage is brisk. With two new companies planning to com- pete with NTT (the Japanese domestic telephone company), not to mention the imminent prospect of competition within Japan for international data communications business, it seems to me that the Japanese won't lag behind the U.S. for long in using personal computers for communications. In fact a number of local banks have been experimenting for several months with allowing "pasocom" users to query on-line bank com- puters about the balance in their ac- counts, and such trends are likely to continue despite the terrifying securi- ty implications. I've got a question, though. In view of the limited choice, high prices, and primitive capabilities of Japanese- made modems sold here, why aren't any of the major U.S. brands sold here? For instance, the Hayes Smart- modem 2400 I bought in Chicago last year works perfectly here at both 1200 and 2400 bps. and it supports both Bell and CCITT specifications (i.e., U.S. and international telephone standards; Japan uses the latter) at 1200 bps. Time is short, though; some new and sophisticated modems now being designed should be on the Jap- anese market by early next year. Because of business pressures and other reasons, this will be my last BYTE Japan column. My thanks and best wishes go to all the BYTE readers whose questions and encouragement made writing the column a pleasure and to the entire BYTE editorial staff for their efforts and enthusiasm. ■ Except this one. Only BELL TECHNOLOGIES gives you the choice. Convert your mild-mannered IBM PC/AT into a thunderbolt UNIX machine by adding BELL TECHNOLOGIES ex- pansion products. Select from several hard disks, tape backup for every budget and perfor- mance need , multi-user RAM cards, serial port expansion cards, exclusive RamDisk™ technology and backup power systems. Software options include both Xenix and UNIX (get Microport's UNIX Sys- tem V free with a disk drive). Or; if you don't need IBM's nameplate, skip all integration hassles and go straight to our power- house Multi-Purpose Engine, Designed to shrug off multi-user loads that kill con- sumer-grade ATs, our AT engine supports large hard disks, fast clocks and titanic RAM capabilities. Procure The Engine pre-tested and pre- built with your choice of BELL TECH NOLOGIES products. Engines include your choice of DOS or UNIX System V — no charge. Either way, only BELL TECHNOLOGIES backs you with a decade of ex- perience porting UNIX, creating UNIX computer systems and peripherals (including over 50 tape products), and the PC/AT savvy only an AT manufacturer can bring to bear. Call today and find out about the best business relation- ship in the PC/AT world— BELL TECHNOLOGIES. 44870 Osgood Road, Fremont, California 94539 Telex 3723620 BELLTECH 800-FOR-UNIX • 415-659-9097 (CA) Bell "technologies Setting UNIX systems standards the IBMcompatible way. <. and UNIX Syslem V are IradGmarks of AT&T Xenix 'flCo/poralion IBM PC AT is >n;tl lousiness Machines Corpi Inquiry 39 NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 349 WhyDoTheyLook SoMeimt But Cost AboutThe Same? This is Toshiba 24 pin letter quality ; T h i s i s 9 p in p r i n t © r q u a 1 i t y When we developed the P321 and P341e 3-In-0ne™ dot matrix printers, we had just two goals in mind. Superb 24-pin letter-quality reproduc- tion. And a price that's as close as possible to standard 9-pin models. One look at the print sample shows you we succeeded. So will one look at the price. In fact, we were so successful, we gave these 24-pin printers with the 9-pin price a special name: The Affordable Class, And we included features— starting with type font cartridge capability— that put them in a class by themselves. Both the Toshiba P321 and P341e printers produce letter-quality documents at 72 CPS, drafts at 216 CPS and high-resolution graphics at 180 x 360 dpi. Each printer has our industry-standard P351 command set for more sophisticated word processing and high-resolution graphics. And each printer has standard applica- tion compatibility with the entire IBM-PC 1 line of products. Options include downloadable disk capability and type font car- tridges for an unlimited range of type styles, a one- or two-bin sheet feeder as well as continuous forms tractor feeder. The affordable and compact P321: If you're keeping an eye on the bottom line, we'd like to direct your attention to our P321. When it comes to virtually all business and corre- spondence needs, it fills the bill nicely: You get letter-quality reproduction in a printer that looks great on the bottom line. The affordable extended-carriage P341e: If you need to do full-size spreadsheets, you need our wide-carriage P341e. Like the P321, the P341e uses our 24-pin printhead that lasts up to four times longer than other printheads, and has made us the number one seller in the business. So buy a Toshiba Affordable Class P321 or P341e printer today. You'll get letters that look perfect every time. And a type font cartridge free*. For the Toshiba printer and computer dealer nearest you, call 1-800-457-7777. 1. IBM-PC is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. •Offer expires 2/15/87. See your Toshiba dealer for details. Or call 1-800-457-7777. m i P321 In Touch with Tomorrow TOSHIBA Toshiba America. Inc., Infonnation Systems Division P341e Inquiry 349 BYTE U.K. Integration on a New Scale by Dick Pountain In 1984, at the height of his commercial success with home computers, Sir Clive Sinclair launched a pet proj- ect in Milton Hall, a con- verted country mansion not far from Cambridge. The project was called MetaLab, and its intent was to bring together a group of innovative thinkers to work on high-technology projects. Though he hoped the results might eventually redound to the glory of Britain and provide future products for Sinclair Research, MetaLab was not to be tied to schedules; Milton Hall was to be- come a center for blue-sky research, rather like an English Xerox PARC. One of the first people to be re- cruited to MetaLab was Ivor Catt. an electronics engineer and teacher who is a veteran of British electronics, hav- ing joined in the heady postwar era when radar and the first digital com- puters were forging the industry. Catt worked for Ferranti in Manchester in the 1950s, when it was perhaps the world's leading center of computer technology. In the 1 960s he worked for Motorola in the U.S. on high-speed logic interconnection and later re- turned to England to lecture in elec- tronics. During his long career, Catt arrived at a number of highly unorthodox de- sign ideas and spent many frustrating years trying to get them accepted and implemented. The main strands of his thinking can be summarized as fol- lows: He prefers serial to parallel architectures; he resents the perfor- mance penalties that are incurred by conventional chip packaging due to the mismatch of impedance between silicon circuits and printed circuit board tracks; he believes that fault tolerance should be incorporated into computers at the fundamental archi- tectural level, rather than having it Wafer-scale integration is starting to yield its first products added as an afterthought. Synthesizing all these concerns, Catt came up with a plan for wafer-scale integration (WSI) of semiconductor devices. Wafer-scale integration just means that instead of slicing up the silicon wafers on which chips are made into individual devices and packing them into little plastic beetles, you use the whole wafer with the chips connected on the silicon. Unfor- tunately, wafers are never perfect be- cause of defects in the silicon, and a proportion of chips do not work. Catt devised a novel serial architecture in which good devices are automatically recognized and connected in a one- dimensional array, while bad devices are locked out in somewhat the same way that an operating system locks out bad sectors on a floppy disk. In the late 1970s and early 1980s when Catt was trying to sell this idea, corporations like IBM and TVilogy were having spectacularly expensive failures with WSI using conventional architectures, and these botched at- tempts gave the whole enterprise a bad name. TVilogy tried to get around the problem of bad chips by employ- ing massive redundancy, duplicating and triplicating devices so that they could check each other's operation and produce answers by a majority 'Vote." Catt pithily summarizes this approach as "soaking the wafer in dollars." In the late 1970s a team at Bur- roughs started to work on Catt-style WSI but never went beyond prototype wafers because of a change of man- agement and company politics. After Catt moved to Milton Hall, the survivors of this team, led by Dr. Malcolm Wilkinson, also moved in. and the WSI project finally went ahead, funded by the success of the Sinclair Spectrum. We now arrive at the present day. Sinclair Research's fortunes have taken a tumble, and its home com- puter interests, including the Spec- trum, have been sold to rival Amstrad. However, a new company called Ana- martic Ltd. has been formed to pur- sue and market WSI devices (the word Anamartic derives, I am told, from the Greek for "without fault"). The general manager of the company is Malcolm Wilkinson, Ivor Catt is adviser to the engineering team, and Sir Clive is a nonexecutive director. The company is temporarily working from Milton Hall, pending a move to new prem- ises, and is looking for second-round funding to go into full production. The Wisper 2 The first word of a product from Milton Hall came last year when Sin- clair announced that a "solid-state Winchester drive" would be launched for his QL computer. This device never appeared, but its descendant will be the first product from Anamar- tic Ltd. (Milton Hall. Milton. Cam- bridge CB4 4AE. England. (0223) 862661). A solid-state Winchester drive is basically a wafer full of RAM chips connected by a serial access path; to the computer it looks like a serial disk drive, but it has no moving parts and [continued] Dick Pountain is a technical author and soft- ware consultant living in London, England. He can be contacted do BYTE, One Phoenix Mill lane. Peterborough. NH 03458. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 351 BYTE U.K. so is potentially more reliable. A solid- state Winchester drive is also much faster than a magnetic Winchester drive, although slower than ordinary RAM by dint of the serial rather than parallel access. Anamartic has working samples of a prototype 500K-byte wafer made in NMOS technology. One of these de- vices, the Wisper 1. is shown in photo 1; the 4-inch wafer is mounted along- side a small peripheral PCB holding the controller and ROMs for the oper- ating software. The first commercial product, to be available in late 1987, will be a second-generation device code-named Wisper 2, which is built on a 5-inch wafer and can hold 7 megabytes. Multiple wafers can be stacked just like Winchester platters and share the same controller, so devices holding multiples of 7 (e.g., 28 megabytes, 70 megabytes) will be made. The Wisper 2 has the following per- formance statistics: Its worst-case ac- cess time is less than 50 microsec- onds; its data-transfer rate is 2.5 megabytes per second; and its mean time between failures is more than 100.000 hours (for a 70-megabyte unit). By contrast, a typical Winchester disk has an access time between 30 and 90 milliseconds, a data-transfer rate of around 15 OK bytes per sec- ond, and an MTBF of 2 5,000 hours, making Wisper 2 about 20 times faster as well as more reliable. The robustness of the solid-state device should appeal to manufac- turers of portable computers and computers that have to work in hostile environments, and the performance of the device is a great improvement over that of conventional disks. How- ever, the economics of silicon fabrica- tion are such that— initially, at any rate— the WSI solution will not com- pete on price per megabyte with Win- chester disks (Anamartic will not reveal any prices, but they are likely to be more than a thousand dollars). Winchester makers with their Far Eastern volume manufacturing plants are currently engaged in a seemingly suicidal price war. Moreover, magnetic storage still has some tricks up its sleeve, like vertical recording tech- niques that will increase capacity by an order of magnitude at little extra cost. In the short term, Malcolm Wilkin- Photo I: The Wisper 1, a prototype 500K-byte wafer. The 4-inch wafer is mounted next to a board holding the controller and ROMs for the operating software. son sees the market for Wisper among minicomputer and mainframe manufacturers who wish to design disk-caching systems that bridge the gap between fast RAM and disk stor- age in both price and speed. The ar- rival of huge optical disks makes Wisper attractive as a high-speed buf- fer between the slow but cheap disk and fast, relatively expensive RAM. Nevertheless, with Clive Sinclair in- volved. 1 shall be very surprised if he doesn't find some way to get Wisper into a personal computer. Wisper will be fabricated in CMOS technology (although the Catt prin- ciples work under any process), and its power requirements are sufficiently low that a battery backup can be used to preserve the contents in case of main power failure. A 70-megabyte Wisper could be kept safe for up to 60 hours by a lithium battery pack. Fault Tolerance A Wisper wafer contains two main kinds of components. It has a number of conventional RAM arrays, built from standard one-transistor dynamic RAM cells just as if the wafer were go- ing to be cut up into RAM chips. Be- tween these RAM arrays lies a net- work of serial communication lines, and each RAM chip has a communi- cations node associated with it. A node is connected to its own RAM and to the nodes of each of its four nearest neighbors. Figure 1 depicts a portion of a wafer, showing four nodes and RAM arrays. When a newly fabricated wafer is to be tested and configured, an initializa- tion program is run that sends signals to the first node. This node then tries to establish connection with each of its neighbors and, if it succeeds, tests them to see if they are fully opera- tional. Control then passes to the next working node, which repeats the pro- cess. The algorithm used reminds me of a daft game that used to be popu- lar in Commodore PET BASIC, where a worm finds its way around a maze, exploring each junction with its rapid- ly wiggling nose. The algorithm en- sures that every good node is even- tually found and that they end up all connected into a single snakelike path. The initialization program then 352 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 LISTINGS YOUR WAY! it's easy. Now there are three ways to get source- code listings that go with BYTE articles — on disk, in print or on line. LISTINGS ON DISK BYTE listings on disk are right for you if you want to compile or run programs quickly. Disks are now available by annual subscription as well as individual orders. BYTE offers listings in 11 popular disk formats. See the order card below. LISTINGS IN PRINT This print sup- plement contains source- code listings described in the issues of BYTE. See order card below. LISTINGS FROM BIX (BYTE Information Exchange) By joining BIX, you can download BYTE source-code listings for no additional connect-time charges. See BIX informational ad listed in Reader Service index in this issue. ORDER BYTE LISTINGS ON DISK! These magnetic disks con- tain listings of source code described in the issues of BYTE. Disks are available by annual subscription or as individual orders and in 11 popular disk formats. Order today! FOR DIRECT ORDERING GALL TOLL FREE: 8002585485 Call: M-F, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (603-924-9281 for New Hampshire residents) For credit card orders only. ORDER BYTE LISTINGS IN PRINT! BYTE is now offering a supplement in print. In this supplement, you can now get printed versions of all source-code listings that go with BYTE articles. 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Thank you.) NOVEMBER LISTINGS YOUR WAY! It's easy. Now there are three ways to get source- code listings that go with BYTE articles — on disk, in print or on line. LISTINGS ON DISK BYTE listings on disk are right for you if you want to compile or run programs quickly. Disks are now available by annual subscription as well as individual orders. BYTE offers listings in 11 popular disk formats. See the order card below. LISTINGS IN rnlNI This print sup- plement contains source- code listings described in the issues of BYTE. See order card below. LISTINGS FROM BIX (BYTE Information Exchange) By joining BIX, you can download BYTE source-code listings for no additional connect-time charges. See BIX informational ad listed in Reader Service index in this issue. NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 10 PETERBOROUGH, NH POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE BYTE Listings One Phoenix Mill Lane Peterborough, NH 03458-9990 I II. . I. .1. 1. 1. 1. .1. 1. 1. .I. I. .I. lull II. I NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 10 PETERBOROUGH, NH POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE BYTE Listings One Phoenix Mill Lane Peterborough, NH 03458-9990 II..I..1. 1. 1. 1. .I. I. M.M. Lll II. I FOR DIRECT ORDERING GALL TOLL FREE: 8002585485 Call: M-F, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (603-924-9281 for New Hampshire residents) For credit card orders only. BYTE U.K. stores a map of this path. Having established a path of nodes through the chip, the program walks through the path, testing the RAM arrays themselves, and builds a map of working RAMs. Note that RAMs associated with nonworking nodes cannot be tested as they cannot be on the path; they may be good or bad. but they are forever inaccessible. Typically, up to 30 percent of the de- vices on a wafer are defective, so 10 megabytes' worth of chips will need to be fitted onto a wafer that is to end up as 7 megabytes. The communica- tions nodes are much smaller than the RAM arrays, so fewer of them will be bad; otherwise, the technique could not work. The final map of working RAMs and a path that connects them is stored in an EPROM on the controller board. Whenever the Wisper is switched on, software will use this map to connect all the components, which is accom- plished in a fraction of a second. There are no fusible links or other per- manent connections of any kind. This fact is quite frightening at first, until you realize that floppy and hard disks do exactly the same sort of thing with your files; you have no idea where the bits of a file are stored physically, but the operating system keeps track of them in software. What Anamartic has done is to push the same idea down to the level of physical storage. The snakelike path through the Wisper is the serial data path by which data is moved to and from the memory. Data and addresses are in- terleaved and fed serially onto the wafer; they can be separated out again by timing considerations. The RAM arrays themselves, having re- ceived an address, work in normal parallel fashion organized by rows and columns. However, data being shifted out of the addressed RAM row remains in serial form and joins the bit stream flowing along the path. This means that access is slower than ac- cess to conventional RAM mounted on a parallel bus, and it also means that RAMs at the end of the path will take longer to access than ones at the beginning. The wafer behaves like a disk, even down to emulating head travel. RAM RAM COMM COMM RAM RAM ■■:^ - COMM COMM i i Figure I : This diagram shows a portion of a Wisper wafer with four communications nodes and RAM arrays. An important consequence of this wholly software-driven approach is that a Wisper can be reconfigured at any point during its life— if. for exam- ple, a wayward cosmic ray should knock out a RAM cell. By running the same initialization program and blow- ing a new EPROM. the device can be made usable again with a slightly re- duced capacity. The Future It should be clear from the above that Catt's self-correcting technique is not dependent upon the process technol- ogy used to fabricate the wafer nor upon the nature of the devices con- nected to the communications nodes. Exactly the same sort of network could be used to connect an array of multipliers for signal processing, an array of general-purpose processors, or even exotic devices like charge- coupled device light detectors. And the technique could be fabricated in NMOS. CMOS, emitter-coupled logic, or whatever, on silicon or gallium arsenide substrates. The only con- straint is that the array must be linear (i.e.. one-dimensional). Anamartic in- tends to capitalize on some of the possible options later, once the Wis- per 2 has been established as a product. A CMOS process was chosen for Wisper 2 because it is easy to get fabricated; all the major silicon houses have invested heavily in CMOS lines in recent years. However, Anamartic is researching a bipolar version of Wisper that offers several advantages. Bipolar technology is as old as the semiconductor technology itself; the original discrete transistors were bipolar devices made from sim- [continued) NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 353 BYTE U.K. pie sandwiches of p- and n-type sili- con. Today, bipolar is still familiar in the form of Schottky TTL parts. How- ever, bipolar technology has been completely supplanted by MOS tech- nologies for microprocessors and memories because of its high power consumption. Bipolar transistors con- sume power whether in the on or off state, whereas MOS transistors con- sume power only during the transi- tion. A 68000 made of bipolar tran- sistors might well serve as a program- mable cigar lighter. But apart from this drawback, bipolar technology has some attrac- tive virtues. It is faster than MOS, it scales down to submicron sizes bet- ter, and being current- rather than voltage-switching, it can drive capaci- tive loads much better than MOS. Anamartic's Alan Sinclair (no relation "With Watson, our agents are out selling instead of playing telephone tag." Charles C. Ashby, President Huber, Realtors Evansville, Indiana At Coldwell Banker/Huber, Realtors, agents and office staff no longer waste time chasing each other all over town by phone. Instead, office staffers use Watson to digitally record incoming messages, automatically contact agents, deliver "voice mail" messages, and record answers. A multi-purpose voice pro- cessing option for IBM PC, XT, AT, and compatible computers, Watson costs only $498 and has taken over two- thirds of Huber's telephone traffic. For an ear-opening demo on how Watson can help you manage busi- ness communications better, call 1-800-6-WATSON.In Mass., (617) 651-2186. Watson Natural Microsystems Corporation Watson is a trademark of Natural MicroSystems Corp. IBM PC, XT and AT are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. to Sir Clive), in association with the University of Southampton, has de- vised a novel low-power bipolar RAM cell that will be used in the next gen- eration of WS1 devices. This RAM uses a single-transistor cell based on a silicon control rectifier that occupies little silicon area be- cause it is organized vertically in lay- ers. The bipolar process should be capable of starting at the 1 -megabit integration level that conventional RAMs have just reached, but without any need for complex three-dimen- sional "trench-cell" techniques. Al- though dynamic, the bipolar RAM be- haves almost like a static memory when it is read, producing a high out- put voltage that does not require amplification (hence saving com- ponents), and it has a lax refresh tim- ing. These high voltage levels (to- gether with the layered structure) also make the device quite immune to electronic noise. An added bonus is that it can be fabricated with only 7 masks, compared to 12 for the CMOS process. This development should improve the cost per megabyte of WSI sub- stantially. With the current Wisper design, there is a cost saving com- pared to conventional RAM because the wafer does not need to be sliced and packaged, but the silicon cost is exactly the same as for ordinary RAM of the same density. By going to bi- polar, Anamartic believes that the silicon cost can be reduced to as lit- tle as half that of 1 -megabit CMOS RAM. All these features add up to a faster wafer holding 28 megabytes, at about half the silicon cost of the CMOS ver- sion. It will not. however, be ready for production for a couple of years; a demonstration device is planned for late 1987. The ability of bipolar devices to drive capacitive loads will be impor- tant in image processing, one of Anamartic's future target markets. A wafer-scale array of simple proces- sors, each performing part of a trans- formation, could be used to process continous streams of video data at high speeds. Bipolar wafers could also be used directly as a video-frame (continued) 354 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 231 Princeton is the best choice in PC monitors. When you're looking for a personal computer monitor, look at Princeton Graphic Systems. Our growing family of high quality personal computer monitors delivers compatibility, brilliant colors, high resolution, and dependability. Whether you' re designing sophisti- cated business graphics or number-crunching a financial spreadsheet. That's why Princeton is number one in the minds of more and more personal computer owners every year. For the very best in PC monitors, the choice is clear: Pick the com- pany that's at the top. Princeton Graphic Systems. HX-12E. Our EGA- compatible monitor gives you 64 vivid colors. Extra sharp text and graphic displays. The finest dot pitch (.28mm) of any IBM- compat'iWe enhanced monitor. Nonglare screen. FuJ/y compatible with IBM's™ Enhanced Graphics Adapter (or equivalents). SR-12P. Top-of-the-line analog color monitor features ultra high resolution (640x480). 4,096 colors for superb graphics. The finest dot pitch (,26mm) of any PGC-compatible monitor. Laminated nonglare panel. HX-12. High resolution RGB color monitor with .31mm dot pitch gives you better graphics, better text than IBM's Color Monitor (5153). Nonglare screen. Voted "Best in the World" two years running in PC World's "World Class PC Contest". /W 1 * tP yy'/ SR-12. Super high resolu- tion RGB monitor with a ,31mm dot pitch. Compati- ble with Sigma Designs Col- or 400 board and others. Gives you 400 lines of resolution. Nonglare screen. All monitors come with free data and power cables. MAX-12. High resolution amber monitor. When used with an IBM-compatible monochrome adapter delivers 720x350 resolu- tion. With an IBM- compatible color adapter, 640x200 resolution with 15 shades of amber. The monitor automatically ad- justs to either card. HX-9/HX-9E. Compact nine- inch high resolution RGB monitor. Perfect for worksta- tions where space is at a premium. Both feature a .28 dot pitch and an etched dark glass screen. Eco- nomic features like a built- in tilt/swivel base, non- glare screen, and a built- in green/amber switch. HX-9E is compatible with IBM's EGA (or equivalents). Visit your local computer store today and ask about our full line of high-resolution color and monochrome monitors. Monitors that live up to the Princeton Graphic Systems tradition of quality, performance, and value. Princeton Graphic Systems, 601 Ewing Street, Bldg. A, Princeton, NJ 08540; (609) 683-1660; TLX 821402PGSPRIN; (800) 221-1490, ext. 1 1 04. PRINCETON IBM is a trademark of Internationa! Business Machines. Inc. Color 400 is a trademark ol Sigma Designs, Inc. QuadEGA+ is a trademark ot QuadramCorp. Compaq is a trademark of Compaq Computer Corp. Inquiry 264 GRAPHIC SYSTEMS AN INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS COMPANY NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 355 BYTE U.K. Introducing the Lattice MS-DOS C Compiler, Version 3. There's never been a better time to buy Lattice C. Professional programmers the world over have made Lattice C the standard compiler for serious MS-DOS programming. Now Version 3 offers even more of the features that have made our previous versions so popular. Our new compiler features include: ANSI language constructs including, unsigned as a modifier, void data type, enurn data type, structure assignments, structure arguments, structure returns, and argument type checking. The compiler also contains better aliasing algorithms, more efficient code generation, and more flexible segmentation, in-line 8087 code generation, and 80186/ 80286 code generation. The library contains more than 200 new functions, including: ANSI/UNIX/XENIX compatibility; extended support for MS-DOS; extended support for networking including file sharing, file locking, and I/O redirection; and flexible error handling via user traps and exits. Plus the library has also been re-engineered to produce much smaller executables. Try the new Version 3 C Compiler from Lattice. Because C-ing is believing. Lattice Lattice, Incorporated P.O. Box 3072 Glen Ellyn, IL 60138 312/858-7950 TWX 910-291-2190 INTERNATIONAL SALES OFFICES: Benelux: Ines Datacom (32) 2-720-51-61 Japan: Lifeboat Inc. (03)293-4711 England: Roundhill (0672)54675 France: SFL (1)46-66-11-55 Germany: (49)7841/4500 (49)8946/13290 store, whereas MOS would need ex- pensive interfaces. In this sort of application, another feature of WSI becomes important, namely, the low pin-out. Regardless of how many devices it contains, a serial wafer-scale component logically needs only two pins, In and Out (though in practice there are a few more). By contrast, modern micropro- cessors can have more than a hun- dred pins, and integrating hundreds of such chips would be a nightmare due to the explosively rising number of pin connections that have to be made. Interestingly, the Inmos Trans- puter arrived at a solution somewhat similar to WSI. The Transputer uses point-to-point serial connections for transmission of data, although when using off-chip memory, it still requires numerous pins. (It's fascinating to speculate how the Itansputer would perform if it were integrated at wafer scale and whether Catt's linear-array approach could be adapted to cope with such two-dimensional networks.) In principle, Anamartic's technology can be used to build linear arrays of general-purpose microprocessors with on-chip memory to execute parallel programs. However, not every kind of problem is amenable to solu- tion on such a linear array; suitable problems are those that involve per- forming repetitive processing on a continuous stream of data. It's likely, therefore, that Anamartic will concen- trate on small special-purpose pro- cessors for transforming the sort of data found in radar and audio and video applications. I fervently hope that Anamartic can get the financial backing it requires to turn all these ideas into products. The technology looks feasible, and the story has an appealing romantic ele- ment in the shape of Ivor Catt's I 5-year struggle to get his ideas ac- cepted. However, the City of London is currently feeling sour toward high- technology investment in general while the failure of Ifrlogy has unfair- ly tainted the name of wafer-scale in- tegration inside the industry. At the time of writing (July), though, it seems that Anamartic has the backing to put Wisper 2 into production as a first step along the road. ■ 356 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 174 WfeVe taken the work out of doing Windows* Microsoft® Windows is becoming the most popular operating environment for PC systems. Its not surprising. Windows provides the foundation for an exciting new generation of applications that users are demanding. In addi- tion, Windows handles many of the details involved in a software project allowing you to spend more time enhancing your application. That's why a growing number of corporate and independent software developers are building Windows applications. The Microsoft Windows Software Develop- ment Kit is your key to this extraordinary new environment. Its packed with full reference documentation, libraries, utilities and sample programs. Together with our C Compiler or Macro Assembler, it's a comprehensive package that lets you make the most of your application. Software with a new view* Giving your applications the Windows treatment begins with a new look. The rich graphical environment allows you to rethink how you want your program to be presented on screen. It lets you mix text and graphics. You can incor- porate multiple fonts in a variety of sizes, faces and styles. And it provides the basic building blocks that make it easy to create drop-down menus, dialog boxes, scroll bars, icons and more. These features not only simplify your applica- tion design, but also provide the familiar interface that makes your software easier to learn and use. Easing the data shuf fie* Of course, there's more to Windows than just looks. Now, different applications can work together. In concert. The Windows Clipboard provides support for users to cut and paste information between your applications and others. Or you can use messages to establish "hot links" to transfer data automatically. Upgrading made easy* Windows' device independent design allows you to build your application today and take advantage of new technology as it becomes avail- able. When new graphics cards, printers and pointing devices appear they can be used with your software, without modifying your code. Simply by installing the new driver. Your window of opportunity The Microsoft Windows Software Develop- ment Kit is your fastest route to better applica- tions. And with it, we also offer DIAL, our on-line technical support service to help you with the tough questions, and development courses that cover everything from using the dialog editor to memory management. Find out how you can get your Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit. Pick up the phone and call (800) 426-9400. In Washington State and Alaska, call (206) 882-8088. In Canada, call (416) 673-7638. And well open the door to Windows. The Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit includes: ♦ Dialog editor. ♦ Icon editor. ♦ Font editor. ♦ Resource compiler. ♦ Linker. ♦ MAKE (program maintenance utility). ♦ Symbolic debugger. ♦ Heap analysis utility. ♦ Sample programs. ♦ Windows libraries. ♦ Programmer's reference. ♦ Programmer's utility guide. System requirements: ♦ 512K memory, DOS 2.0 or higher. ♦ Two double sided disk drives* ♦ Graphics adapter card. *hard disk recommended Microsoft® Windows Software Development Kit The High Performance Software. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. The fastest C Your search for execution speed is over. The new Microsoft® C Compiler Version 4.0 is here. With blazing performance. We've added common sub-expression elimination to our optimizer that produces code that rips through the benchmarks faster than ever before. \ . . the Microsoft performance in the benchmarks for program execution is the best of the lot overall'.' —William Hunt, PC Tech Journal January, 1986? But speed isn't the only edge you get with Microsoft C. Other advantages include a vari- ety of memory models like our new HUGE model that breaks the 64K limit on single data items. Plus our NEAR, FAR and HUGE pointers, which provide you greater flexibility. All this allows you to fine tune your program to be as small and fast as possible. "Excellent execution times, the fastest register sieve, and the best documentation in this review . . . Microsoft Corporation has produced a tremendously useful compiler." — Christopher Skelly, Computer Language, February, 1986. No more debugging hassles* Introducing CodeView* Free* Now, for a limited time, well give you an unprecedented programming tool when you buy Microsoft C, free. New Microsoft Code- View™ offers the most powerful tool yet in the war on C bugs. Forget the hex dumps. Now you can view and work with programs at any level you want. Use the program source, the disassembled object code, or Microsoft C Compiler Version 4.00 Microsoft C Compiler ♦ Produces fast executables and optimized code including elimination of common sub-expressions. NEW! ♦ Implements register variables. ♦ Small, Medium and Large Memory model libraries. ♦Compact and HUGE memory model libraries. 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NEW! ♦ Rebuilds your applications after your source files have changed. ♦ Supports macro definitions and inference rules. Other Utilities ♦ Library Manager ♦ Object Code Linker ♦ EXE File Compression Utility. ♦ EXE File Header Utility. C Benchmarks In seconds Microsoft C4.0 Lattice C3.0 Computer Innovation C 2.3 Aztec C86 3.2 Wizard C 3.0 Sieve of Eratosthenes (register) 82.9 Copy Block 86.9 151.4 231.7 172.3 199.0 88.0 J23.8 91.9 189.5 Run on an IBM PC XT with 512K memory Microsoft CodeView Window-oriented source-level debugger. NEW! ♦ Watch the values of your local and global variables and expressions as you debug. ♦ Set conditional breakpoints on variables, expressions or memory; trace and single step. ♦ Watch CPU registers and flags as you execute. ♦ Effectively uses up to four windows. ♦ Debug using your original source code, the resulting disassembly or both intermingled. ♦ Use drop-down menus to execute CodeView commands. ♦ Access the on-line help to lead you through CodeView's options and settings. ♦ Easily debug graphics-oriented programs since program output is kept separate from debugger output. ♦ Keyboard or optional mouse support. ♦ Enter in familiar SYMDEB or DEBUG commands. *Reprimed from PC Tech Journal, January 1986, copyright 1986. Ziff-Davis Publishini % you ve ever seen both at the same time. Open a window to view CPU registers and flags. Watch local and global variables as well All while your program is running. CodeView gives you complete control. Trace execution a line at a time — using source or assembly code. Or set conditional breakpoints on variables, memory or expres- sions. CodeView supports the familiar SYMDEB command syntax, as you'd expect. Commands are also available through drop- down menus. Combine the new window- oriented interface with our on-line help and debugging has never been easier. Or quicker. Take the $5 CodeView tour* You may find it hard to believe our debug- ger can do all we Ve claimed. So we re offering test drives. Five bucks will put you behind the wheel of a Microsoft C demo disk with CodeView 1 " See for yourself how fast debug- ging can get. For more information about the Code- View demo disk, the new Microsoft C Compiler, a list of third party library sup- port or the name of your nearest Microsoft dealer, call (800) 426-9400. In Washington State and Alaska, (206) 882-8088. In Canada call (416) 673-7638. t le Search Uieu Run 'Watch Options tt»nt™ Trace? Go ! | math.c 3) island : 244 i) tiszeroO ! 1 2) 4834:8888 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 43 pi.exe aretan(2) 3BE5:BBEE 888208 3DB5:B8F1 E89482 13: t£83 = V, 3BB5: 14". diu(s)J ,3DB5:B0FD 56 |3M5:88FE E82601 3BB5:818i 83C482 15: add(); 3085:8184 £843)88 3BB5 18187 C746FE81B8 17: do { AX, 0882 _chkstk (8388) !I SI,yord Ptr EBP+843 /* t[3 ft 1/s */ s _diu (8227) SP,+02 _add (8154) Word Ptr [island! ,0881 AX = 8802 BX = 31CC CX = 80F4 BX = 1E80 SP - 31CA BP = 31CE SI = 0002 DI = 32A8 DS = 4834 ES = 4834 SS = 4834 CS = 3DB5 IP = 00F8 novrf loa up enable positive not zero no auxcy odd >da 33 8x29 4834:0021 Hicrosoft Microsoft" C Compiler The High Performance Software Microsoft. MS-DOS and XENIX arc registered trademarks and CodeView is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. tOffer expires 12/31/86. The Diconix 150. So small, it's the one PC printer you can take lightly. Anywhere. A Kodak Company 3 100 Research Boulevard Dayton, Ohio 45420. For the dealer nearest you, call 1-800-DICONIX Telex: 288-280 Inquiry 106 APPLICATIONS ONLY Resident Headaches by Ezra Shapiro It was the Great Crash of '86. I'd loaded seven TSR (ter- minate and stay resident) programs into RAM and was about to take a break by playing a round of Willy the Worm, a mindless shareware game. I never took that break; I typed "Willy" the screen blanked, and the system locked up. After several unsuccessful resets, I booted the Compaq from a floppy disk and discovered that about half my hard disk's file-allocation table had been turned to mush. Since I had done a backup three weeks earlier (there's another lesson here), it cost me two days of sweat to get the sys- tem back to normal. I have no idea what happened, and attempts to duplicate the crash have failed, but I'm forced to wonder about all those pop-ups. Memory-resident programs for MS- DOS machines are multiplying like mosquitoes in a swamp. It wouldn't be so bad if MS-DOS (or Microsoft or IBM or somebody) offered the neces- sary facilities and standards to handle pop-up accessories in a straightfor- ward fashion; but no, every developer has to reinvent the technology. As a result, the programs as a class are nasty, ill-tempered beasts that cause as many problems as they attempt to solve. TVying to evaluate them, I've learned a frightening rule: The more memory-resident programs you use, the more likely you are to freeze your software, crash your system, or lose your data. While my testing has been neither faultlessly scientific nor absolutely comprehensive, it has certainly been valid in terms of the real world. My system is cleaner than 95 percent of the systems you'll find; even though every stand-alone application runs without a hitch (i.e.. if it's going to run Some MS-DOS pop-ups and Microsoft's Works for the Macintosh at all on any machine), I have ex- perienced every possible software disaster while playing with memory- resident programs. Thus, it's impossible for me to say whether any specific program is truly safe to use; there are just too many variables to track: foreground applica- tions, other pop-ups, versions of the operating system, etc.. etc., etc. Every- thing interferes with everything else. So you're on your own when experi- menting with the TSR programs men- tioned below. (Good luck.) Here are a few general guidelines. Don't load your system with more than one or two TSRs that are vital to the way you work; add a third or fourth and the odds of failure increase astronomically. Don't believe manu- facturers' claims of universal com- patibility; it's not possible, given the state of the art. Finally, expect to be disappointed. For this column, I've pulled four TSR programs out of my growing pile of them. In the next few months, I'll try to get to as many of the others as makes sense. Cursor Madness Of this month's products, I'm happiest with Cruise Control (Revolution, $29.95), but I'm irritated that I need it. Ever lean on a cursor key for a sec- ond and then watch in horror as the cursor sails across your screen to a spot well beyond where you wanted it to stop? Cruise Control is the answer. It makes your cursor behave. For a small utility, its list of features is impressive. You can adjust cursor speed to your taste, anywhere from a painful crawl to a whizzing blur. With "antiskid braking," the cursor stops instantly when you lift your finger from a key— no more cursor run-on. You can have any key repeat automatically (at a reasonable rate) until you touch another. Revolution also throws in single-keystroke time and date stamps and a screen-blanking function to pro- tect your monitor. Cruise Control offers a selection of four strategies: one for most standard programs, a second for programs that set up their own internal keyboard buffers, a third for ported CP/M ap- plications, and a fourth specifically for WordStar. It should run with just about anything. I've used it extensively, mostly with Framework and a patched copy of WordStar for the PCjr, and it's delight- ful. The reason I'm irritated about need- ing this program is because it does something I think the operating sys- tem should do. Dear old MS-DOS is caught with its pants down on this one. TSR Teamwork Next is Referee (Persoft, $79.95), a group of three programs designed to simplify using TSRs. The ideas behind the product are really quite good, but I suspect the company may have taken on an impossible mission. Referee lets you determine which memory-resident programs are active at any given moment. You tell it which TSRs you want running when you're using a particular piece of software, [continued] Ezra Shapiro is a consulting editor for BYTE. Contact him at P.O. Box 170040, San Fran- cisco, CA 94117-0040. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 361 APPLICATIONS ONLY PopDrop lets you unload TSRs from RAM without rebooting. and it disables the others. Let's say you want to have SideKick and ProKey available when you're at the DOS prompt. Ready! and Graph- in-the-Box in your spreadsheet, and Ready! and Strike in your word pro- cessor. First, you run a stand-alone program called REFEREE and give it lists of your applications and pop-ups. Next, you specify sets of TSRs for your applications. Persoft has done this part well; you can set up your com- binations (what Persoft calls "RAM teams") in less than five minutes. A second component. REFWATCH. is a TSR you load before any other memory-resident tools. REFWATCH monitors the DOS command line and determines which TSRs should be ac- tivated or deactivated based on the information collected by REFEREE. The final program. SIDELINE, is a TSR that gives you a status check and allows you to enable or disable pop- ups from within your application. In theory, then, you've got control over your TSR software. You can use what you want when you want it. and you can avoid conflicts between pro- grams that use the same hot keys. However, in the absence of standards, you wind up with two more resident programs in the stack (REFWATCH and SIDELINE), and that means potential compatibility headaches. Several of us at BYTE got copies of the product when it was released. I couldn't get it to work with Instant Recall, and my system froze every time I tried to use SIDELINE. Jon Ed- wards had no problems with SIDE- LINE, but he discovered that Super- Key could no longer communicate with SideKick. Then Dave Haskin at 2 MB Turbo EMS "" a single slot! ■^8Bt : .. p* Dream for the IBM® PC, XT and Compatibles • 10 MHz speed triples system performance. • Compatible with Lotus/Intel/ Microsoft Expanded Memory Specification. • Optional EGA or serial/ parallel/clock module. • Compatible with popular local area networks. TMs: PC, Xli International Business Machine Corp. Call (outside California) (800)221-5842 WIVATDN ■ System Solutions for Business 1231 California Circle Milpitas.CA 95035 (408) 263-1200 Persoft called to say that Cruise Con- trol was incompatible with Referee but was being fixed. I like the crew at Persoft; they're organized, professional and compe- tent. When they say they intend to work their tails off to solve the com- patibility problems. I believe them. 1 don't doubt that they'll get the pro- gram working smoothly with all the major pop-ups. and if that's what you want to run. Referee will be a great program for you. But there will always be a few obscure old programs and a couple of unorthodox new ones that will refuse to work with Referee, at least in its current form. If you tend to experiment, frustration lies ahead. Another Method PopDrop (InfoStructures. $19.95) takes a less sophisticated approach to the question. It's merely a utility that lets you unload TSRs from RAM with- out rebooting your system, either one at a time or all at once. In operation, it's a lot like the llirbo- Power Software TSRCOM utilities I wrote about last month. Unlike TSRCOM. a group of small public do- main programs. PopDrop is a single piece of software, and as such is slightly easier to use. Each time you invoke PopDrop. it places a small marker in RAM. allow- ing you to create layers of pop-ups between the markers. A second com- mand clears out memory up to (or in- cluding) one or all of the markers. PopDrop also has a View command that shows you a map of memory, so you can tell which TSRs you've loaded. This strategy seems to work in most cases; the only problems I've had with either PopDrop or TSRCOM have been with very sensitive TSRs. The choice between the two is a coin flip; if you're more comfortable with commercial software, buy PopDrop. It works. Electronic Stickers SmartNotes (Personics, $79.95) is a good idea that's only slightly flawed in its execution. This TSR program provides a way to attach marginal notes to files; if you've scrawled com- ments on those little yellow sticky tags [continued) 362 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 361 SQUEEZE W TIMES AS MANY SPREADSHEETS OH A DISK. $79.95, WORKS WITH All RELEASES OF 1-2-3 AND SYMPHONY. Spreadsheets are wonderful tools, but they have three major draw- backs: they take up a lot of disk space, they take a lot of time to load and to save, and they're expensive to send electronically. Introducing SQZ! m from Turner Hall Publishing, the spreadsheet compaction utility that reduces the amount of disk space needed for Lotus 1-2-3® and Symphony™ spreadsheets by 80%-95%. And cuts retrieve/ save time for floppy users. SQZ! takes up less than 30 K of RAM and runs co-resident in memory with DOS and the Lotus program. It works easily with popular memory-resident programs like Note-lt m and Sidekick m In RAM, the spreadsheets remain the original size. Spreadsheets are automatically squeezed and unsqueezed during normal file saving and retrieving without loss of content. SQZ! features a communications option that reformats spreadsheets so they can be sent over electronic mail services that normally only accept text files. And si nee the files are sent in compressed form, you can save 80%-90% in transmission time HOW TO ORDER. Order SQZ! by phone. We accept MasterCard or Visa. Or fill out the coupon at the right and send it to us with a check or money order. Include $2 shipping ($12 outside USA). CA residents add $5.60 sales tax. SQZ! comes with a 30-day, money-back guarantee. a Turner HaJl Publishing 10201 To rre Ave . , Cupertino, GA 95014 1-800-556-1234 x527. (In CA 800-441-2345x527.) SQZ! is also available at better dealers. on your phone bill. And a password feature lets you encrypt files to protect them from unauthorized use. SQZ! is simple to use. It's not copy-protected so hard disk users can install it easily. The user interface mimics Lotus! You can even customize the defaults. SQZ! runs on the IBM® PC, XT r m AT™ and 100% compatibles with any release of 1-2-3, Symphony and VP Planner™ It's compatible with EMS memory expansion boards. Every package comes with a complete User's Manual, the program diskette, a Help Hotline number, and a 30-day money- back guarantee. We also publish Note-It, the 1-2-3 documentation utility. Which, we're proud to say, was named 1985 runner-up Product of the Year by lnfoworld . Remember, when you're up to your ears in data, there's only one thing you can do. SQZ! THE DATA SQUEEZER FOR LOTUS. Please send me . . copies of SQZ! at $79. 95, plus $2.00 for shipping ($12 outside USA). CA residents add $5.60 sales tax. □ / enclose Please charge my □ MasterCard or □ Visa. CardZ Exp. Date Name Company Address City State Zip Phone ( BYT11086 SQZ! and Note-It are trademarks of Turner Hall Publishing. Lotus and 1-2-3 are registered trademarks, and Symphony is a trademark of Lotus Development Corp. Sidekick is a trademark of Borland International. IBM is a registered trademark of, and IBM XT and IBM AT are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. VP Planner is a trademark of Paperback Software International. Program copyright Synex Systems Corp. SEE US AT COMDEX FALL IN SOFTSEL BOOTH. MORE OFTHE BEST FROM MICRO MART AMERICAS PC SPECIALIST! Proline 286 • 80266 processor • 10MHZ • 256K standard (up to 1MB) • videographics card • AT-style keyboard • BIOS guaranteed • 8 totafexpansion slots • FCC licensed & UL approved Color Graphics System $1,449.00 Mono Graphics System $1,495.00 Proline AT • 80286 processor • 8 MHZ • 360K floppy drive • 512K standard (up to 1MB) • video graphics card • 12 total expansion slots • BIOS guaranteed •FCC licensed & UL approved Color Graphics System $1,925.00 Mono Graphics System $1,975.00 Proline XT • 8088-2 processor • 4.77 MHZ -8 MHZ • 256K standard (up to 640K) • AT-style keyboard • video graphics card • 8 total expansion slots • BIOS guaranteed • FCC licensed & UL approved Color Graphics System $549.00 Mono Graphics System $599.00 Monitor not included with PROLINE desk top systems, but well be glad to configure any system to your specific needs!! MULTIFUNCTION BOARDS We have a complete line of Multifunction Boards compatible with the PC, XT & AT and all compatibles. AST SIX PAK, loaded w/384K $209 AST I/O MINI, short bd, serial, parallel, clock CALL QUADRAM Gold Quadboard, 384K, optional 2nd serial & parallel ports $439 TALLTREEJ-RAMIIand III From $125 INTEL ABOVE BOARD, PC & AT, NEW! From$235 THESYS FASTCARD up to 1 MB, Password Security fa PC From $219 GRAPHICS CARDS AST Preview, Hercules mono compatible CALL HERCULES Mono & Color Graphics Card New Low Price! TECMAR Graphics Master, HiRes Color & Mono supports Lotus CALL QUADRAM Quadcolor I & II color cards QUADRAM EGA, Includes 256K display buffer $359 STB EGA + with 256K display buffer $319 STB Mono & Graphics Cards available Generic monographic cards $99 SIGMAColor400forPGSSR-12 New Low Price! PARADISE Multidisplay, mono & color, parallel $195 VIDEO 7VegaEGA,bestenhanced color graphics buy . . • • $309 FLOPPY DISK DRIVES 1/2 HEIGHT Disk Drivesfrom Toshiba, Mitsubishi, & Teac; 360K & 1 .2 Meg drives, PC, XT, & AT & compatibles From $99 DECISION RESOURCES Sign Master . . DECISION RESOURCES Chart Master . DECISION RESOURCESMapMaster . . MICROSOFTChart MICROSOFT Windows $149 .$219 .$239 .$189 . $65 COMMUNICATIONS MICROSTUF Crosstalk XVI, Latest version HAYES Smartcom II MICROSOFT Access with windows ..$95 ..$85 $159 WORD PROCESSING MULTIMATE Advantage MICROSOFTWord, version 3.0 VOLKSWRITER, ver3.0 SSI WordPerfect, version 4.1 MICROPRO Wordstar Professional MICROPRO Wordstar 2000 MICROPRO Wordstar 2000 Plus .$279 $295 .$159 $229 $229 .$229 $279 OFFICE & PLANNING HARVARD Total Project Manager SORCIM/IUS Super Project MICROSOFT Project, vers. 2.0 OKIDATA294 $1019 TOSHIBA P-341 $789 TOSHIBA P-351 $1019 NEC P-5, P-6, & P-7 New Low Prices LETTER QUALITY NEC Spinwriters 2050 $619 NEC Spinwriters 3550 $729 NEC Spinwriters 8850 $1049 EPSON DX-35 $639 LQ Laser printersavailable CALL We carry a full range of form handling options. CHIPS All our chips are tested and priced for quick sale. Call us! INTEL 8087-2, 8087-3, 80287 From $1 12 64K RAM CHIPS Call for Market Price. 128K RAM CHIPS Call for Market Price. 256K RAM CHIPS Call for Market Price. .CALL .$212 CALL HARD DISCS DATA BASE MANAGERS Call For Unadvertised Data Base Managers MICRORIM Report Writer & Clout MICRORIM R-BASE 5000 MICRORIM R-BASESystem 5 MICROSTUF Infoscope D BASE III PLUS BORLAND Reflex ..CALL . $379 . CALL ...$99 CALL! ...$75 IRWIN 10MB internal tape back-up $429 IRWIN 20MB internal tape back-up $529 SYSGEN Complete line Call for our special Sysgen pricing! BERNOULLI TECHNOLOGY Hd disc Subsystems (20&40MB) From$2095 SEAGATE 20 & 30 Meg. for PC/XT & PC/AT CALL PRIAM 40MB voice coil superfast hard drive $1249 PRIAM 60MB voice coil superfast hard drive $1595 TALLGRASS 25 through 80 MB Hard drive subsystems, including 60MB tape back-up WESTERN DIGITAL 10MB File card $539 WESTERN DIGITAL 20MB File card $629 PROTOCOL CONVERSION SNA & BISYNC 3780, 5251, Mod 11 & 12,3274,3278 IRMA Complete line . . In Stock! . From $825 NETWORKING PRINTERS SOFTWARE ACCOUNTING DOT MATRIX Complete lineof EPSON printers Special! EPSON FX-85 $389 OKIDATA192, 193, Pacemark 2410 CALL OKIDATA 292 $449 (404) 449-8089 SORCIM/IUS Complete line including windows From$295each OKIDATA293 . .$579 SPREADSHEETS & INTEGRATED PACKAGES SORCIM/IUS SuperCALC 3, Vers. 2.1 $209 SORCIM/IUS SuperCALC 4 NEW ENHANCEMENTS & UTILITIES NORTON Utilities 3.1 $50 ROSESOFT ProKey 3.0 $79 COPY II PC $22 SOFTSTYLE Set FX+ and Printworks, printer control SIDEWAYS Inverts printout $35 BORLAND SideKick $32 BORLAND Superkey $42 BORLAND Lightning $59 FIFTH GENERATION Fastback $96 COMPILERS & LANGUAGE TOOLS LATTICE C-Compiler $249 MICROSOFT Complete line CALL MICROSOFT Quick-Basic $65 BORLAND Turbo Pascal, Toolbox & more From $35/each GRAPHICS Z-SOFTPC Paintbrush, mouse graphics $69 DECISION RESOURCES Diagram Master CALL MODEMS HAYES Smartmodem 300, 1 200, 1 200B & 2400. We have the best stock in the USA CALL! PEACHTREE TECHNOLOGIES P-1200 (Hayes compatible external) $239 ANCHOR Signalman Express (300-1 200 baud external) $249 MONITORS PCS Max 12(E), HX12, HX12(E), &SR-12 Low Price AMDEK Color 600, 640 x 200, IBM standard res $389 AMDEKColor722 $499 AMDEK 310A amber monochrome CALL MAGNAVOX amber monochrome $99 SONY 9" portable color $399 SONY 1 2" & 13" (RGB/TV) In stock QUADNET IX complete line AVAILABLE MISCELLANEOUS MOUSE SYSTEMS Mouse, optical mouse $125 MICROSOFT Mouse, bus or serial $135 KEYTRONICS5151 Keybdsfor IBM & AT&T $169 QUADRAM Microfazer print buffer, 8-128K From $125 GRAVIS Joystick $35 We have a full line of accessories, ribbons, diskettes, dust covers, flip 'n' files, printer stands, switch boxes, and surge protectors i n stock !!! Due to continuing market fluctuations, pricing may drop daily. Call for most current prices!! ^1-800-241-8149 364 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1 986 America's PC Specialist © Copyright 1986, Micro Mart, Inc. Technology Corporate Campus 3159 Campus Drive, Norcross, GA 30071 Prices and availability are subject to change without notice and are similar, but may vary at Micro Mart Retail Stores. Inquiry 2 12 APPLICATIONS ONLY and stuck them to manuscripts or reports or walls, you've got the basic concept. SmartNotes generates the equiva- lent of those stickers, in two sizes (5 lines by 23 characters and 10 lines at the same width) and half a dozen colors. The program attaches notes to text or spreadsheet cells by "remem- bering" the appearance of the rele- vant chunk of the screen; it's a form of pattern matching. Thus, not only can you annotate within an applica- tion, you can even add comments to your directory listings. Storage files can hold 50 notes, and they are com- pletely independent of application- generated files. I can see SmartNotes as the perfect product for any office where people must comment on a document before producing a final draft. This is the best way yet to suggest changes without having to alter an original. Now for the quibbles. In all of Per- sonics' promotional screen shots, notes are always attached to items to their left. It looks great because there's a little arrow in the upper left corner of each note calling attention to the flagged data. Unfortunately, that arrow is merely decoration— it's always there, pointing to the left, even if you're flagging an item to the right. This may seem like a trivial gripe, but it can get quite distracting. Also, though the note editor is rudi- mentary, it does include word wrap. With a 23-character maximum width, word wrap is a lot more trouble than it's worth. 1 wish there were some way to shut it off. Conclusion? SmartNotes is handy, particularly for team projects. Its flaws are easy to live with, the documenta- tion is excellent, and the program is a breeze to run. In the Mac Corner I'd call Works (Microsoft, $295) for the Macintosh a wonderful piece of soft- ware if I could figure out the rationale behind its design. The product is a four-in-one integrated package that combines a word processor, a spread- sheet, a database manager, and a sim- ple communications module. It will link databases and documents for an {continued) Sudden AT Death. What Would You Do? Y ou turn on your AT™ computer and suddenly it starts to happen. Your computer starts gasping for information because your AT battery is dying. The simplest data, like the time and date, becomes a struggle. All vital signs start fading from the screen. Without action, the victim will soon lapse into unconsciousness. What would you Until recently you would have been powerless to save your AT computer. Replacement batteries were not readily available All you could do was stand by helplessly as your computer's life source drained away. But now, with the help of IBC, you can resurrect your AT, by using IBC's simple method of CPR- Computer Resuscitation. Just plug in one of IBC's newTadiran high-energyHithium batteries, and your AT will have a new lease on life. TheTadiran Replacement Battery from IBC saves you from an inevitable crisis. Every one of the million ATs, compatibles and clones in use today will face this emergency in the coming months. It could happen a few weeks from now, or maybe in a year. The lifespan of currently installed batteries varies from one month to 3 years. Don't let time run out on your computer. Protect against down time! Buy an IBC battery now, so you always have a back-up. IBC Battery Features: • Meets or exceeds all manufacturer's specifications • Warranted for in-use life of 3 years • 10-year shelf-life • For IBM/AT, Compaq 286 series, and all other AT compatibles and clones • Easy to install If your computer should exhibit the following warning signs, you musttake action immediately! IBM/AT is a registered trademark of International Business Machines. Compaq 286 is a registered trademark of Compaq Corporation. • Clock calendar function fades and disappears • Configuration files vanish Steps to Take In Case of Sudden AT Death • Do not panic • Do not move injured computer • No need to call repairman • No need to call manufacturer Just call IBC, and you will get immediate shipment of your new Tadiran AT replacement battery. The life you save will be your computer's. Corporate quantity discount available. Don't delay. Order today. Shipping S3.00 per battery. Please send me an IBC AT Battery for $27.50 (CA residents add 6.5% for sales tax) Company Name _ Make of computer □ Check enclosed* □ Mastercard or Visa # . Card expiration Make money order or check payable to International Ba tery Corporation. 'We need 7 working days for check to clear. International Battery Corporation 6860 Canby Ave. #113, Reseda, CA 91335 (TLX 6975427+) ^ To order call: (800) 225-9359 CA _ (800) 654-3790 US ^ Other inquiries call: ^WWH] (818)609-0516 1-lllALT.ltl.LJ Inquiry I 54 NOVEMBER I986 'BYTE 365 Inquiry 4 How to tackle a 300 page monster. Turn your PC into a typesetter. If you're writing a long, serious document on your IBM PC, you want it to look professional. You want MicroTgX. Designed espe- cially for desktop publishers who require heavy duty typesetting, MicroTgX is based on the TgX standard, with tens of thousands of users worldwide. It easily handles documents smaller than 30 pages to 5000 pages or more. No other PC typesetting software gives you as many advanced capabilities as MicroTgX. So if you want typesetting software that's as serious as you are about your writing, get MicroT^X. Call toll free 800-255-2550 to order or for more . information* Order with a 60-day money back guarantee. MicroT E X from Addison- Wesley Serious typesetting for serious desktop publishers. 'Dealers, call our Dealer Hot Line: 800-447-2226 (In MA, 800-446-3399), ext. 2643. APPLICATIONS ONLY ; FOCUS \ '.Computers J COMPUTERS FREE INSTALLATION OF ANY ADDITIONAL BOARDS SHARP PC 7000 Lightweight transportable that's also a desktop • Illuminated crystal display • Built in dual 5V lloppy drives • 320 KB RAM expandable lo 704 KB SPECIAL FREE BONUS SHARP CASE WITH PURCHASE CALL FOR THE LOWEST PRICE B0NDWELL XT compatable Complete with 640K two 360K disk drives, keyboard, monochrome card, printer port, hi res monitor. GW basic, and DOS. PA Y C S KAG M E ONLY S^gS SERVICE NETWORK THROUGHOUT U.S.A. ORIGINAL IBM PC with 256K two IBM 360K disk drives, keyboard IBM now only H049 95 • MODEMS • Hayes Smartmodem 12006/ IBM 299.95 Hayes Smartmodem 300 129.95 Hayes Smartmodem 2400/RS 232 569.95 Hayes Micromodem lle/Smartcom 129.95 Hayes Smartmodem lie (Apple) with Smarlmoem software . . 149.95 Amazing Modems 1200 3aud internal with software 98.45 Amazing Modems 2400 Baud internal with software 196.95 General Electric 3-8200 AC/DC Modem Direct/accoustic lull two year warranty 69.95 MONITORS • Amdek color 730 RGB/Analog/ Extra hi res. PGA Compat 749.95 Can't mention the name 13" RGB hi res. mfg. by Hitachi List 699.95 Now only 279.95 NEC multi sync everything all in one monitor EGA/FGA/CGA/. . NEW LOW Xtron hi res T.T.L. monitor w/tilt base 4109.95 Princeton Graphics HX12 hi res color RGB 398.95 • PRINTERS • PANASONIC (2 year warranty) KXP 1080 NLQ last 179.95 KXP 1091 top rated 219.95 KXP 1092 180 cps, 7K butler . 274.95 KXP 1595 240 cps (15" carr.) 529.95 EPSON LX80 100 cps. 80 col., NLQ . . 219.95 FX286New NEW LOW PRICE NEC 3550 Spinwnter LQ 789.95 OKI DATA OKI 182P 120 cps (80 column) 199.95 OKI 292 200 cps. NLQ.. LOW PRICE OKI 293 15" carr. 200 cps... .SPECIAL OKI 2410 Pacemark 350 cps . . .CALL JUKI 6100Daisywheel 339.95 6300 15"Daisywheel IN STOCK • COMPUTER BOARDS • Hercules color card 149.95 Paradise EGA with auto switch. 359.95 AST six pakplus. 384K 219.95 Tecmar the Captain multi function 169.95 Western digital 10 meg/ 20 meg LOW • Can't mention the name • Color graphics card 89.95 Mono graphics card 109.95 Focus Computers. 1303 46th St.. Brooklyn. NY. Tel. (718) 871- 7600. Open Mon.-Thurs. 10-7. Sun. 10-6. Fri. 10-3. Most orders shipped within 24 hours Master Card. VISA. American Express gladly accepted All prices m this ad reflect cash discount New York State orders must add local sales tax All merchandise available while supplies last Price guaranteed subject to verifiable suppliers in- creases Money back guarantee if returned within 14 days in mint condition with all papers and packing material intact No returns accepted on open software. Call Toll Free 1-800-223-3411 uncomplicated mail merge, turn spreadsheets and databases into good-looking business graphs, and spit out classy documents and data- base reports. Everything is clearly de- fined, true to the Mac interface, and professionally executed. Mac users will be particularly pleased to see that text does not lose attributes when moved between applications (an an- noyance when you use the Mac's Clip- board with stand-alone programs). In fact, I'd say that Works is perfect for 90 percent of what anybody does with a computer. But it is limited, and that's why I have my doubts. None of the individual pieces is as strong as other nonintegrated products, so 1 find myself coming up with a series of qualified recommendations. Works is an excellent solution if your primary computer use is in an area outside the Big Four. If you use your Mac for programming, or graphic design, or something arcane the package represents a good way to solve your basic writing and data- handling needs for less than you'd spend on stand-alones. And because the product is integrated, you don't have to mess with Switcher to have multiple functions loaded at the same time. I suppose this also means that Works would be terrific for first-time users and for businesses that don't have heavy-duty demands. If you think you'd place heavy demands on one of Works' com- ponents, though, I'd recommend that you purchase a full-power product in that category. Whether you should buy Works to give you the other com- ponents is up to you; I don't have strong feelings either way at this level. On the other hand, if you need power in two or more of Works' categories, you'd be wasting your money if you bought it. This program would be a knockout at $100; at $200 it would still be pretty nice. At nearly $300, I find myself scratching my head about it; the same money could buy three top-grade programs for word processing, com- munications, and database manage- ment that would make Works look sick. One final thing about the product [continued] 366 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 393 15,000 SAVED FROM CRASH. No hysteria. No panic. No reports of data loss. No won- der more than 15,000 Alpha Micro users have chosen our Videotrax™ backup technology over streamer tape or floppies. The best news is it's now available for the IBM 8 PC- AT, XT and true compatibles. BETTER TO BE FAIL-SAFE THAN SORRY. Exhaustive testing and long term use of Videotrax technology prove it more reliable than any other backup High-lech. Ojxtn ijour PC and slide the controller board into any arpansicm slot LouUech. Hook up VCR to computer with standard cm- nectar cables. option available. Even more reliable y J than the hard disk you're backing up. At the heart of the system is a patented video tape con- troller board that employs a standard video cassette recorder for copying data. Which means Videotrax offers the sophisticated technology of today's VCRs. And the depend- ability of a durable consumer good. EASY DOES IT. If you own a VCR, you already own half the system. And you already know how to use it. Or you might opt for the complete subsystem (controller board plus enhanced VCR) and experi- ence the Your basic video cassettes. Reliable, cheap, easy tojiiirf. joy of its automatic, unattended backup capabilities. Either way, our menu driven software, clear documentation and wide range of backup modes keep it simple: Insert a blank video cassette tape and follow the directions that appear on your screen. You can copy or restore your entire hard disk, specific files, or only files modified since the last backup, while the system busily self-monitors for proper functioning. And for the price of taping your favorite TV shows, you can record your most valued computer data. Up to 80MB can be stored on a single cas- sette at less than a third of the cost of streamer tape. Of course, if you ever require service, your authorized Alpha Micro dealer and our world- wide network of factory service centers will provide all the support you need. For more informa- tion on how Video- trax can keep you off the crash course, call your local dealer or Alpha Micro at 1-800-992-9779 (in California call 1-800-821-0612). DATA BACKUP FROM ALPHA MICRO. Corporate Headquarters: 3501 Sunjlouw, P.O. Box 25059, Santa Ana, CA 92799 © 1986, Alpha Microsystems. At I rifj his reserved IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines U.K. Headcjitarters: Berkshire House, 56 Hersliel Si, Sltugli, Berkshire, Great Britain European Headquarters: 130 CliAussee ae la Hulpe, Box 14 1050 Brussels, Belgium Inquiry 399 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 367 8 YEARS OF GUARANTEED QUALITY & SERVICE APPLICATIONS ONLY 1 Veflfi WARRANTY, 30 DAV MON€V BACK GUARANTY Micro Desi g n Internotionol. Inc. 6985 University Boulevard, UU inter Park, Florida 32792 Items Discussed Cruise Control $29.95 ($3.50 shipping) Revolution Software Inc. 715 Route 10 E Randolph, NJ 07869 (201) 366-4445 PopDrop $19.95 ($3 shipping) InfoStructures Inc. P.O. Box 32617 lucson, AZ 85751 (602) 299-5962 orders: (602) 32 3-4600 Referee $79.95 Persoft Inc. 456 Science Dr. Madison, Wl 53711 (608) 273-6000 SmartNotes $79.95 ($3.75 shipping) Personics Corporation 2352 Main St. Concord, MA 01742 (617) 897-1575 orders: (800) 445-3311: in Massachusetts. (800) 447-1196 Works Microsoft Inc. 16011 Northeast 36th Way Redmond, WA 98073 (206) 882-8080 .$295 makes me hesitant to endorse it. Works has no built-in macro language. Repetitive tasks cannot be automated, which is a big lack. This is most pain- ful in the telecommunications module. As there are no facilities for creating log-on scripts, you're going to have to remember all your access codes and passwords with no help from Works. If Microsoft had imple- mented a control language like the one in Framework on the PC, or even some sort of "learn" mode, this could have been a spectacular program. 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IBM PC and AT are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Inquiry 243 for End Users. Inquiry 244 for VARS. Six great reasons to join BIX today • Over 140 microcomputer-related conferences: Join only those subjects that interest you and change selections at any time. T^ke part when it's convenient for you. Share information, opinions and ideas in focused discussions with other BIX users who share your interests. Easy commands and conference digests help you quickly locate important information. • Monthly conference specials: BIX specials connect you with invited experts in lead- ing-edge topics— CD-ROM. MIDI. OS-9 and more. They're all part of your BIX membership. • Microbytes daily: Get up-to-the-minute industry news and new product information by joining Microbytes Daily and What's New Hardware and Software. • Public domain software: Yours for the downloading, including programs from BYTE articles and a growing library of PD listings. • Electronic mail: Exchange private messages with BYTE editors and authors and other BIX users. • Vendor support: A growing number of microcomputer manufacturers use BIX to answer your questions about their products and how to use them for peak performance. What BIX Costs. .How You Pay ONE-TIME REGISTRATION FEE: $2 5 Hourly Charges: (Your Time of Access) Off-Peak 6PM-7AM Weekdays Plus Weekends & Holidays Peak 7AM-6PM Weekdays BIX lymnet* TOTAL $9 $2 $ll/hr. $12 $6 $18/hn* * Continental U.S. BIX is accessible via 'tymnet from throughout the U.S. at charges much less than regular long distance. Call the BIX helpline number listed below for the 'tymnet number near you or 'tymnet at 1-800-336-0149 * * User is billed for time on system [\e.. x h Hr. Off-Peak wttymnet = $5.50 charge.) BIX and 'tymnet charges billed by Visa or Mastercard only. BIX Helpline (8:30 AM-I1:30 PM Eastern Weekdays) US. (except NH)-I~800-227-BYTE Elsewhere (603) 924-7681 We'll Send You a BIX User's Manual and Subscriber Agreement as Soon as Wve Processed Your Registration. JOIN THE EXCITING WORLD OF BIX TODAY! Join BIX Right Now: Set your computer's telecommunications program for full duplex, 8-bit characters, no parity. I stop bit OR 7-bit characters, even parity. I stop using 300 or 1200 baud. Call your local 'tymnet* number and respond as follows: Tymnet Prompt Garble or "terminal identifier" login: password: mhis login: BIX Logo— Name: You Enter a byteneti mgh bix new After you register on-line, you're immediately taken to the BIX learn conference and can start using the system right away. Foreign Access: To access BIX from foreign countries, you must have an account with your local Postal Iklephone & 'Iklegraph (PIT) company. From your PTT enter 310600157878. Then enter bix andnew at the prompts. Call or write us for PTT contact information. EIX See the BIX demo at BYTE magazine's booth #362 at the Fall Comdex One Phoenix Mill Lane Peterborough, NH 03458 (603) 924-9281 372 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 450 MATHEMATICAL RECREATIONS Paradoxes of Probability by Robert T. Kurosaka Nonintuitive probabilities are all around us. leading to a proliferation of so-called sucker bets. In this column, I'll analyze some of the more popular ones and simulate a couple of them with BASIC computer programs. How about a small friendly bet? Four playing cards, two red and two black, lie facedown on the table. Without looking, you choose any two cards. I'll bet you $1 that you pick one red card and one black card. Shall we play? Since you hesitate. I'll explain the natural fairness of this game. Only two outcomes are possible: the colors match or they do not. Your probabili- ty of winning is therefore one-half. The game is fair since neither of us has an advantage. Ready to put your money down? You won't be fooled that easily, right? Your sense of caution is ad- mirable. I'll explain further. Three, not two, outcomes are possible: Both cards you select are red, both are black, or one is black and the other red. The colors match in two of the three cases. Thus, your probability of winning is two-thirds. The game is in your favor. Now will you play? Your suspicious nature is beginning to annoy me. Very well, here is my final explanation. Four (count 'em, four) possibilities exist. Consider that the cards are chosen one at a time. Both cards could be red: both could be black: the first red, the second black: or the first black and the sec- ond red. The colors match in two of these four possible drawing se- quences, giving you (again) a 50-50 chance of winning the bet. Okay, I've listed all possible out- comes in three different analyses, and in every case, your chances of winning the wager are 50-50 or better. So how A survey of sucker bets and an analysis of how they work about that friendly bet? Did you accept the bet? If so, you have just been hustled. Examine your chances more close- ly. When you choose the first card, it must be either red or black: the choice has no effect on your chances of winning. Now, of the remaining three cards, how many match the col- or of the card in your hand? Only one. Therefore, your probability of winning is only one-third (honest, this time!). So what is wrong with the three pre- vious analyses? To varying degrees, each of them is based on an incom- plete listing of all possible outcomes. The incompleteness is subtle and therein lies the hustle. Denote the four cards as r lt r 2 . b lt and b 2 - List all possible pairs of cards you can choose: (r\.r 2 ), (r\,b\), (n.bi), (h.bi). (ri.bi). (b\.b 2 ). Of the six possi- ble outcomes, only two have match- ing colors. Your probability of winning is indeed one-third. Phone Book Follies Open a telephone book to any page and select any column. In that col- umn, circle any 1 3 consecutive phone numbers. I will bet $1 that at least two of the phone numbers end in the same two-digit number. You may feel more confident about making this wager. After all, there are 100 possible two-digit numbers from 00 to 99. Thus, the probability of an exact match would seem to be I in 100. Even with 13 chances, it would seem unlikely to find a pair of mat- ching two-digit numbers. But again, intuition betrays us. The sucker in this bet favors the possibility that no match exists among the 13 phone numbers. Let's analyze the probabilities of that happening. The first number on the list can be any two-digit number and has no ef- fect on the odds. The second number must not match the first; therefore, it must be one of the other 99 two-digit values; that probability is 99/100. The third number cannot match either of the first two numbers, leaving it 98 possible nonmatching numbers; that probability is 98/100. The pattern continues down to the thirteenth number, for which only 88 possibilities exist (the other 12 having been taken already); its probability for not matching is 88/100. The probability that no match exists among the 1 3 numbers is the product of the individual chance factors: ^9 X ^8 X ^Z X ... X _88« 442775 ioo x ioo x ioo x x ioo UA in That is, you can expect to win your bet (no match) about 44.3 percent of the time, and I can expect to win the other 55.7 percent of the time. Simpli- fying it, my odds of winning are about 5/9. For a truly fair game, I should of- fer odds: my $5 against your $4, or $1.2 5 against your $1. Since our original bet was even money (1:1). I have a definite advantage. In 1000 such wagers. I can look forward to winning $557 and losing $443, show- ing a profit of $114. Altering the conditions so that you circle 20 numbers increases the prob- ability of a match to 87 percent; 30 {continued) Robert T. Kurosaka teaches mathematics in the Massachusetts State College system. He can be reached do BYTE, One Phoenix Mill lane. Peterborough. NH 03458. NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 373 MATHEMATICAL RECREATIONS Listing 1: A BASIC program to illustrate the phone book bet and similar wagers. An abbreviated sample run is also shown. 10 OK*. 99999 :REM Close enough to 1 20 PRINT "Calculate the probabilities for finding a match," 30 PRINT "given C possible outcomes and taking N events." 40 INPUT "Enter value for C (>1)";C 50 IF C<2 THEN PRINT "Can't be.": END 60 PRINT "Enter a starting value for N, from 2 to ";C-1; 70 INPUT SV 80 IF SV<2 OR SV>=C THEN PRINT "Can't be.": END 90 PRINT "Table of probabilities given ";C; "poss ible outcomes. " 100 PRINT "# of events Probability" 110 FM$= " ###### #.######" 120 FOR N=SV TO C-1 130 P-1 140 FOR J=1 TO N-1 STEP 1 150 P-P*(C-J)/C 160 NEXT J 170 PRINT USING FM$;N,1-P 180 IF 1-P>=0K THEN N=C-1 190 NEXT N Calculate the probabilities for finding a match, given C possible outcomes and taking N events. Enter value for C (>1)? 100 Enter a starting value for N, from 2 to 99 ? 10 Table of probabilities given 100 possible outcomes. # of events Probabi I ity 10 0.371843 11 0.434659 12 0.496847 13 0.557225 41 0.999933 42 0.999960 43 0.999977 44 0.999987 45 0.999993 numbers gives a match probability of more than 99 percent. Extending the bet to cover three- digit numbers gives results that are even more surprising. Circling only 38 numbers, the probability of finding a three-digit match is more than 50 per- cent; circling 70 numbers gives a probability of 90 percent that you will find at least one pair of matching three-digit numbers. The familiar "Birthday Paradox" has a similar explanation in the laws of probability. Given a gathering of 23 people, the odds that at least two people share the same birthday (month and day) are, surprisingly, bet- ter than even (50.7 percent). For 24 people, the probability rises to 53.8 percent. With 41 people, the chance rises to 90.3 percent. The paradox evaporates when we analyze the situation closely. For sim- plicity, we exclude February 29 birth- days and assume that birthdays are uniformly distributed among all 365 days in a year. That is, the probability of one's birthday falling on a particular date is exactly 1/365. The probability of two people not sharing a birthday is thus 364/365. Each additional per- son we consider adds another reduc- ing factor to the probability that no birthdays are shared. The program in listing 1 lets you ex- plore the probability trends for this general class of sucker bets. You specify the number of possible out- comes; the program shows the prob- ability of a duplicate outcome occur- ring within a specified number of events. Card Games Another class of sucker bets involves playing cards. Here's one of my favorites. TWo shuffled decks are on the table. I bet that among the first six cards in each deck are two identical cards. Your bet, if you choose to accept it, is that no duplicate cards will be found among the first six cards in the two decks. What are your odds? We draw the first six cards from deck 1. In deck 2, the top card can- not be any of the previously drawn six cards; it must be one of the other 46 cards. The probability of a nonmatch is thus 46/52. The second card must not be any of the six noted cards; it must be one of the other 4 5 cards of the 5 1 remaining in deck 2. The prob- ability of a nonmatch is 45/51. The pattern continues for the remaining four cards, giving a cumulative prob- ability of 46 4 5 44 41 !4Mih x 7f " a4600933 Probability of a nonmatch after draw- ing six cards is about 46 percent, leav- ing a probability that a match will be drawn of about 54 percent (certainly enough for me to make a living on, if 1 can find enough suckers to take the bet). Now suppose we have three shuf- fled decks on the table. 1 bet that among the top four cards of each deck will be found two identical cards. You bet that no matches will be found. Are your odds any better this time? After drawing four cards from deck 1. the odds of not finding a match in four cards from deck 2 are, respective- ly, 48/52, 47/51, 46/50, and 45/49. Drawing from deck 3. the first card cannot be any of the eight previously drawn cards; probability of that is 44/52. Probabilities for the next three cards not matching are 43/51. 42/50. and 41/49. Multiplying the probabilities gives a [continued) 374 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 The Sony CPD-1302 has an actual image generated with an IBM® AT. Look at the picture. It's got to be a Sony. Why the leading name in living rooms is about to become the leading name in offices. Since 1968 r Sony has been delivering the brightest sharpest color picture with its patented Trinitron® one-gun r one-lens picture tube. Not only did that picture become the one by which all others are judged, it even received an Emmy Now that picture is setting new standards in the demanding world of personal computers. 25 years have gone into the making of this picture. Every Sony advance in the quality of your TV picture has been applied to the improve- ment of your computer picture. That's why a Sony monitor is so clearly superior to other monitors. And that's why you can get a brighter, sharper picture for your computer the same way you'd get one for your home. Only Sony could give you 9 clear choices for better computer monitors. Only Sony makes color computer moni- tors from 9" to 25", plus video projectors with Sony CPD-90DO 9" High-Resolution Monitor Sony CPO-1310 13" Medium-Resolution Monitor Sony KV-2011CR 20"Combination Computer Monitor/Receiver Sony CPO-1201 12" High-Resolution Monitor Sony KV-1311CR 13" Combination Computer Monitor/Receiver Sony KV-25HCR 25" Combination Computer Monitor/Receiver Sony VPN-1030Q1 & VPH-2030Q1 100" & 200" Multiscan Video Projector Multiscan™ technology that display computer images on 100" and 200" screens with aston- ishing resolution. So you can have Trinitrons from the small- est desk to the largest boardroom. Sony's newest 13" Multiscan Monitor, the CPD-1302 shown above, works with CGA, EGA and even PGA graphics cards. It's a moni- torthat will not only give you dazzling high- resolution graphics, it's also compatible with the computer you're using now. And several of these Sonys have the same, impressive .25mm Super-Fine Pitch™ Aper- ture Grille, giving them the highest resolution of any monitors in their class. Sony even has monitors that are also remote-control Sony TVs. In short, the standard for the brightest, sharpest picture in home, industry and broadcast is soon to be the standard for PC monitors. Find out more: call Sony at 1-800- 222-0878 (in N. J. ,1-800-222-0879). Trinitron Computer Monitors gSKg Ci 1986 Sony Corporation of America. Sony, Trinitron, Multiscan, Super-Fine Pitch and The One and Only are trademarks of Sony. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. Because the computer industry lacks standards, Sony does not and cannot make any warranty or representation with respect to performance of its monitors with each and every software or hardware option. Inquiry 3I7 NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 375 GAT-286 COMPLETE SYSTEM— S2195 00 Includes one megabyte memory on board, 6 or 8 MHz, zero wait state, Phoenix BIOS; Disk drive con- troller with 2 floppy disk drives (1.2 MB. and 360 K) and one 20 MB. hard disk; monochrome monitor with adapter, serial/parallel ports; 200 W. power supply, keyboard, case. IBM PC/AT compatible. Certified to comply with FCC class B standards. PC/XT/AT COMPATIBLE PARTS Seagate 30 MB., High Speed Hard Disk $645.00 20 MB. Hard Disk Kit for PC/XT $395.00 30 MB. Hard Disk Kit for PC/XT $465.00 135 W. Power Supply $ 65.00 I/O Card for XT or AT $ 75.00 LOGIMOUSE $85.00 8087-3 Co-Processor $120.00 80287-3 Co-Processor $215.00 XT Compatible System w/640 K, all ports & clock, 2 drives, monochrome monitor $825.00 LUCKY COMPUTERS (214) 690-6110 1701 Greenville, Suite 602, Richardson, TX 75081 IBM PC/XT/AT are Registered Trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. Inquiry 190 m f" rll * : . - . ill! t ft- — * * » * i ■l. J ;, ^TiBi; 41 **« CREATE A COMPUTER NETWORK for $299.95 with the MFJ- 1294 Super Switch! This switch lets you Intercon- nect 4 RS-232 devices with 4 other RS-232 devices simultaneously. All eight devices can be working at the same timet What you will have is a mini- networking system for the price of other companies' simple switches. And you never have to learn complicated software com- mands. Reliable and affordable port expan- sion Is as simple as pushing a button. Has LEDs to monitor data lines. MOV surge pro- tectors and transmit-recelve buttons that allow 2-way communications. 30 day money back guarantee (less shipping & handling). 1 year unconditional warranty. Add $6 shipping & handling. Free catalog, call toll-free 800-647-1800 MFJ Enterprisesjnc. 921 Louisville Road Starkville, MS 39759 Inquiry 206 Printer (Data) switch $45 Dealers & OEM Welcome Dimension: 1" it 4V1" x 8V«" All pin switched 1 year warranty RS232 Miniature Gender changer M/M, FVF Null modem Jumper Dox, Surge-protector $10 Mini tester. Mini-patch box $12 • Metal case, beige color • Posh button or rotary switch • 2 layer PC board, fully shielded Switch box DB25/Centronlc 2 way switch $4S/$52 2 way cross $65/579 4 way switch $65/539 RS232 Break-out boxy db 25/ab switch/monitor swivel $39 Cable (Lifetime warranty) $10 up • UL approved, molded, double shielded, beige color • D type connector with thumb screw (screwless) Printer Cable (R>r IBM) 12715718' Centronlc Cable (male to male) 14718' RS232 Cable (male to male) 12716' RS232 Cable (male to female) 378710712' (25 line connected ones can be used as modem or XT Floppy/Hard disk cable/AT h/f drive cable 3 Day Money Back Guarantee Terms: COD. $1.90 Handling fee $3, plus shipping California residents add sales tax Inquiry 163 S12/J14/516 $14/$16 $12/$14 $10/$12/$16/$18 cable) $7/$9/$15 JACO Enterprises 1478 Poppy Way Cupertino, CA 95014 TEL: (408) 996-0675 MATHEMATICAL RECREATIONS Listing 2: A BASIC program to simulate a class of bets involving two or more card decks. A sample run is included. 10 PRINT "Given D decks, each containing N cards," 20 PRINT "this program calculates the probability" 30 PRINT "of finding at least two identical cards" 40 PRINT "among the top C cards of each deck." 50 PRINT 60 INPUT "How many decks (>1)";D 70 IF D<2 THEN END 80 INPUT "How many cards in each deck (>0)";N 90 IF N<1 THEN END 100 PRINT "Draw how many cards from each deck (1-";N;") M ; 110 INPUT C 120 IF C<1 OR ON THEN END 130 PRINT "Successive chances for NOT matching..." 140 P=1 150 FOR J=1 TO D-1 160 FOR 1=1 TO C 170 X=N+1-J*C-I 180 Y=N+1-I 190 PRINT USING "### / ### = #.#####" : X,Y,X/Y 200 P=P*X/Y 210 IF P=0 THEN I=C: J=D-1 220 NEXT I, J 230 PRINT "Cumulative probability of a MATCH=";1-P Given D decks, each containing N cards, this program calculates the probability of finding at least two identical cards among the top C cards of each deck. How many decks (>1)? 3 How many cards in each deck (>0)? 52 Draw how many cards from each deck (1- 52 )? 4 Successive chances for NOT matching... 48 / 52 = 0.92308 47 / 51 = 0.92157 46 / 50 = 0.92000 45 / 49 = 0.91837 44 / 52 = 0.84615 43 / 51 = 0.84314 42 / 50 = 0.84000 41 / 49 = 0.83673 cumulative probability for not finding a match of 0.3603997, or about 36 percent. My chances for winning the bet are thus around 64 percent. I can live like a king on that. The program in listing 2 calculates the odds for the general condition using d decks, n cards in each deck, and drawing c cards from each deck. A Poker Challenge An unusual wager— which, alas, is not so easy to model with a computer program— involves some knowledge of the game of poker, l^ke any 2 5 cards from a shuffled deck. I bet I can form five poker hands that are as good as a straight or better: a straight (five cards in sequence), a flush (five cards of the same suit), a full house (a three-of-a-kind and a pair), a four- of-a-kind, or a straight flush (five cards of the same suit in sequence). I don't know the exact probability of success, but it is evidently very high, contrary to common sense. lYy the game yourself, and you will be surprised at how seldom you fail. Think about ways to model the situa- tion with a computer program. (Hint: lYy sorting the cards first by suits: two flushes will always be found. Then look for a straight or a full house.) I would be delighted to hear reports of your investigations into these and other sucker bets. ■ WHEN YOU NEED ACCESS TO FULL MEMORY, STRUCTURE, COMPATIBILITY WITH GW- & PC-BASICA, WHEN YOU NEED THE POWER AND FLEXIBILITY OF COR PASCAL... . . .You need BetterBASIC, The BetterBASIC compiler has become the standard by which other BASICS are evaluated. BetterBASIC is completely compatible with GW-BASIC and PC-BASICA when running on IBM PCs and true clones. You can load and run your existing BASIC programs in BetterBASIC. It uses standard MicroSoft syntax and gives you more than 150 additional state- ments such as XREF, DEFINE WINDOW, MAKE MOD- ULE, and PROCEDURE. In benchmark comparisons, BetterBASIC is five times faster than interpreted BA- SIC. There is optional 8087/80287 math chip support, and an optional Runtime System to create stand-alone Ask your dealer or call to order: 1-800-225-5800 In Canada, ca!1416-469-5244 Summit Software Technology, Inc™ 106 Access Rd. Norwood, MA 02062 BetterBASIC is a registered trademark of Summit Software Technolog* Inc. IBM PC. XT, AT are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. landy is a registered trademark 0/ Tandy Corp. EXE. files. BetterBASIC is not copy protected. Technical support is provided for all registered users. See for yourself why Dick Aarons of PC Magazine said "BetterBASIC may be the best of all BASIC pro- gramming worlds" and selected BetterBASIC as "Editor's Choice" (Oct. 29, 1985). BetterBASIC 8087/80287 Math Chip Support Runtime System Sample Disk with Tutorial $199 $99 $250 $10 M? i j M 1 EJ] i X ^1 2 'jj/l qT 1 IJ 1 1 fil 1 J I 1 TT • T I 1 m 3! 1 I IJ m \ preparation HERE ARE THE REASONS WHY. Best-price Unix applications software. Fromthecompany that madea reality of best-price UNIXoperating systems. Business computing, word processing, database management, text prepara- tion and software development — we've selected, developed and added value to the best. Once you've converted your PC/AT with our System V into a true multi-user, multi-tasking machine, you'll demand software that lets you get on with the tasks at hand. CRYSTALWRITER PLUS is a comprehensive word-processing system for the multi-user office. It allows concurrent use of files, layouts and printers, as well as supporting a full range of terminals. INFORMIX SQL is the relational-database-management sys- tem developers will choose for custom appli- cations. It offers relational-database flexibility, interactive-database queries, a flexible de- sign environment, automated functional menus, custom screen design and total format control UNIX and DWB arc trademarks of AT&T IBM and IBM PC-AT are trademarks d IBM CORPORATION. SYSTEM V/AT is a trademark ol MlCROPORT SYSTEMS, INC. R-OFFICE ties a powerful word processor together with the file-management, table-spreadsheet, report-generation and desktop-management chores common to nearly every modern office. R/M COBOL is Ryan-McFarland's GSA certified imple- mentation of the ANSI X3.23 74 standard. R/M COBOL is designed for serious busi- ness computing. LEX is a standalone system offering complete word processing capabilities, as well as utili- ties for adapting LEX to any type of video terminal or printer. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT from Microport Our package was derived from the extensively-tested Portable C com- piler. (The large-model code produced by the compiler is among the densest and fast- est available.) These are true 286 compilers, making full and efficient use of the extended 286 instruction set. The package also in- cludes the F77 Fortran compiler: TEXT PREPARATION from Microport This package consists of the complete System V Release 2 Documentor's Workbench (DWB), and in- cludes both the new troff and the old troff. Drivers for the HP Laser Jet Printer and Apple's LaserWriter are also available. These are but a few of our available packages. Virtually everything listed in AT&T's catalog can now, or will soon run with our operating system. Regarding OurSYSTEMV operating system. More than a look-alike, Micropores System V complies with AT&T's new binary standard and was derived from AT&T's own UNIX Sys- tem V Release 2 iAPX286. It thereby contains standard System V features the competitors don't support, such as the powerful symbolic debugger (SDB), the shell-layering job-con- trol facility and the F77 Fortran compiler, as well as programming tools such as ctrace, cflow and bs. Over 200 utilities come stan- dard to let you search and modify files, make use of electronic mail, calculate electronically convert data and publish. • 24 hour sale and support • 90 day money-back guarantee • Educational site licensing • Commitment to AT&T souce and binary standards To order: Call either of our numbers below for today's price and product line quote (be sure to ask about our buy-two-applications- packages-and-get-RUNTIM E-free offer). You really wouldn't want to pay thou- sands of dollars more, would you? MICROPORT SYSTEMS, INC. 4200 Scotts Valley Drive Scotts Valley, CA 95066 408/438-UNIX (CA) or 800/PC2-UNIX Inquiry 215 ST/286-12 MOTHER BOARD ST for Superior Technology $1295 12 MHz One Year Warranty Against Manufacturers Defects CCI ST/28642 ST for Superior Technology Standard with Intel 80286 Optional Upgrade to Intel 80386 Up to 640K Ram on Board Clock/Calendar with Battery Back-up Complete with Enhanced Set-up Software Documentation Included Fits XT and AT Cases Supports AT and XT Boards Runs All Major Software Written For the IBM PC, PC/XT and PC/AT Available for Immediate Delivery Made in the U.S.A. 80386 UPGRADE only $500 80386 UPGRADE only $500 *2395. One Year Warranty Against Manufacturers Defects 12 MHz STANDARD INCLUDES: ST/286-1 2™ Mother Board, 640K of Ram, 1 .2 Meg Floppy Drive, Western Digital Combined Floppy and Hard Disk Controller Card, AT Keyboard, 1 92 Watt Power Supply, Clock/Calendar with Battery Back-up, Intel 80286 Processor, Diagnostic and Enhanced Set-up Soflware, Documentation. HARD DISKS 20 MEG SEAGATE KIT for XT Western Dig. Controller, Cables Software, Mounting Hardware 30 MEG SEAGATE KIT for XT Adaptec Controller, cables, Software, Mounting Hardware 20 MEG SEAGATE for AT 40 MS Voice Coil, Cables and Rails 30 MEG SEAGATE for AT 40 MS Voice Coil, Cables and Rails 40 MEG SEAGATE for AT 40 MS Voice Coil, Cables and Rails 60 MEG PRIAM for AT 28 MS Voice Coil, Cables and Rails 86 MEG TOSHIBA for AT 23 MS Voice Coil, Cables and Rails $445 $505 $569 $675 $799 $1475 $1695 10 MHz CCI ST/286 ST for Superior Technology $1495. One Year Warranty Against Manufacturers Defects INCLUDES: ST/286™ Mother Board, 1 Meg of Ram, 1.2 Meg Floppy Drive, Western Digital Combined Floppy and Hard Disk Controller Card, AT Keyboard, 220 Watt Power Supply, Clock/Calendar with Battery Back-up, 80286 Processor, Documentation, Phoenix BIOS and Phoenix SETUP Software. No charge for UPS ground shipping. No surcharge for MasterCard or Visa. Add 5% sales tax if a Florida resident. Warranty work requires proof of purchase and return authorization number. Merchandise returned for credits subject to a 15% restocking fee. COMPUTER CLflSSJFJEDB. jftjC. EH Sales Calls Outside Florida 1-800-331-5150 g£j 1 7830 State Road 9 • Miami, Rorida 33 1 62 Sales Calls From Anywhere in Counlty (305) 651-5853 Technical Support Calls (305) 651 -0073 - Telex 51 0-600-7725 Intel, Hercules, Atronics, Western Digital, Seagate, Priam and Toshiba are trademarks of their respective companies. IBM, PC. IBM XT, IBM AT are trademarks of IBM Corporation. Some quantities may be limited. Computer classifieds reserves the right to substitute equivalent items. All prices are subject to change without notice. 380 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 395 CHAOS MANOR MAIL Conducted by ]erry Pournelle Gavilan Users Group Dear Jerry, I am writing in reply to a letter in your April column ("Gavilan Information. Anyone?" page 302). Yes, there is Gavilan Portable Computer support. The Gavilan User Group and Gavilan Service Repair Center continue to profit from the fall of the Gavilan company. We number about 1 500 owners through- out the world and we support our com- puter without company or retail assistance. Persons wishing information on the Gavilan Portable can write or call Robert W. Brown 780 Manx Ave. Campbell, CA 95008 (408) 379-2774 Glad to hear it Gavilan was a pretty good machine. 1 very nearly bought one at surplus, but then I wondered what I would do with it, I can hardly write a lot about orphans!— Jerry Laptop Computers Dear Jerry, I read the section "Traveling" in your July column with great interest. I am glad you are finally saying something about the power of small laptop systems. 1 have been using a Model 100-based system for home computing since March 1983. and I rarely need to use any other. (It also mates well with my Tandy 2000 at work.) When I bought 'Angus." I was looking for a replacement for my 48K TRS-80 Model I. I had originally intended to get an Osborne when I started shopping, but the laptop use of the Model 100 won out in the end. That Model 1 00 was one of the first on the market. As soon as I could contact Larry Holmes. I added 8K to bring RAM to 32 K. In early 1984 I added one of the early Holmes Engineering's Chipmunk 3 /2-inch disk drives, and this past Christmas 1 added Personal Computer Support Group's Super ROM. The NEC-based system that you prefer for traveling is good. However, the lack of the Chipmunk and Super ROM make it less than it could be. Both the 'Tandy Disk Drive and Brother FB-100 store only 100K each under TS-DOS and must use the RS-232C port. The data transfer rate is limited to 9600 baud. Since it is a serially accessed device, random access of the disk files is not possible, and file size is generally limited by the available free RAM. On the other hand, the Chipmunk stores 360K. connects directly to the Model 100's main bus, and supports true random ac- cess of the disk files, which can be up to the full capacity of the disk. Traveling Software's Ultimate ROM II is one of the best— but only a close second to PCSG's Super ROM. Lucid is a much bet- ter spreadsheet, and Write ROM is about the best formatter on the market. The Lucid-Data extension is. above all else, easy to use. Lastly. PCSG's outliner Thought is better than either Thinklank or Idea. Wayne H. Thompson Weatherford, OK Thanks. I'm not familiar with the Chip- munk or PCSG systems. Certainly 360K and full file access would be preferable to the TS-DOS system I have, but for me LAPDOS gets the job done. Does the PCSG Super ROM give me 60-character lines? I find that once 1 have gotten used to having that much information on the screen I hate to go back to 40 characters. —Jerry Dear Jerry. My introduction to BYTE and your writ- ings began in January 1984 at the time of my first Radio Shack Model 100 purchase. Since then. I've acquired many more Model 1 00s and several PC-class machines for use in our business. Because I entered the revolution at this lower level I've formed a slightly different perspective than you have about the utility and role of microcomputer equipment. Simply stated: "If you can finish the work on the Model 100. don't start it on a PC." This concept may be a derivative of Oc- cam's razor or perhaps a first-user, first- machine rationalization. Either way. by entension. the PC is used like a mainframe for large files, routine batch jobs, or jobs requiring graphic output. I've noted with interest the creeping util- ity of the NEC 8201 in both your own and your wife's work and recognize that you are now lined up to hit the "great organiza- tional brick wall." There you are in some foreign airport with two pounds of SideKick printout and four pounds of computer that contains the built-in application software for telephone and appointment management, but with- out the necessary RAM files. It's a perfect picture of the brick wall: static paper files coupled with empty, but dynamic, man- agement tools together taking twice the space and weight required. It's not a pretty picture, but now that it is clear, the solution is obvious. Others have been here before you. With all due respect to Mr. Kahn. dump SideKick. Give Big Kat a rest. Put the NEC or the Model 100 on your desk. Use it all the time for appointments, phone calls, and electronic mail. Liberate yourself. "lake the unit and a phone extension cord with you to your deck or yard on clear days and take it on all your trips. You will soon wonder why you put up with being anchored to your PC work area. Now that you have mastered some of the techniques for moving files back and forth between the different machines, you can afford to dedicate some Model 100 RAM space to your phone numbers, log- on strings, appointments, due dates, ex- pense details, received messages to review, pending messages to send next, and notes of all kind. This may still leave room for a normal day's output on your next novel. The slim cursor keys on the Model 100 are compensated for by a convenient set of control-key combinations. I understand this set has roots going back to Electric Pencil, so you may already know them from other word-processing software you have used. They are listed in the Model 100 Owner's Manual together with others equivalent to the TEXT function keys and the command keys. Combined, these allow all operations except Paste from the keyboard. Without comparative experience I would think that the Model 100's built-in modem (no extra cost) and TELCOM in ROM is a more convenient, economic, and reliable combination than the separate modem and RAM-based communication software in the NEC The Tandy 102 has replaced the Radio Shack Model 100. It's a half-inch thinner and weighs a pound less, probably in line with your new binder. {continued) NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 381 CHAOS MANOR Thankfully, airports now have pay phones that accept the direct-connect cable, which is much simpler to use than juggling the acoustic cups in a small space. I wonder if Tandy had anything to do with this important improvement? Thanks for all the tips and entertain- ment. The Fact Cruncher demo was im- pressive and we have received the op- erating version for implementation in writing repair procedures. TtD Mackay San Diego, CA You tempt me. You are not the only reader who uses a small laptop as the "only" computer. I don't print out two pounds of Side- Kick. I do print out the calendar, year, month, week, and one for each day I'll be on my trip. Since I carry my shoulder bag with a logbook in it, adding a dozen sheets of paper is no problem. I haven't yet developed the habit of carrying the laptop everywhere, incJuding to appoint- ments and lunch. Perhaps I should. Cer- tainly a number of readers do. As to liberating myself from my present workstation, I think you have the wrong idea. I like it here in my cockpit sur- rounded by computers. Just at the mo- ment I've got a hot game of Space Pirates going on Big Kat; just try that on your lap- board machine!— Jerry UCSD Pascal Dear jerry. UCSD Pascal was great for its time and even has a few things going for it today. It is very compact in p-code form and fits small micro systems like Apple II and Commodore 64 well. It is also extremely portable without hardware additions. I work in educational software and we write big programs completely portable to Apple. C-64. and IBM; just different assem- bly routines in libraries. In a couple of weeks (no kidding!) we could port all our applications to any major microcomputer our market demanded. Even the assem- bler syntax is standard across systems. Tons of segments, concurrency, strings, floats, and native code generation. UCSD is no slouch even today and supports a good number of languages. Have a look at the Pecan power system. It's not the be- all and end-all but it has no apologies to make to CP/M. How come BYTE never liked the Tl-99? It has a beautiful machine language, solid construction, nice BASIC, speech, sprites, device-independent I/O, etc. It has some shortcomings, just like everything else, but it was a pretty good machine, far better in all respects than the C-64. which came out three years later. I just don't think it got a fair shake in BYTE. I am running a 1040ST at home and will make do until something with a 68020 and 4 or 8 megabytes gets cheaper. I see Atari doing for systems what Borland did for software— putting a realistic price on a quality product and driving the rest of the industry in a similar direction. Tony A. G. Bigras Victoria, B.C., Canada I found UCSD Pascal hard to use. but I've always been quick to say that many people I respect disagree with me; and, of course, I much liked the Sage II com- puter, which used p-System as its oper- ating system. As to whether p-System has any apologies to make to CP/M or vice versa, that, alas, is probably moot. I don't know about BYTE, but I never cared much for the Tl-99, in part because Tl in those days was careful to tell all the hackers to drop dead. They wanted it kept a dark secret what was going on in their machines. They accomplished that goal. I think you might be right on the money in your thinking about Atari. The Atari ST has as much bang for the buck as any computer around— jerry On Your Own Dear Jerry. I am writing to you to let off a little steam about the American attitude toward the rest of the world. I do not expect you will agree with the views I express here because you are an American, but I decid- ed to write anyway. The views expressed are purely my own but I know many of my colleagues feel the same way. The first point is more general than the second and affects many British com- panies. Several years ago. we bought a 68000 single-board computer from a company called Forward Technology Inc. It looked pretty good from the advertisement. When it arrived it was accompanied by a "Preliminary Manual." with the promise of a proper manual later. This manual was definitely a first attempt and there was a lot of information that was either missing or incorrect. Unfortunately, we did not know this at the time. After about two years, the project was abandoned and the board was put to one side. We had still not received the real manual and our let- ters and requests for information were all ignored. In a recent clear-out of junk in the stock room I was given the board. My letters to Forward Technology were also ignored. I have found out a lot about the board by disassembling the monitor, getting data sheets on the chips, and tracing tracks. It has been a long, hard struggle but I have found out that the board would have been suitable for the project it was originally in- tended for. The hardware is superb, but the firmware is awful, and the documen- tation is even worse. What a waste of money (the board was very expensive). The project was abandoned for the lack of a little information that Forward Technology already had. The attitude of this firm seems to be "We are happy to sell you the product, but after that you're on your own." At work we have replaced our main computer system twice recently, once by choice, once by necessity. The first re- placement came about because we wanted to replace an old minicomputer with something bigger and better. We bought a 68000 system from a company called Wicat Systems Inc. (an American company). What a disaster it was! The operating system seemed to be only half- written. After months of argument and many revisions of the software, we aban- doned it. The attitude of this firm seems to be "We are happy to sell you the prod- uct, but after that you're on your own." This system was replaced by several com- puters from the firm Research Machines (a British company) and we have been very satisfied with them. They are always will- ing to help with information and software. What a difference. These are just two examples. There are many others, but I am writing a letter, not a novel. For any new equipment our policy is now to buy British or Japanese. Al- though this policy may be more expen- sive, there are benefits that outweigh the expense. The second point is that the U.S. govern- ment restrictions on the sale of high- technology products to Eastern Bloc coun- tries are having an adverse effect on many British companies. A British exporter now needs two licenses— one from Whitehall and one from the United States— to sell anything outside the country. I am not complaining about the aims of these regulations. I do not wish to sell equipment to Eastern Bloc countries. I am complaining about the way these regula- tions have been set up to give an unfair trading advantage to American firms. The current export licensing regulations imposed by the U.S. government have brought an intolerable burden to bear on British companies trading in high-technol- ogy products of U.S. origin or British-made goods that include even the smallest pro- portion of U.S. components. When initially made aware of the ex- 382 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 CHAOS MANOR istence of these regulations, many people find it astonishing that British companies are being forced to comply even though not bound to do so by British law. The reason for this is simple: noncompliance rapidly leads to "blacklisting"' and subse- quent loss of supply of the products. So, once the British exporter has resigned himself to being bound by U.S. law and has set about applying for the necessary reexport approval from the U.S. Depart- ment of Commerce in Washington. DC in respect of each and every export contract, he finds that his troubles have only just begun. It is not just a question of filling out a form, sending it off. and receiving the necessary license a few days later, as we are accustomed to in the majority of cases when applying to our own department of trade in London. Filing the application with Washington is merely the beginning of a long and tedious trail of queries, refer- rals, and delays. Should Washington not have a file on the nominated end user of the goods, then an interminable system of enquiry through the local U.S. embassy ensues. At best, an individual license application is granted only after several weeks. At worst, months may elapse, resulting only too often in the frustrated cancellation by the customer and the ending of a valuable customer re- lationship, which may have taken months to build. Speed of delivery is one of the foremost advantages when competing for orders. How can British companies hope to survive in the disastrous climate of bureaucracy and delays, which affords massive advantages to competititors, both in America and in all other countries, where no restrictions are in operation at all? American companies can export di- rectly from the U.S. under a general license and without any need to make individual applications for each contract. Clearly, the regulations are being used to give Ameri- can firms an unfair trading advantage by placing intolerable restrictions on our high-technology firms. Our export industry is being savagely disadvantaged as a direct result of the policy of a country widely accepted as our foremost ally! The American attitude gen- erally seems to be "Screw the rest of the world." Paul Miller Gleadless, Sheffield, England Thank you for your analysis. I haven't enough facts to be able to comment but I'm glad to hear about this.— Jerry ThinkTank, Macintosh Version Dear Jerry. You may recall me. I am "the only per- son on earth that (you) know of who was ever disappointed by a Living Videotext product." This came up at the word- processing panel at Westercon. I appre- ciate your comments regarding Mr. Winer's integrity, but the Macintosh ver- sion of Thinklank has so many problems that they outweigh its benefits. I think it would behoove you to take a hard look at the Mac incarnation of what is a wonderful program on the Apple II and the IBM PC You will find multiple violations of the Mac interface, making the product jarring to use for Mac users. The screen shows a monofont. but all printing is done in a proportional font— what you see ain't what you get. Scroll bars are nonstandard. Indentation is specified in spaces rather than inches or points. [continued) PC Scheme— a simple, modern LISP for under $ 100* Texas Instruments presents PC Scheme, the $95 * solution to your symbolic processing needs. Whether you're an experienced LISP user, or just beginning to discover the power of symbolic programming languages, PC Scheme is the right product for you. It runs on IBM® Personal Com- puters, as well as the TI Professional Computer family, including the Business-Pro ™ computer. Powerful features include an optimizing incremental compiler for ease of programming and fast execution; an EMACS-like editor; extensions for debugging, graphics, and window- ing; DOS-CALL capability; and a programming system for the development of object-oriented applications — all designed to work efficiently on personal computers. To order, or for more information, call toll-free: 1'80(V527'3500 'Suggested list price. Business-Pro is a trademark of Texas Instruments Incorporated. IBM is a registered trademark oflntemational Business Machines Corporation. mm Texas ^^ Instruments Creating useful products and services for you. ©1986 TI 261765-02 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 383 CHAOS MANOR (What's a space in a proportional font?) There are bugs in the editor; spaces are spuriously generated or dropped, and the user doesn't always find out about it until the document is printed. The general ap- pearance is that the Mac version is a hasty port from the IBM PC or Apple II version. What's more. LV wants $35 for what is essentially some bug fixes (this is on top of the $100 that I've already put up for the upgrade from the very limited Thinklank 128 to Thinklank 512). it should be noted that Microsoft. Software Publishing, and even Apple Computer have provided bug fixes for their Mac software at no charge to the user. I wrote to Peter Winer at LV about these issues in June 1985 and have never re- ceived a reply. As I've implied, the picture you have of Living Videotext may be in- complete and therefore inordinately positive. On the Mac. at least. Thinklank is a great idea poorly executed. Also, I would like to include more infor- WHAT'S THE SECRET DEBUGGING WEAPON USED BY EVERYBODY FROM BORLAND TO ORACLE? FREE 44-PAGE ANSWER FROM ATRON. "WE COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT ATRON'S HARDWARE-ASSISTED SOFTWARE BUGBUSTERS." This is the city saved by the Atron bugbusters. Your city Full of wizards, with hundreds of millions of dollars invested in wringing every ounce of intelligence and performance out of your PC. It used to be plagued with the toughest software bugs known to man- kind. PLAGUES OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS The first and most difficult plague was impossible to trap with software debuggers. 'Ihcse were carnivorous bugs which randomly overwrote programs, data, even the debugger. Nastiest were the ones that slipped in once every few hours, or changed their behavior after each new com- pile. Forty days and forty nights of iccompiling. trying something else, caused many a would-be resident of the city to run screaming into the wil- derness, never to be heard from again. Second came the plague of not knowing where the pro- gram was, or where it had recently been. This com- pounded the first plague: How could anyone know what caused the random memoiy overwrites? Add to this ran- dom interrupts and timing dependencies, and you begin to understand The Fear that gripped the city. Then came the last plague, which brought the wizards to their knees before they even started debugging. Iheir tow- ering programs consumed so much memory, there wasn't enough room for their symbol table, let alone debugging software. Even if they could get past the first two plagues, this one killed their firstborn software. ENTER THE HARDWARE-ASSISTED SOFTWARE BUGBUSTERS The Atron solution came as a revelation: Monitor eveiy memoiy icfercnce and every instruction executed, by adding a hardware board to the AT or PC with an umbilical probe to the processor. Ihe result? Wham! 'Hie PC PROBE 1 " and the AT PROBE'" saved civilization as we know it. The lirst plague was cured with PROBE'S hardware-assisted breakpoint traps on reading, writing, executing, input- ting and outputting. These could be done on single or ranges of addresses, and could include particular data values. All in real time. For a mere sol'twaie debugger to attempt this, a I -minute program would take 5 hours to execute. The second plague, not knowing from whence you came, was cured with PROBE'S ical-time trace memory. The history of program execution is saved on-board, in real time. Once a hardware trap has occurred, Copyriphi © 1986 by Alrun Com K" I'ROHK" PROBE displays the program execution in detail, including sym- bols and source code for C, Pascal, or assembly language pro- grams. Which shows how out-of-range pointers got that way The third plague, not enough room for the debugging symbol table to be co-resident in memoiy with a large program, was cured with " megabyte of on-board, hidden, write-pro- tected memory. System memoiy was then free for the program, keeping the symbol table and debugger safe from destruction. When the job of bugbusting a was done, the wizards used ! their PROBEs as performance analyzers. So they could have both reliability and perfor- mance. So they could send only the best software into the field. IF YOU AREN'T AN ATRON CUSTOMER, ODDS ARE YOU WON'T BE MAKING THE TOP-TEN UST. On any given week, at least nine of the top ten best-selling software packages on the Soft- Sel Hotlist come from Atron customers. Ever heard of Borland? "Without Atron," says its president Philippe Kahn, "there wouldn't be a Side- Kick , ", Turbo Lightning 1 " would be light-years away, and Turbo Prolog T " wouldn't be shipping today." Ever use a spreadsheet? From Enable'" to Paradox", their bugs were busted by Atron products. Into DBMSs? Everyone from Ashton-Tate to Oracle owns at least one Atron bug- buster. If you use a product from one of the companies in The City, you owe life as you know it to Atron. Our guess is that 99% of all PCs, XTsand ATs have at least one product debugged with Atron bug- busters. FREE 44-PAGE BUGBUSTING BIBLE COULD MAKE YOU A PROPHET, AND YOUR COMPANY A PROFIT. We've written a complete tutorial on state-of-the-art bugbusting. And it's yours, free for the asking. Full of examples and illustra- tions, it will show you how the wizards work their magic. If you're tired of suffering the wrath of program bugs, call Atron today. You could be busting bugs, and sales records, tomorrow. THE BUGBUSTERS 20665 Fourth Street • Saratoga. CA 95070 • 408/74 1 -590f :inncj ilm>uf:lu>ui ihis advertisement u*n nunicmus mdeuurkt Ailv by TIJUA. mation about the L5 Society (the text of the Commercial Space Incentives Act, for example) in the Library section of my BBS (The Citadel (818) 339-4704. 300/1200 baud 8 data, I stop, no parity, 24 hours. 7 days). Is there a source of machine-read- able or downloadable L5 information? To whom should I write for more informa- tion? I would like to use the BBS to fur- ther the goals of the Society, if it is at all possible. By the way does the terminal attached to Zeke display larger-than-life characters? I have often read and heard your com- plaints about the Mac's screen size. What puzzles me about this is that the charac- ters on the screen are actual size. The only conclusion I can come to is that your usual monitor must be larger than life, which, I do grant, would be easier on the eyes. Fred Condo ]r. Covina, CA 1 am not familiar with the Macintosh version of Thinklank and have never used it so J have no way to comment on that part of your letter. I'm certain 1 never recommended it for the Mac. The L5 Society (1060 East Elm St.. TLic- son, AZ 85719) can probably furnish you with a machine-readable material. Write them; they are in need of reliable hackers. My usual monitor is a 15-inch Hitachi and is indeed 'larger than life." Thank heaven — )erry PROINDEX Dear Jerry, Thanks for the mention of Proindex in your BYTE column. Proindex has not been available as a "shareware" product for the last two years. The program is now sold through advertisements in the backs of various IBM PC-specific magazines. Proindex retails for $89.95 and includes the indexing program, a program for merging separate indexes (Merge), and typeset documentation. The program may be ordered from Elfring Consulting. Inc. 4N899 West Mary Drive St. Charles. IL 60174 (312) 377-3520 Thanks again for the mention in your column. Gary Elfring St Charles, IL My apologies: the original copy 1 had was shareware and 1 must have neglected to update my files. 1 find Proindex quite usable, and 1 hope you sell a bundle of them— jerry 384 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 34 Best of BIX • best of BIX • best of bix « EIX • Best or BIX • best of bix * best of bix The Best of BIX is a brief look at the activity on BIX, the BYTE Information Exchange. The messages shown here are only a fraction of the thousands of messages each month from the many conferences on BIX. For information on joining BIX, see page 372. I was intending to knock up a quick 'Defender* game, using VSprites. But if they don't work, that doesn't look possible, does it!? ami g'b/sof tw.devlpmt #2308, from Inoland (Leslie Noland) a comment to message 2294 AMIGA The Amiga window is software-oriented this month with a discussion on VSprites, Bobs, and beam avoidance. VSprites amiga/sof tw.devlpmt #2292, from sduff (Stephen Duff) I have seen the example hsprite.c in the listings section and had no trouble getting simple hardware sprites to work in my program. VSprites, on the other hand, are giving me some problems. I have tried following ROM Kernel Manual and still no VSprites. What is the proper procedure to display a VSprite? sduff amlga/sof tw.devlpmt #2293, from cheath (Charlie Heath) a comment to message 2292 All I've done is Bobs (blitter objects) and simple sprites. Haven't actually heard of anybody getting VSprites working, though it sounds like a few have tried without success! amlga/sof tw.devlpmt #2294, from jmackraz (Jim Mackraz) a comment to message 2293 The recommendation I've got here is "Don't use VSpr ites. " If I learn more, I will tell you. amiga/sof tw.devlpmt #2298. from jsan (Jez San) a comment to message 2294 Jim - Don't VSprites work? If not, why not? Will it be fixed for v1.2? Or v1.3? Uhh. . Jim, While I understand that it is pointless to try to use something that doesn't work, I certainly hope that the response "Don't use VSprites" had an implicit "until we get the problem fixed" following it. I would hate to think that something that was repeatedly touted in reviews, advertising lit. (I seem to recall), documentation, etc. doesn't work and that A-C ' s official response is going to be that we simply shouldn't try to use it. I realize that, though you are an A-C employee, you are not necessarily their spokesman and also that what you say here is informal in nature (unless explicitly rendered as a statement of policy), but I wish you would make this a bit more clear. am iga/sof tw.dev I pmt #2317, from jmackraz a comment to message 2308 A little research appears to be paying off. VSprites are not recommended because they are not positioned relative to a ViewPort (screen) but rather the View (entire display). Thus, Simple Sprites are recommended, if you do not need the virtual (dynamically reassigned) characteristics. I have located an example of VSprites in use, by Dave Lucas, and when he cleans it up and gets it to me, and if I can figure out how to upload to this net, I will do so. Any suggestions on that, Charlie? amiga/sof tw.dev Ipmt #2323, from rjmical (RJ MIcal) a comment to message 2308 Jim is right about using Bobs (in reference to the idea of using Bobs to move text around in the gadget editor). My original claim was that using Bobs would greatly simplify the programmer's effort. 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Ihiuinu Linking. Noicopy prom led. Aruihhk* now.$2 l )S. Tuif.o Amiga version also availahle AC/BASIC™ -Coming Soon From iliv author* of Microsoft BASIC compiler for Macintosh, conies AC HASH! lor ihe Arnica Companion compiler to the Amiga BASIC interpreter: has mmv features and iiiilmles a Debugger, includes BIjOCK IF, C\SE stau'imiil. ;md STATIC keyword exteibioiis and executes up to 50x faster AC HASH! is (he new IMSIC reference for AlCMOOl) hased personal cwnpuiers. Not <:op\ proiwiL'd, $1V>. ^ I'elcplione orders welcome absiSift Scientific Kinjiiieerinj:; Sofiwan' tJfiH N. Vloodvwrd. Royal Oak. Ml 4X072 I Ml vr>-7 •Vnnna truileiitiirk :-|)* ami ga/sof tw.dev I pmt £2325, from Jlm_kent (Jim Kent) a comment to message 2323 Hey RJ . you wouldn't happen to have any old VSprite stuff lying around? From what I hear the y sorting stuff and re-using all works OK, and that's the hard part. Is the problem just getting them to work with Intuition's slidable screens? Also I've been wondering how Intuition has a solid background behind the last screen. When I was doing my own viewport/view manipulations, I always got garbage on the part of the screen not covered by a viewport. amiga/sof tw.dev I pmt |2326, from cheath a comment to message 2323 Bobs do beam avoidance? That's news to me - the only way I've been able to keep Bobs from flickering is with double-buffered screen. One of the not-nice things about the bitmap architecture with blitter is that each bitplane is drawn before the next is started - so you often have a situation in which the display is updated while a large part of the screen is in transition. That sort of stuff doesn't happen without blitter so much, because the software can be written to do all the bitplanes in sync - so there is only a small part of the display that can look narsty at any given time. Bomp! Bomp! Bomp! Another one bites the dust! :-) Sorry, just couldn't help it. Same thing happened to me Saturday. It's reformat time (your FATs have gotten roached). Next time you format it, partition it into four 5-Mb logical drives — this locates the FATs in different places, and makes roaching af the entire disk much less likely. Then you can use say drive F to back up dr ive C. Good luck. atar I .st/tech #605, from chrlskuku a comment to message 600 Yes, I reformatted it already. Using Dust from Hippo, which allows you to look at disk blocks (sectors), showed me that some important sector was zeroed. By the way, this Disk Utility didn't work quite correctly because it said: "Not enough memory for FAT." So I gave up and reformatted it. But, tell me, how can I partition the disk into different drives? Do I have to have a special program for this? atar i .st/tech #610, from nellharrls (Nell Harris, Atari Corp. ) a comment to message 605 If your hard disk driver floppy did _not_ have the new format program which uses GEM and also partitions your drive, then your problem is that you're using old software for the driver — contact Atari and get the latest disk right away!!! atari .st/tech #629, from Jtlttsler (Jim Tlttsler. Atari Corp. ) a comment to message 605 You can partition it yourself if you like Chris using the information in the Hitchhiker's Guide and your favorite sector editor (or FORTH). The zeroth sector contains the partition map with pointers to (up to) 4 partitions. Each of the partitions has a "boot sector" which contains the normal disk prototype BPB. Malloc ATARI ST The Atari ST section begins with hard disk problems and a case of the seemingly simple disk crash and goes on to a thread on using Malloc() in C. Hard Disk Problems atar i .st/tech #592, from chrlskuku (Christoph Kukulies) Today it happened... My hard disk (Atari grey box) suddenly showed bytes in items. It was heavy-loaded with lot of stuff, about 40 directories with about 1500 files or so, all in all. 15 Mb of the 20 available. Does anyone know how this could have happened (other than typing rm *)? Before I start to reformat it - does anybody have a utility to look at the hard disk blocks to eventually repair it? Help welcome. atar I .st/tech #593, from jlm_kent a comment to message 592 If it's bytes in items it's just as likely that the driver has gotten lost. Have you tried re- insta I I ing the driver and changing resolution from Preferences? I hope that's it. I don't know af any utilities that look at the disk sectors directly. atar I .st/tech #600, from a I ex I . (Alex Leavens) a comment to message 592 atar I .st/c. I anguage #179, from chrlskuku I downloaded Tim's mallocer because I had problems with Malloc (gemlib). Now, although the mallocer works, my program still doesn't. I've ^defined malloc malloc and have written a function: char * ma I loc(arg) int arg; return( (char*)(Mal loc( ( I ong)arg) ) ) ; i to stay compatible with source code in respect to standard calls. I have a 1-meg machine, TOS (US) in ROM. My program is linked with gemstart.o gemlib aesbind vdibind libf, etc. After appl_init(), open_vwk(), I do some malloc()'s ta allocate some nodes (only 200 bytes or so, application stuff). Asking avai I ab I e=ma I I oc(-1L) tel Is me I have enough (xxxxx) memory. To verify this, I did just for testing a: wh i le(ma I loc(s izeof (struct node) )nnodes++; Totally in contradiction to what is expected by calculating from the value of available I now only get poor 132 or so nodes allocated (sizeof node is 18, but is not relevant). Please don't tell me "use the L*T***E compiler. 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For more information on subscribing to a network, call: Dialcom, Inc. 1-800-258-3311 General Electric Information Services Company 1-800-433-3683 QuantumLink (for Commodore computers onlv) 1-800-392-8200 GEnie™ (General Electric Network for Information Exchange) 1-800-638-9636 Ext. 21 ( EA'ASY ) SABRE AAdvantage® is a registered service mark of American Airlines, Inc. jest of BIX • best of BIX • Best of BIX • BIX Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX Atari should please explain why they called it "developer's package?" Do you have any idea? Comments would be welcome. atari .st/c. language |180, from sgrlmm (Steve Grimm) a comment to message 179 I always had trouble ma I I oc i ng in a routine that uses local variables. Try removing the parameter (set a global variable and have your ma I I oc look at that var iab le). atar I .st/c . I anguage f 181 , from chrlskuku a comment to message 180 Thanks. Your tip sounded promissing, but looking at my program, I saw that I've already done so. I call malloc(size) with size globally declared. atar I .st/c . language |184, from Jlm_kent a comment to message 181 Chris - I've uploaded some memory management stuff into atar i .st/l is t ings . You probably would be best off getting Malloc to work somehow, but this might be a useful kludge to keep you going in the meantime. atar I .st/c . I anguage |185, from chrlskuku Jim, thanks for your example listing. I'll try it as a last escape. Meanwhile, I've cut down the problem to a short exampl e ' : /* tstmallo.c CPK 4-JUL-8I5 * this simple example shows my usage of Malloc * and it's ma I ( loc)f unct ion (if I haven't overlooked someth ing) . */ ^include "osbind.h" /* define some node stuff */ struct node { int x,y ,z ,pen ; struct node *next; i; struct node * f i rs t , * I ast ; main() i int nnodes = 0; struct node *lastbutone; first = (struct node *) Malloc( (long)sizeof (struct node)); while( (last = (struct node *) Ma I I oc (( I ong)s izeof (struct node))) ) { lastbutone = last; nnodes++; i printf("\n%d Nodes of size %d\nStart address %08X\nLast address %08X", nnodes, sizeof (struct node) .first.lastbutone); i Maybe you can try it on your machine. I always get only about 100 nodes allocated and then finite Any help welcome. atar i .st/c . language |186, from Jlm_kent o comment to message 185 Chris - I just tried your code. I'm working with Megamax, a 520ST with a 1-meg upgrade and TOS in ROM, and a hard disk. Wi th me , it go thing is that whe node structure to nodes . It a I loca from var ious sour I 'm not sure if got a meg, newer very easy to alio tr ied ma I loc with got some propriet memory management with var ious ma I I Actual ly , the rou al locate out of a "real" code is Ma my free list with gets empty. Did some blocks big e t 268 nodes before it quit. Curious n I added a character array to the make it bigger it still got 268 ted 268 512-byte nodes OK! I've heard ces there are problems with Malloc. I get more nodes than you 'cause I've ROMs, or better luck. Still, it's cate more than 268 times. Have you little m? Yep, I'm sure glad I've ary (er, now public domain, I guess) routines. I've had a lot of problems ocs and Mai Iocs on this machine, tine I uploaded has been simplified to n array. What I really do in my lloc(10K), and then add the pointer to a mfree(pt, 10K) when the free list I say 10K, I meant 32K. so it'll have nough to hold a whole screen! 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CSS 286A, CSS 286X are trademarks of CSS Laboratories, Inc. t r r ,i t r r r ,1 r t \ \ i i i i r i , i ' \ ' i ' i \ \ ~ \ ; \ i i i i i iY v 1 \ \ \ \ \ "" . I 1 I l T \ \ \ \ \ \ \m Best of BIX • best of BIX • Best of BIX • EIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX similar way. I never got the Alcyon one to work properly. I forget if I got Lattice Malloc to work. I've never actually tried Megamax. It's kind of nice being able to peek at your own free list anyway for debugging, so since I got the sources, I use' em. atari .st/c. language #187. from sgrimm a comment to message 185 According to the GEMDOS manual, one program isn't supposed to malloc more than about 20 times, or pointers start to get messed up. Try mal locing one big block and accessing it as an array: #define NUMSTRUCTS 100 /* The number of structures you want in your array */ struct node *nodearray; alloc() i nodearray «■ (struct node *) Malloc((long)sizeof(node)*NUMSTRUCTS); I Hope that helps. atar i .st/c. language #198, from tlmpanton (Timothy Panton) a comment to message 179 I don't know the answer to this one, I haven't played with Malloc for months (I wrote mallocer to test my 1-meg upgrade). However, looking at some code, I see I" didn't trust casts in macros, i.e., Malloc((LONG) thing); where thing is a word, I seem to have used Mal loc(lthing); where Ithing is a long, I'm not sure why; distrust of the preprocessor I guess. My understanding of how Malloc() and malloc() differ is this: TOS maintains a pool of memory. When a program starts up, it is allocated on amount of memory for code, data and stack. With GEMstart and GEMs this includes some extra to allow malloc to allocate from this area, and they include sbrk() which helps manage this al locat ion. Appstart and accstart do not have this extra memory, nor do they include sbrk(), so malloc() can't be used. Malloc() is a TOS function which returns a pointer to free memory *out«lde* the programs area. Thus, MfreeQ really frees up memory for use by another program (say a print spooler accessory) whereas free() does not. free() in UNIX behaves the same way. I haven't had any problems with malloc()ing too many times, but from the way TOS behaves in other areas (files, etc.) I can believe it. IBM PC AND COMPATIBLES The IBM section begins with questions on using ANSI.SYS for port- ability in a BASIC program. The end of this thread goes into a message from the BASIC conference for tips on calling assembly language routines and ROM BIOS functions from BASIC. USING ANSI.SYS Ibm.pc/other #229, from Jburtner (Jeffrey Burtner) Where can I find additional Information on the use of ANSI.SYS? I am trying powerful {looking} features of ANSI.SYS to manipulate the screen in BASICA. Also, I could use a recommended reference for the interrupt codes and DOS calls available. Ibm.pc/other #235, from feenberg (Daniel Feenberg) a comment to message 229 Doesn't BASIC byposs MS-DOS for screen I/O and is not ANSI.SYS ignored by any BASIC program? Ibm.pc/other #236, from richard (Richard Shuford) a comment to message 229 ANSI.SYS is documented in the DOS Technical Manual, which, since version 2.1, has been a separate volume (and purchase) from the DOS User's Manual. I don't normally recommend the following periodical, but the November 1985 issue of "PC World" contains an article beginning on page 244 (excerpted from "The Fully Powered PC" by B. L. Alperson, A. Fluegelman, and L. J. Magid) that discusses the use of ANSI.SYS. However, it may not do you any good, because I suspect that BASICA may bypass the normal console drivers for much of its work; therefore, you may not be able to do much with ANSI.SYS in conjunction with BASICA. RSS ibm.pc/other #237, from dmick (Dan Mick) a comment to message 235 Not if you use OPEN to open a device and then write to it with PRINT#. I think the actual device changes from interpreter to compiler. In the interpreter I believe it's SCRN: and in the compiler TRM: or CON: or mebbe CONS: I'm away from the machine that has the answer on its hard disk, but I know you can drive ANSI from both int. and comp. with the OPEN / PRINT# trick.. ibm.pc/other #241, from btonkln (Bruce Tonkin) a comment to message 229 Why are you using ANSI.SYS stuff from BASIC in the first place? Given that you already have LOCATE, CSRLIN, POS, COLOR, and SCREEN commands (not to mention graphics), it seems a little strange to me. Kinda like going back a few years to the days of dumb terminals. Ibm.pc/other #242, from jburtner a comment to message 237 That's exactly what I'm trying to do. I open "ANSI.SYS" as #1, then try to send my console output through it using IOCTL #1, etc. But I'm still not having a lot of luck; I keep getting a function error on my IOCTL line. It's very easy from Turbo Pascal, but my application must be written in BASICA or GW- BASIC. How about a way to clear to end of line or clear to end of screen for use in BASICA? Ibm.pc/other #245, from richard a comment to message 229 Perhaps if you are serious about complex applications, you should get the replacement, NANS I . SYS , from Hersey Microsystems . Any implementation of the ANSI X3.64 standard is going to be a subset. I don't think that any real device could possibly use all the codes and be comprehensible. The full list of codes is there to provide a standard way of doing a certain group of functions. If your device doesn't do a given function, [continued) 390 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX • EIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX « then it doesn't need to recognize the code for the funct ion. I observe that "ms . dos/ long. messages" msg. 10 is the text of ANSIX364.TXT, a file I posted awhile back on BYTEnet/L is t i ngs . Thank you for posting it locally, sir. ibm.pc/other #247, from dmlck a comment to message 242 I know I didn't use IOCTL. The reason I did it was to make quick modifications to a CP/M public domain touch- type program that defined command strings to control the terminal and therefore ran on a lot of different systems. I kept the basic structure for portability and just changed the command strings to do ANSI functions, then changed all the PRINTs to PRINT #1s after I'd opened the device. In Zenith's BASICA (GW-BASIC) and I'll bet in IBM's too, one may use: OPEN "CON" FOR OUTPUT AS #1 PRINT #1. CHR$(27) + "[2J"; to clear the screen. It works, bypassing BASIC'S I/O. Of course, ANSI. SYS must be installed first. In the QuickBASIC compiler, the filename is different, I be I ieve. . .but it works there, too. If I can get at the machine that has it next week, I'll post what name to use with QB. But I agree with Bruce. ..if you don't have to, use BASIC'S funct ions ... don ' t have to worry about having ANSI. SYS resident, and you can do more. You'll have to write a CLREOL and CLREOS function, but they're awfully easy to do. ibm.pc/other #248, from jburtner a comment to message 247 OK. I'll try your PRINT #1 method. But as for writing a CLREOL or CLREOS function, I'm missing the awfully easy part somewhere. Could you explain how to do it short of sending lines of spaces or nulls to the screen? (That is so s looooowwwww. ) Do you happen to know how to address the screen memory directly from the IBM BASIC (either GW-BASIC or BASICA)? Several of us have taken a whack at trying to read or write to it directly without much success. Our best guess is that BASIC is relocating it's memory (64K) in an area away from the screen so that we cannot reach it using POKE. ibm.pc/other #249, from dmick a comment to message 248 Well, what I was thinking of as far as CLREOL, etc., was printing spaces. You're right, that can be slow. An assembly subroutine would be quicker, and that's not so easy to do with the interpreter although it's a snap from the comp i ler . As far as accessing display memory... any memory can be accessed with a combination of the DEF SEG and PEEK/POKE statements. PEEK, POKE, and several othe statements that take addresses as arguments take 16 addresses which are considered offsets in the defau segment. If unset by DEF SEG, this default segment BASICA's data segment, where program source, variab etc. are stored. VARPTR , for example, returns the offset of a variable in the variable table as a 16 offset into the default data segment. Thankfully, is *not* the segment used for display RAM. Some interesting things could happen on-screen if it wer The segment address for mono video on IBMs is B000H for color display adapters B800H. So to access vid RAM, first do DEF SEG = &HB000 for mono machines or SEG = &HB800 for color machines, then PEEK/POKE refer to video RAM. Be sure to reset this before you do anything like CALL or BLOAD or something else that requires an address, though. Are you using the interpreter exclusively? Screen updating using spaces is a lot faster with the -bit It is les , bit this eo DEF compiler, and the newest for the IBM, QuickBASIC 2.0, should make a Turbo'er feel right at home. ibm.pc/other #251, from Jlmkeo (Jim Keohane) a comment to message 248 >CLREOL & CLREOS from BASIC Jeff, see basic/programming #40 for assembler calls for QB posted by BTonkin. Also, see /programming #48 for some non-assembler means of making DOS and ROM calls. Specifically, there's a ROM call to scroll up or down a specified window on the screen. If you specify zero as number of lines to scroll, the whole window can be blanked. This can mimic a CLREOS or CLREOL if cursor is at col 1. If cursor at different column, you can still do a CLREOL by specifying a one-line window. CLREOS would be a full scroll zero of any lower lines. ibm.pc/other #253, from bomb (Jerry McReynolds) a comment to message 229 Jeff, to make a quick answer to your query about ANSI. SYS, yes, you can access the ANSI driver from BASIC. You should have the system boot with the statement; DEVICE=[D][PATH]ANSI .SYS in your config.sys file. To access the driver from BASIC (or any language) all you have to do is write to the device "CON," which happens to be stdout. The driver that you install in your config.sys file will take precedence over the "Glass TTY" console driver that DOS instal Is. The statement, OPEN "CON" FOR OUTPUT AS #1, will open the stdout file for writing. The statement, PRINT #1, "Hello", will print the word Hello at the current cursor position and also issue a Carriage Return Line Feed. The complete subset that the ANS I . SYS driver supports is available to you through the PRINT #1 statement. The supported escape sequences are listed in the DOS Technical Reference Manual. For example, suppose you wish to clear the screen, then position the cursor at line 12, column 20 and print the string "Enter Your Name Please:", the following example will do just that: 10 OPEN "con" FOR OUTPUT AS #1 20 PRINT #1, CHR$(27);"[2J"; 30 PRINT #1, CHR$(27);"[12;20H"; 40 PRINT #1, "Enter Your Name Please:"; 50 CLOSE #1 Line 10 will open the console device for writing. Line 20 will clear the screen. Line 30 will position the cursor at row 12, column 20. Line 40 will print the string. Line 50 will close the file. Good luck, hope this tidbit helped. P.S. - The escape sequence for CLREOL is named EL and is "ESC [k". Also note that the characters -are- case-sens i t ive. ibm.pc/other #254, from Jburtner a comment to message 253 Yes, so I found out. So for any others who may have been watching (with interest or revulsion), here is the final set of commands that I've decided upon for inclusion in my program: 10 Open "CON" for Output As #1 20 ETB$=CHR$(27)+"[s" 25 FOR X=1 TO 24:ETB$=ETB$+CHR$(27)+"[k"+CHR$(27)+"[B":NEXT X 30 ETB$=ETB$+CHR$(27)+"[u" {continued) NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 391 AT Power, Toshiba-Style. it a: '^ Try tucking this into a drawer when you're done! Until now, you had to be tied to your desk in a tangle of cables and hardware to get AT power Toshiba's T3100, on the other hand, puts AT perfor- mance anywhere you want. v.vv. >•<■-■ Specifications: • IBM PC-AT compatible • 80286 processor, running at 8MHz or 4 MHz • 640KB RAM, extendable to 2.6MB • Built-in 10MB hard disk • Built-in 720KB 3V6" diskette drive • MS-DOS 2.11 operating system • High-resolution gas plasma display • IBM Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) compatible • 80 x 25 character display • 640 x 400 bit-mapped graphics display • RGB, parallel, serial and external diskette drive ports • Carrying case, MS-DOS,™ BASIC included • Full-sized 81-key keyboard • 110/220 VAC switch-selectable power supply • 12.2" W x 3.1" H x 14.2" D • All this— and only 15 pounds :&,' The Toshiba T3100. Toshiba technology improves on AT functionality: The T3100 gives you the power of an IBM® PC-AT™ in a lean, 15-pound computer that looks superb on your desk, and slips into a drawer when you don't need it. Take it home, take it to a meeting, take it around the world— wherever your work takes you. Don't let its size fool you. The T3100 is less than a third the size of the Compaq™ Portable II, yet every bit as powerful. It uses the same 80286 microprocessor as the AT, and is fully IBM-compatible, so you can share data with the other desktop computers in your office. The T3100's 10MB internal hard disk gives you ample storage for sophisticated applications. A dual- voltage power supply lets you plug in and go to work just about anywhere in the world. And Toshiba built in an advanced gas plasma screen, to give you the clarity and brightness of a CRT display— without the bulk. "Big" system expansion options. Like any full-function desktop system, the T3100 grows with your computing needs. Toshiba offers a full line of internal Compact is as compact does: The T3100 is less than a third the size of the Compaq Portable II. More memory for more applications. The T3100's full 640KB RAM lets you work with the most popular IBM PC/XT™ and AT software: Integrated financial and analysis programs, large spreadsheets, lengthy documents, elec- tronic filing and more. A built-in 720KB diskette drive handles the new industry standard 3Vt" diskettes. Each IBM- compatible pocket-sized disk holds twice as much information as a conventional 5W diskette! And you can easily transfer data to and from other desktop compu- ters using Toshiba's optional external 5 l A" diskette drive. Trademarks: PC-AT, PC/XT— International Business Machines Corporation; Compaq— Compaq Computer Corporation; MS-DOS— Microsoft Corporation. Registered Trademarks: IBM— International Business Machines Corporation; Hayes— Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc.; SuperKey and SideKick— Borland Internationa), Inc. Software, everywhere: The T3100runs the most popular applications written for the IBM PC/XT and AT and external options, including an expan- sion chassis with 5 IBM-compatible slots, and an internal 300/1200 bps Hayes®- compatible modem. The next generation of computing is here. And it sure would look great on your desk. Or away from it. Desktop computing will never be quite the same again, thanks to Toshiba's advanced CMOS and proprietary gate array LSI technology. The T3100 is backed by our reputation for high quality electronics, and by our 110-year com- mitment to technological excellence. See where desktop AT power is headed. TheT3100 is here now! Call: 1-800-457-7777 for your nearest Toshiba dealer. Now! Includes SideKick and SuperKey. In Touch with Tomorrow TOSHIBA TOSHIBA AMERICA, INC., Information Systems Division Best of BIX • best of BIX • Best of BIX EIX Best of BIX • best of BIX • best of bix • 40 ENQ$=CHR$(27)+"[s"+CHR$(27)+"[K"+CHR$(27)+"[u" I may now clear the screen to the bottom at any time by locating at the position to clear from and: PRINT #1,ETB$ Notice that line 20 includes the cursor position save function as the first part of my clear to end of screen function. Line 30 then returns to the original cursor position. To clear a single line to the end, I just: PRINT #1,ENQ$ As mentioned before (I always learn the hard way!) the characters are VERY case-sensitive. I hope that this is some help to others. And many thanks to all who hel ped! basic/programming |40, from btonkln TITLE: QB screen scroll routine in assembler title DSCROLL.ASM: A LINKABLE ROUTINE TO SCROLL THE SCREEN DOWN. THIS ROUTINE IS PASSED THE UPPER LEFT CORNER TO SCROLL. THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER IS PERMANENTLY SET TO ROW 22, COLUMN 79. THE ROUTINE WILL USE A BIOS CALL TO SCROLL ALL LINES IN THAT PAGE DOWN AND INSERT A BLANK LINE WITH NO ATTRIBUTES AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN. THE TOP OF THE SCREEN WILL BE. THE TOP LINE INVOLVED IN THE SCROLL. TO SCROLL THE WHOLE SCREEN, SET THE TOP LINE TO ZERO. (0). WRITTEN BY BRUCE W. TONKIN ON 9-18-85 USING IBM'S MACRO-ASSEMBLER. COPYRIGHT (C) 1986, BRUCE W. TONKIN. ;YOU MAY USE THIS ROUTINE IN ANY WORK WITH OR ;WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION. DATA SEGMENT WORD PUBLIC DATA' STORAGE DW 16 DATA ENDS DGROUP GROUP DATA CODE SEGMENT BYTE PUBLIC CODE' ASSUME CS:CODE, DS: DGROUP PUBLIC DSCROLL DSCROLL PROC FAR PUSH BP SAVE BASE POINTER MOV BP.SP SET UP TO ADDRESS OFF OF BP MOV BX,[BP]+6 GET THE ADDRESS OF THE PARAMETER MOV CX,0 ZERO CX REGISTER ADD CX.LBXJ PUT ROW ADDRESS INTO CX MOV CH.CL MOVE ROW TO CH MOV CL,0 SET COLUMN NUMBER TO ZERO FOR UPPER LEFT MOV DH,22 BOTTOM ROW NUMBER MOV DL,79 BOTTOM COLUMN NUMBER MOV BX.112 SET ATTRIBUTE TO USE INTO BH MOV AL,1 NUMBER OF LINES TO SCROLL. MEANS ALL LINES MOV AH, 7 BIOS FUNCTION CALL INT 010H INTERRUPT 10 HEX=16 ; DECIMAL POP BP ;RESTORE BASE POINTER RET 2 ; RETURN AND REMOVE ONE ; PARAMETER FROM STACK DSCROLL ENDP CODE ENDS END DOS & ROM BIOS Calls fr OM BASIC assembler posted by btonkin. Other languages I use have a general purpose call where the INT # is passed as well as the value of certain registers. I thought it would be nice to have such a routine in BASIC. Following is a first pass at it. It does not currently return the new reg values after the interrupt nor does it return the FLAG settings (used by some DOS calls). However, it should suffice for many uses. Of the 3 "DEF FNxx" statements, the one for FNCC$ is used to assign to a string an assembler routine that is built on the fly using the INT value passed as well as various register values. The other 2 FNxx's merely break up FNCC$ into 2 pieces for easier handling. The program below issues a Video INT 16 ( &H10 ) with AH set to 6 for scroll up. When AL=0 (as it is in this example) the entire window is blanked. CX gives the upper left corner as 0,0 and DX gives the lower right corner as 10,40. BH specifies the attribute used to f i I I in new I ines . Since this is the first time I've played with assembler called from BASIC, I'll leave it to the more experienced to craft a version like: 100 CALL IR(IN,AX,BX,CX,DX,etc ) Such a version could also return the register values after the interrupt as well as the flag settings. - Jim Keohane 10 DEF FNAA$(DS,BX,CX,DX,BP,SI,DI) = MKI$(&H5655)+MKI$(&H61E)+CHR$(&HBB)+MKI$(BX)+CHR$ (&HB9)+MKI$(CX)+CHR$(&HBA)+MKI $(DX) +CHR$(&HBD)+MKI$(BP)+CHR$(&HBE)+MKI$(SI)+CHR$(&HBF) +MKI $(DI) +CHR$(&HB8)+MKI$(DS) 20 DEF FNBB$(AX,ES,IN) = MKI$(&HD88E)+CHR$(&HB8)+MKI$(ES) +MKI$(&HC08E)+CHR$(&HB8)+MKI$(AX)+CHR$(&HCD)+LEFT$ (MKI$ (IN),1) +MKI$(&H1F07)+MKI$(&H5D5E)+CHR$(&HCB) 30 DEF FNCC$(IN,AX,BX,CX,DX,BP,SI,DI,DS,ES) = FNAA$(DS,BX,CX, DX ,BP ,S I ,D I )+FNBB$(AX , ES , IN) 4 GOTO 60 50 I=VARPTR(S$):J=CVI(CHR$(PEEK(I+l))+CHR$(PEEK(I+2))): CALL J: RETURN REM AH=6,AL=0 to clear all,BH=attr, Dh=line 10, DL=col umn REM 40:clear window REM Video INT 16 (Hex 10) 60 S$=FNCC$(16,&H600,&H4E00,0,&HA28,0,0,0,0,0):GOSUB 50 70 END P.S. To issue Shift-PrtSc from BASIC code: 60 S$=FNCC$(5,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0):GOSUB 50 P. P.S. I know Shift-PrtSc is in the BASIC manual already, I just wanted to give another example! MACINTOSH/APPLE II With this issue, the Macintosh window expands to become the Macintosh/Apple II window. The section begins with a long message on HFS and the Macintosh hard disk. The next thread covers the Apple II, with a question on loading and using files above the magic HIMEM limit. HFS, Your Hard Disk, and You basic/programming #48, from j Imkeo I read with interest the various ROM calls coded in mac I ntosh/long. messages #29, from cglbson (Christopher Gibson) {continued} 394 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Osborne/McGraw-Hill Computer Books For IBMTC Productivity Using dBASE III PLUS™ by Edward Jones You'll be in full command of all the new features of this powerful database software vi\\\\ Jones' expertise. Design, create, and display a dBASE 1 1 1 PLUS database; generate reports ; use Query files; and plug into net- working. A practical handbookfor beginners and experienced users. $18.95, Order #0-07-881252-6, 516 pp. 7Hx9H Advanced WordPerfect": Features & Techniques by Eric Alderman and Lawrence J. Magid The source for ambitious users. Provides tools and concepts that you can use to take advantage of macros, paragraph numbering and outlining, indexing, and WordPerfect's mathe- matical capabilities. Co vers Word- Perfect integration with Lotus" 1-2-3; dBASE lli;Sidekickr and ProKey m $16.95, Order #0-07-881239-9, 310 pp. 7ft x9K m ♦ PC-DOSTips& Traps by Dick Andersen, Janice M.Gessin, Fred Warren, and Jack Rodgers Here's an invaluable collection of helpful tips and clever solutions to troublesome traps for everyone using PC-DOS 2.1 or MS-DOS* 2.11. From initializing your system and formatting disks, to controlling peripherals and managing the DOS environment.you'll find an array of tricks and secrets. $16.95, Order #0-07-881194-5,218 pp. m x 9/ 4 ♦: The Osborne/McGraw-Hill Guide to Using Lotus*l-2-3* Second Edition by Edward M.Baras Master Lotus 1-2-3 upgrade, Release 2, with this comprehensive guide. Provides detailed descriptions of worksheet, database, and graphics functions for fundamental through advanced applications. Includes ready-to-use models. $18.95,Order #0-07-881230-5, 412 pp. 7ft x9tf ♦ Osborne/McGraw-Hill books are avail- able at bookstores and computer stores everywhere. ♦ To order by mail, complete the coupon and send itto: Osborne/McGraw-Hill P.O. Box 400 Hightstown.NJ 08520 ♦ All orders must be prepaid and should include localtax. ♦ Checks, money orders, VISA and Master- Card are acceptable for payment. No postage or handling charges are required. ♦ Books will be shipped via UPS. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Books will not be delivered to post office boxes. This order is subject to acceptance by McGraw-Hill.Offer is good only in the U.S.A. Osborne McGraw-Hill Copyright ©1986by McGraw-Hill, Inc. r NAMF 1 AnnRFSS(NnPnRnx) | HTY STATF 7IP | INDICATE METHOD OF PAYMENT | n VISA/FXP DATF □ CHECK/MONEY ORDER n MASTFRHARD/FXP DATF CARD it 1 S1HNATIIRF | OTY ORDFRtt PRIHF 1 Osborne/McGraw-Hill SIIRTflTAI 1 POBox400, Hightstown, | Clip and send. 1 42-Q-015-7000-1 NJ 08520 TAX TOTAI L Inquiry 240 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 395 Inquiry 90 BEYOND IBM COMPATIBILITY MORE POWER PLUS RELIABILITY NOVAS TURBO 286 MOTHERBOARD • Fewer ICs For Greater Reliability- Only 36 Compared to IBM's 131 • Dual Speeds— 6 & 8 MHz— Keyboard or Jumper Selectable (10 MHz opt.) • 4 Serial and 1 Parallel Ports On Board Option • Expandable to 1 Megabyte RAM • Complete with Setup Program •AWARD BIOS OAf\c • Socket for 80287 $4^0 OEM • Rechargeable Battery On Board for Clock • 0, 1 Wait State. Jumper Selectable. Hardware reset port. ALL AT ACCESSORIES AVAILABLE-CALL! NOVAS 1000 EGA BOARD • Supports EGA, CGA, MDA • 640 x 350 Pixels EGA 640 x 200 Pixels Color 320 x 200 Pixels Color 720 x 350 Pixels Monochrome • Parallel Port on Board Aj nc • 256K RAM on Board $ lVlO NOVAS TURBO 286 AT COMPATIBLE SYSTEM Includes: 640 K, 678 MHz Turbo Speed (10 MHz opt.), 1 S/1 P, 1.2 Meg. Dr., W. D. Controller COMPLETE NOVAS PC TURBO SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS IN ANY CONFIGURATION— CALL FOR CURRENT PRICES W. D. Controller for AT . .$180 192 W Power Supply .$95 AT look-alike Case $75 Keyboard for AT $65 COMPUTRADE COMPANY 780 Trimble Road, Suite 605 Tel: (408) 435-2662 San Jose, CA 95131 Fax: (408) 435-5458 • IBM & AT are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. .$1395.00 • BEST OF BIX • PC/Vi Full Screen Editor for MS-DOS (PC-DOS) Looking for an Ultra-Powerful Full-Screen editor for your MS-DOS or PC-DOS system? Are you looking for an editor FULLY COMPATIBLE with the UNIX*VI editor? Are you looking for an editor which not only runs on IBM-PC's and compatibles, but ANY MS-DOS system? Are you looking for an editor which provides power and flexibility for both programming and text editing? If you are, then look no further because PC/VI IS HERE! The followingis only a hint of the power behind PC/VI: English-like syntax in command mode, mnemonic control sequences in visual mode: full undo capability; deletions, changes and cursor positioning on character, word, line, sentence, paragraph or global basis; editing of files larger than available memory; powerful pattern matching capabil- ity for searches and substitutions; location marking; joining multiple lines; auto-indentation; word abbrevia- tions and MUCH, MUCH MORE! The PC/VI editor i s available for I B M -PC's and generic MS-DOS based systems for only $149. For more inf ormation call or write: Custom Software Systems P.O. Box 678 Natick, MA 01760 617-653-2555 The UNIX community has been using the V I editor for years. Now you can run an implementation of the same editor under MS-DOS. Don't miss out on the power of PC/VI! ♦UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories. EIX Best of BIX If you have an HFS hard disk hooked up to your Mac or Mac Plus, then you must have noticed that whenever you reset your Mac without choosing Shut Down (such as hitting the reset button, a system bomb, or even an application doing a reset when it quits), the hard disk will perform some mysterious internal rebuilding, with furious disk accesses that can last up to two minutes before the familiar "Welcome To Macintosh" message appears. With a lot of puzzling, and more than a little help, the reason - and the solution - are at hand. But first, a short explanation is in order. NON-TECHIE SECTION Whenever a disk - any disk - is inserted into a drive, it is "mounted" by the ROM routine MountVol. While a hard disk is not inserted in the traditional sense, it goes through the same MountVol routine. One of the things the MountVol routine does is check for a special block of information called the Volume Control Block (VCB for short). Inside this is lots of information about the volume, depending on whether it's an HFS or MFS volume, a regular disk or a non-e jectab I e disk, etc. But the key to this shortcut lies in a special flag that basically tells the computer whether or not the volume was *properly* ejected and unmounted the last time the volume went "off-line." Depending on the value of this flag, the volume will either be mounted immediately (since the Mac assumes it's OK), or else (if on an HFS volume) it will begin to rebuild two special files the Finder uses to keep track of the volume. If this has completely left you behind, then I suggest you Control-K out right now, because it just gets worse, and besides, unless you have a pretty good grasp of what's going on behind the scenes, you should probably not be executing a routine that has you playing around in memory with a debugger. SECTION OF TECHIE STUFF BUT FIRST, A BIT OF HFS BACKGROUND On any HFS volume, there are 3 structures to handle volume space management, file mapping, and file allocation. These are the Volume Bit Map, the Extents Tree File, and the Catalog Tree File. The Volume Bit Map and the Extents Tree File handle the equivalent job as the MFS volume allocation block map. The Catalog Tree File handles the equivalent job as the MFS file directory. The two trees are set up as B-trees, and each node consists of several types of records. For more complete information, see the new File Manager section in Vol 4 of Inside Macintosh. Whenever inserted, th routine in t assumes HFS otherwise) . routine does the beginnln memory in a Block (VCB) block that c block Is doc Macintosh. INTEGER fie I the Mac recog e operating s he File Manag volumes, unle One of the f is to read I g of a volume data structur Each VCB is ontains volum umented (accu ne of the f i e d 'vcbAt rb* . ys zes tha tern cal (the r spec i f st thin the vol and bui cal I ed 178-byt speci f i tely) i s in th ere in I t a di s Is the est of i ca I I y gs the ume inf I d a co the Vol e non-r c i nf or n volum is reco ies the k has been MountVol this sect ion mentioned MountVol ormation at py of it In ume Contro I elocatab le mat i on . This e 4 of Ins ide rd is an key. Before I get too specific, let me give a little general disclaimer: this stuff was gathered by a combination of insight, debuggers, and time. After many sessions of trapping, bombing, resetting, and interminable delays while our various HD's "rebuilt" themselves, we narrowed down the possibilities. After a few glances at the revamped File Manager section of Inside Macintosh Vol.4, we felt reasonably confident in our conclusions. But, these are not the words of you- know-who, and I not only ask, but encourage anyone who has the inclination to do so to please check my conclusions. I would always rather be proven wrong a [continued] 396 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 94 J 30 Off iay Satislaction Guarantee* TM A ^ 'S Only 89* shi Pping tfo ^^Memory-Resident Outline Processor COMPARE FOR YOURSELF tax C/VttiAls? ThinkTank Ready MaxTt OUTLINE FUNCTIONS: Outline structure Y Y Y Y Autonumbering Y N N Y Multi line entries Y Y N Y Sorting Y Y ? Y Numbering Formats 7 p Outline Title Y N N N Hide/Unhide Y Y Y Y Save previous Hides Y N N 7 Global Hide/Unhides Y - N N N Hide Paragraphs Y Y N/A } Start nejv numbering Y N N N Skip numbering Y N N N Place Enuy left/right Y N N N Xfer between outlines Y N N N EDITING FUNCTIONS: Full screen editing Y N N N Margin Control Y N N N Hanging indents Y N N N Justification Y N N N Centering Y N N N Search/Replace Y Y Y Y Block Copy/Move Y Y N Y Xfer between windows Y N N N On Screen Page Breaks Y N N N Insert l\ige Breaks Y N N N Tab Settings Y Y N N Printer fonts Y N N N Print any part Y N N > MISC FUNCTIONS: Memoiy Resident Option Y N Y N Pull-Down Menus Y N N N Windows 9 1 1 1 Zoom Windows Y N N N Macros Y N N N Live Time/Date stamp Y N N N Min. Memoiy Consumption 85k 256k 128k ? Import from screen Y N N N Export to application Y N Y N N To Order ™putU**f Call Now ^\ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week LeHft 800-523-0764 ¥ w in California I efj 800-323-5335 *" \\ lines are busy or calling from out of the country call 408-559-4545 TELEX: 70414 (SBS NV UD) *call for details Brown Bag Software 2105 So. Bascom Ave. Suite 164 Campbell, CA 95008 Inquiry 54 Rl ^M2S1 256-15 Add up to 96K above 640K to all programs, including PARADOX and 1-2-3. 11 !' r"MB8l2S6-15 ||jr mpmBSHQ M91 E i m, m. * - m, m: « m Jp«8548 M9»i ; £™^ if ]*Mit8S48''M91^fi Parity-checked 256K with a one-year warranty. [»"»" "m '»"'■ ai- j! 5»wS5" is the Macsbug prompt - don't type it). > SM 18010 A017 0000 0000 FFFF > PC 10010 > A0 10000 (that's "A-zero") > T > RB Explanation of Debugger Commands > SM 10010 A017 0000 0000 FFFF puts the Eject A-trap, ioNamePtr, and iovRefnum into memory. *N0TE: this will only be correct if you boot from your hard disk. If you boot from floppy, or do not use a hard disk, this will not be valid. On the other hand, if you are floppy-based, it doesn't take very long to reboot, even if the attribute bit isn't set. > PC 10010 points the program counter to the A-trap > A0 10000 points the A0 register to the Paramblock > T do the Eject routine > RB reboot As with any routine that deals with memory on the machine level, there may be unforeseen c J rcumstances that could cause problems. This routine has been tested on the Mac Plus, with the Apple Hard Disk 20, and the MDIdeas SCSI Hard Disk 20 without any problems cropping up. However, I always suggest using prudence, and you should probably not use this routine if your application died in the middle of some massive file operation. Still and all, it has been very useful and dependable for me. Please insert the massive legalistic disclaimer that Apple seems to be making the new standard for computer users here. That's it! Good luck and have fun. Oh yes - feedback is ALWAYS solicited and appreciated!! macintosh/long. messages #30, from hedges (Tom Hedges, Fractal Software) a comment to message 29 I find that just doing an *ES' to the Finder followed *immediate ly* by a shutdown does the trick most of the time, and if the *ES' fails, then I prefer that the HFS data structure *does* get rebuilt because things probably are really screwed up in memory. [continued\ 400 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 385 Train for the Fastest Growing Job Skill in America Only NRI teaches you to service and repair all computers as you build your own 16-bit IBM-compatible micro Now that computers are firmly established in offices— and in homes, too— the demand for trained com- puter service technicians surges for- ward. The Department of Labor estimates that computer ser- vice jobs will actually double in the next ten years— a faster growth rate than any other occupation. Total systems training No computer stands alone . . . it's part of a total system. 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From there, you'll move on to install the disk drive and monitor. 'SCHOOLS McGraw-Hill Continuing Education Center 3939 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016 We'll Give You Tomorrow. IBM is a Registered Trademark of International Business Machine Corporation. Ssfi NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 401 Best of BIX f Best of BIX > Best of BIX EIX Best of BIX • best of BIX • Best of bix Routines Above HIMEM apple/language #392, from jrsmith (Anthony Smith) I'm trying to install a routine above HIMEM. My installer lowers HIMEM by two full pages, installs the routine 1K above HIMEM, and marks the two pages the routine occupies in the system bit map. The routines work fine, but when I try to use the disk, I get a "no buffers available" error. I suspect that ProDOS needs to be told that its temporary buffer should be 512 bytes lower, but I'm not sure how to do that. I suspect it involves using SET_BUF and/or GET_BUF. I tried to use SET_BUF to lower it 512 bytes, but the temporary buffer has no reference number, so the MLI gives me the invalid reference number error. I'm sure the solution is pretty simple. Will someone tell me what it is? Thank you. apple/language #393, from mdavls (Morgan Davis) a comment to message 392 No, you don't want to do it that way. If you're messing with BASIC. SYSTEM, you never do anything to the ProDOS system bit map. Only a SYS file (application/interpreter, etc.) should change that — and since you're ultimately running under BASIC. SYSTEM, only *it* should change the system bit map. What you want to do Is use the BI's "getbufr" call. This allocates space for your machine language programs which will run while BASIC. SYSTEM is in memory. This call lets BASIC know where your routine will be so that when it needs a buffer, it will do so *below* your routine. As it is now, your protected bit map is causing BASIC to get errors when it tries to allocate a buffer where you've protected memory — therefore, GETBUFR avoids this by letting BASIC *know* where available memory will be. So how do you do it? It's really simple. First, calculate the number of 256-byte pages that your routine will need, and put that value into the accumulator. Then do a JSR GETBUFR ($BEF5). If the carry bit comes back set, an error has occurred, and you can then just do a JMP ERROUT ($BE09) to let BASIC handle it. This would most likely occur In the off chance that you asked for more pages of RAM than BASIC could give to you, giving a NO BUF's AVAIL error. If carry comes back clear, then your request has been granted. However, this is one more crucial point. When BASIC returns a clear carry, it also returns a value in the accumulator. This value is the most significant byte of the address where BASIC wants you to place your routine. For example, it might return $92 if the address where your routine snoutcfgo Is $9200. Of course, this assumes that you have at your disposal some method of relocating your code to the address where BASIC specifies — because there's no telling where this might be. If your program grows In size, the address will be lower In RAM, since BASIC will ask for you to put your routine as high into free memory as possible. It is also conceivable that someone else's machine language program has been loaded into high memory and is occupying space up there, causing BASIC. SYSTEM to Issue your program an even lower address in memory. In short, you really need to have a front-end relocator *after* your call to GETBUFR so that your program will be placed correctly into memory. If you don't have a code-relocating routine, don't worry. I've written one which takes up just 200 bytes, including all the calls and error handling with BASIC. SYSTEM. Unfortunately, I can't make this code available in source code form, due to restrictions imposed by BIX/Byte/MGH. However, there have been quite a few articles posted in Apple-related magazines detailing the procedure. Even Beneath Apple ProDOS has a relocator (of sorts) for moving a 256-byte (or less) chunk of code. For more information on allocating space with BASIC. SYSTEM, see the ProDOS programmer's bible: Beneath Apple ProDOS, page A30 "The TYPE Command." One of the ProDOS Technical Notes also details the use of GETBUFR, and its pal, FREEBUFR -- see H app I e.dos/t ips" for the appropriate Tech Note. apple/language #410, from Jrsmith a comment to message 393 Thanks alot mdavis. Your advice cleared up my problem instantly. The ProDOS Technical Reference Manual gives really lousy advice on that topic. The only place GETBUFR is even mentioned is in a revised memory mop in the errata section. Anyway. Now I have another problem. I've got the routine installed above HIMEM in space allocated by GETBUFR. It is supposed to open a file, then read it, etc. I use GETBUFR to find the file buffer (4 pages), then I store the address it gives me in the appropriate place in the global page and call OPEN through GOSYSTEM. It always returns with NO BUFFERS AVAILABLE or. if I do it twice in a row. with FILE BUSY. If I close the file, the FILE BUSY will usually go away and I'll get NO BUFFERS again. Sometimes the file won't close, however (from immediate mode). So, my main question is why the NO BUFFERS AVAILABLE? Does GETBUFR mark the pages in the system bit map? If it does, should it? Secondary question: Can you close a file using the immediate-mode CLOSE command that was opened with the MLI OPEN command? Is Level involved somehow? apple/language #412, from mdavls a comment to message 410 You ask some good questions. I'll answer them first, and then explain how one should go about handling disk functions with BASIC. SYSTEM from machine language. GETBUFR doesn't mark pages in the bit map. I don't think it does, anyway. (It shouldn't!) It just lets BASIC know what memory it has allocated for other things, so that it won't trounce on anybody. Using CLOSE in immediate mode *might* close a file opened through GOSYSTEM, which also uses the parameter tables in BASIC. SYSTEM' s global page, but I wouldn't count on it. Here's how I do DOS functions from machine language with BASIC. SYSTEM. First, before your code calls GETBUFR. have it do this: Ida sta Ida jsr bcc jmp ok sta $befb mytop #pages getbufr ok errout $befb ;save maximum HIMEM setting ;put it someplace safe ;ask BI for so-many 256-byte ;pages ; c«0 means no error ;yikes. NO BUFFERS AVAIL ; (most likely) ;accum has lowest page ;boundary from getbufr call. ;Bring BI's HIMEM down (so ;that frebufr won't wipe us ;out). Then, go ahead and move your code up to where GETBUFR says its okay. Now, when it comes time to do some file manipulation, you'll need to calculate how many pages of memory you're going to need, and thus can call GETBUFR for that space, e.g.: Ida #5 jsr getbufr bcs error sta osysbuf +1 ;1K + 256 bytes (5 * 256 = ;1280) ;ask BASIC for the buffer ;oops, c=1 means error! ;set OPEN param table buffer ;to point to our buffer (for (continued) 402 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 FINANCING « S - ft \ o. 11 • FOR IBM 5p BHllHE " "" 1 *dl I^^~^IM^ ^ n ijS$|:^i I I y 1200 TPC MODEM Let us help you finance your purchase at $40 down and $10 a month for 7 months /$109 OR Purchase your modem today at $109 cash price and receive a $30 rebate toward the purchase of Mirror™ software. 800 835-9009 558-5741 INCA OUTSIDE CA name business address, city- business phone. . state . .zip. Sunnyvale Communications Company MY PURCHASE CHOICE IS: □ OUTRIGHT PURCHASE □ FINANCING □ VISA □ MASTERCARD ACCT. NO . EXP. DATE . 1308 BORREGAS AVENUE SUNNYVALE. C A 94088-3565 *30 DAY RETURN PRIVILEGE (Otfft* Mf^ALA X&c. 15, I98t) Calif, residents add sales tax, all USA orders add $4 per modem for shipping and handling. (Canadian orders add $10 per modem.) No C.O.D.'s or purchase orders accepted. Subtotal Shipping TOTAL I authorize you to charge my purchase to the account above for $ now, and $ per month for the next six months. Signature □ add Mirror™ communication software at $69.95 to my purchase best of BIX • Best of btx ,;• Best of bix BIX Best of Bix • Best of bix • Best of bix adc iM sta rwdata+1 Idy sta #0 rwcount iny sty rwcount+1 ;the 1K File Control Block ;[fcb]) ; (carry is clear here) add 4 ;to that ;set READ param table to ; point to just passed the ;FCB. We* I I have 256 bytes ; to read/wr i te . ;set read/write count param -.zero least significant byte ; ($xx88) ;(y=D ;set MSB ($01xx), — > $0100 ;= 256 bytes This first asks BASIC for space for the File Control Block (needed when OPENing a file). Then it sets up the pointers for the OPEN and READ calls through the BASIC. SYSTEM Global Page tables. Onward... ($C8) Let's open the file call big brother if error on OPEN, release buffers successful open! Save ref erence| . . .for CLOSE . . .for READ/WRITE ($CA) Let's read 256 bytes! ;on error, close & free ;buf f ers At this point, you can manipulate the data that you just read. The address of that data is going to be stored at RWDATA ($bed7) in the BI global page, so you might want to copy the address into a zero page pointer for easy access. Now, for those errors: Ida #OPEN jsr gosystem bcs f error Ida orefnum sta cf refnum sta rwref num Ida #READ jsr gosystem bcs fcerror f cerror pha ;save the error code Ida #CLOSE ;c I ose the file jsr gosystem p I a ;retrieve error code terror pha ;secondary entry if OPEN ;fai Is jsr f reebuf r ;release those buffers p I a ;accum now contains error ;code jmp errout ; I et BASIC handle this you might want to have special code check to see if the error is §5 (end of data), and if so, just close the f i le, but don't cal I ERROUT. Hope all this he I ps . PS: Almost forgot! When you want to remove your program from memory, do this: Ida mytop sta $befb jmp freebufr ;restore the original HIMEM jremove my code's buffers If you are processing a text file for displaying, apple/language |414, from mdavis a comment to message 412 Oops, I just found some bugs in my somewhat- long message with all that source code. (I typed it in on the fly in about 15 minutes.) The part that sets the RWCOUNT parameter to $100 used "STA" instead of "STY". Also, I never addressed what to do after you're done processing the file. First, obviously, you must CLOSE it. Second, you want to call FREEBUFR to deallocate the 5 pages of memory you originally asked for. Note that this won't trounce your code (which was protected by using an earl ier GETBUFR cal I ) because we changed the byte at $befb to point to the memory page where our code starts — thus a FREEBUFR call will deallocate any buffers *below* that. This has been really hard to explain. I found it all just by accident anyway since, as was stated earlier, the first release of the ProDOS Technical Ref. manual never covered this. The best thing to do is to experiment on your own, until someone writes a decent book on how to do this stuff. apple/language |416, from jrsmith a comment to message 412 Thanks for the tip. I *had* been doing something wrong; however, I still have a problem. I didn't understand that in addition to the 1K FCB, you need another buffer for your data. I had requested a 1K buffer and then pointed both OPEN and READ'S buffer pointers to its start. Now I have pointed OPEN to a 1K buffer and READ to another 1K buffer below that. I still get my old enemy NO BUFFERS AVAILABLE (on OPEN). NEW FROM LOGICAL DEVICES INC: 82 &>® y iiifjijjfi //.&• PROM PRO-8X™ Model II A stand-alone programmer starting at $895.00 can put you in business to program EE/EPROMs PAL/ PLDs,* Single Chip micros,* and Bipolar PROMs * + EPROM IN-CIRCUIT EMULATION* capability that can speed up your development time considerably and an RS-232 communications port that lets you integrate it with your IBM PC as a total firmware and Logic development station. All from a company with an excellent reputation for quality and service. A UNIVERSAL DEVICE PROGRAMMER 404 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of Bix BIX Best of BIX • Best of Bix • Best of bix Pagetop is set to right above the buffers, where my program begins. Nothing is marked in the system bit map that shouldn't be. Any other ideas? apple/language #417, from mdavis a comment to message 416 Ah! Yes; you must ask for buffers for both the OPEN file's FCB (1K worth) and then you need a second buffer area for reading and writing your data. (You can pick the size that you need; I just used 256 bytes in my examp I e . ) If you use GETBUFR to allocate a 1K FCB, you also should use it to allocate a data buffer as well. You can use areas for reading and writing like $200 (the input buffer) since it's not reserved. You can usually get away with using BASIC'S reserved 1K buffer space which it always maintains for its own use (like when it gets a CATALOG, or has to LOAD or SAVE a program, etc.). Just keep playing with it, you'll get it. When you do, write a nice book for the those who are experiencing the same difficulties — I'm just too darn busy I ADA Ada, the language mandated for most new programming by the Department of Defense, is coming under ever-closer scrutiny from microcomputer users. In the following excerpts from the Ada conference on BIX, various aspects of the language, from multiple definitions for operators to exception handling, are discussed. Predefined Operators ada/tips #1, from dshochat (David Shochat) Here is a language point that I found kind of surprising. Maybe others will be surprised as well. Suppose you decide to define some types in a package package MY_TYPES is types FRUITS is (APPLE, GRAPE, PEAR); end MY_TYPES; Now you want to use type FRUITS someplace else, so you need a context clause: with MY_TYPES; Notice I didn't put in "use MY_TYPES ; " Some people argue that for good maintainability, you"don't want to use 'use' all the time. This means that I need to prefix names defined in the package with the package name. So I declare: FR1, FR2: MY_TYPES .FRUITS ; So far, so good. But now, in the executable part, I try to say: if FR1 FR2 then The compiler should give a message saying something I ike: "The " = " operator is not defined for the objects FR1 and FR2." It turns out that the "=" operator is what the LRM (Language Reference Manual) calls "predefined" by the definition of the type FRUITS. So, if it is predefined, why can't I use it? The answer is that it is predefined AT THE POINT WHERE TYPE FRUITS WAS DEFINED. It's just as if you had put your OWN "=" operator definition right in there with the definition of type FRUITS. So the moral is, there are some times when you really do have to use a 'use' clause, since the syntax won't let you say: if FR1 MY_TYPES.= FR2 then Syntax error! Interestingly, you CAN do it if you use prefix notat ion: if MY_TYPES."="(FR1 , FR2) then — Perfectly legal! But I don't think anybody would really want to do it that way. Actually, this problem is probably most likely to come up with access types (pointer types), but it's important to realize that it isn't a problem that is specific to access types. [continued) LEADER IN DEVICE PROGRAMMING *some devices require optional adaptors. FEATURES: ■ Stand-Alone/RS-232 ■ 512K bits RAM buffer ■ EPROMs 2716-1 MEG ■ Capacity: Two EPROMs (set programming) ■ Accepts Intel, Mot. Hex files ■ Accepts JEDEC files ■ Optional Keypad/Alpha display ■ Tilt stand and carrying handle ■ Works with Exatron IC handler also available: UV ERASERS and GANG programmers. All products 100% made in USA CALL 1-800-331-7766 Logical Devices Inc. 1321 NW 65th Place Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309 TELEPHONE TELEX U.SA (305)974-0967 383142 Canada East (51 4) 694-771 05-823554 Canada West (604) 291 -8866 04-356533 England 0652-688626 527339 Itly., Ger.Swss (02)688-2141 845 79734 Australia (03)560-1011 790 35703 (02)736-1564 790 82635 WITH AN UNUSUAL PRICE TAG: $895 Inquiry 184 for End-Users. Inquiry 185 for DEALERS ONLY. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 405 JEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • EIX • best of bix • best of bix • best of bix • ada/tips #2, from rbrukardt (Randall Brukardt) A similar problem to #1 here is that if you declare your own "&" operator, for instance (Function "&" (Left, Right : String) Return String;), it cannot be used infix outside of the declaring compilation unit. If the above were to declare in a package specification, "A" k "B" used in the body would call the user-defined "&". But, if the same thing was written in some other package, the predefined "&" would be called, even if the declaring package was both WITHed k USEd! This follows from the Ada visibility rules; direct visibility always has precedence over something named in a USE clause. Since the predefined "k" is always directly visible (it is declared in Standard, the package that surrounds ali compilation units), the user-defined one can never be used in an infix expression outside of its defining package. It also must always be selected (i.e., Pack_Name. "&"("A" , "B")) when it Is used. Moral: There's always a surprise awaiting you when you use (or implement) Ada. Variable-Length Records ada/other #26, from rguilmette (Ron Guilmette) What I would like to know from the other Ada vendors is how else can you write standard conforming programs that deal with variable-length record files? This would seem to be the most reasonable and clear approach. One question: What does- DEC VAX Ada do when a variant record type is used to instantiate DIRECT_IO? Wi I I it al low you to do it? If not, why not? If so, how can it perform reliable seeks on such files? ada/other #28, from rbrukardt a comment to message 26 Programs using variable-length records in a file are by definition not completely "standard-conforming," simply because such I/O is not REQUIRED by the standard. You hit on the problems of implementing it; I only wonder how anyone can figure out a workable way to implement it. (The interaction between Ada Generics, Discriminants, and I/O is horrible.) I personally would recommend using a package of your own design to do such I/O; then, if the system you are using supports the I/O directly, the package is easy to write. Otherwise, a version of the I/O supported by the implementation can be used without too much trouble. (Of course, if the implementation gives you NO way to do variable-length records, it ought to be junked! ) ada/other #31, from dshochat a comment to message 26 It turns out that DEC will let you instantiate DIRECT_IO with an unconstrained record type, but it requires you to pass a "maximum record size" in bytes through the FORM parameter of the CREATE procedure. The FORM parameter is of type STRING and its meaning is totally implementation-dependent. Anyway, it works, but it turns out that what they do in this case is really use fixed-length records, with the fixed length being what you passed in the CREATE. This is essentially what some Pascals do (e.g., UCSD) when you make a file of a variant record type. A fixed record size is used, big enough for the worst case. ada/other #32, from rguilmette a comment to message 31 Thanks for checking that out. It seems like a very nearly reasonable implementation; however, don't you think that a truly intelligent implementation would infer the maximum record length from the maximum length of the variant type used in the instantiation of DIRECT_IO? This Is not a rhetorical question. I am interested in your thoughts. ada/other #35, from dshochat a comment to Message 32 I agree with you in the case of a straight VARIANT record type. But consider something with a SIZE discriminant such as: type VAR(SIZE : POSITIVE :- 1) is record BUF : STRING(1..SIZE); end record; If you tried to instantiate DIRECT_IO with that, the only thing the implementation could assume is that the maximum record size was POSITIVE'LAST (2**31 - 1 on the VAX) plus another 4 bytes for the discriminant. I've always thought it odd that a type definition like the one above doesn't have anyplace for you to commit to a maximum size. It must be hell to implement size discr iminants. Exception Handling ada/general #82, from jdow (Joanne Dow) How do you usually handle disk overflow deep in a program? The exception handling path allows you to recover gracefully (or as gracefully as possible) from that kind of error. ada/general #84, from bhofkln (Bob Hofkln) a comment to message 82 But you get kicked out of the code that faulted, with no simple way of restarting it. What would your exception handler look like for this disk overflow? ada/general #85, from wheelock (Bruce Wheelock) a comment to message 84 Disclaimer: I'm writing this from memory with my Ada manual el sewhere. PROCEDURE FileOpener IS Flag : BOOLEAN — TRUE; FileName : ShortStrlng — A defined type of length 30 BEGIN END; WHILE Flag LOOP BEGIN PUT_LINE("ENTER FILE NAME: "); GET_LINE(FileName); 0PEN(MyF Me.IN_FILE.FH eName) ; Flag :« FALSE; EXCEPTION WHEN OTHERS «> PUTJ_INE( "Fi I e does not exist. 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Disk to tape transfers also available. Competitive Rates! Micro Data Services 5 Town and Country Village, Suite774 • San Jose. CA 95128 (408) 980-7203 BLANKET SERVICES Diskette duplication • Packaging • Stocking/Drop shipping • 48 hour delivery • SUPERLoK copy pro- tection • No mastering fee • No charge for stan- dard labels • Place a blanket order with releases as you need them for any quantity at a fixed price. Star-Byte, Inc. 2564 Industry Lane, Norristown, PA 19403 215-539-4300 800-243-1515 Inquiry 700. Inquiry 722. Inquiry 764. COMPUTER INSURANCE ENTERTAINMENT COMPUTER OWNERS INSURANCE Call toll free for coverages and premiums • COMPUTERS OVERSEAS • COMPUTERS YOU LEASE • COMPUTERS YOU LEASE TO OTHERS SAFEWARE The Insurance Agency Inc. 1-800-848-3469 IN OHIO (614) 262-0559 AMERICA'S MOST J™ ADVANCED DATA ^"i* * *■ CONVERSION lists » P opt FACILITY: JSS reformatting. Data Conversion Laboratory (718) 939-4921 Twelve Metre Challenge Sailing simulation for one or two computers; develops creative, political, financial, investigative and technical skills. IBM PC XT AT and com- patibles. DOS 2.1+ /384K/CGA/2FL or 1FL+HD. $50. $90 for two (req. forcom). Add $5 S/H. MA add 5%. VISA/MC Greylock Software, Inc. PO. Box 730, Gt Barrington, MA 01230 413-528-5555 Inquiry 751. Inquiry 680. Inquiry 704. DATA/DISK CONVERSION FLOW CHARTS TAPE AND DISK CONVERSIONS IBM MS-DOS CP/M We provide prompt, accurate Tape-To-Disk, Disk-To- Disk, and Disk-To-Tape conversions. Most Disk-To-Disk conversions priced at $14.00 your source disk. 1600 BPI Mag Tapes. EPROM Programming Pick Up and Delivery CREATIVE DATA SERVICES 1210 W. Latimer Ave.. Campbell, CA 95008 (408) 866-6080 Disk/Disk * Tape/Disk Over 600 formats! 3V'2, 5Va, or 8 inch disks; 9 track mag tape; 10 MB Bernoulli cartridge. Data base and word processor translation specialists. Computer Conversions, Inc. 9580 Black Mountain Rd., Ste J San Diego, CA 92126 (619) 693-1697 FLOW CHARTING II HELPS YOU1 Precise flowcharting is fast and simple with Flow Charting II. Draw, edit and print perfect charts: bold and normal fonts, 24 shapes — 95 sizes; fast entry of arrows, bypasses & con- nectors; Fast Insert Line; shrink screen displays 200-column chart; 40 column edit screen for detail work, much more! PATTON & PATTON 340 Lassenpark Circle. San Jose, CA 95136 1-800/672-3470, ext. 897 (CA residents) 1-800/538-8157, ext. 897 (Outside CA) 408/629-5044 (Outside the U.S.A.) Inquiry 677. Inquiry 673. Inquiry 737. DUPLICATING SERVICES HARDWARE CONVERT CP/M < — > MS-DOS Head, write and format CP/M diskettes on an IBM P&or com- patible. Over 115 CP/M formats on the menu and you can add your own. Use Convert to copy text and data files (such as WordStar an'd Dbase II) between CP/M and MS-DOS. Or use it to manufacture CP/M diskettes. Only $69 from Selfware, Inc. 3545 Chain Bridge Rd.. Suite 3 Fail-fax, VA 22030 703-352-2977 DISKETTE COPYING: 3 day turn around, security, quality, most popular formats. MAG RABBIT/MICHIGAN 616-685-6186 68020 COMPUTERS Up to 14.5 Mbyte RAM. 258K ROM. 30 users. DMA flop- py and SASI (SCSI), calendar/clock w/bat. backup, timer, real time multi-tasking, multi-user op. sys., basic, assembler, screen editors, spreadsheet. Fits PC type cabinet. Mem. Prot. option, more. From $2195.00. Other 68XXX computer systems from $995.00. AAA Chicago Computer Center 120 Chestnut Lane - Wheeling, IL 60090 (312) 459-0450 Inquiry 756. Inquiry 719. Inquiry 651. CONVERSION SERVICES Convert any 9 track magnetic tape to or from over 700 formats including 3 1 /2", 5 to", 8" disk formats & word processors. Disk to disk conversions also available. Call for more info. Introducing OCR Scan- ning Services. Pivar Computing Services, Inc. 165 Arlington Hgts. Rd., Dept. #B Buffalo Grove, IL 60089 (312) 459-6010 Inquiry 738. 408 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 DUPLICATION SOLUTIONS MEGASOFT has the answer to your Diskette Duplication needs no matter what the volume. We provide •DUPLICATION 'COPY PROTECTION "TECHNICAL SUPPORT 'PACKAGE ASSEMBLY & DISTRIBUTIVE SHIPPING. We supply 'AUTOLOADERS 'BULK DISKETTES. We guarantee 'QUALITY M00% SATISFACTION 'FAST TURN AROUND. MegaSoft P.O. Bex 710, Freehold, NJ 07728 1-800-222-0490 201-462-7628 (in NJ) M68000-SBC Expandable single board computer with on board 10 MHZ 68000, 20K SRAM, 32K PROM, two RS-232 serial ports, 16-bit parallel port, 5 counter/timers. Expansion for additional memory/Floppy Disk Controller board. Custom designs available. Price starts at $89.95. Educational Microcomputer Systems P.O. Box 16115, Irvine, CA 92713 (714) 854-8545 Inquiry 692. The Buyer's Mart- HARDWARE HARDWARE HARDWARE ADD-ONS POWERLINE GREMLINS?? POWER FAILURES?? The MEIFHCK STANDBY POWER SYSTEM is the TOTAL SOLUTION to your powerline problems. 400 watt system - $449; 800 watt system - $795 MEIRICK Inc., POWER SYSTEMS DIV. Box 298, Frisco, CO 80443 303-668-3251 ZBO™ / 641B0/CP/M" CO-PROCESSORS Plug-in co-processors for PC, PC/AT. Blue Thunder {5 mhz) $199.50 Blue Lightnin" (9 mhz) $595.00 D64180 w/SBX Connectors $445.00 Run CP/M software on PC as if MS-DOS software. Diskette conversion included. Can run Intel ISIS soft- ware. We have cards for PDP-11 and VAX too. Z-WORLD 408-980-1678 2065 Martin Ave. #110, Santa Clara, CA 95050 LOAD CELL INTERFACE Connects weigh scales to any computer via serial RS232, 423 or 422, several units individually ad- dressable from single computer port. Directly program- mable in Basic - Demo program included. High ac- curacy 40,000 count. Options include NEMA-4, shunt cal, 4 load cell summing. Price $599. SCALE-TRON INC. P.O. Box 424, Lachine, Quebec, H8S 4C2 (514) 634-7032 EPROM/EEPROM PROG. $250 Programs 271 6-27512. 25xx and 68764/66 eproms via RS-232. Also 874x micros and 28xxA & 52Bxx EEPROMs. Automatic baud rate select, built in help menus, no personality modules! 16 BIT I/O MODULE $75 Low cost control via RS-232. Expands to 51 2! INTELLITRONICS P.O. Box 3263, Tustin, CA 92680 (714) 669-0614 Inquiry 710. SANYO 550/555 USERS TURBO BOARD-7.2 MHZ S 95.00 20 MEG E TERNAL HARD DISK SYSTEM $749.95 SANYO VIDEO BOARD (ORIGINAL) $174.95 RS-232 BD $ 49.95 HARD DISK CONT W/CABLES & SOFT (ST-506). . . $249.95 768K MEM, CLK, & EXPANSION BD- (FREE RAMDISK, SPOOLER, & SOFTVIDEO RUNS IBM PROGRAMS) $199.95 TAMPA BAY DIGITAL 1807 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd., Clearwater, FL 33575 813-443-7049 PC WHOLESALE CENTER F.C.C. APPROVED BASIC KIT * 640K Mother Board (OK) $94.00 * 5150 Keyboard $46.00 * 150W Po er Supply $56.00 * Case $34.00 ALL FOR $230.00, CALL FOR OTHER ADD-ON CARD. * TTL Monitor $80.00 ' MGP $60.00 SANFORD INC. 10413 Rockley Rd., Houston, TX 77099 (713) 879-0068 PC I/O BOARDS • Four Port RS-232 w/software 834900 • RS-422/485 Serial . 814900 • RS-232/422 with 24 Parallel I/O *199°° • RS-422 Synchronous 829900 • EPROM/RAM 819900 • AVD & Digital I/O 829900 Call About Custom Designed Boards Sealevel Systems Inc. P.O. Box 1808, Easley, SC 29641 (803) 855-1581 HARDWARE/BLDG. CONTROL POWERLINE MODEM CASH REGISTERS, ELECTRONIC SIGNS, PC'S communicate over POWERLINE RS232C, GE/EIA Consumer Electronic Bus Protocol, Hayes Compatible, 64,000 units on network, Data Com- pression, 1000 baud (CEBus spec), 40 CEBus com- mands. User Programmable Client Layer $395. AISI RESEARCH CORPORATION Discovery Park, University of Victoria 3771A Haro Rd. Victoria BC CANADA V8W 2Y2 (604) 477-1415 Inquiry 654. HARDWARE GRAPHICS HOUSTON INSTRUMENTS PLOTTERS DMP 40741&42 (1 Pen, A-B/C-D-size) S966/S2577 DMP-51/52/MP (C, D-size 1/14-Pen) $3881/$5031 DIGITIZERS Summagraphics MM1201 complete $434 GTCO MD7-1212 complete $602 Hitachi HDG-1111B Tiger II w/stylus $735 Houston TG-1011 w/power & stylus $670 Orchid TurboEGA & NEC Multisync $1220 Artist 1 & Mitsubishi 19" monitor $3113 Large corp & institutional PO's accepted O.A.C ARDEN SYSTEMS, INC. (213) 479-6707 ext.29 12335 Santa Monica Bl. 0240, Los Angetes, CA 90025 Inquiry 752. USED APPLES & IBM's Commodore C-128 — $225.00 Laser 1 28 (new), Apple II + and lie — call PC-XT Clone — $475.00 Motherboards & accessories — call We buy, sell, & horsetrade — Apple, IBM, & CBM. SHREVE SYSTEMS 845 Lark Ave., Shreveport, LA 71105 318-865-6743 4-9 p.m. C.S.T. VISA/MC XT/AT COMPATIBLE HARDWARE ATI-1000 AT 8MHz M/B W/640KB* $629. ATI-1000-10 AT 10MHz M/B w 1MB" 849. ACS-1000 XT Turbo M/B* w/512KB/8MHz 395. clock calendar 2 serial, 1 parallel port MITSUBISHI CGA MONITOR 279. MITSUBISHI EGA MONITOR 399. MAXI SWITCH XT/AT Keyboard 69. TEAC 360K Floppy Drive 92. ZUCKER Mono/Graphic Card 86. 'American Made M/B pp HOUSE 3706 Realty Rd., Suite 200, Dallas, TX 75244 (214) 241-5814 THE ORIGINAL TEK 4010/4014/4027 GRAPHICS UPGRADE for your ADM 3A/5, TVI 912, 925, 950, RG 512 or RG 1000. $299 - $399 with full print schematics. A true bargain. All new. RetroGraphics, Inc. 65 Commerce Road • Stamford, CT 06902 203-327-5000 Inquiry 758. Inquiry 652. HARDWARE ADD-ONS INFORMATION SERVICES CHIP CHECKER • 54/74 TTL & CMOS • 14-24 Pin Chips • 14/4000 CMOS • Two 24 Pin ZIF sockets • 9000 TTL • .3" and .6" IC widths Tests/Identifies chips with ANY type of output in seconds. Inexpensive software updates will Be offered as new chips become available. For C128 and C64. $129 plus $3.50 s+h. DUNE SYSTEMS 2603 Willa Dr., St. Joseph, Ml 49085 (616) 983-2352 APPLE COMPATIBLE PRODUCTS lie RAM/80 Column Boards, 64K $39. 256K $109. 512K $139. 1.0MEG $238. 256K-1 .OMEG includes XMe PLUSWORKS Sfwr. II+ 80 Col Bd $49. lie Keypad w/16 Keys $39. ll+/e Cooling Fan w/surge protect $29.95. Add $3 Shipping. Write for com- plete list. NEXO DISTRIBUTION 914 East8.th St., Ste. 109, National City, CA 92050 (619) 474-3328 Turbo Pascal™ Software $6 Join TURBO S.I.X. and gain access to program- ming utilities, communications, graphics, games, home/business applications and more. Over 35 disks available and growing. $19.95 for a lifetime membership (First TWO disks FREE) or $2.95 for current catalog. TURBO S.I.X. P.O. Box 8373, Dept B2, Waco, Texas 76714 3101 Mitchell, Waco, TX (817) 753-2182 Inquiry 774. MAILING LISTS MEGABYTES OF MEMORY Lowest Prices Guaranteed in US. Dealer Inq. Invited Fully Populated 2MB Memory Boards TALLTREE SYSTEMS - JRAM BOARDS JRAM 2 $134 OPEN 7 JRAM 3 Aboveboard 183 DAYS A WEEK JRAM AT 183 M-F 9-8 JRAM AT Aboveboard 239 S-S 9-6 JD1SKETTE 135 VISA, MC. AE, CHOICE JLASER I 275 703-847-4740 JMODULES CALL ___ -.„ ._„ 800-642-2395 Information and Technology Services, Inc. HYPERION USERS External expansion module for two 20M hard disks, and/or two IBM PC compatible serial ports. You may directly connect your own hard disks. Supports HyperRam or HyperRam Plus. From $145.00 depending on options. Technovation Research 63 Widdecombe Hill Blvd. Ste. 1103 Weston, Ontario M9R 4B2 (416) 245-1656 Professional List Management ArcList — mainframe mailing list management for the PC/XT/AT. Capacity 20 million names, automatic zip and state verification, print any label, custom charts and reports, merge-purge with excellent near-dupe recognition, match codes, postal presorting. Nth sampling, much more. $595. Demo disk available. Take control of your list. Call for free brochure. Arc Tangent, Inc. 923 Olive St., POB 2009, Santa Barbara, CA 93120 800-843-5928 (in CA. 805-965-7277) NOVEMBER 1 986 ■ BYTE 409 The Buyer's Mart- PROGRAM GENERATORS SOFTWARE ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE/BUSINESS WINDOW.LIB $99. An easy to use complete windowing system for programmers and writing in . . . ■ BASIC IBM. MS, CBB6 . . . • C LATTICE. M-S . . . • COBOL M-S. RMF ...» PASCAL M-S. TURBO . . . • FORTRAN M-S. RMF , . . dBase Clipper Window editor included. Create callable pop-up menus, help screens. The line selector features auto reverse highlighting and cursor control. No royalties. Ask about our BIOS/DOS. LIB.VISA/MC. GLENCO ENGINEERING (312) 392-2492 3920 Ridge Ave., Arlington Hts., IL 60004 CUSTOM PAYROLL All systems have multiple pay categories, calcula- tion of all taxes, user defined deductions, 401 (k) handling, many reports, paychecks, W-2 forms, and much more. Custom features are available. Prices start at $695 for system, manual, and PC Basic source code. Datasmlth, Inc. Box 8036, Shawnee Mission, KS 66208 (913) 381-9118 PC-CHECKBOOK Total checking at your fingertips! Quick & easy to use. Version 3.0 include: Auto Filing, 1000 Entries/Checkbook, File protec- tion, Check Editing, Sorting by Date & Check No., Analysis Report. Screen Print, Sequencial & by Category. POP-UP Pro- mpters & Full Screen Help Menus. May be used as a Budget Manager. $39.95 chk/MC/VISA. DEB/SOFT APPLICATIONS P.O. Box 35398, Houston, TX 77235 (713) 729-2362 Inquiry 702. Inquiry 683. Inquiry 684. PUBLIC DOMAIN THE BEST OF THE BEST! Public Domain & User Supported Software for IBM PC or compatible. Word Processing, Database, Spread- sheets, Utilities, Games, Accounting, etcl 50 disk package $205.00, or rent 2 wks. $75.00. Info & Super Sampler Disk $6.50, Deluxe Word Processor $6.50, both $12.00. MC/VISA BLUE CIRCLE GROUP, INC. Box 23502, Minneapolis, MN 55423 (612)823-4111 dBASE BUSINESS TOOLS ' General Ledger * Purch Ord/lnvntory * Accounts Recvbl. * Accounts Payable * Order Entry * Job Costing * Sales Analysis * Job Estimating $99 EA. + s&h w/dBASE 2, 3 or 3+ SOURCE CODE dATAMAR SYSTEMS ~Cred, Card-Check-COD 6809-B Convoy Court, San Diego, CA 921 1 1 800-223-9963/CA 800-221-9964/(619) 278-8222 SAVE LEGAL FEES 157 time tested legal forms on disk, complete with menu driven system and editing and printing capability. Free copy of PC-Write word processor included. Forms writ- ten by a noted attorney and applicable nation-wide. $129.95 plus $7.50 shipping and handling. LegalEase™ HDG Software, Inc. 54 Whitney St., Sherborn, MA 01770 617-651-1881 800-628-2828 x 706 for credit card orders Inquiry 662. Inquiry 682. Inquiry 705. SOFTWARE A. IBM, CP/M, MAC SOFTWARE Over 2500 disks covering IBM/ PCDOS/ MSDOS, CP/M and Macintosh. All major public domain user groups represented. Priced from $6 (US) disk (even lower in quantity). Fast service, shipped around the world. Call or circle inquiry #671 for our FREE 32 page minicatalog of highlights. CANADA REMOTE SYSTEMS LIMITED (1 -800-387-1 901) (1-41 6-231-2383) OPS5 + for PC's & Mac's OPS5+ by Computer'Thought is a quality Implemen- tation of OPS5 for IBM PC, XT, AT's & compatibles and the Apple Macintosh Mouse controlled, menu driven development environment $1,750 single qty. (Substan- tial educational, VAR & corporate discounts). Mention BYTE & get a free mouse or $100 off until 12/31/86. •• Distributed by JCL Systems ** 2508 Teakwood Ln. #100, Piano, TX 75075 (214) 867-0962 VISA, MC, MO & Checks accepted Inquiry 713. dFELLER Inventory Business inventory programs written in modifiable dBASE source code. dFELLER Inventory $150.00 Requires dBASE II or III, PC-DOS/CPM dFELLER Plus $200.00 with History and Purchase Orders Requires dBASE III or dBASE III Plus (For Stockrooms) Feller Associstes 550 CR PPA, Route 3, lshpeming, Ml 49849 (906) 486-6024 SOFTWARE/BUSINESS ► SOFTWARE FOR PENNIES <+ GET BEST AND LATEST PC-DOS. CP/M-80 AND CP/M-86 PUBLIC DOMAIN PROGRAMS FOR BUSINESS, PERSONAL, EDUCATION, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT. MODEMING, SCIENCE, AND MORE, AT LOWCOST OF COPYING. 3-72, 5-V4 AND B" DISK FORMATS ARE SUPPORTED. SEND $5.00 FOR CATAL0G MULTIPATH, INC. Box 395, Montville, NJ 07045 (201) 575-5880 ► FINANCIAL CALCULATOR << Memory resident calculator performs compound in- terest, NPV, IRR, bonds, depreciation. Prints finan- cial schedules. Allows importing/exporting of data. Includes all HP-12C functions plus more. $69.95 plus $3 s/h. K SOFTWARE HOUSE, INC. Rt. 2, Box 83B1 Unionville, TN 37180 (615) 294-5090 DATA ENTRY SYSTEM Heads-down data entry with two-pass verification for the PC/XT/AT & compatibles. Loaded with features like: Auto dup & skip, verify bypass, range checks, & table lookups. Fully menu driven only $395. Call for free 30 day trial period. COMPUTER KEYES 21929 Makah Rd., Woodway, WA 98020 (206) 776-6443 Inquiry 730. Inquiry 715. SOFTWARE ACCOUNTING 1986 TAX PREPARATION Fast, easy to use package prepares and prints 1 986 Federal Income tax returns using form 1040. Fully interac- tive, menu driven. Follows IRS forms. Supports 28 forms plus multiples. Fully integrated. MS/PC-DOS; 86 Prof. $349; Pers. $59; 85 Prof. $30. Dunphy Systems, Inc. P.O. Box 326, Worthington. OH 43085-0326 614-431-0846 MILP88-MIXED INTEGER LP A general-purpose system for solving mixed integer linear programs with up to 65 integers. 255 constraints 1255 variables. Solves problems by applying the branch and bound method. Menu-driven with many useful features similar to LP88. Req. IBM PC, 192K, $99 with 8087 support, user's guide. VISA/MC. EASTERN SOFTWARE PRODUCTS, INC. POB 15328, Alexandria, VA 22309 (703) 549-5469 PC-File ill™ Version 4 Search, sort, browse, global changes, macros, mailing labels, format reports with selection & calculations, sub- totals, totals, averages, encryption. Exchange data with 1-2-3, WORD, WordStar. Over 190.000 users. $59.95 + $5 s/h. For IBM PC. ButtonWare, Inc. P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, W.A 98006 1-800-J-BUTTON Inquiry 666. Inquiry 691. Inquiry 668. ► TIME & BILLING -a 400 clients/20 partners/80 job & 40 out of pocket categories/20 areas of practice/fixed fee or hourly/ more! Prints billing/statements/aged rec's/more! Free phone support. $149 (VISA/MC/ AMEX). MS-DOS/ CPM-80. Other original software. FREE catalogue. MICRO-ART PROGRAMMERS 614 Alamenda Padre Serra, Santa Barbara, CA 93103 (805) 962-0922 (24 hours) Inquiry 721. 410 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 PC-Write™ Shareware Fast, powerful word processor/text editor for IBM PC. Mailmerge, split screen, ASCII files, macros. Supports proportional printing, laserJet, 300 + printers. $10 for all software, tutorial/guide on diskette. OK to copy. Register for manual/support, $75. Full 90-day guarantee. Version 2.7 with spell check soon: diskette pair, $16; register, $89. Quicksort (206) 282-0452 VIsa/MC 219 First N. #224 J, Seattle, WA 98109 Inquiry 746. PC-File/R™ All the power of PC-File III plus: Relational link to other databases, integrated letter writing & mail- merge, context sensitive pop-up help windows. New binary search retrieves date huritiretirs & times faster. $149.95 + $5 s/h. ButtonWare, Inc. P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 1-800-J-BUTTON Inquiry 667. The Buyer's Mart- SOFTWARE/CHURCH SOFTWARE/GENERAL SOFTWARE/GRAPHICS RECORD OF CONTRIBUTIONS An in depth system to account for contributions to the church - and more. Easy to enter/update/retrieve data. Prepares Reports/Statements on demand. For the IBM PC/XT or AT or compatibles. Excellent Documentation. $99.00 + $5.00 S&H. MICRO-DYNAMICS OF TEXAS P.O. Box 40691, Houston, TX 77240 (713) 896-9957 SongWright III Music Processor for IBM Compatibles Prints quality lead sheets, songs, scores with text and symbols, multiple staves; transposes to any key; plays tunes. Screen graphics editor; IBM/Epson/Star printers. Send $49.95 or write for free sample output. SongWright Software Box 61107, Cherry Creek, CO 80206 (303) 691-4573 PC TECHNICAL GRAPHICS TEKMAR is a graphics library for the Tecmar Graphics Master. Similar to PLOT-10, includes WINDOW, VIEWPORT, AXIS. Support for HP, HI plotters. Curve fitting, complete plotting program. Log, semi-log, multi- axis, 3-D, contours. Jerry Pournelle (Aug 66 Byte): "As good as any I have ever seen ... " Demo disks, literature available. Advanced Systems Consultants 21115 Devonshire St. #329, Chatsworth, CA 9 1 3 1 1 (818) 407-1059 Inquiry 723. Inquiry 761. Inquiry 653. ROMAR CHURCH SYSTEMS™ Membership-61 fields plus alternate address; labels, letters, reports any fteld(s). Offering-256 funds; optional pledge; statements; post to 255 x/year. Finance-G/L with budget; up to 500 sub-totals & 99 depts: month & YTD reportsanytimeforany month. Size 2000 people/floppy; 25000 10 meg. Ad too short! Write! Romar Church Systems, Attn: BMB P.O. Box 4211, Elkhart, IN 46514 (219) 262-2188 NEW Turbo Pascal™ Programs Outstanding software. Full source code included! KEYMASTER, DESKMASTER: Pop Up desk organizers. Editor, macros, alarms, addr book/dialer, calculator, more! $49.95 + $2 s&h each. IBM PC & Comp. DICTIONARY TOOLBOX: Library to pro- duce/manage bit compressed diet. $39.95. Any MS-DOS Comp. CHESTER: Full featured Chinese checkers game using heuristic search. $22.00 IBM-PC & Comp. Visa/MC A. I. SOFTWARE 512-928-2009 2200 Rogge Ln., Austin, TX 78723 THE DGI TYPESHOP will make text signs and overheads. It comes with 2 fonts and the many plot options will give your presentations that professional look. It offers a quick, economical alter- native to typesetting— PLOTSETTING. Eleven optional fonts are available now. For the APPLE II or IBM com- puter and Hewlett-Packard or compatible plotters. $175. DECISION GRAPHICS, INC. P.O. Box 2776-B, Littleton, Colorado 80161 (303) 796-0341 Inquiry 750. Inquiry 650. Inquiry 685. Church Package Parishioner Time, Talent and Treasure System pro- gram is written in modifiable dBASE source code. • Contributions • Disbursements • Ledger • Names with mailing labels • Personal information database. Requires dBASE II or III. PC-DOS/CPM-80 $200. Feller Associates 550 CR PPA, Route 3, Ishpeming, Ml 49849 (906) 486-6024 Princeton SuperType™ Turn your IBM PC compatible and printer into a powerful typewriter. Supports up to ten attributes such as bold, condensed, etc. PreConfigured for most popular pr nters or user installable. Operates in MEMORY RESIDENT or NORMAL modes. Tabs, margins, editing and more. Only $39.95. Visa, MC Princeton Economics, Inc. 80 Main St. P.O. Box 456, Princeton, MA 01517 (617) 464-5474 FORTRAN PROGRAMMER? Now you can call 2-D and 3-D graphics routines within your FORTRAN program. GRAFMATIC: 75 callable routines for screen output. $135. PLOTMATIC: Pen plotter driver. $135. For the IBM PC, XT, AT and compatibles. We sup- port a variety of compilers, graphics boards and plotters. M | CR0C0M p AT | BLES 301 Prelude Drive, Dept. B Silver Spring, MD 20901 (301) 593-0683 Inquiry 698. Inquiry 741. Inquiry 727. SOFTWARE/GENERAL NEW INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT Al FOR THE IBM PC TOPSI IS A FULL VERSION OF OPS5 WHICH RUNS UNDER MS-DOS, UNIX OR CP/M. A FAST, EFFICIENT EXPERT SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT TOOL. prototyping: $125 production: $250 professional: $375 shipping, add $5 Dynamic Master Systems POB 566456. Atlanta, GA 30356 (404) 565-0771 Telex #282923 ESPANOL??? FREE!! If you have programs in SPANISH to sell, list them in the upcoming GUIA INTERNACIONAL DE MICROSOFTWARE EN ESPANOL to be distributed in 21 countries. Send name of program, description (150 words max.), hardware reqs., price and address to: MICROMUNDO INTERNATIONAL 249 Brand Blvd. Suite 387, Glendale, CA 91209 * We also translate software into Spanish MAPIT Make your own MAPS!! Simple to produce maps with your data. Includes most country and state outlines. Any printer or HP plotter. Only $95 for MS-DOS or PC-DOS US County Outlines available for $95. QSC Box 778, East Lansing, Ml 48823 (517) 641-4428 Inquiry 689. Inquiry 728. Inquiry 747. —SOFTWARE ORGANIZER— CYBER_CAT will catalog all those disksfor You. — FAST and EASY to use! -MENU SCREEN driven! —Catalogs Floppy and Hard disk Ro t & Sub-dir. — Prints neat attractive Diskette Labels. —Finds any file in seconds. . MS-DOS 2.0 2 DRV. $24.95 +5% tax in Florida. Visa/MC or Check. CYBER_WARE Corp. 4411 Bee Bidge Rd. Suite S251, Sarasota, FL 33583 1-800-237-8400 x86ln FL 1-800-282-1469 x86 US$6 . . . INCLUDING DISK Over 2,900 + software titles for IBM-PC, Apple II, Macintosh, Latest titles. Lots of hi-quality manuals. VOLUME DISCOUNTS. • IBM-PC Light Pen c/w software: $65 • 640K motherboard c/w full RAM: $200 • PC mouse compatible: $65 Lots of bargains, ram chips, etc. , . . Specify your computer type with $1 note for our air-mailed catalog to:- MICRO-WORLD, Dept BYTE Towner POB 310, Singapore 9132 REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE Tl PRO + TURBO + GRAPHICS UNLEASH YOUR Tl PRO WITH: TURBO 2.0 or 3 + TIGrafix. GRAPHICS, TURTLEGRAPHICS, MUSIC. SCREEN & CUR- SOR CONTROLS & more routines than IBM TURBO. Use BASIC PICS w/o reprog. Convert IBM code to Tl PRO. Source & doc included. TIGrafix $99.95, + TURBO $149.95, + turbo 8087 $179.95. switch to turbo now)!!! ProWare, Inc. 1023 SE 36th Ave., Portland, OR 97214 VISA/MC/CHECK 7AM-7PM MON-FRI (503) 233-4465 Inquiry 678. Inquiry 729. Inquiry 743. SOFTWARE/GRAPHICS MIcroGANTT® Control your project! You describe the work, MIcroGANTT calculates the schedule and budget. Op- timize the schedule interactively. Customize the reports. Sub-tasking, fixed and variable costs, multi-project resource allocation, unlimited size and scope. GANTT PERT, DOD-7000. Call or write for free catalog. Earth Data Corporation P.O. Box 13168, Richmond, VA 23225 (804) 231-0300 Inquiry 690. GRAPHICS PRINTER SUPPORT A T LAST! Use the PrtSc key to make quality scaled B&Wor color reproductions of your display on any dot matrix, Inkjet, or laser printer. GRAFPLUS sup- ports all versions of PC or MS-DOS with IBM, Tec- mar, and Hercules graphics boards. $59.95. Jewell Technologies, Inc. 4302 SW Alaska St., Suite 207, Seattle, WA 98116 (206) 937-1081 Inquiry 714. 3D INTERACTIVE GRAPHICS Imagine 2D and 3D graphics in real time atf $24.95. Keyboard support, construct images, create sound. Re- quired IBM PC/XT/AT/Compatibles, DOS 2.X, 3.X, CGA. Support 8087/80287. MS or IBM Fortran, Basic. Pascal. Demo S5 apply toward purchase. Please add $3 S/H. In TX add 6.125%. VISA/MC/CHECK/MO Fiitrex Research, Inc. P.O. Box 820425, Houston, Texas 77282-0425 (713) 556-5747 Inquiry 699. NOVEMBER 1986 •BYTE 411 The Buyer's Mart- SOFTWARE/GRAPHICS SOFTWARE/LANGUAGES SOFTWARE/SCIENTIFIC SCIENTIFIC GRAPHS SCI-GRAF produces high-res graphs (1680 x 1712 pixels) on Epson or IBM graphics printers. Supports log/linear scales, error bars, overlays, batch-mode opera- tion. Very flexible data entry from disk or keyboard. User customizable. Requires DOS 2 or 3. 256K. $99.95 (Sorry, no credit cards) Microcomputer Systems Consultants 32 West Anapamu, Suite 190, Santa Barbara, C A 93101 (805) 963-3412 SCREEN PROGRAM GENERATOR SPG I creates BASIC program code quickly and easily. Design your screen directly and SPG I will generate the BASIC pro- gram code to handle the display and input of data Controls use of color, editing, graphics, cursor movement and function keys. Generated code easy to modify I merge. IBM PC & compatibles 128K. $75 + $3.00 S&H(CA+tax) Treebeard Software 5901 Warner Avenue. Suite 428 Huntington Beach. CA 92649 (714) 840-6939 Affordable Engineering Software CALL OR WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG Circuit Analysis • Root Locus • Thermal Analysis • Plotter Drivers • Graphics • Signal Processing • Filter Design • Report Proof- reader • Transfer Function Analysis. BV Engineering 2200 Business Way Suite 207, Riverside, CA 92501 (714) 781-0252 VISA/MC Inquiry 725. Inquiry 773. Inquiry 669. PUBLIC DOMAIN -> PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE - 50 AMIGA DISKETTES - $8.50 each. 25 ATARI-ST DISKETTES— $8.50 each. 490 IBM DISKETTES - $4.25 each. 60 SANYO 550/555 DISKETTES — $4.25 each. SAMPLE DISKETTE & CATALOG: AMIGA or ATARI-ST $8 ppd. IBM or SANYO $5 ppd All prices include FREE SHIPPING! Visa/MC - No Extra Chargel 48 hr. Turnaround! Phone Orders Welcome! Quality Media Usedl Computer Solutions P.O. Box 354 - Dept. B, Mason, Michigan 48854 1-800-874-9375 (M-F 10-5 EST)1-51 7-628-2943 FORTRAN UTILITIES CROSS-REFERENCE UTILITY: Mainframe grade symbol x- ref listing for variables, subprogram calls and labels. Variable map shows type, length, alloc, scope, usage tag, etc. All FORTRAN 77 compilers. $49.95 + $2.50 S&H. UTILITY LIBRARY: Assembly language routines for screen, cursor, keyboard, time, sound, etc. MS/IBM and IBM Pro/RM FORTRAN compilers. $39.95 + $2.50 S&H. IBM PC with DOS 2.0 + . VISA/MC/MO/check (2 wks) PJN International P.O. Box 201363, Austin, TX 78720 (512) 258-1235 SCIENTIFIC/ENGINEERING SOFTWARE/HARDWARE Over 50 products from over 20 different manufacturers. To receive a catalog, send $1.00 for shipping and handling to: Scientific Computing P.O. Box 125, 8962 E. Hampden Ave. Denver, CO 80231 Inquiry 674. Inquiry 739. Inquiry 754. SOFTWARE A.I. EXPERT SYSTEM LANGUAGE If you can use a spreadsheet, you can use KNOWOL, the Knowledge Oriented Language, to guide people in solving problems. KNOWOL + (Complete) $99.95 KNOWOL (Introductory) $39.95 Intelligent Machine Company 1907 Red Oak Circle, New Port Richey, FL 33553 (813) 844-3262 68020 Motorola compatible macro Assembler Package features linker, object librarian, symbol report generator with cross reference. Produces S-records and ROMable code. For CP/M-68K, MS-DOS $750. Portable Source in C $3500. AVAILABLE NOW. Quelo, Inc. 2464 33rd Ave. W. Suite 173, Seattle, W A 98199 206/285-2528 telex 910-333-8171 DIGITAL SIGNAL ANALYSIS Fourier Perspective U w/graphics. FFT/IFT, convolution, deconvolution. Hanning. Power Spectrum, Cross Cor- relation, 25 more. Graphics 2D and 3D. 8087 recom- mended, not required. Easy to use menus. FP ll $395 or FP I (FFT w/graphics only) $149. Runs on PC, PC- XT. PC-AT. Alligator Transforms Scientific Software P.O. Box 11386, Costa Mesa, CA 92627 (714) 662-0660 Inquiry 709. Inquiry 746. SOFTWARE/LANGUAGES Minnesota 3 N O B O L4 Lanauaae Powerful string & data handling facilities. Interpreter com- patible with mainframe SNOBOL4. 32K strings, 32 bit in- tegers, 8087 for float & large memory model. Sample pgms include ELIZA. For >128K IBM PC & DOS or equivalent. Definitive "green" book by Griswold et al available. Guide +5V4" SSDD diskette $44.95 Guide + diskette + "green" book $59.95 "Green" book only $26.95 Postpaid in USA. In NY add tax. VISA/MC (914} 271-5855 BERSTIS INTERNATIONAL POB 441. Millwood. NY 10546 MACINTOSH DEVELOPERS Dramatically decrease developmenl time. Elegantly crafted compiled library routines for easy implementa- tion of Mac interface. Graphics scrolling and printing, text editing, zooming windows and much more! PASCAL EXTENDER" $89.95 C EXTENDER" $129.95 INVENTION SOFTWARE CORPORATION P.O. Box 3168, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 313-996-8108 forMath® text-formatter • Equations, matrices, ratios, integrals, diagrams • Macros, fonts. Greek/math symbols • Hyphenation, secn/eqn/ref numbering • Indexes, table of contents, footnotes • Dot-matrix, daisywheel, laser printers, all monitors $400. $50 for demo Shantha Software Inc. 50 West 97th St. Room 1 1 N, New York City 10025 (212) 222-SNIP Touchtone toll free: 950-1088-walt-FORMATH Inquiry 661. Inquiry 712. ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE Symbolic Profiler for Turbo Pascal Find out where your Turbo Pascal program is spending all its time. Only $49 plus S&H: $3 US/Canada, $7 Europe. KYDOR COMPUTER SYSTEMS 1701 Greenville Avenue, Suite 505 Richardson, Texas 75081 (214) 669-1888 FREE 8088 TUTOR Monitor Learn 8088 assembly language using the new book. IBM PC-8088 Assembly Language Programming, by Richard E. Haskell. Order the book for $25 plus $3 S/H and get the powerful TUTOR monitor software free. Load and examine any disk file, disassemble any 8088 code, debug EXE files. Satisfaction guaranteed. REHI Books 54 N. Adams, Suite 130-Y. Rochester Hills. Ml 48063 (313) 853-1941 COMPLEX + RESICALC + MATRIX * COMPLEX: Pop-Up Calculator for Complex Numbers, incl. Spec, func, FFT, Polynom Roots, Graphics, Full Progr Language $25 * RESICALC: Pop-Up Sci. Calculator S15 * MATRIX: LP, Regression, Sys of Eqns $60 * Free Shipping ?n U.S. for Cash or Check. SoftTech Inc. 1-313-544-8544 14640 LaBeffe, Oak Park, Ml 48237 Inquiry 716 Inquiry 749. Inquiry 759. SOFTWARE/SCIENTIFIC HYPER C COMPILERS/TOOLS Apple II ProDos Professional compiler, CDOS com- piler. ProDos entry level compiler, 65C02 Assembly Language Dev. System. Macintosh compiler, full source code for both Apple II and Macintosh pro- gramming tools. For further information/catalog contact: WSM GROUP, INC. (602) 298-7910 P.O. Box. 32005, TUCSON, AZ 85751 Inquiry 779. 412 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 ORDINARY/PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQN SOLVER FOR THE IBM PC 5 COMPATIBLES MICROCOMPATIBLES INC. 301 Prelude Dr., Silver Spring, MD 20901 (301) 593-0683 Inquiry 726 ► MATRIX 100 ■< Perform multiple regression, solve simultaneous equations, in- vert matrices, etc. in BASIC or Fortran. "... very sound numerically . . very powerful and very easy to use" — OR/MS Today 2/85. "Stanford BusinessSoftware deserves congratula- tions" — PC Mag. 5/14/85. Price $80. 8087 support $125: compiler support $250; Fortran library $175. ($4 s&h). STANFORD BUSINESS SOFTWARE, INC. 2672 Bayshore Parkway, Ste. 304 Mountain View, CA 94043 To Order Call (415) 424-9499 Inquiry 763. The Buyer's Mart- SOFTWARE/SCIENTIFIC CROSS ASSEMBLERS for VAX VMS and PC/MS DOS New Low Prices Relocatable Macro Cross Assemblers, Linkers, Librarians Targeted to almost all Microprocessors ENERTEC, INC. BOX 1312, Lansdale, PA 19446 215-362-0966 MC/VISA SOFTWARE/TOOLS METRICS FOR MANAGEMENT ANALYZE reads your code & produces metrics on VOLUME, COMPLEXITY, PRODUCTIVITY & more! Management, QA/QC & Engineers gain valuable insight to scheduling, problem areas, testing, maintenance & compliance to standards. For IBM PC. Process FORTRAN & "C" $495.00 + S/H. Add Ada for only $200.00 more! MCA/ISA Autometric Inc. 891 Elkfidge Landing Rd.. Suite 350. Lirrthicum. ME) 21090 ^ (301)859-4111 STATISTICS STATISTIX™ $75 - Satisfaction guaranteed A comprehensive, powerful, yet easy-to-use statistical analysis system for IBM PC/XT/AT's. Apple ll's, and MS DOS machines. Clear 200p manual. Write for information. NH Analytical Software 801 West Iowa Ave.. St Paul. MN 55117 (612) 488-4436 Inquiry 694. Inquiry 660. Inquiry 733. Digital Filter Tutor $375 Kalman Filter Tutor $850 Practical hands-on training courses that run on the IBM PC. Learn how to specify, design, tune, imple- ment, analyze, and test filters. FREE demo disk available. Engineering Tutorial Software 22338 Lull Street, Canoga Park, CA 91304 (818) 716-0816 MODULA-2 REPERTOIRE is the fastest selling M2 toolkit. New release includes DBMS, screen system, editor, & much more. $19 for all LNKs & SYMs; $89 with full (440K) source and 250p printed manual. MCA/ISA/AMEX/COD. Call for free demo & manual on disk. 4536 SE 50th, Portland, OR 97206 (503) 777-8844 (24 hrs); BIX: pml In Europe: + 47-6-97-00-40 PMI RATS! Version 2.0 RATS, the best selling Econometric software package, now includes daily and weekly data, a new easier to use 500 page manual, and many advanced features. Use RATS for time-series and cross-section regression, in- cluding OLS, ARIMA, VAR, logit, and probit. IBM PC or compatible. $200. MCA/ISA. Call for brochure. VAR Econometrics, Inc. P.O. Box 19334, Minneapolis, MN 55419-0334 (612) 822-9690 Inquiry 696. Inquiry 740. Inquiry 775. ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT ANALYSIS Has AC. DC, Transient and Fourier. Includes worst- case, Monte-Carlo, component sweeping. Macro models, transmission lines. Electronic Circuit Analysis $450. EC-Ace $95. Tatum Labs POB 698, Sandy Hook, CT 06482 (203) 264-3755 POWERFUL FILE MANAGEMENT I.D.T.'S FileManager® for people serious about their systems. No kid stuff— only powerful managing tools. File sort, copy, move, delete, search & change attributes. Undelete and clear files. _EDLIN enhancer & batch mode clean up and more. Menu driven. $34.95 (about V 3 Norton's) MC/VISA INTEGRATED DATA TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4775 Bunchberry Lane, Colorado Springs, CO 80917 ORDERS: 303-488-2583 The Statistician includes: Multiple Regression (Stepwise, ridge, all subsets, backward elimination) • Time series analysis • descriptive statistics • transformations • survey research • nonparametrics • X-Y plots • ANOVA • random samples • data base • data editor • search & sort • hypothesis tests For IBM, MS-DOS, XENIX, CPM, TRS-DOS. QUANT SYSTEMS tolTfree BOX 628, Charleston, SC 29402 1-800-334-0854 803-571-2825 (Ext. 814) Inquiry 769. Inquiry 708. Inquiry 745. SOFTWARE/SORT TRANSLATION/MACHINE OPT-TECH SORT/MERGE Extremely fast Sort/Merge/Select utility. Run as an MS-DOS command or CALL as a subroutine. Sup- ports most languages and filetypes including Btrieve and dBASE. Unlimited filesizes, multiple keys and much more! $149. (702) 588-3737 Opt-Tech Data Processing P.O. Box 678 - Zephyr Cove, NV 89448 STOP BURNING PROMS Burn n' Learn is out, . The BOW Simulator- is in. Plugs into your PC development system and simulates the 27xxx series ROMs. Features allow you to A(ssembly), U(nassembly) and E(nter) changes to code under dev. direct- ly in your system, trap and locate exeeution addresses. No nee to burn ROMs, code executes in RAM. The best low-cost dev. tool you will ever buy. Use with any microprocessor or microcontroller. Increase debug productivity 10 times or more DEBUG utilities avail, for all microprocessors. Pays for itself the first time you use it. Order now at only. $695.00. Protostar Instruments (714) 662-7910 749 Grayling Bay. Costa Mesa, CA 92626 The TurboTranslator Chinese < m > English. Eng/Pinyin in. Chinese/Eng/Pinyin out. Edit (char needs mouse)/export/import diet. 350+ chars hi qual, 6200+ (2.3Mb) lo. No copy prot. IBM/Herc/etc graph card. IBM-PC & compat, 256K, 2 floppies. Aust S85 ( + $10 overseas). AMEX/MC/Visa. Savage Software Box 81, East Caulfield 3145. Victoria, Australia Inquiry 734. Inquiry 744. Inquiry 781. SOFTWARE/SYSTEMS STATISTICS TYPSETTING CPM-80 LIVES on your PC CP/Mulator puts a 4mhz 8 bit CP/M emulator in your IBM- PC for $99. ($3 s+h). - A great 8 bit development system - Saves expensive CPM-80 applications - Increases PC speed 10% for 8QB8 programs - Priced less than most software only products - Uses no valuable board slots Source Information P.O. Box 2974, Warminster, PA 18974 VISA Phone (215) 441-8178 M/C NUMBER CRUNCHER STAT SYS Menu-driven. Multiple & stepwise regression. ANOVA. time series, discriminant cluster and factor analysis, principal components, scatter plots, histograms, t-tests, contingency tables, non- parametrics. Import export data. Spreadsheet, sort, join, merge. $79. IBM PC/Macintosh. Quantity discount. NCSS-B 865 East 400 North, Kaysville, UT 84037 801-546-0445 DESKTOP PUBLISHING Laser Printer composition software to drive Cordata L300 with 76 PS fnts $495. With add 14 PS Lndscp fonts $695. For Canon LBP-8 A2, NCR, or HP LaserJet+ with 41 PS Prt or Lndscp fnts $695. H & J, merge graphics, mix face & pt. size anywhere on any line, mult tab & col justification. Boxes & Rules. Micro Print-X, Inc. P.O. Box 581, Ballinger, TX 76821 (915) 365-2343 Inquiry 762. Inquiry 731. Inquiry 724. SOFTWARE/TOOLS UTILITIES PC-Type™ Fast, compact, capable & easy! Help panels, hands- on tutorial, macros, multiple-line headings & footings, DOS path support, print spooling, block operations, etc. ASCII files. Install program allows customization. $59.95 + $5 s/h. For 128K IBM PC. ButtonV/are, Inc. P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 1-800-J-BUTTON Inquiry 668. STATISTICS CATALOG! If you need statistics for IBM PC or Apple II, call us and let our technical advisors help you find the statistics programs you need. Write or call now to get a FREE catalog of statistics and quality control software. HUMAN SYSTEMS DYNAMICS 9010 Reseda Blvd., Ste. 222 Northridge, CA 91324 (800) 451-3030 (818) 993-8536 (CA) Inquiry 706. STILL RIVER SHELL Visual shell for PC/MS-DOS. Point & Shot Power. V1.33. Only $9 for shareware diskette. $35 manual & diskette. MC/Visa accepted. Bob Howard PO Box 57, Still River, MA 01467 617-456-3699 Inquiry 66a NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 413 The Buyer's Mart- UTILITIES MEDIA MASTER PLUS READ, WRITE, and FORMAT over 150 CP/M disks and run most CP/M-80 programs on your IBM PC! Two pro- gram package includes ZP/EM, a CP/M-80 emulator pro- gram that transforms your IBM PC into a 1-2 MHZ CP/M 2.2 computer. $59.95 + $3.00 S/H (CA 6%) Intersecting Concepts, Inc. 4573 Heatherglen Ct.. Ste. 10 Moorpark. CA 93021 (805) 529-5073 UTILITIES QUICKCACHE Intelligent disk I/O mgmt. subsystem for PC/MS-DOS 2. xx & 3.xx. Capable of making programs run up to 14 times faster. All parameters dynamically alterable. LIM memory supported. 40 KB min. re- quired. $49.95 + $5 s/h. VISA/MC. 30-day guarantee. P. R. GLASSEL and ASSOCIATES, INC. 30255 Fir Trail, Stacy, MN 55079 612-462-1337 UTILITIES PADLOCK/PADLOCK II DISKS PADLOCK furnishes the user with a method for providing protection against unauthorized duplication from DOS commands $99. PADLOCK II disks come preformatted with finger-print and serialization. PADLOCK II disks of- fer superior protection. Ask about our HARD DISK pro- tection with uninstall capability. MCA/ISA. Glenco Engineering 3920 Ridge Ave., Arlington Hts.. tL 60004 (312) 392-2492 Inquiry 711. Inqui y 735. Inquiry 703. SOURCE CODE LIBRARIAN A REVISION CONTROL SYSTEM TUB™ keeps ALL versions of your program in ONE compact library file, even with hundreds of revisions. • 5 times faster than SCCS • LAN compatible • Free public domain MAKE (with source) by L. Dyer MS/PC-DOS 2.x & 3.x. $99.95 + $3 S&H. VISA/MC BURTON SYSTEMS SOFTWARE POB 4156, Cary, NC 27511 (919) 469-3068 AutomeniT version 4.0 Create one menu system to run all your programs, batch files & DOS commands. "Insulates" novices; many options for power users. On-screen help, password protection, user- defined prompts. Written in assembler. 16K size. Over 8,000 satisfied users. Money back guarantee. $46 + $4 s/h. Chk/Visa/MC. Call or write for brochure. Magee Enterprises Dept. B13, 6577 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. Norcross. GA USA 30092-3796 404/446-6611 WARP-TEN or RAMback - 9.95 WARP-TEN is a programmable disk cache that speeds up your PC disk access's. RAMbak automates the sav- ing of new or changed RAM disk files to floppy disks and/or hard disk subdirectories. PC. XT. AT, com- patibles with 256K DOS 2.0 + . Introductory price is only 9.95 each. (MN Res. + 6%). Visa/MC/CHK Software Brewing Company P.O. Box 12094, St. Paul, MN 55112 612-636-2727 Inquiry 665. Inquiry 760, 7WHAT DOESN'T IT DO? Resides under any software, print multi-fonts to any dot matrix & daisy wheel (Epson, Toshiba, etc.), a pop iag 1 mem calculator, DOS services, printable calendar, date/time note pad. help pages, all user modifiable, 70Kb $60 and IBM PC. LCS (514) 279-5678 P.O. Box 956, Outremont, Quebec Canada, H2V 4R8 PAL FOR SIDEKICK! Personal Appointment Locator automatically shows coming appointments, searches your file, maintains to-do list, automatically repeats ap- pointments, examines multiple files. Resident alarm too! Only $49.95. Cheap at twice the Price! pAL S0FTWARE Ste. 12B 110 Green St., New York, NY 10012 212-334-9172 CONCURRENT DOS BACKUP BackPack™ runs like BACKUP/RESTORE and sup- ports DOS and CP/M media as well as users. Backs up and restores up to 1000K/min. on an AT and 360K/min. on an XT. Supports release 4.1 . Also available on CP/M-80 and CP/M plus. $150. Bright Light, Inc. 520 Fellowship Rd. 0C3O1, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054 (609) 778-0772 Inquiry 717. Inquiry 736. Inquiry 664. HANDS OFF THE PROGRAM™ - Locks Hard Disk. - Restricts Floppy Use. - Protects Subdirectories. - Normal Use of DOS Commands and Application Software. - IBM PC. XT, AT and True Compatibles. - DOS V2.0 and Higher. Hard Disk System. - Keep O her People HANDS OFF Your System - $89.95 VISA/MC/MO/CK SYSTEM CONSULTING, INC. 314 Canterbury Dr., Pittsburgh. PA 15238 (412) 963-1624 UNLOCK YOUR PRINTER'S POWER WITH THE P resident™ UNIVERSAL PRINTER INTERFACE Lets you use ALL the features built into ANY PRINTER through ANY PROGAM on IBM PC's or compat. Resi- dent program uses only 3k of memory. Pop-up Help. Recommended by Epson. Okidata. MicroPro, etc. CMB3 Technologies $99.00 P.O. Box 3061. Walnut Creek, CA 94598 (415) 930-0470 Attention Framework II Users StopNL is a memory resident utility that ensures the Gray Plus and Minus keys always are always recognized as "DOWNLEVEL" and "UPLEVEL" by Framework II, even when Numlock is on. StopNL is not copy protected, and costs only US $15.00. Stuart Huckin & Associates 6182 Golf Rd.. Agassiz. B.C., V0M 1A0 Canada (604) 796-9125 Inquiry 672. Inquiry 765. Advertise your computer products for as little as $375 in THE BUYER'S MART. For more information call Karen Burgess at BYTE 603-924-3754. 414 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 8MHz SUPER TURBO SYSTEMS SUN-ST MONO SYSTEM W¥IM Dealers and Computer Groups CALL FOR SPECIAL PRICE □ Two 360KB Disk Drives D 640K RAM D Hercules Compatible Mono Graphic Card (720x348) □ 12" High-Resolution TTL Mono Monitor D 135W Power Supply □ AT Style Keyboard □ 4 Layer 8MHz CPU Board D Keyboard Switchable to 4.77MHz □ Parallel Printer Port □ FCC Approved □ Fully Assembled & Tested D 1 Year Limited Warranty (Parts & Labor) SUN-EGA SYSTEM $1325 2 Disk Drives 135W Power Supply ! 640K RAM AT Style Keyboard EGA Card j (CGA+EGA+MDA) 14"R.G.B. EGA Monitor J (EGA+CGA) SUN-ST ***** COLOR *1*9* SYSTEM J 2 Disk Drives 135W Power Supply Color G Card 640 K RAM AT Style Keyboard 1 3" R.G.B. Color Monitor SPECIAL SALE!! ■ SUN-ST CPU (8MHz) $165 (4 Layers, Switchable to 4.77MHz) ■ Multi I/O Plus Card $95 (Serial, Parallel, Clock, Calendar, Game Port, RAM Disk, Spool) SUNTRONICS INC 1-800-421-5775 (orders only) 213-644-1140 STORE HOURS WON - FRI 1:00am ■ f»:l»pm SATURDtt lOiMWm - \ :00pm Dealer & OEM Inquiries Invited SUN-ST BASIC $46S\ 8MHz Turbo CPU 1 Disk Drive ■ 135W Power Supply ■ 256K RAM ■ AT Style Keyboard (Call for other configurations) SUN-286 4, oat SYSTEM ***** ■ AT Compatible 6&8MHz CPU ■ 640K RAM i 1.2MB FDD (% HT) ■ HDD/FDD Controller w/Cable | 200W Power Supply Keyboard 5151 Compatible • Assembled & Tested -EGA tJkAQ'*-' PACKAGE WQ^tW , EGA Card (EGA + CGA + MDA) w/250K Display Buffer, 14" R.G.B. EGA Monitor (640x350, 0,31mm Dot Pitch) CyTE CCNNECTICN INC. (714)778-6496 BOTTOM LINE PRICE DUSTERS! - "Who ycu senna call?** PERSONAL COMPUTERS VICTOR VPC II (IBM XT Comp.J, 640 K, 2 Drives. K.B., $ 875 VICTOR V286 (IBM AT Corn p.), 512 K, MS DOS 3.1, 1.2 MB Floppy, KB. .... $1 799 VICTOR V286 (IBM AT Com p.), all of the above with 20 MB HD $2275 IBM PC XT, W/640K, IBM 360 Floppy, IBM 20 MB HD, KB., Graphics Card, Monitor .... $2499 IBM PC AT #339, 512K, 1.2 Floppy, IBM 30MB HD $4385 IBM PC AT, W/512K.K.B..20MBHD... S31 50 IBM PROPRINTER XL... $ 599 COMPAQ PORTABLE II with 51 2K, 80286 Processor, Two 360 Floppies $2795 COMPAQ DESK PRO, with 640 K, Two 360 Floppies. Graphics Card & Monitor ... $1 895 COMPAQ DESK PRO & PORTABLE 286, with 640 K, 1.2 Floppy, 20 MB HD, Monitor $3895 For 86 MB. instead of 20 MB, add $ 995 AT & T 6300 PC, with 256K, KB., Two 360 Floppies, AT & T Graphics Card & Monitor, $1 795 AT & T 6300 Plus, with 512 K 1-2 Floppy, KB, Graphics Card & Monitor $3495 SPERRY PC-IT, with 640K, 1.2 MB Floppy, 40 MB HD, K.B $2999 CALCOMP 1 043 $7359 CALCOMP 1 044 $1 1 ,1 95 GOULD 6320 11x17 $1 647 HIDMP56 $4595 DMP51/52MP $4095 DMP40 $899 HP 7475 $1 659 HP 7580 $841 5 IO LINE 3700 $3895 ZETA 836CS $13,295 DIGITIZERS I! CALCOMP 12x12 ..$ 709 44 x 60 w/1 6 Cursor HITACHI 36 X 48 HITACHI TIGER 11 x11 $ 675 HITACHI TIGER 15 x 15..., Houston Ins. TG 1011 $ 549 HI TG 3036 (24 x 36) KURTA 12x12 $ 595 KURTA 12 x 17 SUMMAGRAPHICS 11x11....$ 475 18x12 , GRAPHIC CONTROLLERS & MONITORS HITACHI HM 3719 &BNW 15.. HITACHI 1455 S & STB EGA MICROVITEC 905CNQ & GRAPH PORT D Taxan 640 & Color 400L ... $1 030 Persyst BOB 1 8 & NEC 1401 . Galaxy 800 & Mitsubishi 6469 . . . $2995 Vertlcom CD-1 & M-1 6E . BMW 1 21 Adapter $1 950 Artist - Conographics 400 & Mitsubishi 3479 LP Mitsubishi 1 341 & Sigma 400 SPECIAL OF THE MONTH - CAD System, Sparry 640K, 40 MB HD, 80287 M.C. , BOB 1 6, NEC 1 Auto CAD, Summa Graphics, HI DMP40 SOFTWARE Accounting Package $ 495 AUTOCAD 2.5 $2050 T & W VERSACAD $2099 CADVANCE $1 950 ARMOR SYSTEM'S Excalibur & Plus Series CALL COMPUTER ASSOCIATE (IUS) A/R, A/P, G/L EACH $ 330 UNIVAIR'S Dental Management & Medical Manage me nt-9000 CALL CYMA Medical, Chiropractic, Orthodontic, Dental Package $1 625 Physician Micro Systems Package $1 850 Hotel Information Systems Package $2450 MICROCRAFT, BALCONE, UNIVAIR CALL IBM Doctor Officer Manager! I $2950 BLAZER LASER PRINTER CITOH LQ24 $ 899 D10-40 CITOH8510SP $ 399 C-10 CITIZEN MSP 15 $ 415 MSP 25 CITIZEN PREMIER 35 CANON LASER PRINTER . . . $2050 CORONA LASER . DIABLO 635 $ 9! DIABLO LASER EPSON FX85 $ 3! HEWLETT-PACKARD LASER JET HEWLETT-PACKARD 500 Plus... $ 950 INKJET4020D. $ 389 EPSON 286 JET $2250 HP Plus. NECP560 FUJITSU MAX 24. . FUJITSU DL 2400 OKIDATA193-.... TOSHIBA P321.... TOSHIBAP351..., $ 995 P760 $1 1 75 MAX 24 COLOR ,...$959 DM2400 ....$ 859 2200. $ 549 293....$ 599 OKIDATA293. ... $1 095 P341 .......... ^\....\... HARD DRIVES & BACK UP SYSTEMS BERNOULLI BOX 1 + 1 / 20 + 20 $1 595/$2095 SEAGATE 20MB $ 450 SEAGATE 4038 $ 695 SEAGATE 4051 $ 850 HARD CARD 20 MB $ 599 MAXTOR/M ICROPOLIS 85MB $1 550 TEAC 20 MB Tape B/U $ 595 ARCHIVE 60 M B Tape B/U $ 850 CALL FOR WHAT IS NOT LISTED, WE GUARANTEE THAT YOUR CALL WILL NOT BE A WASTE. LEASING AVAILABLE. {m7"* A "k aT~~W& l ^£>^ A Ch^T No charges fortesting and configuring equipment. Prices |,# I4J • # * |])4-cf V and availability subject to change without notice. 1C7 West Cerritcs Ave., Anaheim, CA 92SOJ Open 9 - 6 PST Inquiry 57 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 415 Inquiry 76 Oompu$ave Call Tol Free: 1-800-624-8949 A DIVISION OF ADLANKO CORPORATION MONITORS COMPUTERS Amdek310A ... 143 Amdek 730 . . 719 AT&T 6300: 512K/20M Drive 2099 NEC Multisynch . . 569 PGS HX12E . .499 Cordata 400: Port . & Desk/2 Drives . 1099 Roland RGB ... 289 PGS MAX12 .155 Cordata 400XT: Port. & Desk/20M . 1475 Samsung TTL ... 85 Taxan630 . . . 419 CordataAT: Portable/1 .2M Drive . . CALL Samsung Comp . . 72 Taxan 640 . . 485 Laser 128: Apple HE Compatible . . . 389 Teco 14" EGA . . . 439 Taxan 760 . . CALL Sharp PC7000: Portable/2 Drives . . .1119 Thorn 31311SI. . . 388 Wyse620 . . 385 Sperry IT: 512K/1.2M Drive 1965 Thorn 36382SI . . 369 Wyse640 . . . 539 Sperry IT: 1M/44M Hard Drive 2899 B&H Quintan 207RGB/832x 630 . . . CALL Sperry Micro IT CALL Mitsubishi 6920: 1971024x1024 . . . 1795 TeleCat286: 512K/20M Dr/Monitor . 2249 Wyse700: 157Mono/1280 x 800/Card . 715 Toshiba 1100 + & 3100 Portables . . CALL Aydin/Hitachi/Nanao/Sakata/Tatung . . CALL Wyse 1100: 256K/1 Drive . 665 MODEMS Wyse 1100: 256K/2 Drives . 755 Anchor Volksmodem 12 ......... . 119 Wyse286: 10 MHz/640K/1 .2M Drive 1795 Anchor Lightning i: 2400 W/Software . . 299 Wyse 286: 10 MHz/640K/20M Drive . 2149 Anchor Volksi: 1200 W/Software . . . . 119 Zenith 181 : Portable/512K/2 Drives , 1675 HayesSmartmodem 1200 . 368 Altos/NEC/Olivetti/Others . . . LOW PRICES Hayes 1200B: Half-Card W/Software . . 345 TERMINALS Incomm 2400: Upgradeable 4800 + . . 295 IBM 3161-11 ... 478 Altos III . 559 Prometheus Promodem 2400G . 335 Kimtron KT7 ... 435 Altos IV . . . 355 Prometheus Promodem 1200A: Apple .185 Liberty Freedom 1 . 379 Ampex 220 . 477 Racal-Vadic 2400V & PC . 389 Televideo905 ... 289 Qume202G . 446 UDS 208 AB: 4800 Baud . 935 Televideo955 . . 439 Wyse30 . , . . 289 US Robotics Courier 2400 . 378 Televideo 9220 . . 459 Wyse 50 . . . 369 Zoom 1200PC-XL: W/RAM & Software 229 Wyse60W/KB . . 469 Wyse85G . . . 435 AST/Codex/Novation/Ven-Tel CALL Adds/DEC/Hazeltine/Visual/Zenith . . . CALL DIGITIZERS Kurta 1:12x12.529 Hitachi 12 x 12 . 599 Kurta 1: 12 x 17 . 599 Summa11 x 11 . 449 Kurta 2: 12x12. 599 Summa12x 12 .369 Kurta 2: 12x17. 729 Summa12x 18 . 699 Kurta3:30x36.4615 Summa Mac 12 . 379 Houston Instruments: All Models . . . CALL PLOTTERS Amdek 100 ... 525 Roland 880 ... 925 Roland 101 ... 295 Roland 980 . . .1195 Roland 800 ... 375 Taxan 710S ... 695 Houston Instruments: All Models . . . CALL PRINTERS Citizen 120D . . 179 Canon A60 Citizen MSP10 . 275 Canon Laser 469 1935 Citizen MSP15 . 375 NEC P6 445 Citizen Premier . 469 NEC P7 609 Cordata Laser . 2159 NEC CP6 Panasonic 1091 .228 NECCP7 . . Panasonic 1092 . 299 Okidata 192 . Panasonic 1592 . 415 Okidata 192 + Panasonic 1595 . 565 Okidata 193 + Panasonic 3131 . 252 StarLV1210 Toshiba: All . CALL Star NX10 . Diconix: 150 cps/50 NLQ/Portable . Fujitsu 2100: Color/220 cps/Amiga Alps/Data Products/Diablo/Epson . Genicom/Juki/Tally/Televideo/TI . . Buffers/Cables/Sheet Feeders . . . Stands/Switch Boxes/Tractors . . . . 559 . 739 . 306 . 365 549 . 179 . 245 . 339 . 475 CALL CALL SAVE CALL BOARDS Artist I: Graphics/1024 x 768 1449 AST Rampage: PC-XT/256K 239 Hercules Monochrome Graphics 188 Orange Grappler + : Apple 69 OrchidTurboEGA 589 PC Monochrome Graphics Card ...... 85 Photon: Graphics/800 x 600 799 Sigma400L: Graphics 395 Taxan 560: Graphics CALL Tecmar EGA: Graphics 265 Wyse 440 EGA: Graphics 325 Intel/Microtek/Persyst/Quadram .... CALL Practical/Thesys/Video 7/Vutek .... CALL WE ALSO CARRY ALL MAJOR PRINTERS BOARDS. MODEMS. DRIVES. SOFTWARE CABLES. KEYBOARDS. POWER DEVICES DISK DRIVES Archive Scorpion: 60M Tape Backup , . 795 Gamma Drives: Apple Compatible .... 119 IOMEGA Single 20M Bernoulli W/IF .. 1745 IOMEGA Dual 20M Bernoulli + 80M . 4195 Seagate 20M Hard Drive W/Controller . 388 Seagate 30M Hard Drive W/Controller . 489 OTHER FLOPPY AND HARD DRIVES Alloy • CDC • Corvus • Irwin • Maynard Maxtor • Mitsubishi • Mountain* Sanyo Panasonic • Priam • Shugart • Tallgrass Tulin • Teac ■ Tecmar • Western Digital HOURS: MON - FRI 7AM - 6PM/ SAT 9AM - 2PM IN ARIZONA CALL (602) 437-4855 CompuSave: 4207 S. 37th St., Phoenix, A Z 85040/ For Customer Service Call (602) 437-4856 /Prices Reflect Cash Discounts And Are Subject To Change Without Notice/Minimum Shipping Charge $4 Purchase Orders ft Major Credit Cards Welcome SEAMLESS File Transfer Softerm PC provides a transparent Micro-to Mainframe link using Virtual disk drive specifiers accessible from any DOS application program. Memory resident. Transfers files in background using customizable communications scripts. Includes 32 exact terminal emulations. For IBM PC/XT/AT, DG, NEC, HP, Wang, TI, Gridcase, Tandy, Zenith $195- Visa, MC, COD Call 800-225-8590 orders/info. sannoM 7899 Lexington Dr., Ste 210 Colorado Springs, CO 80918 (303) 593-9540 Telex #450236 $99 HARD DISK CONTROLLER New Shugart Model 1610 5 1/4" Hard Disk Controllers EMULATES ^^^^— • XEBEC S1410 (1610-3) Full • DTC 510 (1610-1) 90 day • SCSI (1610-4) Guarantee WORKS WITH ^^^^™ • Micromint COM 180, SB180 • Wavemat Bullet ^^^^^^" • AMPRO All Boards Manual • Macintosh and • Apple lie Schematic • ACS 1000 Only $8 • ISI5160 ^^^^^ COMPUTER SURPLUS STORE 226 Phelan Avenue San Jose, CA 95112 408-280-1740 PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE isn't copyrighted. Thousands of useful programs available for most computers from user group libraries. User Group Libraries Rent Buy IBM PC Blue 220 Disks $230 $450 Capitol-IBM 45 Disks 50 100 Sanyo UG MSDOS B0 Disks B5 165 Authors Showcase (IBM) 35 Disks 40 100 Amiga 75 Disks B0 250 Atari ST 35 Disks 40 125 Macintosh B5 Disks 90 275 CP M UG 92 Disks 45 200 SIG M UG 290 Disks 1B5 350 CBM 64 Gold 100 Disks 50 100 Apple DOS 120 Disks 65 200 Rental is lor 7 days with 3 days grace for return. Use yourcredit card, no deposit! Call lor tree catalog or send Disk lor free Directory ot programs. P.D. SIG. INC. Master 2400 Santa Rita VISA Card Las Vegas. Nevada 89109 (702) 732-0169 Inquiry 307 Inquiry 84 Inquiry 228 416 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 FORTRON CORPORATION 3225 SELDON CT., FREMONT, CA 94538 IN CALIF (415) 490-8171 TLX 559291 FO FAX (415) 490-9156 ORDER TOLL FREE: (800) 821-9771 We are honest, responsible and happy to help our customers 150W PC/XT $119.00 FORTRON Presents: THE DEPENDABLE ONES! Quality power your computer can live with. No other power supply can match all of these features. • U.L. recognized • Meets FCC Class B requirement • With shielded power cord • U.S. made connectors provide better connection to drives and CPU board • Low noise DC fan • OVP, OCR short circuit protection • Direct replacement for your PC, XT or AT power supply 100% 24 hr. burn-in and preshipment test. One full year warranty. FC5192 200W PC/AT $179.00 IBM® PC, XT, AT, Add-On Card CPU Mother Board Hayes® Compatible Modems • Mono /Graphics/ Printer • Color Graphics Adaptor » Hercules® compatible • IBM® compatible | • Runs Lotus 1. 2, 3 Auto CAD. etc. I FC550 Mono Graphics $99.00 FC520 Color Graphics $95.00 XT Multi-l/0, with Floppy Controller > 1 Serial (2nd optional) | • 1 Parallel port ' 1 Game port < Floppy controller I FC740 .$99.00 w/o Floppy controller. .$89.00 Memory Expansion Cards FC840 $59.00 640K Memory Expansion FC850 $179.00 2MB Memory Expansion (EMS) (OK on board) PC AT Muitl-l/0 ^ • 1 Serial (2nd optional) • 1 Parallel • 1 Game port FC1932 $109.00 Real Time Clock /RS232 • Battery Back-Up • To 9600 Baud • Software Included • With RS232 Port FC940 $59.00 (Clock only) $49.00 Floppy /Hard Disk Controller • Floppy controller w/cable $59.00 •WX-2(W.D.) PC/XT hard disk controller $135.00 • WA-2 (W.D.) PC/AT floppy /hard disk controller $260.00 Turbo XT $149.00 • IBM® compatible •4.7-8 MHZ switchable • Legal Bios, runs all major software • 8 slots • Optional 8087 co-processor • Expandable to 640K memory PC/AT Compatible $599.00 W0 • IBM® AT compatible • 80286 CPU • 6-8 MHZ clock speed • Optional 80287 co-processor • Expand, to 1024K memory • 8 slots • Legal Bios, runs all major software Monitor Monochrome (TTL) • Samsung 1254G $ 85.00 •Tatung 1222A $109.00 I • Taxan 122 $159.00 RGB Color •Taxan620 $399.00 • Taxan630 $439.00 • Taxan 640 $495.00 • Tatung 1360 $335.00 | EGA • Taxan 760 $469.00 • Tatung 1380F $449.00 » Casper $439.00 Disk Drives & Tape Back-Up Floppy Disk Drives • Teac55BV $ 95.00 • Teac55GFV 1.2MB. $139.00 • JVC MDP-200 $ 90.00 • Fujitsu M2551A....S 90.00 Seagate Hard Disk Drives • 10MB. 65ms $295.00 • 20MB. 65ms $315.00 • 20MB. 39ms $550.00 •30MB. 39ms $625.00 • 40MB. 39ms $745.00 Tape Back-Up • 20MB $579.00/ $749.00 (Int. /Ext.) • 60MB $799.00/ $795.00 (Int. /Ext.) *20 MB Hard Disk Drive (w/ controller & cable) $389.00 PC, XT Expansion Chassis Provides Extra Expansion Slots for Your PC, XT less than 50tt of the prices of IBM? Tecmar* Alloy" exp. chassis. Drive Chassis k*^^gi 1610 . FC640 $399.00 • w/5 slot bus board • 100 W power supply • Space tor 3 drives FC650 $399.00 • w /8 slot bus board • 150 W power supply • Space for 4 drives FC660 $439.00 • w / 1 2 slot bus board • 100 W power supply • Space for 2 drives 'System interlace Adaptor Included FC610 $129.00 • Built-in power supply, fan • Space for 2 drives U.P.S. $279.00 When the AC power fails, it keeps your PC working flBtf Internal • 300/1200 Baud $109.00 • 2400 Baud $269.00 External • 1200 Baud $149.00 •2400 Baud $365.00 EGA Card & Monitor EGA Card $219.00 • IBM® EGA, CGA, MDA compatible • 256K Display memory EGA Monitor $449.00 • 640 (H)x350(V) Resolution • 0.31mm Dot pitch COMBO PRICE $619.00 Printers •TTXpressBO $ 89 (40cps, thermo. DC/AC op.) • C.itoh (Riteman Pius) .$219 (120cps, dot matrix. NLQ) • Riteman II $339 (160cps, dot matrix, NLQ) • Riteman 15 $479 (160cps, 15" wide carriage) •Citizen Premiers 35... $479 (35cps daisywheel) Panasonlcs • KX-P1080 $219 (100cps, dot matrix, NLQ) • KX-1091 (120cps) . . . .$249 • KX-1092 (180cps) . (33cps NLQ) • KX-1592 (180cps) (38cps NLQ) • KX-1595 (240cps) (51cps NLQ) •KX-P3131 $295 (17cps daisywheel) •KX-P3151 $449 (22cps LQ parallel) .$375 .$499 .$629 Cabinet & Keyboard PC/XT FC630A2 $79.00 PC/XT FC6301 $79.00 PC/AT FC620 $99.00 PC/AT FC6201 $109.00 5151 Type PC/AT FC437 $95.00 AT Type PC, XT/AT FC447 $99.00 i\ Enhanced AT PC, XT/ AT FC467 $125.00 Huge inventory, Dealers and System Integrators please call for profitable discount prices. IT'S A FACT! SOME PC USERS ARE SNOBS! OVER 600 PIECES OF IBM-PC COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE JUST S6.00ADISK! OVER 500 DISKS FULL OF PUBLIC DOMAIN AND USER SUPPORTED PROGRAMS LONEiHSEAR WARE Some PC users are snobs! I n this day of Young Upwardly Mobile Pro- fessionals, some people won't even try our great software because of thestatus stigmas attached to it. Why, you ask? Because of some of the same statussymbols that make some people want to drive BMW's and wear genuine ROLEX watches. *' After all," they reason, "what if some one from the office saw me using a $6.00 software program instead of the latest version of Star-Word-D- Perfect-Plus? I might loose my keys to the executive wash room or something. " We're sorry if you have fallen into this sta- tus trap. The truth is our modestly priced software is some of the bestand most sophis- ticated you can buy anywhere at any price. Would it makeyoul eel better if we increased our prices 50 times and added a fancy copy protection scheme? Think big! Dare to be different! Why not just tell the other YUPPIE'S at the office that you're buying an ounce of gold with the dif- ference you're saving. You may start a new trend, and mayevencornerthe gold market at the same time! Still not convinced? Well, here is just a sample of our ever growing library by cate- gory: APPLICATIONS GENEALOGY ON DISPLAY (#90) GENEALOGY - FT(#240) From Pine Cone software. LABELMAKER (#146) Our favorite label file and maker. Menu driven. FAMILY HISTORY (#361) Family history, ancestor and decendant charts. Sample programs. FORM LETTERS (#388) LOTS of samples of the most commonly used business letters. Modify! PC-SPRINT (#507) Detailed instruction on how to double your computer's speed for less than $50.00. MSDOS-CPM/80 INTERFACE (#561) CPM lovers! This program allows you to transfer information between and emulate CPM and MSDOS. NAME GRAM/BREAK DOWN/FOREWARD (#477) Discover the words inherent in your phone number, do great anagrams. THE WORD DIGITIZED (#494,495,496) A carto- grapher's dream. Locate and display over 100,000 locations. 100 LETTERS (#300) Most commonly used form let- ters, and business applications at your fingertips. COMMUNICATIONS QMODEM (#310) Without a doubt the fastest and bestcommunications software you can buy at any price. PC-TALK (#16) The classic "Freeware" communica- tion program. RBBS (#212) Become a SYSOP and start a bulletin board. FIDO NET (#333) Bulletin Board System. Perhaps the easiest to run. PROCOMM (#499) Communication software that makes a hacker's dream come true. DATABASE VCR dBASE (#493) Keep track of those favorite VCR tapes that you nevercan seem to find when you want them. DATABASE PROGRAMS PC-FILE (#5) Perhaps the granddaddy of user sup- ported database programs from Jim Button. NEWBASE (#238) Menu driven database for the beginner. PC-DBMS (#383) A relational database manage- ment system that provides on-line help and screen editing functions. CREATOR (#339) Create, report and sort makes this a super database management system. MAIL MASTER (#481) Easily sort, index, and list your multiple mailing data bases. EDUCATION EQUATOR (#249) A teaching tool for math, science and finance. PC-TUTORIAL (#403) A first course in computer usage covering various aspects of MS-DOS. Good! PC-PROFESSOR (#105) Learn Basic the easy way. One of the best tutorials on BASIC. PC-DOS HELP (#254) Type "help" for the DOS command you forgot. PC PROMPT (#558) Fascinating on line memory resident DOS helper that also supports BASICA, EDLIN, DEBUG, and TURBO PASCAL. PC-SPRINT (#507) Tutorial on how to triple your PC's speed. FINANCIAL PC-CHECK MANAGER (#275) Keeps multiple checkbooks in balance. TAX FILE DBS (#295) Tax record keeping system that saves you money on April 15. PORTSWORTH PACKAGE (#101) Evaluates your ever-changing stock portfolios. PC-GENERAL LEDGER (#237) An exceptional accountingsystem.Used by some CPA's. LOAN AMORTIZATION (#399) For output to screen or printer. Lots of on-line help. MR. BILL (#469,470) Prepare invoices, client report, audit trail, etc. ANALYTIC CALC (#430-432) 3 disk set. Complete spreadsheet, database, graphics, word processor - fassst! PC ACCOUNTING SYSTEM (#559. 560) General purpose ledger system that includes payroll, depre- ciation, accounts receivable/payable, inventory, processing 1099's and a good general ledger, PC-PAYROLL (#565) Handle all payroll problems with this complete menu-driven payroll system. Includes taxs, reports, forms, etc. SALESEYE (#501, 502) Never let another prospect or lead get away! Prints memos and letters as well. GAMES TOP GAMES (#274) The most requested arcade type games. ARCADE GAMES (#293) Another goodie bag of top arcade games. PC JR GAMES (#354) Games that will work only on PC JR. Combat, Dungeons and Dragons, Global ThermonuclearWar. MISCGAMES(#390) Good selection of educational, adventure, and arcade games. PINBALL RALLY (#557) You asked for it! Here are three pinball games that vary in complexity, PIN- BALL, RAIN, TWILZON2. DND (#567) Dungeons and Dragons, this uses text characters instead of graphics. REFLEX POINT (#487) Self styled action game sim- ilar to ROBOTECH cartoon series. GRAPHICS PC-KEY DRAW (#344-345) A small CAD system. Lots of demonstration files. PC-PICTURE GRAPHICS (#136) Drawing package allows you to zoom, color, and store pictures. PC-GRAPH (#418) Allows user to create graphics from PC— File report files. PRESENT (#471) Professional slide shows are a snap with the advanced graphic features of this pro- gram. Includes a screen "capture". LANGUAGE CHASM (#10) Cheap assembler with tutorial. XLISP (#148) Lisp language interpreter. PROLOG & UNIFORTH (#417) Complete with editor and documentation. ESIE (#398) Build and generate an expert system in a flash. P-BAS1C (#381) BASICA work-a-likeforclones, etc. TINY PASCAL COMPILER BUILDER (#540) Learn to create your own Pascal Compiler and language compiler/savings and investment portfolio. User friendly! SCREENCODE (#503) Build your screen applica- tions and watch SCREENCODE generate the code for DBASE II and III, BASIC, and more. VISIBLE PASCAL COMPILER (#510) Watch your program step through its routines as you learn to program it in PASCAL. EXTENDED BATCH LANGUAGE (#124) Makes the PC do menial tasks you never thought possible. MATH AND STATISTICS EPISTAT (#88) Statistical analysis of small to medium-signed data samples. STAT-TOOLS (#509) (1 of 2) Do single size experi- ments, studentized ranges, calculate the size of spe- cific sample sizes. STAT-TOOLS (#509) (2 of 2) Do calculations that require the entry of original observations, exact ran- domization tests, mean squares, etc. MUSIC PC-MUSICIAN (#127) Compose music on your PC, save and play again. PIANO MAN (#279) Play your keyboard like a piano. PRINTER UTILITIES SIDEWAYS (#265, 411) Prints text sideways on an Epson printer. SETPRTR (#79) Sets up Epson printer from a menu. PRINTER UTILITIES (#411) Smorgasboard of utili- ties and tools. EPSON PRINTER UTILITIES (#326) Spool, set up routines all designed for Epson codes. BANNER (#386) Make long banners with large let- ters. Includes MS-FORTRAN source codes. WSMMX80 (#526) Allows Word Star to print more ways than you imagined on an Epson/Compatible printer. Useful for mathematical and scientific notation. SPREADSHEET TEMPLATES PC-CALC (#199) Fabulous 123 work-a-like from the author of PC-File. LOTUS 1-2-3 TEMPLATES AND MACROS (#406. 414) Why spend hours writing your macros when these are ready made? Modify them yourself. TEXT PROCESSING TOOLS WORDSTAR AIDS (#375) Collection of the most useful utilities for the Wordstar user. PC OUTLINE (#414) Create and collapse and out- line. Great for plans, essays, etc. PC-STYLE (#505) Better than your high school Eng- lish teacher! Analyzes your writing ability. POLYGLOT & LETTERFALL (#542) Two educa- tional programs to match sentences, words, and definitions, Q&S's. Typing tutor is great! SIDE WRITER (#523) Print your text tiles sideways. Allows the 132 column barrier to be broken. Great for large spread sheets. UTILITIES GiNACO (#66) Polished routines written in basic for any beginner or expert. We love it! ULTRA-UTILITIES (#133. 245) Recover lost files, modify sectors, etc. Like Nortons. SYSMENU (#250) Build a menu driven menu sys- tem. Excellent for hard disks. PC-DESKMATES (#405) Better than Sidekick and all of the rest of the memory resident desktop utilities. ALIGN (#217) Disk Alignment tool. TOP UTILITIES (#273) All of the most requested utilities on one disk. NUMZ AP (#284) Removes line numbersf rom BASIC programs. UNPROTECT (#414) Various routines to disconnect protection schemes. PATCHES (#376) Make back up copies of some of the most popular commercial programs with this collection. DOSMATIC (#498) Fabulous task-switching and menuing utility that allows several. PC-TOOLS (#536) Lots of useful utilities with both EXE and "C" source code. BROWSE, DUMP, MERGE, WORDCOUNT.ROFF, GREP, etc. DBS-KAT (#537) Diskette cataloging system for archival purposes. Database can hold up to 9,999 diskettes and 16,000,000 files. STILL RIVER SHELL (#481) An enhancement of the PC-DOS working environment. Fasterand uses Key Commands, PC-PROMPT (#558) The on-line mode makes this memory resident utility tops. Great for beginners and advanced users alike. WORD PROCESSING PC-WRITE (#78) Our most popular full featured word processor that is actually faster than Wordstar. DICTIONARY (#378) Dictionary type spelling checker. PC TYPE (#455) Jim Button's contribution to a full fledged word processor. NEW YORK WORD (#528, 529) Powerful word pro- cessor that creates keystroke macros, split screen editing, mail merge and more. Watch out Micro-Soft! Inquiry 1 89 '~l ORDER FORM LONE STAR SOFTWARE, INC. 2100 Hwy. 360, Suite 1204, Grand Prairie, Texas 75050, (214) 647-1010 TOTAL # x $6 = *$6 = No COD's or Purchase Orders U.S. Funds Only Foreign Orders add $5.00 to all Shipping/Handling We Warranty All Disks Against Defects In Duplication DISK DIRECTORY (Explanation of all files & programs) OTHER I | SHIP TO: I CHARGE MY: SUBTOTAL TEXAS RESIDENTS ADD 6Vfe% TAX SHIPPING AND HANDLING (1 @ $1.00 and 50ower Control 110/220 AC by your IBM-PC The boards allow you to Con- trol/Monitor high voltage AC/DC power lines with your IBM-PC/ XT/AT or compatible while pro- viding optical isolation. ® QUA TECH, INC. 478 E. Exchange St. Akron OH 44304 (216M3^15^TU(^101012726 Inquiry 272 RS-422 Communications Board •For IBM-PC/AT/XT and compatibles •Dual RS-422/RS-485 interface •Differential drivers to 4000 ft. Fast Delivery QUA TECH, INC. 478 E. Exchange St. Akron OH 44304 (216) 434-3154 TLX: 5101012726 ® Inquiry 274 MODULAR DATA ACQUISITION • For IBM & Compatibles • Flexible and Inexpensive • Money Back Guarantee • Free Technical Support Fast Delivery QUA TECH, INC. 478 E. Exchange St. Akron OH 44304 (216) 4343154 TLX: 5101012726 O Communications Board For IBM-PC/XT/AT & comp. Dual RS-232C interface Optional software supports COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4 Jumper selectable interrupts Fast Delivery ® QUA TECH, INC. 478 E. Exchange St. Akron OH 44304 (216)434-3154 TLX: 5101012726 Inquiry 273 72 Digital I/O PXB-721 Parallel Expansion Board • For IBM-PC & Compatibles • 72 Digital I/O Lines • Simple Programming • Uses One Expansion Slot • Fast Delivery $195 tj/QUA TECH, INC. 478 E. Exchange St. Akron OH 44304 (216) 434-3154 TLX: 5101012726 Inquiry 275 WAVEFORM SYNTHESIZER For IBM-PC/XT/AT and compatibles Generates user-definable signal Up to 2000 points per envelope $795.00 QUA TECH, INC. 478 E. Exchange St. Akron OH 44304 (216) 434-3154 TLX: 5101012726 O Inquiry 67 PCs & PERIPHERALS QUANTITY BUYERS ONLY Inquiry 276 Inquiry 277 TURBO XT CLONE 64K expandable to 640K, 135 watts P/S, keyboard FDC, 360 K disk drive fully burned & tested. S> J5J 5j . UU (3 Units Minimum) AT CLONE 10/6 MHz swit- chable, 80286 CPU, 1 MB board U.S. made, 200 watts P/S, AT style keyboard, burned & tested. S> W y y . U U (2 Units Minimum) 2400 Baud Modem $189.00 (oty. only) 1200 Baud Modem $ 85.00 (oty. only) 360 KB Floppy Drive .... $ 67.00 (oty. only) Color Graphics Card ... $ 49.00 (ot y . only) Printer Cable $ 3.59 (oty.oniy) XT Hard Disk Cable Set $ 2.99 (oty. only) 20 MB Hard Disk Sub- System $359.00 (Qty. Only) All of above prices are CO. D. cash only. Prices and availability subject to change without notice. (clone factor 7- (415) 656-5404 (213) 477-0447 (714) 731-5727 TWX: 5106003265 NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 419 Inquiry 78 Discover The Difference ... 2 FOR 1 LIFETIME WARRANTY * Performance exceeds AN SI specifications by 62.5% * Each diskette 100°a tested and certified error free * 65% clipping level * Over 10 million passes per track * Rein/breed Hubs * Tyvek* (not paper) sleeves * W/P tabs and ID labels .38 1.19 5V«" - 48 TPI DS-HD 96 TPI DS-DD IBM-AT Compatible Simply top Brand-Name Quality, made in the USA by a leading manufacturer. Fac- tory polybagged in lots of 25. — _ R) America's IiCenTecIi p : e ™T? u ?, uty Color Diskettes * TIMELESS WARRANTY * Performance exceeds A JV.S J. specifications by 88% * Eachdisk 100% tested and certified \* 14 COLORS Jot data organization \f Pkgs. of 10, tyvek sleeves, w/p tabs, and ID labels SS DD QTY - 10 BOXE S OR ^ A 100 DISKETTES .74 5V« Color, BOXED, 48 TPI 1.39 3.5 Color, BOXED .04 5V4" Color, BULK, 48 TPI 1.3U 3.5 "Color, BULK High Density, Color, 1.6mb, IBM ATCompatible ^Includes Tyvek sleeves, w p tabs, ID labels "** I Call tor excellent prices on otherCenTech products .98 1.95 .88 1.92 1.95 * LIFETIME WARRANTY u* High quality and consistently reliable V More rigidjackets than ever before SS-DD QTY. 5 BOXES DS-DD .74 5.25, 48 TPI 99 1.35 3.5, 135 TPI 1.90 DS-HD 96 TPI, IBM AT Compatible 1 .95 Call for best 3M prices on head cleaning and data cartridges. Affordable Quality Nashua" tt" } t* 1 Best Prices Ever! i' LIFETIME WARRANTY v Factory Fresh in BOXES o/ JO with sleeves, w/p tab. ID labels SS-DD QTY. 10 BOXES DS-DD .61 5.25,48TPI,boxof10 .65 1.25 3.5, 135 TPI 1.89 High Density, IBM PC-AT Compatible 1.85 BULK SPECIAL OF THE MONTH Made in U.SA. \S LIFETIME WARRANTY \* Exceeds ANSI specifications f Includes Tyvek sleeps and i y Hub Rings is 100% tested and certiOed »/p tab 5 1 /4 DS-DD MULTIPLES OF 100 35$ ORDERING INFORMATION TERMS: Free use of VISA. Mastercard, and American Express. P.O. orders accepted from recognized corporations rated 3 A2 or better, government and schools on net30. SHIP- PING: Add $3.00 per 100 diskettes or fraction thereof, add $5.00 for COD orders. PRICE PROMISE: We will betterany lower delivered price on the same products and quantities advertised nationally. Toll Free Order Line: Information Line 1-800-233-2477 1-801-561-0092 199 Cottage Avenue OmDUtPr SaltLakeCity.Utah84070 _5l -H ■, ' HnurcrflamtnSnm Iffairs, inc. Hours: 8amto5pm 420 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 TURBO PASCAL PROGRAMMERS Software Tools for Engineers and Scientists IPC-TP-006 ($74.95) - General Science and Engineering Tools - Over 1 00 of the most needed routines for use in Engineering and Science. Includes statistics, regression, engineering graphics (Hercules compatible), Fourier analysis, solution of equations, real and complex niath, RS-232 support and much more. All source code provided. IPC-TP-008 ($99.95) - MetraByte Data Acquisition Tools - Turbo Pascalsupport for the Metrabyte Dash-8, Dash-16, DDA-06, CTM-05, PIO-12, EXP- 16 and DAC-02 data acquisition boards. Procedures are also provided for real-time graphics, PID control, thermocouple linearization and FFFs. Menu-driven programs allow you to start collecting data immediately with no programming. All source provided. IPC-TP-017 ($74.95) - DOS, BIOS and MS Mouse Tools - Eveiy DOS and BIOS routine supported in DOS 3.1 has been implemented (over 170 routines in all) in this package. Read/Write/Format disks, access the real time clock, install interrupts, check the status of the a printer - all from within your program. Special Bonus: Microsoft Mouse Tools now included. To order: Call (617) 444-7721 or write Quinn-Curtis, 49 Highland Ave., Needham, MA 02194. Mastercard, Visa, Company PO's, Personal checks, and COD orders accepted. Add $5 to prices above for shipping outside of North America. inquiry 280 BAR CODES MADE EASY PERCON® E-Z-READER™ NO SOFTWARE CHANGES with PC/ XT/AT. AT&T 6300/7300. TeleVideo 905/ 955 keyboard, multi-user RS 232 inter- faces • Auto-recognition of codes • Free phone support • 2 year warranty • Bar code printing software available. Details or questions? Call us. 2 1 90 W. 1 1 th Ave. - @ Eugene, OR 97402 503/344-1189 HELP IS HERE ! ! ! Quit wearing out the pages of your software manuals! Mainframe and Mini users quit years ago. Now they use on-line HELP — so why not step up and see what you've been missing? With microHELP you can have on-line access to the description and syntax for all your DOS com- mands and special programs. Novice DOS users find it a real aid in becoming familiar with DOS commands. Expertsenjoy the increased produc- tivity of having command information on-line. • DOS 2.x and 3.x libraries supplied. • Disk space requirements reduced using Huffman compression algorithm. • A utility for adding newsubjectstothe library or for generating new libraries is provided. • Complete source code to the access routines enable userstowriteprogramsthatcan access any library generated by mircoHELP. Great for program messages. • Requires MSDOS or PCDOS 2.1 or later and 256k memory. Hard disk desirable but not required. ONLY $60.00 Checks and COD VITAL SYSTEMS P.O. Box 61738 • Palm Bay, FL 32906 (305)723-1808 TRADEMARKS: mircoHELP (VITAL SYSTEMS), PCDOS (IBM), MSDOS (MICROSOFT). B4K" 128K"256K DRAMS E P [R © M S 80287-1 ■ 80287-8 ■ 80287-3 8087-3 ■ 8087-2 ■ 8087-1 4416 ■ 4464 V-20 ■ V-30 BITTN6R aecTRONics (714) 497-6200 CALL NOW FOR FREE CATALOG Inquiry 44 Source Management fromS.C.E. ^^= The Seidl Make Utility is a power- ful product generation utility. When changes are made to source files, SMK executes the minimum set of commands needed to rebuild the product. SMK is loaded with features and performance you won't find in other Makes. $99.95 The Seidl Version Manager is a set of tools and a full-screen, menu driven shell, that together form a state-of-the-art version control system. SVM maintains a complete revision history, speeds the edit-compile-test cycle, reconstructs pro- duct versions automatically, and much more. $299.95 Only $379.00 w/ SMK. Dealer Inquires Invited. M/C, VISA, C.O.D., accepted. SEIDL COMPUTER ENGINEERING 3 106 Hilltop Drive, Ann Arbor, Ml 48103 (313) 662-8086 Inquiry 298 Row Charting II™ FAST. SIMPLE. SPECIFIC. Now build, update and print process flow and organizational charts easily, confidently. • Readjust chart Immedi- ately after addition or deletion • Travel quickly across a 120 or 200-column screen • Move a single character or half a chait - instantfy. Present the b\je, cunent picture. Use Flow Charting II on your IBM®PC compatible system. General ^tors. Bechtel, Touche Ross, Fairchild and 500 other major OS corporations use it I 1-800/672-3470, ext. 897 Calif. 1-800/538-8157 ext 897 national 408/629-5044 International PATT0N & PATT0N 340 Lassenpark Circle San Jose, CA 95136 IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machine Corp. Inquiry 364 Inquiry 250 NEW LOW PRICES ! NEW LOW PRICES ! 74LS00 COMPUTER PRODUCTS. Inc. ORDER TOLL FREE (800) 538-8800 (CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS) " (800) 848-8008 I MasterCard h fl ~" ^M Wv STATIC DYNAMIC 2114L 200ns .99 4116 200ns .35 2016 200ns .99 4116 150ns .45 2016 150ns 1.35 4164 200ns .85 HM6116 P 150ns 1.35 4164 150ns .95 HM6116LP 150ns 145 41128 150ns 4.95 Z-6132 300ns 19.89 41256 150ns 2.89 HM6164 P 150ns 3.35 41256 120ns 3.89 HM6164LP 150ns 3.45 4416 150ns 3.95 HM6164LP 100ns 12.45 4464 150ns 6.95 EPROMS 2516 450ns 2532 350ns 2708 450ns 2716-5 490ns 2716 450ns 2716-1 350ns 2732 450ns 2732 A-2 200ns 2.95 3.75 2.95 1.29 1.89 235 1.89 389 2732 A 250ns 2 49 2764 450ns 1.89 2764 250ns 2.39 27128 250ns 2.69 27256 250ns 6.99 27512 250ns 29.99 MC68764 450ns 15.99 MC68766 350ns 16.99 8088/8086 Up Grade V-20 5Mhz 9.95 V-20 8Mhz 12.95 V-30 8Mhz 18.95 DP-25 Solder Cup Male, Female, Hoods 99$ ea. UV ERASERS QUV-T8/1 $49.95 ECONOMY Model 74LS100 .14 74LS01 .14 74LS02 74LS03 74LS04 74LS05 74LS08 74LS09 74LS10 74LS11 74LS12 74LS13 74LS14 74LS15 74LS20 74LS21 74LS22 74LS26 74LS27 74LS28 74LS30 74LS32 74LS33 74LS37 74LS38 74LS40 74LS42 74LS47 74LS48 74LS49 74LS51 74LS54 74LS55 74LS63 74LS73 .28 74LS74 .22 74LS75 .26 74LS76 .26 74LS78 .36 74LS83 .46 74LS85 .46 74L586 .20 74LS90 .36 74LS91 .86 74LS92 .46 74LS93 .36 74LS95 .46 74LS96 .46 74LS107 .32 74LS109 .34 74LS112 .26 74LS113 .32 74LS114 .32 74LS122 .44 74LS123 .46 74LS124 2.60 74LS125 .36 74LS126 .36 74LS132 .36 74LS133 .46 74LS136 .36 74LS137 .96 74LS138 .36 74LS139 .36 74LS145 86 74LS147 .66 74LS148 86 74LS151 .36 74LS153 .36 74LS154 1.46 74LS155 .46 74LS156 .46 74LS157 34 74LS158 .28 74LS160 .28 74LS161 36 74LS162 .46 74LS163 .36 74LS164 .46 74LS165 .64 74LS166 .66 74LS168 .94 74LS169 .94 74LS170 64 74LS173 .46 74LS174 .36 74LS175 .36 74LS181 1.46 74LS1B9 3.86 74LS190 .46 74LS191 .46 74LS192 .66 74LS193 66 74LS194 .56 74LS195 .56 74LS196 56 74LS197 56 74LS221 56 74LS240 .66 74LS241 66 74LS242 .66 74LS243 .66 74LS244 58 74LS245 .68 74LS247 68 74LS248 66 74LS249 .96 74LS251 46 74LS253 46 74LS257 .36 74LS258 46 74LS259 1.18 74LS260 74LS266 74LS273 74LS275 74LS279 74LS280 74LS283 74LS290 74LS293 74L5295 74LS296 74LS299 74LS323 74LS324 74LS352 74LS353 74LS363 74LS364 74LS365 74LS366 74LS367 74LS366 74LS373 74LS374 74LS377 74LS378 74LS385 74LS366 74LS390 74LS393 74LS395 74LS399 74LS424 74LS447 74LS490 74LS624 74LS640 74LS645 74LS666 74LS669 74LS670 74LS674 74LS682 74LS6&3 74LS684 74LS665 74LS688 74LS689 74LS783 81LS95 81LS96 81LS97 81LS98 .46 .36 .76 1.96 .36 1.18 .56 .86 .76 .66 .66 1.46 2.46 168 1.24 118 128 1.88 .36 .36 .36 .36 .76 .76 .76 1.12 1.64 .42 1.06 .76 1.06 1.06 2.66 .92 1.46 1.92 .96 .96 146 1.26 86 958 3.14 2.66 2.66 266 1.66 2.66 21.96 136 1.36 1.36 1.36 25LS2521 2.48 25LS2569 2.48 • Erases 15 EPROMS In 20 minutes • Plastic Enclosure MEMORY EXPANSION KIT |ffi?S^/3 41256 150ns $2.89 each! Build An IBM PC XT 8000 8031 4.95 8035 1.45 8039 1.89 8080A 2.89 8085 2.35 8085A-2 4.89 8086 7.89 8087-3 139.95 8087-2 159.95 8088 5.95 8089 39.95 8100 8131 2.90 8155 2.35 8155-2 3.89 8156 2.89 8185 28.89 8185-2 28.89 8200 8202 8.98 8203 29.89 8205 2.98 8212 1.35 8214 3.59 8216 1.35 8224 2.09 8226 1.59 8228 3.29 8237 4.79 8237-5 5.29 8238 3.99 8243 2.39 8250 5.95 8251 1.49 8251A 1.69 8253 1.69 8200 (continued) 8253-5 1,79 8255 1.59 8255-5 1J9 8257 1.99 8257-5 2.29 8259 1.89 8259-5 1.99 8271 48.95 8272 4.79 8274 4.79 8275 24.99 8279 2.29 8279-5 2.79 8282 3.79 8283 3.79 8284 2.79 8288 3.79 8287 3,79 8288 4.79 8289 19.89 8292 12.90 8300 8303 1.79 8304 1.79 8307 1.79 8308 1.79 8310 2.29 8311 2.29 8700 8741 8.89 8748 6.99 8749 9.89 8755 18.89 80000 80186-6 48.89 80188 48.89 A $532 Compatible Computer Motherboard XT $119 with Bios 150w Power Supply $69 1/2 Height Disk Drive $79 Floppy Controller Card $29 Case Flip-Top $29 5150 Keyboard $59 Monochrome Card $49 Monochrome Monitor $99 IBM PC XT Compatible $532 IBM Accesories EGA Card $229 Turbo Molher Board $ 1 69 Mono Graphics Card .$79 Memory Card $59 Multif uncion Card .$79 Floppy Multi i/o Card $79 Color Graphics Card $69 1200b Modem Card $ 1 39 Teac 55 B (For IBM) $99 Fujitsu DS/DD (for IBM),...$89 Joystick $29 6500 6500 6500 A 6502 1.99 6502A 2.49 6504 6.79 6520A 2.49 6505 8.79 6522A 4. 6507 6520 6522 6532 6545 . 9.79 6532A 9.89 1.59 6545A 6.89 3.99 6551A 6.89 599 a «r* » 4 89 6500 B 6551 5.89 6502B 5.89 6800 1 MHz Mac Upgrade Kit 128K To 512K I Consists of: (16) 41256, 150ns (1) 74F253 (17) 16-Pin Sockets [Capacitors And Resistors APPLE Accessories [Parallel Card $49 Super Serial Card 99 80-col Card II+. 149 80-col Card lie 64K... 69 Z80 Card 69 16K Card 39 Cooling Fan 39 Disk Drive (full) 139 Disk Drive (half) 129 I Controller Card 49 Joystick 29 6800 .. 6802 . . 6803 .. 6808 .. 6809E . 6809 .. 6810 .. 6820 . . 6821 .. 6828 .. 6840 .. 6843 .. 6844 . . 6845 .. 6847 .. 6850 . . 6852 . . 6860 .. 6862 .. 6875 .. 6880 . . 6883 .. 1.89 4.89 9.89 4.89 5.89 5.89 1.89 2.89 1.89 13.89 5.99 18.89 10.89 4.89 10.89 1.89 4.59 7.89 10.89 6.89 1.49 21.89 68B00 2 MHz 68B00 4.89 68B02 5.89 6BB09 6.89 68B09E 6.99 68B10 , 2.99 68B21 3.89 68B40 14.89 68B45 6.89 68B50 2.89 68000 68000-8 ...... 9.89 68047 12.89 68488 14.89 68652 14.89 68661 8.89 68764 15.89 68766 16.89 Z-80 Z80-CPU Z80-CTC Z80-DART Z80-DMA Z80-PIO Z80-SI0/0 .... Z80-SI0/1 Z80-SI0/2 Z80-SI0/9 Z-80 Z-BOA (continued) .99 Z80A-DMA 4.89 1.49 ZBOA-PIO 3.89 Z80A-SIO/0 . . 3.89 Z80A-SI0/1 .. 1.59 Z80A-SI0/2.. 3.89 ZB0A-SI0/9 . . 3.89 3.89 3.89 1.79 4.89 4.89 4.89 4.89 Z-80B Z-80 A Z80A-CPU Z80A-CTC Z80A-DART .... ZB0B-CPU 3.59 Z80B-CTC 3.59 Z80B-PI0 3.59 1.49 Z80B-DART .... 10.89 1.69 Z80BS10/0 ... 10.89 4.89 Z80S10/2 .... 10.89 POWER SUPPLY (Switching) +12V 0.4 Amp -12V 0.3 Amp + 5V 5.5 Amp 19.95 1986 - THE IC MASTER - Your ticket to fast and easy IC selections •119. OO "MACINTOSH. APPLE II. APPLE III" and "APPLE II+" are Trademarks of APPLE COMPUTER. INC. "AT" is a Trademark of UN C01P0HATI0M. HOURS: Mon-Fri. 7:30 to 5:00 VISIT OUR RETAIL STORE 2100 Do La Cruz Blvd. Santa Clara. CA 95050 (408) 988-0697 ALL MERCHANDISE IS 100% GUARANTEED z TJ Xj n m (0 r TJ O 5 m to NEW LOW PRICES ! NEW LOW PRICES ! Inquiry 114 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 421 Inquiry 241 P.C. Computer Brokers Inc.— The Place To Buy Your Epson Prim LX-86 List •349" S90Q95 420i sq qB 9 s FX-85 ■599°° 369 FX-286 List •799" «49995 FREE Stand With Purchase of any Epson Printer at RQ Computer LQ-800 LJst*799" s 519 95 LQ-1000 List "1095°° •719 95 Call Toll FREE 1-800-245-1455 the most ESSENTIAL card FOR THE EQUITY I • Able to bring the mother boanJto512K •Hthesiffiof other cards •Save up to 570.00 • 3 year warranty Only Call For Price On HS-80 EX-800 LJst"799°° s 499 95 Hl-80 s 369 EX-1000 List "995" SCQQ95 LQ-2500 List "1595" 8 1089 95 DX-35 s 650 Prices Subject to Change Without Notice Add 2.9% For Use of Visa, M/C & Choice. Add 5% For Use of Discover & Amen Exp. These Prices Are Good For Mail Order Dopt. Only ^!j&!E3[s^) l-^i P.C. Computer Brokers inc. 3879 East 120th Ave. Thornton, CO 80233 [303)450-6727 Call Toll FREE '1-800-245-4122 P.C MEMORY HOTLINE Leader in Wholesale Pricing SEAGATE, TANDON, OKI, AMDEK, TEXAN AND MORE 20MB Hard Drive HH $255 w/Controller $345 30MB Hard Drive HH $349 w/Controller $459 50MB Hard Drive HH $629 w/Controller $819 Floppy Drives HH $66/99 Controllers Call Monitor 12" Color 640x200 $249 Monitor 12" Color 640x400 $319 Printer Daisy Wheel 22 cps $199 Printer Daisy Wheel 40 cps $299 4MB Memory Expansion Card $199 Modem 1200 Hayes Compatible $ 99 Color Graphics Card $ 59 Disk Head Cleaning Kit $1.49 Please Call for Volume Discount 1-818-376-1440 Inquiry 99 COLOR VT220$150 •plus your PC, XT, AT, or compatible 2STEMpc-VT220 Smart Terminal Emulator Double high/double wide characters Full line graphics. Smooth Scrolling 2-way file transfeis incl. XMODEM & KERMIT Full keyboard softkeys/MACROS. DOS access Data rates to 38.4 KB. High throughput CGA, Hercules, MDA, & EGA support 8-bit mode, downloadable fonts, user defined keys, full national/multinational modes ISO and attribute mapped color ZSTEMpc-VT220$15O. 4010/4014 option $99. Also available VT220 Style replacement keyboard ZSTEMpc-VT100 $99. - Choice of the U.S. A/F 30 day money back guarantee. MCA/ISA KEA SYSTEMS LTD. #412 -2 150 W. Broadway Vancouver, B.C. CANADA V6K 4L9 Support(604) 732-7411 TELEX 04-352848 VCR Order Toll Free (800) 663-8702 £ Inquiry 384 422 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1 986 RS-232 to RS-422A CONVERTER For Under 1 $50! • Supports Transmit Data and Receive Data signals. • Male 25 pin connector for RS-232C and female 25 pin connector for RS-422A. (Available with reversed conn, on special order). •Requires 12 Volts DC at 100 ma. Model 232PS Power Supply available ©S14.95. • Fully described in our latest catalog. ORDER NOW! Model 422C0N $49.95 Optional power supply $14.95. Cash orders shipped postpaid. IL Res. add 6%% sales tax. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Satisfaction Guaranteed. FREE fully illustrated newly re- vised catalog of interface & testing equipment. Phone: 815-434-0846 electronics MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1500WBOYCE, OTTAWA, IL 61350 NEW RELEASE KEYSWAP4.0 < tm > Feature packed update for the power user A Keyboard Enhancer For the IBM PC. XT. AT* KEYSWAP eliminates repetitive keystrokes and reduces data entiy time. Over 40 new features Execute DOS commands thru windows Automatically cut and paste screen text Create custom windows for : tutorials, help screens, demos & menus Organize your macros into groups by function On-line multl page macro editor Detailed On-line HELP Keyboard security lock Speed control and pause features Totally rewritten User's Manual (quick start) And much more Price: $79.95 + $3.00(s&h) MC&VISA, PO. COD, CK Call or write for more Info. (617) 662-0856 Rickerdata, Inc.. PO Box 998. Melrose. MA 02176 * Registered trademark IBM Corp. Inquiry 286 merican Semiconductor THE BARE XT TURBO SYSTEM 399 |ag stes, and acts like an I "7, .|kV "Ixwte. testes, and acts like an ISM. AND it's t«»* compatible 8087 $119.00 80287-3 175.00 80287-8 239.00 64K 99 41256K-150 2.39 41256K-200 1 .99 BABY AT $499.00 AT 1100 V-20 14.00 FLOPPY DD/DS . . 75.00 XT & AT ADD ON CARDS For AT, XT, Compaq, & Corona: omaa 3 M B Hi-Speed . . 20MB Hard Drive 5 299 RLL KIT $499 TO ORDER TOLL FREE CALL 1-800-237-5758, EXT. 819 1 Inside Florida Technical Line _J 813-961-9444 1-813-961-5584 , 16520 N. Florida Ave., Lutz, Florida 33549 Add 3.2% for VISA/MC purchases. Inquiry 27 DYNAMIC RAMS 41256 100ns 41256 120ns 1^41256 150n * 4164 120ns 1^4164 150ns 4464 150ns I PROCESSORS 8087-2 SmHz 8087-3 SmHz 80287-3 6mHz 80287-8 SmHz V-20 BmHz V-30 8mHz 5 4.85 J2.95 "l?4p 95 I E. PROMS 27C256 250ns 27256 250ns 27t2B 2S0ns 27C64 200ns 2764 250ns 2732A 250ns 18000'S Inquiry 35 I.C. EXPRESS 15358 Valley Blvd., City of Industry, CA 91746 Phone: 818-369-2688 IMon-Fri ■ 8-5> ORDER TOLL FREE (800) 892-8889 • (800) 882-8181 Outside California Inside California | CALL FOR CURRENT PRICES & VOLUME DISCOUNTS-! Price 5ho*n lor Cash • MaslerCard'VlSA add 3% more Prices are subject 10 change Minimum order StO 00 California residents must add 6 5% sales tax Shipping & Handling: UPS Ground 55 00, UPS Air $7.00 (under 1 It ALL MERCHANDISE IS 100% GUARANTEED. Inquiry 157 NOW ALL BULK DISKS CAN BE BOXED AT NO EXTRA CHARGE ! 5.25" DISKS (Minimum 30) BULK OR BOXED ss/dd .44 ds/dd .49 ds/dd notchless .59 ds/dd flippy .59 ds/dd 10 hard sector .69 ds/dd 16 hard sector .69 ds/qd 96 tpi .79 ds/qd 96 tpi 10 hard sector .99 ds/qd 96 tpi 16 hard sector .99 ds/hd 1.2mbfor AT 1.49 RIBBONS (Minimum 3) Call if yours is not listed NEC Pinwriter P1/P2 4.99 Apple Imagewriter I. II. Prownter 2.39 Okidata 82/83/92/93/801 .99 Apple Imagewriter Multicolor 11.99 Okidata 84/94 2.19 Commodore MPS 801 3.99 Okidata 182/192 3.99 Diablo Hytype II 2.99 Panasonic KXP 1090,91. 92 6.29 Epson LQ 800 6.99 Radio Shack LP. VI. VIII 2.99 Epson LQ 1000 9.99 Radio Shack LPVII 3.99 Epson LQP 1500. Epson LX 80 2.99 StarGemini 10X/15X .99 Epson MX/FX/RX 100/185 3.19 Star Radix 10 4.49 Epson MX/FX/RX 70/80/85 2.39 Star Radix 15 5.49 IBM Proprinter 3.99 Toshiba P 1350 2.99 BULKOR BOXED .59 .69 5.25" COLOR DISKS ds/dd color pack assortment A, B, or C t ds/dd color pack assortment A flippy t t Color pack assortment A: red, orange, yellow, blue, green. t Color pack assortment B: maroon, brown, dark blue, silver, gold. t Color pack assortment C: pink, med. blue, beige, white, light grey. t All colors are available separately, except f lippys. FREE BONUS OFFER c vour HOICE IF YOU ORDER YOU GET VALUE 100 DISKS 5 DISKS PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE FOR IBM/MAC OR APPLE OR $14.95 100 DISKS HEAD CLEANING DISK $12.99 150 DISKS DISK ORGANIZER (Holds over 20 disks, disk file, etc.) $19.99 200 DISKS PRINTER STAND $29.99 3.5" DISKETTES BULK OR BOXED ss/dd-Blue/Beige or Grey 1.39 ds/dd-Blue/Beige or Grey 1.59 ds/dd color pack A 1.69 8" DISKS BULKOR BOXED ss/dd soft sector 1.49 ds/dd soft sector 1.69 ss/dd color pack, asst. At 1.69 ds/dd color pack asst. At 1.89 FREE TYVEC SLEEVES, HUB RINGS, WRITE PROTECTS AND ID LABELS — 10 MIL JACKETS MAGNETIC TAPE — DISK PACKS AND CARTRIDGES — BEST PRICES — CALL QUALITY & SERVICE OUR #1 PRIORITY — BUY DIRECT — NO MIDDLE MAN — NO MUMBO JUMBO ALL ITEMS IN STOCK ALL THE TIME — SAME DAY SHIPPING — DISKS MADE IN THE U.S.A. — 70% CLIPPING PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE - IBM COMPATIBLE - ONLY $2.99 (MINIMUM 5) 3408) Still River Shell v. 1.33: Run DOS com- mands from a menu 223) Insults: Generate random insults on screen for the unsuspecting PC user 1501) Chasm: Cheap Assembler 302) Q-Modem version 2.87: Fast modem software 402) Unprotect Protected Programs Disk: This disk gives you tips. 401) 8086, 8087, 8088 disassembler. 201) JetSet Flight Simulator:Turn your PC into the pilots cockpit 101) PC-Write: Full screen word processor 109) Galaxy: This word processor is command compatible with WordStar, but also oilers pult down menus for the forgetful or the novice 308) ProCOM with random redial capabilities. iHackers love this one) 2808) PC-Outline version 1.08: Outline your papers, to-do lists, ideas, or strategies. Has an optional memory resident mode. 113-114) New York Word: a very powerful word processor that has too many features to list 237) Hack: A display oriented Dungeon and Drag- ons adventure game This program was ported from a UNIX system and requires 256K RAM. 243) Pinball. This disk has three games which have been created using the program "Pinball Con- struction Set" by Bill Budge. 3425) MSDOS CPM/80 conversion. This program allows you to transfer data between various CP/M and MS-DOS formats. 3422) CTRALT: This RAM resident utility is a must' Too many features to list here 1 and many more! THE "CARETAKERS"™ 10 disk library case 3.5" or 5.25" 10 disk library case 8" 40 disk storage case 3.50" w/lock 50 disk storage case 5.25" w/lock 100 disk storage case 5.25" w/lock ACCESSORIES Drive head cleaning disk 3.5/5.25/8" Tyvec sleeves white — 100 pk. Tyvec sleeves color — 100 pk. ID labels/write protect - 100 pk. Disk mailer box (3/5.25") — 10 pk. Disk mailer box (3/8") — 10 pk. Disk organizer Printer stand .99 2.49 7.99 7.99 9.99 12.99 5.99 8.99 1.99 8.99 9.99 19.99 29.99 Lifetime warranty on disks. Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded within 30 days. Disks packaged in 10's — Minimum 30 disks. Checks (allow 10 days to clear), money orders, Master- Card, Visa, American Express, C.O.D. (add $1.90). Purchase orders accepted from qualified public institutions, government agencies and well-rated companies, net 30 days. California residents add 6%. For information, call (619) 942-9998. Call for free catalog. 800-992-1992 ordcr TODAV PRIVATE DEALER LABEL AVAILABLE AT NO EXTRA CHARGE 800-992-1 993 CALIFORNIA Over 200 Special Formats for 5V«" and 8" from $1.99 (Call) U.S/DISK, INC. Hours Mon. - Sat. 8:30 am - 4:30 pm 511 -104 Encinitas Blvd. Encinitas, CA 92024 Inquiry 358 NOVEMBER 1 986 • BYTE 423 Inquiry 213 5g5 SANYO the giveaway. e SANYO MBC 1200 FREE SOFTWARE FROM MICROPRO • Thousands of FREE public domain software available • COMPAT disk utility for over 50 CP/M formats -only $39 • Professional accounting soft- ware available • 20 meg hardrive optional $ 399 Special pricing for printers EDUCATIONAL DISCOUNTS 805/393-2247 S3 ^^ MICRO SUPPLY ORGANIZATION INC. For our catalog with complete details and prices, send $2 to: Micro Supply Organization, Inc. 4909 Stockdale Hwy., #180 Bakersfield, CA 93309 15% Restocking on Returned Orders Visa & M.C. Accepted 424 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 376 ONE COMPUTER & TWO PRINTERS? Stop Plugging & Unplugging! use your choice of TWO "|jj printers from ONE parallel cable with Ihe simple flick of a switch. *65 95 Plus $3.25 Shipping 30 Day Money Back Guarantee One Parallel Plug In . . .Two Parallel Plugs Out! Connect any Standard Centronics Parallel Cable directly to the switch. Two 3 %' cables (included) attach to each printer. Simply Call 1-800-TO-ASK-US! 8am-5 P m PST 800-862-7587 (CA 415/567-4067) To Order: Write or call Tipz Direct.Inc. Visa/MC or Money Orders please. Shipping within 48 hrs. via UPS. Offering a FULL LINE of Switches. Cables, & Accessories P.O. Box 690, San Francisco. CA 94101-0690 '4/r* if Inquiry 343 PC-WRITER IBM PC GRAPHICS & LETTER QUALITY Enhancement for Okidata ML82A/83A Dot Matrix Printers ter • Plug in module easily installs in p • Draft ( 1 20 cps) & Letter Qualit • Elite character pitch • Front oanel access to all features • Emulation of IBM PC Graphics printer • Superscripts / subscripts*^ * • Foreign / scientific characters • Works with print screen key in graphics and text • Prints at! 228 display screen characters and box drawing symbols exactly as they appear on display (double line as well as single line box symbols) Ask About OK-WRITER"Okidata ?r^fchics for $99 with many of above eatures RAINBOW TECHNOLOGIES INC O 17971-E Skypark Circle, Irvine, CA 92714 (714) 2610228 Telex 386078 UK Distributer: X-DATA (0753) 72331 NO SHIPPING CHARGES ORDER TOLL-FREE 800-824-3432 In California Call (818) 341-8833 DRIVES 1/2 HL IBM '- Compatible 89.99 Tandon 100-2 99.99 Tandon 100-4 (96 tpi) 129.99 SYSTEMS PC/XT Compatible 499.99 » 640K on Motherboard > I'/zHT. Floppy ► Mono Card w/Printer Port • Slide-In Case • 135 Watt Power Supply • 5150 Type Keyboard -* FCC APPROVED +- We carry a complete line of elec- tronic components. Call or write for our free catalog! NICORN ELECTRONICS 100l0CanogaAve UmtB-8 Chalsworm CA9I3II ider $1000 — No sni00< n 9 clarges OnptepJnd orders COO add Inquiry 359 TERMINAL EMULATION Softerm PC emulates over 3Q popular terminals including the: •DECVT102.VT220 • Data General D200, D41 •IBM 3101-20 (block mode) • Hewlett-Packard 2622A • Honeywell VIP7801 , VIP7803 Guaranteed Compatibility Call for free product brief! $195 MC-VISA-COD For the IBM PC/XT/AT, DG, NEC, Wang, Tl, Gridcase, Tandy, Zenith ki® 7899 Lexington Dr., Ste 210 Colorado Springs, CO 80918 1 -800-225-8590/(303) 593-9540 Inquiry 308 PC Compatible CASH DRAWERS M-S CASH DRAWER 10711 Flower St., Stanton, CA 90680 (800) 544-1749 In California call: (714)821-1133 Inquiry 285 Inquiry 1 94 I I I I I I I I II , 1 t I * -*— Advanced PC/XT • FCC/UL Approved • IBM PC/XT™ Compatible • (1) 360K Floppy • 256K Expandable to 640K • Serial, Parallel, LCD • RGB Color Graphics • Composite Video • Mouse & Keyboard • 10Mb Hard Disk (Add s 300 00 ) HARDWARE rfduOACMt &VUU Largest Selection! A210 Color/Printer/Graphics A220 Color/Graphics/Video/Mouse .. 95.00 A230 Mono/Color/Graphics/132 Col ... 149.00 A231 Color/Mono (Runs 2 Monitors) . . . 149.00 A240 Mono/Printer/Graphics 79.00 A250 Mono/Printer/Graphics/132 Col . - 119.00 A260 Mono/Printer 75.00 A271 EGA/256K RAM - Short Card . . . 229.00 A320 384 Multi-function Card - OK 99.00 A330 Multi-function - Short Card 99.00 A340 Multi-function/Floppy 119.00 A350 640K RAM Card - OK 59.00 A410 Floppy Card - 2 Drives 39.00 A420 Floppy Card - 4 Drives 49.00 A510 Parallel/Serial, Optional Serial . . 69.00 A520 Parallel Card 35.00 A530 Serial Card 49.00 A610 AT 2Mb Multi-function - OK 139.00 A612 AT 2.5Mb RAM Card 139.00 A620AT3Mb RAM Card 159.00 A630 AT Parallel/Serial. Optional Ser. . 59.00 A640 AT Floppy/Hard Controller 249.00 A650 AT l/D Card - Ser/Par/Clk 55.00 A950 AT Motherboard - OK 499.00 A955 XT Motherboard - OK 119.00 A960 XT Turbo Motherboard - OK .... 139.00 AST - (1 to 2 Year Warranty) AST5251-11 595.00 AST5251-12 495.00 RAMpage Expandable to 2Mb Call RAMpage AT Expandable to 2Mb Call (Both boards support EMS & EEMS) Advantage 128K 365.00 AST SPECIALS REDUCED TO MOVE LIMITED SUPPLY SixPak Plus w/64K Only S166.00 Including Sidekick 1,5 & DESKview SixPak Plus 384K Only 219.00 Combo Plus - OK Only 66.00 Combo Pius - 64K Only 79.00 (Makes superior l/D Device) Reach Modem 1200 Baud 199.00 AST Colorgraphics Card 99.00 (Original Factory Box) HAYES - (2 Year Warranty) Smart modem 1200 S385.00 FROM THE ACP CIRCUIT SELLER Advanced 286 s 1395 00 Advanced PC/XT s 549 00 HARDWARE Smartmodem 1200B 349.00 Smartmodem 2400 (Int) 575.00 Smartmodem 2400B 535.00 Hayes Comp. 1200 (Ext) 169.95 Hayes Comp. 1200 (Int) w/SW 149.95 Hayes Comp. 2400 (Ext) 349.00 HERCULES Hercules Color Card SJ66.00 Hercules PlusGraphics NEW 239.00 INTEL- (5 Year Warranty) Above Board PC. AT, PS New Price FREE OFFER Windows thru 12-31 8087 or 80287 thru 9-30 KEYTR0NICS 5150 Keyboard S159.95 5151 Deluxe Keyboard 169.95 5153 w/Touchpad 285.00 PC Jr. Numeric Keypad 29.95 NEW 101 Key Call MICROSOFT Microsoft Mouse S139.00 Microsoft Bus Version 155.00 MOUSE SYSTEMS - (3 Year War.) PC Mouse w/Paint Plus S138.00 PC Mouse w/Ready & Paint 148.00 ACP Mouse w/Keyboard SALE 149.00 PROMETHEUS - (1 Yr. Warranty) ProModem1200w/Mite (Int) S299.00 ProModem 1200B 259.00 Alphanumeric/Options Processor 79.00 TECMAR CL0SE0UTS Call for Complete List List ACP Speechmaster S395 S195.00 1st Mate w/64K 389 169.00 Voice Recognition 995 269,00 3rd Mate 445 195.00 Powerlink 3270 1099 399.00 Phonegate 2400 695 295.00 PRINTERS BROTHER M1109 Dot Matrix S249.00 M1509 Dot Matrix 399.00 DIABLO/XEROX 620 Serial LQP was 1495 now S299.00 620 API LQP 349.00 620 D36 (36cps) 399.00 Tractor was 395 now S125.00 F-21 Sheet Feeder was 896 now 199.00 630 Sheet Feeder 219.00 Cable for 620 (to IBM) 29.00 Diablo P-11 or S-11 100cps 129.95 Diablo P-31 or S-31 Wide 199.95 EPSON - (1 Year Warranty) FX85160cpsNLQ S365.00 FX286 160cps Wide S499.00 TOSHIBA P321 "3 in 1" LQ Printer sale S515.00 P351E 24 Pin w/Serial & Parallel Call New Toshiba Color Printer Call 8 PEN PLOTTER - Limited Special Roland DXY-800 Flatbed X-Y Plotter. Formly sold for S995.00. While Supply lasts your price only S499.00 Inc. Parallel/Serial Interface. IBM Compatible. DXY 299.00 MONITORS Samsung TTL IBM Green S88.00 Samsung TTL IBM Amber 98.00 ACP 12" Softwhite TTL IBM 139.00 Mitsubishi RGB Color 259.00 TECA EGA Monitor 399.00 Roland CD240 HiRes Color 359.00 PRINCETON GRAPHICS HX-12 RGB (640x240) S445.00 MAX-12E Amber TTL 175.00 SR-12 575.00 HX-12E (690x350) 545.00 Advanced 286 • FCC/UL Approved • IBM AT™ Compatible • 6/8MHzSWSwitchable • 640K, 200 Watts • 1.2 Mb Floppy Controller • Floppy Controller • Phoenix BIOS • MS-DOS 3.2 (Add s 85 00 ) • GW Basic (Add s 95 00 ) • 30Mb 35mS HD (Add $ 700 00 ) EGA SPECIALS! EGA UPGRADE KIT Includes: NEC Multisync 674 Ann ACP/EGACard g f I5J UW NEC Multisync S599.00 ACP RGB Color/Teco, Tatung 399.00 RIX EGA Paint 59.00 Paradise Autoswitch 375.00 Genoa EGA 295.00 Orchid Turbo EGA 585.00 Quad EGA Plus. Quadram 365.00 Advanced EGA, 256K, Short Card 229.00 EGA Mouse 119.00 PGA SPECIALS IBM Professional. Limited Quantity IBM PGA Card. Regular S2995 . . . Sale 1195.00 HARD DISK CARDS 20MbMEGACard S479.00 20Mb Mountain Card 599.00 Call for 30Mb Card BEST BACK-UP Use same back-up device we use at ACP. AlphaMicro VCR Back-up Card S399.00 AlphaMicro VCR 699.00 DISK DRIVES Toshiba FDD4403 3V 2 "w/5V<" Bezel . . . S129.00 Toshiba ND04D PC, XT 360K 95.00 Toshiba ND04E-G AT. 360K 105.00 Toshiba ND08DE-G 1.2Mb 129.00 TEAC FD-55B 99.00 DISKETTES (Box of 10) DS/DD for PC/XT (40tpi) • ACP Generic $6.00 • Verbatim Datalife 16.00 • Maxell MD-2 19.00 • Fuji 16.00 DS/Hi-Density for AT (96tpi) • Verbatim S32.00 • Maxell 35.00 • Fuji 26.00 SS/DD for Apple II etc. • ACP Floppy (Use both sides) S6.00 • Verbatim 14.00 • Maxell MD-1 17.00 • Fuji 14.00 Macintosh/IBM Conv. 3V?" • Maxell MF-2DD S52.00 Fuji MF-2DD (135tpi) 52.00 Flip-Sort (75 Disks) 14.00 ACP 5V«" Disk Holder 9.00 ACP 3W Disk Holder 12.00 Head Cleaner 5W or 8" 9.00 Perfect Computercare Kit 29.00 : MM IJMM WMW? $479 20 Mb &AA(\ 20 Mb Upgrade y449 Mega card Package (1 Yr War) Plug-In 1 Yr War) SEAGATE FOR AT (Linear Voice Coil Activator) 20 Mb for AT $499.00 30Mb for AT $599.00 40Mb for AT $799.00 (Inc. Cable & Mounting Rails) IRWIN TAPE BACK-UP for AT $399.00 PC UPGRADE SPECIAL $ 14 95 SET OF (9) 64K RAMS $ 36 95 SET OF (9) 256K RAMS $139 95 8087 COPROCESSOR $169 95 8087-2 COPROCESSOR $225 00 80287- 6-8 Mhz $269 00 80287-8- 10 MHz 1200 Baud Hayes™ Comp. Modem S1OQ00 List $299 ACP lUO 1200 (Ext.) $149.00 2400 Baud (Int.) $249.00 10Mb HARD DISK $189.00 SYSGEN 20/20 • 20Mb Hard Disk • 20Mb Tape Back-up • New/Factory Box ► PC/XT/AT Comp. •External Complete Reg. Retail $3300 8S $ 888 ACP SUPER LOW PRICE $29900 MS-DOS LAPTOP Sharp PC5000 Formerly sold for $1995. 2800 in stock new in box w/factory warranty! Vol. discounts available. 128K Bubble $79.00 Supercom 59.00 Printer 150.00 Superwriter 88.00 Wordstar 129.00 Color Plotter 149.0D Modem 300 Baud 99.00 PFS File/Report 129.00 Soft Carry Case 10.00 Soft Key Plotter SW 35.00 SEAGATE ST4038-30Mb Hi-Speed, 40 mS, AT CCQfl flfl Compatible Drive pUa^.UU TOLL FREE 800-854-8230 CA Residents 71 4-558-881 3 OUR POLICY Inquiry 9 •No Surcharge for VISA or Mastercard. •Volume purchasing agreements available. •Orders subject to availably. *Supply limited on certain items. •Pricing subject to change without notice. •ACP Retail Store pricing may vary. Not responsible for typos. L Mail Order: P.O. Box 17329 Irvine, CA 92713 Retail: 1310 B E. Edinger, Santa Ana, CA 92705 CORPORATE BUYERS - CALL GILLES, LOUANE, MANDI, MIKE or DAVE Inquiry 109 DISK-KING Premium Quality Diskettes From. the Kings of Magnetic Media Incredible Value". WHY RISK THE UNKNOWN...when you can get premium quality disks from the Leader and Inventor of magnetic media.... for less!! • 100% tested & certified at 65% or higher clipping level* • 10 mil sturdy jacket • LIFETIME WARRANTY • 5.25" SS-DD-RH 48 TPI 38 C 5.25" DS-DD-48 TPI 38 C 5.25" DS-DD-RH 48 TPI 58 C 5.25" DS-HD-96 TPI $ 1 Z9 3.50" SS-135TPI S 1 15 3.50" DS-135 TPI $ 1 39 Factory sealed in lots of 25 Includes Tyvek® sleeves, user ID labels, w/p tabs and reinforced hub rings. Multiples of 100, Ip^pr niiantifrp*; add 10% f REEl flip n File with 3.50" disks. Hip n File / 15 only M" with each order of i case (5 bx) 3M 5*4" disks! SS-DD-RH FREEI Scotch CX-60 Cassette plus $2.00 rebate certificate I "f r* A inside each 3M 57V box ft "7 A /ov 525 y/v M 39 3.50"w/FREE Flip n File $ 1" DS-HD for the "AT" $ 2 05 — ■ (Quantities less than 5 bx. add 10%) ^*i The Technology Whose Time Has Come S3S5JSE 3M Data Cartridges DC-100A s 11 79 DC-300XL/P.. s 18 65 DC-1000 s 12 4 ° DC-600A *20 65 (Quantities less than 10, add 5%, Shpg, S3. 00/5 cartridges) SS-DD Qty less than 10 BX, add 10% DS-DD DiJ 5.25748 TPI I O Pre-packaged in Plastic Storage case 79* M 29 3.57135TPI *1 B7 DS-HD for the "AT" $ 1 95 I UNBELIEVABLE PRICES! ^Nashua ', SS-DD Qty less than 20 BX, add 6% DS-DD $£95 $C99 %J .. .525" Factory Seal-BX of 10. . %J $ 11 90 3.50*7135 TPI $ 16 90 DS-HD for the "AT" $16" COLOR Premium Quality U.S.A. Made DISKFTTFS Available in Rainbow & many other color options LIFETIME WARRANTY Bulk BOXed* 5.25" DS-DD 48 TPI 59 C 72° 5.25" DS-HD 1.6 MB for the "AT" .... $ I 75 $ 1 89 3.50" DS-135 TPI C-IT0H Rainbow Color . . * 1 79 $ 1 Bfl *Boxed - pre-packaged 10 to a clear plastic library case. Bulk - Polybagged 25 of a solid color. Inclused Tyvek® sleeves, user ID labels, w/p tabs and hub rings. CALL FOR OUR SUPER LOW PRICES ON WIDE RAN6E OF RIBBONS DISK PACKS. COMPUTER TAPES & DISK STORABE. ORDER TOLL FREE 1-800-523-9681 TERMS: VISA, MasterCard. American Express. COD orders only add S3 00 Prepaid orders deduct 2% cash discount. PO's accepted Irom corporations rated 3A2 or better, government and schools on 2%-0. net 30 FPO. APO. AK. HI. PR add 5% - No sales tax outside Utah! Minimum order S30.00 Shipping: Add S3. 00 (or 100 or fewer diskettes. WE BEAT ANY PRICE! Inquiries Toil-Free Order Line: Telex & Info Line: 1-800 5Z3-9681 755485 1 -801 -94Z-ZZ73 n DISKCOTECH DISKCO TECHNOLOGIES. INC. 2034 E. 7000 So. Salt Lake City. Utah 84121 Hours: 8 AM-6PM (Mtn. Time)-Hall day Saturday > Multi-user Database! • Powerful! > Multiple Operating System Compatibility! > Attractive Dealer Pricing! > Full Dealer Support! Dataffex is a trademark of Data Access Dealer Inquiries Invited EliWt 24000 Telegraph Road SourhfielcJ. Michigan 48034 USA |3I3| 352-2345 Inquiry 72 EPROM AND RAM DISK AND DRIVE EMULATORS For the IBM PC* and Compatibles APPLICATIONS Diskless control and communications systems Dedicated workstations - customized smart terminals Industrial control and manufacturing test systems FEATURES Solid state speed, reliability and performance Self contained EPROM programming circuitry (simply copy a Master Disk to ROMDISKJ Emulates a 9 sector, 40 track SSDD or DSDD diskette Compatible EPROM. Dynamic RAM and Static RAM versions Two autoboot modes and a file mode RAMdisk versions are battery backed up I/O mapped - does not occupy system RAM space VfSA EPROM version PCA-I |I80K| S495 EPROM version PCA-2 |360K| S595 Dynamic RAM version PC DRAM-I |I80K| 5495 Dynamic RAM version PC DRAM-2 |360K) $595 Static RAM version PC SRAM-l jIBOK] . . . S495 Static RAM version PC SRAM-2 |360K| . 5995 CURTIS, INC. 22 Red Fox Road St. Paul, MN 55110 612/484-5064 "IBM PC is registered irMcmm ol IBM Cc/poi.ition Inquiry 93 J& EPROM *° PROGRAMMER 1 tr M# APROTEK 1000 ONLY ffl $265. 00 COMPLETE WITH PERSONALITY MODULE 1 17 AC POWER-RS-232 CONNECT -6 BAUD RATES - HANDSHAKE TO HOST ALLOWS READ, WRITE, VERIFY & COPY Comes complete with IBM-PC, Apple, or CPM (Specify Computer) Driver Program on Disc. Programs the following 5 Volt 24 or 28 pin devices: 2716 series through 27512, 25xx series, 68764 plus others. Please Specify Personality Module desired with order, Additional Personality Modules only $15.00 ea. Full 1 year warranty. TO ORDER:. CALL 1-800/962-5800 OR WRITE APROTEK 1071-A AVENIDA ACASO Add CAMARILLO. CA 93010 $4.00 Shipping USA Info: 18051 987-2454 VISA or MC Add 3% We Accept Govt.. School & Large Corp. P.O.s J~ PC/XT USERS! # COGTREE Utilities by Cogitate SI 29.95 # LYNC by Norton-Lamber S 199.95 # DATAPLEX by Data Access. . .Varies r RM/COBOL by Ryan/ McFarland Varies M Universe by Omnitrend. . . .S 98.50 J Blue Mac! by Cogitate S 599.00 # CadPower + by Trilex S 995.00 f Softext Teaching Aids S 95.00 J PrintSet by Cogitate S 79.95 M CogiTAPE by Cogitate CALLII kJ Anti-Static Products Varies JT Uninterruptible Power Backups Varies ._T TeleVideo Software CALL!! Ei§te 'A Higher Form of Software" 24000 Telegraph Road Southfleld. Ml 48034 [313| 352-2345/Telex 386581 VISA/MASTERCARD ACCEPTED Dealer Inquiries Welcomed Inquiry 73 CHANGING SYSTEMS? What Happens to Your Data? Does JUST Media Conversion Solve Incompatibilities? WHAT IF . . . everything is changing, including your software, hardware, operating systems and media? What happens to your spreadsheet data and formulas, database structures and/or word processing documents and codes? What do you do, and what is the cost? We Make Incompatible Data Compatible! The source can be mainframes, minis, micros, dedicated word processors or typesetters. ADAPSO member. CompuData Translators, Inc. 213-462-6222 6565 Sunset Bl., #301 Hollywood, CA 90028 Inquiry 75 HARD DISK ACCELERATOR • Caching eliminates repetitive disk accesses • Use up to 15 Mb of extended/ expanded or 500 Kb of standard memory DISKETTE ACCELERATOR SCREEN ACCELERATOR FAST - FRIENDLY - SAFE VCACHE GOLDEN BOW SYSTEMS s 65 Add $3 for shipping/handling California residents add 6% sales tax 2870 Fifth Avenue Suite 201 IK \ San Dieg0 ' CA 92103 rlf 619/298-9349 Inquiry 30 Inquiry 141 THE PC PEOPLE 5 800-528-3138 Orders Only 602-991-7870 Customer Service S-100 DIV./696 CORP. 14455 NORTH 79TH ST. SCOTTSDALE AZ 85260 TELEX 9103806778 SONE HUND PC COMPATIBLE SYSTEMS WE CARRY A WIDE RANGE OF DESKTOP, LAPTOP & PORTABLES DESIGNED TO RUN THE SOFTWARE THAT FUELS TODAY'S BUSINESS. "BIG BLUE CLONE" NOT JUST AN ECONOMICALLY PRICED PC - WE'RE DOWN IN THE DIRT ON PRICEI LETS MUD WRESTLE A DEAL FOR YOU ON A B.B.C. THATS "FCC" APPROVED W/fTH 1 YR LIMITED WARR. BASIC B.B.C. 256K TURBO W/ 8 SLOTS, 150W P/S, SUDE CASE, SPKR & A T-STYLE K.B. $424 CALL OUR SALES PROFESSIONALS FOR ADDITIONAL OPTIONS ACS ET-286 10 MHz, 1Mb, CLK-CAL, 2P & 3S PORTS, CABINET, 200WP/S, KEYBOARD $1,395 ^ cordota PC-400 512K, 2 FLPYS, 1 4" 640x400, 512K $979 20Mb HARD DISK SYSTEM WITH 2 FLPYS $1,369 ATD-8-Q 8Mhz 80286, 640K, S, P, 1-2 FLPY $1,549 ATP-B-Q PORTABLE $1,829 256-640K, TURBO V20, 8 SLOTS, 360K FLOPPY, 150 W P/S. SLIDE CASE, SPKR, 8 SLOTS $449 PC/IT 8MHz 80286, 1-2 FLPY, 512K 8 SLOTS $1,198 PC/IT ENHANCED WITH 1 Mb & 40Mb H.D. DRV $2,949 MICRO/IT BASIC SYSTEM $1,799 1088-50 1Mb RAM, 50Mb HARD DISK, 50Mb TAPE DRIVE, XENIX $11,399 688-256 USER, 25Mb H.D., XENIX $4,099 NETWORKING CALL FOR DEALER PRICING, INTEGRATION, AND/OR CONSULTATION. COMPUPRO NET 100 $369 H6J0V) PC-SLAVE/18 1 Mb, 8MHz, V20 $655 RTNX MSDOS 2.1 $109 ATNX MSDOS 3.1 $189 EARTH NET/PC ARCNET Vi CARD $259 LAN-PC ARCNET FOR PC'S $369 WS-286 8MHz 80286, 5 SLOTS, ARCNET l/F, 640K SCSI, AT TYPE ENCLOSURE & P/S $1,719 UNOV ELL ADVANCED NETWARE STARTER KITS, SERVERS, AND SOFTWARE CALL PC/XT/AT BOARDS STBfl/OGfl/WVDE128K-1.5Mb,P&S $195 STB CHAUFFER RUNS RGB IN MONO $189 STB ATTA-BYTE 0-384K FOR AT&T $159 TECMAR MAESTRO 0-2.5Mb, S, P & TREAS. CHEST.. $295 TECMAR CAPTAIN OK, S, P, CLK & TREAS. CHEST... $155 TECMAR EXPANSION CHASSIS II SLOTS, ETC $639 r 5 PACK PLUS $159 6 PACK PREMIUM $350 RAMPAGE-AT $480 ADVANTAGE $359 Intel INTEL ABOVE BOARD PCMB 1010 64 TO 512K. ALLOWS LOTUS, SYMPHONY, OTHERS TO RUN ABOVE 640K$219 INTEL ABOVE BOARD-A T 1 28 TO 4Mb $329 MACROTECH MSR-AT 0-3Mb RAM FOR IBM- AT @ 6, 8, 10, & 1 2MHz. NO WAIT STATES $185- $625 CORDATA FASTDRAFT 640x480 W/AUTOCAD 32 COLORS $1,195 HANZON LP-3000 + LASER HPGL PLOT. COM CALL ACS GRAPH AX 20/20 2000 x 2000 RES. 2.5 MB, AUTOCADCOMPATIBLE $1,595 DMP41/42 ™T^. ,T, .". , !T. $2,449 DMP 51/52 $3,699 DMP56 $4,399 DMP 29 $1,699 DMP40 $689 TRUE GRID DIGITIZERS TG1005 $289 TG1011 $509 TG1017 $619 POWER SYSTEMS & ACCES. L*j3 COMPUTE* ACOSSOflBES ALL CABLES SOLD AT DEEP DISCOUNT CALL S4 4 CIRCUIT SURGE SUPPRESSOR $19 S10Q CIRCUITSURGESUPPRESSOR $29 P75 5 CIRC. MONITOR BASE W/MODEM PROT $98 U1000 POWER SAVER 1000W U.P.S. (TOPAZ) CALL BC-425 WATT S.P.S. 30 MIN $419 BC-675WATTS.P.S.70MIN $825 BC-1000 WATT W/SELF CONTAINED BATT40 MIN. .. $939 SAFE(SAFT)SPS/000 WATT SINE WAVE $949 SOLA 750 I/VA7TW/4500 WATT HI-INRUSH $1,495 MONITORS & TERMINALS NEC MULTISYNC CALL TECMAR RGB HhRESZVM-1360 $498 ZENITY ZVM-1240 (IBM) FLAT SCREEN $149 PRINCETON GRAPHICS ALL MODELS CALL ©TATUNG CM-1360 640x200 RGB, 13", GA SWITCH $339 CM-1 380F EGA 640x350 RES 13" G/A SWITCH $450 TEGA-22 256K EGA V2 CARD $245 1 422A DUAL FREQ. TLT/SWIVEL, 14", G/A $139 ALINE 125 EMULATES WY-50 ETC., HIRES 14" GREEN/AMBER, 6 SCROLL RATES, IBM SELEC., K.B., $385 PC-TERM EMUL WY-50, TVI 925, IBM-AT KB, FOR MULTI- USER PC-SLAVE BOARDS $419 WYSE80 $475 LIBERTY FREEDOM ONE $395 PRINTERS & BUFFERS brother M-1109 100-25 CPS P & S.TRACTOR M-1509 180/45 CPS P & S W/TRAC M-1409 AS ABOVE 1 1 COL, PARA M-1709 240/50 CPS "PAPER PARK" Fx-286 & IBM PROPRINTER COMPAT HR-3536CPS DAISY, WIDE CARR HR-2020CPS HR1 5XL 1 7 CPS DAISY WHEEL CITIZEN MSP-10 $309 MPS-15 CITIZEN MSP-20 $349 MPS-25 CORDATA LP-300 LASER W/WORDSTAR 2000 HANZON BUFFER 64K-256KS-S.S-P, P-S.P-P. HANZON LP-3000 + LASER CAN EXECUTE HEWLETT-PACKARD GL PLOTTER COMMANDS ., STAR MICRONICS SR-15 TOSHIBA P327 PARA. & SERIAL TOSHIBA P347 TOSHIBA P357 PARA. & SERIAL OKIDATA ... $203 .CALL .CALL ..CALL ...$729 ...$349 ...$295 ...$429 ....$499 $2,175 ...$265 XEROX/Diabto .. CALL ... $595 ... $589 ... $899 $1,199 .. CALL . $475 DIABLO 635 . DIABLO D80IF _ 4045 LASER WITH COPIER & 512K RAM .. DIABLO 34 LQ $815 .$1,389 ..$4,798 $939 ttax PERSONAL SPEECH SYSTEM %t* . $295 SCIENTIFIC/INDUST. BDS. A/D 64-100 $315 A/D 64-PC $396 D/A64-100 $236 D//A 84-PC $466 1018-PC 96TTL INPUT LINES $446 SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS (TECMAR) IEEE 488 $239 LAB MASTER .. $859 S-100 BOARDS All merchandise new. Advertised prices are cash prepaid only. PO's from qualified firms & AM. Expres; li .99, S5 min. fee) with Cashiers Check/MO, Bank Wires & APO's accepted. Shipping; minimum $4 fir s tax. All returns subject to 20% restocking fee or credit towards future purchases. All prices ONE STOP SHOPPING FOR ALL OF YOUR INTEGRATION AND POST SALE SUPPORT NEEDS. WE HANDLE CCS, COMPUPRO, DUAL, I.C.M., ILLUMIN. TECH., LOMAS, TELETEK, MULLEN, P&T. INDUST. COMP. DESIGNS, TARBELL, ETC. THIS MONTH'S SPECIALS ARE: CONCURRENT DOS 4.7D $495 CDOS 4.1 E $750 SPUZ 8MhZ Z80, 256K, 4 USERS $269 INTERFACER-3 8 SERIAL PORTS $439 SYSTEM SUPPORT 1 WITH CLK. BATT. SERIAL $289 DISK 1 A 5" & 8" FLOPPY CONTROLLER $439 DISK 3 5" HARD DISK CONTROLLER $509 RAM 22 256K STATIC RAM $446 COMPUPRO DISK DRIVE BRACKETS $25 816/C2 SYSTEM $7,279 DUAL. DUAL: AIM-12 D/A CONVERTER $545 DUAL: AOM-72 A/D CONVERTER $509 MMACPOTECH iiSJTEPMATOfviAL M/.28610MHz80286&8MHzZ80H $695 STI1 1 Mb STATIC RAM $2,249 MSRI1 1 Mb DYNAMIC RAM $799 HARD DISK & TAPE DRIVES PC-INSIDER, PC-OUTSIDER & AT-INSIDER HARD DISKS FOR IBM AND COMPATIBLES SET-UP TO BOOT FROM HARD DISK WITH ALL NECESSARY HARDWARE AND PC-STYLE CABINET FOR EXTERNAL DRIVES. 20Mb PC-INSIDER $379 30Mb PC-INSIDER (SEAGA TE ST-238) $495 72Mb PC-IN/OUTSIDER 28 MSEC $1,459 40Mb INT. SUBSYS. W/DISK 3 $1,419 80Mb INT SUBSYS. W/DISK 3 $1 ,797 ALLOY FT-60 60MB® 1.8Mb/Mln, For PC Compat.... $7.95 IRWIN 10Mb TAPE/PC or CPRO - Requires CDOS $389 TECMAR QIC 60 A T I NT 60Mb TAPE *1,079 BARE WINCHESTER DRIVES SEAGATE ST-225 $329 SEAGATE ST-4051 51Mb, 40mSEC, FH 5 V*" $789 QUANTUM Q540 43Mb, 45mSEC, FH 5V*" $839 MICROPOLIS MC-1325 85Mb, 30mSEC, FH 5V<" $1,239 MAXTOR XT-7740 140Mb, 30m SEC, FH 5V4" $3,289 MAXTOR XT-2190 190Mb, 30mSEC, FH 5 V« " $3,895 FLOPPY DISK DRIVES MITSUBISHI 2fl94 8" $465 MITSUBISHI MF-501 48TPL $95 MITSUBISHI MF-504 96 TPL $149 TE AC FD55S8V48TPI $89 TAN DON TM 50 $75 SOFTWARE WE SELL ALL WELL KNOWN BRANDS. ORDER CORRECTLY I SOFTWARE IS NOT RETURNABLE! NEWSTAR NEWWORD 2 $139 NEWSTAR NEWWORD 3 SPELL CHECKER. INDEXING, CONTENT TABLES* MACRO'S, SHORTHAND KEYBOARD, MULTI-TASKING $269 BD SOFTWARE C COMPILERS" SSDD 8 BIT $95 MICROSOFT - ASHTON-TATE -38% MICROPRO - MULTIMATE- P.F.S -41% BORLAND INTL TURBO PASCAL, ETC -41% MOST OTHER PC PROGRAMS -41 % MODEMS 'm i ? MP.B0MEFHFV.5 PROMODEM 1200 . PROMODEM 1 200G $179 2400G ... PROMODEM 300C • APPLE IIC PIGGY-BACK.. ..$255 .. $339 ....$75 MuttfTech® MT224EH MNP ERROR CORREC. . MT224ER RACK MOUNTW/EDC... U.S. ROBOTICS BLOW-OUT i .95. MC & Visa: 4 .968. CODs 5ibs. Tax: AZ RES. ONLY add availability subject to change ESTABLISHED 1977 ..$529 .. $495 .CALL Inquiry 289 for End-Users. Inquiry 290 for DEALERS ONLY. TIMELINE INC. CALL US FOR ALL YOUR NEEDS! We have 10 Million I.C.'s in stock! Minimum I.C. Order: $200.00 Continental U.S.A "Order Desk (800) 872-8878 Inside California (800) 223-9977 L.A. & Technical Info (800) 217-8912 OEM INQUIRIES WELCOME ISJ* pv Vv°* oUlv MICROSCIENCE 10 Mb 1/2 HEIGHT HARD DISK DRIVE ••■■.—■• . Cm $235.00 WITH OPTIONAL CONTROLLER CARD 15 Mb System -$289.00 30 Mb System - $419.00 Includes: (2) V2 Height drives & Controller card with cables. WE HAVE A LIMITED STOCK OF THESE BRAND NEW % HEIGHT DRIVES. WE ARE OFFERING THEM ON A ONE TIME SALE ONLY ATTHESE SEVERELY LOW PRICES. TEC MODEL 155D PRINTER $279.00 -Centronics parallel and RS232 Serial ports ■15" carriage •120 cps -Tractor and friction feed -Graphics One of the largest manufacturers in the world has 125 of these prestigious printers in their overstock. We are extremely fortunate to be designated as their representative to market them. AMDEK 13" Color Composite MONITOR for Atari,Commodore & Apple Computers Model: Color-I Plus - Resolution: 0n| 2S0 260Hx320V *™ Ubl " $129.95 Video in: RCA phono-lack Audio In.Minl earohonfl jack 15KHx17KWx15%D" CMrirttfNumb"! icomm.ndM 1700 chlrirtw ,(S4 ctwn OllCl.y „ 25 Row , on 5x7 O0 , M , MOTOROLA DIAGONAL SCREEN HIGH RESOLUTION > rmm. siSif 3 MONITOR 4 $280.00 Factory List $29.95 Oormt (torn 12VDC ■VtniejJ inpui k 47 to 63 Hi. HoriloMll iritiut: 15.7 Khz H8.7 Khi optional} V«!to Input ilgnat: Poiitiva vthit*. input Urmirtitktn 470 ohmi • 5%, 2.5V to 5.0V PP W.^hl: Gib*. -«, 22MHZ For ,plii «id*o |TTL Input.) opinion. TVPICA <- f^'M compoiita video. BANDWIDTH INFRARED REMOTE CONTROL IBM PC/XT COR JR.] LIQUIDATION! $69.95 LIQUIDATION! We are proud that we have been awarded the opportunity of offering these very unique keyboards. The original factory list wat 259.00. We are blowing them out at an Incredible prlcel Also, these are American made and not Taiwan clones. These can be operated by remote or attached to vour computer. COMPLETELY IBM COMPATIBLE ASTEC 65 WATT SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY Dual Input voltage; 1 15/230 VAC . Overvoltag* protection ■ Short circuit protection • Dual Isolated +12V - Built-in EMI filter . Vary compact liM-.UL/CSA/VDE approved - 100% thermal cycle & burn-in • High efficiency - Vaccum impreg- nated transformers - Convection cooling • Open PCB "L" bracket or boxed construction. Dimensions; 8.0" - Length 4.4". Width 2.4" • Height super deau£J329.00 OUTPUTS: Condition No.1 + 5V DC© 6.0A + 12VDCW0S21K21 5 & 10 box Quantity Discounts SUPER QUAJjITYj SSide 12?5 DSide 19Q0 8" DISKS 19» I" DEN'. 21 30 DDw ^^^UFETIMEW^RRANTY I oid Relate jg». , -Delaware II I DisKetteT^ •ownyJiniTi SSide DDen. DSide DDen. SSide 96tpi DSide 96tpi HIGH 7$5 995 19 5 - 2195 S-Side DDen. DSide NOVEMBER 1986 ■ BYTE 433 Inquiry 410 VAR's OEM's RESELLER'S Save 20 to 40% 818-889-1256 IBM-PC* Logic Boards XT 640k Mother Board $78 ^ (Fully IBM compatible, w/Ok RAM) XT 640k Super Turbo $98 **• (Fully IBM compatible, w/Ok RAM) AT Turbo Mother Board $474 SA (6 & 8 MHz AT, w/Ok RAM) IBM-PC* Components (Partial List) Mono/Graphics/Printer $50 (Here. Compatible interface card) Multi Disk I/O (2 Floppy $ 5 7 Ctrl,Par, Ser, Clk, Cld, Game) Hi Res Amber Monito (Tilt $66 swivel Base & Anti-glare Screen) Box/Chassis Flip Top $ 19 (IBM Compatible & Look-a-like) Power Supply (150w) $43 (FCC & UL Std.) 5160 Keyboard, AT style $48 (Hi-quality with great feel) Floppy Drive DS/DD $59 (Hi-quality w/Direct Drive motor) EGA Video Card $197 ^ (Now affordable) EGA Monitor RGB $368 ^ (720 x350 Multi Sync.) ACS Imports, specializes in buying custom and standard electronics components to fit your specific needs. We have years of expertise buying and importing components from the Orient. ACS will solve your sourcing needs. Can: 818-889-1256 ACS Imports, 531 1 Deny Ave.#A Agoura Mills, CA 91301 TLX 5106018224 Comdex Riveara#8208 "IBM trademark Inlcrnalional Business Machines All prices arc FOB Taiwan - Import Quaniilies 434 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 &I 11 01 72 411 &Z DOUBLE THE OPTION CAPACITY OF YOUR IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER PC-XTRA • DIRECT EXTENSION OF IBM PC BUS • NO SOFTWARE CHANGES • NO HARDWARE MODIFICATION • STYLING CONSISTENT WITH IBM Add all ihose special options that you've been wanting without worrying about tilling your plug-in and back panel space 0**y F.O.B. SANTA ANA ■CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS AOD &% SALES TAX PC HORIZONS, INC. 1701 E. Edinger, Ste. A6, Santa Ana, GA 92705 (714) 953-5396 Inquiry 242 PRINTER SHARING HERE IS THE ECONOMICAL AND THE BEST SOLUTION Completely automatic operation Eliminates the need for manuel switching or cable swapping May be used for other peripherals {i.e. plotters) Compatible with all computers using a stendard CENTRONICS output Identifies active computer Totally transparent to the user • Adjustable time-out delay from 1 to 25 seconds between two printings • Form feed may be inserted (or not) between two suc- cessive requests • Port number associated with requesting computer may be printed or not • 8 kbyte standard buffer • 32 kbyte optional buffer • Z80-A processor • Six models to choose from: PMS 606: 2 computers to one printer/ 8 kbyte buffer $149.00 PMS 607: PMS 606 with 32 kbyte buffer $21 9.00 PMS 610: 4 computers to one printer/ 8 kbyte buffer : $249.00 PMS 611: PMS 610 with 32 kbyte buffer $319.00 PMS 615: 8 computers to one printer/ 8 kbyte buffer ■ $349.00 PMS616: PMS615with32kbytebuffer $419.00 We ere also manufacturing a full line of 8TD BU8 and educa- tional products. DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED Visa, M.C. accepted, call toll free: 1 -800-361-2572 Pratsc Micro Sytt.ma Inc. 8090A. Trent C«neda Hwy. St. lament. Qc H 4S IMS Tol I I) 335-9555 Tin: 0525134/PROTEC Inquiry 268 POWERFUL LOW-COST CONTROL WITH YOUR COMMODORE C64 OR C128 Universally applicable dual 6522 Versatile Inter- face Adapter (VIA) Board. Four 8-bit bidirec- tional I/O ports, eight handshake lines, four 16-bit timer/counters. IRQ interrupt capability. Expandable to four boards. With extensive docu- mentation, application examples, and programs on disk. Order Model 641F22. $169 postpaid USA. Each additional $149. New 16-channel 8-bit fast A/D converter module. Requires above. Order Model 641F/ADC0816. Only $69. Documentation package now available separately for examination. Credit against first order. $30. SCHNEDLER SYSTEMS 1501 N. Ivanhoe, Dept. Bl 1 , Arlington, VA 22205. (703) 237-4796. RAMS 256K (256KX1) 150 ns 2.70 256K (256Kx1) 120 ns 2.90 256K (64KX4) 150 ns 4.25 128K (128KX1) 150 ns 4.40 64K (64Kxl) 150 ns 1.10 64K (64Kx1) 120 ns 1.35 6264LP-15 (8Kx8) 150 ns 3.15 EPROMS 2732 A (4Kx8) 250 ns 4.05 2764 (8K x 8) 250 ns 3.35 2764 (8Kx8) 200 ns 3.75 27C64 (8Kx8) 200 ns 5.05 27128 (16Kx8) 250 ns 3.65 27256 (32Kx8) 250 ns 5.25 27256 (32Kx8) 200 ns 5.65 PROCESSORS C8087-2 8mHz 150.00 C8087 5m Hz 115.00 V-20 8m Hz 12.00 V-30 8m Hz 14.00 MicroTech (206) 364-2209, 8-5 Mon.-Fri. P.O.Box 27083, Seattle, WA 98125 Prices shown for ash. Prices subject to change. Call for current prices & volume discounts. Shipping & Handling: UPS ground $2.00, air $5.00 (under 1 lb.}. Master Card/Visa add 3%.Wash. residents add 7.9% sales tax. Satisfaclion guaranteed. Inquiry 217 DATA ACQUISITION TO GO INTERFACE FOR ANY COMPUTER FREE IBM SOFTWARE Connects via RS-232. Fully IBM com- patible. Built-in BASIC. Stand alone capability. Expandable. Battery Option. Basic system: 16 ch. 12 bit A/D, 2 ch. D/A, 32 bit Digital I/O. Expansion boards available. Direct Bus units for many computers. (201) 299-1615 P.O. Box 246, Morris Plains, NJ 07950 ELEXOR Inquiry 1 18 TURBOLINK + %y& *>;. INI-10/AT PC-AT EXPANSION CHASSIS • Full 16-bit PC-AT bus • 10 slots • 250W power supply • Two fans • Direct extension of PC-AT bus • No software changes needed • Inexpensive, simple, attractive Dealer inquires invited. List Price $1,400.00 INI Computer Products 6915 Hightech Drive Midvale, UT 84047 (801)561-1100 Contact Mark Jenkins Inquiry 270 Inquiry 113 Inquiry 1 58 Because lis ong:nol obiective wos to protect soft- wore from unouthonzed use it's colled the SOFTWARE SENTINEL But maybe we'll change the name to REVENUE GENERATOR Since we've discovered ffs true value to our customers But whatever we call it. everyone ends up with numerous benedts tram this hardware key with unlimited "locks" SOFTWARE DEVELOPER BENEFITS • Prohibits unauthorized use ot softv.'are • No need for copy protection •Algorithm technique (never o fixed response) • Virtuoiiy unbreakable Higher level language interfaces included 100 times taster (1ms) ihan fixed response devices Minimol implementation eforf Runs under DOS and Xenix, on IBM PC. AT. XT & compatibles SOFTWARE USER BENEFITS • Unlimited backup copies •Pocketsize • No fioppy (equired Wh • Transparent hord disk • Transportable o? EVALUATION KIT AVAILABLE MM 386078 17971 SKYPARK CIRCLE SUITE E, IRVINE, CA 92714 %\ ROSE DATA SWITCHES X^r ELECTRONICS „..»-.- SHARE computers, printers, any parallel or serial device ELIMINATE cable swapping INEXPENSlVEway to network COMPATIBLE with all computers. Businesses. Schools, Homes WE ALSO OFFER: Data Buffers. Line Drivers, Modems, Protocol Converters, Parallel - Serial Converters, Cables. Computers, Printers, Disk Drives, and more. AUTOMATIC - CARETAKER is ideal lor a business or school to shareaprinteror modem among many computers. Operation is fully automatic with no software required. Parallel or Serial 4 channels -$295 8 channels - $395 MANUAL - HARDSWITCH is operated with the flip of a switch. 2:2 and 2:4 models allow simultaneous commun- ication. Serial 1:2 - $59 1:4 - $ 99 2:2 - $109 2:4 - $169 Parallel 1:2 - $79 1:4 - $139 2:2 • $119 2:4 - $199 LED and spike protection on serial models add $20. CODE ACTIVATED - PORTER connects one computer to multiple peripherals. A software code selects the peripheral. Parallel or Serial 4 channels - $295 8 channels - $395 Buffer option 64K-$100 256K - $250 REMOTE - TELEPATH connects multiple computers to multipleperipherals.Aselectoral each computer or terminal chooses up to 4 peripherals and displays busy status. 4:4 -$495 4:8 -$795 selector - $39. = #6* * Soac *» )w«t computet ^= ROSE ELECTRONICS (713) 933-7673 P.O. BOX 742571 MC & VISA Accepted HOUSTON, TX 77274 Dealer Inquiries Invited CALL US FOR ALL YOUR INTERFACE NEEDS f Heritage Systems Corp j HSC9100 60 By 24 Or 25 Line Alpha-numeric Video Terminal Card ANSI X3.64/Other Terminal Emulations 50TO38.4K Baud Serial Port RS-232 Or TTL/CMOS Versions IBM PC Compatible Keyboard Input EEPROM Based On Screen Config Composite or Separate Video 100 By 100mm Card 5V Only @ 200mA $139 TTL/CMOS $149 RS-232 PO Box 10588, Greensboro, NC 27404-0588 (919) 274-4818 Inquiry 284 Inquiry 287 Inquiry 14 7 Saps? !c33s? IDaffgaSial] i| m pipe .v_ I iss (OaUgj wm flOO Copy, Bypass, Reset.. This Buffer does it all!!! Rugged Metal Case with LED's to indicate status'!! Reliable Parallel Operation with Multiple Copies AND Multiple Documents. A Real Bargain! mm m^ @as@@a bbd S Call (918) 437-2600 ED Call for Best Price Cables and Switches! No minimum. COD's accepted. Checks clear 2 weeks. 3S5 surcharge MC/VISA. Shipping and Handling $5.00 Preoaidsto: POB 690958 • Tulsa. OK 74169-0958 1 NEC PRINTERS (1 Year Factory Warranty) Pinwriter P5 $ 93( Pinwriter P5XL $107! Pinwriter P6 $ 45( Pinwriter P7 $ 61! Elf 350/360 $ 38( ) ) ") 3510/15/30/50 $ 71! 8810/15/30/50 $104( Optional Forms Handling Devices CALl QUALITY PRINTERS 8415 Cement City Road Brooklyn, Michigan 49230 Phone: 517-592-3749 3 LOW COST HIGH RESOLUTION DATA LOGGING for IBM PC/XT/AT® 15-Bit four input channel system 7 samples/second with hardware and menu driven software $415 Expand system above by 15 analog input channels (64 max.) . . . $165 Add thermocouple thermometry to above, 6 channels for $175 Add 16-bit, 12,000 sample/second capabilities to above for . . . $210 Call for quantity pricing or for- quotes on custom hardware, software or complete systems. LAWSON LABS, INC. 5700 Raibe Road Columbia Falls, MT 59912 Phone: 406 387-5355 Inquiry 96 Inquiry 278 Inquiry 17 5 QUME DISK DRIVE DS. DD, 360Kfor PC Teac FD55 BV Tandon TM100-2 1.2 MB for AT DAISYWHEEL PRINTER • 22 cps, 2K buffer • Diablo compatible • Parallel & serial • Proportional spacing *199 List Price s 499 Tractor — s 69 Sheet Feeder— s 129 Printers On Sale! HARD DISK DRIVE $34 g 10 MB Kit *3dQ 20 MB Kit *399 20 MB hard disk card s 449 20 MB HI-SPEED HARD DISK FOR Y0UR AT S399 Limited quantity 30 MB Hi-speed _ 40 MB Hi-speed _ 70 MB Hi-speed _ 120 MB Hi-speed_ _*695 _ s 895 *1695 Citizen 120D 120 cps. Okidata 192 160 cps_ _ $ 198 _ $ 339 Epson LX-86 120 cps $ 100 off Epson FX-85 160 cps J 150 off Epson FX-286 160 cps J 300 off Epson LQ-800 24 pin J 230 off Epson LQ-1000 24 pin J 300 off Epson EX-800 300 cps $ 200 off Epson EX-1000 300 cps_ J 200 off Epson LQ-2500 324 cps _ J 400 off EPSON HOMEWRITER 100 cps ci on PRINTER MUSI PC Mouse 3 Button Mouse with pop-up software, serial s 99 PC Mouse w/Dr. Halo II s 119 Microsoft Mouse with PC Paintbrush software s 129 PC Multifunction Cards 384K Jade Seven Pak w/OK, p, s, c, c, g, software _ $ 99 384K Jade Seven Pak with 384K installed s 139 AST Six Pak Plus 64K J 159 AST Six Pak Plus384K s 229 AST Six Pak Premium 512K_ S 389 AST Rampage 256K J 239 AST Rampage 2 MB $ 699 Tall Tree JRAM-3 OK s 189 Tall Tree JRAM-3 2 MB $ 599 Intel Above Board 64K J 279 Intel Above Board 2MB J 599 AT Multifunction Cards 1.5 MB Jade-AT Pak w/OK, p, s, optional g, s _ 1.5 MB Jade-AT Pak w/1.5 MB RAM installed _ AST Advantage- AT 128 K AST Advantage-AT 3 MB AST Rampage-AT 512K AST Rampage-AT 2 MB Tall Tree JRAM-AT OK Tall Tree JRAM-AT 2 MB Tall Tree JRAM 3-AT OK Tall Tree JRAM 3-AT 2 MB . Intel Above Board 128K Intel Above Board 4 MB NO-SLOT CLOCK s 4 g Real time clock/ calendar for your PC-XT or clone High Speed APU Chips 8087-3 s 119 8087-2 M59 80287-3 $ 179 80287-8 J 269 NEC V-20 J 11 NEC V-20 s 14 Networks AST PC NET Board PC NET Starter Kit_ _ J 199 _ s 399 _ s 349 _ J 989 _ s 469 _ s 749 _ J 169 _ s 599 _ s 239 _ s 699 _ $ 399 M299 _*325 _*695 64K BUFFER FOR YOUR EPSON Serial or parallel input Fits MX, RX, FX printers Limited Quantity s 99 HI-RES 640 x 262, .38 dot pitch, 16 color, RGB, non-glare COLOR MONITOR $ 269 By Hitachi includes cable & FREE Swivel Base! RGB Color Monitors Hitachi 640 x 262_ Magnavox 640 x 240 Quimax EGA 640 x 350 NEC Multisync 800 x 560 . PGS HX-12 640 x 240 PGS HX-12E 640 x 350 __ _ s 269 _ s 319 _ $ 489 .CALL -_ $ 439 __ s 529 Monochrome Monitors Magnavox green TTI Magnavox amber TTI Amdek 310A amber Quimax 14" green T/S_ Quimax 14" amber T/S . PGS MAX 12E amber _ _ s 99 _ s 99 _ s 149 ^ s 139 „ s 139 _ $ 159 PC or AT Video Boards Hercules Color Graphics . Jade Color Graphics . _ s 159 _ $ 89 Hercules Mono Graphics Plus $ 199 JADE Monochrome Graphics _ $ 99 Quad EGA+ *359 JADE EGA+ *239 SURGE/NOISE POWER STRIP UL Listed, U.S. Made PC Power Supply 135 watt power supply. 150 watt power supply. Plotters Roland DXY-800 8 pen Houston Inst. PC 695_ Houston Inst. DMP 40P Houston Inst. DMP 29 _ _ s 399 _ s 599 _ J 849 . J 1699 Houston Inst. DMP 41/42 _ $ 2495 Houston Inst. DMP 51/52 _ $ 3795 Houston Inst. DMP 56 $ 4495 OMNI-READER TEXT SCANNER $179 List Price s 799 Reads and inputs type written text into your computer. Uses a standard RS-232 serial port. Software & cable kit for IBM or Macintosh s 29 1200 Baud tion Modem ■ £** flier rj-j^l IP- 1 ft L tksi^s llfl ""iT-" JU ^iijm Internal 1200 baud card with software External 1200 baud Hayes 1200B internal card w/o software Hayes 1200B internal card w/Smartcom II _ $ 129 _ J 139 _ J 329 $ 359 J 389 Hayes Smartmodem 1200 Hayes 2400B internal card w/Smartcom II s 549 Hayes Smartmodem 2400 s 589 Iso-Bar These industrial quality ISO-BAR's contain surge suppression circuit- ry & built-in noise filters plus a 15 amp circuit breaker. 6 socket, 1 filter ISO-BAR $ 44 4 socket, 2 filter ISO-BAR *59 8 socket, 4 filter ISO-BAR *69 200W standby power supply _ s 269 425W standby power supply „ s 399 675W standby power supply J 599 1000W standby power supply s 899 Apple Accessories lie y 2 high disk drive lie 1 / 2 high disk drive He, M+ disk drive He 64K, 80 column card . II+ 80 column card Grappler printer card II+ 16K RAM card II+, Me printer card & cable. Il-f, Me cooling fan _ J 119 _ $ 99 _ J 129 _ s 49 ^ J 119 _ $ 89 _ J 39 _ J 49 _ $ 59 Microfazer Buffers Expands to 64K (Parallel to 512K) 8K Parallel in/parallel out_ $ 139 64K Parallel in/parallel out _ s 164 128K Parallel in/parallel out _ J 269 512K Parallel in/parallel out _ $ 499 Your choice: serial in/serial out; parallel in/serial out; serial in/parallel out. 8K s 169 64K s 199 JADE COMPUTER r 1975 - 1986 ' 5 11 years *y "^ SATISFACTION « GUARANTEED! PLACE ORDERS TOLL FREE! MM Continental U.S.A. (800)421-5500 Inside California (800)262-1710 0011* 4901 W. Rosecrans Ave. Box 5046 Hawthorne, CA 90251-5046 Prices at our six store locations will be higher. We accept cash, checks, credit cards or purchase orders from qualified firms and institutions. Minimum prepaid order $15.00. California residents add 6'/ z % tax. Prices & availability subject to change without notice. Shipping & handling charges via UPS Ground 50«/lb. UPS Air $1.00/Ib. Minimum charge $3.00. Inquiry 164 NOVEMBER 19.86 • BYTE '43* pineCOtll IBM Compatibles •2 SPEEDS TURBO SYSTEM FULLY IBM PC/XT COMPATIBLE 4.77/8MHZ • 640K on Board RAM • 2 Floppy Disk Drives • Disk Controller Card • 150W Power Supply • FCC Type Slide Case • 'AT Style Keyboard • 8 IBM I/O Slots • 8088-2 Micro Processor • 8087 Co-Processor Socket • 4.77 MHZ/8MHZ Clock Selectable • Monitor and Display Card Not Included Fully Assembled and Tested $595 00 (Other Options and Configurations Available, Please Call.) -PINECOM AT SYSTEM - FULLY IBM AT COMPATIBLE • 8/6 MHZ Clock Selectable . 80286 CPU • 1.2 MGB Floppy Drive • 200 Watts Power Supply • Hard Disk/Floppy Disk Controller • 512K RAM Expandable to 1 MGB • Clock Calender w/Battery Backup • 'AT Style Keyboard Fully Assembled and Tested $ 1229 00 30 MGB (ST-4308) Hard Disk $620 Other Options, See Below »* * * SPECIAL OF THE MONTH * * *. INFRARED REMOTE KEYBOARD Now you can operate your PC/ XT Computer as far as 25 feet away without any cable in bet- ween. State-of-the-art infrared wireless keyboard made in USA with top quality key switches by Cherry. Unit comes with receiver (just plug into the keyboard input on your computer) and the transmitter is built inside the keyboard. Limited quantity availiable. SALES ITEMS 20 MGB Hard Disk (Seagate ST-225) (79 MS) $280°° Western Digital Hard Disk Controller Card WX-2 *110°° 30 MGB Hard Disk For 'AT (ST 4038) (39 MS) *620°° Half Size Modem Card 300/1200 BPS Hays Compatible ... $ 135 00 3 Button Mouse System with Software (Serial) $ 85 00 TTX 1411 RGB Monitor 14" 0.31 Dot 640 X 250 $330°° Samsung 12" Monochrome TTL Monitor, Amber or Green . $89°° Samsung 12" Monochrome Composit Monitor, Amber or Green $75 00 Monochrome Graphic Adapter with Printer Port $85 00 Color Graphic Adapter with 2 Composit Output $70oo 0/576 K Max. RAM Expansion Card For PC/XT $4500 Fujitsu 360K Half Height Floppy Disk Drive $88 00 Joystick with 2 Fire Buttons For IBM $lgoo 6 Outlets Power Strip with Surge Suppressor and Main Sw. . $12 00 8087-3 Co-Processor Chip For XT (4.77 MHZ) $115 00 8087-2 Co-Processor Chip For XT Turbo (8 MHZ) *168 00 80287-8 Co-Processor Chip For AT (8 MHZ) $299°° NEC V-20 Processor (Replace 8088) 40% Faster $13 00 EGA ADAPTER AND MONITOR EGA Adapter: $239°° • 100% IBM Compatible • Displays 16 out of 64 Colors • 256K RAM on Board For Video Memory • Dual Scanning Frequencies (15.75 KHZ/21.85 KHZ) • Works with Standard or EGA Color Monitors • Light Pen Interface EGA Monitor: $43900 • 14" Black Matrix Non-Glare Screen • EGA and CGA Compatible • Dot Pitch 0.31 Band Width 25 MHZ • Display 2000 Characters (80 X 25 Rows) • 64 Colors Display in EGA Mode • Dual Scanning Frequencies (15.75 KHZ/21.85 KHZ) • Resolution =720 X 240 (15.75 MHZ)/720 X 350 (21.85 MHZ) —TRANS-NET ™ LOCAL AREA NETWORK — The Most Easy-to-Use and Low Cost Local Area Network System For IBM PC/XT/AT or It's Compatibles Features: • Trans-Net Spool (Printer File Spooling) • Trans-Net Mail (Electronic Mail Software) • Enhanced Networking DOS Commands • Multi-Tasking with High Performance • Classroom Monitor • No Dedicated File Server ■ Hard Disk Sharing • Floppy Disk Sharing • Printer/Plotter Sharing • Transparent to DOS • File/Record Locking $279°° Trans-Net 001 System: Network Interface Adapter, Utilities Software, Tap Box, 30 Feet of Trunk Cable (RS-422), Cable Terminators, Instruction Manual for Setting Up Basic Network System. Specifications: Topology: Distributed Bus Data Rate: 1 MGA Bit/Sec Distance: 4000 Ft Max. Cabling: Standard Phone Twisted Pair Wire -3 MGB MULTIFUNCTION CARD FOR AT'H Addressable Users: 255 Stations Diskless Boot ROM for Stations Operating System: MS-DOS 2.0 up lUffl #MF-3000 $1 0/4A • User Expandable Up to 3 MGB with 128/5 12K Increments • One RS-232 Serial Port (2nd Port Optional) • One Parallel Printer Port • One Game Port RAM Set (Each 512K) H08 00 2nd Serial Port I.C. Set *26 00 Shipped With Zero K RAM $18400 2 MGB RAM EXPANSION CARD FOR 'XT' $14700 #MEMO-2000-XT • Confirms to Lotus/Intel Expanded Memory Spect. (EMS) • Up to 2048K Bytes of Expansion Memory • Uses 64K or 256K RAM Chips • Software and Instruction Manual Included Memory Set (Each 5 12K) S108 00 Shipped with Zero K RAM •4 SERIAL PORTS (RS-232) ADAPTER- MS-400-XT $9200 MS-400-AT $125 00 • 4 Serial Ports COM-1, COM-2, COM-3, COM-4 • Custom Fully Molded Serial Cabling and Mountings • Short Card Design, Available For 'AT or 'XT' COPY II PC OPTION BOARD "Copies Virtually All Protected Software" For IBM XT/ AT, Comes with Disk Back Up Utility, Copy II PC Board, Cable and Instruction $9900 * * * DOOR TO DOOR DELIVERY TO EUROPE VIA UPS AIR PINE COMPUTER INC. 9690 Telstar Ave., Suite 204 El Monte, CA 91731 Phone: (818) 575-1882 Telex: 5106017376 PINECOM TERMS: COD accepted on cashiers check or cash only, no credit card. Shipping charges for COD orders = 5 u bof total purchase, 2% for prepaid orders, minimum charge applied. Foreign orders require special handling, please ask for details. « IBM is registered trade mark of IBM Corp. 438 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1986 Inquiry 389 Media- Mate Diskette Holder ($15.00 value) with purchase of Each 100 Diskettes from this ad (Brand Names Included) Presenting our own Brand Produced by a major manufacturer Millions have been sold— 100% Guaranteed (You may be using them now without knowing) ...So Why Pay More? m ijgsg 5Va" Diskettes DS/DD 43 EA. DS/HD for AT 1 .39 EA. Order in multiplies of 100 only! All Best 5Va" Diskettes are poly bagged in 20's with tyvec sleeves, write- protect tabs and user ID labels. 3Va" Diskettes SS/DD 1.19 EA. DS/DD 1.59 EA. Order in multiples of 100 only! All Best3 1 /2" Diskettes include user ID labels. Holds 50 5 1 A' A $15.00 Value * FREE * with Each 100 Diskettes or purchase separately for $8.88 U.S. made- Highest quality Why pay more and settle for less? Holds 30 3W .r fc i -rt SUPPLIES 2148- A Bering Dr. San Jose, CA 95131 (408)435-3866 TO ORDER, CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-351 -BEST (2378) 1 -800-451 - BEST (in California) Visa, Mastercard, C.O.D. or Prepaid. Corporations rated 3A2 or better, government agencies and schools may send in purchase orders on a net30 basis. Minimum order$25.00. Shipping charges are$3.00 perlOO diskettes(Minimum shipping order$3. 00) (within the continental U.S). APO, FPO, AK, H I, PR and Canada Orders add 10% to cover PAL and Insurance. All other countries add 20%. C.O.D. Orders Add $4.00. No Sales Tax outside California. Satisfaction guaranteed on all products. maxell Boxed in tens 5Va" 5 1 /4" 5 1 /V' 3 1 / 2 " 3 1 / 2 " SS/DD. DS/DD . DS/HD. SS/DD. DS/DD.. . .89 Ea. 1 .09 Ea. 2.19 Ea. 1.39 Ea. 2.09 Ea. (Minimum order 20) Free Media- Mate with each 100 \ferbatim Boxed in tens 5 1 /4" SS/DD 89 Ea. 5 1 /4" DS/DD... 1.09 Ea. 5 1 /4" DS/HD... 2.19 Ea. 3 1 / 2 " SS/DD... 1.39 Ea. 3 1 / 2 " DS/DD... 2.09 Ea. (Minium order 20) Free Media- Mate with each 100 .Nashua Boxed in tens 5 1 /4" SS/DD. 5 1 /4" DS/DD. 5 1 /4" DS/HD. . .69 Ea. . .75 Ea. 1.79 Ea. 3 1 / 2 " SS/DD... 1.29 Ea. 3 1 / 2 " DS/DD... 1.89 Ea. (Minimum order 20) Free Media- Mate with each 100 usEsm Boxed in tens 5 1 /4" SS/DD- .59 Ea. 5 1 /4"DS/DD-.65Ea. (Minimum order 20) Free Media- Mate with each 100 Inquiry 407 for End-Users. Inquiry 408 for DEALERS ONLY. NOVEMBER 1986 'BYTE 439 Part No. 1-9 10+ Part No. 1-9 10+ 7400 ... .29 .19 7485 ... .65 .55 7402 ... .29 .19 7486 ... .45 .35 7404 ... .35 .25 7489 . . . 2.05 1.95 7405 ... .39 .29 7490 ... .49 .39 7406 ... .39 .29 7493 ... .45 .35 7407 ... .39 .29 74121 ... .45 .35 7408 ... .35 .25 74123. . . ... .59 .49 7410 ... .35 .25 74125 ... .55 .45 7414 ... .49 .39 74126.. . ... .75 .65 7416 ... .45 .35 74143. .. . . . 4.05 3.95 741 7 ... .45 .35 74150. . . ... 1.35 1.25 7420 ... .35 .25 74154.. . ... 1.35 1.25 7430. . . . ... .35 .25 74158. . . . . . 1.59 1.49 7432 ... .39 .29 74173. . . ... .85 .75 7438. . . . ... .39 .29 74174. . . ... .65 .55 7442 ... .55 .45 74175. . . . ... .65 .55 7445 79 .69 74176. . . ... .99 .89 7446 ... .89 .79 74181 ... 1 .95 1.85 7447 ... .89 .79 74189. . . . . . 2.05 1.95 7448 ...2.05 1.95 74193. . . ... .79 .69 7472 ... .75 .65 74198. . . ... 1 .85 1.75 7473 ... .45 .35 74221. . . ... .99 .89 7474 ... .45 .35 74273. . . . . . 2.05 1.95 7475 ... .49 .39 74365. . . ... .69 .59 7476 ... .45 .35 74367. . . ... .69 .59 74LS 74LS00 .. .29 .19 74LS165 . . .. .75 .65 74LS02 . . .29 .19 74LS166... .. .99 .89 74LS04 .. .35 25 74LS173... .. .59 .49 74LS05 . . .35 .25 74LS174... .. .49 .39 74LS06 . . 1.09 .99 74LS1 75. . . .. .49 .39 74LS07 . . 1.09 .99 74LS189. . . ..4.59 4.49 74LS08 .. 29 .19 74LS191... .. .59 .49 74LS10 .. 29 .19 74LS193. . . .. .79 .69 74LS14 .. .49 .39 74LS221... .. .69 .59 74LS27 .. .35 25 74LS240. . . .. .79 .69 74LS30 .. .29 .19 74LS243. . . .. .79 .69 74LS32 .. .35 25 74LS244. . . .. .79 .69 74LS42 .. .49 .39 74LS245. . . .. .89 .79 74LS47 .. .99 .89 74LS259. . . .. .99 .89 74LS73 .. .39 29 74LS273. . . .. .89 .79 74LS74 .. .35 .25 74LS279. . . .. .49 .39 74LS75 .. .39 29 74LS322. . . . . 4.05 3.95 74LS76 .. .55 .45 74LS365. . . .. .49 .39 74LS85 .. .59 .49 74LS366. . . .. .49 .39 74LS86. . . . .. .35 25 74LS367. . . .. .49 .39 74LS90 .. .49 .39 74LS368. . . .. .49 .39 74LS93 .. .49 .39 74LS373. . . .. .79 .69 74LS123. . . .. .59 .49 74LS374. . . .. .79 .69 74LS125. . . . . .49 .39 74LS393. . . .. .89 .79 74LS138. . . .. .49 .39 74LS590 . . ..6.05 5.95 74LS139. . . .. -49 .39 74LS624. . . . . 2.05 1.95 74LS154. . . .. 1.09 .99 74LS629. . . ..229 2.19 74LS157. .. .. .45 .35 74LS640. . . .. 1.09 .99 74LS158... .. .45 .35 74LS645 . . .. 1.09 .99 74LS163. .. .. .59 .49 74LS670. . . . . 1 .09 .99 74LS164. . . .. .59 .49 74LS688. . . . . 2.05 1.95 74S/PROMS' 74S00 29 74S188* .... 1.29 74S04 35 74S189 .... 1.69 74S08 35 74S196 2.49 74S10 29 74S240 ....1.49 74S32 35 45 74S244 1.49 74S74. 74S253 79 74S85 1.79 74S287* .... 1.49 74S86 35 74S288* ....1.49 74S124 2.95 74S373 74S374 74S472" 1 .49 74S174 79 1.49 74S175 79 2.95 7Ai fclMBil 74ALS00 35 74ALS138 89 74ALS02 35 74ALS174..... 89 74ALS04 39 74ALS175 89 74ALS08 39 74ALS240 .... 1.49 74ALS10 39 74ALS244 .... 1.49 74ALS27 39 74ALS245 .... 1.49 74ALS30 39 74ALS373 ....1.69 74ALS32 39 74ALS374. .... .... 1.69 74ALS74. .... .49 74ALS573 .... 1.69 y^F 74FOO 39 74F139 89 74F04 39 74F157 95 74F08 .39 74F193 ..... 3.95 74F10 39 74F240 1 .39 74F32 39 74F244 1.39 74F74 .49 74F253 99 74F86. 59 74F373 1.39 74F138 S9 74F374 1 .39 CD— 1 CMOS CD4001.. 19 CD4081 .25 CD4011... 19 CD4082 .25 CD4013.. 29 CD4093 .35 CD4016... 29 CD4094 .89 CD4017. .. 55 59 CD40103 2.49 CD4018... CD4503 .35 CD4020. . . 59 CD4510 .69 CD4024. . . 49 35 CD4511 .69 CD4027. . CD4515 .89 CD4030. . 29 CD4518 .75 CD4040. . 65 CD4520 .75 CD4049. . -. 29 CD4522 .79 CD4050. . ... .29 CD4538 .79 CD4051.. 59 CD4541 .69 CD4052. . 59 CD4543 .79 CD4053. . 59 CD4553 4.95 CD4059. . 3.95 CD4555 .79 CD4060. . 65 CD4566 2.49 CD4066. . 29 CD4572 (MC14572) ...39 CD4069. . 25 CD4583 .89 CD4070. . .25 CD4584 .39 CD4071.. 25 CD4585 .89 CD4072. . 25 65 MC14411 8.95 CD4076. . MC14490P 4.49 COMMODORE CHIPS For VIC-20, C-64 and C-128 Personal Computers Part No. Price Part No. Price Part No. Price 6502 MPU w/Clock 2.25 6529SPI .. 4.95 6581 SID 14.95 6507 8-Bit CPU . . 4.95 6551ACIA. . . .. 3.29 *82S100PLA 13.95 6508 w/RAM & I/O 8.95 6560VIC-I. . . ..10.95 8701 ClockChip... 9.95 6510CPU 9.95 6567VIC-II. . . ..14.95 *8721PLA. 14.95 6525TPI 7.95 6569VIV . . 14.95 NOTE: 82S100 = U17 (C-64) 6526CIA 14.95 6572 . . 14.95 *No Spec Available NEC V20 Sl V30 CHIPS Replace the 8086 or 8088 in Your IBM-PC and Part no. Increase Its Speed by up to 40%! price UPD70108D-5 (5MHz) V20 Chip (Replaces the 8088) $ 9.95 UPD70108D-8 (8MH2) V20 Chip (Replaces the 8088-2) $11.95 UPD70116D-8 (8MHz)V30 Chip (Replaces the 8086 or 8086-2) $14.95 MICROPROCESSOR COMPONENTS MICROPROCESSOR CHIPS Part No. Price D765AC 4.49 CDP1802CE 4.95 2661-3 5.95 zoo, Z80A, zaoa series Z80 1.25 Z80-CTC 1.79 Z80-DART 4.95 Z80-PI0 1.79 Z80A. 1.35 Z80A-CTC 1.49 Z80A-DART 4.95 Z80A-PI0 1 .49 Z80A-SI0/0 4.95 Z80B 2.95 Z80B-CTC 3.49 Z80B-PI0 4.29 6500/6800/88000 SER. 6502 2.25 65C02 (CMOS) .... 8.95 6520 1.75 6522 2.95 6532 6.49 6551 3.29 6800 1.75 6802 3.49 6810 1.25 6821 1.29 6840 3.95 6500/6800/68000 Cont. Part No. Price 6843 2.95 6845 2.95 6850 1.49 6852 3.95 68000L8 1 1 .95 68661 PB 5.95 8000 SERIES 8031 2.95 80C31BH 14.95 8035 1.49 8073N 29.95 8080A 2.49 8085A 2.29 8086 6.95 8086-2 8.95 8087 (5MHz) 125.00 8087-2(8MHz) . .. 159.95 80B8 6.49 8088-2. 8.95 8116 4.95 8155 1.95 8155-2 2.49 8156 2.49 8202. 9.95 8203 14.95 8212 1.49 8224 2.25 8228 2.49 8000 SERIES Cont. Part No. Price 8237-5 . . 4.95 8243 . . 2.25 8250A . . 5.49 8250B (For IBM) . ...6.95 8251A. . . 1 75 8253-5 .. 1.95 8254 . . 2.95 8254-2 . . 4.95 8255A-5 .. 1.69 8257-5 . . 2.49 8259-5 . . 1 .95 8272 . . 4.49 8279-5 . . 2.95 8741 . 10.95 8748 . . 7.95 8749 . . 9.95 8751.. .. 8755 . 14.95 OATA ACQUISITION ADC0804 ..3.19 ADC0808 . . 5.95 ADC0809 . . 3.95 ADC0816 . 1 4.95 ADC0817 . . 8.95 DAC0808 .. 1.95 DAC1008 . . 6.49 AY-3-1015D.... . . 4.95 AY-5-1013A... . . 3.95 Part No. Function -OYNAMICRAMS- 4116-15 412 8 (Piggyback) 4164-150 41 64-200 TMS4416-12 8118 41256-150 50464-1 5 2016-12 2102 2102-2L 2114N 2114N-L 2114N-2 2114N-2L 21C14 2149 5101 6116P-3 6116LP-3 6264P-12 6264LP-12 6264P-15 6264LP-1 5 6514 43256-15L 1702A TMS2516 TMS2532 TMS2564 2708 TMS2716 2716 2716-1 27C16 2732 2732A-20 2732A-25 2732A-45 27C32 2764-20 2764-25 2764A-25 2764-45 27C64 27128-25 27128A-25 27C1 28-25 27256-25 27C256-25 27512-25 68764 68766 74S387 74S471 82S123 16,384 x 1 (150ns) 131,072 x 1 (200ns) 65,536x 1 (150ns) 65,536 x 1 (200ns) 1 6,384 x 4 (1 20ns) 16,384x1 (120ns) 262,144x 1 (150ns) 65,536 x 4 (150ns) (4464) (41464) STATIC RAMS 2048x8 (120ns) 1024x1 (350ns) 1 024 x 1 (250ns) LP. (91 L02) 1 024 X 4 (450ns) 1024x4 (450ns) LP. 1024x4 (200ns) 1024x4 (200ns) LP 1024 x 4 (200ns) (CMOS) 1 024 x 4 (45ns) 256 x 4 (450ns) CMOS 2048 x 8 (150ns) CMOS 2048 x 8 (150ns) LP CMOS 8192x8 (120ns) CMOS 8192x8 (120ns) LP CMOS 8192x8 (150ns) CMOS 8192x8 (150ns) LP CMOS 1 024 X 4 (350ns) CMOS (UPD444C). . 32,768 x 8 (1 50ns) Low Power PROMS/EPROMS ms). • Price . .89 4.49 . 1.15 . .95 4.25 , . .69 . 2.95 . 4.95 . . 1 .69 .. .89 .. 1.95 .. .99 .. 1.09 . . 1 .05 .. 1.49 .. .49 . . 4.95 .. 1.95 .. 1.89 . . 1 .95 . . 3.89 . . 4.25 , . 3.59 ..3.75 . . 4.49 . 24.95 256x8 2048 x 8 4096 x 8 8192x8 1024 x 8 2048 x 8 2048 x 8 2048 x 8 2048 x 8 4096 x 8 4096 x 8 4096 x 8 4096 x 8 4096 x 8 8192x8 8192x8 8192x8 8192 x 8 8192x8 16,384x8 16.384x8 16.384x8 32,768 x 8 32,768 x 8 65,536 x 8 8192x8 8192x8 256x4 256x8 32x8 (450ns) 25V (450ns) 25V (450ns) 25V (450ns) (450ns) 3 voltage (450ns) (350ns) 25V (450ns) 25V (CMOS) (450ns) (200ns) 21V (250ns) 21V (450ns) 21V (450ns) 25V (CMOS) (200ns) 21V (250ns) 21V (250ns) 12.5V (450ns) 21V (450ns) 21V (CMOS) (250ns) 128K21V (250ns) 12.5V (250ns) 2 1 V (CMOS) (250ns) 256K (12.5V) (250ns) 256K(CMOS) (12.5V). (250ns) 512K (12.5V) (450ns) 25V (350ns) 25V PROM O.C PROMTS PROMTS . . 6.95 . . 4.95 . . 5.95 . . 8.95 . . 4.95 . . 9.95 . . 3.75 . . 4.95 . . 6.49 ..3.95 . . 4.25 . . 3.95 . . 3.75 . . 6.49 . . 4.25 ..3.75 . . 4.25 . . 3.49 . . 5.49 . . 4.25 . . 4.95 . . 5.95 . . 5.95 . . 8.95 . 19.95 . 1 5.95 . 1 6.95 ..1.29 . . 4.95 . . 2.49 Part No. WW PROFILE (TIN) SOCKETS 1-9 10-99 100+ 8 pin LP. 11 14 pin LP 12 16 pin LP........ .13 24 pin LP 25 28 pin LP. 27 40 pin LP 29 .12 .23 .24 .26 .21 WIRE WRAP SOCKETS (GOLO) LEVEL #3 Part No. 1-9 10-99 100+ 8 pin WW. . .59 .65 .55 .49 .59 .55 14 pin WW. . 16pinWW 69 .65 .59 24 pin WW 1.19 1.09 .99 28 pin WW 1.39 129 1.19 40 pin WW 1 .89 1.69 1 .55 - SOLDERTfllL STANDARD (GOLD & TIN) AND REAPER PLUG SOCKETS ALSO AVAILA8LE - SATELLITE TV DESCRAMBLER CHIP The MM5321 is a TV camera sync generator designed to supply the basic sync functions for either color or mono- chrome 525 line/60Hz interfaced and camera video recorder applications. COLOR BURST GATE & SYNC ALLOW STABLE COLOR OPERATION MM5321... $11.95 DICITALKER^ DT 1 UOU ~™ Applications: Teaching aids, appliances, clocks, automotive, telecommunications, language transla- tions, etc. The DT 1 050 is a standard DIGIT ALKER kit encoded with 137 separate and useful words. 2 tones, and 5 different silence durations. The words and tones have been assigned discrete addresses, making it possible to output single words or words concatenated into phrases or even sentences. The "voice" output of the DT1050 is a highly intelligible male voice. The DT1 050 consists of a Speech Processor Chip, MM54104 (40-pin) and two (2) Speech ROMs MM52164SSR1 and MM52164SSR2 (24-pin) along with a Master Word list and a recommended schematic diagram on the application sheet Part No. Description Price DT1050 Digitalker™ $24.95 DTl U5f "Expands the DT1050 vocabulary from 137 words to over 250 words. Includes two (2) ROMs and specs. DT1057 $11.95 INTERSIL Part No. Price ... 12.95 Part No. Price FE0202D 7211tPL(TTL) . . 6.95 FE0203D ... 12.95 721 1MIPL (Micro) ...7.49 7106CPL 9.95 7216CUL 7216D1R . 29.95 7106EV/Kit . . . 49.95 . 24.95 7107CPL ... 1 1.95 7217UI. . 10.95 7107EV/Kit . . . 49.95 7217AIPI . . 9.95 7207 AIPD. 6.95 7224IPL . 12.95 7207AEV/Kit. . . .... 8.95 7226AEWKit .99.95 74HC HI-SPEED CMOS 74HC00 25 25 74HC175 .... 69 74HC02 74HC221 .. .99 74HC04 .29 74HC240 79 74HC08 29 74HC244 .79 74HC10 29 74HC245 89 74HC1 4. ...... 49 74HC253 59 74HC30 29 74HC259 65 74HC32 29 74HC273 79 74HC74 39 74HC373 79 74HC75 39 74HC374. ..... 79 74HC76 45 74HC393 75 74HC85 79 74HC595 1.19 74HC86 39 74HC688 74HC4040. . .79 74HC123 .89 .89 74HC125 49 74HC4049 59 74HC132 49 74HC4050 74HC4060 . . .59 74HC138 49 . 1.09 74HC139 . . .49 74HC4511 74HC4514 . . . 1.29 74HC154 1.19 .... 1.19 74HC163 65 69 74HC4538 89 74HC174 74HC4543 1.19 74C-CMOS 74C00. . .... .29 29 74C174 79 74C02 74C175 79 74C04. 29 74C221 1.49 74C08 35 74C240 1.29 74C10. 35 74C244 1.29 74C14. 49 74C373 1.49 74C32 35 74C374 1.49 74C74 59 74C912 7.95 74C85 1.39 74C915 1.39 74C86 35 74C920 9.95 74C89 5.19 74C921 ..... 9.95 74C90 99 74C922 3.95 74C154 2.95 74C923 3.95 74C1 73 1 .05 74C925 5.95 LINEAR DS0026CN 1.95 .89 99 45 1 .25 45 LF411CN . . .79 TL074CN TL084CN LM307N LM309K. 1L497ACN NE540H (C540H) . NE555V XR-L555 . . 2.69 . . 2.95 . . 29 .75 LM311N LM556N NE558N LM565N . 49 LM317T 79 .89 LM318N 99 99 1.35 59 3.95 .39 4.95 . . .99 LM319N LM567V. . . 69 LM320K-5 LM320T-5 LM323K. LM324N NE592N LM741CN LM747CN MC1377P . . .89 •29 . . .59 . . 4.95 LM338K MC1398P. LM1458N LM1488N LM1489N . 8 95 LM339N LM340K-5 LM340K-12 .39 1 .29 1.29 . . .39 .. .49 . . .49 LM1496N .. .85 LM340T-5 LM340T-12 49 49 LM1871N . . 2.95 LM1872N LM1896N-1 ULN2003A XR2206 XR2211 XR2243 LM2907N LM2917N(8pin).. LM3900N LM3905N LM3909N LM3914N. LM3916N NE5532 NE5534 75477 76477 . . 2.95 LM340T-15 . . .49 . . 1.59 LF347N 1 .79 . . .99 LM348N LF351N LF353N LF355N LF356N LM358N LM360N LM361N LM380N-8 69 .39 49 79 79 49 2.19 1 .79 .99 .3.95 .2.95 .1.95 . . 2.49 . . 1 .55 . . .49 ..1.19 .. .99 . . 1 .95 . . 1.95 .89 .. .69 . . 1.29 . . 5.95 LM386N-3 99 LM387N LM393N LM399H 99 .39 2.95 PARTIAL LISTING • OVER 4000 COMPONENTS AND ACCESSORIES IN STOCK! • CALL FOR QUANTITY DISCOUNTS 440 BYTE • NOVEMBER I Inquiry 1 65 COMMODORE COMPATIBLE ACCESSORIES Now Compatible With C-128! RS232 Adapter for VIC-20, C-64 and C-128 The JE232CM allows connection of standard serial RS232 printers, modems, etc. to your VIC-20, C-64 (excluding the SXr64 Portable), and C-128. A 4-pole switch allows the in- version of the 4 control lines. Complete installation and operation instructions included. • Plugs into User Port • Provides Standard RS232 signal levels ■ Uses 6 signals (Transmit, Receive, Clear to Send, Request to Send, Data Terminal Ready, Data Set Ready). JE232CM $39.95 Voice Synthesizer VIC-20 & C-64 Plug-In — Talking in Minutes! JE520CM $99.95 External Power Supply CPS-10 (forC-64) $39.95 Parallel Printer Interface 2K Buffer, Expandable to 10K! MW350 (ft>rVIC-20,C-64&C-128) $54.95 TRS-80® COMPATIBLE ACCESSORIES E-X-P-A-N-D TRS-80 MEMORY All kits come complete with documentation TRS-80 MODEL I, III TRS-16K3 200ns (Model III) $5.95 TRS-16K4 250ns (Model I) $5.49 TRS-80 COLOR AND COLOR II TRS-64K-2 $7.95 New models only - TRS-CoCo-Inc). 2-50464's (41464's). ■ ■ ■ $10.95 TRS-80 MODEL 4, 4P, AND 4D TRS-64K-2 $7.95 Expands Model 4 from 16K-64K or Model 4P and 4D from 64K-128K TRS-64K-2PAL $14.95 Expands Model 4 from 64K to 1 28K TRS-80 Model 100 • NEC • Olivetti M1008K $19.95 ea. or 3 for $54.95 TTlS-80 Model 100 8K Expansion NEC8KR $19.95 ea. or 3 for $54.95 NEC ModelPC-8201A 8K Expansion OM108K $19.95 ea. or 3 for $54.95 Olivetti Model M10 8K Expansion TANDY 200 M200R $59.95 ea. or 2 for $109.95 Tandy Model 200 24K Expansion UV-EPROM ERASER m Erases all EPROMs. Erases up to 8 chips within 21 minutes (1 chip in 15 minutes). Maintains constant exposure distance of 1 ". Special conductivefoam liner eliminates static build-up. Built-in safety lock to prevent UV exposure. Compact - 9.00"L x 3.70"W x 2.60"H. Complete with holding tray for 8 chips. DE-4 UV-EPROM Eraser. . . . $69.95 UVS-1 1 EL Replacement Bulb. ... $1 9.95 DATA BOOKS 30003 NationalLinearData Book (82) $14.95 30009 Intersil Data Book (85) $ 9.95 30013 Zilog Data Book (85) $1 4.95 30032 National Linear Supplement (84) $ 6.95 210830 Intel Memory Handbook (86) $17.95 230843 Intel Microsystem Hndbk.Set(86) $24.95 MUFFIN/SPRITE-STYLE FANS MUF60 $9.95 Torin Industries (4.68" sq. ( 60 cfm) SU2A1 $8.95 EG&G Rotron (3.125" square. 20 cfm) NEW PRODUCTS! TTX 14" RGB Color Monitor for IBM PC, XT and Compatible Computers • Input Signal: (Video) RGB TTL Level and Intensity Signal; Sync: Separate TTL Level (positive or negative) ■ Scanning Freq.: (Hor.) 1 4.5KHzto 17.8K ■ Video Bandwidth: 1 8MHz ■ Resolution: 640 x 200 ■ Connector: DB 9- pin (incl.) • Power Consumption; 70 Watts •Size 14.6"H x 15.5"W x 13.6"D -Weight: 27 lbs. • TTX-1410 is compatible with the IBM-ICB and the IBM-EGACards (right) TTX-1410. ■ ■ ,7T $299.95 DISK DRIVE SALE! MPI52S Double-sided 48TPI IBM PC/ XT Compatible!. .... $69.95 TM100-4 Double-sided 96TPI QUAD Drive!. $59.95 Expansion Memory Half -Card for IBM-PC, XT, Portable, Tandy 1200 and Compatible Computers Expand your computer to its full capacity of 640K. It will accept either 64K memory chips (4164) or 256K memory chips (41256). en -mn Ex P anslon Memory Half e _ Q Q _ EM-100 CardwithOKRAM. . . . $59.95 ___ _ RAM Disk and Printer <*«««- EM-D Spooler Software. . . . $39.95 ZUCKISRI304RD ZUCKISRBC4RD Multifunction Board with Clock Calendar for the Tandy 1000 The Zuckerboard Multifunction Board allows you to expand the memory on your Tandy 1000 to as much as 640K. The Multifunction Board comes complete with DMA Controller. RS232 port, a clock/calendar and RAM Disk Printer Spooler. The Zuckerboard Multifunction Board is made in the U.S.A. and comes with a standard 2 year warranty. MTAN-256K Includes 256K RAM and Manual $1 79.95 MTAN-512K Includes 512K RAM and Manual $209.95 Expansion Memory Half-Card and Clock/Calendar for the Tandy 1000 - DMA Controller Chip on board! TAN-EM256K Includes 256K RAM and Manual $ 99.95 TAN-EM512K Includes 512K RAM and Manual. $129.95 Options for TAN-EM256K/512K TAN-C Includes Plug-in Clock Option Chip (only) TAN-D Includes RAM Disk Spooler Software (only) . $39.95 . $39.95 3.5" Micro Floppy Disk Drive for Tandy 100 & 200, NEC8201A, IBM PC, XT, AT and Compatible Computers Now your IBM PC or compatible can read and write the same disks as your portable! _ no Includes 3.5" Disk Drive, Cable, -,««,- rD-lOJ AC Adapter, Blank Diskette and Documentation. . . . $179.95 Software for the FD-103 Disk Drive (Software needed for operation) TS1 TS2 TSN LAPDOS Tandy 100 TSDOS Disk Operating System Software $44.95 Tandy 200 TSDOS Disk Operating System Software $44.95 NEC PC8201A Disk Operating System Software $44.95 IBM PC, XT, AT and Compatible LAPDOS Disk Operating System Software $74.95 IBM® COMPATIBLE ACCESSORIES 83-KEY KEYBOARD •Identical layout as original IBM PC Keyboard • Highly desirable case with palm rest ■ Complete with cable and data 'JUST PLUG IN! KB83. SALE $29.95 Build an IBM PC! XT™ Compatible! IBM-64K(2) 64K RAM Chips (18) $ 19.90 KB-83 83-Key Keyboard $ 29.95 IBM-FCC Floppy Controller Card $ 39.95 IBM-Case case. $ 39.95 IBM-MCC Monochrome Card $ 69.95 IBM-PS Power Supply $ 69.95 FD55B Disk Drive $109.95 IBM-MON Monochrome Monitor. ... $ 99.95 IBM-MB Motherboard $129.95 Regular List $609.50 IBM ^-Special (lncl.9 itemsabove) .. $549.95 Additional Add-Ons Available! IBM-KB 83-Key Keyboard $ 69.95 IBM-ENH Enhanced Keyboard $ 89.95 IBM-ICB Integrated Color Board... $ 99.95 IBM-EGA Enhd.Graphics256KRAM . . $259.95 IBM-20MBK 20MB Hard Disk Drive $449.95 IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Computers ^..#1 Universal m grmum Printer Buffer IQHNATHON FREEMAN DESIGNS , © The UBUFFER Universal Printer Buffer is a hi-speed data buffer that accepts data at a high rate, and then outputs this data to your printer. You save valuable computer time. The UBUFFER can be connected to practically any computer or printer. There are four possible combinations: 1) Serial to Serial, 2) Serial to Parallel, 3) Parallel to Parallel, 4) Parallel to Serial. Manual included. Size: 9-1 /3"L x 4Vb"W x 1 %"H UB64K $199.95 UB256K $239.95 *0T;' ibm if Compatible! f DISK DRIVES FD55B Teac 5V« DS V2-Height $1 09.95 JU-455 Panasonic 5V DS Vj-Height. ... $1 09.95 TM 100-2 Tandon SV«" DS FuH-Height. . . . $1 19.95 JMR 5V4" DISK DRIVE ENCLOSURES Complete with power supply, switch, power cord, fuseholder and connectors. DDE-1FH $59.95 Houses 1 Full-Height 5V Floppy Drive. DDE-2HH $69.95 Houses 2 Half-Height 514 "Floppy Drives - Vertical HDDE-1FH $194.95 Houses 1 Hard Disk Drive $20 Minimum Order - U.S. Funds Only Shipping: Add 5% plus $1.50 Insurance Send stamped, self-addressed envelope to receive a Quarterly Safes Flyer - FREE! 11/86 California Residents: Add 6%, 6 1 /2% or 7% Sales Tax a— « ameco ELECTRONICS V/ST Spec. Sheets - 500 each Prices Subject to Change Send $1.00 Postage for a FREE 1987JAMECO CATALOG ©1986 Jameco Electronics 1355 SHOREWAY ROAD, BELMONT, CA 94002 • PHONE ORDERS WELCOME 415-592-8097 Telex: 176043 Inquiry I65 NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 441 MODEL 1A SELECTABLE TO HIGH SPEED 12 MHZ OPERATION 6,8,10, andi2 MHZ! • FULL IBM PC-AT* COMPATIBILITY! • FULL MEGA-BYTE RAM CAPACITY! THOUSANDS SOLD WORLDWIDE! Keyboard Interface same as PC-AT 700% DESIGNED, MANUFACTURED, ASSEMBLED AND TESTED IN USA! AIT Corporation is a publicly traded company. Majority USA owned and traded on the OTC market under AITC FULL # TIME< PRODUCT SUPPORT AND SERVICE. VOLUME DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE! UNIQUE FEATURE! Complete Set-Up Software in ROM BIOS (No Disk Required for Set-Up) Complete Documentation Package with Full Schematic Diagrams Included UNIQUE FEATURE! Hardware Reset Switch NEWl 0-1 WAIT STATES! UNIQUE FEATURE! Multi-Speed 80287 Numeric Processor Speed-Up Capability (Switch Selectable) Triple Tested for 100% Quality Assurance! Highest Quality Industrial Grade AMP Sockets! □ ATTAK-286'" MODEL 1 24MHZ CALL □ ATTAK-386 tM 32 BIT MICRO CALL □ CASES, POWER SUPPLIES, PERIPHERALS, ETC. . CALL □ TURBO-SCOPE ,M A/D BOARD $99.95 □ ATTAK-286™ MODEL 1A BARE BOARD $99.95 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. 10 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE IF ,NOT COMPLETELY SATISFIED! OEM EVALUATION BOARD Completely Assembled and Tested with all IC's and Components • OK RAM • 8 MHZ Version, Expansion to 12 MHZ ORDER NOW! SAME DAY SHIPMENT! (FOR IN STOCK ITEMS) yliT CORPORATION ADVANCED INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGY 4100 Spring Valley Road Suite 400 Dallas, Texas 75244 _, (214)490-0344 fax<2k TELEX 8211 FAX (214) £" 'IBMandlBM PC-AT are trademarks of International Business Machines 442 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 TERMS: We accept cash, checks, money orders and credit cards. Prices and availability subject to change without notice. Shipping and handling charges via UPS ground 500/lb UPS air $1 .00/lb. Minimum charge $3.00. © 1986 AIT CORP. Inquiry i jcro O i Products "t nternational 7i4/898-o84o - / \ Telex: 887841 XORDATA HTBH Fax: 714/897-3363 ► 15392 Assembly Lane, Unit A •Huntington Beach, CA 92649 + I AfiK what's LWiV Inside! THEED The XAT is out most versatile and powerful system Using Intel s B0286 processor, the system runs at 6 and 8 MHz with a true 16-Pj! data bus Comes standard with a 3 meg Add-On hoard 2 parallel & one serial port monitor, keyboard DOS 3 1. I wo I ' /height DS DD 1 2 meg lloppies 5 Complete Systems Our 1986 Catalog is HOT} off the press! / ' N Dealers! Check our 9 < Profitable Discount Pricing! T&fi&O This standard system is as compatible with IBM as it can be. Featuring a 4-layer mother- board 8-slot expansion, up to 640K memory on the motherboard, andthe 6 67 MHz TURBO mode. Also included. DOS 3 I. keyboard 135 watt power supply. TTL 720 ) 348 resolution video card, green or amber monitor, serial & parallel ports. Real Time Clock and software. Amsterdam ■ 020-45-26-50 2 MB Expansion Board ■ ; ' :!!lli -i!iiiili!l!ll!llltllK ''"Xii'ililll --i ■''A m The perfect choice for the system integrator who needs the IBM compatibility, but not in the standard PC cabinet This model features hinged and removable sides, up to 3 S height peripherals on! front, tront mount AC switch and rear mount 135 watt powei supply Also makes an ideal ' Host" or File Server unit in multi-user configurations' Hsiii The XTjr. is only junior in size 1 With up to 640K memory on the motherboard and four expansion slots, this stand-atone system is also great for workstations in a networking environment. It can be upgrade* to the TURBO two speed motherboard and you can also add up to 2 serial & 2 parallel ports or any IBM compatible expansion card A perfect word processing data entry system 2&nr Compact This is truly Die aflordable portable and well build it to your specifications Need a 20 meg hard disk and 20 meg tape with 640K memory in your portable 7 No problem 1 The XPC Compact comes standard with a 9 " amber TTL monitor 135 watt PS 256K memory, two 360K drives Real Time Clock Calendar w battery Back-up. serial and I parallel ports and our TURBO Motherboard 24 Add-On Cards This board satisfies ihe new approach suggested by INTEL and Lotus 1-2-3. Also may be used on our XT-SBC TURBO boad for memory based at OK. Hard Disk Controller This Western Digital controller handles t or 2 drives 5 to 140 megabytes with minimum software configura- tion Features DOS 2.1 & 3 1 compatibility, and ST- 506 Interface 384K Multi-Function A Multifunction board featuring Parallel Port Serial Port Game Port. Real Time Clock Calendar with Battery Back-up Expand to 384K. all Cables. PnntSpooler and RAM Disk Soltware. and Manuals Germany 4 Meg Token Ring Connect your workstation to an existing 4 Megabyte IBM token ring system or build up your own IEEE 802 5 standard system The lowest possible cost for 100 uindustry standard compatibility AT H.D. & Floppy Mono & Color Graphics PAK Multi-Function This new Western Digital combo board with its I -speed VLSI technology will give you a data transfer rate 50 % faster than the existing combo board in the AT Runs both 360K and 1 2 meg floppy disk drives Supports two levels of graphics and text in composite monochrome or RGB color Low resolution 320 x 200 pixel, high resolution 640 x 200 pixel. Features Floppy Controller. Parallel Port. Serial Port (optional 2nd Serial). Game Port. Real Time Clock Calendar with Battery Back-up. RAMdisk. Print- Spooler, all cables & manuals PROM Laser Hi-speedalgorithmes wilt burn 2716. 2732. 2732A. 2764 {in 52 sec). 27 128, 27256 EPROMSundersolt- ware control right in your PC. Zero Force tnsertion Sockets. Software, and Manual 35 Components Bombay ■ 357172 Motherboards XAT TURBO XT-SBC • RTC Calendar • 4 7 7 & 8 MHz clock • 6 a 8 MHz clock • Serial & Parallel • 8-slot expansion • 4-layer PCB design •Intel 80286 • RTC Calendar XPC TURBO XPC-XT • 4 77 4 6 67 MHZ • Standard 4 77 MHz • 4 Jayer PCB design • up to 640K memory • 8-slot expansion • 8-slot expansion • up to 640K Memory • standard 8088 CPU B-2 processor • 8087 socket avail Power Supplys XT 135 watt XT 150 watt . • . ... '-***; • I35w sw.tcnmg • Whisper fan • Whisper Fan • Hi-output 150 watt • Side AC switch • 4 DC connectors • +5V-15A -5V-5A • +5V-15A -5V-5A • +12V-4 2A -12V-5A* + 12V-5 5A - )2V- 5A AT 200 watt XTC 135 ■, » 4 k < 200 Wall power • Rear Mount > Exterior AC switch • Rear On Off switch ' 4 DC power conn « extra AC outlets i + 5V-20A -5V-5A • +5V-15A -5V-5A » +12V-7.7A -12V-5A* +12V-4A -12V-5A 3 Sub-Systems Cabinets The XTjr. cabmelis only 3" x 16 5" x 15" yel il will hold a standard XT compatible motherboard Includes a switching power supply Front panel cut-out for a hall-height lloppy or hard disk Our XPC. XT cabmel has an 8-slot back panel with additional cut-outs tor two RS-232 I ports Features mounting tor up to four half heignl peripherals Keyboards AT This Keyboard is standard equipment witfVall of our XAT systems, but the layout is so well liked, we're offering it here. XT J II- i , Our volume purchases of these IBM style units allows us to lower the price once again The right choice for an external add-on cabinet 1 Add-on a floppy, tape bach- up. or up to 33 meg of hard disk (hall- height) Switching power supply is included 5051 Now a lully selectric unit at an affordable price. Features a 10-key numeric pad 5 a separate cursor pad. 3 Networks Cassette Training f Int/Ext Modems r l IWI I II 131/1 IUC I Panasonic o_ Seagate TEAC Tulin Archive Irwin Maxtor Memtek Miniscribe (Panasonic Seagate TEAC Tulin Tins lull height cabinet will hold a Tape Back-up with tailor '^height Hard Disk inside (or two Hard Disks) A perfect cabinet lor Tape or Hard Disk a nice addition to your PC Choose from single '/height dual '/height, or ' /height with full height base All Sub-systems include con- trollers, cables software and manuals Inquiry 45 WmBBBmm IHHB JH9HB1 One way to stay ahead of the competition is by using a Multi- User or Network system configuration from Micro Products International Choose Hi-speed RS-232 - XOR-NET SDLC or Token Ring Data transfer rates up to 4 megabytes second can be obtained What is Ihe Cassette Training concept? Using Interactive Audio Training to combine the advantage ol classroom and sell-teaching methods The Method One audio track delivers a leclure explaining ihe program, while the second track emulates the keyboard actually running the student's computer At frequent intervals the tape pauses automatically to allow the student keyboard input which is monitored for accuracy by the MITS COED • FCC approved for direct • Runs the popular RJ-11 connection Hayes communications • Phone Cable S Power Supply software Finally a price breakthrough on a Hayes compatible external 300 1200 baud modem Includes driver software illl till • Q-Modem software included • Runs the popular I Also runs XC0M software Hayes communications • All cables included software We included every feature you woufd want m a modem card It's FCC registered for direct connection to your modular phone iack with the cord included NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE 443 California Digital 17700 Figueroa Street m Carson, California 90248 IBM Compatible Computer | 21 Megabyte Gold Card DATAPRODUCTS ~ • 256K Expandable to 640K on Motherboard • Double Sided Double Density Disk Drive • IBM Type Keyboard (with LED indicators) • Floppy Controller Card • Eight Expansion Slots • 135 Watt Power Supply The Eclipse 1 6 is an outstanding value in IBM Compatible Computers. After care- ful research and evaluation we found it to be the most reliable unit. Our computer includessome of the newest features available, such as the 4 .7MHz, multi-layer motherboard with 256K of RAM upgradable on board to 640K. A generous eight expansion slots and 1 35 Watt power supply give you ample room and power for add-on boards. The enclosure has an easy-access flip top lid making upgrades a breeze. And our floppy controller supports up to four drives, so as many as three additional drives can be used. Finally, each computer is configured and fully tested before sending it to you. Satisfaction Guaranteed! We're really excited about this new unit, and so sure you will be too. . . that you may return the Eclipse 1 6 for a full credit towards an I BM PC if youarenotcompletely satisfied. OPTIONS 20MB Hard Drive w/Controller .. ..$495 Additional Drive-Installed 99 Irwin 10 Meg. Tape Back up 489 Upgrade from 256K to 640K RAM 79 8087 Math Co Processor 119 Color Graphics Card 79 Monochrome Graphics Card 99 RGB Color Monitor 199 TTL Monochrome Monitor 139 Microsoft Mouse 139 Upgrade from Floppy Controller t o Disk I/O 2 drive controller, clock/cal., software parallel, serial, and game ports 79 1200 Baud Internal Modem w/Software 179 The fastest, lowest powered, longest warraYitied, most durable, highest capacity, most reliable, lowest priced HARD-DISK-ON-A CARD available in the world today. • 65ms Access Time - Fastest Available • Automatic Head Unloading - Protects Heads and Media • 2K Sector Buffer - Increases System Throughput • High Reliability: 28,000 hr. MTBF - No one else even close • 15.5 Watt Power Consumption - Lowest Available ■ 2 Year Warranty - Longest Available WERE $695... GET 'EM WHILE THEY LAST FOR JUST gggP flf NOW YOUR COMPUTER CAN READ!! Omni-Reader... the first optical character reader designed and priced for the small computer COPY: •Manuscripts -Contracts -Articles •Forms -Invoices APPLICATIONS: •Mailing Lists -Editing -Data Base Management -Transfering informa- tion between incompatible systems Uses a standard RS-232 serial port hookup to interface eaisily with your computer. %«, 1200 BAUD MODEMS AVATEX1200 99 This 300/1 200 baud modem matches the design specs of the Beil 212A, feature by feature, bringing you reliabil- ity, impeccable transmission and easy operation. Hayes Compatible, except for "S" register. Communi- cation software included. The AVATEX 1200, at $99, is a steal! SMARTEAM 1200 ECLIPSE 2400 The Team 21 2A offers all the features of the Hayes Smart Modem 1200 for a fraction of the price. Now is your opportunity to purchase a 1200 baud modem at the price of a 300 baud modem. NEC* RACKMOUNT MODEM 69 Th e NEC N212BR modem is designed for use in a rackmount configuration or may be used stand alone on external power. The Unit is fully 300/ 1200 Hayes compatible allowing for auto dial, auto log/on password capabilities. This modem is also switch selectable to the special NEC com- mand set, which contain too many features to describe in this limited space. The NEC212BR originally cost $595. California Digital has available 500 units which we are of- ferina at only $69. • Hayes & Bell 212A/103 Compatible • CCITT V.22, V.22 bis The ECLIPSE 2400 modem is a microprocessor-based full or half- duplex modem incorporating the latest in high speed data communications capabilities. It also accomodates computers and ter- minals equipped with an RS-232 port allowing communication with other computers ortimeshar ing systems either locally or remotely. Compatibility, Versltility and Performance are yours in a configuration designed to provide years of reliable operation. MODEMS Eclipse 1 200 1 00% Hayes, with status lamps. EDP-1200 149.00 Eclipse 1200B internal with software EDP-1200B 139.00 Eclipse 2400 External, Hayes Compatiple EDP-2400 299.00 Avatex 1 200 baud external, Hayes AVA-1200 99.00 Hayes Smartmodem 2400 baud modem HYS-2400 599.00 Fujitsu 2400/1200 baud auto everything. FUJ-1935D 459.00 Team 1200 Hayes Compatible, 300/1200 baud. TEM-1200 159.00 Smarteam 1 200B IBM 1 200 baud card TEM-1 200B 1 59.00 UltraLink 1 200 data and voice on same fine. UTL-1200A 99.00 CTS 21 2 AH 1 200 baud, auto dial CTS-21 2 AH 1 79.00 Terminal software for CTS 21 2AH CTS-21 2SFT 35.00 Prometheus 1200 super features PRM-P1200 289.00 Prometheus 1200B internal PC PRM-P1200B 279.00 Signafman Mark VI . 300 baud internal PC SGL-MK6 49.00 Hayes Smart Modem 1200 baud, auto dial HYS-212AD 369.00 Hayes 1200B for use with the IBM/PC, 1200 baud. HYS-1200B 339.00 Hayes Chronograph, time & date HYS-CHR232 1 99.00 6mm* $400 20 MEGABYTE J& W^ W WINCHESTER •■ W W HARD DISK DRIVE Quantity Two Five Inch Winchester Disk Drives each two+ SEAGATE 225 20 Meg. V 2 Ht. 329 299 SEAGATE 4026 26 M.35mS. 759 729 SEAGATE 4051 51 M. 35mS. 995 959 FUJITSU 2242 55 M. 35mS. 1599 1529 FUJITSU 2243 86 M. 35mS. 2095 2019 R0DIME RO-202E 27 Meg. 659 629 R0DIME RO-203E 40 Meg. 995 959 R0DIME RO-204E 53 Meg. 995 959 C0NTR0LDATA 94155-86 M.1829 1779 MAXTOR XT1140 140 Meg. 2995 2929 HONEYWELL 85M. 27 mS. 1795 1695 TOSHIBA MK5670 M.30mS.1789 1729 TAND0N 502 10 Meg. 419 379 • Winchester Controllers lorlBM/PC • XEBEC 1220 with floppy controller 229 DTC 5150BX 139 0MTI 5510 half card 139 ADAPTEC 2070 RLL controller 189 ADAPTEC 2010A 169 WESTERN DIGITAL WD/1002 139 • SCSI/SASI Winchester Controllers • XEBEC 1410 A 5%" foot print 219 0MTI 20L 119 • Winchester Accessories • Installation Kit with manual 10 Winchester enclosure and supply 139 Dual 20/34 cable set 25 Switching power supply 49 TOLL FREE ORDER LINE (800) 421-5041 TECHNICAL & CALIFORNIA (213)217-0500 444 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1986 California Digital 17700 Figueroa Street m Carson. Calif ornia 90248 CHERRY^ " INFRARED X KEYBOARD 119 The Cherry Switch Infrared wireless 84 key keyboard designed f oruse with the IBM/PC and XT serries computers. The keyboard operates similar to the remote tuner of modern televisions, and transmits 20 feet line of sight to the computers IR receiver. This wireless keyboard is ideal for classroom demonstrations or for use with projection screen television monitors. Includes IR keyboard and receiver module. Manufacturers suggested list was $289 now available, whiie they last for only S1 19. Bernoulli Boh was S3540 now only i 1595^ The Bernoulli Box by Iomega, features 10 and 20 megabyte removable car- tridges, and delivers reliability, expandability, transportability, security and speed in one versatile subsystem. It lets you transfer megabytes of information safely and swiftly for primary or backup storage. Or combine several software programs onto a single cartridge for easy switching from one to another. Reliable... the Box has incredible resistance to shock and vibration completely eliminating the possility of head crash. Expandable... grow at your own pace by adding inexpensive cartridges. When security is essential, don't lock up your system... just lock up the cartridges. The Bernoulli Boxdelivers preformance that often exceeds the best of hard disk speed and the convenience o! floppy disks. At these prices don't be caught wishing you had one alter a loss of irreplacable data. 10 + 10 Meg. A2210H 20+20 Meg. A2220H Bootable Controller 10 Meg. Cartridge 20 Meg. Cartridge List S3450 4540 255 79 99 Our Price 1595 2095 159 49 65 PRINTERS MATRIX PRINTERS NEC/P7 132col.. pari interface. NEC-760 Star Gemini NL-15. 300cps„ l36cof.24wirehead STR-NBI5 StarGeminiNX-10. 120 cps/30cpsNLQ. tractor STR-NX10 Citr2en MSP/10FT 160 char/sec. CIT-MSPlO Panasonic KX1091 120 cps.dralt. 29 NLO tract & friction. PANKX1091 Toshiba 351 P/S,240char/sec. £4 wire head TOS-351 PS Toshiba 341 PS/E pari 180 cps. 24 wire head TOS-341PSE Okidata 582P/IBM parallel 915" paper OKI-1 82P Okidata 192A paralleliruerlace, 160 char/sec. OKI-1 92A Okidata 64P parallel 15" paper OKI-84P EpsonLX-8010" t20Char/sec. EPS-LX60 Epson LO800 near letter quality EPS-LQ800 Epson FX85 160 cps draft 32 cps NLO, 240dot/irich. EPSFX85 Epson FX286 132 col. 200 cps. 29 cps NLO. graphics. EPS-FX286 Dataproducts B-600-3, band pnnter 600 LPM DPS-B800 Pnntronix P300 high speed pnnler 300 fines per minute. PTX-P300 Pnntronix P600 ultra high speed 600 lines oer minute PTX-P600 WORD PROCESSING PRINTERS NEC8810 55 char/second, senat interlace NEC-8810 NEC8830 55 char/sec. par I interlace. NEC-8830 NEC3550 popular pnnter designed for Ihe IBM/PC NEC-3550 SilverReedEXP600,25cps. 10/12/15 pitch, senal/par'l. SRD-EXP600 Silver Reed EXP800 same as 600but 40 char/sec. SRD-EXP800 Diablo 620, proportional spacing, horz & vert. tab. 20 cps DBL-620 Juki 6100. 18 char /sec. JUK-6100 Juki 6300, 40 char./sec JUK-6300 659.00 38900 359.00 25900 259.00 1099.00 759.00 23900 379.00 695 00 259.00 629.00 399 00 599.00 6985.00 3995.00 5795.00 42900 559.00 117900 1179.00 819.00 31900 72900 299.00 359.00 689.00 FOUR PEN COLOR PLOTTER '159 ick-Link 300 The Quick-Link 300 gives you an instant link to any dial up data base. Such as Dow Jones, Western Union or the Source, The Quick-Link has four user programmable log-on keys, allowing the operator, with only one keystroke, to dial the data base, log-in and give the password. All this information is perma- nently stored in non-volatile RAM. Features include video output to television or monitor, auto dial, auto-log, full sized keyboard, 300 baud modem and 1 200 baud auxiliary printer pott. All this is available for only S59. The manufacturer has asked us not to publish their name. But this four color plotter was produced by one ol the Worlds largest makers of personal computers. The 4 1 color plotter will connect to the serial porl of virtually any micro-computer. Simple ASCII commands direct one of the four color pens to draw circles, arcs or ellipses on paper or transpa- rency material up to 11 by 17 inches. The plotter is capable of producing the full upper and lower case alphabet along with seven international character sets. Text can be printed horizotal, vertical or diagonal in sizes from 1 / 1 6 to 6 i nches, slanted forward or backward to 85 degrees. Enlargements or reductions are achieved through elaborate firm- ware. Pen travel is four inches per second with .004" pen resolu- tion. Standard pens are available in an assortment of 32 different colors and widths. The ideal plotter for architecture, CAD engineering or graphic design. At S595 it was a great buy, at $159 its a steal. Support packages for specific computers available. Manual only $15 re- fundable upon purchase or plotter. PLOTTERS Four pen color plotter. 1 1 by 1 7 IBM/PC compatible APL-41 Sweet "P" 100 (Comrex) 8% by 120" COM-C1 Houston Instruments DMP29, 11 by 1 7 HOU-29 Houston Instruments DMP40, 1 1 by 17, B size HOU-40 Houston Instruments DMP4 1 /42 C/D 24 by 36 HOU-41 Houston Inst. DMP51/52MP C/D. 1 4 pen plotting HOU-51MP Houston Instruments DMP56, E size 34 by 44 HOU-56 Houston Instruments PC695, 1 1 by 1 7 multi-pen HOU-695 Roland DYX-101 flatbed 1 1 by 1 7 ROL-101 Roland D YX-800 1 1 b y 1 7 multi-pen 8 color ROL-800 CalComp 1 043GT plotter CCP-1 043 DIGITIZERS • MOUSE Hitachi Tiger Tablet 1 1 by 1 1 " HIT-TT2 Summagraghics Summasketch 12" fourbutton SUM-SK12 Summagraphics SummaMouse 100 line resolution SUM-MS Microsoft serial mouse with paint brush MST-MS232 Microsoft bus mouse card w/paint brush MST-MSB S159 $159 1779 959 3779 4859 4795 579 419 615 399 99 139 129 XEROX *~ Sunrise Computer '299 The Xerox Sunrise 1810 is by far the best valuo wo have evor soon in a micro computer. This is a self contained baiter/ and AC portable. The Sunrise was original 16 Xerox has rcted to drop the computer from their product list. California Digital has purchased all tho remaining inventory and is making tho unit available at a traction of its original cost. This portable features a built in 80 column liquid crystaf display. 64K ol memory along with both RF monitor and television outputs. The internal 300/1200 baud modem includes an auto dial tele- phone assembly The units has both Centronics parallel and a serial port programmable to 19.200 baud. The self contained micro cassette is capable of capturing data from the keyboard as well as doubling as an recorder tor dictating messages. An optional dual floppy disk drive module, p :.'. lor S59 is an 80 column printer llialm „ ....... CP/M Operating system which allows Ihe operator to use any CP/M program in Xerox iW disk format and over 5000 CP/M programs available in public domain. Of agon Computer '89 Compatible wilh most Radio Shack Color Computer sollware. Ins world famous Dragon compt ter is now available in the United Stat s. Manufactured by the Tano Corp. under Jicensa of the Brtish Broadcasting Company. The D ragon comes complete with 64K Byio ot memory, serial modem port along with a Centronics printer interface. This unique microcomputer leaturas MolOfola'9 advanced 6809E microproces- sor and comes standard with Microsoft Color Basic, data base manager, and a complete word processing package. The computer outputs color composite video along wilh RF. video that allows the unit to be used in conjunction with any color television. This is the Ideal low cost computer to be used with arty dial up information system such as the Source, EasyUnk or any other time share service. ROB Color Monitor '199 The NEC JC- M0 1 D is a 1 3" medium/high resolution RGB monitor suitable for use with tho Sanyo MBC-550/5S5 or the IBM/PC. The monitor features a resolution of 400 dots by 240 lines. Colors available are Rod. Green. Blue, Yellow, Cyan, Magenta. Black and White. The NEC monitor carries the Litton-Monroo tabel and was originally scheduled for u "Office of the Future" equipment. A change in Monroe's marketing strategy has made these units were sol rJ to California Digital. Wo are otfanng these "new" RGB monitors at a fraction of their original cost. IBM/P/C Computer compatible NEC- 1401 /PC Also available 12" Amdek Color 1 composites 159, SONY 53W Floppy Disk Drive 3 1/2" New IBM portable compatible W 5V4" DISK DRIVE w TE AC FD55BV half height TEAC FD55FV 96 TPI, half ht. TEACFD55GF for IBM AT PANASONIC 455 Half Height PANASONIC 465 Va Ht. 96TPI TANDON 100-2 full height MITSUBISHI new 501 half ht. MITSUBISHI 504A AT comp. QUME 142 half height Switching power supply Installation Kit with manual Dual enclosure for 5 Va" drives 34 pin edge connectors Scotch head cleaning kit Flip & File Storage tubs [ Quantity Two One Two Ten 109 99 89 119 109 105 169 159 155 109 99 89 139 129 125 129 125 119 129 119 109 169 159 155 99 89 89 49 10 59 5 19 15 UME Eight Inch Single Sided Drives QUME 841 single side 129 119 call SHUGART801R 359 359 354 SIEMENS FDD 100-8 119 115 109 Eight Inch Double Sided Drives QUME 842 "QUME TRACK 8" 189 179 call SHUGARTSA851R 495 485 475 OLIVETTI double sided 189 179 159 REMEX RFD-4000 179 169 159 MITSUBISHI M2896-63 Va Ht. 459 449 409 Dual 8" enclosure with power and fan 259 Switching power supply 89 Installation kit with manual 10 The Adeus CP/2000, is a 22 character per second daisy wheel printer which accepts 96 character Diablo wheels and ribbons. This printer was man- ufactured by the Olympia Typewritter Company for Cosmo World USA. This unit will print 10, 12 and 15 characters per inch proportionally spaced with increments of 1/120". Bi-directional printing, 2 K/Byte buffer (expand- able to 6K} and both serial and Centronics parallel interfacing make the Adeus CP/2000 an exceptional buy at only $1 59. Original price $595. Shipping: First five pounds $3.00, each additional pound $.50. Foreign orders: 10% shipping, excess will be refunded. California residents add 6 v 2 % sales tax. • COD's discouraged. Open accounts extended to state supported educational institu- tions and companies with a strong "Dun & Bradstreet" rating. NOVEMBER 1986 • BYTE. 445 ZIMCO INTERNATIONAL INC. • 64k RAM CHIPS set of 9 • IBM/APPLE/HARDWARE/ SOFTWARE/ASK ■ ^^m i ■ ii i i • PARADISE EGA • AST 6 PackPfus • HERCULES Graphics Card • SEAGATE 20m w/PCXT controller EJ^Wiign'.M-l.iCilnHlAg • MOUNTAIN 20meg Hardcard PgaSEEIBH- l • b- ^ fe- PRINTERS • EPSON FX286 • OKI DATA 192/193 • IBM PROPRINTERAXL S399/609 « m $359/348/559 • • HAYES 1200/J200B/2400 g >4UdJfUM.J^.'ilK l ltm fci 'UIJ. I ..I .m • CALL for Catalog & latest PRICES 01-800-227-6647 For Technical Support & NYS Call 718-479-7888 D&B# 130151913 Inquiry 383 IBM'S TOP OF THE LINE WORK STATION / J^£ supply lasts &J&Z W Ir's a compacr, lockable cabiner for convenienr, secure sroroge. We also carry: • Color Diskettes • Hi Density Diskettes • Ribbons • Paper • Brother Printers 450 7th Ave. N.Y. N.Y. 10123 212-244-2960 MTANAMICS Inquiry I03 BULK DISKETTES 5 1 / 4 DS/DD 59$ Price based on quantity of 250 Includes sleeves, labels and tabs Quantities Limited Call Today! 800-222-0490 (In N.J. 201-462-7628) Full service duplication facility 24 Hour Shipment t MECR P.O. Box 710 ^ Freehold, N.J. 07728 Inquiry 202 FREE CATALOG Outstanding prices on computer accessories for your computer and workstation. Our catalog features a wide selection of quality products to meet all your accessory needs. Call or write today to receive your free catalog. LINTEK COMPUTER ACCESSORIES POB 8056, Grand Rapids, Ml 49518 (616) 241-4040 SPEED IBM-PC/XT TO • Uses 80286 Processor • Installs in Minutes • Fits Short Slot • Optional 80287 Processor $399 Computer-Age, Inc. 55 Fishfry Street Hartford, CT 06120 203-724-5100 AM-EX 3 COMPLETE HIGH END AT COMPATIBLE Evaluation Unit S1299 $1150 (Qty. 2 & up) (714) 839-3724 System includes: • ATI System Board W/8MHz INTEL 80286 CPU • 640KB Memory expand to 1MB • Hard disk and floppy controller • 1.2 Megabyte floppy drive •The most compatible BIOS on market • Case ■ 200W Power Supply •AT Compatible Keyboard • Battery, Speaker & System Keylock "8MHz zero wait state or 10MHz System add $200" • Other parts available • Please call for details • All orders C.O.D;-CA residents add 6% Sales Tax • U.P.S. Shipping $25.00 mm CNT MARKETING (U 16580 Harbor Blvd., Suite J, Fountain ^^1 Valley, C A 92708 AT is a Registered Trademark of IBM All computers are fully assembled and te< tested in the U.S.A. Inquiry 179 Inquiry 87 Inquiry 70 SOLAR POWER YOUR PC'S REAL TIME CLOCK NO MORE BATTERIES NOW FOR THE MAC TOO! NEVER OPEN UP YOUR PC AGAIN TO REPLACE A HARD TO FIND AND EXPENSIVE BATTERY. FINALLY A PERMANENT SOLUTION. A SOLAR CELL/NICAD COMBINATION THAT REMAINS CHARGED IN ROOMUGHT OR INDIRECT SUN- LIGHT. LASTS A LIFETIME —NOT A YEAR. * MODEL PC-60 FOR THE IBM-PC MULTI- FUNCTION CLOCK BOARDS OF VIRTUALLY ALL MANUFACTURERS. REPLACES THE 3 VOLT LITHIUM BATTERY. $19.95 * MODEL MAC-100 FOR THE APPLE MACIN- TOSH. REPLACES THE 4.5 VOLT ALKALINE BAT- TERY $24.95 STAR TECHNOLOGY P.O. BOX 606 RUSHLAND, PA 18956 ORDER TOLL FREE 24HRS— 7 DAYS A WEEK CALL 1-800-523-2445 EXT 305 IN PA CALL 1-800-346-7511 EXT 305 PA RESIDENTS PLEASE INCLUDE 6% SALES TAX. PLEASE INCLUDE $225 SHIPPING AND HANDLING 68020 FHL 20x30 • Multi-user/Multi-Tasking • 32-Bit MC68020 - 12.5 MHz • 2 to 30 Users • .5 MByte to 14.5 MByte • 32-Bit Expansion Buss • Built-in SCSI/SASI w/DMA • DIP Switches select Baud Rate • Hard Drive (20MB to 150MB) • 720Kb Floppy Drive • Real Time Clock w/Battery Backup • Software included: OS9/68000; Basic; Word Processing; Spreadsheet; Utilities • Options: MC68881 Coprocessor, 2MB/4 Serial Port Board, Memory Protection, Graphics Board Pascal and C Prices from $2195 Dealer Inquiries Invited Frank Hogg Laboratory, Inc. 770 James St. Syracuse, NY 13203 315-474-7856 TELEX 646740 Advertise your computer products through BYTE BITS (2" x 3" ads) For more information call Dan Harper at 603-924-6830 BYTE 70 Main St. Peterborough, NH 03458 Inquiry 324 Inquiry 404 THE LATEST IN PC ENHANCEMENT PRODUCTS ENHANCED GRAPHICS ADAPTOR 700% IBM COMPATIBLE— PASSES IBM EGA DIAGNOSTICS • COMPATIBLE WITH IBM EGA, COLOR GRAPHICS ADAPTOR AND MONOCHROME ADAPTOR • DISPLAYS 16 COLORS OUT OF 64 COLORS y nuj n yi y • COMES WITH 256K OF VIDEO RAM NUlF UNLT • DUAL SCANNING FREQUENCIES WORKS WITH STANDARD OR EGATYPE RGB MONITORS • LIGHT PEN INTERFACE EGA MONITOR FULL ONE YEAR WARRANTY • EGA AND CGA COMPATIBLE • SCANNING FREQUENCIES: 15.75 KHz/ 21.85 KHz • 14" BLACK MATRIX, NON-GLARE SCREEN • RESOLUTION: 640x200/640x350 • .31 DOT, 25MHz • 16 COLORS OUT OF 64 • TEXT SWITCH-GREEN/AMBER $499.95 $259.95 - BIN"?]* $6991; 20 MB HARD DISK SYSTEM INCLUDES HARD DISK CONTROLLER, CABLES AND INSTRUCTIONS. ALL DRIVES ARE PRE- TESTED AND COME WITH A 1 YEAR WARRANTY. $38995 AT MULTIFUNCTION CARD $199.95 ADDS UPT03 MEGABYTES OF USER EXPANDABLE MEMORY • SHIPPED WITH ZERO K RAM, USER EXPANDABLE TO 1.5 MEGABYTES RAM ON BOARD, UP TO 3 MEGABYTES WITH OPTIONAL PIGGYBACK CARD • USES 64K OR 256K DYNAMIC RAMS • PARALLEL PORT & GAME PORT • SERIAL PORT • OPTIONAL SECOND SERIAL PORT PIGGYBACK MEMORY CARD (no memory installed) $49.95 EXPANDED MEMORY CARD $199.95 UP TO 2 MEGABYTES OF LOTUS/INTEL COMPATIBLE MEMORY CONFORMS TO LOTUS/INTEL EXPANDED MEMORY SPECIFICATIONS (EMS) SHIPPED WITH ZERO K RAM, USER EXPANDABLE TO 2 MEGABYTES USES 64K OR 256K DYNAMIC RAMS USE AS EXPANDED (EMS) OR CONVENTIONAL MEMORY, RAMDISK OR SPOOLER SOFTWARE INCLUDES EMS DEVICE DRIVERS, PRINT SPOOLER AND RAMDISK i *^^*^rr * ,.* rr ~ * :r ~* r '*> — EPROM PROGRAMMER $129.95 FOR IBM PC/XT/A TAND COMPATIBLES r PROGRAMS 27xxx SERIES EPROMS UP TO 27512 r MENU DRIVEN SOFTWARE PROVIDED ON DISKETTE r AUTOMATICALLY SETS PROGRAMMING VOLTAGE r LOADS AND SAVES EPROM BUFFER TO DISK r READ, WRITE, COPY, VERIFY OR CHECK BLANK r DEBUG STYLE EDITOR FOR EASY MODIFICATION OF PROGRAM r SPLITS OR COMBINES EPROMS OF DIFFERING SIZES r INTERNAL CARD WITH EXTERNAL CABLE FOR A ZIF SOCKET #JDR Microdevices 110 Knowles Drive, Los Gatos, CA 95030 Toll Free 800-538-5000 • (408) 866-6200 • FAX (408) 378-8927 • Telex 171-110 Inquiry 1 67 © COPYRIGHT 1 986 JDR MICRODEVICES THE JDR MICRODEVICES LOGO IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF JDR MICRODEVICES. JDR INSTRUMENTS AND JDR MICRODEVICES ARE TRADEMARKS OF JDR MICRODEVICES. IBM IS A TRADEMARK OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES. w 11 nn STATIC RAMS 2101 256x4 (450ns) 1.95 5101 256x4 (450ns)(CMOS) 3.95 2102L-4 1024x1 (450ns)(LP) .99 2112 256x4 (450ns) 2.99 2114 1024x4 (450ns) .99 2114L-4 1024x4 (450ns)(LP) 1.09 2114L-2 1024x4 (200ns)(LP) 1.49 2114L-15 1024x4 (150ns)(LP) 1.95 TMS4044-4 4096x1 (450ns) 1.95 TMM2016-150 2048x8 (150ns) 1.49 TMM2016-100 2048x8 (100ns) 1.95 HM6116-4 2048x8 (200ns)(CMOS) 1.89 HM6116-3 2048x8 (150ns)(CMOS) 1.95 HM6116LP-4 2048x8 (200ns)(CMOS)(LP) 1.95 HM6116LP-3 2048x8 (150ns)(CMOS)(LP) 2.05 HM6116LP-2 2048x8 (120ns)(CMOS)(LP) 2.95 HM6264P-15 8192x8 (150ns)(CMOS) 3.89 HM6264LP-15 8192x8 (150ns)(CMOS)(LP) 3.95 HM6264LP-12 8192x8 (120ns)(CMOS)(LP) 4.49 LP=Low power DYNAMIC RAMS 4116-250 16384x1 (250ns) .49 4116-200 16384x1 (200ns) .89 4116-150 16384x1 (150ns) .99 4116-120 16384x1 (120ns) 1.49 MK4332 32768x1 (200ns) 6.95 4164-200 65536x1 (200ns)(5v) 1.19 4164-150 65536x1 (150ns)(5v) 1.29 4164-120 65536x1 (120ns)(5v) 1.95 MCM6665 65536x1 (200ns)(5v) 1.95 TMS4164 65536x1 (150ns)(5v) 1.95 4164-REFRESH 65536x1 (150ns)(5V)(REFRESH) 2.95 TMS4416 16384x4 (150ns)(5v) 4.95 41128-150 131072x1 (150ns)(5v) 5.95 TMS4464-15 65536x4 (150ns)(5v) 6.95 41256-200 262144x1 (200ns)(5v) 2.95 41256-150 262144x1 (150ns)(5v) 2.95 5v=Single 5 Volt Supply REFRESH=Pin 1 Refresh ****HIGH-TECH**** NECV20 UPD7010B $11" I REPLACES 8088 TO SPEED UP IBM PC 10-40% • HIGH-SPEED ADDRESS CALCULATION IN HARDWARE • PIN COMPATIBLE WITH 8088 • SUPERSET OF 8088 INSTRUCTION SET • LOW POWER CMOS 8MHZ V20 UPD70108-8 $13.95 1 BMHZ V30 UPD70116-6 $19.95! • •••SPOTLIGHT**** ORDER TOLL FREE 800-538-5000 MM Iffl Bl I'lfrftftl^ml EPROMS 2708 1024x8 (450ns) 4.95 2716 2048x8 (450ns)(5V) 3.49 2716-1 2048x8 (350ns)(5V) 3.95 TMS2532 4096x8 (450ns)(5V) 5.95 2732 4096x8 (450ns)(5V) 3.95 2732A 4096x8 (250ns)(5V)(21VPGM] 3.95 2732A-2 4096x8 (200ns)(5V)(21VPGM] 4.25 27C64 8192x8 (250ns)(5V)(CMOS) 5.95 2764 8192x8 (450ns)(5V) 3.49 2764-250 8192x8 (250ns)(5V) 3.95 2764-200 8192x8 (200ns)(5V) 4.25 MCM68766 8192x8 (350ns)(5V)(24 PIN) 17.95 27128 16384x8 (250ns)(5V) 4.25 27C256 32768x8 (250ns)(5V)(CMOS) 10.95 27256 32768x8 (250ns)(5V) 7.49 5V=Single 5 Volt Supply 21V PGM=Program at 21 Volts I OIoiSop^N EPROM ERASERS 0U-A carraen Model Timer Capacitv Chip Intensity (uW/Cm ! ) Unit Price PE "14 NO 9 8,000 S83.00 PE-14T YES 9 8,000 S1 19.00 PE-24T YES 12 9,600 S175.00 8000 8035 1.49 8039 1.95 8080 2.95 8085 2.49 8087-2 169.95 8087 129.00 8088 6.95 8088-2 9.95 8155 2.49 8155-2 3.95 8748 7.95 8755 14.95 80286 129.95 80287 199.95 0200 8203 24.95 8205 3.29 8212 1.49 8216 1.49 8224 2.25 8237 4.95 8237-5 5.49 8250 6.95 8251 1.69 8251A 1.89 8253 1.89 8253-5 1.95 8255 1.69 8255-5 1.89 8259 1.95 8259-5 229 8272 4.95 8279 2.49 8279-5 2.95 8282 3.95 8284 2.95 8286 3.95 8288 4.95 J ZOO Z80-CPU 25MF zl.69 4.0 MHZ Z80A-CPU 1.79 Z80A-CTC 1.89 ZSOA-DART 5.95 1 Z80A-DMA 5.95 Z80A-PIO 1.89 Z80A-SIO/0 5.95 Z80A-SIO/1 5.95 Z80A-SIO/2 5.95 6.0 MHZ Z80B-CPU 3.75 Z80B-CTC 4.25 Z80B-PIO 4.25 Z80B-DART 14.95 Z80B-SIO/O 12.95 Z80B-SIO/2 12.95 Z8671 ZILOG 19.95 J 6500 1.0MHZ I 6502 2.69 65C02 (CMOS) 12.95 I 6507 i 6520 6522 6526 6532 6545 ! 6551 I 6561 1 6581 9.95 1.95 4.95 26.95 6.95 6.95 5.95 19.95 34.95 2.0 MHZ 6502A 2.95 6520A 2.95 6522A 5.95 6532A 11.95 6545A 7.95 6551 A 6.95 3.0 MHZ 6000 1.0 MHZ 6800 6802 6803 ; 6809 6809E 6810 | 6820 6821 I 6840 6843 6844 6845 6847 6850 6883 1.95 4.95 9.95 595 595 1.95 2.95 1.95 6.95 19.95 12.95 4.95 11.95 1.95 22.95 CRT CONTROLLERS 6845 4.95 68B45 8.95 6847 11.95 HD46505SP 6.95 MC1372 295 8275 26.95 7220 19.95 CRT5027 12.95 CRT5037 9.95 TMS9918A 19.95 DISK CONTROLLERS 1771 4.95 1791 9.95 1793 9.95 1795 12.95 1797 12.95 2791 19.95 2793 19.95 2797 29.95 6843 19.95 8272 4.95 UPD765 4.95 MB8876 12.95 MB8877 12.95 1691 6.95 2143 6.95 CRYSTALS 74LS00 2.0 MHZ 68B00 68B02 68B09E 68B09 68B21 68B45 CLOCK CIRCUITS MM5369 1.95 M MS 369- EST 1.95 MM58167 12.95 MM58174 11.95 L MSM5B32 2.95 J I BIT RATE GENERATORS MC14411 BR1941 4702 COM8116 I MM5307 9.95 4.95 9.95 8.95 4.95 UARTS AY5-1013 AY3-10V5 TR1602 2651 IM6402 IM6403 INS8250 SOUND CHIPS 76477 76489 SSI 263 AY3-8910 I AY3-8912 iSPIOOO 32.768 KHz .95 1.0 MHz 295 1.8432 2.95 2.0 1.95 2.097152 1.95 24576 1.95 3.2768 1.95 3.579545 1.95 4.0 1.95 4.032 1.95 5.0 1.95 5.0688 1.95 6.0 1.95 6.144 1.95 6.5536 1.95 8.0 1.95 10.0 1.95 10.738635 1.95 12.0 1.95 14.31818 1.95 15.0 1.95 16.0 1.95 17.430 1.95 180 1.95 18.432 1.95 20.0 1.95 22.1184 1.95 24.0 1.95 32.0 1.95 CRYSTAL OSCILLATORS 1.0MHz 5.95 1.8432 5.95 20 5.95 2.4576 5.95 25 4.95 4.0 4.95 50688 4.95 6.0 4.95 6.144 4.95 8.0 4.95 10.0 4.95 12.0 4.95 12480 4.95 15.0 4.95 16.0 4.95 18.432 4.95 20.0 4.95 24.0 4.95 MISC TMS99531 9.95 TMS99532 19.95 ULN2003 .79 3242 7.95 3341 4.95 MC3470 1.95 MC3480 8.95 MC3487 2.95 11C90 19.95 2513-001 UP 6.95 AY5-2376 11.95 AY5-3600 PRO 11.95 74LS00 74LS01 I 74LS02 ! 74LS03 74LS04 74LS05 74LS08 74LS09 74LS10 74LS11 74LS12 74LS13 74LS14 74LS15 74LS20 74LS21 74LS22 74LS27 74LS28 74LS30 74LS32 74LS33 74LS37 74LS38 74LS42 74LS47 74LS48 74LS51 74LS73 74LS74 74LS75 74LS76 74LS83 74LS85 i 74LS86 | 74LS90 I 74LS92 74LS93 ] 74LS95 74LS107 74LS109 74LS112 74LS122 74LS123 74LS124 74LS125 74LS126 74LS132 74LS133 74LS136 74LS138 74LS139 74LS145 74LS147 74LS148 74LS151 74LS153 74LS154 74LS155 74LS156 74LS157 74LS158 74LS160 74LS161 74LS162 74LS163 L 74LS164 .16 .18 .17 .18 .16 .18 .18 .18 .16 .22 .22 .26 .39 26 .17 .22 .22 .23 .26 .17 .18 .28 .26 .26 .39 75 .85 .17 .29 .24 .29 .29 .49 .49 .22 .39 .49 .39 .49 .34 .36 .29 .45 .49 2.75 .39 .39 .39 -49 .39 .39 .39 -99 .99 .99 .39 .39 1.49 .59 .49 .35 .29 .29 .39 .49 .39 .49 74LS165 74LS166 74LS169 74LS173 74LS174 74LS175 74LS191 74LS192 74LS193 74LS194 74LS195 74LS196 74LS197 74LS221 74LS240 74LS241 74LS242 74LS243 74LS244 74LS245 74LS251 74LS253 74LS256 1.79 74LS257 .39 74LS258 .49 74LS259 1.29 74LS260 .49 74LS266 .39 74LS273 .79 74LS279 .39 74LS280 1.98 74LS283 .59 74LS290 .89 74LS293 .89 74LS299 1.49 74LS322 3.95 74LS323 249 74LS364 1.95 74LS365 .39 74LS367 .39 74LS368 .39 74LS373 .79 74LS374 .79 74LS375 95 74LS377 .79 74LS378 1.18 74LS390 1.19 74LS393 .79 74LS541 1.49 74LS624 1.95 74LS640 .99 74LS645 .99 74LS669 1.29 74LS670 .89 74LS682 3.20 74LS683 3.20 74LS684 3.20 74LS688 2.40 74LS783 22.95 81LS95 1.49 81LS96 1.49 81LS97 1.49 81LS98 1.49 25LS2521 2.80 25LS2569 2.80 26LS31 1.95 26LS32 1.95 HIGH SPEED CMOS A new family of high speed CMOS logic featuring the speed of low power Schottkv ;Sns typical gate propagation delay), combined with the advantages of CMOS: very low power consumption. *% Ground and $3.50 for UPS Air. Orders over 1 lb, and foreign or 110 KnOWleS DriVe, LOS GatOS, CA 95030 additional shipping charges -please contact our sales department k residents must include applicable sales tax. All merchandise is war Tflll FrPP Rnfi- C i3ft- l Ti000 • (&QR\ 866-6200 unless othen * ise stated Prices ar e subject to change without n I Ull riCt? OUU «JOO OUUU ~ \H\J0J OUU U^UU responsible for typographical errors. We reserve the right to limit ="-. F A V (A(\R\ T7R-8Q97 • TplPY 1 71 -110 substitute manufacturer. All merchandise subject to prior sale. de $2,50 tor UPS rders may require st the amounl. CA. i for 90 days — We are not t quantities and to. © COPYRIGHT 1986 JDR MICRODEVICES Inquiry 1 68 THE JDR MICRODEVICES LOGO IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF JDH MICRODEVICES. JDR INSTRUMENTS AND JDR MICRODEVICES ARE TRADEMARKS OF JDR MICRODEVICES. IBM IS A TRADEMARK OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES. APPLE IS A TRADEMARK OF APPLE COMPUTER. 4001 4011 4012 4013 4015 4016 4017 4018 4020 4021 4024 4025 4027 4028 4035 4040 4041 4042 4043 4044 4045 4046 4047 4049 4050 4051 4052 4053 4056 4060 4066 4069 4076 4077 4081 4085 4086 4093 4094 14411 . 14412 CMOS .19 .19 -25 .35 .29 .29 .49 .69 .59 .69 .49 .25 .39 .65 .69 .69 .75 .59 .85 .69 1.98 .69 .69 .29 .29 .69 .69 .69 2.19 .69 .29 .19 .59 .29 .22 .79 .89 .49 2.49 9.95 6.95 14419 4.95 14433 14.95 4503 4511 4516 4518 4522 4526 4527 4528 4529 4532 4538 4541 4553 4585 4702 74C00 74C14 74C74 74C83 74C85 74C95 74C150 5.75 74C151 2.25 74C161 .99 74C163 .99 74C164 1.39 74C192 1.49 74C193 1.49 74C221 2.49 74C240 1 .89 74C244 1.89 74C374 1.99 74C905 10.95 74C911 8.95 74C917 12.95 74C922 4.49 74C923 4.95 74C926 7.95 80C97 .95 .49 .69 .79 .85 .79 .79 1.95 .79 2.95 1.95 .95 1.29 5.79 .75 12.95 .29 .59 .59 1.95 1.49 .99 7400/9000 100 PIN ST 100 PIN WW I 62 PIN ST | SO P\N ST PIN ST PIN WW S-100 .125 S-100 .125 IBM PC .100 APPLE .100 STD .156 STD .156 7400 7402 7404 7406 7407 7408 7410 7411 7414 7416 7417 7420 7423 7430 7432 7438 7442 7445 7447 7470 7473 7474 7475 7476 7483 7485 7486 7489 7490 7492 7493 7495 7497 74100 74121 74123 74125 74141 74143 74144 74145 EDGEGARD CONNECTORS .19 .19 .29 .29 .24 .19 .25 .49 .25 .25 .19 .29 .19 .29 .29 -49 .69 .89 .35 .34 .33 .45 .35 .50 .59 .35 2.15 .39 .50 .35 .55 2.75 2.29 .29 .49 .45 .65 5.95 2.95 .60 74147 74148 74150 74151 74153 74154 74155 74157 74159 74161 74163 74164 74165 74166 74175 74177 74178 74181 74182 74184 74191 74192 74194 74196 74197 74199 74221 74246 74247 74248 74249 74251 74265 74273 74278 74367 74368 9368 9602 9637 96S02 rnr 74S00 2.49 74S00 .29 74S163 1.29 1.20 74S02 .29 74S168 3.95 1.35 74S03 .29 74S174 .79 .55 74S04 .29 74S175 .79 .55 74S05 .29 74S188 1.95 1.49 74S08 .35 74S189 1.95 .75 74S10 .29 74S195 1.49 .55 74S15 .49 74S196 2.49 1.65 74S30 .29 74S197 2.95 .69 74S32 .35 74S226 3.99 .69 74S37 .69 74S240 1.49 .85 74S38 .69 74S241 1.49 .85 74S74 .49 74S244 1.49 1.00 74S85 .95 74S257 .79 .89 74S86 .35 74S253 .79 .75 74S112 .50 74S258 .95 1.15 74S124 2.75 74S280 1.95 2.25 74S138 .79 74S287 1.69 .75 74S140 .55 74S288 1.69 2.00 74S151 .79 74S299 2.95 1.15 74S153 .79 74S373 1.69 79 74S157 .79 74S374 1.69 .85 74S158 .95 74S471 4.95 .79 .75 74S161 1.29 74S571 2.95 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.25 1.85 1.95 .75 1.35 1.95 3.11 .65 .65 3.95 1.50 2.95 1.95 t DATA ACQ INTERFACE ADC0800 15.55 ADC0804 3.49 ADC0809 4.49 ADC0816 14.95 ADC0817 9.95 ADC0831 8.95 DAC0800 4.49 DAC0806 1 .95 DAC0808 2.95 DAC1020 8.25 DAC1022 5.95 L MC1408L8 2.95 8T26 8T28 8T95 8T96 8T97 8T98 DM8131 DP8304 DS8833 DS8835 DS8836 DS8837 1.29 1.29 .59 .89 2.95 2.29 2.25 1.99 99 1.65 .. 3.95 4.95 1.95 2.95 1.95 4.95 36 PIN CENTRONICS MALE IDCEN36 RIBBON CABLE 6.95 CEN36 SOLDER CUP 4.95 FEMALE IDCEN36/F RIBBON CABLE 7.95 L CEN36PC RT ANGLE PC MOUNT 4.95 , INTERSIL ICL7106 ICL7107 ICL7660 ICL8038 ICM7207A . ICM7208 9.95 12.95 2.95 4.95 5.95 15.95 . VOLTAGE REGULATORS TO-220 CASE 7805T .49 7905T .59 7808T .49 7908T .59 I 7812T .49 7912T .59 7815T .49 7915T .59 TO-3 CASE | 7805K 1.59 7905K 1.69 7812K 1.39 7912K 1.49 TO-93 CASE 78L05 .49 79L05 .69 78L12 .49 79L12 1.49 OTHER VOLTAGE REGS LM323K 5V 3A TO-3 4.79 LM328K Adj. 5 A TO-3 3.95 I 78H05K 5V 5A TO-3 7.95 78H12K 12V 5A TO-3 8.95 L 78P05K 5V 10A TO-3 14.95 IC SOCKETS 8 PIN ST 14 PIN ST 16 PIN ST 18 PIN ST 20 PIN ST 22 PIN ST 24 PIN ST 28 PIN ST 40 PIN ST 64 PIN ST .12 .15 .18 .15 .20 .22 .30 1.95 ST=SOLDERTAIL 8 PIN WW 14 PIN WW 16 PIN WW 18 PIN WW J 20 PIN WW 22 PIN WW 24 PIN WW ' 28 PIN WW 40 PIN WW .59 .69 .69 .99 1.09 1.39 1.49 1.69 1.5 .10 .09 .10 .13 .16 .22 1.49 .69 .52 .58 .90 .98 1.28 1.35 1.49 1.80 WW=WIREWRAP 16 PIN ZIF 4.95 CALL 24 PIN ZIF 5.95 CALL 28 PIN ZIF 6.95 CALL 40 PIN ZIF 9.95 CALL ZIF=TEXTOOL (ZERO INSERTION FORCE) LINEAR TL066 .99 LM733 .98 TL071 .69 LM741 .29 TL072 1.09 LM747 .69 TL074 1.95 LM748 .59 TL081 .59 MC1330 1.69 TL082 .99 MC1350 1.19 TL084 1.49 MC1372 6.95 LM301 .34 LM1414 1.59 LM309K 1.25 LM1458 .49 LM311 .59 LM1488 .49 LM311H .89 LM1489 .49 LM317K 3.49 LM1496 .85 LM317T .95 LM1812 8.25 LM318 1.49 LM1889 1.95 LM319 1.25 ULN2003 .79 LM320 see7900 XR2206 3.95 LM322 1.95 XR2211 2.95 LM323K 4.79 XR2240 1.95 LM324 .49 MPQ2907 1.95 LM331 3.95 LM2917 1.95 LM334 1.19 CA3046 .89 LM335 1.79 CA3081 .99 LM336 1.75 CA3082 .99 LM337K 3.95 CA3086 .80 LM338K 6.95 CA3089 1.95 LM339 .59 CA3130E .99 LM340 see7800 CA3146 1.29 LM350T 4.60 CA3160 1.19 LF353 .59 MC3470 1.95 LF356 .99 MC3480 8.95 LF357 .99 MC3487 2.95 LM358 .59 LM3900 .49 LM380 .89 LM3909 .98 LM383 1.95 LM3911 2.25 LM386 .89 LM3914 2.39 LM393 .45 MC4024 3.49 LM394H 5.95 MC4044 3.99 TL494 4.20 RC4136 1.25 TL497 3.25 RC4558 .69 NE555 .29 LM13600 1.49 NE556 .49 75107 1.49 NE558 1.29 75110 1.95 NE564 1.95 75150 1.95 LM565 .95 75154 1.95 LM566 1.49 75188 1.25 LM567 .79 75189 1.25 NE570 2.95 75451 .39 NE590 2.50 75452 .39 NE592 .98 75453 .39 LM710 .75 75477 1.29 LM723 .49 75492 .79 H=TO-5 CAN, K=TO-3, T=TO-220 J DIP CONNECTORS DESCRIPTION HIGH RELIABILITY TOOLED ST IC SOCKETS HIGH RELIABILITY TOOLED WW IC SOCKETS COMPONENT CARRIES {DIP HEADERS) RIBBON CABLE DIP PLUGS (IDC) AUGATxxST AUGATxxWW FOR ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS SEE D-SUBMINIATURE BELOW \ \ \ I I I I I I I I I AUGAT24ST D-S UDMINIATURE DESCRIPTION ORDER BY CONTACTS 9 15 19 25 37 50 SOLDER CUP MALE DBxxP 82 .90 1.25 1.25 1.80 3.48 FEMALE DBxxS .95 1.15 1.50 1.50 2.35 4.32 RIGHT ANGLE PC SOLDER MALE DBxxPR 1.20 1.49 1.95 2.65 FEMALE DBxxSR 1.25 1.55 2.00 2.79 WIRE WRAP MALE DBxxPWW 1.69 2.56 3.89 5.60 FEMALE DBxxSWW 2.76 4.27 6.84 9.95 IDC RIBBON CABLE MALE IDBxxP 2.70 2.95 3.98 5.70 FEMALE IDBxxS 2.92 3.20 4.33 6.76 HOODS METAL MHOODxx 1.25 1.25 1.30 1.30 GREY HOODxx .65 .65 .65 .75 .95 £ M ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS: INSERT THE NUMBER OF CONTACTS IN THE POSITION I MARKED "xx" OF THE "ORDER BY" PART NUMBER LISTED. EXAMPLE: A 15 PIN RIGHT ANGLE MALE PC SOLDER WOULD BE DB15PR MOUNTING HARDWARE $1.00 IDC CONNECTORS DESCRIPTION ORDER BY CONTACTS 10 20 26 34 40 50 SOLDER HEADER IDHxxS .82 1.29 1.68 2.20 2.58 3.24 RIGHT ANGLE SOLDER HEADER IDHxxSR .85 1.35 1.76 2.31 2.72 3.39 WW HEADER IDHxxW 1.86 2.98 3.84 4.50 5.28 6.63 RIGHT ANGLE WW HEADER IDHxxWR 2.05 3.28 4.22 4.45 4.80 7.30 RIBBON HEADER SOCKET IDSxx .79 .99 1.39 1.59 1.99 2.25 RIBBON HEADER IDMxx 550 6.25 7.00 7.50 8.50 RIBBON EDGE CARD IDExx 1.75 2.25 2.65 2.75 3.80 3.95 FOR ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS SEE D-SUBMINIATURE ABOVE HARD TO FIND "SNAPADLE" HEADERS CAN BE SNAPPED APARTTO MAKE ANY SIZE HEADER, ALLWITH.1" CENTERS [ 1x40 STRAIGHT LEAD .99 i 1x40 RIGHT ANGLE 1.49 2x40 STRAIGHT LEAD 2.49 .2x40 RIGHT ANGLE 2.99 d SHORTING CLOCKS GOLD CONTACTS t SPACED | AT.1" centers Vropn/ 5/$1.00 Dear Mr . Rose : I feel compelled to commend you and your people for the pleasant, polite, professional attitude you have displayed. In these times it is indeed refreshing to deal witha company whose staff consists of people of this caliber. My friends and associates will most certainly be doing business with you again . Sincerely, Nicholas Chabra r DIODES/OPTO/TRANSISTORS [ 1N751 .25 4N26 .69 I 1N759 .25 4N27 .69 1 1N4148 25/1.00 4N28 .69 1 1N4004 10/1.00 4N33 .89 1 IN 5402 .25 4N37 1.19 1 KBP04 .55 MCT-2 .59 1 KBU8A .95 MCT-6 1.29 1 MDA990-2 .35 TIL-111 .99 1 N2222 -25 2N3906 .10 I PN2222 .10 2N4401 .25 1 2N2905 .50 2N4402 .25 1 2N2907 25 2N4403 .25 1 2N3055 79 2N6045 1.75 1 .2N3904 .10 TIP31 .49 J LED DISPLAYS FND-357(359) COM CATHODE .362" 1.25 FND-500(503) COM CATHODE .5" 1.49 FND-5071510) COM ANODE .5" 1.49 MAN-72 COM ANODE .3" .99 MAN-74 COM CATHODE .3" .99 MAN-8940 COM CATHODE .8" 1.99 TIL-313 COM CATHODE .3" .45 HP5082-7760 COM CATHODE .43" 1.29 TIL-311 4x7 HEX W/LOGIC .270' 9.95 HP5082-7340 4x7 HEX W/LOGIC .290' 7.95 DIFFUSED LEOS 1 99 100-UP JUMBO RED T1V« .10 .09 JUMBO GREEN T1V< .14 .12 JUMBO YELLOW T1 3 /« .14 .12 MOUNTING HDW TIV4 .10 .09 MINIRED T1 .10 .09 SWITCHES SPDT MINI TOGGLE ON-ON DPDT MINI-TOGGLE ON-ON DPDT MINI TOGGLE ON-OFF-ON SPST MINI-PUSHBUTTON N.O. SPST MINI PUSHBUTTON N.C. SPST TOGGLE ON-OFF BCD OUTPUT 10 POSITION 6 PIN DIP 1.25 1.50 1.75 .39 .39 .49 1.95 DIP SWITCHES 4 POSITION 5 POSITION .6 POSITION .85 7 POSITION .95 .90 8 POSITION .95 .90 10 POSITION 1.29 CALL FOR VOLUME QUOTES © copyright 1986 jdr microdevices RIDDON CAE LE 1 CONTACTS SINGLE COLOR COLOR CODED r 10' r 10* I 10 .18 1.60 .30 2.75 T6 .28 2.50 .48 4.40 ' 20 .36 3.20 .60 5.50 25 .45 4.00 .75 6.85 26 .46 4.10 .78 7.15 34 .61 5.40 1.07 9.35 j 40 .72 6.40 1.20 11.00 ! 50 .89 7.50 1.50 13.25 CRODEVICES Inquiry 168 JM;l.lilH!iiVM» PAGE WIRE WRAP WIRE PRECUT ASSORTMENT IN ASSORTED COLORS $27.50 100ea: 5.5", 6.0". 6.5", 7.0" 250ea: 2.5". 4.5". 5.0" 500aa: 3.0". 3.5". 4.Q" 1 WIRE WRAP PROTOTYPE CARDS FR-4 EPOXY GLASS LAMINATE WITH GOLD-PLATED EDGE-CARD FINGERS SPOOLS 100 feet $4.30 500 feet $13.25 250 feet $7.25 1000 feet $21.95 Please specify color: Blue, Black, Yellow or Red EMI FILTER * MANUFACTURED BY CORCOM » LOW COST * FITS LC-HP BELOW * 6 AMP 120/240 VOLT 6 FOOT LINE CORDS LC-2 2 CONDUCTOR .39 | LC-3 3 CONDUCTOR .99 LC-HP 3CONDUCTOR W/STD FEMALE SOCKET 1.49 MUFFIN FANS IBMPR2 .„__ IBM BOTH CARDS HAVE SILK SCREENED LEGENDS AND INCLUDES MOUNTING BRACKET IBM-PR1 WITH +5VAND GROUND PLANE .... $27.95 IBM-PR2 AS ABOVE WITH DECODING LAYOUT $29.95 S-100 P100-1 BARE - NO FOIL PADS $15.15 P100-2 HORIZONTAL BUS $21.80 P100-3 VERTICAL BUS $21.80 P100-4 SINGLE FOIL PADS PER HOLE $22.75 APPLE P500-1 BARE - NO FOIL PADS $15.15 P500-3 HORIZONTAL BUS $22.75 P500-4 SINGLE FOIL PADS PER HOLE $21.80 k 7060-45 FOR APPLE Me AUX SLOT $30.00 A SOCKET-WRAP 1.0.'" » SLIPS OVER WIRE WRAP PINS * IDENTIFIES PIN NUMBERS ON WRAP SIDE OF BOARD <■ CAN WRITE ON PLASTIC; SUCH AS IC » FRAME STYLE TRANSFORMERS 'INS PARTS PCK. OF 8 IDWRAP 08 10 14 1DWRAP14 10 16 IDWRAP 16 10 18 IDWRAP18 5 20 IDWRAP 20 5 22 IDWRAP 22 5 24 IDWRAP 24 5 28 IDWRAP 28 5 40 IDWRAP40 5 2 AMP 5.95 4 AMP 7.95 8 AMP 10.95 2 AMP 7.95 , PLEASE ORDER BY NUMBER OF PACKAGES (PCK. OF) ID WRAP 24 CAPACITORS TANTALUM 1.0/if 15V .35 A7fjf 35V .45 6.8 15V .70 1.0 35V .45 10 15V .80 2.2 35V .65 22 15V 1.35 4.7 35V .85 .22 35V .40 10 35V 1.00 DISC lOpf 50V .05 680 50V .05 22 50V .05 .001/yf 50V .05 27 50V .05 .0022 50V .05 33 50V .05 .005 50V .05 47 50V .05 .01 50V .07 68 50V .05 .02 50V .07 100 50V .05 .05 50V .07 220 50V .05 .1 12V .10 560 50V .05 .1 50V .12 MONOLITHIC .OM 50V .14 .1//f 50V .18 ,047/" BEIGE CABINET W/POWER SUPPLY CAB-2SV5 $49.95 | DUAL SLIMLINE 5Vi" CABINET W/POWER SUPPLY I CAB-2SV8 vertical $209.95 DUAL SLIMLINE 8" CABINET W/POWER SUPPLY CAB-2FH8 horizintal $219.95 DUAL FULL HT 8" CABINET W/POWER SUPPLY TEST EQUIPMENT FROM JDR INSTRUMENTS DIGITAL MULTIMETER PEN DPM-1000 AUTO RANGING, POLARITY AND DECIMAL! $54.95 * LARGE 3.5 DIGIT DISPLAY * DATA HOLD SWITCH FREEZES READING * FAST. AUDIBLE CON- TINUITY TEST * LOW BATTERY INDICATOR * OVERLOAD PROTEC- TION 20MHZ DUAL TRACE OSCILLOSCOPE MODEL 2000 $309.00 35MHZ DUAL TRACE OSCILLOSCOPE MODEL 3500 $549.00 | FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE OSCILLOSCOPES, CALL US FOR FREE PRODUCT BRIEFS. CALL FOR VOLUME QUOTES © COPYRIGHT 1986 JDR MICRODEVICES Inquiry 169 [SEAGATE ST-225 20 MB HARD DISK SYSTEM INCLUDES HARD DISK CONT- ROLLER, CABLES AND IN- STRUCTIONS. ALL DRIVES ARE PRETESTED AND COME WITH A ONE YEAR WARRANTY. 389.95 XT COMPATIBLE MOTHERBOARD J 4190 OR 1 HwCltj 0lZ9.9u * 4.77 MHz 8088 CPU. OPTIONAL JE 8087 CO-PROCESSOR ijgM * 8 EXPANSION SLOTS JEf$S * OK RAM INSTALLED. EXPANDABLE §3$ TO 640K ONBOARD MEMORY £■ * ALLICsSOCKETED-HIGHEST flBBW QUALITY PC BOARD I 1 1 1 * ACCEPTS 2764 OR 27128 ROMS TRO-BIOS $19.95 ^ ^^mfmmm*Wm*l IBM COMPATIBLE INTERFACE CARDS ALL WITH A ONE YEAR WARRANTY MULTI I/O FLOPPY CARD $89.95 PERFECT FOR THE 640 K MOTHERBOARD * 2 DRIVE FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER * 1 RS232 SERIAL PORT; OPTIONAL 2nd SERIAL PORT * PARALLEL PRINTER PORT * GAME PORT * CLOCK/CALENDAR * SOFTWARE: CLOCK UTILITIES. RAMDISK, SPOOLER OPTIONAL SERIAL PORT $15.95 MULTIFUNCTION CARD $84.95 ALL THE FEATURES OF AST'S 6 PACK PLUS AT HALF THE PRICE * CLOCK/CALENDAR * 0-384KRAM * SERIAL PORT * PARALLEL PORT * GAME PORT * SOFTWARE INCLUDED PRINTER CABLE $9.95 64K RAM UPGRADE 9/$1 1.61 COLOR GRAPHICS ADAPTOR $69.95 FULLY COMPATIBLE WITH IBM COLOR CARD * 4 VIDEO INTERFACES: RGB. COMPOSITE COLOR. HI-RES COMPOSITE MONOCHROME. CONNECTOR FOR RF MODULATOR » COLOR GRAPHICS MODE: 320 x 200 * MONO GRAPHICS MODE: 640 x 200 * LIGHT PEN INTERFACE MONOCHROME GRAPHICS CARD $89.95 FULLY COMPATIBLE W/IBM MONOCHROME ADAPTOR & HERCULES GRAPHICS * LOTUS COMPATIBLE * TEXT MODE: 80x25 * GRAPHICS MODE: 720 x 348 » PARALLEL PRINTER INTERFACE MONOCHROME ADAPTOR $49.95 ANOTHER FANTASTIC VALUE FROM JDR! * IBM COMPATIBLE TTL OUTPUT * 720 x 350 PIXEL DIPLAY PLEASE NOTE: THIS CARD WILL NOT RUN LOTUS GRAPHICS AND DOES NOT INCLUDE A | PARALLEL PORT FLOPPY DISK DRIVE ADAPTOR $34.95 * INTERFACES UP TO 4 STANDARD FDDsTO IBM PC OR COMPATIBLES * INCLUDES CABLE FOR TWO INTERNAL DRIVES * STANDARD DB37 FOR EXTERNAL DRIVES * RUNS QUAD DENSITY DRIVES WHEN USED WITH JFORMAT 1200 BAUD MODEMS HAYES COMPATIBLE, AUTO-DIAL, AUTO-ANSWER, AUTO RE-DIAL ON BUSY, POWER-UP SELF TEST, FULL ONE YEAR WARRANTY MODEL 1200B* ► INTERNAL DESIGN ►10 INCH CARD > SERIAL PORT INCLUDED $169.95 MODEL 1200H* ► INTERNAL DESIGN ■ HALF LENGTH (5") CARD * INCLUDES SPEAKER $149.95 SMARTEAM * EXTERNAL DESIGN * WITH POWER SUPPLY * LED STATUS INDICATORS $169.95 'FOR IBM, INCLUDES PC TALK III COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE #JDR Microdevices T ONLY $389.95! CRT MQMTORS FOR ALL APPLICATIONS -•~ LUXOR HIRES RGB MONITOR MODEL 190-9528 * DIGITAL RGB-IBM COMPATIBLE * 14" SCREEN * 16 TRUE COLORS * 25 MH2 BANDWIDTH * RESOLUTION > 640 x 262 * 31mm DOT PITCH * CABLE FOR IBM PC INCLUDED SAKATA COMPOSITE COLOR MODEL SC-100 TOP RATED FOR APPLE 13" COMPOSITE VIDEO RESOLUTION: 280H x 300V INTERNAL AUDIO AMP ONE YEAR WARRANTY CENTER SYSTEMS MONOCHROME MODEL KLM-1211 . IBM COMPATIBLE TTL INPUT ► 12" NON-GLARE SCREEN • P39 GREEN PHOSPHORUS » VERY HIGH RESOLUTION: 25 MHz BANDWIDTH 11 00 LINES (CENTER) AMBER VERSION Si 09.95 $299.95 $169.95 $99.95 BUILD YOUR OWN 2S6K XT COMPATIBLE SYSTEM KT MOTHERBOARD $129.95 PRO-BIOS $19.95 25BKMM $29.55 130 WATT POWER SUPPLY $99.95 FLIP-TOP CASE $39.95 DKM-2000 KEYBOARD $59.95 V2 HEIGHT QUME DRIVE $79.95 FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER $34.95 MONOCHROME ADAPTOR $49.95 MONOCHROME MONITOR $99.95 TOTAL $911.10 IBM STYLE COMPUTER CASE AN ATTRACTIVE STEEL CASE WITH A HINGED LID FITS THE POPULAR PC/XT COMPATIBLE MOTHERBOARDS * SWITCH CUT-OUT ON SIDE FOR PC/XT STYLE POWER SUPPLY * CUT-OUT FOR 8 EXPANSION SLOTS * ALL HARDWARE INCLUDED MONITOR STAND TILTS AND SWIVELS ONLY $12,95 MPRIMTI * DB25 TO CENTRONICS An OC * SHIELDED CABLE $U.OU $39.95 IBM COMPATIBLE KEYBOARDS DKM-2000 $59.95 IBM-5151 $79.95 * ."5150" STYLE KEYBOARD * FULLY IBM COMPATIBLE * LED STATUS INDICATORS FOR CAPS & NUMBER LOCK * 83 KEY - SAME LAYOUT AS IBM PC/XT KEYBOARD POWER SUPPLY NOW ONLY $69.95 * FOR IBM PC-XT COMPATIBLE * 135 WATTS * +5V @ 15A, +12V @ 4.2A -5V @ .5A, -12V @ .5A J50 WATT MODEL $79.95, > REPLACEMENT FOR KEYTRON1CS KB-5151™ v SEPARATE CURSOR & NUMERIC KEYPAD ■ CAPS LOCK & NUMBER LOCK INDICATORS ► IMPROVED KEYBOARD LAYOUT DISK DRIVES TANDON TM50-2 $79.95 1 / 2 HT DS/DD IBM COMPATIBLE EXTREMELY QUIET! I TEAG FD-55B DS/DD $108.85 TEAG FD-55F OS/QUAD $124.95 I 1 TEAG FD-550 DS/HD $154.85 QUME QM42 DS/DD $79.85 MDUHTIMB HARDWARE $2.95 , AT/RAILS $3.95 110 Knowles Drive, Los Gatos, CA 95030 Toll Free 800-538-5000 • (408) 866-6200 • FAX (408) 378-8927 • Telex 171-110 Inquiry 1 70 © COPYRIGHT 1986 JDR MICRODEVICES BOMB BYTE's Ongoing Monitor Box ARTICLED PAGE ARTICLE AUTHOR(S) ARTICLE* PAGE ARTICLE AUTHOR(S) 10 13 14 9 29 52 65 84 105 119 127 137 149 161 177 Microbytes staff What's New staff Ask BYTE/Circuit Cellar Feedback Ciarcia Book Reviews Hoffman. Kilov. McCormick Product Preview: The Compaq Deskpro 386 Thompson, Allen Product Preview: Lotus Manuscript Stewart Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar: Build the GT180 Color Graphics Board, Part i: Basic Technology Ciarcia Programming Insight: Extracting the nth Root from a Binary Number Lau Programming Insight: Passing Filenames to Compiled BASIC Hubanks Memory Management Units for 68000 Architectures Zehr The State of Soviet Microelectronics Walton Finding Rules in Data Thompson. Thompson A Bit-Mapped Classifier Frey Predicting International Events . . . .Schrodt 15 193 Handling Conflicts in Data Cuadrado. Cuadrado 16 207 The Art of Deduction Emond. Paulissen Rule-based Programming Moskowitz Machine Learning Kolokouris Three IBM Clones Linger The Macintosh Plus Crawford Three 24-pin Dot-Matrix Printers. . .Swearengin Digitizers for Data Entry Hearn Two C Compilers for the Amiga . . . Heath SPSS/PC+ Jacques Aegis Animator and Aegis Images . . Block Turbo Lightning and Strike Ramsey fllePro 16 and filePro 16 Plus Harkness Computing at Chaos Manor: A Graphic Display Pournelle 29 323 According to Webster: 68000 Wars: Round 3 Webster 30 347 BYTE Japan: Technical Curiosities Raike 31 351 BYTE U.K.: Integration on a New Scale Pountain 32 361 Applications Only: Resident Headaches Shapiro 33 373 Mathematical Recreations: Paradoxes of Probability Kurosaka 34 385 Best of BIX BlXen 17 217 18 225 19 239 20 247 21 255 22 261 23 271 24 279 25 285 26 289 27 297 28 307 BOMB Results PROGRAMMING OBJECTIVES Professor C A. R. Hoare wins $100 for his first-place August feature article "Mathematics of Programming." Winner of the $50 bonus is Geoffrey A. Pascoe whose "Elements of Object-oriented Programming" placed second in the readers' tally. Third-place mention goes to Ted Kaehler and Dave Patterson for "A Small Taste of Smalltalk." The $50 award for first place in the quality lineup goes to Larry Tesler for "Programming Experiences." Congratulations to all. NEXT MONTH IN BYTE Theme: Graphics Algorithms promises to be a theme you'll find both fascinating and rewarding. As things now stand, the section will include articles on graphics quadratics, the Mandelbrot set, abstract mathematical art Henon mapping with Pascal Macintosh regions, creating free-form curves on your computer, and graphics terminal emulation. Features: The new TMS34010 graphics chip; 'The Effect of Nuclear Weapons on Computers"; and "Relaxation," a numerical method for simulating dynamic physical situations. Reviews: Three IBM PC AT work-alikes and the Laser 128 Apple II clone give us a look at four new computer systems. Also look for a comparative review of dozens of modems. A comparative review of Pascals for the IBM PC along with reviews of three application programs: Flashcom, Stella, and Expert Edge. Circuit Cellar: Part 2 of Steve Ciarcia's major new graphics board construction project. Special MC68000 Series: Debugging Macintosh Applications PROGRAMMING ARTICLES: How to use DOS functions in a high-level-language program. 'Approximating Integrals" and "A C Interface to ANSI.SYS." PLUS Chaos Manor, According to Webster, BYTE U.K., Applications Only, Best of BIX, book reviews, What's New, Microbytes, and more. NOVEMBER 1986 -BYTE 453 A COMPUTER PROGRAM DELIVERED VIA SATELLITE! The Computer Chronicles, a half-hour weekly television series brings you news and information from Silicon Valley and around the world. Correspondent Stewart Cheifet and Gary Kildall, creator of CP/M cover today's headlines and the stories behind them. Find out what is, what was and what will be, with the only computer program you're ever going to need. The Computer Chronicles, every week on a public television station near you. th ilinuuii^tiiH i lllUllllHHlll] *MM»M**^*A* l S>**'" * m '» *//<*>'>' '*<* * * *mm (Check local listings for time and channel.) 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INC 416 243 PACKARD BELL 370, 371 244 PACKARD BELL 370, 371 245 PANASONIC INDUSTRIAL DIV. ... 71 246 PANASONIC INDUSTRIAL DIV. , 72, 73 247 PARA SYSTEMS 51 249 PATHFINDER SOFTWARE INC.. . .434 250 PATTON & PATTON 420 251 PC AMERICAN MARKETING INC. 432 74 PC INNOVATIONS 59 * PC NETWORK 192A-F 252 PC SIG 20 253 PC TECH 338 * PC'S LIMITED 384A-B 255 PECAN SOFTWARE SYS. INC 18 * PERCON 420 257 PERSOFT INC 8 258 PERSOFT INC 31 259 PERSONAL TEX INC 326 389 PINECOM , 438 * POLYTEL COMP.PROD.CORP. .... 168 * PRENTICE-HALL BOOK CLUBS. .321 * PRENTICE-HALL BOOK CLUBS.. 369 263 PRINCETON GRAPHIC SYS 93 264 PRINCETON GRAPHIC SYS 355 265 PROGRAMMER'S SHOP 313 266 PROGRAMMING LOGIC SYS. 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INC 385 303 SOFTCRAFT INC 79 304 SOFTKLONE DISTRIBUTING 61 • SOFTLINE CORP. 67 305 SOFTLOGIC SOLUTIONS INC. ... 275 Inquiry No. Page No. 306 SOFTLOGIC SOLUTIONS INC. ... 277 307 SOFTRONICS 416 308 SOFTRONICS 424 309 SOFTWARE LINK. THE 19 310 SOFTWARE LINK. THE 19 311 SOFTWARE PRODUCTS INT'L 49 312 SOFTWARE PRODUCTS INT'L .... 49 315 SOLETEK INC/LING YIH 388 316 SOLUTION SYSTEMS 310 317 SONY CORP. OF AMERICA 375 374 SOPHIA SYSTEMS 270 398 SOPHISTICATED SOFTWARE .... 400 318 SORD COMPUTER 181 319 SOIA TECHNOLOGIES 260 320 SOURCE ELECTRONICS 334 321 SOURCE ELECTRONICS 334 • SOURCE TELECOMP. CORP .... 157 322 SPECTRUM SOFTWARE 139 323 STAR MICRONICS 80. 81 324 STAR TECHNOLOGY 446 326 STSC INC 162, 163 327 STSC INC 335 * SUMMIT SOFTWARE TECHN.INC . 377 328 SUNCOAST SYSTEMS 78 ' SUNNYVALE COMMUNICATIONS. 403 329 SUNTRONICS CO. INC 415 330 SYMMETRIC COMP SYS 195 331 SYSTEMS STRATEGIES 246 332 TATUNG CO. OF AMERICA 319 333 TATUNG CO. OF AMERICA 319 Inquiry No. Page No. 334 TAXAN. CORP. 173 335 TAXAN. CORP. 173 336 TEAM TECH INC 24 337 TECH PC 26, 27 338 TECH PC ... 26, 27 339 TECHNOLAND 179 340 TEKTRONIX INC 287 ' TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 383 341 TIGERTRONICS 430 342 TIMELINE 428 • TINNEY. ROBERT GRAPHICS. . . . 208 343 TIPZ 424 345 TOPAZ. INC 322 346 TOPAZ. INC 322 347 TORRINGTON COMPANY, THE . . 176 348 TOSHIBA AMERICA INC. . .232, 233 349 TOSHIBA AMERICA INC 350 • TOSHIBA AMERICA/ISD . . . 392, 393 • TRANSEC SYSTEMS INC 62, 63 351 TRUE BASIC 171 353 TURBOPOWER SOFTWARE 312 354 TURNER HALL PUBLISHING .... 158 355 TURNER HALL PUBLISHING .... 363 • TWA 215 356 U.S. ROBOTICS 58 357 U.S. ROBOTICS 58 358 U.S. DISK 423 359 UNICORN ELECTRONICS 424 361 UNIVATION 362 362 VEN-TEL INC. II Inquiry No. Page No. 363 VISIONICS CORP 336 364 VITAL SYSTEMS 420 366 VOTRAX INTERNATIONAL INC. . . 282 367 WAREHOUSE DATA PRODUCTS . . 148 368 WELLS AMERICAN 13 369 WESTECH 76 370 WESTECH 76 371 WESTERN COMPUTER 126 372 WESTERN COMPUTER 126 373 WHITEWATER GROUP. 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If you are not a subscriber fill out the subscription card found in this issue or, call BYTE Circulation 800-258-5485. ♦Domestic and Canadian Subscribers Only! 456 BYTE ■ NOVEMBER 1986 BYTE READER SERVICE m Fill out this coupon carefully. PLEASE PRINT. Requests can- not be honored unless the zip code is included. This card is valid for 6 months from cover date. I am requesting information for: □ Business □ Personal □ Both I purchased this copy by □ Subscription □ Newsstand, computer store, bookstore 177 199 178 200 179 201 i8 180 202 181 203 182 204 183 205 184 206 185 207 186 208 187 209 188 210 189 211 190 212 191 213 192 214 193 215 194 216 n 195 217 196 218 197 219 198 220 Name (Title) _ NOVEMBER 46BRNX .(Company). Address Telephone City_ _State_ .Zip. Country. 1 23 45 67 89 111 133 155 2 24 46 68 90 112 134 156 3 25 47 69 91 113 135 157 4 26 48 70 92 114 136 158 5 27 49 71 93 115 137 159 6 28 50 72 94 116 138 160 7 29 51 73 95 117 139 161 8 30 52 74 96 118 140 162 9 31 53 75 97 119 141 163 10 32 54 76 98 120 142 164 11 33 55 77 99 121 143 165 12 34 56 78 100 122 144 166 13 35 57 79 101 123 145 167 14 36 58 80 102 124 146 168 15 37 59 81 103 125 147 169 16 38 60 82 104 126 148 170 17 39 61 83 105 127 149 171 18 40 62 84 106 128 150 172 19 41 63 85 107 129 151 173 20 42 64 86 108 130 152 174 21 43 65 87 109 131 153 175 22 44 66 88 110 132 154 176 221 243 265 287 309 331 353 375 397 419 441 463 485 222 244 266 288 310 332 354 376 398 420 442 464 486 223 245 267 289 311 333 355 377 399 421 443 465 487 224 246 268 290 312 334 356 378 400 422 444 466 488 225 247 269 291 313 335 357 379 401 423 445 467 489 226 248 270 292 314 336 358 380 402 424 446 468 490 227 249 271 293 315 337 359 381 403 425 447 469 491 228 250 272 294 316 338 360 382 404 426 448 470 492 229 251 273 295 317 339 361 383 405 427 449 471 493 230 252 274 296 318 340 362 384 406 428 450 472 494 231 253 275 297 319 341 363 385 407 429 451 473 495 232 254 276 298 330 342 364 386 408 4 30 452 474 496 233 255 277 299 321 343 365 387 409 43.1 453 475 497 234 256 278 300 322 344 366 388 410 432 454 476498 235 257 279 301 323 345 367 389 411 433 455 477 499 236 258 280 302 324 346 368 390 412 434 456 478 500 237 259 281 303 325 347 369 391 413 435 457 479 501 238 260 282 304 326 348 370 392 414 436 4 58 480 502 239 261 283 305 327 349 371 393 415 437 459 481 503 240 262 284 306 328 350 372 394 416 438 460 482 504 241 263 285 307 329 351 373 395 417 439 461 483 505 242 264 286 308 3 30 352 374 396 418 440 462 484 506 507 529 508 530 509 531 510 532 511 533 512 534 513 535 514 536 515 537 516 538 517 539 518 540 519 541 520 542 521 543 522 544 523 545 524 546 525 547 526 548 527 549 528 550 551 573 552 574 553 575 554 576 555 577 556 578 557 579 558 580 559 581 560 582 561 583 562 584 563 585 564 586 565 587 566 588 567 589 568 590 569 591 570 592 571 593 572 594 595.617 639 596 618 640 597 619 641 598 620 642 599 621 643 600 622 644 601 623 645 602 624 646 603 625 647 604 626 648 605 627 649 606 628 650 607 629 651 608 630 652 609 631 653 610 632 654 611 633 655 612 634 656 613 635 657 614 636 658 615 637 659 616 638 660 661 683 662 684 663 685 664 686 665 687 666 688 667 689 668 690 669 691 670 692 671 693 672 694 673 695 674 696 675 697 676 698 677 699 678 700 679 701 680 702 681 703 682 704 705 727 749 706 728 750 707 729 751 708 730 752 709 731 753 710 732 754 711 733 755 712 734 756 713 735 757 714 736 758 715 737 759 716 738 760 717 739 761 718 740 762 719 741 763 720 742 764 721 743 765 722 744 766 723 745 767 724 746 768 725 747 769 726 748 770 771 793 772 794 773 795 774 796 775 797 776 79S 777 799 778 800 779 801 780 802 781 803 782 804 783 805 784 806 785 807 786 808 787 809 788 810 789 811 790 812 791 813 792 814 BYTES BOMB is your direct line Article No. to the editor's desk Each month, the two top-rated authors receive bonuses based on your evaluation. First look at the list of this month's articles and corresponding ar- ticle numbers (located on the page pre- ceding the Reader Service list), then rate each article you've read as Excellent. Good. Fair, or Poor, based on your overall impres- sion of the article, by circling the ap- propriate number in each column below. Your feedback helps us produce the best possible magazine each month. 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 2 2 23 24 2 5 Excellent 1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 Good 2 6 10 14 18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50 54 58 62 66 70 74 78 82 86 90 94 98 Fair 3 7 II 15 19 23 27 31 35 39 43 47 51 55 59 63 67 71 75 79 83 87 91 95 99 Poor 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 100 Article No. 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Excellent 101 105 109 113 117 121 125 129 133 137 141 145 149 153 157 161 165 169 173 177 181 185 189 193 197 Good 102 106 110 114 118 122 126 130 134 138 142 146 150 154 158 162 166 170 174 178 182 186 190 194 198 Fair 103 107 111 115 119 123 127 131 135 139 143 147 151 155 159 163 167 171 175 179 183 187 191 195 199 Poor 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144 148 152 156 160 164 168 172 176 180 184 188 192 196 200 r HIT r m Name NOVEMBER 46BRNX t IV 1 E READER SERVICE (Titlfl) (Company) Fill not out this coupon carefully. PLEASE PRINT Requests can- be honored unless the zip code is included. This card is AHHrpqc; Telephone valid for 6 months from cover date. City 1 am requesting information for: □ Business □ Personal □ Both Statp Zip 1 purchased this copy by D Subscription Country □ Newsstand, computer store, bookstore i 23 45 67 89 111 133 155 177 199 221 243 265 287 309 331 353 375 397 419 441 463 485 507 529 551 573 595 617 639 661 683 705 727 749 771 793 2 24 46 68 90 112 134 156 178 200 222 244 266 288 310 332 354 376 398 420 442 464 486 508 530 552 574 596 618 640 662 684 706 728 750 772 794 3 25 47 69 91 113 135 157 179 201 223 245 267 289 311 333 355 377 399 421 443 465 487 509 531 553 575 597 619 641 663 685 707 729 751 773 795 ! 4 26 48 70 92 114 136 158 180 202 224 246 268 290 312 334 356 378 400 422 444 466 488 510 532 554 576 598 620 642 664 686 708 730 752 774 796 i 5 27 49 71 93 115 137 159 181 203 225 247 269 291 313 335 357 379 401 423 445 467 489 511 533 555 577 599 621 643 665 687 709 731 753 775 797 » 6 28 50 72 94 116 138 160 182 204 226 248 270 292 314 336 358 380 402 424 446468490 512 534 556 578 600 622 644 666 688 710 732 754 776 798 7 29 51 73 95 117 139 161 183 205 227 249 271 293 315 337 359 381 403 425 447 469 491 513 535 557 579 601 623 645 667 689 711 733 755 777 799 1 8 30 52 74 96 118 140 162 184 206 228 250 272 294 316 338 360 382 404 426 448 470492 514 536 558 580 602 624 646 668 690 ? 12 734 756 778 800 1 ■ 9 31 53 75 97 119 141 163 185 207 229 251 273 295 317 339 361 383 405 427 449 471 493 515 537 5 59 581 603 625 647 669 691 713 735 757 779 801 ' 10 32 54 76 98 120 142 164 186 208 230 252 274 296 318 340 362 384 406 428 450 472 494 516 538 560 582 604 626 648 670 692 714 736 758 780 802 1 11 33 55 77 99 121 143 165 187 209 231 253 275 297 319 341 363 385 407 429 451 473 495 517 539 561 583 605 627 649 671 693 715 737 759 781 803 12 34 56 78 100 122 144 166 188 210 232 254 276 298 330 342 364 386 408 430 452 474 496 518 540 562 584 606 628 650 672 694 716 738 760 782 804 13 35 57 79 101 123 145 167 189 211 233 255 277 299 321 343 365 387 409 431 453 475 497 519 541 563 585 607 629 651 673 695 717 739 761 783 805 14 3 6 58 80 102 124 146 168 190 212 234 256 278 300 322 344 366 388 410 432 454 476 498 520 542 564 586 608 630 652 674 696 718 740 762 784 806 15 3 7 59 81 103 125 147 169 191 213 235 257 279 301 323 345 367 389 411 433 455 477 499 521 543 565 587 609 631 653 675 697 719 741 763 785 807 16 3 8 60 8 2 104 126 148 170 192 214 236 258 280 302 324 346 368 390 412 434 456 478 500 522 544 566 588 610 632 654 676 698 720 742 764 786 808 17 39 61 83 105 127 149 171 193 215 237 259 281 303 325 347 369 391 413 435 457 479 501 523 545 567 589 611 633 655 677 699 721 743 765 787 809 1 18 4 62 84 106 128 150 172 194 216 238 260 282 304 326 348 370 392 414 436 458 480 502 524 546 568 590 612 634 656 678 700 722 744 766 788 810 19 41 63 85 107 129 151 173 195 217 239 261 283 305 327 349 371 393 415 437 459 481 503 525 547 569 591 613 635 657 679 701 723 745 767 789 811 1 20 42 64 86 108 130 152 174 196 218 240 262 284 306 328 350 372 394 416 438 460 482 504 526 548 570 592 614 636 658 680 702 724 746 768 790 812 21 43 65 87 109 131 153 175 197 219 241 263 285 307 329 351 373 395 417 439 461 483 505 527 549 571 593 615 637 659 681 703 725 747 769 791 813 22 4 4 66 8 8 110 132 154 176 198 220 242 264 286 308 330 352 374 396 418 440 462 484 506 528 550 572 594 616 638 660 682 704 726 748 770 792 814 'lb get further information on the products advertised in BYTE, fill out the reader service card with your name and address. Then circle the appropriate numbers for the advertisers you select from the list. Add a first-class stamp to the card, then drop it in the mail. Not only do you gain information, but our advertisers are encouraged to use the marketplace provided by BYTE. This helps us bring you a bigger BYTE. The index is provided as an additional service by the publisher, who assumes no liability for errors or omissions. PLACE POSTAGE HERE BYTE READER SERVICE PO BOX 298 DALTON, MA 01227-0298 USA PLACE POSTAGE HERE BVTE READER SERVICE PO BOX 298 DALTON, MA 01227-0298 USA Make a career move! Get your own copy of BYTE! Sharing is nice but not practical when you have to stay on the leading edge of microcom- puter technology. From each BYTE issue theme to "MICROBYTES" and "Best of BIX", no other maga- zine — or group of magazines — can deliver you the vital technical in- formation pack- aged in one issue of BYTE. Don't rely on others for BYTE information — wait- ing on-line can be hazardous to your job. Make a career move! Have BYTE delivered to your door in your name. Use one of the adjacent cards to ensure your position in micro- computer technology. For direct ordering call toll free weekdays 8:30am-4:30pmE.S.T.: 800-258-5485 (603-924-9281 for New Hampshire residents). Welcome to BYTE Country! For your own subscription to complete this card and mail. BYTE SIS 46BRNX Name. Address . City State Zip. Country . □ Bill me (U.S.A., Canada, Mexico only) □ Check enclosed (All checks must be payable in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank.) Charge to my □ MasterCard □ VISA Card # Expiration Date Signature Subscription Rates Canada USA /Mexico ONE YEAR: D$21 D$23 TWO YEARS: D$38 D$42 THREE YEARS: D$55 D$61 □ $69 Europe (1 year-air delivery) □$37 Europe and worldwide (1 year-surface mail) Air mail rates outside Europe available upon request. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing. Thank you. NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 39 MARTINSVILLE, NJ POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE WJ V I t Subscriptions PO Box 597 Martinsville, NJ 08836-9956 USA l,„l„l.l„l,„ll„ll„l,l„l.l,„l.l,.ll„,ll„l For your own subscription to complete this card and mail. BYTE ©8 46BRNX Name. Address . City State. . Zip. . Country . □ Bill me (U.S.A., Canada, Mexico only) □ Check enclosed (All checks must be payable in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank.) Charge to my □ MasterCard □ VISA Card # Expiration Date Signature Subscription Rates Canada USA /Mexico ONE YEAR: D$21 D$23 TWO YEARS: D$38 D$42 THREE YEARS: D$55 D$61 □ $69 Europe (1 year-air delivery) □ $37 Europe and worldwide (1 year-surface mail) Air mail rates outside Europe available upon request. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing. Thank you. . * NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 39 MARTINSVILLE, NJ POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE ■JTrl t Subscriptions PO Box 597 Martinsville, NJ 08836-9956 USA I...I..I.I..I...II..II..I.I..I.I...I.I..II...II..I For your own subscription to complete this card and mail. BYTE m 46BRNX Name. Address . City State Zip. Country . D Bill me (U.S.A., Canada, Mexico only) □ Check enclosed (All checks must be payable in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank.) Charge to my □ MasterCard □ VISA Card # Expiration Date Signature Subscription Rates Canada USA /Mexico ONE YEAR: D$21 D$23 TWO YEARS: D$38 D$42 THREE YEARS: D$55 D$61 □ $69 Europe (1 year-air delivery) □$37 Europe and worldwide (1 year-surface mail) Air mail rates outside Europe available upon request. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing. Thank you. NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 39 MARTINSVILLE, NJ POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE ■J V I t Subscriptions PO Box 597 Martinsville, NJ 08836-9956 USA I...I..I.I..I...II..II..I.I..I.I...I.I..II...II..I Make a career move! Get your own copy of BYTE! Sharing is nice but not practical when you have to stay on the leading edge of microcom- puter technology. From each BYTE issue theme to "MICROBYTES" and "Best of BIX", no other maga- zine — or group of magazines — can deliver you the vital technical in- formation pack- aged in one issue of BYTE. Don't rely on others for BYTE information — wait- ing on-line can be hazardous to your job. Make a career move! Have BYTE delivered to your door in your name. Use one of the adjacent cards to ensure your position in micro- computer technology. For direct ordering call toll free weekdays 8:30am-4:30pmE.S.T.: 800-258-5485 (603-924-9281 for New Hampshire resident). Welcome to BYTE Country! NECS PINWRITER P5XL HAS MADE BLACK A PRIMARY COLOR. Our Pin writer® P5XL printer has changed forever the way people look at dot matrix printing. It's the first 24-pin dot matrix printer to use a letter-quality multistrike film ribbon — the same ribbon used in typewriters and letter-quality printers, such as our Spinwriter® So for the first time in computer history there is a printer that honestly does everything. A printer that produces important letters and documents with crisp, black, true letter-quality printing. But with all the speed and graphics capability dot matrix printers are known for. Fast, black letter-quality printing will be the primary reason many people will buy a P5XL printer. But there are plenty of other good reasons. In fact, it's the most versatile printer ever created for personal computers. It can use an optional ribbon to print seven other colors plus black. And it has the best graphics resolution of any impact printer you can buy due in part to our advanced 24-pin printhead. Plus it can print more type faces automatically than any other dot matrix printer. And it's quiet and fast. You can also expect a P5XL printer to turn out millions of characters before it will need service because it has the highest reliability rating in the industry And there's a nationwide network of NEC Customer Service Centers to take care of maintenance. Now, while the Pin writer P5XL performs a little black magic, you won't have to go in the red to buy it. The Pinwriter P5XL is the latest addition to the most advanced and extensive family of 24-pin printers available. See it at your dealer or for an information package that includes actual print samples, call 1-800-343-4418 (in MA 617-264-8635). Or write: NEC Information Systems, Dept. 1610, 1414 Massachusetts Ave., Boxborough, MA 01719. NEC PRINTERS.THEYONLY STOP WHEN YOU WANTTHEMTO. MWflinWW I lilMiiiii^llWiiltiflilfililiiilir CaC Computers and Communications The chevrons and serpentine designs are registered trademarks of Binney and Smith Inc.. used with permission NEC NEC Information Systems, Inc. Inquiry 233 « TM TANDY... Better Again The New Tandy 3000 HL Four times the power of the IBM 8 PC/XT ...for less. The Tandy 3000 HL isn't just compatible with IBM's PC/XT— it's better. Better because of its new 16-bit microprocessor that lets you process twice the data of IBM's older, 8-bit design. Bet- ter because it has nearly twice the clock speed of the PC/XT. Better because you get more for less: only $1699. The Tandy 3000 HL's 512K RAM lets you run the software that you've grown accustomed to — at a much higher speed for greater efficiency. And you can expand with hard disk drives, modems, and more. Price applies at Radio Shack Computer Centers and The high power and low price of the Tandy 3000 HL make it perfect for offices requiring sev- eral workstations. And the ViaNet local area network can bring your 3000 HLs together with your existing MS-DOS based computers. Users and de- partments can be more efficient. Plus, the American-made Tandy 3000 HL is backed with total support, including our leas- ing, service and training plans. Get the facts today, and you'll agree: the Tandy 3000 HL (25-4070) is your basic building Phone block for total office automation. participating stores and dealers. Monitor sold separately. IBM/Registered TM International Business Machines Corp. MS-DOS / Registered TM Microsoft Corp. ViaNet/TM ViaNetix, Inc. Available at over 1200 Radio Shack Computer Centers and at participating Radio Shack stores and dealers. Radio /haeK COMPUTER CENTERS A DIVISION OF TANDY CORPORATION Send me an RSC-17 Computer Catalog. Mail To: Radio Shack, Dept. 87-A-369 300 One Tandy Center, Fort Worth, TX 76102 Name Company _ Address _ City State .ZIP. Inquiry 281