C[]r:1r:1 * [JATA SOFTWARE GUIDES YOU AND YOUR VIC 20® DOWN ROADS OF ADVENTURE WITH: • Maelstrom* • Escape MCP* • Gator Chase* • Astro Command • Caves of Annod • Capture the Beast • Whirlwind Rescue* • Street Maze • The Market • Chivalry THROUGH TRAILS OF CREATIVITY WITH: • Sketch and Paint ALONG THE PATH TO KNOWLEDGE WITH: • Wordspot • Math Tutor Series • Alphabet Tutor • Conversion • Gotcha Math • English Invaders • Math Invaders Series ASK FOR COMM*DATA COMPUTER HOUSE SOFTWARE AT YOUR LOCAL DEALER. Or Send for FREE Catalog: COMM*DATA COMPUTER HOUSE 320 Summit Avenue Milford, Michigan 48042 Quality software also available (313) 685-0113 for Pet and Commodore 64 computers Dealer Inquiries Welcome . VIC 20 is a Registered Trade mark of Commodore Business Machines. In c. • 'High Res Full Machine Code Arcade Style Games. King of the mountain! Workhorse solutions for tough questions. When Southern Solutions acquired the exclusive marketing rights for the CMS Accounting System. the first (and the best) acrounting system for the Commodore computer. we offered dealers who were di$atisfied with their current accounting software the opportunity to swap ... ours for an)Qne elses. WOINI We were covered with the others .. MAS. BPI. ESS. etc ... all trading for CMS. We prCNide the only complete coverage of real software for Commodore computers: . mE PREMIER ... SYSTEM Iv. Real accounting. More like a mini. yet priced for the Commodore. SuperMath n, gives precision to $1 bllUon. No one else comes close. General ledger. accounts receivable. acrounts payable. payroll. inventory. mailing list. Plus important vertical products: oil accounting. pharmacy management encumbrance Software accounting. church records and more. mE STANDARD ... SYSTEM III. Similar to System N but lower priced. GIL. .AIR. NP. PIR. mailing list. Commodore 64*. Complete line of bookkeeping record keeping. personal and household management Usually sells for under $100. Uses one or two drives. just about any printer. Peripherals. Monitors. monitor cables. blank cassettes. All software has FileGuard T" . Never lose data files. EVEN IF YOU LOSE ELECfRICI1Y1 Compatible with almost any computer. disk drive and printer combination. User-definable reports. Fast file access. Sold only through professional computer dealers. To become a Southern Solutions dealer. or for the name of JOUr nearest retailer. call or write our General Manager. Bill Swingler. Dealer Hotline: 1-800-527-4548 'Commodore 64 IS a registered trademark of Commodore Circle No. 62 ROW WITH US! EXPANSION PRODUCTS FOR YOUR MICROCOMPUTER 18 a Commodore com­ CII'IV8 deeIgned to Interface ifJulbI.Commodore computerI ....____ --= .. PET, VfC..20. and the ....84. The dI8k drtva Ie com­ modeI4CMO. 2031. 1540, Win a FREE drives and recognizaa trip to Ha I generated on any of theee . ,C.... The capacItIea are com- Join our thoae found on the Com- -Grow WIth U 11:.1t;IrIv... and Super Disk Club 1 the full inatrucllon set of the IiIIIIlICkIn drives. Super Disk offer8 The more .... within the disk unit, and buy ....end an IEEE bus Interface. The the batter a ~ *v~Ea~S~ 1 · .. DIsk. your chances. Details at your D.... r Ask tor U8 by name 1I=~"""" Power requirements -In­ 1· •. :'ii -1101220voIt8 +/- 10%; freq~ MSD eo Hertz; power - 30 walla. Com- r llill.In.... ICII - Commodore type SERIAL bus • _________==::::dI iltCloIWInodIin type IEEE bua. ~_. PeeIIIIw: 18K ROM bued operating II( RAM area; 6511Q MIcroprocesaor; an IIIIt t811 dlllgnoatlca. MSD also makes Port Expanders, RAM cartridges, Games, Audio Cassette Interface, Monitor Cables and Terminal Emulation Software. Dealer Inqulrle.: MICRO BvaTEMB 1-800-527-5285 DEVELOPMENT. INC. (214) 241-3743 PET. VJC.20. and Commodore 84 ate trademar1c8 of CornmacIIn aul i"... Machines. Inc. Super DIIk ia a copyright of MIcfo 8yIf8IM 11105 Shady Trail • Suite 104 • Dallas. Texas 75229 Development. Inc. Circle No 29 JOIN THE SPECIAL , "',',,,. v:-c:::;. w VERSION OF COMPUTER ':::,:~""' TYPING TUTOR TYPING TUTOR REVOLUTION I WORD INVADERB WITH A MASTERY PLUS WORD INVADERS OF THE KEYBOARD! • NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE • CO M MO DO R E 64™ ... $21.95 (Tape) In the age of the computer, everyone • • All of the features of the VIC 20 ™ Version and more from the school child to the Chairman of - the Board should be at home at the ~ 10 a computer ke yboard. Soon there will be . SPRITE I D:~;~. I a computer terminal on every desk and ~~.E~~, DESIGNE~ I .: I in every home. Learn how to use it righ t by Dr. Lee T. HIli i mmJIl ~ ... and have some fun at the same time l ~~RJ I Rated THE BEST educational program for the VIC 20™ $16.95(Tape) $21.95(Disk) I .Nj;b;-· by Creative Computing Magazine Create and then tr ansform sprites automaticall y. We have the other sprite makin g prog rams, butthis is the TYPING TUTOR PLUS WORD INVADERS-$21.95 one we use to make sprites The automatic transfor­ mations are great l (2 programs on one cassette tape for the unexpanded VIC 20TM) Shipping and handling $1.00 per Typing Tutor plu s Word Invaders makes learn in g the keyboa rd ea sy and lun I order. Ca lifornia residents add 6% ~ Typing Tut or teaches th e keyboa rd in easy steps . Wo rd Invaders makes typing -=-_ sa les tax. VISA and Mastercard ~ prac ti ce an en tert ain in g game. Highly praised by customers: orders must in clude full name as shown on ca rd, card " Typing Tutor is greaf.l ", " Fantastic ", " Excel/en!"', High quality", " A source of nu mber , and expi ration date. Free cata log se nt with great jo y and learning for our children ", "Even my /i llie sister likes it ", " Word order and on request Invaders is sensationa l' " Customer comment says it all ... ACAi>i:m'! .. and it was everything you advertised it would be. In three weeks , my 13 year old son, who had never typed before, was typing 35 wp m. I had improved my typing speed 15 wp.m and my husband was able to keep up wit h his college SOFTWARE typing class by practicing at home. " P.O. Box 9403, San Rafael, CA 94912 (415) 499·0850 Circle No.2 Call for Clubs and Newsletters Directory To be included in the future issues of the Commander Clubs and Newsletters Director, your club or publication must supply the follow­ ing information: 1. name of organization or publication 2. mailing address 3. contact person and telephone number 4. name of newsletter or publication 5. special interests Send your information to Clubs and Newsletters Directory, Com­ mander, PO Box 98827, Tacoma , WA 98498. Commander-The Monthly Journal for Commodore Computer Users is published monthly by Micro Systems Specialties, P.O. Box 98827, Tacoma, WA 98498, Domestic Subscriptions, 12 issues, $22.00, Second Class Postage pending at Tacoma, WA 98143 and additional mailing offices, Postmaster: Send address changes to: Commander-The Monthly Journal for Commodore Computer Users; P.O. Box 98827, Tacoma, WA 98498. Entire Contents copyright © 1983 by Micro Systems SpeCialties. All Rights Reserved. 4/Commander June 1983 Table of Contents STAFF TELECOM MANDER 6 by Donald L. Stoner Publisher THOMAS L. ROSENBAUM DATA BASED FILES Editor 12 by Claud E. Cleeton ALICIA A. LINDEN AN INTRODUCTION TO ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE Editorial Assistant TERIL YN M. AICHLMAYR PROGRAMMING ON THE VIC-20: PART VI 16 by Eric Giguere Dealer/Distributor Manager DEBBIE A. GABBARD LIVING WITH TOTL.LABEL 2.6 by Colin F. Thompson Sales/Subscription Manager 20 ELIZABETH K. STEAN ARITHMETIC AT NURSERY SCHOOL Advertising/Article Manager 26 by Dennis G. Smith LINDA L. LINDEN Typesetting THE BASICS OF BASIC GRANGE PRINTING 32 by Tim Parker Consultant MACHINE LANGUAGE I/O: Part Two of Three EDWIN SUND by Howard N. Rotenberg GEORGE R. GAUKEL 35 JOHN GABBARD PIE GRAPH Production Artists 46 by Eric Giguere MIKE BRIGHENTI BRIAN D. THOMPSON JON WONG A CHARACTER EDITOR FOR THE COMMODORE 64 Printed By 52 by Garry G. Kiziak GRANGE PRINTING A COMPREHENSIVE EDITOR/ASSEMBLER COMMANDER is published monthly by: MICRO SYSTEMS SPECIALTIES. PO Box 98827, FOR THE VIC-20 Tacoma, Washington 98498 71 By Eric Giguere Subscription Rates (U.S. Funds) Per Year U.S. $22.00 Canadian, Mexican $26.00 DEPARTMENTS Surface Rates, Foreign $37.00 Ai r Mail. Foreign $54.00 80 Bits & Pieces 99 Dealers 54 Game Contest For back issues, subscriptions , change of address or other information, write to: 88 New Products COMMANDER 83 News Releases PO Box 98827 105 User Club Tacoma. Washington 98498 106 Advertisers Index (206) 584-6757 BACK ISSUES- 2 months 0Id-$4 .50 Copyright@ 1983 by MICRO SYSTEMS SPECIALTIES All Rights Reserved COVER BY Randy "Tarkas" Hoar Commander June 1983/5 by Donald L. Stoner Mercer Island, WA Recently I was asked to explain the tory of On-Line Data Bases." This month, I plan to devote the col­ difference between an " information There are a dozen or so services umn to one of the nation's largest in­ utility" and a " data base." Most that fit my definition of an " information formation utilities, CompuServe Infor­ readers have heard the term " data utility. " Most are intended for mation Service (CIS). You can pur­ base" but may not be familiar with an businesses and are horribly expen­ chase a subscription to CompuServe " information utility." I define a data sive. Costs in the order of $100 per at your local Radio Shack store. It is base as a very narrow collection of called their Universal Sign-Up Kit (part hour are not uncommon I There are on­ specific information, while an informa­ ly three that I feel are within the budget number 26-2224) and costs only tion utility is a broad collection of of the average person.