AUGUST 1987 Volume 10 Issue 8 £1 .50 PRACTICAL COMPUTING FOR BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MICRO USERS

LASERS TAKE OVER HARDWARE Apricot Xen-i 386 Mac II SOFTWARE Harvard Professional Publisher FEATURES The superconducting micro PLUS How healthy is Ashton-Tate? The secret of Borland's success is "Quality, Speed, Power, & Price"

We'reone of the biggest software Sidekick° Turbo Lightning* companies in the world-and we Instant Desktop Management! Solves All Your Spelling Problems! Powerful desktop management program and the While you use SideKick, Reflex, Lotus 1-2-3,6 and got that way by making "Quality, #1 best seller for the IBM PC. SideKick includes most popular programs, Turbo Lightning proofreads Speed, Power, & Price" essential notepad, calendar, calculator, appointment scheduler, as you write! If you misspell a word, Turbo Lightning telephone directory, autodialer, and ASCII table. It's will beep at you instantly, and suggest a correction for characteristics of every Borland RAM-resident-which means SideKick is always there the word you just misspelled. Press one key, and the software program. Look for ready to react when you need to do something, call misspelled word is immediately replaced by the someone, or find out something in a hurry. And it correct word. And if you're ever stuck for a word, Borland software-then look does all this while you run other programs. Minimum Turbo Lightning's thesaurus is there with instant no further. memory: 128K. alternatives. Minimum memory: 256K.

Traveling Sidekick" Lightning Word Wizard" It's the electronic organizer for this electronic age. Technical Reference Manual For Neither you nor your secretary need to face 1987 Turbo Lightning! with old-fashioned 1887 diaries. Traveling SideKick An important addition to Turbo Lightning, Lightning has everything they have-and a lot more. (Unlike Word Wizard includes fascinating and challenging dusty old diaries, Traveling SideKick doesn't "expire" word games like "Akerue" (try reading that back- at the end of '87, because it's electronic and good wards), "That's Rite," "CodeCracker," "CrossSolver," for '88, '89, '90 and on and on and on.) It's a pro- "MixUp," and "FixUp," to name some of them. fessional binder, a software program, and a report Lightning Word Wizard introduces you to the "nuts generator-a modern business tool that prints your and bolts" of Turbo Lightning technology, and gives ever-changing appointments in daily/weekly/monthly/ you more than 20 different calls to the Lightning yearly form. (If your schedule changes hourly engine. Minimum memory: 256K Traveling SideKick handles the changes instantly.) Whether you use your own or have someone's help with that, Traveling SideKick is the smart new way to take your computer with you-without taking your computer with you. Minimum memory: 256K.

Turbo Prolog - Our new Turbo Prolog has drawn rave reviews- Turbo GameWorks° which we think are well deserved-because Turbo Turbo GameWorks is what you think itis: "Games" language and super- and "Works." Games you can play right away (like computer power to your IBM PC and compatibles. Chess, Bridge and Go-Moku), plus the Works-which Turbo Prolog is a high-speed for the is how computer games work. All the secrets and artificial intelligence language, Prolog, which is strategies of game theory are there for you to learn. probably one of the most powerful programming You can play the games "as is" or modify them any languages ever conceived. We made a worldwide which way you want. Source code is included to let you do that. Minimum memory: 192K. impact with Turbo Pascal, and you can expect the same results and revolution from Turbo Prolog, the natural language of Artificial Intelligence. Minimum Turbo Tutor° 2.0 memory: 384K. The new Turbo Tutor can take you from "What's a computer?" through complex data structures, Turbo Pascal, the worldwide standard Reflex° and Reflex Workshop" in high-speed , and Family. assembly languages, trees, tips on writing long No matter what business you're in,if you use programs in Turbo Pascal, and a high level of Lotus 1-2-3° or dBASE* you need Reflex and the Turbo Database Toolbox" expertise. Source code for everything is included. new Reflex Workshop to give you all the tools and A perfect complement to Turbo Pascal, because it New split screens allow you to put source text in the views to see what your numbers mean. The new contains a complete library of Pascal procedures that bottom half of the screen and run the examples in the Reflex 1.1 with expanded memory support allows you allows you to search and sort data and build powerful top half. There are quizzes that ask you, show you, tell you, teach you. Minimum memory: 192K. to manage huge databases of up to 8 megabytes of database applications. It comes with source code for RAM, 32,000 records, and 250 fields per record with a free sample database-right on disk. Minimum memory: 128K. "Reflex Lightning Speed." The Reflex Workshop Turbo Graphix Toolbox gives you a wide range of analytical tools written Includes a library of graphics routines for Turbo for specific applications like Finance/Accounting, Ad- Turbo Editor Toolbox " Pascal programs. Lets even beginning programmers ministration, Sales and Marketing, and Production and Recently released, we call our new Turbo Editor create high -resolution graphics with an IBM,° Operations. You can use the tools "as is" or modify Toolbox a "construction set to write your own word Hercules," or compatible graphics adapter. Our Turbo them to suit your business needs. Minimum memory: processor." Source code is included, and we also Graphix Toolbox includes all the tools you'll ever 384K. include MicroStar, a full-blown text editor with pull - need for complex business graphics, easy windowing, down menus and windowing. It interfaces directly with and storing screen images to memory. It comes SuperKey° Turbo Lightning to let you spell -check your MicroStar complete with source code, ready to compile. Turns 1000 Keystrokes Into 1! tiles. Minimum memory: 192K. Minimum memory: 192K. If you use SideKick, you need SuperKey. They're designed to work together-and work for you. SuperKey's an amazing keyboard enhancer for your IBM PC and compatibles. With easy -to -write macros, you and SuperKey can turn 1000 keystrokes into 1. Minimum memory: 128K. My more than halfa million people are using Turbo Pascal.

Becauseat up to 4,000 lines in the source code. This provides an rommmommom integrated programming environment of code per minute, Turbo that will improve the productivity of I want the best! O Pascal° is faster than any newcomers and experts alike. YES!i Copies Product Price Totals I other Pascal compiler. And Turbo Pascal A Whole Family of Tools O_ w/8087& BCD f 69.95 f because Turbo Pascal is Success breeds success, so the O I_Turbo Prolog 69.95 £ It backed by a complete range Turbo Pascal family is never static. Turbo Basic 69.95 £ Tureionisou, of "toolboxes" that give you is continuously expanding, with new _Turbo 89.95 £ products like Turbo Editor Toolbox - Reflex : The Database most of the prograguning and Turbo GameWorks. III Manager '129.95 f tools you'll ever need. The secret of software success is _ Reflex Workshop 69.95 £ not merely low price, but top quality fl- ex & Reflex -129.95 f allied with complete documentation, Workshop _ Turbo Database Toolbox 49.95 f like our 400 -page reference manual. The Worldwide Programming Turbo Graphix Toolbox 49.95£_ All of which are some of the Standard _Turbo Tutor 2.0 39.95 f reasons why Turbo Pascal is clearly "For the IBM PC, the benchmark _Turbo Editor Toolbox 49.95 Described by Jeff Duntemann of the leader, and the recipient of Pascal compiler is undoubtedly _Turbo GameWorks 49.95£_, PC Magazine as the "Language deal awards like PC Week's "Product of Borland International's Turbo Pascal," Turbo Numerical of the century," Turbo Pascal is the the Year" and PC Magazine's "Award 69.95 says Gary Ray of PC Week. We and Methods Toolbox high-performance development tool for Technical Excellence." more than 500,000 other people (Eureka: The Solver 69.95 £ sought by professional programmers. around the world think Mr. Ray Turbo Lightning 69.95 £ Even if you have never _Lightning Word Wizard 49.95 f got that right. An Offer You Can't Refuse I programmed in a high-level language _SideKick 69.95 £ Since launch, Turbo Pascal has Turbo Pascal is now an even before, Turbo Pascal helps you Travelling SideKick 69.95 £ become the de facto worldwide better deal than ever because you SideKick & get started with an easy -to -use, can get a lot more for a lot less. The standard in high-speed Pascal Travelling SideKick 125.00 £ structured programming environment. compiler, a completely integrated compilers. - Superkey International programming environment, and BCD Version 69.95 f

Free 8087 Support and reals and 8087 support are now _Tou urbotside uJumbo Pack 245.00 bas Turbo Paul BCD Reels available for only £69.95! UK add y£10 best value in shippinpe got to be the Now Turbo Pascal is an even Better yet, save almost £65.00 Add 15°/0VAT languages on themarket better deal because it includes two when you choose the Turbo Jumbo I Amount enclosed of the most popular options -8087 Pack. Six different Turbo Pascal today. Prices include shipping to all UK cities BYTE Magazine math co -processor support for products (Turbo Pascal 3.0, Turbo Jerry pournece, Carefully describe your computer system : Q intensive calculations and Binary Tutor 2.0, Turbo Editor Toolbox, turned what Mine is: 8 bit 16 bit Turbo Pascal Coded Decimals (BCD) to eliminate Turbo Graphix Toolbox, Turbo use CPIM 80 ! was anacademic's hobby- rounding -off errors for business GameWorks and Turbo Database MS-DOSP S CP/M 86

My computer's name and model is horse aboutthe untidiness applications. Toolbox) for only £245.00! of BASIC into afully fledged Turbo Pascal also includes a full Hurry! Place your order today. The disc sizeuse is5V4" 0 3V2" 0 3" I culture. screen, WordStar" -like editor. The Minimum memory: 128K Payment: Access Visa Money order Cheque industry and Credit card expiration date_ Practical computing55 compiler instantly locates errors, Card No.I I I I I I I I Jo automatically activates the editor and

shows you the location of the error I I I I I I I I III Signature Name Shipping Address DEPARTMENT A8 U ONE GREAT CUMBERLAND PLACE xvoBORLAND LONDON WIN 7AL circle 104 on enquiry card - (01)258-3797 INTERNS- " Postal Code Telephone : CODs and purchase orders WILL NOT BE accepted by Borland. Outside UK make payment Uby credit card or International Postal Money Order 'New UK version (check shipping date) Borland products include Turbo Basic, Eureka. The Solver. Turbo Pascal Numerical Methods Toolbox. Turbo Proiog, Turbo Pascal, Turbo Pascal for the Mac. Turbo Tutor, Turbo Editor 'Time limited promotional offer now shipping Toolbox, Turbo Database Toolbox, Turbo Graphix Toolbox; Turbo GameWorks, Turbo t New product now shipping Lightning: Lightning Word Wizard. Retlex. The AnaNst: Rem for the Mac, Reflex Workshop: Sidekick, SideKick for The Mac; Traveling Sidekick. and SuperKey-all NOT COPY PROTECTED which are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland International, Inc. or 60 DAY MONEY -BACK GUARANTEE Borland/Analytica, Inc. Traveling Sidekick is not M wry way associated with Traveling If within 60 days of purchase you find that this Software. Incof Seaftle, Washington. Lotus 1-2-3 is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corp dBASE is a product does not perform in accordance with our registered trademark of Ashton -Tale. Word and MS-DOS are registered claims call our customer service department and trademarks of Microsoft Corp MultiMate is a trademark of Multimale International Core Random House is a registered tadernark of Random House, we will gladly arrange a refund. Inc CP/M is a registered trademark ol Digital Research, Inc IBM is a UAll prices are suggested list prices and are registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. WordStar is a subject to change without notice. registered trademark at MicroPro International Corp. Copyright 1986 Borland International BE -1002 COMPUMART WATFORD (0923) 55633 -IBM coimma- Colour Portables PC XT (SDD):(640k RAM 2 x 360k Disk) £1100.00£1290.00 Portable II Model 2:(256k RAM 2 x 360k Disk) £1680 00 PC XT (SFD):(640k RAM 360k +20Mb Disk)£1400.00£1600.00 Portable II Model 4:(640k RAM 360k Disk + PC XT (286):(640k RAM 1.2Mb + 20Mb H/Disk) £2275.00 20Mb Disk)£2000.00£2200.00 PC AT X:(512k RAM 1.2Mb + 30Mb Disk)£2975.00£3170.00 All prices include Keyboard, Monitor & DOS COMPAa PORTABLE III 8087 Chip £195.0080287 Chip £295.00 AT 360k Disk £145.00 640k 286 Processor, 1.2Mb Floppy, 20Mb H/Disk: £2914.00 640k, 286 Processor, 1.2Mb Floppy, 40Mb H/Disk: £3234.00 -TOSHIBA Subject to availability Portable 286 Model 3:(640k RAM 1.2Mb + 20Mb Lap Top Computers H/Disk + 10Mb Tape) £3147.00 T1 100:(256k RAM, 31/2" 720k Disk, 80088 Co -pro, All prices include DOS DOS 2.1) £1122 00 Deskpros T1100 Plus (640k RAM, 2 x 31/2" 720k Disks, DOS 3.2, Deskpro Model 2:(256k RAM 2 x 360k Disks) £1307 00 and A/C Adapter -Charger & Carrying Case: £1450.00 Deskpro Model 3:(640k RAM 360k + 20Mb Disk) £1797 00 13100:(640k RAM, 31/2" Disk + 10Mb H/Disk, 8MHz New 1 2MHz MODELS 50% FASTER 80286 Co -pro, Clock Cal) £2772.00 Deskpro 286 20:(640k RAM 1.2Mb + 20Mb Disk) £2367 00 Deskpro 286 40:(640k RAM 1.2Mb + 40Mb Disk) £2718.00 -Olivetti Deskpro 286 701:(640k RAM 1.2Mb + 70Mb Disk + Mono Colour 40Mb Tape Backup) £4245.00 M24:(640k RAM 360k + 20Mb Disk) £1683.00 £1897.00 Deskpro 386 40:0 Mb RAM 1.2Mb + 40Mb Disk) £4706.00 M24SP:(640k RAM 360k + 20Mb Disk) £1826.00 £2040.00 M28:(51 2k RAM 1.2Mb + 20Mb Deskpro 386 70:0 MbRAM 1.2Mb + 70Mb Disk) £5186.00 Disk Bs. Con) £2266.00 £2493.00 Deskpro 386 130: (1 Mb RAM 1.2Mb + 130Mb Disk) £5989.00 M28:(51 2k RAM 1.2Mb + 40Mb OPTION Disk Bs. Con) £2730.00 £2958.00 40Mb Tape Backup unit £480.00 All prices include Keyboard, Monitor & DOS All prices include Keyboard. Dual -Mode Monitor & DOS

-PRINTERS Letter NEC Spinwriter 8850:(55cps) £899.00 Dot Epson FX800:(240cps, 35cps NLQ, 80co1) £444.00 Quality IBM Quietwriter Model 1 £858.00 Matrix Epson FX1000:(240cps, 35cps NLQ, 132co1)£453.00 IBM Quietwriter Model 2 £1075.00 Epson LQI000:0 80cps, 60cps NLQ, 132co1)£681.00 IBM Quietwriter Model 3 £925.00 Epson LQ2500 £810.00 HP Laserjet (8ppm) £1496.00 NEC P660:0 80cps, 72cps NLQ, 80col) £410.00 HP Laser Series II, 512K £1995.00 NEC P760:0 80cps, 72cps NLQ, 136co1) £490.00 NEC P565XL:(264cps, 88cps LQ, 136co1) £885.00 All prices include cable Toshiba P351 £856.00 Plotters HP 7440A:(A4) £776.00 HP 7475A,(A3)£1366.00

-SOFTWARE Other Printers, Multifunction Cards Multimate Advantage £346.00 Dbase III Plus £399.00 & Software available. Wordstar Professional £290.00 Smart £486.00 Displaywrite III £322.00 Symphony £355.00 EX -RENTAL EQUIPMENT Lotus 1-2-3 £247.00 Paradox £430.00 I Please telephone Steven on (0923) 53933 ext 2550 for SuperCalc IV £230.00 Microsoft Mouse £140.00 information and prices on current stock.

-SPECIAL OFFERS Princeton colour monitor 12" £352.00 Hercules Mono Plus graphic card £199.00 AST SixPac 384k £418.00 Princeton EGA monitor 12" £395.00 Mountain Hardcard 20Mb £620.00 QUAD EGA (short) £229.00 Paradise AutoSwitch EGA £279.00 AST Rampage 512k for AT £428.00

Please ring for an immediate response and the latest prices ALL MAJOR Prices exclude VAT & Delivery CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED All prices are subject to C.W.O.

- circle 164 on enquiry card COVER FEATURE 'PRACTICAL .111111iiCOMPUTING APRICOT XEN-i 386 A lot is riding on this 80386 supermicro for its ARC -9000 A solution to backup manufacturer. Glyn Moody finds out how it 36 problems - page 41. compares with the competitors 0 ARC -9000 Everyone knows they should make backups but not enough of us actually do it. This tape 41 LASERS TAKE streamer does the job automatically OVER II Once upon a time lasers were Apple's top -of -the -range micro has arrived. exotic and expensive. Now they Carol Hammond revels in the glories of a full - 46 have a place in almost every colour Mac office and every manufacturer seems to be launching one. But HARVARD PROFESSIONAL just how fast are they? And how PUBLISHER good are the new units that Macintosh II Full colour plus Pitching this top -end DTP package against have broken the £2,000 price expandability - page 46. barrier? We investigate 85 Ventura Publisher and Aldus PC Pagemaker we 51 this exciting world NEEfind some important distinguishing features GENERIC CADD & AUTOSKETCH Roger Cullis looks at two drafting packages that 54 could attract a lot of new users TURBO BASIC One of the latest products from Borland, 61 reviewed by Mike Lewis WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD NEWS WRITER HARDWARE NEWS Most word processors are designed for Olivetti's answer to P/S 2 12 Apple Laserwriter Plus secretaries, but this low-cost program has the Postscript makes for flexibility. 66SOFTWARE NEWS general writer in mind. Susan Curran reports omm Windows applications 14 GENERAL NEWS INSIDE BATTERY PORTABLES Company mergers 1 8 When will the portable market get moving? Glyn MARKET NEWS Moody traces the origins and aspirations of this A new number 1 23 growing sector 70 SUPERCONDUCTIVITY REGULARS Mary Fagan looks at the implications of the latest 74 EDITORIAL breakthroughs in superconductor science Laser vision 7 FEEDBACK THE ASHTON-TATE STORY The coming of PS/2 9 Mike Lewis on the dBase company's past, 78 TECHNOLOGY present and future BRIEF Data encryption 26 IS YOUR DATA SAFE? ON-LINE With the Data Protection Act soon to become Text Direct 28 fully operational Anne Staines considers the ASK PC measures that data users must adopt to 81 DOS date format 34 safeguard themselves BOOKS PC UTILITIES Optical publishing 105 Apricot Xen-i 386 Compact, DOS UTILITIES elegant and the fastest 80386 We pick 10 ways to enhance the performance at 101 Lock key indicator 108 machine yet - page 36. the MS-DOS

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 FULL POWER SPREADSHEET

FOR UNDER s000s0 £100

Logistix gives you the fullest range of features to help you in your business. With over 15,000 installed users, our clients include most of the top companies in the UK, organisations that only buy innovative, quality products that they know they can trust to give value for money. It is widely accepted that Logistix meets and exceeds these requirements.

FEATURES

Over 2000 rows by 1000 columns

74 mathematical, financial and other functions

Compressed and SIDEWAYS printing Powerful MACRO

Easy to use with 150 'HELP' pages

FEATURES "Verdict: An important British package

Unique 'Computerised Wall Planner' which adds a new dimension to

Multiple date and currency formats spreadsheets. This is a very high quality package". PC USER GRAPHICS

FEATURES The range of functions Over 100 different graphic styles and options provided by LOGISTIX is unusually Full colour output on screen, printer and plotter wide." PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD

FEATURES "It is the only PC spreadsheet that really delivers presentation quality colour Reads and decodes dBASE II & Ill data files graphics." Record sorting, extracting, finding, deleting PRACTICAL COMPUTING

£50 OFF LOGISTIX TRAINING COURSES BY OXFORD COMPUTER TRAINING SERVICES. CALL (0865) 512675 FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

CALL OUR DISTRIBUTORS FOR YOUR NEAREST STOCKIST: LOGISTIX Softsel Computer Products 01 568 8866 Centresoft 021 356 3388 FOR THE IBM PC, GEM Distribution 0279 412441 Software Ltd. 01 278 2377 AMSTRAD 1512 e99 s5 AND OTHER COMPATIBLES NOW AVAILABLE FOR ATARI ST Grafox Ltd.South Bank Technopark, 90 London Road, London SE1 6LN Tel. 01 922 8807 NOT COPY PROTECTED circle 142 on enquiry card EDITOR I AL

EDITORIAL 01-661 3633 Telecom Gold 81:RPL002t PUBLISHER/EDITOR GLYN MOODY DEPUTY EDITOR (Production) JOHN LIEBMANN ART EDITOR HUGH ANDERSON ASSISTANT EDITOR IAN STOBIE REPORTER CAROL HAMMOND EDITORIAL ASSISTANT LOUISE DUFFY CONSULTANTS JACK SCHOFIELD, MIKE LEWIS ADVERTISING 01-661 3612D ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER NEIL MARCHANT 01-661 3021 ASSISTANT ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER JANET THORPE 01-661 8626 ADVERTISEMENT EXECUTIVE KATE SCALLY 01-661 8425 MIDLANDS AND NORTH 061-872 8861 ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION CONTROL JACKIE PERRY 01-661 8649 BRIAN BANNISTER 01-661 8648 SECRETARY LYNN DAWSON CLASSIFIED SUSAN PLAITS 01-661 3033 LASER VISION Three technologies have shaped the pattern of working insector; prices are falling - following the same pattern as I the modern office: the telephone, the andmicros a few years back. What started off as a premium -priced the photocopier. The impact of two of them - the phone andmachine costing around £4,000 can now be had for around the micro - has been fairly obvious; hitherto the third has£1,500. It is no coincidence that Jack Tramiel has announced a been taken for granted, its ubiquity masking its subtle butlaser printer, and that Alan Sugar is rumoured to be looking at pervasive effect. Recent developments may be about to turnone. Both men are sharp at spotting the next mass -market pro- the spotlight on to the photocopier. duct, and it is clear that lasers now fall into that category. The primary impact of the photocopier has been to increase Already laser printers are beginning to take over in offices, the amount of information passing across a desk. Before themirroring the pattern of micro acquisition a little while ago. days of Xerox and its host of competitors, copies could meanLike micros, lasers are totally addictive; once you have used one of two things. They meant messy carbon copies withone, you never want to go back to a dot-matrix, no matter how limited numbers and low quality or, for larger runs, theymany pins it has. This has partly to do with the noise of even would involve one of those splendid devices like a Gestetner orthe quieter matrix machines; acoustic hoods are falling from Cyclostyle machine. Although they worked well enough infavour for personal printing, as opposed to heavy-duty depart- their own way - which nowadays looks quaintly Victorian tomental work. But the attraction of the laser has more to do our high-tech eyes - they were hardly a convenient methodwith the fact that we have been working in offices based for generating copies of a large number of documents on aaround the photocopier ethic for the last 30 years. When the regular basis, say as part of a restricted office circulation list. laser printer arrived,it simply assumed the photocopier's The photocopier changed all that. Small or large runs be-mantle as the natural instrument of the office -information came equally easy. No specially prepared original was neededgeneration. as with the Gestetner machines. Furthermore, it was possible Peering further into the future, most micro users might to copy not just typed or written documents, but also graphs,soon have a laser printer, which will cost about the same as an images, even pages from books and magazines - whateverAmstrad PC - and might even be made by Amstrad. More the laws of copyright may say. This tremendous new power un-and more intelligence will be embedded into it,until it leashed the torrent of data which most of us have to cope withbecomes a document scanner, optical character reader and fax to this day. machine, all in one box. As a result, the telephone too will In this context, the more recent effects of the micro can bemigrate along the desk into the same unit. At this point - seen not as anything startlingly new, but rather as a secondprobably towards the end of the 1990s - we will see the final wave of this information deluge. As anyone working withconvergence of those three technologies which have gone to computers knows, their chief effect, like that of photocopiers,shape so much of the preceding century. And as the micro and is to increase the amount of paper which has to be dealt with.the telephone shrink to vanishing point through continuing So much for the paperless office, a once fashionable phraseadvances in chip production, all that will be left will be the which has now completely disappeared from manufacturers'latest and most exciting incarnation of the humble photo- advertisements. copier. Of course, micros differ from photocopiers in one important respect. The prodigality of the photocopier is limited in that all copies are by definition the same. The micro introduces the YEARS AGO... new possibility of varying the output while retaining theThe 16 -bit micro has been with us for some time now, and a number ability to churn out endless amounts of information. of 16 -bit systems have found their way into various microcomputer A central idea in visions of future office working is the con- installations. Now it looks as though these rilichines are to be up- vergence of the main technologies found there today. Somestaged by a new generation of 32 -bit micros. Industry rumours say manufacturers have concentrated on the coming together ofthat Hewlett-Packard has a 32 -bit machine on the way, to be joined the telepone and the micro. This is fine in theory, but the endby a 32 -bit micro developed by Acorn in conjunction with National results have not been so happy: remember the One Per Desk orSemiconductor. the Qwertyphone. The other approach - putting together the The chip comes from National Semiconductor and is claimed to be micro and the photocopier - has been more fruitful, thoughthe only true 32 -bit microcomputer. It is capable of supplying the user with the power of a at about 10 percent of the less fuss has been made about it. The result is the laser printer, cost. This chip, and the others in the series, are to be incorporated by one of the most successful pieces of office technology aroundAcorn into two new products. As a second processor for the BBC today. Micro, it will come on a board with 256K of RAM and an operating It is symptomatic of that success that this month's special system in ROM. The interface to this processor will be handled by the section on printers starting on page 85 concentrates almost ex- "tube". Acorn expects to market this product to the existing user clusively on laser machines. Manufacturers are piling into thebase of over 2,000,000 Apple, Pet and Tandy machines.

PUBLISHED by Reed Business Publishing Ltd. Quadrant I foil,. The Quadrant. Sutton, Surrey SM2 Dunstable. Typeset by Lithotype Design. London PCI. Reed Business Publishing Ltd 1987. ISSN 5AS. Tel 01-661 3500. Telex/grams 892084 REEDBP G. DISTRIBUTED by Quadrant Subscription 0141-5433. TERMS OF specifiers of micrikomputer equ.pment and software in Services, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton. Surrey SM2 5AS. SUBSCRIPTIONS: UK f 10.50 per business in UK only. Would-be authors are welcome to send articles to the Edi or bu we cannot under- annum; overseas f36.00 per annum, selling price in Eire subject to currency exchange fluctuations and take to return them. Submissions should be typed double-spaced, and should include a disc of any VAT; airmail rates available on application to Subscriptions Manager, Quadrant Subscription Services,program. Every possible effort is made to check that articles and listings are REED Oakfield House, Perrymounr Road, Haywards Heath, Sussex RH16 3DH. Tel: (0444) 459188. correct, but we cannot guarantee that programs will run and can accept no re- BUSINESS PRINTED in Great Britain for the proprietors Reed Business Publishing Ltd by Ben Johnson & Co. Ltd, sponsibility for any errors. PUBLISHING

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 7 NEX MONTH

HARDWARE

Without a Megabuffer your Printer can A few months ago an 80386 PC was a rare slow down the rate your PC outputs to beast. Today everyone seems to be launching the rate your Printer prints. Turning a 5 minute print file into half -an -hour. one, and prices are tumbling. We look at some Which means that the PC can be of the new low-cost machines, including one from out of action for long periods. Merely outputting. With a the Dell Computer Corporation, which recently Megabuffer the PC outputs at set up over here. Plus a review of Acorn's its top speed into the Megabuffer memory, the PC powerful Risc-based Archimedes micro. is then released for further work, and the Printer prints at its own See us on stand 66J SOFTWARE rate from the Megabuffer memory. at the PC user show Allows you to use your PC more Can emulate special plotter handshake protocols Digital Research is looking to pastures new now Compatible with most computers, printers and plotters: IBM & compatibles, AMSTRAD, HP, ACT, SHARP, EPSON, CALCOMP that Microsoft has colonised the operating and many more Can cut PC output time to one sixth or less. systems market so effectively. We review Software -independent Data Buffer and interface converter Gem Desktop Publisher, one of its first Pause, 'reprirage' and forays into applications software. multiple copy facilities Full range of memory sizes for every application: 64K £160, FEATURES 128K £216, 256K £278, 512K £388, 1MB £556. How do you benchtest a Cray super -computer? We find out, and look at the different uses such Flexible Interfacing that machines can be put to. There is also a keeps them all talking consideration of the latest European laws on software copyright. Eliminate miles of spaghetti and all those 'T' and 'X' switches with a simple Megaswitch which allows your PC to instantly connect to a selection of printers and plotters. MEGASWITCH AS - Serial Data Selector Single unit multiplexer and demultiplexer 2K data buffer RS -232 and RS -422 versions Can operate as RS-232/RS-422 converter Diagnostic output Megabuffer compatible Multiplexer - Ideal for printer sharing. 4 inputs and 2 outputs. THE INTEGRATED OFFICE Can automatically select any channel supplying data Demultiplexer - Ideal for driving several different printers from a Micros no longer work in isolation. Today they are PC. 2 inputs and 4 outputs linked with PABXs, scanners, telex and fax. We Software and manual report on the far-reaching developments which will selection. Downloadable code translation tables. result in the office of tomorrow. Hardware and XON/ XOFF handshakes (RS -232) £189 MEGASWITCH S - INPUT = pCs RS232 Serial Selector UP TO ITO Connects any of 5 inputs to LANGUAGES eitherof 2 outputs Universally compatible - There is life after Basic. We look at some alternatives works with all baud rates and handshake and the applications to which they are suited. arrangements LED indication of data flow fr4 Use it with a Megabuffer for additional time saving£99

MEGASWITCH AP - OUTPUT 1/1 PRINTERSParallel Data Selector UP TO PLOTTERS Connects any of 4 inputs to either/both of 2 outputs Can automatically switch to Don't miss the September issue of RINGDALE any channel supplying data Ideal for laser printer sharing Universally compatible - PERIPHERALS works with all standard 11 Decoy Road, Worthing, centronics computer and 'PRACTICAL West Sussex BN14 8ND printer interfaces Telephone (0903) 213131 Use it with a Megabuffer for Telex 265871 REF JBC2021 additional time saving £169 COMPUTING UK delivery 1.3/UNIT, cables from £15. VAT extra Dealer and Export Enquiries welcome On sale at W H Smith and all good newsagen s after 19 August.

Contents may vary due to circumstances beyond our control and are subject circle 118 on enquiry card - to change without notice.

8 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 F E E D B A C K

In our Feedback columns readers have thethe word-processing directory by The virtues of opportunity of bringing their computingmeans of the CD command, but an LCD experience and problems to the attention ofthis is surely more logical and easier to understand than the REGARDING the letter from M J others, as well as of seeking our advice or making procedures being suggested by Mr Hosken, in your April issue, suggestions, which we are always happy to receive. Make sure you use Feedback - it is your Rahin. concerning not looking at the J SIMPSON, screen while keying in. I too chance to keep in touch. Shoreham -by -Sea, avoid looking at the screen, WRITE TO: West Sussex. though for an entirely different reason. I can't stand the thing! Feedback, Practical Computing, Quadrant House, The glare, noise and whatever The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS Crime and other unknowns come out of it punishment lead to discomfort and a steady decline in efficiency. IN AN otherwise reasonable review It would appear I am not of my book Is Man a Robot? MOVING ON Glyn Moody makes a serious error alone. In a recent For What it's Worth TV programme, covering which I would like to correct. He building sickness syndrome, 43 says I would do away with prison percent of VDU users questioned TO PSI2 altogether and that I fail to said they found them unpleasant. CONGRATULATIONS on June's main feature "IBM's New Standard". I accept that my stated position What I would like is a nice, have waited a long time for a sensible analysis of IBM's April 2nd provides a justification for some boring black -and -grey LCD announcements regarding their new range of Personal Systems. form of restraint. screen. But only portables are Steve Malone's reservations with respect to the Model 30 and exactly May I quote from page 261 of blessed with them. I am sure thatwhere it fits into IBM's future strategy are understandable, and you my book: "We are entitled to staff productivity would increase certainly hit the nail on the head as far as the Model 50 is concerned. pursue criminals relentlessly and if they had these, rather than The Model 50 is not a souped -up PC/AT. There are potentially several to incarcerate them when CRTs. I find myself dry new and proprietary features about it - its Micro Channel apprehended . . . Compulsory coding/running programs on architecture, ABIOS ROM and other proprietary IBM chips - that will incarceration .. may be paper, rather than face a CRT, make it difficult or impossible to clone. When IBM's OS/2 arrives I necessary in order to achieve a thereby losing all the advantages suspect a few more people might wish they had the McCoy hardware.degree of social protection." of screen manipulation and As far as pricing is concerned - yes, it's still an expensive machine. GEOFF SIMONS, continuous testing. But IBM's highly automated plant in Greenock is churning them out Stockport, The answer is an 80 -by -25 add- by the lorry load and I am convinced that the unit production cost is a Cheshire. on LCD. It would transform the small fraction of the end -user price. Large discounts should be computer into a much more negotiable. A case in point is IBM's agreement with all local authority Angry at Apple affable macshine. The LCD could colleges, known as Lamsac 86. Under this scheme all Personal Systems AM I ALONE in my sense of fury at be used for most of the text and are discounted by 40 percent, permitting the purchase of a fully configured Model 50 for £1,830. Apple for the insane design of coding work, leaving the CRT for the Imagewriter II? Would graphics and colouring. Clive Of course Olivetti and Compaq say that the new machines do not threaten their markets. However, in 12 months' time the small -systems anybody else be treated seriously Sinclair's new Z-88 portable has if they offered a design for a an 80 -by -eight unit and costs end of the computing world will have moved on to the new multi- tasking, high -resolution 3.5in. world of PS/2 and OS/2. In the tractor feed that pushed the only £200. Surely there must be paper through the rollers? companies who could produce a meantime my advice is to go and haggle with your nearest IBM dealer. R ELLIOTT Can anyone supply a similar screen three times deeper IBM Technical Co-ordinator, Macintosh -compatible printer than this, and sell it for around Clydebank College, that I can use with continuous £100. Clydebank. stationery? R SUMMER, D C SUTTON, London SW12. System Six Ltd, Running Basic Warrington. not support Hercules graphics; H - sequence on start-up which with a Hercules Graphics provides that facility would frighten an experienced Easier than and also allows the programs to user, let alone the raw beginner 1-2-3 card be run under the Basic to whom itis being marketed. YOUR correspondent Michael interpreter for development and It may well be that this false THE REVIEW of low-cost Earley in "Ask PC", June 1987, debugging. Support for Turbo impression of WordStar is spreadsheets in the June issue complained about the lack of Basic will be available shortly. propagated by such convoluted raises some points. Spreadsheets Hercules graphics support for F E RICKETT, explanations as that given by like Lotus are the standard IBM PC clones. In response to Laboratory Software Ltd, M A Rahin in your June issue. method of financial calculation. this problem we have produced 2 Ivy Lane, The procedure he described Before that it was self -written H -Graphics, a programmer's Aylesbury, involves some 22 keystrokes to programs; before that the toolkit for the Hercules and Buckinghamshire HP22 5AP. avoid the creation of a backup calculator; before that the adding compatible graphics cards. It costs file. machine. Each standard is more £45. Surely it is far simpler to allow powerful, handles more H -Graphics provides full WordStar WordStar to make the backup information and produces more Hercules graphics support on the without copies for insurance as they are comprehensive results. IBM PC and compatibles for intended, and occasionally clean A lot of our customers are programs written in Basica, backups up the directory by keying X those who have found Lotus too GWBasic, Quick Basic, Pascal, C MANY people - quite wrongly in from the opening menu to go to cumbersome. They find and Clipper. As well as the usual my estimation - say that the system and then entering Moneypower quick and easy to drawing commands there are WordStar is complicated and DEL *.BAK use, and the power of its facilities for writing text on the difficult to use. Yet they are If your working environment is reporting saves time. graphics screen, for creating ready to praise the Amstrad PCW under the control of batch files P H GOLDEN, windows and for loading, saving with Locoscript which, although which normally change directories Moneywise Software, quite sophisticated in the automatically, you may need to North Cheam, and printing screens. ga Quick Basic as it stands does facilities it provides, presents a learn how to change to and from Surrey.

9 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 We steamed it.

We shook it. How ran we be so sure our Vectra computer won't let you

down? Because we asked Lloyd's Register of Shipping to

give it a going over.

Lloyd's test all kinds of equipment for seaworthiness. They

belicre a computer should be able to round the Cape, reach

the Pole and spend a week in the Doldrums.

Which is why they tested the Hewlett-Packard Vectra as if

lives depended on it.

First. they left it in a temperature of 55°C for 100 hours.

Then they lowered the temperature to -25°C for 16 hours.

In the next test they again raised the temperature to 55°C

but this time with a humidity of 95%.

They also rolled the Vectra each side of the vertical, they

vibrated it for two hours and they fluctuated and interrupted

the voltage and frequency.

The results, we think, will surprise you.

Apart from suggesting we should secure the capacitors and

resistor more firmly, Lloyd's gave us a clean bill of health.

For those on dry land, the message is clear.

If the Vectra can cope with life at sea,it should find

office life plain sailing.

To find out more, phone Julie Came on (0734) 696622.

HEWLETT rhaPACKARD - circle 141 on enquiry card - We can work it out. We rocked and rolled it. N W S HARDWARE Compaq upgradesOLIVETTI STRIKES Deskpro BACK AT PS/2 386 ouvErn has announced its answerstorage starts at 40Mbyte on thetive Graphics Controller supports COMPAQ COMPUTER has announced to the IBM PS/2 series in the formcompact model and 68Mbyte ongraphics up to 640 by 400 pixels; that the Deskpro 386 will nowof a new range of micros based on the M-380. The 125Mbyte hardthere is also an EGA option. support an optional 16MHz Intelthe 80386, 80286 and 8086 chips. disc on the floor model can be The first of the machines to go 80387 co -processor, and that theIt has also produced a multi -task-expanded to 270Mbyte. on sale will be the M-240, which is machines will have disc cacheing asing environment for the 80386 To enable users to exploit the due to appear in July. The M-380 is a standard feature. chip in advance of the appearancepower of the 80386 processor,scheduled for September and the The 80387 costs £750. It willofMicrosoft'sOS/2.AlltheOlivetti has a multi -tasking mana-M-280 for the last quarter of the proveparticularlyusefulformachines use the new -style AT -gercalled386-Topjobwhichyear. For 1987 at least; the M-24 calculation -intensive tasks such aslayout keyboard, and can be set upallows several tasks to be run con-and M-28 will continue to be sold. scientific computations and CADwith 3.5in. or 5.25in. floppies. currently under MS-DOS. It alsoThe M-380 costs from £4,410 and and CAE applications. All Desk- At the top of the range is theenablestheusertoaddressthe M-240 from £2,033. pro 386 models will cater for both 80386 -based M-380, which comesmemory beyond the current 640K Atthelaunchofthese the 80387 co -processor and anin three versions. The M380 / T is alimit. Up to eight tasks can be runmachines, Olivetti announced new 8MHz 80287 co -processor. floor -standing unit that bears aat once, including well-behavednetworkingandterminalpro- The use of a disc-cacheing utilityremarkable resemblance to IBM'sprograms likeFlight Simulator.ducts, as well as prototype Worm program will enhance hard -discModel 80, except that it possesses aOlivettisaysthatitexpects and CD-ROM mass -storage performance.Itworks incon-small display for diagnostic mes-386-Topjob to have a future evendevices. More importantly, it dis- junctionwiththe Compaqsages. There are also two desk -topwhen OS /2 has arrived. closed that it believed that there Expanded Memory Manager,versions,theM-380 andthe Olivetti has also announced twowouldbeno impediment - whichallowsuserstoaddressM-380 / C compact model. Thenew versions of the M-24 andneither technical nor legal - to memory beyond the 640K MS- M-3801 T runs at 20 MHz, and theM-28,correspondingtoIBM'sproducing a clone of the PS/2's DOS limit with applications thatother two at 16 MHz. Model 30 and Model 50 in theMicro Channel. follow the Lotus/Intel/Microsoft The M-380 / T and M-380 comePS/2 range. The M-240 and M-280 For further information contact Expanded Memory Specification. with 4Mbyte of RAM, expandablerun fasterprocessors and haveBritish Olivetti Ltd, PO Box 89, Compaq has also introduced anto 64Mbyte on the M -380/T. Thehigher -resolution graphics. They86/88 Upper Richmond Road, asynchronouscommunications/M -380C comeswith1Mbyte arealsoableto accommodateLondon SW15 2UR. Telephone: parallelprinterboardand a expandable to 4Mbyte. Hard -discbackup tape units. The newPosi- 01-'85 6666. 102 -key enhanced keyboardas standard on the Deskpro 386. The £89 printer board provides an additionalasynchronouscom- munications interface and an extra parallel printer interface. For more details contact Com- paq Computer,Ambassador House, Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SQ.Telephone: 01-940 8860. Intelligent scanner KURZWEIL Computer Products'The Olivetti M-280 (left). The full-size (centre) and compact (right) versions of the M-380. Discover 7320 is a PC -based intel- ligentcharacterrecognition scanner. It allows automatic scan- ning of documents that includePS/2memory expansion both text and graphics. ORCHID,Intel and AST have286 is designed to work with high-functionexpansionboardfor Discover is claimed to recognise announcedadd-onsforIBM's speed PC/AT compatibles or the Models 50 and 60 will be available almost any fount from 8 point toPS/2 micros. The Orchid Ram -IBM PS/2 Model 30. The Abovein Europe during the third quarter 24 point in size. Scanning takesquest 50/60 for the PS/2 modelsBoard will operate at a maximum of 1987. The Rampage will offer place in background mode so that50 and 60 provides 2Mbyte ofspeed of 12.5MHz in an AT com-users a minimum configuration of users can work on other applica-RAM. It can be used as extendedpatible, and at 8MHz in a PC com-64K of added memory, expand- tions while it is being done. Thememory with a processor runningpatible. It can carry up to 2Mbyteable to 2Mbyte. Rampage/2 sup- system consists of a proprietary PC in Protected mode under OS/2, orof memory plus a further 2Mbyteports standard PC -DOS expanded - board with 2Mbyte of RAM along asLotus/Intel/Microsoft(LIM) mounted on a separate piggybackmemoryapplicationssoftware with a desk -top scanner unit. It has expanded memory with MS-DOS. board.. including Lotus 1-2-3, dBase III, been tested to average a scanningFour boards can be installed to The 512K Above Board 286 Symphony and Framework. speed of around four pages perprovide 8Mbyte of memory. Thecosts £660, the 2Mbyte version First Software is at Intec-1 Wade minute. It costs £8,000. Ramquest 50/60 costs £749 and is£1,085. The 512K PS /286 costs Road,Basingstoke,Hampshire For more information contactbeing distributed by First Soft-£705 andthe2Mbyte version RG24ONE; telephone(0256) Kurzweil ComputerProducts, ware. £1,135. 463344. AST Europe isat Goat Unit 8, Suttons Industrial Park, FirstSoftwarewillalsobe AST's Rampage/2expanded Wharf,Brentford,Middlesex Reading,Berkshire RG6 1AZ.distributing Intel's Above Boardmemory board for the IBM Model TW8 OBA;telephone01-568 Telephone: (0734) 668421. 286 and PS/286. The Above Board30 and the Advantage/2 multi-4350.

12 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 N W S HARDWARE Amstrad HARDWARE PC -1640 toMAIL-ORDER SHORTS Computer Marketing has be sold in launched a 40Mbyte hard - COMPATIBLESdisc expansion board for the IBM PC and compatibles, Britain THE US -BASED company PC'scompletewithmonochrome including the PS/2 Model 30. FOLLOWING thelaunch of theLimited has now established a UKmonitor,aHercules -compatible The Hardcard 40 occupies Amstrad PC -1640 at the Comdexsubsidiary that it has named Dell graphics board and an 84 -key key- only one expansion slot and show in Atlanta inearly June,Computer Corporation. What dis-board conforming to the old-style costs £1,095. Phone (04867) Amstrad has decided to give thetinguishes the company from its IBM layout.The80286 -based 4555 for more details. range a British preview at the PCrivals is that it cuts out dealers and machine running at 8MHz, the The TD -400 adaptor card User Show. sells its micros by mail order. This286-8,startsat £1,299 witha from Metrotel Viewdata Amstrad will be previewing theobviously eliminates dealers' pro- 20Mbyte hard disc. The 286-12, Systems enables IBM PC and three EGA versionsofthefit margins, which can be aroundwhich runs at 12MHz, starts atcompatibles to function as PC -1640. UK shipments are expec- 35 percent, and allows it to sell its£1,799 with a 40Mbyte hard disc. teletext receivers and so ted to start in August and to reachmachines at low prices. There is even an 80386 model, thedispense with the need for a full flow by early September. PC's Limited was set up in 1984386-16, which runs at 16MHz and television. It costs £269. Amstrad has denied rumoursby 19 -year -old Michael Dell, whocosts from £3,199 with a 40MbyteContact (09274) 28573. thatitwillbedroppingtheis now the company's chairman hard disc. No software is included Toshiba has added three PC -1512. It will continue to selland chief executive officer. Thein the price but Dell will supply portable micros to its range: intosmallbusinessesand theformula appears to have worked in DOS 3.2 for an extra £65. EGA - the T-1000 Portable PC, the home. Meanwhile the companythe US, where the company lookscompatible colour systems are alsoT-1200 Portable Desktop and hopes that the addition of theset to turn over $150 million thisavailable. the T-3100FF Desktop EGA will satisfy the demands ofyear. For more information contactPortable AT. More details on corporate business customers. Dell says it will be spending £2DellComputerCorporation, (0932) 785666. Amstrad also intends to launch amillion on advertising in the UK in Farley Hall, London Road, Brack- Irwin Magnetic Systems has new word-processing system, theits first year. The majority of it will nell, Berkshire RG12 5EU. Tele-announced that its range of PCW-9512, in September. be in the computer trade press, phone: (0344) 863420. tape backup systems will be Formoredetailscontactand it will be linked to mail-order available both as an internal Amstrad, Brentwood House, 169sales. Dissatisfied purchasers will model and as an external Kings Road,Brentwood,Essex be able to get their money back if subsystem for PS/2 micros. CM14 4EF.Telephone:(0277)they return their machine within For information phone 228888. 30 days. (010411) 3127030. Support will be provided over Mountain Computer has the telephone, and machines will introduced three ranges of be backed up with a free 12 -month disc -storage products for the Two more on -sitemaintenancecontract. Apple Mac Plus, Mac SE and Each machine has its own built-in Mac II micros. The Micro diagnostics, complete with an LED Bernoulli range comes in by Hercules display panel on the front of the HERCULES has added two cards to its single- and dual -cartridge machine which will give a constant versions; cartridge capacity is range of products: a monochromereadout of information that can be text card and a version of the Her- 20Mbyte. The Filesafe relayed to Dell hotline staff. external hard discs are culesColourCardwithouta The Dell systems come The Dell 386-16. parallel port. available in capacities The text card is a half -card sized ranging from 20Mbyte to alternativetothe IBM Mono- 80Mbyte. The Micro Bernoulli chrome Display Adaptor (MDA). AT clones from Qubie, Combo units marry The board is suitable for those who removable cartridges with a choice of 20Mbte, 40Mbyte needtext -onlyapplicationson Walters and Wyse or 80Mbyte hard discs. For IBM -type monochrome displays. It WALTERS INTERNATIONAL and Wyse tion monochrome monitor and can be used on IBM PCs and com-haveannounced80386 -based card, and a 101 -key keyboard arefurther information ring (US patibles in conjunction with stan-IBM -machines, while Qubie and also supplied as standard. It costsarea code 408) 438-6650. dardtext -modesoftwareandWyse are launching 80286 models. £1,395. supports text programs which are The Walters 80386 machine Contact Qubieat 7 Ferrier compatible with IBM's MDA. costs£2,500 witha1.2Mbyte Street, London SW18 1SN. Tele- The Colour Card /NP costs less5.25in. floppy drive as standard. Aphone 01-871 2855. Transputer than the original Colour Card and20Mbyte harddisccosts £395; Wyse has launched four micros. has all its features with the excep-360K 5.25in. floppies and 720K The 80386 -based Wyse PC -3216 is PC boards tion of the parallel port. It is thus 3.5in. floppies are also available asclocked at 16MHz. With a singleMICROWAY has launched the suitable for users who already haveoptions.Thepriceincludesa floppy drive it costs £3,995, and Monoputer,aTransputer-based a parallel port, do not need one ormonochromemonitorandan with a 40Mbyte hard disc £4,995. product designed to use an IBM whoarelinkedintonetwork 84 -key keyboard with the old-styleThe three new models of thePC or compatible as a host and configurations. AT layout. PC -286familyarethe 8MHz filer.TheMonoputerruns a The Hercules Text Card costs For information contact Waltersmodel 2108, the 12.5MHz model 20MHz Transputer processor and £99,and the Colour Card /NPInternational, Matrix House, Lin- 2122 and the 12.5MHz modelhas 2Mbyte of RAM. The board is costs £109. For further details con- colnRoad,CressexIndustrial 2214. They range in price frombundled with a full -specification tact First Software, Intec-1, WadeEstate, High Wycombe, Bucking- £1,395 to £1,795, depending onstand-alone Occam 2 compiler. It Road,Basingstoke,Hampshire hamshire HP12 3RD. Telephoneconfiguration. costs £1,500. RG24 ONE;telephone(0256) (0494) 32751. Further information is available For more information contact 463344.Softsel,SoftselHouse, Qubie's 80286 micro runs at from Wyse Technology,26-28 Microway(Europe), 32High Syon Gate Way, Great West Road, 10MHz, and is fitted with 640K King Street, Maidenhead, Berk- Street,Kingston-upon-Thames, Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9DD; RAM, a 360K floppy drive and ashire SL6 1EF. Telephone: (0628) SurreyKT1 1HL.Telephone: telephone 01-568 8866. 20Mbyte hard disc. A high -resolu- 70420. 01-541 5466.

PRACTICAL COMPUTINGAugust 1987 13

N W S SOFTWARE SOFTWARE WINDOWS -BASED SHORTS OS/2 appears to be well APPLICATIONS ARRIVE inside its schedule. Kits for software developers are UK SOFTWARE developershave Guide IEI being shipped now, a month been quick off the mark with File Edit Search Dis.la Format Size Make earlier than expected. software for Windows and OS/2. 0 C:\...\GUIDELlthlUTORIAL.GUI immiA:\S OL ARM . I Versions for end -users are They includeseveralambitious E3 expected early next year. products which show off various In a direct attack on features of IBM and Microsoft's Borland's Turbo C, Microsoft new operating environments, and ei is introducing its own fast C some are ready for release. Introduction. Compiler. Quick C costs £75 Blyth software is bringing out and will be available in You are now reading a Guide document, Quartz, one of the first database IIIIIIIIA: \ PLANT .GUI called a Guideline. Guidelines differ from September. Contact traditional computer documents in several programs designed to make full e Extinguishet Microsoft on (0734) 500741. important ways that will be demonstrated 13 use of the features of Microsoft shortly. However, you may notice that &first standpipe S Ansa is releasing Paradox Windows and OS/2. Quartz lets glance a Guideline looks remarkably similar to a simple word processor document. This 2.0, a full multi-user version youdesigninputformsand is because both word processors and Guide of its multi -file database. look like pieces of paper on the screen to reports on -screen, using either the make them friendly and easy to use. As Paradox 2.0 itself costs £595 keyboard or a mouse. You control and supports oneuser;the the package by selecting options six -user network pack costs a from pull -down menus or using further £795. Telephone: commands. Guide is an ideal medium for interactive browsing. 01-580 4766. You can have up to 60 files Macspin is a £189 data - open at a time, with a maximum To make the concept work pro- the host and MS-DOS environ-analysis and charting of 12 active on -screen at any givenperly you need a good screen- ments, running them sequentiallypackage for the Macintosh moment. The Windows clipboardbased graphics user interface, and rather than concurrently. that supports three- letsyoumoveQuartzdata the ability to swiftly transfer the Termtype also allows you to usedimensional charts. Details betweenwindowsintootherlarge amounts of data involved to Windows facilitieslikemouse -from Logotron on (0223) applications, and you can accessand from disc. This makes Guideactivated pull -down menus from 323656. DIF, Sylk and ASCII files. Quartz an ideal application for Windowswithintheterminal -emulation Chemword adds scientific goes on sale priced at £695 for the and OS/2. window. You can use the clip-features to single -user version. For information on Guide, con-board totransfer data betweenor Word Junior. The £200 For details contact Blyth Soft- tactOfficeWorkstations, 5 your mini or mainframe applica-package lets you add ware,MitfordHouse,Benhall, Abbeymount Techbase,2 Eastertion and other Windows applica- diagrams, formulae and Saxmundham, Suffolk IP17 1JS. Road,EdinburghEH7 SAN. tions. equations. Contact Telephone: (0728) 3011. Telephone: 031-659 6737. Termtype costs £250. For moreLaboratory Software on Guide,fromOfficeWork- HPSSoftwareDevelopmentsdetailscontactHPSSoftware (0296) 431234. stations Ltd, is another new Win- has come up with another pro-Developments,196A Whitting- dows product that was originally gramitwouldprobablybeton Road, London N22 4PD. developed for the Mac. This £200 impossible to do in the old soft-Telephone: 01-884 6644. product is something like a cross wareenvironment.Termtype To run any of the packages between a word processor, an out- emulates the functions of a Hew-mentionedinthisarticleyou Budget liner and an electronic Filofax,lett-Packard2392Aterminal,need a copy of Windows. If itis with graphics capabilities thrownallowing you to link through to anot bundled with your machine it packages in. The basic idea is that you hidemini or mainframe from your PC.can be obtained from any Micro- detailed text behind key words or With Termtype you can havesoftdealer for £75.In case of ASHTON-TATE hasannounceda phrases that can be expanded atyour terminal session going on indifficulty you can contact Micro-cut -down version of Framework. will,as in an outline program. one window while other Windowssoft, Excel House, 49 De Mont-The £99.95integrated package But more than that, you can vary applicationsremainactiveon-fortRoad,Reading,Berkshire includes a spreadsheet, database, your path through the documentscreen. Under MS-DOS the bestRG1 8LP.Telephone:(0734) graphicsand wordprocessing. in an interactive way. you could do was to flip between 500741. Purchasers can upgrade to the full Frameworkfor£350.Contact Ashton-Tate on (0628) 33123. Samna has also launched a low- costprogramaimedatthe Doing pTP the old way Amstrad users,this time a cut - LE PRINTis a£380desk -toppointheadlineinTimes,you sizes from a tiny 4 point to a mas- down version of the word-process- publishingpackageaimedatmight enter sive 200 point, which is a coupleing program Samna Word 4. The peoplewithword-processing FA TIMES of inches high. new program costs £99 andis experiencebut wholackthe CH 24PT While Le Print cannot offer the calledSamna One Word - inclination to get heavily involved CE ON power and flexibility of packagesthoughonesupposesitcan in new ways of doing things. Leprintrecognisesthese com-like Ventura Publisher and Aldushandle documents longer than Le Print abandons the usualmands and outputstherefor- Pagemaker,itoffersa straight-that.ContactSamnaInter- approach to desk -top publishing,matted and transformed docu- forwardandrelativelylow-cost national on 01-587 1121. and makes no attempt to show onment to your printer. route to desk -top publishing that Concordisa£99free -text screen what your output will look Unlike most desk -top publish-does not require much new learn- retrievalpackage.Itletsyou like: it is not a WYSIWYG pack-ing packages Le Print supplies the ing. search through all your existing age. Instead you enter WordStar -founts as part of the package so For more information contactword-processingdocumentsto styledot commands intoyouryou do not have to buy them for HeadwayComputerProducts, pullout chunks of text relating to document, using WordStar or anyyourprinter.Itincludes 16 Headway House, Christy Estate, specific topics.It can cope with other word processor capable ofdistinctivetypestyles,suchas Ivy Road, Aldershot, Hampshiremost databases and email too. producing ASCII files. Courier,PrestigeandOldGU12 4TX. Telephone: (0252)DetailsfromBytesmithson For example, to get a centred 24English. You can use them in 333575. (0277) 211490.

14 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 vOljdf; etV THE ONLY ONETHAT DOES IT ALL!

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UTILITIES . . . ANDMORE. All on A -B -C SYSTEMS LTD., Regent House, 188 High one disk! All integrated and easy to Street, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1HH. use! Telephone: 01-661 0488 Tele gold 265871 MONREF G/MAG70113 ABC runs on any IBM PC or compatible. - circle 146 on enquiry card 4- 15 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 henew Epson laser osts less than te paper

circle 138 on enquiry card FT he new laser printer costs £1,795 (ex 1 VAT). The paper it's printed on here costs us nearly twice as much. (Expensive stuff this advertising lark.) But we reckon it's worth it. Particularly since this is the only laser printer you can buy with easy -change IC font cards. What are they? They're unique to Epson. They're about the same size as your credit cards. They slot into the laser and each gives you a variety of fonts extra to the seven we've already built in. So you can build up a library of them and never be constrained to just printing in the typeface your software package offers again. Now then, if you're replacing a daisy wheel, sick of the racket your old printers make, need to print really fast, like to use graphics, fancy flexible fonts or have simply never yet found the printer that makes things look as stunning as you want them to, you want our new laser printer. Right then, here it is, the new Epson G03500 (don't we give them pretty names?). Two easy -change font card slots; seven resident fonts; prints six A4 pages in sixty seconds; 300DPI graphics; 640K memory; SelecType push-button controls for choosing paper size, line spacing, print modes, number of copies portrait or landscape images and all that kind of stuff; IBM compatibility; prints on any standard paper, envelopes or OHP foils. What are you waiting for? A bribe? Oh, all right then, buy the new Epson laser and get an HP emulation IC card as standard, absolutely free (normally you'd have to pay us £125 for one). Now, please fill in the coupon very carefully. There's about a hundred and fifty quids worth of paper there. Don't waste it.

Best hundred and fifty quid you've ever spent, Epson. Send me details of your new GQ3500, quick. Name Position Company Address PC 08/87

To: Epson (UK) Ltd., FREEPOST, Birmingham B37 5BR: alternatively call up Prestel *280# or dial 0800 289622 free of charge. EPSON N W S Hotline forAPPLE AND TOUCH Amstrad A TELEPHONE hotline service for the IN CO-OPERATIVE DEAL Amstrad 1512 and PCW ranges is available toall buyers of these APPLE has announced thatitis particular it will allow second foray into the world of machines from Dixons. It is pro-taking a minority investment into access IBM and DEC equip- specialist products for the financial vided by Small Business Supportthe company Touch Communi-ment. Touch Communications issector. Recently it launched One and costs £39.99 for a year. cations, and that together they willbased in Scotts Valley, California, Source, a regularly updated CD- For this sum, subscribers will be bedevelopingOpenSystems and was founded in March 1985. ROM of financial data which can entitled to telephone support andInterconnect(OSI)networking LotusDevelopmenthasan- be fed into 1-2-3 spreadsheets. free membership of the One tosoftwareproductsforthenounced a tie-up with Telerate to Lotus has reported record figures One electronic mail service. It alsoMacintosh family. The first Macdevelop products for the financial- for its first quarter. Sales rose 22 gives access to other services of theimplementation of the Touch OSIservices industry. Telerate claims percent to $85 million, and profits group. For further details contactproducts will be available by theto be the leading supplier of real- rose 20 percent to $13 million. As Small Business Support Group, end of this year. time fixed -income and foreign-well as strong sales of 1-2-3, the Bank Buildings,KennelLane, This marks another step alongexchange data. A special data feedJapanese version of the product has Broadway, Worcestershire WR12theroadofintegratingthewill be set up for financial analysisbeen doing well: it was the top - 7DP. Telephone: (0386) 852641. Macintosh with existing products and modelling, which can be takenselling PC software package in fromothermanufacturers.In up by 1-2-3 directly. This is Lotus'sJapan for the last six months. Comprehensive PC 1111111111111r insurance policy

CORNHILL INSURANCE is offering an Damage and breakdown cover insurance policy for users of busi- includes the cost of any necessary ness systems - from micros totemporary repair and costs of fast minis - which covers software as permanent repair, as well as debris well as hardware. Called Compu- removal andconsultants'fees. ter Cover,it provides cover forSoftware is covered automatically Media most risks toall elements of aat any location or in transit. The system, as well as consequentialpolicy covers the increased costs of conversion loss due to disruption of business. working while the system is out of Itinsuresagainstaccident, action, and the cost of recovering THE DX -3 can convert betweenmaliciouscauses,fires,storm, lostdata and the purchase of 1,000differentfloppy -discwater damage and theft.Also replacement programs. formats.Theyinclude3in.covered is the cost of breakdowns For further information contact Macsentry Amstrad discs,3.5in.floppies,excluded by maintenance agree- Cornhill Insurance plc, PO Box 10, 5.25in.floppies and even8in.ments - forexample,those 57 Ladymead, Guildford, Surrey alarm floppies.A huge number ofcaused by power failure or operator GUI 1DB.Telephone:(0483) different formats and sectoringserror. 68161. are also catered for. system The system is based on a Gemini MACSENTRY looks like a hard disc computer andcosts£7,950. which sits under a Macintosh Plus Further details from Timeclaim or SE. If the unit or computer is Ltd,TanyardHouse,Station Reuters buys up moved,itemitsaloud high- Road, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 pitched signal which can only be 4AU. Telephone: (03943) 6616. database firm turned off by using a security key. The unit is powered by batteries REUTERS has boughtIP Sharp Another sale in the world ofwhich last for around nine months. Associates for £29 million.IP communications is that of One to It costs £89.95. Computer- Sharp was founded in 1964 andOne by Comtext International. Macsentry is availablefrom has become one of the leading on- One toOne has becomeMacsoft, Bridge House, Welling- produced linedatabasecompanies.This established as one of the threeton, Somerset TA21 OAA. Tele- move marks a further diversifi-main electronic mail providers in phone: (082347) 3625. cation of the interests of Reuters, the UK. Comtext already owns tax forms and a significant strengthening inBFT Communications, a company THE INLAND REVENUE hasthe business services market. involved in telex. NEC Multispeed announced that itis prepared to acceptcomputer -producedtax warranty forms, though only in hard copy at NEC has announced that the Multi - the moment. The forms must pro-Compsoft competition speed portable PC and APC-IV vide the same information as offi- Powermate will both now come cialreturns,be recognisableas compsoFr has announced a compe- Delta, Professional Delta -Net and with a full three-year warranty on such,andbearthecorrecttition for users of its Delta data-Delta 4 - are eligible. The closingall electronic and mechanical com- reference number. They must have base package. The top prize will bedate for entries is 31 August. ponents,includingdiscdrives. Inland Revenue approval beforea holiday for two in Florida; the Further details from Compsoft,Detailsfrom NEC Business they are used. The first year fortwo other prizes will be European Compsoft Manor, Farncombe Hill, Systems (Europe) Ltd,35 Oval which they can be used will beWeekend Breaks.Users of anyGodalming,Surrey GU7 2AR.Road, London NNX/1 7EA. Tele- returns for 1988/89. Deltaproducts - ProfessionalTelephone: (04868) 25925. phone: 01-267 7000.

18 PRACTICALCOMPUTING August 1987 0 The Altos '87 Show.Wembley Septemberl6th-18th. 4213:Irc0

DISCOVER THE SECRET OF SUCCESS AT THE ALTOS '87 SHOW ABSOLUTELY FREE. 111

11 \ I\ Vti

inding effective solutions to business problemsisthe secret of success. It's also the theme of Altos '87 Wembley Conference Centre, 16 -18th September. At the show, you'll have the opportunity to see how some of those solutions could be made to work for your business. We'll be demonstrating a whole range of application software that can be tailored to your specific business needs. We'll also be staging a series of business seminars with guest speakers from different areas of industry, covering everything from choosing a system through to multi-user systems for the corporate user. And for everyone that visits the show, there's the chance to win a week's free use of a Porsche911 Turbo. Altos'87For anyone in business, it's the ultimate show of success. COMPUTER SYSTEMS

To: Altos Computer Systems Limited, Piper House, Hatch Lane, Windsor, Berks SL4 3()J. Tel. No:(0753) 850712. Please send me my free tickets to Altos'87with details of the business seminars at£4750per session. I require tickets. Name Position Company Address PC/8/87 Tel

Tell the boss, it's Altos '87 - circle 116 on enquiry card - One good idea leads to another.

INVEST4 P:3,'S

MMIIIIIIMMINI91111111

The Macintosh Plus

The Macintosh SE

circle 145 on enquiry card And another

all111111111111111111111111161.\\

x: -

The Macintosh II

In 1984, Apple introduced the MacintosrA computer based on Which takes you through virtually every Macintosh program have to work the way computers work. at four times the speed of a Macintosh Plus. Computers should work the way people work. The Macintosh II also boasts a new coprocessor which enables In 1986, the introduction of the Macintosh Plus established it to perform mathematical calculations at two hundred times the Macintosh as the new standard in personal computing. speed of the Macintosh Plus. Which of course led to yet another great idea. But the biggest news is the Macintosh Il's open architecture, The Macintosh SE. The next step in the Macintosh evolution. with six expansion slots that allow you to customise your Macintosh The Macintosh SE combines the same intuitive graphic interface to serve virtually any function you can imagine. of the Macintosh Plus with many of the technological enhancements Internally, the Macintosh II offers you more memory options corporate customers have been asking for. than a politician. From one to eight megabytes. Like a second 800K internal drive. And although our internal forty megabyte hard drive is probably Or a built-in 20 megabyte hard disk with a single 800K sufficent storage for most users, you can employ an internal drive internal drive. of up to eighty megabytes. The Macintosh SE comes with a full megabyte of internal The Macintosh II offers you a choice of viewpoints. A thirteen memory that can be expanded to four megabytes. inch colour monitor or a twelve inch black and white. There's an expansion slot to customise the Macintosh SE to your Today, the Macintosh II will satisfy the needs of the most power specific needs. hungry business user, scientist or engineer. So you can add a card for a disk drive that lets you work with Tomorrow, it will also lead the way into startling new techno- documents created on an IBM or IBM compatible PC. Or a card that logies. After all, one good idea inevitably leads to another. enables your Macintosh SE to communicate through non -Apple Please send me more information about the new Macintosh range. Post to: Apple Computer (UK) Ltd., FREEPOST, Information Centre. Eastman Way. Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 4BR or dial 100 and ask for Freefone Apple. networks to host mainframes. Of course, the Macintosh SE runs all your Macintosh programs. NAME TITLE

Only faster. And, because it's a Macintosh, you'll never have to become COMPANY a computer expert to use it. ADDRESS In addition to the Macintosh SE, Apple proudly introduces the

Macintosh II. PCB POSTCODE TEL NO A computer so powerful and so flexible it challenges the very definition of what a personal computer can be. And do. Apple7 The power to succeed", Inside the Macintosh II resides a new microprocessor. The Apple Compiler Mr. Apple. the Apple Logo and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Compiler. Inc. Mil is n registered trademark International Business Machines Col. Motorola 68020. EXEROX 4045 (left) QUME LASER TEN (right) This compact Laser/Copier Printing System LASER PRINTING at LOW COST. sets new performance standards -10 pages 10 pages per minute of true letter quality per minute, excellent typeset quality with 22 text Simple to use plug-in interface modules fonts per page, plus font switching and make the Laser Ten compatible with all downloading. Variety of interfaces and major business computers and software. emulation modes allowing the printing of most Diablo 630 and Xerox 2700 applications. DOCUMENT HEWLETT PACKARD TECHNOLOGY DL 20(back) LASER JET(front) The quality of first class litho printing, even A compact, quiet Laser Printer for the desk on transparencies! Fast, accurate compilation, top environment Printing 8 pages per and 12 pages per minute. Interfaces with minute in true letter quality text with most computers and comes with 30 type- multiple fonts. Extended memory allows styles on disk, plus Graphics, solids, line and Wellington Industrial Estate, Basingstoke Road, downloadable fonts, forms and increased tone etc Designed from the ground up to be Spencers Wood, Reading, Berks RG7 1AW graphics capabilities. Compatible with most P.C's. a high useage reliable intelligent page printer. Tel: (0734) 884666. Telex: 849110

Authorised Distributors for: Branch office: Birmingham. Tel: - QUME RANK XEROX document technology Branch office: Manchester. Tel: 061-872 4608 N W S MARKETS NEC ahead Software Leaders Fax takes 8 in monitors Symbol over Telex 80 NEC now commands 14 percent of role in UK the UK market for 14in. colour 8 260 FAX is taking over from telex in the 8 ILLW monitors, according to Romtec. 211 UK. This is the only conclusion Microvitec is in second place with 8 8 es possible from a report by Inter- 19 percent, with Taxan third at 12 8 8 8 nationalResource Development percent and Tatung fourth with Inc. At present the installed base is five percent. Romtec concludes Computer Associates Microsoft Ashton-Tate about the same, at 100,000 units that the arrival of NEC's Multisync Lotus Sales in Smillion, Financial Year 1986 each, but fax outsold telex by over monitor, which can handle most 10 to one in 1986. types of display card, has triggered The projection is that by 1991 very rapid growth in the market as fax will outsell telex by a factor of a whole. LOTUS IS PUSHED 15, with telex sales actually falling in volume terms. All the equip- Backup units INTO SECOND PLACE ment is coming from Japan accord- A MERGER between Computer Asso- in micro software. The next sixing to IRD, which comments: "As are doing well ciates, best known for Supercalc, positions in the top 10 are exclu-in the US, the domestic vendors SALES of backup storage devices areand UCCEL, a mainframe software sively mainframe or mini com- justcan'tcompetewiththe doing well in the US, according tocompany, has changed the league panies. Japanese on price and features." Frost & Sullivan. The companytableofsoftwarecompanies. predicts an annual growth in unitComputer Associates is now a long shipments of 23 percent in theway ahead, trailed by Lotus and Whitecollar workersusing PCs, % 10/ micro sector,fuelled by fallingMicrosoft, who are neck and neck. EE19. prices. The main factor behind the All the leading software com- a/ ® 1986 a/ demandistheneedfordatapanies are American and, interest- 7/ security. ingly, the top four are all involved 6/ 5/ 4/ Desktop publishing a/ 1000 900 BOO n tal D.R.Holland 700 Forecast European gales. Cm. 600 Source. Intelligent Electronics Europe 500 400 300 200 Plenty of scope for 00

0 196 197 198 19.9 9 expansion in Europe Source: Hhar ton Information Systems THE EUROPEAN PC market is still IBM, with Olivetti, Apple and far from saturated, according to Commodore the only other DTP gaining ground a study by Intelligent companies to have shares over 4 percent. These figures relate to SALES of hardware and software for desk -top publishing (DTP) are Electronics Europe (IEE). So far, the calendar year ending set to grow to nearly fl billion by 1990 in the European market as less than 10 percent of white- December 1986, before a whole. A study by Wharton Information Systems sees most of the collar workers use PCs. Amstrad had time to make an growth occurring in stand-alone systems, although by 1990 multi- Top European vendor by user installations will account for about one-third of the total. volume, according to IEE, is impact. Amstrad U.K. business micro sales AIRS trad 39.0% almost MI IBM 20.4% reaches ill Apricot 5.7% 40 percent vAOlivetti 4.7% share Tandon 4.2% AMSTRAD is doing very well in the Apple UK business micro market, 3.6% according to Romtec. The Co2paq 3.1% market -research company's latest 71 Others figures are for the first quarter of 19.3% 1987, and cover all distribution channels: High Street retailers, office -equipment dealers, micro dealers and distributors, and direct sales by the vendors Q1 1987, all channels, by unit sales. Source: Romtec themselves.

Charts this month were prepared with Stella, a low-cost IBM graphics package available from Macbyte, telephone 01-848 0152.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 23 LOW COST PC COMPATIBLES Nopressureselling XT, AT & 80386 compatibles. Availableexstock. Optional 28 day trial. XT AT 80386 A fully -compatible All the features of the XTOur top -of -the -range IBM -XT Compatible with the 80286 Processor. system, able to run UNIX with 20mb hard disk and No hidden costs, no and Xenix with a very fast fully -featured. There are surprises, a tested processor. Again, no no additional costs for compatible PC -AT. Call hidden costs and a monitors, boards or us for full details. 28 -day -trial option. graphics -display adaptors; you purchase a complete system, ready to run. £795 £999 £2995

CONTACT US NOW TO ARRANGE DELIVERY AND TRIAL

For orders and enquiries or to discuss custom specified systems, contact:

Hi -Spec Systems Limited Brettenham House South 5 Lancaster Place London WC2E 7EN TEL 01-379 5562 FAX 222 7471 HtSPEC TLX 931770 WIBUG TEST AND BE SURE THEY RUN YOUR SOFTWARE All offers are subject to availability.

24 -i circle 158 on enquiry card - PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 The data

rotector(A SOFTWARE LOCK ON YOUR MICRO OR NETWORK) Is 'personal' dataon your micro secured in accordance with the Data Protection Act? Is sensitive datasecure on yourmicro? If the answer to either of these questions is NO then you need CLAM from MICROFT TECHNOLOGY. CLAM, as the name implies, provides a software 'shell' around your computer to prevent unauthorised access to programs and data. It can be used to protect either individual files or subdirectories or both. Each copy of CLAM includes a copy of Microft's popular menu generator MENUGEN, so that users, if required, can be presented with a friendly menu interface. 0 1111111111111 On starting the computer users are asked fora password. They will then be presented either with a menu or the normal DOS prompt. In either case they will only be able to access those files and subdirectories for which they have authority. Files are protected using 'Dynamic File Encryption'. Under this technique the files are held on disk in a permanently encrypted form. When an authorised user reads the file the data is automatically decrypted by CLAM after it is read from the disk but before it is given to the user. The time taken is imperceptible. When a file is updated the data from the user is automatically encrypted before it is written. This is the only failsafe way to secure data. CLAM is available for most micros with PC/MS DOS version 2.0 or later. These include the IBM PC and all compatibles. CLAM costs MAIN FEATURES £148 + VATfora single user licence. Site and 1. All data held on a hard or or a network can be corporate licences are available. Existing kept secure from unauthorised access. 2. Security is by default and is failsafe. Once CLAM has been MENUGEN users may upgrade to CLAM set up the user does not have to take any positive action to for £110 + VAT secure data. CLAM NET, the network version will 3. Access to all activities can be controlled via user defined menus within CLAM. run on all PC/MS DOS based networks. The 4. Each user is given a user name and password. These cost is£580+ VAT per ten or part of ten determine which menu options the user will see and which files he or she may use. Each user needs to remember only workstations on the network. one password. CLAM may be purchased from 5. Protected files are kept in a permanently encrypted form MICROFT TECHNOLOGY LTD, The Old on the disk. Even if there is a power or hardware failure the data will never be readable by an unauthorised user. Powerhouse, Kew Gardens Station, Kew, 6. The algorithm that encrypts all files and subdirectories SurreyTW93PS or from most dealers. To uses the individual CLAM serial number in its key. One copy of CLAM cannot therefore access files or subdirectories order or obtain further information encrypted by another copy. telephone01-948 8255.

THE DATA PROTECTOR -. circle 143 on enquiry card - There are now over 10,000 users of Microft products worldwide. je,1/441:864.4., Jr*

la:;? dr" rt" V; "'"sr'

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY DEDICATED CHIPS ARE NOW AVAILABLE TO HANDLE THE CODING OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION SO THAT IT CAN BE TRANSMITTED IN SAFETY ALONG OPEN DATA LINKS.

The electronic encryption and decryption known as the Ultra secret, was a major con- hazardous. The DES operates in any one of I of sensitive data is no longer restricted to tribution to Allied success. It was so sensitivethree different modes, depending on the the top-secret domain of the CIA, GCHQ that it was not declassified for over 30 years. application and the required level of pro- and Smiley's people. The incorporation of Research into the development of new tection. Itis suitable for encrypting and relatively simple and inexpensive encoding codes and the development of new code - decrypting data files within a system - to chips into ordinary PC systems can now help breaking techniques has continued everprevent unauthorised use for example, and to protect any organisation's sensitive data since behind the locked doors of gov- for protecting data -communication links to from the illicit probings of Smersh, Spectre ernment security agencies. Yet it is unlikely a remote site. andcommercialcompetitorsbenton that the goal of a completely secure coding Chips which implement the DES scheme industrial espionage. schemecaneverbeachievedwith work on 64 -bit blocks of data, encoding and The need for data protection has never confidence. decoding them by means of a 56 -bit key. been higher. Vast amounts of potentially The most secure systems are reserved for One of the first implementations was the sensitive data now stream through national highly sensitive diplomatic and military use, Intel 8294 device, which appeared in 1978. and international communications channels but other potentially less secure systems have This chip was intended to be connected to on easily intercepted microwave and satellite been made available commercially. "Less the data bus of an eight -bit microcomputer links. secure" in this context refers to the amount like any other peripheral device.It was Electronic funds transfer at point of sale of computer time needed to crack a single capable of an 80 byte per second conversion (E1.-1POS), bank cash dispensers, on-line message. In theory the eavesdropper must rate. More recent devices operate at higher credit enquiry systems, facsimile machines, start from scratch every time the key isdata rates. They include the WD -200O3 mainframe computer modem links and even changed.Protectionisthereforeoften from Western Digital, the T-7000 from local area networks - they all carry data con- measured in terms of years of mainframe AT&T and the AMD-9568 from Advanced sidered private by the owners.Allare computer time, but with the constant worry Micro Devices. potentially vulnerable to theelectronic that someone will developa short-cut One of the neatest cryptographic schemes eavesdropper, and passwords provide only algorithm of which the code designers them- of allis the RSA public key /private key limited protection. Even schoolboy hackers selves are not aware. system. It is named after Professors Rivest, can find a way into most systems given time. Another pitfall is the danger of inter- Shamir and Adelman of MIT, and is unique Once entry has been gained, commun- ception of the secure message before it has in that it does not require the physical ication continues in plain language. been encoded. Data sent toa monitor exchange of key data before you establish a To provide protection from all but the screen, for example, is in serial form andcommunication link. In fact, anyone who is mostdeterminedandsophisticatedof generatessignificantradio -frequency suitably equipped and who has access to the snoopers, some form of data -encryptionemissions, which can be intercepted by public key directory can send a secure scheme has to be employed. With the nearby monitoring stations. To overcome message to anyone else in the directory. benefit of today's dedicated coding chips this bypass problem, sensitive military data The scheme uses a key which is computed and ingenious encryption algorithms, this is is only handled on approved equipment from two very large prime numbers. One of a straightforward matter. But it would be which has been carefully screened and tested the numbers is represented by the private unwise to think that data transmission can toensurethatradiationhasbeen portion of the key, the other by the public ever be completely secure. The protection minimised. portion. To send a message, the originator provided even by the most modern of tech- The levelof protectionavailable forencrypts the text using their private key, niques does have to be questioned. commercial data is inferior to that used forthen encryptstheir originator signature In the Second World War the Germans government applications,but thereare using the public portion of the addressee's relied almost exclusively on the Enigma several schemes in use which should be key. On receipt, the addressee uses his or her coding machine for the protection of secret adequate for everyday data security. The private key to decode the identity of the communications. They were confident that most widely known coding technique is the originator so that he or she can look up the evenif the Allies captured one of the Data Encryption Standard (DES) developed originator's public key, which is then used machines they would never be able to by IBM and approved by the Americanto decrypt the main message. decode messages unless they knew the reg- National Standards Laboratory in 1977 At The combined public/private key length ularly changed master key. As it happens, an least four chip manufacturers supply devicesis such that it would take many millions of early Enigma machine was passed to the which will encode and decode DES data. years of computer time to find the right BritishbythePoles.Beforelongthe The DES requires both the sender and the combination, using the best of known Bletchley Park cryptanalysis team learned recipient of the message to use the same key, mathematical techniques. how to break the codes using the first elec- which it splits into two parts. The master key Unfortunately, the precise manipulation tronic digital computer, which was known as is changed relatively infrequently, while the of thelarge numbers requiredinthe Colossus. session key can be changed for each message. encryption and decryption process makes The Colossus machine was developed by a To maintain key synchronism between thistechniqueslowanddifficultto team which included Alan Turing. It used the two ends of the link, the session key is implement in hardware. This in turn makes 2,000 valves and stored information on encoded using the master key and is sent itsuseforhigh-speed datalinksun- punched papertape.SeveralColossus over the link before the message itself. attractive. However, with suitable disc -file machines were operational by the end of the Physical transmission of the master key is buffering for encryption and decryption, the war, and most of the top-secret German stillnecessary from time to time, and RSA might be just the thing for sending love signals traffic was decoded. This operation, that is both troublesome and potentially letters over the Telecom Gold. II

26 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 [FIGLE PAGE ISN'T [G ENOUGH TO SHOW VANTAGES OF TAXAN S siG 1 MONITOR.

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. re ,ppon ennui BY JACK SCHOFIELD TEXT DIRECT BRITISH TELECOM'S NEW TELEXING SERVICE IS AIMED AT BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THE OLD TELEX SYSTEM AND ELECTRONIC MAIL.

Most people seem to find it difficult to A TEXT DIRECT SESSION adapt to change, and there is often a sort of halfway house which bridges the old :-LOGIN and the new. Early horseless carriages, for Enter identity :SCHOFIELD example,lookedlikethehorse-drawn 0000000000 variety, while the first television sets were XXXXXXXXXX just like wirelesses with small picture tubes Enter password : built-in. British Telecom is probably being Welcome to TextDirect. Previous logout : 01 JAN BO 00:00 sensible, therefore,in launching a new Unread messages :0 system called Text Direct which bridges the Total messages : 0 gap between the clanking old telex system Storage : 0 kilocharacters. and real electronic mail like Telecom Gold. :-se Text Direct provides every subscriber with To 265451 To : a unique telex number and a way to send Filename or RETURN to enter text : and receive telexes, but without the added Enter your text terminated by ++++ cost and delay of installing a dedicated telex line. Where a telex line costs £88 to start and REF 83:JNL020 then £88 per quarter, Text Direct costs only £20 to join and then £25 per quarter. British Dear Jack, Telecom can sign you on to the service almost immediately. This Telex is being sent to you by British Telecom's new system called Text Direct.It is in upper and lower case, and has a With Text Direct you do not need to carriage return (inserted every 65 characters or less) embedded spend over £1,000 on a telex machine. in the text. Here are a few interesting telex characters: Telexes are transmitted in the modern way, from your desk -top micro via a modem. Pounds £ Anything that can send an ASCII file down Dollars the phone line will do - a smart electronic Exclam ! typewriter or Tandy 100 -type lap computer Double quotes " or any old supermicro. Square brackets El Angle brackets <> Of course,telexusersexpecttheir The at character a communications system to be awkward to use, and here Text Direct will not let them Let's see how this arrives - and when. down. Logging in is the first requirement. Rather than break new ground with, say, a Regards Linkline number, or even provide a common group account like the one supplied to all THE MESSAGE RECEIVED Telecom Gold users, Text Direct expects you REF 83:JNL020 to get your own Packet Switch Stream (PSS) DEAR JACK, THIS TELEX IS BEING SENT TO YOU BY BRITISH TELECOM'S NEW SYSTEM CALLED TEXT DIRECT. IT IS IN UPPER AND data communications account and pass- LOWER CASE, AND HAS A CARRIAGE RETURN (INSERTED EVERY 65 CHARACTERS word. The alternative is to dial long-distance OR LESS) EMBEDDED IN THE TEXT. HERE ARE A FEW INTERESTING TELEX to the Text Direct computer in London. CHARACTERS: POUNDS £ DOLLARS ? EXCLAM '7 DOUBLE QUOTES '7 SQUARE Having loaded your communications soft- BRACKETS () ANGLE BRACKETS ?? THE AT CHARACTER ware you wake up your modem and dial the LET'S SEE HOW THIS ARRIVES - AND WHEN. REGARDS local PSS node. You enter two Carriage Returns, your terminal code - D1, for you have to type name is. So you enter Return, assuming an example - and another Return. Then you LOGIN intelligent system will provide a list, but all enter your Network User Identity (NUI) to tell it that you plan to login. Now, at last, it says is such as you can enter your identification such as :Not found NWHIZCO123XYZ WHIZCOMP After a quick dip into the manual you try and the Network User Address (NUA) offollowed by your password. typing in Text Direct, which is Text Direct then gets positively prolix: SCAN UNREAD A212303019 Welcome to Textdirect and take it from there. Assuming you have got these 20 -odd key- Previous logout :1 JUL 87 19:45 Sending and reading unread telexes is strokes absolutely right - you are not Unread messages : 4 Total messages : 4 actually quite easy, though it is certainly no allowed backspaces or corrections - you are Storage : 8 kilocharacters easier than ineither Telecom Gold or greeted by the Text Direct front end which Mercurylink, formerly Easylink. The main says, vibrantly, leaving you to guess what to enter next. Try drawback is the way Text Direct reformats Please login Read and its says your outgoing message, ignoring Returns Having got this far, Text Direct still has no Filename: you have entered and line spaces. idea what business you might be about, sobut of course you do not know what a file Text Direct converts everything into one

(continued on page 30)

28 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 How AutoCAD helps Chubb Fire keep control

10116D0 Control Panel and system layout courtesy of Chubb Fire.

In the fire protection business, every risk is different. Every warehouse, factory, oil rig or office block has its own special problems. But, at £50 + VAT. while no two fire protection The latest systems are the same, they are version, AutoCAD designed and constructed from provides 3D 2.6, offers extensive a wide range of standard visualisation of 3D capabilities, components and sub -systems. key design elements; transparent zoom, pan This results in, a heavy design a material "take -off" and view commands, and and drafting workload, frequent system, which automatically associative dimensioning. revision, and a high output of generates lists of materials required AutoCAD's standard features drawings for both clients and to fulfill a specific design; a include an unlimited number of regulatory authorities. materials management system and layers, comprehensive editing job costing. facilities, and a complete internal That's why Chubb Fire, one of programming language, AutoLISP. the world's leading fire protection Chubb Fire's comprehensive AutoCAD is now even faster and equipment manufacturers, design and materials management easier to use, and more responsive to decided to implement a computer - system is one of thousands of ' your drafting and design needs than aided design system based on examples of how AutoCAD is ever before. AutoCAD. making a major contribution to Write or telephone for your design efficiency in applications information pack or the name of ranging from architecture to the nearest AutoCAD Main Dealer robotics, in companies both large to arrange a "hands-on" and small. Today, more than demonstration of AutoCAD's 80,000 installations worldwide, powerful capabilities. and over 6,000 sold in the UK, have established AutoCAD as the international standard for CAD on personal computers. AutoCAD runs on more than 30 Over a three-year period, Chubb 16 -bit and 32 -bit , Fire has progressed to a multiple - supports more than 140 peripheral AUTOCAD* workstation system which handles devices for input and output and AUTODESK LTD SOUTH BANK TECHNOPARK, all drafting and design work, costs just £2,500 + VAT. A 90 LONDON ROAD, LONDON SE1 6LN including design revisions. It also demonstration version is available TELEPHONE 01-928 7868 TELEX 911686

AutoCAD is a registered trademark of Autodesk Inc.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 circle 133 on enquiry card 29 ON-LINE (continued from page 28) Telecom Gold's on-line editing and filing long piece of spaghetti, which is a disaster if software. ume. you are trying to send a carefully formatted Nevertheless, there are a few good things table. The only amusing aspect of this is the to be said about Text Direct. The system Authorised way the Text Direct software handles lines does work well. The Stratus 68000 -based longer than regulation telex width. As you mini - IBM sells the same thing as the Distributors upload, it deletes the overflow and reprints System / 88 - isfast,andtelexesare The special Added Value" packages it, starting on a new line. despatched within a few minutes. By con- offered, are available through any of As on most systems now, you can build up trast, Gold users have sometimes found their the main Qume Distributors listed a library of telex addresses to make sending Prime superminis unresponsive and slow to below - also through local dealers in telexes easier, using the form get telexes out; in exceptional circumstances your area. ENTER: SE

the delays have been hours. However, this could be because Gold is a success, while I used Text Direct when it was too new to have U.K. AND IRELAND This is almost exactly the same as using short more than a handful of users. Only when codes on Telecom Gold Bytech Peripherals Ltd., Text Direct fills up will we find out if it is 2, The Western Centre, COMMAND: SE really any better. Western Rd., Bracknell, Text Direct's neat box of documentation, Berks, RG12 1RW The real problems with Text Direct start produced by Baddeley Associates of Cam- Tel: (0344) 427676 Tlx: 848215 when you want to read and delete stored bridge, is superb. However, Telecom Gold has also just released excellent new docu- messages. Instead of entering sensible file ISG Data Sales Ltd., names like PCOM8708A or whatever for my mentation. Gold's new Quick Guide, a Unit ',Wellington Industrial Estate, readable 96 -page ring -bound manual,is uploaded telexes, I foolishly let the system Basingstoke Rd., create them. Each telex resultedin two now being supplied to new users, though Spencers Wood, Reading, names of the hideous format old ones have to pay £4 for it. Berks, RG7 lAW s2124apr12.ADR:OLD Pricing of the two systems is also com- Tel: (0734) 884666 Tlx: 849110 Sales Hot Line: Reading (0734) 884866 s2124apr12.TXT:OLD parable. Text Direct is a touch cheaper at 10p per minute compared to Gold's 11p. Branch Office: and getting rid of them was extremely However, Gold offers an off-peak 3.5p per Elmdon House, tedious. minute, while Text Direct has no off-peak 2291, Coventry Rd., If you have sent a dozen telexes, you Sheldon, Birmingham B26 3PS reductions. Gold is also cheaper for light Tel: 021-742 4431 might have two dozen files. On Telecom users, sinceit has dropped the £10 per Gold you would just type month minimum charge,whereas Text TELEX DEL SENT Direct hasa £25 per quarter standing Northamber plc, Or charge. Chessington Park Industrial Estate, DEL 1-12 Given that Text Direct is even less easy to Lion Park Ave., in Scanned Mail, or you could batch delete a access than Telecom Gold, that its software Chessington, Surrey, KT9 1ST bunch of files using the Delp command. is even more unfriendly, that the system as a Tel: 01-391 4100 Sales: 01-391 2066 With Text Direct you have to type in each whole is less versatile, and that it probably Tlx: 24123 file name in full and confirm that you want costs more for many people, what is the to delete it. point of it? On Telecom Gold, received telexes simply First, Text Direct provides every users with Peritronic Ltd., appear in your standard mail tray, which an individual telex number of the form Peritronic House, 8 Rutherford Sq., means each one ends with the prompt 9312100099=TD G (Brucefield Industrial Park), Action required: This is not as nice as a proper telex number Livingstone, West Lothian, You can then type Del or Save or File, or EH54 9BJ, Scotland and answerback, but it is better than Gold's Te6 ( 0506 ) 410041 Tlx: 727476 simply enter a Return and leave the item on bureau service, where the sender has to file. Deleting a telex you have read on Text remember to put your mailbox number in Direct shows how picky the software is. The the first line of text. RTS Technology Ltd., system asks you whether you want to delete Second, Text Direct is not aimed at Tele- Unit 12, the file, offering you yes/no options. Typing com Gold at all. In my opinion, Text Direct St. Pancras Commercial Centre, Y or y if you want to delete will not do; only is targeted against the very similar Mercury 63, Pratt St., London NW1 OBY the full Yes will do. Link service, which is hopeless as an elec- Tel: 01-267 7541 Tlx: 25129 Where the Telecom Gold software copes tronic mail system but provides a quick and quite well with the restricted telex character easy way of sending telexes. Teleprinter Equipment Ltd., set, Text Direct barely even tries.It does Finally, and most cynically, it could even 91/92, Akeman St., transmit "£5" as it stands, whereas Gold be - as I hinted to begin with - that Text Tring, Hens, HP23 6AJ converts it into Direct is accurately targeted at business users Tel: (044282) 8681 Tlx: 826379 POUNDS 5 for whom real electronic mail - which is But where Gold changes $5 into only five to 10 years old - is too futuristic. If DLRS 5 you have any better ideas, I am on 255451 or Cara Datacomm

Text Direct just puts ?. Where Gold converts 26587 l(MONREF G) . . . butplease 18/21,Viscount Ave., a double quote into two adjacent single remember to put REF 83:JNL020 in the first Airways Industrial Estate, quotes, an exclamation mark into a full line of your telex. Cloghran, Dublin 17 point, and the angle brackets into .LT. and Text Direct is on 01-936 2468 or Freefone Tel: 01-429 666 Tlx: 30412 .GT. - which means you can restore them Text Direct. The computer is on 01-720 using search and replace on your word 1177for300baud,01-7205545for processor - Text Direct simply changes 1,200/75baudand01-7202011for them to ?,? and ??, which is considerably 1,200/1,200 baud users. The PSS NUA is less useful. Nor does Text Direct provide 234212303019. BEE

30 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 ADDEDVALUE The Exclusive QUME Daisy Wheel Printer "Added Value" Packages: Bigger capability at a smaller price Now we've added extra value to Qume quality. Qume is the long-established leader for letter A complete professional user's package with the quality printers in business computer applications. four top -selling daisy wheel printers. At savings of Their reliability is legendary. Many units bought in up to 20% compared with normal list price. 1973 are still hard at work for their owners. Each "added value" package includes business Now they have even more going for them - software and paper handling devices free, to meet without stretching your budget. Appreciate the your immediate needs. value at your nearest Qume dealership now.

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IDIs there any way of supports the IBM set it altering WordStar's should print correctly too. default values in the MS-DOS DATE IN To cure the problem questions which appear you need to upgrade your after the Print command? ENGLISH FORMAT WordStar to version 3.4. I want to change the r;1 A recent visitor from the support company for our XT was rearranging the This costs £125 and must default value of the Autoexec.Bat file to change the prompt and to tart up the display. He discoveredbe done through a dealer, question "Pause for paper a rogue file called Autoexec with no extension, as well as the Autoexec.Bat file. We who will require the return changes between pages do not know why, but the rogue file could not be edited. The normal Autoexec.Bat of your old master disc. (Y/N)?" from no to yes, file now works as expected, except that on power -up the system uses the American You could upgrade to the as I normally use single - mm-dd-yy date format, whereas before these changes it used the dd-mm-yy format. full WordStar Professional sheet stationery. How can I get back to the good old English date? and get Mailmerge, the PETER WARING SMITH J 0 SIMPSONCorrectstar spelling checker We suspect that your colleague replaced the Command.Com file that you were and the indexing program It is much more Ausing previously, and the new copy expects American dates while the old one at the same time. Aconvenient - and accepts English dates. We do not understand what the file labelled Autoexec is trying With version 3.4, you quicker too - if the to do, but it would not be used anyway unless it was renamed Autoexec.Bat. The factcan get the f sign by default can be taken, sincethat you cannot edit it suggests that the file attributes have been set to make the file holding the Alt key down you can simply type P to Read Only so that it cannot be edited or deleted by accident. You can check the file and typing 156 on the print the document, give attributes with the command cursor pad at the right- the filename and press the ATTRIBfilename hand side of the keyboard; Escape key. Printing then and if necessary you can remove the read-only attribute with the command it will not work if you use starts without you having ATTRIB -R filename the numbers along the top to answer the questions. You can then edit or delete it in the normal way. of the keyboard. If you The default values for We too dislike the American date format of mm-dd-yy used by default on the IBMexamine your DOS all of the questions about PC, and there are several ways to get it to use the English arrangement. If you are manual you will find a full printing can be changed. using PC -DOS version 2.1 - as opposed to MS-DOS version 2.1 - you can producelist of the ASCII First run Install or Winstalla new working copy with a changed date format. When you run the IBM Master disc characters, and you may and get to the patcher to produce a new working copy on another floppy disc, it will ask you which date display any others in a routine by typing + in format you wish to use. It actually alters the Command.Com file. Boot up the new similar way. reply to the question "Arefloppy and type Dir. If the dates that the files were written on are displayed the way modifications complete?".you require, copy Command.Com from this floppy on to your hard disc, thus DOS DATE Then examine the contentsoverwriting the one already there. From then on, the English date will be displayed stored at the location when you boot from the hard disc. A 1 8B6 Podblk. The default If you are using MS-DOS you are not given this choice of date format. I expect that answers to all the printer you have an extra memory board in the computer. If the board contains a battery 1E3E6 AND AL,OF questions are stored in theclock you should be able to read the date and time automatically when you boot up. 1 BB8 r4OV BH,10 next four bytes. These If this is so, you will not be asked to type the date and time when you boot up, so the 1 BBA CALL 2A89 bytes either contain 00, order of the terms that you normally would have to type in is not relevant. 1BBD MOV AL,2D which corresponds to a You can patch the Command.Com file using the Debug program to make the dates default of no to the shown when you do a Dir listing appear in English format. Type the command 1 BBF STOSB question, or FF, which DEBUG COMMAND.COM 1BCO MOV CL,05 corresponds to a default ofand press Enter. When prompted, type the lines shown in the listing on the right, 1 BC2 MOV AX, DX yes. with Enter at the end of each line. The patch is for PC -DOS version 2.0, but I have 1BC4 SHR AX,CL The contents of the bytealso used it on PC -DOS and MS-DOS versions 2.1. at Podblk refer to the You should now be back at the operating -system level. Reboot the system by 1BC6 AND AL,OF question "Disk file pressing Control, Alt and Del, type Dir and press Enter. If you have got it right, you 1B C8 output?". Again 00 meanswill find that the dates are now shown in the new dd-mm-yy format. It is prudent to no and FF means yes. Youmake these changes on a backup copy in case of accidents. I found that this code may alter the value as worked for me, but I cannot guarantee it will work for you. Q appropriate. The next byte If you use PC -DOS or MS-DOS version3then Microsoft have made the choice of at Podblk + 1 contains the date format much easier. If you have a file called Config.Sys on the disc you use default answer to the to boot the system, add the statement question "Use form COUNTRY =044 feeds?". The next byte at as an extra line in this file. If there is no Config.Sys file you must In "Ask PC" Podblk + 2 refers to the create one with Edlin or your word processor, and put just this John and Timothy Lee question "Suppress page one line in it. When this file is read automatically at boot -up answer questions on any area of formatting?", and time, the system will know that British dates are required. serious microcomputing. If you have Podblk + 3 refers to the a nagging problem, write to us, marking question "Pause between "ASK PC" clearly on the top left-hand pages?" Finally, you may corner of the envelope. Letters should care to patch the contents riI have tried ASCII codes 0 to 127. The contain one question only. We cannot at location Nouff. The everything I can think sign is an eight -bit guarantee a personal reply, but to be contents will probably be of, but cannot get the £ character, ASCII value considered your letter must include your 00, which means print thesymbol to display on the 156, so it will not be name and address, together with a stamped addressed envelope. Answers message "Use form screen or print on an IBM displayed properly. Our to the most representative questions feeds?". If you patch thisProprinter using WordStar guess is that it will ignore of general interest will be to any non -zero character 3.3. Can you help? the eighth bit, and thus published in these pages. such as FF, this message E G ACRAMANshow the corresponding will not be displayed. seven -bit character. You should always Micropro tells me WordStar version 3.4 made a backup copy of Athat the problem may supports eight -bit WordStar before arise because you are using characters, so any character attempting to patch the WordStar version 3.3., in the IBM set may be program, since a mistake which only supports seven - displayed on the screen. could be expensive. bit characters - that is, Provided your printer

34 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 He's made right decision. Socan you. It's not easy choosing a printer. So many to choose from, so many different features. But more and more companies are discovering that after looking at the Star printer range there is no doubt as to the right choice. Take the low-cost NX-15 for example. Fully IBM compatible, the NX-15 offers proportional spacing as standard in both NLQ and draft modes, making it ideal for word processing as well as spreadsheets and listings. With a capable 120 CPS in draft mode or 30 CPS in near letter quality mode, you won't be kept waiting for your copies. Every function you'd normally use is on a single touch panel on the front of the printer. You can even forget the days of fiddling with little dip switches. Add to that the fact tractor and single sheet feed are fitted as standard and you'll see you're looking at a star performer. theright All Star printers are supported through a nationwide dealer network n backed -up by the finest distributors in the business, so you're never on your ?ss Star chlik own. fr. When is n It co Makingit ninerited 'nes Discover the Star printer range today. fr - seri,/easierto:IL'ff,?,00Cs machine;(,,Ine ce Fillin the coupon or just 'phone Belinda on 01-840 1829 for more Pr niers.Parts anYears rineeSr rhts icuP. our information. rely aylone histhe n'e j.Prinler on Star's Thanola experience 'llgree It'll be one decision you certainly won't regret. You ofmeans of1:91-1is design in actvwaenaci g and ethcl°f computePjrn COUrt, an e rhade",iess / the users ghtdecisio 71' notioin them?

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A division of Star Micronics Co., Ltd., Japan. -circle 114 on enquiry card -- PREVIEW APRICOT XEN-i 386 GCOMPACT SUPERMICRO y yn oody

With its top -end machine improved model should be an immediate

priority for Apricot. 1111111111111111111111111111 Apricot has combined the Threemonitorsareavailablefrom 1111111111111111111111111111 latest engineering features Apricot: green or paper white in mono- with full IBM compatibility. chrome and an EGA -compatible colour unit.For each type adifferent display adaptor is required. This use of a separate Acouple of years ago Apricot was card for video is something of a reversal for aspiring to become a £100 million Apricot, as it has hitherto incorporated the company. Last year, its product lines circuitry on the main board. in disarray, it experienced severe financial The main external difference between the problems which plunged it into the red fornew and old models of the Xen lies in the the first time. Recently, however, it seems to keyboard. Apricot has gone fully IBM com- have returned to a more even keel. It has patible in this department, using the layout A separate box is required for full-length with separate cursor keys. The distinctive cards (above) but the power supply is now now committed itself to the IBM standard, internal (below). tightened up its range of machines and has MicroscreenfoundonearlierApricot even been on the acquisition trail, buyingmachines has finally disappeared. The key- the network specialists DMS, and bidding board has a rather mushy touch to it; it feels for Wordplex, a company that manufactures odd at first, but proves quite suitable for fast word processors. touch-typing. Againstthisbackgrounditslatest 80386 -based micro assumes aparticular APRICOT XEN-i 386 importance. If Apricot is to establish itself in the high-performance end of the market- 14 VERDICT place, which is rightly sees as the only viable 0 k, "- sector for its continued expansion, the latest (l- q_T 0 0 44.. 0 4i.:7. 0 0 (j addition to the Xen family needs to be right Q P 0 k. and not just good. Performance The Xen-i 386 comes in a number of versions. The one reviewed here had a single Ease of use U

5.25in. floppy, a 45Mbyte hard disc and a Documentation

so-called paper -white monitor. The cost of Value for money this system is £4,547. 0 Probably the fastest 80386 Externally the new machine looks iden- machine yet. technology and a number of gate arrays. The tical to the 80826 -based Xen-i reviewed in result is a very neat . There was PracticalComputing's September1985 only one jumper lead visible, suggesting issue. Indeed, the same box has been used, that the design is now pretty stable. A four - except for the back panel. At the front there layer PCB is used,withcomponents is the disc drive, which can be either 5.25in. Opening up the machine reveals a char- mounted on both sides - again allowing a or 3.5in. - the cost is the same - together acteristicallyneatandtightlypacked lot to be crammed into very little space. with indicator lights for floppy -disc access, interior. One reason for thisisthat the Memory is held in the form of the trendy hard -disc access, voice and power. The voice power supply - formerly an ungainly and singlein -line memory modules (SIMMs) light is an indication of Apricot's long-term inconvenient chunk of iron which sat on the now used on most new machines. The commitment to speech recognition, despite floor beside your desk - has now been in- standard configuration offers 1Mbyte of the embarrassing failure of the Apricot Port- corporated within the low -height box. This RAM, but swapping in SIMMs carrying able, which possesseditin rudimentary represents a considerable feat of enginering, 1Mbit chips takes this up to a maximum of form. but the rating of the unit is only 100W, 8Mbyte. At the back thereareports for the which seems low for machine of such high The ROM BIOS comes from Phoenix - keyboard and mouse on the right as well as processorpower.Itcertainlyseemsto the leading supplier of compatible ROMs for serial and parallel ports, both supplied as preclude hanging power-hungry add-ons off clones - but includes a number of Apricot standard. There are three output slots forthe main unit. Not that Apricot makes it additions. One neat feature of the machine cards, one of which is taken up by a video easy for you to add cards anyway. Because of is that on power -up the contents of ROM are adaptor. A d.c. power supply output is the extreme density of components packed copied into write -protected 32 -bit RAM. provided for use with the XP-i expansion - within the main systems box - which is Apricot says this speeds up the general per- card box. The power supply input and much smaller than comparable offerings formance of the machine. If you use an on/off switch are also at the back. The from Compaq or Zenith - only three half- EGA -compatible card, it is also possible to optional Apricot mouse is unchanged from length cards can be accommodated, one of copy across the contents of its ROM in a the device available with older machines. Itwhich has to be a video adaptor card. similar fashion. isbig and clumsy, and does notroll Like the new IBM Personal System / 2 The main 80386 processor is clocked at smoothly across the desk; producing an machines the Xen-i 386 uses surface -mount the usual 16MHz. Running our standard (continued on page 39)

36 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 "'REVIEW

SPECIFICATION CPU: 80386 running at 16MHz RAM: 1Mbyte as standard, upgradable to 8Mbyte on motherboard Mass storage: single 3.5in. or 5.25in. floppy with 30Mbyte or 45Mbyte hard disc Keyboard: standard IBM design Display: Hercules -compatible monochrome or EGA/CGA adaptors available Size: 380mm.(14.9in.) x 370mm.(14.6in.) x 105mm.(4.1in.) Weight: 6kg.(131b.) Software in price: MS-DOS 3.2, Windows, VP -Planner, GWBasic 3.2 Hardware expansion: external 5.25in. floppy, modem, external expansion box Price: £2,999 with 30Mbyte hard disc; £3,999 with 45Mbyte disc; mono adaptor £199, EGA adaptor £399, paper -white monitor £349, EGA monitor £699, XP-i expansion box £199, mouse £149 Manufacturer: Apricot Computers plc, Apricot House, 111 Hagley Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B16 8LB. Telephone: 021-456 1234 Available: now

Above: The XP-i expansion box plugs into a bus on the side of the system box. Power comes from an outlet at the back.

WM' Follow the leaders. If you want to be sure of buying a laser printer that has a Kyocera laser printer-whether you choose the F-1010 or the power and flexibility to achieve all your office print its larger brother, the twin -bin F-2010. requirements and from a recognised supplier who can And because it's supplied by Mekom -the U.K:s exclusive provide all the service and support you're ever likely to distributor for original Kyocera laser products-you can be need-then look no further. sure you'll get no better service and support anywhere! An advanced Kyocera laser printer from Mekom Computer Call Mekom today and see Products is the only system you need consider. That's how you can benefit from because the Kyocera is being increasingly accepted as the following the LEADERS leading laser engine currently available. IN LASERS. They're superb office tools that can enhance the quality of much of your printed material - quickly, quietly and economically. If your business prints letters, quotations, business reports, presentation documents or the like, we think you'd appreciate

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KYOCER21 F-1 & F-2010 laser printers.

Please complete and return to: Mekom Computer Products Ltd, 0 MM.00 MIIII, 0 0 MID 0 0 MD MD Freepost, Birmingham B15 1BR. 0 MP 0 0 0 000 001110 00041111111all 0000 Please send me details of the Kyocera F-1010 laser printer 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Please send me details of the Kyocera F-2010 laser printer 0 IMO00-,0 0 Please send me details of other Mekom products and services Computer Products Limited Name: Head Office and Midlands Region: Enfield Hall, Enfield Road, Position: Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 1QA. Tel: 021-454 2288 Northern Region: 850 Birchwood Boulevard, Company: Birchwood, Warrington, Cheshire WA3 90Z. Tel: 0925 821776 Address. Southern Region: Giltspur House, 6 Giltspur Street, London EC1A 9DE. Tel: 01-248 1711 Telephone. LEADERS IN LASERS Printer currently used: REVIEW

(continued from page 37) handy reference aid for people unfamiliar There are four manuals, produced in a Basic Benchmarks the machine turned in a with the machine or the software on it. uniform style and to a consistently high cool 1.75 seconds. Although it is not part- The Timebomb utility enables you to take standard. The manual for VP -Planner is a icularlymeaningfultostartcomparing the clock speed down to 8MHz to overcome directreprintof that from Paperback figures to the nearest 1 / 100th of a second, any compatibility problems. Rather neatly, Software, one of the best manuals around. thefactthatthismachineisatleast it allows you to set the length of time for Apricot remains the country's leading in- nominally faster than any other - including which this speed is operating. You might digenous micro manufacturer, but that is the new IBM Model 80, which turned in allow yourself a minute at 8MHz to log on not the only reason for wishing the company 1.83 seconds - is an indication that once with, then let the machine rip at 16MHz well with its latest product. Unlike IBM, it again Apricot has come up with a superb once you are over the hurdle of any com- has always pushed the technology hard- piece of engineering. patibility checks run by the software. This sometimes, as is in the case of the ill-fated The performance of the discs is similarly might prove useful when using modem Portable, too hard. Its pricing is aggressive impressive: running the Bagshaw Bench- cards and the like. and generally its approach to micros has marks produced figures of 31 seconds and To cater for full-length cards, Apricot has alwaysbeenrefreshinglydifferent.By 221 seconds for the hard and floppy discs re- provided one of its bolt -on expansion boxes. targeting the Xen-i 386 at the top end of the spectively. This compares with 81 seconds Two ports on its side connect into the main market,in both single- and multi-user and 255 seconds for the Xen-i 286. The system box; power is taken from the d.c. environments, Apricot seems to be showing Kaypro 386's hard disc turned in 59 seconds, socket at the back. This is a solution to the a just appreciation of both the current micro whilethe Zenith Z-386 achieved32.4 needs of those who want to add various world and its own strengths and weaknesses. seconds. The Xen-i 386's performance is exoticcards,butitisnotcompletely How it fares will depend on the evolution of partly a reflection of the effort put into R&D satisfactory. business micros during the current period of by Apricot: even during its rockiest period it The Xen-i 386's main virtues are its per- uncertainty createdby the launch and maintained a team of about 60 people formance and compact form, together with a delayed availability of the new PS /2 and working on various hardware and software reasonable price. They make itideal for OS / 2 products. projects. power users who want a really fast machine Another result of this in-house expertise is on their desk, but not on all of it. The Xeni-i CONCLUSIONS that Apricot has bundled with the system a 386 isalso ideal for Xenix applications. The Apricot Xen-i 386 is a superlatively fast, number ofsmallbutpossiblyhandy Apricot is hoping to sell large numbers of compact AT compatible. utilities. comes as the machines for this purpose, and has Apricot has finally gone completely IBM standard, and when you are running it you produced a range of high -capacity hard -disc compatible, even down to the keyboard. can call up a program which mimics the units. In this form, the machine will be sold The greatest weakness of the machine is its absent Microscreen. A small window then as the Apricot VX. limited expansion capability within the main system box and the low rating of the power - displays a representation of the 12 function As well as Windows and GWBasic, the supply unit. keys together with their current assign- Xen-i 386 comes bundled with the VP - As well as being ideal for power PC users, ments. As you change the active window, Planner spreadsheet, which we reviewed the Xen-i 386 lends itself to departmental the labels change too. This facility provides a very favourably in our February 1986 issue. computing based around Xenix. 1:01

Eliminate manual switching with For when the Lights Go Out £339 UPS -250. A 250W Sinewave Mains Backup AUTOSWITCH unit, incl. batteries for just The automatic choice

PLUG IN The Superlative BLOPROM-RS £189.95 AND GO RS232 300-9600 baud, either polarity RTS/CTS EPROM types 2716-513, also CMOS & 'A'types, 2516-64. All functions. Protected supplies uP based with it's own Operating System. Price include disk/u0 for IBM, QL, SP + cable. PROMBLO-PC Intelligentprogrammerfor2716-512, 2732A -128A, with software for IBM PC £149.00 PROMBLO-XPC Ten gang version of above £395.00 * Will operate with all BAUD rates and DATA PALBLO-PC At last, a full featured PAL programmer for IBM- standards WITHOUT being configured via PC at our sort of prices £395.00 internal links or switches. MICROBLO-PC programs 8741/42/48/49 on PC £259.00 * Can be used in AUTO or MANUAL modes. MOUSE + Genius Paint s/ware for PC £59.00 VersEPROM for BBC 2716-27513 incl. s/ware ROM £43.00 * Use with up to 4 PC's sharing 1Laserjet, EPROM erasers, DHOBI-I £18.95 telebox or draft printer. DHOBI-2 with timer £22.95 EAS 410 Serial Autoswitch £1 20 TANDON & Opus micros. Full range. Please call for prices. PC CARDS Multifunction, RS232, Multi I/O, CGA, MGA EXP 410 will also support xon/xoff £1 60 Manual Included STAR printer NL-10+ I/F for IBM PC £245.00 Triumph Adler TR7020daisywheel printer £339.00 A603 Autoswitch to printer cable EPROMs, RAMs, Maths Chips, CPUs Please call for prices suits most items £12.50 UK VAT extra. P/- UK free. Europe +5% Overseas +10% Shoes + VAT c,Irrv,ge paid Trade enquiries welcome Alphacam Products Ltd, 135 (9) Ditton Walk, Ex stock for immediate delivery Cambridge CB5 8QD HOMESTEAD DATA PRODUCTS LTD Tel (0223) 214214 Tlx 81574 Attn ALPHA 145 EDINBURGH AVENUE. SLOUGH SL1 4UA ALPHACAM is a hardware design consultancy Fax 07531691037 Telex 846086 CABLING ©1987 Tel:(0753)691661d)

circle 127 on enquiry card - -* circle 119 on enquiry card - 39 LIVETTI 8MHZ PHONE US NOW! All systems include 640k Ram, serial and parallel ports, COMPUTER keyboard, monochrome display and Msdos. SCIENTIFIC M24 20MB Hard disk system 1,350.00 M28 20MB Hard disk system 3,119.00 VUTRAX PCB Layout Software 2,380.00 Other Olivetti configurations up to 80MB: CALL ROBO-CAD Drafting Software CALL NISA Stress Analysis Software 2,520.00 ANDON 8MHZ ASYSTANT Data Acquisition Software 630.00 ASYST Data Acquisition Software 1,386.00 All systems include 512k Ram. 1serial & 1 parallel port, LAB NOTEBOOK Software CALL Msdos 3.1, Keyboard, MGA/CGA monochrome display. ADC -16 CALL Seagate or NEC drives are used in hard disk systems. TECMAR LAB MASTER CALL PCX 20MB Hard disk system 985.00 BURR BROWN:- PCX 40MB Hard disk system 1,350.00 *PCI-20001C-1 Carrier Card;(IBM Compat.) 296.00 PCX 80MB Hard disk system 1,699.00 *PCI-20001C-2 Carrier Card (32 ch digital 10) 397.00 PCA 20MB Hard disk system 1,616.00 *PCI-20002M16 channel ADC, 12 bit res. 498.00 PCA 40MB Hard disk system 1,945.00 *PCI20003M-4 32 channel, digital 10 200.00 PCA 70MB Hard disk system 2,409.00 *PCI20005M-1 32 channel ADC, 12 bit res. 296.00 FOR COLOUR SYSTEMS ADD 250.00 *PCI20006M-1 2 channel ADC, 16 bit res. 397.00 AMSTRAD Phone Your Nearest STATISTICS All systems include 640k Ram, Keyboard, Monitor & Msdos Branch NOW: STATGRAPHICS 529.20 Seagate or NEC drives are used in hard disk systems. SPSS 903.00 PC1512 20MB hard disk system 813.35 PC1512 40MB hard disk system 1,073.35 FOR COLOUR SYSTEMS ADD 159.00 South: (0963) 24551 WYSE 700 SCREEN 708.40 GENIUS A4 SCREEN 1,884.40 DEST PCSCAN+ OCR/IMAGE SCANNER 3,645.00 All systems include AT style keyboard Msdos, 360k floppy London: As South HP LASERJET Series II 2,618.00 drive, colour/mono graphics adaptor, and serial & parallel VENTURA PUBLISHER SOFTWARE 778.40 ports. A monitor is NOT included. Midlands: As South ALDUS PAGEMAKER SOFTWARE 695.00 XT 8MHZ 20MB hard disk system 759.20 XT 8MHZ 40MB hard disk system 1,019.20 COMMUNICATIONS XT 8MHZ 80MB hard disk system 1,415.70 Wales: As South AT 10MHZ 20MB hard disk system 1,168.70 TRANSNET 154.00 AT 10MHZ 40MB hard disk system 1,428.70 HAYES 2400 659.40 AT 10MHZ 80MB hard disk system 1,825.20 Scotland: (041) 2263516 IRMA 3270 882.00 DISK UPGRADES North: As Scotland SOFTWARE '99' CLUB SEAGATE 80Mb. 30ms average access time 980.00 FONTASY Desktop Publishing 99.00 (full -height drive) DISPLAY ADAPTORS SNIP Accounting Suite 99.00 NEC 5126 20Mb. 80ms average access time 250.00 GENERIC CADD Design Package 99.00 (half -height drive) COLOUR CARD 42.00 INTEGRATED 7 Productivity Tools 99.00 NEC 5126H 20Mb. 37ms average access time 413.00 HERCULES COM CARD 49.00 (half height drive) PARADISE AUTO EGA 238.00 NEC 5146H 40Mb. 37ms average access time 553.00 PRINTERS VEGA DELUX 245.00 (half height drive) ATI WONDER 249.20 NCL XT hard disk controller 68.60 PANASONIC KX-P1080P100cps/80col 179.00 ORCHID PGA 1,181.60 NCL AT hard disk controller 168.00 PANASONIC KVP1592P 180cps/136col 435.50 SIGMA EGA 232.40 360kfloppy drive 91.00 STAR NL10120cps/80col 218.11 1.2MB floppy drive 126.00 STAR SR -15200cps/132co1 537.52 VISUAL DISPLAYS EPSON FX1000 523.25 TAPE STREAMERS EPSON L02500 993.40 ADI Green 14" 119.00 AMSTRAD DMP 3000 169.00 ADI Amber 14" 119.00 AMSTRAD DMP 4000 349.00 ARCHIVE 60MB EXTERNAL 559.00 HANTAREX BIM 87.15 ARCHIVE 40MB INTERNAL (XT) 343.00 TATUNG EGA 420.00 ARCHIVE 40MB INTERNAL (AT) 399.00 IMAGE PROCESSING TATUNG COLOUR 280.00 ALLOY 40MB INTERNAL 466.00 574.00 NEC MULTISYNC EGA/CGA/PGA 800x560 14" A.MICROSIGHT1 Image scanning system, incl. Microeye 840.00 HITACHI MULTI Interface, camera, cables & software 512x512 985.00 MICRO-VITEC 2000 1,890.00 PLEASE NOTE FREEDOM 1 371.00 B.MICROSIGHT1RT These systems consist of camera, WYSE 50 CALL Microeye RT plug-in Framestore and image processing software. 1,490.00

LARGE INSTITUTIONS AND PLOTTERS C.MICROSIGHT11 Frame grabbing system , including EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS ARE Microeye 11 interface 512)612, cables, camera and INVITED TO APPLY FOR QUOTES. ROLAND 880A A3 plotter 765.80 Microsight11 software. 3,950.00 ROLAND 2000 A2 plotter 2,811.00 DISCOUNTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR D.MICROSIGHT111 Solid state camera option 1,275.00 ROLAND Al plotter 4,480.00 VOLUME ORDERS. HITACHI 672 4P A3 plotter 485.00 EXPORT ORDERS A SPECIALITY. HITACHI 675 8P Al plotter 4,688.00 IOLINE AO plotter 3,920.00

CHIPS DIGITISERS

DRAM 64k-15 Memory Chips 1.00 GRAFPAD 273.00 DRAM 256k-15 Memory Chips 2.50 HITACHI 0812 A4 digitiser 627.00 5 mhz 8087 Maths Co -Processor Chips 119.00 HITACHI 1217 A3 digitiser 782.00 8 mhz 8087 Maths Co -Processor Chips 140.00 HITACHI 1515 digitiser, 1,110.00 6 mhz 80287 Maths Co -Processor Chips 168.00 CHERRY A3 digitiser 532.00 8 mhz 80287 Maths Co -Processor Chips 266.00 TERMS AND CONDITIONS 10 mhz 80287 Maths Co -Processor Chips 418.60 MICE 5% Surcharge on prices for credit accounts. VARIOUS CARDS LOGIMOUSE + Plus Package Software 85.00 Prices are exclusive of carriage and VAT. LOGIMOUSE + Plus & Reflex Package 135.00 All products and prices are subject to Single serial port 18.20 LOGIMOUSE + Plus, Generic CADD & Dot Plot 156.00 availability. Please confirm when placing orders. Twin serial port 28.00 LOGIMOUSE + Plus & PC Paint Package 156.00 Four port serial 280.00 SUMMAGRAPHICS MOUSE 89.00 We reserve the right to alter prices without Parallel printer port 21.00 MICROSOFT MOUSE 159.60 prior notice. Real time clock card 32.20 ZNIX MOUSE 39.20 Access cards accepted.

COMPUTER DEALS LTD. HORNBLOTTON HOUSE, HORNBLOTTON, SHEPTON MALLET, SOMERSET prepared using Ventura Publisher

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40 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 EREVIEW ARC -9000 AUTOMATIC TAPE BACKUP By Glyn Moody

1111111111111 111

All too often, valuable data is souciance, they allow you to circumvent it by First you must switch on the ARC unit with getting the hardware to make backups auto- the PC turned off. This allows the tape lost when people forget to matically. streamer to go through a full diagnostics make backups. With this The idea is simple enough. An intelligent routine, signalled at the front via a two - system the job is done tape backup unit monitors all updatings of character numeric display which shows the files. Once its buffer is full, or after a preset codes of any faults. Once the system has automatically. time interval, all new versions of files are been set up, the same display is used to indi- automatically backed up on to tape. In the cate the percentage of the tape which has Mcros have become such an accep- event of power failuresor some other been filled with data. tedpartof businesspractice catastrophe,thereisafullaudittrail The micro is then booted up using DOS today that nobody thinks twice available. The price of such a neat and 3. Placing the ARC software disc in the about using them. Unfortunately, it is also simple idea varies from £1,600 to £4,000. floppy and typing true that few people think twice about some The ARC units come in two series. The TAPE of the more mundane aspects of micros, ARC -8000 has the appearance of a small sets off the automatic installation proc- like making backups. Losing valuable data stand-alonediscdrive,and useshigh - edure. After asking a few questions about irrevocably is perhaps the business user's densitymagnetictapecassettes.The the target drive and suchlike, it makes a sub - most painfullessoninthepitfallsof ARC -9000 series reviewed here comes as a directory called Tape, and then loads the informationtechnology.Hithertothis low unit which sits on top of the main PC relevant files across from the floppy. initiation rite has probably seemed the only systems box, and uses standard 0.25in. data Once these files have been transferred, way to get across the message that regularcartridges. It also has optional Winchester you have the choice of running the ARC unit backups are not just good practice but they discdrivesforboostingconventional via simple menus, or directly from the areessentialwhenever hard-wonor storage. command line. The menu is brought up by voluminous data is involved. Hooking the unit up to a PC, AT or close typing But this is no longer so. The Automatic clone is simple. A half-length card takes up TAPE Recovery and Control (ARC) tape backup one slot, and a cable from it connects to the again,andhaseightoptions.After units from Digital Storage Systems are based large 37 -pin D socket in the back of the ARC installing the hardware and software, the on the familiar premise that prevention is unit. There is a separate power lead, so no System Setup option is used to set the time better than cure. Instead of banging your power is drawn from the PC. and date, the interval between data backup, head against the brick wall of users'in- Software installation takes a little longer. up to two selected drives, and the tape (continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 41 REVIEW

SPECIFICATION Description: automatic intelligent tape backup unit for PCs Software in price: memory -resident program and relevant utilities Hardware required: IBM PC, PC/AT or compatible running MS-DOS 3 with at least 256K RAM Price: £1,600 for ARC -8020 20Mbyte cassette unit; £1,800 for ARC -8040 45Mbyte cassette; £2,500 for ARC -9060 with 60Mbyte tape streamer; £4,000 for ARC -9062 with 60Mbyte tape streamer and 40Mbyte Winchester Manufacturer:Digital Storage Systems, Colorado UK supplier: Specialix Systems, Roseneath House, Giggs Hill Road, Thames Ditton, Surrey KT7 OTR. Telephone: 01-398 7122 Available:now

go through the whole procedure and then use Esc. It is possible to go straight to the command line, but then the parameters which must be set make the final entry far from memorable. Of course, for most users this problem will not arise. The ARC unit is designed to chug away in the background, completely unnoticed. It incorporates its own internal processor, a souped -up 2-80, which ensures that there is no degradation in the response of your computer's main processor. And by continued from previous page) Once installed, the ARC -9000 can be used setting up the Autoexec. Bat file to include ength. The ARC -8000 series offers either without further attention from the operator. the Logon command, the system will 20Mbyte or 40Mbyte, and the 9000 series running automatically, without the user 60Mbyte. ARC -9000 even being aware it is there. Provided a new The Save option is used to establish what tape and full baseline backup is provided at is known as the baseline save, which repre- ('(VERDICT ,... the beginning of the week, perhaps by an sents the basic group of files which will be 1/4, o -f.'-' office supervisor, the naive user can proceed, backed up automatically as updates are ,i5" c° <,-. blissfully unaware of the need for backing o° , '' (5) (-' made. Essentiallyitserves to define the up. active set of files on the tape, and can be Performance As far as performance is concerned, the added to at any time. Typically you would unitbehavedwell.Itcancopyeven use a fresh tape at the beginning of the Easeofuse Documentation protected files like Lotus 1-2-3 - though week, and then back up the entire hard disc. 1.1 obviously it is not possible to run them from

Value for money This can be accomplished with a single I=1 the tape.It managed to copy around a command. Whenever any of these files are E Idiot -proof backups - but at a price. couple of megabytes of small files in around changed on the hard disc, copies will be twominutes.Inoperation,thetape added progressively to the tape. It is also streamer was audible but not obtrusively possibletosavespecificsub -directories noisy. rather than whole discs. The ARC units are attractive products, Complementing the Save command is the even if their software leaves something to be Retrieve command, which allows you to pull need to know the exact date when the desired in the way of sophistication and back copies from the tape to the hard disc. desired version was saved, unless it was the user -friendliness. For organisations where As with Save, there are a variety of levels at most recent, in which case it can be found backupiscrucial but problematic, they which this can operate: disc, directory and quite easily. What is needed is some facility could offer a handy solution. The main files. It is also possible to specify whether or for pulling out all versions of a particular problem is price, which is likely to preclude not the chosen files will overwrite all files, file, thus providing a complete audit trail. their everyday use across a company. But including those which are read-only. The automatic backupisinitiated by within their own particular niche, they work The Catalog command is like Dir in DOS, exiting from the Main menu, and then well. and allows you to inspect which files have typing been saved on tape. Again, the search can be LOGON CONCLUSIONS narrowed down to any level. At the lowest This sets the system running, with files IIIThe ARC units provide automatic backup on level you choose a file by the time at which it which have been selected as part of the base- to tape in a simple and apparently foolproof was saved.Allfilesare date and time line saved every so often when changes are manner. stamped as they are saved to tape. This pro- made. The interval between saves can be Once installed by a supervisor, they can be vides a unique reference to multiple copies varied from one to 20 minutes. ignored by inexperienced users. of files which are constantly modified. It also E The hardware is well constructed, though Although the menu approach is simple in the software is a little crude. allows you to choose which version you theory, ARC's implementation has its limit- II1For companies with crucial data which must restore from. ations. It is not possible, for example, to edit be backed up,the ARC approach isan One problem with the software is that you entries as you make them; instead you must effective if slightly pricey solution.

42 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 WordPerfec ary. Spe volumes for softareintegration.

WordPerfect Library is simplicity itself within brings new meaning to the --- WordPerfect Library, which subject of software gives an impressive integration by linking three of degree of flexibility, today's most advanced in operation and is software packages - simplified by the use WordPerfect, MathPlan and of function keys and a colour SSIData. coded template dispensing Programs are immediately with the need for complex accessed from the Shell menu control codes. Create your own by a single key stroke as are menu structure, from which the 6 powerful utilities which you can run DOS commands provide a full function and batch files. SENTINEL Calculator, Calendar, To improve your knowledge Notebook, File Manager, and to find out details of SOFTWARE Wellington House, New Zealand Avenue, Macro and Program Editor. how you too can join the Walton on Thames, Surrey KT12 1PY. The movement of text, WordPerfect Library, telephone Telephone: (0932) 231164 figures, graphs and records or write to Sentinel Software. Telex: 916005. FERGUS G.

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Rt(ASTERED TRADE!, 0 18 PREVIEW MACINTOSH II THE BIG MAC By Carol Hammond

The inside of the system box has space for six Nubus expansion cards.

With colour and a full expansion capability Apple is hoping to SPECIFICATIONS move the Macintosh concept into the power -user mainstream. CPU: 68020 running at 16MHz; 68881 maths co -processor standard RAM: 1Mbyte, expandable to 8Mbyte on board; expandable to 2Gbyteusing The first thing that hits you about the not off - overriding the on/off switch at the expansion slots Mac IIis how much like an IBM itback of the system box. The key activates a ROM: 256K looks. Gone is the tidy all -in -one unit standard soft -switch IC on the main board Disc storage: 800K 3.5in. floppy of the original 128K Mac and itslatest that is powered by the machine's on -board drive; optional second floppy drive and upgrade, the Mac SE, which we reviewed last batteries. 20Mbyte, 40Mbyte or 80Mbyte hard month. Instead you have what looks like any In the same way you can turn the machine discs other desk -top PC, complete with systemofffromthekeyboardbyselecting Display: 12in. monochrome monitor, 640 by 480 pixels; 13in. colour monitor unit, monitor, keyboard and mouse, Like Shutdown from the Special menu. Whereas 640 by 480 pixels; up to 256 colours or most desk -top setups, it is not something on earlier Macs this simply closed your files shades of grey from a total of 16 million you would want to move around very often. and ejected any discs, on the Mac IIit shades While the Mac SE, with its single hard -to - switches off the power as well. If you wish to Keyboard: choice of Apple or 105 -key reach expansion slot, was Apple's gesture reboot without actually shutting the power IBM layout with 15 function keys towardsan opensystem,the MacII off first, there is also a Reboot option on the Interfaces: sound port, two RS -232 embraces the philosophy wholeheartedly same menu; this has the advantage that the serial ports, SCSI port, two Apple and has six slots. hard disc is not continually subjected to the Desktop buses, six Nubus internal The Mac II comes in the same off-whitestress of being switched off and then on expansion slots Hardware expansion: external again. colour that the SE does, but there the drives, Ethernet card, MS-DOS floppy - similarity ends. The Mac II's system unit is As with the Mac SE, the Extended Apple disc card big and boxy - about the size of a PC, Keyboard is available as an alternative to the Dimensions: 475mm. (18.7in.) though more smartly styled. The plasticstandard keyboard. The Extended keyboard x 366mm. (14.4in.) x 140mm. (5.5in.) casing is ribbed on the top and sides, neatly has a layout close to that of IBM's latest Weight: 10.9kg. (241b.) to 11.8kg. hiding the ventilation slots. model, complete with function keys. Also, (261b.), depending on configuration At the front there is an indicator light foryou have two ways of connecting the mouse. Prices: monochrome system with floppy the 20Mbyte hard disc which was fitted toYou can either plug both the keyboard and disc only, £4,495; 40Mbyte hard -disc the model we reviewed. Apple also offers the mouse into the Desktop Bus connectors, version, £5,690; 40Mbyte system with colour, £5,995 40Mbyte and 80Mbyte options as well as a or you can daisy -chain the mouse to the Software in price: none floppy -only version. To the right lie two keyboard. The mouse itself is the new -style Manufacturer:Apple ComputerUK, slots for 800K floppy -disc drives. One floppyunit that also comes with the SE. Eastman Way, Hemel Hempstead, drive comes as standard; the second slot is Hertfordshire HP2 7HQ. Telephone: covered by a plastic plate when not in use. EASILY OPENED UP (0442) 60244 At the back of the system unit from left to Opening up the Mac II is a joy. You can Available: now right lie an on/off switch, a sound port, two wave goodbye to the long -handled screw- SPECTRUM GRAPHICS SYSTEM AppleDesktopBusconnectors,two drivers needed to open up previous Macs - RS -232C ports and an SCSI port. Above and in fact the Mac II is easier to open than Description: colour adaptor with 786K them lies a ventilation grille and then to the many IBM compatibles. You only have to of RAM and 19in. colour monitor with maximum resolution 768x 1,024 pixels right the six expansion slots, the mains input undo one screw at the back of the system Prices: adaptor £999, monitor £2,195 socket and an auxiliary power socket for the unit, then press down two catches at the top Manufacturer: Supermac Technology monitor. of the box to release the lid. It is then free to of Mountain View, California The monochrome monitor normally sits be lifted up and back, and removed com- UK supplier: Supermac Technology, on top of the system box. The nominal size is pletely. Putting it back on again is even Grove House, 551 London Road, 12in., but we measured it at just under 11in. easier, as it snaps back firmly on to the case. Isleworth, Middlesex TW7 4DS. diagonally - a discrepancy that is not un- The motherboard sits right at the bottom Telephone: 01-847 2101 common. Although larger than the 9in. of the unit. To the right of it are the power Available:now screen of earlier Macs, it is smaller than most supply and cooling fan, housed together in a PC monitors. An on/ off switch and the port steel box. The hard disc is positioned to the life expectancy of eight years. Beside the for the video cable are positioned at theleft, mounted on a steel brace above thebatteries lie eight single in -line memory back. Brightness and contrast controls aremotherboard. The floppy -disc drive is posi- (SIMM) slots. On the review machine, four provided on the right-hand side of the unit. tioned towards the front of the machine, of these slots were occupied by small cards The keyboard supplied is the Standard where there is also space for a second floppy tilted at an angle to the motherboard. Each AppleKeyboard,similartotheunit drive. The steel brace supporting the disc card carries eight 256Kbit chips, making a provided with the Mac SE and the Apple II drives can be easily removed by undoing total of 1Mbyte on the four cards. Memory GS. The large keyatthe top of the four screws. The disc assemblies can then be can be increased by swapping incards keyboard, which was not functional on the lifted out to reveal the motherboard. carrying bigger chips. Apple offers 1Mbyte Mac SE, now serves as a Power On key. You Two batteries for the clock are mountedcards, allowing memory to be upgraded to can use it to switch the machine on - but on the motherboard; they are said to have a 8Mbyte. Above the cards lies the 68020

46 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 Far left: One of the colour effects produced on the Mac II with Dimensions -a 3-D modelling package. Above: Graphic images from an unreleased American drawing package. Left: Unlike its older cousins, the Mac II is a similar size and shape to a coventional desk -top PC.

NtacuiLnn II

mainprocessorand68881mathsco- Environment(Sane)willautomatically can drive external stereo equipment like processor. A loudspeaker is mounted next to invoke the maths co -processor to increase speakers, headphones and amplifiers. The the motherboard, attached directly to the performance by up to 30 times. Lotus Jazz, Mac II supports the Midi interface, allowing casing. for example, will be able to make use of the itto be used asa controller in music The maths co -processor isa significant co -processor in this way. applications. In future Apple hopes to use addition, given the market at which Apple is Apple claims that the Mac II is four times the capability of the sound chip to handle aiming the Mac II. Apple sees the Mac II as a faster in operation than the Mac Plus, but voice input and output, and to add sound to high-performance business machine aimed when the maths co -processor is addressed graphics. at medium to large businesses. It is being directlythis speed advantageissaid to The presence of the sound chip is evident targetedparticularlyatorganisations increase to a factor of 200. from the moment you switch the machine dealinginCAD,engineering,higher The Apple Sound Chip (ASC) has four on. Instead of the puny beep of its siblings, education and research, where high -quality channels, a stereo capability and a 44kHz the Mac II emits a far grander sound, as if graphics, modelling and computationally sampling rate. The high sampling rate will someone had struck a chord on an electric intensive tasks are likely. Packages written allow very high -quality output, and the on- piano. You can adjust the sound the ma- according to the Standard Apple Numerics board stereo sampling generator means it chine makes to accompany an on -screen (continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 47 PREVIEW

(continued from previous page) 19in.colour monitor with a maximum Macproject. At the moment it is envisaged error message. To do this you go to the resolution of 768 by1,024pixels. To set the that they will be free, though the upgraded Control Panel, select the Sound icon, and monitor status on the Mac II you go to the Macwrite may require a new manual which then adjust the volume and quality of the Control Panel and click on the monitor icon. might have to be paid for. The decision of sound. You are given four different sounds You thenclick on Color or Black & Apple in the US to hive off its software tochoosefrom:Clink-Klank ,Bong, White / Grays, whatever is appropriate, and operations may also affect this. Monkey and Simple Beep, which will cause scroll to the number of colours or shades of How outside software publishers deal various humorous screeching and clanking grey that you want. with the problem is yet to be seen. Apple is sounds to come from your machine. With the standard video card you get a compiling a list of packages which have been The inside of the Mac II is very roomy, maximum of 16 colours or greys. With the testedforcompatibility.Microsofthas primarily because there are very few chips. video -card expansion kit you get a maxi- announced upgrades of Excel and Word 3, Like IBM, Apple has opted for custom chips mum of 256. Colour is displayed on mono- while claiming that existing versions will run andsurface -mountedtechnology.The chrome monitors as the equivalent number on the Mac II. spaciousness of the machine's interior makes of grey levels. If your monitor is colour you There was also a dearth of expansion cards inserting expansion cards a relatively simple click on the Convergence Test button. A for us totest the Mac's expansion cap- task. grid of four boxes then appears, which helps abilities with. AST has announced an MS- There are six Nubus expansion slots. They you check that the red, green and blue guns DOS expansion kit which puts the equiva- use a bus and card design completely are set correctly for the best picture colour. lent of a PC/ AT on two boards and allows different from the SE; it is not possible to You do this by adjusting the brightness MS-DOS to appear in a window on the Mac transfer cards from one machine to the controluntilthe middle of thelines II, but is not due to appear until late this other. Apple says that it chose a different surrounding the boxes appears white. summer. Apple itself will be launching a bus for the SE to keep it compact; it would Any test of Mac's colour capability is version of Unix System V version 2in have been impossible to incorporate the hindered by the scarcity of colour software. September or October. The£325Apple PC large Nubus slot. This reasoning is un- We were able to see a display of pictures pro- disc will support a standard 360K 5.25in. doubtedly sound, but itis a shame thatduced on a three-dimensional modelling IBM disc, when it appears. Apple could not maintain compatibility When we booted up the machine from across its two card-carrying machines. MACINTOSH II the hard disc, it occasionally bombed out on One of the slots in the Mac II will always us straightaway. We remedied this with the be taken up by a video card. Inserting extra aid of advice from the very clear manual, cards into one of the empty slots is easy. You PC VERDICT , which suggests that you boot up from a 0 k,r do not even have to undo any screws to take System Tools disc in the floppy drive and out the expansion cover shield; you just lift replace the System file on the hard disc with up the shield until it is free of the guide and the file from the System Tools disc. pin holding it, then push out the plastic Performance A further disappointment was that the cover that lines up with it. Expansion cards Ease of use II base system costs about£1,000more than all have their own cover shields that slot into Documentation 0 Apple anticipated. Apple says there is no the guide and pin. particular reason for this, merely that its

Value for money13 Unlike IBM expansion slots, Nubus slots original estimate when we previewed the can operate independently of the processor. El Looks good, but the software and machine in April was only a rough guess. hardware to exploit its possibilities has This allows the expansion cards to take yet to arrive. The unfortunate consequence is that the control of the machine. Even the machine's machine is not as good value as we first main power supply can be controlled by 7 thought. Apple believesthatitstarget software running on a card so that, for ex- market for the machine is not price sensitive, ample, a battery -powered modem card can package called Dimensions. Other than thatand that for CAD / CAM use the Mac II is a wait to receive an incoming signal while the the only package we had any success with lot cheaper than comparable work stations. main machine is switched off. Once a signal was Cricket Graph, though Cricket Draw is Apple sees the Mac II as being in compe- is received, the software can switch on the said to work in colour on the Mac II as wetition with the IBM PS /2 Model 80, which power supply and run the main program to, have previously seen the Xpress DTP pack- costs just over £5,000 for a base machine say, download a file, then switch off again age do. with a 44Mbytehard disc and mono monitor afterwards.Anotheradvantageofthe We were able to use Reflex, Write Now, but no maths co -processor. The Mac II with a Nubus is that it does not require the user to Just Text and Ready Set Go 3. But we were 40Mbytehard disc costs £5,495, but Apple configure the slots or set any DIP switches; surprised to find that many packages did not has the advantage that the Mac II is around also you can put any card in any slot. work properly on the Mac II.Macwrite, now, with a fully functioning operating The open architecture of the Mac II may Macpaint, Full Paint, Comic Works, Super - system. The Model 80 and theOS/2 well be seen by clone makers as an open paint, Colormate and Adobe Illustrator all operating system are not expected until the invitation.However,aglutof Mac failed to function; some of them would not end of the year. compatibles seems unlikely for a number of even load. With the drawing and painting reasons. Apple's use of its own custom chips packages, four boxes appeared at the top ofCONCLUSIONS will act as a deterrent to many people, while the screen, obscuring the menu bar, and E The Mac II looks good. It has nearly all the others may be put off by Apple's track whatever we drew appeared inside them. virtues of the original Mac plus animpressive record in defending the copyright of its The problems arise because some software colour capability. products. It was very active about three years developers have not followed Apple's pro- E The possibility of expansion opens up the ago, taking action against Apple II clone gramming guidelines. Painting programs in world of the Macintosh to the outside - in makers. Even more importantly, the Mac II particular have proved to be a problem, and particular to the IBM world - which will make is as yet unproven, and clone makers may be many of them encounter difficulties with it a more attractive proposition for business reluctant to invest heavily in copying a memory management that cause them to go users.Itwill also find new markets in the machine that is heading for a niche market into the screen buffer and repeat them- CAD/CAM area. with little room to spare. selves. Apple's own Macwrite does not work 11TheMac II is as easy touseasits predecessors, and inserting expansion cards Apple supplied us with a monochrome because itis one of the very first Mac appears to be simple too. monitor for this review since its own colour programs, written before colour features Not much software and few hardware monitor was not ready in time. We were also were allowed for in Apple's guidelines. expansion products are yet available to run on able to use Supermac's Spectrum graphics Apple says it will be providing upgrades the Mac II,stillless to make fulluse of its system, which consists of a video card and a forMacwrite,Macpaint,Macdraw and features. [13

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 ...... -..:tryacarq- itkFt4;:rit.:

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UTILITIES

Come and browse around the Ashton- Tate Gallery - currently featuring impressive works from the Utility movement. Complemtnting the Classic dBASE III Plus is a series of four utility programs. dBASE Programmer's Utilities - adds greater speed and efficiency to dBASE Programs. The Programmer's Library - provides a library of C functions to add the power of C to dBASE. The Graphics Library - lets you add presentation graphs and charts to your dBASE applications. Pascal Programmer's Library - gives you the power to call and execute compiled Pascal functions and programming routines as part of normal dBASE operations. That other Ashton-Tate masterpiece, Framework II, also benefits from some superb packages. Time Frame - gives Framework II an appointment book, a calendar, a calculator, and an "office assistant". Decision Modelling - helps managers organise, analyze, and report on the information needed to make decisions. Project Analysis - enables you to develop new projects and gives you help in project management. This important exhibition at The Ashton-Tate Gallery forms part of the famous P&P Micro Collection. Viewing is highly recommended. If you want to know more about these and other great works complete and return the coupon today.

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The New Masters Quaesonnaces no4 circle 139 on enquiry card 1 P & P MICRO DISTRIBUTORSPLC SOFTWARE REVIEW HARVARD PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHER DOCUMENT SPECIFICATION PRESENTATION Description:WYSIWYGpage make- up program Hardware required: IBM PC/AT or compatible with at least 640K RAM, a PACKAGE hard disc, DOS 2.1 or higher, Hercules By Carol Hammond Graphics Card with monochrome display or IBM EGA with 256K and Enhanced Graphics Display, Microsoft mouse The ability to handle long documents and detailed control Software supported:accepts word - over typesetting style are the special virtues of Software processed files from DCA documents and ASCII text files; also compatible with Publishing's DTP package. Harvard Presentation Graphics, Lotus Pic files, Lotus 1-2-3, PFS Professional File, The first time we looked at a desk -top to include one within the package would be dBase, Microsoft Windows Paint, PC publishing (DTP) package for IBM merely repetitious. Paintbrush compatibles was backinFebruary Some editing can take place within the Printers support: Postscript or HP when wereviewedVenturaPublisher. package, but any hefty alterations should be Laserjet Copy protection:none Harvard ProfessionalPublisher (HPP)is made within a word processor. When you Price:£595 Ventura's mainrivaland comes from edit text within HPP, your original word - Publisher: Software Publishing of Software Publishing, which also distributes processed files are updated to incorporate Mountain View, California the successful range of PFS products and the changes. This allows HPP to use the UK supplier: Software Publishing HPP's two stablemates - Harvard Presen- updated version if any pages are rerun. Europe, 85-87 Jermyn Street, London tation Graphics and Harvard Total Project In this respect HPP betrays its typesetting SW1Y 6J D. Telephone: 01-839 3864 Manager. heritage. Typesetters expect word processing Available: now HPP rivals Ventura rather than Aldus to be done by someone else; they are merely Pagemaker because, like Ventura, it is not a the vehicle to produce finished work in page -based package; its strength lies in its typeset form. To a large extent HPP adopts wantto reuse the same formats and page handling of multi -page documents. HPP's the same principle: it takes word -processed styles you just copy them to the relevant sub - roots lie in the typesetting industry. It was files and puts them alongside graphics to directory each time. co -developed by Software Publishing and produce a typeset version of a document. When you enter HPP you are met by the Bestinfo, the company which produces the Everything in the package is geared towards main menu which lists six functions: Lay Superpage package. Superpage costs around fast turnaround, and to that end it employs Out Document, Define Page Style, Print #7,000 and is aimed at typesetters who want tags and style sheets just as Ventura does. Document, Import Files, Set Defaults and to do page layout.Software Publishing Exit to DOS. Define Page Style is where you claims that HPP is essentially a cut -down LESS FRIENDLY INTERFACE set up your style sheets to provide the grids version of Superpage, aimed at buisness What you lose with this approach to DTP on which you lay out your pages. As with users, with its important features crammed istheabilityto do more complicated Ventura Publisher, you use style sheets to into a £595 package. HPP has the facility to individual page layouts. Another drawback define the number of columns, the size of transfer files across to Superpage, where of Harvard is that you have to deal with a less margins and so on. Unlike Ventura, HPP furtherrefinementstotypography and friendly user interface than on Mac packages does not supply you with ready-made style layout can be undertaken. like Xpress - or indeed with Aldus Page - sheets on disc. HPP certainly does offer a high degree of maker and Ventura on the IBM, which use The Page Style screen consists of a menu typographical control, including kerning, Mac -like interfaces. bar across the top and rulers along the tracking and hyphenation. In this respect it The entities that HPP works with are bottom and to the right marked in inches is on a par with Xpress, which runs on the document files, style sheets and format files. and picas. You cannot change the measure- Mac. HPP uses its own in-built alogorithm The document file contains the text and ment system to centimetres or millimetres, to control hyphenation and to ensure that graphics which make up your document. nor can you mix and match them in any way. no more than two consecutive lines end with You set up style sheets and format files and This could be awkward,asitisquite hyphens. It does not, however, offer users then attach them to your document file; common to measure text in inches, column the option of setting up their own ex- they dictate the style your document is to widths in picas and picture sizes in milli- ceptions dictionary where they can specify follow and what typeface and style its head- metres. their own house style for particular words to lines and text will appear in. The menu bar lists five options, complete be hyphenated. Software Publishing recommends that withfunction -keynumbers.Youcan HPP does not offer search and replace or you create a separate sub -directory for each activate the pull -down menus by pressing cut and paste. These functions are deemed document to enable you to keep track of files the appropriate function keys or by using to be the province of a word processor, some- as you work. All the files you want to use in a the mouse. The firstoption gives you thing HPP does not possess. The authors document should be kept in the same sub - context -sensitivehelp.The Style menu argue that since HPP works with files that directory, including the picture files, text allows you to get, create, copy or delete a have been imported from word processors. files and page styles you expect to use. If you page style, and zoom and exit to the main (continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 51 III SOFTWARE REVIEW

(continued from previous page) menu. You can zoom to choose from four views of the page: full page, 75 percent, Ft-Hei 4 F2 -DocumentF3 -TextF4 -AreaF5 -Picture actual size and 150 percent. You cannot * . . view facing pages as you can in Ventura and ro 444 214 +44 .4 14/44.111; 141,

Aldus Pagemaker. Header and Footer allow 14 14TS X.4 11644,44. 11.4 We& &Ala%1.3.14, .44 141.41 MW Nr. you to enter what headers and footers you r11.1 4W :se 'A. 14. ./saromi, . 0.444-

IC 0104.. .44.11. rvr,.45 gia4. 4 rA 54404141 Wirt, 1.4! want. Rule/ box allows you to draw rules and V* Ma X4, 14144.1141145114/1404 boxes anywhere on the page. .441114544 teSt 44 4.1.64501. .501 4. 41,4 werpet- !as 111.44 CMINTOroonstp . ... A background grid shows the columns 41154411 4, 1444 o.gerillaillo. 64.4,44 U. 44 la 4111:V w. f., Ma 14 44 and margins of the page with dots at pica opanrit4vuot, I Flow as is intervals. A status line at the bottom of the 110. 154 4,90as )0+0,4*. aits 0.1%.31 .11,44 44 404. page reminds you of the next step required 9#45 W. rt 5040444 14 5444 0.4y1.44144 3 Stretch to fit OP Vey )41,X.4. for certain tasks and displays error messages. Tocreateapagestyleyouselect Get /Create. Harvard then displays the Page Style directory, and a file -name prompt appears on the status line. You type a name up to eight characters long and press Enter. When you save a style sheet Harvard auto- matically adds Sty to the file name as a file extension. You then select paper size and

orientation, the number of columns - up 1S -1T6 I Teit: 15 -AU :!

Text directory HARVARD PROF PUBLISHER File Tune Date Line M1 .TXT 12:09p 1 1 80 17 17 1'1 VERDICT GROWTH .TYT 12:08p 1 I 80 2 0 IS -.AU -`T T 12:17p I I 80 215 211 0 k,"- .1- k-',- c° z,' rio .1,-. 0 (-,, cr 'r (.9 4(, Performance 0 III Ease of use U M IN Documentation Ill M MI

Value for money In EBest for handling long reports or documents with a simple,repetitive style, but inconvenient for elaborate page designs.

tints that are to appear on every page. Rules can be from 0.5 point to 12 point in weight. Tints can be anything from 10 percent to 100percentstrengthin 10percent Type or select increments. When you select Draw Rule a pointer appears on the page. You position the pointer where you want the line to begin and click on the left mouse button or Tab. combination of type characteristics such as rather than when you are building a format You then position the pointer where you fount, size, line positioning, spacing above, file. want the line to end and press the right indents and the number of columns the text Being able to put commands into your mouse button or Enter. The rule then is to span. You could call a tag for a headline word -processed text can save time, especially appears on -screen. I found having to switch Head1, say, and then use it for every head- if you are only using a few headline and text between the two mouse buttons rather line with a document. You can tag your text styles. But if you have a large number of fiddly, and would have preferred to haveon -screen by choosing from a list of tags you different style elements within your doc- had just one button to press. have set up, or you can add tags from within ument, having to use commands is rather When you move the cursor to the edge ofyour word processor. When applied to a cumbersome compared with the menu - the screen the display normally scrolls todocument, tags do not normally appear on- driven approach of Pagemaker. Harvard's reveal parts of the page you cannot see. Butscreen but they can be made visible if you command -driven approachissimilarto if you have zoomed up to 150 percent this wish. Lotus Manuscript on the IBM and Just Text does not work, and to view a hidden portion Tags also allow you to provide effects like on the Mac. of the page you have to reduce magnifica-subscript, superscript and leaders, and are To create a document you choose Layout tion, move to the part of the page you wantused for more detailed operations such as Document from the main menu. The Docu- to see, and then zoom up again to the largerforcing fount changes within a line. This ment directory lists all the documents in the size. kind of tag is normally added to the text sub -directory and displaysafilename 4 Formats and tags are used to specify the when you use a word processor or the HPP prompt on the status line, where you can text styles for your document. A tag is a Edit window when you lay out a document, type a name for a new document. A name

52 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 I "'SOFTWARE REVIEW

To format headlines within your flowed text you select Edit, followed by the column -rea cure containing the words to be headlined. The text then appears within the Edit window. You select the Tag menu, which appears at the top of the Edit window, then choose the

LE.TEP. .44 tag you want to use. HPP applies the tag to 444444itiltISti. the text at the cursor position and formats it /3 MinchIv Coo114 AM..., in the window accordingly, giving you a onk you (a, 7a, kite., althe ttlth Itttn kind of preview facility. You can ignore this ettentran and select another tag,or acceptit and Mtn6,r+vsnkitene,rundo.two P414414111, fen t4.e 4101 blank, Inditicenproduoinv individual knee the F t incorporate the changed type style into your all 'tend Wirt layout. That imam Out the tineto ittoduoixts the ti,,t to.,4.m444 dawn "Mir inpertam. With ism print teshneiraite the int/ fete tote, Once you have laid out your text you can )0,4.,sithe printer het re 44*41 the dit4 to, aation, incorporate pictures, rules and boxes. Rules FfooDy (w avid ht.. to uuoiOrn ervoroyontoty Fa,the 15th If184m a.. Tv xiyour *Pia,In ;unit,'lodenfe tint. and boxes are created in the same fashion as 21 Mt te I on the Page Style screen. Space for pictures is Met Mt allocated by creating masks. You do this in a Thent *on44T j4se iota o, ihatIVINalletih +.,W** a,r 44.440.4 ~Om similar way to drawing boxes, but all you see fleal Weft. MEW, 4764741.10 444 f4,44; lout, tan ink 4..44 0070 In tail)) suet, It,tee..., p,oe.MoIndlyttutt tiW,tie 'Onto rnap is an area of empty space. tot staidMk

This mownrot oft Or.itprod141/404 74 i4141p4,414 ai 4 041,.. *wows tloopelouvo V111.41,,,,,t 4110.0.014. 1M 11TO peaeleaPs PICTURE DIRECTORY liner 1, crlatto NI re eta for smear. When you choose Get/ Place from the Picture menu the Picture directory appears, showing the picture files. You select the Above: You can edit text in the Edit window, where there is also a preview facility. picture you want to place and a flashing box Below: Text is automatically reformatted to slow the effect of any tag you apply. appears on the page. You size it to take the picture, which is then painted where you drew the box. Pictures can be resized - but el t F2 -FileF3 -Format only to their original proportions - or ThtS ,o sorer sample textThis is sorb* steeple text. moved to another part of the page. Thus ts sane sample text. This is some sample The same masking technique is used to tatThis is 50111tsimpletext. create wraparound effects. A mask can be ThisIssome wimple text.Thisissome saes* textThis is some sample text. This is drawn round a picture so that the text flows some simple text. This is some temple tot round it. The smoothness of the resulting wraparound effect depends on how steady Select Special Formats forTEXT and accurate you were when using the Hanging indent ipicasi 4 mouse to draw the mask. If something is an List indent 1p/cast 0 awkward shape you are likely to have an un- Drop cap dines; none :2 equal space between the end of the text and the edge of a picture; it would be extremely Subhead :YES C. NO difficult to create a smooth curve. Rule above none 0.5 pt 1.5 pt Space above The HPP manual does its best to explain u7 none LS Lutes what is quite a difficult package to use. As with all large manuals, there is a lot of cross- referencing but I felt that it would have been useful to have a section showing what dif- ferent screens look like, and the options and menus available with each. The manual includes some useful suggestions on page Format file: HEADLIN1 Tag: TEXT layout and organising your files. CONCLUSIONS can be up to five characters long and must but has a different set of options on the H PPshouldprovesuitableforlong not end with a number, which is rather menu bar. They include Help, Document, documents with fairly simple layouts that will awkward. Beingrestrictedtoonlyfive Text, Area, Picture, Custom and Rule / box. need little updating. Ventura Publisher also characters - rather than the eight which You select Define Formats from the Docu- handles long documents well and has a you use when allocating a page style name ment menu to get to the Format File screen. friendlier user interface; it cannot match HPP for typographical versatility, but inits latest - was something I found rather confusing. This has three options in a menu bar at the version it is catching up fast. A dialogue box appears in which you top of the screen, and a status line showing I found HPP clumsy and irritating to use. Its choose whether you want continued lines; a the current format file and tag. editing facilities are limited, and the wrap- left-hand or right-hand page style; what When you first use a text file created with around - like that of allIBM-compatible fount sets are to be used; and what format a word processor, HPP will format text packages we have seen - is primitive. Its use file is to be used. Continued lines are auto- according to the definition of the default of tag -like commands makes it laborious to matically generated and updated, and you Text tag unless you have inserted tags within achieve something as a simple as, say, a can specify two different sets of founts per italready.Otherwise you use the Edit superscript. E lf you want to produce short documents you document. You can type an asterisk in the window to edit and format text. Text will may find Aldus PC Pagemaker more suitable; Format File field to select from a directory of automatically flow from column to column it is certainly far easier to use. If you want to format files; you leave it blank if you want to and from page to page - up to 999 pages if move on to more complicated layouts or are create a format file and enter its name later. you wish - complete with continuation simply looking for something that is easier to To create a format file you go to the Lay- lines. HPP does this quickly and easily, and use, it is still worth turning to the world of the out screen. It looks like the Page Style screen it is this ability that is its great asset. Macintosh and taking a look at Xpress.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 53 I. SOFTWARE REVIEW GENERIC CADD & AUTOSKETCH DRAFTING FOR ALL By Roger Cullis

While object -orientated drawing programs are commonplace on the Mac,it is only recently that affordable packages have become available for ordinary IBM users.

Only a limited number of types of You can use the cursor keys to move the application have achieved wideplotting point about the screen, but a SPECIFICATIONS acceptance on the microcomputer. proper pointing device such as a mouse, GENERIC CADD The0 spreadsheet and the word processor are tracker ball or digitiser tablet greatly facili- Description: computer -aided design used universally, followed at some distance tatesthe operation. Hard copy can be and drafting by database managers. After these threeoutput to any printer which is capable of Hardware required: IBM PC or clear leaders you have to begin to scratch operating in graphics mode, but a plotter is compatible with at least 384K RAM, your head to find tasks which are performed the more usual way of transferring drawings graphics screen, two disc drives, plotter or bysignificantgroups.Computer -aided to paper. Object -based drawing programs graphicsprinter; mouse or bit pad optional drafting (CAD) is one such application, but perform all calculations in floating-point Copy protection:none already the number of potential users is arithmetic, so both Autosketch and Generic Price: £100 several orders of magnitude smaller than Publisher:Generic Software of GENERIC CADD Redmond, Washington that of those who wish simply to type or do UK supplier:Robotechnic,19 Queen What -If? exercises. Street, London W1X 7PH. Telephone; k Smaller volumes equate with higher PC VERDICT .. 01-499 9746 prices, since the authors have to recover a Available:now ,k3" c° ,,,- greater percentage of the development costs Q.--r-P Q- (..) ,ii from each sale. So up till now, the most AUTOSKETCH popular CAD package has been Autocad, Performance 0 Description: computer -aideddesign and drafting which costs a cool £2,000 a throw. On top of Ease of use 0 IN Hardware required: IBM PC or

that you have to pay another £500 if you Documentation I. 0 compatible with at least512K RAM, want its advanced drafting extensions. Just graphics screen, twodisc drives, plotter or Value for money El recently, however, the CAD market has seen graphics printer; mouse or bit pad optional the introduction of budget -priced software IIIAn ideal packagefor the userwho Copy protection:none which could have a revolutionary effect. The requires adrafting facility but does not Price: £79 new packages are petty -cash items, the pur- wish to pay for great sophistication or Publisher:Autodesk of Sausalito, chase of which does not require major support. California justification. Typical of these offerings are UK distributor:Autodesk, South Bank Autosketch and Generic Cadd, which cost Technopark, London SE16LN. Telephone: AUTOSKETCH 01-928 7868 £79 and £99 respectively. Available:now The Amstrad PC -1512, like many other computers which come with a Gem inter- 11 VERDICT k oc k, --k Hercules cards, a wide range of other display face, has a drawing program bundled with ,, .s-o it. Why then should one spend good money e ,i--\``,' SP 9 options are supported by the drivers sup- - even as little as £79 - to augment some- plied as standard. Even if you have an thing that is available free? The answer is Performance 0 esoteric display format the chances are that

that the bundled drawing programs are Ease of use II M you can purchase a special driver for it. Autosketch comes with two program pixel -based. This means that when you Documentation MI MI enlarge an object, the enlargement will con- discs, one for use with a numeric co -proces- Value for money tain no more detail than the original. Auto - sor, the other for use without. The first time sketch and Generic Cadd, on the other El Simple to use, with the added you run the program, it will present you hand,areobject -based.A circle,for advantage that it is compatiblewith with a menu of supported pointing devices, example, is stored as the co-ordinates of its Autocad. displays, plotters and printers. For some centre plus the radius. When you zoom in to devices there are additional questions to make the object larger, the program adds determine the precise manner in which you the necessary detail. Cadd run much more quickly if the system connect them. Autosketch and Generic CADD both has a maths co -processor. With Generic Cadd it is important to use require an IBM PC or compatible with two If your computer has an IBM Colour the drivers which come on the program disc drives - either twin floppies or a floppy and Graphics Adaptor and a Microsoft mouse rather than those provided by the peripheral a Winchester. The display must be capable attached to the COM1 serial port, then manufacturer, as they will interfere with the of showing a graphics screen with reasonably Generic Cadd is ready to go as it comes out proper running of the program. Another high resolution. Generic CADD needs at of the packing. Otherwise you run a simple difficulty which is likely to be encountered is least 384K of RAM. In Autosketch, memory menu -drivenconfigurationprogramto that the peripherals which will be used with size sets a limit to the complexity of the customise the main program so that it runs this software are serial devices. They thus drawing that can be displayed; a minimum with your equipment. As well as the IBM present all the problems associated with of 512K is recommended. CGA and EGA display and the ubiquitous RS -232 standards, including the need to

54 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 SOFTWARE REVIEW

IMAGES FROM AUTOSKETCH

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3-4 DEVELOPMENT 4-5 0 DESIGN 4-6 --1 PLANNING & COSTING 6-7 - MARKETING 6-8 E DESIGN APPROVAL 1-9 PRODUCTION Enlarging an image provides extra detail with object -orientated graphics (right) but not with pixel orientation (centre). match baudrate, data -word format and sor keys may be pressed into service to get At the top of the screen is an area reserved handshaking connections. The manual pro- you around the drawing. for the display of cursor co-ordinates. A vides comprehensive instructions for a wide Belying its origins, it is the screen display cross -haircursorinthedrawingarea range of devices, so with a little patience you of Generic Cadd that more closely resembles identifies the current plot point on the should beabletoachievethecorrect that of Autocad. The drawing area fills most screen and moves about as the pointing arrangement. of the screen. It has a vertical line on the device is operated. A digitising tablet is the recommended right-handsideseparatingitfromthe The Autosketch display is very similar to pointing device for both programs, and it is menu, and a horizontal line at the bottom that of Gem. A menu bar at the top of the a necessary adjunct if you intend to copy separating it from the prompt area. screen displays menu names, a memory - existing drawings by tracing them. If you do The menu lists the commands which the usage meter and adigital clock. At the bot- not wish to incur the expense of a digitiser - operator selects when making a drawing, tom of the screen there is a prompt line which can cost £900 or more - then a mouse and the prompt area gives an instruction where prompts are displayed to remind the can be used as a rapid input device. For those such as "Enter a Command" and displays operator what information the program is without even this basic peripheral, the cur- information about the drawing in progress. expecting. The drawing area in between (continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 55 SOFTWARE REVIEW

(continued on next page) structed in up to 256 layers, a feature which The other, which is imported from Autocad, contains a small Gem -like arrow whose posi- isparticularly valuableforarchitectural is the ability to stretch part of a drawing. tion is controlled by the pointing device. plans or engineering assembly diagrams. LikeGenericCadd,Autosketchassists Another point of similarity with Gem is that The drafting package uses control com- unskilled operators with commands such as Autosketch communicates with the user by mands to produce a professional -looking Ortho, Attach, Snap and Grid. means of dialogue boxes into which you result even when the operator may be rela- With both Generic Cadd and Autosketch enter values for specified parameters before tively unskilled. For example, by setting a providing a powerful range of drawing facili- completing the operation by clicking on an tolerance of 0.25 in combination with the ties for under £100, you might be wonder- OK or Cancel box. Snapto command, a line may be joined to ing why anyone should pay £2,500 for a full- Both packages group drawing commands any point within the specified range. Ortho blown drafting package such as Autocad. under a number of basic categories, acces- mode ensures that all lines that meet are The answer in a single word is "support". sible through the corresponding menu. strictly at right angles to each other; without With a hardware package comprising a Generic Cadd's first group is used for draw- this facility it is all too easy to make drawings digitiser, a plotter, possibly a special high - ing lines, circles, arcs, points and various slightly skew. A grid can be displayed to resolution monitor, and a powerful micro other items which are collectively called help with positioning. with numeric co -processor, each coming objects. The technique used to create objects from a different manufacturer and costing is first to specify by the appropriate com- SPLINE CURVES upwards of £9,000, the system has to be mand which object you require, and then to Autosketch has a more limited range of made to work. Furthermore, it will usually mark on the screen points which define that commands than Generic Cadd, althoughbe operated by someone who is skilled in object. For example, to draw a circle, the they still permit the operator to create com- drafting techniques rather than the use of centre and the radius can be specified; alter- plex drawings. The Draw menu is used to computers, so a substantial training pro- natively, three points on the circumference generate objects such as circles, arcs and gramme will be required. For these users will determine it uniquely. boxes. One sophisticatedfeature draws full-size packages are a worthwhile invest- A number of objects may be combined to spline curves from up to 100 control points ment, but for less specialised applications create a component, which can be saved to entered by the operator. The control points Generic Cadd and Autosketch are likely to disc in a library and recalled when itis form a frame of connecting points which, meet most requirements. needed. These recalled components can be when theoperationiscompleted,are manipulated by changing their scaleor redrawn as a spline curve. CONCLUSIONS rotating them. Text in a variety of founts, Librariescanbe formed fromsub- EFor a user who wants to add a drawing sizes and colours may be added from the assembly drawings, and they cansub- facility on to an existing system both Generic keyboard. Additional founts can be created, sequently be recalled and manipulated. The Cadd and Autosketch can be thoroughly recommended. and the new founts need not be restricted to facilities for entering text are rudimentary. IllAs a stand-alone system, Generic Cadd has alphanumeric characters. Zoom commands Two features of the editing commands are more powerful facilities. For userswith access change the area of display: for example, you likely to be of great value. The first is the to Autocad, the ability to convert Autosketch can zoom in on a small window so that it fills ability to step to and fro through the draw- drawings to Autocad formatwill probablybe the entire screen. Drawings can be con- ing by means of the Undo /Redo commands. thedeciding factor in its favour. PRINTER SWITCHES DIRECT from the MANUFACTURER

LINK TWO OR MORE MICROSTO ONE PRINTER, SERIAL DATA SWITCHES PARALLEL DATA SWITCHES PLOTTER, MODEM ETC. OR VICE VERSA. RS 232/V24.25 way 'D' sockets CENTRONICS. ALL 25 LINES 36 way Amphenol sockets MODEL SWITCH PRICE MODEL SWITCH PRICE DV2 2 way £59 DC2 2 way £65 DV3 3 way £69 DC3 3 way £79 DV4 4 way £79 DC4 4 way £95 DV5 5 way £89 DC5 5 way £109 DVX 2 way cross -over £79 DCX 2 way cross -over £95 LINES 1to 8 & 20 IBM PC.25 way 'D' sockets DR2 2 way £49 DP2 2 way £59 DR3 3 way £57 ROBUST METAL HOUSING DP3 3 way £69 DR4 4 way £65 DP4 4 way £79 ELECTRONICALLY TESTED DR5 5 way £73 DP5 5 way £89 DR8 8 way £109 28 DAYS APPROVAL DPX 2 way cross -over £79 DR X 2 way cross -over £65 12 MONTHS GUARANTEE 9 way '0' sockets ALL 9 LINES IEEE -488.24 way Amphenol sockets OFFICIAL ORDERS ACCEPTED DN2 2 way £45 DE2 2 way £89 DN3 3 way £52 DE3 3 way £109 24 HOUR DESPATCH DNX 2 way cross -over £59 DEX 2 way cross -over £129 PLEASE ADD VAT AT 15%. ALL ITEMS CARRIAGE PAID Trade, Educational & Export enquiries welcome. Cables also available. Ex stock & Custom built. HOMESTEAD DATA PRODUCTS LTD 145 EDINBURGH AVENUE, SLOUGH. SL1 4UA Fax (0753) 691037 Telex 846086 CABLIN-G

Tel:(0753)6916610.1KIMIWO ©1987 1E3 -0

circle 125 on enquiry card 56 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 "PLUG IN AND GO!" A NEW BREED OF.

MULTI-USER< COMPUTER

The Bromcom QC is a totally new breed of BETTER MULTI-USER COMPUTING computer, achieving tremendous breakthroughs The Bromcom QC allows you to do four things at once! By using Digital in price, size and ease of use. A highly versatile Research's Concurrent DOS/XM operating software, any of the four users four user multi -tasking computer capable of can run four' programmes simultaneously. That's 16 tasks in all. And expansion to much larger configurations; the you can change from doing one task to another instantly, at the touch of a Bromcom QC also acts as a file server to any IBM single key. Because Concurrent DOS runs almost all CP/M and MS DOS PC, the new Amstrad PC and most clones. programmes there's no shortage of software to choose from. You can run Pegasus, Omicron, Wordstar, Supercalc, Sensible Solution, Dataflex, Tas HALF THE PRICE! and many, many others. Accustomed to high prices for multi-user systems? The Bromcom QC is under half the price of traditional multi-user systems and is cheaper, per BETTER EXPANDABILITY user, than many PC's. But the Bromcom QC doesn't cut corners - 20MB The Bromcom QC has numerous options for add-on expansion: hard disc, full 16 bit processor (running at 10MHz) and 1MB of RAM are Industry standard ARC -Net networking standard; 2 or 4 MB RAM memory, 40 or 80 MB hard disk options are now 4 extra serial synchronous/asynchronous ports available. Four high specification VDUs, cables and FREE user -menu, diary 40 or 80 MB Winchester option (instead of 20) and electronic mail software complete the package. And all for half the 20, 40, 80, 150 or 200 MB Winchester add on price of a traditional multi-user system. 20 or 45 MB tape backup subsystem QUARTER THE SIZE! 2 or 4 MB RAM option (instead of 1 MB) Are computers taking over your office? The Bromcom QC is "shoebox" size - making it the smallest and most attractive multi-user computer BETTER FOR YOU ever. Bromcom QC's are great for any size of business. In small companies a QC can handle all data and word processing activities in one, easy to use, PLUG IN AND GO! machine. In larger companies and institutions, a QC makes an ideal Yes it's true! Simply plug in and switch on. User menus ensure even departmental unit or for communication between departments. Only a the most inexperienced of computer users get the most from the few of the software packages available for the Bromcom QC are listed Bromcom QC. above - there are over 1000 other possible applications.

The Bromcom QC really is the natural progression from the PC. For further details, or for demonstrations, contact us today.

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' subject to available RAM -2 and 4 MB RAM options are available. Kent BR1 4PJ. Telephone: 01-461 3737Telex: 926012 BCOM G Dealer enquiries circle 126 on enquiry card - circle 126 on enquiry card WHO'S GOT THE AUTOMATIC T -SWITCH?

For several years manual data switches have When using autoswitch with several PC's established themselves as a cost effective item in sharing a common peripheral an in-built 10 the time they save in reconfiguration, simply by second time-out feature prevents users from the rotation or pushing of a switch. attempting access at the same time, with the However, with the autoswitch, once connected ability to scan an entire system 10 times per you need never touch it again. second. Autoswitch has the ability to connect several The reliability of solid state circuitry and for data sources up to two printers or a number of around the price you would expect to pay for a terminals to a modem etc. manual switch. Why get left behind! Switching is obtained either on a demand basis Available in RS232 or centronics versions. (first come, first served) or a simple typed instruction directly from your PC's keyboard or Call Interface Systems today. embedded in the print data to select which peripheral you require to use. We'll get you connected. INTERFACE SYSTEMS, OF COURSE. PRICES FROM £120

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Interface Systems Unit 11 Conqueror Industrial Estate Moorhurst Rood Castleham Hastings Sussex

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circle 107 on enquiry card How to writeyour ownsoftware without the help of a programer !

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Mailing List Menu Entry Screen Print out to Screen Develop your first application We use it ourselves. Build a reputation for efficiency. on day 1. Our in-house fully integrated sales order TAS is for people like you. You like using a With TAS you can take any type of infor- processing and financial accounting system (yes computer. You know that it is vitally important mation like names and addresses or stock it is for sale) was developed using TAS. Running to have accurate, up-to-date information records and design an entry form by simply on a multi-user network we can provide instant instantly available. You also know of many appli- "painting" the screen. TAS then writes the data answers to such questions as "who bought what,cations that can be done easier, better and entry program for you. when and at what price". And that's only part of it.quicker with a computer. Cut down on shuffling When you run this program you enter your bits of paper. Cut down repetition. Everyone information and store it on disk. This is a 110111MILIIIIMMIMMEllmIn performs better because the job is more database. And you can create as many as will fit interesting and more fun. That's what TAS is all "Excellent value for money, especi- about. With TAS you can make a computer do on your disk. With another function, the ally for novices wanting to learn and "database browser" you can display this infor- what you want it to do. mation on the screen and browse through it developers wanting economic runtime and change it. systems." Personal Computer Nothing else needed. Reports are just as easy. You tell the report World Magazine At £99.00 TAS-Plus is complete. It consists of the Relational Database, Screen Painter, Program generator which file you want to report from "There is no doubt that TAS is a very and then simply answer the questions it asks you. Generator, Report Generator, Database Browser, When you've finished, TAS will generate a capable product. It handles serious 4th Generation Language, "Idiot Proof" (no program that produces the report you want and sized applications and does so with disrespect) drop -down menu -driven Command you can run that report time after time. Editor, Runtime Compiler for fast program speed." What Micro Magazine execution, 'Ibtorial and Manual. "TAS manages to pack plenty of Simultaneously access up to 16 files, each A Relational Database. power into its small price." with 16 indices. Each file may have 65,000 You may know that with any database records of up to 10,000 characters each. Import application you enter, store, retrieve and PC Magazine and export data with other software packages manipulate data. "Relational" means that you "On a value for money basis this including dBase-Ill, wordprocessing packages can simultaneously "relate" more than one file must be one of the most attractive and spreadsheets. to another. For example a sales order "relates" to both ;databases on the market." Multi -User Version Available. stock records and a customer record. The Accountancy Age This version supports full file and record resulting invoice "relates" to the customer "If you cannot find a commercial locking and works on all MS -Net compatible record and a sales daybook record. With TAS you networks. Software you develop now will run can simultaneously access and relate more files package to suit your organisation then most certainly this must be one of the without change if you upgrade to TAS Plus than any other database package and do so Multi -User later on. with ease. first places to start looking in order to produce a system of your own." 30 -Day Money Back Guarantee. "How not to do it". Personal Computing with The parcel you receive is fully operational One thing is certain. After you finish a the Amstrad but limited to saving 250 records. Provided the database application, you usually know exactly sealed, unlimited copy remains unopened you what's wrong with it. With TAS it is easy to can return the goods within 30 days (in good subsequently change and modify both your files Never run out of steam. condition) FOR A FULL, NO QUIBBLE, and your applications without having to TAS is so fast and powerful that most of the REFUND. Have a go. Order your copy today with re-enter your data. TAS utilities are developed in TAS itself. the coupon below. We also accept purchase orders from PLC's and Government. Excellent documentation and on -screen helpNo other database is remotely capable of will show you how to use the 4th generation doing this. And that is exactly where you We despatch by 1stclasspost on language, add more powerful features which benefit. It's simple enough for the first timer but include extensive calculations, pull down powerful enough for the professional software the same day we receive your order menus, multiple windows, business graphics, developer. So you have little to worry about whether TAS is suitable for your particular r...... 128 colour combinations and much more. r. Send to Ref: PRAC08 Result . . . your applications are more user- application or not. MEGATECH, As PCW Magazine said in their review of TAS 111-113 Wandsworth High Street, friendly, easier to use, look better and have more London SW18 4HYYES! "polish" than some of the very expensive Plus: "Excellent value for money, especially for Please send me 1 Copy of TAS Plus. I enclose a "professional" packages. And YOU have novices wanting to learn and developers wanting cheque for £115 (incl VAT and P&P) made payable to written them. economic runtime systems." 1MEGATECH or charge my Access or VISA card INumber: Expiry Date: TAS Plus is fast and easy to learn. All you need is a little application and an IBM PC or Signature: compatible computer (including the AMSTRAD PC1512) with 512KB RAM and a hard disk or (Card) Name: plus VAT. two floppy disks. TAS Plus Multi -User for MS -Net compatible Networks costs £349.00 (Card) Address:

Postcode: Tel: PRIORITY ORDERS A VAT invoice will be included in the parcel. 01-874 6511 Enclose a company letter - Use Access/Visa Card head if invoice name and -+circle 115onenquiry card - PRACO8 are differentfrom rvir-CATMff QuoteRef: PRACO8 Quote Refaddresscard name and adds.res 111-113 Wandsworth High Street, London SW18 4HY. Tel 01-875 6511 (6 Lines), Telex: 21768 Services COMPUTER: M1 Junction 6 M10 Junction 1 725 ion 21A

' WE PIKE PRIDE IN OUR LOW PRICES DOT MATRIX PRINTERS OLIVETTI PC's ADD-ON BOARDS Epson LX800 - The Brand New Best Seller! f195 Olivetti M24 Single Floppy Base Unit/640k £799 AST SixPack Plus 64k memory Multifunction Card £169 Star NL10 - The Number Two Seller -Best Spec £210 Olivetti M24 Double Floppy Base Unit/640k £899 Qubie SixShooter Multifunction Card 64k memory £125 Star NX15 - The New Wide -body NL10! £288 Olivetti M24SP 20mb/single floppy Base Unit/640k f1399 Intel AboveBoard with Ok installed £225 Star NR15 - Replaces the SRI 5-A Great Mover f424 Olivetti M28 AT Compatible - 20mb Hard Disk £1884 Everex Mini Magic Ram Expansion Card (3841) £117 Panasonic 1080 100cps £129 Olivetti M28 20mb Hard Disk with 20mb Tape Back-up £2368 Hercules Graphics/Graphics Plus Card £179 Panasonic 1081 120cps & 80 col - Brand New! f149 Olivetti M28 40mb Hard Disk, 640k RAM £2199 Everex EverGraphics Plus (Clone Hercules Card) £95 Panasonic 1091 - Byte Magazine Says It's No 1 C228 Olivetti M28 40mb Hard Disk with 20mb Tape Back-up £2877 Eizo Auto -Switch EGA Card £219 Panasonic 1595 - The Panasonic Favorite C521 Special Offers: Paradise Auto -Switch EGA Card £245 Epson L0800 - Letter Quality -24 Pin Printhead C423 Olivetti M24 with 640k, 7 -slot Bus Converter Serial Port £39 Epson L01000 - Letter Quality -24 Pins -132 Col C577 Monitor. MS-DOS/GW-Basic, Keyboard. 20mb Hard Disk £1349 Epson LQ2500 - This one is really good! C694 M24SP Complete System (Monitor/Keyboard/DOS) £1599 Epson S02500 - Ink your jet with this one! C988 CO -PROCESSOR AND DRAM Epson FX800 - Brand New! 240cps! Wow! C298 COMPAQ Epson FX1000 - Brand New! Replaces FX105 £385 MEMORY CHIPS Epson EX800 - 300cps & 80 column -Super Fast! £385 Compaq Portable III Model 2 640K/20MB HD £2824 64k dRAM chips (nine to make 64k) £1.15 each Epson EX1000 - 300cps & 136 column -Super Fast! £517 Compaq Portable Ill Model 3 640K/40MB HD £3136 256k dRAM chips (nine to make 256k) 150 N.S. £3.00 each Star NB15 - The big, up-market Star 24 -pin 300cps £679 Compaq Deskpro 286 Model 20 640K/1 FD/2OMB H.D. C2161 Intel 8087 5mz Maths Co -Processor £97 Star NB24-15 - Same as above, but 216cps £525 Compaq Deskpro 286 Model 40 640K/1 FD/4OMB H.D. £2536 Intel 8087-2 8mz Maths Co -Processor £139 Star NB24-10 - 80 column 24 -pin winner £415 Compaq Deskpro 386 Model 40 1024K/40MD HD/Tape Bk £3999 Intel 80287-8 Maths Co -Processor £189 Seikosha MP1300AI - 300cps! £299 Compaq Deskpro 386 Model 70 1024K/70MB HD/Tape Bk £4499 Seikosha MP5300AI - 132col Version of MP1300 £439 Compaq Deskpro 386 Model 130 1024K/130MB HD/Tape £5622 MP 165 - Cheap Fast And Good Quality 180cps f170 Compaq Mono Video Controller Board £150 MP 200 - 200cps! 132 column! £260 Compaq 286 EGA Colour Adaptor f372 IBM -COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE TOP 28 MP 201 - 132 column 200cps £295 Compaq 286 High Resolution EGA -style Colour Monitor C413 WordStar 2000 release 2 £228 NEC P6 - Good Buy L'389 Compaq Dual -Mode Mono Amber or Green Monitor £162 WordStar Version 4 - New Features in Old Dress £199 NEC P7 - One of the Best Sellers Ever - 24 pin C447 WordStar Professional Version 4.. £239 Oki Microline 182 - The Number 2 Brand £188 TOSHIBA Dbase III PlusBest Selling Professional Database f325 Oki Microline 192 - Perennial Favourite £282 Framework II Version 1.1 £312 Toshiba 73100 Lap Top C2675 Oki Microline 193 - Worth A Look £366 Lotus 1-2-3 ver 2.1 Top Selling Package In The World C223 Toshiba T3100 Carrier Bag £40 Oki Microline 293 - Worth A Long Look £608 Supercalc ver 4 - The Celebrated Lotus -Beater! C195 Toshiba T2100 Lap Top £1800 Citizen MSP 10 - 160cps draft 80 column f277 Smart System - The Best Intergrated Package £349 Citizen 120D - 120cps draft 25cps NLO f165 Toshiba T1100 Plus Lap Top £1395 Toshiba External 5.25 Disc Drive £335 Word Perfect ver 4.2 - The Number 1 WP Package C244 Citizen MSP20 - 200cps draft 50cps NLO £299 Microsoft Word ver 3 - Number 2 WP Package C249 Multimate ver 3.31 £189 DAISY WHEEL PRINTERS MONITORS Multimate Advantage £239 Executive Systems X -Tree (Super Friendly HD Organizer)....f40 Star Power Type 18cps - The Current Cheap One £179 Dyneer 12in 12MHI Mono Monitor & Tilt/Swivel Stand £99 Taxon K1 2SV3 Supervision III Colour Monitor £359 Pegasus Accounts (per Module) £199 Juki 6100 - 20cps - Very Popular £254 Psion Chess - You too can play like Gary Kasperov £25 Juki 6200 - 30cps - Still Popular £397 Eizo ER8042S 14in Ultra -High Res EGA Colour Monitor.. £465 ADI 14in Mono Monitor with Tilt/Swivel Stand £120 Quaid Software Copywrite (Back up Protected Software) £35 Juki 6300 - 40cps - Very Up -Market £660 Lotus Symphony version 1.2 (Latest Version) 0319 Juki 6500 - 60cps - Heavy Duty and Very Fast £966 Microsoft Flight Simulator - Don't crash! £34 Oume Sprint 11/90 - 90cps Daisywheel Printer £1200 ATARI Funk Software Sideways £40 Citizen HP0-45 45 cps £499 Atari 520STM 512k RAM, N Modulator, no disk drive C199 Borland Turbo Lightening £47 Atari 520STFM 512k RAM, disk drive, mouse £299 Microsoft Windows £59 COLOUR PRINTERS Atari 1040STF lmb RAM, disk drive, mouse, no monitor £439 Lotus Manuscript - Latest Blockbuster WP Package!...... £268 PFS: First Choice f110 Okimate 20 Thermal Printer £159 Atari 10e0STF with Mono Monitor, 1mb RAM, disk drive £519 Juki 5520 - The Market Leader - Fast! £335 Atari 1040STF with Atari SC1224 Colour Monitor £705 Grafox Logistix MO Epson EX -Series Colour Option £55 Ataft 1040STF with Phillips 8833 Colour Monitor £660 Norton Utilities 4 C52 Xerox Ventura DeskTop Publisher NEC P565XL - Heavy -Duty Office Favorite! C744 Atari 1040STF with Phillips 8852 Colour Monitor C663 £636 Epson 102500 Colour Option/Makes L02500 Colour £55 Atari SF314 lmb Floppy Disk Drive C143 Smart Spelling Checker £80 Freelance Plus Seikosha MP1300 Colour Kit/Makes MP1300 Colour £87 Alan SH204 20mb Hard Disk Drive £478 £269 Cumana CS354 1mb Floppy Disk Drive C113 Cumana CS358 double lmb Disk drive Unit £198 PLOTTERS, DIGITIZERS & LASERS Micro Peripherals DD41 lmb Disc Drive £110 ALTERNATIVE LOW-COST IBM/ New Oki Laserline 6 - 6 pages per minute £1459 Atari SM125 High Resolution Monochrome Monitor £114 HP LaserJet II- Newer, Better, Cheaper! £1945 Atari SC1224 Colour Monitor £296 AMSTRAD COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE Cherry A3 Digitizer £475 Phillips 8833 Colour Monitor C249 VP Planner by Paperback Software - Best Seller, £61 Roland 880A Plotter - Best Value A3 Plotter £649 VP Info (OBASEIICIone) £62 Epson G03500 - Brand new Epson best-seller! £1359 ATARI TOP SELLING SOFTWARE VP Expert £75 Flight Simulator II £37 Borland Sidekick - The Original Co -Resident Process! £49 CABLES AND THINGS VIP Professional (Lotus Clone Gem Version) C139 - C How You Like This! £65 Borland Turbo Pascal - The Classic Borland Product IBM -Compatible Centronics Parallel Cable (Round) C12 Metacomco Lattice C Compiler £67 £47 BBC Centronics Parallel Cable (Ribbon) £8 Metacomco Macro Assembler £37 Sage Bookeeper £75 Serial Cables Made to Order £20 Easy Draw release 2 £57 Sage Retrieve Database £71 Two -Way Printer T -Switch £40 Megamax C Compiler £109 Sage PC Planner Spreadsheet (Lotus Clone) £71 Sage Desk -Set Fan -Fold White Paper, 11 in long, 1000 sheets £7 All Other Atari Software 15% discount £49 Sage PC -Write Word Processor £71 80 Col Printer Stands C21 Sage Accountant C110 132 Column Printer Stands £28 CATS 'N' MICE SpaceBase Adjustable Floor -Standing Printer Stand £85 Sage Accountant Plus - Top Selling Cheap Accounts £155 DiskStore (Stores 50 5.25in diskettes) £10 Mouse Systems Mouse with Pop -Up Menus 8 PC Paint £145 Sage Payroll £85 Mouse Systems Mouse with Pop -Up Menus Only £125 Sage Financial Controller - Just reduced from 995! £240 Microsoft Bus or Serial Mouse - Don't forget the cat! £132 Personal Word Perfect £149 AMSTRAD PC Logimouse £77 Word Perfect Junior £80 Amstrad 1512 Single Floppy/Mono Monitor f435 Microsoft Word Junior £62 Amstrad 1512 Double Floppy/Mono Monitor C535 DISKETTES WordStar 1512 £60 Amstrad 1512 Single Floppy/Colour Monitor £595 Multiplan Junior £62 Amstrad 1512 Double Floppy/Colour Monitor C685 Computer Express 5.25in OS/DD 48tpi disks £1.00 each Supercalc 3 £60 Amstrad 1512 20mb Hard Disk/Mono Monitor f865 Computer Express 5.25in DS/DD 96tpi disks C1.40 each Amstrad Reflex £60 Amstrad 1512 20mb Hard Disk/Colour Monitor £1019 Computer Express 5.25in DS/DD 96tpi Hi -Density £1.85 each Migent Ability - Top Integrated Package £68 Upgrade any 1512 to 640k (including labour) £40 Computer Express Branded 3.5in DS/DD diskettes C1.99 each Migent Ability II- Spend a Little More, Mate! f135 Un-branded Verbatim 3.5in SS/DD diskettes £1.15 each Words & Figures - Lotus 123 v1 Clone with WP C80 Gem WordChart £89 EPSON PC's COMMUNICATIONS Epson Taxi PC. 256k RAM, Single Floppy £466 Epson Taxi PC, 256k RAM, Double Floppy £539 Miracle WS4000 V21 -V23 Modem £139 SPECIAL OFFERS Epson Taxi PC, 256k RAM, 20mb Hard Disk £870 Miracle WS3000 V22 Professional Modem £385 Epson PC+ 640k RAM, Double Floppy, Video Card £900 Sage Chitchat Comms Pack (Modem/Software/Cable) £199 Epson PC+ 20mb with Eizo 8042S EGA Monitor & Card ...£1489 Epson PC+ 640k RAM, 20mb Hard Disk, Video Card £1000 Crosstalk IV Comms Software f93 Epson PC+ 20mb with Epson Mono Monitor £989 Epson PC AX -20 AT 640k RAM, 1.2mb Floppy. 20mb HD £1499 Sage Chitchat Comms Software £71 Amstrad PC1512 Summer Mono Bundle (w/printer 8 software) £659 Epson PC AX -40 AT 640k RAM, 1.2mb Floppy, 40mb HO £1899 One -To -One Electronic Mail Subscription C20 Enccson Portable PC 512k, Printer, 360k Floppy (ex -demo) £1500 Epson PC AX -60 AT 640k RAM, 1.2mb Floppy. 60mb HD £2399 RS232 serial modem cable C15 Atari SH204 20mb Extemal Hard Disk £478 Epson PC AX -80 AT 640k RAM, 1.2mb Floppy, 80mb HD £2799 Olivetti DM290 132 column 200cps printer w/tractor feed £296 All Epson PC's, PC.'s and AX's require monitors and all PC's HARD DISKS Olivetti M28 40mb 640k C2199 and AX's also require Monitor Adaptor Cards. Above offers subject to payment with order and valid only Dysan/Western Digital 20mb File Card £289 while current stocks last. First come first served. Only Miniscribe 30mb Scribecard Hard Disk Card £325 one of each item per customer and you must mention this ad. MACDOUGALL PC's Seagate 20mb Hard Disk Kit with WD Comtroller & Cables C275 MacDougall 286 AT 512k 10mz/20mb HD/mono monitor ... £999 Plus HardCard 20mb C595 All prices exclude VAT and delivery Prices are correct at the time of going to press although they are subject to change without notification Official purchase orders welcome Full back up and support Open Monday to Friday 9am-6pm Open Saturday 10am-4pm NO SNAKES IN FOR FULL PRICE LIST PLEASE CALL ,THE CRASS IlEf?E TELEPHONE ORDERS WELCOME 0727-72790 SINGLE AND MULTI-USER MICRO -COMPUTER AND SOFTWARE SALES AND SUPPORI).t4f 99 PARK STREET LANE BRICKET WOOD HERTFORDSHIRE AL2 2JA ST ALBANS (0727) 72790 Telex: 8950511 ONE ONE G (Quote Ref. 15412001) - circle 109 on enquiry card -- SOFTWARE REVIEW TURBO BASIC HIGH-SPEED COMPILER By Mike Lewis

Although Basic has its critics windows. The first two are the important file, or a TBC file for use with Basic's Chain there remains a dedicated ones, being used for editing the program Command. One of the compiler's biggest and viewing its output. The Messages win- weaknesses is that it cannot generate separ- band of users. Borland's dow is mainly used to display compilation ately compiled object modules; the only way typically good -value statistics,whiletheremainingoneis of building a library of reusable routines is to implementation gives them an reserved for tracing a program's execution duplicate source code via an Include com- with the Tron and Troff commands. There mand. additional option. are plenty of ways of resizing the windows All this inevitably has an effect on pro- and moving them around, and the Edit and gram size. Holding the editor, compiler and with Turbo Basic, Borland Inter- Run windows can be zoomed to fill the source code in RAM leaves that much less national has signalled its belief screen. space for the executable program. But you that there is still a future for the The whole thing is supported by a simple are still much better off than you would be much -maligned Basic language. True, more system of pull -down menus and a compre- with Microsoft's Basic interpreters,since and more programmers are turning to Pas- hensive Help file. All told, the user interface they impose a 64K limit on program and cal, C and even Prolog, but the overall is well designed and quite straightforward to data. Turbo Basic's limits are 64K for the market for languages is growing so fast that a use.Therearealso good facilitiesfor source, 64K for each array, 64K for all non - first-rate Basic compiler can still make plenty customising the package, including chang- array variables, and an unlimited code seg- of money for its authors. ing screen colours, editor control keys and ment. Turbo Basic is certain to, do just that. It compiler defaults. Program size is not the only area where is a world away from the traditional free- The compiler itself works entirelyin Turbo Basic is ahead of the interpreters. The standing compilers, with their need for memory, with both source and executable language itself has many more features. It separate editors and linkers. Now the fam- programs held in RAM by default, which achieves its aim of being compatible with iliar development cycle - edit, compile, makes compilation very fast. Alternatively, both GWBasic and Basica, while at the same link, run and crash - can be performed you can elect to produce a free-standing Exe time offering lots of interesting new com- quickly and easily in an integrated environ- mands. Programs written for either of these ment, complete with windows and pull - interpreters should compile and run with down menus. SPECIFICATION littleorno change,evenifthey use In this respect, Turbo Basic follows the hardware -dependent featureslike sound, route marked out by its stablemates, Turbo Description: Basic compiler with built-in graphics and event trapping. editor and run-time environment In addition, Borland has tried to make Pascal and Turbo Prolog. It has the same Hardware required: IBM PC, PC/AT WordStar -style editor and fast in -memory or compatible with 256K RAM Turbo Basic compatible with another Micro- compilation, and an error trap that auto- Copy protection: none soft product, the Quick Basic compiler. This matically re -invokes the editor and places Price: £69.95 is important because Quick Basic and Turbo the cursor at the offending statement. The Publisher: Borland International of Basic seem to be natural competitors - the user interface is much closer to that of Bor- Scotts Valley, California first time that the brash young Borland has land'sPrologthantheolderPascal, UK distributor: Borland International, made a direct attack on the mighty Micro- although it is only a matter of time before 1 Great Cumberland Place, London W1 H soft. Quick Basic, which we reviewed in the the latter compiler gets the same treatment. 7AL. Telephone 01-258 3797 February 1986 issue, is now in its third major At the heart of the interface is a set of four Available:now release.

or o'asic or o :asic File Edit Run Compile Options Setup Window Debug ile Edit Run Compile Options Setup Window Debug

Compile to Memory plifilliV#:011314113/1111141111 Edit - Trace 8887required Memory ll9DMWITSAMIlWARE Ansz : FliackZ(3,6) keyboard break EWE file TheClassic Sieve of Eratosthenes Benchmark XX# : TIMER Bounds Chain file Ack : XXII - X# Overflow DEFINT A-2 PRINT USING "Ackerman complete in IC Stack test OFF DIM Flags(8198) 'END Run Parameter line CIS ieve - 25 iterations 899 primes in 14.665 seconds DEF FNackZ(MX,NZ) ' Ackerman re Metastatements PRINT "Sieve - 25iterations" IF Mx : 8 THEN : TIMER FNacla : tix+1 ELSE FOR Iter : 1 TO25 IF Ni : 8 then Count : 8 FOR I: 8 TO Message Run Trace Flags(I) = Compilin SIDE

NEWT I Line: 94 Stmt: 27 FOR I: 8 TO IF Flags(I)

Prime : I 8:1+P - nom .-'ex - oo 't -ize move -'- xit -'e - vow :-'es - o o - ize move ' t-'- sit -e Turbo Basic is controlled by a set of pull -down menus. Its four windows (right) can be moved around and resized at will. (continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 61 'SOFTWARE REVIEW

(continued from previous page) TURBO BASIC good assortment of Basic commands ran in Like Turbo Basic, Quick Basic sports a 100 seconds under GWBasic, 36 seconds built-in editor and in -memory compilation. 14:VERDICT , with Turbo Basic, but just 14 seconds after (4., Its windowing system is less sophisticated, 0 k, compiling with Quick Basic. c) --.., with user programs taking over the entire ,: .is- As far as compilation times are concerned, 0 "" 0 * 44./ screen,which many programmerswill ,z- 0 the results are much clearer. Turbo Basic prefer. A useful feature is that its menus and clocked a consistent 5,000 statements per Performance windows can be bypassed, with compilation minute for memory -to -memory compila- invoked from the DOS prompt or a batch Ease of use tion, compared to 3,300 for Quick Basic and file. Version 3 has a sophisticated debugger, Documentation IN . 0 4,500 for Turbo Pascal. All these tests were similar to Code View in Microsoft C. Value for money 0 carried out on an 8086 -based Olivetti M-24. The language elements that Quick Basic E If you are committed to Basic, this One performance statistic in which Turbo introduced, and which Turbo Basic has now compiler is well worth considering. Basic compares badly is in executable pro- borrowed, include many commands aimed gram size. A minimum program, which at making Basic a more structured language. simply displays a greeting and exits, gener- Optional alphanumeric labels replace man- ates a 28K Exe file. In Quick Basic, the datory line numbers. There are new ways of figure is just 3K, while in Turbo Pascal the avoiding Goto statements, such as Select Basic does. Both compilers allow arrays to be equivalent Corn file is 11K. This would not Case, Do -While, Do -Until, Loop and Exit. allocated and released dynamically, and matter in a large application such as a pay- And the If-Elseif-Endif construction means both have 8087 support. roll, where programs could be chained to that you need not squeeze an entire If com- One feature missing from both products is minimise this overhead. But it does make mand on a single line. direct language support for the mouse. The Turbo Basic unattractive for small utilities Perhaps best of all, both compilers allow joystick and light -pen are both well pro- such as file listers and directory programs. you to write real multi -line functions and vided for, so why not use the same On -Event procedures, as you would in Pascal or C, syntax for what is a far more popular point- CONCLUSIONS complete with global, local and static vari- ing device? This omission is especially sur- For Basic programmers, or for userswitha ables. With Turbo Basic you are not forced prising in Quick Basic, which does support largeinvestmentin Basic programs, a to place these routines before the statements the mouse in its own user interface but not compiler like Turbo Basic could be a much bet- that call them, which means that you can in the language. ter option than changing languages. put the top-level logic at the top of the pro- For many users the key factor in choosing II1Turbo Basic is fast, easy to use, inexpensive, gram. This is not possible with Quick Basic. a compiler is speed. Turbo Basic makes your and rich in new commands and functions. I n comparison with its obvious rival, Micro- Other Turbo Basic plus points include programs run faster than they would under soft's Quick Basic, it scores well in terms of user recursion, easier access to machine register an interpreter, but the amount of speed-up interface, compilation speed, language fea- and interrupts, and an improved assembler isvery variable.In our tests we noted tures and memory model, but less wellin interface. On the negative side, it does not improvements ranging from almost nothing execution times, program size and debugging support file and record locking, which Quick to a factor of 60:1. A program containing a aids.

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62 circle 111 on enquiry card PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 A UNBEATABLE PRICES -A FRIENDLY SERVICE A HOT LINE SUPPORT TIZI SOFT IA PROFESSIONAL ADVICE SOFTWARE A BOARDS A PRINTERS A SYSTEMS

MULTIMATE1WORDSTAR SUPER - LOTUS 1-2-3 dBASE 3 + FRAMEWORK SUPERCALC 4 ADVANTAGE PROFESS. 4.0 PROJECT + £239 £349 £299 £215 £265 1 £215 £295

Datatalk 125 Vega Deluxe 275 Crosstalk 99 Genoa Level 3 275 Mirror 69 Genoa Level 4 325 EGA Wonder 295-

Multimate 199 Norton Utilities 67 Multimate Advantage 265 Mace + 59 Taxan Supervision 760 14" 495 MS Word 3.1 260 Sideways 47 Taxan Supervision 860 16" 795 Wordperfect 260 DS Backup + 89 Taxan Multiscan 770 14" 595 Wordstar Professional 4.0 215 Fastback 145 NEC Multisynch 14" 595 Wordstar 2000 245 XTree 49 Taxan Viking 11280x960 19" POA Wordstar 2000+ 295 Genius DTP 1008x736 A4 size 1495 Manuscript 275 PRODUCT Displaywrite 3 345 Gem Collection 99 Dis la write 4 395 Gem Draw Plus 135 Intel Above Board PC 2.0Mb 495 Gem Graph 135 Intel Above Board AT 2.0Mb 645 Gem Wordchart 99 Intel Above Board PS 1.5Mb 495 dBase III + 349 Prorammers Toolkit 345 AST Rampage PC 2.0Mb 495 DataEase POA AST Rampage AT 2.0Mb 695 RBase System 395 AST Six Pak Premium 1Mb 495 Paradox 395 MS Windows 69 Delta 4.3 345 Windows Draw 115 TURBO BOARDS Foxbase + 345 Orchid Tiny Turbo 286 395 Clipper 395 11116111111111EOrchid Jet 386 795 Quicksilver 375 Turbo Pascal 55 Intel Inboard 386 1495 Turbo Tutor 28 EMANCi _MODELLING Graphics Toolbox 45 Lotus 1-2-3 V. 2.01 239 Editor Toolbox 45 Microsoft Mouse 145 Supercalc 4 1. 215 Database Toolbox 45 Mouse Systems PC Mouse 145 Supercalc 3.21 99 Gameworks 45 Summamouse 89 Javelin 380 Jumbo Pack (includes all above) 165 Losimouse 89 Report Manager POA Turbo Basic 55 Multilan 3 145 Turbo C 75 Turbo Prolog 65 Kyocera F1010 2495 Turbo Lightning 65 Kyocera F2010 3795 Framework 299 Sidekick 55 HP Laserjet 1495 Symphony 339 Superkey 55 HP Laser et + 2195 Smart 385 Reflex 79 Q & A 195 Eureka 55 S rint 159 Tecmar Qic-60 Internal 995 H ICS Tecmar Qic-60 External 1295 , Freelance Plus 275 AST 40MB Internal AT 495 EGA Paint 89 PC Paintbrush 99 DXY 880A A3 675 Domino 395 930 8087 - 5MHz 125 DXY 980A A3 DXY 885 A3 930 8087 - 8MHz 165 DXY 990 A3 1095 Microsoft C 4.0 265 8087 - 10MHz 245 DPX 2000 A2 2545 Lattice C 275 80287 - 6MHz 185 DPX 3300 Al 4095 MS Quickbasic 79 80287 - 8MHz 245 MS Fortran 245 80287 - 10MHz 295 ODEMS RM Fortran 395 Entire HAYES range MS Pascal 195 Entire DOWTY range Hercules Mono Graphics + 179 Prices on application commuNIcATioNs Hercules Incolour 295 Chit Chat 79 Paradise Autoswitch EGA 480 295 ALL PRICES SUBJECT TO VAT AND CARRIAGE

TAXAN MULTISCAN 770 NEC MULTISYNCH + NEC PRINTERS VEGA DELUXE + PARADISE 480 (HERC MONO GRAPHICS + £179 P.O.A. _1725 £795 TEL: 0629 733111 TRISOFT LIMITED VISA TELEX: 377233 TRISOF G DARLEY DALE FAX: 0629 733389 MATLOCK TELECOM GOLD DERBYSHIRE 83: NTG344 DE4 3BP TRISOFT circle 128 on enquiry card t- IF YOU KNEW THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS PRINTER, YOU'D GET AN AWFUL SHOCK. Don't get us wrong; it's a very fine printer, one of the finest you can buy, in fact. It's called the Fujitsu DL3400. It's made by the number one computer maker in Japan, and so, as you might expect, it comes with a range of excellent features. Like speed (amazing speed: it'll do 240 CPS in draft mode, and 60 CPS in letter quality). And clarity (remarkable clarity: its 24 -wire printhead pro- duces diamond -sharp printouts). And variety (wondrous variety: up to eight different type - fonts and a color printing option). It also comes with a smooth and effortless paper handling system (featuring a built-in rear -feed tractor unit), instant hardware compatibility with just about any name brand computer on the market, heart-warming reliability, and a shocking price. Shocking? Even worse! Downright unbelievable! No printer offering all of this could have a price like this one. Could it? Now you know the truth. To find out what it means, call Fujitsu on (01) 573-4444. Or write to: Fujitsu Europe Ltd., 2, Longwalk Road, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 lAB, England.

Japan's No. 1 computer maker FUJITSU r I'd like to know more about Fujitsu printers.

Please send information on the following: E DL3400 (24 -wire dot matrix) Name. Ei DL2600 (24 -wire dot matrix) Title: (24 -wire dot matrix) E DL2600 Color Company: DL2400 (24 -wire dot matrix) Address: D DL2400 Color(24 -wire dot matrix) II El DX2200 ( 9 -wire dot matrix) City: Country i 111 DX2100 (9 -wire dot matrix) Phone: Fax: ,2. Send to Fujitsu Europe Ltd. 2 Longwalk Road, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 lAB, England. Phone: 01-573 4444 = L I - circle 129 on enquiry card F

I SOFTWARE REVIEW

7sc: Main Menu IS-TEST1

Shift -4 or Shift -t to begin search Ins P 1-Ln 1-Col 1-- Dear Orion, ress or0ICS

o searci orwar , owar to en o At 12:20 this afternoon .a line of mo your document, press Shift- and Justified. by Machinery for the first Webster's will find and highlight the

And I was there to see, It was done next occurrence of the search pattern. perfectly. This is indeed the first To search backward, toward the art,ie4ectly spaced and perfectly j beginning of your document, press Shift -t and Webster's will find and This was the last function that rendhighlight the previous occurrence of odds the most amazing and extraordin the search pattern. Webster's keeps brain of mah stands completed. and pethe search pattern in memory, so you celebrating... can make edits to your document in the Creative writers have different middle of a search. needs from the ordinary office H All the witnesses made written recap ress o exi e - the first justification of a line a novae yey macunery - an. WP user, and this package also set down the hour and the minute, Nobody had, drank anything and sets out to address them. yet everybody seemed drunk. Well - dizzy, stupefied, stunned. All the other wonderful inventions of the human brain sink pretty /K^v1,19 into commonplace contrasted with th4s awful mechanical miracle, I Though numerous word processors are 11 I. available,theeconomicsofthe industry still seem to dictate that vir- tually all of them are multi -purpose pro- grams. Word processors are rarely angled to a specific group of users, and the only WEBSTER'S NEW significant differentiation is by price. Web- ster's New World Writer attempts to buck this trend. This package is aimed specifically WORLD WRITER at writers; the special needs of secretaries, producers of form letters and the like are ignored. FOR AUTHORS ONLY Webster'sisdescribed asa "writing system". It combines basic word-processing By Susan Curran capabilitieswithaspellingchecker,a thesaurus and a writer's guide. It should be emphasised, though, that the only style not always so: you have to select End, for checker included is in the manual, and that SPECIFICATION example, to do a security save, and Appear- ance in order to start a new page. Some of the capabilities of this program do not in any Description: word processpr with way exceed those of a good all-round word spelling checker and thesaurus the key sequences are a little cumbersome. processor such as Word Perfect or WordStar Hardware required: IBM PC, PC/AT To change both margins, for example, you 4.0. But Webster's is the only program cost- or compatible with at least 256K of select Appearance followed by Format fol- ing less than £150 that I know to have a memory and two disc drives; PS/2 version lowed by Left Margin, then fix the margin thesaurus, and this alone may make it very in preparation using the cursor before you select Right Mar- attractive to certain users. Copy protection: none gin and do likewise, and finally select Use to Webster'sisa relatively compact and Price: £110 apply the new settings. simpleprogram.Thefullpackage, Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Prentice Format changes within a document are Hall International, 66 Wood Lane End, including thesaurus and spelling checker, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 handled by so-called "fences". A fence - comes on just three unprotected floppies. It 4RG. Telephone: (0442) 58531 mark is a special indication at the start of a requires only 256K of RAM, which is modest Available: now paragraph that a format change is required; for a package with these capabilities. The changes made at that point apply until the program is neatly presented, with a very next fence -mark. This is a neat and flexible sturdy 200 -page spiral -bound manual and a move text from file to file, to keep notes on- system once you have understood it. The quick -reference card. The manual is well line in a separate file from their document, program performs margin changes and other laid -out, though it is occasionally confusing and to compare successive drafts of a docu- formattingadjustmentsefficientlyand in the way it presents topics. It contains an ment. I know I do all these things, and the swiftly. excellent Writer's Guide, covering style inability to do them would make me reluc- Up to three formats can be held with a points under headings like "Punctuation tant to settle for this program. document, allowing complex formatting andManuscriptPreparation","Trite Once a document has been selected, the changes to be applied automatically. This is Expressions", and "Words Likely to be Mis- program comes up with a fairly plain editing a neat idea, though three is not a very gene- used or Confused". There is full in -context screen. There is a four -line section at the top rous provision, considering how cumber- help on -screen. which provides menus and prompts, and a some it is to define a format from scratch. The editor itself is a single -document pro- ruler at the bottom. These features are not Format definitions contain data on line gram. You have to name the document you removable, which is unfortunate as they spacing, margins, whether justificationis are going to work on as soon as the program clutter the screen. Though the menu names required, and headers and footers. They do loads. A simple directory of file names in are always on display, you do not need to use not cover as full a range of stylistic data as alphabetical order is available, but only on them all the time to access commands, as some more expensive packages; the style - demand. Only one document at a time can most are also available through Alt -key sheets in Microsoft Word, for example, hold be worked on. combinations. more comprehensive style definitions. There is no windowing or dual -document The menus are heavily nested, and you Webster's reacts smoothly on -screen.It capability, and I think this restriction is a can move from level to level either by press- scrolls vertically, and when you move the serious one. Surely creative writers of alling initial -letter keys or by highlighting. cursor after an editing change it reformats kinds have a particular need to be able to The choices are mostly self-evident, though text automatically. It does not scroll hori-

66 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 IIISOFTWARE REVIEW

Webster's New World Spelling Checker c:IS-TEST1 Previewing

neses

Select words using thee arrnw keys.

Previewing Instructions: THESAURUS ENTRIES

Press Enter to. change the symbolinfront of any of the Webster's entry for "secret" above words. The symbols tell Webster's the following, secret, mod. - This word is ok. Don't stop during the 'edit scan, 1.mysterious, ambiguous, hidden, unknown, f This word is ok, Add it to the auxiliary dictionary. arcane. ? This word is NOT ok. Stop during editing, as usual, 2.latent; see hidden Press Esc when you are ready to edit your document. 3. clandestine, underhanded, stealthy, surreptitious, furtive; see also secretive, sly, taciturn Webster's editing screen (left) with the help window. The spelling checker first lists secret, n. doubtful words (above). You select each one to show its context and alternatives (below) 1.mystery, something veiled, something hidden, confidence. Webster's New World Spelling Checker ciS-TEST1 Automatic scan Word Perfect's entry for "secret" secret (a) justified by machinery for the first time in the history of the woridt 1. clandestine *confidential, *private, undisclosed And Iwas, there to see, It was done automatically - instantly - 2.*cryptic, *mysterious perfectly. This is indeed. the first line of movable types that evee 3. concealed, hidden, isolated, secluded was perfectly saced and perfectly justified on this earth secret (n) 4.*confidence, This was the laSt function that remained to be tested - and so by 5. enigma, mystery, puzzle long 6. formula, *method, *plan, recipe odds the most amazing and extraordinary invention ever born of the Words with * are cross-references

Word in question: saced Possible spellings: ensure that in every case what appears on- sacked screen will also appear on the printer. There MEMI1111111111. is no in-built subscript or superscript mode, Replacing & Editing Dictionary Reference sac and this is a sad loss. YU) Select (F5> Set scan level sa The program's printer support is uneven. .rater) , Replace (F6) - Suggest spelling sabred l'i Replace to end (F7) lLook up word sachem There are 24 printerdrivers,including 1..) No replacement (Pglip to A, PyDn to 2) sachet Dumb Printer, Standard Printer and Stan- /(4) Edit word (F8) Add the word sack dard Typewriter - not many compared with is)/(Del) Insert/Delete (F9) Whoopsl sacker a lot of top -class programs. The program 2.) Erase word (F10) Quit spell check sacs does not allow you to define your own drivers, or to adapt the existing ones except in set ways. WEBSTER'S Boldface, underline and other typefaces can Webster's claims to micro -justify text on be obtained by inserting printer codes. The supported printers, but as the drivers are IN' )1 E Ft C) I 4: T program supports tabs but not decimal tabs. nowhere described in the documentation, k, 2 0 k, You can have two lines of header and one ofand my own printer is not supported, I was o0A.ck- - CP

Performance M All Webster's features are adequately by inserting control codes in each document implemented, but they do not compare incould I send a necessary initialising code to Ease of use M III scope with the more complete capabilities ofmy printer, for example, and I could see no In Documentation top-level programs like Word and Word way to tell the program that I was using port

Value for money 0 II Perfect. There is no outlining, no indexing, 2 for my printer. [ ] Cheap and handy for journalists and no automatic footnoting and no paragraph It is possible to revise the printer setup - creativewriters, but lacking some numbering, although they are all things and other setup details - at any point, but important facilities that many such users which many of Webster's intended usersnot to set up two printers at the same time. will value. would find extremely useful. Perhaps more Ifyou want to change printers you have to go understandably there are no maths capa- through the full setup process each time. bilities, no columnar capabilities and noth- One neat option in the printer menu makes zontally at all, as the maximum allowable ing for handling form letters. it easy to print your document on both sides right margin is at column 77. File -management capabilities are limited, of the paper. The program first prints all the The usual basic set of editing functions is but thereis a disc directory from which odd -numbered pages, then prompts you to provided. Thereisa good search and Webster's allows you to copy, rename or turn the paper over to print the even -num- replace, with case, whole -word and back- delete files. Webster's will handle alternate bered pages. Webster's only prints the docu- ward/forwardoptions.Blockoptions characters: you can display any character inment in memory: it does not do background include Copy, Move, Delete, and Change the IBM set on -screen and send an ASCIIprinting and has no queuing capability. Case functions. You can save a block to file, code to a printer. However, the printer The speller and thesaurus are both heavily but it is not possible to print a block direct. driversare not sophisticated enough toemphasisedfeaturesof Webster's. The (continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 67 SOFTWARE REVIEW

(continued from previous page) SPELLING CHECKER entries than an intelligent word finder. speller has an in-built 114,000 -word dic- Take, for example, the entries reproduced tionary, and lets you build up your own Webster's suggestions for correcting on the previous page for "secret". Though auxiliary dictionary. A major failing is that "teh" tech, tech., techs, ted, tee, teeth, ten, Webster's gives plenty of crossreferences, only a single auxiliary dictionaryisper- teak, teal, team there are not many alternative words which a Word Perfect's suggestions tea, tech, ted, mitted, and you cannot capitalise proper tee, tel, tern, ten, tex, th, the, eh writer might reasonably want to substitute names in it. The speller is not memory resi- fortheoriginalone.WordPerfect's dent, and itsaves the document before Webster's suggestions for "nyte" ny thesaurus entries for the same two words are te, ny, nth, nut, nyx, np, ns, nu, nude, nutmeg performing a spelling check on it. Therefore Word Perfect's suggestion note much more satisfactory, and WordStar is it will not check words as they are entered, (I was actually looking for "byte'') even richer. The Webster's thesaurus is fine and there is no quick way of checking the if you want to distinguish between al- spelling of a word while you are editing. Webster's suggestions for "retreive" ternative meanings of a word. But picking retrieve, retrieved, retriever, retrieves, retire, The checker sorts the words in the docu- retried, retries, retrieval, retrievers, retrim an alternative word to put. into your docu- ment, and then compares them alpha- Word perfect's suggestion ments takes a lot of browsing, and much of it is betically with its dictionary entries. It pre- retrieve difficult to direct. sents you with a list of suspect words to re- view, and if you choose to correct a word the after the spelling check changes line lengths. program displays it in context. The out -of - Alternative word suggestions are compre- CONCLUSIONS context review brings up a few anomalies: a hensive, and it is claimed that the full scan Webster's isvery professional inits pro- word followed by a full stop is treated as dif- takes into account your past spelling errors gramming and production; for the user itis ferent to the same word without the full in the current document. competent, reliable and easy to learn. stop, and an additional character appears in The thesaurus is on-line. It automatically Oahe program'sactualword-processing capabilities are fairly limited, though they are hyphenated words that are split at the end of looks up the word on which the cursor is adequate for a bargain -priced program. a line. This two -stage process makes proof- positioned, or the word typed immediately 111Though the spelling checker and thesaurus reading reasonably fast, though inevitably after it is called up. It is also able to identify increase the appeal of the program for crea- not nearly as fast as with a resident routine. and look up whole phrases such as "bring tive writers, even these users will regret the For the in -context check you can select any about" and "point of view". A page of data lack of other facilities such as dual -document of four different scan levels, allowing you to is displayed for any word you select, and any or windowing capabilities. control the time the program spends looking words on the page can be highlighted and Webster's does not offer anything to the up alternative spellings. A very full range of selected for further browsing. Two pages can creative writerthat Word Perfect cannot optionsareavailable,includingIgnore be displayed at once. You can browse alpha- match or improve upon - though at much Once, Ignore Throughout, Erase and Edit higher cost. betically through the thesaurus, and there is It is a pity the style checker has not made the Word.Itisa small annoyance that for even a special Notes page on which you can transition from the manual to the program manual editing of a word the program put suggestions. itself. defaults to overstrike mode; it is also annoy- My only reservation about the thesaurus is 110ffice users may need form -letter capa- ing that it does not automatically reformat that it is actually more like a dictionary in its bilities, which Webster's lacks.

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IBM Is a registered trademark of International Business Machines THE STRONGEST PRIM ER RANGE INTHE WORLD PORTABLE COMPUTERS 1111101/NIG ON Originally descended from the pocket calculator, the use -anywhere computer is well on the way to the ultimate vision of an electronic book. Glyn Moody plots its progress.

portable computers seem to represent portability of the calculator with the flexible junction with speciallly written software. To something of a Bermuda Triangle for power of the micro. Transportables such as this extent, the initial vision of the truly the manufacturers. Year after year the anditssuccessors were portable and useful computer has been they blithely sail into this area with their essentially desk -top PCs with handles. They fulfilled, though not in as thoroughgoing a latest machines, convinced they are about to were clumsy compromises that hardly fitted manner as had originally been hoped. Once take the world by storm. Instead they the bill. The first company to come up with the pattern had been established, other disappear, often without trace. In some ways a viable package - and in the process to go manufacturers were prompted to move in. thisdedicationtoaphantom market some way to solving the basic technological The next machine, built by Kyocera, was istouching:itshows an almost non-problems inherent in the concept - was marketed in three versions: the Tandy 100, commercial faith in the ultimate personal Epson with its HX-20. the Olivetti M-10 and the NEC PC -8201. computer - one you take with you every- Epson tends to be thought of as a printer Although externally the trio were quite where. There must be a winning machine manufacturer pre-eminently, and one noted different from each other, their internal out there waiting to be constructed but the more for breakthroughs in marketing and design was the same, as was the pricing. The technological barriers remain considerable, price than in technology. As the launch ofbasic format took Epson's LCD further in as the relatively slow and painful evolution the innovative HX-20 shows, this is some- the direction of matching the full VDU. Its of the portable machine shows. what unfair. The HX-20 set many aspects of eight lines of 40 characters have remained Portable computers can be seen as the the format which persist to this day. The something of a standard width for portable coming together of two ideas which bothbasic A4 size was in part dictated by the eight -bit machines. blossomed about five years ago. On the one keyboard: beyond a certain point, small key- Meanwhile, the PC revolution was con- hand there were the pocket calculators. boards become unusuable by touch -typists, tinuing apace. After the eight -bit machines Companies like Hewlett-Packard and Casio and so lose much of their usefulness. The had led the way, the new 16 -bit processors turned the calculator from a simple arith- display, always the bugbear of portables, started to trickle through. One of these chips metical aid into a wallet -sized box of tricks was a 20 -character by four -line liquid crystal found its way into an interesting near - which did everything bar making tea. Inunit. The same display technology remains portable,the Grid Compass. Although fact, the level of sophistication that these dominanttoday,thoughscreenshave designed as a mains -powered transportable, devices attained was grossly at odds with the become much larger. the Compass could function off batteries for small packages in which they were confined. Disc -drive storage at this time was still several hours, and could be carried around On the other hand, there were the newfairly primitive and certainly too power and used in this state. Many features of its personalcomputers.Adoptingasig- hungry for a portable. On the HX-20 a overall design proved prophetic of later nificantly larger format of roughly type- miniature cassette was used instead. Later, 16 -bit machines which were truly portable. writer size, the first micros packed a pro- many alternative storage technologies were One problem with the LCDs hitherto cessing punch which had hitherto only been used in an attempt to improve on this crude used on portables was their poor contrast found on cabinet -sized minis. At the heart solution. and dependence on ambient lighting con- of this lay advances in chip technology which The I -DC -20 was a great success in its time, ditions.The electro-luminescent display brought in their wake reduced power con- and it continues to sell even now. It has been used on the Grid was one of the first sumption and smaller size. especially successfulinvertical markets, attempts to get round this difficulty, though It was only a short step to marry the total where it has frequently been sold in con - its high power consumption has so far made it impractical for true portables. The mass - Epson was first with a viable lap storage medium used wasalsoexotic: portable: the HX-20. bubble memory. Like RAM discs, it has not been taken up by the mainstream portables, largely because developments in disc -drive technologyhavesolvedmostofthe problems associated with earlier units. Grid later came out with the Gridcase, a truly portableplasma -display machine which used a conventional floppy -disc drive. Ordinary floppies first appeared on the Data General One,another innovative machine which has never really received its due.It was a battery -powered portable which was IBM compatible - if you allowed its use of the then non-standard 3.5in. disc drives. Apart from their embarrassing lack of software, they offered enormous advantages for portables. They were light and small, and drew far less power than their 5.25in. siblings. They soon became standard on 16 -bit portables. By then the main emphasis had shifted away from the earlier eight -bit machines to

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 PORTABLE COMPUTERS

the new generation of 16 -bit IBM com- First of the 16 -bitters, the HP Portable Z-181 dual -floppy version,thereisthe patibles. To be sure, development in this eventually acquired a proper disc drive. Z-171 - an older machine which uses a othersectordidnotceasealtogether; vertical rather than horizontal format along improvements were made to the Kyocera excessive enthusiasm has been a steady pro- with 5.25in. floppies. Only Toshiba, with its machine and Epson came out with its PX-8, gression in technologies. After the Data highly successful T-3100 mains -powered the successor tothe HX-20. All these General machine and a similar model from portable and battery -driven T-1100, seems machines continue to sell as text -gathering Texas had established the basic form of an as convinced of the viability of this market devices which can be slipped inside a brief- 80 -character by 25 -line LCD with 3.5in. sector. case. But the general portable market had floppies, successive machines built on this. Inevitably, IBM's endorsement of the moved on, at least in the manufacturers' They offered two drives, more RAM and, portable camelateand seemed rather eyes. IBM compatibility was the order of the with the Wang Portable, even a hard disc grudging. Its Convertible machine was the day, and so most companies gradually came and printer,bothbuilt-in.Zenith has same in outline as its predecessors, but by out with an entrant in the contest. recently matched this by including a hard thetimeitappeared most competing But whereas the earlier eight -bit portables disc with its Z-183 machine. machines had moved on some way, and the seemed to have defined a real niche for Of all the manufacturers itis probably Convertible lacked many of their features. It themselves, these later machines are proving Zenith that has the strongest commitment was mainly of importance for signalling more of an enigma. Who exactly needs full to portables. In addition to the Z-183 and its IBM's official blessing of the 3.5in. disc IBM portability? The implicit assumption format and for using advanced production seems to be that computing needs to be techniques which would bear greater fruit in done on the move, or atleastin two the later Personal System / 2. locations.Whiletheformercertainly Hand in hand with improvements in disc - requires a portable but is surely a very small drivetechnologyhasgoneamarked market, the latter could be equally well improvement in displays. Apart from tweaks servedby usingafull -function mains - to the basic LCD design such as the super - powered transportable system, or even two twist technology, back -lighting has become PCs, particularly with the advent of the themostpopular wayofimproving cheap clones. visibility. Although battery -powered plasma Nonetheless, manufacturers have rushed displays have appeared, it seems likely that pell-mell to enter this 16 -bit world of port- back -lit LCDs will remain the dominant ables, as the table shows. One benefit of this technology. They hold out the hope that (continued on next page) The Tandy 100 (above) and Olivetti M-10 (left) were both built by Kyocera. The Epson PX-8 (right) featured a flip -up 80 column display. PORTABLE COMPUTERS

EIGHT -BIT PORTABLES LAUNCH WEIGHT SIZE RAM DATE Epson HX-20 1.7kg 20 x 4 16K Nov 82 Tandy 100 1.4kg 40 x 8 8K Aug 83 Olivetti M-10 1.7kg 40 x 8 8K Nov 83 NEC PC -8201 1.7kg 40 x8 16K Jan 84 Epson PX-8 1.75kg 80 x 8 64K Apr 84 Sord IS -11 2kg 40 x8 32K May 84 Tandy 200 1.36kg >VA 24K May 85 Tandy 200: larger screen. 16 -BIT PORTABLES DG One: first withdiscs. LAUNCH WEIGHT RAM DATE Hewlett-Packard 3.0kg 272K Jun 84 Portable DG One 4.3kg 1 x3:3 128K Sep 84 Ti Pronto 4.8kg 1 x 3.5 256K Feb 85 Kaypro 2000 5.0kg 1 x 3.5 256K Apr 85 .,,,,.....,_,.r...tr..urk-k-,-ti-t-,...0 Grid Case 5.4kg 1x3.5 128K Apr 85 ...... ,,,,,.,,..,,n,,,,.,.,,, ,._,=:,, Zenith Z-171 6.8kg 2x5.2: 256K July 85 -L, , Toshiba T-1 100 4.5kg 1 x 3.5 256K July 85 Etondwell 8 4.5kg 1 x 3.5 512K Sept 85 Datavue 25 5.5kg 1 x 5.2 640K £1.659 Oct 85 Olivetti M-22 7.5kg 1x 5.25in. 256K not Toshiba T-1100 PC compatible. Grid's Gridlite. launched IBM Convertible 5.6kg 2 x 3.5in. 256K £1,697 Nov 86 Zenith Z-181 5.3kg 2 x 3.5in. 640K £1,795 Sep 86 Wang 6.5kg 10Mbyte 512K £2,53 Jan 87 hard Goupil Club 6.5kg 2 x 3.5in. 768K £1,895 Feb 87 Olivetti M-15 5.7ka 2x 3.5in. 512K £1,295 Feb 87

Zenith Z-181: back -lit LCD. HP -75C: calculator -sized computer. Datavue 25 with 5.25in. discs.

(continued from previous page) other portables described here have in micro market has been set for the next five one day colour versions will be available, common a minimum size imposed by the years or so - with old-style PCs and ATs at allowing the full functionality of ordinary need for a usable keyboard, the Hawk drops the bottom, and the new PS /2s at the top - monitors to be reproduced. to an A5 size and hence is virtually unusable it may well be a time for a final push to Outside this mainstream 16 -bit world, for touch-typing. overcome the remaining difficulties in the there has always been a healthy alternative Another British machine catering for a relativelyunchartedworldof portable market. Rather than trying to cram the full niche market is the Thorn Liberator. Ultra - computing. functionalityof adesk -top PC intoa slim and very light, it was conceived as a Againstthisbackgrounditwillbe briefcase -sized box, several manufacturers text -gathering device and all aspects of its interesting to see whether the new 16 -bit have continued along the path first trodden design have been subordinated to this role. machine rumoured to be coming through by Epson and its successors. Eight -bit tech- Once more the basic scale is set by the from Epson in the near future manages to nology predominates and the machines are keyboard. give the industry a boost in the way the designed with particular markets in mind. Beyond these low -weight but full-size HX-20 did nearly five years ago. One of the most successful examples ofmachines there is the Psion Organiser, a Then there is Apple, perhaps the joker in the specialist approach has been the British hand -sized and hand-held device. Naturally theportablepack. A battery -powered Husky Hunter.Built to work in harsh it lacks the minimum -sized keyboard and so version of the Macintosh is due to appear environments, this CP/ M machine arrives at isonlyreallysuitableforsingle -finger next year. The Mac itself transformed the portability as a solution to a particular typing. way we use PCs; it is possible that a portable problem rather than taking it as an abstract Recently, there has been an increase in the Mac could do the same again. It is worth starting point. More recently,the same pace of development of the portable market, remembering that working at Apple is Alan company has come out with the Husky at least in the 16 -bit arena. There is even a Kay, who pioneered the original mouse and Hawk, reviewedintheAprilissueof portableVaxavailable.Andyetthe window approach which ultimately led to Practical Computing. The rationale behind lingering doubts remain. Do many people the Mac. He sees as the final goal of micros thisportableseemstobeultra -light really need truly portable computing power? the Dynabook concept: a full -function port- computingwithouttheconstraintsof And if so, are we anywhere near solving the able computer as powerful and as easy to use ruggedness. In one respect the machine lies packaging problems inherent in realising as a book. Perhaps that is what everyone is outside the scope of this article. Whereas the such a machine? Now that the pattern of the waiting for.

72 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987

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A flurry of announcements reporting materials which are devoid of electrical resistance has set the computer community speculating about the ultra -high performance logic devices that they could be used to make. But as Mary Fagan reports, there is still a long way to go before such science -fiction dreams become engineering reality.

Materials that offer zero resistance to electricity when cooled to a certain temperature are causing a huge stir in the scientific community. They are the superconductors thatare being hailed as the catalyst in a new technical revolution, opening up prospects such as super -fastmagneticallylevitatedtrains running at 500km / h and transmission lines thatcouldcarryelectricityforseveral hundred miles underground with scarcely any losses. The concept is not new. Superconduc- tivity was discovered as long ago as 1911 when a Dutch scientist, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, discovered that mercury cooled to within a few degrees of absolute zero - that is 0 °K or -273°C - could conduct with no resistance.Physicistshave been excited A ceramic substrate patterned with superconducting wires. about the possibilities ever since. The reason for the current euphoria is that superconductors can now be made that operate at much higher temperatures. Last year Dr Alex Mueller at IBM's laboratories in Zurich discovered a ceramic that was super- ODBY conducting at 30°K ( -240 °C). Then in March, Paul Chu at Houston University reported absolute superconductivity ina ceramic at 77 °K. What makesthesehigh -temperature TO THE superconductors important is that they can be made and used with liquid nitrogen as the coolant. Until now, superconductors needed liquid helium, which boils at 4 ° K, as the coolant. Liquid helium is hugely SILICON expensive,asisthe cooling equipment needed to handle it. The pumps and piping torecover and recirculatethe precious heliumgaswouldalonecostaround £10,000. Superconductors have therefore CHIP? been confined to applications where theof magnetic -resonanceimagingdevices Just as attractive is the idea of using super- expense can be justified; the coils of thecould plummet. conductors to store electric current without powerful electromagnets needed for medical The power industries hope that cheap losing power.Generators could operate imaging are one example. High -tempera- superconductors will mean loss -free power continuously, producing power throughout turesuperconductorswillchangethis. transmission. In America, up to 15 percent the night for use at times of peak demand. Liquid nitrogen, which boils at 77°K, costs of theelectricitythat isgeneratedis The energy would be stored as a magnetic about 40 pence per litre - around the same reckoned to be lost during transmission as a field in a coil of superconducting material, as milk. result of the resistance of the wires that carry and tapped out as needed. Even the humble Itis easy to see what the pundits are it from place to place. Superconductingbattery could be under threat. At a field

getting worked up about. Superconductingpower cables could carry about 3GW - strength of 100 tesla, a superconductor coils can carry huge currents, and so can be more than five times the capacity of con- energy store could hold 4Kjoule of energy used to make electromagnets that produce ventionalcables.They could alsocarry per cubic centimetre - about 100 times the correspondingly large magnetic fields. The power underground for 100 miles - much energy density of a conventional battery. Japanese believe that magnetic levitationfurther than is currently possible - opening In computers, the possibilities seem end- trains (Maglevs) using such magnets will beup the prospect of taking electricity cheaply less - superconductinglinksbetween in operation by 1995. In medicine, the cost to remote regions. devices on a chip, and between chips and

74 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 SUPERCONDUCTORS

other devices on a substrate along with much reduced power requirements to operate the circuits are all on the cards. Superconductors used in transistor devices would respond to tiny voltage signals. The benefits would be enormous, because the smaller the voltage signal needed, the closer elements can be packed on to a chip. It therefore takes less time for the transistor to switch, and less heat is generated. Dataquest, an American firm of elec- tronics industry analysts, says that with one micron chip geometries, switching speeds could be less than 0.1 picosecond. Even to- day'smostadvancedcomputershave switching times of around one nanosecond, and even gallium arsenide chips - which are much faster then silicon - have switch- ing speeds of a few hundred picoseconds. Around 10yearsago, IBM began a programme of work on superconducting computers, based on a technology called the Josephson Junction (JJ) - itself the brain- This ceramic chip carrier is coated with a superconductive film. child of Dr Brian Josephson at Cambridge University. This research showed that JJ CERAMIC SUPERCONDUCTORS technology was capable of fulfilling all the logic requirements.of a chip. IBM eventually One of the most surprising facts about high -temperature superconductors is that they managed to develop chips with hundreds are ceramics, a class of substances that is normally associated with insulation rather and even thousands of logic gates. than conduction. Until the discovery by Alex Mueller last year of a matt black ceramic The switching times achieved were of the made of copper, oxygen, lanthanum and barium, researchers had concentrated mainly order of a few picoseconds, and the power on metal and semiconductor -based materials. requirementsonlyaboutafemtojoule Mueller's ceramic was found to superconduct at 30°K. This was the biggest news switching energy - 1,000 times less than is since 1973, when scientists made an alloy of niobium and germanium which was neededbyconventionalsemiconductor superconducting at 23.3°K. Then came Paul Chu's dramatic breakthrough: complete devices. In other words, IBM had developed superconductivity at 77°K and strong evidence of the onset of the phenomenon at logic chips that worked so fast and at such 93°K. Chu's material was a ceramic oxide of barium, copper and yttrium. Both Chu's low energies that they were about 1,000 and Mueller's materials are in the same perovskite family of ceramics. times more efficient in those respects than Since the original IBM discovery, the company has made many variations on the extrapolations of what could be achieved perovskite theme. All have transition temperatures - the temperature at which they with silicon or gallium arsenide. become superconducting - of around 90°K, which is well within the limits needed But in 1983 IBM dropped the work. Its JJ to use cheap liquid nitrogen as coolant. The latest round of reports claims that super- devices needed liquid -helium temperatures conductivity has been achieved at up to 300°K, and the scientific community eagerly and repeated cooling. The expense involved awaits the magic words "room temperature". But it has to be noted that the and the continuing improvement in con- measured characteristics of the material - how they react in a magnetic field and so ventional semiconductor technologyres- on - are hard to reproduce and unstable. ulted in the work being axed. Other workers The reasons why activity has reached fever pitch are understandable enough. The interested in JJ computers took largely the ceramics are not actually hard to produce. They can be made by grinding the same line, with the exception of some ingredients in a pestle and mortar, baking in a furnace and cooling. Paul Grant at Japanese companies who kept up their IBM's Almaden laboratories even claims that schools could carry out basic super- interest. conductor experiments with them for as little as £1. It is the engineering problems to Ironically, it was probably disgust at the come that could prove to be the great challenge. decisiontodroptheJJprojectthat prompted the IBM scientists in Zurich toful in military projects, where they could be lost, it just dropped back down between the searchforhigher -temperaturesuper-used to stop interference between electronic poles. conductors. IBM has also used the JJ tech-circuits, and even to make it impossible to All the current enthusiasm and hype can- nologyinitsrecently launched super- bug a room. not hide the fact that there are many prob- conducting quantum interference devices Superconductors are characterised not just lemstobeovercomebeforehigh - (Squids). These highly sensitive magneticby their zero electrical resistance, but by temperature superconductors can be of any detectors use thin-film superconductors. something called the Meissner effect. A real use. There is particular concern over Another IBM researcher, Dr Sadeg Faris, superconductor placed in a magnetic fieldhow much current they can carry, and about left the company to continue JJ work on hisgenerates its own internal field that tends tohow difficult it will be to manufacture them own. He set up a new venture called Hypres, expel the external one, so the magnetic lines in usable forms. which has now launched a high -frequency of force go around rather than through the All the new superconductors belong to a - and very expensive - oscilloscope thatsuperconducting object.The effect wasfamily of ceramic oxides called perovskites. uses superconductors. Even with the new demonstrated recently to journalists visiting They are coarse -grained, brittle compounds high -temperaturematerials,however,it IBM's laboratories in Almaden, California. with a surface that looks something like seemslikelythat superconductinglogic Researcher Paul Grant cooled a piece ofmatt black paint. Many sceptics say that al- chips are a good five to 10 years away. ceramic superconductor in a cup of liquidthough the material itself may be super- Among the many other applications fornitrogen and then dangled it between the conducting, the boundaries between crystals superconductors, one of the most important poles of a horseshoe magnet. While it re- will interfere with the flow of the current could be magnetic shielding,assuper- mained cold it stayed in mid-air, a centi- and therefore make them useless. conductorsareimpervioustomagnetic metre out from the poles. As it warmed up, Although manyorganisationshave fields. This property should make them use - and itssuperconducting properties were (continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 75 SUPERCONDUCTORS

(continued from previous page) ANNOUNCEMENTSIN SUPERCONDUCTIVITY TEMPERATURE announcedthe developmentof super- INSTITUTION MATERIAL conducting wire and tape over the past DATE (°K) months, the maximum current densities 1911 4 - N/A they could support have hovered in the 1973 23 - niobium -germanium alloy region of 1,000 amperes per square centi- Apr 86 30 IBM Zurich barium, lanthanum, copper oxide metre. Connections within chip devices, for compound example, need current densities of 100 times Dec 86 28 Tokyo University barium, lanthanum, copper oxide as great. Estimates are that a wire measuring compound 1 millimetre in diameter could carry 10 Dec 86 28 University of Houston barium, lanthanum, copper oxide amps.For the powerful electromagnets compound people are talking about, 1,000 times more Dec 86 35 Tokyo University barium, and oxides of lanthanum than this would be needed. and strontium In May IBM said that it had managed to Dec 86 36 AT&T Bell Labs lanthanum, strontium, copper send huge electric currents through a special oxide compound film of superconductor. The film is just one Dec 86 37 Tokyo University N/A thickness, singlecrystallayerin about Dec 86 40 University of Houston undisclosed 1 / 100th the thickness of a human hair, and IBM Zurich N/A was made using a technique called vapour Jan 87 39 deposition. At temperatures of 77 °K the Jan 87 43 Okazaki National Research Institute and N/A film could support current densities of Tohoku University 100,000 amperes per square centimetre. Jan 87 46 MITI Agency of Industrial Science and lanthanum, stronium, and copper Technology, Tsukuba Laboratory oxides ProfessorColinGoodmanatSTC's laboratory in Harlow points out several Jon 87 70 Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing N/A problems that could hamper the use of the Feb 87 98 University of Houston N/A materials in computers. He claims that no Feb 87 100 China N/A one yet knows how to make really good Mar 87 100 MITI National Research Institute for Metals, N/A electrical contact to link the new materials to Tsukuba ordinary conductors such as aluminium, Mar 87 123 MITI National Research Institute for Metals,Oxidised barium, yttrium, and gold, copper and silver. "The act of putting Tsukuba copper metal down on superconductors creates a Mar 87 240 Wayne State University Two-phase ceramic material high resistance, in the region of 10 to 100 based on a barium -yttrium - ohms, between the normal conductor and copper oxide compound the superconductor," he explains. "It's not SOURCE: Dataquest Inc., April 1987 clear why this happens, and it's crucial that it should be sorted out, because if we are going to use superconductors we need to can superconduct at - 179°C. In the same generates radio waves, whatever the material know how to interface to them." Goodman month both Bell Laboratories and Argonne through which the current is being conduc- also believes that the grainy nature of the Laboratories in America said they had also ted, so it is untrue to say that losses could be ceramics will make itdifficult to manu- produced flexible, current -carrying super- reducedtozero.Brookhaven work on facture very small devices. conducting wires. The Argonne workers traditional superconductors showed that, at Another problem for would-be chip- pointed out that even though the ceramics best, the a.c. losses were about the same as in makers is that the materials, once exposed to are brittle, if made into thin enough wires an ordinary overhead cable. Once the cost of moisture, turn into more normal oxides thatthey can be relatively flexible. cooling has been taken into account, the do not conduct electricity at all. This means Not to be outdone, IBM announced in benefits of even the new ceramics may not they cannot be etched in traditional wet April that it had developed a way of spray - be so startling after all. etching processes. The alternative might be painting large and complex surfaces with the Perhaps the biggest overall criticismis to use costly and sophisticated dry etching materials. The company uses a technique that the superconducting materials have yet techniques such as plasma etching and ion calledplasmaspraying,inwhichthe to be proved stable over long periods of milling. Unfortunately the new materials material is heated to thousands of degrees time. Even if the scientific and engineering are easily damaged if bombarded by high- and deposited instantly on a surface where it problems can be solved, there isstill the energy ions. solidifies. The coated objects are then heat questionofsupplyingthebasicraw But despite his reservations, Goodmantreated to anneal them, after which they be- materials. A dearth of one of the main believes that the ceramics have huge po- come superconducting. components, yttrium, is already hindering tential as the substrates and leads used to research in the Britain. Yttrium costs £300 link chips and other electronic devices, and SPRAY -ON WIRING per kilogram, and the entire world pro- to stop crosstalk between circuits. He also IBM says that the technique opens up the duction is only about 500 tonnes every year. cites interest in the use of superconductors in prospect of spray -on computer wiring and Investment in new plants to make yttrium aerials, where they can increase efficiencymagnetic shielding. It claims to have already and other materials will be needed if super- sharply. He claims that gains of around 20 laid down thin lines and coated tiny holes in conductors are to catch on in any big way. decibels can be achieved, making them the type of ceramic substrates used to carry When any new technology appears, there much moreefficienttransmittersand chips in computers. But even these advances willalwaysbearguments betweenits receivers than today's devices. draw warnings from many observers, some supporters and its critics. No one doubts For more widespread applications, theof whom believe that manufacturing the that the scientific achievements of the past limitationsof currentdensity and thenecessary shapes in bulk will turn out to be months are remarkable, and that they could difficulties of forming the ceramics are per- too expensive and difficult to be useful. well change the face of many industries. But haps more serious. To be practical they will There are also many critics of the idea of the revolution proper is yet to come. As have to be made into wires, coatings and so loss -free power transmission. One of them is Colin Goodman comments: "People now on. Getting them into useful shapes will in the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New have to settle down and do the real en- many ways be a bigger breakthrough than York, 'which has been studying the use of gineering work. " developing them in the first place. superconducting underground cables for In April, Toshiba claimed to have de- some time. The Brookhaven people point Mary Fagan is Technology News Editor on veloped the world's first ceramic wire thatout that an alternating current inevitably New Scientist.

76 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 TECHNOLOGY SO ADVANCED y,111741 512Kbytea RAM (520ST-M, FM) MIDI out (5 pin DIN) 31.25Kbau:17, 1024Kbytes RAM (1040ST-F) , MIDI in (5 pin DIN) 31.25K baud 192Kbytes ROM audio out .. tOV DC peak to peak, 10K ohm 128Kbytes external plug-in ROM option audio it, . 1.0V DC peak to peak, 10K ohm RGB monitor I OV DC, 75 ohm

mono monitor . 1 OV DC, 75 ohm Central Processing mono horizontal scan rate 35.7KHz Unit (CPU) with a clock speed of 8MHz mono vertical scan rate 71.2KHz 16 -bit external data bus sync 5V DC (active low) 33K ohm 32 -bit internal data bus modern/serial RS232C. 50 to 19,200 baud 24 -bit address bus floppy disk 250 Kb/Ws 8.32 -bit data & address registers hard disk .. . . 11.3 Mbits/s 71evels of interrupts mouse standard Atari connector 56 instructions joystick standard Atari co 14 addressing modes cartridge port 1281Totennectorrtrui2; 5 data types RF output (520ST-FM) DMA (Direct Memory Access) ommunmosysTrm real time clock as standard TOS with GEM environment in ROM hierarchical file structure with sub -directories and path names full bit -mapped display user Interface via GEM, with self palette of 512 colours explanatory command functions Using Mail Monitory (on 520 d 10401. multiple windows Icons 640.400 high resolution - monochrome window retiring, re -positioning and erasing 640.200 medium resolution - 4 colours drop down menus (selected by mouse) .320,200 low resolution - 16 colours GEM virtual device interface 80 column text display (40 col low revs) Using Domes& TV (on 520).' COMMUNICAT1ONS 640,200 medium resolution - 4 colours RS -232C aerial modem port 320v200 low resolution - 76 colours MOUSE 8 -bit parallel printer port 40 columns . 25 line text display high precision MIDI port (also for networking use) 2 button control V752 terminal emulation ';(;;Ult)T.P MO MUSIC free with 5205T-FM/1040ST-F 3 programmable sound channels non slip ball motion sensor KEYBOARD frequency programmable 30Hz - 125KH, removable ball for easy cleaning standard OWERTY typewriter format programmable volume 95 full stroke keys waved dynamic envelope shaping 10 function keys programmable attack, decay, sustain, release STANDARD SOFTWARE 18 key numeric keypad cursor keys Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) GEM desktop TOS operating system variable auto -repeat 8 key click response MIDI allows connection of synthesisers etc. ST BASIC interpreter/language system keyboard processor reduces CPU overhead IT'AFF RDA

1040ST-For the businessman and the more serious home user, Atari have 520ST-MThe affordability of Atari computers Is reflected in the price of the 'ONLY FROM SILICA' 520ST-M keyboard, which Is a mere C259 (inc VAT). This version of their most powerful model, the 10405T -F with 1028K RAM. This low Finally, there's a personal computer that not only solves problems like other computers, but also solves the ST comes with 512K RAM, as well as a modulator and lead for cost powerhouse can be introduced into a business environment as the one problem that other computers have created. Affordability. Silica Shop are pleased to present the a stand-alone system, or can support a mainframe computer as a ST range of personal/business computers from Atari. The ST was designed utilizing the most recent direct connection to any domestic TV. The price does not include a breakthroughs in semiconductor technology, producing a personal computer that performs tasks with mouse. In addition, when you buy your 520ST-M from Silica, you terminal. The 104057-F not only features twice as much memory as fewer parts. Which means it costs less to make. And less to buy. The latest ST computers now include will also receive the FREE Silica 'ST Starter Kit'. During 1987, many the 520ST-FM, but also includes a more powerful built-in disk drive. software houses will be producing games software on ROM cart- The drive featured on the 10405T -F is a one megabyte double sided built in power supplies and built in disk drives. The TOS operating system and GEM window environment model. The extra memory facility of the 1040ST-F makes it Ideal for are now on ROM chips which am already installed in the ST keyboard. This enables automatic instant ridges. which will plug directly into the cartridge slot on the 520ST- M keyboard, giving instant loading without the expense of purchasing applications such as large databases or spreadsheets. Like the booting when you switch on. Silica Shop are pleased to otter the complete Atari ST range. Our mail order 520ST-FM, the 1040ST-F has a mains transformer built into the department is situated in Sidcup and we have 4retailoutlets at Sidcup, Orpington, Lion House a disk drive. With the enormous power of the ST. you can expect some excellent titles to be produced, making this the ultimate games console to give a compact and stylish unit with only one mains lead. (Tottenham Court Rd) and Selfridges (Oxford Street). We have eight years experience of Atari products. The 10400T -F is also supplied from Silica Shop with a free software longer than any other UK company, and are well established as the UK's No.1 Atari specialist. With a machine! If your requirement is for a terminal, then the 520ST-M can fulfill this role too. Leads are available to connect the ST to a variety package and 'ST STARTER KIT'. In the USA, the 1040ST-F has been group turnover of over £5 million and in excess of 70 staff, we provide unbeatable service and support. We sold with a TVmodulatorlike the 5205T -FM. However, for the UK provide several facilities which you will find invaluable during your Atari computing life and most of these of monitors, and with the imminent introduction of terminal software on ROM .rtridge, the ST provides a low price terminal for business market, Atari are manufacturing the 1040ST-F solely with business facilities are available ONLY FROM SILICA. We suggest that you read through whet we have to offer, use inmindand it does not currently include an RF modulator, this before you decide where to purchase your Atari ST. use.If you wish to take advantage of the massive range of disk software available for the ST range, you will need to purchase a disk means that you cannot use it with a domestic TV (Silica Shop do FREE STARTER KIT - Only From Silica drive. Atari have two floppy disk drives available, a''4 Mbyte model offer a modulator upgrade for only £49). The 1040ST-F keyboard 8149 and a 1Mbyte model 099. Full details of these drives, as well costs only £599 (inc VAT) and, unless a modulator When you purchase any Atari ST keyboard, you will not only receive the best value for money computer upgrade is fitted, will require an Atari or third party monitor. There on the market. but you will also receive the following from Atari Corporation as part of the package: as the Atari 20Mbyte hard disk are available on request If required ate later date, the mouse may be purchased separately. are three Atari monitors available and the prices for the 1040 with BASIC Language Disk BASIC Manual ST Owners Manual TOS/GEM on ROM these monitors are as follows: If you buy your ST from Silica Shop, you will also receive: NEOchrome - colour graphics program '1st Word - Word Processor t040.ST-F KeyboardWithout Monitor -£699(inc VAT) In addition, we at Silica would like to see you get off to a flying start with your new computer, so we have 1040ST-F Keyboard High re, mono monitor -1899 (inc VAT) put together a special ST STARTER KIT worth over £100, which we are giving away FREE OF CHARGE 1040ST-F Keyboard * Low res co/monitor -1789 (inc VAT) with every ST computer purchased at our normal retail prices. This kit is available ONLY FROM SILICA 1040ST-F Keyboard Med res col monitor -£999(inc VAT) and is aimed at providing users with a valuable introduction to the world of computing. We are continually The 10405T -F comes with a mouse controller and includes 1Mbyte upgrading the ST Starter Klt, which contains public domain and other licensed software, as well es books, of RAM. It has a 1Mbyte double sided disk drive and mains trans- magazines and accessories all relevant to ST computing. Return the coupon below for full details. former, both built into the keyboard to give a compact and stylish DEDICATED SERVICING - Only From Silica unit, with only one mains lead. At Silica Shop, we have a dedicated service department of five full time Atari trained technical staff. This team is totally dedicated to servicing Atari computer products. Their accumulated knowledge, skill and experience makes them second to none in their field. You can be sure that any work carried out by them is of the highest standard. A standard of servicing which we believe you will find ONLY FROM SILICA. In 520sier-FM addition to providing full servicing facilities for Atari ST computers (both in and out of warranty), our team is also able to offer memory and modulator upgrades to ST computers. The 520ST-FM with 512K RAM and free mouse, represents a further breakthrough by Atari Corporation in the world of high power, low 1Mb RAM UPGRADE: Our upgrade on the standard Atari 520ST-M or 520ST-FM keyboard will cost personal computing. This model is the latest addition to the ST increase the memory from 512K to a massive 1024K. It has a full1 year warranty and is available from family, and is not only powerful, but compact. Itis priced at only Silica at an additional retail price of only 08.96 (*VAT =. E100). £309 (inc VAT) a level which brings it within the reach of a whole TV MODULATOR UPGRADE: Silica can upgrade the 1040ST-F to include a TV modulator so new generation of computer enthusiasts. When purchased from us, that you can then use it with your TV set. This is an intemal upgrade and does not involve any untidy it comes with the FREE Silica 'ST Starter Kit' see paragraph on the external boxes. A cable to connect your ST to any domestic TV is included in the price of the upgrade left. To make the 5205T -FM ready for use straight away. Atari have which Is only E.49 (inc VAT). The upgrade is also available for early 520ST computers at the same price. built into the keyboard aY2megabyte disk drive for information storage and retrieval. allowing you easy access to the massive range THE FULL STOCK RANGE - Only From Silica of disk based software which is available for the ST. This new We aim to keep stocks of all Atari related products and our warehouse carries a stock of £'h million. We computer comes with all the correct cables and connections you will import many software titles direct from the USA we you will find that we have new releases in advance of need to plug itstraight into any standard domestic television set. many of our competitors. Unlike dealers who may only stock selected titles, we have the full range. In You do not therefore have to purchase an Atari monitor. If you do addition, we carry a complete line of all books which have been written about the Atari ST. A range as require a monitor however, these are available with the 520ST in the wide as ours is something you will find is available ONLY FROM SIUCA. following money saving packages. AFTER SALES SUPPORT - Only From Silica 520ST-FM KeyboardWithout Monitor -£399(inc VAT) Rest assured that when you buy your ST from Silica Shop, you will be fully supported. Our free mailings 520ST-FM Keyboard High res mono monitor -£499(int VAT) give news of releases and developments. This will help to keep you fully up to date with what's happening 520ST-FM Keyboard Low". colour monitor- £599 (inc VAT) in the Atari market. And in addition, our sales staff are at the end of a telephone line to service all of your 520ST-FM Keyboard Med res colour monitor-£899(inc VAT) Atari requirements. If you purchase an ST from Silica and would like any programming or technical advice, we have a lull time technical support team to help you get the best from your computer. Because Because the 520ST-FM has its own power transformer built into the we have both the staff and the systems specifically dedicated to providing after sales service on Atari ST keyboard, there are no messy external adaptors to clutter up your computers, we are confident that our users enjoy an exceptionally high level of support. This can be desk space. You are left with only one mains lead. serving both the received ONLY FROM SILICA. disk drive and the computer. You couldn't ask for a mom stylish and compact unit. FREE CATALOGUES - Only From Silica At Silica Shop, we recognise that serious users require an in-depth information service, which is why we mail free newsletters and price lists to our ST owners. These are up to 48 pages long and are crammed with technical details as well as special offers and product descriptions. If you have already purchased an ST and would like to have your name added to our mailing list, please complete the coupon 8 return it to us. The information service is available ONLY FROM SILICA. FREE OVERNIGHT DELIVERY - From Silica Most orders are processed through our computer within 24 hours of receiving them. Most hardware orders are sent by the overnight METRO courier service FREE OF CHARGE to customers within the UK. E399 This method helps to &Imre minimum delay and maximum protection. 1116 =I I= ME I= MI NB Imp PRICE MATCH - Only From Silica MN =I IN =I We hope that the combination of our low prices, FREE UK delivery service, FREE Starter Kit and FREE To: Silica Shop Ltd, Dept PC 0887, 1-4 The Mews, Hatherley Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 4DX after sales support, will be enough to make you buy your Atari equipment from Silica Shop. If however. there is something you wish to purchase, and you find one of our competitors offering it at a lower price. then please contact our sales department, providing us with our competitor's name, address and telephone number. If our competitor has the goods in stock, we will normally match the offer (on a 'same I PLEASE SEND MEFREE LITERATURE ON THE ATARI ST I product - .me price' basis) and still provide yqu with our normal free delivery. We realise that we are not the only company who will match a competitors price. However. if you come to us fore price match. you Surname: will also be entitled to our after sales service. including free newsletters and technical support. This Mr/Mrs/Mx makes our price match promise rather special, something you will receive ONLY FROM SILICA. We don't `ant you to go anywhere else for your Atari products. So shop et Silica. the UK's Nol Atari Specialist. Address: SIDCUP (&Mail Order) 01-309 1111 1-4 The Mews, Hatherley Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 4DX LONDON 01-580 4839 Lion House (1st floor), 227 Tottenham Court Rd, London, W1 Posicoda LONDON 01-629 1234ext 3677 ou already owncarryRMr Selfridges (1st floor), Oxford Street, London, W1A 1 AB t MowlithonedoyOu 611198111111 EN EN NM MNIINI0*,1 -- circle 135 on enquiry card - COMPANY PROFILE

dBase is still Ashton-Tate's biggest money earner Despite praise, Framework's sales are slow to grow.

Even by the standards of the software industry, Ashton-Tate lookslikea remarkable company. Not many firms have seen faster growth and few have sus- MORE THAN tained that growth over such a long period. Set up in 1981 by two men working from home, the business has enjoyed a near doubling of turnover every year since. Today its sales are running at over $200 million per JUST dBASE year, with profits of around $30 million. Ashton-Tate has grown rapidly over the last few years, its This success is due almost entirely to one product.Despitevaliantattemptto success being largely due to dBase. It now intends to have a diversify, the dBase database manager still presence in all major application areas and to shake off the brings in more sales than the rest of Ashton- "one -product company" image. Mike Lewis takes a look Tate's range put together. In 1986 those at its history and its prospects. sales amounted to $133 million, against just $23 million for its other leading package, Framework. For many people, Ashton-Tate he could create something similar - or man, Hal Pawluk, suggested a new name: and dBase are virtually synonymous. better - on his Imsai 8080 micro, and that "dBase"becauseitsoundedsuitably This is hardly surprising. Ashton-Tate did he could make money by selling it. technical; "II" because it suggested a new, not actually write dBase, but it was set up Unfortunately, Ratliff was the archetypal improved version. Ratliff's awful manual with the specific aim of exploiting it and programmer -turned -entrepreneur. He set was rewritten, money was raised for an ad- bringing it to market. Until Framework was about writing Vulcan, often working late vertising campaign and a new company was launched in 1984, dBase was the company's into the night and enjoying every minute of formed topublishtheprogram.That only offering. it. But he resented the time he would later company later became Ashton-Tate. Like It was in 1981 that George Tate and dBase be forced to spend on marketing and paper- dBase I, there was never an Ashton - the first came together. Tate's background was work. By late 1980 he had sold only 50 name was chosen togivethe firm an not in software - he had worked as a copies of Vulcan - not enough to pay for his established, conservative image. technician for a Californian stereo chain - advertising. He was sick of the whole thing Success was immediate for dBase II, which but he did have business flair and a knack and was about to chuck it in when George had two things going for it. First, it enabled for selling. In the late 1970s he felt that heTate's company requested an evaluation dealers and consultants to build bespoke could make money in the emerging micro copy. applications for their customers, without software market simply by applying better That was the turning point. Tate saw the recourse to programming. That was some- marketing techniques than those of the potential of the program. His advertising thing new in the micro world. Its second ad- typically amateurish dealers of the day. In vantage was sheer marketing know-how. A 1980he wentintobusinesswithan key factor was the offer of a free -trial demon- accountant named Hal Lashlee to form the stration version. Provided you kept the full Discount Software Group. BWe aim to become a version in its sealed envelope, you could At the same time, Wayne Ratliff was software conglomerate, send the package back and claim a refund if struggling to sell a home-grown program you did not like it. Few people bothered to called Vulcan. Vulcan's roots were in a data - and we are well on the way. claim the refund. analysis program for the Univac 1108, called We plan to have a presence In time, dBase II became dBase III and JPLDIS. Ratliff had come across it while in all major application then III Plus. Wayne Ratliff continued to Working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in areas and all types of receive a per -copy royalty until this year, Pasadena. Its aim was to let the user design when he surrenderedthisrightfor an and manipulate databases, using English - extremely large cash sum. Today Ratliff is a like commands. Ratliff was convinced that very rich programmer. Tragically, George

78 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 COMPANY PROFILE

Rapid File is the only product Ashton-Tate developed in-house. Ashton-Tate markets the Javelin super -spreadsheet in Britain.

Tate did not see his company become the acquisitions. Apart from Rapid File, none of true of the dBase family, where sales are at international giant that it is now: he died inAshton-Tate's current products was orig- risk from a barrage of clones and compilers. 1984 at the age of 43. inally developed in-house. They were all ob- Of course, Ashton-Tate is not going to For Tate's successors, the main prioritytained by purchasing the companies that admit to such worries. "Imitators do not has been to diversify. Of all the softwarewrote them: Multimate International for the bother us too much," says Paul Sloane. packages that were leaders of their categories word processor, Forefront for Framework "Provided customers stick to the dBase in the days of the Z-80 standard,like and Decision Resources for the graphics language, they will come back to us when we WordStar, Supercalc and CP / M, dBase is family. The Multimate deal was, and still is, bring out new versions." Since it is Ashton- the only one that still enjoys that lead today. the largest takeover of its kind in software Tate that decides what is to go into those But this cannot last. Newer, more sophisti- history. new versions, the clone makers will always cated databases have emerged, and the sales This does not mean that Ashton-Tate is beone step behind. of dBase are constantly under threat from its not in the business of software development. Sloane has a similar attitude to compilers. many imitators. It has an aggressive policy of updating and "Although we tend to frown on compilers, On the surface, diversification has not enhancing its acquisitions and of producing we recognise that they further the cause of been very successful.True, Ashton-Tate versions for new hardware. This is especially the dBase language. Users of compiled now has four main groups of products: applications often end up buying dBase as dBase,Framework,Multimate andthe well. They already have their data in the Graphics Master range.Italso has non - right format, and they appreciate the value American marketing rights to Javelin. But of interactive working." the dBase family continues to account for The compilershaveatleasttaught the bulk of the company's turnover. Ashton-Tate the need for improved per- Of course, this is not necessarily a bad formance.Althoughthecompany's thing.Ashton-Tate's UK managing dir- development plans are a closely guarded ector, Paul Sloane, is quick to point out that secret, my guess is that the performance the company's other productsallhave issue is currently a major preoccupation. The healthy sales in their own right. "It is the argument for Ashton-Tate producing its strength of dBase that makes us look like a own compiler must be irresistible, especially one -product company,ratherthanany now that Nantucket and Wordtech have weakness in the rest of the range," he proved the market. insists. Other developments in the dBase area To support this, he points out that Multi - or perhaps in a new generation of database mate is one of the world's half -dozen best- products - willprobablyinclude a selling word processors. And in France, structured query language, micro -to -main- Framework outsells Lotus 1-2-3 by a factor of frame links and features to take advantage of two to one. That said, a careful reading of PAUL SLOANE the power of the 80386 processor. At the the company's accounts shows Framework's other end of the scale, the success of Rapid sales growing much more slowly than any of File will have encouraged the company to itsotherproducts,despitethecritical Imitators do not offer more enticements to the first-time acclaim which it has received. bother us too much. user.Itsrecent announcement of First Whatever the company's success so far, Provided that customers Framework is an example of this. the policy of diversification will continue. WhateN erdirectionittakes,diversi- "We aim to become a software conglom- stick to the dBase language fication is vital to Ashton-Tate. There is no erate," Sloane told us, "and we are well on they will come back to us reason for thinking that the rapid growth of the way. We plan to have a presence in all when we bring out new the last six years will not continue, but it can major application areas and all types of versions. /! do so only if the company can become a machines." major force outside its traditional database This will almost certaintly involve more arena. pia

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 79 THENEW APRICOT386 and VX SYSTEMS

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circle 102 on enquiry card DATA PROTECTION

ARE YOU A GOOD USER? The Data Protection Act could be only the start of many users' problems. Anne Staines looks at the pitfalls awaiting those who use electronic data. In theory we are all good data users now.public confidence. Principle number 8 pro- 300 subject complaints have reached the Or are we? It is almost impossible to bevides that: "Appropriate security measures Registrar and the number is rising rapidly. unaware of the Data Protection Act ofshall be taken against unauthorised access to Complaints about lack of security, however, 1984. After a slow start, applications to regi- or alteration, disclosure or destruction of are uncommon. Most users complain about ster under the Act have now topped 133,000 personal data and against accidental loss or the presence of their names on direct -mail- and are increasing at a rate of 900 a month. destruction of personal data." ing lists. According to the National Council on What is considered appropriate will vary The Registrar's office issues no general Information Technology (NCC) the goodaccording to the nature of the data and the guide on security, although the Department data user can be recognised by three prac- number of persons having access toit. of Trade and Industry is currently funding tices: keeping data secure, keeping data Viewed rationally, this requirement shouldthe NCC to put some guidelines together. accurate and limiting disclosure. The need present little difficulty to most users. ButIn the meantime, many users are investing to ensure accuracy presents users with a two factors are causing users to panic. One is in fireproof safes and encryption codes. familiar problem: everyone makes a mistake fear of penalties imposed under the Act as Whether thisisreally necessary remains from time to time. Security is proving a the date approaches upon which the Regis- open to doubt. more difficult theory to understand,let trar's powers come fully into operation. The The NCC has always advocated that atti- alone to put into practice. other arises from the increasing number oftudes to security should be tightened up The problem stems from the Data Protec- security devices on the market. Advertising through staff training. All staff in contact tion Principle number 8. The Principles are for some of them suggests that users who do with personal data should be instructed intended to provide a code of practice not employ physical security devices are in never to bypass security regulations, always against which the behaviour of individual breach of the Data Protection Act. to keep printouts locked away when not in users can be judged. Their chief objective is Users with sloppy security practices riskuse, to return old printouts for destruction, to assure the data subject that his or her datanot only fines and other penalties but also and not to discuss personal information with will be treated correctly, and thus to inspire civil proceedings by injured subjects. So far, (continued from previous page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 81 DATA PROTECTION

(continued from previous page) a start. For example, personal data for many unauthorised persons. Giving staff this type businesses means information about their of training, says the NCC, is evidence that LiSecurity measures customers, which they invariably regard as an organisation is taking reasonable care of shall be taken against their confidential property. its data. unauthorised access to or Automating customer lists may involve a Managers and DP staff should also be alteration, disclosure or simpletransferof information froma made aware, of theirresponsibilityfor destruction of personal data manual file on to disc. In many cases, how- security through controlled access, sensible ever, personal data will be input directly siting of terminals, organised collection and and against accidental loss into the computer, without having appeared storage of printouts and control of media or destruction. in a fixed form before. Thus it is only when containingpersonaldata.The NCC stored in memory that it becomes intellec- emphasises that the most any organisation /7 tual property and thus capable of attracting can do is to take reasonable care to prevent copyright protection. Whoever has the copy- disclosure. might think twice about the level of security right in this material has control over it. He Backup copies are kept in fireproof safes they guarantee. or she can copy it or sell it, and can prevent in the Registrar's office and this is a practice It is possible to insure against claims for others doing so without authority. of which the Registrar generally approves. In compensation arising from unauthorised Clearly, the copyright owner should be many cases, however, it will be reasonable disclosure, and this is becoming fairly popu- the data user. But if the system is under simply to lock discs, etc. in a drawer after lar. It is worth bearing in mind, however, licence from a supplier who retains copyright use. The Registrar recommends that only that users cannot insure themselves against in the software, it can be difficult to separate users who hold what he calls "pretty sen- the Data Protection Act's criminal penalties. the data from the program. Wide-ranging sitive information" need consider encryp- In most cases, precautions that are adequate provisions of this type are more common in tion; most users do not. to secure the user against action by the Regi- bespoke than off-the-peg software, and are Untilrecently many softwarehouses strar should also secure the data subject unusual at that. attempted to protect their programs against against the user. However, as copyright laws receive wider casual copying by encrypting security codes As a result of the Data Protection Act's interpretation, some contractsare being on to the medium. In 1985 a survey was publicity campaign users are generally more used to see how far they can be pushed. The carried out which revealed that over half the aware of the threats posed by insecure office effect of provisions of this nature is far from software houses in Britain were employing management. They may also be conscious of clear. Yet it is comparatively simple to deal this method. A survey of software users at the risk of hacking and other forms of mis- with this problem before the contractis the same time found that this was unlikely appropriation of data. Guarding against signedbydistinguishingbetweentwo to deter would-be copyists;the fact ofthese risks makes users better stewards ofsources of information and providing for encryption was easily detected and the code their data. each separately,retaining copyright and easily broken. In view of the contempt with Surprisingly few users are good owners, confidentiality for the user's data. This is an which"serious"copyiststreatedthese and they are likely to run into a whole series additional type of security device that is all devices, users with "pretty sensitive" data of problems; the Data Protection Act is only too easily overlooked.

MP UUMMEIMUU PMN MMMMOMO 1111100A HERE'S WHAT DIALUP CAN DO FOR YOU! SMALL BUSINESSES Telex Electronic Mail Company Searches Information Search and Scan Newspapers HOME USERS Order Goods Games Free Software Chat Line Instant News* WHY DIALUP? It is specifically designed to be easy to use WHAT DO YOU NEED? A MICRO - currently - perfect if you have little or no knowledge of comms! With DIALUP is available for the Amstrad PC1512 and the DIALUP you can access services like Prestel, Telecom PCW, IBM PC/AT/XT or compatible, BBC Model B/B+ Gold, Microlink and Micronet. You can also copy software, /Master/Compact, RM Nimbus/480Z/380Z A send and receive a message, file or telex using simple or MODEM - most Hayes compatible or manual dial sophisticated error checking protocols. DIALUP also has modems A TELEPHONE LINE - your existing line will support for BT's Multistream EPAD service - less line noise possibly do very nicely, and of ^ourse DIALUP and cheaper costs. Communications Software!

DIALUP PERSONAL costs just £89.95 (inc. VAT) + £2.95 p&p (Total £92.90).That includes an extremely comprehensive user manual and cable you need to connect your micro to the modem. DIALUP is also available in special pack with the WS4000 Modem at a special price of £259.95 (inc. VAT) + £5.50 p&p (£265.45). PLEASE SEND ME, E DIALUP for a .... Micro El DIALUP & WS4000 for a .... Micro D More information on DIALUP PERSONAL El COMMERCIAL D EDUCATIONAL NAME ADDRESS

POST CODE TEL DIALUP I enclose cheque for made payable to PMS Communications Ltd, alternatively telephone your ACCESS order PERSONAL to 021-643 7688. COMMUNICATIONS Please send to PMS Communications Ltd, PRAC. SOFTWARE Norfolk House, Smallbrook Queensway, Birmingham B5 4LJ. Tel. 021-643 7688. 0 N LYE89.95+ P & PCOMI08 O0LIEMMUMA OilO MONAO DAMA RH 82 -- circle 112 on enquiry card PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 DISKS DISKS rs

ACCUTRACK dBASE II FLEXIBLE DISKS COMPATIBILITY Engineered for critical accuracy and reliability by Dennison Magnetic Media. DAC EASY QUALITY top quality certified 100% error free

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post and packing free why pay more? SAlfge95 A relational database that's easy, versatile and affordable! Context sensitive on line help combines with easy to use Cash with order only. Please complete the order form menus to give you the information you want quickly and below and send it to: - efficiently. A built in programming language allows you to design exactly the type of data organisation, updating, storage Moor House Marketing and retrieval that best fits your business. Moor House, Dac Easy Base is powerful and flexible. It is simple for the Ratcliffe Wharf Lane, novice to learn whilst containing all the sophisticated features Forton, Preston PR3 OAN required by the professional. or telephone 0524 792101 with Access Card No. Features include: Sorts on any number Extensive on-line help of fields Per box of 10 disks Amount Menu and command driven 100 memory variables PCB Prices Qty Unlimited records User defined screens

1 2-9 10+ 60 fields per record and reports 51" 255 characters per field Three concurrent files 48tpi SS/DD 10.95 10.45 9.95 open DS/DD 1 3.95 13.45 12.95 2000 characters per 96tpi SS/DD 13.95 13.45 12.95 record Runs most dBII programs 96tpi SS/DD 13.95 13.45 12.95 Try it, you'll like it! DS/DD 16.95 16.45 15.95 Minimum System Requirements HE (IBM -AT) 26.95 25.45 23.95 IBM, AMSTRAD1512 or other compatibles- Dac-Easy Is the registered trademark ofDac 31" SS 19.95 19.45 18.95 384Kmemory, two floppy disks or one floppy and one hard disk, MS-DOS or PC-DOS2. 0 orSoftware Inc. 3z" DS 23.95 22.95 21.95 later, 132 column printer in compressed dBase II is the registered trademark of mode, colour or monocrome monitor. Ashton-Tate Remember Total post & packing free VAT@ 15% IT/Business Software

Payment Call (0483) 898140 for immediate attention Name

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Please rush me a copy of Dac Easy Base at the price of £49.95 plus £3.00 P&P plus VAT. Total £60.89 Cheque 0 VISA 0 ACCESS 0 Access Card No Card no. Expiry

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sn on PCX & PCA SUPPLIED WITH 12MONTHS FREE ON -SITE MAINTENANCE System 4(20Mb. IMB RAM) 720 x 348 resolution mono parallel serial BASIC AUTOCAD SYSTEM Opusports Basic Autocad. Summamouse. Hitachi A3 plotter £1799 ADVANCED AUTOCAD SYSTEM TnacnrdsoAnuPtocCAa2dOptl2u0sMABEi AE 2486 R3le7r2ry0 Ax33d4,8giressoe,luiroinanodn ID4'F;(s2creen000 421 ii)Diaortatellrela&nd2sstearniall We can tailor Autocad systems to your requirements du ;e of support peripherals (see below) Installation and training. Please call for details VIKING ULTRA HIGH RESOLUTION 19" DISPLAY. Ideal for Desk Top Publishing & CAD PLEASE CALL ALLOY MULTI-USER Turn your XT/AT into a Novell compatible multi-user system from £1199 per station Small footprint 80286, 10MHz 20Mbr4395 JILATARI 1040 ST Mono £559 IMultitech 910Monographics 1P & 25- Superb value lias HARD DISK & MEMORY UPGRADES SOFTWARE SPECIALS IBM & Compatibles 20MB £359 £695 IBM & Compatibles 30MB Hardcard £379 VENTURA DTP anyo 7 emory upgra.e o s + extra Supercalc 4 Lotus Eater £195 disk capacity £65 VP Planner Lotus Clone £65 Amstrad PC 1512 upgrade to 640k £29 VP Info £65 Perfect Writer 2 £99 Wordc raft 3.0 (IBM) £349 APRICOT ADD ONS Wordstar 2000 7225 512k Memory Board £115 Wordstar Prof 4 £299 20Mb Hard Disk Upgrade £695 Word Perfect £265 Hi Res Mono Monitor for Portable £109 Turbo Pascal (8087+BCD) £55 Turbo Reflex £79 CADpower £259 PRINTER PROMOTIONS Turbocad £299 PANASONIC 1081 £169 CADD inc. mouse £169 MP 165 £189 Autosketch £79 STAR NL10 £215 Ability -Integrated Package £79 EPSON LX800 £219 Moneypower £79 EPSON FX800/1000 £319/£399 Sage Financial Controller £249 M. TALLY MT85/86 £299/£399 EPSON EX800/1000 £399/£539 PLOTTERS - DIGITISERS etc. NEC P6/P7 £409/£499 Hitachi 672 A3 £449 EPSON LQ800/1000 £459/£619 Roland 880A A3 £679 JUKI 6100 £259 Roland 885 A3 £929 QUENDATA 1120 £169 Hewlett Packard 7570 A Al £4495 HP LASERJET 2 £2195 Roland DPX2000 A2 **£2495 Graphtec GP9001 AO £6,195 SHEETFEEDERS Please Call Summasketch 12" x 12" digitiser £395 Cherry A3 digitiser £495 ACCOUSTIC HOODS Please Call Logimouse Plus £85 Summamouse with GEM + Write & Paint (IBM) £179

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84 - circle 147 on enquiry card - PRACTICAL COMPUTINGAugust 1987 LASERS TAKE OVER

With laser printers becoming commonplace Ian Stobie looks at how the specific needs of different types of users are being met.

0

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 85 PRINTERS

aser printers are becoming commonplace. No longer an expensive and exotic alternative to the daisy- wheel they are coming to be an increasingly normal part of the ordinary office. Laser printers are now second only to matrix prin- Mannesmann -Tally 910. ters in the amount of money that is spent buying them. At the same time the laser market is becoming fragmented. There is no longer a single kind of laser printer, but several dif- ferent categories designed to match the needs of different kinds of user. The base -line laser printer is probably now best represented by machines like the Epson GQ-3500 and the Oki Laserline 6. Both these machines are aimed at the mass office market, as adjuncts to stand-alone PCs. They cost around £1,800. Compared to earlier laser printers they are very compact, Epson GQ-3500. taking up no more desk space than a stan- dard AT, and weighing about 351b. Their cost over £2,000 - with the HP the more considerable graphics capability. You can speed israted at six pages per minute, expensive at just over £2,600. They are rated generally print a full page at 150 dots per though as we explain on page 92 the speed at eight pages per minute rather than six, inch (dpi) resolution, or smaller areas at the claims of all printer manufacturers should be andcome with slightly larger standard paper full 300dpi limit of the engine. All laser taken with a pinch of salt. trays that hold 150 sheets rather than 100. printerscopewellwith overhead -trans- Slightly higher in both specification and All these machines - both the compact parency film as well as with ordinary A4 price are the new machines from the com- Epson and Oki offerings and the new Canon office stationery and photocopier paper. panies that led the first wave of laser prin- and HP models - are more than simple A bigger jump in capability occurs when ters, Canon and Hewlett-Packard. Bulkier daisywheel replacements. They have 512K you go up above the £3,000 mark to and heavier at about 50Ib, these machines of memory as standard, which gives them machines like the Mannesmann -Tally 910

CITIZEN OVERTURE 1 10 Like Epson, which is part of Seiko -Epson, Citizen is an offshoot of a watch company. Its first laser printer, the £1,995 Overture 110, shows evidence of a determination to push into the laser market, as it offers a very good specification for the money. It is a fairly compact machine, despite its 701b. weight, and it fits neatly on to a desk alongside an AT. Citizen has used a 10 page per minute engine made by Mita, an established photocopier maker. But the most pleasing thing about the Overture 110 is that it really is quick. A 15 -page report took 1 minute 33 seconds, which works 1111101111111100111111010110010111001 out at 9.68 pages a minute. On a 25 -page document the machine slightly exceeded its rated 10 pages a minute. Of course, on more typical, shorter documents the average page speed goes down, but it is still good - faster than the more expensive HP Laserjet, for instance. The first page takes about 16 seconds, corresponding to a rate of 3.75 pages per minute. Our various three -page benchmarks average out at about six pages per minute.

86 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 PRINTERS

Oki Laserline 6

ENHANCEMENT BOARDS Print enhancement boards are designed to increase the performance and range of Kyocera F-1010. founts available from basic laser printers. They go inside your computer rather than the printer, taking the form of a full-length PC or AT expansion card containing a fast processor and usually a great deal of memory. You connect them via a cable directly to the engine, bypassing the printer's own built-in controller. The enhancement board then takes over the job of preparing the full 300 dpi page image needed for printing. This approach is well worth investigating if you already possess one of the older generation of laser printers and now want to do DTP or graphics.

PRICE FUNCTION SUPPLIER Maser Plus £1,084 speeds up a Canon CX- or Ricoh-engined laser printer and Headway provides extra founts using a non -Postscript bit -image approach; also has scanner port and will speed up scanners Lasermaster £1,395speed-up board for Canon CX-engined laser; uses a similar non- Xitan Turbocharger Postcript bit -image approach to the J -Laser, but claims greater fount flexibility PS -Jet £2,568 turns a Canon CX-engined laser printer into a Postscript Pragma machine, using full Adobe -licensed version Qume Laserten Plus. and the Kyocera F-1010. These machines are machines designed primarilyfor desk -top entrants to the laser field, and virtually rated at 10 pages a minute, and they are publishing and advanced graphics appli- every major printer company now has a laser noticeably faster. But probably their main cations like CAD. They differ from ordinary offering. These new machines differ far distinguishing characteristicistheir im- office machines in the ease with which they more from one another than did the first provedpaperhandling.Atleastone can handle multiple founts and mixed text generation of laser printers, largely because 250 -sheet paper -input tray will be included and graphics. For many users the ordinary Canon has lost its near -monopoly position as in the price, often two. Other options are office machines are quite sufficient, so we supplier of the laser printer's key com- usually available too, including collating discuss the DTP lasers separately, starting on ponent, the basic printing engine. output stackers. page 90. At the same time not all manufacturers Above this £3,000 price level also come There are an enormous number of new see the market in precisely the same way.

Two things let the machine down. Its running costs are rather clear design. Using the Epson is very straightforward as a result. high and it has a shoddily constructed and badly thought-out front Citizen must improve this aspect of the machine. panel. When you average out the costs of the various things you Fortunately the Citizen works quite well in the default settings it have to replace periodically, such as toner, drum and fuser, the cost assumes at power -on, so you do not need to have frequent dealings comes to 3.13p per page. This is more than most other laser with the front panel. Three emulations are offered as standard: printers. Epson FX, IBM Proprinter and Diablo 630. Unless you tell it The front panel takes the form of a flat membrane touch -panel otherwise, the Overture 110 pretends to be an Epson FX-series rather than proper keys, along with a two -digit display. You set printer. In this emulation, print quality is not up to the very high parameters by pushing the key areas marked out on the membrane standard set by HP and Canon, but all laser printers are pretty good till the right numbers come up on the display. On our machine the and you would need a critical eye to tell the difference. The typeface top plastic layer was already coming away from the rest of the panel. is more pleasing in Diablo mode. An equally serious problem is that the whole system is logically Despite its few rough edges, the Overture 110 is a real rather confused, making it difficult to figure out what is going on. breakthrough in price terms -a genuinely fast machine at a We still have not discovered how to force a page throw, for example. budget price. All things considered it is hard not to recommend it. This kind of system need not be difficult to use. The Epson It is particularly suitable for anyone who produces fairly long GQ-3500 also makes do with a two -digit display which works in a documents to a tight schedule and we have found the ability to similar way, but by contrast to the Overture 110 it is a triumph of produce quick drafts of 20- or 30 -page documents extremely useful.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 87 YOUR DESKTOP PUBLISHING SOLUTION...

...TO SUIT YOUR REQUIREMENTS.

SCANNERS MONITORS LASER PRINTERS

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ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES Lasers are quieter than most other kinds of printer, print well on ordinary A4 office stationery and have the ability to handle a wide range of typefaces and graphics. But they are still expensive, the cheapest machine being in the £1,500 to £2,000 price bracket. This leaves a gap for other print technologies which are capable of producing good letter -quality output. The most attractive alternative options are ink -jet, thermal transfer, dot matrix with 18 or 24 pins, and that old faithful, the daisywheel. The first two technologies in this list - ink -jet and thermal transfer - share one of the laser printer's most attractive characteristics, that they are quiet. Matrix and daisywheel machines offer a benefit none of the others do, that you can use carbon paper and print on to multi -part forms. All four non -laser technologies are superior to the laser in that you can get wide -carriage models at little extra cost. Ink -jet printers are enjoying something of a resurgence. They are quiet, and the more expensive models are fast too. In the past they Brother's HR -40: one of the few remaining top -end daisywheels. have been plagued by an inability to print on ordinary office paper, but this has now almost been licked, at least on the more expensive themargins of acceptability in an office, though better than the machines. The Epson SQ-2500 at f1,345 and the Siemens PT -88S typical daisywheel. The big progress in matrix printers has been in at £735 are examples of this new omnivorous breed. As we go to print quality. The 18- and 24 -pin machines taking over at the top press, Siemens is about to launch a higher -spec machine which end for word-processing use offer much more acceptable results competes more directly with the Epson offering. Other major ink - than the traditional nine -pin models. Leading manufacturers in the jet players are Hewlett-Packard, Canon and Diconix. 24 -pin stakes are Epson, NEC and Toshiba. Oki and several non - Speed obviously depends on price, but the fastest ink -jets are Japanese manufacturers favour 18 -pin models, but they are almost up there with the lasers when printing short documents. generally more expensive. Unlike a laser printer, ink -jets give you at least two quality levels, so A typical 24 -pin machine is the Epson LQ-800, which costs £625. you can run off draft documents more quickly than final output. It has a pleasing letter -quality typeface and turns in fairly Laser printers still offer better print quality than an ink -jet, even in respectable speed figures in both draft and LQ mode, of 69cps and its top-quality mode. But with 24 nozzles in the print head, 35cps respectively in the Worldwide test. As a general workhorse machines like the Epson SQ-2500 can produce output which is machine the wide -carriage LQ-1000 version is probably a better bet. completely acceptable for business use. With daisywheel printers the big problem is noise. In this respect Thermal transfer is a technology which has promised great things they are worse than matrix printers, and for a normal office an for several years, but many of the major printer manufacturers, acoustic hood is virtually obligatory. Daisywheels also have very including Epson, have stepped back from it recently. Only IBM has limited graphics capability, and do not allow you to use more than really committed itself to thermal transfer for the general office one fount on a page unless you are prepared to go to the trouble of market. This is because IBM has probably the only thermal -transfer changing the printwheel by hand. You are obviously limited to the printer worth considering. The £1,070 Quietwriter III is the latest in 100 or so characters on the printwheel, and the maximum fount size a line of machines which uses a unique proprietary variant of is also severely constrained. thermal technology, with a special type of ribbon. The machine has This formidable list of drawbacks ought really to knock the 40 elements in its print head, so the print quality is good - almost daisywheel off anyone's shopping list, but the machines refuse to as good as a laser printer, in fact. die. This is partly because of people's desire to print on to multi- IBM itself is scrupulously honest in its speed claims for the part stationery and the availability of wide -carriage machines, Quietwriter, qualifying all the figures put forward as burst speed, though these advantages are shared with impact dot-matrix Shannon speed or whatever. We have therefore been a little unfair printers. But print quality comes into it too. A good daisywheel to it in our Credibility Gap chart on page 93, but the 160cps draft fitted with a carbon ribbon actually gives better print quality than a figure is sometimes used by dealers. Real speed at our tests is still laser at straightforward correspondence work, although whether the fairly good for the price and print quality involved: about 40cps in average reader can tell the difference is another matter. draft mode and 30cps in letter quality. This is far below a laser's What seems likely is that daisywheel printers will linger for a long speed, of course. time at the very low end of the printer market. Here many people The real problem with the Quietwriter, and with most other are looking for the best possible quality at the lowest possible price, thermal -transfer printers, is running costs. Ribbons do not last long probably just for occasional low -volume letter -writing applications and cost about £15 to replace. On the basis of 250 words per page in on home machines. The high -end daisywheel market is already light correspondence use, the running cost works out at about 8p a shrinking, and as it does so Brother is becoming increasingly page. This is far more expensive than a laser printer, so the dominant within it. On page 93 we chart the speed of its newly Quietwriter only makes sense for low -volume use. launched HR -40 office daisywheel. At 20cps for nearly £1,000 it is Matrix printers have obvious drawbacks in noise and print not a very impressive performer in terms of speed. In the office, the quality, but they are cheap and increasingly fast. Few matrix days of the daisywheel must surely be numbered: the other options printers manage to get much quieter than 55 dB(A), so they are on are better.

Citizen has one of the most interesting new negative side the running costs are not low. ferent names but are easy to recognise by entrants, the Overture 110, which is based Citizen is probably going for precisely the their size and general appearance. They around a new engine from Mita.This same mass market as Epson and Hewlett- generally weigh about 7016 and look like the machine is rated at 10 pages a minute but is Packard, but offering a different package of original HP, Canon or Apple machines. Pro- priced at only £2,000. The standard model features. vided the price is low - well under £2,000 has a single paper -input tray, but it takes The situation is complicated still further- these machines can still represent good 250 sheets. These features would seem to by the large number of different machines value for money. Discounting is widespread suggest that itis targeted at users with a around that are based on the older Canonon older machines, soitpays to shop CX engine. They go under a variety of dif- around. fairly high -volume requirement, but on the MMI

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 89 PRINTERS

PRINT PAPER RUNNING PRICE APPLICATION SPEED ENGINE FEED COST Agfa P-400 PS £18,950high -quality DTP 18ppm Agfa 2,000 1p

AST Turbolaser £3,200 DTP 8ppm Ricoh 250 3.65p

Canon LPB-8 II £2,195 low -volume use 8ppm Canon 200 2.25p

Centronics PP -8 £1,595 Iow-volume use 8ppm Sharp 100 1.7p

Apple Laserwriter Plus. Citizen Overture 110 £1,995 medium -volume lOppm M ta 250 3.13p use Dataproducts LZR-2665£14,950 A3 -format DTP 26ppm Toshiba 250 + 500 2.28p GRAPHICS APPLICATIONS AND DESK -TOP PUBLISHING Epson GO -3500 £1,795 low -volume use 6ppm Ricoh 150 2.5p Desk -top publishing (DTP) is one appli- cation area that could hardly exist without Genicom 5010 £3,234 medium -volume lOppm Hitachi 250 2.3p laserprinters.Computer -aideddrafting use (CAD) software also works well with lasers, Hewlett-Packard £2,618 low -volume use 8ppm Canon 200 2.25p although here plotters are available as an Laserjet II alternative output medium. But both these areas require laser printers with quite dif- ferent characteristics from an ordinary office Kyocera F-1010 £3,395 medium -volume l0ppm Kyocera 2 x 250 2.8p printer,anduntilrecently,gettinga use machine for serious desk -top publishing or graphics use meant laying out nearly £6,000 on an Apple Laserwriter.Apple had a Lasermaster CX £3,395 DTP Spam Canon 100 2.86p dominant position as the supplier of printers equipped with the Postscript page -descrip- tion language, with few effective high - volume competitors. Mannesmann -Tally 910 £3,195 medium -volume l0ppm Kyocera 2 x 250 2.3p Three developments have changed this. use First, the graphics capability of the general- Oasys Express £1,810 medium -volume 8ppm Tec 250 2.4p purpose office laser printer has improved. use Ordinary office lasers now nearly all come with 512K as standard, and you can quite Oki Laserline 6 £1,899 low -volume use 6ppm Ricoh 150 2.9p often upgrade them to over a megabyte and in some cases a good deal more. In DTP or QMS K8 £2,105 low -volume use 8ppm Canon 100 2.3p CAD use you need the extra memory to hold a full page at 300dpi, which requires about 1.2Mbyte. Memory is also useful for holding extra Qume Scripten £4,595 DTP lOppm Hitachi 250 2.58p soft founts which can be bought on disc and downloaded into the printer. A beefed-up Ricoh Postcript 8 £5,195 DTP 8ppm Ricoh 250 3.03p standard laser will meet many people's desk- top publishing and graphics requirements, particularly if they are not interested in unorthodox text effects and are prepared to NOTES stick to a small number of founts. SPEED is quoted in pages per minute and is the theoretical maximum speed claimed by the Secondly, Apple now has several competi- manufacturer. PAPER FEED is the maximum number of sheets that the input paper tray(s) will hold. RUNNING COST is given in pence per page. RESOLUTION is 300 dots per inch vertically and horizontally in all cases unless otherwise stated. PAPER SIZE is A4 in all cases unless otherwise stated. NOTE This list is not comprehensive. We have concentrated on the likely brand leaders and technically interesting machines.

tors offering Postscript machines at lower point, most desk -top publishing software prices. The price of Postscript lasers has can simply blow it up to 48 point without it fallen to around the£4,500mark, with the looking unsightly. With the right software Qume Scripten and QMS PS -800 among the Postscript allows all sorts of creative effects: better -value machines. merging images into each other or into text, Postscript still has its attractions for desk- rotating or smearing text across the page, top publishing though, as it offers very great and so on. fount flexibility. Not only can a large num- Postscript or any other page -description ber of different founts be obtained for any language works by describing the objects on Postscript laser, but once you have such a a page in a vector form. Founts too are held Hewlett-Packard Laserjet II: lighter and fount you also possess it in all its variations. as vectorised descriptions. This is why it is so more compact than its predecessor. For example, if you buy Times Roman in 12 easy to manipulate a fount, expanding it,

90 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 PRINTERS LASER PRINTERS

OTHER FEATURES COMMENT OTHER MODELS SUPPLIERS

400dpi resolution; Postcript compatible; 73 higher quality and speed means a big jump inAgfa makes full scale typesetting machines, but Agfa-Gevaert founts standard and own built-in hard disc; price and sheer size which will only be nothing cheaper than the P-400 PS weighs 190kg; HPGL compatible worthwhile for ambitious DTP users; Agfa's printing engine uses an LED array rather than a scanning laser

1.5Mbyte RAM for fast printing in DTP and graphics none AST applications; uses bit -image as opposed to PDL approach; controller comes on a separate card which you plug into your PC - Canon's second -generation machine, similar toolder SeriesI Canon machines may still be on Canon the HP Laserjet II but with a different controller sale, often at very good prices fairly compact Centronics has recently been acquired by see Genicom Mekom Genicom, and the PP -8 is being sold off cheap; check on the availability of consumables 12 month on -site warranty in price brand new with very high spec for the price DTP version likely by end of year Citizen

Postcript, high duty cycle double the normal paper size; fast; resolution £2,995 LZR-1230 12ppm general-purpose Dataproducts is the usual 300dpi A4 printer without Postscript weighs only 16kg; HP and Diablo emulationvery compact, good -value office laser designed - Epson available for general-purpose low -volume use weighs 38kg similar specification to Qume's Laserten Plus, same machine with HP emulation is £3,560 Genicom but more expensive weighs 23kg; 12 months on -site warranty successor to the successful Laserjet and LaserjetLaserjet 2000, £16,500, is high -volume 20ppm HP Plus; well supported by HP, but not startling printer whose paper -handling options include value for money; extra memory to 4.5Mbyte 2,500 -sheet paper feeder; older Series 1 Laseriets still on sale weighs 25kg; emulates wide range of other good all-round printer; well suited for F-2020 has twin input trays and an output Mekom printers higher -volume users collator; NCR, Unisys, Hermes and various other companies offer badged versions of Kyocera machines weighs 25kg cheap, fast printer for DTP and graphics Lasermaster RX, based on Ricoh engine and Xitan applications; uses a similar approach to the ASTwith better paper handling and a similar spec Turbolaser, with a separate controller card to the AST Turbolaser, costs £4,100 which you plug into your PC; bit image, not Postscript weight 20kg; emulates wide range of other good all-round printer for higher -volume users - Mannesmann -Tally printers weighs 23kg high duty cycle for the price Silver Express, £2,181, has its own built-in PDL Pragma called Express; the £5,528 Oasys 1510 is rated at 15ppm weighs only 16kg; standard memory now similar to new Epson - neat and compact, and Technitron X -Data 512K, equalling its Epson rival well suited for general-purpose low -volume use - basic low -end laser printer built around the QMS Smartwriter, £2,683, supports more Pragma, Headway original Canon engine founts and emulates more printers; QMS PS -800, £4,342, is a competitively priced Postscript printer aimed at DTP users Postscript support; weighs 37kg; 1.5Mbyte competitively priced for a Postscript printer, £2,683 Laserten Plus is Qume's non -Postscript ITT-Qume RAM and quite fast offering, intended for less ambitious office use emulates HP plotters as well as other laser for both DTP and graphics applications; Ricoh Postscript 15, rated at 15ppm Aptec printers; weighs 35kg Postscript gives more fount flexibility than a bit - image approach, but makes it slower rotatingit,distortingit. The vectorised DTP system. You still need to build up an In speed terms, the performance of these description is not turned into a bit image image of a page in memory before printing, board -based systems is very good; indeed for until it gets into the printer, where a power- but this process is simplified if you are using most DTP or CAD work they are faster than ful processor takes the Postscript code and bit -mapped founts. the Postscript alternative. Where you might expands it. The normal approach with bit -mapped wait 10 minutes for a Postscript laser to print The alternativeis to hold your founts laser printers is to prepare the page image a complex graphicimage,abit -image from the start as bit images. This has been not inside the printer but in the PC. The machine such as the AST Turbolaser might done for years in matrix printers and screen printer comes with a card which you fit do it in just over a minute. Many simpler displays, and of course is the approach used inside your PC. It will generally contain images will print at close to the maximum in ordinary office laser printers. What now 1.5Mbyte or 2Mbyte of memory along with a makes it viable for the much more demand- fairly powerful processor such as a 68020. ing task of DTP in a vast variety of different The reason for adopting this solution is founts is the falling price of memory and the that most of the founts you will be using will growing amount of disc space people have be held on your PC's hard disc. They are on their systems. It is possible now to hold a bulky inbit -image form, so transferring large number of founts on disc. them across a standard serial or parallel link Each size and variation of fount - 12 to the printer would be very slow. Doing point roman, 12 point italic, 14 point italic, most of the work in the computer also means and so on - needs to be held separately, so that the printer itself can be kept simple. you need a few megabytes for a working Centronics Page Printer 8.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 PRINTERS

. OSTSCRIPT-POSTS1,.. f-POSTSCRIPT-POSTSCRIP tIPT-POSTSCRIPT-POSTSCRIPT-1-. ,RIPT.POSTSCR.", .OSTSCRIPT-PC, SCRIPT -POST" ''SCRIPT-POS SCRIPT -PO' -;RIPT-POS "SCRIPT-P' RIPT-POST TSCRIPT-F WI -POST ;TSCRIPT-I STSCRIP STSC RIP T. STSCRIPT STSCRIPT STSCRIPT TSCRIPT- ;TSCRIPT-1 ith the great range of differ- TSCRIPT-f- IPT-POST "SCRIPT -Pt_ RIPT-POS ent types and makes of printer on offer, one SCRIPT -PO, ,CRIPT-PO' 'CRIPT-POST SCRIPT -PO' of the first things you need to know is their `RIP T.POSTSCRI, -POSTSCRIPT-Pr 'PT -POSTSCRIPT -POSTSCRIPT, `T-POSTSCRIPTPOST SCRIP' speed. But this is surprisingly hard to find "ISTSCRIPT-POSTS," out. Most of the published figures are badly Postscript allows text and graphics to be manipulated with ease. misleading. Manufacturers typically quote speed in speed of the laser engine. This machine is worth the extra money and the probable different ways, depending on the tech- particularly suitable for graphics. drop in speed. CAD as well as DTP users are nology the printer employs. They use pages At £3,200, the AST Turbolaser looks like affected, as CAD users often want to hold per minute for laser printers,lines per a pretty good deal. What is more, there are drawings on file for several years, by which minute for line printers and characters per even cheaper options open to you if you time printer resolution will have changed. second for serial printers such as dot-matrix already own one of the older laser printers But even here there is a way out. Some and daisywheel machines. based on Canon or Ricoh engines. Since the packages - Ventura Publisher is one - will This makes comparison between different bit -image approach uses a separate board support several different output devices at printers more difficult, but it is really only that goes into your PC and takes much of its the same time. This allows you to print to a the beginning of the user's problem. The resources from the PC, it is fairly easy to bit -image printer such as the AST Turbo - figures themselves cannot be taken at face make it available as an upgrade board to laser or J -Laser, and also prepare a Postscript value - they do not mean what they appear boost the performance of an existing laser file for sending on to your typesetter. to mean. The situation is particularly bad printer. You plug the speed-up board into All the machines discussed so far, whether with laser printers, which are being heavily your PC and then connect it directly to the they use bit -image founts or Postscript, are hyped on the basis of their speed. Products engine of your old laser printer, cutting out similar in that they have a resolution of are routinely described as going at six, eight its built-in controller. 300dpi and print on to A4 paper. To get the or 10 pages per minute - these are the most Postscript retains one big advantage over ability to print on to larger paper sizes or at popular numbers to claim at the personal - the bit -image approach and it is one which higherresolutioninvolvesconsiderably computer end of the market. Most of the may be decisive for some users: it is device - more expense. A3 printingisreallya time you are unlikely to get anything like independent. This means that the same minority requirement for ambitious DTP this performance in practice. Postscript file you use to drive your 300dpi users, but if you need it you can get a laser to The pages per minute figure quoted by Apple or Qume printer will also drive the do the job as long as you are prepared to pay manufacturers is in reality the maximum Agfa at 400dpi or even a Linotronic type- £15,000 or more. Higher resolution starts at speed of the laser engine. You are only ever setter at a full 1,200dpi. It will do this un- about £19,000, the cost of Agfa's 400dpi likely to achieve it when doing one specific changed, giving exactly the same image but machine. thing - printing repeat copies of the same at higher resolution. This allows you to use One day higher resolution will doubtless page. Yet these maximum speed figures are your cheap desk -top laser in the office and come to the general office market, though it bandied around frequently without any then send a disc out to an external type- is not yet clear what the new standard will kind of qualification. Running our own setting company which has full-scale kit. be. It may not be a symmetrical 400 by 400 tests, we have found that you typically get With bit images you cannot do this. Your dots like the Agfa, as an asymmetric 300 by about five pages per minute or less from a founts are held at 300dpi and there is noth- 480 or 300 by 600 could be technically easier laser printer supposedly rated at eight pages ing you can do to change that, so the bit - to achieve. But for the time being A4 and a minute. Real speed is lower in a com- image approach is not much use if you know 300dpi look like being a sufficiently good parable way for manufacturers claiming six you will want tousehigher -resolution platform from which DTP and graphics and 10 pages a minute. devices at some stage. Postscript is probably applications can take off. A laser's speed depends a great deal on what you are printing. Our figures are based on printing straightforward two- to three - page text documents. Since you generally Agfa-Gevaert 27 Great Datoproducts Mannesmann -Tally Molly have to wait at least 20 seconds for the first West Road, Brentford, International Unit 1, Heron Millars Lane, Wokingham, page to emerge, if you print a lot of short Middlesex TW8 9AX. Industrial Estate, Spencers Berkshire RG11 2QT. Telephone: 01-560 2131 Wood, Reading, Berkshire RG7 Telephone: (0734) 788711 documents you would be getting less speed Aptec Apec House, South Bank 1 PJ. Telephone: (0734) 884777 Mekom Computer - closer to three pages a minute from a Business Centre, Ponton Road, Epson UK Dorland House, Products Enfield Hall, Enfield machine such as the HP Laserjet II which is London SW8 5AT. Telephone: 388 High Road, Wembley, Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham rated at eight pages per minute. Under these 01-627 1000 Middlesex HA9 6UH. B15 1QA. Telephone: 021-454 circumstances, the laser's speed advantage AST Europe AST House, 2 Telephone: 01-902 8892 2288 Goat Wharf, Brentford, Genicom UK Petersham Pragma Pragma House, over the faster types of matrix and ink -jet Middlesex TW8 OBA. House, Harrington Road, Radlett Road, Colney Street, St. printer is becoming marginal. Telephone: 01-568 4350 London SW7 3HA. Telephone: Albans, Hertfordshire AL2 2EP. One of the great attractions of laser prin- Canon UK Canon House, 01-581 1011 Telephone: (09276) 3411 ters is their ability to handle mixed text and Manor Road, Wallington, Headway Computer Technitron X -Data 750-751 graphics, or to put several different founts Surrey SM6 OAJ. Telephone: Products Headway House, Deal Avenue, Slough Trading on the page. But if you use the machine this 01-773 3173 Christy Estate, Ivy Road, Estate, Slough, Berkshire SL1 Citizen Europe Wellington Aldershot, Hampshire GU12 4SH. Telephone: (0753) 31292 way, printing can take much longer than for House, 4-10 Cowley Road, 4TX. Telephone: (0252) 333575 Xltan Xitan House, 27 more uniform text. For complicated desk- Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2XW. ITT-Qume UK, Qume House, Salisbury Road, Totton, top publishing or graphics work you need to Telephone: (0895) 72621 Parkway, Newbury, Berkshire Hampshire SO4 3HX. allow several minutes per page on most RG13 lEE. Tel: (0635) 31400 Telephone: (0703) 871211 machines. We consider the Qume Scripten

92 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 THE CREDIBILITY GAP Printer Credibility Gap Four Types of Printer Compared Worldwide's figures show agap betweenreal and claimed speed Test Data: Worldwide Computers' one page letter

[:: Brother HR -40a Brother FR -40

IBM Ouietwriter III LO El IBM Quietwriter III LO

IBM Quietwriter III draftga IBM Ouietwriter III draft

Epson LO -800 LO .0 Epson LO -800 LO

Epson LO -800 draft60M Epson LO -800 draft

. _ . .. HP Laserjet IIMEg.= HP Laserjet II

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Claimed cps ElRealcps III Real cps

We asked Worldwide Computers to run its one -page test letter on Epson LQ are about one-third of the speed in their high -quality four machines which all use different print technologies. The modes, and obviously quicker in draft mode. Only the daisywheel Quietwriter III, at £1,069, is the latest version of I BM's resistive - looks bad, trundling along well behind the others and with no draft ribbon thermal -transfer printer, a proprietary variant on the usual mode to boost its speed on occasions when time is more precious thermal technique. The Epson LQ-800, which sells for £625, is a than print quality. letter -quality 24 -pin matrix printer. Some companies are still The IBM Quietwriter III emerges particularly well, given its very bringing out new high -end daisywheels - Brother's HR -40 at £995 quiet operation and the quality of its output even in draft mode, was only recently launched. where it turns in a respectable 41cps. This is over twice the speed of Finally, we have the Laserjet II at £2,618, the most recent laser the earlier Quietwriter II, so IBM has done a good job in boosting printer from Hewlett-Packard. This machine is rated at eight pages performance. The drawback of this printer remains the cost of a minute by HP. We have converted this, somewhat arbitrarily, to replacing the special ribbon, and hence a high cost per page a claimed 765 cps, based on the number of characters you could making it unsuitable for high -volume work. get on a fairly full page. For sheer value for money it is still hard to beat a matrix printer. As expected, the machines come nowhere near their claimed At this test, the Epson goes at one-third of the speed of the laser in speed: they are not even half as fast as their manufacturers claim. its top-quality mode, and over two-thirds of the speed in draft But once the griping about that is over, one of the most interesting mode. Obviously matrix printers have their drawbacks, but for things is that the other printers do not do too badly compared to many straightforward applications lack of speed need not be one the laser printer, given their much lower price. The Quietwriter and of them.

These machines usually print at 10 charac- ters per inch (cpi), which is 80 columns across standard paper. But many of them can also print at a more compressed 12cpi, HOW FAST DO which gives you 96 characters on a line. The point is that with this technology it takes about the same time to print a line either way. So by working out the cps figure at 12 characters per inch instead of 10, you get an THEY REALLY GO? instant gain of 20 percent in the apparent speed of the matrix printer. Most people assume that an unqualified cps figures refers to 10cpi printing, because this is what they Manufacturers usually quote their machines' printing speed, but themselves use most of the time. This gives establishing their true performance is no easy task. Ian Stobie the more unscrupulous vendor scope for a explains what to look for when assessing competing models. bit of modest deception. Of course,noneofthisstatistical chicanery is likely to be illegal. With all the to be a pretty snappy performer for a Post- is not a very useful piece of information in types of printer we have mentioned there is script laser printer, but even it took three practice. always at least a tenuous basis in fact for the minutes to print a complex sample from Printer distributor Worldwide Computers numbers quoted, however much they may Ventura Publisher. recently published its own speed figures for appear to be misleading. The problem is Itis worth remembering that dubious a number of popular daisywheel and dot- that to the average punter the figures do not speed figures did not arrive with the laser matrix printers. The standard document mean what they appear to mean. printer. They have long been part of the used for these tests was a one -page business It is interesting to note that in the line - printermarketeer'sarmoury.Takethe letter just over 300 words in length. In all printermarket,manufacturers'quoted characters per second (cps) figures quoted cases the manufacturer's claimed figures speeds seem to be more accurate. This could for daisywheel, ink -jet and dot-matrix prin- grossly overstated the printer speed. On the of course be because the technology makes it ters. They again are wildly optimistic in the basis of Worldwide's results you would need easier to find a less arbitrary speed measure. manufacturers' favour. to halve or even quarter the claimed cps But it also probably has a lot to do with the The figure normally given is the speed of figure to get a real indication of throughput nature of line -printer users. The machines the print head, ignoring all line skips and for these kinds of serial printer. are normallypurchasedbytechnically page throws. In effect, it tells you the speed Another dubious practice to watch out for sophisticated DP department staff who have the printer could achieve if it were printing on dot-matrix and ink -jet printer spec sheets the means - and probably the inclination an infinitely long line. Needless to say, this is artful confusion over the printing pitch. - to check up on speed claims before they

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 93 lee tweet le Mu Los , M ti Wet tier Useas, ,,, Pr lb -Pe MN We. Nam' ima ial No Jer e, Jana tett lo t tine as 4 *rags . les No PiA. I.. {WM II. :sla acme.** / I, hh h, ,ewe Smut oss 114.1, II,...if.Fey te1.....,.....Nli NA. ''... /ea i,k1,nst se . I s.... 'rue. hebtee..e. um ------nataaa. 111111111M Da Warr a , - If they gave Oscars for software

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Name/Company: FREEIfiaezad/ IAddress: Tel. No: U.K. P&PexcVAT (disks/microdisks) 1 - 2 pks 95p/pk 3 - 5 pks 75p/pk 6 - 9 pks 60p/pk 10+ POST FREE

- circle 149 on enquiry card PRINTERS

commit their company to handing over the SHORT DOCUMENTS cash. This raises the whole question of how you Lasers always take longer at printing the first page of any document, whereasink - check up on a printer's speed. The best and jets and most other types of printer start straight in. On short documents thisreduces simplest way is to assemble some typical the laser's speed advantage to vanishing point. We have given the ink -jet figures for examples of the work you do and run them quality mode. In draft mode they are faster, the Siemens managing 4.30 and the off, stopwatch in hand. This only works, of Epson SQ-2500 5.10 pages per minute. The test used is a short one -page letter. course, if you have the printer in your office to do the test. Lasers and Ink-Jets - Speed at First Page At this point it would be nice to point to a widely accepted independent third -party Test Data: Practical Computing one page letter benchmark. Unfortunately there isn't one. The market research company Dataquest has Siemens PT -88Sink -jet 1---1 a very thorough test, but it is designed only , 1 ___, for serial printers, and the results are not EpsonSQ-2500 ink -jet 3 .50 generally made available to anyone other than clients. In the February 1987 edition of Epson GQ-3500 laser 2 .22 Practical Computing we published another benchmark, designed by Bagshaw, then HP Laserjet II 2.75

at the NCC. But again, this is only suitable : 1 :

for serial printers. Citizen110laser [ 3.75

The problem with most of the bench- 1 marks that are in common use is that they 00 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3 5 40 really belong to an engineering rather than a user -orientatedtradition.They tendto HPages per minute; ink -jets in LC) measure fairly specific technical features, and the results can be very hard to interpret. Put alongside manufacturers' bold claims, Anyone interested in buying, say, a letter - mon tasks which are significantly different, they are not sufficiently simple. quality office printer could choose between and then perform your tests with realistic Worldwide Computers' test has the virtue at least five fundamentally different types of data. of being simple, but it only relates to oneprinter - laser, daisywheel, 18- or24 -pin Most business letters are only one or two sort of application - printing letters. You matrix, ink -jet or thermal transfer. pages long. A good test would be to put can learn a good deal from it, but different Whatyou need is one general, average, several typical examples through to get an types of printer are good or bad at differentall-round indication speed, per page. We use three letters, things. You also need to see how printers do expressed in a way that is independent of all different but laid out in a fairly standard atthings like spreadsheets,listings andprinter type and easy to understand, such as way, and one page long. longer reports. pages per minute. It would help to provide a Because laser printers take longer to do These problems have led us to develop separate set of figures, breaking the perfor- the first page of a document than subse- our own tests, which we have been using inmance down for different kinds of printing quent ones, it makes a difference how you Practical Computing printerreviewsin jobs. conduct the test. If you send one big docu- recent months. We have not got the formula To take all this into account things could ment with all the letter text in it, it will over- quite right at the moment, but we are get very complex, but there is little point in state laser performance. To get a more realis- moving in the right direction. extending the number of tests beyond the tic simulation of typical work patterns you The most urgent need now is to be able tominimum necessary to establish a reasonable would need to print the letters separately, compare between different printer types. benchmark. The aim is to separate out corn - then average the time. We ignore this pro- blem, so our letters test gives a laser's speed at printing a three -page letter. However, we SHANNON TEXT give the time to print the first page separa- One figure you sometimessee on specification sheets is acps value for Shannon text. tely in laser reviews, and again use a one - This is a benchmark of sorts, although it is only of much relevance to daisywheels. page letter as the sample document. Daisywheels print characters one by one like a typewriter, rotating the relevant character Spreadsheets involve quite a lot of white into position before whacking it down through a ribbon. As a result, it is far quicker to space,horizontallypositionedbetween print a string of the same character repeated several times than it is to print a real word of groups of figures. This has little effect on the the same length. Different real words take different lengths of time, even if they have the speed of a laser, which is not affected much same number of characters. by the positioning of text on the page. But Shannon text is a nonsense sentence originally devised in 1949 by Claude Shannon, serial printers are affected. There are signifi- one of the key figures responsible for laying the theoretical groundwork for modern cant differences between machines in how computing. At the time he was interested in designing telegraphy systems rather than fast they can skip over horizontal white benchmarking printers. The text is composed of words which are supposed to embody space. This makes it worth testing separately commonly occurring letter sequences: for spreadsheet speed. If you print a large number of invoices or The head and in frontal attack on an english writer that thecharacterof this point is therefore statements the problem is similar. Often another method for the letters that the time of whoever told the problem for an unexpected. The Mathematical Theory of Communication there are plenty of blank lines on the form, Claude Shannon, 1949 but with a total or other terms written near the bottom, so the printer cannot simply For daisywheels, the Shannon sentenceis a convenient, short speed test, although you eject the page. Serial printers differ in how would probably get a better measure of real throughput by putting a few genuine well they can skip vertically. We do not have documents through and timing them. Speed is not affected by the particular characters a separate benchmark for testing this. you print on most other types of printer, so Shannon text is now little more than a We do think it is worth having a separate curiosity. test for output which involves a high propor-

96 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 PRINTERS

SPEED TESTS Ink -jets are the obvious machines to compare with laser printers HP Laserjet Series II because they are equally quiet. The longer the document the Speed in pages per minute with Practical Computing test data better the relative performance of the laser, as the average speed Letters of a laser goes up while that of ink -jets remains the same. Here the { ! test data takes the form of three pages of letters, two one -page

spreadsheets and a continuous listing about three pages long. The Spreadsheets ink -jets still do reasonably well considering their lower price: £735 for the Siemens PT -88S and £1,345 for the Epson SQ-2500. But with really long documents of 10 or 15 pages or more, the lasers Listings MO would begin to get close to their claimed speeds of six pages per

minute for the Epson, eight for the Laserjet II and 10 for the Citizen. 0.0 .01 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 60 70

Quality mode Epson GQ-3500 CitizenOverture 110 Speed in pages per minute with Practical Computing test data Speedin pages per minute with Practical Computing test data

r 1

Letters 4.10j Letters Olt

I I preadsheets 3 00 Spreadsheets MI

1 ,,.. Listings rL0 Listings MI

1 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 50 6.0 70 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 70

Quality mode i Quality mode Siemens PT -88S Epson SQ-2500 Speed in pages per minute with Practical Computing test data Speed in pages per minute with Practical Computing test data

. Ogil

Letters - i00. Letters ' r '72)&7/7/4-3d 'w/////////////////,' A_.iira

0.60 Spreadsheets 1 '30 Spreadsheets - rl / A IN P1

1.30 Listings Listings JRER i /Tie" 3.40

1 00 1.0 2.0 30 40 50 60 70 0.0 1.0 2.0 30 40 50 60 70

Quality mode r///lDraftmode Quality mode j, Draftmode tion of short lines. Listings are the obvious The typical report page is fuller than a let- printing job accurately from a computer, example, which is why we have called it the ter and often has something printed at the because the printer hands back control listings benchmark, but there are manytop or bottom, so you get less benefit from before physical printing is complete. You other occasions when you might want out- the serial printer's ability to skip rapidly or cannot simply set the benchmark running put with a similar format, ranging fromeject the page early. Reports often have and walk away; you have to stand over it single -column address labels to data log- words or headings picked out in bold or with a stopwatch. ging. This kind of application tends to pena- underlined characters, or some other effect This reduces the attractions of using a lise the relative performance of line- and which requires double striking, and while Basic program to run the tests. You might as page -based printers but boosts that of seriallasers take these features in their stride they well use an appropriate software package. printers, which can skip well. can slow a serial printer down. There are pitfalls in this approach -- the aim If you are going to do the benchmarking On our reviews we typically quote a time is to test the printer, not the software or the job properly, reports are always worthtest- in seconds for printing a longer document. computer it runs on. We run our tests from ingout separately. They are typically muchUsually this will be the text of the review an 8MHz AT and use PFS Professional longer, and have a very different format. itself, printed in a double-spaced report for- Write, but we have not found significant With laser printers, as the first page alwaysmat with header and footer at top and bot- difference using faster or slower PCs or takes a long time, the difference in speedtom. This is not a proper benchmark, as the changing word processor. between printing reports and one -page let-task obviously differs for each printer. But But a standard setup becomes vital if you ters is enormous -7.3pages per minute forwe think itis worth doing as people can want to benchmark graphics or desk -top a 16 -page report as against 2.7 pages per easily see how much work the printer has got publishing applications. Here the power of minute for a letter on an HP Laserjet II. through in the time. In future we hope to the PC and the efficiency of the software can With other types of printer, the effects introduceaproperreportbenchmark, make a tremendous difference to the speed. may work the opposite way, with reportsexpressed in pages per minute, based on a The obvious setup here is to use an AT again printing at a slower average speed than let- standard 15 -page report. and Aldus Pagemaker or Ventura Publisher. ters. With serial printers, the important fac- There are enormous practical difficulties But the speed of printing will depend on the tor in determining speed per page is not the in benchmarking printers.For example, version you are using. We plan to use Ven- overall document length, but the length andmost printers now have fairly large memory tura as our desk -top publishing benchmark format of each page. buffers. This means you cannot time the once version 1.1 comes through. 111

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 97

If a Miracle modem can't stand the heat, it doesn't get out of our kitchen.

Every modem we make has to go through this room. Inside, twin heaters blast out air at a fiery 70°C. The heat is stifling, yet every modem we make has performed here- faultlessly - for 24 hours. This accelerated stress test is just part of our careful quality control. Before a modem goes into our 'soak room', we run it on a computerised test jig. Then when it comes out, we test it again - every component

APPROVED for connection to and every function. And all this, for every single modem we make. 1 elecornmun,cat ion systems specified in the instructions for use subject to Finally, just to double -double-check, our roving Quality the conditions set out in them Assurance Manager picks finished, packed modems at random. And tests them again. So when you buy a Miracle modem you know it has survived worse treatment than you'll ever give it. That's why every one of our modems carries a comprehensive, service -backed, no -quibble, one-year guarantee. It's your assurance that when the heat is on, a Miracle modem won't let you down. For details of our comprehensive range of modems call 0473 216141. Or circle the reply number.

MIRACLE TECHNOLOGY (UK) LTD, ST PETERS STREET, IPSWICH, IP11X6. TEL: 0473 216141 6 LINES. FAX: 0473 50080. TELECOM GOLD 79: KEY 001. TELEX, 946240 CWEASY G 19002985,

f - circle 161 on enquiry card

g MIRACLE Pm TECHNOLOGY dClock II Share Your The Original Slotless Clock/Calendar Laser Printer -Automatically!

*Actual size

* No expansion slot required. " Plugs onto disk drive. Precision made. Can he installed in less than * Extremely accurate. 5 minutes. Full feature time piece. * Designed for professionals. " 100 years calendar. * Used by Major organisations & " Easy to install. Government Departments. dCLOCK IIis suitable for most PC's ie: PC, AT, Texas Instrument and Turbo types, so long as they run DOS 2 or later and have at least one standard The Dataswitch 4 4 -into -1 Automatic (or manual) disk drive. RS232 Switch shares your printers or plotter with £69.95 (for postal deliveries please add E1.50 p&p) no special software in your system! exc VAT. Telephone or credit card orders, phone 03526 61991 or Phone or write for more details: 03526 4559 or write: Bentley (Computers) Limited, Unit 23, (Dealer Enquiries Welcome). Manor Industrial Estate, Flint, Clwyd CH6 5UY. *If dCLOCK II proves unsuitable for use with your computer you may return R-Tek Research Ltd. it within 14 days for a full refund. Unit 5, Greenwood Court, Ramridge Road,Luton VISA LU2 OTN, UK. Phone: 0582-23912 Telex: 825194 Fax: 0582-452605. circle 150 on enquiry card - circle 151 on enquiry card

If you found a way to save hundreds of hours a year-would you use it?

Yes? Then MicroCache's speed enhancements Does reading or writing a 200 Kb disk file in under are for you. MicroCache is three software packages in two seconds appeal? Order your MicroCache now! one. All three will, to quote a Shropshire dealer, make your system "go like a freshly whipped ferret-. What's PRINTER BUFFER more, one of them is absolutely FREE with the other FEATURES two! SpeedPrint operates like no ordinary printer buffer. / FAST! Easy to use. Completely automatic. It's up to five times faster, extracting data / Compatible with your software. No changes to DISK CACHE chrectly from your application program at up to 50,000 make to your system. Efficient use of all types of characters per second. Avoid the delays inherent in RAM. .1 Makes RAM Disks obsolete. You don't Disk cacheinguses spare RAM to speed up disk serial/parallel and built-in buffer interfaces. Ideal for rely on any special hardware. / No circuit boards to accessing by up to 500 times. In normal use expect both printers and plotters. fiddle with. All floppy and hard disks supported. a two -to -ten fold overall speed improvement when You keep full keyboard control of the printing Available for most micros. Cuts waiting time. reading from both floppy and hard disks. Most systems process at all times. Buffer size? From 70 Kb to 4 Mb usually have plenty of unused RAM, or. add up to 4 Mb can he allocated or shared with the Cache for even better performance. SCREEN ACCELERATOR Microcosm Research Ltd SpeedWrite 26 Danbury Street Faster display updates. Faster cursor movement. London NI 8JU New ! Allows background writing to disk - dramatically Enhances sluggish screens. Tel: 01-226 9092 improving performance still further. And its FREE with MicroCache. Telex. 24263 TARDIS G Ir I To: Microcosm Research Ltd. 26 Danbury St. London NI 8JU Name. Disk Cache L89.00 n SpeedPrint Buffer £95.00 [1] YES! Rush me a FREE MicroCache Demo Disk El Cache + SpeedWrite [125.00 I YES! Rush me MicroCache. Despatch will be made Company El Cache + SpeedWrite + SpeedPnnt - ONLY (195.00

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Tel No: I 1.1 1 circle 113 on enquiry card - MS-DOS UTILITIES

The Microsoft disc operating system areas, these programs are certainly the best I (MS-DOS) software isthenearest have encountered. thing to a universal standard that we The printer -control utilities Metatext and have in the microcomputer industry today. Nuepson both allow instantcontrol of The IBM PC and the hordes of clones that printing modes. I have found this type of followed it provided an enormous user base control to be essential if your computing for the various versions of MS-DOS. The fact involves producing much printed output. that this one software package has survived Metatextisobviously much more soph- and grown over the past few years is a tribute isticated in allowing differing type styles to both to the original concept and to the be produced on demand, whereas Nuepson original authors. Remember that 99 percent is limited to the standard Epson typefaces. of all the software that you see running on The general convenience programs come these machines uses the MS-DOS environ- intwo flavours - resident and non- ment and you will begin to appreciate the There is a growing number of resident. Sidekick and One -Key DOS are size of the achievement. the resident programs, designed to provide Since different users require different utility programs which will add maximum access and convenience to a range facilities, a thriving market has grown for to or improve the functions of of functions,regardlessof what other producingadd-onsoftwarethatwill software you may currently be using. I have improve the performance of MS-DOS in MS-DOS. Jim Bates provides included Popdrop in this group because if various areas. For instance, new users might a guide to the advantages you you start using a lot of resident programs, need software that gives them instant access some type of efficient memory management tothemore common DOS functions can gain and the pitfalls you are will become essential. without the need to learn the sometimes likely to encounter with these The non-resident programs, Util, Norton cumbersome syntaxinvolved.Technical and Palomar, are really sets of programs users might require more intricate control of programs. which provide more intricate control and in- the capabilities of DOS, and others will formationfromwithintheMS-DOS want enhancement of specific functions that environment. Some of their facilities are so they use a lot. good that you end up wondering why they These widely varying requirements are were not included in MS-DOS in the first being met by a growing number of utility place. Others are less useful but can provide progams, and it is becoming difficult for the interesting information about the workings average user to decide which are best for of your machine. their own purposes. Utility programs either My last two choices, Fastback and Micro - add atotally new function to DOS or cache,producesuchtimesavingsin provide a useful improvement to an existing important areas of operation that they had function. They fall broadly into two cat- to be included in order to complete the egories - residentandnon-resident. overall picture of just what a boon good Resident programs should sitquietly in utilityprograms canbe.Allof these memory, interfering as little as possible until programs are well written and well behaved, their function is called - either by the easy to use and good value for money. operator or by a special condition being met during operation. Non-resident programs are usually loaded as required to complete SUPPLIERS their function and are then discarded. Fastback Riva Terminals, 9 Woking Most of the successful resident utilities A disc -utility suite such as Norton's is a mustfor all serious DOS users. Business Park, Albert Drive, Woking, provide instant accessto just one extra Surrey GU21 5JY. Telephone: (04862) facility,although oneortwo - likecorruption to occur and remain undetected 71001. Borland's Sidekick - supply a range ofuntil the relevant files or directories are Metatext Image Computer Systems, 27 convenientfunctions.Experiencedusers accessed during normal use. Itis no fun Cobham Road, Ferndown Industrial generally avoid the multi -function resident trying toextractintelligible information Estate, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 7PE. programs, since there is more chance of soft- from a hard disc that has been damaged by Telephone: (0202) 876064. ware conflict when a number of such utilities an errant utility program. Microcache Microcosm Research, 26 Many software suppliers are now offering Danbury Street, London N1 8.11.1. are loaded simultaneously. It is now possible Telephone: 01-226 9092. to set up a customised environment using a comprehensive ranges of utility programs at Norton Utilities Softsel, Softsel number of different resident utilities thatwidely varying prices, and there are huge House, Syon Gateway, Great West provide just the facilities that you require numbers of programs available through the Road, Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9DD. and no more. shareware and user -supported schemes from Telephone: 01-568 8866. Non-residentutilitiesareusually run bulletin boards all over the UK. Be extra Nuepson bulletin boards. from the DOS prompt and offer almost un- cautiouswhentryinguser -supported One -Key DOS Power Up, Imperial limited variations on the themes of file, disc, programs. Some of them are first class but House, Lower Teddington Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT1 4EP. screen, keyboard and printer management. others may be the software equivalent of cleaning your hard disc with a Brillo Pad. Telephone: 01-943 4366. Programs that offer facilities to undelete Palomar Utilities Palomar Systems, files, protect files, modify dates, sort dir- Remember also that you may have to pay a 84 Cedar Road, Botley, Oxford OX2 ectories and so on will invariably rewrite registration fee to get full versions of certain 9ED. Telephone: (0865) 723392. sections of the disc directory and sometimes programs. Popdrop lnfostructures Inc., PO Box the File Allocation Table. Utility programs occupy probably the 32617, Tucson, Az 85751, USA. These areas of the disc are fundamental tolargest single section of the PC software Telephone: (US area code 602) data storage and recovery, andif theymarket in terms of quantity, so it would be 323-4600. become corrupted for any reason, some or all presumptuous to suggest that the programs Sidekick Borland International, 1 Great Cumberland Place, London W1H 7AL. of your data may belost.Reasons formentioned here are the best available.I decided to choose from three general areas: Telephone: 01-258 3797. corruption can be anything from a simple Util Mutant Software, PO Box 765, power failure to downright bad software. printer control, general convenience and Bellaire, Tx 77401, USA. Unfortunately,it isnot unknownfor performance enhancement. Within these

101 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 METATEXT 2 THIS is a printer -enhancement utilitythatallowsastraight choicebetweenhigh-speed draft quality and slower high - quality printed output, even on printers that do not normally support NLQ printing. It consists ofaresident program con- trolled by an external device DATA RECOV called a puck. The puck is about ^PMIEN'RY DISKntI . the size of a packet of cigarettes and is connected by a thin cable to a plug that fitsinto your EAST computer's printer port; your existingprintercablepiggy- BACK backs on to the Metatext plug. Once the program is loaded, you select print quality simply by turning the puck to display the word Quality on one side or Draft on the other. A gravity - sensitiveswitchdetectsthe orientation of the puck, and to ti1'i,A4Ies Silinutes Metatext does the rest. Most Epson -typeprinters are supported. Up to three different print styles can be selected for use - from 10 styles supplied - FASTBACK when the software is installed. NORTON UTILITIES NOW in version 5.14, this is one PRICE: £75 THE NortonUtilitieshavecoloursorlistingsystem of the best and fastest file back- becomeestablishedasthe information as well as the more up programs I have seen. No standard set of extras that allserious applicationslike onedisputestheneedfor FOR: Easy to use and serious users of MS-DOS should recoveringdeletedfilesor regular backing up of files on a install. have around. It covers simpletesting your discs for potential hard -discmachine,butwith AGAINST: Price. functions like changing screen errors. This group of programs existing programs and even with tape -streaminghardware, is now essential equipment; the latest releaseisversion 3.10. backing up 10Mbyte or more of The utilities are all well written, data can be a time-consuming chore. Fastback cuts the time well behaved and easy to use. taken to make backups by as Each one is astand-alone program in its own right. Utilities much as 90 percent. It does so are used either directly in the by using its own disc format and actually formatting the floppy MS-DOS environment or from within batch files. The program disc as data is transferred. The thatallowsyoutorecover improvement in speed over the deleted files and directories can MS-DOS Backup programis quite astonishing. Look on the easily recoup the cost of the NMI package the very first time that highpriceasaninsurance you need to use them. premium: Fastback encourages PRICE: £62 youtotakemore frequent backups, and hence improves the security of the valuable data FOR: Ease of use. Good on your files. value for money. PRICE: £164 AGAINST: Not much.

FOR: Big time saver. MICROCACHE AGAINST: Expensive. DISC CACH El NG worksby keepingcopiesofthemost frequently accessed parts of disc files in RAM buffers. This allows an application program to read from RAM on the second and subsequent data accesses, thus improving accessspeed. Microcache is one of the better implementations ofthistech- nique, although its price is a little high.Itisextremely efficient, and produces noticeable speed improvements onmostdisc - intensiveapplications.An added bonus is the ability to set

102 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 MS-DOS UTILITIES extremely large cache buffers and Sort. Typing Exit returns you POPDROP function as a text -file editor, and using up to 4Mbyte of additional to your program at exactly the there is a calendarwith IF YOU are an enthusiastic user memory. Microcache supportspoint where you left it, leaving appointment -loggingfacilities. boards meeting the IBM XM,One -Key DOS stillwaitingin of RAM -residentutility An autodial facility is available programs, intendto AST and LIM standards.Itis memory for the next time you or you for use with a modem and serial most useful for heavy users ofrequire it.Its biggest drawbackbecome one, Popdrop will help port. Sidekick is extremely easy youto large database or accounting isthatitiscopy protected, manage themcon- to use.Its comprehensive on- programs. making installation difficult andveniently. The program allows line help facility enables even PRICE: £125 time consuming. you to set up to eight layers of noviceuserstomakethe PRICE: £14.95residentutilityprograms, maximum use of its capabilities. loading in the programs as each PRICE: £69.95 FOR: Good performance. layer is created. The advantage Easy to use. FOR: Easy and convenient is that successive layers and their AGAINST: Price. to use. Good value. residentutilitiescanbe FOR: Easy to use. AGAINST: Copy discarded whenever you need AGAINST: May conflict protected. Documentation to free memory for your current with other RAM -resident not too good. application program or data. programs. NUEPSON Layerscanbepeeledback A LITTLE gem of a program, this individually oringroups,as resident printer control utility is PALOMAR required. Memory organisation the best advertisement for the UTILITIES ofthistype is becoming UTIL Shareware concept that I know.THERE are two collections of increasingly necessary as more LIKE Nuepson,thisfirst-class Nuepson is a truepop-upDOS -enhancement utilities from and moreresidentutility utility is available from bulletin program that enables you toPalomar, respectively called the programs comeontothe boards. Util is run from the MS- change the print mode of your DiskUtilitiesandthe File market. DOS prompt toprovide Epson printer from within an Utilities. The Disk Utilities include PRICE: $20 enhancements to the standard applicationprogram. Onceprograms forprotectingfiles DOS.Severalfeaturesare installed, the program waits forfromaccidentialdeletion, FOR: Easy to use. Good available, the most useful being you to press the Alt and Capsglobal file searching and disc value for money. the ability to display a sorted Lock keys simultaneously. It then indexing.There is alsoan AGAINST: Only available directory listing. Once the listing is displayed, the sort criteria can pops up on your screen as a little excellent backup utility for the in the US. box prompting you toselect hard -disc user, and a host of be changed by a single compressed,double -strike,other useful facilities. The File keystroke;file names can be emphasised, italic, tiny or wide Utilities give you a high degree marked individually or print. You can alsoelectto ofcontroloveryourfiles, SIDEKICK collectivelyfordeletionor throw afullpage upinthe including the ability to encrypt, copying.Itisalso possible to printer, move a single line up orprotect, hide, undelete, redate,SIDEKICK was thefirstdisplay text files on -screen and select unidirectional printing.It changeattributesoreven commercial pop-uputilityto send selectedsections to the does not seem to be possible tocompletely annihilate any files. catch the imagination of MS- printer.The program makes configureNuepsonforany These are very comprehensive DOS computer users. It is a true cleveruse of theSetenvir- other printers, but you can sendutilitycollectionsrepresenting pop-up program, in that it can onment in MS-DOS and can your own sequence of Escape excellent value for money. be called to the screen at any easily be configured to allow codes totheprinter. It is PRICE: £1 7.35 per set time.Sidekickprovides a text files to be edited on your absolutely essential if you do a calculator which can convertfavourite word.processor. Util is large amount of printing, and I between , binary a boy to use, though there is one do not know a program that is FOR: Easy to use. Good and decimal as well as offering minor bug when copying files: easier to use. value. allthenormalcalculatorno errorisgiven when the PRICE: shareware AGAINST: Nothing much. functions. The program's on- floppydisc isfull,and sub- screennotepadwillalso sequent filesare not copied. Instructions are contained in a FOR: Ease of use. User 70K document file. supported. AGAINST: Only supports PRICE: user -supported; Epson printers and $20 fee compatibles. FOR: Range of Features. Easy to use. ONE -KEY DOS AGAINST: A few bugs. IF you have ever needed to format a discorchecka directory while you are in the middle of something else, then youwillappreciate One -Key DOS. Itis an excellent resident utility program that puts some of the DOS commands at your fingertipsfromwithin most applicationsprograms. Once installed, One -Key DOS can be quickly activated to freeze the operation of the program you are currently using and allow you access to many of the usual DOS commands like Dir, Format and so on. You can even run small utility programs like Find

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 103 ChooseWalters and you're in business I £399 £505 WALTERS TUR30 WALTERS PC/XT WITH HIGH PC/XTRESOLUTION GRAPHICS Standard model. Price includes:- Turbo model. Price includes:- CPU 8088/clock speed 4.77 MHz CPU 8088/clock speed 4.77 MHz/8 MHz 8 -slot motherboard 8 -slot motherboard 256k memory expandable to 640k on 256k memory expandable to 640k board 360k floppy disk drive 360k floppy disk drive floppy disk controller floppy disk controller keyboard keyboard mono monitor mono monitor high resolution mono and parallel printer mono card card Spec as above with 20 mbytes Winchester Spec as above with 20 mbytes Winchester L749 £855 Spec as above with 30 mbytes Winchester Spec as above with 30 mbytes Winchester E1079 LI185 Spec as above with 40 mbytes Winchester Spec as above with 40 mbytes Winchester E1099 E1205 Spec as above with 80 mbytes Winchester Spec as above with 80 mbytes Winchester £1569 £1675

WALTERS PC/XT £650 PORTA3LE

Portable. Price includesH Spec as left with I0 mbytes Winchester CPU 8088/clock speed 4.77/8 MHz L905 7 -slot motherboard Spec as left with 20 mbytes Winchester 256k memory L1000 360k floppy disk drive Walters' machines have a l2 -month warranty. floppy disk controller An optional 2 -year maintenance contract is keyboard available for 12% of the system cost. 9" integral mono monitor MS-DOS with GW-Basic is available for £60. high resolution mono and parallel These are just some of the products in the printer card Walters' range. Others include a selection of AT compatibles and portables; a 386 machine; networking and multi-user options: If you're in business and looking for an XT compatible, you'll a variety of printers,: and a wide choice of want a machine that is not only very competitively priced, peripherals and add-ons. but also highly IBM compatible. WALTERS You'll be looking for something with the potential to INTERNATIONAL expand and the ability to accommodate a wide range of add- ons. Perhaps you'll also be searching for a machine that will PI would like to find out more about PC compatibles from Walters fit into a PC network. International

And you'll want to buy from a reliable, well -established Name company that knows the marketplace. Company

Then you really should be looking at the Walters Job Title International PC/XT range. Walters was one of the first manufacturers to sell low-cost IBM clones and is now a Address

market leader. Please send to: Walters International Ltd., Matrix House, Lincoln Road, Ring Walters for further information today or send off the Cressex Industrial Estate, High Wycombe, Bucks HP 12 3RD. L Tel: (0494) 32751-9. Telex: 838882 MATRIX G. Fax: (0494) 33757 coupon and you could be in business.

All prices quoted are exclusive of VAT and correct at time of going to press. IBM is the registered trademark of International Business Machines. - circle 105 on enquiry card Pritchardprovidesacompre- Dictionaryof Microcomputers hensive view of electronic mail forcertainly looks promising from the the business user, dipping intooutside. It is big - 352 pages long -11M securityaspectsandthenew - and the blurb on the back Messaging Handling Service at theclaims it has 8,000 entries. But as end. It contains a lot of practicalsoonasyoustartthumbing ,OPTICAL advice,thoughitwastes somethrough it,disappointment sets PUBLISHING space by dealing with Easylink -in. Most of the illustrations that now Mercurylink - and One tojustify the title take the form of One as well as Telecom Gold. circuit diagrams. Changes in Telecom Gold over This bias towards electronics is the last year have made some partseven more in evidence in the text of the text wrong. For example,itself. Terms like superheterodyne, BOOK you now type DS to gateway to the weber, Wheatstone bridge and yig whole of Datasolve, rather than filter are there. But IBM, the IBM REVIEWS using WR for the World Reporter PC,Apple,Macintosh,dBase, part. The major problem is that Lotus and even mouse are lacking. thoughothertypesof printer CD-ROMs the short telex section is out of date This is an American book, so there aredefined.Page -description - see Comms Link, February foris really not much point in lookinglanguage or PDL is also lacking, CD-ROM 2: OPTICAL the latest on Gold's new telex soft- for BABT, Prestel or Oftel, but ifand the entry for DDL does not PUBLISHING ware. The author also uses you do you will find that they too mention the HP language. Edited by Suzanne Ropiequet with >MAIL SELF are missing. In a few cases you could fault the John Einberger and Bill Zoellick Published by Microsoft Press, £19.95 for uploads after defining Self in Obviously this book is not much definition. Though Stokes does ISBN 1 55615 000 8 his Mail.Ref file. Someone should good for the business micro user or acknowledge the common micro industry usage, databaseisstill LIKEitspredecessor,The Newtell him that specifier. Worse, the impression I Papyrus, which was published by >MAIL ME get is that most of the entries are pedantically defined as a collection Microsoft last year, CD-ROM 2:works perfectly well on its own. basically filler items derived from of data items. But generally the Optical Publishing is based on the It is a shame the book does notfieldsfarremoved from com-entriesareexcellent. I finally writings of several people. Thisreflect today's powerful micros andputing. Why else are there eightlearned why bits per second and time it is people involved in CD-easy -to -use software. I don't wantdifferent entries for variations onbaud rate are not exactly synon- ROM publishing. The book is ato knock the Apple II - I used to theword"servo",alltotally ymous - apparently it depends on handbookforpublishers,lib-have one on my desk five years agoirrelevant? Why do we get toldthe number of signal levels the rarians, authors and anyone else- but to users of Atari ST andabout the Wullenweber, a type ofcomms line uses. The real benefit who wants to know about pub-Fastcom, Apple Macintosh anddirectional aerial consisting of 960 of the book isthatitcorrectly lishing using optical discs. Vicom, or Amstrad PC -1512 andreflectingwiresina995 -foot gauges what ordinary micro users CD-ROM 2 covers some of theGemcomm it seems rather archaic.,circle? How many micro users are need to know, and then delivers same ground asits predecessor, But Mr Pritchard should notlikely to want to know? simple, clear explanations. IS especially where it outlines what aworry about minutiae.Perhaps A definite thumbs down is in CD-ROM does, but because itis surprisingly, his is the only bookorder for Michael Hordeski's Illust- more recent it provides a usefulcovering this field. Be grateful forrated Dictionaryof Micro- update. The bookisprimarilyit. JScomputers, a book that does not devoted to ways of using CD- have a single picture of a micro- BUSINESS ROMs inpublishing and gives computer. Still, if you have always information on preparingtext, REFERENCE wondered what a yig filter is, this is COMPUTING the book for you. IS images and sound, producing theTHE ILLUSTRATED discs,data protection and up-DICTIONARY OF dating. There are some case studiesMICROCOMPUTERS THE A -Z OF BUSINESS of how publications were put on to COMPUTING 2ND EDITION By Adrian V Stokes Published by CD-ROM, together with a useful By Michael Hordeski Published by Heinemann New -Tech, £12.95 glossary of terms and alist of Tab Books Distributed by John addresses. Wiley, £11.90 ISBN ISBN 0 434 91875 X The bookisa detailed and 0 8306 2688 3 THANKFULLY, Adrian Stokes' A -Z AririanV Stokes worthwhileguideforanyoneTHERE is clearly a need for a goodof Business Computingisvery wanting to put data on to CD-dictionary of computer terms; ours different to Hordeski's book. It is ROM. It gets down to the nitty- isa jargon -laden field. But un-much shorter at only 185 pages, grittyof howtomatchthefortunately many of the books onbut Stokes' writing style is clear organisation of your data to thethe market do not seem to beand his selection of subject matter methods that will be used to accessmuch good. and illustrations far better. it.However, since much of the Michael Hordeski's Illustrated The A -Z of Business Computing book is given over to detail and it has entries for all the headings I PCs FOR BEGINNERS costs almost £20,itis expensive for have castigated Hordeski's book anyone who just wants to use it as a for lacking, including the BritishCOMPUTERS IN casual reference book. CH ones. It also has plenty of otherBUSINESS useful terms like NLQ, OEM, DIP By Larry Long Published by switch and descender, all of which Prentice -Hall International, £16.95 EMAIL crop up frequently in the literature ISBN 0 13 164518 8 USING AN of microcomputers.Stokes uses AS you might expect from a book illustrations properly, to help thewith such a general title as this, ELECTRON IC explanation. You get to see an Computers in Business is aimed MAI LBOX acoustic coupler and a mouse, forsquarely at the tyro. Though it is By J A T Pritchard Published by the example, and the entry for ASCIIdesigned primarily for American NCC and John Wiley, £14.50 ISBN students this need not disqualify it 0 85012 601 1. has a table of the ASCII character EMAIL costs being what they are, set alongside. completelyforbusinessusers, those about to start should find However, even in Stokes' bookalthough its heritage is sometimes that this little book quickly pays there are some omissions. Laserobtrusive. (continued on next page) for itself. In its148pages John printer does not make it in, even

105 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 Perhaps the best is a series of to it. The author champions the supplementarychapterswhich VDU Hazards rights of women and black workers provides an introduction to the andstronglyadvocatestrade main generic packages:spread- unionsasorganisationspeople sheets, word processors and the should go to for help and support like. Again, for the sceptical pro- with any problems. However, this A ker .1e fessional, they provide a handy . ,,,,vo.... does not dominate the book; it glimpse of what is possible and does not scaremonger but gives a available. lotof sensible advice.Huws looks Another plusof thebook's . at the social aspects of people's pedigree is that it is well written, ...,. jobs because she is aware that you managing to be simple without cannot divorce a job from the social BOOKcondescension; it is also very well . climate the employee works in. For illustrated, with colour diagrams -- ...... - ... example,itmay contribute to R EV IEWS throughout. Clearly, though, the stress and make people less likely (continued from previous page) book is limited in its applicability. to ask for fair working conditions. The structure certainly betraysExperienced PC users will find The book is easy to understand .II .wdb.NwLBNACM AAA 1tl its original audience. In additionlittle of interest - apart from a and contains a wealth of infor- to exercises and self -tests, there arepicture of the very first bug, found mation onwhatthepossible bytheCobolpioneerGrace chapters on job prospects in the VDU Hazards Handbookisa hazards are, and how to go about Hopper. It turns out to have been a information technology industry,responsetothisandcovers redesigning your job and physical as well as a lengthy introduction tomot.h GMimplications for the employment,working conditions to avoid them. Itgiveslegal advice on workers' Basic. Boththesetopicsare HEALTH health and safety of VDU workers. unlikely to be of much interest to The bookissub -titled"Arights along with addressess of the average business user. VDU HAZARDS worker's guide to the effects ofequipment suppliers and details On the plus side, the wholeHANDBOOK new technology". It is primarilyon trade unions. approach is very strongly geared to By Ursula Huws Published bythe concerned with keyboard operators The VDU Hazards Handbook the practical use of computers in LondonHazards Centre Trust,£4.95 doing a large amount of repetitivecombines a lot of useful infor- business. To this end, there is a ISBN 0 948974 02 8 work andbeingsubjectedtomation in one place. It has a cam - running case study which proceeds AFTER the London Hazards Centrescrutiny about their error rates,paigning tone to it, which is no from general information about aopenedin1984itbecamehours worked and so on. This isbad thing in an area where a lot of fictionalcompany,downtoapparent that a significant part ofbecause these workers are at mostresearch still could be done. At detailingmostaspectsofits its work would involve dealingrisk. But it also takes into accountonly £4.95 it is certainly worth a computer needs. These sectionswithrequestsforinformationanyone who may have to spend aread. CH may well prove enlightening forabout the health effects of.workinglong time staring at a monitor asReviewersthismonth:Carol executives who are not entirely surewith new technology, particularlythey rush to meet deadlines. Hammond,Glyn Moody, Jack what micros can do for them. the hazards of VDU work. The The book has a left-wing flavourSchofield and Ian Stobie. 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(HUGE RANGE OF COST EFFECTIVE ADD-ON CARDS, MONO & COLOUR compiler withCodeviewthe Source CROSS ASSEMBLERS (Macros, code debugger is now available. reloctable with linker) available for MS- MONITORS & HARD DISKS SEND FOR LIST). SOFTWARE BARGAINS: MICROLEDGER II ACCOUNTS SALES, PURCHASE, NOMINAL LEDGERS £99.00 Pro Fortan-77 from Prospero and RM DOS andCPIM-80. Targetsinclude Fortran 77 also available. Z80,8086,6800,6800,6809, PLUS VAT, DEMO DISK E10.00 + VAT(REFUNDABLE AGAINST ORDER) WITH We have a range of graphics, database, 6301, 6502, 8051, 8048 etc. STOCK CONTROL & INVOICER £145.00.+ VAT. EXPORT WELCOMED, ALL FFT and scientific libraries. WORKING WITH MAJOR CREDIT CARDS WELCOMED, PURCHASE ORDERS ACCEPTED FROM NEW FROM PLC CO'S, GOVERNMENT, EDUCATION. CASH ON DELIVERY CAN ALSO BE TEXT ARRANGED IN THE UK. ILC'S ACCEPTED. BORLAND Final word II the authors WP Now available, the remarkable Turbo C Micro-Tek for typesetting - screen and the new Turbo Basic add to Turbo preview now available MILL COMPUTERS Pascal and Turbo Prolog. We stock the Ventura for Desk Top Publishing 18 CARDIFF ROAD, LUTON, BEDS complete range. LU II PP, UK TEL: (0582) 458806 & 56869 TELEX: 94016469=G TELEFAX: (0582) 457113 Many moreproducts available ALL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE MENTIONED AND PORTRAYED ARE 6.7 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9JX. Tel: 01-248 0962. COVERED BY TRADEMARKS OF THE COMPANIES OF ORIGIN. VISA IM:=11

106 circle 155 on enquiry card - circle 154 on enquiry card PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 0 iftS \ ----' -'N 14I=,---0,..--, -----

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107 PRACTICAL COMPUTINGAugust 1987 -> circle 152 on enquiry card .- UTLITIES MUCHhas been said of the cap- Alt, bit 4 represents Scroll Lock, abilities of the IBM's PC series of bit 5 represents Num Lock, bit 6 machines and I have no wish to be- KEYLITES represent Caps Lock and bit7 come involved in arguments for or representsInsert.The adjacent againstthem. I am, however, Jim Bates describes a utility that makesup byte at 00:418hex carries the same acutely aware that one of their mapping for the high four bits, most annoying pecularities is the for the lack of key -status indicator lightson but in this case the indication is absence of any indication of the the IBM PC and certain compatibles. simply whether the key is pressed status of the lock keys. This has or released. been rectified on later machines - listing. The program checks theutility, the installation section is Keylitesfunctions simplyby as well as on most clones - by thehardware on which it is running, similartothatoftheClock checking the setting of the in- additionoflightsinsidetheand functions equally well withprogram. If you do not have accessdividual bitsin the Ctrl_Keys particular keys on the keyboard.monochrome or colour monitors. to an assembler you can use thebyte and displaying the results ThereareneverthelessmanyTo avoid conflict with those pro- data inlisting2in conjunctionaccordingly. I havesplitthe machines in use which still suffergramsthatdisplaytextin-with the Basic Loader program,equates section of the assembler from this problem and sothis formationinexactlythe same also published in the May issue. listing into two parts. The first part month I have provided a residentposition as KeylitesIhave pro- The status of the Control, Alt,allocates names to the locations utility program which gives anvided a key combination that turnsCaps Lock, Num Lock,Insert,in segment 0 of RAM that the indication on -screen of the statusoff the program output. Scroll Lock, and right and left Shift programwillneedtoaccess. of these keys. You mayrecognisemanykeys is stored in one byte locatedInt8_Off andInt8Segare I have called this program Key-similarities between Keylites and nearthe bottom of thePC'saddresses where the relevant parts lites. It simply displays the lettersthe Clock program listed in thememory at location 00:0417 hex.of the pointers tothecurrent I, C, N and S on the right of theMay issue of Practical Computing. Within this one byte, the state ofinterrupt8routinearestored. bottom line of the screen when theOnce againithooksintotheeach of the eight keys is indicatedCtrl_Keys is the name given to Ins, Caps Lock, Num Lock andinterrupt 8 vector, and examinesby the setting of one bit. Thethe address of the keyboard status Scroll Lock keys are active. You can the condition of the Control Keys mapping isasfollows : bit 0byte.The second partof the change the position of the lettersbyte, both for producing program representsrightShift,bit 1 equates section names the screen on thescreenbyalteringtheoutput and for toggling it on andrepresentsleftShift,bit 2 locationswherethedisplayed relevant equates in the assembleroff.Since Keylitesisa resident represents Control, bit 3 representsletters will appear. To keep the LISTING 1. KEYLITES

COMMENT . KEYLITES DATA AREA

Program remains resident after loading FLAG1: DB 0 ; Flag1 indicates Key status Intercepts INT 8H Time of Day routine FLAG2: DB 0 ; Flag2 indicates Program Status

STATUS: DB 0 ; Holds current CNS Status Routine occurs 18.20445 times per second.

Toggle ON/OFF occurs when and left shift key are pressed together. This puts OA in 00:417H and causes toggle routine to NEW_INT8: toggle the FLAGI byte between 00 and FFH. PUSH BX ; Save registers PUSH AX Installation uses INTI1H to poll the equipment and decide PUSH CX whether MONO or COLOR Screen is in use. PUSH DX PUSH DS Once installed - program can only be removed by reboot. PUSHF ; and Flags PUSH CS If used with other resident utilities -load KEYLITES first SUB AX, AX ; Quicker than XOR AX,AX MOV DS, AX ; Access Page Zero of RAM Copyright BATES Associates MOV AH,DS:[CTRL_KEYS] ; Keyboard access MAy I997 - Jim Batas PUSH AX ; Save it

AND AH,OAH ; Is pressed? CMP AH,OAH

JNZ INT8_2 No - so goto the program POP AX Clear the Stack EQUATES POP DS Now point to our Segment CMP BYTE PTR [FLAGI],OFFH Check FLAG1 JZ QUIT Keys active - so jump out ; Page Zero Address Offsets MOV BYTE PTR [FLAGII,OFFH Set FLAG1 to active XOR BYTE PTR [FLAG2],OFFH Toggle FLAG2 INTEi_OFF EQU 20H ; Position of Interrupt 8 Offset JMP QUIT INTB_SEG EQU 22H ; Position of Interrupt 8 Segment INT8_2:

CTRL KEYS EQU 417H ; Position of Control Keys Byte POP BX Restore Keyboard flags POP DS Restore Data Segment ; Screen Address Offsets MOV BYTE PTR IFLAG11,0 Set FLAG1 - keys released CMP BYTE PTR [FLAG2],0 Check Toggle INS EQU 0F98H ; Position of 'I' display JNZ QUIT Jump if TOGGLE is OFFH

CAPS EQU ; OF9AH Position of 'C' display MOV CH,BYTE PTR [STATUS] Get the CNS keys status NUM OF9CH ; EQU Position of 'N' display CMP BH,CH Any change?

SCRL EQU OF9EH ; Position of 'S' display JZ QUIT No change so quit RAM: Mono Screen RAM MOV AX,OB000H (See INSTALL) MOV DS, AX Point DS to screen RAM CODE SEGMENT TEST BH,43H Caps Lock and Shift bits JZ CAPS_OFF Not Set MAIN PROC FAR MOV BYTE PTR DS:[CAPS],43H Display 'C' JMP NUM CHECK ORG 100H ; MUST BE 100H FOR .COM FILE CAPS_OFF: MOV BYTE PTR DS:[CAPS],20H Display " ASSUME CS:CODE,DS:CODE,ES:NOTHING NUM_CHECK: TEST BH,20H Num Lock bit BEGIN: JZ NUM_OFF Not set JMP START MOV BYTE PTR DS:[NUM],4EH Display 'N'

108 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987

U T T 1 E S code simple, I have made nokeyboard, the state of the dis-the"InstallationComplete" and then quit. Since this routine is attempt to cater for 40 -column orplayed characters and whether themessage and exits to DOS via the called over 18 times per second, it graphics screen displays. program is toggled on or off. TerminateandStayResident is quite likely that the keys will not Each character on a text screen The Install routine first collectsinterrupt,whichinvokespro- have been released by the time the occupies two bytes in memory.the old interrupt 8 address andtection of the memory area up toprogram runs again. This time, One represents the character itselfchecks whether Keylites is already the address placed in DX and Flagl still contains OFFhex, and so while the other defines its attributeinstalled. If it is, then the programreturns to DOS. The program isthe program quits straightaway. - that is, whether it is bright orabortswithanappropriatenow installed and functions everyWithout this section of code, the dim, its colour and so on. Themessage. Otherwise this address istime interrupt 8 is called. toggle on/ off process would occur character bytes are the even -num-inserted into the code so that when Interrupt 8 is called by the pro- 18 times per second as long as the bered ones, counting the top left-Keylites is finished itwill jumpcessor around 18 times per second, keys are held down. hand corner as bytes 0 and 1. For aback whatever other routines may regardless of what else may be If the keys have been released, standard80 -column,25 -linebe hooked into interrupt 8. happening. This means that Key- processingwilljumptolabel screen a total of 4,000 bytes is The hardware is then checked to lites is constantly monitoring theInt8_2 where the contents of the required. All these addresses arefind out whether a monochrome or stateof thekeyboard and,if Cul___Keysbytearerecovered used as offsets into the screen RAMcolour monitor is in use. If a mono- toggledon,willdisplaythe from the stack into BX, and the DS segment. The address of the screenchrome monitorisbeing used, relevant letters when required. register is reset to address Keylite's RAM segment varies dependingthen no change is made. Otherwise The new interrupt routine firstown segment. Flagl is reset to 00 upon whether colour or mono-the segment address of coloursaves the registers and then collects to indicate that the toggle key chrome output is in use. RAM is inserted into the programthe contents of the Ctrl_Keyscombination has been released. The code section proper beginscode at label RAM, making the in- byte in low memory. This byte is Theprogramcontinuesby with a jump to the Install section.struction at RAM read checked to see if the Alt and left checking the Flag2 byte, which will As usual with resident utilities, MOV AX,06800H. Shift keys are pressed. If they are, be either 00 or OFFhex, depending you have to be able to leave theThe final step is to put the startthe Flagl byte is checked to see if uponwhethertheprogramis required part of the program in anaddress of the New_Int8 routinethe keys have been released. When toggled on or off. Anything other area of memory protected by DOS.into the correct memory area. Thisthiskeycombination is first than 00 in this byte will result in a The data area contains just threeis done using the 25hex functionpressed, Flagl will contain 00 and jump to quit, thus disabling any bytes. They are referred to by thecall into interrupt 21hex. the program will promptly putfurther processing. If the program program to indicate the state of the The Install routine now displaysOFFhex into both Flagl and Flag2 (continued on next page

JMP SCR_CHECK MOV DS, AX Access Page Zero of RAM NUM_OFF: MOV SI,DS:EINT8_OFF1 Interrupt 8 Offset MOV BYTE PTR DS:[NUM],20H Display " MOV DX,DS:CINTEI_SEG1 Interrupt 8 Segment SCR_CHECK: MOV DS, DX Start of current INT 8 TEST BH,10H Scroll Lock bit CMP WORD PTR [S1],5053H Already installed? JZ SCR_OFF Not Set JNZ NEXT1 No - continue MOV BYTE PTR DS:ESCRIA,53H Display 'S' POP DS Yes -so Quit! JMP INS_CHECK LEA DX,MSG3 "Abort" message SCR_OFF: MOV AH,9 MOV BYTE PTR DS:ISCRL1,20H Display " INT 21H Display it INS_CHECK: MOV AX,4COOH Terminate Function Call TEST BH,80H Insert bit INT 21H Return to DOS JZ INS_OFF Not Set MOV BYTE PTR DS:IINS],49H Display 'I' NEXT1:

JMP UPDATE Quit MOV DS,AX ; Access Page Zero of RAM

INS_OFF: MOV AX,DS:CINT8_OFF1 ; INT 8 Offset (Original)

MOV BYTE PTR DS:IINS1,20H ; Display " MOV DX,DS:CINTB_SEG1 ; INT 8 Segment (Original)

UPDATE: POP DS ; Restore our Data Segment

MOV IJSEGLAX ; Set up final Jump Segment

PUSH CS MOV [JOFFI,DX ; and Offset

POP DS INT 11H ; Poll the hardware

MOV BYTE PTR [STATUS],BH ; Update STATUS AND AL,30H ; Check Video Mode

QUIT: CMP AL,30H ; Is it Mono or Color?

POPF Restore Flags JZ NEXT2 ; Mono - make no change

POP DS ; and Registers MOV BYTE PTR ERAM+21,0138H ;Set to RAM to Color POP DX NEXT2:

POP CX LEA DX,NEW_INT8 ; Point INT 8 to our Code

POP AX MOV AX,2508H ; Function Call 25H

POP BX INT 21H ; Change Interrupt

DB OEAH ; This is a dummy JMP to old 1NT8 LEA DX,MSG2 ; "Installed OK" message JSEG: MOV AH,9

; DB 0,0 ; Segment collected from Vector Table INT 21H Display it

JOFF: LEA DX, PROTECTOR ; Set program length

DB 0,0 ; Offset collected from Vector Table INT 27H Terminate and stay resident

;END of Program Code MAIN ENDP

PROTECTOR LABEL BYTE Message Area

INSTALL PROC FAR MSG1 DB 'BATES Associates - Copyright 1987',13,10 Installs the above code, adds the JSEG and JOFF words as DB 'KEYLITES Indicator ',13,10,'$' copied from the Vector Table at Interrupt 8. Checks which CRT Mode is active and alters RAM accordingly. Finally MSG2 DB 'Installed OK.',13,10,'$' leaves all code from Offset 100H to PROTECTOR resident and protected. MSG3 DB 'INSTALLATION ABORTED',7,13,10 DB 'KEYLITES already installed',13,10,'$' START:

PUSH DS ; Save register ;END OF CODE SEGMENT

LEA DX,MSG1 ; Sign -on message MOV AH,9 INSTALL ENDP

INT 21H ; Display it CODE ENDS SUB AX, AX END BEGIN

PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 109

U T I L I T I E S

(continued from previous page) LISTING 2. KEYLITES DATA control to the original interrupt 8 0, 83, 80, 81, 82, 724 routine. is toggled on, the next step is to Line 1 233, 165, 0, 0, 0, 992 compare the state of the bits in the Line 2 30, 156, 14, 43, 192, 142,216, 138, 38, 23, Keylites will only update your 979 Cal__Keys byte -which is now in Line 3 4, 80, 128, 228, 10, 128, 252, 10, 117, 22, screen display when any of the Line 4 88, 31, 128, 62, 3, 1, 255, 116,118, 198,1000 BX - with the status byte in the Line 5 6, 3, 1, 255, 128, 54, 4, 1, 255, 235, 942 specified keys are pressed. The program. The two will only be Line 6 106, 144, 91, 31, 198, 6, 3, 1, 0, 128, 708 displaywillbe lostif another different if one of the lock keys has Line 7 62, 4, 1, 0, 117, 91, 138, 46, 5, I, 465 program changes the screen areas Line 8 58, 253, 116, 83, 164, 0, 176, 142,216, 246,1474 been pressed since the last time Line 9 199, 67, 116, 8, 198, 6, 154, 15, 67, 235, 1065 that Keylites uses. Thus if you are that the routine ran. If there is no Line 10 6, 144,198, 6, 154, 15, 32,246, 199, 32,1032 in DOS and type in Dir to display a Line 11 116, 6, 198, 6, 156, 15, 78, 235, 6, 144, 962 directory on -screen, then the Key- than ge then the pro gram exits. Line 12 198, 6, 156, 15, 32, 246, 199, 16, 116, 8, 992 If there has been a change, the Line 13 198, 6, 158, 15, 83, 235, 6, 144, 198, 6, 1049 lites letters will scroll up the screen program must find it and display Line 14 158, 15, 32, 246, 199,128,116, 8, 198, 6, 1106 and will not be replaced. When Line 15 152, 15, 73,235, 6, 144, 198, 6, 152, 15, 996 this happens you can restore the the appropriate letter - or a blank Line 16 32, 14, 31,136, 62, 5, 1, 157, 31, 90, 559 if the key has been deactivated. It Line 17 89, 88, 91, 234, 0, 0, 0, 0, 30, 141, 673 correct display by tapping one of prepares for this by setting the seg- Line 18 22, 8, 2, 180, 9,205, 33, 43, 192,142. 836 the non -locking control keys to Line 19 216, 139, 54, 32, 0, 139, 22, 34, 0, 142, 778 updatethedisplaywithout ment address of screen RAM into Line 20 218. 129, 60, 83, 80, 117, 14, 31, 141, 22, 895 the DS register. Remember that Line 21 82, 2, 180, 9, 205, 33, 184, 0, 76, 205, 976 changing the current settings. this address may have been modi- Line 22 33, 142, 216, 161, 32. 0, 139, 22, 34, 0, 779 The Keylites program may be Line 23 31, 163,164, 1, 137, 22, 166, 1, 205, 17, 907 toggled on or off by pressing Alt fled by the Install routine. Li ne 24 36, 46, 60. 48, 116, 5, 198, 6, 76, 1, 594 The program will now check the Line 25 184, 141, 22, 6, 1, 184, 8, 37, 205, 33, 821 and left Shift simultaneously. Any settings of the bits in BH using the Line 26 141, 22, 65, 2, 180, 9,205, 33, 141, 22, 820 status letters displayed when the Line 27 168, 1, 205, 39, 66, 65, 84, 69, 83, 32, 812 program is toggled off will remain Testinstruction.Itisonly Line 28 65, 115,115, 111, 99,105, 97,116, 101, 115,1039 necessary to check the high bits, Line 29 32, 45, 32, 67,Ill, 112,121, 114,105, 103, 842 on the screen until some other but I have included a test of the Line 30 104,116, 32, 49, 57, 56, 55, 13, 10, 75, 567 programorfunctionremoves Line 31 69,73, 84, 69, 83, 32, 73, 110, 758 two low bits so that the Caps Lock Line 32 100,105, 99, 97,116, 111,114, 32, 13, 10, 797 them. Some software may read the and either Shift key will cause the Line 33 36, 73, 110, 115, 116, 97,108, 108,101, 100, 964 state of the lock keys in a reverse C to be displayed. The first test is Line 34 32, 32, 79, 75, 46, 13, 10, 36, 73, 78, 474 sense to conventional programs. Line 35 83, 84, 65, 76, 76, 65, 84, 73, 79, 78, 763 for these three bits, and if any one Line 36 32, 65, 66, 79, 82, 84, 69, 68, 7, 13, 565 Thus you might find, for example, of them is 1 the result of the Test Line 37 10, 75, 69, 89, 76, 73, 84, 69, 83. 32, 660 that Keylites indicates that you are instruction will not be zero. The Line 38 97, 108, 114,101, 97. 100,121, 32, 105,110, 985 in Insert mode while the appli- 100, 13, 10, 36, 804 result will be to insert character Line 39 115,116, 97, 108, 108, 101, cation you are running insists that 43hex - capital C - into the Capssimilar way, although only one bit reference when the routine is nextyou are not, and vice versa. If this position on the screen. If the Testis checked at a time. called. This prevents the programdoes happen, itis comparatively instruction does produce a zero, a The final step, at label Update,continually updating itsdisplay easytochangetherelevant space will be inserted into the Caps isto place the current value ofwhen in fact there has been noJNZ__Off instruction to JNZ, but position. Checks for the Num,CtrI__Keys intothe programs'schange. The registers and flags areremember that other applications Scroll and Insert keys continue in aown status byte, thus providing arestored before the routine Industrial PC. Enclosures New rack mount PC's chassis are now available with three types of power supply, capacity for up to four disk drive and both XT and AT type rear panels. Specify what disk drives are needed and we can fit them too. For the Industrial OEM and End User we can provide P.C. components to interface with most industrial or scientific peripherals, such as high speed tape backup units, multi-user adapters, analogue to digital converters and mircurlrin digital to analogue converters. vivirm COMPlItal sYStCIT)s All items are backed up by our technical Sirton Computer Systems Limited support and an ability to assemble systems or 7 Greenlea Park, Prince George's Road, units to customer's specific requirements. London, SW19 2PT We also offer a full software advisory service Tel: 01-640 6931 with emphasis on special turnkey projects. Telex: 269534 ORION G

circle 108 on enquiry card - 110 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987 AL DESKTOP PUBLISHINGATARI WITH PUBLISHING PARTNER" ON THE ATARI STI ST SOFTWARE' illWHAT IS DESKTOP PUBLISHING? WORD PROCESSING GRAPHICS Desktop Publishing is a method by which documents can be Publishing Partner contains the power and fea- Not only can you load any Degas, N -Vision, produced using a computer, software and aprinter. These tures that you would expect to find on a dedicated Neochrome or digitized pictures into your Pub- documents are near professional appearance and cost only a fractionword processing package. In addition it includes facil-lishing Partner files, you can also enlarge or reduce of the price which you might otherwise pay to a designer, artworkities which a professional typesetting machine wouldthem for an exact fit. Or, you can copy just a section studio and printer. Because the 'middle men' are eliminated fromoffer. For example the program can cope with 216of a picture and then paste it into your document as the production process, desktop publishing allows the user to retaindifferent type sizes, with over 4,000 style variations ofmany times as you want. You can still go back and total control over his or her documents, making last minute updateseach one. The following are some of the facilities youresize it at any time or crop it to delete unwanted areas. without panic and without incurring extra charges for 'rush' work. will find within the capabilities of Publishing Partner: '3 types of line ends, square/rounded/pointed Adjust margins for any column *7 types of line which are all editable. WHAT CAN I USE IT FOR? Change block to uppercase or lowercase "7 weight lines ranging from 1/2pt to 6pt As we all make use of the printed word in one way or another Change margin indents "40 fill patterns each with a border option making a in our daily lives, the applications for Desktop Publishing are Character spacing from -128 to +127 total of 80 fill options 2all around us. If you belong to a club or society or if you run your Copy text to and from the buffer 'Ability to produce separations for 2 colours own business, the possibilities are endless! Our list of example' GEM based "Copy graphics to and from 'applications will give you some other ideas. Import and export files "Cut, paste, copy or crop graphics Advertisements Distribution Leaflets 0/head Transparencies ' Insert and delete pages 'Import graphics from third party graphic programs Application Forms Fayre Programmes Personal Cards * Justifies right/left/centred as you type such as Degas, Neochrome, N -Vision or any art pro- Brochures Invitation Cards Personal Letterheads Business Contracts invoices Presentations Justifies to the character/word gram that produces compatible ASCII files Charts & Tables Labels Price Lists Kerning from -128 to +127 'Select colours to use and print with Club Certificates Menus Special Offer Leaflets Line spacing/leading in 1/2 points from -64 to +57 "Toolbox features include: Circles, ellipses, boxes, Club Newsletters Office Forms Technical Sheets Dance Tickets Order Forms Work Estimates Link columns together rounded corner boxes, horizontal/vertical lines, di- Macros agonal lines, polygons and free hand drawing PUBLISHING PARTNER Manual Hyphenation Publishing Partner, from SoftLogik Corp', includes all of the Merge files together gOUTSTANDING OUTPUT features which you would expect in a good Desktop Publishing Optional grid & ruler display Publishing Partner is a unique program with a 3package. It combines word processing, page layout and graphics Over 4,000 type style variations of each font large variety of printer drivers for both laser and dot matrix printers. Dot matrix is supported in both 80 facilitiesallin one program, allowing you to create 'stunning'' Page numbering documents on your Atari ST. First you can do a rough page design Pica, Inches or Centimetre measuring system column and 132 column mode, so you could even and start adding blocks of copy. See how it fits. See how it looks. Print to paper vertically or horizontally produce a tabloid width newspaper (111/2" wide) on a See how it flows onto the next page. Make some changes. Try a Read & merge any ASCII file wide body printer. Drivers are also available for the different type style, or a different size, or some borders, some Search and replace new technology 24 pin dot matrix printers which can shapes, or even some pictures. Because Publishing Partner incorpo- Tabs for charts/tables give a fine resolution of 360.360 compared with laser rates WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), you'll see Unlimited headers & footers printers at 300.300. The current drivers (included instantly if your new idea works or not. The computer's screen will User definable page size FREE with the program) are as follows with new ones show you just how the page will look when it prints - no more User variable superscript/subscript characters being written on a weekly basis: guesswork. You can adjust fonts, character sizes and even character 9 PIN DOT MATRIX (Various Res) spacing, anytime and anywhere on the page. Watch an ordinary PAGE LAYOUT Atari SMM804 ' Mannesman Spirit -80 Whatever you require, custom logos, unique Blue Chip M120/10 NEC 8023 letter transform into a professional looking piece right before your Cal Abco Legend 880 * Panasonic KXP eyes, as you experiment with mixing graphics and text. And, when7borders, unusual letterheads etc. Publishing Part-' C Itoh Prownter ' Star Gemini & SG you want to see a 'hard copy' of your masterpiece, just send it toner is your solution. After all, it was specially designed (240.216 Res) by professionals who realize that there's more to your9 PIN DOT MATRIX any one of the printers which the program supports (the listis ' Citizen MSP Mannesman Tally MT growing all the time). computer than just typing letters. Epson RX/FX/EX Star NX/SD Accurate to 3 decimal places 18 PIN DOT MATRIX (240.288 Res) Adjust character size from 1 to 216 points Okidata Microline 292 Okidata Microline 293 Auto text flow between columns Change columns on finished page 24 PIN DOT MATRIX (360.180 Res) C Itoh C-715 : Epson SO Display 15%-15000/0 of original size ' Epson LQ Display actual size (360.360 Res) Display multiple pages/rulers/text routing 24 PIN DOT MATRIX Layout multiple columns NEC P6/P7 * NEC XL new series Print to disk LASER PRINTERS (300.300 Res) 'Centronics PP -8in Epson or H PLaserjet mode 11/2Mb RAM Set auto text routing Any other H.P. Laserjet compatible with 11/2Mb RAM SoftLogikCorpTM Snap to guides QMS PS800 or Apple LaserWriter - Postscript Superimpose text on tint or tint on text Any other Postscript compatible printer SoftLogik Corp' was set up in the USA by Shawn Fogle and Deron OFFICIAL UK VERSION Kazmaier to produce quality desktop publishing software with The official UK version of Publishing Partner has a pound its character set. Other uncompromising power and features. Publishing Partner wasSEEINGWe have already told you IS how powerfulBELIEVING Publishing Partner is and (E)sign as a standard part of developed after 11/2 years of research, working with typesetters and how easy itis to use. However, the recipients of your finished work versions have also been imported unofficially from the USA and have a dollar ($) sign instead of asign. These versions printers and the results achieved are outstanding. will only be able to gauge the package by the end results of your work. The true test of any Desktop Publishing software is in the will not be supported by the UK distributors or their dealers. output it produces and it is here that Publishing Partner excels. With The UK version also contains clip art, different fonts and a SIMPLE,POWERFULg AFFORDABLE its graphics capabilities and the thousands of type styles it produces, full range of printer drivers. Ensure that you buy the official UK ilPrinting and publishing is a fairly complex business which there is no end to the design possibilities which you can create. And, version, not an unofficial import with incorrect characters. takes years of training and experience to master. You wouldn't with drivers for a variety of printers, including Postscript at no extra think so with Publishing Partner, which takes full advantage of the charge, you can be sure that you will be able to output in the quality your work deserves. The output quality is truly remarkable. But don't ST's user friendly GEM environment. It is so user friendly and easy it.Before you go any further with your to understand, most people find they can produce their firstjust take our word for £139.00 enquiries into Desktop Publishing, return the coupon below for sampl- (+VAT=£159.85) document without even opening the fully comprehensive 159 page es of Publishing Partner's output on a variety of printers. We will also Publishing Partner is available from Atari ST Dealers throughout the send you details and prices of each printer as well as further inform- UK. If your local dealer does not have Publishing Partner in stock, it manual which accompanies the program. Using the mouse to ation on Publishing Partner and the Atari range of ST computers. We can be obtained by mail order (Postage & Packaging fr.) from. manipulate the self explanatory pull down menus and windows, you don't expect you to take our word forit. We want you to see for SILICA SHOP Ltd, 1-4 The Mews, Hatherley Road, can be up and running in no time, creating a variety of documents yourself how Publishing Partner outshines the competition. So, comp- Sidcup, Kent, DA14 4DX Tel: 01-309 1111 quickly and easily. In addition, the flexibility of Publishing Partner lete and return the coupon today. Remember, SEEING IS BELIEVING! allows you to choose between mouse or keyboard operation, whichever suits your personal preference. Although simple to use, Publishing Partner is by no means a simple program. Quite the contrary. Behind the user friendliness of GEM, lies a most complex and powerful publishing tool. The combination of Publishing Part- ner and Atari's powerful low. -cost ST computers has brought an INFORMATION REQUESTFORM' affordable alternative to the desktop publishing systems currently available from Atari's competitors. To: Silica Shop Ltd, UPDAT 0687, 1-4 The Mews, Hatherley Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA 14 4DX THOUSANDS OF TYPE STYLES Please send me further details on: DESKTOP PUBLISHING This is no exaggeration. Unlike most other desktop publishing software packages, which offer you 2 or 3 different fonts, Mr/Mrs/Ms: Surname: 5Publishing Partner gives you true flexibility of over 4,000 type styles per font. Publishing Partner offers you 14 variations of each font: Address: BACKSLANT MIRROR STRIKE THROUGH BOLD OUTLINE TALL DOUBLE U/L REVERSED UNDERLINE ITALICS SHADOW UPSIDE DOWN LIGHT WIDE And you can 'mix and match' any number and combination of styles to your own requirements. The total number of possible permuta- tions is over 4,000. And that's not all, each style can be used in any one of 216 sizes in one point increments from 1 point to 216 points! Postcode.' All this is achievable on an unexpanded 520ST with just 512K RAM! Other competing packages require 1024K RAM just to get the larger sizes above 72 point and stillcan't match all of the variations I am interested in the Atari ST PC08/87 available. already own an Atari ST Publishing Partner is a trade mark of SoftLogik Corp" .>4°1 circle 163 on enquiry card MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd Tel: 0703 631441 133 HILL STREET SHIRLEY SOUTHAMPTON SO1 5AF Software & Tools for Engineers CROSS -COMPILERS FORTHS For PCDOS, MSDOS, 0S9/68K, CPM/68K For IBM PC and Compatibles CPM80, 0S9/6809, FLEX Modular Forth - award winning Forth 83 £475.00 for generating new Forth applications, including very fast, multitasking, GEM, modules, 8087 fp ROM based turnkey systems fast, interactive, debuggable code, high or low level interrupts, WorkFORTH technical support, source code, debug & Viewtrace Debugger £45 download tools, cross assembler included. £45 Software Floating Point Practical solutions to real problems. 80 x (37 Floating Point £45 Windows & Graphics £45 core £250 Documentation Tool Kit £45 Targets include source, RAM and ROM versions WorkFORTH Development Kit £145 Forth -83 targets £225 includes ViewTrace, SoftFP, Doc Tools Z80, 80 x 86/8, 680 x 0 For 680 x 0 Systems Fig -Forth targets £175 MPE-Forth/68K 0S9/68K - fast £375 6502/110, 8080/5, Z80/64180, 80x 86/8, MPE-Forth/68K CPM/68K - fast £375 1802, Z8, 6800/6303, 6809, 680 x 0, 99xxx GEM-Forth/ST Atari ST-GEM i/f, fast £65 Forth -79 targets £350 MVP - Forth Amiga £150 Bryte Forth 8031/44/51 MM MasterForth Macintosh £125 HARDWARE for PCs Others EPROM Programmer 2716-27512 £145 UniForth for RT11, RSX11, VMS PAL Programmer MMI, NS, TI 20/24 pin £325 (inc micro) £175-£675 GAL/EPLD Programmer Lattice/Altera 20/24 pin £350 NOVIX SMips co -processor - ready for F© right NC5000 £1250 0 MVP Microcoded - includes microcode tools £1225

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"Get your microcomputers c) talking to each other!"'11 SWAP allows you to transfer any programs and data between 2 computers of different manufacture. SWAP consists of 2 floppy disks and a cable configured for your 2 chosen computers. Here C)MM are some of the formats available: IBM PC IBM Compatibles Sirius 111 Apricot Apple (CP/M) HP150 Televideo Superbrain BBC cn Sanyo 555 DEC Rainbow K ay pro If your format is not in our extensive range we can usually produce it at little or no extra cost. The price of SWAP is £158 (£135 plus VAT and postage and packing). Please specify your computers when ordering.

MERCAT011 COMPUTER SYSTEMS LTD FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT 9 Elmdale Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1SL MERCATOR Telephone: (0272) 293231 COMPUTERSYSTEMS Telex 44220 Comte' Ref 247 NEIL MARCHANT ON 01-661-3021 1/4SWAP-SWAP-SWAP-SWAP- WAP) - circle 162 on enquiry card - PRACTICAL COMPUTING, REED BUSINESS PUBLISHING QUADRANT HOUSE THE QUADRANT SUTTON SURREY SM2 5AS CLASSIFIED TEL: 01-661 3033

EXPANSIONS AND UPGRADES MEDIA CONVERSIONS 30110 Popov 1st Controller to x1.2.3608 Doves 0500 DISK COPYING SERVICE 30130 Colour Groomes Card 320.200 dots .9.00 DISK/DISK TAPE/DISK TAPE/TAPE 30140 Monochrome Video Cart 80.25 Clussamers only .900 30150 Month/Dine Graphtesf rimer Card .300 Moving data and programfilesfrom 30160 Enhanced Graphics Card 199 00 30700 Muni0 mob Sloop, Commit, .000 one machine toanotheris often made We con transfer your data between over 1000 different 30210 Mum 10 Care MOO difficult because different Minis, Micros 35220 Serial Cato I prone .010 andMainframes 30230 ',NMI groper Card 0900 manufacturers have adopteddifferent 30240 642 Bullered Rome, Card won 162 RAM .900 Tape 30250 Game 10 Gard2 Channels 0,10 disk format standards. Vs" -800,1600, 3200, 6250 BPI 30260 3848 Philmfunetron Card snooloM worrord RAM .911, 302/0 SerellPmagel Gard 1m AT .710 1/4" -01C-11, QIC-24, (Q1C.02). 302E10 5758 Memory Expansion Geed soghed wdnovl PAM 0500 30790 Clatladlendm Cad 0900 We can copy your files to and from DEC 'DOS', TAR, ANSI, CP10, IBM Labelled/ Unlabelled. 30300 2.51Alt RAM Cad ler Ai. some. *dhow RAM 02600 30310 2.518581.mm Cad le AT super. anhom RAM 05500 over 250 disk formats including noPPT 30320 PPM DPIr Contr.. Xi 02000 CP/M, CP/M-86, MS -D06,PC -LOS,ISIS, 8", 5' 1", 31.2", 3" CPM,CPM86, MDOS, MSDOS, 31100 KORA Coed. 12 MI .8.00 31150 Epara Writer 0010 APPLE,SIRIUS, TORCH, APRICOT, HP150, PCDOS, UNIX, XENIX, IDRIS,TAR, RT11, IBM, BEF, ISIS, 31160 Emote Writer 14 itortoM Yonkers, 024500 31180 PAL Programmer Caminn. 014.00 DEC RT-11, and IBM BEF. FLEX, 0S9, APPLE, ACORN, TORCH, VICTOR-SIRIUS, niria ATARI etc. 31220 4 Claw* 03232 Cad Preps, rui.do 31225 4 Chennel 85232 Cud Pc Al 0010 Disks are normally despatched on the WP/Typiesiliwe 31230 8 Clmerml 8S232 Cad to PC Xi 03210 31235 8 Channel RS232 Card for Al 03100 day they are received. Many formats including DISPLAYWRITER, OLIVETTI, 31240 Br Synchronous RS232 Commune...is Cla 00810 WORDPLEX, LINOTYPE etc. 34010 loysleb f15.00 34000 Mouse .100 34100 PCIXi Standard Keyboard Type 5050 P2.41 nnly 659.00. Our chargeis VAT. Overnight - Most formats returned by next day's post. £10.00 + disk + 34105 Ai Style Keyboard type 5051.801421AT 058.00. Special prices for quantities. 14110 Selected Style Keyboard Type 5151 PC X 1A .910. Prices from £10 per disk. 34200 0 8 Slot Catrynet .901, Usual terms C.W.O. 34310 150 et Porn 3,444 Um lv PC xi 0910. 34320 0065 Parser Supply Und he Ar 05540. For more information call us. Ring or write for o full format list 38120 P0:43 20510 Upgrade 8.165rn5. wrlh rnplrlaserr 08800. 38130 PC:01 3018E1 Upgrade 10 wd3 enol oreserr [44940. 38320 PC0(1 20518 Pardee. 089.00. A.L.DOWNLOADING 38330 KIX, 30513 NamleaM 0489.00.

SERVICES Please add f 1per dam It4 on hem marked Iand 154 VAT and send your orderfor phone with VISA or ACCESS number, lo Western Technology PO B. 312. I= 0171. w0000 TEL. (0364)53499 10 01-994 5471

IT REALLY IS MAGIC! 20Mb Winchester COMPUTER PROBLEMS? andon PCIXT9 Upgrade Kit £28 O THORN EMI Datatech exc/delivery and VAT WE HAVE THE SOLUTIONS * Seagate ST225 Drive. Not all data switches and converters are the same. TOSHIBA * Western Digital Controller. Check these features when selecting your next * Cables, screws, etc. purchase. ATARI * Instructions. Suitable for PC/XT and compatibles (not Amstrad). Cirr1;;ON Also from: Scotia Computer Services 1041-221 97371 DO THEY INCLUDE: Us Them Opus. Olympic House, 142 Queen Street, GLASGOW. G1 3BU *Computer and Printer Cables si ? NECCanon By Post: Send cheque for (336.95 (incl. f4 del. and VAT/ to Direct from manufacturer from stock V ? PO Box 312, Wrexham Clywdd, LL12 OXX. Attractive stylingandsmall size ../ ? Allow 7 days for cheques to clear. No quibble guarantee V ? Thinking of buying a By Telephone: Ring 0244 571677 with your Credit Card ? Number. Experienced technical support ../ Computer, Accessories, Gov Depts, Schools, PLCs: Send Official Purchase Order. Dealer Competitive pricing 'I 9 Printers or Software? Enquiries Welcome. 1st class postage and packing V Customised versions available V Why not save up to 40% Contact Rocketfield, Western Technology PRC1, 86 Birch Hall PO Box 312. Wrexham, Clwyd, LL12 OXX Lane, Manchester 13. Tel: 0244 571677. WE DO! *Converters include printer cables. AdditionalCables Tel. 061-224 4 032 at reduced prices. Ring us for quotation or further information about our comprehensive range ofdata Don't forget to ask for your switches, data converters and low cost computer 'Magic' Order form cables; or write to (no stamp required). With effect from the TYEPRO LIMITED ROCKETFIELD' September issue /A3-FA computer systems flir Freepost,id c3BO4 ICBaRm pkin Road, rates will be Telephone: (0223)322394 displayed £22.00 AL ATARI-ST AL per scc. Lineage 60p PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE per word. COPY DEADLINE We probably have themost extensive collection of ATARI -ST public domain soft- ware in the U.K. LIQUIDATED STOCK of DTC Disc AUGUST 5 Over 100disksare packed withDesk Controllers to suit series 50, 51. 500, 510 & Accessories, Comms software,Games, 5000. Also Micro Memory Systems power FOR SEPTEMBER ISSUE Utilities, Music and Languages. And the list supplies and Ampex type, full height 51 hard is growing daily! drives. Tel: 0342 313633. BMD Trading Ltd. THE SOUTH WEST SOFTWARE LIBRARY 473M RAIR BLACK BOX and ICL PCs (8bit). 5 Barn Owl Way, Stoke Gifford, NORTHSTAR DIMENSION Computer with Bought sold exchange repairedadvice Bristol, Avon BS12 6RZ two terminals/keyboard, 1MB RAM, new Jan given. Ring 0734668951 (Reading). 267M 1985,excellentcondition,alease re- SIRIUS, 10MB hard disc, 256K RAM, good possession, our price £2,500 + VAT. BMD dBASE II/III Custom Software Development. Trading Limited. 0342 313633. 474M. condition,includingdBase,, Easy telecommunications for speedy file multiplan and IBM PC, transfer software, transfer. Lowrates,quickapplication AUTOCAD - IBM PC version, 2.17 includes £550.00.Tel: Tony (office) 01-977 7670, development.EasyLink 62909922. KN ADE3 - brand new, never opened. Two (home) 01-9771921. 475M Associates, 114 -8thStreet, AnnArbor, copies. £600 each. Firm. Call 01-630 8361. ATARI ST OWNERS - Write now for a free Michigan 48103. 462M 476M copy of our latest Newsletter and Public APRICOT Xi -10computer,10Mbyte, ALTOS 8000-10 (4 -user), £750. Qume, Sprint Domain Library Catalogue: St -Club, PO Box internal, Winchester, 31" single disc drive, 5 daisywheel,£495.SelectionVDU's. 20,Hertford,SG13 8NN. (stampapp- 256K RAM, 12" monitor, £1,000 ono. Tel: £40-£50, 8" floppies £1 each. 01-889 4302. reciated). 0257 791770. 472M. 477M

PRACTICAL COMPUTINGAugust 1987 113 4444* ******* ************************ -11 4 4 4 4"414 **

* * * PC/AT COMPATIBLES * * * * * * BREAKING THE PRICE BARRIER!' !lull .5 * Laser Information Services MICRORITE SYSTEMS LTD.* MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM * GATE HOUSE * USING HIGHEST QUALITY JAPANESE PRODUCTS * . . . * *NOT ONLY 1 ST. JOHN'S SQUARE * * LONDON EC1 4DH * * LASERJET * * Telephone 01-251 8567 * * LASERJET + PC/XT £360 * LASERJET SERIES 2 * 41 LASERJET 500 + PRICE 4. 4. XEROX 4045 SPECIAL! * PC/XT, 20MB, * * XEROX 3700 XEROX * * RICOH * * 4045 * MONITOR TTL £700 * CANON *

KYOCERA *

* 8088N20 * 640k `,..'4Li MANNESMAN TALLY FREE FONTS * * "NEC" FLOPPY DRIVE * "SERIAUPARALLEL" PRINTER PORT T",1, -,,k' * it WITH EVERY * * HERCULES GRAPHICS DISPLAY ADAPTOR * KEYBOARD NUMS + * * CAPS LOCK * 8 SLOTS * FLAT SCREEN MONITOR * BUT ALSO . . . * LASER PRINTER 4! * DESK TOP PUBLISHING SYSTEMS * It 41 * TYFORM * 41 VENTURA * AT/TURBO £800 * * TANDON MICRO COMPUTERS I, * * * ION DEPOSITION PRINTERS WITH 20MB * 4( * SCANNERS * * it * DIGITISATION & FONTS * MONITOR £999 * LASER BUREAU NATIONWIDE SERVICE 41 * * DYNAMIC SPEED CONTROL * * * 80286 6/8/12 MHZ * 512K RAM EXPANDABLE TO 1M * * DISKETTE * LEGAL BIOS * FLOPPY DRIVE 1.2M * 4. * PRINTER PORT * GRAPHICS DISPLAY ADAPTOR * AT STYLE KEYBOARD * CONVERSIONS * WITH SEPARATE CURSOR PAD 41 4. over 600 FORMATS * * NEW 386 TURBO £2900 * * acceptable * MONITOR, 20MB HARD DISK, 640K RAM, I 2MB FLOPPY KEYBOARD, DOS 3.2 * ALL SYSTEMS ARE TOTALLY COMPATIBLE 4, HI REST TTL MONITOR T69 20MB HARD DISK £299 * 4, BILINGUAL SYSTEMS EXPORT ORDERS WELCOME 4. /2 MONTHS WARRANTY AND SUPPORT EXCl TIDED PRICES EXCLUDING VAl i FOR ORDERS AND ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT * C.A.S. COMPUTER POINT LTD Elt=: El .7i = - - - -_; -17°5 TEL 01-7083775/01-7082734 TLX 8952387 ANSWER G Laser Information Services * *********************************************4. circle 117 on enquiry card circle 156 on enquiry card 4-

PRACTICAL COMPUTING Advertisement Index

A G N ABC Systems Ltd 1 5 Grafox Ltd 6 Nearward Systems 107 Advanced Micro Application 84 Newton Laboratories 59 Alphacam Product Ltd 39 Altos Computer Systems 1 9 H P Apple Computers 20/ 2 1 Hewlett Packard Ltd 10/11 Autodesk Ltd 29 Hi Spec Systems 24 PMs Communications 82 Homestead Data Products Ltd 56 P&P Micro Distributors 50 PRI 73 B PTPS 73 Bentley Computer Ltd 100 Borland International IFC 3 Q Brom Corn Computers Ltd 57 Interface Systems 58 ISG Data Sales Ltd 22 Qume UK 30/31 C R CAS Computer Point 114 L Ringdale Peripherals 8 Compumart 4 Lotus Development 32/33 R-Tek 100 Computer Associates 94 Computer Deal's 40 S Computer Express 60 M Sentinel Software Ltd 43 Crotan Electronics 62 Mannesmann Tally 69 Sharp Electronics (UK) Ltd MCS 80 44/45 D MDS 62 Silica Shop 77/111 Damson Computer 107 Mekom Computer Products 38 Sirton Computer Systems 110 Dataplus Sales Ltd 107 Mercator Management Star Micronics 1UK) Ltd 35 Digital International 49 Consultants 112 Systematic Upgrade 88 Disking International 95 Microcosm Research 100 System Science 106 Microft Technology Ltd 25 E Micro Peripherals Back cover T Micro Processor 112 Elonex (UK) Ltd IBC Taxan (UKI Ltd 27 Epson (UK) Ltd 16/17 Micro Rent 68 Trisoft Ltd 63 Micro Rite 114 TSL 83 Mill Computers 106 F Miracle Technology 98/99 W Fujitsu Europe Ltd 64/65 Moorhouse Marketing 83 Watters International 104

114 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1987

XT-Compatible 20Megabytes 4.77/8MHz E795 "All prices excluding VAT"

The PC88 Turbo Monographic/Printer card Legal BIOS 130W Power Supply NEC V-20 Super Processor Professional Keyboard Switchable 4.77/8 MHz Clock "Hi -Res 12"" Green Monitor 640K RAM MS-DOS 3.2 20MB Half Height Hard Disk Full Set of Manuals 360K Half Height Floppy 8 Expansion Slots Parallel Printer + RS232 Serial Ports 12 Months Warranty Clock/Calendar with Battery Back-up. AT-Compatible 20Megabytes 6/8/10MHz E1295 0 or 1WaitStates "All prices excluding VAT" The PC -286 Turbo Monographic/Printer card Legal Bios 200W Power Supply Switchable 6/8/10 MHz Professional Keyboard 640K RAM "Hi Res 14"" Green Monitor 20 MB Half Height Hard Disk MS-DOS 3.2 1.2 MB Half Height Floppy Full Set of Manuals Parallel Printer + Two RS232 Serial Ports 8 Expansion Slots Clock/Calendar with Battery Back-up 12 Months Warranty

OPTIONS 30 MB Hard DiskDrive 14" Hi Res Colour Monitor Upgrade £265 and EGA Card Upgrade £395 40MB Hard DiskDrive EGA Card £165 Upgrade £265 14" Colour MonitorUpgrade £175 `ONSITE MAINTENANCE AVAILABLE' /lcOf "All prices excluding VAT"

'4(4LCP: . E ONEX(uK) Ltd. Please feel free to visit ourshowroom for demonstration RAYSHOUSE,NORTH CIRCULARROAD, STONEBRIDGE PARK, LONDON NW10 7XBTELEPHONE: 01-965 3225

- circle 121 on enquiry card - MP 165 DOT MATRIX Thisproven best selling NLQ printer offers the user the very best in low cost matrix printing. Speed: 160cps(Draft), 35cps (NLQ). Columns: 80. Compatibility: IBM/ Epson. Price: £229.

WAPJ2,11M7Z/IZALIAVAm'.1174...",, .145( MP 200 DOT MATRIX A fast NLQ quality printer, usingthe latest state of the art technology - IC Font Cards. Speed: 200cps(Draft), 40cps (NLQ). Columns: 80. Compatibility: IBM/ Epson. Price: £329.

/4,

MP 201 DOT MATRIX This 136 column, 200cps, NLQ printer offers the best value in the market place- you can't buy better. A range of Font Cards are available. Speed: 200cps (Draft), 40cps (NLQ). Columns: 136. Compatibility: IBM/ Epson. Price: £349.

MP 135 DOT MATRIX A low cost, high performance printer using the latest technology to produce print that makes draft quality look like NLQ. Speed: 135cps (Draft), 27cps (NLQ). Columns: 80. Compatibility: IBM/ Epson. Price: £169. Our printer's produce

MP 480 DOT MATRIX AnotherprimeexampleofMicro words faster thanyou can saythem Peripherals bringing fantastic value for money in a 480cps dot matrix printer at lessthan a pound per character per second. Speed: 480cps (Draft), 74cps (NLQ). (at priceswelike to shout about). Columns: 80. Compatibility: IBM/ Epson. Price: £369. 44100411144 tttttttttt Producing words isn't the only thing Micro Peripherals printers do fast. With quality 7 features you'd normally find on more expensive machines, they sell fast as well.

110BOPM10 Whether you want high speed performance, high resolution graphics or a choice of

MP 26 DAISYWHEEL type styles to make you look good on paper, the Micro Peripherals range has the printer to A feature rich very quiet (57dB) printer. Universal compatibility with almost all personal computers at an unbeatable suit your needs and your pocket, as well as a full 2 year warranty! price. Speed: 26cps. Columns: 132. Compatibility: Diablo 630 Interface: Micro Peripherals printers are compatible with most micros, including Amstrad, IBM, Parallel + serial. Price: £259. Acorn and Compaq. For more information call us for free on0800 521111now.

MP 40 DAISY WHEEL A very fast, quiet printer packed with features and compatible with virtually all computers and at a fantastic price. lntec 2, Wade Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG24 ONE. Units 5 & 6,Newhallhey Road, Rawtenstall, Speed: 40cps. Columns: 132. Telephone: 0256 473232. Rossenda le, Lancashire BB4 OHL. Compatibility: Diablo 630 Interface: Telex: 859669 MICRO P G Facsimile: 0256 461570. Telephone: 0706 211526 Facsimile: 0706 228166. Parallel + serial. Price: £379. The 2 year warranty excludes printheads and ribbons. All prices are RRP Ex. VAT. IBM, Epson & Diablo are trade marks and are recognised.