Byte Magazine Volume 11 Number 03 - Homebound Computing

This book was produced in EPUB format by the Internet Archive.

The book pages were scanned and converted to EPUB format automatically. This process relies on optical character recognition, and is somewhat susceptible to errors. The book may not offer the correct reading sequence, and there may be weird characters, non-words, and incorrect guesses at structure. Some page numbers and headers or footers may remain from the scanned page. The process which identifies images might have found stray marks on the page which are not actually images from the book. The hidden page numbering which may be available to your ereader corresponds to the numbered pages in the print edition, but is not an exact match; page numbers will increment at the same rate as the corresponding print edition, but we may have started numbering before the print book's visible page numbers. The Internet Archive is working to improve the scanning process and resulting books, but in the meantime, we hope that this book will be useful to you.

The Internet Archive was founded in 1996 to build an Internet library and to promote universal access to all knowledge. The Archive's purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format. The Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages, and provides specialized services for information access for the blind and other persons with disabilities.

Created with abbyy2epub (v.1.7.2)

TURBO "NEW" PACK $95.00

only $47.50 each. Sold separately

Turbo GameWorks Turbo Editor Tooll

MBOHQi

At alwut a 30% savings, you % holiday spe<

Turbo Pascal® 30

Turbo Tutor®

Turbo DataBase ToolboxT

SAVE OVER 30% ON OUR GIFT PACKS!

Announcing Borland's New Turbo Editor Toolbox" $69.95

IT'S ALL YOU NEED TO BUILD YOUR OWN WORD PROCESSOR FOR ONLY $69.95!

• in at

righl

roolbo*

iradcnu'Iniemafl

You get all the modules you need to build your own word processor.

• You get ready-to-compile source code.

• You get a Hill-featured WordStar™-like word processor, we call it MicroStar™ You get a 200-page manual that tells

• you how to integrate the editor procedures and functions into your programs.

You can use Turbo Editor Toolbox "as is" or modify it any way you want.

And you don't get a bill for Royalties. Because Borland doesn't believe you should pay for something more than once.

All this and more for only $69-95.

And until March 1, 1986 you can get Borland's new Turbo Editor Toolbox for even less! (Only $47.50 when you buy the special Turbo New Pack.)

*W

li

YOU CAN HAVE MANY WINDOWS ON THE WORLD. The new Turbo Editor Toolbox features windowing, a technique that lets you see several documents—or several parts of the same document—at once. You know best what your needs are. Turbo Editor Toolbox lets you open the windows you want And to make those windows part of your program.

WITH TURBO EDITOR TOOLBOX YOU CAN HAVE THE BEST OF ALL WORD PROCESSORS IN YOUR WORD PROCESSOR. You can make WordStar behave like Multi-Mate. Support windows just like Microsoft's® Word™ And do it as fast as WordPerfect does it. Incorporate your new "hybrids" into your programs to achieve incredible control and power.

Turbo Editor Toolbox. It's the kind of tool that almost everyone needs—and we're the kind of company to give it to you at a reasonable price, without any compromise on quality. (We're so sure you'll be satisfied that we offer a 60-day money-back guarantee—something no one else does.)

THE CRITICS'CHOICE

"Turbo Pascal has got to be the best value in languages on the market today—and Borland International, by delivering excellent products at reasonable costs, is leading the software industry where it has to go. Turbo Pascal is more than just a good program at a low cost. It's also a low-cost, wellconceived programming language making it possible for lots of people to produce good programs." Jerry Pournelle, BYTE

'"litis compiler, produced by Borland International, is one of the best programming tools presently available for the PC"

Michael Covington, PC Tech Journal

"language deal of the century...Turbo Pascal." Jail Dunlemann, PC Magaiine

^^

BORLAND

INTERNATIONAL

Three

Special

Girt Packs

60-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE

Introducing Borland's New Turbo GameWorksM $69.95

THE GAMES YOU CAN PLAY, REPLAY, REVISE AND REWRITE BUT

CANNOT RESIST.

(Turbo Pascal Source Code included!)

We give you the source code, the manual, the diskettes, the 60-day guarantee and the competitive edge. Let the games begin. Chess. Bridge. Go-Moku.

State-of-the art games that let you be player, referee, and rules committee—because you have the Turbo Pascal source code. Which means that you can play a game or create a game, any time and any way you want

Borland's new Turbo GameWorks lets you combine gamesmanship with craftsmanship. Discover the secret techniques and moves used by the Old Masters. Learn exactly how state-ofthe-art computer games are made—so you can go off and make your own. Since you have the source code, you can always change the game. Or rig the game, if no one's looking. Pure Magic. That's Turbo GameWorks. And part of the "sourcery"—Turbo GameWorks is only ?69-95. When combined with our new Turbo Editor Toolbox in the Turbo New Pack, it's only $47.50..

SHORT CUTS, SECRETS AND STRATEGIES. The Turbo GameWorks manual takes you step-by-step through all the games. How to play them. How to modify them. How to use the power of Turbo Pascal to write new games.

You'll learn general problem analysis, how to identify all possible moves, "rule of thumb" strategies, procedures for testing strategies, and ways to rate options. You'll also be introduced to "top down" program design, the development of basic algorithms, the use of constants and data structures and ways to design short cuts with incremental updating.

On top of all that, you'll have a lot of fun (if you want to).

So go to play (and work) with Borland's new Turbo GameWorks. It's unique, it's fascinating. And it's brand-new. Be first with the latest and greatest—order your Turbo GameWorks today.

4585 SCOTTS VALLEY DRIVE, SCOTTS VALLEY, CA 95066 PHONE (408) 438-8400 TELEX 171373

Inquiry 42 for End-Users. Inquiry 43 for DEALERS ONLY.

With Dazzling Discounts!

BORLAND'S TURBO GAMEWORKS AND SOME OF ITS MASTER PIECES Chess, the ultimate strategic game. A game so old that no one knows its exact origins. Turbo GameWorks lets you play chess at six different levels from the beginner to the sophisticated user. And you have many ways of playing with your Turbo GameWorks. Let the computer solve checkmate problems. Set the time limit for each game. And there's more.

Decide whether you or the computer "goes first" Trade places with the computer at any point in the game. It's all possible with GameWorks.

Go-Moku, also known as "Five-in-Line," is a very old Japanese game played on a board of squares. The first player to get five game pieces in a row—either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally—wins the game.

It's an intriguing game. But you're not limited to playing it one way. With Turbo GameWorks, you can modify it your way.

Bridge. Play bridge with a friend or team up against the program—you decide which hands the computer plays. You can even decide to let the program cheat! The program automatically bids and plays its own hands. And, since you can tinker with the source code, you can make "your" Bridge unlike any other.

&Tt

■,'iv/)

TURBO HOLIDAY

JUMBOPACK $245.00

Now you get the whole Turbo Pascal family, including its newest members, at an incredible price.

combines an integi grammlng environment with the fastest cal compiler in the galaxy.

teaches you step-by-step how to .il development environment, with commented source code for all program examples on diskette

gives you all )is yi it and search your data

and build powerful database applications

ete library of Pascal procedures to build applications using high resolution graphics and graphics window management

ti ss, Bridge, Go-Moku. Secrets and strategies of si.. puter gai

—the Pascal modules I let >ou build your own word processor. A WordStar like program, Mil Star™, is included on your disk.

You're getting everything at only $40 each. And if you already own one or several members of

ily, be creative—nothing ci you from buying die Jumbo Pack, picking out the ones you already have and giving thi holiday gift for family or friends At these pri<■. can afford to give to others and to

To order by

aSSSSSasw-T

Quantity

jumbo

. ___ 16-bit M«'s:-;rD'0S _ MS-DOS

Carefully

Turbo Holiday ■Turbo Holiday Pack •Tu.boNe"Pack Pascal

pascal WIS"87 pascal w'BCD Pascal w/8087ar.d BCD Turbo DalaBase Turbo Graph"' Turbo Tulor Turbo Editor Turbo GameWorks

PacK $245-00 $125.00

$95.00 —

$6995 —

$109.90 —

$109.90

$124.95

$54.95

$54.95

$34.95

$69.95

$69.95

all U.S.

Tbese cities.

Jul foreifl" duel ordered.

payment:

Credit Card Expired

*e2S8S&***

Card"

■s^SSS?^

&&****

payment Dy ■*■

««"*"

national t

CONTENTS

FEATURES

Introduction 82

Product Preview: The Atari I040ST by Phillip Robinson and ]on R. Edwards 84

TWo BYTE editors take a look at Atari's new S999 1-megabyte machine.

Finding the Titanic by Marti Spalding and Ben Dawson 96

After 73 years, the wreck of the R.M.S. Titanic was discovered with help fom the latest in image-processing equipment.

Ciarcias Circuit Cellar: Real-Time Clocks: A View Toward the Future

by Steve Garcia 112

Steve presents two real-time clocks, one of which also provides nonvolatile RAM.

Programming Proiect. A Simple Windowing System. Part 1: Basic Principles

by Bruce Webster 128

Bruce examines the problems involved in opening a window.

An ANSI Standard for the C Language by Steve A. Hersee and Dan Knopoff 135

ANSI has set up a standardization committee to develop a universal set of rules for this popular language.

Programming Insight. Macintosh Explorer by Olav Andrade 145

This disassembler, which translates machine code to human-readable mnemonics, was written in Microsoft BASIC for Apple's Macintosh.

THEME: HOMEBOUND COMPUTING

Introduction 152

Working at Home with Computers by \ane Morrill Tazelaar 155

For some, telecommuting is a choice; for others, it is the only option.

Using Images to Generate Speech by Bruce R. Baker 160

Semantic compaction lets speech-impaired people communicate quickly and effectively in a variety of environments.

The Electronic University Network by Donna Osgood 171

Get a degree without ever leaving your computer.

The Technology of the Kurzweil Voice Writer by Raymond Kurzweil 177

The present office system provides a clue to future applications for the deaf.

Increasing Independence for the Aging by K. G. Engelhardt and Roger Edwards 191

Robotic aids and smart technology can help us age less dependency.

Computing for the Blind User by Aries Arditi and Arthur E. Cillman 199

Some special human factors must be considered in assembling a workable system.

REVIEWS

Introduction 212

Reviewer's Notebook by Glenn Hartwig 215

Kaypro 2861 by Harry Krause 217

An AT clone with a lower price.

BYTE [ISSN 0360-5280) is published monthly with one exira issue per year by McGraw-Hill Inc. Founder lames H McGraw M860-I948) Executive editorial circulation, and advertising offices: 70 Main St.. Peterborough. NH 03458. phone 1603) 924-9281 Office hours Mon-Thur 8 30 AM - 4 30 PM. Friday 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM. Easiern Time Address subscriptions to BYTE Subscriptions. POB 590. Martinsville. N| 08836 Postmaster send address changes USPS Form 3579. undeliverable copies, and fulfillment questions to BYTE Subscriptions. POB 596. Martinsville. N) 08836- Second-class postage paid at Peterborough, NH 03458 and additional mailing offices. Postage paid at Winnipeg. Manitoba. Registration number 9321 Subscriptions are S21 for one year. S38 for two years and S55 for three years in the U5A and its possessions. In Canada and Mexico. S23 for one year. S42 for two years. S6I for ihree years. S69 for one year air delivery to Europe. 17,100 yen for one year surface delivery to lapan S37 surface delivery elsewhere Air delivery lo selected areas at additional rates upon request Single copy price is S3 50 in the USA and its possessions. S4.25 in Canada and Mexico. $4.50 in Europe, and 55 elsewhere Foreign subscriptions and sales should be remitted in United States funds drawn on a U.S. bank Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery o( first issue. Printed In the United States of America.

B YTE • MARCH 1986

COVER PHOTO BY PAUL AVIS

BVTIE

March

Modula-2 System for Z80 CP/M by Brian R. Anderson 225

Hochstrassers system supports most features as defined by Niklaus Wirth.

Pocket APL by Eric H. lohnson 237

STSCs inexpensive implementation.

Arity/Proloc by William G. Wong 245

A version for MS-DOS machines.

Braille-Edit by Henry Brugsh 251

Raised Dot's talking word processor.

Printit by Henry Brugsch and Joseph J. Lazzaro 261

A card that lets you print anything on an Apple II screen.

Review Feedback 265

Readers respond to previous reviews.

KERNEL

Introduction 266

Computing at Chaos Manor: All Sorts of Software by jerry Pournelk 269

lerry survives his BIX party and spends a busy month looking at new software.

Chaos Manor Mail conducted by lerry Pournelie 293

lerrys readers write, and he replies.

Applications Only: First in a Series by Ezra Shapiro 297

In this new column Ezra examines four software products.

According to Webster: 68000 Wars: Round 1 by Bruce Webster 305

Bruce begins his comparison of the three prominent 68000 computers.

Byte Japan: A New Language and a Laptop by William M. Raifte 327

Bill looks at an all-lapanese programming language called Mind and at the Fujitsu FM-16ir.

BYTE U.K.: The Amstrad PCW 8256 by Dick Pountain 333

This new. completely functional, Z80-based computer and word processor from the U.K. costs less than most electric typewriters.

Mathematical Recreations: Diophantine Equations by Robert T. Kurosaka 343

Who was Diophantus? Here's one way to find out.

Circuit Cellar Feedback conducted by Steve Ciarcia 354

Steve answers project-related queries from readers.

Editorial: Wishes for Spring: A Wider Circle .. 6

Microbytes 9

Letters 14

Fixes and Updates 33

Whats New 37, 399

Ask BYTE 44

Clubs and Newsletters 54

Book Reviews 57

Event Queue 78

Disks and Downloads 358

Best of BIX 367

Unclassified Ads 461

BYTE's Ongoing Monitor Box, BOMB Results 462

Reader Service 463

Address all edilorial correspondence [o rhe Editor. BYTE POB 372 Hancock. NH 03449 Unacceptable manuscripts will be returned if accompanied by sufficient first-class postage Not responsible for lost manuscripts or photos Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of BYTE

Copyright © 1986 by McGraw-Hill Inc. All rights reserved Trademark registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Olfice Where necessary, permission is granted by the copyright owner for libraries and others registered with the Copyright Clearance Cenler ICCCI to photocopy any article herein for the flat fee of SI 50 per copy of the article or any part thereof Correspondence and payment should be sent directly to the CCC 29 Congress St. Salem MA 01970 Specify ISSN 0360-5280'83 SI 50 Copying done for other than personal or internal reference use without the permission of McGraw-Hill Inc is prohibited Requests for special permission or bulk orders should be addressed to the publisher BYTE is available m microform from University Microfilms Intematonal 300 North Zeeb Rd . Dept PR. Ann Arbor. MI 48106 or !8 Bedford Row. Dept. PR. London WC1R 4EI England Subscription questions or problems should be addressed to: BYTE Subscriber Service. POB 328. Hancock, NH 03449

VOLUME II, NUMBER 3, 1986

212

266

SECTION ART BY PIERRE LE-TAN

MARCH 1986

Inquiry 117 for End-Users. Inquiry 118 for DEALERS ONLY.

LOOKING FOR AT

PERFORMANCE

FROM YOUR PC?

IfcARTH HAS IT FOR I LESS THAN $1,000!

fYOUR SEARCH IS OVER!! EARTH COMPUTERS' exciting new highspeed, 80286 accelerator card, TurboACCEL-286™, is just what you've been looking for. The TurboACCEL286 will boost your PC performance up to Five times...its completely software transparent... and its only $995! TurboACCEL-286 will fuction with most operating systems and application programs (unlike other so-called '•accelerator boards).

The TurboACCEL-286 features a high-speed, 8MHz, 80286 processor, 512Kbytes of RAM (expandable to 1 Mbytes), a switch for 8088 operation, and facilities for an 80287 math coprocessor. It occupies one expansion slot, is completely compatible with most PCs and is software transparent. End your search for AT performance. Order the TurboACCEL-286 today! Call or write:

EARTH COMPUTERS

P.O. Box 8067, Fountain Valley, CA 92728 TELEX: 910 997 6120 EARTH FV

(714)964-5784

Ask about EARTH COMPUTERS' other fine PC and S-100 compatible products.

BYTE

editor in chief

Philip Lemmons managing editor. print

Gene Smarte

managing editor.

electronic publishing and communications

George Bond

consulting editors

Steve Ciarcia

Jerry Pournelle

Bruce Webster

senior technical editors

G. Michael Vose. Themes

Gregg Williams

technical editors

Dennis Allen

Thomas R. Clune

Ion R. Edwards

Richard Grehan

Glenn Hartwig. Review

Ken Sheldon

Iane Morrill Tazelaar

Tom Thompson

Charles D. Weston

Eva White

Stanley Wszola

associate technical editors

Margaret Cook Gurney, Book Reviews

Donna Osgood. San Francisco

NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY

Ezra Shapiro. Bureau Chief. San Francisco Rich Malloy. Senior Technical Editor. New York Phillip Robinson. Senior Technical Editor. Palo Alto Tony Lockwood. Senior News Editor, Peterborough

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS

Dennis Barker. Peterborough Cathryn Baskin. Peterborough Brenda McLaughlin. San Francisco

Lynne M. Nadeau. Peterborough

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Jonathan Amsterdam. proaraintttiHa projects

David BeTZ, programming

Mark Haas, at large

Rik Iadrnicek. CAD. graphics, spreadsheets

Robert T. Kurosaka. mathematical recreations

Phil Lopiccolo. computers in medicine

Alastair I W, Mayer, software

Alan Miller, languages and engineering

Dick Pountain. U.K.

William M. Raike. \apan

Robert Sterne, computers and law

copy editors

Bud Sadler. Chief

Elizabeth Cooper Faith Hanson Nancy Hayes Cathy Kingery Anne Fischer Lent Paula Noonan Ioan Vigneau Roy Warren Williamson

assistants

Peggy Dunham, Office Manager Martha Hicks Iune N. Sheldon Judy Winkler

ART

Rosslyn A. Frick, Art Diredor

Nancy Rice. Associate- AH Director Ian Muller. Art Assistant Alan Easton. Drafting

production

David R. Anderson. ProdtrcttoH Director

Denise Chartrand Michael |, Lonsky Virginia Reardon

typography

Sherry McCarthy, Chief Typographer

Len Lorette

Donna Sweeney

senior vice president/publisher Harry L. Brown publishers assistant

Beverly Iackson

personnel

Cheryl Hurd. 0//ice Manager

Patricia Burke. Personnel Coordinator

CIRCULATION (800-258-54851

Gregory Spitzfaden. Director

Andrew Iackson. Subscriptions Manager

Cathy A. Rutherford. Assistant Manager

Laurie Seamans. Assistant Manager

Susan Boyd

Phil Dechert

Mary Emerson

Louise Menegus

Agnes E. Perry

Jennifer Price

James Bingham, Single-Copy Sales Manager

Claudette Carswell

Karen Desroches

advertising sales

Dennis I. Riley. Director of Sales and Marketing Sandra Foster. Administrative Assistant

ADVERTISING/PRODUCTION (603-924-6448)

Lisa Wozmak. Supervisor

Robert D. Mannings, Senior Account Coordinator

Marion Carlson

Karen Cilley

Lyda Clark

Michele Iackson

Denise Proctor

Wai Chiu Li. Quality Control Manager

Iulie Murphree, Advertising/Production Coordinator

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Horace T Howland. Director (603-924-3424)

Vicki Reynolds. Marketing Production Manager

Lisa |o Steiner, Marketing Assistant

Stephanie Warnesky. Marketing Art Director

Sharon Price, Assistant Art Director

Doug Webster, Director of Public Relations (603-024-9027I

Wilbur S. Watson, Operations Manager. Exhibits

RESEARCH

Patricia Akerley. Research Manager

Iulie Perron. Market Research Analyst

Cynthia Damato Sands. Reader Service Coordinator

financial services

Philip L. Penny. Director of Finance and Services

Kenneth A. King, Business Manager

Christine Lee. Assistant

Vicki Weston. Accounting Manager

Linda Short, D/P Manager

Edson Ware. Credit

Marilyn Haigh

Diane Henry

Vern Rockwell

IoAnn Walter

planning and development

Michele P. Verville. Manager

Faith Kujntz. Copuriants Coordinator

BUILDING SERVICES/TRAFFIC

Anthony Bennett. Building Services Manager

Brian Higgins Mark Monkton

receptionist

L. Ryan McCombs

rtnli:

Officers of McGraw-Hill Information Systems Company: Presif dent Richard B Miller Executive Vice Presidents: Frederick p I lannott. Construction Information Group: Russell C White ComI puters and Communications Information Group. I. Thomas Ryan. Marketing and International. Senior Vice Presidents Francis A. Shinal. Controller: Robert C Violette. Manufacturing and Technology. Senior Vice Presidents and Publishers: Laurence Attman. Electronics Week: Harry L. Brown. BYTE: David [. McGrath. Construction Publications Group Vice President: Peter B. McCuen. Communications Information. Vice President Fred O. lensen. Planning and Development.

Officers of McGraw-Hili, Inc.. Harold W. McGraw. |r. Chairman: loseph L Dionne. President and Chief Executive Officer. Robert N. Landes, Executive Vice President and Secretary; Walter D. Serwatka. Executive Vice President. Publishing Services: 5hel F Asen. Senior Vice President. Manufacturing: Ralph R. Schulz. Senior Vice President. Editorial: George R Elsinger, Vice President. Circulation: Ralph [ Webb. Vice President and Treasurer

Editorial and Business Office: 70 Main Street, Peterborough, New Hampshire 03458, (6031 924-9281 West Coast Offices: McGraw-Hill. 42 5 Battery St., San Francisco. CA 941II. (415| 362-4600.

McGraw-Hill, 1000 Elwell Court, Palo Alto. CA 94303. (415) 964-0624. New York Editorial Office: 1221 Avenue of the Americas. New York, NY 10020. [2121 512-2000.

B YTE • MARCH 1986

Circuit-Board-Artwork Software for the Design Engineer

ISL in a Hurry

For only $895, smARTWORK® lets the design engineer create and revise printed-circuit-board artwork on the IBM Personal Computer. You keep complete control over your circuit-board artwork — from start to finish.

Forget the tedium of taping it yourself or waiting for a technician, draftsman, or the CAD department to get to your project.

smARTWORK" is the only lowcost printed-circuit-board artwork editor with all these advantages:

□ Complete interactive control over placement and routing

□ Quick correction and revision

□ Production-quality 2X artwork from a pen-and-ink plotter

□ Prototype-quality 2X artwork from a dot-matrix printer

□ Easy to learn and operate, yet capable of sophisticated layouts

□ Single-sided and double-sided printed circuit boards up to

10 x 16 inches

□ Multicolor or black-and-white display

System Requirements:

□ IBM Personal Computer, XT, or AT with 256K RAM, 2 disk drives, and DOS Version 2.0 or later

□ IBM Color/Graphics Adapter with RGB color or black-andwhite monitor

□ IBM Graphics Printer or Epson FX/MX/RX series dot-matrix printer

□ Houston Instrument DMP-41 pen-and-ink plotter

□ Optional Microsoft Mouse

The Smart Buy

At $895, smARTWORK5, is proven, convenient, fast, and a sound value. Call us today. And put it to work for yourself next week.

tz msRm>

Wintek Corporation inquiry 378

1801 South Street Lafayette, IN 47904-2993 Telephone: (317) 742-8428 Telex: 70-9079 WINTEK CORP UD

In Europe contact: RIVA Terminals Limited, Woking, Surrey GU21 5JY ENGLAND, Telephone: 04862-71001, Telex: 859502

"smARTWORK:' "Wintek" and the Wintek logo are registered trademarks of Wintek Corporation.

EDITORIAL

Wishes for Spring: A Wider Circle

When will personal computers reach far beyond the current circle of owners and produce another boom in our industry? Computer users and the industry alike have been awaiting the introduction of IBM's next base personal computer for more than a year. Everyone expects the machine to be a much better vehicle for software such as Microsoft Windows than is the current PC family. However, some reliable sources insist that IBM is now caught with an inventory of PCs, XTs. and ATs well in excess of one million machines. If this is true, IBM's new base machine must wait. Not even IBM can afford to write off billions of dollars in order to make way for a new product. It appears that the IBM side of the industry will stagnate, although IBM's RT will provide some stimulus before the replacement arrives for the base PC. And when the next IBM workhorse arrives, its pricing will probably assure that it replaces existing PCs and XTs rather than extending the benefits of the personal computer to new users.

It seems more likely that a breakthrough will come on the 68000 side of the market. The Atari 1040ST is one of the great milestones in personal computing. For the first time, we can buy a 16-bit machine with 1 megabyte of RAM, 720K bytes of floppydisk storage, a good monitor, and a mouse, all for less than $1000. The operating system, TOS. is fully in ROM. Although screen memory and systems software make some demands on RAM, most of the megabyte really does belong to the programmer, and therefore to the user. Given its price and power, the Atari 1040ST is the first personal computer that offers programmers the hardware resources needed to make the computer accessible, responsive, and useful to millions of nontechnical people who have yet to use computers. But the software needed to take advantage of the hardware is yet to be seen. Only Tom Hudson's DEGAS paint program takes full advantage of chief designer Shiraz Shivji's hardware. (For more on the 1040ST, see the Product Preview by Phillip Robinson and |on Edwards on page 84.) lack Tramiel is capable of putting millions of these machines in

homes around the world. The sheer numbers and raw computing power will drive software development, but it takes time.

Apple's January announcements revealed significant improvements in the Macintosh family. With the increase in standard RAM to a megabyte and the introduction of an SCSI interface, Apple showed that it does indeed plan to open the architecture of the Macintosh. A Macintosh with slots can be expected as soon as feasible, but the required changes in systems software to add more processing power and support the slots while retaining compatibility with today's Macintosh may take time. Furthermore, the $2495 price tag of the Macintosh Plus may prevent the Macintosh family from winning many new adherents. (We were unable to get access to a Macintosh Plus in time to prepare an article for this issue, but look for coverage in April or May.)

The Commodore Amiga is now the oldest of these three flagship 68000 machines. The Amiga's coprocessors still give it the edge in computation, but the Amiga trails both the Macintosh Plus and the Atari 1040ST in the standard configuration of RAM. Software runs on processors, but it lives in RAM. Commodore will soon have to offer an inexpensive upgrade to 1 megabyte of RAM in order to remain competitive and reduce programmers' headaches. The Amiga's open architecture should make the upgrade easy to do. We should also remember Commodore's statement when introducing the Amiga that it is the first and least powerful of a planned series of machines. Although Textcraft (with which this editorial is being written) is adequate and Electronic Arts' Deluxe Paint is spectacular, the Amiga still generally lacks software to match its hardware.

Making One Market

The Atari 1040ST and the Amiga fall short of the Macintosh in both systems software and applications software. Many, many personal computer users have said they'd like to see Macintosh-quality software on Atari or Amiga hardware. Any company or group of programmers that fulfills this wish could bring about the next great

chapter of growth in personal computing. But who will do it?

Is there a remote possibility that Microsoft will put an MS-DOS-compatible operating system on the Amiga, the Atari ST, and the Macintosh, and put Microsoft Windows atop the operating system? Such a move would let Microsoft bestride the world of personal computers and unite the office, home, and education markets. Microsoft has produced a fine BASIC for the Amiga and must be tempted to simplify support for the machine by putting a Microsoft operating system in the Amiga's Writable Control Store (Kickstart RAM). But would Microsoft be bold enough to replace the ROMs and systems software of the Macintosh?

One of January's fascinating rumors suggested that Digital Research would introduce CP/M-68K and GEM for the Amiga, thereby fusing the Amiga and Atari into a single market. This would be a step in the right direction and would help Amiga and Atari by giving programmers a bigger market to write for. But Digital Research seems unlikely to try replacing the systems software of the Macintosh. The recent controversy over GEM's visual resemblance to the Macintosh user interface provides enough to occupy Digital Research's lawyers.

Lattice has taken a positive step by developing MacLibrary for the Amiga. These routines work with Lattice C on the Amiga and emulate ROM calls on the Mac. MacLibrary should help some in porting applications software from the Mac to the Amiga. Lattice C is available for the Atari ST and perhaps a version of MacLibrary will be as well. Other versions of C including Manx C, are available for all three machines.

Let's hope someone will have the vision and the resources necessary to make one vast software market of three substantial and overlapping ones. The Atari ST. the Commodore Amiga, and the Apple Macintosh are each an important part of personal computing. Together they could form a standard second to none and attract millions of new users to personal computers.

—Phil Lemmons Editor in Chief

BYTE • MARCH 1986

Maxell Corp. of America, 60 Oxford Drive, Moonathie, NJ 07074

Before you invest in a DECVT240 terminal, consider the software alternative.

Stop and think about what you really need: A text terminal. Tektronix* graphics. ReGIS* graphics. File transfer capabilities. Communications.

Purchasing a state-of-the-art terminal may be one option, but Persoft has a smarter solution—SmarTerm® 240,

the ultimate in terminal emulation software.

SmarTerm can do everything the stateof-the-art terminal can do—and more. That's why we call it state-of-the-smart.

With SmarTerm 240, the emulation is so exact you'll forget you're using a PC. It features superior text emulation, ReGIS graphics, Tektronix graphics, outstanding communications and file transfer capabilities.

You also get on-line help screens, remappable keyboard layouts and programmable softkeys which can simplify your most frequently performed tasks. You can even customize your own menus!

And because SmarTerm runs on your PC, you've always got a wealth of computing power right at your fingertips.

All SmarTerm products are backed by Persoft's strong technical support network. It's a service you expect from the industry leader in terminal emulation software.

No matter which terminal you're currently using—Data General Dasher* D400, Tektronix 4010/4014, DEC VT100, VT125, VT220 or even the new VT240,

SmarTerm has a state-of-the-smart solution for you.

To find out more about the SmarTerm

family of terminal emulation software,

see your local dealer. Or contact:

Persoft, Inc.

2740 Ski Lane

Madison, Wl 53713

(608) 273-6000 - Telex 759491

'SmarTerm is a registered trademark of Person, Inc. 'DEC, VT and ReGIS, are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corp. "DASHER Is a registered trademark at Data General Corp. * Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. ©PersoU, Inc.. 1986. All rights reserved

aersa/r

J Inquiry 270

MICROBYTES

Staff-written highlights of late developments in the microcomputer industry.

IBM Announces UNIX-based RISC-Technology Computer

IBM announced the RT PC, a line of desktop and floor-standing computers that feature a 32-bit RISC (reduced instruction set computer) microprocessor. The new machines also use a proprietary 40-bit-wide memory-management chip that can access a virtual memory of 1 trillion bytes. The desktop unit is the size of the IBM PC AT, has a i.2-megabyte floppy drive, a 40-megabyte hard-disk drive, 1 to 3 megabytes of memory, and six IBM ATcompatible expansion slots. An optional 80286 board lets the RT run AT software.

AIX, the UNIX-based operating system for the RT, is compatible with UNIX System V and includes several enhancements from Berkeley version 4.2 UNIX. AIX can accommodate up to eight users.

Also announced were three high-resolution displays for the RT. These include the Advanced Monochrome and Color Displays, both with resolutions of 720 by 512 pixels, and the Extended Monochrome Display, with a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels.

IBM claims that the RT can perform at a rate of 1.2 to 2.4 million instructions per second. The price for the desktop model with the Advanced Monochrome Display is approximately $13,100. The AIX operating system is an additional $3400. Discounts of over 30 percent are available for orders of 50 units or more.

Dutch Engineer Discloses Method for Eavesdropping on Computer Displays

In a recent issue of the journal Computers & Security (North-Holland), Dutch engineer Wim van Eck outlined a method whereby an ordinary television receiver can be modified to recreate the images on any nearby CRTs or computer displays. The modifications require approximately $15 of electronic parts and a directional antenna. In one test, van Eck set up his equipment in a van parked outside an office building and was able to read classified information displayed on a computer terminal inside the building.

Xerox Announces Color Ink-Jet Printer and Software for Its 6085 Computer

Xerox of Rochester, NY, announced a new printer for its line of personal computers and more software for its 6085 computer. The Xerox 4020 is a color ink-jet printer that reportedly prints 4000 combinations of seven primary colors at a resolution of 240 dots per inch. The printer price of $1495 includes the GEM Desktop, WordChart, and Graph software packages.

The Xerox 6085, a low-priced relative of the Xerox Star computer, is being bundled with Xerox's 4045 Laser CP (copier/printer) and new software to form a personal publishing system called the Documenter. No price was given for this system: projected availability is in the second quarter of 1986. Xerox will also offer compilers for C, FORTRAN, and BASIC that will run on the 6085 computer. The 6085 is a large-screen, window-and-mouse-oriented computer that is available with an optional IBM PC-compatible processor.

High-Density 256K-bit EEPROM

Xicor of Milpitas, CA, is selling samples of a 256K-bit EEPROM. The densest chip available before held 64K bits. The 256K-bit chip sits in the same package as the 64K-bit chip; for addressing, it employs two pins that were unused on the 64K-bit version. The 256K-bit EEPROM also includes new software data-protection mechanisms to guard against inadvertent writes during power-up and power-down. The 64K-bit chips cost from $12 to $20 apiece. The 256K-bit chip samples cost $120 in lots of 100. Full production is expected by the middle of 1986.

(continued)

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 9

Parallel Processing for the IBM

You can buy a parallel-processing add-on board for your IBM PC, XT, or AT or ITT XTRA from Compupix Technology of Boca Raton, FL. The board is based on NCR's GAPP (geometric arithmetic parallel processor) chip, which contains 72 CMOS 1-bit ALU processors. For $4750, you get a board with 144 processors (two GAPP chips), and $5750 buys you a board with 288 processors (four GAPP chips). Both products have an on-board sequence controller so the host computer can perform another task while the parallel processors are working.

The demonstration software that accompanies the boards was developed for both UNIX and MS-DOS environments. Compupix offers two assemblers for the board: the Macro-Meta Assembler runs under MS-DOS and costs $1750, while a relocatable, linkable version of the Macro-Meta Assembler costs $2150.

Datatext Word Processor Plus Source Code for $95

A $450 word processor that was withdrawn from the market for a few months has been reissued, this time with a complete source-code listing and a price of $95. Datatek of Oldsmar, FL, bills the new version of Datatext as a powerful, multifunction word processor and includes in the product's manual a complete listing of 30,000 lines of Pascal source code. A disk version of the source code costs $145, and a Computer Associates/Sorcim Pascal compiler for recompiling the code will be available for less than $100. The product runs on IBM PC, MS-DOS, and CP/M systems.

Nanobytes

According to SoftView of Camarillo, CA, its MaclnTax 1985, a $75 program for the Macintosh, is the only tax package that can generate IRS-approved tax forms on the Apple lmagewriter printer. . . . Epson announced the FX-286 printer, a replacement for its FX-I85 dot-matrix printer. Epson claims that the $749 wide-carriage printer is 30 percent faster than its older relative. . . . Iomega Corp. announced a new adapter card for its Bernoulli Box disk-cartridge system. The card lets the IBM PC boot from the Bernoulli Box. . . . Fox & Geller of Elmwood Park, NJ, is offering a Symphony-like database for Lotus Development's 1-2-3. Called Quickcode for 1-2-3, the program costs $199. ... A new multiuser version of Fox Research's 10-BASE database system for the IBM PC offers SQL (structured query language) features. . . . The Toshiba P3 51 dot-matrix printer can now emulate the Qume Sprint 11 daisy-wheel printer and the IBM Graphics Printer. Upgrades for older printers cost $99. . . . Panasonic announced three dot-matrix printers: the KX-P1595 (240 cps in draft mode, Courier type fonts, $949), the KX-P1592 (180 cps in draft, IBM Graphics Printer compatibility, $699), and the KX-P1080 (100 cps in draft, $319)... . Tiara Computer Systems of Mountain View, CA, has acquired the Davong MultiLink local-area network and renamed it TiaraLink. The products will sell for 15 to 2 5 percent less. Tiara is also offering an IBM PC AT-compatible motherboard to developers for a single-quantity price of $920. . . . The International Computer Users Groups Association (ICUGA) has been formed in Lexington, KY. The association is intended as a support service for users groups around the world. Contact ICUGA c/o Abshire & Abshire, Security Trust Building, Suite 100, Lexington, KY 40507.... Oki Semiconductor, Sunnyvale, CA, has developed a 5-MHz CMOS version of the 8085A microprocessor. An NMOS 8085A draws 170 milliamperes; the MSM80C85A-2 typically draws less than 20 mA. In lots of 100, each chip costs $7.30. . . . Aldus Corp. of Seattle, WA, has introduced PageMaker release 1.1. This new version of the $495 Macintosh page-design program offers the option of using the LaserWriter's bit-map smoothing, a greater variety of tab uses, and support of tabloid-size pages (II by 17 inches).... S-MOS Systems of San Jose, CA, announced three CMOS Z80 microprocessors. The SMC 84C00AC is simply a pin-compatible CMOS Z80. The SMC 84C00AC-L adds a lowpower "sleep" mode that prohibits it from supporting the Z80's on-chip dynamic-memoryrefresh counter. The SMC 84C00AC-S has both the sleep mode and an on-chip oscillator. All three chips sell for approximately $3 in quantities of 1000. . . . Vitelic, Santa Clara, CA, is making the V62C64, a low-power 8K-bit-by-8 CMOS static RAM chip. This new RAM has an access time of 150 nanoseconds and dissipates 175 milliwatts in operation or 10 microwatts in standby. A special low-voltage data-retention mode for battery backup lets the V62C64 retain data while dissipating only 4 microwatts from a 2-volt power source.

10 BYTE- MARCH 1986

TANDY..

Clearly Superior

The Tandy81200 Personal Computer with dual floppy disk drives edges out the IBM* PC/XT.

TANDY 1200

H

Another remarkable computer breakthrough that only Tandy conic! bring yon. The new Tandy 1200 is XT-compatible, includes dual floppy disk drives and is priced at only $1499.00— far less than IBM's XT! With the Tandy 1200, a business can expand attbrdably and still use virtually all of the same quality software, as well as PC expansion boards.

The Tandy 1200 (25-3001) comes with 256K RAM (expandable on-board to a total of 640K), two thinline, 360K

floppy disk drives, pins seven card slots. A parallel printer interface—an extra-cost option on the XT—is standard.

Also available is the Tandy 1200 HD (25-3000, $1999.00). It has a built-in 10-megabyte hard disk and a 360K floppy.

You'll find everything you need—software, printers, custom forms, even furniture—at any Radio Shack Computer Center. And our support includes training, service and leasing: we have what it takes to sit down and talk business.

Available at over 1200

Radio Shack Computer Centers and at

participating Radio Shack stores and dealers.

Radio /hack

COMPUTER CENTERS

A DIVISION OF TANDY CORPORATION

II 1

■ ■ ■ ■ i

Send me a Tandy 1200 brochure.

Mail To: Radio Shack, Dept. 86-A-793 300 One Tandy Center, Fort Worth, TX 76102

NAME

COMPANY

ADDRESS

CITY

STATE PHONE

7IP

1 ■ T

■ ■III'

Tandy 1200 prices apply at Radio Shack Computer Centers and participating stores and dealers. IBM comparison pricing as ol 9/1/85. IBM/TM International Business Machines Corp. MS/TM Microsoft Corp.

Inquiry 294

c&c

Computers and Communications

Your first color good enough

SEC introduces the only color monitor you need. Superb resolution plus MultiSync for acrossthe-board compatibility with all three PC graphics boards made by IBM, for business graphics, CAD/CAM, computer art, and text.

Now there's one high resolution color monitor that does things your way. The MultiSync™ monitor from NEC.

It gives you the best color resolution available at the price. • Compatibility with the IBM Professional Graphics Adapter, the IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter, and the IBM Color Graphics Adapter.

Compatibility with the IBM" Enhanced Graphics Adapter Board

• MultiSync, the NEC feature that automatically adjusts to color adapter board scanning frequencies from 15.75 KHz to 35 KHz—suggesting the possibility that the MultiSync monitor might be compatible with all color graphics boards that are fully compatible with the IBM PC, PC/XT, and PC/AT, now and in the future.

• Full implementation of high resolution graphics software for business

and other applications, now and in the future.

• And color capability limited only by the board being used.

See Things Our Way

Until now, you had to choose different color monitors for compatibility with all three PC color graphics boards made by IBM. With so many board and monitor configurations, folks

Compatibility with the IBM® Professional Graphics Adapter Board

didn't know which way to look.

The new MultiSync color monitor gives you unique compatibility. As well as TTL and analog color. With 7 switchable text colors. And resolution up to maximum 800 horizontal dots and maximum 560 vertical lines, on a large, 13" diagonal viewing area.

All that, priced at just $799. All from NEC, a name respected around the world for advanced,

Compatibility with the IBM® Color Graphics Adapter

12 BYTE • MARCH 1986

monitor should be to be your last

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiii

^

U L T I S Y N C

The Intelligent Monitor

TM

reliable products backed by nationwide service.

It's the one color monitor that does everything your way.

But why talk more about it? Visit your

Inquiry 252

nearest dealer and see a graphic demonstration of the new NEC MultiSync monitor's capabilities. Then draw your own conclusions.

For information dial

j 800 447 4700

NEC HOME ELECTRONICS (U.S.A.) Inc.

Personal Computer Division

1401 Estes Avenue

Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

NEC

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 13

LETTERS

Copyrighting Icons

Your January editorial ("A Threat to Future Software." page 6) regarding Apple's stifling of software creativity was precisely to the point. Legally, I have wondered why Xerox didn't sue Apple long ago. Technically, however, I also wondered why DR1 chose to slavishly copy the Mac user interface in the first place.

Take scroll bars, for example. They take up an awful lot of screen space, are difficult to use accurately, and are hardly intuitive, since you need to go right first to go up\ Why not just let a function key cause the cursor to adhere to the first window border it comes to? Option would cause the contents to scroll, Command might cause the window to resize, and Shift would move the window on the screen. Need to close the window? Just move the cursor rapidly back and forth a few times anywhere in the window (a motion similar to using a pencil eraser), and it would be gone. Presto, you have a window that operates far more intuitively than a Mac window, has less screen overhead, less code overhead (no need to draw the bars and resize them), and, best of all, has little resemblance to a Macintosh! And while they are at it, the DR1 people might want to throw in support for a global zoom procedure (since every computer screen is only a window on an application) and the global abort function that the Macintosh sorely needs but doesn't have.

Alex Funk Durham, NC

It is truly remarkable that Apple managed to copyright the garbage can (its primary symbol?) and the icon interface developed by Xerox.

It must be in the general interest to have a standard set of icons that express their meaning clearly and unambiguously.

Clearly, Apple is taking the necessary steps to prevent a natural development of such a standard. Is Apple trying to prevent other vendors from launching systems based on the ideas from Xerox? Do the people at Apple really think they will succeed? That is difficult to believe, as the bit map of an icon hardly is the major feature of a computer system, and more powerful machines will appear in the near

future, easily outperforming the Mac in all aspects (except the garbage can).

Goran Rydqvist

Kjell Post

Linkoping, Sweden

When 1 first learned that Apple had won a decision against Digital Research for "visual copyright" infringement, I thought "Right on!" and still feel this way. A programmer should be able to protect his rights to any commercial system he develops. We would all agree that the visual aspects and appearance of any software system contribute heavily to the success of that particular system in the marketplace. Your line of reasoning to justify other persons' ignoring visual copyrights— the "incremental" theory—if carried to its logical conclusion in my mind leads us to the point where my firm could publish a new software release called Wordstar 5000. emulating the latest MicroPro screens for its fine word-processing program. As long as we could prove incremental improvements, we would be protected from (not liable to) suit by MicroPro. This is ridiculous! It is the programmer's right to release newer, incrementally improved versions of any software product he has authored, if another firm feels it has a dynamite idea for an enhancement to an existing piece of software, then isn't that what joint ventures are for?

The computer industry is far away from the ideal man-computer-man interface. Let us collectively stimulate, encourage, and suitably reward those who pursue new, untried interface techniques. As the level of computer literacy rises above thinking of the computer as a car-type tool and reaches the level where we see the computer as an extension of our brains, we will all probably want our own individualized interfaces.

Mike Carmichael Glasgow. KY

Covering Atari s ST Machines

Well, another month has come and gone, and the only mention made of the best low-priced computer on the market is a few slightly snide remarks. I can't say that I am totally surprised, since it took BYTE

a few years to figure out what every Atari owner knew-that the Atari 400/800/1200s were the best 8-bit graphics machines on the market.

Now comes a new Atari, the 520ST. It is available everywhere, right now, with software delivering now. Also available is a complete developer's software/documentation package for less than a good C compiler for the IBM PC and its lookalikes. Still, no real mention in BYTE. Methinks your biases are showing.

I.will readily concede that the Amiga is probably a better machine, but at a price that is more than double that of a similarly equipped 520ST. Mr. Webster and others have said the 520ST is not expandable. Officially, that's true. But, as many owners of the Atari 400 know, the 400 wasn't expandable beyond 16K RAM, officially. I and many others have or had 400s with 48K within a year of introduction. My 520ST (remember, unexpandable) will shortly have 1 megabyte of RAM (cost: less than $70) and an add-on 80-track 514-inch drive. So much for officialdom.

When 1 bought my machine. I received BASIC, Logo, Neochrome (graphics drawing program), and ST Writer (word processor). While the graphics and wordprocessing software are not up to some of the more mature applications, they are far from primitive.

In my area, the Amiga is not available yet. but it will be in "real soon now." The dealer says there is lots of software for the Amiga, but he doesn't have any in stock: again, it will be here "real soon now." 1 don't know about you. but in the computer world "real soon now" can often take months or years.

[continued)

LETTERS POLICY: To be considered for publication, a letter must be typed double-spaced on one side of the paper and must include your name and address. Comments and ideas should be expressed as clearly and concisely as possible. Listings and tables may be printed along with a letter if they are short and legible.

Because BYTE receives hundreds of letters each month, not all of them can be published. Letters will not be returned to authors. Generally, it takes four months from the time BYTE receives a letter until il is published.

14 BYTE

MARCH 1986

This Little Feia Means Business.

The Mouse by Maynard Electronics makes your favorite programs faster, wammm easier, and smarter!

BY MAYNARD ELECTRONICS

At last, an "intelligent" mouse! Now you can add command power to your programs, when you want, the way you want—instantly! The Mouse by Maynard Electronics comes with our CustomKey™ software which lets you assign and reassign commands while using your favorite programs — even those without mouse utilities. Fly through programs like Symphony? Lotus 1 -2-3? Framework? MultiMate?and others with undreamed of speed! And of course, it's fully compatible with all programs written for a mouse, too.

"Symphony and Lotus 1-2-3 are trademarks ot Lotus Development Corporation. Framework is a trademark of Ashton-Tate. MultiMate is a trademark of SoftWord Systems Inc. Telepaint is a trademark of LCS/Telegraphics.

j Teach The Mouse To Type.

A single Mouse click will instantly produce the character, sentence, paragraph, or anything else you've selected. Click: you call up the CustomKey menu. Click: your file is saved. Click: a commonly used paragraph appears in place. No other mouse gives you such power and versatility.

A Tale Of Three Mice...

Compare our Mouse with the others running around and you'll see, there's no comparison! Here are just a few features across the board:

FEATURES

Maynard Mouse

Microsoft

Mouse Systems

# of Button Combinations

7

3

5

Button Auto Repeat

Yes

No

No

Diagnostics

Yes

No

Yes

Dynamic Scaling

Yes

No

No

Cursor Overshoot Control

Yes

No

No

Adjustable Cursor Speed/Up

Dn (while

running application) Adjustable Cursor Speed/Rt,

Yes

No

No

Lft (while

running application) Buttons-Definable {while runr

Yes

No

No

ing application)

Yes

No

No

Macros-Definable (while runn

ng application)

Yes

No

No

User-Definable Alternate Cursor Movement

Yes

No

No

Free Drawing!

Purchase The Mouse now and receive the popular paint program Telepaint* at no additional cost — a $149 value!

%-u Maynard Electronics

Shaping tomorrow's technology.

460 E. Semoran, Casselberry, FL^707 • 305/331-6402 Available at the finest computer stores. Contact your local dialer or write to us today for product information.

Inquiry 227

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 15

Why you

should

ignore 95%

of the news

Because NewsNet automatically finds the 5% you need. From our database of authoritative, up-to-date business news, you get just the stories you want, delivered instantly to your microcomputer. You choose your own, unique keywords, and NewsNet saves—just for you— every new article containing those words. Or, you can find that critical 5% on your own, with NewsNet's powerful keyword searching and text scanning.

Just what's in NewsNet's database? The full text of over 300 valuable business newsletters. Indepth news, written by experts, filled with analysis and interpretation. News from 34 different industries and professions—everything from Computers to Investments, from Management to Telecommunications. Plus extras such as wire services, online stock quotes, air fares, and business credit reports.

Computer News:

Your Specialty is our Specialty. Here are just a few of the 25 Electronics and Computers newsletters on NewsNet:

\

The Artificial

Intelligence Report The Business Computer The Computer Cookbook Consumer Electronics Data Base Informer Electronic Mail News Outlook on IBM Japan High Tech Review Micro Moonlighter

Mini/Micro Bulletin Personal Computers Today Robotronics Age

Newsletter Semiconductor Industry

& Business Survey The Seybold Report on

Professional Computing Stanley Klein Newsletter

on Computer Graphics

ONLINE

BUSINESS

NEWS

IkidM

Call Today!

We'll send all you need to subscribe.

(800) 345-1301

(In PA 215-527-8030)

/ilcwsNct Inc. <>B HavcrforU Road, liryn Mawr. PA 19010

LETTERS

As for comparing machines, we really have to compare machines that are similarly priced. With the Atari 520ST's $1000 price tag, that leaves the Apple II. Poor Apple. When comparing compatibility, then we have to look at the IBM PC/XT/AT and the Amiga. The PC/XT/AT's saving graces are manufacture by IBM and a large base of available software. I recently saw a benchmark on the 520ST for processing (primes). Nothing that anyone will buy for home use was anywhere close to Atari's speed.

For business, I don't really believe that the Atari will penetrate the market with any great percentage. Its success will probably be along the line of the Apple Macintosh. It offers more bang for the buck than any other currently manufactured machine.

For support. Atari was always one of the better companies about supplying information and help with its machines. Also, there is a very large installed base of users that are buying up the 520STs as fast as they hit the retail store. Some publicdomain software is already out there. Admittedly, it is not at the level it will be in a very short time. Also, there are two Atarispecific magazines on the market that are publishing more and more information about the machine every month.

BYTE, your prejudices are showing, and

by this letter you can see that mine are

showing also. Maybe it will balance out.

Lloyd Parsons

Herrin, IL

Phil Lemmons replies: We are not prejudiced against Atari or any other company. We were hampered in covering Atari's 520ST by the company's refusal to give us access to a machine despite repeated attempts on our part. But that problem is now past. Please note that our January. February, and March issues all contain coverage of Atari's ST machines.

I'd Know That Chip Anywhere

I don't know whether this is a coincidence or not, but a chip virtually identical to the one John Bennett has described ("Raster Operations," November 1985, page 187) was developed by myself and John Atwood at Silicon Compilers in early 1983. The chip, designed with the help of an early version of the Silicon Compilers software, has been used quite successfully in the Sun Microsystems Color Workstation. In this application, a total of eight RasterOp chips (one per bit plane) manip

[continued)

New! Windows-Compatible In-a-Vision 1.1

Complex Drawin Made^Easy

w

e created In-a-Vision

just for you. The engineer who needs more productive drafting support. The designer who needs versatility for alternate ideas or quick revisions. The architect who needs to manage a variety of working drawings. And the businessman who needs first-class presentation materials as well as detailed flow charts and organization charts.

Point. Click. Draw.

Now all you do to create complex technical drawings, systems designs, blueprints, diagrams, illustrations, and proposals is point, click and draw. With In-a-Vision's mouse support, windowing, icons,

and pull-down menus, you produce drawings more quickly, accurately and efficiently than ever before. In-a-Vision's advanced technology includes many features not found on comparable systems costing thousands more. For example, you can pan around in a user-definable drawing space up to 68" x 68" and zoom in on specific areas for

FREE MicrosoffWindows from MICROGRAFX!®

If you purchase In-a-Vision directly from MICROGRAFX, we'll give you a free retail copy of Microsoft Windows so you can use In-a-Vision as part of a fully integrated working environment. Move instantly from In-a-Vision to other applications and back ... cut and paste text and drawings

..,<-,.. - mi i.

(Most popular graphics cards, plotters, and printers supported.)

Microsoft Windows-compatible. Call for specific operating environment requirements.

* Demo requires MS Windows. Full demonstration system for use without Windows available for S49.0Q.

greater detail. Scale, rotate and dimension symbols, fill an area with your choices of predefined colors and patterns, as well as draw lines with multiple styles and widths. Other features include overlays, predefined and user-definable page sizes, rulers, grids, and templates to speed popular applications.

Multi-tasking in a PCbased CAD system.

In-a-Vision uses multi-tasking to enable you to continue drawing while printing hard copies or edit multiple drawings simultaneously.

MICROGRAFX

The Picture of Success.

Inquiry 237

between applications ■ ... and more!

We're confident you'll agree — In-a-Vision will make your complex drawing tasks simple and make you more productive. Satisfaction guaranteed.

TO ORDER CALL'

800-272-3729

As always, free demo disk* or brochure available upon request. In Texas or for customer support, call (214) 234-1769. MICROGRAFX, Inc., 1820 North Greenville Avenue, Richardson, Texas 75081.

In-a-Vision and MICROGRAFX are trademarks of MICROGRAFX. Inc.

Microsoft is a trademark of Microsoft, Inc.

Escape the

Programmer's

Prison

Do you feel imprisoned by your IBM PC? Do you spend too much time wrestiing with a rigid, unyielding programming language? Are you tired of clumsy programming tools that straight-jacket your creativity instead of liberating it?

If so, you're ready for Methods—a Smalltalk, object-oriented programming system for the IBM-PC and compatibles that sets you free from the constraints of other languages. Until you program with Methods, you don't know just how quick and creative programming can be on the. IBM PC.

Methods is ...

... high-performance object-oriented programming. A powerful, language-compatible subset of Smalltalk-80'\ ... a toolkit of over 100 classes—easily-customized software building-blocks for rapid, incremental development of real-world applications. ... an open-ended, window environment that encourages exploration while allowing recovery from any error.

... extensively documented in a four-part manual for everyone from beginners to experienced programmers—the perfect introduction to Smalltalk programming. .. . ideal for software prototyping, simulation, databases, advanced user interfaces, and numerous AI applications.

Methods also offers easy access to DOS, a powerful directory/file browser system, remote UNIX™ access, an object-oriented shell for DOS programs, and much more. Methods requires DOS and 512K RAM on IBM PC's (including AT) or "compatibles," and can be used with or without a mouse.

digitalkinc.

5200 West Century Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90045 (213) 645-1082

Available from Digitalk for $250. Outside U.S. add $15.00 for shipping and handling. California residents add sales tax. Educational and dealer discounts available.

Inquiry 110

LETTERS

IBM is a trademark of

International Business Machines Corporation. Smalltalk-80 is a trademark of Xerox Corporation. UNIX is a trademark of Bell Laboratories.

ulate up to 128 bits of image data in parallel for high-speed screen updating. The Sun RasterOp chip is now available commercially from VLSI Technology Inc. as part VL16160.

Andreas Bechtolsheim

Sun Microsystems Inc.

Mountain View, CA

Kudos

for Conferencing Theme

Congratulations on the fine December 1985 issue. We at Network Technologies International Inc. were pleased to see the thoroughness of the Computer Conferencing theme section. As you know, this is an exciting segment for the computer industry, and it has tremendous growth potential in the near future. The reputation of BYTE for being on the leading edge of technology news is well deserved, as this issue focused on conferencing proves. We were very excited by the review of our eForum product by Brock Meeks ('An Overview of Conferencing Systems," page 169). However, several points deserve clarification:

1. eForum does have an electronic mail facility. It is an add-on software package called efvlemo that allows private one-toone communications with many of the enhanced organizational features of eForum.

2. The eForum software has a migration path that cannot be matched. NETI began marketing with eForum software available on supermicro and mini systems. Beginning in February, the eForum system will be available on an MS-DOS IBM PC-compatible microcomputer. And currently, eForum on a mainframe system is available through the largest packet-switching network in the world, the General Electric Information Service. We feel this wide range of options more than adequately serves the needs of Fortune 500 companies as well as organizations of every size and need.

Jeffrey J. Elpern Ann Arbor, Ml

MS-DOS Disk Formats

Marcus Kolod. in his article "IBM PC Disk Performance and the Interleave Factor" (Inside the IBM PCs. Fall 1985. page 283), goes into considerable detail to describe how PC-DOS 1.x differs from 2.x in accessing a double-sided disk. He describes DOS 1.x as accessing all of side 0 and then all of side 1. while DOS 2.x will access both sides of each cylinder on the disk before

(continued)

For those times when 640K memory just doesn't seem to be enough.

AST introduces RAMpage!™ with up to 2 Mb of PC RAM.

Feed your byte-gobbling applications with the expanded memory of RAMpage! And stop wasting valuable time with frustrating "Memory Full" messages.

Breaking The 640K Barrier.

RAMpage! breaks through the PC's 640Kbyte barrier delivering up to 2 megabytes of parity checked memory for expanded memory applications. Up to 4 RAMpage! boards can be used in a single PC for a full 8 Mb of memory per system.

EMS Compatibility. RAMpage! is fully compatible with all applications developed for use with the Lotus8

Expanded Memory Specification (EMS). It's also supported by Enhanced EMS software—offering more versatility for even greater value and performance.

New software updates of popular applications like Symphony™ Framework™and l-2-3rdesigned

specifically for use with EMS boards, are now becoming available. And a wide variety of other packages, including windowing, spreadsheet, database and CAD applications, will soon follow.

A Super Bonus. RAMpage! includes AST's new SuperPak™ utility software. Designed specifically to operate in expanded memory environments, it allows you to spool print jobs and create multiple RAM disks for added performance.

Don't let your valuable bytehungry applications starve. Get RAMpage! today. For more information call our Customer Information Center (714) 863-1333.

Or write, AST Research, Inc., 2121 Alton Avenue, Irvine, California 92714 TWX: 753699 ASTR UR.

Specifications

• For use with IBM* PC, PC-XT, 3270 PC and compatibles.

• Up to 2.0 Mb expanded memory per board—8.0 Mb total per system.

• Socketed and user upgradeable with 256K DRAMS.

• Fully compatible with Lotus EMS 3.0.

• Enhanced EMS design for greater performance with enhanced EMS software.

• AST Expanded Memory Manager software standard.

• New SuperPak™ utility software standard.

RCSCRRCH INC.

RAMpage! and SuperPak trademarks

of AST Research, inc. lotus and 1-2-3 registered trademarks and Symphony trademark of lotus Development Carp. Vrameteork trademark of Ashton-Tate IBM registered trademark of International Business Machines Carp.

Inquiry 2 for End-Users. Inquiry 3 for DEALERS ONLY.

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 19

The database used

nowbeused

Introducing dBASEIIF PLUS.

The PLUS stands for all the improvements weVe made to the world's number one selling database management software.

Jp 1

Create IHfiRET

Position Ret

1

1 1

Database file

Format

Uiew

Query

Report

Label

The Assistant helps beginning users accomplish day-to-day data management tasksmthoutprogramming.

Mind you, dBASE III PLUS still has the powerful dBASE programming language, dot prompt, and all the features that have made dBASE III the standard of the industry.

WeVe simply raised the standard.

And just as dBASE III introduced more power to the people, our new dBASE III PLUS introduces more people to the power

People who aren't all that crazy about programming, for example.

The Assistant feature in dBASE III PLUS now provides them with new easy-to-use pull-down menus for creating, using and modifying multiple databases.

So now anyone who can manage a simple cursor can manage day-to-day data management tasks. Without programming.

And by using our new Screen Painter,

anyone can create custom screens. Without programming.

Or using View, access related information in several databases at one time. Without programming.

With Advanced Query System, another new non-programming feature, any user can build complex queries just by selecting from the dBASE III PLUS pull-down menus.

For rapidly creating entire programs, there's even a new Applications Generator.

And for all those who wish to learn to program, the Assistant can be of further assistance. By teaching you programming commands as you go along. Without disrupting your work flow

These are only a few of the dBASE HI PLUS features that can help new users quickly get up to speed. And experienced users quickly increase their speed. (Sorting, for example, is up to two times faster and indexing up to ten times faster than dBASE III.)

Field Hue STATE Operator Matches

Constant/Expression "HV"

No i:imh i nation

CogMm ulth .Mil.

ConHne ulth .Mil..ROT. CoMbine uith .OR..HOT.

Line Field

STATE STATE P»0»_1ESC OBDEB DOTE

Operator

Hatches Hatches Hatches More than i

Constant/Express lo

"RY" "IE" "LH lass Lures"

waues

01.

AHO.

I .AR1.

ami!

VSet Filter Select a logical connector For the Filter condition. j

Advanced Query System lets you set up and answer complex queries withoutprogramming.

20 BYTE* MARCH \9S6

3y more peop

Dy more people.

ecan

And it's the fastest way to network those users, too. Because now, local area networking capabilities are built right in.

dBASE HI PLUS can also help put developers in the fast lane. With a new Data Catalog and more than 50 new commands and functions. Plus code encryption and linking, improved debugging aids, assembly language calls and much more.

ASHTONTATE

lb obtain a free dBASE ffl PLUS demo disk, call 800-437-4329, Extension 0282; for the authorized AshtonTate* dealer nearest you**

And get your hands on dBASE ffl PLUS.

It's the software more people can look forward to using.

Inquiry 383

•In Colorado call (303) 799-4800, Extension 0282. "Upgrades are available to all dBASE III owners. Requires IBM*PC or 100% compatible.Tradeinarlts/owners: Ashton-Tate, dBASE III/ Ashton-Tate; IBM/International Business Machines Corporation, c 1985 Ashton-Tate. All rights reserved.

dBASE III PLUS

The data management standard.

ENERCOMNECT.-.

CIM COGO

R300

I

GrafTalk

,1k.

2c

til

;lii

8P& "

^i

*#i

1:

totf-jiEfl 1B

SrtMt I

1".

MACPLtrr^B

1

. sr

1

.' I

1

■

HMO

I

- II

e6

*3

5)

[DEN101

When you select a plotter or digitizer from Houston Instrument, you'll be impressed by the vast array of available software—like more than 300 graphics packages custom-configured especially for Houston Instrument products.

You'll find programs for virtually every application—business graphics, CAD/CAM, architecture, surveying, geophysics, oceanography, medical, electronics—to name just a few. And more are being added every day. Just name your application.

Software is immediately available.

To learn which vendors supply plotter and digitizer software packages for your system, contact Houston Instrument and we'll promptly send you our complete booklet. Call 1-800-531-5205 (or 512-835-0900 if in Texas), or write Houston Instrument, 8500 Cameron Road, Austin, Texas 78753. In Europe, contact Houston Instrument, Belgium NV., Rochesterlaan 6, 8240 Gistel, Belgium. Tel.: 32-(0)59-277445. Tlx.: 846-81399.

Attention software vendors: If you have a program you would like to have become compatible with Houston Instrument's graphics products, contact the Houston Instrument Marketing Support Group.

DQ®CES,S®[jQ

instrument

A Division of AMETEK

Inquiry 161

LETTERS

advancing to the next cylinder. (1 have dubbed the first method "surface mode" and the second method "cylinder mode.")

DOS 1.x does not access the disk this way; it uses the same cylinder mode as does DOS 2.x. In fact, 1 have written device drives for 17 different MS-DOS disk formats, ranging from 3'A inches to 8 inches to the AT high-density, and I've yet to see an MS-DOS surface-mode disk.

I have seen many other differences in MS-DOS floppy-disk formats, however. Several manufacturers have made changes to improve performance or to match their system design. I've seen sector sizes from 2 56 bytes (HP 150) to 1024 bytes (NEC APC 8-inch), cluster sizes from 512 to 4096 bytes, one boot sector (the most common) to two entire tracks (DEC Rainbow), base sector addresses of both 0 and 1, logical to physical sector mapping via a translation table (a la CP/M). and the 3 !/2-inch 600rpm high-speed Hewlett-Packard drive (usual speed is 300 rpm). Plus, of course, the IBM PC AT-style drive. Unfortunately, the "media descriptor byte" is not unique for each of these different formats.

I expect 1 will continue to see more differences in future MS-DOS disk formats: it keeps my life interesting.

Gary Sanford Acton, MA

Adding RAM to the Amiga

Thanks for printing my letter on the Amiga's RAM layout (Letters. November 1985. page 26). Thanks also to Gregg Williams for his reply, which requires further comment.

Extensive changes apparently would have been necessary to provide for future upgrades to more than 512K bytes of RAM on the Amiga motherboard, even if the upgrades were to be accomplished simply by swapping chips. As 1 understand it. there is a segmentation between the core 512 K-byte RAM on the one hand and the larger address space available to the external bus expansion port on the other hand. The Amiga's custom processing chips apparently work only within the 512K-byte space; to expand this core RAM. the very architecture of the system apparently would have to have been rearranged. This is "rather extreme," indeed.

But after deflating my letter of its "rather extreme" atmospheres, I'm still left with the central point that caused me to write: Why is an optional cartridge necessary just to get 512K in the first place?

Including a full 512K bytes on the Amiga motherboard, using 16 standard 2 56K by

(continued)

Data

communication

problem?

Solve it with a

BayTech

multiport controller

Fifty easy-to-use models for cost-effective, RS-232C serial port expansion.

■ Adapt your micro to industrial control and data acquisition applications.

■ Add more terminals to your existing computer system.

■ Allow your computer to share or select printers.

■ Enable your computers to use the same data communication lines by multiplexing.

■ Simplify your network with any-device-to-any-device communication. These intelligent multiports feature many user-programmable functions and are available in 5, 9, 12 and 18-port sizes, $279 to $1,795.

Call or write for complete details.

BAY TECHNICAL ASSOCIATES, INC.

DATA COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCTS

800/523-2702 or 601/467-8231

Highway 603, P.O. Box 387, Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi 39520 Telex: 910-333-1618 EasyLink: 6277-1271

Inquiry 38

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 23

LETTERS

1-bit RAM chips, probably would have added something less than $30 to the manufacturing cost. This would have been partly offset by the cost-reducing elimination of the optional cartridge slot, since more than 512K bytes of core RAM apparently would not have been practical, anyway

The earlier 128K-byte prototype motherboard had 16 standard 64K by 1-bit RAM

chips, so this hypothetical upgrade to 512K bytes using 16 standard 2 56K. by 1-bit RAM chips should have been an obvious one. The Amiga's designers must have gone out of their way to use eight nonstandard 64K by 4-bit RAM chips in order to hold standard memory down to 2 56K bytes and require the optional cartridge for the second 2 56K bytes. That was my main point, and the design choice re

If lightning still scares you,

you're using the wrong file manager.

Be sure. Btrieve.®

Lightning may strike. But it doesn't have to destroy your database.

Btrieve® file management offers automatic file recovery after a system crash. So accidents and power failures don't turn into database disasters. Your Btrieve-based applications will come up when the lights come back on.

Fast. Btrieve is lightning fast, too. It's written in Assembly language especially for the IBM PC. And based on the b-tree file indexing system, with automatic balancing and electrifying access speed.

The standard for networking. Btrieve/N (network version) sets the standard for the industry's most popular LANs and multi-user systems.

Fully-relational data management. SoftCraft's entire family of products

gives you a complete, fully-relational database management system. Rtrieve™ adds report writing capabilities. Xtrieve™ speeds users through database queries with interactive menus.

For professional programmers. Btrieve is the fast, reliable answer for all your application development. In any development language—BASIC, Pascal, COBOL, C, FORTRAN and APL. With Btrieve, you can develop better applications faster. And know they'll be safe if lightning strikes.

SoftCraft Inc.

P.O. Box 9802 #917 Austin, Texas 78766 (512) 346-8380 Telex 358 200

Suggested retail prices: Btrieve, $245; Btrieve/N, $595; Xtrieve, $195; Xtrieve/N, $395; Rtrieve, $85; Rtrieve/N, $175. Requires PC-DOS or MS-DOS IX, 2.X, or 3.X. NO ROYALTIES.

mains inexplicable to me.

1 didn't want to leave the impression that I don't like the Amiga. In fact, it is precisely because 1 do like it that the memory scheme arouses my criticism; it seems to stick out like a sore thumb amidst all those wild custom processing chips. The Amiga's capabilities eat up lots of memory, and the 512K-byte core RAM should have been provided in a far more cost-effective manner. The basic Amiga should have 512K bytes of RAM, yet still be priced at $1295 or less.

Jim Howard Project City, CA

Using the M68000 for Scientific Research

L. David Roper (Letters. October 1985. page 24) has apparently been misinformed about the M68000 family. The 68020 has 32-bit address and data buses with a 32-bit ALU and two 32-bit adders internally. It also has 32- by 32-bit multiply and 64- by 32-bit divide. The 68881 floating-point coprocessor is available in sample quantities right now and should be available for general use soon.

The 68020 is already in use. As of this date, G1M1X Inc. (in Chicago) is producing one computer with the 68020 and will soon be making a single-board computer with that chip.

I hope Mr. Roper will reconsider his decision to exclude the M68000 family from consideration in choosing a scientific computer.

Calvin Dodge Wheatridge, CO

Remote Diagnostics Schemes

Remote diagnostics offer the industry great promise, as your editorial "Service and Support" (February 1985, page 6) indicated, but their implementation is filled with "very serious problems." as a letter from Paul Pinette in the October 1985 issue (page 14) showed. The solution is not remote, however, because a carefully designed system architecture can allow us to have our bugs and eat them. too.

The old dilemma haunting the successful use of remote diagnostics occurs when the diagnostic requires the CPU, main memory, and data paths all to be operational to test a failing system. The failed system won't respond. The system can't diagnose itself for the same reason it won't respond: It's broken! There is a workable solution to this dilemma, and it is being used now. The independent multiboard architecture of the Altos 2086 and

[continued]

24 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 311

The C for Microcomputers

PC-DOS, MS-DOS, CP/M-86. Macintosh. Amiga, Apple Q, CP'M-80. Radio Shack, Commodore, XENIX. ROM. and Cross Development systems

MS-DOS, PC-DOS, CP/M-86, XENK, 8086/80x86 ROM

Manx Aztec C86

"A compiler that has many strengths... quite valuable for serious work"

Computer Language review, February 1985

Great Code: Manx Aztec C86 generates fast executing compact code. The benchmark results below are from a study conducted by Manx. The Dhrystone benchmark (CACM 10/84 27:10 pl018) measures performance for a systems software instruction mix. The results are without register variables. With register variables, Manx, Microsoft, and Mark Williams run proportionately faster, Lattice and Computer Innovations show no improvement.

Execution

Code

Compile/

Time

Size

Link Time

Dhrystone Benchmark

Manx Aztec C86 3.3 34 sees

5,760

93 sees

Microsoft C 3.0 34 sees

7,146

119 sees

Optimized C86 2.20J 53 sees

11,009

172 sees

Mark Williams 2.0 56 sees

12,980

113 sees

Lattice 2.14 89 sees

20,404

117 sees

Great Features: Manx Aztec C86 is bundled with a powerful

array of well documented productivity tools, library routines

and features.

Optimized C compiler Symbolic Debugger

AS86 Macro Assembler LN86 Overlay Linker

80186/80286 Support Librarian

8087/80287 Sensing Lib Profiler

Extensive UNIX Library DOS, Screen, & Graphics Lib

Large Memory Model Intel Object Option

Z(vi) Source Editor -c CP/M-86 Library-c

ROM Support Package -c INTEL HEX Utility -c

Library Source Code -c Mixed memory models -c

MAKE, DIFF, and GREP-c Source Debugger -c

One year of updates < CP/M-86 Library -c

Manx offers two commercial development systems, Aztec C86-c and Aztec C86-d. Items marked -c are special features of the Aztec C86-c system.

Aztec C86-C Commercial System $499

Aztec C86-d Developer's System $299

Aztec C86-p Personal System $199

Aztec C86-a Apprentice System $49

All systems are upgradable by paying the difference in price plus $10.

Third Party Software: There are a number of high quality support packages for Manx Aztec C86 for screen management, graphics, database management, and software development.

C-tree $395 Greenleaf $185

PHACT $250 PC-lint $98

HALO $250 Amber Windows $59

PRE-C $395 Windows for C $195 Windscreen $149 FirsTime $295

SunScreen $99 C Util Lib $185

PANEL $295 Plink-86 $395

MACINTOSH, AMIGA, XENIX, CP/M-68K, 68k ROM

Manx Aztec C68k

"Library handling is very flexible ... documentation is excellent ...the shell a pleasure to work in ... blows away the competition for pure compile speed ...an excellent effort."

Computer Language review, April 1985 Aztec C68k is the most widely used commercial C compiler for the Macintosh. Its quality, performance, and completeness place Manx Aztec C68k in a position beyond comparison. It is available in several upgradable

Optimized C Macro Assembler Overlay Linker Resource Compiler Debuggers Librarian Source Editor MacRam Disk -c Library Source -c

Creates Clickable Applications Mouse Enhanced SHELL Easy Access to Mac Toolbox UNIX Library Functions Terminal Emulator (Source) Clear Detailed Documentation C-Stuff Library UniTools (vi,make,diff,grep) -c One Year of Updates -c

Items marked -c are available only in the Manx Aztec C86-C system. Other features are in both the Aztec C86-d and Aztec C86-C systems.

Aztec C68k-c Commercial System $499

Aztec C68d-d Developer's System $299

Aztec C68k-p Personal System $199

C-tree database (source) $399

AMIGA, CP/M-68k, 68k UNK call

Apple H, Commodore, 65xx, 65C02 ROM

Manx Aztec C65

"The AZTEC C system is one of the finest software packages I have seen"

NIBBLE review, July 1984

A vast amount of business, consumer, and educational software is implemented in Manx Aztec C65. The quality and comprehensiveness of this system is competitive with 16 bit C systems. The system includes a full optimized C compiler, 6502 assembler, linkage editor, UNIX library, screen and graphics libraries, shell, and much more. The Apple II version runs under DOS 3.3, and ProDOS, Cross versions are available

The Aztec C65-c/128 Commodore system runs under the C128 CP/M environment and generates programs for the C64, C128, and CP/M environments. Call for prices and availability of Apprentice, Personal and Developer versions for the Commodore 64 and 128 machines.

Aztec C65-C ProDOS & DOS 3.3 $399 Aztec C65-d Apple DOS 3.3 $199

Aztec C65-p Apple Personal system $99 Aztec C65-a for learning C $49

Aztec C65-C/128 C64, C128, CP/M $399

Distribution of Manx Aztec C

In the USA, Manx Software Systems is the sole and exclusive distributor of Aztec C. Any telephone or mail order sales other than through Manx are unauthorized.

Manx Cross Development Systems

Cross developed programs are edited, compiled, assembled, and linked on one machine (the HOST) and transferred to another machine (the TARGET) for execution. This method is useful where the target machine is slower or more limited than the HOST, Manx cross compilers are used heavily to develop software for business, consumer, scientific, industrial, research, and educational applications.

HOSTS: VAX UNIX ($3000), PDP-11 UNIX ($2000), MSDOS ($750), CP/M ($750), MACINTOSH ($750), CP/M-68k ($750), XENIX ($750).

TARGETS: MS-DOS, CP/M-86, Macintosh, CP/M-68k, CP/M-80, TRS-80 3 & 4, Apple II, Commodore C64, 8086/80x86 ROM, 68xxx ROM, 8080/8085/Z80 ROM, 65xx ROM.

The first TARGET is included in the price of the HOST system. Additional TARGETS are $300 to $500 (non VAX) or $1000 (VAX).

Call Manx for information on cross development to the 68000, 65816, Amiga, C128, CP/M-68K, VRTX, and others.

CP/M, Radio Shack, 8080/8085/Z80 ROM

Manx Aztec CII

"I've had a lot of experience with different C compilers, but the Aztec C80 Compiler and Professional Development System is the best I've seen."

80-Micro, December, 1984, John B. Harrell III

Aztec CH-c (CP/M & ROM) $349

Aztec Cll-d (CP/M) $199

C-tree database (source) $399

Aztec C80-C (TRS-80 3 & 4) $299

Aztec C80-d (TRS-80 3 & 4) $199

How To Become an Aztec C User

To become an Aztec C user call 1-800-221-0440 or call 1-800-832-9273 (800-TEC WARE). In NJ or outside the USA call 201-530-7997. Orders can also be telexed to 4995812.

Payment can be by check, COD, American Express, VISA, Master Card, or Net 30 to qualified customers.

Orders can also be mailed to Manx Software Systems, Box 55, Shrewsbury, NJ 07701.

How To Get More Information

Tb get more information on Manx Aztec C and related products, call 1-800-221-0440, or 201-530-7997, or write to Manx Software Systems.

30 Day Guarantee

Any Manx Aztec C development system can be returned within 30 days for a refund if it fails to meet your needs. The only restrictions are that the original purchase must be directly from Manx, shipped within the USA, and the package must be in resalable condition. Returned items must be received by Manx within 30 days. A small restocking fee may be required.

Discounts

There are special discounts available to professors, students, and consultants. A discount is also available on a "trade in" basis for users of competing systems. Call for information.

Inquiry 219

To order or for information call:

800-221-0440

LETTERS

3068 systems is designed so that even in the event of a major hardware failure, the Serial Input/Output controller (SIO PCB) is able to report status messages through a modem to the remote service center. These systems are designed so that the self-tests begin from the edge of the system (SCI PCB) and not the center (CPU). This is crucially important if the diagnostics are to function without being crippled by a failure.

If, for example, a severe hardware failure occurs in which the CPU PCB has failed, a diagnostic based on testing from the center (CPU) out will not respond. But a remote diagnostic scheme in which the tests begin at the edge (SIO) and move inward to the CPU will isolate the problem. The technician can download a wide variety of CPU diagnostics through the SIO PCB to isolate the failing component. From error messages the service center technician can devise a troubleshooting strategy. Once the CPU PCB is identified as the culprit, a new CPU can be quickly sent to the site.

In the 2086 and the 3068, each of the

key PCBs, the SIO PCB, CPU PCB, and file processor PCB, has its own independent firmware, microprocessor, and local RAM. After power-up, the Intel 8086 on the SIO PCB becomes the diagnostic controller, which is not dependent on the CPU or any other subsystem in order to execute remote diagnostics. The minimum hardware necessary for the SIO to become the diagnostic controller and start verifying the diagnostic kernel after power-up is the following: The SlO's 8086 must be able to retrieve the test program from the SlO's PROMs and store the data in the SIOs local RAMs. Only two of the ten SIO ports (one SCC integrated circuit) need to function for the SIO to be able to report status messages.

Even if the hardware necessary for the minimum diagnostic kernel fails, all is not lost. The necessary hardware for the diagnostic kernel resides on every SIO PCB. On the Altos 2086 system, there are two SIO PCBs (a master and slave). Diagnostics run from the master SIO board. So, if the failed unit does not respond to the downloaded code from the service center computer,

this indicates to the service center technician that the master SIO has failed. Now, the slave SIO can be repinned as the master SIO. Remote diagnostics can then be up and running again.

This is not a complete solution to the diagnostic dilemma that calls for failing hardware to troubleshoot itself. If the power supply of the system fails, or if the system is swallowed up by an earthquake, any remote diagnostic scheme will not work. But fortunately, most hardware failures are not catastrophic, and there is usually enough working hardware to identify the failing area. A remote diagnostic scheme designed into a system architecture of independent PCBs that self-test from the edge to the center provides the best of all possible opportunities to fix failures in the field.

Carl Strasen San Jose, CA

Call for Papers

Collegiate Microcomputer, a journal begun in February 1983, is a forum for the exIcon tinued)

DRIVE ENCLOSURES

fif>K

V

fc*

FLOPPY-WIN CH ESTER-TAPE FROM *80°°

(Includes Power Supply)

3915 $199

2915 $165

Write or call (or our brochure which Includes our application note: "Making micros, better than any ol' box computer"

• Desktop & Rack

• Heavy Duty All Metal Cabinet

• Fan & Dust Filter*

• Hefty Power Supplies

• Full or Slim Drives

• Power Harness From Supply To Drives

• Line Fuse, EMI Filter*, Detachable Line Cord

• Cabinets & Supplies Available Separately

' = Most Models

(Disk drives not included)

BIlfflQIBIti

RESEARCH CORPORATION

8620 Roosevelt Ave./Visalia, CA 93291 209/651-1203

32 Page Free Fakt Pakt Catalog

26 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 171

Clipper gives dBASE'III users more time to do more.

Clipper™ allows you to run all dBASE III™

programs 2 to 20 times taster than they do with the standard dBASE interpreter.

That frees up extra time you're wasting it you're running dBASE III programs without Clipper.

Extra time to think. To create. To produce. To use as you choose.

You see, Clipper is the tirst true compiler for dBASE III. Clipper eliminates the timeconsuming translation which the dBASE interpreter performs line after line whenever a program is run.

With Clipper, once you've debugged your source code, it's compiled into more efficient machine code.

And Clipper compiles all your dBASE III programs. The ones you have today. The ones you'll have tomorrow. But don't wait until tomorrow to order Clipper.

Today, Clipper has already been purchased to speed up dBASE run time at 3M and Touche Ross. At Exxon and NASA. In

the Harvard Physics Department. For the State of Arizona and TRW.

And that's just a few of the installations worldwide. From Greece to Venezuela to Canada to Europe.

So stop wasting time.

Call our toll-free 800 number and get Clipper.

You'll spend less time running dBASE III and more time running the rest of your life.

m Nantucket

Inquiry 247 for End-Users. Inquiry 248 for DEALERS ONLY.

5995 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230 (800)251-8438 In California (213)390-7923

When you

positively

custom

% Tf!

■ 1 !8k

•1 H :.l|

i, -u;

SFS':" -^

f» " .,»■-■ *j

•ft Si IS

■«*' la [il

liTTl PI

•VI: :

1" 1111

Reliability

is your obvious first requirement in this vital link between your product and the outside world. At Ven-Tel -with 12 years experience and millions of modems designed and shipped-we don't take reliability for granted ...so you can.

_i i i i i i i_

J

i>1

raO

pi

j±

r

Compatibility QuickTurnaround

with industry standards. All Ven-Tel modems utilize the industry standard "AT"command set, guaranteeing compatibility with virtually all types of software. And every Ven-Tel custom modem is fully compatible with our complete line of standard desktop and PC internal modems. We also meet Bell 212A and CCITT V22bis standards in speeds up to 2400 baud.

is more than a phrase to us. We've built a reputation for meeting product deadlines among some of the nation's largest and most demanding manufacturers. From start to finish in as little as 90 days, Ven-Tel can help you get your product to market quickly. You can even begin development using our standard modules while your design is being finalized.

take a good

absolutely, need reliable modems...

Customizing

your modem is your choice. From our standard off-the-shelf boards, to complete custom design, to licensing our proprietary CMOS chip design (for quantities in excess of 100,000 annually), we guarantee the right modem solution based on your deadline, design and volume requirements. Custom hardware configurations and firmware give you maximum freedom for integrating the modem into your overall product design.

SSS3!

k»f

J.TP D

_.

17

t

fi

■

i *

(«v

Compact Size

is an important requirement in applications like credit check terminals, portable computers and trouble monitors. Ven-Tel modem density is state-of-the-art to provide excellent "real estate" value, with complete auto-dial/auto-answer, AT compatible, 212Amodemsin as little as 12 square inches. With power requirements as low as 500mW.

Competitive Pricing

makes the Ven-Tel custom modem package one definitely worth looking into. For quotations based on your modem specs or a discussion with our experienced OEM sales engineers, call 800/538-5121 (outside California). In California, call 408/727-5721. Or contact us for our custom modem brochure: Ven-Tel, OEM Products Division, 2342 Walsh Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95051.

Inquiry 365

look at Venle!

Inquiry 385

TM

BOXCALC

Not Another Spreadsheet! Not Another Word Processor!

No - BOXCALC is a new kind of calculation program that allows easy combination of figures with text. Instead of fighting pre-determined rows and columns, just type text and place calculation "boxes" anywhere on your screen at the press of a function key. This makes BOXCALC just what you need for creating cost estimates and budget reports. Even income tax forms. Any documents that used text mixed in with the figures.

•Create up to 800 calculation boxes for each BOXCALC file.

• Relocate boxes on screen under cursor control. Or move whole columns of boxes.

• BOXCALC is page oriented - files may contain up to 99 pages.

• Print any page or combination of pages (send printer control codes, too).

• Put simple or complex formula in a box to establish it's mathematical relationship to other boxes.

•Calculate boxes sequentially or in any order you specify.

•Get data from other BOXCALC files.

• Full replication features for fast, easy creation of box formulas.

•Supplied with no copy protection.

Along with 4 sample files and a comprehensive instruction manual, BOXCALC is available for $40.00. Or, to observe BOXCALC in action, a demonstration disk and manual can be purchased for $5.00. To order BOXCALC or the demonstration kit, send your name, address, and check to: Cotton Software, Inc., 2510 Anderson Rd., Suite #364, Covington, Ky. 41017.

(VISA/MC # accepted for BOXCALC only - include expiration date) Requires PC, XT or AT, color monitor, PC DOS 2.0 or higher and 256K RAM.

BOXCALC is a trademark of Cotton Software, Inc. 1 -606-727-1600.

LETTERS

change of ideas on the role of the microcomputer in all subjects and areas of college and university life. Material appearing includes uses of hardware and software, descriptions of courses, units and topics using microcomputers, results of research using microcomputers, analysis of experiments using microcomputers, student projects, suggestions and tips, writeups of experiences as microcomputer consultants, reviews of the literature, and evaluation of microcomputer use in the office and in materials preparation for teaching and research. Subscription rates are $28 per year and $36 per year for nonU.S. subscriptions.

Brian J. Winkel, Editor

Collegiate Microcomputer

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Terre Haute, IN 47803

Making RS-232C Connections Universal

I'm afraid that the scheme proposed by Pete Klammer (Letters, October 1985, page 22) to make RS-232C connections universal will not work. To see why, let us ignore the control lines in an RS-232C setup and concentrate our attention on the two data lines, which serve as the simplest example that will demonstrate the phenomena involved.

The RS-232C standard states that the female connector shall be associated with data communications equipment (DCE); transmitted data will be on pin 2 and received data will be on pin 3.

Similarly, the male connector shall be associated with data terminal equipment (DTE). Transmitted data will still be on pin

2 and received data on pin 3.

From the point of view of the DTE, it sends data to the DCE on pin 2 and receives data from the DCE on pin 3. The DCE sends data to the DTE on pin 3 and receives data from the DTE on pin 2. This standard allows any data terminal equipment to be connected to any data communications equipment directly, maintaining compatibility of connections.

However, if all equipment were to be considered similar, and hermaphroditic connectors were used, a problem would arise. The problem would be that all units (according to Mr. Klammer's scheme) would use the same pin for a given function (let's say pin 2 to send data and pin

3 to receive). Now we could not connect any two pieces of equipment together directly, since each unit's transmit line would be connected to the other unit's transmit line, rather than to its receive line.

(continued)

30 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 102

PC Paintbrush.

Because life is loo short tor

monochrome pie charts.

Fun

is the best thing

to have.

With PC Paintbrush, you can add color, flair, dimension and creativity to a chart, a presentation, or an otherwise dull day From charts and graphs to serious computer art, our newest generation 3.0 PC Paintbrush will cheer you on with features no other graphics package can match.

Best of all, if s easy to use. You don't have to learn up to sixty commands, like you do with some products. If you can understand icons as simple as scissors, paintbrush, spray can and paint roller, you're ready to start using PC Paintbrush.

The pen is mightier than the keyboard.

None of history's great artists drew with a keyboard, and you shouldn't have to either. So PC Paintbrush is now available with a Summasketch MM™ Series drawing tablet, to give you complete freedom of expression. Of course, it also supports regular mice, joysticks, graphics tablets, and is compatible with most graphics cards.

PC Paintbrush also has a beautiful way with words. The text icon lets you write in any of eleven fonts, in nine sizes, with italics, outline, shadow and boldface variations.

What's more, with the new 3.0 PC Paintbrush, you can draw rounded boxes, rubber band curves and circles, and edit pictures many times larger than the screen.

Are we making fun of 1-2-3®? Why not?

For Lotus™ users, PC Paintbrush's new PIC

Go on, live a little.

&m

IT Highway flir

interpreter loads 1-2-3™ and Symphony™ charts and graphs at your equipment's best resolution, from an IBM EGA™ (640 X 350 X 16 colors) to a Number Nine Revolution™ (512 X 512 X 256 colors). With our FRIEZE™ frame grabber you can pull graphics created by any program right off the screen into PC Paintbrush. So you can take your Paintbrush and pallette anywhere, improving the looks of things as you go. And having a lot of fun on the way. In addition, our optional slide show package, PC PRESENTATION, allows you to program your graphics into a first class presentation with fades, zooms, quick cuts and animation.

PC Paintbrush supports 19 video graphics cards and 30 printers and plotters.

For more information on PC Paintbrush, call or write us at the address below, or ask your computer dealer for a demonstration.

Z-SOFT

PC Paintbrush

Inquiry 380

Corporate Headquarters:

ZSoft Corporation, 1950 Spectrum Circle, Suite A 495, Marietta, GA 30067,404/980-1950

West Coast Sales Office: 160 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo, CA 94960,415/456-0955

PC Paintbrush is a trademark of ZSoft Corporation. Lotus, 1-2-3, and Symphony are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. IBM and Enhance Graphics Adapter are registered Irademdrks of International Business Machines, Corp. Number Nine Revolution is a trademark of Number Nine Computer Corp.

Summasketch is a registered trademark of Summagraphics Corp.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 31

LETTERS

At the very least, a crossover connector would have to be used in all cases.

Furthermore, the use of such crossover connectors creates another, even more subtle, problem. Suppose an extension cable is needed. Since all units require crossovers and all connectors are the same, in practice all cables will contain crossovers. Then, adding an extension cable to an already existing cable will

result in two crossovers, which bring the same (rather than the complementary) functions together again (i.e., transmit is again connected to transmit). The fact that all cables have identical connectors at both ends would make it impossible to distinquish a straight-through extension cable from a "normal" crossover cable without making continuity checks. With the current scheme, crossover

Why buy 3 packages to get a complete multi-user

dBASE* System?

$695

$2385

After all, FoxBASE is a compiler, an interpreter and a multi-user dBASE system all in one. That means single vendor support and no problems with product incompatibility.

Not only that, FoxBASE actually outperforms dBASE and other dBASE compiler products: its program execution speed is far superior to the competition and its compiler runs up to 60 times faster than other compilers. And FoxBASE is available

FoxBASE does it better.

For less.

$995

for the widest variety of machines and operating systems.

In addition, FoxBASE is interactive and 100% dBASE compatible (including full macro usage). The only thing you won't get is all those annoying dBASE bugs!

Best of all, FoxBASE costs less than half the other packages.

So call (419) 874-0162 now, and ask for a copy of our comparative analysis (including benchmarks). After all...

Nothing Runs Like a Fox.

Fox Software, Inc.

27475 Holiday Lane, Perrysburg, OH 43551

(419)874-0162

•dBase is a registered itademark of Ashton-Tats FoxBASE is a trademark of Fox Software, trie; Clipper" is a trademark of Nantucket

cables are required only when both ends have the same kind of connector (male or female); a cable with a male connector at one end and a female at the other is a straight-through extension cable.

I agree with Mr. Klammer that the current standard is not perfect; nevertheless, after considering the alternative I have come to the conclusion that it seems to be the best compromise among many conflicting factors.

Howard Mark Suffern, NY

Comparing the Motorola 68000 and Intel iAPX86

It was intriguing to note the comparison G. Michael Vose made of the Motorola 68000 and Intel iAPX86 families ("Intel and Future IBM PCs," inside the IBM PCs. Fall 1985, page 4). I agree with his first and second conclusions, especially that the "open, flexible architectures" of the M68000 family leaves more room for "innovations in software" on the part of programmers, and that such innovations do indeed "keep our industry vital." It seems to me that Mr. Vose glossed over one aspect of the comparison that, 1 feel, should have influenced his third conclusion.

The "rigid and formal" architectures of the iAPX86 that realize more fixed solutions in hardware also produce more standardization. While standardization may seem like a restraint to the inventive programmer, it is a boon to the commercial software producer, who must create programs that run on many machines.

I think that software standardization should be the overwhelming consideration in Mr. Vose's third conclusion about which family will dominate the "classic single-user microcomputer." It is the iAPX86 family that will likely continue to support the vast majority of standard enduser programs that "we all want on our desk or at home to play and tinker with."

Of course, that conclusion may depend on who you consider "we all." If the emphasis is on "we," i.e., computer professionals like the editors and contributors of BYTE, then the flexibility of the 68000 might be decisive. However, if the emphasis is on "all," don't forget that the vast majority of single users are not programmers but commercial program end users. I think this point is often forgotten amidst the professional enthusiasm at BYTE.

William S. Johnson

Palo Alto, CA

[continued on page 360]

32 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 137

Microsoft languages speak for themselves*

%?«?&

P

**^

,€<fei^.^?^

Loud and clear*

Microsoft has been the language leader from day one. From the world's favorite BASIC to the systems languages software developers prefer. No one else has put so much programming power on so many micros.

Microsoft offers a complete set of languages. Whether you favor the elegance of C, or the power of assembly language. From data munching in COBOL to number crunching in FORTRAN, we've got the power you need.

The advantages of leadership.

Microsoft languages have developed quite a following. They're backed by the largest collection of support libraries you've ever seen. Packages for advanced mathematics and data management. From graphics support to contextsensitive editors. All available today. So you can spend your time solving real problems, not reinventing the wheel.

Microsoft's languages—like C, FORTRAN, Pascal and Macro Assembler—have become the favorites of commercial software developers. It's not surprising. Interlanguage calling allows libraries written in one language to be

used with others. Which means your existing routines can be an investment in future projects, not lost time and effort.

Our interactive debuggers are another Microsoft edge. Now you can debug the object code using the source language. Easier debugging lets you spend more time creating.

Pipelines to the future.

Microsoft wrote the book when it comes to operating systems. Nobody knows MS-DOS'" or XENIX" better. And our languages show it. We put the latest advances within your grasp. From networking and pipes to multi-tasking, Microsoft languages have the edge you need.

Complete support.

Only Microsoft offers language support this comprehensive. Our clear, thorough documentation, and regular product enhancements are setting new standards in the industry. Add our technical "hotline" and our highly-trained support staff, and you'll reach the same conclusion the industry has: Microsoft languages always lead from strength.

**Q>

**H&*

Mta****1*^

crosoft Pascal

Microsoft C

First with the pros*

"Microsoft C is the cornerstone of all our future development projects. Not only is the code more efficient, we can really exploit the PC's architecture with Microsoft Cs NEAR and FAR pointer types" Ray Ozzie, President of IRIS Associates and key Symphony developer.

"The code optimization is impressive— especially the register declarations'.' Jim Bean, Peachtree Software.

When you need code that's small and fast, Microsoft® C is the language.

Our optimizing compiler lets you squeeze the maximum out of your machine with minimum effort. Tighter code runs faster. And virtually every program will run faster with Microsoft's C Compiler than with any other MS-DOS compiler.

Our advanced memory models give you unmatched flexibility. No arbitrary limits on code and data. Use large or small memory models as the application demands. Exclusive features like our NEAR and FAR pointers let you combine different models without sacrificing performance.

Our extensive math libraries are another plus. The floating point package supports 8087 operation when speed is the key. There's also floating point emulation for unendowed PCs. And the altmath package gives you an extra burst of speed when you really need it.

A bundle of other features can save you programming time. There's inter-language calling support. So you can use existing library routines. Unsurpassed XENIX compatibility. And documentation that reviewers have praised for its clarity and thoroughness.

If Microsoft C amazes you, don't be surprised. After all, our C is the choice of the leaders. Companies like Lotus: Ashton-Tate. And IBM?

Microsoft C Compiler Version 3.0 for MS-DOS

Microsoft C Compiler

♦ Produces compact code and fast executable*.

♦ Implements register variables.

♦ Small, medium and large memory model libraries. ♦Can mix models with NEAR and FAR pointers. ♦Transport source and object code between MS-DOS and

XENIX 286 operating systems.

♦ Library routines implement most of UNIX™ System V C library.

♦Choose from three math libraries and generate in-line 8087/80287 instructions or floating point calls: -Floating Point Emulator (utilizes 8087/80287 if installed).

— 8087/80287 coprocessor support.

— Alternate math package provides extra speed without an 8087/80287.

♦ Link your C routines with Microsoft FORTRAN (version 3.3 or higher), Microsoft Pascal (version 3.3 or higher) or Microsoft Macro Assembler.

♦ Supports MS-DOS pathnames and input/output redirection.

♦File sharing, record locking and file locking are supported.

♦ Do source level debugging with the Symbolic Debug Utility, available separately with Microsoft Macro Assembler.

Library Manager

♦Create, organize and maintain your object module libraries

created with Microsoft languages. Object Code Linker

♦ Simple overlay linker combines relocatable object modules created using Microsoft languages into a single program.

♦ Link very large programs (over 1 megabyte) using overlays. Microsoft EXE File Compression Utility

♦A new utility to compress sequences of identical characters from an executable file and optimizes the relocation table. Microsoft EXE File Header Utility

♦ Display and modify EXE file header, allowing you to tune the stack size and initial memory allocation.

Macro Assembler

The quickest* Bar none*

Our Macro Assembler has long been the most complete package on the market. Now it's also the fastest. Three times faster than before. And faster than anyone else. Period.

Of course, it's still the most powerful assembler on the market. It supports the standard 8086/8087 opcodes. And the new 186/286/287 instruction set. So you can make the most of the new machines.

Debugging is quicker, too.Thanks to our interactive symbolic debugger, SYMDEB. Now you can refer to variables and source code instead of getting lost in hex dumps. And this debugger also works with Microsoft languages like C, FORTRAN and Pascal. So now you can set breakpoints and trace execution— using source code for reference.

SYMDEB is just part of our complete set of utilities. Tools that make programming as fast as it should be.There are the linker and library managers you'd expect. Plus a new version of MAKE, our maintenance utility, with improvements like macro expansions and inference rules.

We've also revised the manuals. Our new Macro Assembler has a lot to offer, so we added more examples. Now our manuals are not only thorough, they're clearer than ever before.

For quick development and assembly, the choice is obvious. Microsoft.There's nobody faster.

The Macro Assembler's symbolic debugger lets you debug Microsoft FORTRAN programs at either the source or object code level. Set break points, observe the contents of variables and expressions, and examine the contents of the stack.

; 90 18 I = 1,8191

18 FLAGS(I) = .TRUE. ! DO 91 I=L8191

; IFCHOT. FLAGS(I).

P8IHE =1 + 1 + 1 : 289 POMATUMS)

17: K = I + P8IHE

-1* .14 V

3: PMffi = I ♦ I ♦ 1

1AEF:88S9 A16240 1AEF:§86C 83C8 ADD

1AEF:886E 48 INC

\w-.mi mm mu 16: COUNT = count + 1

1AEF:8872 FF86G848 INC

17: mmmm K 3 I + PRIME

"1 <1) ".

E| COUNT = COUNT + 1

Microsoft Macro Assembler Version 4.0 for MS-DOS

Macro Assembler

♦ Fastest macro assembler for MS-DOS computers. ♦Supports the 8086/8087/8088 and the 186/286/287.

♦ Define macros.

♦ Conditional assembly.

♦ Optional case sensitivity for symbols.

♦ 100% upward compatibility from earlier versions of both the Microsoft and IBM Macro Assemblers.

Interactive Symbolic Debug Utility

♦ Source level debugger for programs written in Microsoft Macro Assembler, C Compiler, FORTRAN, and Pascal.

♦ Screen swapping helps debug highly visual applications.

♦ Set breakpoints on line numbers and symbols.

♦ Single step to follow program execution.

♦ Disassemble object code.

♦ Display and modify values.

♦ Full I/O redirection. Program Maintenance Utility

♦ Rebuilds your applications after your source files have changed.

♦Similar to UNIX MAKE utility. ♦Supports macro definitions and inference rules. Library Manager

♦Create, organize and maintain your object module libraries created with Microsoft languages.

♦ Set page size from 16 to 32678, to create compact and granular libraries.

Object Code Linker

♦ Simple overlaying linker combines relocatable object modules created using Microsoft languages into a single program.

♦ Load Map generation.

♦ Specify from 1 to 1024 segments. Cross-Reference Utility

♦ Creates a cross-reference listing of the definitions and locations of all symbols used in an assembly language program, which makes debugging programs easier.

Microsoft EXE File Compression Utility

♦ Packs EXE files for smaller size on disk and faster loading at execution time.

Microsoft EXE File Header Utility

♦ Display and modify EXE file header, allowing you to tune the stack size and initial memory allocation.

FORTRAN

The overwhelming favorite.

View the

FORTRAN source code. Set a break point at line #14- Run the program (g) and use the expression evaluator (?) to examine the contents of a variable. Then use the trace command (t) to observe the program flow.

Microsoft FORTRAN Compiler Version 3 3 for MS-DOS and XENIX 286

Microsoft FORTRAN Compiler

♦ Implements most ANSI 77 standard features, plus extensions.

♦Easily port mainframe/minicomputer programs with little or no modification.

♦ Overlay support in the compiler and linker.

♦ Common blocks and arrays greater than 64K.

♦ Supported by the largest number of third party libraries.

♦ Includes a full set of math libraries to select from:

-8087/80287 emulation.

— 8087/80287 coprocessor support. -Floating Point without 8087/80287

— BCD Floating Point.

♦ Conditional compilation.

♦ Link your FORTRAN routines with Microsoft C Compiler (version 3.0 or higher), Microsoft Pascal (version 3.3 or higher), and Microsoft Macro Assembler.

♦MS-DOS 3.1 network support and IBM local area network support.

♦ Source code compatible between MS-DOS and XENIX 286.

♦ Do source level debugging with the Symbolic Debug Utility, available separately with Microsoft Macro Assembler.

Object Code Overlay

♦ Simple overlay linker combines relocatable object modules created using Microsoft languages into a single program.

♦ Link very large programs (over 1 megabyte) using overlays. Library Manager

♦ Create, organize and maintain your object module libraries created with Microsoft languages.

Microsoft EXE File Compression Utility (MS-DOS only)

♦ A utility to pack EXE files for smaller size on disk and faster loading at execution time.

Microsoft EXE File Header Utility (MS-DOS only)

♦ A utility that allows you to display and modify the fields in EXE file headers.

How did Microsoft FORTRAN get so popular?

It could be the mainframe compatibility. Our compiler makes porting applications a cinch with overlays and the ANSI features you need.

It could be our support for arrays and COMMON blocks larger than 64K. So you can tackle mainframe-size problems.

It might be the shelves and shelves of third party support libraries. No other FORTRAN comes close.

It could be the extensive math support. Our collection of math libraries is simply the largest available. Tackle real problems with direct 8087 support or emulation. Use IEEE floating point or— for extra speed—the altmath package.

It could be the comprehensive set of utilities. A powerful linker and library manager combination. Plus tools like EXEMOD and EXEPACK. Standard.

It could be the XENIX and MS-DOS source-level compatibility. Or the direct interlanguage calling to Microsoft C, Pascal, and Assembler. Or the ability to work with our Macro Assembler's symbolic debugger.

It could be the value. Nobody offers a FORTRAN package this complete at this low a price.

Why is Microsoft FORTRAN the most popular FORTRAN?

All the above.

COBOL

The interactive edge.

close transaction-file.

pliB-read-and-pwcess.

read transaction-file into work-1rans-rec at end none on-ualue to end-of-file-SM,

if transaction-status = "

else if transaction-status ) "II

mue on-value to enw-sti, end-of-file-SH.

IRANSACIIOtHIAIUS [011 MORK-TMNS-REC [0 a

[iTOTftL-RECORIKOlJOT [B80091

Breakpoint 1 Step Count 0 Breakpoint 2 Step Count 0

on Entry of MW-MfiMh>WOCESS on line nuMber 86

COMMAND: Breakpoint Display Find ffl Help Options

Quit transfer user Uiea Hindou Breakpoint 1 Step Count 8 on Entry of PI10-REAHHD-PROCKS Current line: 81 Status: Breakpoint 1 UiewCob: lates

Microsoft COBOL gives programs a new look. With dazzling support for interactive programs, and more. Our new COBOL Compiler brings applications to life in several ways.

Our extended screen section lets you create programs that you'd never thought could be written in COBOL. Quickly, easily.

Performance is top notch as well. Our ISAM lets your applications blaze through files. After all, our ISAM is the fastest on the micro market.

Of course, Microsoft COBOL complies with the ANSI standard. Amazing performance, without runtime license fees. No wonder our COBOL is the choice of manufacturers like IBM, AT&T, DEC, HP and Wang.

Another breakthrough: Microsoft COBOL Tools.

Only Microsoft makes debugging this easy.

Our COBOL Tools is the perfect companion to our COBOL Compiler. A complete set of utilities. Tools that make debugging and maintenance easier than you'd thought possible.

The star of the show is ViewCOB, our

advanced interactive debugger. ViewCOB lets you control and examine programs easily. Open windows on variables and procedures while watching the source code execute. ViewCOB is simply the most advanced COBOL debugger you can get.

Microsoft COBOL and COBOL Tools. An unbeatable team.

Microsoft COBOL Compiler Version 2.1 for MS-DOS and XENIX 286

Interactive extended screen section

♦Cursor positioning, auto skip, and automatic data field formatting.

♦ ACCEPT or DISPLAY a screenful of data with a single statement.

Fast multi-key ISAM

♦ Split keys, alternate keys, duplicate keys.

4 Benchmark results of 2500 reads, writes and rewrites to an ISAM file.

Microsoft Micro Focus Ryand McFarland COBOL native code COBOL 2.0

Seconds 846 4073 1177

Source code compatible between MS-DOS and XENLX 286.

Microsoft COBOL Tools for MS-DOS and XENLX 286

•Cross reference utility speeds program development.

♦ Menu generator allows you to use Microsoft Word style menus in your program.

♦ Mouse interface allows you to create programs that use the mouse (MS-DOS only).

Advanced interactive debugger

♦ Use trace, single step, and execution history to follow the program flow.

♦Observe the contents of variables and memory while the program is executing.

♦ Set breakpoints and change the contents of variables. ♦Trap fatal runtime errors.

♦ Use the menu driven windowing user interface with on-line help.

Pascal

When you've outgrown the others.

Only Microsoft Pascal is powerful enough to push the outer limits of your PC. With more features than any other Pascal compiler.

Microsoft Pascal handles large programs with ease. No 64K boundaries — use multiple code and data segments up to a megabyte. Create your own libraries of pre-compiled Pascal modules. Separately-compiled modules can be overlayed or linked together into one file.

Our Pascal comes complete with the BCD and 8087 math libraries you'd expect. Including an IEEE floating point emulator. And Microsoft Pascal is completely compatible with IBM's Local Area Network and MS-DOS Networking. Added features without added costs.

Microsoft Pascal also supports direct interlanguage calling to modules written in Microsoft C, or Microsoft FORTRAN or assembly language. And it's compatible with our Macro Assembler's symbolic debugger. So you can track down those subtle logic errors with breakpoints instead of guesswork.

Microsoft Pascal. Nobody does it better.

Microsoft Pascal Compiler Version 3.3 for MS-DOS and XENIX 286

Microsoft Pascal Compiler

♦ Separate module compilation.

♦Large program support; up to 1 megabyte code and

multiple data segments. ♦Overlay support.

♦Contains four math libraries to choose from: —8087/80287 coprocessor support.

— Fast IEEE floating point.

— 8087/80287 floating point emulation.

— BCD decimal math.

♦ Link in your routines or third party software routines written in Microsoft FORTRAN (version 3.3 or higher), Microsoft C Compiler (version 3.0 or higher) or Microsoft Pascal (version 3.3 or higher), or Microsoft Macro Assembler.

♦Source code compatible between MS-DOS and

XENIX 286. ♦Supports file sharing and record and file locking. ♦Supports MS-DOS pathnames and input/output

redirection. ♦Do source level debugging with the Symbolic Debug

Utility, available with the Microsoft Macro Assembler. Library Manager ♦Create, organize and maintain object module libraries

created with Microsoft languages. Object Code Linker

♦ Simple overlay linker combines relocatable object modules created using Microsoft languages into a single program.

♦Link very large programs (over 1 megabyte) using

overlays. Microsoft EXE File Compression and File Header Utility (MS-DOS only)

♦ Compress, modify and examine executable files and their headers.

Microsoft QuickBASIC

BASIC just got faster.

Microsoft's new QuickBASIC Compiler gives your programs an extra burst of speed. Without sacrificing BASICA compatibility. Your compiled programs will run just like before, only faster. Three to ten times faster. With little or no modification.

QuickBASIC makes structured programming a snap. New extensions like alphanumeric labels make programming easier too. And separately compiled subprograms let you test and compile individual routines one at a time.

Microsoft QuickBASIC. All the features of a compiler, with BASICA compatibility to boot.

Microsoft QuickBASIC Compiler Version 1.0 for IBM PC and Compatible Computers

BASICA compatibility

♦ Sound statements including SOUND and PLAY

♦ Graphics statements including WINDOW VIEW DRAW GET, PUT, LINE, CIRCLE, LOCATE and SCREEN.

Results of the Sieve benchmark BASICA QuickBASIC

seconds per iteration 71 0.5

Structured programming support

♦ Subprograms can be called by name and passed parameters. Both local and global variables are supported.

♦ Multi-line functions can be called by name and return a value.

♦ BASICA structures are supported including WHILE/ WEND, IF/THEN/ELSE, FOR/NEXT, GOSUB/RETURN, and event handling.

Alphanumeric labels

♦ Can be used to make your programs more readable. Line numbers are not required but are supported for BASICA compatibility.

Modular programming support

♦ Separate compilation allows you to create compiled BASIC libraries to use and reuse in your programs.

♦Named common gives you control of data flow between

individual modules. Large program support

♦ Code can use up to available memory.

♦ Data can use up to 64K RAM.

LISP

The language of Artificial Intelligence.

What's Microsoft LISP got going for you? It runs significantly faster than the competition. And this new version adds several advanced libraries. Over 400 Common LISP functions, macros and special forms. Most implemented in machine code.

If you're putting AI on your PC, Microsoft LISP is your language.

muMATH

Mainframe math on your PC.

From solving equations to high precision calculations, muMATH is the ticket.

Microsoft muMATH handles tasks from algebra to calculus and vector analysis. Now your PC can do numeric analysis based on symbolic expressions. And give you exact answers.

If you crunch numbers—or equations—muMATH is just what the CPU ordered.

Sort

Versatility without compromise.

Microsoft Sort makes fast sorting easy.

A powerful, programmable interpreter lets you choose ASCII, EBCDIC or custom sequences. Sort handles files from any Microsoft language. Without limiting the size of your file, the number of search keys, or your record length.

Microsoft Sort. The speed and power you need. Easily.

The leadership edge*

No other languages are backed by as massive a collection of third-party software. Here are just a few of the companies that speak our languages: Blaise Computing, Graphic Software Systems, Greenleaf Software, Inc., IMSL, Media Cybernetics, Microrim, Numerical Analyst Group, Phoenix Software, Solution Systems, Spruce Technology, Trio Systems, and Virtual Microsystems.

This is just a sample. For a complete list, call Microsoft at the number below.

An added value for our readers.

We're proud of the way our family works together, so we're offering a $25 rebate on our Macro Assembler when you purchase Microsoft C, Pascal or FORTRAN.*

For more details, upgrade information or the name of your nearest Microsoft dealer, call toll free (800) 426-9400. In Washington State and Alaska, call (206) 828-8088. In Canada, (800) 387-6616.

Microsoft Corporation Bellevue, Washington USA

Microsoft Ltd. Reading ENGLAND

Microsoft GmbH

Miinchen DEUTSCHLAND

Microsoft SARL Paris FRANCE

Microsoft Canada Inc. Toronto CANADA

QN1X Microsoft Seoul KOREA

Microsoft AB Stockholm SWEDEN

Microsoft Far East Tokyo JAPAN

Microsoft Pry

Sydney NSW AUSTRALIA

Microsoft SpA Milano ITALIA

'Rebate offer valid only in the United States. Microsoft, MS-DOS. and XENIX are registered trademarks and The High Perfc Software is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Lisp and muMATH developed by Soft Warehouse. Inc.

Microsoft Languages

The High Performance Software™

0286 Pnrt Number 098-400-20]

FIXES AND UPDATES

UPDATES

BYTES BITS

Better BASIC 2.0

PC Paintbrush

Subsequent to Art Huston's review of Summit Software's BetterBASIC version 1.1 (October 1985, page 277), we learned of version 2.0, scheduled for shipment at the beginning of 1986 and providing the following enhancements: Increased IBM PC BAS1CA compatibility: Random file I/O, program interrupts, assembly-language calls compatible with BASICA, error handling, dynamic strings, dynamic arrays, CHAIN with COMMON, BLOAD and BSAVE, and FIELD structure for random I/O.

The only BASICA statements not now supported by BetterBASIC are MOTOR, PEN, ON PEN, ON STR1G, STRIG, STICK, and VARPTR. A translator now allows BetterBASIC to read tokenized BASICA programs directly.

New features: Support for arrays to the limit of memory, support for virtual arrays to 4 gigabytes, multiple display windows, support for graphics and sound, user-programmable support for foreign-language character sets, TRACE facility for continuous or stepwise program debugging, plus the capability to set breakpoints and to continue execution of programs after modification of data or program code.

BetterBASIC version 2.0 also allows programmers to eliminate declared variables or to globally change the name of a variable in an existing program. Version 2.0 uses the IEEE format for floating-point numbers to both improve execution speed and ensure compatibility with BASICA.

Summit Software also has a new address and phone number: 106 Access Rd., Norwood, MA 02062, (617) 769-7966.

Sold in the USA

A February What's New item (page 402) describing TDI's Modula-2/ST and UCSD Pascal for the Atari 520ST listed an address in England and prices in pounds. Soon after that page went to press, we found that both packages are available in the U.S. Each program costs $79.95. Contact TDI Software, 10410 Markison Rd., Dallas, TX 75238, (214) 340-4942.

PC Paintbrush, which Robert Tinney used to create the cover of our November 1985 issue, has been released in a new edition. ZSoft Corporation (1950 Spectrum Circle, Suite A-495, Marietta, GA 30067) says version 3.0 has 16 added features, including automatic curve drawing, variable fontstroke widths, rounded boxes, increased speed, rubber-band circles, lasso capability, editing of pictures larger than the screen, and fully adjustable palettes. The user interface and the screen remain "almost the same."

Report on Word Processors

The PC Technical Group of the Boston Computer Society has released a report covering scientific/technical wordprocessing and typesetting programs for the IBM PC, XT, and AT. According to the BCS, the summary represents several hundred hours of evaluation and comparison. "IBM PC & Compatibles: Technical Word Processor Review Summary" costs $8, which covers the cost of reproduction and mailing. For more information, contact Carl A. Hein, Dunster House, Apt. 7, Swanson Rd„ Boxborough, MA 01719.

FIXES

Two Books

One and the Same

Addison-Wesley's Marketing Coordinator has informed us of an error in "An Annotated Bibliography of Recent Books," which appeared in our 1985 special issue, Inside the IBM PCs (page 14). One book was listed twice: once under its correct title, once under a title it had prior to publication. The correct title is The IBM Personal Computer from the \nside Out (ISBN 0201-06896). It is written by Murray Sargent 111 and Richard L. Shoemaker. Although \nterfacing the IBM Personal Computer to the Real World is listed in Bowker's Books In Print, Addison-Wesley said it has never published that title and has no plans to do so.

True BASIC

and the Math Coprocessor

In a review of True BASIC (May 1985, page 279), it was stated that the language can automatically sense and use the Intel 8087 coprocessor. True BASIC Inc. sent us the following information.

Version 1.0 of True BASIC for the IBM Personal Computer does not correctly detect the Intel 80287 numeric data processor. Owners of version 1.0 can get the software fixed by sending the original disk to the company's Customer Support Dept, 39 South Main St., Hanover, N.H 03755. Mark 'Attn: 80287 patch" on the package, and don't forget to include your return address.

How to Access and Use BYTEnet Listings

To access BYTEnet Listings, call (617) 861-9764. When you get the carrier tone, enter two or three carriage returns so that our software can determine your operating parameters.

Optimum modem settings are 8 bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity at full duplex, or 7 bits, 1 stop bit, and even parity at half duplex. Acceptable operating speeds are 300 or 1200 bps. At this time, BYTEnet Listings does not sup

port 2400-bps transmissions.

The BYTEnet Listings software itself is menu-driven. Programs may be downloaded using ASCII, Kermit, TeleLink, and XMODEM protocols.

BYTE listings are also available on BIX. After connecting with the system, type join listings at the main prompt. (For more information on BIX, phone (800) 227-2983 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern time.)

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 33

YOU CAMT GET A GOOD FEEL

FOR A

SOFTWARE

PACKAGE

FROM AM AD.

If you're searching through the ads in this magazine for the "right" software package, good luck.

Let's say you're looking for a data base manager. You read a dozen ads. Each one offers its list of features. Each one talks about the ideal combination of power and ease of use. And each one promises to "solve your problems", "answer your needs", or both.

Don't Believe Anybody

We could make the same claims for DATAEA5E. Even before Release 2.5, tens of thousands of users made DATAEA5E the corporate data base standard. We could tell you that they found DATAEA5E to be an invaluable productivity tool because of its fully relational capabilities, full screen editor and unique combination of menus and commands. But don't believe us.

More than 100 reviewers from major publications agree with our productivity claims. Data Decisions called DATAEA5E "perhaps the most effective blend of ease-of-use and performance available for PC users to date." But don't believe the reviewers.

Application developers, MI5/DP/ IC managers, and all kinds of other users from Fortune 1000 companies throughout the country have reached strikingly similar conclusions. A user at General Instruments reports that "those same factors that

make DATAEA5E preferable for non-programmers — ease of use and speed of development

— make it the program of choice for many technical types, too." But don't even believe other users.

Nobody knows what you Know.

Even if all these people are absolutely rightabout DATAEA5E, does that mean it's the right product for you?

The best way to know if DATAEA5E fits your needs is to get your hands on our free sample diskette. Fifteen minutes with the sample will give you a feel for our best DATAEA5E yet

— Release 2.5. It has features that appeal to all users; from developers to data entry people: A complete procedural language; quick reports at the press of a button; a direct interface to Lotus 1-2-5; the ability to move rapidly from file to file on a common piece of data; and built-in scientific, mathematical, financial, date, time, and string functions.

Productivity takes more than a good product.

It takes a good company, too. Buying a software package is the beginning of a relationship. Technical support, product upgrades, special corporate and dealer programs and informational seminars should all be part of this relationship. If the only thing you get is a product, forget about productivity. At Software Solutions, you find more than a product. You find software solutions.

Find out for yourself.

The advances in DATAEA5E's Release 2.5, and the support behind it, offer you practical advantages that leave all the other data base managers far, far behind — including R:Base 5000® and dBase III®. But don't believe us. Call or write for information and your free sample diskette today.

Software Solutions, Inc.

CALL OR WRITE FOR YOUR FREE SAMPLE DI5KETTE.

Send information and a free DATAEA5E sample diskette for my PC (check one):

l~~l IBM LJ WArlG d DEC \Z\ Tl Include materials relating to:

I I Corporate Client I I Retailer

I I MI5/DP/IC Professional \Z\ VAD

I I Other

flame:

Title:

Phone:

Company: Street:

City:

State:

.Zip:

BYT 3/86

Mail to:

5oftware Solutions, Inc.,

12 Cambridge Drive,

Trumbull, CT 06611 Telex: 703972

Don't like samples? Then just call us. We'd be happy to talk about your information management needs and advise you.

800-243-5123

®1985 Software Solutions, Inc.

Trademarks are of their respective companies.

Scandinavia Switzerland, France United Kingdom West Germany, Austria

West Soft A/5, Alesund, Norway; (47) 71-41141 Softsource, 5&A 1222 Vesenaz, Switzerland, 022-3518-55 Sapphire Systems, Essex; 01-554-0582 M&T Software Verlag, Munich; 089-4613-0

Inquiry 317

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 35

■ft.

■

Advanced Digital's PC-Slave is the solution to your multi-user or local area network problems.

Just plug Advanced

Digital's PC-Slave board

/ into your PC expansion \

slot, a connecting cable, a

/low-cost dumb terminal or a PC look-alike terminal and \ •

you're in business. As many as 31 low-cost workstations may be added \ to your IBM-PC, AT, XT, and the compatibles. Share a common data base \ / without loss of speed or efficiency since \ /# each PC-Slave has its own 8088 CPU, 256- \ 768K RAM dedicated to each user. Advanced \ Digital provides additional software which supports File & Record locking and print spooling. Advanced Digital's slave concept provides the best multi-user PC system available today! Forthe location of the dealer nearest you contact:

Advanced Digital Corporation

5432 Production Drive

Huntington Beach, CA 92649

(714) 891 -4004 (800) 251 -1 801

Telex 18321" «™'«»"-^" utqu

\

Advanced Digital U.K. Ltd.

27 Princes Street, Hanover Square

London W1R8NQ-United Kingdom

(01) 409-0077 (01) 409-3351

TLX 265840 FINEST

Regional Distributors; In California, Thomas Data Systems, Inc. (213) 214-4661;

in Ontario, Canada, B&L (416) 299-7660; In Australia, Archives Computers (03) 699-8377; in New York, Ouinn Data (914) 939-0002

WHAT'S NEW

Drawing and Painting Program for Amiga

Electronic Arts has released a graphics package for drawing and painting with the Amiga. Deluxe Paint, first in a series of arts software for the Commodore machine, has 20 drawing tools, 7 painting modes, 14 special-effects tools for brushes, 10 built-in brush shapes, and a palette of 32 colors (out of a possible 4096).

Deluxe Paint's drawing tools include magnify and zoom functions that let you split the screen into a normal image and a magnified portion of the image. As you zero in on and alter details in the magnified window, changes are reflected in the normal window. Another tool lets you customize paintbrushes. Anything you can draw can be framed, picked up, and used as a new paintbrush.

The package offers four types of brushes: circles, squares, dots, and airbrush. You can rotate any brush 360 degrees, flip it vertically or horizontally, stretch it into new shapes, or shear its angles. Shading and smearing capabilities help with texture and nuance.

You can create animation effects with what Electronic Arts calls "color cyclingcycling a variety of colors through a static picture to concoct the illusion of motion. You can use three different color cycles and speeds per picture.

Five color controls let you handle the mix of red, green, and blue and adjust the hue and brightness of

Images created with Deluxe Paint and an Amiga.

each color. The software enables the Amiga to automatically generate the shades of color between any two pigments you pick.

Deluxe Paint, priced at $79.95, is designed to work with two other programs still in the Electronic Arts workshop, Deluxe Print and Deluxe Video Construction Kit (reportedly slated for April release). It requires 2 56K bytes of RAM and Kickstart 1.1. Contact Elec

tronic Arts, 1820 Gateway Dr., San Mateo, CA 94404, (415) 571-7171. Inquiry 550.

Video Controller Combines Popular Standards

Video-7's VEGA is an enhanced graphics adapter for the IBM PC, XT, AT, and compatible personal computers. VEGA uses surface-mounted CMOS VLSI technology, with four custom

chips and 28 integrated circuits, to provide four videodisplay modes. 12 graphics/ text-display modes, and 256K bytes of RAM on a 4.2- by 5-inch short-slot card.

The four video-display modes offered by VEGA are the functional equivalents of the IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter, the IBM Color Graphics Adapter, the IBM Monochrome Display Adapter, and the Hercules Graphics Card. Each mode is 100 percent compatible with the corresponding popular standard. You can move between enhanced color, color, and monochrome modes using a toggle switch on the back panel of your computer.

The board has 10 graphics and 8 alphanumeric display modes. This includes a highresolution color display with 640 by 350 pixels and 16 colors from a 64-color palette. A RAM-based character generator allows up to four sets of 2 56 different characters or two sets of 512 different characters for multiple character fonts. Each character cell can be up to 32 dots high and 8 dots wide. The board also lets you split your screen horizontally when in EGA mode.

The VEGA has a DE-9 female connector, a 32-pin "feature connector," RCA phono connectors, and a 6-pin keyed light-pen connector. It will run with a monochrome display adapter or a color-graphics adapter in another slot. It

{continued)

Inquiry 6 for End-Users. — Inquiry 7 for DEALERS ONLY.

MARCH 1986

IYTE 37

WHAT'S NEW

sells for $599 and is also marketed by Quadram as the QuadEGA. Contact Video-7 Inc., 550 Sycamore Dr., Milpitas, CA 9503 5, (408) 943-0101. Inquiry 551.

MS-DOS Portable from Sony

Sony's IBM PCcompatible computer, the M35, is a 13-pound unit with a CMOS 80C88 microprocessor, 640K. bytes of RAM, and two 3/2-inch 720K-byte floppy-disk drives. The portable also has serial and parallel ports, composite video and analog RGB ports, and an internal 300-bps modem. Options include a 25-line LCD screen and a 514-inch floppy-disk drive.

Sony says its MS-DOSbased machine can be connected directly to its dedicated word processors.

The M3 5 will have a list price of approximately $2695. Contact Sony Communications Products Co., Sony Dr., Park Ridge. NJ 07656, (201) 930-6432, Inquiry 552.

Spreadsheet for the Amiga

Lattice has developed an electronic spreadsheet for the Commodore Amiga called Unicalc. The software provides a processing area of 2 56 columns by 8192 rows, dual-window capability, context-sensitive help screens, floating dollar signs, negative balance indicators, and punctuated numbers. Cells can contain numeric data, algebraic formulas, or text.

Unicalc has a library of algebraic and conditional functions. Calculations can

Sony's MS-DOS portable, the M35.

be made automatically as you are entering data or later with a single command. Several sheets can be joined into one. You can customize the column widths, titles, displays, prompts, and help screens. Lattice says its package is compatible with Lotus 1-2-3. SuperCalc, and similar software. Unicalc costs $79.95. which also gets you a manual, telephone support, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Contact Lattice Inc., POB 3072, Glen Ellyn, 1L 60138, (312) 858-7950. Inquiry 553.

Optical Scanner/Printer

Image Communications is selling an optical scanner/ printer for the IBM PC and the Apple Macintosh. Called Image Blue, it can digitize and print images (on electrostatic paper) at a resolution of 200 dots per inch. The scanner can transmit information at up to 9600 bps over its serial port or up to 2400 bps through its integral telephone jack.

Optional software ($80) lets you load images into a PC or Mac and manipulate

the images using PC Paintbrush or MacPaint. Scanning requires about 3 minutes per page. Two scanners can be used together as a facsimile system.

Image Blue has a list price of $1295. Contact Image Communications Inc., 640 West Putnam Ave., POB 4809, Greenwich. CT 06836-0086, (203) 661-0607. Inquiry 554.

Polyglot Word Processor

Multi-Lingual Scribe, from Gamma Productions, is a word-processing package for the IBM PC. It can type English, Russian. Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic texts and can display all those languages on a single line. The texts are shown with or without accents and vowel points and can be printed on most popular printers. The English font includes most European-language characters.

Selecting a language requires a single function-key

command. The processor includes standard wordprocessing features and offers block move, search and replace, headers and footers, print preview, sub- and superscripts, and unlimited document size. Its formatting commands include columns, centering, proportional spacing, boldface, underlining, mixing small and large fonts, and microjustification. Special features such as wordwrap in both left-to-right and right-to-left modes are also part of Scribe's repertoire. Along with the software, you get keyboard layout charts and press-on keyboard labels for all four foreign languages (including both standard and mnemonic for Hebrew).

A built-in Font Generator utility lets you use on-screen graphics to customize the characters and keyboard layout or to build an entirely new set. You can compose text in either 40- or 80-column mode. The print preview feature lets you see how the text will appear when it is printed. You can also use another word processor and engage Scribe to make that software print proportionally spaced text or to add foreign characters to the files generated by that software.

Multi-Lingual Scribe 2.0 costs $349.95 and requires an IBM PC. XT. or AT DOS 2.0 or higher, at least 320K bytes of RAM, an IBM or Hercules color-graphics card, and one disk drive. It can print to Epson, IBM Graphics, Okidata (with Plug 'n Play IBM emulation). C. Itoh Prowriter, or NEC 802 3A dot-matrix printers.

Contact Gamma Productions Inc., 710 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 609, Santa Monica. CA 90401. (213) 394-8622. Inquiry 555.

{continued)

38 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Using Lotus 1-2-3 without Reflex

is like driving at night

without lights

J.f you use Lotus 1-2-3 you need Reflex, the Analyst'" because it shows you what 1-2-3 either hides in the dark or can't show you at all. Reflex shows you relationships and inter-relationships in your data that you can't afford omiss.

Keflex includes the best Report Generator for Lotus 1-2-3.

Reflex includes the Report, Generator that 1-3-3 should have included - but didn't. With Reflex, you can generate reports, graphs, charts and diagrams .torn your 1-2-3 worksheets that are impossible to generate with 1-2-3.

You can do sales reports, letters, memos, invoices and mailing labels — to name a few — and you can see a few of them on this page.

Reflex is the best database for 1-2-3 users and it's also the easiest to use.

Reflex is the first database that separates the trees from the forest. The first database that understands that what you see depends on how you look at it.

The first database that probes relationships — then shows them to you in various graphic forms — scatter, line, bar, stacked bar and pie charts. The first database to break the bonds of traditional database management and give a dramatic visual turn to data analysis.

Reflex makes graphic leaps far beyond 1-2-3. With Reflex, when you look, you see.

Reflex gives you five new and different views of what's hidden in your 1-2-3 worksheets.

Form View, List View, Graph View, Crosstab and Report View.

Form View lets you create your database. List View shows you your data in tabular list form, just like a spreadsheet. Graph View gives you instant interactive graphic representations; Crosstab View gives you amazing "cross-referenced" pictures of the links and relationships hidden in your data. Report View allows you to use information from 1-2-3, and then print out reports in all sorts of different formats.

The commands for all five Views are consistent — so you're not stuck learning five different ways to get something done. And because Reflex uses advanced windowing techniques, you can see several views on the screen at the same time — without having to switch back and forth. You get the picture, and the pictures, all at once.

Whether you're a 1-2-3 user or not, Reflex answers all your "What Ifs?" and leads you to the right conclusions.

With Reflex when you modify a number all your Views — List, Form and Graph — are immediately updated, on-screen.

Let's say you're analyzing "Traveling Expenses by Salesperson" and you ask, "What if they stayed at a Motel B'A instead of the Presidential Suite of the Howl Chief?" "Show me." So Reflex shows you.

"What if they could no longer order $ 100 wines, but had to stick to the stuff that matures in the truck?" "Show me." So Reflex shows you. Instant answers. Instant pictures. Instant analysis. Instant understanding.

Of course Reflex can do all of the above with or without 1-2-3. Reflex Is a complete database management and analytical tool that stands on its own feet and helps you stay on yours because it's only $99.95!

Borland's $99.95 Reflex could be the best business investment you'll ever make.

Buying 1-2-3 was a good idea. Reflex is an even better idea because now you can see what you're doing, what you've done, and what you need to do.

Think of Reflex as an "automatic product," a "standard" that every up-to-speed PC owner should have on hand. It's only $99.95, and you get our 60day money-back guarantee.

We don't believe in copyprotection, but we do believe in quality, performance and reasonable software prices. So keep driving your old 1-2-3, but get Reflex today, because then you can see where you're going.

Inquiry 46 for End-Users. Inquiry 47 for DEALERS ONLY.

it Everyone agrees that Reflex is the best-looking database they've ever seen

Adam B. Green, InfoWorld

The next generation of software has officially arrived

Peter Norton, mm PC Week 77

^r

BORLAND

INTERNA T I 0 N A L

45)5 scons valley orive

SCOTTS VALLEY, CA 95066 (408) 438-8400 TELEX. 172373

YES!

Rush Reflex to me.

Send me.

. copies at:

$99:

95

This price includes shipping to all U.S. cities.

60-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE NOT COPY-PROTECTED

To order by credit card call (BOO} 255-8008, CA (800) 742-1133 Available at belter dealers nationwide

Shipping Address:

City. . State:

. Zip:

Telephone:.

Outside USA add $ 10 per copy CA res. add $6 tax per copy

Amount Enclosed

Payment: VISA MC Bank Draft Check Credit Card Exp Date /

card„ I I I I

System requirements:

R15

IBM^ pc. XI AT, or compatibles 384K RAM minimum. IBM Color Graphics Adapter*. Hercules Monochrome Graphics Card", or equivalent PC DOS® 2.0 or greater Hard disk and mouse optional.

CODs and Purchase Orders WILL NOT be accepted by Borland. California residents add 6% sales tax Outside USA add $10 per copy and make payment by bank draft payable in US dollars drawn on a US bank

Reflex is a trademark of Borland/AnaJyUca Inc. 1-2-3 la a registered ■-rademark of Lotus Development. Corporation. IBM and PC DOS are registered trademarks and PC, XT, AT, and Color Graphics Adapter are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Hercules Graphics Card is a trademark of Hercules Computer Tech. Copyright 1986 Borland Internauonal BI-1031.

WHAT'S NEW

Flip Puck, Change Type

Metatext from Image Computer Systems converts the dotty font of a dot-matrix printer into letterquality type. The package consists of software and what Image calls a puck; the puck is approximately the size and shape of a blackboard eraser and, like a mouse, rests on the table next to the computer.

The program resides permanently in RAM. If you want letter-quality type, the software intercepts the characters sent to the printer and converts them into high-resolution plot data.

To switch between draft and letter quality, you flip the puck to the appropriately labeled side. When the "draft" side is up, output goes to the printer in the usual fashion. When the "quality" side is up, Metatext intercepts the characters.

The package works with IBM PCs and compatibles and drives most dot-matrix printers that recognize Epson control codes. No hardware or software modifications are necessary. Metatext contains six fonts and emulates the IBM Graphics Printer. It costs $129. Contact Image Computer Systems. POB 647, Avon, CT 06001, (203) 678-8771. Inquiry 556.

Data-Acquisition Software

Discovery, from Cyborg Corp., is a menu-driven program designed for data acquisition and analysis. It can handle area-under-the

Metatext print enhancer from Image Computer Systems.

curve calculations, FFTs and smoothing, and instrument control.

Discovery's calculation and signal-processing functions let you build a table of selected values and transfer summary data to Lotus 1-2-3 for further analysis and presentation. You can scroll through graphs of data and zoom in on regions of interest, mark points for calculation, and expand the x- or y- axis. The program also lets you store sequences of up to 10 operations for repeated use; sequences can loop and trigger from a variety of sources, including time of day, a single keystroke, and a value read from the signal source.

Other operations and functions include integration, differentiation, auto-correlation, cross-correlation, and windowing. Discovery also calculates variance, mean, standard deviation, slope, and change using the 8087 or 80287 floating-point coprocessor if installed.

Discovery runs on the IBM PC, XT, and AT and requires

512K bytes of memory and a hard-disk drive. The program costs $1190. For more information, contact Cyborg Corp., 5 5 Chapel St., Newton, MA 02158, (617) 964-9020. Inquiry 557.

Apple-like Laser 128

The Laser 128 is a portable computer that reportedly runs "nearly all" the software for Apple's lie and He. The 12-pound machine houses I28K bytes of RAM, 32K bytes of ROM, a 514-inch floppy-disk drive, both a serial and a parallel printer interface, a modem port, and a 50-pin Applecompatible expansion slot. You can also hook up an additional disk drive, a mouse or joystick, and a monitor.

Like the Apple lie, the Laser 128 uses a 65C02 processor. The keyboard, which has 10 function keys and a numeric keypad, can be

switched between QWERTY and Dvorak layouts. The computer can produce double high-resolution graphics and has 16-color capability. Other features include a built-in speaker with volume control, 40- or 80-column text, and text in inverse or flashing mode. Data transmission can be set at seven rates, ranging from 110 to 19,200 bits per second.

The Laser 128 has a suggested retail price of $479. Two companies are selling the machine. Contact Video Technology (U.S.) Inc., 2633 Greenleaf Ave.. Elk Grove Village, IL 60007, (312) 640-1776, or Central Point Software Inc., 9700 Southwest Capitol Highway, Suite 100, Portland, OR 97219-9990, (503) 244-5782. Inquiry 558.

Calculation Boxes

Boxcalc, a calculation program for the IBM PC line, resembles a spreadsheet but does not limit you to predetermined rows and columns. Instead, you can place and move "calculation boxes" anywhere on the screen (using a special function key). Formulas can be entered in the boxes to establish their mathematical relationship to other boxes. The software can handle complex expressions as well as sum, date, and time. You can specify the order in which boxes are calculated; iterative calculations are permitted.

Each Boxcalc file can hold as many as 800 boxes, and as many as 99 pages of figures and text can be created, stored on disk, and printed. Full replication features are designed to facilitate entering multiple formulas into boxes.

Boxcalc sells for $40 and comes with an instruction manual and without copy

(continued)

40 B YTE • MARCH 1986

See a live demonstration of HP PC Instruments...

an affordable, easy way to automate testing!

Now you can perform test and measurement tasks easily, quickly and cost-effectively with affordable, rackable PC Instruments from Hewlett-Packard.

Soft front panels make HP PC Instruments easy to use. By simply touching the HP Touchscreen or using a mouse with the IBM PC, you can set functions, ranges and values, and take measurements.

You can also develop programs faster. A few easy-to-remember commands, like OUTPUT and MEASURE, control your PC Instruments from Microsoft® BASIC. And you can use the soft front panel to enter many of the instrument parameters that have been traditionally typed into a system. In addition, with optional HP Data Acquisition Software, . you can be doing voltage scanning and temperature measurement in no time at all.

Add-on HP-IB libraries can also turn your PC into a versatile HP-IB instrument controller. And you can use them to control both PC Instruments and HP-IB instruments from the same BASIC program.

PC Instruments now available include:

• 4Vz Digit Digital Multimeter

• 50 MHz Digital Oscilloscope

• 5 MHz Function Generator

• 100 MHz Universal Counter ■ Relay Multiplexer

• 12 bit Dual Voltage Digital-to-Analog Converter

• 16 bit Digital Input/Output

• Relay Actuator

Microsoft® and Microsoft BASIC® are

U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

AD 2101552

11

To see a live demonstration, or for immediate shipment call 1-800-523-2121 ext. 960

HEWLETT PACKARD

Inquiry 156

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 41

WHAT'S NEW

protection. A demo sells for $5. Running the program requires 256K bytes, PC-DOS 2.0 or later, and a color monitor. Contact Cotton Software Inc., 2 510 Anderson Rd„ Suite 364, Covington, KY 41017, (606) 727-1600. Inquiry 559.

Define Your Digital Waveforms

Adtron's Data Generation System operates with IBM's PC or PC XT to produce user-defined digital waveforms. It consists of a plug-in data-generator board and a full-screen waveform editor. The hardware/software combination is designed to offer the capabilities of pattern, word, and pulse generators.

The system can serve as a signal source for these applications: laboratory data generator, communications data emulator, pseudorandom noise source, automatic test stimulus, and pulse and timing generator.

The editor, called PulseEd. enables you to design, modify, store on disk, and print waveforms. Adtron says the program resembles a text editor in operation and a logic analyzer in appearance. Once you've defined a waveform, you can send it to the board for execution or transfer it to another system via disk or modem. During execution, the board does not require processor support.

Dual-channel operation offers 32,768 bits per channel, bit widths from 50 nanoseconds to 9.999 seconds, and external clock and sync inputs. The system runs on any IBM PC, XT, or compati

Data-generator board from Adtron's system.

ble with 128K bytes of RAM, one double-sided floppy-disk drive, and MSDOS 2.0 or later. List price is $2175; quantity discounts are available. Contact Adtron Corp.. 11415 East Redfield Rd.. Chandler, AZ 8522 5, (602) 926-1461. Inquiry 560.

Calculator Kit for the Macintosh

Calculator Construction Set from Dubl-Click Software enables you to design your own calculators, clocks, and calendars and install them as Macintosh desk accessories. No programming is required; you drag parts onto a calculator shell and then "wire" the functions. The package contains mathematical, scientific, business, date/time, and conversion functions.

The kit's box of parts holds various-size keys, switches. LEDs, clock/calendar displays, and a resizable scrolling paper tape that prints to the Imagewriter

printer, the Mac Clipboard, or a Mac text file. You can map on-screen calculator keys to any alphanumeric keyboard or keypad (as an alternative to using a mouse).

You can customize calculator cases using MacPaintstyle tools for drawing, painting, filling, stretching, and typing. Calculators can be saved as work files, accessory mover files, or selfinstalling calculator files.

Calculator Construction Set runs on any Macintosh and is Switcher-compatible. List price is $99. Contact DublClick Software. 18201 Gresham St.. Northridge. CA 91325. (818) 349-2758. Inquiry 561.

Utilities for dBASE Programmers

Gryphon Microproducts has developed a set of utilities that expand the memory capability of dBASE

from 63 variables to more than 8 million. Called dB/RA, the package consists of 22 commands that can be called directly from dBASE, letting programmers work with databases in memory in the form of arrays.

Gryphon says dB/RA takes advantage of the Lotus/Intel Extended Memory Specification. It has commands for table-lookups and range searches of as many as 100 arrays. Functions include instant screens, pop-up color windows, and Lotus-like menu operations.

The utility set costs $200; a demo is $20. For more information, contact Gryphon Microproducts, POB 6543. Silver Spring, MD 20906, (301) 946-2585. Inquiry 562.

Gizmo Extends AT Memory

The AT Gizmo is a card that installs between the IBM PC AT's motherboard and 80286 processor and enables PC-DOS applications to use 4.6 megabytes of extended memory. The 3- by 5-inch device remaps addresses that access memory allowing extended memory to become addressable memory. Extended memory becomes addressable because the AT Gizmo makes all the machine's memory operate in native mode, compatible with PCDOS. The memory usually accessed in protected mode is accessible from native mode with the card.

The AT Gizmo sells for $295. Contact The Software Link Inc., 8601 Dunwoody Place NE, Suite 632, Atlanta. GA 30338. (404) 998-0700. Inquiry 563.

{continued on page 399)

42 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Evercom™... 1200 baud, $249

Now the EVEREX Evercom modem is available on a half-size card, perfect for the short slots in the IBM XT, Portable, and many compatibles. EVEREX has combined innovative engineering and technology to produce a quality

Hayes-compatible 1200 baud modem that out performs the competition at a lower price. EVEREX engineering is the key ingredient that delivers QUALITY and FEATURES without sacrificing PRICE.

Before you buy a modem, check these features:

i 300/1200 hps Hayes-compatihie

> Half-si>e card

' Automatic dialing, answering.

and redialing ' Call Progress Monitoring ' Configurable from COMI - COM4 ' Internal Speaker with software

adjustable volume control ' Tone and pulse dialing • Automatic data-to-voice

transition

► Detects receiver off-hook ' Reports speed mismatch

' Supports 132 columns » Communications software included ' Extended Hayes command set 1 List price

EVERCOM

YES

YES YES

YES YES YES

YES

YES YES YES YES YES $249

HAYES 1200B YES NO YES

NO NO

NO

YES NO

NO NO NO

NO

$489

Demonstration ~ FREE Brochure

Remember, before you buy a modem, check the features, check the price, and then call EVEREX to set up a demonstration at your local dealer.

When you call, we will also send you the total solution brochure describing EVEREX's complete line of IBM microcomputer peripherals.

1-800-821-0806

in California

1-800-821-0807

EVER lor Excellence

48431 Milmont Dr. Fremont CA 94539 (415)498-1111

Evercom is a trademark of Everex Systems, Inc. IBM PC and XT are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. Hayes 1200B is a trademark of Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. Inquiry 128 for End-Users. Inquiry 129 for DEALERS ONLY MARCH 1986 -BYTE 43

ASK BYTE

Conducted by Steve Garcia

Color Graphics

Dear Steve,

1 recently purchased an IBM PC without a video board. I am looking at what is available in color-graphics boards. I have found two bare boards, one from J. C. Computer Inc. in Anaheim, California, and another from Computer Parts Galore in Batavia, New York. Are you familiar with either board?

I will be using a television at first, so I will have to employ an RF modulator. I have one that requires + 5 V, but the IBM color-graphics board supplies +12 V. I assume that most of the others also supply + 12 V. Is it a minor modification that would be necessary to change my modulator to accept +12 V?

Finally, have you considered a construction article on an IBM PC-compatible video board or perhaps a memory-expansion board?

Bob Dowell Radcliff, KY

I am not familiar with the two boards you mention, but the one from Computer Parts Galore claims to be like a Persyst board and compatible with the IBM color-graphics board. This seems like a good choice, but don't forget to get the character ROM. I couldn't find I. C. Computer in recent issues of Computer Shopper, but I did find a C. J. Computers in Anaheim. They sell components to build your own PC but apparently not bare boards.

Another source of bare boards for IBMs is Micro Mate Associates.

You can pick up the needed + 5 V DC for your modulator from pin 5 of the light-pen connector on the color-graphics board.

I don't have any plans to make either an IBM-compatible graphics board or memory-expansion board. There are many of each to choose from, including the bare multifunction board from Computer Parts Galore.

Addresses of the companies mentioned above are Computer Parts Galore, 56 Harvester Ave., Batavia, NY 14020, (800) 431-9008; C. J. Computers Corporation, 2424 West Ball Rd., Suite B, Anaheim, CA 92804, (714) 821-8922; and

Micro Mate Associates, POB 742, Station B, Willowdale, Ontario M2K 2RI, Canada. —Steve

P.S. I have a super graphics-board project in the works.

Striated Letters

Dear Steve,

I have just purchased a Tandy 1000. It works great, but I'm not too crazy about the display—the letters appear striated. I've tried various monochrome monitors, but they all give the same striped look. Is there a monitor that I can use with the 1000 that will give solid letters on the screen?

I've seen the IBM 5151 monochrome monitor hooked to an IBM PC, and it looks wonderful. Unfortunately, the monitor connector on the PC is not the same as on the Tandy 1000. Do you know if I could make some sort of adapter to hook the 5151 to the 1000, and, having done that, will I get the same sharp letters I have seen on the PC?

Duff Kennedy Santa Barbara, CA

The striped look you describe is typical of display systems that emulate the IBM PC color-graphics-display adapter. It comes from the 200-line vertical-resolution limit imposed by the TV-compatible scan rates combined with the noninterlace mode used to avoid jitter. This is a characteristic we learn to live with.

The high-quality character display you see on the IBM 5151 monitor is the result of using faster horizontal sweep and slower vertical sweep to give 350 or so lines of vertical resolution, combined with wider video bandwidth (frequency response) to provide 720-line horizontal resolution. The display board also has a different character-generator ROM to take advantage of the higher resolution.

If you try to use the 5151 monitor with your Tandy 1000 graphics display driver, you not only won't get an improved character display, you will also probably burn out the monitor's power supply due to the incompatible sweep rates.

It might be possible to put a display driver like the IBM monochrome display

adapter into the Tandy 1000 and use the IBM 5151 or an equivalent monitor if you can find one that fits. The problem is that the Tandy's expansion slots are shorter than IBM's, so the IBM board won't fit. There may also be a memory conflict or other incompatibility that prevents use of both displays. This would be something to discuss with the Radio Shack people if you are interested.— Steve

CP/M and Graphics

Dear Steve,

Is it true CP/M can't manage any graphics, or am I imagining that? I recently added a Z80 Plus card to my Apple lie so I could run Turbo Pascal. The Apple II, with its 6502 processor, is well known for its graphics capabilities, but Borland offers its Turbo Graphix Toolbox only for the IBM PC and Zenith Z-100 computers. Turbo Pascal itself comes with some turtle graphics but only for IBM PCs.

Is my Apple, running CP/M, able to make use of an RGB monitor for sophisticated graphics displays? If it can, why don't Borland and other companies implement these capabilities for us 8-bit CP/M users the way they do for 16-bit computers? I know that many owners of 8-bit machines running Turbo Pascal would love to have the sophisticated graphics offered to IBM owners. What's the problem?

Chad Gagnon Crescent City, CA

There is nothing specific in CP/M that prohibits graphics. Historically, however, most of the computers using CP/M had no graphics hardware, and those that did had no standard to follow. Thus, in most cases, if you want graphics, you must write the drivers yourself.

It seems as though one could use the Apple BIOS graphics routines with the CP/M board since the 6502 still handles I/O. I haven't tried this, but you could write drivers into CP/M to send the data and graphics commands to the 6502, at least for assembly-language programming.

The probable reason Borland, Microsoft, and other language vendors don't write graphics into their CP/M languages

(continued)

44 BYTE • MARCH 1986

COPYRIGHT © 1986 STEVEN A. C1ARCIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

u

Small Plain 11 |" SBjf

SFL.ftahcs XlilliJ-^*

Pretorian

Roman3A c^^^ Romital J[

—I

See What You Can Do

Fontasy printed all of these.

Presentations! Newsletters! Flyers! Signs! Overhead Foils! Invitations! Menus! Logos! Announcements! Banners! Layouts! When you need a goodlooking visual quickly you need FONTASY — superb typefaces and simple drawing in one easy to use package.

FONTASY gives you a "what-you-see-iswhat-you-get" picture, as you type and draw on the graphics screen of your IBM-PC. You can create a page at a time, see a mini picture of that page, print it, and save it on disk. Page size is limited only by memory, not by screen size.

Features

Proportional space, justify, kern, bold face, rearrange, magnify, black/white reversal, rotate, mirror image, lines, rectangles, ovals, draw, fill-in, undo (and un-undo). online help, 200 page book, and easy control from keyboard or mouse. Corporate licenses available.

Fonts, fonts, and more fonts! We have over 275 typefaces in our growing library, and will be happy to send you free print samples on request.

When you deal directly with the manufac Hirer (that's us), you pay rock-bottom distributor prices. If you order FONTASY now, we will give you 28 fonts (a $50 value) at no extra charge. With so many features at such a low price, FONTASY belongs in your soft ware library even if you already have a "font" program.

Inquiry 284

With

Equipment Needed

IBM-PC, XT, AT, or true compatible (Compaq.

etc.) with IBM or Hercules graphics adapter and

graphics monitor. 256K memory needed for partial

pages, 448-640K recommended for mil pages.

Dot-matrix printer. Mouse optional. MS-DOS

2.00 or above.

FONTASY supports: IBM graphics primer. Proprinteri Epson FX, JX, LX, MX, RX. and LQ-1500; C. [ton 8510, 15<>0, 1570. Pro writer-Jr; H-P LaserJet, Thinkjct; Microllne y2, 93; Gemini 10X, 15X; Radio Shack DMP 105430, 2100; Toshiba 351, 1340-1351; Star; and most Epson-compatibles.

Money-Back Guarantee

Fontasy is not copy-protected and has a 30-day money-back guarantee. So. take advantage of our breakthrough price and order now TOLL-FREE:

1-800-824-7888, operator 669 [orders only)

For further information and same day shipping, call: (818) 765-4444

PRomm®

7248 Bellairc Ave., Box 560 No. Hollywood, CA 91603-0560

Name

FONTASY

Tax

Shipping

Total

$49.95

Address

City, Slate, ZIP

Visa/MC

Computer .

Company _ Telephone

Exp. Date.

. Memory

Printer

Terms: M/C. Visa, checks. Please add S 3.00 shipping and handling in U.S. or Canada. $20.00 overseas, 12.00 for C.O.D., and sales lax in Calif.

I .J

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 45

Inquiry 332

The

fraffic light:

EnGarde™

EnGarde™ is the only surge suppressor with the added protection of an LED ground indicator. It warns you when an electrical outlet is improperly grounded, protecting your computer from needless and costly hardware damages.

An anti-static touch pad and a multi-peripheral master switch are also built into the total protection of EnGarde™

EnGarde™also protects your computer from power surges caused by changes in electrical loads and other electrical disturbances. It includes a limited five-year warranty.

EnGarde™is a product of Systems Control, manufacturer of power protection systems for the nation's utility companies.

Ask your dealer for the total protection of EnGarde™ Or call toll free 1-800-451-6866 to order (in Michigan call collect 906/774-0440). If unsatisfied, return EnGarde™ within 30 days for a full refund.

TM

EnGarde

A product of Systems Conlrol, a division of M.J. Electric, Inc.

ASK BYTE

is the lack of graphics hardware standards. If you write for a Motorola 6845 video controller, it won't run on machines using any other controller. You can. however, write subroutines or procedures in assembly language to be called by highlevel-language programs if you can write the CP/M drivers to begin with.

Using an RGB monitor is possible in the Apple II only if you have an accessory board that provides that capabilityhardware limitations again.—Steve

Mythology

Dear Steve.

I see relatively few letters and articles pertaining to Atari computers in BYTE. I thus have been unable to find out more about the similarity between the Atari and the Apple, especially since it is well known that the original Apple was built out of an Atari. Has anyone repeated this feat? If so, where could I go to upgrade/emulate the Apple with my Atari 800XL?

Sue Paolini Hoboken. N)

Like many things that "everyone knows," this one just isn't true. Apple Computer was formed in April of 1976 to sell the original Apple kit. In June of 1977, the company ran its first ad in BYTE for the Apple II, of which today's Apple lie is a variation. Atari announced its first computer in December of 1978, but it did not become available until late 1979.

Even though Apple and Atari use the same processor, nearly everything else I ROM, I/O, graphics, etc.) is different. Emulating an Apple on the Atari is theoretically possible but would be very difficult. I have not been able to locate any product to accomplish this.—Steve

TNT

Dear Steve,

I have a TNT, and I've tried a few times to interface it to my IBM PC. My PC has

Figure I: The diagram for construction of a null-modem cable.

an internal Qubie modem with a serial port. I made a few attempts at building a connection, but whenever I ran a program in BASIC. I got the error message "device time out."

ITSHAK MlHAELI

Staten Island, NY

There are several possible reasons for your troubles. First, be sure the serial port in the Qubie board is connected as COMI:. If it is COM2:, use the OPEN COM2: statement in BASIC on the IBM side to open the serial port. Also, make sure both computers are set to the same data-transmission rate.

Next, be sure you have connected the two computers as shown in figure I. This arrangement is called a null modem.

If you are already using this arrangement and your cable has no bad connections, you should test each port with a loopback plug to find out which one is causing the problem. A loopback plug is a DB-25 (RS-232C) connector with the following pin pairs connected together: 2 to 3, 4 to 5, and 6 to 20. This plug makes the computer send data to itself and can be used to test each computer's serial port for proper function. —Steve

Chips

Dear Steve,

With the recent sharp price cuts in 256Kbit RAM chips, it seems that replacing the 4164s on the motherboard of an IBM PC or a Compaq would offer many advantages over an add-on memory board. I've heard that the 412 56 chips can be substituted in some cases, but 1 don't know what sort of trace cuts or jumper settings might be required. Can you help?

Brian Underdahl Ballwin. MO

The 256K-bit 41256 chip pin-out is identical to the 4164, except for pin I, which is NC on the 4164 and address A8 on the 41256. This allows 9-bit row address by 9-bit column address. The IBM PC has no provision for implementing the pin I address, and I don't think the Compaq does either.

Changes on the board required to make this swap with jumpers would be extensive but probably not impossible. There were a couple of companies converting the early IBM I6K- to 64K-byte motherboards to use 64K-bit chips for 256K bytes total on the motherboard. Maybe someone will offer a similar service for the 256K-bit chips now that the

[continued)

46 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Only the Hayes Transet 1000@ canget you out of this one

?LM) lOAMi

Now your PC can do three things at once instead of making you wait while it does one thing at once.

We call it triple tasking."

It means you can work with your PC while the Transet 1000 receives your electronic mail and runs your printer for you simultaneously.

Three jobs at once. No waiting.

When you're away from your desk, or at night while your PC is turned off, Transet 1000 serves as an electronic mailbox. Because it has its own independent 128K or 512K memory.

To get the messages that come in through the night, you can call them up on your PC. Access them through a remote modem if you're away from the office.

Inquiry 151

Or even have them waiting for you in hard copy.

By now it's dawning on you

Hayes

Say yes to the future with Hayes.

"Manufacturer's estimated retail price.

©1986 Hayes Microcomputer Products. Inc.

that Transet 1000 can make your PC about three times as productive as it is now. Which is no small statement.

You've also figured out it's more than just a print buffer. More than just a communications buffer. And probably costs a lot. Right?

Wrong!

It costs only $399* for the 128K model which stores up to 90 pages. And only $549* for the 512K version with up to 360 pages of storage.

For more information and specifications, contact your authorized Hayes dealer. Or Hayes directly at (404) 441-1617.

Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc., P.O. Box 105203, Atlanta, Georgia 30348.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 47

MEGA-16 BAR CODE READER

BAR CODE READER WITH KEYBOARD EMULATOR FOR IBM PC/XT, AT

only $395.00

Your PC wil! become a BAR CODE SYSTEM by using our "MEGA-IB" bar code reader With Built-in "KEYBOARD EMULATOR" in our "MEGA-16", it can read the bar code data directly WITHOUT adding any software or hardware. All you have to do is just plug in the "MEGA-16" bar code reader to your PC instead of PC's keyboard plug.

APPLICATIONS:

M INVENTORY CONTROL

■ ASSET MANAGEMENT

■ FILE OR DOCUMENT TRACKING

I ORDER ENTRY I WORK-IN-PROCESS I RETAIL POINTOF-SALE

FEATURES'

m IBM PQ PC/XT, PC/AT PLUG-IN COMPATIBLE

■ WITH KEYBOARD EMULATOR, NO EXTRA SOFTWARE, OR HARDWARE IS NEEDED

■ READ THE MOST OF CURRENT CODES

■ BIDIRECTIONAL SCANNING

■ AUDIBLE "BI" FOR CORRECT READING

■ COMPACT SIZE, LIGHT WEIGHT. AND NO EXTRA POWER SUPPLY IS NEEDED

■ VISIBLE INDICATOR

■ EASY TO INSTALL, AND EASY TO OPERATE

■ NO CARD SLOT REQUIRED/SIMPLE INTERCONNECT

■ READ HIGH. MED & LOW DENSITY LABELS

■ HIGH FIRST READ RATE

■ SWITCH SELECTABLE OPTIONS

■ SELF-TEST DIAGNOSTICS

■ CAN READ 6 KINDS OF BAR CODES-UPC, EAN, JAN, 2 OF 5, 3 OF 9 Si CODE BAR

PROGRAM 4 EPROMS

'NEW" EPROM WRITER CARD MEGA EPW-4 simultaneously

SIZE: 2716 UP TO 27256. 27512

FOR YOUR IBM PC/XT, AT AND IBM COMPATIBLES

Our EPROM Writer Cards can be used under MS-DOS System. They are designed to be multifunctional, user-friendly, and highly reliable. FEATURES:

M EPROM SIZES: 2716, 2732, 2732A. 2764, 2764A, 27128, 27128A, 27256, 27256A, 27512 27512A

■ VOLTAGE ADJUSTABLE TO 25V, 21V. 12.5V, ETC.

■ CAN PROGRAM BLANK-CHECK & VERIFY 4 EPROMS SIMULTANEOUSLY

■ EXTREMELY HIGH SPEED - 8 TIMES FASTER THAN GENERAL EPROMS

■ VERY EASY TO USE

■ CAN LOAD PROGRAMMED DATA DIRECTLY FROM DISK

■ CAN SAVE EPROM DATA ON DISK

■ CAN DISPLAY, PRINT AND MODIFY EPROM DATA

■ SOFTWARE INCLUDED

ONLY *219.00

MEGA AT

BARE BONE KIT

Including:

M IBM AT Compatible 8 mHz Mother Board with 640K. Assembled with AT Style Case and 200W Power Supply

■ One 1.2MB High Density Drive

■ WD Hard & Floppy Drive Controller

■ AT Style Keyboard

■ Color Graphic Card

■ Operation Manual

: '.. ■ ; ■ ::.::w.::::':.

! ' MEGA XT

| f-~—m BARE BONE KIT

1 tJ____. 1«

Including:

■ Step-by-Step Assembly Instructions and User System Operations

■ IBM PC/XT Fully Compatible Mother Board with 640K and Bios

■ Color Graphics Card

■ Floppy Disk Controller Card

■ One DS/DD Slim Drive {Optional 2nd Drive $95.00)

■ Flip Top Metal Case with Speaker

f.Lv |

only *1885.00 ONLY $795.00

I 135W Power Supply I Keyboard

PLEASE CALL FOR AT, XT ADD-ON CARDS

POWER SUPPLY KEYBOARD MEGA EXTERNAL SYSTEM

FOR PC/XT AND AT

13S Watts

XT Power Supply

rv

200 Watts

AT Power Supply

ASK FOR OEM PRICES FOR

POWER SUPPLIES IN STOCK!

To Be Used On Both PC/XT and AT

NO SWITCH, AUTOMATIC SELECTION!

BTC 5060 AT

FEATURES:

■ Solid-state capacitance low-profile key switches

■ Positive tactile feedback

■ Sculptured profile

■ Large-scale integration encoding

■ N-key rollover

■ Reliable electronic shiftlock with LED indicator

■ Auto repeat

OEM Prices - Only «6a°° (min. order: 10 pes.)

POWER CONTROL, HARD DISK DRIVE OR TAPE BACK-UP DRIVE.

«»[♦<• ■BES3.

ONLY *175.00

SPECIFICATIONS:

■ DIMENSIONS: 15,,xl9'/i"x3'/!" (LxWxH)

■ SYSTEM INPUT 110-120V AC, 60Hz

■ SYSTEM OUTPUT: 4 SWITCH SOCKETS. 110-120V AC

■ OVERLOAD 15 AMP RESET CIRCUIT BREAKER

■ POWER SUPPLY: +5V, +12V DC OUTPUT WITH TWO FOUR-PIN DRIVE CONNECTORS

■ DRIVE SLOTS: SPACE FOR TWO HH DRIVES, HARD DISK; TAPE BACK-UP OR DISKETTE STORAGE

■ CONTROL SWITCH: FIVE SWITCHES-ONE MASTER SWITCH CONTROLS THE SYSTEM, FOUR ACCESSORY SWITCHES CONTROL ONE OUTLET EACH

■ COOLING FAN: DC 12V

■ SURGE PROTECTOR: EMI FILTER

C.J. COMPUTERS CORPORATION

(Manufacturer & Distributor)

2424 W. Ball Rd., Suite A&B, Anaheim, CA 92804

ORDER AND INQUIRY HOT LINE (714) 821-8922 (5 LINES)

TLX: 3720117 JC COMPTR

•90 days warranty on pans and labor. IhJIhACni&TP HPI l\/PDVI

*[BM is the trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. ItvtWlCUirW L. UCl—l IrLn I I

48 BYTE- MARCH 1986 Inquiry 54 for End-Users. Inquiry 55 for DEALERS ONLY.

ASK BYTE

prices are down.

The advantages may not be as big as they first appear, however, because almost everyone wants a battery-backed clock/calendar and one or two serial ports, etc. This being the case, it is usually economical to buy one of the multifunction expansion boards that provides these, along with 384K bytes of memory. MS-DOS won't allow easy use of more than the 640K bytes this provides.—Steve

PC AND VCR

Dear Steve,

I plan to buy an IBM PC or a PC-compatible microcomputer. I would greatly appreciate it if you can cite any references that show how to interface it to a videocassette recorder.

P. L. K. Sastry Bombay, India

The July 1984 issue of BYTE contains an excellent article on interfacing a videocassette recorder to the TRS-80 Color Computer. "Computer Control of a Video Recorder" by Cy Tymony (page 179) describes the hardware and software necessary to control a VCR with any computer capable of generating sound. The same issue of BYTE also contains articles on interfacing videodisc players and interactive video programming.

Once you can control your VCR from your computer, you may want to use your computer to capture and modify video images. Chorus Data Systems (6 Continental Blvd., POB 370, Merrimack. NH 03054) sells hardware and software for the IBM PC that allows you to capture video data and save it in your PC. Photobase software from Chorus Data Systems lets you create a database containing both text and digitized video information. —Steve

Atari Home Control

Dear Steve,

How plausible is it to convert an Atari 2600 to a home controller, monitor, and security system? It seems to me that the 2600 has suitable graphics, I/O, and such to do so. Is it possible to do it through the ROM cartridge connector? Has anyone published specs and schematics for the machine? It seems that it would not be difficult, knowing the memory map, switches, and resident routines, to build a piece of hardware to use this machine. The firmware could be developed on another machine. 1 have in mind applications like laboratory monitoring, robotics, weather

(continued)

Meet The Princeton Graphic Systems family

The right monitor at the right price. Princeton Graphic Systems offers you a complete family of high performance personal computer monitors. Monitors that deliver the compatibility, resolution, and reliability you need for any application and any budget: from word processing to sophisticated business graphics.

HX-12E. High resolution RGB monitor 640x350 lines noninterlaced - .28 mm dot pitch -Compatible with IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter -Nonglare screen -$785

HX-12. High resolution RGB monitor -640 x 200 lines noninterlaced -.31 mm dot pitch tube-Nonglare screen -$695

MAX-12. Amber monochrome -720 x 350 lines -Enhanced to interface with IBM color or monochrome adapter card -Nonglare screen -Can display 16 shades of amber -$249

HX-9/9E. Nine inch, high resolution RGB monitor noninterlaced -.28mm dot pitch tube -9E compatible with IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter -Nonglare screen -Green/amber switch -Apple/IBM colors - Etched dark glass screen -$650/$750 (9E)

SR-12P. PGS's top of the line RGB monitor 640x480 lines , noninterlaced - .26 mm dot pitch - Analog input allows for the display of 4,096 possible colors -Compatible with IBM Professional Graphics Adapter -Nonglare screen -$999

SR-12. Super-high resolution RGB monitor -640 x 400 lines noninterlaced -.31 mm dot pitch tube - Nonglare screen - Requires interface card -$799

Princeton Graphic Systems. The only real choice.

For office or home use, Princeton Graphic Systems has a monitor that's right for you. Inquire at your local computer store about our complete line of high resolution color and monochrome monitors; monitors that live up to the Princeton Graphic Systems 'tradition of quality, performance, and vaiue. Princeton Graphic Systems. 601 Ewing Street, Bldg. A, Princeton, N.J. 08540. (609) 683-1660 Telex: 821402PGSPRIN (800) 221-1490. Ext. 304.

Princeton accessory product line.

Undergraduate tilt/swivel monitor base,

ColorView card, Green/Amber switch, RGB-80 card

and Scan Doubler card.

PRINCETON

IBM IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter, and IBM Professional Graphics Adapter are Irademarks ol International Business Machines. Inc Compaq is s trademark of Compaq Computer Corp. Corona is a Irademark ol Corona Data Syslems, Inc. Apple is a Irademark ol Apple Computer Corp. PC World is a Irademark ot CW Communicalions Inc. SR-12 screen couhesy ol Mouse Syslems. Inc.

GRAPHIC SYSTEMS

AN INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS COMPANY

Inquiry 279

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 49

WE STOCK WHAT WE SELL!

If You Don't See It Listed Here, Call Us!!

PERSONAL COMPUTERS

Transportable Dual Drive 5/8 Mhz %* QQQ

ZFA-138-42 1,033

Entry Level Desktop Dual Drive 5/8 Mhz %* ■* en

ZF-148-42 I, 103

Professional Desktop Dual Drive 5/8 Mhz %■* nnn

ZF-158-42 l,/33

Portable Dual Drive, Battery Operation %■* Q(\(\

ZFL-171-42 1,033

"AT" Compatible jn CQQ

ZF-241-81 L,J33

"AT" Compatible Winchester System jo CQO ZW-241-82 0,033

=$=SPER*Y

Professional Desktop Dual Drive

Monochrome 5/8 Mhz $-i 7/m

MODEL 200 I, itS

Professional Desktop 1 Floppy, 1 20 Mg Hard Drive Monochrome 5/8 Mhz $n nil

MODEL 400 LjO'W

"AT" Compatible Single Floppy Drive

System $n -iqq

PC/IT BASIC L, 133

"AT" Compatible 1 Floppy, 1 44 Mg

Hard Drive $0 -fan

PC/IT EXPANDED J, I 33

MONITORS

ZVM-122/123 $ 79

ZVM-1220/1230 $ 89

ZVM-1240 $149

ZVM-131 $189

ZVM-1330 $459

PRINTERS

SG-10 $219

SG-15 $399

SG-10C $249

SR-10 $439

SR-15 $589

SB-10 $593

NB-15 $CALL

Gemini 10X $169

Powertype $328

LEceno

808 $155

880 $199

1380 $280

CP-VII $840

3*sfiP Plotters

SP100 $215

SP600 $818

MODEMS lilobotics

Password 1200 $195

Password 300 $129

Microlink 1200 $329

Courier 2400 $429

Microlink 2400 $429

MULTIFUNCTION CARDS STS Systems Video Cards

Chauffer $259

High Resolution EGA $399

Graphix + II $269

Mono + $159

SYS Systems Memory Cards

Video 300G $1Z5 Big Byte 64K(384K Capacity) $129

Video 310A $153 ^J^m^m* .. . , ...

color300 $244 CCG Mainframe Links

Color 600 $432 Irma Board $869

Color 722 $539 Smart Alec $759

Prices Quoted Reflect Cash Discount. Add 3% for Master Card or Visa. Prices and Availability Subject to Change without Notice. Add 3% for Shipping and Handling, $5.00 minimum. 15% Restocking Charge on All Returns.

REXWIL ADVANTAGE

• 60 Years in the Electronics Field.

• Toll Free Technical and Service Support.

• Quality Products.

• Service Facilities on Premises.

• There is No Limit and No Deposit on C.O.D. Orders.

• We accept purchase orders from qualified corporations. Subject to approval.

• Educational discounts available to qualified institutions.

Use Our Convenient Toll Free Order Line.

1-800-CALL-REX

Telephone Orders Only. 8:30 AM — 5:00 PM (Eastern) Mon.-Fri.

P.O. Box 4585 • Philadelphia, PA 19131 Dealer Inquiries Welcome

*™«M\ TOLL FREE 1 -800-CALL-REX

ONICS IN PA 1-800-821-1059

Mailing Address'. REXWIL ELECTRONICS

P.O. Box 4585 • Philadelphia, PA 19131

ASK BYTE

monitoring, security, and climate control. I would buy your designs, but I am a medical student living on borrowed money, and the Atari 2600 is cheap.

Sam Hunter Galveston, TX

There are several good reasons not to use an Atari 2600 game machine as a home controller. The RAM and I/O capabilities are limited, and a second computer would have to be used for software development. Also, specs and schematics are available only to service centers; you may have a difficult time getting them.

Why not use an Atari 400 or 800? You can often find a used machine in good condition for as little as $25 that would provide a programming language and excellent I/O capabilities. Documentation, information, and finished products are readily available. You might want to refer to "Control Your Environment with the Atari 400/800" by David Alan Hayes (July 1983 BYTE, page 428).—Steve

Scientific Databases

Dear Steve,

1 would like to know where addresses of Canadian and American scientific databases are available. Technical databases in the field of graphic arts in connection with CAD, CAE, and CAM are especially important to me. Thanks.

Claus Sternberg Salzburg, Austria

The October 1984 issue of BYTE contains the article "Low-Cost On-Line Databases" (page 167). The author, Matthew Lesko, publishes a monthly newsletter that lists current free and low-cost databases. Contact Information USA, 4701 Willard Ave., Chevy Chase, MD 20815, (301) 657-1200.-Steve■

IN ASK BYTE, Steve Garcia answers questions on any area of microcomputing. The most representative questions received each month will be answered and published. Do you have a nagging problem? Send your inquiry to

Ask BYTE

do Steve Garcia

POB 582

Glastonbury. CT 06033 Due to the high volume of inquiries, personal replies cannot be given. All letters and photographs become the property of Steve Ciarcia and cannot be returned. Be sure to include "Ask BYTE" in the address.

The Ask BYTE staff includes manager Harv Weiner and researchers Larry Bregoli. Bill Curlew. \eannette Dojan, ]on Elson, Roger lames. Frank Kuechmann, Edward Nisley. Dick Sawyer. Andy Siska. and Robert Stek.

50 BYTE • MARCH

Inquiry 296

MICROSOFT LANGUAGES NEWSLETTER

Vol. 1-3

News about the Microsoft Language Family

Structured programming in QuickBASIC—Part 1—Subroutines

The Microsoft® QuickBASIC Compiler provides powerful structured programming features that go far beyond BASICAs FOR/NEXT, WHILE/WEND, and GOSUB statements.True subroutines with scalar and array parameters are easy to use in QuickBASIC. All variables in subroutines are local unless they are declared as shared global variables in the current module, as shown below.

CALL MySort (howbig, ArrayQ) 'sort Array ()

'Sieve is 1-dim 'global variable

SUB MySort (limit, Sieve (1)) STATIC SHARED bubbles

... 'MySort subprogram body END SUB

QuickBASIC modular programming with separate compilation and subroutine libraries will be covered in Part 2.

Interlanguage calling support added to C, FORTRAN and Pascal

The current releases of Microsoft C, FORTRAN and Pascal have been enhanced to support interlanguage calling. This was accomplished by extending the language syntax in each language and by sharing the major components of the runtime libraries—program start-up, memory models, memory allocation and floating point math support. For example, in FORTRAN these extensions allow programs to call C functions with value parameters and variable length argument lists. Under XENIXf the interlanguage calling support allows the standard XENLX C libraries to be accessed from Microsoft FORTRAN and Pascal.

Mixed model dynamic memory allocation in Microsoft C—Part 2

During program start-up in Microsoft C, any memory beyond the 64K limit of the default data segment is released to MS-DOS® (The amount returned can be increased by using the /CPARMAXALLOC switch to LINK or the EXEMOD utility.) This allows C programs to "exec" child programs.The first call to the near heap allocation routine, -nmalloc, creates the near heap which can use the remaining free space in the default data segment. The first call to the far heap allocation routine -fmalloc, creates the first far heap segment by requesting a block of memory from DOS rounded up to the nearest 8K (power of 2 equal or larger than the global variable _ amblksiz)- Subsequent -fmalloc calls will expand the last far heap segment up to 64K before allocating another far heap segment. When all far memory has been used, -fmalloc will try to allocate the memory from the near heap.

Write tot Microsoft Languages Newsletter

10700 Northup Way, Box 97200

Bellevue, WA 98009 for product and update information.

Or phone:

(800) 426-9400. In Washington State and Alaska,

call (206) 828-8088. In Canada, call (800) 387-6616.

Microsoft, XBNIX and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporaikin

Latest DOS Versions:

Microsoft C

3.00

Microsoft COBOL

2.10

Microsoft FORTRAN

3.31

Microsoft Macro Assembler

4.00

Microsoft Pascal

3.31

Microsoft QuickBASIC

1.00

Call for latest prices.

FREE SHIPPING

in the Continental United States via UPS Ground.

NO SURCHARGE FOR BORe

Seagate HD o Western Digital Controller

20 MEG Hard Disk System for PC"

a Internal $449

External $599

For Xebec 1220 Combined Floppy/Hard Disk Controller add $75.

Includes Seagate Hard Disk, Western Digital Controller, Cables,

Manual, Software, and Mounting Hardware. Boots From Hard Disk 65 MS Access Time One Year Warranty •

Our Hard Disk Systems are compatible with the latest versions of the following Computers: IBM PC, IBM XT, AT&T 6300, Compaq Portable, Tandy 1000, Tandy 1200, PC's Limited Turbo PC, leading Edge PC (Both Models), Sperry PC, Wysc PC, Televideo PC, Faraday Mother Boards, Corona PC, Eagle PC, ITT PC, and most other Compatibles.

PLEASE SPECIFY YOUR COMPUTER TYPE WHEN ORDERING.

Seagate

20 and 30 MEG High Speed 40 MS Access Time Hard Drives for AT™

Uses Linear Voice Coil Activator.

Heads park automatically at power down.

20 MEG $579 30 MEG $699

Includes Seagate Full Height Hard Disk,

Cables, Manual, and Mounting Ralls.

Boots from Hard Disk. One Year Warranty. ■

64K RAM

Sd Of 9 Chips, 200 or 150 Nanoseconds

$10

per set

256KRAM $29 $—"d*J

150 Nanoseconds

300/1200 Baud Hayes Compatible Modem Fits in Short Slot

$159

PC'S LIMITED Six Function Card

• Includes J84K

• ClocklCalendar

• Includes Software

• Parallel Port

• Serial Port

• Game Port

Two Year Warranty ■

W/384K $129

PC's Limited AT Multifunction Card

• Expandable To 3 Meg (1.5 on Board/1.5 on Piggy Back Board)

• Supports 64 or 256K. Rams

• Parallel Port

• Serial Port (2nd Serial Optional)

$199

w/0K

Piggy Back Board J59 w/OK

PC's Limited PC-576 RAM Board W/OK

• Expandable to 576K

• Supports 64K or 256K RAMS

• Fits in Short Slot

$69

SOLVE YOUR POWER PROBLEM.

XT POWER 135W

$89

Directly replaces power supply in PC." Fully XT'" compatible. One Year Warranty ' d

52 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 266

PRICES AND MACHINES THAT OUTRUN THE COMPETITION.

OH PC'S LIMITED T™°

High Performance Competitive Price

V.

$795

One year warranty.

PC'S LIMITED AT

High Performance Competitive Price

» ■■

l^P^^^];

$1995

Includes: System Unit, 640K on Mother Board, 360K Floppy Drive, Keyboard, 135W Power Supply.

Hum oil Major Software written for the IBM PC and PC/XT', 40% taster, without modifitationi. (PrMtim) 16-blt 8088-2, 4.77 or 6.66MHZ Chick Speed. (Expmuion Slc-li) :8; 7 arc araiiabl* In a bo v. configuration.

GW Basic $95 * IBM DOS 3.1 $85 * 8087-2 $149

One Year Warranty. *

8MHZ Option included at no extra charge.

Includes: 80286-based System Unit, 102-iK on Mother Board, 1.2 MegFloppy Drive, Combined Floppy and Hard Disk Controller Card, AT Keyboard, 192W Power Supply, 2 Serials and I Parallel Port, and Clock/Calendar with Battery Backup.

Rwu all Major Software written (or the IBM PC, PC XT", and PC AT". (Prwauar) Intel 80286 running of 6MHZ. (I Ipansion Stall) :8. Sam* Bw> Con figure Hon ai IBM PC AT".

GW Basic $95 • IBM DOS 3.1 $85 • 80287 $195

PC's Limited Mini I/O

• Serial Port

• Parallel Port

• Clock

• Software

• Fits In Short Slot

PC's Limited Monochrome Graphics Fully Hercules Compatible

• Text Mode 80 X 25

• Graphics Mode 720 X 348 Pixels

• One Parallel Printer Port

$159

Floppy Disk Drive

TEAC

55-B, Half-Height, DS/DD

Tcrai [lucwnurloirpriiciind niunntctiii illBcnhi»diKiior».o«BWdprodiicl,ilfulti r Out. Call Itthaicil inpport lot return lu ibofill(ion Dumber oo ill wirrutT rrpiin Aiii auatborUrd nun iBbjtci to i ID* rn KxUtf '<!■ Prrptld decka, aMcr ordm. VISA, IbtkrCirt, Kmcrkie I ipmi or *pprnrrd co«pi«T parchlK orden 1ft It rep ted. *kw reflect 1% cui, VIM lad KiMrrOri dli■1 ABcrkn F.iprcii M wb|rcl n dtacooaL 5umc quantities may be limited. PC'i Llmlicd rtMrre* tht right to lobtlltutc cqulralcal Items. All prlcei ire >ub|«cl to change without no

$109

Also available for AT"" in Gray Color.

PANASONIC

Half-Height, DS/DD

MITSUBISHI

ELECTRONICS

Half-Height, DS/DD

PC's Limited Universal Video Adapter

$259

• Replaces numerous cards, including IBM, Hercules, Plantronics.

• Provides 132 column text—color or mono ■ Supports all parallel printers and plotters

• Emulates color software on monochrome monitor in 16 shades

PC'S LIMITED

SALESCALLS OUTSIDE TEXAS, 1-800-426-5150 1611 Headway Circle, Building 3, Austin, Texas 78754

Sates Calls from anywhere in country, (512) 339-6962

Technical Support Calls, (512) 339-6963 Customer Service Calls, (512) 339-6964

Telex No 9103808386 PC LTD MX (512) 339-6721

rtiniroolct.llchtc 'ca(.ilr. leilcrn Digital, AT1T, Cd«piq, Tjfidf. It j din| Edge, Spcrry. Vyee, Tc In Idea, hndi), Coram, t ig.tr. and ITT ire regltlcred Irldt mi/it of their nipt I lite computet. IBM PC. IBM XT. IBM AT. ire tndcmirii of IBM CorponiloD. LcuJIog Edge PC, Sperry PC. H" PC. TelcrJdco PC. Coroni PC. Ei|)c K. AT*T 6300, Tindy 1000 lad

niroilcd Warranty

Ad Number 403O

Inquiry 266

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 53

Inquiry 140

UNIX

Multi-Link

The

BOSS

BOAR D'

High Performance

MULTI-USER

UPGRADE KIT

for

PC DOS Programs

• IBM.PC, XT,

AT Compatible

• Up to 16 Megabytes of

RAM

• Unlimited Users

• Supports Most Popular

Terminals

late T(§©Gd

P.O. Box 41223

Brecksville, Ohio 44141-0223

(216) 237-4900

Excellent VAR/ISO Programs

Full Line of Support Products Terminals, Cables,

Memory Boards,

Serial Port Boards,

and Multi-user Application Programs.

IBM PC® 3. PC DOS® are irademarks ol IBM Corp.

Multi-Link® is a trademark ol The Software Link. Inc

UNIX® is a trademark ol AT 3. T, Bell Labs

CLUBS AND NEWSLETTERS

Macintosh Enthusiasts of San Antonio (MESA), 6134 Calderwood, San Antonio, TX 78249. Public-domain software library, newsletter, meetings. Annual fee: $12.

TheKepner Letter, 145 Grove St., Peterborough, NH 03458, (603) 924-9450. TRS-80 computers featured.

North American One-Eighty Group (NAOG), POB 2781, Warminster, PA 18974, (215) 443-9031. Users group for the SB180, Steve Ciarcia's single-board computer (see September 1985 BYTE). $15 per year includes 12 issues of newsletter.

Sanyo User Group of the San Francisco Bay Area, 1260 Westwood St., Redwood City, CA 94061, (415) 369-2034. Monthly newsletters and public-domain software library access. Annual fee: $20.

Casa Mi Amiga, c/o Kinetic Designs, 1187 Dunbar Court, Orange Park, FL 32073. 24-hour BBS for Amiga owners at (904) 733-4515. Public-domain software. Send SASE.

THe Pilot SIG, ADCIS International Headquarters, Miller Hall Room 409, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 9822 5. Only members of Association for the Development of Computer-Based Instructional Systems eligible. Meetings, newsletter, workshops.

Stout Microcomputer User Group (SMUG), lohn Wright, Tech Wing 248, University of Wisconsin—Stout, Menomonie, Wl 54751. Student group, publicdomain software library, meetings.

MicroPublishinc Report. 2004 Curtis Ave. #A, Redondo Beach, CA 90278, (213) 376-5724. Small computers in publishing. 12 issues: $175.

Free BBS, Marshfield Technologies Inc., Data Processing Services Dept., POB 761, 171 South Central Ave., Marshfield. Wl 54449. 1200-bps BBS at (715) 387-4028.

Panhandle Computer Society, POB 30545, Amarillo, TX 79120-0545. Twelve SIGs, calendar, newsletter.

Apple /// Users of Northern California (ATUNC), 220 Redwood Highway #184, Mill Valley, CA 94941. Meetings, newsletter. Annual subscription: $20.

Come-adore the 128, 7102 Leavitt Rd., Amherst, OH 44001, (216)986-6114. Support for C-64 and 128, newsletter. Send SASE.

Manasota IBM Users' Group, Robert Moss, 111 Sunset Dr., Nokomis, FL 33 555, (813) 484-1458. Meetings in Sarasota.

Computer Aided Selling. The Denali Group, 1111 Third Ave., 7th Floor, Seattle, WA 98101, (206) 382-6668. News for salespeople. Annual subscription: $87.

The Calgary Osborne Users Group,

Greg King, 24 Edgedale Way NW, Calgary, Alberta T3A 2P8, Canada. Best for 8-bit CP/M users. Meetings.

Seattle Chapter of the International Interactive Communications Society, POB 31273, Seattle, WA 98103, (206) 248-4968. Interactive video applications.

Connecticut IBM PC Users Club, John McGinley, POB 291, New Canaan, CT 06840-0291, (203) 762-0229. Meetings, newsletter, public-domain software.

Survival Communication Forum, 1435 Sebastopol Rd., Suite 210, Santa Rosa, CA 95407. 300- and 1200-bps, 24-hour, free BBS at (707) 545-0746. Resources for the survivalist community.

Wolf's Den BBS, (316) 838-9456. 24-hour, 300-bps BBS with variety of features.

SAMNA Pipeline. SAMNA International User's Group, 1088 Bishop St., Suite 407, Honolulu, HI 96813. Monthly newsletter on using SAMNA. ■

CLUBS AND NEWSLETTERS is an acknowledgment of new clubs and newsletters received at BYTE. Please allow at least (our months for your club's mention to appear. Send information to BYTE, Clubs and Newsletters, POB 372, Hancock. NH 03449.

54 BYTE • MARCH 1986

The future... a little sooner than you expected]

The Panasonic Exec. Partner. What makes it an executive? The 7.16 MHz 8086-2 microprocessor for high-speed processing. So you can do more in less time.

What makes it your partner? Like all ambitious achievers the Panasonic Exec. Partner gets along with others. Namely, IBM hardware and software.

You'll also accomplish more with the new high-resolution plasma display. It lasts four times longer, offers clearer definition and is easier to read than an ordinary screen.

The Exec. Partner's built-in dual mode printer will help

ACHIEVE THE POWER

AND SPEED OF TOMORROW'S

TECHNOLOGY TODAY.

INTRODUCING

THE EXEC. PARTMER™FROM

PANASONIC5

you make a good impression. From silent, draft-quality mode to correspondence quality.

The 256K internal memory has built-in expandability to 640K. So the Exec. Partner will run the most sophisticated data base management programs. And its expansion slot allows you to fulfill the needs of specific applications like telecommunications and Local Area Networks.

Tomorrow's technology Donocnni^ for today's executives. The rdlWaUIIW* new Panasonic Exec. Partner. Industrial Company

Get a carrying case (model FXZC751) at no charge with any Exec. Partner purchased through 3/31/86. For the location

Of yOUr nearest participating dealer, Call 1-800-PIC-8086. IBM is the registered trademark of International Business Machines, Inc.

Inquiry 2M

F O R

SORE

Y

E S

THOMSON

To those of you who stare and stare—and stare at computers, blessed relief has arrived. Thomson™ monitors.We promise clearer, crisper resolution, remarkable colors and print-like text. Thomson builds a full line of monitors, from basic monochrome to highresolution color models. All are designed to fulfill your needs today, and sophisticated enough to fulfill your needs in the future.

Thomson monitors are designed and built by Thomson, a $6 billion international corporation. They re going to change the way America looks at computers.

Ask your local computer dealer for a Thomson monitor, or call 1-213-821-2995, ext. 34, for the Thomson dealer nearest you. Then take a stare at a Thomson monitor. It's a sight for sore eyes™

Telex 3720233. Thomson is a trademark of Thomson S.A.

Model CM :ti:!l 1S1. lirdi.'iKonnl. .31mm (lol pitch

RGB! color monitor with text switch and

non-ejare tinted screen.

THOMSON O

© 1985 Thomson Consumer Products Corporation 56 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 347

BOOK REVIEWS

[ P ! I !

THE PETER NORTON PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE TO THE IBM PC Peter Norton Microsoft Press Bellevue, WA: 1985 426 pages. $19.95

THE COMPUTER CULTURE Denis P. Donnelly, editor Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Cranbury, NJ: 1985 176 pages. $24.50

MICROSOFT MACINATIONS Mitchell Waite, Robert Lafore, Ira Lansing Microsoft Press Bellevue, WA: 1985 497 pages, $19.95

THE COMPUTER LAW ANNUAL 1985 Miles R. Gilburne, Ronald L. Johnston, Allen R. Grogan, editors Harcourt Brace Jovanovich New York: 1985 405 pages, $60

THE PETER NORTON PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE TO THE IBM PC

Reviewed by Donald Evan Crabb

Although the information Peter Norton provides in The Peter Norton Programmer's Guide to the IBM PC is not new or unique, reading it is an education. The book picks up where Norton's \nside the IBM PC (Robert J. Brady Co., 1983) left off. Whereas the earlier book concentrates on the hardware components of the IBM Personal Computer and how they work together, the new book is written strictly with the PC programmer in mind. Both works combined provide a comprehensive technical reference to the PC. As you might expect, these books cover some material in common. For example, both explore the ROM BIOS of the PC. But the discussion in The Programmer's Guide is designed for the programmer. In fact, this book should be useful to anyone who needs to understand the technical

NORTON

PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE

TO TO IBM PC

details involved in creating PC programs. Norton makes the distinction right from the start that he is providing more than just PC programming knowledge. He is trying to impart concepts about PC programming.

Norton also concerns himself with the philosophy of programming the PC. He laces the book with explanations about the design concepts that permeate the entire IBM PC line. Due to Norton's wealth of experience working with PCs, this information is synthesized so that it is more useful than the usual dry engineering discussion that you often get in books of this kind. He carefully divides the ROM information into four chapters: ROM BIOS basics, ROM BIOS video services, ROM BIOS disk services, and ROM BIOS keyboard services.

The Programmer's Guide details the original PC. But keep in mind the subtitle of this book: "The ultimate reference guide to the entire family of IBM personal computers." Norton explains differences between the design, construction, and systems software of the other members of the PC family and the PC. Most of the examples and information describe the Intel 8088 microprocessor and how it's programmed through the services provided by the ROM BIOS and by DOS. Many of the programming examples use BASIC as the representative high-level language. Pascal and C-language examples also appear. Norton shows how to write 8088 assembly-language interface programs for each of these languages.

The scope of the book extends to a number of programming areas. From video and disk basics, Norton moves from how the keyboard operates in programs to all the programming aspects of DOS. The final two chapters, "Program Building" and "Programming Languages," are worth the price of admission alone. Norton covers the conceptual basics of writing, compiling and interpreting, linking, and executing programs. Especially informative are the discussions of the DOS LINK program and the logical organization of assembly-language programs.

Norton discusses both the IBM Pascal compiler and the generic Microsoft Pascal compiler. He discusses Pascal data formats on the PC and how to work with them, as

(continued)

PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAUL AVIS

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 57

Western computer

BREAKS THE

PRICE/PERFORMANCE

BARRIER

WESTERN COMPUTER AT TURBO

STANDARD FEATURES:

■ IBM PC/AT Compatible with 512K RAM

■ Switch Selectable 6 or 8 MHz operation

■ Up to 2 Megabytes of RAM on Main board

■ One Parallel Port & Clock/Calendar on Main board

■ Enhanced PC/AT style keyboard

■ Various mass storage and video display options available

■ One Year Warranty

WESTERN COMPUTER PC/XT TURBO

STANDARD FEATURES:

■ IBM PC/XT Compatible with 256K RAM

■ Switch Selectable 4.77 or 8 MHz operation

■ Up to 1 Megabyte of RAM on Main board

■ Two 360K Floppy disk drives and controller

■ 750 x 350 Monochrome graphics controller or IBM CGA compatible controller

■ Amber or green display monochrome monitor

■ Enhanced IBM PC style keyboard

■ Various mass storage, I/O, and Video display option available

■ One Year Warranty

Western Computer

1381 WARNER AVE. WARNER CORPORATE PARK #8, TUSIN. CA 92680

(714) 259-7755 EUROPEAN HEAD OFFICE

BELECTRONIC SA, RUE CENTRALE 43

CH-1880-BEX, SWITZERLAND

PHONE (025) 631250

TELEX 456 168 ASWERBACK BELE CH.

IBM PC/XT/AT/CGA are trademarks ol IBM Corp.

Inquiry 374 for End-Users. 58 BYTE • MARCH 1986 Inquiry 375 for DEALERS ONLY.

BOOK REVIEWS

well as integers, strings, SETs, and floating-point numbers. A quote about compiler compatibility illustrates the book's usefulness: "For compatibility reasons, note that version 1 of the compiler has a floating-point format compatible with BASIC, and that version 2 has formats compatible with most other languages."

Visual Effects

Besides the intended audience, the other noticeable difference between this book and \nside the IBM PC concerns the writing and editing. Norton has always had a good informational writing style, but The Programmer's Guide shows a writer who has improved at his craft. And the design, graphics, and editing of this book are superior to those of the earlier one. Illustrations are used to good effect. Pointing-hand icons are used to refer you to related material elsewhere in the book. Small logos and symbols frequently appear in a second color and differentiate discussions about the different members of the PC family: original PC, PC XT, PCjr, Portable PC, and PC AT. The 14-page index eases specific research. Three appendixes that enhance the already relevant material are entitled "Installable Device Drivers," "Hexadecimal Arithmetic," and "About Characters."

Though I looked for them, I couldn't find any errors of fact. Norton does point out some errors, however, in IBM's own technical documentation.

The Peter Norton Programmer's Guide deals primarily with the PC and the PC XT but also discusses some of the hardware and programming concerns of owners of the PCjr, the PC AT, and the IBM Portable PC.

I recommend this guide to PC programmers and to those people who need the technical information. While the prices of technically oriented softcovers have risen, the $19.95 price of Norton's guide is reasonable considering all the information that's packed into its 400-plus pages. Norton traces his selected territory well, providing helpful references to other PC publications. If you plan on some serious programming using an IBM Personal Computer, this book will be a good companion to ease you through the rough spots.

Donald Evan Crabb is director of instruction and laboratories at the University of Chicago (Department of Computer Science. Ryerson Hall 163, 1100 East 58th St.. Chicago. IL 60637). He is on the review board of InfoWorld.

THE COMPUTER CULTURE

Reviewed by Hugh Kenner

The six talks in this book were delivered by six speakers at a symposium that Siena College staged in 1981, and aging for five years has not improved them. University presses have a natural abhorrence of symposia—some won't consider symposium proceedings at all—and once

[continued)

Those who insist on C compiler performance are very big on Mark Williams.

And the compiler is just part of our total C Programming System.

Mark Williams' C compiler has earned a place in some very big companies for some very good reasons: it proves the benchmarks right with the speed, code density, consistent performance and expert support required in professional development environments.

But a total development tool shouldn't stop with compiling. Or go on and on with extras that add up and up.

Only Mark Williams' C Programming Systems includes the csd C Source Debugger with true source level debugging to speed your programming job.

And only Mark Williams' new 30 version includes utilities like "make" to make quick work of even the largest projects.

From source code to final product, only one takes you all the way: Mark Williams' C Programming System. All for only $495. Ask about our 60-day money back guarantee when you call

1-800-692-1700 to order today.* f|Y||| Mark You'll be big on die total C |l|||| Williams

Programming system from \A/ Company

Mark Williams, too.

<^^?y utilities now included in the C ^jj^/r Programming System: J?"/ ' make: compiles only what's necessary f from multiple modules, a powerful programming discipline

• diff: identifies differences between two files

• m4: macroprocessor expression editing and substitution

• egrep: extended pattern search

• MicroEMACS: full screen editor with source

COMPILER FEATURES

• Runs under MS-DOS

• Full Kernighan & Ritchie C with recent extensions including void and enum

• Register variables for fast, compact code

• Full UNIX™ compatibility and complete libraries

• Large and small memory models

• MS-DOS linker compatibility

• 8087 Support

• One-step compiling

• English error messages

• ROMable code

• Linker, assembler, archiver

• Extensive third party library support

csd C SOURCE DEBUGGER

• Debugs at C source level without assembly language

• Separate evaluation, source, program and history windows

• Can execute any C expression

• Capabilities of a C interpreter, but runs in real time

• Set trace points on any statement or variable

© 1985 Mark Williams Company

UNIX is a registered trademark of Bell Labs.

Inquiry 220

*In Illinois call 312-472-6659

1430 West Wrightwood Chicago, Illinois 60614

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 59

solutely the Best IBM" Compatibles!

Starter System ... $395

Case, 135 Watt Power Supply. Enhanced Keyboard, Motherboard, 8 Slots

Basic System ... $795

All the Above PLUS 256K RAM, 1 DS/DD 360K Disk Drive, 1 Srial, 1 Parallel, 1 Game Port and Floppy Disk Controller

Business System.. $995

All the above PLUS RAM expanded to 640 K and a second DS/DD 360K Floppy Disk Drive

Pro System ..$1575

All the above PLUS 20 Meg Hard Drive with Controller Card

Ask about other configurations of these fine compatibles. Both of these machines run all major software written for the IBM. All have been thoroughly checked by our techs and have been burned-in for at least 48 hours. Both come with FREE Word Processing Software and limited use Phone Directory Software.

AT Starter System. $1875

Case, 190 Watt Power Supply. AT Style Keyboard, 640K Motherboard, 8 Slots, Combination Disk Conlroller

Laser Beam Printer

Many Advantages over HP, No additional Cost, Quantity Discounts

IBM Parallel Interface

It can THINK! It's a Diablo 630 4 Resident Fonts Downloadable Fonts Choose number of copies from keyboard or software Best Price .. ..$1995

on the Market live From AB

Now there is no need to lose thousands of dollars trading in your PC or XT to get a faster machine. Many programs run as fast as the AT!!! PLUS - WE BUY YOUR OLD MOTHERBOARD!!! Kit A-$399 Kit B- $499 Kit C-$1099

A-40 Impact Dot Matrix Printer

Near letter quality 23 x 18 matrix, 140 cps, 3 kinds of Graphic Image, IBM Printer Compatible, Selectable Linefeeding, Push Feed Adjustable Tractor, Fanfold Single Sheets Multipart Copy Paper Usable

Many More Features Only $259

A-50 $399 A-55 $550

Attention - PC Owners!

DON'T Trade in Your PC or XT

TURBO-IZEMI

Controls 2 Floppy Disk Drives and 2 Hard Disk Drives on a 'A card!!! Great for all portable, Tandy. IBM and Compac owners who need to use a half slot card to maximize their machine capability. USE THAT 1/2 SLOT TO DO TWO JOBS - NOT 1!!! 1 $199 5-$189 10 & up-$180

[H«.»M=*'ii.t>->

Reg. $169

BUILD YOUR OWN PC

Famous Manufacturer Daisy Wheel Printer

22 cps Uses Diablo

Hy-Tyge Ribbon

and Wheei only S349

Tractor $69

Sheet Feeder.. ,$169

135 W Power Supply

• 4 Drives Power Plugs,

• Side Switch Model like IBM

1 -$109 2-3 $105 4-10 $100 Enhanced Keyboard for IBM PC Fully ism Compatible

Enlarged Return Key & Shift Key LED Indicators on Cap's Lock & Number Keys 1 - $89 2-3 $85 4-10 $80

PC Case with Hinged Top

Easy, Quick Access. Fits IBM PC/XT Mother Board, Hardware for Mounting 2 - 4 Drives - Quality Case, All Metal

1 -$69 2-3 $68 4-10 $65

PC-XT Mother Board IBM" Fully Compatible

8088 Micro-Processor with

8087 Math Pros Socket,

8 I/O Slots, 256K on Board Memory

Assembled & Tested Board & All Components

1 -$229 3-4 $219 4-10 $200

Over 10 Call

Add-Ons for IBM" PC & Compatibles

Disk Controller Card 59 • Color Graphics Card 89

Disk I/O Card (2 Ser, Par. Clocks, Game).. .139 • Color Card/Parallel Port 119

Parallel Printer Card 35 • Mono Graphic Card/Printer Port 119

Hi-Res Mono Card 79 • Speaker 4.00

Serial Card 35 • Game Adapter 25 • I/O Plus Card 89

Timrm I data

<^"— ] systems

2 OS/00 360K Disk Drive

384 RAM Memory, Amjer 20 MHz Monitor PI3 Built in ROM Diagnostics, 1 Expansion Slot

CZF-148-428U 1 , 350

One PIUS 7 Expansion Slots

CZF-158-42BU 1 ,850

One PtUS Hard Disk System.

20 Meg Winning 1/DS/DD 360K

384 RAM Memory. 8 MHz with 7 Expansion Slots

CZW-158-42BU 2,429

Trans Portable 128KRAM 24.2 ids.

2 DO 360K Drives

CZF-138-21 Call

LEASES A VAILABLE1 Ca",or auo,e'3S*lor Mr Morpnus.

Use our Toil-Free Order Line, Mon.-Fri. 9 am - 6 pm EST

New Advance Technology PC IBM PC/AT Compatible

Single DS/DD 1.2 Meg Disk Drive 512K RAM, Serial Parallel Amber 20 MHz Monitor (Pi3) Expandability for up to 12 simultaneous users CZF-241-81 Call

FOUr PlUS Hard Disk System

Same as above including 40 Meg Hard Disk

CZW-241-82BU Call

Portables 14.3 ibs. 250K ram

2 Standard DS/DD/360K Drives

CZ171-42 Call

-822-1211

^COMPUTERS

In Pennsylvania: 215-822-7727

252 Bethlehem Pike, Colmar, Penn 18915

BOOK REVIEWS

Some pages in The Computer Culture, like the ones covering on-line conferencing, are so archaic they give off an odor of lavender.

they do decide to move, their production speed can be an order of magnitude slower than the computer culture requires. I'm willing to guess that someone at Fairleigh Dickinson University Press saw "social issues" seeming to be addressed and finally gave a green light on the principle that social issues evolve less quickly than hardware.

The symposium was "part of Siena College's integrated humanities program" (translation: nothing too technical here), and the editor, Denis P. Donnelly, dithers mightily to persuade us that the jargon of social science, of which he is far from being a native speaker, can confer humane generality on something as rinky-dink as "the transistor switch."

Here's a sample: "When changes effect quantitative displacements, they also become agents of qualitative change in a given environment whether one is logging in a forest or waging war on a battlefield, for example." If prose, like Pascal, required writers to declare their variables, a sentence like that would detonate error messages. What it's trying to say is probably something like, "The transistor by its sheer speed has changed everything: so grab your hat and read on."

Like most of the introductory matter, what it's also saying is, "These big themes require big ponderous sentences. We address major issues here. The world we all grew up in slips from our grasp. Accredited themes for worry are well known: big machines, big changes. Big Brother. We'll all be worrying along."

Let me get most of this out of the way quickly. Some pages, like the ones covering a discussion of on-line conferencing, are so archaic they give off an odor of lavender. Elsewhere familiar worries are reinforced. While the computer can model fearfully complex interrelationships, we must beware of assumptions that get built into the model: "We are never free from the potential for misuse." That is something we'd all heard before we came in. Likewise, "We need computer systems and the information they produce, but somehow their limitations must be recognized." Somehow! You could glean as much from any op-ed page.

The first half of the book is about "Artificial Intelligence," the second half about "Computer Influences in Modern Culture." The former is unexpectedly rich: I'll come to it. The latter does contain one chunk of meat: Alan F. Westin's discussion of privacy, technology, and regulation.

The market, Westin reminds us, "deserves our continued respect" because "much of what could be done by com

[continued)

60 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Inquiry 4

Now the biggest name

in C compilers comes in a size

everybody can afford.

Let's C:

$75

Introducing Mark Williams' $75 C compiler. Want to explore C prograrnming for the first time? Or just on your own time? Now you can do it in a big way without spending that way. With Lets C.

This is no little beginners model. Let's C is a powerful programming tool, packed with all the essentials of the famous Mark Williams C Programming System. The one chosen by Intel, DEC, Wang

and thousands of professional programmers. The one that wins the

benchmarks and the reviewers' praise:

"(This compiler) has the most professional feel of any package we tested.. ."—BYTE

"Of all the compilers reviewed, (it) would be my first choice for product

development."—David W. Smith, PC WORLD

And now for more big news. Get our revolutionary csd C Source

Debugger for just $75, too. Use this coupon or charge by calling toll-free: \iou can breeze throueh

1-800-MWC-1700. In HI. call 312-472-6659. A . k4». ^

debugging at the C source

level ignoring clunky

assembler code.

Affordable, powerful,

debuggable. Mark Williams

Lets C is the big name C

compiler at a price you can

handle. Get your hands on

it now

Mark Williams Let's C

• For the IBM-PC and MS-DOS

• Fast compact code plus register variables

• Full Kernighan & Ritchie C and extensions

• Full UNIX" compatibility and complete libraries

• Small memory model

• Many powerful utilities including linker, assembler, archiver, cc one-step compiling, egrep, pr, tail, wc

• MicroEMACS full screen editor with source

• Supported by dozens of third party libraries

• Upgradeable to C Programming System for large scale applications development

Let's C Benchmark Done on an IBM-PC/XT, no 8087. Program: Floating Point from BYTE, August, 1983.

Exec Time in Seconds Let's C 134.20

MS 3.0 347.45

ORDER NOW! 60-DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!

Mark Williams Let's C

Please send tad

copies of Lets C and copies of csd (C Source Debugger )

at 575 each. (111. residents add 7% sales tax.) LJ Check LJ Money Order CI Visa, MasterCard or American Express

Address

City_

Zip_

Card#_

. Exp. Date

Signature _

1430 West Wrightwood Chicago, Illinois 60614

Mark

Williams

Company

Inquiry 221

© 1985 Mark Williams UNIX is a trademark of Bell Labs.

Inquiry 335

Uirbo Pascal Programmers:

Ihrbo-Task will make your program resident just like Sidekick!

You only need to add two lines to your source code. One declares Turbo-Task as an external procedure and the other is a call to Turbo-Task. There is only one parameter to pass, the numerical value of the key that will invoke your program. When you call Turbo-Task your program is installed in memory and can then be invoked at any time by pressing the "invoke key." The user can pop in and out of your software at will without disturbing any program in operation. Up to 16 programs can use Turbo-Task at the same time, each with its own invoke key and independent window. Turbo-Task does not interfere with SIDEKICK. Works with TURBO EDITOR and GAMEWORKS.

Ram-Page changes the Display Buffer Address

Hard to believe, right? But it works. Ram-Page pulls a fast one on Turbo Pascal and changes the value of the display buffer segment. This allows you to make a text page in the heap and then use any of Turbo's text handling procedures just as if you were writing to the screen. Write, Writeln, Clrscr, InsLine, DelLine, Gotoxy will be redirected to work on thetext page. Ram-View allows you to display any portion of the text page on the screen. This "window" is automatically updated as writes are made to the text page. Ram-Page handles up to 16 pages of any size. 256k of heap can be allocated as 80 chars by 1600 lines! The statement "Gotoxy (1, 1600)" is now a reality.

Turbo Linker breaks the 64k Code Segment Barrier

Turbo-Linker performs two important functions: it allows your program to grow beyond 64k, and it eliminates the need to continually recompile debugged routines. Turbo-Linker will convert a set of your procedures into a module that can be loaded into the heap at run time. These procedures will operate in the heap thus freeing space in the code segment for the main program. In effect, it is using the heap for overlays, except these "overlay" modules can be shared by any number of programs. Once you create a module, you never have to recompile it. You can maintain a library of modules of your frequently used procedures. You can load up 16 modules into a program, each with up to 64 procedures or functions.

All these utilities - ONLY $70

Tangent"

180 North Wacker Drive • Suite350 • Chicago, IL 60606 • (312)263-0024 MC/VISA Supports version 3.0 for PC-DOS and MS-DOS

Turbo Pascal, Turbo Editor, Gameworks and Sidekick are trademarks of Borland Intl.

j^^ihe J\m 16 gives you Out of This World Performance

:«4*S

!»**

PLUS PC COMPATABILITY!

Features:

• 8 MHz 80186 microprocessor

with true 16-bit data bus.

• True PC compatability with

our own custom ROM BIOS and PC cardslots for the video of your choice.

• Standard 512K zero wait

DRAM, 640K or 1M options.

• 8087 numeric coprocessor

port.

• On-board floppy disk con^^- troller for up to four 5V<"

r^J drives.

^•iOn-board SCSI hard disk controller port.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

NEW LOWER PRICES

POTI

P.O. Box 128 904 North 6th Street Lake City, MN 55041 (612) 345-4555

Kits

• Not So Bare Board $250

• Quick Kit $625

• Full Kit $795

• Assembled and Tested. .. $895

• 128K Add-On $ 90

• V4 MEG Add-On $240

• XT Style, Flip Top

Enclosure $ 85

• 150 Watt Power Supply . .$135

• 5'/4" 48TPI DS Vi Height Floppy Disk Drive $125

Total Solutions:

Assembled and Tested Systems

• Mono-Chrome System . .$1,865

Includes: 640K, Power Supply, Enclosure, Keyboard, Monitor, Two Drives, and Printer Port.

• Color System Call

" Quantity Discounts

Upon Request

• Call For Info on Add-Ons,

Hard Disks, Etc.

BOOK REVIEWS

puters will be done on a large scale in the United States only if someone can make a great deal of money from it or if the government is willing to pay for it." Most of the Big Brother talk we've heard implies "awesomely expensive" implementation, and "Information is a power resource that nobody gives freely."

In fact, "We can. . .often give greater protection to information in a computer system than in the highly decentralized, leaky manual-record era." No, Westin's not sanguine, but "as long as we keep on struggling, pointing out the potential abuses. . .we will not be caught unaware." He discerns "an interesting marriage between the liberal political and the strong conservative viewpoints on limiting information abuse," and he's right.

That is one rewarding stretch in this book, and the other is the AI section. MIT's Marvin Minsky and Yale's Roger C. Schank set up a discussion that never gets off the ground because on page 79, "Influences in Modern Culture" drearily takes over. I don't downplay Minsky if I call Schank especially interesting. Minsky's format didn't allow him to canvass particulars the way Schank's did, and Schank gives as lucid an account of his script-recognition work as you'll find anywhere.

How does a program work its way through a story so effectively it can answer questions the story leaves implicit? By translating downward into a more general language with, for instance, just 11 "verbs." "Eleven primitive actions can express all human activities that there are in the world." A fascinating claim, and we're shown the list.

Schank is saying that if we stay inside a system of words we can hope to generate whatever additional words may be required to pass Turing's test. (Turing's test implied that a machine might as well be called "intelligent" if a questioner couldn't tell it wasn't.) In a "Postscript" the Siena audience apparently never heard, Skidmore's Warren Hockenos denies that radically. You cannot, he implies, reduce "meaning" by altering strings of tokens to other strings of tokens; "meaning" implies an intending intelligence. When I say "horse" I assert my perception of a horse, "real" perhaps or hallucinatory perhaps, but somehow perceived, by me, and that matters.

How it matters we might have learned if Schank had answered, but as far as I can tell they never heard each other. That's the major botched opportunity in a botched book.

Hugh tenner is a professor of English at ]ohns Hopkins University {Baltimore. MD 21218).

MICROSOFT MACINATIONS

Reviewed by Scott L. Norman

Microsoft Macinations is an excellent self-teaching guide to Microsoft BASIC as implemented on the Macintosh. Mitchell Waite, Robert Lafore. and Ira Lansing have

{continued}

62 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Inquiry 265

A NEW SOLUTION from Microcomputer Accessories. Inc.

OPEN AND SHUT CASE.

Shut—

LOCKIMQ SO DISK +HFILE

Holmes, it's criminal—these "sloppy disks" all over the desk! How can we keep them

secure and dust-free and still have access

to the active ones?

Mystery solved, Watson. This new 50 + 4 Locking Disk File provides a locking, smoked plastic enclosure for up to 50 5V4" diskettes, plus an open, up-front, instant access, swap-rack for 4 diskettes. Let me call your attention to the built-in handle, and the adjustable dividers with adhesive labels. Note the rear storage pocket for extra labels.

By Jove, Holmes, open and shut simultaneously! It's perfect for those powerful integrated, multi-disks systems—and no one's thought of it before! Holmes, you never cease to amaze me.

Elementary, my dear Watson.

Microcomputer 0*t Accessories,Inc. ^|JP

Built-in carry handle

USA: P.O. Box3725, Culver City, CA90231. Telephone 213/641-1800. EUROPE: Rue de Florence 37,1050 Bruxelles, Belgique. Telephone02/538.61.73Inquiry 235 for End-Users. Inquiry 236 for DEALERS ONLY. MARCH 1986 ■ B Y T E 63

VIP SERVICE

'

Anoek 8

T |

{& ::r

~\ n

'

k

*

■i

.11. J*

1

r

&

- »

1

If you 're a serious PC user, you know that even the finest personal computer products can develop problems. When that happens, Micro Mart customers know they can trust us to get them on-line again.

We have the largest in-house service department in the Southeast. Our experienced

technicians offer the fast, reliable service that business needs. Plus expert advice and information to help you select the right PC options from our $15 million inventory.

Micro Mart service and support. For some very important people. Our customers.

Call us today.

COMPUTERS

AT&T Color and Mono Systems in stock Start at $1795

MULTIFUNCTION BOARDS

We have a complete line of Multifunction Boards compatible with the Portable, XT/AT.

SIX PAK 64-384K, multifunc

I/O MINNIE I/O shortboard for

Portable & AT New low Price!

ADVANTAGE 128K-3Mb,

expansion for AT

RAMPAGE 64K-2Mb NEW!

QUADRAM QUADBOARD Loaded,

384K CALL!

QUADRAM GOLDBOARD, 384K

TECMAR CAPTAIN 0-384K, multifunc.

_$175 TALLTREEJ-RAML __CALL!

GRAPHIC CARDS

HERCULES Mono & Color

Graphics cards New Low Price!

TECMAR Graphics Master, HiRes Color & Mono supports Lotus _ $449 QUADRAM Ouadcolor I & II

color cards

PARADISE Multi-display or modular

graphics cards From $199

STB Chauffeur &

EGA Plus From $289

SIGMA Color 400 for

PGS SR-12 New Low Price!

FLOPPYDISK DRIVES

TANDONTM 100-2, DD/DS,

360K New low, low price!

V, HEIGHT Disk Drives from Shugart, Mitsubishi, TEAC and Toshiba. PC, XT & AT Compatible- From $99 BEST SUPPLY ON EAST COAST

HARD DISCS

IRWIN/TANDBERG Tape back-up

systems From $495

SEAGATE Fast 10,20,30, and 75

Meg. for PC & AT CALL!

R0DIME Hard Discs in Stock_CALL!

SYSGEN Complete line

—Call for our special Sysgen pricing! BERNOULLI TECHNOLOGY Hard

disc Subsystems From $2875

PRIAM Superfast 40 S 60 Meg.

for AT Call!

INTERDYNE10 mg. Reel to Reel

Tape Back-up $439

Best availability of voice coil and stepper motor hard drives with highest quality controllers From $495

SOFTWARE

ACCOUNTING, SPREADSHEETS & INTEGRATED PACKAGES

S0RCIM/IUS Complete line including Windows From $295/each

S0RCIM SuperCalc3,

vers. 2.0_

.New Low Price!

ENHANCEMENTS & UTILITIES FOX & GELLER Complete line for

dBase ll/lll, RBase 4000

NORTON Utilities 3.0 $69

R0SES0FT ProKey 3.0 $89

CENTRAL POINT SOFTWARE Copy II PC.

SOFTSTYLE Set FX+ and Printworks, printer control _ SIDEWAYS Inverts printout. BORLAND SideKick

$35

.$51

$459 and SuperKey

BORLAND Lightning and Reflex

From $40

New! Call!

COMPILERS & LANGUAGE TOOLS

LATTICE C-Compilers $279

MICROSOFT Complete line. MICROSOFT

OuickBasic New Low price!

BORLAND Turbo Pascal,Turbo Toolbox & more From $35/each

GRAPHICS

Z-S0FT PC Paintbrush, mouse

graphics $95

DECISION RESOURCES ChartMaster Latest Version, CALL!

MICROSOFT Chart CALL!

MICROSOFT Windows CALL!

COMMUNICATIONS

MICROSTUF Crosstalk XVI,

Latest version $99

HAYES Smartcom II $85

WORD PROCESSING

MULTIMATE w/spelling checker

& tutorial New Low Price!

SAMNA+ $369

MICROSOFT Word. New

version New Low Price!

LIFETREE Volkswriter

Deluxe $169

SSI WordPerfect,

version 4.1 _ New Low Price, CALL! MICROPRO WordStar Professional series New Low Price!

OFFICE & PROJECT PLANNING

HARVARD Total Project

Manager $339

SORCIM/IUS Super Project_$199 MICROSOFT Project $175

DATA BASE MANAGERS

Call for unadvertised Data Base

Managers

MICRORIM 5000, Report Writer

& Clout New Low Price!

WARNER SOFTWARE The Desk

Organizer $145

MICROSTUF Infoscope. $99

NETWORKING!

PROTOCOL

CONVERSION

SNA &BISYNC 3780,5251. Mi 11 & 12,3274,3278_

PC TURBO 186/187 board, 128K, 8087 Serial Board attached _ $875 IRMA Complete line From $849

PRINTERS

We have thousands in stock. DOT MATRIX

EPSON FX85/286 NEW!

EPSON LQ1500/LQ800/

LQ1000 New Prices!

0KIDATA192& 193, ML84, Pacemark 2410

TOSHIBA P-341.P-351

& 1340 New Low Prices!

NEC New P-5.P-6&P-7.Low Price! LETTER QUALITY

NEC Spinwriters 2050,3550,

8850 New Low Prices!

EPSON DX20&DX35.

_New Letter Quality Printers!

We carry a full range of form handling options.

CHIPS

All our chips are tested and priced

for quick sale. Call us!

INTEL 8087,80287, high speed

coproc Call for Market Price.

64K-256K RAMCHIPS

Call for Market Price.

128K Piggy-back chips for

your AT Call for Market Price.

MODEMS

HAYES Smartmodem 300,1200, 1200B & 2400We have the best

stock in the USA Call!

VEN-TEL1200 Baud Half Card

w/Crosstalk $399

PEACHTREE TECHNOLOGIES P-1200 ext $279

MISCELLANEOUS

MAXELL Diskettes

$25

DYSAN Diskettes at the lowest

price in the USA Call!

MOUSE SYSTEMS PC Mouse,

optical w/software $139

MICROSOFT Mouse, bus or serial

mechanical New model in stock!

KEYTRONICS 5151

keyboards CALL!

KEYTRONICS 5153 Keyboard

with mouse NEW!

KENSINGTON MICR0WARE MasterPiece $99

CURTIS Accessories, Pedestals, cables, etc.

$45

GRAVIS Joysticks

QUADRAM Microfazer print

buffer 8-128K From $129

TRIPPELITE ISOBAR surge

protectors, 4 & 8 plug From $49

POLAROID Palette_ $1245

MONITORS

AND CRTS

PGSMax12(E),HX12,HX12(E),

& SR-12 New Low Prices!

AMDEK Color 600 CALL!

AMDEK 722, New alternative to

IBM enhanced monitor $569

AMDEK 300A/300G/

310A $129/$119/$165

©Copyright 1986, Micro Mart, Inc. Technology Corporate Campus 3159 Campus Drive Norcross, Georgia 30071

Prices are subject to change without notice and are similar, but may vary at over 20 Micro Mart Retail Stores.

Leasing and financing options

are available. MasterCard/VISA

or ask for

Micro Mart

Blue Chip

Credit.

YOUR PKRSONALaUIF.CHIP CARD

1234 567 890 123

(404) 449-8089

Orders only

1-800-241-8149

BT3/86

America's PC Specialist

Inquiry 233

MARCH 1986

I Y T E 65

1 .....,...£.- ™. <-urjufciu>»i.>ijuiS) iiiuiiuuntmernirpuiauuii. LUUIL-UNbl ~lX?uii.-untT" and COMPKEHENSION" are trademarks ofThundcrctone Corporation, a division of Ex pansiun

Pnigratus International, and tequite a I28K IBM PC or compatible with at least one diskette drive and run under MS/DOS 2 I and up. Advertising & PR hy TRBA. 40K/25X-270K.

Inquiry 65

MARCH 1986 • B YT E 67

FNHANCED GRAPHICS ADAPTER

c

A L L

SUPER DISCOUNT WHOLESALER

BTE

COMPUTERS, INC.

C A L

L

IBM XT 512K. FLOPPY S19BB

IBM XT 512K.20MEG HD J2488

IBM AT 512K floppy $3288

IBM AT 512K. FLOPPY 20 MEG HD $3788

512K (OK) MEMORY CARD t 48

384K |0K) XTMLIIFCT CARD $ 98 COLOR GRAPHICS CARD S 78

ZENITH 148 $1098

ZENITH 158 J1598

ZENITH 177 $1988

ZENITH 200 AT $1888

20 MEG SEAGATE HD $ 488

10 MEG IRWIN TAPE

BACK-UP $ 468

MONITORS

AMDEK color 600 $388

SONY IBM HI RES COLOR $488

TAXAN IBM HI RES COLOR $395

ZENITH AMBER TTL $159

RF MODULATOR ibm or apple $9.99 OTHER PRICES CALL

PRINTERS

CITIZEN mspio $248

EPSON FX85 $368

OKIDATA 182 $216

IBM PRINTER CABLE (HI OUALITYI . $ 15

APPLE 2, or 2e CABLE $ 15

OTHER PRICES CALL

INTRODUCING THE NEW SUPER SPC XT PORTABLE

FITS ANY IBM PC. XT or APPLE II +. HE or AT COMPATIBLE MOTHER BOARDS

KIT INCLUDES:

• TTL 01 COMPOSITE ( MM )

• 3 DISK DRIVE SLOTS ( '

• HARDWARE RESET

• POWER ON INDICATOR

• KEYEO POWER SWITCH

• AUTOMATIC BRIGHTNESS CONTROL

• EASY TO ASSEMBLE INCLUDES

• 9. HIGH RES MONITOR

• 135 W SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY

• KEYBOARD

• ABS CASE ACCESSORIES. MOUNTING HARDWARE ASSEMBLY MANUAL

UP TO 6 EXPANSION SLOTS

ASSEMBLED AND TESTED

SPC XT 256K FLOPPY MONO ...J 999 SPC XT 256K FLOPPY

10 MEG HD $1499

SPC XT 256K FLOPPY 10 MEG HD

10 MEG TAPE BACK UP $1999

ONLY

$695

SUPER SPC AT" TOTALLY IBM AT HARDWARE & SOFTWARE COMPATIBLE

MOTHER BOARD

80286 MICROPROCESSOR

80287 COPROCESSOR lOPTIONALl 512K STANDARD MEMORY

8 I/O EXPANSION SLOTS lOKI ONLY

$999

• SUPER AT KEYBOARD $ 89

• SUPER AT CASE $ 89

• SUPER AT 200 WATI

POWER SUPPLY $149

• 2 5M MULTI-FUNCTION

CARD (OKI $229

SUPER COMPATIBLE PC/XT motherboard

HARDWARE & SOFTWARE new short color s

• 256K TOTALLY IBM XI COMPATIBLE WMBB&SBk- MONOCHROME •ONLY $149 :§■ GRAPHICS CARD

• MONOCHROME GRAPHIC PRINTER :W& B:

• Mill.11 1,0 CARD J128 KHKi,

• PARALLEL PRINTER CARD S 28 IHBP$ S ■ mhiiui u--.

• SERIAL CARD S 28 I

• GAME PORT ADAPTER S 28 flfli^HU,

• EPROM WRITER CARD SIO'I "^tF"™**^ J15Q

PROI I .mi.. MANUA1 -'.M SIlltWMU IN M'

APPLE COMPATIBLE PRODUCTS

> *ppie ««■ COW Al BU ■■'

. :.- ... ..'.-■

wmvev m

• APPiE »<■■ Hft LACEMEH1

NUMEHICAt ntVBO«Rl! . APPLE UtHEPiACEMENT NOMtRiCAi CASI

• POWER SUPPL1 iNEPVACf

• AW\1 DETACHAM I K

W hi ■> AG . ii i i i :i- . i 3MPATIBI i UDIHEK BC3AHO . •PPIE »• REFlACEUENI CASS . M*I'L( in HEPlACEMEUT "F tm AMI . apple ii■ FUNCTION » NUU KEYBOARD

PfllNtEfl ■-< ■

• 13

IQ1 IMF. .,, • •

'42»

DISK CONTROLLER i AMI

isk MEMORY i ANOUAQI I ARI

'29"

EPSON PfPI i-himiih CAM

'29"

i15™

fanc JOYSTICK

,19™

•118"

IK DRIVI ■

•13B"

suPEn PANS ■ OH M''li n

'27»

:.. :

2e EXTERNAL KEYE

2eINTERNAL KEYBOARD

W/KEYPAD

P.O.BOX30705C

MAIL TO BTE. Inc.

PHOENIX, AZ 85046-0705'

PHONE (602) 867-8962

MASTER CHARGE VISA. ARE WELCOME S5 00 MINIMUM SHIPPING & HANDLING.

NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. ALL PRODUCTS SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY

OR STOCK ON HANO. ALL PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICEI

ALL SALES ARE CASH DISCOUNT PRICES! REFUNDS ARE CREDITED ONLY.

BOOK REVIEWS

The authors use a simple program fragment to introduce a major topic, then build upon it by describing how to add more polished options.

the reader with code that can be used to add menus to BASIC programs. Like the commercial variety, user-written menus can include such niceties as check marks to indicate the last selection made and dimmed lettering for selections that are unavailable at a particular point.

The step-by-step approach is characteristic of this part of the book. The authors use a simple program fragment to introduce a major topic, then build upon it by describing how to add more polished options. The attentive reader can wind up with the beginnings of a nice library of core routines for civilized programming.

The book then covers video "buttons" activated with a mouse click. There are three types: push buttons, which make things happen immediately, and radio buttons and check boxes, both of which can be used to make selections that will influence some subsequent action. The DIALOG function is introduced as the means of determining which button, if any, has been "clicked."

Windows, dialog boxes, and edit fields (like the filename box in the "Save As. . ." window) are covered at length. The versatile DIALOG gets a major workout here. The reader can learn how to set up dialog boxes that will accept either the clicking of a "Save" button or the pressing of the Enter key on the Mac's keyboard to record data in an edit field: another example of using built-in routines to add polish to your own code.

QuickDraw

The most publicized of the Mac's ROM resources is probably the QuickDraw family of graphics routines, reached from BASIC with a CALL statement. The authors contrast QuickDraw with LINE, CIRCLE, and similar functions of other Microsoft BASICS.

The concept of QuickDraw's pen metaphor for drawing leads to other topics: functions for drawing lines and changing the size and pattern of the pen itself. This in turn brings up the idea of representing an 8 by 8 arrangement of pixels (the pen pattern) as an array of hexadecimal numbers for storage in the Mac's memory. There is even a BASIC program. Pattern Editor, with which you can create a pattern in a FatBits-like window; the program then generates the associated integers. In one of the book's few miscues, the backslash symbol for integer division is used in this program without ever being defined in the text.

The final topics in the chapter include the PENMODE

{continued)

68 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 92

Finally!

File Names That Make Sense!

TM

Organizes Your Files, Simplifies DOS, and Speeds Up Your PC

Every time you face the maze of 8 character file names in your computer you probably wonder why there isn't a better way. At TranSec Systems we felt the same way. So we developed a better file management program for our own use and after using this new program we knew every PC should have it.

The Heart of PCEasy, The heart of the PCEasy system is

its expanded 32 character capability to name your files. Thus you can use easily remembered names, plain words, - even dates - to name your files. You can also name file "folders" to place reports, letters, spreadsheets, programs or whatever in their own logical, easy to find place.

With PCEasy you can forget those half forgotten or cryptic file names. And to keep it easy, you don't have to type the name again and again to access the file. All you have to do is select the file you want and PCEasy finds it for you -- fast!

PCEasy file names work with most of the popular application programs such as Lotus 1-2-3™, Symphony™ dBase III™, and Framework™. In fact, PCEasy works with nearly any program because it translates PCEasy file names to standard DOS file names for your program application - automatically! PCEasy makes your work easier in other ways, too. PCEasy features quick, easy menu access to your application programs and DOS operating commands. You just select the function you want and PCEasy does the rest for you.

PCEasy Makes Your Computer Work Faster Too.

We've added some other features we think you'll like. Commands are performed faster and DOS runs faster and more efficiently. We've even added an expanded "type ahead" buffer to keep the system speedy.

PCEasy Makes Your Work Easier, and is Easy To Use.

You can use PCEasy without learning a lot of new, complicated commands and extra keystrokes. PCEasy actually prompts you through DOS commands and on-line help is always available.

PCEasy works with any IBM PC, XT, AT or compatible computers. DOS 2.1 or higher and 256K or larger is required.

Not Copy Protected

Special Introductory Offer!

Save 15% Off the Regular Price of $74.95 for PCEASY™

Call Today to Order Your Copy

(305) 474-7548

Only $63.50 (For a Limited Time Only)

Please Add $5.00 Shipping and Handling (Foreign Orders $15.00)

Use your fjj 3 or SQ)

Inquiry 357

17:41 C:\DOCUMENT>dir/w

Directory of C:\D0ClTIEKT

ANGELS HOC DEALERS TXT FMJNLl TXT GEISZPMT 893 1GLSERV TSI I .EASEEND JBG LINTON 1 NOTE TSI POUINEIL IOC RESUME TXT STHLDB91 TSI.CASH TXT ((PRINTER FIL STEARNS PUT

BRANCH TXT DFL-TEH1 TSI GEISZ125 LTR GEISZFHT 884 INTKL1HV IOC LETTER HED MANAGING TXT OFFER TSI PFHJ91? EXT RETURN.!) TXT STDCKHLD TXT IIHL0CO TXT Y

ACCEPTAN TSI BYTE BEG

DFL.SVC TSI GEISZDEC LTR ItT.IFL TSI JIG-CSLT TSI LICENSE HOC MEMO

PAY0UT2 TXT PRINTER EXE SALES.HI FN SUIORD IFL USER.INS TXT WPHEX SUP

A11UM1 AH1 BYTE LTR DIR1INF0 TXT

GEiszmr 881 lcijicnr tsi

JIG-TERM TSI LICENSE IGI M1N8B29 TXT PCNEEIL TXT REGISTER CRD SETTLE JIG SUIORD JBG UPFEED FIL <IIP)SYS FIL

ALmns lit

CUSTHI TXT BLRINFO TXT

GEiszmr

IGl.OPEI TSI LEASEA1I BOC LICENSE JK NCNtSUGC DOC PIMTKI BOC RELATED STEAMS MY SUPPLEHE TXT WPFDNT FIL IRS83 JK

71 Fllo(l) 296816 Mo:

STANDARD DOS SCREEN

| DOCttfENT

-r—Date—pTI«e-r—Short uh

9,725 8/13/05 5:23p rLICENSE .MC

1,814 18/84/85 9:5B. CUSTOI .TXT

2,678 18/31/85 18:18a PEAIE1 > .1X1

2,383 7/19/85 18:22. DLRINFO .1X1

1,558 11/18/85 11:58a LEASEAIi.KK

1,848 7/82/85 5:88p FSG_QC_I.TXT

1,554 12/B6/BS 6:48p BYTE 111

2,819 18/25/85 S:S3p POUHEU.BOC

2,648 7/B9/85 S:8Bp PC_UEEK_.TXT

26B 7/82/85 S:88p MMWIM .1X7

9,725 8/13/85 5:3Bp LICENSE IGI

12,141 9/17/85 3:24p STHTD891.

3,719 12/16/85 3:34p ALDUni .AW

3.873 7/16/85 3:33p USE«_ I US. 1X1

28,272 7/82/85 6:B2p UNLOOLU.TXI

1,558 11/81/85 S:12p IEC1STEI.CU

PC EASY FILES MENU

PfinsRV PROGRAMS]Framework

■(Morton Utllltlnl

DOS T. 16 f> January 19Bfc 5:27:39 i

■-mmw/TTT rrmirnrT^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiM

Con 'IIn novo Pllit PI In

•olata riloa Prl.t Plln (Otkar BOB Co-.nda]

A: (f) 94*

I: (t) Idle

C: (h)

I: (h) S7Z

COM:

C0M1:

[frets Enter for Help in using puEasy.

PC EASY PROGRAM MENU

The company that brought you UnLock ™ to remove copy protection

TM

TranSec Systems, Inc. 1802-200 North University Drive Plantation, FL 33322 DEALER AND VAR INQUIRIES INVITED

Trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners

MARCH I986 -BYTE 69

Inquiry 281

So you can't get Toshiba Printer Accessories, Bunkie?

Any time (24 hours) grab your VISA or MasterCard

ffl 800/854-0561"

IN CALIFORNIA CALL 800/432-7257 EXT 837

Type Font Cartridge:P351, P341,P321 Type Font Disks (Downloadable)

T/FC011 S69

Bold Face Letter Gothic

T/FC012 J69

Elite Italic Gothic 15

T/FC013 JB9

Greek/Math I jv.m^a-dsis

APLI')<S»>]VA*+,+./«I

T/FC014S69

Greek/Math II i" »$*» abtaeez

SClPil •■"-*( <,.\'L1«f*a

T/FC015S69

OratorI Orator2

T/FC016S69

Outlinal Sclipt

T/FC017S59

Theme Litalic

T/FC018S69

Bl tal Ic1 OCR-B

Ribbon for 3-in-One Printers

G/FD051 J50: Sci 4. Sci 5, Sci 124. Sci 125

G/FD052 J25: Miniset

G/FD053 $30: Maxisel

T/FD016 $69: T Origin 2, L Gothic 2. B Italic 1. Gothic

15, E italic 1 T/FO011 $49: T Origin 2. L Gclhic 2. B Italic 1 T/FD014 $49: Orator 1. Orator 2, Outline 1 T/FD015 $49: Theme. Script. L Italic T/FD013 $69: Greek/Math 1. Greek Math II. APL1.

Sci P11 T/FD02I $49: Micro 1, Italic 1, Italic 2 T/FD031 $35: Courier. Graph 10. Elite. Graph 12 F/FD001 $95: Micro 1, Copper 1, Italic 1. Italic 2. Zip

1, Micro 20. Science 1 F/ FD002 $95: Boss 1, D Gothic 1, C Italic 1. G Italic 1,

Fathead 1, Gothic 15, Greek 1 F/FD003 $95: Courier 1. L Gothic 1, Orator 1, Script 1.

Italic 17, Symbol 12, Hebrew 1 F/FD004 $95: Roman 1. Elite Italic. 0CR-A. OCR-B.

Presitge Pica, Greek 2, Micro 15

P3S1 Dual Emulation Kit

T/R001 $12: Ribbon tor 3-in-0ne Printers

Startup Kit

T/SK $99: Sample kit containing Type Font Cartridge. Type Font Disk. Printer Ribbon, Data Disk and much, much more.

T/DE351 $99: Upgrade early model P351 to add IBM Graphics Printer emulation.

Upgrade your early model P351 printer to add IBM Graphics Printer emulation. Complete instructions included.

lr»H!liWR7T.DEALERS WELCOME!!

99% Haves comDatible 300/1200

' Auto dial, nuio answer (tone or pulse)

• 8 status indicators & switch selectable

■ Auto speed selection {0-300. 1200 bps,"

• Speaker with volume control

• Aluminum case, w/adaptor

7 Days Money Back Guaranj (except handling S15)

6 MONTH WARRANTY

Modern board completely assembled, & guaranteed. 5 minutes assembly.

SEMI-ASSEMBLED

MODEM <£-| -jQUISflaEp

KIT ™ ™

ALPHA CONCORD

MODEM

ONLY* $1 39

$129

PC/XT 1200 bps

Add 5% Shipping Charge

INTERNAL MODEM $125

NEW!! Make PC/XT/Compatible run 30% to 50% £__ __

faster 4.77/6.77 Mhz switchable. Easv to install. $29.95

BUILD YOUR PORTABLE XT/AT

XT PORTABLE $399

(Price includes only case, full size keyboard,

9" monitor, 130 watt power supply.)

(Fit mega/XT/AT m-board & standard cards.)

Replacement & 99% Compatible

AT COMPATIBLE MOTHERBOARD

Size, weight & look likes Compaq.

CONCORD Technology Ltd.

47 W. Broadway, Van., B.C. Canada V5Y 1P1 Ph. (604) 879-3555 or (604) 879-7419

$750

Bareboard SCall

XT or APPL lie MOTHERBOARD

$155 each

tested guaranteed 99% compatible

Color card -$70 Control card $45

FACTORY PRICES ON

AT/XT or lie cases, cards, keyboards (minimum 25) SCall

BOOK REVIEWS

Anyone mastering all this material could possbily write a BASIC version of MacPaint.

statement and the ways in which its eight modes affect the relationship between the pixels of the pen and pattern and the background, and the use of QuickDraw's builtin routines for drawing rectangles, round-corner rectangles, and ovals. Anyone mastering all this rriaterial could possibly write a BASIC version of MacPaint as a final exercise.

Microsoft Macinations returns to more conventional topics with a discussion of sequential and random-access disk files. First, the reader is gently led through the commands for opening, closing, writing to, and reading from a sequential file. Next come the useful Mac-specific functions FlLES$(0) and FILES$(1). The former sets up a dialog box for saving a file, complete with prompting message and push buttons. FILES$(l), on the other hand, allows you to select the name of an existing disk file from a scrolling dialog box. There is a brief discussion of file-type identifiers and their use in restricting the names that appear in the box.

The coverage of sequential files ends with a little program that creates a simple employee file and calculates total pay from pay rate and hours worked. The same topic is used as an example in the discussion of random-access files. This portion of the book includes a nice treatment of the necessary conversion of numeric variables to character strings before they can be written to a randomaccess file. The use of index tables for finding your way around a file is touched upon; no sample programs are developed, however.

The last two chapters cover animation and multivoice sound—possibly as rewards for mastering the material on files. The GET and PUT statements, which together with PSET and PRESET form the basics of animation, are introduced. The authors present a convenient form of the equation for computing the size of the one-dimensional array needed to store image points. They also explain the use of a two-dimensional array for storing multiple images for animation. The final topic in the animation chapter is interfacing with MacPaint—that is, importing images through the Clipboard. That is as close as the book comes to discussing the Mac's generalized device I/O.

Multivoice sound depends on two commands: SOUND and WAVE. The final chapter of Microsoft Macinations deals with them. Here you can find the details of how to set up a data array to simulate the equal-tempered scale. There are numerous routines for adding sound effects to games, programming music chords, and experimenting with nonsinusoidal waveforms. The last program is a rather elaborate waveform tester that allows you to experiment

[continued]

70 B YTE • MARCH I986

Inquiry 94

THE PROFESSIONAL'S CHOICE

■£*" Lotus 1-2-3

$319

-^ Lotus Symphony

$439

$369

S n $369

$219

Perfect 4-1

$209

Software

Word Processing Ed FANCY FONT FINAL WORD MICROSOFT WORD MULTIMATE MULTIMATE

ADVANTAGE OFFICE WRITER/

SPELLER PF8: WRITE SAMNA WORD III VOLKSWRITER

DELUXE VOLKSWRITER

SCIENTIFIC WORD PERFECT 4.1 WORDSTAR WORDSTAR 2000 WORDSTAR 2000+ WORDSTAR PRO XYWRITE lh

Database Systems ALPHA DATA BASE

MANAGER II CLIPPER CLOUT V 2.0 CONDOR III CORNERSTONE DBA8E III

KNOWLEDGEMAN 2 PARADOX PC FOCUS PF8: FILE/PFS:

REPORT POWERBASE OUICKCODE III OUICKREPORT R BASE 5000 REFLEX REVELATION

Spreadsheets/ Integrated Packages

ELECTRIC DESK ENABLE FRAMEWORK II JAZZ

LOTUS 1-2-3 MULTIPLAN OPEN ACCESS SMART SYSTEM SPREADSHEET

AUDITOR SUPERCALC 3 SYMPHONY

itors

S139 $179 $219 $219

$269

$159

$269 I209 1199 249 289 259

1189

$209 348 369

$399 319

$135 359 $529

$109 $209 $439

Graphics BPS BUSINESS

GRAPHICS CHARTMASTER CHARTSTAR DIAGRAM MASTER EXECUVISION ENERGRAPHICS FREELANCE GEM DRAW GRAPHWRITER

COMBO IN-A-VISION MS CHART-NEW OVERHEAD

EXPRESS PC DRAW PC PAINTBRUSH PFS: GRAPH SIGNMASTER

Project Management

HARVARD TOTAL

PROJECT MANAGER $279 MICROSOFT

PROJECT-NEW $249 PROJECT SCHEDULER

NETWORK $339

SUPERPROJECT $209

TIMELINE 2.0 $299

Desktop Environments

DESK ORGANIZER $ 69

GEM DESKTOP $ 39

SIDEKICK $ 39

Communications/

Productivity Tools

CROSSTALK $ 99

CROSSTALK MKIV $149

PROKEY $ 89

KEYWORKS $ 59

RELAY GOLD SC.II

REMOTE $119

SMARTERM $C.II

SMARTCOMII $99

SUPERKEY $ 55

Statistics

SPSS/PC $695

STATPAK-NWA $329 STATPAC

WALONICK $349

SYSTAT $419

Professional Development

LIGHTYEAR $319

THINK TANK $109

Languages/Utilities CONCURRENT DOS C86 C COMPILER Dfl FORTRAN 77 FASTBACK

LATTICE C COMPILER MARK WILLIAMS C MICROSOFT C

COMPILER MS BASIC COMPILER MS FORTRAN NORTON UTILITIES OUICK BASIC TURBO PASCAL XENIX

Accounting BPI

GREAT PLAINS IUS EASYBUSINESS ONE WRITE PLUS OPEN SYSTEMS PEACHTREE REAL WORLD STAR ACCOUNTING

PARTNER STAR ACCOUNTING

PARTNER II

$299 $479 $319 $179 $359 $289 $369

$249

$529

Hardware

Display Boards AST PREVIEW $279

EVEREX EDGE $309

EVEREX GRAPHICS

EDGE $319

GENDA SPECTRUM $Call

HERCULES GRAPHICS

CARD $299

HERCULES COLOR

CARD $159

PARADISE MODULAR

GRAPHICS $275

PARAOISE

MULTIDISPLAY CARD $285 SIGMA COLOR 400 $489

STB CHAUFFER $279

TECMAR GRAPHICS

MASTER $459

TSENG ULTRA PAK $429

TSENG ULTRA PAK-S $369

Multifunction Boards AST ADVANTAGE $389

AST 6 PAK PLUS (64K) $229 AST 6 PAK PLUS 384K) $249 GOLD QUADBOARD (OK) $419 ORCHID BLOSSOM

(OK) $199

ORCHID BLOSSOM

(384K) $249

ORCHID PC TURBO

(256K) $699

PERSYST TIME SPECTRUM

(OK) $199

PERSYST TIME SPECTRUM

(384K) QUADBOARD (OK) OUADBOARD (384K) SILVER QUADBOARD

TECMAR CAPTAIN

(OK) TECMAR CAPTAIN

(384K) TECMAR JR CAPTAIN

(128K) TECMAR WAVE (64K)

Emulation Boards AST 5251-11 AST 5251-12 AST BSC AST SNA CXI 3278/9 Plus IRMA IRMALINE

Networks AST PC NET CORVUS NET ORCHID PC NET 3COM

$249 $189 $219

$219

$199

$229

$289 $209

599 549 489 599 959 799

SCall SCall SCall $Call

Mass Storage/Backup

EXCEL STREAM 60 TAPE

(INT) $899

IOMEGA BERNOULLI

BOX-NEWI $2445

IRWIN 310A 10MB TAPE

(EXT) $850

IRWIN 110D 10MB TAPE

(INT) $499

MAYNSTREAM 60MB TAPE

(INT) $1199

MOUNTAIN ORIVECARD

10MB $789

TALLGRASS $Call

TECMAR QIC-60AT TAPE

(INT) $1199

Monitors AMDEK 310A $169

AMDEK 300/500 $249/349

AMDEK 600/710 $449/469

PRINCETON HX-12 PRINCETON MAX-12E PRINCETON SR-12 PRINCETON HX-12E $559

PRINCETON HX-9 $529

TAXAN 122 AMBER $159

TAXAN 630/640 $469/539

Modems

AST REACH 1200 HAYES 1200 HAYES 1200B HAYES 2400 TRANSNET 1000 VENTEL 1200 HALF CARD WATSON

$389 $389 $349 $579 $299

$369 $489

Printers/Plotters BROTHER TWINWRITER $939

DIABLO SCall

EPSON FX-85 $369

EPSON FX-185 $499

EPSON LO-1500 $999

HP 7475A $C»I

JUKI 6300 $699

NEC ELF 350 $439

NEC 3550 $1139

OKIDATA193 $539

QUME SPRINT 1155 $1569

SWEET P 600 $839

Tl 855 $799

TOSHIBA P351 $1129

Input Devices

KEYTRONIC 5151 $179

KOALA $109 MICROSOFT MOUSE $129 PC MOUSE W

PAINTBRUSH $129

Accessories CURTIS SURGE

PROTECTORS DATASHIELD BACKUP

POWER GILTRONIX SWITCHES MASTERPIECE PLUS MICROFAZER INLINE

(64K) TRIPPLITE BACKUP

POWER 256K RAM SET 8087 MATH CHIP

JCall

Helcules Mountain

Graphics Card I Drivecard 10

$299

$789

Quadboard I Six Pak Plus I Smartmodem I Smartmodem 384K 384K 1S00B 2400

$219

$249

$349

$579

•CALL FOR SHIPPING COSTS

LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEE!!

We will match current

nationally advertised

prices on most products.

Call and compare.

free

Diskette

Library

Case

with your order

TERMS:

Checks—allow 14 days to clear. Credit processing—add 3%. COD orders—cash. MO or certified check—add $5.00. Shipping and handling UPS surface—add $3.00 per Item (UPS Blue$8.00 per item). NY State Residents—add applicable sales tax. All prices subject to change.

In New York State call (718) 438-6057

■EZSSH

MON.-THURS. 9:00AM-8:00PM ■I SUN. & FRI. 9:00 AM-4:00 PM

n-I I lit

Softline Corporation P.O. Box 729, Brooklyn, N.Y: 11230 TELEX: 421047 ATLNUI FAX: 718-972-8346

MARCH I986 -BYTE 71

B36

The right prices. The right

IBM HARDWARE

AST Lisl Oiirn

SixPak Plus 64K $395 $239

SixPak Plus, 384K, S/P/CC .... $895 $269 Advantage Multif Brd lor AT... $595 $425

CENTRAL POINT

PC Option Board $ 95 $ 81

COMX

130 Walt Power Supply $179 $ 93

CORE Hard Disks for AT

ATplus 20 meg for AT «1S95 $1395

ATplus 30 meg for AT $1995 $1695

ATplus 56 meg for AT $3595 $3195

EVEREX

The Edge, Color/Mono Board .. $399 $269

HAUPPAGE (HCW)

8087 Chip $175 $125

8087-2 Chip $225 $175

80287 Fast-5 Chip $295 $229

HERCULES

Color Card with Parallel Port .. $245 $165 Mono Graphics Card $499 $319

INTEL

Above Board 64K for PC $395 $299

Above Board 128K for AT $595 $449

KENSINGTON

Masterpiece Plus $180 $129

KEYTRONIC Keyboards

KB5151 or KB5151 Jr $255 $189

MICROSOFT

Mouse $195 $125

128K Booster with Mouse (Jr).. $295 $195

MOUNTAIN

20 meg Drive Card $1195 $945

MOUSE SYSTEMS

PC Mouse with Paint $220 $145

Mouse with Software (Jr) $220 $138

PERSYST

PC Mono Board w/Par Port ... $250 $159 Color Board $210 $139

QUADRAM

Quadboard no RAM to 384K ... $295 $195 Quadboard 384K S/P/CC/G ... $595 $279 Quadcolor 1 Board 4 colors $295 $175

RACORE

Expansion Chassis Plus (Jr) .... $675 $459 256K Expansion Board (Jr) .... $275 $179

TALLTREE

JRAM II board $219 $159

JRAM III 256K Board $399 $309

TITAN

PC Accelerator 128K

VIDEO 7

Mono Graphics Card

MGC with Parallel Port

VEGA Board IBM EGA Comp..

. $795 $595

$250 $179 $300 $215 $599 $429

IBM SOFTWARE

ASHTONTATE

Framework /I $695 $389

dBase 111+ $695 $395

dBase II (req. PC DOS & 128K). $495 $305

BORLAND

Traveling Sidekick $ 70

Editor Toolbox or GameWorks . $ 65

Turbo New Pack $ 95

Traveling Combo $125

Superkey/Sidekick Package.... $125

Turbo Holiday Pack $125

Turbo Jumbo Pack $245

Reflex: The Analyst $ 99

BOURBAKI

1 dir $ 95

$ 39 $ 40 $ 50 $ 65 $ 65 $ 69 $130 $ 59

$ 62

BPI

Gen. Acclg. AR. AP, or PR

$595 $365

CENTRAL POINT

Copy II PC $ 40 $ 22

PC Tools $ 40 $ 22

DIGITAL RESEARCH List Ours

CP/M 86 $100 $ 64

Gem Draw $150 $ 95

DOW JONES

Market Analyzer $349 $229

FUNK SOFTWARE

Sideways NEW VERSION! $ 60 $ 42

HARVARD

Total Project Manager $495 $295

HOWARD SOFT

1986 Tax Preparer $295 $199

HUMAN EDGE

Mind Prober $ 50 $ 29

UFETREE

Volkswriter Deluxe $295 $159

LIVING V1DEOTEXT

Think Tank $195 $109

LOTUS

1-2-3 NEW VERSION $495 $329

Symphony $695 $449

MAGNUM COMPUTER

Fastrak, RAMdisk & Print Spooler $ 50 $ 39

MICROPRO

Easy $150 $ 99

WordStar $350 $189

WordStar 2000 Plus $595 $295

MICRORIM

R:Base 5000 $695 $385

R:Base Clout $249 $133

MICROSOFT

QuickBASIC $ 99 $ 69

Windows $ 95 $ 69

Macro Assembler $150 $ 99

Access $250 $169

Word $375 $239

MICROSTUF

Crosstalk XVI $190 $110

MULTIMATE

Multimate $495 $229

Advantage requires 384K $595 $295

PETER NORTON

Norton Utilties $100 $ 56

POLYTRON

Polywindows $ 85 $ 45

ROSESOFT

Prokey $130 $ 80

SATELLITE (SSI)

WordPerfect NEW VERSION! . . $495 $229

SOFTWARE PUBLISHING

PFS: Write, File or Graph $140 $ 84

DISKETTES

CONROY-LAPOINTE DISKETTES™

10 ea SS/SD 35 trk (Apple) . 100/1000 ea SS/SD, 35 trk . 10 ea SS/DD 3.5" (Mac)....

50/100 ea SS/DD 3.5"

10 ea DS/DD 40 trk (IBM) . 100/1000 ea DS/DD 40 trk. 10 ea DS/HD 96 TP1 (1BM-AT)

$ 13

$ 99/669

$ 25

$115/235

$ 16

$119/799

$ 29

100 ea DS/HD 96 TPI (IBM-AT) $269

GENERIK

10/100 SS/SD 35 TRK (Apple) . $ 8/75 10/100 DS/DD 40 trk (IBM) ... $ 10/79 10/100 DS/HD 96 TPI (AT).... $ 27/249

MODEMS

HAYES

Micromodem lie (Apple) $199 $149

Transet 1000 Comm. Buffer ... $399 $309

Smartmodem 1200B (IBM Int.) . $549 $379

Smartmodem 1200 (External) . . $599 $419

2400 Modem (External) $899 $619

PROMETHEUS

ProModem 1200A (Apple) $449 $329

VENTEL

PC Halfcard (IBM Internal) $549 $389

APPLE HARDWARE

CCS List

7711 or 7710-A Ser. Card $115

CPS/EASTSIDE

Wild Card II Copier $140

COMX

16K RAM Card (1 Yr Ltd Wty) . $119

KENSINGTON

System Saver Fan $ 90

KOALA

Muppet Keys $ 80

Touch Tablet $130

MICRO-SCI

80Col. + 64KCard lie $179

Full or Half Ht Drive ll + ,e .... $269

MICROSOFT

Z80 Softcard II, 64K $425

ORANGE MICRO

Grappler Plus (Par.Card) $145

Hot Link S-P Cable lie $ 70

TEAC

T40 Half Ht Disk Drive $249

TITAN

Accelerator He $319

128K RAM Card $329

VIDEO 7

V Color He $130

V Color He $250

APPLE SOFTWARE

ADVANCED LOGIC SYS. (ALS)

Word or List Handler $ 80

ASHTON-TATE

dBase II (req. CP/M) $495

BEAGLE BROTHERS

Big U or D Code $ 40

Fat Cat or Pro Byter $ 50

BORLAND

Turbo Pascal (req. CP/M) $ 70

Turbo Toolbox $ 55

BPI

AR, AP, PR, or INV $395

BRODERBUND

Karateka $ 35

The Print Shop $ 50

Print Shop w/Refill $ 65

CENTRAL POINT

Copy 11 Plus $ 40

FUNK

Sideways $ 60

INFOCOM

Zork I, II, or III $ 40

LIVING VIDEOTEXT

Think Tank $145

MICROPRO

WordStar w/Starcard $495

WordStar Professional $495

MICROSOFT

Typing Tutor II $ 25

MICROSTUF

Crosstalk $195 I

MONOGRAM

Dollars & $ense Il + ,e $100

Dollars & $ense 128K $120

ORIGIN

Ultima III

Ultima IV

Ours

$ 95 $ 79 $ 39 $ 65

$ 44

$ 75

$ 79 $139

$295

$ 72 $ 44

$149

$229 $149

$ 36 $305

$ 25 $ 27

$ 36 $ 30

$240

$ 25 $ 31 $ 39

$ 22

$ 37

$ 29

$ 89

$265 $265

$ 17

$109

SATELLITE (SSI) List Ours

WordPerfect NEW! $179 $115

SIMON & SCHUSTER

Typing Tutor 111 $ 50 $ 33

SOFTWARE PUBLISHING PFS Series File, Write, Graph or Report ... $125 $ 79

SPECTRUM HOLOBYTE

GATO (req. 128K) $ 40 $ 25

SUBLOGIC

Flight Simulator II $ 50 $ 30

TIMEWORKS

Swiftax $ 70 $ 49

MACINTOSH

AEGIS

Challenger or Pyramid $ 50 $ 37

ASSIMILATION

Numeric Turbo CALL

Mac Port Adaptor $ 79 $ 59

BORLAND

Sidekick (copiable)

CENTRAL POINT

Copy II Mac

HABA SYSTEMS

800K DS/DD Disk Drive

LIVING VIDEOTEXT

Think Tank

LOTUS

Jazz

MICROSOFT

Multiplan, Word or File .

Fortran

Excel

Business Pak

. $ 85 $ 45

. $ 40 $ 22

. $599 $299

. $145 $ 92

$595 $389

. $195 $125

. $295 $199

. $395 $259

. $595 $395

We carry thousands more products than are listed here. If you don't see what you are looking for, call I ...

PRINTERS

BROTHER

HR25 Daisywheel $695 $555

EPSON

LX80 100 cps, 16 cps NLQ .... $299 $249

FX286 200 cps, 40 NLQ $749 $609

LQ800 180 cps, 60 LQ $799 $649

LQ1000 180 cps, 60 LQ, 15" ... $995 $795

LQ1500 200 cps, 67 LQ, 15" ... $1295 $995

OKIDATA

Okimate 20, 182, 84 LOW

92, 192,193, 2410 Pacemark ... PRICES

PANASONIC

P1092 180 cps $599 $349

P1093 180 cps 15" $699 $469

P3151 22 cps Daisywheel $659 $439

STAR MICRONICS

SG10 120 cps, 30 cps NLQ $299 $249

SD10 120 cps. 40 cps NLQ, 10" $449 $379

MONITORS

AMDEK

300G 12" Green Composite .... $179 $119 300A 12" Amber Composite ... $199 $129 310A 12" Amber TTL (IBM) ... $230 $159

PRINCETON

MAX-12 12" Amber TTL (IBM) . $249 $179

HX-12 12" Color RGB $795 $445

HX-l2e RGB for IBM-EGA $785 $545

ZENITH

ZVM-1220 12" Amber Comp.... $159 $109 ZVM-1230 12" Green Comp. ... $159 $109 ZVM-1240 & ZVM-135 SAVE

ORDERING INFORMATION & TERMS

Mail to: 12060 S. W.Garden Place, Portland OR 97223 "Include telephone number" We immediately honor cashiers checks.

money orders. Fortune 1000, and Government checks* Personal and other company checks allow 20 days to dear • Advertised prices reflect a 3% discount for cash, so add 3% tor credit card purchases "We ship Federal Express Standard Air* U.S. and Puerto Rico add 3% 05 minimum)* Canada add 12% (JJ5 min)* Foreign add 18% (125 min)* APO. FPO other U.S. Territories add 6% ($10 min)* All prices, availability and specifications subject to change without nolice*AII sales final* We do not guarantee compatibility • You must call for R. A. number to return defective goods.

CONROY-LAPOINTE COMPUTER STORES 3 Locations. Retail Sales Only. Store Prices May Vary. San Francisco, CA • 415-982-6212 • Across From The Pyramid On Washington St. Near Montgomery ' Portland, OR • 503-620-5595 • Business Park 217 In Tigard, At Intersection of Hwys 217 & 99W Seattle, WA • 206-455-0206 • Belgate Plaza In Bellevue, 2 Blocks North Of Bellevue Square

"We'll give you the best service anywhere"

72 B YTE • MARCH 1986

products. The right choice.

B36

Internal Hard Drives

10meg s$389

with controller *-*

20 meg & $489

with controller «-* Fast access time beats the standard IBM drive by 30%. 90 day limited warranty.

64KRAMs$ 9

9 each, 4164 200 ns chips 1-99 sets $ 11

256KRAMs$32

9 each, 4256 150 ns chips 1-99 sets $34

128KRAMs$37

9 each, 4128 150 ns chips 1-99 sets $39

.4// prices subject to change without notice. 90 day limited warranty

CDC 360K Floppy Drives

HalfHt.,™$ 75 FullHt. s$119

Half-Height for AT $95 Call for quantity prices. 30 day limited warranty.

MAGNUM EconoRAM

384Ks$89

• Full 384K of RAM

• Short Board

• Fastrak Printer Spooler & RAMdisk Software

• Snap-In Installation

• 1 Year Limited Warranty

For IBM PC, XT and compatibles, with 256K of installed memory.

MAGNUM PCMasterCard

COMX/IRWIN Tape Backup

10 megs$495 Kit s$549

with Tape, Cable & Software 90 day limited warranty.

More Features Than SixPak or Quadboard

• Expandable to 1.5 MB

• 1 Serial RS-232C Port

• Parallel Printer Port

• Clock/Calendar & Battery ■ Game Port

• SiliconBullet Software: Printer Spooler, RAMdisk, and Bank Switching Driver

• 1 Year Limited Warranty

For IBM PC, PCXT or Compatibles.

384 KB s,$179 1.5 MB s,$329

/VjAQNUM

XT Mark 2

• Fully IBM PC/XT Compatible

• Dual Speed 4.77 and 8 MHz 8088-2

• RAM Expandable to 640K On Motherboard

• 360K Floppy Disk Drives

• 135 Watt Power Supply

• IBM Selectric AT Style Keyboard (84 Keys)

• 5 Expansion Slots

• 2 Serial RS-232C Ports Built-in

• Parallel Printer Interface Built-in

• Clock/Calendar Built-in

• Floppy Disk Controller Built-in

• Tape Backup Interface Built-in

• MS-DOS Operating System

• Complete User Operating Manual

• Reset Button Switch Built-in

• 8087-2 Co-Processor (optional)

• RAMdisk & Printer Spooler

• 90 Day Limited Warranty

Get Magnum In Your Corner

Only $895

System A

128K.1 360K Floppy drive

Systems

B. 640K, 2 360K Floppy Drives....

C. 640K, 1 Floppy,

10 MB Hard Drive .

D. System C plus Tape Backup

J. 640K, 1 Floppy, 20 MB Hard Drive.

$ 995 $1595 $2295 $1795

Other systems available, please call.

Above prices exclude video card and monitor.

Our References

• First Interstate Bank (503) 643-4678

• Portland Chamber of Commerce (503) 228-9411

• Direct Marketing Association

• Dun and Bradstreet

• Others On Request

«3£S>

1»800«547M289

Oregon Toll Free 1«800'451'5151 Telex 910 380 3980 Foreign. Local (503) 620-9878 hours 6-6(Pacific) Mon-Fri. 8-4 Sat Customer Service (503) 620-9877 hours 8-5 (Pacific!Mon-Fri

Conroy-LaPointe

Inquiry 95 for Apple. Inquiry 96 for IBM Peripherals. Inquiry 97 for all others.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 73

Inquiry 53

, GANG PROGRAMMER, A SET PROGRAMMER, A UNIVERSAL PROGRAMMER,

Corporation'

I Instrument Systems Division

I LIKE THESE: CHNOLOGIES

• UP TO 1 MEGA BYTE OF RAM

• CENTRONIC PARALLEL PRINTER PORT

1 LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY CH, MUCH MORE.

1ST PERFORMANCE/COST AVAILABLE TODAY

.R MODELS AVAILABLE PRICES START AT $995 UV ERASERS FROM $67 AVAILABLE FROM STOCK

L NOW TO ORDER (305) 994-3520

1 South Rogers Circle, Bees Raton, FL 33431 ,..5) 994-3520, Telex 4310073 MEVBTC

JAPANESE QUALITY

AT INCREDIBLE LOW PRICES

Fast delivery — We manufacture and control every stage of design and production. Many outstanding and unique products never shown before.

We are willing to take care of small orders, too.

INQUIRE TODAY EAST DIGITAL CO., LTD. 2nd PI,, No. 432 Kuang-Fu S. Rd. TalpaJ, Taiwan. R.O.C.

BOOK REVIEWS

with changing the shapes of the waves in two different voices. You can choose from sine, square, or sawtooth waveforms, or you can design your own by drawing with the mouse. The whole thing is also a good review of BASIC'S menu and button commands.

Lasting Impressions

By the time I acquired Microsoft BASIC for my own Macintosh, I'd had five years of experience with the same company's interpreters for the Radio Shack Color Computer and Model 100 portable. As a result, I anticipated little trouble in picking up the details of the new package. That may have been optimistic; the process seemed to take longer than it should have. While I still think it possible for the veteran user to get by with nothing but the Microsoft manual, a well-illustrated and less terse book can make the learning process a lot easier.

Microsoft Macinations is one of the best such books. It is well paced (with the exception of the very early pages), and it is written in a style that avoids Mac-cutesiness. The book's emphasis on special features of the user interface, combined with the useful program components, leads me to believe that I will be referring to my copy for some time to come.

Scott L. Norman (8 Doris Rd.. Framingham, MA 01701) is a frequent contributor to computer magazines.

THE COMPUTER LAW ANNUAL 1985

Reviewed by David A. Price

Few industries have created as many difficult legal issues in as short a time as the computer industry. Although some lawyers have developed specialized expertise in "computer law," as it is now called, the industry is far too large and the issues too pervasive to be left to specialists. Miles R. Gilburne, Ronald L. Johnston, and Allen R. Grogan, the editors of The Computer law Annual 1985, have performed a valuable service by assembling an excellent group of articles about the legal problems that computer businesses often face.

Its 20 articles are from a legal journal, The Computer lawyer. They cover a wide variety of issues, most of them pertinent to computer businesses of all sizes. Not surprisingly, the topic receiving the most coverage is that of protecting proprietary rights to software. Instead of giving only a recitation of the legal doctrines governing copyright and trade-secret protection, the articles go further by tackling some difficult questions. To what extent can a firm permissibly "reverse-engineer" a copyrighted software product by disassembling it? When should a firm require a license agreement for the sale of software and when should it just rely on copyright? When does a programmer own the copyright to a software product that he or she wrote as an employee? How can a firm enlist the help

{continued)

74 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 147

BUSINESS

SCIENCE

EDUCATION

STATISTICAL PACKAGES

StatSoft

m

TM

data-analysis software from: unbeatable power and flexibility for unbeatable prices!

We developed complete, high-performance statistical packages for all computers:

1. STATS-2™ (release 2.0): Statistical supplement for Lotus 1-2-3™ and

other spreadsheet programs. Can also be used as a stand-alone statistical d^ H /[Q

package, runs on IBM and compatibles, 256k, 2dd, 8087 support .... ^ I *¥%#

(release 2.0): The most powerful statistical package ^4 4 A Macintosh™ 128k or 512k, 1dd $ I 19

™ family of <tQQ

4 rile [

B

: r ^H Hdunfitet] Non-Paromel

Ontrlpllui Slainllci I-iBtl - Indimumnl in mole i 1 toil - Correlated inmnlei Crtrrelollon

i 11

.."

'\

""»JL1L»»"

2. STATFAST™

developed for the

3. APP-STAT™: Acompletestatistical packagefortheApple II computers, 1dd

4. PSYCH0STAT-37

and all CP/M™

$99

™: A complete statistical package, available for Kaypro™ computers, 1 dd

Ask for our statistical packages for other computers.

All of these statistical packages are user friendly and super-easy to use. They include the full range of basic statistical analyses (descriptive statistics, t-tests, correlations, crosstabulations, nonparametric statistics, and more) and advanced multivariate statistics (multiple regression, multifactor analysis of variance and covariance, repeated measures, contrasts, unbalanced designs, and more). All packages can handle data files of unlimited size, include flexible Data Editors, and can access data files from spreadsheets, data-bases, and mainframes.

TO ORDER: Send check, credit card number, or money order (plus $5 shipping and handling) to:

m

StatSoft

ViSA*

2832 EAST 10TH STREET, SUITE 4, TULSA, OK 74104 (918) 583-4149

To order by phone (Visa, MasterCard, C.O.D. orders accepted) or talk to our technical staff for more information, call (918) 583-4149.

STATSOFT, STATSOFT logo, STATS-2, STATFAST, APP-STAT, PSYCHOSTAT-3, LOTUS 1-2-3, Symphony, IBM, Macintosh, Apple II, Kaypro, and CP/M are registered trademarks of respective companies.

Inquiry 327

MARCH 1986

iYTE 75

THE PRICE LEADERS!!!

BUILD YOUR OWN PC!

^

&

&

^ i

ty

*A

**h

•itsmm

«to

»/>

<*

*m\

IBM PC-XT TYPE CASE $ 39.00

150 WATT POWER SUPPLY $ 79.00

5150 IBM-TYPE KEY BOARD $ 49.00

MOTHER BOARD EXPANDABLE TO 640K

WITH 128K INSTALLED $135.00

MONOCHROME GRAPHIC PRINTER BOARD $ 85.00

FLOPPY CONTROLLER BOARD $ 35.00

2-FLOPPY DISC DRIVES @$85 EACH $170.00

12" TTL HIGH RESOLUTION MONITOR $ 97.00

COMPLETE WITH INSTRUCTION & ASSEMBLY MANUALS. ===

YOUR COST $689.00

OPTIONAL:

ASSEMBLED & TESTED WITH MS DOS & GW BASIC $127.00

RAM CHIPS TO EXPAND TO 640K $ 75.00

Any of these components may be purchased separately. $891.00

All boards guaranteed lor 1 year. m.v pc/xt ire indnmrki di uumtiniui buimu mumim. in

SmarTeam Modem

103/212A Operates at 300 Baud & 1200 Baud

• Hayes Compatible

• Auto Answer, Dial& Redial

Uses RS 232-C Connector #91990 $165.00

tA

Brother® Printer

Dot Matrix Printer

#DM5 . $75.00

Messenger Modem

Has all the features of the SmarTeam Modem, so why pay more? #97900 .$148.00

Key Boards

5151 IBM Type Key Board

Caps and Num Lock

#5151 $79.00

5050L XT Key Board-looks like AT, has big return key & LED indicators. #5050L $59.00

ADD ON BOARDS ibm compatible

Monochrome Graphic Printer Board

• Built in Parallel Printer Port

• Text: 25 line x80 column

• Graphics: 720 x 348 resolution

• TTL High Resolution Output #92270 $85.00

Multifunction Board

• Expandable to 384K RAM

• Serial Port, Game Port

• Parallel Printer Port

• Clock Calendar w/Battery Backup

• Software, Manuals and Cables #92290 $89.00

Color Graphics Board

• RGB and Composite Port

• Light Pen Interlace

• Graphics: 320 x200(color): 640x200(BW)

• Text: 25 x80 #92280 $72.00

Plus A Huge Selection of

3B4K RAM Expansion Board

• Fully buffered

#92305 $35.00

51 ZK RAM Expansion Board

• Fully buffered

#92300 $49.00

RS 232 Serial

• 1 Serial Port

• 2nd Port optional #92310

Board

.$29.00

Parallel Printer Card

Also may be used as I/O Port #92700 S29.00

Floppy Disk Controller

• Drives 2 internal drives

• Includes cable

• IBM PC compatible

#92260 $35.00

Cables <S Accessories!

THE WHOLESALE OUTLET

' / / / / Dep\ BY. 1 Interstate Avenue. Albany, NY 12205 To order call

/ / // 1-800-344-4387 (Non-NYS Res.) or 518-459-7883 (NYS Res.)

' Personal and company checks accepted (on mail-in orders.) Customer pays

freight & handling FOB Albany, NY. Non-credit card order shipped UPS, CO.D

Minimum order $25. Dealer and large quantity

orders call 518-459-7883. Ask for Computer Dept.

BOOK REVIEWS

of the U.S. Customs Service to prevent the importation of an infringing product?

The book also discusses such diverse topics as avoiding antitrust liability, drafting warranties, securing access to a vendor's proprietary information in case the vendor becomes bankrupt, obtaining start-up capital, compensating employees, and reducing taxes. Because the annual is intended for practicing lawyers, its emphasis is on solving real problems rather than on academic theorizing. To help a lawyer investigate a question further, the book gives citations where appropriate to legal references such as case reporters, which contain the published decisions of courts; the U.S. Code, which contains federal statutory law; and the Code of Federal Regulations, which contains the regulations issued by federal agencies.

The contributors display an unusual command of the technical aspects of the field. For example, in two articles that examine copyright issues in writing a BIOS compatible with the IBM Personal Computer, the contributors freely discuss the use of software interrupts—a topic beyond the grasp of most lawyers and more than a few programmers. That level of technical understanding is necessary, however, for an intelligent analysis of the question involved. To avoid infringing IBM's copyright, is it enough simply to avoid copying exact sequences of IBM's code? Must you also avoid copying IBM's algorithms, which happen to be available from a source listing in an IBM manual? Must you avoid copying IBM's device-dependent timing loops? Can IBM claim protection for its interrupt scheme?

Despite its astute handling of technical matters, the book maintains its focus primarily on lawyers. Nonlawyers would have difficulty following some of the articles; unexplained legal terms appear throughout. An article about contract negotiation, for instance, refers to "liquidated damages" and "choice of law and forum provisions" with the assumption that these phrases need no explanation.

One slightly disappointing aspect is that the contributors rarely make arguments about policy. They describe the directions in which the legal rules are forming, but they say little about what kinds of rules are desirable. One of the articles about antitrust is a refreshing exception. After showing how the operation of the Robinson-Patman Act frequently thwarts its own stated purpose of increasing competition, the article concludes that the Act "is difficult to defend." Equally blunt arguments about other areas of computer law would be enlightening.

This omission is understandable, however, because the purpose of the book is to inform rather than persuade. For lawyers who have computer firms as clients, and for managers who are willing to wade through some legal jargon, The Computer law Annual 1985 is first-rate. It discusses the nuts and bolts of computer law with precision and authority. ■

David A. Price (57 Roseland St. #2, Somerville, MA 02143) is a third-uear law student at Harvard University.

76 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 376

Powerful MS-DOS Software.

For the IBM®-PC, XT, AT & others with generic MS-DOS/PC-DOS 2.0 or higher.

Only

UTAH

• :<•

I TM

D

□

D D □

D

Whether student, teacher or professional programmer,

this is the one you've heard so much about.

It's easy to use. Compiles 5000 statements on a 128K

machine.

170 clear error messages, i.e. DATA-NAME IS

MISSING OR MISSPELLED.

Distribute your object code programs royalty free.

Small object code programs conserve disk space.

Fast compile times to increase programmer productivity. Over 25 times faster than one compiler

costing $995!

You get a diskette and 213-page manual with lots of

examples and 16 complete COBOL source code

programs. $39.95. Also available: COBOL Application Packages. Book 1 $9.95.

UTAH

PASCAL

14-digit precision, BCD math, no round-off errors

with decimal arithmetic for business and floating point + 63

-64 for scientific.

A very nice TRACE style debugging.

Arrays up to 8 dimensions and 64K strings.

External procedures and functions with dynamic

auto-loading.

One-step compile, no assembly or link required.

You get a 132-page manual and diskette. $39.95

□

□ □ □

□ □

UTAH

TM

□

□

□

□

PILOT

Perfect for industrial training, office training, drill

and testing, virtually all programmed instruction, word

puzzle games, and data entry facilitated by prompts.

John Starkweather, Ph.D., the inventor of the PILOT

language, has added a built-in full-screen text editor,

and much more.

Meets all PILOT-73 standards for full compatibility with

older versions.

You get a diskette, 125-page manual and ten useful

sample programs. $39.95.

Also still available for 8-bit machines with CP/M® is our world famous Nevada Software Series used by 50,000 customers in 40 countries. These include Nevada COBOL, Nevada FORTRAN, Nevada PASCAL, Nevada PILOT, Nevada BASIC and Nevada EDIT. $39.95 each. Satisfaction guaranteed. If for any reason you're not completely satisfied, just return the package within 15 days in good condition, and we'll refund your money.

IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research. MS is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. © 1985 Ellis Computing, Inc.

Each!

UTAH

FORTRAN

D FORTRAN IV based upon ANSI-66 standards.

□ Very fast compile times and easy to use.

□ IF.. THEN.. ELSE constructs.

□ Chaining with blank and named common. D Copy statement.

□ ENCODE and DECODE.

□ Free-format input and output.

□ A very nice TRACE style debugging.

□ 150 English language error messages.

□ You get a diskette, and 223-page manual. $39.95

TM

UTAH

EDIT

TM

D

□

LI

□

A character-oriented full-screen video display text

editor designed specifically to create COBOL,

FORTRAN and PASCAL programs.

Only requires 15K disk space so it can fit on the

same disk as your compilers.

Completely customizable tab stops, default file

type, keyboard control key layout and CRT by menu

selection.

Diskette comes with easy to read 58-page manual. $39.95.

UTAH

TM

BASIC

□ This interpreter has a built-in full-screen editor.

□ Single- and Multi-line user definable functions.

□ BCD Math-no round-off errors.

□ Full Matrix operations.

□ You get 220-page manual and diskette. $39.95.

Handling/Shipping: No shipping charge within US. Overseas add $10 for first package, $5 each additional. Checks must be in US Dollars, drawn on a US bank.

Utah Software requires 128K RAM and PC-DOS or MS-DOS 2.0 or higher.

HOW TO ORDER. Send check or money order to Ellis Computing, Inc. with VISA or MASTERCARD order by phone. Sorry no COD's.

^|^^ Ellis Con

M ^ 5655 Rig.

m m Reno, Ne

W Phone (7

^^^^ SINCE 1977

ELLIS COMPUTING

Ellis Computing, Inc. 5655 Riggins Court, Suite 10 Reno, Nevada 89502 Phone (702) 827-3030

Inquiry I23

MARCH 1986

IYTE 77

March 1986

EVENT QUEUE

Discovery III: Training and Technology for the Disabled, Milwaukee, WI. Office of Continuing Education and Summer Session, University of WisconsinStout, Menomonie, WI 54751, (800) 457-8688; in Wisconsin, (800) 227-8688. March 3-5

Seventh Annual Computer Graphics Conference: Emerging from the Chaos,

Hollywood, FL. Carol Every, Frost & Sullivan Inc., 106 Fulton St., New York, NY 10038, (212) 233-1080. March 5-7

Effective Analysis and Design of Information Systems, Worcester, MA. Office of Continuing Education, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Higgins House, Worcester, MA 01609, (617) 793-5517. March 10-12

J 986 Eastern Simulation Conferences, Norfolk, VA. The Society for Computer Simulation, POB 17900, San Diego, CA 92117-7900, (619) 277-3888. March 10-12

C1MTECH '86, Boston, MA. Cheri Willetts, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, One SME Drive, POB 930, Dearborn, MI 48121. (3 1 3) 271-1500, ext. 374. March 10-13

Fourth Annual Technology in Training and Education Conference (1986 TITE), Montgomery, AL. Thomas S. Allman, HQ AU/XPZ, Maxwell AFB, AL 36112, (205) 293-6160. March 10-13

Ethics and Excellence in Computer Education:

Choice or Mandate,

Tempe, AZ. Gary Bitter, College of Education, Payne 216, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, (602) 965-7363. March 12-14

Hannover Faire: CeBIT '86, Hannover Fairgrounds, West Germany. Hannover Fairs USA Inc., POB 7066, 103 Carnegie Center, Princeton, NJ 08540, (609) 987-1202. March 12-19

1986 IEEE Work Station Technology & Systems Conference, Atlantic City, NJ. Helen Yonan, IEEE Office, Moore School of Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, (215) 898-8106. March 17-20

Numerical Methods and Digital Computer Techniques for Engineers and Scientists, Los Angeles, CA. Short Course Program Office, UCLA Extension, 10995 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024, (213) 825-1295. March 17-21

1986 IEEE VLSI Test Workshop-Microsystem: New Test Challenges,

Atlantic City, NJ. Wesley C. Radcliffe, IBM Corp.. East Fishkill Facility, Dept. 277, Building 321-5E1, Hopewell lunction, NY 12533. March 18-19

INFOMART, Dallas, TX. International Information Processing Market Center, 1950 Stemmons Freeway, Dallas,

TX 75207, (214) 746-3500. March 18-20

1986 Software & Computer Conference for Information Managers & Librarians, Atlanta, GA. Meckler Publishing, 11 Ferry Lane West, Westport, CT 06880, (203) 226-6967. March 18-20

Southcon/86, Orlando, FL. Electronic Conventions Management, 8110 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045. March 18-20

Personal Computer Interfacing for Scientific Instrument Automation,

Blacksburg, VA. Dr. Linda Leffel, C.E.C Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, (703) 961-4848. March 19-21

Third Annual Physicians and Computers: Applications in Patient Care, Las

Vegas, NV. Beverly 1. Johnson, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Postgraduate Division, 202 5 Zonal Ave., KAM 318, Los Angeles, CA 90033, (213) 224-7051. March 19-23

Western Educational Computing Workshops, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA. Alexia Devlin, California Educational Computing Consortium, San Francisco State University, Accounting Data, NADM-3 58, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, CA 94132. March 21-22

IF YOU WANT your organization's public activities listed in BYTE's Event Queue, we need to know about them at least four months in advance. Send information about computer conferences, seminars, workshops, and courses to BYTE, Event Queue, POB 372, Hancock, NH 03449.

OAC '86-Integrated Systems: Merging Islands of Technology, Houston, TX. OAC '86, American Federation of Information Processing Societies Inc., 1899 Preston White Drive, Reston, VA 22091, (800) 622-1986. March 24-26

Artificial Intelligence '86 Conference, Singapore. John Tagler, Elsevier Science Publishers, 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, NY 10017. March 24-27

COMTEL '86, Dallas, TX. International Conference Management Inc., 15851 Dallas Parkway, Suite 1155, Dallas, TX 75248, (214) 458-7011. March 24-27

Interface '86 Conference and Exposition, Atlanta, GA. The Interface Group Inc., 300 First Ave., Needham, MA 02194, (617) 449-6600. March 24-27

1986 Spring National Design Engineering Show and Conference, Chicago, IL. Show Manager, Spring National Design Engineering Show, 999 Summer St., Stamford, CT 06905, (203) 964-0000. March 24-27

Computer-Aided Drafting and Design (CADD), Austin, TX. College of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, (512) 471-3506. March 24-28

INFO (European Information Technology and Office Automation Exhibition), Olympia, London, England. British Information Services, 845 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022, (212) 752-8400. March 25-27 ■

78 BYTE • MARCH 1986

PC NETWORK GOES TO THE

How do you suppose most manufacturers of personal computer

products get started?

They go to the Orient... taking either their designs or simply their

ideas to one or more of the major electronics manufacturing

concerns, getting bids for making these devices under contract to

the creators. Multifunction Cards, Video Cards, Disk Controllers,

Modems and I/O Boards all begin their life in this way.

This relationship between the manufacturing capabilities of the East

and die design and marketing talents of the U.S. has resulted in the

incredible selection of enhancement products for the IBM and

Apple computer markets.

Well, with 100,000 members and growing strong, The Network

sent its buyers east to visit some of these manufacturing

concerns to check out the feasability of direcdy importing these products in the necessary volumes to save our members money! What they came back with was astounding. Now, we always figured that there were some pretty substantial markups as these boards came into the country and got fancy boxes and marketing promotions under any one of a number of well known brand names in the peripheral add-on markets but we had no idea they were so large!

To prove our point, consider what they brought back. Each board is constructed to the same precise specifications, on exacdy the same machinery as tiieir name-brand duplicates. The difference? As a Network member, you pay only 8% over our unusually low wholesale price... and you get our full 1 year warranty!

Hercules™ Smarter Brother

A Monochrome Graphics Card with Printer Port...100% compatible

with Hercules™ product.

Wholesale

$99.00

Graphics Printer Interface

If all you want is a printer, this is the card for you. Supports all text and graphics printer features.

Wholesale price.

$29.00

The Multi-384 Board

A clone of the AST's SixPakPlusI"

includes up to 384Kb of expansion memory, 1 serial, 1 parallel, 1 game port, a clock/calendar and software i standard

With 0 K

$79.00

Wholesale

IBM Color Card

100% compatible with the

IBM offering. The wholesale price?

$69.00

I/O Multifunction Card

Identical I/O board to the AST's I/O+"

with 2 serial, (1 standard) 1 parallel, 1 game port and clock/calendar with software.

512 K Memory

The least expensive way to add memory to your current system. With 0 K installed.

Wholesale priced at only..

$59.00*

Wholesale price

$65.00

™Six Pack, I/O Plus and AST are all registered Irademarks of AST Research Inc. Hercules is a registered trademark of Hercules Computer Technology Inc.

'PC NETWORK Members pay just 8% above this wholesale price, plus shipping.

All prices reflect a 3% cash discount. Minimum shipping $2.50 per order. International orders calffor shipping & handling charges. Personal checks: please allow 10 working days to clear.

CALL TOLL-FREE 1-800-621-SAVE ^'^^o^

GET THE NETWORK ADVANTAGE!!!

Inquiry 263

:i=*iYf];K

BUY HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE AT WHOLESALE + 8%, AND GET 14-30 DAY SOFTWARE RENTALS*...

Listed below are just a few of the over 30,000 products available at our EVERYDAY LOW PRICES'. The Network carries products for Apple, IBM, CP/M and most other popular computer families.

GAMES & EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE FOR YOUR APPLE II & MACINTOSH

(Please add $1 shipping and handling tor each title ordered from below.) Wholesale

Arra, sne Accountant-Mac Only Anion Art Portfolio & CardShoppe Biuechip Baron/Millionaire/ Tycoon Broderbund Loadrunner

Broderbund Prinf Shop Broderbund Dazzle Draw CBS Mastering the GRE CBS Murder by the Dozen CBS Goren Bridge Made Easy Counterpoint The News Room Davidson Speed Reader II Davidson Math Blaster Davidson Word Attack! 1st Byte Smooth Talker-Mac Only Hoyden DaVinci-House!Interiors!Landscapes Hay den Sargon III Infocom Deadline or Suspended Intocom Enchanter. Planetfall Cutthroats. Witness or Zork I Intocom Hilchikei's Guide or Seastalker Mocom Suspect. Sorcerer or tnlidet Infocom Zork II or 111 Layered Front Desk-Mac Only Mirage Concepts Trivia

£65.00* Miles Computing Mac Attack-Mac Only

31.00* PalatirMac Type-Mac Only

26.00" Penguin Graphics Magician

19.75* Penguin Pensate orXyphus

19.00- Penguin Transylvania-Mac Only

28.75' Professional Software Trivia Fever

31.97* Prvorrty Software Forbidden Quest

53.50* Scarborough Master Type

20.97* Scarborough Run tor the Money

45.00' Simon & Schuster Typing Tutor III

26.97* Sir-Tech Wizardry

36.50" Sir-Tech Knight ol Diamonds

26.50' Sir-Tech Rescue Raiders

26.50* Sublogic Night Mission Pmball

47.00' SubtogicRigfil Simulatorf)

24.75* ► Spinnaker Alphabet Zoo. Face Maker 25.75* KjrtderComp. Hey Diddle Diddle.

24.00* Rhymes & Riddles. Story Machine

20.00' ►Spinnaker The Most Amazing Thing

►Spinnaker Delta Drawing

20.00' T/Maker Click Art-Mac Only

22.00' Warner Desk Organizer

22.00" Vide* Fun Pack-Mac Only

65.00' Videx Mac Checkers & Reversal

11.00" Virtual Combinatics Micro Cookbook

BUSINESS SOFTWARE FOR YOUR APPLE II & MACINTOSH

(Please add $2.50 shipping and handling for each title ordered from below.)

►Apple Apple Works $160 00*

Borland International Turbo Pascal 30.00'

BP1GL, APAR. PR, orlNV 205.00*

BroderbundBankSlreelWriler 40.00'

Central Point CopyltPtusor Copy IIMac 20.00"

Funk Software Sideways 32.00'

Funsoft Macasm 60.00"

Haba Habadex 40.00"

Haba Quartet 97.00*

HarvardMacManager 29.95'

►Human Edge Mind Prober 24.UIT

► Human Edge SaiesEdge 110.00'

Human Edge Communication Edge 98,00'

►Living Videotext ThlriA-TriaiiJi-MacTbo.i 65.00'

Main Street Filer-Mac Only 67.00*

MECA Managing your Money 87.50*

►Microsoft Word lor Macintosh ►Microsoft File tor Macintosh ►Microsoft Multiplan for Macintosh

Microsoft Basic for Macintosh

Microsoft Chan tor Macintosh

Monogram Dollars & Sense tor Apple lie

Monogram Dollars & Sense for Macintosh

Odesta Helix lor Macintosh Reg's 512K

Provue Overvue-Mac Only

Sensible Software Sensible Speller IV

Softcraft Fancy Fonts

Softech Microsystem:. UCSDPascal

Software Arts TKSoiverHor Mac

Software Publishing PFS: File. Write, or Graph

Stoneware 08 Master-Mac Tool

Telos Filcvision for Mac

Wholesale $23.00' 23.50' 28.97' 20.00* 20.00* 19.00" 21.00" 26.50" 26.00* 28.25* 26.97' 18.97* 18.97* 20.00* 27.25* 15.97*

20.77* 24.9725.00* 65.00* 19.77' 25.17' 21.00'

$102.00* 102.00* 102.00* 79.00' 66.0055.00' 70.00' 200.00* 135.00* 67.50* 125.00" 37.00" 134.0068.00" 95.00* 87.50*

HARDWARE FOR YOUR APPLE // & MACINTOSH

(Please add shipping and handling charges found in italics next lo price.)

Wholesale $309.00' (7.00)

349.95* (7.50)

939.00* (20.28)

1.250.00* (27.00)

DISK DRIVES

Alps AP-100A Dual Apple Drives m

One Case Apple MAC 400KB External Drive Corvus 5.5MB Hard Drive lOmega Macnoulli 5MG Removable

Drive tor Macintosh Micro Sci A2 143KB Drive 150.00* (5 00)

Just tike Apples Own Micro Sci Floppy Controller 55.00' (2 50/

► ParadrseWdc tOMBHardOtrve 750.00' (16.20)

Subsystem

► ParadiseMac?0MBHardDrive 950.00' (2052)

Subsystem

► PCNetwork 140K External Drive 95.00* (2 50)

lor Apple l!c

Rana Elite 1163K Drive 225.00' (500)

Tecmar 5MB Removable Drive for MAC 999.00- (21 58)

Tecmar WMBMACDme 999.00" (21.58)

Tecmnr 5MB MAC Drive Upgrade 1,235.00' (26.68)

BOARDS AND BUFFERS

ALSZ-Engme 5115.00* (2.50)

ASVMuttitlO-2senal/Clock 155.00" (2 50)

Microsoft Premium Softcardtle 243.67* (2.50)

Microtek DumplmgfGX 55.00' (2.50)

Orange Micro Grappler + 66.00' (2.50)

Orange Micro Serial Grappler 66.00* (2.50)

PC Network Z80 Card 35.00* (2.50,1

Quadram APIC/G Graphics Interface 62.00* (2.50)

Ouadram eRAM-80 88.00* (2.50;

Quadram Multicore-1 Parallel! I Serial/ 140.00* (2 50)

Clock Expandable to 256K

Thunderware Thunderciocfr 104.00' (2.50)

MODEMS

Wholesale

Hayes Mictomodem lie w/Smartcom $125.00" (2 50)

Novation Apple Cat II 174.45* (3 50)

Prometheus 1200A 276.00' (6.00)

low Cosl 1200 Baud Internal Modem lor Applet!

Prometheus Promodem 1200 299.00' 16.00)

w!Mac Pack

Zoom Zoom/Modem tie 95.00" (2.50)

Micromodem Compatible-Free Dow Jones

ACCESSORIES

Apple Macintosh Carrying Case Apple Macintosh Security Ktl Apple Macintosh Numeric Keypad Hayes Macfi III Joystick

w/Fire Button for lie Kensington Dust Cover (or MAC

orimagewriter Kensington Starter Pack Kensington Surge Protector Kensington System Saver Fan ► Koala Ma E Vision Koala Koalapad touch Tablet U&RSup-R-ModRFModulation PC Network Cooling Fan with Surge

Protector & Dual Outlets PC Network SS/DD Diskettes (Box ol 10) PC Network Macintosh Diskettes

Includes Free Flip & File Case These Diskettes are Guaranteed tor Life! No Sony MAC Diskettes (Box of 10)

569.00'

(1.49)

29.00*

(1 50)

69.00

(2.50)

31.00*

(150)

8.25*

(1.50)

54.00'

(3.00)

33.47*

(2 50)

56.97*

(150)

158.00*

<3 00)

78.00*

(150)

44.00*

(150)

25.00

(2.50)

7.95'

(1.00)

15.95

(1.50)

Generics'

19.00

(150)

GAMES & EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE FOR YOUR IBM

(Please add $1 shipping and handling for each tide ordered from below.)

Wholesale

Wholesale

ATI Intro to PC DOS Vol. 1 & II

$23.00

►Infocom Deadline, or Suspended

524.00'

ATI Intro to BASIC

23.00*

Microsoft Flight Simulator

27.00*

Bluebush Chess f Vour Touches! Opponent)

34.00*

Mouse Systems PC Paint—Turn your PC

59.95*

Bluechip Millionaire! Oil Baron or Tycoon

28.25*

into A Color Macintosh!

Broderbund LodeRunner

19.75*

Scarborough Maslerlype

26.50'

CBS Goren-Bndge Made Easy

40.00'

Sierra On-Line King s Quest II

27.00'

CBS Mastering the SAT

50.00"

Sierra On-Line Crossfire

18.00*

CDEX Training for Word Star

37.25*

Spectrum Holobyte GATO

18.00*

Comprehensive Intro to Personal Computing

32.00*

► Spinnaker Alphabet Zoo KinderComp.

15.97

Davidson Math Blaster, Word Attack!

26.50'

Story Machine, Face Maker. Hey Diddle. Diddle

Davidson Speed Reader 11

36.50"

Rhymes & Riddles

HaydonSargonlll

25.75"

►Spinnaker Delia Drawing

24.97*

Individual Professor DOS

32.50*

►Spinnaker Mosl Amazing Thing

20.77*

Individual The Instructor

24.50*

Subiogic Night Mission Pmball

20.00"

►Intocom Zork I or Witness

20.00"

Virtual Combinatics Micro Cookbook

21.00

BUSINESS SOFTWARE FOR YOUR IBM

(Please add $2.50 shipping and handling for each title ordered from below.)

►Ashton-Tate DBase II

$365.00"

MicroPro Wordstar 2000

$219.00*

►AshtonTate Framework II

365.00"

MicroPro Wordstar 2000*

262.00

Borland Turbo Pascal

25.75*

MicroRim RBase 5000

300.00

Borland Sidekick (Protected)

26.00*

Microsoft C Compiler

220.00*

Borland Superkey

32.00

Microsoft Vvcvd-Laiesf version 2 0

202.00

BPIG/L.AIRorAlP

305.00*

Microsoft Multiplan

101.00

BP1 Aura

265.00

Microsoft Mouse

107.00

BPI Personal Accounling

48.00"

Morlogram Dollars & Sense ►Mul'lmale Mullimate (Latest Version)

95.00*

Breakthrough Timeline

230.00'

190.00*

► CenIralPointCucH'//PC

20.00*

Norton Norton Utilities 3 0

46.00

Conceptual Instruments Desk Organizer

157.00

Oasts The Word Plus

75.00

Digital Research nil Logo

75.00*

Op*n Systems P/O Sales AIR INVGIL AIP

ea. 275.00'

Digital Research Gem Desktop

25.00'

Team Mgr.

Digital Research Gem Draw

73.00*

Power Base Power Base

197.00'

Enertronies Energraphics

155.00"

Real World GIL AIP AIR or OEIINV

ea. 275.00*

Funk Software Sideways

32.00*

RoscsoftProteyvbfsMWi.'i

65.00'

► Harvard Harvard Project Manager

175.00*

Ryan McFariand RM COBOL (Dev. System)

520.00

Harvard Total Project Manager

225.00*

►Somno Samoa III Word Processor

227.00

►Hayes Smartcom ll-New VI100 Emulator

68.00*

►Samns Word +

320.00

►Human Edge The Management Edge

137.50"

►Satntile Software Word Perfect

190.00*

► Human Edge The Sales Edge

110.00'

Softcraft Fancy Fonts

125.00*

► Human Edge Mind Prober

24.00"

Software Arts TKISolver

200.00*

Infocom Cornerstone

242.00*

Software Publishing PFS: File, Wfite, Graph

68.00'

Lifetree Volkswnter III

135.00*

Software Publishing PES: Report

64.00

► Lotus Development torus 1-2-3

285.00'

Sorcim Supercalc III

169.00'

MDBS Know(edoeman/2

295.00'

Xanara Ability

247.50'

HARDWARE FOR YOUR IBM

(Please add shipping and handling charges found in italics next lo price.)

DISK DRIVES Wholesale

lOmega Bernoulli Box S2.149.00' (46.42)

330.00' (7.13)

DualWMGDnves ► PC Network I0M8 INTERNAL Height Auloboot Drive: New lowerphce Drives by Shugart or Tandon PC Network 10MB TapeBackup

Same unit used in Compaq's DeskPro

MODEMS

EverexrJvercomiH200BPS Snort Sfol Moc?em. Lowes! Cosl Hayes Compatible Modem!

Hayes Smartmodem 1200B with New Smartcom II! VT100 Emulator 395.00* (894) Hayes Smartmodem 1200B Atone

Prometheus Promodem I20QB Internal

PCNetwork AT 42MG Internal Hard Disk 1.155.00' (24 95) Quadram Quadmodem I11200 Baud

35MS Access Time-Comes Complete

PC Network 20MG Tape Backup

Half Height Internal w/controller

► PC Network Halt Height DSiDD Dnv

►Tandon TM 100-2 Full Height DSlDC

Tallgrass 25MB External/HardDisk

with 60MB Tape Backup

495.00- (TOM

Hall Card w/Crosslalk XVI

VIDEO CARDS

Wholesale $120.00* (2.50)

265.00* (2 50) 225.00* (2 50) 275.00* (2.50)

59.00* (1 27) Hercules Cotor Card wlParallelPort 93.00' 12 20, ►Hercules Monochrome Graphics Card 2.250.00' (48.60) Paradise Modular Graphics Card

►PC Network Hercules MonoCardClone lOfffcHercules Compatible-' ■ ■i ■• ■»». .*.A-r.n.. «■ nnA ►PCNetworkCoforCard

MULTIFUNCTION CARDS Persvst Bob CardUltraHigh Res Color

$139.00* (2.50) ►STBGrapftixP/U5« 195 00" (2 50) (simultaneous Mono Graphics & Color)

&£ S3 ACCESSORIES

160.00' (2 50) ►BrandNameOS/DDDishertes

Apparat AT Ram Expansion Card ►AST"SixPakPlus" With64K

AST" I/O Plus It"

AST" Advantage for Af

Everex Magic Card/64K ►PC Network 5 *2K Memory Board w/OK

PC Network The Multi-384 Board A clone of Ihe AST's "SixPakPlus:" Includes up lo 384Kb of expansion memory. 1 serial, I parallel. I game port, a clock/calendar and software standard ►PC Network I/O Plus II Clone

Ser/Par/Game/Clock standard

Ouadram Improved Uuadboard wlOK

Tecmar Captain Multifunction Card wlOK

59.00" (2 50)

Guaranteed lor Lite'Not Generic'

$142.00* (2.50)

263.00* (2.50)

219.00' (2.50J

99.00" (2 50)

69,00* (2 50/

299.00* (2.50)

199.00" (2 50)

$895

79.00' (I 10) ►DS/DD Bulk Rate Special *8"H

Packageo in 50 with sleeves and labels

Guaranteed lor Lite! ►PC Network Replacement 130 Wall 70.00*

ISM-PC Power Supply-Gives your PC the same

Capacity as anXT Goodforaddm TapeDnves 65.00* (2.50) (without need lor a piggyback unit) and large

capacity disk drives 170.00" (250) SMAf^Ltouturnaie.KevOoa/dremplafes 9.99*

146.00" (2 50) for Lotus/DBasc/Multimafe and others (Each)

MEMORY CHIPS

(All Memory Chips Guaranteed for Life!)

Wholesale

►64K Memory Upgrade Kits 19 Chips) 17.65' (100)

Quanfily Discounts Available'

►64K Dynamic Rom Chips lEachi J5* M 001

►256K Dynamic Ram Chips (£"achj 2.25- (I 00)

► 128K IBM ATPiggybackChips (Each) 5.50' (100)

MONITORS

COMPLETESYSTEMS

Wholesale

EXTERNAL MODEMS

(3.00)

(3.00) (3.00) (4.64) (7.88) (9.83) (I0.4S)

Anchor Signalman Express Hayes Smartmodem 300 Hayes Smartmodem 1200 Hayes Smartmodem I200B with new

Smartcom IIVT100 Emulator Hayes Smartmodem 1200B Alone

Prometheus Promodem 1200

External 100% Hayes Compatible ►U.S Robotics Conner ?4G0BPS Modem ►U.S. Robotics Password

LOWEST PRICE I200BPS Modem'.

S205.00* 125.00* 340.00' 317.00*

265.00* 535.00* 276.00*

(5.00) (5 00) (5 00) (250)

(2.50) 15 Wl (6.00)

(5 00)

(4 00)

Amdek Video 300G Composite Green S110.00*

AmOek Video 300A Composite Amber 120.00*

Amdek Video 3I0A IBM Type Amber 130.00'

Amdek Cofor300 NEW' Composite 215.00*

Amdek Cotor 600 NEW' High Res RGB 365.00'

Amdek Color 700 NEW' Ultra High Res 455.00'

Amdek Color 710 NEW' 700 w/Non Glare 475.00*

Long Phosphor

Princeton HX-12 RGB Monitor 399.00- (8 62)

PrincetonMAX-12e 156.00' (5 00)

Work with Color or Mono Card!

Quadram Quadchrome II New' 289.00' (6.24)

640X200 RGB w! 14" Screen!

Black. Phosphor Mask/IBM Case

► Samsung 12 TTi iLiM Type Amber 85.00* (5 00)

A tiff-i' i,::.'".'i; ;■■ ■' VTlNflg IttDAOCfwlNnfl frWW tflfl

manufacturer of IBM s own color monitor

laxan 640 Super Hi Res RGB 495.00* (1069)

Currently Available works with Persyst Bob Card

Zenith ZVM 1230A Green Hi Res! Bt .00* (1.75)

Non Glare

Apple Macintosh Base Systems AT4T 6300 PC CPU2

128K/2 Floppy/1 Serial! 1 Parallel AT&T 7300 Unix PC

10MB Hard Disk! I Floppy/512K

Wholesale CALL

COMPAQ DeskPro/ Tape Backup Syslem 2.446.00* (63 70) W/640KII Floppy/ 10MB HardDisk! WMB Tape Dnve!Monitor

CALL ►COMPAQ Hard Disk Portable

S1.575.0O* (34 02) WMB Hard Disk/Eloppyl256K

► IBM PC Base Syslem 2DSDD/FDC/2S6K S1.325O0* (30 78)

3,699.00' (79.90J ►IBMPCProlession.imardDisk 1,685.00- (36011

IBMPC/A7BaseSysiem-I 2MB 2.795.00* (60.37)

Ftoppy!256K

IBM A7 Professional System CALL

1 2MB Floppy/20MB Hard Disk! 1 Serl 1 Par/512K

PRINTERS

TERMS & CONDITIONS

'PC NETWORK—Members pay just 6% above the wholesale price, plus shipping. All puces reflect a 3%cash discount. Minimum shipping $2.50 per order. International orders call tor shipping S handling charges. Money Orders, personal and company checks please allow 10 working days to clear. All prices subject lo change wilhoul notice!

t RENT BEFORE YOU BUY-Members are eligible to join Ihe NETWORK'S Business and Game software Rental Libraries and evaluate products tor a lull 14 (Regular) or 30 (VIP) days to see it It meets your needs. And The NETWORK'S rental charges are far less than olher software rental services-Just 20%OF THE MEMBER WHOLESALE PRICE. Rental titles available in IBM/Apple/MAC and CP/M Formats. Hardware prices hiflhliled by ► relied recent major price reductions

►Citizen MSP-10 NEW! $265.00*

160CPS/80COL/Fnc 1 Trac

►Citizen MSP-15 NEW! 350.00*

160CPS/132COLlFric* Trac

►Citizen MSP-20 NEW' 350.00*

200CPS!80COL/Fnc * Trac

►Citizen MSP-25 NEW! 499.00'

200CPSI 132COLIFnc t- Trac

►Citizen Premiere 35 NEWI 385.00'

35CPSDaiseywheel/?32COL/):ricH Trac

►Epson LX-80IOOCPS80COLLOMode 199.00*

New Model!!

►Epson FX-85 299.00*

►Epson FX-286NEW' 459.00'

Epson LQ1000NEW! W0CPSI60CPSNLQ 599.00

Epson SO2000 NEW' Inkjet Printer 1.359.00*

106CPS LO Model 176CPS Draft/132COL

Epson DX-35 35CPS 569.00*

LeiferQua/ily Primer

►NEC 2030 20CPSLQ Parallel 605.00*

►NEC 2050 20CPS Letter Quality Primer 605.00*

(5.72J ►NEC.?53033CPS!QParai/e/ $

►NEC 3550 33CPS L eltW Quality Printer (7.56) >U£C 8850 55CPS Printer 1

►NEC Pnwnler 2 New •Color Dot Main, (7.56) OkkJataML 182Ncw 120CPSILQ

Model FnclIBM Graphics *- more (10.76) OkidataML 192 New Sleek Design!

l60CPS/LQModc/Fnc!IBMGraphiCs (8.32) Okktota Color 20 80CPS! 100 +

Cotors/LQModelIBMGraphics! f Afore (4.30) (Requires interface)

Ofcidata IBM Interlace lor Okimate (6 46) Color 20

(9911 Okidata ML84P 200CPS 132COL 112 94) OkktotaML93P 160CPS Wide Platen (29 35) Okidata 2410P Pacemark 3S0COL

QumeSprinl 11140 40CPSLetterQuality 1 112 291 Star Mrcronics Power lype 1SCPS

Toshiba PI3-J0 80COL! 144CPS (13.00) Toshiba P34J New.' 2I0CPS/ 132COL (1300) Toshiba P35f New' 28SCPS/f 32COL '

888.00' (19 18) 920.00' (1787) 330.00' (28 73) 599 00' (12.MJ CALL

CALL

CALL

CALL

CALL

CALL ,155.00* (24.00) 300.00* (6 48) 430.00* (9 29) 699.00* (15.09) 975.00* (21 06)

OMPLETE SYSTEM.

ptional local warranty service available in most major metro area:

IBM PC BASE SYSTEM

IBMPCW/256K

Floppy Drive Controller 2 Double Sided Double

Density Disk Drives Mix and Match with

your Favorite Monitor

and Printer!

$1,325.00*

New Lower Prices!

CALLFOR

LATEST IBM

ANNOUNCEMENTS

IBM PC HARD DISK SYSTEM

IBMPCW/256K Floppy Drive Controller 1 Double Sided Double

Density Disk Drive Half Height 10MB

Disk Subsystem

$1,685.00*

3>ffl

CUSTOM

CONFIGURATIONS

WELCOME

PORTABLE HARD DISK SYSTEM

W256K/1 Floppy/ 10MB Hard Disk

comma

TM

$2,269.00

W/20MB

Call for 10MB

APPLE lie

DESKPRO SYSTEM

WITHTAPEBACKUP

640K CPU/1 Floppy/IOMB Hard Disk 10MB Tape Drive/Monitor

$2,446.00* W/10MB $2,596.00* W/20MB

MACINTOSH SYSTEMS

ED

64K IBM PC MEMORY EXPANSION KITS Quantity Discounts Available. Guaranteed for Life!

s * *

aname. j^.

/#

Set of 9 Chips

$6.21

DISKETTES

Guaranteed for Life!

Brand name diskettes available in boxes of 10 or in bulk packs of 50

1/2 HEIGHT DS/DD DISK DRIVES

The Network buys direct

and makes fantastic deals with manufacturers like MPI/ Tandon/CDC/Shugart/Qume/ TEAC and others to bring you

fantastic prices on Name

Brand drives for your PC/AT/

XT/jr/or Compatible.

$59.00*

Quantity Discounts Available

J^ | T

$285.00*

5WSS/DD

$7.95*/

Bx. lo/Sx. 50 -<a.47*

3V2"SS/DD

Bx. 10

$15.95*

Free Flip 8 File Case

INTERNAL PC HARD DISK

Low Power/Automatic Boot. Works on standard PC's

and Compatibles. Includes drive/controller/cables/

mounting hardware and instructions.

Full one year warranty! 10MB

$330.00*

20MB

$410.00*

Quantity Discount Available

Word Perfect

$190.00**

Multimate™

GET THE NETWORK ADVANTAGE!!!

SEE WHY OVER 100,000 HAVE JOINED MAKING US THE NATION'S #1 SOURCE FOR EVERYTHING IN COMPUTING...

• Our 600 Page Wholesale Catalog

Over 30,000 products priced at Wholesale + 8%. Anything you will ever need at a Consistent low price...

• Quarterly Catalog Updates

Your Catalog is never obsolete! Keep on top of the newest products and latest price changes.

• The Printout

Our newsletter gives you fantastic specials along with unbiased analysis of new products and industry trends.

• 10 Day Returns on any Hardware!!

If you don't like any hardware product-for any reason —return it for a refund.

• 1000 + Title Rental Library

14 to 30 day rentals on over 1000 different titles. Try before you buy!!

• Size-Strength and Stability

The Network has over 100 employees, 40,000 square feet of office and warehouse, inventory valued in excess of $15,000,000 and is ranked the largest computer product supplier in the Nation!! Our commitment is to serve our customers and our 90% repeat business rate is proof!!

aV\ "

m ki

CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-621-S-A-V-E

(Orders—Membership and Advice!) In Illinois call (312) 280-0002 Your Membership Validation Number B336 You can validate your membership number and. if you wish, place your first money-saving order over the phone by using your VISA. MASTERCARD or AMERICAN EXPRESS. Our knowledgeable sales consultants are on duty Mon.-Fri. 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM, SAT. 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM CST. ^^MfSi

- PERSONAL COMPUTER NETWORK 4m-1?V

il 320 West Ohio lM^"

' Chicago, Illinois 60610 ^IP

Call now...Join the PC NETWORKand start saving today! Customer Service and Order Status (312) 280-1567 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Mon.-Fri. CST

"Members pay 8% above this wholesale price plus shipping. CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-621-S-A-V-E (j&Kg.)

In Illinois call (312) 280-0002 Validation code: B336

Customer Service and Order Status (312) 280-1567

TM&R-Registered trademarks of IBM/COMPAQ/APPLE/ASTResearch/LOTUS/Multimate lnt.,/IOMEGA. Inquiry 264

PC NETWORK • MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

YES! Please enroll me as a member In the PC NETWORK'" and rush my catalog featuring thousands of computer products, all at just 8% above DEALER WHOLESALE PRICES. I will also periodically receive "THE PRINTOUT", a special up-date on merchandise at prices BELOW even those in my wholesale catalog, and all the other exclusive, money-saving services available to Members. t—

B336 _

I am under no obligation to buy anything. My complete satisfaction is guaranteed. Please check (•>*) all boxes that apply:

Basic Membership

With 14 Day* Rental

D One-year membership for $8 D Two-year membership for

$15 (SAVE $1) D Business Software Rental Library for $25 add'l. per year-with 14 day rentals

□ Games Software Rental Library for $10 add'l. per year

□ Bill my credit card: □ VISA

Special V.I.P. Membership* With 30 Days Rental.

D One-year membership for $15

□ Two-year membership for $25 (SAVE $5)

□ BOTH Business and Game Software Rental Libraries for $30 add'l. per year—with 30 day rentals "VIP members receive advance

notice on limited quantity merchandise specials D MasterCard □ American Express

Account Number:

Exp. Date _

mo. year

□ Check or money order enclosed for $ _ Name _

Address

Apt. No.

City

State

7ip

Telephone (

)

III □

My computer(s) is

Signature

IBM PC L Macintosh

IBM-XT □ Other

3

IBM-AT

a Apple II

(Signature required to validate membership) Copyright ©1985, PC NETWORK INC.

"9

8

xX^

Xw ''■

I

I?

k

BUTE

Features

Product Preview: The Atari 1040ST

by Phillip Robinson and ]on R. Edwards.... 84

Finding the Titanic

by Marti Spalding and Ben Dawson 96

Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar:

Real-Time Clocks:

A View Toward the Future

by Sieve Ciarcia 112

Programming Project

A Simple Windowing System,

Part I: Basic Principles

by Bruce Webster 128

An ANSI Standard for the C Language

by Steve A. Hersee and Dan Knopoff 135

Programming Insight Macintosh Explorer

by Olav kndrade 145

THIS MONTH, BYTE PRESENTS a preview of Atari's new $999 1-megabyte machine-the 1040ST. Although the system is similar to Atari's 520ST, it has twice the memory capability, an internal double-sided disk drive, an empty socket for a graphics coprocessor, and it is the first computer to begin its retail life at a cost of less than one dollar per kilobyte. The article also includes an interview with Shiraz Shivji, Atari's vice president of research and development, who discusses the company's plans for the future.

In "Finding the Titanic," Marti Spalding and Ben Dawson take a look at the state-of-the-art image-processing equipment used in the underwater exploration that located the sunken Titanic. The ship was lost in the Atlantic for 73 years until teams of French and American researchers, with millions of dollars worth of equipment, were able to pinpoint the wreck.

In Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar, Steve offers us a choice of real-time clocks. The first one uses a CMOS chip that you attach to the computer through parallel ports. This conventional approach appeals to those who want a quick resolution of a problem. The second clock uses a unique concept that Steve believes will prevail long into the future. It uses a new clock "socket" that requires no independent interfacing and merely plugs in with a static-RAM chip.

The Programming Project is the first of a two-part article by Bruce Webster. Bruce mentions that windowing systems can be and have been implemented on most of the more "mundane" computers. The goal of his article is to show you how to do this. In Part 1, Bruce covers basic principles and examines the problems involved in opening a window.

As C has become more popular among developers and programmers, it has become necessary to establish a standard to keep C programmers working with the same language. "An ANSI Standard for the C Language," by Steve A. Hersee and Dan Knopoff, describes the standard that has been proposed by the ANSI Standardization Committee and invites participation in establishing the standard.

This month's Programming Insight describes a disassembler program. In "Macintosh Explorer," Olav Andrade explains that when using a Macintosh he discovered that the Toolbox/Operating System routines would be vital to his applications. His problem was that he needed to know how the Toolbox calls were made and Macintosh Explorer was his solution. It is written in Microsoft BASIC for the Macintosh.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 83

PRODUCT PREVIEW

The

Atari 1040ST

A megabyte

of memory for $999

Editor's note: The following is a BYTE product preview. \t is not a review. We provide an advance look at this product because we feel that it is significant. A complete review will follow in a subsequent issue.

Atari's new $999 1-megabyte 1040ST (see photo 1) establishes a price break reminiscent of the Commodore 64's. And, as table 1 shows, the 1040ST will be the first computer to begin its retail life at a price that represents less than one dollar per kilobyte. The 1040ST is clearly a bargain, with over 1 megabyte of RAM (random-access read/write memory), its operating system in ROM (read-only memory), an internal 720Kbyte double-sided drive, an internal power supply, and the same features and functionality that already make the Atari 520ST an attractive purchase. (Editor's note: See "The Atari 520ST" by }on R. Edwards, Phillip Robinson, and Brenda McLaughlin. January BYTE, page 84.|

System Description

Our coverage of the 520ST adequately describes most of the features of the 1040ST (see also the "In Brief" box on page 86). The new computer has the same keyboard, the same ports (although these are now in new locations, see photo 2), and the same architecture. We remain uncomfortable with the keyboard, but the keytops are removable. We suspect that

some speedy entrepreneur will provide alternative tapered keys for the ST machines.

The most obvious changes are cosmetic: The keyboard/computer unit is 2 inches deeper and 4'/2 pounds heavier than the 520ST and the keyboard provides a much more substantial feel. The mouse/joystick ports are now located under the bottom right front of the unit, a significant improvement for left-handed users.

A number of changes are more than cosmetic. The internal power supply eliminates two of the external power supplies needed by the 520ST (wire haters rejoice). We left the unit on for five days and experienced no difficulties with overheating. There is no internal fan, but the unit appears to adequately dissipate heat. The internal disk drive supports both singleand double-sided disks. An RF (radio frequency) modulator will allow you to hook up the 1040ST to a television set; you might, therefore, obtain the high-resolution monochrome system for word processing and programming without sacrificing the use of low- and medium-resolution color. However, we received a preproduction unit lacking the RF modulator that will accompany the final product; therefore, we were unable to test the television quality of the computer's output.

The megabyte of RAM in the 1040ST isn't crammed into the case. The 520ST uses a custom Memory Controller chip to handle its sixteen 2 56K-byte dynamic RAM chips. The 1040ST uses the same Memory Controller. Because the controller can handle 32 RAM chips at a time, the

Atari engineers simply had to find room for 16 more 2 56K-byte dynamic RAMs on the 1040ST circuit board to pump RAM capacity to a full megabyte (see photo 3). In fact, the Memory Controller can also govern 1-megabit dynamic RAM chips. Atari should have little difficulty designing an ST with 4 megabytes of memory. Undoubtedly, the most interesting addition to this computer, apart from the extra memory, will be an empty socket for a graphics coprocessor. Our preproduction unit also did not include the socket, and it may not be offered with the first releases of the 1040ST Phil Robinson discussed this and Atari's future plans with Shiraz Shivji, vice president of research and development for the company (see the text box "An Interview with Shiraz Shivji" on page 90).

TOS IN ROM

With TOS (the operating system for both the 520ST and the 1040ST) in ROM, the 1040ST boots more quickly than the 520ST. [Editors note: Atari is currently supplying the ROM chips to 520ST developers and will be making the chips available through users groups.] Booting with a nonsystem disk takes less than 6 seconds, down from 37

[continued] Phillip Robinson is a senior technical editor, and \on R. Edwards is a technical editor for BYTE. They can be contacted at BYTE. POB 372, Hancock. NH 03449.

84 B YTE • MARCH 1986

by Phillip Robinson and Jon R. Edwards

Photo 1: The Atari 1040ST.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAUL AVIS

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 85

ATARI 1040ST

IN BRIEF

Name

Atari 1040ST

Company

Atari Corp. 1196 Borregas Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 745-2000

Price

With monochrome monitor, $999 With color monitor, $1199

Microprocessor

Motorola 68000, a 32-/16-bit microprocessor (32-bit internal architecture with 24-bit, nonsegmented, external data bus) running at 8 MHz

Main Memory

1024K bytes of dynamic RAM

ROM

192K-byte TOS in ROM, not including the desktop accessories

Graphics

Three modes: 640- by 400-pixel monochrome, 320 by 200 with 16 colors, and 640 by 200 with 4 colors

Sound

Three independent sound channels from 30 Hz to 125 kHz

Floppy-Disk Drive

Internal 3'/2-inch double-sided double-density drive with capacity of 720K bytes. System supports maximum of two floppy-disk drives.

Keyboard

94-key Selectric-style QWERTY keyboard with numeric keypad, cursor controls, and rhomboid function keys

Interfaces

MIDI in and MIDI out ports

Monitor port (supports RGB analog, high-resolution monochrome)

RF modulator

Centronics parallel printer port (supports Epson-compatible printers)

RS-232C serial port

Floppy-disk port

Hard-disk port (10-megabit-per-second DMA transfer rate)

128K-byte ROM cartridge port

Ports for mouse or two joysticks

Bundled Software

Atari Logo ST BASIC

Optional Peripherals

SF354 single-sided drive SF314 double-sided drive

Planned Expansion

Graphics coprocessor, SMM801 dot-matrix printer, SDM121 daisy-wheel printer, 10-megabyte fixed disk, 8-slot expansion interface, CD-ROM, local-area network for MIDI port

seconds on the 520ST. After booting, the color system displays blue and yellow crossbars instead of the multicolor display shown on the 520ST. The desktop icon also appears in much brighter green on the 1040ST, which Neil Harris of Atari explains is more effective on color television screens for those who will make use of the RF modulator.

Although it increases the time to 17 seconds, you may prefer to boot with a nonsystem disk that includes the desktop accessories. By so doing, you can maintain access to the Control Panel (to change the background color, for example), the RS-232 Port Configuration, and the Install Printer facilities. You also have the option of placing the operating system (38 seconds), and presumably any alternative operating system, into RAM.

The ROM TOS appears to be functionally identical to the first release of TOS in RAM, but there have been some additions. In the interest of supporting business applications, the ROM TOS raises the limit on open files from 30 to 100. A new dialog box informs you if you have insufficient memory to run an application. The earlier versions of TOS simply return you to the desktop. Two new GEM

functions, form button and form

keyboard, will allow developers to bring up dialog boxes without freezing the current application. You could, for example, postpone your response until you finish a task.

Most of the other changes involved crunching the code from over 200K bytes to 192K bytes (Landon Dyer, software design engineer for Atari, reports that the production ROMs are a mere 14 bytes short of 192K bytes), but there have also been a number of modifications and corrections, many in response to the experiences of ST developers. Early versions of TOS did not allow you to print from the desktop if you set your printer to the serial port. Now you can. Full type-ahead buffers will no longer eat characters. And icon grabbers can take comfort in the fact that rapid movements of icons into the

86 B YTE • MARCH 1986

ATARI 1040ST

menu bar can no longer crash the system.

A Sample Session

We obtained similar results on BYTE's standard benchmark tests for both the 520ST and the 1040ST. Using ST BASIC (see photo 4), both machines ran the Sieve of Eratosthenes in 85 seconds and the Calculations benchmark of 10,000 multiplication and 10,000 division operations in 32 seconds. Both formatted single-sided disks (3 57,376 available bytes) in 54 seconds. The 1040ST took 102 seconds to format a double-sided disk (726,016 available bytes). It took 16 seconds with the 520ST to transfer a 40K-byte file from one single-sided

drive to another. It took 17 seconds to transfer the same file from the 1040ST's internal drive to an external single-sided drive.

In conducting the tests, we had two small problems. First, when we connected an external single-sided drive and took a directory of the internal drive, the 1040ST appeared to poll both drives. We got the directory we requested, but the fact that the internal drive is so quiet made it seem that we had inadvertently addressed the external drive. The whirring of the external drive was a continual annoyance.

Second, Atari's ST BASIC reserves approximately 160K bytes to buffer graphics, store arrays, and so on. On

the 1040ST with TOS in ROM and when booting with the desk accessories, you still obtain a workspace in excess of 700K bytes. On the 520ST with TOS in RAM, we obtained a workspace of only 5K bytes. To run the Sieve, which dimensions an array to 7000 elements, we had to boot without the desk accessories (a savings of about 30K bytes), eliminate graphics buffering (an additional savings of 32K bytes), and dimension the array as an integer array. Using a real array, the 1040ST ran the Sieve in 90 seconds.

Software

The earliest critics of the 520ST bemoaned the lack of software, but the

[continued]

Table 1: The Atari 1040ST is the first computer with an original list price that represents less than a dollar per kilobyte. The price-per-kilobyte figures were determined by using the original list price for each system on the chart. Prices reflect those for the original system configurations; many but not all of the systems were originally bundled with disk drives and monitors.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 87

ATARI 1040ST

list of available packages has grown and is still growing. The major criticism left is that most of the early products are ports that don't take advantage of the ST's full capabilities. A significant exception is DEGAS from Batteries Included, a full-featured paint package that makes the color monitor worth having (see photo 5). For those of you who are anxious for information about available software: Michtron has a variety of utilities for the ST machines, including a printer spooler, a RAM disk, and terminal software. SST Systems has Chat, version 1.2, a terminal program with support for XMODEM. A variety of word processors are available, including Mince and Final Word from

For some time, the Atari 1040ST \M be

the dear leader in price/performance.

Mark of the Unicorn, Express from Mirage Concepts, Haba Writer from Haba Systems, Regent Word from Regent Software, and both 1st Word and ST Writer from Atari. The last of these is in the public domain. DBMaster One from Atari, Hippo Simple from Hippopotamus Software, and Zoomracks from Quickview Systems

are database managers. Regent Software also offers a spelling checker with full GEM features. VIP Systems offers The Professional, a Lotus-like spreadsheet. And XLENT software offers Typesetter ST, which supports DEGAS and Neo formats and Prowriter, NEC, and Epson printers.

Conclusion

The 1040ST has a remarkable price, and for some time it will be the clear leader in price/performance. Moreover, the graphics coprocessor chip may convince skeptics to take a second look at the ST. Some of our criticisms of the Atari 520ST remain: The desktop is less effective than the

[continued)

£U

(C)

Photo 2: The 1040ST has the same ports as the 520ST. but in different locations. The joystick and mouse ports are underneath the right front of the unit, (a) The disk drive is on the right side, (b) On the left side are the MIDI out and MIDI in and the \28K-byte ROM cartridge port, (c) From left to right on the back panel are the RS-232C serial port, the 25-pin Centronics parallel printer port, the DMA (hard-disk) port, the floppy-disk port, the monitor port, the onloff switch, the AC power connector, and the reset button.

88 BYTE • MARCH 1986

ATARI 1040ST

■c o a.

>.

Q.

a.

_o

LL

B S O EC

3

a. o

(O

.9- o

CD 5

CD

o

E

CD

■g >

B O

T3

O DC

Photo 3: T/ie 1040ST motherboard.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 89

ATARI 1040ST

Photo 4: The Sieve of Eratosthenes in ST BASIC. The screen shows the highresolution monochrome display.

Photo 5: The main menu of DEGAS, a deluxe paint package from Batteries Included, in low-resolution color graphics.

Macintosh's and the keyboard has an awkward feel. But the 1040ST addresses most of our concerns. It will have an RF modulator, the power supply is internal, and TOS is in ROM. And given the outstanding price, our

overall impression is even more positive.

Who knows, perhaps the next price break will be on Atari's coming efforts: 2- and 4-megabyte machines and 640- by 592-pixel graphics.

Editor's note: This text box contains portions of Phil Robinson's December 1985 interview with Shiraz Shivji. Atari's vice president of research and development.

The Graphics Coprocessor

BYTE: Tell us about the graphics coprocessor. When will there actually be a socket waiting for it in the machine'} Shivji: That's up to the marketing people, but perhaps by April or May. I really am pushing for the machines to be upgradable—at least to have sockets—and it may not happen in the first machines. As far as the engineering is concerned, we have some artwork in the 1040 footprint ready to go that has the socket for it.

BYTE: How far advanced is the design of the chip?

Shivji: We're running checks on the layout right now. We expect to see parts by the end of January [1986].

BYTE: It's not going to be an expensive addition?

Shivji: No, very inexpensive. You'll only need to put in the coprocessor and change the ROMs. It's not a simple part, it's quite complex. That's why we waited until now to get it out. But it's going to be fairly inexpensive. We're doing it in a 2-micron, double-metal CMOS [complementary metal-oxide semiconductor] process, which is the latest process you can get.

BYTE: What kind of power will it add and

how?

Shivji: Some of the screen operations

will become about 20 times as fast.

BYTE: What kind of screen operations? Life blitting one area over another? Shivji: Yes, it does fairly sophisticated blit operations. I believe we have some nice features that some of the other blit chips don't have. The problem with some of the other blit chips is that the way they glue to the bus is not very good. I have a blit chip from an outside vendor right now that has just

90 B YTE • MARCH 1986

ATARI 1040ST

An Interview with Shiraz Shivji

CONDUCTED BY PHILLIP ROBINSON

come out, but the chip needs a lot of glue around it; in fact, it needs external counters and so on. I would say we do as much as what's in the Amiga chip, and we have some things in it that make it nice in the way it fits on the bus. The cleanliness of the architecture is very important to us. It's a 68-pin PLCC (plastic leaded chip carrier| part. It sits on the bus. It's benign unless it's activated, and then it comes over and takes the bus. But again, a lot of the things like the DMAs |direct memory accesses! are not affected because the DMA will preempt the chip; it has the same priority as the processor.

BYTE: How does it share time with the processor?

Shivji; It takes over stuff from the processor, but it doesn't hog it completely. We allow the processor to have a few cycles.

BYTE: How many gates? Is it a gate array or will it be a fully custom-designed chip? Shivji: It will be a fully custom chip. As far as complexity is concerned, I would say it's around 20,000 transistors, so it's medium complexity. One of the things that is important in any design is how you partition things. I feel we have the best partitioning, as good as you can get. And again, it's like the early days of computers where things were hardwired and the concept of having subroutines came along. That was a tremendous breakthrough—to be able to modularize stuff. This is what I feel we've done on the ST We are modular. For example, the blit is completely coordinate-free. We will use the same part in the new version of the ST, which is high-resolution. So, it's nice the way we can do those kinds of things and not have it tied to the machine.

Emulating the IBM PC

BYTE: The V20 board that's in the lab for

emulating the IBM Personal Computer—is that

experimental?

Shivji: No. We will actually show it at

an upcoming CES (Consumer Elec

tronics Show]. In fact, we can either run an 8088 or a V20. We're running it at 8 MHz, and we're going through the DMA channel to get the speed for the display.

BYTE: You're going through the DMA channel, so this is going to be an external board in a little box?

Shivji: It's a self-contained box with its own power supply. It will have quite a bit of its own memory, it has the 8088. it also has an 8253 because a lot of people go directly to the timers in the IBM PC. But the problem in any kind of an emulation is the speed of scrolling things on the screen because you have to effectively reproduce what is being done in the PC environment into something else, and it's very slow. We don't think it will be that slow in the case of the ST. Our graphics modes are a superset of the IBM PC's anyway.

BYTE: Are you using some BIOS [basic input/ output system] from an outside source? Shivji: Actually, we have the work done on a machine that provides IBM PC compatibility with the 800XL. Initially there was an Atari project that was compatible with the IBM PC, the Apple II, and the 800XL. They eventually abandoned the Apple II compatibility, but they made it compatible with the 800XL. We're essentially following from that effort; we're using a lot of software from that era.

Future Machines

BYTE: Will the next machine be 2 or 4 megabytes?

Shivji: We are using the base architecture for future machines. We will have a 2-megabyte version out fairly soon, perhaps in the same case. As you know, the chip is designed to handle 1-megabit parts. If I-megabit parts are in sufficient quantities, then today we can use sixteen 1-megabit parts: that's a 2-megabyte machine. And if you use 32 parts, which the chip is designed to handle. . . .

BYTE: You'd just need to have a new board layout, drill new holes. Shivji: Yes. And as a matter of fact, it would be easy to upgrade a 1040.... 1-megabit parts are 18-pin parts. It would not be that difficult to upgrade your 1040 to make it a 4-megabyte machine by using 1- megabit parts.

BYTE: How would you do that? Shivji: You have two banks, you'd have to remove the chips, but you could do it because it's not that difficult. In fact, we have built a prototype with 1-megabit parts.

Choice of the 68000

BYTE: About the 68010 and the 68020. You were saying that the 68010 didn't improve ST performance that much. Shivji: Not as much. We designed the ST in part as a front end for a compute engine through the DMA channel. That's where we're going to put our compute engine, whatever it is. The people that have bought STs and are buying STs in the future will have the capability of expanding painlessly and using their existing peripherals and everything and get on to a full 32-bit machine such as a 68020.

{continued}

MARCH 1986 -BYTE

ATARI 1040ST

BYTE: So you're thinking more in terms of a box out back with a 68020 in it and not of an internal 68020. Shivji: Yes. We now know how to do a good job in putting a 68000 as part of something that drives video displays in various modes. In fact, we have not run out of steam yet as far as bandwidth of data is concerned for even displays that are 1024 by 1024. We think 1987 is approximately when we might have another generation of machines where the base I/O |input/output| driving the video, and so on, may not be enough, especially if you're talking about 4 to 8 planes of 1024 by 1024. Then you need something like a 68020. But even that is not enough. You couldn't run just raw 32-bits. You would probably have 64- and 128-bit-wide data paths to take care of all the planes that you're talking about.

We have the architecture sketched out; we are doing the custom parts for it. By the way, these parts are fully custom. Some of the chips we've met are really huge. You wouldn't be able to do it even with semicustom. You certainly could not use gate arrays; there's no gate array built at the moment that can handle one of the chips we're talking about. It would be the equivalent of about 25,000 gates. It's also very high speed. We're looking, in some cases, to run things at about 100 MHz.

BYTE: Do you have to go to bipolar then in the custom chips?

Shivji: We will actually have custom chips at 2-micron, double-metal CMOS. But then there's going to be an interface chip to drive external things. The reason we can go to high speeds is because the structures we're using are very regular. There's no loading. Supposing you run a shift register. There's no loading in between cells. All you're doing with a flip-flop cell is driving another cell, and so on. You can get quite a bit of performance if you use such a structure, and we're using a similar structure.

BYTE: And when you're 'at 2-micron, too. Shivji: Yeah, 2-micron double-metal is quite fast. So we can run close to 100 MHz, but only on a small section of the chip. Everything is not running at that speed.

CD-ROMs and Floppies

BYTE: What about the disk memories? the CD-ROM?

Shivji: We're waiting for audio. The first version of the CD-ROM players was a small unit; the power supply was a separate box. The second batch has a built-in power supply. Now Sony has a third batch, starting around April, which has audio as well as digital. That's the one that we're waiting for. We feel that if a customer spends $600, he might as well have audio, too.

BYTE: What about the floppies? Is there going to be a change at some point, going to higher densities, 1.2 megabytes? Shivji: Two megs is almost here. The thing that's going to be important is the media, because it is special media that can handle 2 megs. Some of our Japanese friends who are drive manufacturers are working on a 10-megabyte floppy in the 3.5 format. They think that sometime around mid to late 1986 there will be 10-megabyte drives.

Multitasking

BYTE: What about multitasking? When will that be coming as an option, or do you see that as necessary at all?

Shivji: To get useful multitasking you have to have things like protection, which is not the case in many existing machines. Although we have protected space, as you've noticed, it's not very much. The architecture is there to provide more protection, and in future versions of the machine we may provide a lot more protection.

BYTE: That's why you're looking at the memory-management chips and such? Shivji: Yes, we're looking at memorymanagement chips, but doing logicalto physical-address translation is perhaps not as important as the protection feature for multitasking. So we're looking closely into protection. Again, the future versions of the ST architecture could have more; we have only 2K bytes at the moment, and we could probably protect about half a megabyte. And then that would make it a lot easier to run a protected kernel and then multitask.

BYTE: What about UNIX System V? Shivji: We're looking at System V now.

We're constantly looking at multitasking, and we're constantly getting proposals for a multitasking environment. As a matter of fact, I think it has become a bit of a buzzword. But it is something that people now are looking forward to having in their machines. So with the amount of memory the 1040 has, it will not be out of place to have a multitasking operating system that could run, coexist with TOS perhaps, by at least the third quarter of 1986.

BYTE: What about peripherals? Is Atari going to get in the business of printers and modems and the like?

Shivji: Yes, we have printers. We are working on a modem. We feel that a 1200-baud modem should be inexpensive. There have been a lot of advances in technology (such as the modem chips from Sierra Semiconductor). We hope that around the middle of 1986 we will have something to show.

BYTE: What about higher-end printers? With Atari leading this price/performance curve now, what about laser printers? Shivji: We started talking to the people, around the time that the laser printers came out from Apple and Hewlett Packard. We have talked to a lot of the manufacturers. We're looking at something that costs about $1200 retail, but we don't feel that it's really a mass item. Although imagine an ST in an engineering environment where you can get prints.

Yes, we were looking at it. As a matter of fact, the interesting thing is that the cost of building the ST board is so low that we were thinking of using the ST board as a driver for the printer. At 300 dots per inch, if you want to have a full page in the unit, you've got to have about one and a half meg of RAM. And we actually can support more than that. It's something that's in the pipeline. We unfortunately don't have control over the manufacturers. We actually looked at the LCS technology—the liquid-crystal shutter— which is similar to that. Casio uses that. It wasn't quite as good. Nowadays people are also pushing the LEDs |lightemitting diodes). The company that is farthest along the line of good printers in LEDs is NEC. They have a really nice

92 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 144

ATARI 1040ST

one. We've been talking to them about getting their engine for quite a while. But right now it's too expensive. We could probably get it down to about SI500 right now. We're looking more toward SI 200 and then under $1000.

BYTE: What about sound capabilities? Shivji: We had a project here started during Alan Kay's tenure—a chip called Amy. And the ST was designed to have the Amy. But the Amy did not happen. We had silicon, the first pass, in October or November, and we had severe problems with it. It was kind of an orphan project. There were a lot of people who had worked on it. And if you have a chip that has six or eight people who have worked on it at different times, chances of the chip working are slim. But it's a good design.

BYTE: What does it do? What's so special about it?

Shivji: The approach of others is that during horizontal-refresh time you go out to some place and put some memory out automatically, and that goes through a DAC |digital-to-analog converter! and you have sound. Essentially you're sampling at 15.75 kHz, which is the typical frequency. So it's like a digital tape recorder. You have a digitized sound and you're just putting it out. And it needs enormous amounts of memory. The key is: How do you encode sound? From an informationtheoretic point of view, there are two problems with this approach. One is it's an enormous waste of memory. Because you could encode whatever sound you're going to play, as far as data is concerned in a sound piece, the data rate is extremely low. And doing it in the digital tape recorder way, you're wasting an awful lot of bandwidth and a lot of memory. The second problem with other implementations is that you only have 8 bits and it's not really that good. Especially with CDs coming out.

Amy was a chip that had 16 bits of information coming out. So you could have 96 decibels of range. What you could hear! Amy was a complete digital sound chip. It's called an additivedigital synthesizer. It had an adder and 64 independent oscillators. It has a model for sound and you feed it the

parameters. But if you do that you have to do an awful lot of preprocessing. We had hired a lot of people. We had a VAX 780 devoted to it. We had equipment, fast floating-point array processors, and so on, to analyze notes. We would get a tape of piano playing and then the VAX would analyze it and would take the Amy model and give the parameters. To play anything you only needed to have parameter tables and feed it to the chip.

BYTE: Is it still a possibility then? Shivji: It is still a possibility. We were going to have the Amy, and then it didn't happen. Then we said, look, we want to have a base machine that's a good machine. Everybody doesn't really care about great sound, right? So let's not penalize people that don't care. Let's put something that will allow people who really care about sound to be able to play things. That's how the MIDI came in. And so if you get Amy, we could even have it out as a MIDI device. It's a great chip. Essentially all you do is you load it up. Off line you're doing an analysis of all the different things, and then you have it in table form. And you can play it any time you want. And you're not using up the bus that much.

BYTE: 1/ it has that kind of processing capability, it could probably build models for voice, too.

Shivji: Exactly. We actually could reproduce opera sound. As a matter of fact, we had a sound lab. The type of sound that you could hear from that chip was just incredible. Again, 16-bit. Actually, the chip could even give you 17 bits if you wanted it to. The two problems are it needs too much memory and it hogs the bandwidth. The bandwidth you could probably get around. However, that's not the whole thing. You still have to move all that data around. Of course you don't get the data at the right place for free. For example, you have to move it somehow from a disk drive.

BYTE: So the Yamaha chip is in there just to give it the basic sound? Shivji: Yes. just the basic sounds you need. Though, of course, the ports are very useful. ■

STOP

SOFTWARE PIRACY...

... with one of our new sophisticated copy prevention products.

lie*

For Hard Disk Protection

• Fixed Disk Locker

For Disk Security

High Level Security

• PADLOCK II DISK

• SAFEGUARD DISKS

• COUPON DISKS

Low Level Security

User Installable Protection

• PC-PADLOCK

Why should your valuabledata or useful software program become available in the Public Domain?

Call or write for more information.

GLENCO

ENGINEERING INC.

3920 Ridge /Arlington Hts., IL 60004 (312)392-2492

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 93

Dont let

debris wo

through

In every specially marked diskette kit purchase. can't protect you from, box often SVa" 3M disk- Why are we doing this? Yourself,

ettes you'll find a free head We've done everything If you let your recording

cleaning diskette sampler but chant and burn incense heads collect dust and debris

kit that'll clean your disk to take the worry out of without cleaning them,

drive heads three times. diskettes by making the you have to be prepared for

Plus a coupon good for most reliable, worry-free the possibility of data loss

a $2.00 rebate from 3M product possible. or errors, on your next head cleaning But there's one thing we But not to worry.

94 BYTE- MARCH 1986

dust and

tries run

your head

Our free head cleaning kit will help get you in the habit of cleaning your heads.

So the most reliable floppy in

<w

the world can be even .more reliable. So you can worry even I less about the floppy you didn't have to worry about anyway.

One less tiling to worry about:

Inquiry 348

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 95

Figure I: This drawing

of the front of the Titanic

shows where some

of the photographs

in this article were taken.

96 BYTE- MARCH 1986

ILLUSTRATED BY DANIEL PELAVIN

by Marti Spalding and Ben Dawson

FINDING THE

TITANIC

Image processing helped locate the historic wreck

n April 14, 1912, the "unsinkable" Titanic sank when it collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic, taking with it more than 1500 of its 2000 passengers. When the Titanic slid into its grave, the technology of the day could indicate only that it sank somewhere in a 150square-mile area of the Atlantic Ocean. The combination of such a large search area and the tremendous depth of the water frustrated attempts to find the ship.

Then, after 73 years of being lost in the vast and frigid waters of the Atlantic, the Titanic was located 370 miles south of Newfoundland on September 1, 1985, at 13,000 feet (more than 2 miles) below sea level. The team that found her consisted of 13 researchers aboard the U.S. Navy vessel Knorr, a group of French scientists from the vessel Le Suroit, and millions of dollars worth of equipment. The success of this expedition was due largely to advances in deep-sea exploration and image-processing technology.

How Do You Find a Sunken Ship?

The French ship he Suroit was equipped with an advanced remoteacoustic system (SAR) that was originally developed for finding valuable manganese nodules on the ocean floor. As the ship moves, the SAR side scans kilometer-wide strips of the ocean floor. The system synthesizes these high-resolution strip images to

provide a continuous two-dimensional image.

Using the SAR, the French examined most of the 150-square-mile search area but missed finding the Titanic by 300 yards.

he Suroit certainly could have located the Titanic or its debris but might have had trouble making a positive identification. Because SAR images are twodimensional, they do not allow you to determine the height of an object on the ocean floor unless the object casts a shadow. As with an optical shadow, you can estimate the height if you know the viewing angle and distances. If the Titanic were not intact or viewed from the proper angle, identification might have been difficult even if the SAR had located it.

Meanwhile, the Americans explored using the Argo, named for the ship sailed by the Greek hero Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece. The Argo is a 15-foot-long unmanned vehicle developed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts as part of a system for oceanbottom research. It acquires wideangle television pictures while "flying" 120 feet above the sea floor and zooming in for close-up shots.

With only a few days remaining in

(continued) Marti Spalding (imaging Technology, 600 West Cummings Park, Woburn. MA 01801) has a B.A. in education and is a senior technical writer for Imaging Technoiogy. Ben Dawson (E10-120 MIT, 79 Amherst St., Cambridge, MA 02139) is a research scientist at MIT.

MARCH 1986

I Y T E 97

TITANIC

Photo I: One of the first views of the Titanic seen since it sank into the frigid waters of the North Atlantic almost three-quarters of a century ago. This video image was taken by the Argo from approximately 2 5 feet above the wreck and shows the gash in the bow area where the iceberg struck. The time-code numbers along the top of the image are blurred due to the averaging process. [All photos and figures courtesy of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.)

Photo 2: This view clearly shows the teakwood deck and railing of the Titanic. Photos 2 through 6 are 35mm photographs taken by the ANGUS. Although they are of much higher quality than the video images used to locate the Titanic, the 35mm images are somewhat cloudy due to light scatter from particles in the water.

the expedition, the Argo started sending back video images of the debris from the Titanic. Within hours the researchers had found and identified the wreck of the Titanic itself (see photo 1).

Because the video images provided by the Argo were of relatively poor quality, the researchers dispatched a second towed vehicle, the ANGUS (acoustically navigated geological underwater survey), which zoomed in and took high-quality 3 5mm photographs. The ANGUS was designed primarily to work in rugged volcanic terrains to depths of 20,000 feet. The ANGUS'S depth is controlled by the amount of tow cable let out and typically flies 25 to 35 feet above the ocean floor. Its heavy-duty steel frame must be capable of withstanding jarring head-on collisions with rock outcrops, because it sends no visual information back to the surface ship.

Within the ANGUS'S frame are three large-capacity 3 5mm color cameras, each containing 400 feet of film (3200 photos) and capable of photographing a swath of sea floor about 200 feet wide. These cameras take photographs at 20-second intervals, using strobe lights to illuminate the ocean bottom. At the speed at which the ANGUS travels, this rate provides a generous photo overlap. (Photos 2 through 6 were taken by the ANGUS. Figure 1 shows the approximate site of the photographs in this article.) The ANGUS must be pulled up on board the Knorr and the film processed before the images can be viewed.

Getting Pictures from the Abyss

The Argo (see photo 7), with its ability to send real-time video images to the Knorr, was the key to finding the Titanic. Even after the French had explored and eliminated 80 percent of the search area, a large area remained. Real-time video imaging allowed the researchers to do a rapid search of the ocean floor and obtain a positive identification of the wreck, which could not have been done with the delays inherent in processing film from the ANGUS.

98 BYTE- MARCH 1986

TITANIC

The Argo carries three video cameras, strobe lights and floodlights, a sonar system, and a variety of electronics (see figure 2). One camera looks forward while the other two look down. A video switcher selects a camera signal for transmission up the tow cable to the Knorr where video images are then processed, monitored, and recorded. The sonar system on the Argo is similar to the French SAR system but has lower resolution and is used to augment the video capabilities. The Argo's depth is controlled by changing the length of the tow cable.

The Argo uses two modes of operation. In snapshot mode, the strobe lights fire every 10 seconds to survey a wide area of ocean floor. The Argo is towed at a speed of 0.6 to 2.4 miles per hour (0.5 to 2 knots) so that successive video snapshot images overlap. When the researchers locate something of interest, they lower the Argo and use a continuous mode of operation. In this mode, two 2 50-watt floodlights illuminate a smaller section of the ocean floor, as the cameras send continuous video images back to the Knorr.

In shallow water, the design for an Argo-like vehicle would be simple: Attach TV cameras and lights to a frame, and send the video pictures back through a coaxial cable to the surface ship. With a deep submersible vehicle, however, two factors—the ocean environment and the tow cablemake this design a formidable problem.

The environment at great ocean depths is in some ways more hostile than the vacuum of space. The water is completely dark and its pressure crushes any unprotected equipment. In addition, the conductive and corrosive properties of salt water destroy equipment or quickly make it unreliable. Solutions to these problems included enclosing the electronic equipment in heavy-pressure housings and connecting equipment with pressurecompensated oil-filled cables. The small size of the housings and the cost of this protection constrained the amount of electronics that could be

Photo 3: The gaping hole left bu the collapse of the Titanic's first [forward) smokestack. The huge liner had four smokestacks.

Photo 4: An area of major damage between the first and second smokestacks.

placed aboard the Argo.

Ocean water contains a large amount of suspended particles (such as dirt and silt) that reflect illuminating light and partially blind the cameras. The problem is similar to using headlights in fog. The designers of the

Argo reduced these reflections by mounting its lights and cameras as far apart as possible. In a similar way, fog lights on a car are usually mounted as far below the driver's eyes as possible.

(continued)

MARCH 1986

! Y T E 99

TITANIC

At these tremendous ocean depths, the design of the tow cable is a major problem; let's consider what the cable must do. It must support thousands of pounds of equipment, operate under tremendous water pressure,

and provide an electronic path for all power delivered to the Argo and the control, telemetry, and video signals sent between the Argo and the Knorr. In shallow water, you could use multiple cables for these functions. At any

Photo 5: Some of the debris surrounding the Titanic. The serving tray is about 3 feet across. The black lumps are coal. The ocean bottom at these depths is usually featureless.

Photo 6: This twisted machinery is the base of the aft crane. Surprisingly, some items {the serving tray and wine bottles) were gently deposited on the ocean floor, while others were ripped off the ship and destroyed.

great depth, however, multiple cables are unmanageable. The design of the Argo required that all the support, power, and signal functions be built into a single coaxial tow cable.

The tow cable consists of a single center conductor surrounded by a coaxial shield and a waterproof barrier wrapped in two layers of steel armor. The steel armor prevents the cable from being crushed by the water pressure. The cable is 0.68 inches in diameter and 20,000 feet long, and it weighs over seven tons.

The cable's weight becomes a major problem when handling and testing it—the cable spool literally sinks into pavement or floors. The cable can support 40,000 pounds of properly terminated load, a substantial portion of which is its own weight. Because the cable is unwound from a spool, all electrical connections must be made through rotating contacts. A single coaxial cable can withstand repeated flexures and other abuse better than a multiconductor cable and makes the design of the rotating contacts simple and reliable.

Power for the Argo's equipment is transmitted down the tow cable using 440 volts AC. At the same time, control signals are sent down the cable and telemetry signals are sent up the cable (including one channel for the video information). Frequency-division multiplexing allows the power and signals to travel on a single cable. That is. the power and each of the control and telemetry signals occupy a different frequency band in a 5-MHz total bandwidth. Modulators shift signals to appropriate bands, and demodulators recover the signals at the receiving end.

The problems with this scheme include limited power transmission, noise, and limited bandwidth for signals. The limited amount of power that can be sent down the cable means that in snapshot mode, the strobe lights have to charge for several seconds before they can fire; in continuous mode, only 500 watts of illumination is available.

The researchers on the Knorr made

[continued)

100 BYTE • MARCH 1986

3REAR£ 19 ACQUISITIONS.

LINEADDR DATA MNEM BUS

11006 00 MOP F R

£1007 00 MOP F

q^OA flOOB ID HU800 f \

6KX)B 00

7100C 18 .. ,u, x a

q 1800 ff , D c (HO 6

3800 5

Tektronix introduces TekMate, powerful 8-bit support with many more features than you'd expect to find in a low cost development system. Emulation is non-stop, transparent and real time. A content-selectable 1024-line bus trace buffer simplifies prototype evaluation— while your program runs without interrupting execution.

Tek's eight years of emulation experience brings the user unmatched reliability in this lowcost system. Every feature of TekMate helps keep you on schedule, within budget, and in control. For instance, you can select any of 16 break points for specific address values and ranges. Rapidly detect errors with the aid of full symbolic debug that lets you use an unlimited number of symbols—even define new ones. Versatile and flexible, TekMate provides software analysis and debug at every

GO WITH THE BEST

LOW COST 8-BIT

SOPPORT.

stage from initial concept to final integration.

Remarkably easy to use, TekMate supports Z80,8085 and 6809—plus the 68HC11 microcontroller. Host computers include IBM PC™ VAX/VMS™ MicroVAX™ and Tek 8560—and TekMate is integrated via emulation control software and language support tools, such as struc

tured analysis and

structured design

tools, plus source

editing, C, Pascal, assembler

and debug tools.

To save you time, Tek's own Colorkey+ and Softkey userinterface packages give you simple, single keystroke access to the entire command set.

TekMate—the most powerful emulation system in its price range—is an integral component of Tek's Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) program. This growing toolset cluster from Tefe Software Development Products Division demonstrates Tek's commitment to software technology. For product or ordering information, please contact your Tek representative. Or call today: 1-800-342-5548.

CASE: From concept to code, Tek's tools take you all the way.

Ttektronix

COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE

Inquiry 343

IBM is a Irademark of International Business Machines Corp

VAX, VMS and MicroVAX are trademarks ol Digital Equipment Corp

Copyright ©1986 by Tektronix, Inc. All righls reserved. MIA511

TITANIC

the best use of the Argo's limited power by switching between the two modes. In snapshot mode, the Argo briefly illuminated a large area to allow a survey, while for close-up viewing it continuously illuminated a smaller area. To maximize the limited light available, the system utilized highly sensitive Silicon Intensified Target (SIT) video cameras. While the comparison between film and video is not exact, the approximate sensitivity of these cameras is 200,000 ASA (an ISO [International Organization for Standardization! film-speed rating).

The video signals returned from the Argo are degraded by cable noise and bandwidth limitations. Imagine the kind of noise problems that arise from running 440 volts AC on the same line as a video signal! Again, the bandwidth of the cable is only 5 MHz, so to transmit all the power and signals the video signal had to be modulated at 5 MHz. Half the video signal occupied the frequency band between 5 and 10 MHz, which was well past the bandwidth of the cable. Thus, at 5-MHz frequency, the cable attenuated the video signal by 80

decibels, which resulted in a significant reduction in power.

Image Processing Improves Images

The problems of poor illumination, particle backscatter, cable noise, and attenuation meant that the video signal delivered to the Knorr was significantly degraded. Image processing aided in the restoration and enhancement of the video signals. Figure 3 shows the specialized hardware configuration used to capture, transmit, and process the video images obtained from the Argo. Some common image-processing terms are explained in the glossary on page 110.

Depending on the mode of operation, the Argo sends the output from its cameras directly up the tow cable to an analog video preprocessor or temporarily stores it in a frame store located aboard the Argo. This frame store is a modular 5/2-inch-high unit (manufactured by Toko Inc.) that is small enough to fit into a pressure housing. On the Knorr. the analog video preprocessor reinserts synchronization signals to correct for

Photo 7: The Argo remote vehicle. This vehicle was towed near the ocean bottom and sent back video images of the Titanic. The cylindrical pressure housings hold cameras, strobe lights, and other electronics.

losses caused by the frequencymodulation telemetry system.

Image processing and control equipment aboard the Knorr includes a single-board computer, the Heurikon HK68, and three image-processing boards: an analog processor (AP-512), frame buffer (FB-5I2), and a high-speed arithmetic image processor (ALU-512), made by Imaging Technology Inc.

The AP-512 digitizes the video images (analog signals) transmitted from the Argo. The ALU-512 is a high-speed pipelined processor that supports real-time full-frame arithmetic and logical operations (such as add, subtract, AND, and OR) on video images in real time (l/30th second per frame). Output from the ALU is routed to the FB-512 frame buffer for storage.

The FB-512 is a general-purpose frame buffer that stores the resulting digitized image in its 2 56K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory) as 512- by 512-bytes by 8 bits (RS-170 specification results in the image being acquired and displayed as 480 lines). This module stores and outputs a digitized image in real time, at a rate of 30 frames per second.

The image-processing system was controlled by the HK68 68000-based computer running VRTX (Versatile Real-Time Executive), a real-time multitasking operating system. This board has 1 megabyte of memory and allows DMA (direct memory access) transfer of images between CPU (central processing unit) memory and the FB-512 frame buffer. A second Heurikon HK68 system on the Knorr was used for modifying this software while the ship was at sea.

VRTX manages the assignment of memory and the input/output of data in a real-time system environment. As such, it functions somewhat like a switchboard operator, making sure that priority calls are handled immediately and that other calls are answered as soon as possible without allowing any call to fail to get answered. VRTX helps direct data transmission between the Argo and the Knorr, helps control the Argo and

(continued)

102 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Amdek challenges you to read between the lines.

Not all monitors are created equal. And no monitor in this price range can equal the new Amdek Color 722.

What makes the 722 RGB monitor so distinctive? For one, a dual frequency output that is capable of supporting IBM's Enhanced Graphics Adaptor. The result is 350 lines of resolution, assuring you of a sharper, crisper image that makes your graphs and charts look more like a work of art, and less like a rough sketch. For another, the fact that the 722 is made by Amdek — where monitors are our only line, not just a sideline.

The high performance 722 features an etched glass, non-glare screen that's easy on the eyes, plus frontmounted controls that are easy on the operator. This means less eye fatigue and greater productivity.

A -"S^O f\T V^tTl What's more, the 3-position text

xVXX tsJyj yJl. CIJLJU switch enables you to choose green,

amber or full-color type — up to 80 characters in width x 25 lines of text. There's even an optional tilt/swivel stand that allows you to select a viewing angle that's most comfortable for you.

It all adds up to more monitor for the money, and is backed by more warranty for your peace of mind. Amdek's warranty protects your investment for three full years on the CRT, and two years on all other parts and labor. No other monitor warranty offers you more.

For high resolution performance, see the new Amdek Color 722. We know you'll be impressed. After all, everytime an Amdek monitor is sold, we know that we are putting our image on the line.

Inquiry 18

IBM is ;i registered trademark »f international Business Machine Curp

Clearly the finest in monitors.

2201 Lively Boulevard. Elk Grove Village. IL 00007. Phone: 312/364-1180, TLX: 280-803

TITANIC

the data recording, and displays status information on an operator console.

Image Acquisition

As we mentioned earlier, the Argo transmitted video signals to the analog preprocessor either directly from the cameras or from the Argo's frame store. In snapshot mode, camera signals were first digitized and stored in the frame store, then converted to an analog signal for transmission up the tow cable. Digitization converts an analog signal to a digital

code, where 0 represents black and 2 55 white, with values of gray having digital values between 0 and 255. The stored video image was transmitted continuously up the cable and processed, as explained below, to improve its quality.

In video terminology, one video image is called a frame. A frame has two fields; one of the fields contains all of the even-numbered lines, and the other field contains all of the oddnumbered lines. The even and the odd fields are interlaced into a frame with approximately 480 horizontal

lines, each with 512 picture elements (pixels).

Image Averaging

Image averaging is a typical operation used in image processing to remove random noise ("snow") from an image. In this case, averaging was necessary to reduce the noise introduced by the tow cable and telemetry system. Image averaging sums the brightness values of two or more frames on a pixel-by-pixel basis and then divides by the number of frames summed. The signal from the tow cable con

TOW CABLE

Figure 2: This drawing of the Argo shows the tow cable, pressure housings, cameras, and lights. Other housings hold the altimeter. attitude package (depth, heading, heave, etc.), and control and communication electronics.

104 BYTE • MARCH 1986

TITANIC

sists of the desired video signal plus the added random noise. These random-noise values may either increase or decrease the digital value of the desired video signal and appear in different spatial positions from frame to frame. When the system sums the tow cable signal values, the randomnoise values tend to cancel but the desired video signal increases. The final division scales the sum back to a range that can be displayed on a television monitor. The actual increase in the signal-to-noise ratio is proportional to the square root of the

number of images averaged if the noise is completely random. The result of averaging two or more frames of the same noisy image is a much clearer picture.

Consider the values of a single pixel in a sequence of eight frames. Suppose that the correct signal value for this pixel should be 5, but noise values of -2, 0, and 2 are being randomly added to the signal. A typical sequence of frame values for this pixel might be

5 7 3 3 7 5 7 5

The sum of the pixel values is 42 and when divided by 8 the average is 5.25. This estimate is very close to the correct signal value of 5. The limited range of numbers represented in the frame buffer truncates the fractional value to 5.

From a hardware standpoint, the video signal was digitized by the AP-512 analog processor and summed with existing values contained in the FB-512 frame buffer by the ALU-512 arithmetic logic unit. These summed values were returned

(continued)

VIDEO IMAGE-PROCESSING SYSTEM

AVERAGED VIDEO

TELEMETRY

ANALOG

VIDEO

PREPROCESSOR

TOW CABLE

3:1

CAMERA

SELECTOR

AND

FRAME

STORE

CONTROLLER

FRAME STORES

-»■ FORWARD -*• TELEPHOTO

VIDEO BUS VIDEO BUS

M S2-, , k<>

ALU-512

FB-512

t

HK68

SINGLE-BOARD

COMPUTER

SERIAL I/O

ARGO COMMAND AND CONTROL

I

ARGO

DIGITAL

DATA

ACQUISITION

VIDEODISC AND TAPE

OPERATOR CONSOLE

Figure 3: The video image-processing system on the Argo and Knorr. The cameras and frame stores on the Argo are shown on the lejt and the processing and display hardware on the Knorr to the right.

MARCH 1986 • BYTE

TITANIC

to the FB-512. Since a separate sum is kept for each of the more than 2 50.000 points (512 by 512 bytes) in the image and is updated 30 times per second, the ALU-512 performs over 7,000,000 sums, multiplies, and shifts (divisions) per second. A last

pass through the ALU-512 divides the final sum to produce the average.

It should be noted that if the image changes, this averaging process results in a blurred image. The human eye performs a similar averaging, so that fast-moving objects appear

Photo 8: The bow of the Titanic, showing the port and starboard anchor chains and capstans.

Photo 9: Histogram of the image values in photo 8. The horizontal axis represents the gray level and the vertical axis represents the number of pixels that have that gray level. The menu shown is part of the Image Action software package made by \maging Technology.

INft&f ANALYSIS

11 »(i«!

IT..El FIHDER

i ih! Hot

Hi'ifC i IN! P101

HEKT :ins |: '

i.i-f., ! ! "T

■* " rohL-"!*

••; ' ."-•■" !•■.-'■■•:

blurred. To avoid this problem, the Argo sent the same stored image repeatedly while in snapshot mode and used fewer images while in continuous mode.

The illumination provided by the strobe light in snapshot mode was very brief. Because the SIT camera has a nonlinear signal decay, the video image transmitted was so degraded that only one field of information was used. Thus, in snapshot mode, the spatial resolution of the image was 240 by 512 pixels.

In both modes, the system used additional frame stores to hold and display the last average from each of the three cameras while new averages were being accumulated. Photo 1 shows one of the first video images of the Titanic taken with this video system.

Real-time video imaging and subsequent processing were keys to finding the Titanic. After locating the ship, the ANGUS provided thousands of additional 35mm film images. Although of a much higher quality than the video images, these images are fuzzy due to suspended particle scattering and limited and nonuniform illumination. If enough information is available in a photograph, however, image processing can improve its apparent quality. Note that image processing cannot magically create new information, but it can enhance existing information.

To show how this might be done, we digitized two images (photos 8 and 11) and processed them using an IBM PC XT containing a PCVISION Frame Grabber made by Imaging Technology.

In this case, the system could average only two to four images before blurring, due to the motion of the Argo. Because fewer images were averaged, the resulting images were noisier than snapshot images; however, their resolution was double that of snapshot-mode images, as continuous illumination provided the system with full frames (two fields totalling 480 by 512 pixels) for averaging rather than the single field (240 by 512 pixels) of snapshot mode.

106 B YTE • MARCH 1986

TITANIC

Contrast Enhancement

One class of image-processing operations modifies the intensity values at each image point to enhance the apparent contrast of the image. Because these operations work only on a single image point, they are known as point processes. For example, if the intensity values in an image range from 0 to 100, the apparent contrast of the image may be increased by multiplying the value of each image point by 2.

The range of intensity values can be determined by a histogram operation, that is, by counting the number of pixels of each intensity. The histogram of photo 8, for example (photo 9), shows that the intensity values range from 130 to 2 5 5.

The contrast of this photo can be improved by transforming each pixel point by the following equation:

transformed pixel value = M * (original pixel value- K)

where K= 130 and M = 2.

This results in "sliding" the value of all pixels down the gray scale by 130, followed by a linear "stretch" of the values by 2.

In essence, this makes the lightest pixels white, the darkest pixels black, and linearly arranges the intermediate intensities to span the range of 0 to 2 55. This transformation can be done by lookup tables (LUTs) on the frame grabber. To understand the action of an LUT, consider that the LUT is a small block of memory that receives an 8-bit address as an input and outputs the 8-bit data stored at that address. The input addresses are pixel values and the values stored at these addresses are the transformed values that are output. Thus, rather than doing the transform on each and every pixel, the system checks the LUT to find the precalculated value. This saves time since, for example, every pixel with an intensity value of 200 will have a transformed value of 140.

Any arbitrary intensity transform can be generated and loaded into the LUT. We programmed the transform

shown above into the LUT and the resulting enhancement and contrast of photo 8 is shown in photo 10.

Edge Enhancement

Another class of image-processing operations uses the information from

the area surrounding each pixel to change the spatial contrast of the image. When an area operation is used to sharpen or enhance the edges in an image, it is called an edge enhancement. Edge enhancements

(continued)

Photo 10: The result of contrast-enhancing the image shown in photo 8. The process adds no new information to the image but adjusts the pixel values to improve the contrast.

Photo 11: Digitization of a photo taken by the ANGUS. This image shows the foredeck of the Titanic directly in front of the bridge, with the entire starboard crane, the boom of the port crane, part of the mast, and an open hold.

MARCH 1986 • BYTE

107

TITANIC

Photo 12: The result of contrast-stretching and edge-enhancing the image shown in photo 11. These operations improve the contrast and accentuate the high-frequency information components of the image, resulting in a sharper image.

Figure 4: Edge enhancement involves taking an image {a), multiplying the intensity values in each 3- by 3-pixel area (as in the heavily outlined area) by the corresponding values in a preset kernel (b), summing the products, and placing the results in the center pixel. The result of performing this process on [a) is shown in (c). Note how edge enhancement makes the dim inner square of (a) easier to view in (c).

can use convolution to implement a spatial filter that accentuates high frequencies.

The convolution operation consists of multiplying pixels in the "neighborhood" of a given pixel by constants, summing and scaling, and replacing the center pixel by the result. The constants used for the multiplication are called the kernel of the convolution.

If the neighborhood is 3 pixels horizontally by 3 pixels vertically and the center pixel is at location (x,y), the convolutions operation can be represented by the following formula:

0(x,y)=M,[I(x-l,y-l)|+M2|I(x,y-l)] + Ms(I(x+ l,y- l)|+M4|I(x- l,y)]+M5 [I(x,y)|+M6|I(x+l,y)]+M7[I(x-l.y+

. l)|+M8[I(xy+l)|+M9|I(x+l,y+l)|

You can extract the kernel values (M-i to Mg) and represent them as a single table. For an edge enhancement, you can use the following kernel table:

-1 9 -1 -I -1 -1

To see how this accentuates edges (changes) in an image, imagine one area of an image with intensity values as shown in figure 4a. If you overlay the kernel table (see figure 4b) on each 3- by 3-pixel section of the image, multiply the corresponding numbers, add all the products, and place the result in the center pixel, the resulting image is shown in figure 4c.

The effect of the convolution is to enhance spatial changes in intensity. In this example, the brighter square (with the original value of 20) is accentuated by decreasing the surrounding values to 0 and increasing the edge values to 70 at the corners and 50 in between. Note that areas that do not have any spatial change in intensity are left unchanged—the area surrounding the center square is still of intensity 10, and the center of the square is left at intensity 20.

Some of the resulting values of the convolution operator are negative numbers. Because negative intensity

[continued]

108 B YTE • MARCH 1986

IBM's AT forgot The Answer!

Every time IBM builds an AT computer, it forgets to put in a Serial/Parallel adapter and a full memory. That's a problem. Because without the adapter, the AT cant communicate with a printer (or anything else).

The answer to the problem is The Answer!™

The Answer/ is an easy to install multi'function board. It has just what the AT can use with PC DOS—without making you pay extra for options it cant use.

There's a parallel printer port. Two 50 to 19.2K baud serial ports for communications or serial printer hookup. An optional game port. Plus 128K of RAM to bring the 512K AT up to its 640K PC DOS limit. Plus all necessary cables of course.

The Answer! is fully assembled. Fully tested. And backed by our 3-year uNo -\ Sweat" Warranty. Which is 3 times longer

fr£fKmJr?rT^— than the warranty on the AT itself. < Pxj ^° w^en You 9et an IBM AT, make sure

you get The Answer! And you wont have a problem. For complete details, ask your dealer, circle the Reader Service Number, or contact: SMT, Inc., 1145 Linda Vista Dr., San Marcos, CA 92069. 619/744-3590. The Answer!™

IBM AT is a registered trademark of IBM Corp. The Answer is a registered trademark of SMT.

SYSTEMS MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY. INC. Inquiry 333 for End-Users. Inquiry 334 for DEALERS ONLY.

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 1*9

Inquiry 77

Diskettes BV YCenTecIi

The Colorful Solution to Data Organization'"

TIMELESS WARRANTY

SS-DD QTY.IOO DS-DD

Color Bulk

890

$-|05*

690

*Rlir

\J\J\J Color Boxed

" 99b Color Bulk 96 TPI ,

$1 98 * •

I13MPC-AT Compatible Color Bulk I DS-HD

100% error-free beyond 75% clipping level. Available in 12 useful assorted colors. Custom Labeling/Branding available.

"A" Color Bulk wTyvek sleeves add 6c Label Kits 2c.

■jt Pre-packaged in Plastic Library Case/12. A S4.95 value case

lor 20cdisk extra DISKS ABE OPAQUE'

TREE! Headcleaning Diskette plus $2.00/box rebate on H/C

LIFETIME WARRANTY

SS-DD QTY. 5 BOXES DS-DD

$H39*

w/FREE H/C Kit

w/Flip 'n' File/15

96 TPI

3.5"/135 TPI

3.5"/13S TPI w/Flip 'n' F

DS-HD 96 TPI w'Free Headcleaning Kil DSHD 96 TPI W/Flip n' File/15

3M Headcleaning Kit $5.99

(Alter $2 00 icibaln with purchase ol rogulat 3M dish)

3M Data Cartridges

DC-100A

DC-1000

DC-300XLP DC-600A

QTY. 5 QTY. 10

$12.15 $12.10

$14.34 $12.42

$21.54 $19.08

$21.82 $20.29

Nashua "Boxed" Diskettes

LIFETIME WARRANTY

SS-DD DS-DD

850

$065

3.5"/35 TPI

Factory fresh in boxes oHO with sleeves, user ID labels, write-protect tabs and reinforced hub ring. High Density for IBM PC-AT Compatible $2.59

By Leading American Dl , If Media Manufacturer ■*w™"* one of the top 2

LIFETIME WARRANTY

SS-DD QTY. 100 DS-DD

550

w/hub ring

650

Tyvek envelopes 6C ea.

PRINTER RIBBONS

Epson MX 70/80 S2.68

Epson MX-100 $4.06

0kidala80.82.B3.92.93 . $1.36 Okidaia M $2.95

Labels 2C ea.

DISK STORAGE Amray Media Mate

50 $7.99

Disk Minder II-75 si) 99

Micro Disk Mindcr-36 ... $7.75

PRICE PROMISE: We will betler any lower delivered price on the same products and quantities advertised nationally. TERMS: FREE USE OF VISA AND MASTERCARD. American Express also accepted. Shipping: Add S3.00 per 1 00 diskettes or fraction thereof. Other items add S3.00 for disk storage or headcleaning kit or dozer ribbons or COD. orders. P.O. accepted from recognized institutions and schools on 2%-IQ Net 30. Utah residents add 5-(4^fe sales tax Minimum order £30.00

TOLL FREE ORDER LINE:

1-800-233-2477

INFORMATION AND INQUIRIES:

1-801-942-6717

2028 E. FT. UNION BLVD.. 105 « SALT LAKE CITY. UTAH 84121

ompuier CALL; ,.boo-affairs

IffairS, inC. HOURS: 9AM-6PM M-F (Mln, Time)

TITANIC

Glossary

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): Hardware that performs arithmetic functions such as add or subtract and logical functions such as AND or OR. Digitize: The process of converting an analog (in this case, video) signal's amplitude to digital values. Display: The device in which an image is converted from electrical to optical signals: typically, a television monitor. Field: In an interlaced scanning system, the set of even or odd lines into which a frame is divided. Filter: In image processing, an operation that changes the spatial and intensity characteristics of an image. Frame: The total number of lines of scan that represent an image. Frame Buffer: A high-speed memory designed to store a single image and allow simultaneous video display, ALU processing, and CPU (central processing unit) access.

Frame Memory: Any area in memory (host-computer memory or framebuffer memory) that is used to store an image.

Frame Store: A high-speed memory designed to temporarily store a single image.

Image Processing: The alteration and analysis of a picture for such purposes as enhancement and recognition. Intensity: The strength of light at a particular point in an image. Pixels represent intensity values that are perceived by the eye as brightness.

Interlace: The means by which an image is scanned in standard video format, where the odd and even fields are displayed alternately. Lookup Table (LUT): Hardware that provides map values for transforming or modifying pixels. Each pixel in the frame buffer has a value ranging from 0 to 2 55. LUTs allow you to modify these values for purposes of enhancing the image.

Pixel: The smallest unit of storage in a digital image, addressed by that unit's horizontal and vertical coordinate or location within an image. Real Time: In image processing, an operation or a function that is completed in one frame time is said to be performed in real time. For standard television (RS-170) equipment, a frame time is 1/30 of a second. Resolution: In image processing, the number of bits of accuracy or number of gray levels that can be represented in a pixel: for example, 8 bits = 256 levels, 6 bits = 64 levels. Spatial Resolution: In image processing, the number of pixels into which an image is divided, indicating the precision or accuracy horizontally and vertically. For example, a spatial resolution of 480 by 512 pixels means that the image has 480 lines, with 512 pixels each (for a total of 245,760 pixels).

is meaningless, we have changed these values to 0.

The image shown in photo 11, two cranes on the foredeck of the Titanic, was enhanced using the LUTs and convolved with an edge-enhancing kernel (see photo 12).

Conclusion

Deep-sea exploration is just one of the many applications in which image processing is being used. For example, image processing is used in medical imaging for digital radiography, microscopy. X-ray averaging and recording, and in factory inspec

tion for robotic vision, quality control on production lines, and X-ray inspection. Finding the Titanic is certainly a spectacular example of the processes that scientists and technicians in a variety of fields are using to coax useful information from two-dimensional images. ■

ACKNOWLEDGMENT We thank Robert Squires and Stewart Harris of the Woods Hole institution Deep Submergence laboratory for information and assistance in preparing this article, hob and Stu are part of a team of scientists and engineers on the Titanic expedition and under the direction of Dr. Robert Ballard, who designed and built the hrgo.

110 BYTE • MARCH 1986

///

YOU'RE LOOKING AT

4,096 COLORS

4CHANNEL STEREO

32 INSTRUMENTS

8 SPRITES

3-D ANIMATION

25 DMA CHANNELS

A BIT BLITTER

AND

A MALE AND FEMALE VOICE.

ONLY AMIGA GIVES YOU ALL THIS AND A 68000 PROCESSOR,TOO.

Three custom VLSI chips working in combination with the main processor give Amiga" graphic dazzle, incredible musical ability and animation skill.

And they make Amiga the only computer with a multi-tasking operating system built into hardware.

All these capabilities are easy to tap because Amiga's open architecture pro- A vides you with access to the 68000 main bus in addition to the serial, parallel and Sj floppy disk connectors. Complete tech- Jj nical manuals enable you to take full *

advantage of the custom chips and the software support routines in the writable control store on the Kickstart™ disk that comes with every Amiga computer.

You can access these resources in a number of development languages, including Amiga Macro Assembler,'" Amiga C, Amiga Basic (Microsoft6—Basic for the Amiga), Amiga Pascal and even Amiga LISP. So Amiga not only gives you more creativity, it gives you creative new ways to use it.

Amiga by Commodore.

GIVES YOU A CREATIVE EDGE.

A

" Amiga is a trademark of Commodore-Amiga, inc. ""Kicksiart is a trademark of Commodore-Amiga, inc. '"Amiga Macro Assembler Is a trademark of Commodore-Amiga, Inc. 'Microsoft Is a registered trademark of Microsoft, Inc.

112 BYTE • MARCH 1986

PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAUL AVIS

CIARCIAS CIRCUIT CELLAR

REAL-TIME CLOCKS:

A VIEW

TOWARD THE FUTURE

by Steve Garcia

One of these clocks also provides nonvolatile RAM

Ever have one of those occasions when everything is progressing smoothly and then you hit a big snag? Here 1 was, standing on a 6-foot ladder with screwdrivers in my back pockets, electric drill in my right hand, hammer in my belt, mouth full of screws, a pencil over my ear, and the audio/ video multiplexer that I described last month balanced in my left hand. A precarious climb if ever there was one, I assure you.

I had solved the ever-present do-it-yourself problem of forgetting some needed tool by dragging everything along with me up the ladder. 1 cursed as I banged my head on an overhead heating duct and swore that the next time I set aside an area to mount all this home-control junk, I'd know everything I was going to put on it in advance and leave plenty of room. Instead of a convenient shoulder-high location where life would be easy, I was halfway up under the floor joists sniffing concrete dust and soot. (Installing this stuff is getting about as pleasurable as writing software for me these days. Back when all I had was 48-instruction processors and lots of empty wall space, everything was copacetic.)

The only saving grace to this temporary agony was that it would soon be relieved

by the enhanced automatic living afforded through the intelligent audio/video multiplexer (AVMUX). Using the BCC-52 computer and a smart terminal board from a couple of previous Circuit Cellar projects, the AVMUX would take inputs from a variety of audio and video sources and channel them to any of a number of specific outputs. My intention was to enhance my present level of automatic living to include programmed light, sound, and music.

I wiped my brow after turning the last mounting screw for the AVMUX and instinctively dodged another floor joist as I looked down at the card cage containing the computer that I still had to mount. I had included all the necessary cabling and mounting hardware between it, the multiplexer, and the Home Run Control System (HCS) already in operation. My control program was already written and saved in EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory) so that it would automatically start when I powered up the system. Depending upon the day, time, direct signals from the HCS, and a yet-to-be-designed remote

(conlinued) Steve Garcia (pronounced "see-ARE-see-ah") is an electronics engineer and computer consultant with experience in process control, digital design, nuclear instrumentation, and product development. He is the author of several books about electronics. You can write to him at POB 582, Glastonbury. CT 06033.

COPYRIGHT © 1986 STEVEN A. CIARC1A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

MARCH 1986

113

CIRCUIT CELLAR

control interface, specific or dynamically variable I/O (input/output) configurations would be mapped into the AVMUX. By retaining the different I/O maps in RAM (random-access read/write memory), the controller could switch among different command situations easily and rapidly.

Time? Memory maps? Uh-oh. It's terrible getting revelations on a ladder. Instead of the normal reactionstand up, slam my hand on the desk, and yell "That's it!"—1 had to be cognizant of the limited headroom and the dust I would raise by yelling.

In actuality, I had discovered

nothing—nothing except a realization that what I had remembered was what 1 had forgotten to incorporate in my controller design. While the BCC-52 had a real-time clock/calendar within BASIC, it lacked the capability of retaining the I/O maps in RAM or the time if a power failure occurred.

(a)

AO TO A3

ADDRESS INPUTS

vDD C

1

—^T~

18

"J HOLD

WRITE

WRITE ENABLE

WRITE C

?

17

3XT

READ

READ ENABLE

HOLD

COUNT HOLD

READ C

3

Jb

"J XT

CS

CHIP SELECT

A0 C

4

IS

D ±30 ADJ

DO TO D3 TEST

DATA INPUT/OUTPUT TEST INPUT

Al C

5

MSM 5832

14

7J TEST

±30 ADJ

+ 30-SECOND CORRECTION INPUT

A2 C

6

13

7J GND

XT a XT

XTAL OSCILLATOR CONNECTIONS

ft3C

7

1?

D D3

Vdd

+ 5V SUPPLY

GND

GROUND

cs C

8

11

Zl D2

D0 C

9

10

=!D,

(b)

BCC-52 ADDRESS &( CONTROL BUS

29

30

34

35

D7 D6 D5 D4 03 D2 Dl DO

RD WR

A0 Al

Vcc 8255

BCC-52

J5 PARALLEL-PORT CONNECTOR

(PIN NUMBER)

+ 5V

_k

il

PA0 PA1 PA2 PA3

PB0 PB1 PB2 PB3

PC4 PC5 PC6

10K TYPICAL (11)

(26)

(24)

(22)

(9)

19 I

(7)

20

(5)

(17)

11 I

(13)

DO

Dl D2 D3

A0 Al A2 A3

HOLD READ WRITE

Vcc

rti

BCC-52 BOARD

5-35pF

-)h

XTAL 32.768KH2

20pF

^p"VF ^

4001 Q

\4 9—I

1N34A

lOOfl

13

i

I

m

INTERFACE CIRCUIT

Figure I: (a) Pin-out of the Oki MSM5832 clock chip, (b) Schematic diagram of a real-time clock circuit using the chip from (a) and an 82 5 5 P1A (already on the BCC-52).

114 B YTE • MARCH 1986

CIRCUIT CELLAR

The EPROM-resident control program was self-initiating and would not be destroyed. But it would start up with a time and date of zero and RAM cleared.

My first reaction was to consider a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) or backup battery power for the whole computer. Either option was expensive and would consume a lot of circuit-board real estate that 1 didn't have. Even if successful, what good is powering the whole computer system unless all the peripherals that it controls are operational as well? In reality, all I needed to power was less than IK byte of RAM and whatever component or system functions as the real-time clock/calendar. Of course, powering the whole computer would indeed provide nonvolatile memory and an uninterruptible clock/calendar.

Another trek up this ladder to mount a half-dozen rechargeable batteries didn't appeal to me. 1 needed a self-contained, battery-backed realtime clock that operated independently of the BCC-52 yet could be interrogated periodically regarding the time. Along the way, I'd look into making some portion of RAM nonvolatile.

Within seconds, I was down the ladder and shuffling through my junk box: piles of unopened news releases and an eyebrow-high pile of trade publications. The dimensions of this pile are usually affected only by an earthquake or a desperate search for some new technical idea around article time. Fortunately, my search was rewarded, and I came upon two solutions. One of them uses conventional technology; the other one is rather innovative.

This month, I'll describe two realtime clock/calendars and let you be the judge of which one you want to implement in your application. While both circuits are applicable to any computer, I was specifically looking to attach a clock and nonvolatile RAM to the BCC-52. Also, since I have covered the basics of real-time clocks and the specific attributes of the BCC-52 computer in previous Circuit Cellar articles, I refer you to them for additional information: "Everyone

Can Know the Real Time" (May 1982, page 34) and "Build the BASIC-52 Computer/Controller" (August 1985, page 104).

The first device uses a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) clock/calendar chip that attaches to the computer through paral

lel ports. Easy to exercise in software but consumptive of I/O, this conventional approach appeals to many of us who simply want a quick resolution of a problem and are not concerned about the I/O costs or having to manufacture thousands of them. The

{continued)

READ CYCLE

\

D0-D3

(DATA OUT).

XE

3<L

WZ.

HIGH IMPEDANCE

tHW ■ 1 sec MAX 'RA * 6jisec MAX tHS = 150Msec MIN

KP?

\

50%

)G

DATA INVALID

DATA INVALID

HIGH IMPEDANCE

:\

tRH = Ofisec MIN

Figure 2: The read-cycle timing diagram for the MSM5832.

write cycle 'hw

WRITE

/5o% \m./~ ~\^y \_

HW= 1 sec MAX

HH = 0/^sec MIN

AW = l.7/*SBC MIN

DW = 1 •?fjtsec MIN

*DS= 0.5/isec MIN IqH ■ 0-2 /xsec MIN *WW= lMsec MIN tHS= lSO^sec MIN

Figure 3: The write-cycle timing diagram for the MSM5832.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 115

CIRCUIT CELLAR

second approach uses a new clock "socket" from Dallas Semiconductor that requires no independent interfacing and merely plugs in with a staticRAM chip that might already be resident in the computer system. While software-intensive compared to the conventional clock chips, the concept is unique and will surely prevail long into the future. First, a little tradition.

A Single-Chip Clock

Without chopping traces and gluing a clock chip directly onto the BCC-52 bus lines, the only logical way 1 could add a hardware real-time clock was to build another interface card (with its associated bus drivers and addressdecoding logic) or attach it to the parallel I/O connector (three parallel I/O ports are generated by an onboard 82 5 5 P1A [peripheral interface adapter) and attached to a 26-pin connector designated as 15). For simplicity and ease of programming, I chose the latter route.

Figure 1 is the schematic of a singlechip battery-backed real-time calendar clock. As far as clock circuits go it is relatively low-tech, but it does work and was easy to build. It uses an Oki MSM5832 clock chip that functions as follows:

• Read cycle (see figure 2): The HOLD line goes high first, followed by the 150-microsecond hold setup time (W). After this, READ is set high, and the specific MSM5832 registers are sequentially (or randomly) addressed. There is a 6-^ts read-access time delay Ura) between setting the address and reading the data. This procedure is repeated to read all 16 registers. The HOLD line is then returned to a logic 0.

• Write cycle (see figure 3): The write cycle starts by raising the HOLD line, followed by a 150-/u.s tHS. Next, the MSM5832 register address and the data to be loaded into it are presented on the address and data lines. While these lines are set, the writeinput line is strobed high for a minimum of 6 /j.s. Concluding writing to the 13 counter/registers and three flags, the HOLD line is set again to a logic 0.

I chose the 5832 because it is probably the simplest clock on the market to use in a parallel-port connection. While the timing constraints just described make the 5832's use as a busconnected clock chip a more difficult connection, they are of little consequence when using it with a PIA,

MSM5832

Function

Hex Address

Hex Entry Range

X1 Seconds

00

0-9

X10 Seconds

01

0-5

X1 Minutes

02

0-9

X10 Minutes

03

0-5

XI Hours

04

0-4

X10 Hours

05

0-11

Bit 0 and Bit 1 — X10 Hours

Bit 3 — AM(0)/PM)1)

Bit 4 — 12(0)/24(1) Hours Format

Day of Week

06

1-7

X1 Day of Month

07

0-9

X10 Day of Month

08

0-7

Bit 0 and Bit 1 — X10 Days

Bit 2 — 28(0)/29(1) Day Leap Year

Bit 3 — N/C

X1 Month of Year

09

0-9

X10 Month of Year

0A

0-1

X1 Years

0B

0-9

X10 Years

OC

0-9

Figure 4: A map of the MSM 5832's registers.

especially one operated in BASIC. Many clock chips are available to match the speeds of today's processors. By connecting them through a PIA, however, this increased speed is filtered by the PIA and is of no extra value. Specific bits on the PIA function to simulate the computer bus, but the range of control is greater, and bus timing constraints are eliminated.

The 5832 functions by counting pulses from a 32-kilohertz crystal. These counters can be individually preset (setting the time) or read (reading the time) under program control. The chip is CMOS, and while it operates on 5 volts, it retains its status and continues keeping time with a power supply of only 2.2 V. Two hearing-aid batteries (1.5-V alkaline) are soldered together to produce 3 V. (While lithium batteries are preferred, all the lithium batteries I had were larger than I cared to use on this clock.) When the computer is powered, 5 V is applied to Vcc and the clock chip-select line, enabling all I/O and programming functions. With the absence of power, the chip continues to function on 2.8 V supplied through a germanium diode, but I/O and programming functions are inhibited because the chip-select line will be at logic 0.

Five volts is not normally available on the 15 parallel I/O connector, so I had to add a jumper to the back of the board. Rather than try to reroute the circuit connections of J 5, I wired + 5 V to pin 10 of the 12 serial-printer header and attached a jumper wire with a 2-pin header to connect this power to the prototype board. This pin is not normally used on a serial printer and will not obstruct its use. If you want both the real-time clock and a printer to function together, however, you'll have to make an alternate connection point.

The entire clock is constructed on a 3-square-inch piece of prototyping board that piggybacks on the BCC-52 and plugs directly into the 15 parallelport connector. Four bits of port A (on the 82 55) function as the clock chip's bidirectional data bus; 4 bits of port B serve as the address bus. Three ad

116 BYTE • MARCH 1986

CIRCUIT CELLAR

ditional bits of port C provide control signals that gate data into and out of the clock chip. The addresses and functions of these clock registers are shown in figure 4.

As listing 1 demonstrates, the 5832 is easy to set and read in BASIC. To set the time, the three ports are all configured as outputs by loading 80 hexadecimal into the 8255s control register (P4). Since 1 was writing the program (and you know how 1 feel about programming), I didn't get too fancy with PRINT statements in the clock-setting routines. Considering that the clock should have to be set only once forever, I think you can do a little hand calculation on the bit configurations and enter each of the presets with a simple prompt of which register is being loaded. If it's August 8th, for example, I expect that you could translate that into an 8 for register 9 and a 0 for register 10. As each entry is made, the port C (P3) control lines are activated in this sequence—hold on, write on, write off. hold off—thus functioning as a simple write strobe.

Reading the device is much simpler. Port A is set as input; ports B and C are set as outputs by loading 20 hexadecimal into the 82 55's control register. The 13 clock registers are read by sequentially setting an address on port B and storing the value presented to port A. Because we are doing this all in BASIC, timing is noncritical. Even the hold command, normally enabled whenever the 5832 is read or set, can be ignored if counterupdate ripple-through is not critical. After reading all the registers, the values are multiplied by the appropriate constants and added. My software is bare bones, and 24-hour timing was chosen for simplicity. (I realize I could have done it with 11 bits on only two ports—and probably never have finished the software.)

A Realtime Clock with No Interface Required

As I wrote the above subhead, I tried to imagine how you would interpret it. Would the skeptical among you say, "Who's he trying to kid?" Or would

Listing 1: A BASIC program to set and read the MSM5832 real-time clock chip.

100 DIM N(200) : DIM M(200)

110 REM

120 REM REV 1.5 11/8/85

130 REM 5832 REAL TIME CLOCK FOR BCC-52 I/O PORT

140 REM

150 P1=51200 : P2=51201 : P3=51202 : P4=51203

155 REM SET 8255 PORT A AS INPUT AND B&C AS OUTPUT

160 XBY(P4)=90H

170 REM PORT B IS ADDRESS AND PORT C IS CONTROL BUS

180 PRINT "ENTER 0 TO SET TIME OR 1 TO READ TIME",

: INPUT A

190 ON A GOSUB 350,220

200 GOTO 180

210 GOTO 145

220 REM READ 13 5832 REGISTERS

230 XBY(P3)=20H : REM SET READ MODE

240 FOR A=0 TO 12

250 XBY(P2)=A : N(A)=XBY(P1)

260 NEXT A

270 REM DISPLAY CONTENTS

280 PRINT "DATE ",

290 PRINT N(10)*10+N(9),"/",N(8)*10+N(7),,y\N(12)

*10+N(11)

300 PRINT "TIME ",

310 IF N(5)>=8 THEN N(5)=N(5)-8

320 PRINT (N(5)*10)+N(4)," : ",(N(3)*10)+N(2)," : ",

(N(1)*10)+N(O)

330 PRINT

340 RETURN

350 REM SET TIME

360 XBY(P4)=80H : REM SET PORTS A.B.&C AS OUTPUT

370 REM MSB OF REG 5 12(0)/24(1) HRS & MSB-1 AM(0)/PM(1)

380 FOR A=0 TO 12

390 PRINT "REGISTER",A, : INPUT X

400 XBY(P2)=A : XBY(P1)=X

405 REM WRITE STROBE

410 XBY(P3)=10H : XBY(P3)=50H : XBY(P3)=10H : XBY(P3)=00H

420 NEXT A

430 XBY(P4)=90H : REM RESTORE READ PORT SETTINGS

440 PRINT

450 RETURN

you take it on faith that I've had the answer up my sleeve all along?

While the previous circuit works very well, and many of you no doubt will build it, it is l/O-intensive. The value of a single-board computer like the BCC-52 is that it is often desirable to implement it as a single-board control solution. As such, the parallel ports might be needed for the application and not be available for the clock interface I've described.

Not using the PIA means that the clock chip must be connected to the bus and addressed as memory or additional I/O. Short of using one of the already-decoded 8K-byte memory

block address strobes and building the clock to plug it in in place of a memory chip, it would appear that the only alternative is to attach the clock circuit through the external expansion-bus connector. That, however, would be the traditional answer to the problem.

Using one of the RAM-chip locations sounds like the most logical approach, until you realize that you are sacrificing 25 percent of the available on-board RAM (the BCC-52 holds 32K bytes of RAM in four 8K-byte chips on board) for less than 10 bytes of clock data. It would be much better if both

(continued)

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 117

CIRCUIT CELLAR

PIN CONNECTIONS

Dl 28D-1

Vcc

D2 27 D

D3 26 CH

D4 25 D

D5 24 D

06 23d

□ 7 22 D

DS1213 D8 21 D

D9 20 D

CE

□ 10 19 D

Dll 18 D

Dl2 17D

d 13 i6 n

GND

Dl4 15 D

PIN DEf

•INITIONS

ALL PINS PASS THROUGH EXCEPT 20.

26. 28

PIN 20 CONDITIONED CHIP ENABLE

PIN 26 SWITCHED Vcc FOR 24-PIN RAM

PIN 28 SWITCHED Vcc FOR 28-PIN RAM

PIN 14 GROUND

Figure 5: A pin-out diagram of the SmartSocket.

the clock and the RAM could share the memory-block address and any locations not those of the clock could be RAM. Better yet, why not keep all the RAM and attach the clock as a phantom interface that is there only when you need it?

Just as 1 was cleaning off the soldering iron to build the ultimate real-time clock, I discovered that such a device was just introduced by Dallas Semiconductor (43 50 Beltwood Parkway South, Dallas, TX 75244, (214) 4500470). Called SmartWatch, it does everything I had hoped in a single package and has some startling side benefits, like 8K bytes of nonvolatile memory. This latter revelation necessitates starting at the beginning and discussing a few additional Dallas Semiconductor products that are incorporated in the SmartWatch. The most notable of these is the DS1213 SmartSocket.

Nonvolatile RAM

The DS1213 is a 28-pin 0.6-inch-wide DIP (dual in-line package) socket with

a built-in CMOS controller circuit and lithium battery (see figure 5). It accepts either a 28-pin 8K by 8 or 24-pin 2K by 8 lower-justified IEDEC (Joint Electronic Device Engineering Council) byte-wide CMOS static RAM. When the socket is mated with a CMOS RAM, it makes the RAM contents nonvolatile by automatically switching the RAM to battery operation and write-protecting it upon any occurrence of power interruption.

The SmartSocket performs five circuit functions necessary for implementing battery backup on a CMOS memory. First, a switch is provided to direct power from the battery or Vcc supply, depending on which is greater. This switch has a voltage drop of less than 0.2 V. The second function is power-fail detection at input voltages less than 4.75 V. The DS1213 constantly monitors the Vcc supply. When Vcc falls below 4.75 V, a precision comparator detects the condition and inhibits enabling of the RAM chip.

The third function accomplishes write protection by holding the chip

v

ceo

+ 5-V OUTGOING

VBAT1 " +BATTERY 1 TOL - POWER-SUPPLY TOLERANCE GND - GROUND CE - CHIP ENABLE INPUT

CEO - CHIP ENABLE OUTPUT VBAT2 " + BATTERY 2 Vcci - +5-V INCOMING PIN NAMES

FROM DECODER 5

DS1210

VcCO

VBAT1

VBAT2

Vcc

CMOS RAM

/77

PIN CONNECTIONS

Figure 6: The pin-out and functional diagram for the DS1210 nonvolatileRAM controller.

PIN CONNECTIONS

RST

Dl

28 D-]

D2

27 □

D3

26 CH

D4

25 n

D5

24 O

□ 6

23 D

D7

DS12U D8

22 D 21 D

□ 9

20 D

D10

19D

Dll

18 D

D12

17D

D13

16 D

Dl4

15 □

PIN DEFINITIONS

ALL PINS PASS THROUGH EXCEPT 20.

26, 28

PIN 20 CONDITIONED CHIP ENABLE

PIN 26 SWITCHED Vcc FOR 24-PIN RAM

PIN 28 SWITCHED Vcc FOR 28-PIN RAM

PIN 1 RESET

PIN 22 OUTPUT ENABLE

PIN 27 WRITE ENABLE

PIN 11 DATA INPUT/OUTPUT 0

PIN 14 GROUND

Figure 7: A pin-out for the DS1216 SmartWatch.

118 BYTE- MARCH 1986

CIRCUIT CELLAR

enable signal to the memory to within 0.2 V of Vcc or battery supply. If the chip-enable signal is active at the time power-fail detection occurs, write protection is delayed until after the memory cycle is complete to avoid corruption of data. During nominal power-supply conditions, the memory chip-enable signal will be passed through to the socket receptacle with a maximum propagation delay of 20 nanoseconds.

The SmartSocket's fourth function is to check battery status and warn of potential data loss. Each time that Vcc power is restored to the SmartSocket, the battery voltage is checked with a precision comparator. If the battery supply is less than 2.0 V, the second memory cycle is inhibited. Battery status can, therefore, be determined by performing a read cycle after power-up to any location in the memory, recording the contents of that memory location. A subsequent write cycle can then be executed to the same memory location, altering the data. If the next read cycle fails to verify the written data, the contents of the memory are questionable because the battery may not have retained it.

The fifth function is battery redundancy. In many applications, data integrity is paramount. The DS1213 SmartSocket has two internal batteries. During battery-backup time, the battery with the highest voltage is selected for use. If one battery fails, the other automatically takes over. The switch between batteries is transparent to the user. A battery status warning occurs only if both batteries are less than 2.0 V. Each of the two lithium cells contains 3 5 milliampere/ hour capacity, making the total 70 mA/hr.

If you are contemplating a new design and want the benefits of nonvolatile static memory, the essential ingredients of the SmartSocket are available in chip form. Designated as DS1210, DS1224, and DS1212, they coordinate and perform the above described backup and write-protect functions for banks of 1, 4, or 16 in

(conlinued)

SMARTWATCH

COMPARISON

REGISTER

DEFINITION

HEXADECIMAL

i=E

7

0

h—

VALUE

C5

3A

A3

5C

C5

3A

A3

5C

1

1

0

0

0

1

0

1

c±

0

0

1

1

1

0

1

0

>J

n<

1

0

1

0

0

0

1

]

>""

lz£

0

1

0

1

1

1

0

0

>J

czE

1

1

0

0

0

1

0

1

>-l

czE

0

0

1

1

1

0

1

0

T-l

izE

1

0

1

0

0

0

1

1

>J

:

0

1

0

1

1

1

0

0

>-"

NOTE:

THE PATTERN

RECOGNITION IN

HEXADECIMAL IS C5

3A, A3, 5C. C5,

3A, A3

, 5C

THE ODDS OF

THIS PATTERN

ACCIDENTALLY

OCCUR

RING

\ND

CAUSING

INADVERTENT

ENTRY

TO THE

SMARTWATCH

ARE LESS

THAN 1

IN 101

9

Figure 8: The SmartWatch's comparison bit pattern.

REGISTER 0

SMARTWATCH REGISTER DEFINITION 7 0

0.1 SEC

0.01 SEC

7

0

0

10 SEC

SECONDS

1

7

0

0

10 MIN

MINUTES

1

7

0

12/24

0

lCv/ /A/P

HR

HOUR

1

7

0

0

0

OSC

RESET

0 DAY

7

0

0

0

10 DATE

DATE

7

0

0

0

0

10 MONTH

MONTH

7

0

10 YEAR

YEAR

RANGE (BCD) 00-99

01-12 00-23

01-07

00-99

Figure 9: The SmartWatch's registers.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 119

CIRCUIT CELLAR

dividual CMOS RAM chips. (Contact Dallas Semiconductor directly for data sheets.) The DS1210 is shown in figure 6.

The DS1216 SmartWatch

A new socket-style device called the DS1216 SmartWatch retains the nonvolatile-RAM capability of the SmartSocket and adds a calendar time function (see figure 7 for the pin-out). The SmartWatch includes its own crystal time base and maintains time information, including hundredths of seconds, seconds, minutes, hours, day of week, day of month, month, and year. The date at the end of the month is automatically adjusted for months with fewer than 31 days, including correction for leap year. Hours of the day can be tracked in both 12- and 24-hour formats.

Communication with the SmartWatch is established by pattern recognition on a serial bit stream of 64 bits that must be matched by executing 64 consecutive write cycles containing the proper data on DQO. All accesses that occur prior to recognition of the 64-bit pattern are directed to memory. After recognition is established, the next 64 read or write cycles either extract or update data in the SmartWatch; memory access is inhibited.

Data transfer to and from the timekeeping function is accomplished with a serial bit stream under control of chip enable (CE), output enable (0~E), and write enable (WE). Initially, a read cycle to any memory location using the CE and OE control of the SmartWatch starts the pattern-recognition sequence by moving a pointer to the first bit of the 64-bit comparison register. The next 64 consecutive write cycles are executed using the CE and WE control of the SmartWatch. These 64 write cycles are used only to gain access to the SmartWatch. Therefore, any address to the memory in the socket is acceptable. However, the write cycles generated to gain access to the SmartWatch are also writing data to a location in the mated' RAM. The preferred way to manage this requirement is to set aside one

Listing 2: A BASIC program that sets and reads the SmartWatch.

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

200

210 220 230 240 250

260 270 280 290

300 310 320 330 340 350

360 370 380 390 400 410 420

430 440 450 460 470

480 490 500

510 520 530 540 550

REM

REM

APPLICATION PROGRAM USING ONLY BASIC

TO DEMONSTRATE

SMARTWATCH REAL TIME CLOCK ON BCC52 COMPUTER

CONTROLLER BOARD

CLEAR

STRING 200,15 $(1)="SUNDAY" $(2)="M0NDAY" $(3)="TUESDAY" $(4)="WEDNESDAY" $(5)="THURSDAY" $(6)="FRIDAY" $(7)="SATURDAY"

REM

REM ********* MAIN MENU ********

REM

PRINT "0=READ DATE/TIME 1=ENTER NEW DATE/TIME ?" G=GET

GOSUB 1350 : REM GET NUMBER 0-9

PRINT CHR(18),CHR(27),"Y" : REM CLR & HOME TERMITE

IF G=0 THEN GOSUB 790 : REM READ & DISPLAY

DATE/TIME INFO

IF G=1 THEN GOSUB 250 : REM GATHER & SAVE

NEW DATE/TIME INFO

GOTO 150

REM

REM ********* GATHER $ SAVE NEW DATE/TIME INFO

REM J=XBY(4000H) : REM SAVE BYTE LOCATED IN 4000H TO REPLACE WHEN DONE

GOSUB 1420 : REM SEND PATTERN RECOGNITION CODES

PRINT "ENTER DATE MMDDYY" G=GET

FOR Z=6 TO 8 : REM USE G(6) FOR MM. G(7) FOR DD,

G(8) FOR YY

GOSUB 1350 : REM GET NUMBER 0-9

PRINT G, : REM ECHO NUMBER 0-9 H=G*16 : REM STORE NUMBER IN UPPER NIBBLE

GOSUB 1350

PRINT G, G(Z)=H+G : REM COMBINE NUMBERS 1 IN UPPER NIBBLE. 1 IN LOWER NIBBLE

NEXT Z

PRINT G=G(6) : REM G(6)=G(7) : REM G(7)=G : REM G(1)=0 : REM SET TENTHS & HUNDREDTHS OF A

PRINT "DAY OF THE WEEK SUN=0 M0N=1 TUE=2

THU=4 FRI=5 SAT=6 ?" G=GET

GOSUB 1350

PRINT G

PRINT G(5)=G.OR.10H : RESET FROM PIN 1

PRINT "ENTER TIME G=GET

STEP -1

SWAP 6 & 7, NOW 6,7.8 IN DD/MM/YY

REM OR BIT4 TO IGNORE

SECOND = 0 WED=3

HHMMSS"

FOR Z=4 TO 2 G(3) FOR MM. G(2) FOR SS GOSUB 1350 PRINT G, H=G*16 GOSUB 1350 PRINT G,

REM USE G(4) FOR HH,

120 BYTE- MARCH 1986

CIRCUIT CELLAR

560 570 580 590

600 610 620 630

640 650 660 670

680 690 700 710 720 730 740 750 760 770 780 790 800 810 820

830 840 850

860

870 880 890 900 910 920 930 940 950 960 970

980

990

1000 1010

1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080

0=24 HOUR FORMAT

1230 : "TODAY STRIP OFF / /

REM SEND PATTERN RECOGNITION CODES REM READ SMARTWATCH REGISTERS IS ",$((G(5).AND.7H)+1) : DAY OF WEEK

REM INITIALIZE DATE STRING

G(2)=H+G NEXT Z PRINT

PRINT "IS THE TIME IN 1=12 HOUR FORMAT ?" G=GET

GOSUB 1350

IF G<>1 THEN 680 : REM IF NOT 1 THEN JUMP G(4)=(G(4).OR.80H) : REM OR BIT7 TO

INDICATE 12 HOUR FORMAT

PRINT "IS IT 0=AM 1=PM ?" G=GET

GOSUB 1350

IF G=1 THEN G(4)=(G(4).OR.20H) : REM OR

BIT5 TO INDICATE PM

REM HOLD FOR TIME SYNCHRONIZATION

PRINT "HIT '0' TO GO SET THE NEW DATE/TIME"

GOSUB 1350

IF G<>0 THEN 700

GOSUB 1530 : REM STORE DATE/TIME INFO TO SMARTWATCH XBY(4000H)=J : REM REPLACE BYTE TO 4000H G=0

RETURN

REM

REM ********* READ & DISPLAY DATE/TIME

REM J=XBY(4000H)

GOSUB 1420

GOSUB

PRINT

REM $(8)=" Z-7 : REM X=1 : REM AT POSITION 1

GOSUB 1630 : REM GET 2

AND PLUG INTO STRING $(8) Z=6 X=4

GOSUB 1630 Z=8 X=7

GOSUB 1630 $(9)=$(8) : REM SAVE IT IN $(9) FOR ANY FUTURE USE

PRINT $(9) $(8)=" . " : REM INITIALIZE TIME STRING G(9)=Gf4)

IF (G(4).AND.80H)=0 THEN 1020 :

REM IF BIT7=0 THEN 24 HR FORMAT, JUMP

IF (G(4).AND.20H)=0 THEN ASC($(8),13)=41H :

REM IF BIT5 = 0, PLUG A

IF (G(4).AND.20H)=20H THEN ASC($(8),13)=50H :

REM IF BIT5 SET, PLUG P ASC($(8),14)=4DH : REM PLUG M G(9)=(G(4).AND.1FH) :

REM STRIP OFF FORMAT FROM HOUR REGISTER Z=9 X=1

GOSUB 1630 ASC($(8),3)=3AH : REM PLUG IN THE CHARACTER FOR COLON Z=3 X=4

GOSUB 1630

(continued)

USE G(7) MM REGISTER

PLUG CHARACTERS INTO STRING STARTING

CHARACTERS FROM G(Z)

address location in RAM as a SmartWatch scratchpad.

When the first write cycle is executed, it is compared to bit 1 of the 64-bit comparison register. If a match is found, the pointer increments to the next location of the comparison register and awaits the next write cycle. If a match is.not found, the pointer does not advance, and all subsequent write cycles are ignored. If a read cycle occurs at any time during pattern recognition, the present sequence is aborted, and the comparison-register pointer is reset.

Pattern recognition continues for a total of 64 write cycles until all the bits in the comparison register have been matched (this bit pattern is shown in figure 8). With a correct match for 64 bits, the SmartWatch is enabled, and data transfer to or from the timekeeping registers can proceed. The next 64 cycles will cause the SmartWatch to either receive or transmit data on DQO, depending on the level of the OE pin or the WE pin. Cycles to other locations outside the memory block can be interleaved with CE cycles without interrupting the pattern-recognition sequence or data-transfer sequence to the SmartWatch.

The SmartWatch information is contained in eight registers of 8 bits each, which are sequentially accessed a bit at a time after the 64-bit pattern-recognition sequence has been completed. When updating the SmartWatch registers, each must be handled in groups of 8 bits. These read/write registers are defined in figure 9.

Data contained in the SmartWatch registers is in BCD (binary-coded decimal) format. Reading and writing the registers are always accomplished by stepping through all eight registers, starting with bit 0 of register 0 and ending with bit 7 of register 7. A few of the significant bits are the following:

• AM-PM/12/24 mode: Bit 7 of the hours register is defined as the 12- or 24-hour mode select bit. When high, the 12-hour mode is selected. In the

(continued)

MARCH 1986

(YTE 121

CIRCUIT CELLAR

1090

ASC($(8),6)=3AH

1100

Z-2

1110

X=7

1120

GOSUB 1630

1130

Z=1

1140

X=10

1150

GOSUB 1630

1160

PRINT $(8)

1170

XBY(4000H)=J

1180

G=0

1190

RETURN

1200

REM

1210

REM ******** READ SMARTWATCH REGISTERS

1220

REM

1230

FOR Z=1 TO 8

1240

G(Z)=0

1250

FOR X=1 TO 8

1260

G=(XBY(4000H).AND.1) : REM G = BIT0

1270

IF G=0 THEN 1290 :

REM BIT ■ 0, DON'T ADD ANYTHING TO REGISTER BYTE

1280

G(Z)=G(Z)+(2**(X-1)) :

REM BUILD REGISTER BYTE FROM BITS RECEIVED

1290

NEXT X

1300

NEXT Z

1310

RETURN

1320

REM

1330

REM ******** GET NUMBER 0-9

1340

REM

1350

G-GET

1360

IF G<48.0R.G>57 THEN 1350

1370

G=G-48 : REM ASC TO 0-9

1380

RETURN

1390

REM

1400

REM ******** INITIALIZE PATTERN RECOGNITION CODES

1410

REM

1420

G(1)=0C5H

1430

G(2)=3AH

1440

G(3)=0A3H

1450

G(4)=5CH G(5)=0C5H

1460

1470

G(6)=3AH G(7)=0A3H

1480

1490

G(8)=5CH

1500

REM

1510

REM ******** SEND REGISTERS TO SMARTWATCH

1520

REM

1530

FOR Z=1 TO 8

1540

FOR X=1 TO 8

1550

IF (G(Z).AND.(2**(X-1)))<>0 THEN G=1 ELSE G=0 :

REM STRIP OFF BIT

1560

XBY(4000H)=G : REM SEND BIT TO SMARTWATCH

1570

NEXT X

1580

NEXT Z

1590

RETURN

1600

REM

1610

REM ******* GET 2 CHARACTERS FROM G(Z) REGISTER

1620

REM ******* PLUG $(8) ® X

1630

G=INT(G(Z)/16)

1640

ASC($(8),X)-G+48

ASC($(8),X+1)=G(Z)-(G*16)+48

1650

1660

RETURN

1670

REM

1680

REM ************ END

12-hour mode, bit 5 is the AM/PM bit with logic high being PM. In the 24-hour mode, bit 5 is the second 10-hour bit (20-23 hours).

• Oscillator and reset bits: Bits 4 and

5 of the day register are used to control the reset and oscillator function. Bit 4 controls the reset pin (pin 1). When the reset bit is set to logic 1, the reset input pin is ignored. When the reset bit is set to logic 0, a low input on the reset pin will cause the SmartWatch to abort data transfer without changing data in the watch registers. Bit 5 controls the oscillator. This bit is shipped from Dallas Semiconductor set to logic 1. which turns the oscillator off. When set to logic 0, the oscillator turns on, and the watch becomes operational.

• Zero bits: Registers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and

6 contain one or more bits that always read logic 0. When writing these locations, either a logic 1 or 0 is acceptable.

Reading and Setting SmartWatch in BASIC

While it is ultimately smarter to exercise the SmartWatch through an assembly-language routine, the universality of BASIC suggests that it would be a better tool for demonstrating the intricacies of communicating with SmartWatch. Listing 2 is a BASIC program that sets and reads a SmartWatch installed at 4000 hexadecimal on a BCC-52 computer/controller board. This program is more involved than the 5832 clock-chip program described earlier, primarily because it has more reporting features and communicates with the operator through menus. Embedded among all the REM and PRINT statements are the essential time-setting and read routines that you can translate from BASIC-52 to any other BASIC.

An Assembly-Language Firmware Utility

The assembly-language interface to the SmartWatch is also done on the bit level. The device requires that a particular pattern of 64 consecutive bits be written to data bit 0 in order to access the time and date registers

122 BYTE • MARCH 1986

CIRCUIT CELLAR

of the SmartWatch. Then, 64 more consecutive reads or writes are required to examine or set the watch.

The firmware EPROM consists of a set of routines that take care of manipulating the SmartWatch and conversion of the SmartWatch data from BCD to binary format (I call this firmware SmarTime). This allows the use of BASIC to directly read the data in memory with no conversion code necessary in the BASIC-52 program. Year, month, date, day of week, hours, minutes, seconds, and hundredths of seconds are made available in the BCC-52 data memory for reading by the user program. SmarTime uses 24-hour military time (00:00-2 3: 59) in order to eliminate the need for an AM/PM indicator. If AM/PM time is required, you can convert it to the more standard format in BASIC.

The SmarTime system is contained within an EPROM at location 6000 hexadecimal (for this demonstration) and occupies 300 (hexadecimal) bytes of memory (the SmarTime routines can be reassembled to run in any available 300 [hexadecimal|-byte EPROM space on the board). The rest can be used by your application if desired, but be careful to put your data into the EPROM from the top down.

SmarTime stores its register save and load areas and date/time information in the area directly above BASIC-52's current MTOP pointer. Because of this, the MTOP address must be adjusted down by 30 bytes prior to calling the initialization routine at location 6000 hexadecimal. A memory map appears in figure 10.

Three basic functions are found in SmarTime (figures 11-14 outline the logic flow of these programs). The first is a routine that sets up the memory environment for SmarTime to use. This routine, executed with a CALL 6000H, creates a load table of information in the memory above MTOP. The table contains the base address of the SmartWatch device, as well as a pointer to where the time information is stored.

A second routine, invoked with a CALL 6003H, uses the binary data

stored in the time and date fields to set the SmartWatch. The required control bits for establishing 24-hour time and for turning on the SmartWatch internal oscillator are added to the data prior to its being written to the SmartWatch device. The routine also does the binary-to-BCD conversion.

The thirdfunction of the software is a routine for reading out the SmartWatch date and time information, converting it from BCD to binary format, and storing it in the memory area above MTOP. It is executed with a CALL 6006H.

Using the SmartWatch with SmarTime is easy. With the DS1216 installed at address 4000 hexadecimal and SmarTime at 6000 hexadecimal, simply enter and run the program

SmarTime uses

24-hour military time to eliminate the need for an AM/PM indicator.

shown in listing 3.

Finally, we are back to simple BASIC programs with the help of a little firmware tucked away in an EPROM. As this program runs, you should see the seconds location of the clock/calendar printed out once per second. If it is correctly incrementing, the EPROM is installed properly at location 6000 hexadecimal and the Smart

(continued)

Program Memory

6000H-6300H

SmarTime

EPROM-resident software

External Data

Offset Above

Function

Memory

MTOP Value

DEC

HEX.

24

18

YEARS

(00-99)

23

17

MONTHS

(01-12)

22

16

DATE

(01-31)

21

15

DAY

(01-07)

20

14

HOURS

(00-23)

19

13

MINS.

(00-59)

18

12

SECS.

(00-59)

17

11

HUNDREDTHS of SECS (0.00-0.99)

16

10

BANK 3 REG 7 LOAD (RESERVED)

15

OF

BANK 3 REG 6 LOAD (RESERVED)

14

0E

BANK 3 REG 5 LOAD (RESERVED)

13

0D

BANK 3 REG 4 LOAD (RESERVED)

12

OC

BANK 3 REG 3 LOAD (TIME AREA LOW)

11

0B

BANK 3 REG 2 LOAD (TIME AREA HIGH)

10

0A

BANK 3 REG 1 LOAD (RESERVED)

09

09

BANK 3 REG 0 LOAD (WATCH BASE)

08

08

BANK 3 REG 7 SAVE AREA

07

07

BANK 3 REG 6 SAVE AREA

06

06

BANK 3 REG 5 SAVE AREA

05

05

BANK 3 REG 4 SAVE AREA

04

04

BANK 3 REG 3 SAVE AREA

03

03

BANK 3 REG 2 SAVE AREA

02

02

BANK 3 REG 1 SAVE AREA

MTOP + =>

01

01

BANK 3 REG 0 SAVE AREA

Figure 10: The SmafTime firmware memory map.

MARCH 1986

:YTE 123

CIRCUIT CELLAR

Watch at location 4000 hexadecimal. You can now write your own BASIC-52 programs to use SmarTime.

In Conclusion

Either real-time clock I've presented is applicable and valuable in control applications. Which you use depends primarily upon the application. It took

only a few hours to build and test the 5832 circuit, and it proved an immediate success for a one-shot problem. In the long run, however, the SmarTime system incorporating the SmartWatch and nonvolatile RAM is a more useful BCC-52 peripheral that can be easily duplicated, especially now that the software is written.

Speaking of software, the BASIC listings and a file of the SmarTime executable code (to run at 6000 hexadecimal) discussed in this article are available for downloading from BYTEnet Listings at (617) 861-9764 and the Circuit Cellar BBS at (203) 871-1988. They are also available from BYTE on disk (see page 358).

f START J

SAVE 8052

CURRENT

REGISTERS

SAVE OLD REG. BANK 3 REGISTERS

CALCULATE ADDRESS OF TIME / DATE AREA

SAVE

SMARTWATCH POINTER AND TIME/DATE AREA ADDRESS

RECOVER OLD BANK 3 VALUES

RECOVER SAVED 8052 REGISTERS

f RETURN J

( START J

SAVE 8052

CURRENT

REGISTERS

SAVE OLD REG. BANK 3 REGISTERS

LOAD OUR REG. BANK 3 REGISTERS

READ DATA FROM TIME/DATE TABLE

CONVERT FROM BINARY TO BCD AND MASK

WRITE

SMARTWATCH COMMAND STRING

WRITE DATA TO SMARTWATCH

RECOVER OLD BANK 3 VALUES

RECOVER SAVED 8052 REGISTERS

( EX'T )

( START J

SAVE 8052

CURRENT

REGISTERS

SAVE OLD REG. BANK 3 REGISTERS

LOAD OUR REG. BANK 3 REGISTERS

WRITE

SMARTWATCH COMMAND STRING

READ

SMARTWATCH

DATA

CONVERT FROM BCD TO BINARY AND MASK

STORE DATA IN WATCH AREA

RECOVER OLD BANK 3 VALUES

RECOVER SAVED 8052 REGISTERS

( EX,T )

Figure 11: The SmarTime firmware flowchart—the initialization routine.

Figure 12: The SmarTime firmware flowchart—a routine to set the SmartWatch.

Figure 13: The SmarTime firmware flowchart—a routine to read the SmartWatch.

124 BYTE • MARCH 1986

CIRCUIT CELLAR

1

f START J

SET BYTE COUNT TO 8

STEP TO NEXT COMMAND BYTE

1

'-,

BYTE COUNT = BYTE COUNT - 1

GET COMMAND BYTE FROM TABLE

NO /*^\

SET BIT COUNT TO 8

\ DONE y/

'

-,

[yes

( DONE J

WRITE BYTE TO SMARTWATCH

ROTATE BYTE RIGHT 1 BIT. BIT COUNT = COUNT-]

'AL

jr Bl T

^^

to

V DO

me y

YES

Figure 14: The SmafTime firmware flowchartstring or data to the SmartWatch.

■a routine to write a command

Listing 3: This BASIC program uses the SmafTime firmware to update a seconds counter on screen. Note that comments in parentheses next to the code should not be entered as part of the program.

10 MTOP = MTOP - 30 (RESET MTOP POINTER)

20 DBY(18H)=040H (ASSUME SMARTWATCH AT 4000H)

30 CALL 6000H (INITIALIZE THE SYSTEM)

40 REM NOW SET SMARTWATCH TIME

50 FOR X=MT0P+24 TO MTOP+17 STEP -1

60 READ C

70 XBY(X)=C

80 NEXT X

85 REM ZZ/01/85 14:25:00.00

90 DATA 85,11,01,05.14,25,00,00

100 CALL 6003H (WRITE THE VALUES)

110 CALL 6006H (READ THE VALUES)

120 PRINT MTOP+18 (SECONDS COUNTER)

130 GOTO 110

Circuit Cellar Feedback

This month's feedback is on page 3 54.

Next Month

Beating your own security system: a personal experience. ■

Special thanks to }eff Bachiochi and Bill Curlew for their software expertise.

Diagrams pertaining to Dallas Semiconductor components and Oki are reprinted by permission.

The following items are available from

The Micromint Inc.

2 5 Terrace Dr.

Vernon, CT 06066

(800) 635-3355 for orders

(203) 871-6170 for information

The BCC-52 SmaiTime system consists of a DS1216 SmartWatch and a SmaiTime firmware EPROM (ROM C) written in 8052 assembly language. The EPROM contains the assembled executable code (address 7D00 hexadecimal) and the power I/O system as described in the December 1984 Circuit Cellar. Using the assembler provided in the optional expansion utilities ROMs A and B. the SmaiTime routine can be reassembled to execute anywhere in memory. The SmarTime manual contains the source file of the SmaiTime utility.

1. SmaiTime firmware EPROM with SmartWatch module.

BCC-52 clock and SmartROM C. . . .569

2. SmaiTime firmware EPROM with SmartWatch module and 8K-byte RAM chip.

BCC-52 8K clock and SmartROM C. $79

3. DS1216 SmartWatch clock module separately. '

DS12I6 $39

4. BCC-52 computer/controller board with manuals.

BCC-52 $239

Please include $5 for UPS shipping and handling in the continental United States, $12 for ground or $18 for air shipment elsewhere. Connecticut residents please include 7.5 percent sales tax.

Editor's Note: Steve often refers to previous Circuit Cellar articles. Most of these past articles are available in book form from BYTE Books, McGraw-Hill Book Company, POB 400. Hightstown, NJ 082 50.

Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar. Volume 1 covers articles in BYTE from September 1977 through November 1978. Volume II covers December 1978 through |une 1980. Volume III covers July 1980 through December 1981. Volume IV covers January 1982 through June 1983.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 125

Introducing Pc

Microsoft® Windows has arrived.

For anyone who uses a computer in earnest, that is extremely good news.

Windows gives you a practical way to integrate programs. It radically decreases the time it takes to move from one application to another. Dramatically simplifies the means of consolidating data from many different programs.

And as a graphical extension of the MS-DOS® operating system, it gives you a highly visual way to work and to organize your work.

In short, Windows brings efficiency to all those processes of personal computing which have till now been awkward, unwieldy, inconvenient.

The joys of job hopping.

With the advent of Windows, you can work with multiple applications. And switch from program to program with ease.

Start up with one application, then another, and another. Leap back and forth between applications as your work routine dictates. Then pick up right where you left off.

The ability of Windows to change quickly from program to program logically and naturally magnifies the utility and productivity of the personal computer. And is a recognition of the way people who exploit the power of PCs really do their jobs.

Breaking the 640K barrier.

]ust like you, Microsoft Windows can handle several projects at the same time. Juggle assignments. Deal with frequent interruptions.

And Windows will ignore the 640K limit of the PC, especially if you have a hard disk, the Intel® Above™ Board, or expanded memory. It will execute the rather neat trick of working with more programs than

memory can hold at one time.

Spreading knowledge.

Another significant service Windows performs is accelerating the movement of information from one program to another.

Collecting and combining that information is as simple as taking a "snapshot" of data in one program. Editing it. Then consolidating it with data from other programs.

With Windows, you can enjoy the advantages of conventional integrated programs without their compromises. Because Windows lets you put together the applications that you know, and that get a job

126 BYTE • MARCH 1986

wer Windows.

done for you.

Choose your best word processor, spreadsheet, database—you name it. They're all there for you at a keystroke.

Common ground.

Finally, Windows is not only an immensely powerful tool for today, it's also a solid base for a new generation of Windows Applications.

As an introductory offer, two of these—Microsoft Windows Write and Windows Paint—are included in the Windows package. Along with more than a dozen other Windows desktop applications. Including a DOS file management program, calendar,

cardfile, notepad, calculator, and a telecommunications program.

In Windows Applications you have a common interface which includes drop-down menus, dialog boxes, icons. Along with a richer environment that allows you to mix pictures and text. And to summon different type faces and styles at a keystroke.

Windows is a bridge between today's applications and the graphics based software now evolving. A way to work interchangeably with today's programs. And tomorrow's.

Of course, all this is going to cost you: $99.

A price that makes Windows the most startling value ever offered in software. A comparable collection of programs—a switching program, a graphic interface, desktop applications, a word processor, a drawing program—could easily cost hundreds of dollars more.

If you're someone who uses personal computing as a natural part of your work life, who capitalizes on the productive powers of sophisticated applications, look into Windows.

It offers a new vision of what a computer can do.

Mcrosofr Windows

The High Performance Software™

For the n In Canac

e of your nearest Microsoft dealer, call (800) 426-94O0.1n Washington State and Alaska, (206) 828-8088. rail (800) 387-6616.

Nuic. Photo shows color and resolution obtained on an IBM" PC equipped with IBM Enhanced Graphics Adaptec Monochrome display is generated when an IBM Color Graphics Adapter or compatible graphics adapter card is used.

Microsoft and MS-DOS are registered trademarks and Tin' High Performance Software- is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation Intel is a registered trademark and Above is a trademark of Intel Corporation. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.

System Requirements: IBM or COMPAQ Personal Computer lor 100";. compatibles) Z^oK memory, two double-sided, doubledensity disk drives (5I2K and a hard disk recommended, when usinj: multiple applications or DOS 3.0 or higher J. Graphics adapter card (IBM Color Graphic Monitor Adapter. IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter. Hercules Graphics Card, or compatible).

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 127

fv""'"'

1; i

1

■■ ■'■ ■".: '■"■■'

Xi.

!

128 BYTE • MARCH 1986

ILLUSTRATED BY ROBERT T1NNEY

PROGRAMMING PROJECT

A SIMPLE WINDOWING SYSTEM

PART 1: BASIC PRINCIPLES

by Bruce Webster

Windows can be implemented on almost any system with a memory-mapped display

The use of windows for user interfaces is not new; the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center has been developing window-based systems for years. But it wasn't until Apple released the Macintosh two years ago that windows became popular. Now, just about every major microcomputer has a window-based user interface available (if not actually bundled), and a wide range of software, from databases to games, uses windows as well.

Though windows are most often associated with high-powered bit-mapped computers, they can be implemented—and implemented well—on nearly any system with a memory-mapped display, be it graphics or text. There is nothing magic or secret about windows; the underlying concepts are easy to understand and usually easy to implement. Windowing systems can be and have been implemented on most of the more "mundane" computers; the goal of this article is to show you how. I will assume that you are using some existing set of graphics or text routines. Only a few routines are essential; a viewport or screen bounds command, to restrict writing or drawing to the current window; a clear screen or fill screen command, to erase the portion of the screen where the window will

appear; a cursor-positioning command for text displays, to draw (if desired) a border of characters; and a line-drawing command for graphics displays, also to draw a border. This month's installment will cover the basic principles of windows and then examine the problems involved in opening a window. Next month, I will look at how to close a window, develop a pseudocode implementation of a windowing system, and show an actual implementation on a specific computer.

Understanding Windows

A window is simply a small screen that appears within a larger screen (your computer's display). Its function is to let you perform some task within it, then disappear when it is no longer needed. Often, two or more windows are created, each with its own purpose, and you can then select which window to use. Figure 1 shows an example of multiple windows in use on the Macintosh.

When a window is created—or opened—it hides whatever is behind it, including portions of other windows that it might overlap. Usually, a border is drawn around the window to visually set it apart from everything

[continued) Bruce Webster is a consulting editor for BYTE. He can be contacted do BYTE, POB 1910, Orem, UT 84057.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE

129

PROGRAMMING PROJECT

else on the screen; a title is some- pictures, or whatever your software

times placed at the top as well. Hav- allows you to do. Attempts to write or

ing opened the window, you can then draw outside of the window should be

do things within it: write text, draw ignored. This is usually done by using

« File Edit Uiew Special

RHMdisk

340K in disk

1 198K available

Syster

4 items

Pascal folder

49K in folder

79K available

□ □

\^

o

ReadStars.PAS SMap.R StarMap PAS SMap RSRC

5E

TP ^=r

SysFolder StarMap ReadStars

isa

o

"""'"..:., ,. .' ,.;..'■';■'

Trasr

Figure 1: An example of multiple overlapping windows on a Macintosh screen.

54

68

69

73

69

73

20

20

61

ZO

20

20

74

65

73

74

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

T h 1 s

t e

s t

Memory (Hex)

CRT (Text display)

00

FF

FF

FF

FF

00

FF

00

00

FF

00 E0 07 00

00

FF

00

00

FF

00

FF

FF

FF

FF

/ \

<i = ! i

Memory (Hex)

CRT (Graphics display)

Figure 2: A simple example of a memory-mapped text display [top row) and a memory-mapped graphics display {bottom row).

a viewport or screen bounds command.

You can write or draw in a window as long as it is active. If windows overlap, the one on top—that is, the one that is not overlapped by any other window—is the active one. If you have two or more nonoverlapping windows, only one is active at any given point in the program; for the sake of simplicity, I will always use the most recently opened window. Of course, by constantly switching between windows, you can give the illusion of multiple windows being active simultaneously. (It is even possible— though difficult, or at least tedious— to have partially obscured windows be active. Such a technique is beyond the scope of this article; you'll have to work it out on your own.)

Often, you will want to close a window, that is, make it go away and restore the display underneath it. You can use a few different approaches to deal with this problem. Digital Research's GEM and the Macintosh Toolbox both place the burden upon the programmer to redraw the now-exposed portion of the screen. This is done for two reasons. First, it saves memory, since nothing needs to be saved when the window first appears. Second, it makes it easy to reorder overlapping windows, that is, to bring a partially hidden window to the "top." The drawback is that your program must know how to redraw that portion of the screen and then take the time to do so.

The other approach is to save what is underneath a window when it is opened, then restore that to the screen when the window is closed. This uses up memory and/or disk space, since that screen data has to be stored somewhere. It also enforces a last-opened/first-closed restriction for overlapping windows. Suppose you open window A, then window B (which overlaps A), then window C (which also overlaps A), and finally window D (which overlaps B). You must close window D before you can close B, and you must close both B and C before you can close A. If two windows do not overlap (such as B

130 BYTE • MARCH 1986

PROGRAMMING PROJECT

and C), you can close either one independent of the other. The advantages of this method are that your program doesn't need to remember how to redraw anything, it can be very fast (if properly written), and it's simple. This is the approach that 1 will use in this article.

Opening a Window

Your first task is to open a window on the screen. You need to specify the location of the window (say, the upper left corner), the size of the window (width and height), and the address to save what is under the window.

In addition, you need to decide if the window will have a border and/or a title and (if so) how they will be drawn. I'll defer discussion of the borders and titles for a little while and concentrate on creating the window itself.

Notice that I've been vague as to whether your display is text (that is, a character-only ASCII display) or graphics (bit-mapped). The fact is, it doesn't really matter, as long as the display is memory-mapped and you can read from and write to that memory. Memory-mapped means that there is some area in RAM (randomaccess read/write memory) that corresponds to your display; anything written there appears on the screen in some form. In a memory-mapped text display, each byte usually represents a single character; the value of the byte is the ASCII value of the character being displayed. Memorymapped graphics displays have more variety, depending upon the computer. One or more bits correspond to each dot on the screen; sometimes those bits are next to each other, sometimes they are quite a distance apart. See figure 2 for examples of memory-mapped displays.

The Apple II and the IBM Personal Computer have both memorymapped text and graphics, while the Macintosh has only memory-mapped graphics. The main difference between the two kinds of displays is that the text display takes up less memory. For example, the 80-character by 2 5-line text-mode display on the IBM

PC Color Graphics Adapter takes up 4000 bytes-2000 bytes for the 80 by 25 text itself and another 2000 bytes for attributes (bold, underline, etc.) for each character—whereas the graphicsmode display takes up 16,000 bytes (high resolution: 640 by 200 pixels, 1 bit/pixel: medium resolution: 320 by 200 pixels, 4 bits/pixel).

The amount of memory required by a graphics display increases proportionally to the resolution and/or the number of colors per pixel. One of the highest resolutions for a microcomputer display is that of the Amiga: 640 by 400 pixels, with 16 colors (4 bits) per pixel. A full screen at that

{continued)

ONE-STOP ARCnet LAN SOLUTIONS

Now you can get all the tools you need to build industry standard TOKEN-PASSING networks from one source. Intercontinental Micro.

Our networking packages let you configure any combination of nodes (PC s and compatibles, ATs, XTs, Jrs., Z-100 s) to a common Fileserver in just a few minutes with our menu-driven installation program.

Active and passive hubs allow you to integrate up to 255 users on a single network with increased efficiency as the network grows.

In addition, our stand-alone ARCnet™ Workstation/Fileserverand complete line of S-100 Bus products (single board computers, slaves and controllers) give you and your customers even more options.

ARCnet is a trademark ol Datapoint Corporation.

We're also compatible with other industry-leading ARCnet PC™ and S-100 products, and our PC networking boards include an optional 256K of system RAM.

All with Intercontinental Micro's reputation for outstanding reliability, exceptional service, and highly competitive pricing.

Call Intercontinental Micro today, or circle the bingo number below for ARCnet™ LAN solutions.

^^=\lntercontinental sEiHF;'Micro Systems

(/^

4015 Leaverton Court, Anaheim, CA

92807; Phone:(714)630-0964

Telex: 821375 SUPPORT UD: Easylink: 62562040.

Inquiry 172 for End-Users. Inquiry I 73 for DEALERS ONLY.

MARCH I986 -BYTE 131

PROGRAMMING PROJECT

resolution requires 128,000 bytes (640 x 400 x 4/8). By contrast, the original text display on the Apple II— 40 by 24—requires only 960 bytes of RAM.

To keep this windowing system simple, you can assume that all windows start and end on byte boundaries. This means you won't split up any bytes, that a window will always be so many bytes wide. For text displays you have no choice, since each character takes up a byte. For graphics displays, however, you could try to work on the bit level, starting a window partway through a byte. But for most purposes this is unnecessary. Restricting the x coordinates of the window to byte boundaries makes your system easier and faster because your code doesn't have to do the shifting and masking that bit-level boundaries would require.

You need to specify the location of the window. Most of the popular microcomputers use the upper left corner of the screen as the starting point, or origin, for text or graphics. The first location in the memory map for the display corresponds to that corner; each successive location moves across to the end of the line, then to the start of another line (though, as Apple II programmers can tell you, not necessarily the next line down). By specifying the upper left corner of the window, you simplify the

task of copying the underlying display memory to some other location. Since you're sticking to byte boundaries, you'll define the upper left corner as (x,y), where x is the left byte and y is the top line. You'll also define the upper left corner of the entire screen as (0,0); that is, the topmost line is 0, and the leftmost byte of each line is 0.

You now need to specify the width and height of the window. Two choices present themselves, each with its strengths and weaknesses. First, you could specify the coordinates of the lower right corner, (x2,y2). This would make it easier to avoid accidentally creating a window that extends beyond the screen boundaries, since you would have to deliberately specify illegal (out-of-range) coordinates. Second, you could give the width (in bytes) and height (in lines) of the window. This makes it clearer how big the window actually is. Arguments can be made for either method, and it is simple to implement either one. For now, let's go with the second, naming the parameters (width,height). You can then calculate (x2.y2), since x2 = (x+width-1) and yl = (y+height-1).

Finally, you need to specify the address of the buffer, that is, the area where the underlying screen data will be saved. You will need at least width x height bytes of storage; "at

f

—\

i A

1 1

•>

1 3

4

v

4

(free)

window 3

CRT Display

Memory

Disk (file)

Figure 3: 1/ you run out of RAM for storing window buffers, you can save some of those buffers to disk.

least," because you may also want to store the information describing the position of the window (x.y.width, height) in the buffer, to make restoration of the screen data easier. Assuming you use 2 bytes for each of those values, you'll need a total of (widthx height + 8) bytes.

You now need to make some decisions concerning error checking. The following cases must be handled somehow:

1. The coordinate x and/or y is out of range; i.e., it is less than 0 or greater than the maximum allowable value.

2. Width and/or height is too large; i.e., x2 and/or y2 is out of range.

3. The buffer isn't big enough to save the screen data.

You can take two general approaches. First, you can try to make things "fit." For example, if x is negative, you can set it to 0 and proceed anyway; likewise, if the window boundaries extend below the bottom edge of the screen, you can chop off the excess. This is dangerous, however, since the calling program will get something other than it requested. The alternative is to return an error code, informing the calling routine that the window was not opened and the reasons why. The program can then take whatever steps are necessary to adjust its request. This second approach is safer, and we'll take it.

You now need to deal with the issue of memory management. Two separate problems present themselves. First, you must decide how much memory to give to the window buffer or buffers. A simple solution is to find and set aside a chunk of memory (a "window buffer") equal in size to the largest window that you'll let be opened. Ideally, this would be the same size as the actual display, so that you could open up a window filling the entire screen. This is feasible for a 40 by 24 text display on the Apple II—but it might not be feasible for the 280 by 192 graphics display on that same Apple II, especially if you have 64K bytes (or less) of total memory. If you don't have enough free RAM, you'll need to set aside some lesser

132 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 277

PROGRAMMING PROJECT

amount and let the open-window routine know what that amount is. It can then compare that size to the value (width x height + 8) and return the appropriate error code if it's not large enough. For now, assume that you've set aside as much RAM as you can spare, and that the address and size of that buffer are known to the open-window routine. (If your language lets you dynamically allocate memory, you may want to use that to create the buffer as needed.)

The second problem occurs when you run out of available RAM for storing window buffers. You can, of course, just refuse to open the window. But that might be too much of a limitation, especially if you have only enough memory for a single buffer (and, therefore, a single window). One alternative is to write the buffer out to disk, then reuse the buffer for the new window. This involves more record keeping, as well as a check to be sure you have sufficient room on the disk. Again, the simplest solution here is to set aside an area on the disk big enough to hold some fixed number of fixed-size buffers. Each time you open a new window, you write the current contents of the buffer out to the next free slot on the disk (see figure 3). Once the disk area is full, you return the "too many windows" error message on any further attempts to open a window.

The final decision is how to handle borders and titles. Let's drop titles but keep borders. For text displays, this is simple. You can draw the border using any special characters provided (like the IBM graphics characters or the MouseText characters on the Apple He and enhanced He) or by adapting some regular characters, like dashes, exclamation points (or vertical bars, if your display supports them), and plus signs. But you'll need to decide whether the border is inside or outside the window. The border itself will eat up two lines (top and bottom) and two columns of bytes (left and right).

If you put the border inside the window, the display area within the window itself will be smaller; for example, if you create a window that's 20

bytes wide and 10 lines high, the actual "screen" within the window will be only 18 bytes wide and 8 lines high. If the border is outside the window, you have to handle the cases where the window is flush against one or two sides of the screen, such as a window whose upper left corner is at (0,0). You'll also have to be sure to save the areas covered by the borders, so your actual buffer size may be as great as (width+ 2)*(height + 2) bytes. For this article, I'll assume that the border is within the window; you may want to design your own routines otherwise.

For graphics windows, the problems are similar. Drawing a border is quite simple: a line across the top and bottom lines and along the left and right sides. Given the previous decision to limit windows to byte boundaries, there is no real "inside/outside" choice, unless you want to pad the left and right sides by a full byte (which may represent several pixels of "empty" space on each side). Again, I'll assume that the border is within the graphics window; again, you may decide otherwise for your own implementation.

The final thing you must do is set the viewport (or active screen) to the "screen" within the border, if possible. The graphics or text routines you're using may allow you to define those limits; if so, you want to set them at [x+\.y+\x2-\.y2-\). On a graphics display, you may want to leave a little gap between the border and the drawings within the window. You may also want to set the x values on a bit boundary rather than a byte boundary, if you can, to avoid too large a gap on either side.

Intermission

You should now have a good idea of what you must consider in opening a window; how to specify it, where to save the screen data, what to do when errors occur. Next month, you'll learn how to close the window again. You'll also see a pseudocode implementation of the system I've developed here, as well as a partial translation for an Apple II. ■

The Turbo Pascal ™ Software Information exchange

Megabytes of Turbo Pascal code, including many commercial quality programs, are now available from a single source for the low price of

$6 per diskette*

*non-member price is $7.50 per disk Each diskette is packed with programs and/or routines organized to offer solutions in a selected area of interest. You will save countless hours and learn from the work of your fellow Turbo programmers.

Some of the selections currently available are:

106. DOS Functions (MS-DOS & CP/M)

504. Telecommunications Programs

402. Business Financial Analysis

301. Home Financial Management

206. Source Code Processing

702. Astronomy Programs w/Graphics

603. Turbo Games

212. Screen Design Tools

Many more selections available with new titles added regularly. For a complete list send for the TURBO S.I.X. catalog or better yet join TURBO S.I.X. As a member you will enjoy the following benefits:

• Get your first selection for 5<f!

• $1.50 discount on every disk!

• A MONTHLY newsletter covering what's new in Turbo software, programming tips and other topics of interest to the Turbo Pascal user. Edited by Steve Wood, author of Using Turbo Pascal. (Osborne/ McGraw-Hill)

Your one year membership is ONLY $19.95

Add just 5C for your first diskette. It can be one of the selections mentioned above, or you can wait and choose from the catalog you get FREE with your paid membership. The catalog is available separately for $1.95. Texas residents add 5% sales tax.

■"« TURBO S.I.X.

2012 Lake Air, Dept. B1

Waco, Texas 76710

(817) 753-2182 • (817) 776-3103

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 133

AD SERIES #1

Cermetek Talks Famil

If you're looking to purchase a quality modem for your business applications look no further than Cermetek.

Take for example our Security Modem. Not just an add-on device, it incorporates one of the safest and most cost efficient methods of protecting your business flies from unauthorized access. It's called barrior security. Available in 1200 and 2400 bps, both include a variety of sophisticated security features.

Security Modem - A Hayes" compatible unit available in 1200 or 2400 bps that provides Barrior Security for your important computer files.

1200 SPC Modem - The 1200 SPC Modem provides Hayes'" compatibility - designed for the short slot in die IBM" PC/XT/AT or clone.

1200 Modem - A Hayes" compatible unit featuring . call progress tone detection, voice-data switching, built-in diagnostics, and more.

2400 Modem - A Hayes" compatible 2400 bps modem wiUi intelligent features and built-in diagnostics. MNP error control is available on the 2400 EP Modem.

Cermetek

AppleMate 1200 Modem - A Hayes™ compatible internal modem card designed for the Apple™ II, II +, lie with intelligent features and built-in diagnostics.

inquiry 62

Cermetek Microelectronics, Inc. 1308 Borregas Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94088-3565 408/752-5000

Hayes Is a registered trademark of Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. IBM Is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. Apple 11. II +, He.are registered trademarks of Apple Computer

by Steve A. Hersee and Dan Knopoff

An ANSI

Standard for the C Language

A description of the standard proposed in the X3J11 committee's Information Bulletin

In The C Programming Language (Prentice-Hall Inc., 1978) Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie defined C as "a general-purpose programming language which features economy of ex

pression, modern control flow and data structures, and a rich set of operators." The C language was first developed for use on the UNIX operating system; however, C is now widely accepted in the personal computer arena, and it is no longer just the godchild of UNIX developers. There is now enough interest and investment in C to develop an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard for C. The process is currently underway and entrusted to the X3J11 Standardization Committee.

Why Develop a Standard?

As more developers and users become dependent on C, a universal set of rules is necessary to keep C programmers working with the same language. The challenge then is to establish a nonpartisan keeper of the "standard."

At first, the choice appears to be easy. Why not let the compiler implementors and developers (such as AT&T, Whitesmiths, or Lattice) hammer out their own language definition? But could any of these organizations actually claim that changes and additions would be implemented to serve the public good?

The C language already has a de facto standard taken from Kernighan

(continued) Steve A. Hersee is one of three founders of Lattice Inc. He has a B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Illinois and is the International Representative of the X3J11 Standardization Committee. Dan Knopoff is the production manager at Lattice Inc. He has a B.A. in English from Northeastern Illinois University. They can be reached do Lattice Inc., POB 3072, Glen Ellun, IL 60138.

ILLUSTRATED BY BARBARA ENSOR

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 135

ANSI STANDARD

and Ritchie's book (known as K&R). K&R was published in 1978 as both a tutorial and an "official" statement of the syntax and semantics of C. However, due to ambiguities in the text, UNIX references, and recent extensions to C (such as the portable C compiler), K&R is not always the most viable alternative for a compiler writer to follow. In fact, a C compiler author has almost too many choices. Should an author of a C compiler provide the C described by the K&R standard or should the UNIX version 7 be used? Or how about UNIX System III? Or Whitesmiths (the oldest commercial compiler)?

The standardization of C will allow C to move into more environments. Since the standard addresses just the C language, the variations between operating systems can be filtered out (they are never really eliminated), and C can move away from its original UNIX roots. In fact, two-thirds of the

Standardization Committee's members represent companies offering C for non-UNIX environments.

An ANSI standard for the C language will allow C to grow in an orderly way, without the problems that many other languages have had. The standard will also allow C to "grow up" without being controlled by a single compiler implementor or operating system.

|im Brodie of Motorola made the first move to wrest C away from the developers and implementors. He found out that ANSI had not begun any effort to standardize the language but ANSI thought it sounded like an idea whose time had come. ANSI then asked Brodie to chair the Standardization Committee—an offer he couldn't refuse.

The Information Bulletin

At the March 1984 meeting of the X3J11 Standardization Committee in

ANSI C Standard Meeting Schedule

If you are interested in participating in the C standardization, call or write

Jim Brodie

Chairman

X3J11 Standardization Committee

Motorola Microsystems

2900 South Diablo Way

Tempe, AZ 85282

(602) 438-3456

or

Tom Plum

Vice Chairman

X3I11 Standardization Committee

Plum Hall

1 Spruce Ave.

Cardiff, NJ 08232

(609) 927-3770

The 1986 schedule for meetings is

March 3-7, Palo Alto, CA June 2-6, Philadelphia, PA September 8-12, Chicago, IL December 8-12, Cary, NC

The committee meetings have been open to interested parties to observe and participate in the technical discussions. If you would like to just sit in for a day or more, please contact one of the committee members for the exact time and place of the meeting.

If you would like to join the committee, there is a $150 per year fee payable to

ANSI

Computer & Business Equipment

Manufacturers Assocation X3 Secretariat CBEMA 311 1st Street NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20001

The committee meets for one week every three months. All participants are volunteers and are responsible for their own expenses. Besides the meeting, committee members are required to prepare papers for presentation to the committee and to contact other members about the issues before the next meeting.

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the Committee voted to publish the current draft of the ANSI C Language Standard as an ANSI Information Bulletin. (This draft is published by the Computer & Business Equipment Manufacturers Association [CBEMA].) See the text box "ANSI C Standard Meeting Schedule" for the address and information about the Standardization Committee.

The Information Bulletin is only one step in a multistep process toward the standardization of the C language. It is an early step in the process, but it is important because C compiler vendors will have a chance to check out the work of the committee by implementing all or part of the Information Bulletin within their respective environments. The test implementation of the new features described within the Information Bulletin will give the compiler developers actual experience with the proposed changes and allow them to find any flaws in the present features.

This article covers some of the proposed additions and changes to the C language that have been put into the Information Bulletin by the Standardization Committee. Table 1 lists the standard function library proposed in the Information Bulletin.

Extensions to unsigned

In K&R, the keyword unsigned is a type of integer or int. In many later compilers the keyword unsigned was extended to be a modifier as well as an integer. As an extension to K&R, the committee added unsigned char, unsigned short, unsigned int, and unsigned long to the normal use of unsigned. This modification is considered to be an easy extension to K&R, as it will not break any existing programs.

Unique Member Names

The standard proposed allows unique member names within structures and unions. C programmers will then be able to use the member name "Name," for example, in many different structures without having to

(continued)

136 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Table 1: The ANSI C standard library.

assert(int expression)

fgetc(FILE 'stream)

isalnum(int c)

fgets(char *s, int n, FILE 'stream)

isalpha(int c)

fputc(int c, FILE 'stream)

iscntrl(int c)

fputs(const char *s, FILE 'stream)

isdigit(int c)

getc(FILE 'stream)

isgraph(int c)

getchar(void)

islower(int c)

gets(char *s)

isprint(int c)

putc(int c FILE 'stream)

ispunct(int c)

putchar(int c)

isspace(int c)

puts(const char *s)

isupper(int c)

ungetc(int c, FILE 'stream)

isxdigit(inl c)

fread(void *ptr, size t size, int num, FILE 'stream)

tolower(int c)

fwrite(const void *ptr, size t size, int num, FILE 'stream)

toupper(int c)

fseek( FILE 'stream, long offset, int ptrname)

ftell(FILE 'stream)

acos(double x)

rewind(FILE 'stream)

asin(double x)

clearerr(FILE 'stream)

atan(double x)

feof(FILE 'stream)

atan2(double x)

ferror(FILE 'stream)

cos(double x)

perror(const char *s)

sin(double x)

tan(double x)

atof(const char 'buffer)

cosh(double x)

atoi(const char 'buffer)

sinh(double x)

atol(const char 'buffer)

tanh(double x)

/ r L~ l * **\

strtod(const char 'buffer, char " endbuffer)

exp(double x)

strtol(const char 'buffer, char " endbuffer, int base)

frexp(double value, int *exp)

rand(void)

ldexp(double value, int exp)

srand(unsigned int seed)

log(double x)

calloc(unsigned int num, size t elsize)

Iog10(double x)

free(void *ptr)

modf(double value, double *iptr)

malloc(size t size)

pow(double x, double y)

realloc(void * ptr, size t size)

sqrt(double x)

abs(int i) ceil(double x)

abort(void)

fabs(double x) floor(double x)

exit(int status) getenv(const char 'name)

fmod(double x, double y)

onexit(onexit t tunc)

system(const char 'string)

setjmp(jmp but env)

memcpy(void 'toadd , const void 'fromadd, size t length)

longjmp(jmp but env, int val)

memset(void *s, int initchar, size t n)

signal(int sig, void (*func)() )

strcpy(char 'to, const char 'from)

kill(int pid, int sig)

strncpy(char 'to, const char 'from, size t n)

va start(va list ap, parmN)

strcat(char 'to, const char 'from)

va arg(va list ap, type)

strncat(char 'to, const char 'from, size t n)

va end(va list ap)

memcmp(const void *s1, const void *s2, size t n)

remove(const char 'pathname)

strcmp(const char *s1, const char *s2)

rename(const char "old, const char *new)

strlen(const char *s1)

tmpfile(void)

strncmpfconst char *s1, const char *s2, size t n)

tmpnam(char *s)

memchr(const void *s, int c, size t n)

fclose(FILE 'stream)

strchr(const char *s1, int c)

fflush(FILE 'stream)

strcspn(const char *s1, const char *s2)

fopen(const char 'filename, const char 'type)

strpbrk(const char *s1, const char *s2)

freopen(const char 'filename, const char 'type, FILE 'stream)

strrchr(const char *s int c)

setbuf(FILE 'stream, char *buf)

strspn(const char *s1, const char *s2)

fprintf(FILE 'stream, const char 'format, . . .)

strtok(char *s1, const char *s2)

printf(const char 'format, . . . )

scanf(const char 'format, . . .)

clock(void)

fscanf(FILE 'stream, const char 'format, . . .)

time(time t 'timer)

sprintf(char *s, const char 'format, . . .)

asctime(const struct tm 'timeptr)

sscanf(char *s, const char 'format, . . .)

ctime(const struct tm 'timer)

vfprintf(FILE 'stream, const char 'format, va list arg)

difftime(time t time2, time t timel)

vprintf(const char 'format, va list arg)

gmtime(const time t 'timer)

vsprintf(char *s, const char 'format, va list arg)

localtime(const time t 'timer)

MARCH 1986

IYTE 137

ANSI STANDARD

worry that it must be the same displacement in each structure. All structures and unions have their own name space, and the compiler will keep track of the valid member names for each. This may cause trouble for programmers with old code that defined structures or unions and then used the member names as a general value to be added to wherever they wanted.

Passing and Assigning Structures

The committee has incorporated the use of passing and assigning structures (as currently available within UNIX System V) into the Information Bulletin. This means that programmers will be able to assign one structure to another, to pass an entire structure as an argument on the stack, and to have a function return a value to its caller that is an entire structure. These features allow functions to work on structures that are copies of the original structure and then allow an assignment to update the original structure when all of the changes are complete.

The Bell Character

Programmers will now be able to send the ASCII Bell character as an alert to the end user by including a \a as an output string literal. Additional terminal support was considered, but the number of hardware choices and the constraints necessary to keep the committee focused on the language left the \a option the only hardwarerelated feature included within the Information Bulletin.

international trigraph Character Operators

The C language has "used up" the ASCII character set. This is not a problem for programmers in the U.S., but it is a problem for programmers in other countries. It seems that some

of the characters used as C operators are known as alphabetic extenders and are required in German, Spanish, French, and other foreign languages.

To make C easier to use internationally and to promote a wider use of C as an international language, the committee chose to address the problem of the "overused" ASCII character set within the Information Bulletin by defining a group of trigraph character sequences to act as operator equivalents. The trigraphs allow characters to be defined that are not in the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 646 Invariant Code Set (see table 2), a subset of the 7-bit ASCII code set.

As part of the trigraph feature, the character sequence of V has been defined as a ? to provide an escape for the sequence when a program is printing out a trigraph.

Keyword Changes

The committee has brought five keywords into the proposed ANSI C language described in the Information Bulletin. Keywords were added with caution because programs being updated to the ANSI C language may have to be changed if a keyword were used for some other function. The five new keywords are qvoid, enum, const, signed, and volatile.

The keyword void has been added to the Information Bulletin from UNIX System V to allow the programmer to define a function that returns no value. For example, the program segment

extern void exit();

tells the compiler that no meaningful value is expected from the return of the function exit. This allows the compiler to flag the following expression as an error:

a = b + exit();

Table 2: The trigraphs and the operators they define. Trigraph ?? = ?? ( ?? / ??) ??'

Character Defined

\

{

T?

??> ??

The type enum has been added to the Information Bulletin exactly as it is used in UNIX System V. The type enum is similar to an enumeration type in Pascal but implemented in the spirit of the C language.

The keyword const is already in use by internal AT&T C compilers. The keyword const is a type specifier that defines an object that is either not to be modified or is resident in ROM (read-only memory). A const type object cannot be assigned to, incremented, or decremented. There are two major benefits of the const type: Data can now be identified that is not to be altered either in a module or in the- entire program, and data to be placed into ROM can be identified as a specific group. After identifying data as const, the data can be checked by the compiler to flag an error if the programmer tries to alter the data of type const.

The C language as defined withinK&R allows compiler implementors to choose whether they wish the type char to be a signed value or an unsigned value. This allows the compiler implementor to obtain the maximum possible speed for code generation in working with items of type char. This means that when the programmer adds the type modifier unsigned to char, the value is unsigned. But what about signed values? The keyword signed has been included within the Information Bulletin to allow signed values to be generated.

Adding the keyword signed to C also eliminates the problem where the natural char is unsigned and the programmer cannot receive a signed char value between -128 and + 127. With the addition of the keyword signed the programmer has full control over whether the char is signed, unsigned, or chosen by the compiler.

The type modifier signed can be used anywhere that the type modifier unsigned is allowed. This allows the programmer to be very specific in the declaration of a variable to help the program's readability and performance.

The keyword volatile can be used by

{continued)

138 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 231 —►

INTRODUCING SOFTWARE WITH A MIND OF ITS OWN

■£■

.* ■

wf.»A

.J

1H

.Si \

■ ^H

J/i

f-'<r

■A

■

fe

A 8TIFICIAL IN T E L r, I (; E IN C E T II A T M E A IN S

IN E S S.

For more information, write or call MDBS, P.O. Box 248, Lalayette, IN 47902. (317) 463-2581.

%%

I y,

ANSI STANDARD

the programmer to describe the compiler's environment. Currently, after a compiler loads a value into a register (if a programmer does nothing to that value through the program), the value in the register is the same as the location in memory that was used to load the register in the first place. There are some pitfalls with this, however. For instance, what if the memory location is a memory-mapped I/O location such as a communication port? Or what if the location is a shared memory location that can be modified by another process? The value loaded into the register at one time will not be the same after time has passed or some event has occurred.

There is a real conflict between the basic compiler assumption that once a value is loaded into a register, there is no reason to reload that particular value if there has been no action to modify the memory location. The basic model of memory and the compiler in K&R did not allow the programmer to describe the condition where a memory location can be altered by events outside of the knowledge of the compiler. This is most evident in a multiprocessing environment like UNIX. If there is an area of shared memory, the location that the compiler is operating on may have changed since the last time the compiler looked at it.

The real plus with the keyword volatile is that the quality of compiler optimization can be improved, as the programmer will be better able to describe the underlying compiler environment. This allows greater optimization on normal variables and the proper handling of special data areas in various machines.

The keyword entry was dropped because it does not have a use in K&R.

long and Unsigned ints

in the C language, a constant (123, for example) is considered to be an int. As an int, it is a signed value of a known size that can be used in expressions with other ints. When a constant appears in an expression that also includes long types, the constant can be followed with the letter I to

mean long (1231 and 123L are examples of long ints).

This works fine until constants are used as addresses. Addresses do not make sense as signed values. Addresses make sense only as unsigned values. The Information Bulletin allows constants to be specified that have a trailing u to define the value as an unsigned value (123u and 123U are examples of unsigned values). The trailing u for unsigned values will allow programmers to force address and other expressions to be performed with unsigned arithmetic.

SHORT, INT, AND LONG LENGTHS

Compilers based on K&R use the keywords short or long as synonyms for an int. Normally on 16- and 32-bit machines a short and an int are both 16 bits, while a long is 32 bits. In the ANSI C language proposed by the Information Bulletin, all three types may be different lengths. For example, a large machine could have a short that is 16 bits, an int that is 32 bits, and a long that is 64 bits. Allowing short, int, and long to be different lengths may prove most useful on some of the larger machines. However, it is not a requirement to have three different sizes, so that the actual sizes can be specified by the compiler implementor.

Additions to C for the FORTRAN Community

Since the C language has become popular, many FORTRAN programmers have been considering changing to C To encourage the changeover, the committee implemented three additions to the proposed ANSI C language to make C more adaptable to the needs of the FORTRAN user. The additions include

• evaluating expressions with float (floating-point) arithmetic;

• being able to force the order in which expressions are evaluated; and

• creating a new type of float larger than double.

The Standardization Committee was careful to address these issues to allow implementation without forcing

current C programs to be changed.

Elements in an expression can now be defined at the float type level. This allows the expression to be evaluated with float arithmetic rather than in double precision, which in turn allows a programmer to choose between speed and accuracy when performing arithmetic.

The unary + operator was added to allow a programmer to force an element in an expression to be evaluated before other parts of the expression. For example, if a programmer writes A + (B + C) the C compiler is free to add A and B first and then C. The only way to force B + C to be computed first is as follows:

temp = B + C; Answer = temp + A;

Unfortunately, the use of a temporary variable requires the programmer to declare an additional variable and may change the style of coding. The Information Bulletin allows the expression to be written as A + + (B + C). The extra, or unary, plus sign tells the compiler to evaluate the expression inside of the parentheses first and then to go on with the remainder of the expression.

The third feature to help the FORTRAN community is the creation of a new type of float that is larger than double. This type is called long double. The long double type can be the same as double, but it can also be of greater precision than double. The long double type allows the writer of the math library functions to use a precision that is greater than normal. Intel uses this same idea with its 8087 math chip, where the data in and out of the chip is 64 bits while the 8087 chip does its internal calculations in 80 bits.

The Preprocessor

The C language preprocessor is a strange and wondrous beast open to interpretation by the compiler writer to determine just exactly what to do with the preprocessor phase of the compiler. The preprocessor, as described by

{continued)

140 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 297 —►

MPS

this confusing new world of music software someone has finally created a computer program that is so powerful that it allows musicians to forget about learning computerese and get back to what they like doing best-music. Only now with more control and creative potential than ever before. Behind this program is the same company responsible for some of the music industry's greatest achievements. The company, of course, is Roland. And the product is called MPS. It stands for the Music Processing System. if a musician could harness the same computer power to create music

that writers use in word processing? That's exactly what MPS does. It gives you the creative freedom to develop, edit and shape your ideas into a complete piece of music, 4 all under computer control, totally at your direction. Working together with Roland's Us MPU-401 intelligent interface, any IBM PC (or compatible) computer and your MIDI instruments, MPS takes you every step of the way from first inspiration to a beautifully

realized printed score. MPS system's power is unleashed in its three operating I

modes: Song, Score and Print. All modes are totally interactive, so that any change made in one is automatically made in the others. In the Song Mode, you assemble musical phrases into complete compositions. Use any MIDI instrument as an input device. Once phrases are entered, they can be altered, edited, combined and recombined at will. MPS Software gives you eight tracks to fill with music. Each track can be assigned to any of 16 MIDI channels and used to drive any MIDI instrument. Merge tracks or phrases as needed and reassign MIDI channels to check out how a passage sounds on different instruments. A clear, concise on-screen display keeps you up to date on track status on a measure-to-measure basis. process continues as you move on to the Score Mode. Here, the music you've created becomes a graphic score, which can be further polished and perfected. You define keys, cleffs and time signatures, transpose octaves, assign accidentals and rests...even change the direction of note flags and stems for a highly legible, musically correct score. There are three different areas on the staff to spell out song lyrics, verbal cues and instructions-everything you want to put into words. you've finished perfecting your score, you're ready

for the MPS Print Mode. Everything you've put into your on-screen score can be transformed into an attractive hardcopy printout via the MPS Hi-Resolution Print Mode. As always with MPS —1

software, you're in control. "Cut and paste" your score to meet your own specific needs. You can print out single parts for individual players or a complete score representing your entire composition. Print copies on your computer's standard printer with or without song lyrics or in any quantity you desire. Break into the future of electronic music production-harness the .

power of Music Processing with the MPS-the Roland of Music Software. For more information contact: RolandCorp US, 7200 Dominion Circle, Los Angeles, CA 90040 (213) 685-5141. Required: IBM-PC or full compatible (256K

minimum, up to 640K), 2 disk drives recommended, IBM color graphics card and CRT monitor, Roland MIF IPC interface card, Roland MPU-401 MIDI Processing Unit, Any MIDI-equipped Instrument(s), Optional dot matrix graphics printer (IBM compatible).

nd Music Software

Trademarks: IBM and PC, IBM Corp; Roland and MPS. Roland Corp

ANSI STANDARD

the Information Bulletin, adds two new operators to the preprocessor. The first is the # (sharp sign), and second is the ## (double sharp sign). These two extensions allow the preprocessor to do two things that have been available in some (but not all) C compilers. Both of the tokens have to do with strings and macros. Many programmers like to have a macro to construct a value that is later used as a string or as a new token such as a variable name. These may sound like simple needs at first, but there are a number of problems that current programming solutions do not address. Maybe the best way to describe this is through the example included within the Information Bulletin:

#define debug(s.t) printffx" # s

" = %d, x" # t" = %s",x##s,x##t) debug(1,2)

results in

printf("x" "1" "= %d, x" "2" "= °/os",x1,x2)

which, after concatenation of the adjacent strings, results in

printf("x1= %d, x2= 0/os",x1,x2)

The #, when followed by a formal parameter of a macro, is replaced by the corresponding macro argument and is enclosed in quotes. This is shown above when, #s become "1." This allows the easy creation of string literals from macros. The ## is the token concatenation operator. In a macro expansion after all replacements have taken place, each ## is removed and the tokens preceding and following each ## operator are concatenated.

Expanded String Length

The above examples contain another proposed change to current C usage. The proposed ANSI C language allows strings to be longer than those in current use. The programmer can construct a string from more than one line when the lines appear as adjacent strings within a C program. The lines are logically concatenated into one string. This means that the following two examples are equivalent:

Example 1:

printffthis is a single string with the numbers one, two, and three \ ");

Example 2: printffthis is a"

1 single string"

' with the "

'numbers "

'one,"

' two and three");

Change to Predefined Macro Values

A change has been made to the predefined macro values LINE

and FILE LINE is

defined as the current line number

and FILE is defined as the

current source and/or #inc!ude filename. These macros may be used as references to print out information concerning the current file and line number.

Addition of #pragma

The #pragma preprocessor directive has been added to the proposed C language to allow compiler writers to get additional information to their compiler without having to invent a new set of implementation keywords. The #pragma macro acts as a general escape mechanism to make any environment/feature/extension information truly portable between compilers. Any information appearing on the #pragma line that is not recognized by the compiler and/or is not specific to the environment is ignored and is not flagged as an error.

Function Prototypes

Function prototypes are a major addition defined within the Information Bulletin. A function prototype is an expansion of the old extern function() syntax. The new syntax still enables the old syntax to work and also allows the programmer and library writer to give the reader and compiler additional information on the compilation process.

A common problem that involves function calls can be demonstrated by the function Iseek. The function Iseek has three arguments, and it returns a long value. In usage, the function

is given as

extern long lseek();

This form is still viable and will continue to work in existing programs. The proposed ANSI C language defined within the Information Bulletin allows the addition of the function prototype:

extern long lseek(int file, long position, int mode);

The function^prototype passes information to the compiler that can be used by the programmer. The first type of information describes the arguments included with the function. In this case, the function Iseek has three and only three arguments. If the compiler sees a call to Iseek with anything other than three arguments, that Iseek call is an error. The function prototype also converts the value to the type specified when the second argument is not a long value. The conversion is performed as if it were being assigned across an equals sign.

This type checking for function calls is a very large part of the UNIX utility lint. Function prototype checking is more powerful than lint, however, because it is performed at compilation time by trie compiler rather than as a separate utility after the program is compiled. Also, as all of the standard library header files have the library function prototypes in them, the programmer is notified of both the argument count and improper type errors when the program is compiled, not at some later time during a debugging session or a lint pass.

The names in the function prototypes are optional for readability. They allow the person documenting the function to place the name in the function prototype to describe how it is used by the function. Many of the compilers that are providing the function prototype feature also allow the compiler to output a prototype definition file as part of the compilation process. This allows the automatic generation of function prototypes to be included in any other modules that use the functions.

(continued)

142 BYTE • MARCH 1986

■*5?^" •

^*5iv

MAKE THE CONNECTION . . .

Our Connection systems will solve your problem of trying to read and write diskettes or tapes from almost any computer system using your PC.

The Diskette Connection is a hardware system that enables the IBM PC or compatible to read and write most 8 inch, SV* inch, or 3Vi inch diskettes.

With our File Connection software programs you can transfer data files between most computer systems, including CP/M, DEC, Honeywell, Univac, IBM 3740, S/l, S/3, S/23, S/32, S/34, S/36, and S/38.

Our Word and Typesetting Connection programs use IBM standard Document Content Architecture (DCA-RFT) to transfer document files between most word processing and typesetting systems, including Compugraphic MCs, CPT, Displaywriter, OS/6, Multiset, NBI, Quadex, Xerox, and Wang.

Our Tape Connection system will read and write IBM or ANSI standard Vz inch 1600 BPI magnetic tape. A full size 2400 foot tape can store a 45 MByte file and be written in 6 minutes.

Since 1982, we have supplied thousands of systems to customers around the world, including IBM, NASA, AT&T, Kodak, and General Motors.

Our specialty is conversion systems and we can provide a solution to your problem. Call us today to discuss your requirements.

This ad is one of a series featuring NASA missions. For a free poster, send us your written request.

Box 1970 Flagstaff, AZ 86002 (602) 774-5187 Telex 705609

Inquiry 132 for End-Users. Inquiry 133 for DEALERS ONLY.

FLAGSTAFF ENGINEERING

Inquiry 370

Copying diskettes will never be easier than pushing one button.

While your computer is busy doing other things, your Victory Duplicator can be making as many as eight copies of a diskette at once —producing up to 360 copies in an hour. DualMaster'" models can even make multiple copies of two different diskettes simultaneously. Just insert the diskettes and press one button.

Copy different formats, flawlessly.

An automatic format analysis program makes it possible for the Victory Duplicator to

01986 Victory Enterprises Technology, Inc.

copy virtually any 5V4, 3'/^ or cVinch diskette. The system tests for quality and accuracy at every stage of the process.

It practically services itself.

Each drive has a separate controller to maximize uptime. Simple diagnostics to verify drive alignment and industry standard drives allow you to maintain your system without waiting for outside service.

All at an attractive price.

Victory Duplicators offer fast copying, serialization,

copy protection, a communications port, a four-month warranty and much more— all for one low price.

Call 1-800-421-0103.

Call today for more information. (In Texas, call 512-450-0801.)

VICTORY ENTERPRISES

Technology, Inc.

8910 Research Blvd., Suite B2 Austin, Texas 78758

Preserving your data is vitally important. Lose it and you've lost both time and money. That's why Verbatim Datalife Diskettes have 6 datashielding improvements for greater disk durability and longer life. They come standard with a lifetime warranty that establishes the industry standardit guarantees trouble-free recording storage, and retrieval. And to help introduce you to the Verbatim quality standard we're running a special offer on many of their products, including—Datalife Diskettes, Cleaning Kits, and Disk Drive Analyzers.

What separates us from our competition? Simply a combination of the best service in the industry, highly competitive pricing, and an ever widening range of products. Above all we care about our reputation and we are willing to work on a lower margin while delivering what others only claim—and we do it all on a day-in day-out basis.

Early in 1986 every subscriber to

Lyben

Computer

Systems

Byte Magazine will receive our New 1986 First Edition Catalog with 16 additional pages and dramatically lower pricing. We want to be your source for computer supplies & accessories.

1050 E. MAPLE RD. • TROY, Ml 48083 (313) 589-3440

ANSI STANDARD

The committee has come up against some tough issues.

When using function prototypes, the programmer is no longer forced to have all arguments automatically widened to doubles and ints. When a prototype is present in both the definition and in the file where the function is to be used, the arguments may be specified to be float, char, or even register. This allows greater optimization by the compiler writer and greater control over how information is passed to the function, which is the basic unit in C

The Tough Issues

Over the last year and a half, the Standardization Committee has come up against some tough issues. Various solutions were presented, reports were prepared to educate the members on the pitfalls and plaudits of the solutions, and decisions were made and added to the Information Bulletin. Legwork and elbow grease helped the committee resolve issues such as

• whether the functionality of the enum should be extended;

• what the length of external items should be;

• whether external names can appear in a single case or in both upper- and lowercase;

• how the C language should expand or widen values when evaluating an expression that involves many types;

• how much checking should the compiler do to detect an attempt to change an item declared as type const; and

• whether external items must have a single definition or if they can have many definitions when they are initialized to the same values.

The solutions were arrived at peacefully in an attempt to make the ANSI C language described within the Information Bulletin as usable as possible by the largest set of users. ■

144 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 216

^

.THE DIRECT BENEFITS OF BUYING

SOFTWARE

& HARDWARE DIRECT FROM LOGICSOFl

FREE OVERNIGHT DELIVER*

Buy it today ... use it tomorrow! At Logicsoft, we know you want your new product as fast as possible. That's why only Logicsoft ships your order the same day via Purolator Overnight Courier*... at no additional cost to you! You not only save money, you save valuable time, too.

OUR LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEE.

We're so confident about our low prices that if you can find a lower price we'll

beat it by $10? This offer includes any legitimate advertised price or quote on any

of the hundreds of products we stock. And we stock only the latest versions. All factory

sealed with the manufacturer's warranty. Our Corporate Accounts Program also offers

attractive volume discounts. And we accept purchase orders from qualified institutions.

They're two more reasons why Logicsoft has become the major supplier of hardware and software to more

than 50,000 companies worldwide, including over 90% of the Fortune 1000.

TOLL-FREE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Customer service and technical support is only a toll-free call away before and after the sale. Our customer service representatives can instantly recall your ordering information from our on-line terminals. So they can answer your questions quickly and efficiently. Our technical people are standing by to help answer questions on any product we carry.

Logicsoft gives you much more than great prices and fast delivery. We give

you peace of mind as well.

f

\ A

L J

■

• •

'Applies to order totaling over $100. Shipped UPS—free if under $100 (within Cont. U.S.). Due to weight restrictions, systems, printers and monitors are also shipped UPS—free. This offer does not apply to items under $100, American Express or Terms orders. In these instances, we will meet any lower price. (Subject to discretion of sales agent.)

To order or receive technical assistance, call our National Hotline: 1-800-645-3491 NY State: 1-800-23 LOGIC (235-6442)

Customer Service: 1-800-431-9037

Circle #400 on reader service card.

FREE 90-DM ON-SITE SERVICE ON ALL SYSTEMS.

On all systems listed below, Logicsoft offers something no other direct distributor does: a free-90 day, onsite system hardware service contract. If a problem arises with your system, SORBUS®, a Bell Atlantic™ company, provides your free service AT YOUR FACILITY in most metropolitan areas. SORBUS® is one of the nation's largest and most respected independent computer maintenance firms, servicing over 315,000 computer systems. With SORBUS®, expert computer maintenance is only a phone call away.

IBM-PC DELUXE-$2,229

• 256Kb Ram Memory • Two DSDD 360K Floppy Disk Drives • Half Height 10Mb Internal Hard Disk • Hard Disk Controller • Five Expansion Slots • IBM-PC Keyboard • 90-Day, On-Site Sorbus Service Contract • Color Or Monochrome Monitor Available As Option

IBM PC/XT-$2,349

• 256Kb Ram Memory • DSDD 360K Floppy Disk Drive • 10Mb Internal Hard Disk

• Hard Disk Controller • Eight Expansion Slots • IBM PC/XT Keyboard • 90-Day, OnSite Sorbus Service Contract • Color Or Monochrome Monitor Available As Option

IBM PC/AT EHHAHCED-$3,89S

• 512Kb Ram Memory (Exp. to 3Mb)«1.2Mb Floppy Disk Drive • 20Mb Internal Hard Disk (Optional 30Mb) • Eight Expansion Slots • Hard Disk Controller • IBM 84 Key AT Keyboard • Optional 20Mb Stream Tape Back-up • 90-Day, On-Site Sorbus Service Contract • Color Or Monochrome Monitor Available

As Option y^

COMPAQ PORTABLE HARP DISK SYSTEM-$2,495

• 256Kb Ram Memory • DSDD 360Kb Floppy Disk Drive = • 10Mb Internal Hard Disk • Hard Disk Controller • 90-Day, On-Site Sorbus Service Contract • 9" Text/Graphics Monitor Included

COMPAQ PORTABLE 286 MODEL 2-$4,249

< 640K Ram Memory • 1.2Mb Floppy Disk Drive • 20Mb Internal Hard Disk Drive • 80286 Based CPU ■ 9" Text/Graphics Monitor Included • 90-Day On-Site Sorbus Service Contract

COMPAQ PORTABLE DUAL DISK SYSTEMS-$2,239

• 256Kb Ram Memory • Two DSDD 360Kb Floppy Disk Drives • 9" High Resolution Text/Graphics Monitor Included • 90-Day On-Site Sorbus Service Contract

COMPAQ DESKPR0-$2,S49

• 8086 Board CPU • 256K Ram Memory • 360K Floppy Disk Drive • 10 Mb Hard Disk • Hard Disk Controller • COMPAQ Dual Mode Monitor • 90-Day On-Site Sorbus Service Contract

COMPAQ 286 DESKPRO-$4,349

• 80286 Based CPU • 640K Ram Memory • 1.2 Ms Floppy Disk Drive • 20 Mb Hard Disk • Hard Disk Controller • COMPAQ Dual Mode Monitor • 90-Day, On-Site Sorbus Service Contract

IBM MONOCHROME OPTION 1-S249 Monochrome Graphics Display Card. AMDEK 310A Monitor Parallel Port. IBM MONOCHROME OPTION 2-S349 Monochrome Graphics Display Card. IBM Monochrome Monitor Parallel Port. IBM COLOR OPTION 1-SSS9 Color Graphics Display Card. Princeton RGB HX-12 Monitor Parallel Port. IBM COLOR OPTION 2-S6S9 Color Graphics Card. IBM Color Monitor Parallel Port.

AT&T 6300 SERIES AVAILABLE.

■ • No surcharge for MasterCard, VISA, American Express. C.O.D., money order or check • P.OS accepted ... no surcharge (please call for price verification) — • No sales tax on orders shipped outside N.Y State • Please add 2% for insurance and handling (Int'l orders add'l) • We do not bill until we ship. All products cowered by mfg's warranty. Defective merchandise may be returned tor repair or exchange only. We do not guarantee compatibility. Any goods returned for credit are subject to a 15% restocking charge, and PC/XT'" are trademarks and IBM* is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. COMPAQ" is a registered trademark of

IBM PC", AT'

Compaq Computer Corporation.

Circle #400 on reader service card.

SOFTWARE FOR VIRTUALLY EVERY IBM-PC APPLICATION.

FREE OVERNIGHT OELIVERY. LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEE. TOLL-FREE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

WORD PROCESSING

Wordstar $205

Wordstar 2000 259

WORDSTAR 2000 PLUS . 305

Wordstar Pro Pac 255

WORD PERFECT

(New Release) 219

Microsoft Word 249

Multimate 245

MULTIMATE ADVANTAGE 275

Volkswriter III 159

Easywriter I I/Speller/

Mailer 199

EASY 99

Finalword 209

Samna III 279

Xy Write II Plus 239

Think Tank 119

Pfs: Write 85

DATA BASE MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGEMAN/2 . .. $329

CORNERSTONE 275

Tim IV 199

d Base II 295

R:BASE 5000 355

R: BASE 5000 (Runtime) . 255

d BASE III PLUS 415

CLIPPER (d Base

III Compiler) 385

Data Base Manager II

(alpha) 169

Friday 179

pfs: file & pfs: report 165

REVELATION 655

Revelation Network (1-4). 1,195

Powerbase 199

PARADOX 529

Reflex 59

INTEGRATED/

SPREADSHEETS

LOTUS 1-2-3 (v2.0) .... $319

Enable (New Version) 355

Ability 315

FRAMEWORK II 415

Electric Desk 209

SYMPHONY 439

Supercalc 3 185

Multiplan 129

pfs: plan 85

FINANCIAL

Dollars And Sense $115

MANAGING YOUR

MONEY 115

Howard Tax Preparer '86

Low Price—Call!

GRAPHICS CHARTMASTER $239

Signmaster 185

pfs: graph 85

GRAPHWRITER COMBO PAK 305

DIAGRAM MASTER .... 195

Microsoft Chart 179

ENERGRAPHICS $239

PC Draw 219

Gem Draw (incl. Desk Top).. 95

PROJECT SCHEDULERS MICROSOFT PROJECT . $229

SuperProject Plus

Low Price—Call!

HARVARD TOTAL

PROJECT MGR 285

Project Scheduler 5000

(Scitor) 289

Project Scheduler Network 395 Timeline 275

LANGUAGES/UTILITIES CONCURRENT PC DOS

(w/windows) $185

PL/1-(DR) 489

LATTICE C. COMPILER . . 275

TURBO PASCAL 39

Pascal Compiler (MS) .... 199

C Compiler (MS) 265

Cobol Compiler (MS) 399

Business Basic (MS) 309

FORTRAN COMPILER

(MS) 239

C86 C Compiler

(Computer Innovations). 309 Microsoft Macro

Assembler 105

P-Mate 189

P-Link 86 319

JUNIOR CORNER

Lotus 1-2-3 Junior $319

MISC. UTILITIES

FANCY FONT $145

Wordplus (Oasis) 119

pfs: proof 65

Punctuation & Style 99

Quickode III 149

Quick Report 159

D Graph III 149

D Util III 65

SPREADSHEET

AUDITOR 109

K Graph 175

K Paint 85

K Text 109

Clout 2 149

Extended Report Writer... 119

Sideways 45

PROKEY 4.0 89

Norton Utilities

(New Release) 59

SIDEKICK (unprotected)... 55 CROSSTALK XVI

(New Release) 109

Remote 109

Turbo Lightning 59

Smartcom II 109

Easy Plus 75

SUPERKEY 39

Copy II PC 39

DESK ORGANIZER 65

ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS

Computer

Associates

(Formerly IUS)

Open Systems

Great Plains

Versa Business

State of The Art

Realworld (MBSI)

BPI

Accounts Payable

$299

$359

$459

$79

$479

$359

$345

Accounts Receivable

299

359

459

79

479

359

345

Fixed Assets

—

359

—

—

—

—

—

General Ledger

299

359

459

119

479

359

345

Inventory

299

359

459

79

479

359

345

Job Costing

—

359

459

—

—

—

345

Timekeeping/Billing

845

—

—

—

679

—

—

Order Entry/Processing

299

359

—

—

479

359

—

Payroll

365

359

459

79

479

359

345

Report Writer

—

359

—

—

—

—

—

Sales Invoicing

—

359

—

—

479

—

—

Purchase Order Entry

—

359

—

—

—

—

—

TCS Client Ledger System

$1195

GNPCPA+(Requires 1 2 3)

$379

All prices and policies subject to change without notice.

CAN'T FIND IT? ASK FOR OUR SPECIAL ORDER DEPT.

If you can't find the product you want here or you think it's not available through the mail, ask for our Special Order Department. There's a good chance we do carry the product (we're adding new ones every day). Oi; we can get it for you from one of our suppliers—still at our low direct-to-you prices.

110 Bi-County Blvd., Dept. 543 Farmingdale, NY 11735 CANADA: 416-283-2354 Domestic/lnt'l Telex 286905 SoftUR

To order or receive technical assistance, call our National Hotline:

1-800-645-3491

NY STATE: 1-800-23 LOGIC (235-6442)

Customer Service: 1-800-431-9037

Circle #400 on reader service card.

EUROPE: 020-83.48.64

Telex: 10759 Logic NL

Mail orders to:

LOGICSOFT EUROPE BV

pb 9460,1006 AL Amsterdam, Holland

PERIPHERALS TO iXPAHD YOUR SYSTEMS & CAPABILITIES.

FREE OVERNIGHT DELIVERY. LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEE. TOLUFREE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

PRINTERS* EPSON

LQ1500- $879

LQ1500 Sheet Feeder (Cut) 395

JX-80 499

LX-80 229

LX-80 Tractor/Feeder 30

RX-100 399

FX-85 349

FX-286 .... Low Price—Call! JUKI

6100 $365

6300 689

NEC

8850 $1,459

Pinwriter P2 559

Pinwriter P3 895

MANNESMAN TALLY

MT-86 Low Price—Call!

OKIDATA

182 Plug&Play $219

192 Plug&Play 349

193 Plug & Play 555

2410 Plug&Play 1,749

SILVER REED

770 $699

PANASONIC

KX 1091 $265

TOSHIBA

P351 Tractor $175

P351 999

1340 459

CITIZEN

MSP10 $279

MSP15 385

MSP25 519

MONITORS* AMDEK

Color 300 $219

Color 600 389

Color 710 559

12" Green 300G 119

12" Amber 300A 129

12" Amber 310A 149

PRINCETON GRAPHICS

RGB HX-12 $429

RGB SR-12 569

Scan Doubler Board

(for SR-12) 185

Amber Max-12E 159

QUADRAM Amberchrome 12".. .

155

TAXAN

122 139

620 Call for Price

640 Call for Price

'Due to weight restrictions, Printers and Monitors are shipped UPS—free.

MULTI-FUNCTION BOARDS AST RESEARCH

Six Pak Plus (384k) $259

Six Pak Plus (64k) 239

Mega Plus II (64k) 275

Mega Pak (256k) 369

Advantage (128k) 409

I/O Plus II 129

EVEREX

Magic Card II (64k) $175

STB

Chauffeur $255

TECMAR

Captain (64k) $189

Captain (384k) 199

QUADRAM

Quadboard (384K) $255

Goldboard .. Low Price—Call! Silverboard . Low Price—Call!

COMMUNICATIONS BOARDS AST

AST-5251-11 $695

DCA

IRMA Board $839

QUADRAM

Quadlink $339

GRAPHICS BOARDS AST

Monograph plus $425

Preview 249

EVEREX

Graphics Edge $269

The Edge 249

HERCULES

Graphics Card $299

Color Card 155

PARADISE SYSTEMS

Multi-Display Card $209

Modular Graphics Card . .. 255 QUADRAM

Quadcolor I $195

SIGMA

Color 400 (Princeton) ... $499

STB

Graphics Plus II $259

TECMAR

Graphics Master $445

MODEMS HAYES

Smartmodem 300 $145

Smartmodem 1200 389

Smartmodem 1200B

w/Smartcom II 359

Smartmodem 2400 609

PROMETHEUS

Pro-modem 1200 $299

Pro-Modem 1200B 259

QUADRAM

Quadmodem Series

Low Price—Call! RACAL-VADIC

2400 PC $635

VEN-TEL

PC Modem Half Card.... $375

1200 Plus 399

MOUSE INPUT DEVICES MOUSE SYSTEMS PC Mouse w/DR Halo II.. $135 MICROSOFT

Microsoft Mouse (Serial) . $135 Microsoft Mouse (Buss)... 135

SURGE PROTECTORS KENSINGTON MICROWAVE

Masterpiece $95

CURTIS

Diamond $39

Emerald 49

Sapphire 59

Ruby 69

KEYBOARDS KEYTRONIC

5150 $159

5151 (Deluxe) 169

JUNIOR CORNER

Keytronic 5149 $49

Keytronic Junior 5151 .... 169

MEMORY STORAGE IOMEGA Bernoulli Box (20mb).. $2,389

HARD DISK DRIVES EVEREX

Everdisk 10 Mb Int $525

Everdisk 20 Mb Int 575

MAYNARD ELECTRONICS

Pci 10 Mb Int $539

Ati 20 Mb Int 775

MICROSCIENCE

10 Mb Int $495

20 Mb Int 525

MOUNTAIN COMPUTER

CORP

Dynamic Disk 10 Mb Ext. $1,475

PRIAM CORR

Innerspace Id 40 Ext... $1,250

SIGMA

Hard Disk Kit 10 Mb Int. . $725

TALLGRASS TECHNOLOGY

Tc 5525i 25 Mb Int $849

SEAGATE

10 Mb 1/2 Ht. Int $475

20 Mb 1/2 Ht. Int 495

CARTRIDGE TAPE BACK-UP ALLOY

PC Qictape Ext. 70 Mb . $1,749 PC Back Up Ext. 20 Mb . 1,649

"Parallel interface req., .. Ask sales agent.

CORVUS

The Bank 100 Mb $1,729

EVEREX

Excel Stream 20 Mb Int.. $639

Excel Stream 60 Mb Int. .. 929

Excel Stream 60 Mb Ext. . 989

IRWIN

Irwin 110 10 Mb Int $595

KAMMERMAN UBS The Flight Tape Series

60 Mb $1,675

The Flight Tape Series

10 Mb 1,195

MAYNARD ELECTRONICS

Maynstream 20 Ext $1,139

Maynstream At-20 Int 949

SYSGEN

External 10 Mb $845

TALLGRASS TECHNOLOGIES Tg 4060 w/controller

card $1,495

TECMAR

Qic 60 At $1,275

HARD DISK TAPE BACK-UP SUBSYSTEM ALLOY

PC Qicstor 30/60 .... $3,495

Microstor 20/20 2,275

KAMMERMAN LABS MasterflightlO/10.... $1,795

Masterflight 60/60 3,849

SIGMA

Stand Alone Winchester:

Tape 20/45 $2,675

SYSGEN INDUSTRIES Sysgen Plus $2,875

LOGICSOFT PRODUCTS

Logicboard (six pak &

equiv.) $129

Logicboard AT (Advantage

equiv.) $279

Logicmodem 1200B (Hayes

equiv.) $195

FLOPPY DISK DRIVES

TandonTM-100 360K .. $109

Toshiba 360 K 1/2 Ht 109

CDC360Kl/2Ht 109

BACK UP POWER SUPPLIES DATA SHIELD

200 Wt. (PC) $249

300 Wt. (XT) 359

500 Wt. (AT) 559

GRIZZLY

200 Wt. (PC) $475

300 Wt. (XT) 495

500 Wt. (AT) 695

prices and policies subject to change without notice.

110 Bi-County Blvd., Dept. 543 Farmingdale, NY 11735 CANADA: 416-283-2354 Domestic/lnt'l Telex 286905 SoftUR

To order or receive technical assistance, call our National Hotline:

1-800-645-3491

NY STATE: 1-800-23 LOGIC (235 6442)

Customer Service: 1-800-431-9037

Circle #400 on reader service card.

EUROPE: 020-83.48.64

Telex: 10759 Logic NL

Mail orders to:

LOGICSOFT EUROPE BV

pb 9460,1006 AL Amsterdam, Holland

PROGRAMMING INSIGHT

MACINTOSH EXPLORER

BY Olav Andrade

A disassembler written in BASIC that lets you investigate your Mac

AN EXCELLENT WAY to learn how to use a processor's instruction set is to see how things have already been done. The function of a disassembler is to translate machine code to human-readable assembler mnemonics. I know that a disassembler can't aid you in writing good documentation for your own assembler programs, structured code, or any of the aesthetics that a good programmer would consider in writing a program. But if you need to know what is involved in rewriting a particular function for your tastes, or even for a different target machine, a disassembler can help. However, you'll have to keep your wits about you: The reconstituted assembler source is never enough to immediately understand the code; without comments you may find the code's purpose completely obscure.

The target for the disassembler I will describe is Motorola's 68000 microprocessor. I wrote the actual disassembler in Microsoft BASIC for Apple's Macintosh. When I decided that I needed a disassembler, there were no facilities for native compilation on the Mac, but I realized that the many Macintosh Toolbox and operat

ing-system routines (supplied by Apple in ROM) would be a major part of any application. Hence 1 had to understand how Toolbox calls were made: "How are parameters handled?" for instance. (When I wrote this disassembler, Apple's publication Inside Macintosh, which describes these calls, was not available in its final form.) Also, my disassembler didn't need to be fast, since I wouldn't be using it too often; an interpreted language would be fine.

Implementation

A disassembler, as it turns out, doesn't behave too differently from a microcoded processor (such as the 68000). Microcode is a program inside the processor itself that tells the processor what each instruction code should do. In the 68000, the fetched instruction is decoded by a programmed logic array (PLA) to yield a start address in the microcode. You can think of this PLA as a multiway branch in any programming language. In my disassembler, the PLA function is split into two distinct operations: isolating those bits that are important to the decoding (done by performing a bitwise AND to the instruction word

using a mask value); and then executing a GOSUB to the appropriate routine. As it turns out, only 30 or so distinct routines are needed to disassemble the entire instruction set of the 68000 processor.

The four data structures needed to implement this scheme are an opcode table and, for each op code in the table, a mask, a match word, and a subroutine identification number. The data for the table itself is presorted according to the number of bits required to uniquely identify the op code. Since those instructions that have no operands (such as nop) have a mask with all bits on (i.e., SFFFF since the 68000 uses a 16-bit op code), they occur first in the table; more flexible instructions occur later in the table (e.g., movaw uses only the first nybble to specify the op code, so the mask is $F000). | Editor's note: Dollar signs preceding numbers denote hexadecimal notation.] The scheme employed by the disassembler is to sequentially compare entries in the table with the op

(continued) Olav Andrade (13 Bromley Crescent, Bramalea, Ontario L6T 1Z2, Canada) holds a B.S. from the University of Toronto. He is currently developing Macintosh software.

MARCH 1986 "BYTE 145

MACINTOSH EXPLORER

code until a match is found. (This sequential comparision is the reason for presorting the table by the number of bits in the mask.) A match is indicated when the masked op code is the same as the match word of a particular table entry. Figure 1 shows the bit encoding,

mask word, and match word for the instruction LEA EffectiveAddress.An. If you wanted to decode the word S4BD3, you would perform a bitwise logical AND between the masks in the op-code table and $4BD3 until the result equaled the match word for that op code. In this case, $4BD3 AND

(a)

(b)

(c)

0 1 0 0 :: X X X s 1 1 1 ■ X X X X X X

F

1

1

c

0

f

\

\f

\ r

"l

1

1 1

1

SO

0 Os

] 1

1 s;0

0 0

0 0

° Si

0 10 0 1:0 0 0 i 1 1 1 §0 0 0 0 0 0

Figure 1: (a) Bit encoding of LEA effectiveAddress.An instruction. The Xs represent "don't care" bits. For an LEA instruction they are used to encode the operands: they may be ignored in determining which instruction is represented, (b) The mask word for the above instruction is formed by filling the word with Is, except for "don't care" bits in the op code, which are set to Os. (c) The match word for this instruction is formed by a bitwise AND between the op code encoding (with Xs treated as Os) and the mask word.

iii«

Edit 3«(iKh Run UMndou>s

Macintosh Enplorer

input

d isas<£mbl e

dump

qu i t

0 16 32 48 4198424 4 198426 1198430 4 198434 4 198436 4 198440 4 198442 4198446 4 198448 4198450 4198454 4 198458 4198462 4 198464 4 198466 4198468

454F424SFFFFFFFF00400 1FW00400 1BC 00400 1HE004001B00O40O 1B2004001B4 00400 1B6004001B800401018004001BC 004001BE004001BE004OO1BE004001BE

subq.

"2, a?

movem I d1-d2/«2, -<a?>

move I 16 <a7>, a2

move w <a2 )+. d2

move 1 a2, 16 (a7)

move, ui d2, dl

cmp.ui »$R800. d2

bcs.S $ + 52, 4 198500

bsr.s $ + 18, 4 198468

move i d2, 12 <a7)

cmp.m »$RC00. dl

moveifi. 1 (a7)+, d1-d2/a2

bcs s $ + 2; 4 1Q8466

move I <a7 ?+, <a7 5

rls

and.a "$1FF, d2

a

Figure 2: Shown is the screen of the Macintosh Explorer. Note that the memory path is in reverse video, indicating that it is active. You can see a dump of the beginning of memory and a disassembly starting at address 4198424.

SF1C0 = S41C0, where the $F1C0 is the mask for the LEA instruction; $4ICO equals the match word for the LEA instruction. You would therefore deduce that the op code is an LEA instruction and pass it to the subroutine that breaks out its operands. From there it's just a matter of vectoring to the appropriate subroutine by using the subroutine identification number for that table entry.

Another subroutine is used to return a string version of the address mode for those instructions that have flexible addressing modes. Since not all instructions encode the address mode in the same bit positions, this subroutine's caller must break out the addressing mode information and pass it along. This routine also handles the offsets that may follow the op-code word. In double address instructions, as many as four extension words may be required to resolve the address; in any given invocation of this subroutine, only two extension words may be used—and these are passed in as parameters. Boolean variables (actually, BASIC doesn't have any, but they're used that way) indicate whether the extension was used or not. The caller needs to know this so that the next instruction can begin on the correct word, or, for a double address, so that the correct extension words are passed in on the second invocation of this subroutine.

User Interface

The Macintosh is renowned for its user interface, and this program tries to take as much advantage of that interface as possible. Consequently, a great deal of code is concerned with the state of the mouse. There are three paths of information available to the disassembler, indicated in the top row of boxes: Input, Memory, and Disk (see figure 2). This grouping is intentional and useful because it visually indicates the connection between them. The active path is shown by highlighting its associated box. You change the active path by clicking the mouse button on the desired box. Since it's uncomfortable to change

(continued)

146 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 316—»

S

Networking Raised to a Greater Power

Advanced Technology. With it, IBM tripled the speed of the PC and increased its memory capacity five-fold. Nowhere is this increase in computing power more important than in networking situations. If the AT's technological advances have prompted you to look into a multi-user network, you owe it to yourself to take a closer look at MultiLink Advanced'" ... a unique multi-tasking, multi-user networking system that runs programs under PC-DOS 3.0.

Eight Workstations for the Price of an AT. MultiLink Advanced"" represents the next generation in networking systems for IBM microcomputers. The system enables terminals, connected to a single AT, to emulate IBM-PC's having up to 448K of RAM (The PC-Shadow"* terminal, shown above, even has a PC look-alike, as well as work-alike keyboard and display).

This means that instead of spending $3,000 per workstation for a PC with a Kilobuck "Network Interface Board," you can use inexpensive terminals . . . eight of which cost less than an IBM AT. Even if you need only one workstation connected to your AT, you'll realize significant savings.

MultiLink Advanced "... Instant Access to All of Your Resources. Central to most multi-user situations is the need to coordinate a variety of printers. With what's been described by PC-Tech Journal as ". . . by far, the best print spooler for the IBM PC," MultiLink Advanced'" gives users the option to print either at their workstations, or at a central location. In addition, programs and files can be shared by multiple users locally or through use of a modem. Just think of it . . . having remote access to an AT with a lightweight terminal/modem.

Although designed to take advantage of the AT, MultiLink Advanced '"runs on all versions of PC-DOS, except 1.0, and certain implementations of MS-DOS. A wide range of leading programs are supported which include WordStar, dBASE III, Multimate, and Lotus 1-2-3.

Get the Advanced Story Today. Call The Software Link Today for complete details and the dealer nearest you. MultiLink Advanced'" is immediately available at the suggested retail price of $495 and comes with a money-back guarantee. VISA, MC, AMEX accepted.

OffloDDGndDfjoDci"

IBM PC, AT, & PC-DOS are trademarks ol IBM Corp MS-DOS, WordStar, dBase III. Lotus 1-2-3, and Multimate are trademarks of Microsoft Corp., MicroPro, Ashton-Tate. Lotus Development Corp., & Multimate International, respectively

^j^/j^MjU;

_JJTHE SOFTWARE LINK, INC.

8601 Dunwoody Place. Suite 632, Atlanta. GA 30338 Telex 4996147 SWLINK

CALL: 404/998-0700 Dealer Inquiries Invited

THE SOFTWARE LINK, INC/CANADA

400 Esna Park Drive, Suite 18 Toronto (Markham), Ont. L3R 3K2 CALL: 416/477-5480

MultiLink Advancedra8 PC-Shadow™ are trademarks of The Soltware Link. Inc.

■ .rVv> jfSij

■

DeSmet C

8086/8088

Development $1(10

Package lUSI

FULL DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE

Full K&fl C Compiler

Assembler, Linker & Librarian

Full-Screen Editor

Execution Profiler

Complete STDIO Library (>120 Func)

Automatic DOS 1.X/2.X SUPPORT

BOTH 8087 AND S/W FLOATING POINT

OVERLAYS

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE

■ First and Second in AUG '83 BYTE benchmarks

SYMBOLIC DEBUGGER

$50

Examine & change variables by

name using C expressions

Flip between debug and display

screen

Display C source during execution

Set multiple breakpoints by function

or line number

DOS LINK SUPPORT

$35

Uses DOS .OBJ Format

LINKs with DOS ASM

Uses Lattice® naming conventions

Check: □ Dev. Pkg (109)

□ Debugger (50)

□ DOS Link Supt (35)

C

WAR E

CORPORATION

P.O. BOX C

Sunnyvale, CA 94087

(408) 720-9696

All orders shipped UPS surface on IBM format disks. Shipping included in price. California residents add sales tax. Canada shipping add $5, elsewhere add $15. Checks must be on US Bank and in US Dollars. Call 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. to CHARGE by VISA/MC/AMEX. Street Address: 505 W. Olive, #767. (94086)

MACINTOSH EXPLORER

A disassembler

behaves much like the microprocessor itself.

from the keyboard to the mouse, I've tried to minimize the keyboard input. The address and value box are the only places where keyboard input is required. The address field is for specifying the address where you want to begin the dump or disassembly; the value field is only for use with the Input path active (I'll discuss the value field later).

Both the address and value fields allow either decimal or hexadecimal numbers. The value field is restricted to 16-bit numbers, although you don't get an error message if the field overflows.

The bottom row of boxes is grouped to show commands: Disassemble, Dump, and Quit. Clicking the mouse on one of these will execute the command. Disassemble and Dump each generate one line of output. (Holding the mouse button down generates multiple lines.) The Quit command returns to the system that Macintosh users know as "the Finder." Perhaps this action is a bit drastic, since it may involve an unintentional exit, but I haven't found it to be a problem.

To the user the three paths appear to operate on linear arrays (indexed by the address field). This is done to present a consistent model of the machine—although it means more work for the programmer since the program must take care of details like mapping the disk address to a block address. Also, each path's address "sticks to it." By this I mean that changing the path from memory to disk will change the address (and display that change) to the address last used to read the disk. This allows users to flip between the paths and resume disassembling or dumping from where they left off. This strategy is meant to further reduce the use of the keyboard.

To many readers the Input path will be the mysterious part of this program. It is meant to be used for preassembled code such as that which is made available to BASIC through an array (like that used to perform the disk-sector Read function in this program). By clicking on the Input path and then specifying the address, you will be able to enter the preassembled code through the value box. You can then disassemble or dump it, as you would with the Memory or Disk paths.

The presence of the Input path is the only reason that the value field exists or accepts input. Both the Disk and Memory paths ignore values entered in the value field. Although it would be easy to extend its function to allow editing of memory and disk locations, it is not necessarily useful. The program's central purpose is to present information, not to potentially corrupt the system's integrity.

Conclusion

Because a disassembler behaves much like the processor itself (i.e., fetching data that is treated as code), the structure of the disassembler can be used to emulate the processor in a different environment. This means that with some work, the Macintosh Explorer can be used as a debugger for the Motorola 68000 processor— and because the program is in BASIC, you don't need that processor itself. So if your plans stray into the area of building a 68000 system, you could use this program on an existing computer to debug the bootstrap routines. Though much of the program is dedicated to making the disassembler almost entirely mouse-driven, it shouldn't be too difficult to use it on any system by replacing the user interface and disk-sector Read subroutines. ■

| Editor's note: The source code for the Macintosh Explorer is written in Microsoft BASIC 2.0 for the Macintosh and is available for downloading from BYTEnet Listings at (617) 861-9764 and is also available on disk. See page 3 58 for details.]

148 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Directions

for. converting

aPC &

toanXT

Insert

tabA into

slotR

Plus«|«« Hardcard.

X

DH

1IIIMII

/

J-1

First you have to remove Hardcard™ from its box.

An operation that's about as simple as installing it in your PC

Using thumb and forefinger, lift the flap of the box. Now reach inside and grasp Hardcard. Slowly pull it out, making sure that your warranty information doesn't fall unnoticed to the floor.

And that's it.You're over the hump.

You've got 10 megabytes of hard disk storage in your hand. Everything— the drive, the controller, the electronicsis compressed onto a single card.

Allow yourself a moment to marvel at its size and weight.Just over 2 lbs. Measuring only 13 x 4 x 1 inches. With no connector cables. No additional power supply required. No adapter card to buy.

Now slip it into a single expansion slot inside your PC and forget it. Odds are you'll never have to fuss with it again.

Because it's so remarkably reliable. More than twice as reliable as the XT's built-in drive. Since Hardcard has fewer parts, there are fewer things that can go wrong.

On top of that, Hardcard is even faster than the XT's drive.

And it maintains PC compatibility with the most popular software programs. In fact, our special compatibility task force has spent many man-years making sure that Hardcard runs popular software trouble-free.

Hardcard also lets you keep both your floppies up and running. Which is' something no other add-in drive can do.

All of which means that your PC can now be saved.

And that friendly intelligent little machine can have its useful life extended.

You won't have to go to the expense of replacing it with an XT

Or suffer the shortcomings of bulky, conventional hard disks. Which take hours or even days to install.

And when it comes to installing DOS, Hardcard is just as easy. Its special installation program loads your operating system and gets you ready to install your software in minutes.

And Hardcard's Directory Program lets you access those programs at the touch of a key.

Finally, since Hardcard is so much more reliable, we can give you a warranty that goes well beyond the usual 90 days.

We give you a full year.

Still, it's nice to know that if anything ever should go wrong, you can pick up a replacement Hardcard at your nearby authorized service center.

Hardcard is available now at major retailers nationwide. For the name of the one nearest you, call Plus at (408) 946-3700. Or write Plus Development Corporation, 1778 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas,CA 95035.

And we'll give you all the directions you need to save your PC.

"Hardcard is compatible with IBM PC, IBM PC XT, Compaq Portable, Compaq Plus, AT&T PC 6300.

Plus and Hardcard are trademarks of Plus Development Corporation. IBM, IBM PC and IBM PC XT are trademarks or International Business Machines Corporation. Compaq Portable and Compaq Plus are trademarks of Compaq Computer Corp. AT&T PC 6300 is a registered trademark of AT&T Information Systems, Inc. tl Plus Development Corporation. All rights reserved.

Hardcard

from Plus

Inquiry 273

BYTE

Homebound Computing

Working at Home with Computers

by lane Morrill Tazelaar 155

Using Images to Generate Speech

by Bruce R. Baker 160

The Electronic University Network

by Donna Osgood 171

The Technology of the Kurzweil Voice Writer

by Raymond Kurzweil 177

Increasing Independence for the Aging

by K. G. Engelhardt and Roger Edwards. . . 191

Computing for the Blind User

by Aries Arditi and Arthur E. Cillman ... 199

THE WORD HOMEBOUND means exactly that-bound to the home. We have used this word intentionally. This issue is not restricted to computing for the disabled. There are various ways in which a person can be homebound. If you are severely disabled or require special care or equipment, you are considered homebound. If you are elderly, you may also be essentially homebound, although you would not necessarily be considered disabled. If you are the care-giving parent of a small or disabled child, you are homebound a great deal of the time. If you live in a geographically remote or economically depressed area, you also qualify as homebound in your current environment. Finally, if you are bound to your home by choice rather than necessity, that is, if you choose to work at home instead of in an office, you are also considered homebound by our definition.

In this issue of BYTE we have tried to present articles of interest to each of these groups—hopefully, something for everyone. "Working at Home with Computers" discusses various things to consider before you make the choice— if indeed it is a choice and not a necessity—to work at home. Bruce Baker's "Using Images to Generate Speech" presents a fascinating concept borrowed from ancient Egypt; in practical application the article is about a concept keyboard for the speech-impaired that uses images with different meanings in different contexts to generate environment-specific sentences. "The Electronic University Network" by Donna Osgood deals with earning a college degree at home with the help of a microcomputer, not from a correspondence course, but from a fully accredited university. Raymond Kurzweil discusses "The Technology of the Kurzweil Voice Writer," a machine with significant implications for future applications for the hearing-impaired. "Increasing Independence for the Aging" by K. G. Engelhardt and Roger Edwards focuses on the future of robotic aids for the aged and for other persons who are motion-impaired, whether by birth, accident, or disease. While our readership does not include a large number of aged persons, who among us does not one day hope to reach that stage? Finally, Aries Arditi and Arthur Gillman talk about the human factors that must be considered in creating "Computing for the Blind User."

For some of us, being homebound is a fact of life; for others it is a dream. Either way, computer technology provides opportunities and aids that were unavailable a few short years ago. The future can only expand the horizons of those of us who are homebound.

—jane Morrill Tazelaar, Technical Editor

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 153

Why the Hercules Color Card is better for your XT than IBM's.

Did you know that there's a color graphics card specially designed for the XT™? It's called the Hercules™ Color Card. We think that it's better for your XT than the IBM® Color Graphics Adapter. Here's why.

The XT comes with an empty short slot. IBM's card is too long to fit in it, so you're forced to sacrifice a valuable long slot, while your XT's short slot goes unused.

The Hercules Color Card is designed to fit in this short slot. It's the smartest way to maximize the usable slots in an XT and provide for your future expansion needs.

Notice how much more efficiently Hercules makes use of the XT's slots.

Our efficient use of an XT's slots is not the only reason to buy a Hercules Color Card instead of IBM's. We give you a parallel printer port at no extra cost. (IBM charges extra and takes up another slot.)

A lot of people wonder how Hercules can do everything that IBM can in a card less than half the size. We do it by designing our own graphics microchips. Just one of our chips packs the punch of dozens of IBM's, reducing by more than 50% the number of components that can fail.

And we'll do just about anything to make our products the most reliable you can buy.

Hercules

IBM

Of course, you will have to give up something when you buy a Hercules Color Card. You'll have to give up software incompatibility. With Hercules, there is none. Every program that runs on the IBM color card will run on the Hercules Color Card.

You'll have to give up IBM's ninety day warranty. Ours is two years.

IBM Hercules

Compare warranties

8 months

2 years

And you'll have to give up a dollar. The Hercules Color Card is $245-IBM's is $244.

Look into the Hercules Color Card for the XT, PC or AT.™ Find out why the readers of PC World voted the Hercules Color Card 1985's best color graphics card-ahead of IBM's. Call 1800 532-0600 Ext.432 for the name of the dealer nearest you and we'll rush you our free info kit.

Hercules.

inquiry i52 We're strong on graphics.

Address: 2550 Ninth St., Berkeley, CA 94710 Ph: 415 540-6000 Telex: 754063 Trademarks/Owners: Hercules/Hercules Computer Technology; IBM, XT, AT/IBM. Printer Cable Offer expires May 31,1986. Good only in U.S. A., offer subject to change without notice.

HOMEBOUND COMPUTING

WORKING

AT HOME

WITH COMPUTERS

by Jane Morrill Tazelaar

For some, telecommuting is a choice: for others, it is the only option

THERE ARE MANY REASONS for wanting to work at home. Some of them involve disabilities that make it impossible or impractical to work in an office. For many disabled persons, the alternative to working at home is no alternative at all; it is the only work they can do, the only way they can become productive members of the work force. Some people work at home because of priorities such as being available to young children, especially during the preschool years. Many parents of small children must choose between sending them to daycare centers or babysitters and earning a reasonable living. Other reasons involve the lack of local work opportunities in economically depressed or geographically remote areas. And for some people, working at home is a simple matter of choice. The electronic cottage, the flexiplace, telecommuting, worksteading, or whatever you wish to call it could be the answer to all these problems.

Starting Your Own Business

Starting your own business seems to be the answer for many people. There

is a certain romance in the very word entrepreneur, and there is a great deal of information available to help you get started if the idea of being one appeals to you. The various organizations associated with the cottage industry movement—the Association of Electronic Cottagers, the National Association for the Cottage Industry, and the National Alliance of Homebased Businesswomen—offer good and helpful information for the aspiring entrepreneur. (See the text box "Sources Mentioned" on page 156 for addresses and phone numbers.) They also offer countless references, contacts, and, possibly most important, support groups.

Two subjects seemed to jump out at me from all the literature I have seen on starting your own business: selling and networking. First, if you don't want to sell, you probably don't want your own business. Most business ventures involve direct selling. Whether you provide a product or a service, you need to sell it. Even if you have salespeople working for you, you have to sell the idea to some financial institution to get funds to get

started and to the people you hire to get them to work for you. Then, long after the basics are in place and you are operational, you'd better be prepared to talk about your product or service, explain its value, and convince a prospective buyer that he or she ought to do business with your company instead of someone else's— in other words, sell.

Networking is a way to increase your contacts. Whether people are business contacts or social contacts or both, they can add significantly to the success of your business. The people you know either personally or electronically are sources that can provide you with future customers, business partners, financiers, good tax accountants, awareness of your competition, discounts on computing equipment, the inside story on future technology, and so on.

Starting your own business is a very rewarding venture for some and a complete disaster for others. At the

(continued) )ane Morrill Tazelaar is a technical editor for BYTE. She can be reached at BYTE, POB 372, Hancock, NH 03449.

MARCH 1986

155

WORKING AT HOME

very least, you should make sure you enjoy what you are going to be doing before you enter the world of the entrepreneur, because you will probably be doing a great deal more of it than you think.

Then consider the advice of some successful trailblazers who have done the dirty work and found out what is necessary the hard way. It is nearly impossible to foresee at the outset all the complications involved in having your own business. Working from Home by Paul and Sarah Edwards (Jeremy P. Tarcher Inc., 1985) is a good book that covers the many steps involved in setting up a business and arranging your life to handle it. Women Working Home by Marion Behr and Wendy Lazar (WWH Press, 1983) contains a number of examples of home-based businesses (not all computer-related) and provides a sizable directory of contacts organized on a state-by-state basis. There are many more sources available. The various cottage industry groups can lead you in the right direction.

Working at Home for Someone Else

As exciting as starting your own business sounds to some, it is not for everyone. The difference between starting your own business and working for someone else is not a question of talent, intelligence, or personality. It is rather one of desire, time, and priorities. Working at home for someone else doesn't inspire the volumes of written material that entrepreneurship does. The romance doesn't extend to the worker; however, finding such home employment is easily as creative a project.

Where do you look? Whom do you contact? Will personnel officers think you're crazy even asking? What kinds of positions exist? Can you convince your current employer to try it? It's not an easy task, and if you are disabled or caring for small children, it can be even more difficult. There is help, however. The various cottage industry associations, while they do not stress this area, do offer some resources. In particular, the National Association

Sources Mentioned

The Association of Electronic Cottagers 677 Canyon Crest Dr. Sierra Madre, CA 91024 (818) 355-0800

BIX

BYTE Magazine 70 Main St.

Peterborough, NH 03458 (603) 924-9281, ext. 131

CompuServe Information Services 5000 Arlington Centre Boulevard Columbus, OH 45220 (800) 848-8990

Gil Gordon Associates

10 Donner Court

Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852

(201) 329-2266

The National Alliance Of Home-based Businesswomen POB 237 Norwood, NJ 07648

The National Association for the Cottage Industry POB 14460 Chicago, IL 60614 (312) 472-8116

The Source 1616 Anderson Rd. McLean, VA 22102 (800) 336-3366

for the Cottage Industry provides a list of 49 companies currently using telecommuters. Many of these are national companies, and while only those locations mentioned on this list are currently involved, I would assume other local offices of those companies would be good possibilities. Another contact is Gil Gordon of Gil Gordon Associates. His consulting firm specializes in working with companies to set up telecommuting programs. He has general information on telecommuting and publishes a news

letter on the subject. He does not, however, maintain lists of companies. Gil sells an audiocassette entitled "How to Get a Job Working from Home: Telecommuting and Other Options." The Association of Electronic Cottagers describes it as outlining "how to keep your paycheck while working from home, including the best industries to approach, what companies are hiring at-home workers and how to convince your boss to let you work at home."

Electronic networking can be as important to the home-based employee as to the entrepreneur. You need to keep yourself up to date on new developments in the industry, and what better way than to tap in electronically to a whole community of people involved in your field? Bulletinboard systems provide this opportunity. For the at-home worker more than others, this contact can provide the kind of interaction, both business and social, that occurs on coffee breaks and casual lunches for the office worker. It can also provide a support group of other people who share the problems and pleasures of working at home. One such electronic support group is the Work-at-Home Special Interest Group on CompuServe. (You locate it by entering GO HOM 146.) The Source and BIX also provide good electronic contacts.

The Current Debate

There are two sides to the telecommuting issue. The AFL/CIO is definitely opposed to the current trend toward working at home with computers. This is not a matter to be taken lightly. The AFL/CIO, a powerful organization, has asked the U.S. l^abor Department for a ruling against doing computer work at home (see reference 1). The organization raises some important issues: assuring the payment of at least minimum wage, protecting employee fringe benefits, and guaranteeing the right to organize in order to deal with unreasonable employer demands.

Undoubtedly, we all have our own biases: for or against working at

(continued)

156 BYTE- MARCH 1986

INTRODUCING THE FUJITSU DL2400

THE ONE PRINTER THAT DOES IT ALL

Thanks to advanced 24-wire technology, the DL2400 is much more than a dot matrix printer. It can also do the work of daisywheel printers, laser printers and plotters. It prints fast drafts and spreadsheets at 216 cps. Letter quality at 72 cps. And plots presentation-quality graphics on overhead transparencies in black and white, or seven brilliant colors.

You'll find the built-in, bi-directional tractor greatly simplifies paper handling. Just flick a switch to go from continuous forms to single-sheet feeding without having to remove the tractor paper. Push a button and it automatically reloads.

The DL2400 comes with an industry-leading reliability rating of 6000 hours MTBF and a full one-year warranty.

The front panel LCD display makes this highly sophisticated machine incredibly simple to operate. Just touch a button to set every function from print mode to font style. No more hard-to-use dip switches. And it operates quietly too —at under 55 dBA.

To top it off, the DL2400 sets a new productivity point for measuring printers. You no longer have to buy different printers to do different jobs, when the new Fujitsu DL2400 does it all.

Call Fujitsu America, Peripheral Products Division, at 800-626-4686. WE'RE DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY FOR YOU.

Inquiry 138

*

FUJITSU AMERICA

■

*

„* Of The Monti.

%

Mil" it ■•* •"*• *

V

/

4

©]986,Fujtlsu America, Inc.

WORKING AT HOME

H..

3U sss *f*

lt ai ess A7«^

The next time you travel, bring along a cheap

friend, the AT&T Card. It's the most inexpensive

way around to make AT&T Long Distance Service

calls from a public phone. Cheaper than coins

for out-of-state calls. Cheaper than calling collect.

The AT&T Card—a tight wad you could learn to love.

Apply today. Dial 1 800 CALL ATT Ext. 4585

■

AT&T

The right choice.

home, for or against the union argument, for or against federal intervention in that portion of our lives. But the fact remains that there are valid points on both sides. If the legal outcome of this issue favors working at home, some protective provisions will have to be made so that telecommuters will not be exploited. If the outcome favors the union argument, some exceptions will have to be made to allow severely disabled persons (and perhaps other individuals) to support themselves by working at home.

State and Local Regulations

Many states have laws on their books that relate in one way or another to working at home. Most of these regulations are left over from a pre-electronic era. In fact, a January 1985 report on these state regulations by Electronic Services Unlimited notes, "ESU found no current state regulations directly prohibiting company employees from working at home as teleworkers.... In fact, five states [Iowa, Virginia, Delaware, Kansas, and Minnesota! have passed resolutions endorsing work-at-home, and a sixth. New Jersey, has introduced such a resolution." (See reference 2.) However, there is at least one reported instance of a zoning department using zoning restrictions on operating a business in a residential area to prohibit working at home on a home computer (see reference 3). Farfetched? Maybe, but true.

ESU goes on to say, "If there is any reason to be concerned with |current] state regulations... it stems from the possibility that unions, lobbying against telework as a potential modern equivalent of the sweatshop, may attempt on a state-by-state basis to extend the traditional laws to include prohibitions against telecommuting. It is certainly easier to attempt to extend current laws than to try to establish an entirely new set of anti-computer laws." (See reference 2.)

The legal argument is still in its infancy. Some states have dealt with telecommuting on a legislative level, but the question is far from answered. Many of us aren't even sure what the

WORKING AT HOME

Many states have laws that relate to working at home.

question is. For instance, if you earn your living at home on your computer or on a workstation electronically connected to your employer's computer, we could probably agree that you would be affected by laws related to working at home. However, if you work with computers in an office and use your home computer to connect to a bulletin-board or conferencing system on which you discuss various computer-related subjects, would work-at-home laws apply to you? Most of us would probably say no. However, this question may not be left to us to decide.

Conclusion

The availability of considerable computing power in home computers has opened the door for new groups of people to enter the work force. Many of these people would have been unable to support themselves in another time. Many of these minds would have gone untapped in an earlier age. Freedoms once embraced are hard to give up, and telecommuters and those who dream of being telecommuters will not relinquish the freedom to work at home easily. Perhaps a compromise will be reached that will allow those who need or wish to work at home to do so while maintaining the worker protections so hard won by the labor movement. ■

When you use your AT&T Card at a public phone, you don't have to hang up after each

call. Just hit this button after your

first conversation, and dial the number of your

next long distance call. The phone automatically

remembers your AT&T Card number. So you

have more time to take care of business.

REFERENCES

1. "AFL/CIO Seeks to Blow Down Electronic Cottage." The Electronic Cottage News. South Pasadena, CA: The Association of Electronic Cottagers, September 1985, vol.

1. no. 1, page 4.

2. "State Regulations on Work at Home." Telecommuting Research Program Memorandum #2. New York: Electronic Services Unlimited, January 1985, pages i-ii.

3. "Computer Shock! City Calls Homework Illegal." The Chicago Sun-Times. August 28, 1983, page 2.

AT&T

The right choice.

HOMEBOUND COMPUTING

USING IMAGES

TO GENERATE

SPEECH

by Bruce R. Baker

Semantic compaction lets speech-impaired people

quickly and effectively communicate

in a variety of environments

sing graphic images to express meaning is a very old idea; the first writing sys^SSmm terns of which we have any extensive knowledge were pictorial in origin. Recently, graphic images have been used to represent certain concepts on computer systems. However, these images are not used as hieroglyphics were—that is, linked together to make sense in sequence. For instance, the Egyptian hieroglyph in figure I means "scribe" and contains a combined palette, water bowl, and brush holder beside a seated man. The Egyptians selected these images from a "lexicon" of standard symbols and combined them to form a single idea.

Another difference between ancient and modern iconic graphics is that

Bruce R. Baker is the president of Minspeak Corporation (840 Rolling Rock Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15234). He invented the concept keyboard. Bruce did his undergraduate and graduate work in classical languages and linguistics and is currently a consulting linguist for Prentke Romich Company and the Wesringhouse Electric Corporation.

modern computer icons have used a unique image to represent each unique meaning while ancient writing systems used one image to represent different ideas in different contexts. For instance, the Maya hieroglyph for "shark" in figure 2 also represented "sea." That same glyph in another place meant "green" (because the Maya thought of the sea as green). Since the image indicated "green," it could also mean "jade" when the context was appropriate.

Multiple Meanings

The multiplicity of meanings employed in ancient writing systems should not surprise us. Spoken language has always behaved in this way. No one ever confuses "blue" and "blew" in speech. They sound the same, but their meanings are obvious in context. Using this concept of multiple meanings, early writing systems could express a large number of specific ideas without resorting to thousands of ideographs.

I explored this natural tendency toward polysemy (multiple meanings) while working on improving the com

munication rate of people with severe neurological damage. More than a million people in the United States alone cannot speak or use handsigns. Strokes, cerebral palsy, and Lou Gehrig's disease are common causes. Many of these people have full minds; they are just physically unable to express themselves. Spelling and abbreviation systems had been set up to help them communicate, but most of the systems were ineffective because the disabled user had to make a dozen or more inputs to output a single sentence. Complicated number and letter codes also existed, but it was often difficult to remember what had been encoded and how it should be retrieved.

Speech-impaired people need a more powerful information-transfer technique. In an effort to meet that need, I developed a concept keyboard that, while it uses a limited number of images, has the capacity to define whole sentences in five or fewer keystrokes through a technique called semantic compaction. The system is commercially implemented with a speech-synthesis device to provide

160 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Figure 1:

An Egyptian hieroglyph meaning "scribe'.'

Figure 2:

A Maya hieroglyph of multiple meanings

including "shark',' "sea'.' "green" and "jade'.

voice output. (For examples of the technique in use, see the text box "In Practical Application" on page 166.)

The system does not use any particular set of graphics; rather, it provides a method for using graphics in a multiple-meanings setting. Naturally, some types of icons are more appropriate to the technique than others.

While the original work has been applied to the development of a disability aid to facilitate communication for the speech-impaired, the system lends itself to other applications as well. One is a hand-held language translator; another is a smart front end for expert systems and databases.

Using Semantic Compaction

If you want to set up a semanticcompaction system for a specific use, you should first make a list of those topics or semantic features that you want to be able to express. A semantic feature is a concept underlying the meaning of a word. Sometimes a single word can represent different semantic features. For example, the word "new", can express at least two

semantic features depending upon your intent. If you said, "He has a new car," you could mean either that the car was factory-fresh or that it was recently purchased.

In order to represent natural language for the disability aid, I drew up a list of some 2 50 semantic features and general topics. With the help of some people who were actually going to use the disability aid, 50 central semantic features and topics were selected to be represented by an illustration of an everyday object or action. For example, we chose to represent the semantic feature "insufficiency" with an umbrella to illustrate "under," a concept linked to that feature for English speakers. The list was examined for at least five other meanings that could easily be associated with that image without further illustration. Weather was one; need was another; protection, a third; and so on.

When we had represented 50 concepts by various common images taken from daily life, we found that 200 other features and topics were also well represented. It is not difficult

to encode sentences with only 50 images, but it does take a certain frame of mind. You cannot be afraid of puns, and you have to approach the task with a certain eclectic abandon. You write a wide range of sentences that express the routine needs and thoughts of your day-to-day living. This kind of list has hundreds of items but is not as extensive as you might think. You need to be careful to include only those sentences that you would actually need or use in real life and not add those you might use in a purely hypothetical circumstance. If you are designing a list for (and with) someone who hasn't been taught how to spell, that skill should not be required for them to use the disability aid to communicate. First, you generate a sentence in your mind and then type it, letter by letter, into the communication aid's keyboard, where one of your images has been superimposed on each number and letter. Then you select from one to several images from the keyboard to summarize the sentence (as concisely as possible). After you have en

(tonlinued)

ILLUSTRATED BY CHRIS SPOLLEN

MARCH 1986

IYTE 161

USING IMAGES

coded the sentence, you need to strike only the designated code (or sequence) to output the whole sentence.

There is always a trade-off between specificity and fluency. Your group of encoded sentences would probably not contain the sentence "I don't like broccoli and mushroom casseroles," but you would want "I'm sorry, I don't like that." The art of choosing what to encode often lies in minimizing specificity to maximize fluency. Often, you can do this by making sentences applicable to a variety of verbal and physical contexts. "That is not what 1 meant" is a more widely usable sentence than "That is not what I meant to order." You can use the first sentence to deal with any misunderstanding, while the second sentence applies only to one in a place of business.

A sentence vocabulary of 700 to 1000 entries can go a long way toward enabling a speech-impaired person to

communicate, provided those sentences are quickly and appropriately accessible. Semantic compaction allows this because its sentence codes are very short—no more than four or five images (and therefore keys) per sentence—and its individual code sequences are easy to remember and generate because they are pictorial reminders that are logical to a particular user.

Environmental Impact

To compose your list of sentences, you need to divide your communication needs into a series of environments. These communication environments provide a practical way of looking at your communication profile. The code or codes you establish to define a communication environment are the initial element or elements in a sentence sequence, and you can use a special power key to lock in the initializing environmental code. Each sentence you initiate while an environ

ment is locked in is interpreted in that context.

If you want to encode things to be said in a fast-food restaurant, you can combine the image you choose to represent the concept "fast" with an image that represents "food" to you. The images we used to represent these two concepts are shown in figure 3a. Once you input these images, you view all the other images as related to things you might say in a fast-food restaurant.

For example, how would you express the idea "large" in this context? The keyboard contains an illustration showing elephants (figure 3b), which we chose as the code for "Make it large, please." If you were to look across the entire keyboard with all the available images, dozens of sentences would now suggest themselves; in fact, you could incorporate the menu of any restaurant into the semantic map. You can encode "I would like a Coke, please" by adding the icon in

Figure 3: Possible concept codes for a fast-food restaurant: (a) represents one possible environment-code sequence appropriate for that environment, (b) could mean "large," and (c) could be used to order a Coke. The computer sequence shown in [d] could be used to order french fries in a fast-food restaurant; it consists of the environment code followed by a code you might choose for french fries.

Figure 4: Possible concept codes for a service station: (a) could represent the environment code, while (b) might mean "Fill if up" within that environment, (c) might mean "Please check the battery'.' and [d] could be used to ask the question, "Is your bathroom wheelchair-accessible?"

162 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 159 for End-Users. Inquiry 160 for DEALERS ONLY.

USING IMAGES

figure 3c to the initializing environment code (figure 3a).

What would you choose to represent a desire for french fries? To many people, the yellow lightning bolt already used as part of the fast-food environment code also resembles a french fry. Thus, figure 3d forms a sequence that could represent "I would like some french fries."

A service station is another common communication environment. For the environment code, you might choose the apple for food or fuel and the truck for transportation (see figure 4a). Now each symbol on the keyboard relates to something you might say in a service station. What could the cup running over in figure 4b symbolize? "Fill it up" is the choice of many people. The lightning bolt in figure 4c could be used for "Check the battery, please." Just as for the fastfood environment, all the images on the keyboard now relate to the central theme or environment: things to be said in a service station. What might figure 4d mean in this environment? For many users, this sequence means "Is your bathroom wheelchairaccessible?"

You can select as many different communication environments as you wish or need. A college student might want to have a set of sentences describing religious or political views. Figure 5 could be the environmental lock-in code for discussions about scholarship money. The topics, or environments, are limited only by your imagination and, practically speaking, your communication needs.

An Association of One

The technique is an associational one, and no one but you need understand the meaning of the sequence. Different sets of images meet the needs of people of different ages and in various states of cognitive development. You, as the system user, select those codes that are appropriate to you for the sentences that are also appropriate to you. If necessary, a therapist or family member can enter the sentences and codes you choose

{continued)

TAKE COMMAND

of Your Keyboard

Place your mosl often used sollware commands where (hey belong—at your fingertips—on lop of the keys. End fumbling and searching Ihrough manuals. Touchdown"' Key Overlays will greatly reduce instructional needs and learning lime, reduce operator fatigue and increase productivity.

These Overlays are made of a non-glare rigid plastic material with the same look and leel as the original keylop, precisely die-cul to the exact size of your keytops. Printing is on the underside to prevenl the print from ever wearing off. The back is laminated with a strong non-slip adhesive for permanent adherence lo ^ the keytop; although Ihey can be removed without = permanent damage to the keytops il desired. Instructions lor easy installation are included with the kit.

COMPANY

CUSTOM KEY OVERLAYS can be made to your exacl specs al a much lower cost lhan engraving. P.O. Box 201, Depf. B, Cornville, AZ 86325 (602) 634-7517

KEY OVERLAYS

Qty.

Qty.

Price

MultiMate (44 keytops)

5250/5251 (48 keylops/lronts) $21 95

EasyWriler II (22 keylops/

5520(101 keytops)

29.95

7 key Ironls/Handy Card)

3270 (30 key Ironls)

18.95

Lotus 1-2-3

DisplayWnle 2 (36 keylops)

21.95

(24 keylops/Handy Card)

DisplayWrile 3 (38 keylops)

21.95

WordPerlect

Dvorak (43 keylops)

26.95

(32 keylops/Handy Card)

Wordstar (29 keytops)

26 95

WordPerfect 3.2 (32 keytops/

Control Key English (5 keylops)

6.95

10 key Ironls/Handy Card)

Blank Overlays (99 keytops)

21.95

WordPerlect 4.0 (24 key tops/

Do-it-yourself Kit (200 + pieces

29 95

11 key fronts/Handy Card)

Name

Price $29.95

29.95

KEYTOP EXPANDERS

Qty.

□ Blk.

DGrey

Price

Address_ City

_Slale_

-Zip

□ Visa □ MC Exp. Dale Card #.

Visa or MC orders phone 602 634-7517

JBM PC. PC/XT. PC Port

(12 keys) $21.95

IBM 5291 Display Station

(13 keys) 21 95

Compaq. Columbia (10 keys) 21.95

Corona. Eagle Spirit. Qubie.

Keylronic(IOkeys) 21.95

IBM 3270 PC "Enter" (1 keylop) 3.95

Individual Expanders 2.75

TOTAL (Mln order $10 00) $

Prices include lirsl class postage (Orders shipped within 24 hours.)

Arizona residents add 5% lax

TOTAL ENCLOSED $

Your satisfaction guaranteed or your money refunded.

Eftw>eed modems zip big

High sPe^ .a at\ow cost.

batches of data at

tf»™

VOWph°™<*';•, tw W W*

Mu ..llectivvness of

w»i™e?«'^;„ •,,«««* y°?'

SiSSf®*

Get An Expert's 1 Advice ... First.

FREE

1-800-547-5444

Go straight to the Inmac catalog for helpful hints and advice from our engineers. Also ... for 2,400 computer supplies and accessories. All are prominently displayed and described in depth. All have our exclusive 45-day trial use and minimum 1 year guarantee.

Strmmwmsmmm™ 2465 Augustine Drive

MmmMmMCWMM Santa Clara, CA 95054

Yes... I'd like to get an expert's advice first.

NAME

COMPANY

ADDRESS

CITY

STATE

ZIP

I

Inquiry 169

PHONE (

MARCH 1986 • BYTE

Inquiry 243

FORTH

The computer language for

increased... EFFICIENCY

reduced

MEMORY

higher

SPEED Largest selection

of FORTH...

Books

Manuals

Source Listings

Software

Development Systems

Expert Systems

MVP-FORTH Programmer's

Kit for IBM, Apple, CP/M,

MS DOS, Amiga, Macintosh

and others. Includes source,

disks, books and manual.

Specify computer.

$175.

Phone Order Numbers: 800-321-4103

In California: 800-468-4103 Send for your

FREE

FORTH

CATALOG

MOUNTAIN VIEW PRESS

PO BOX 4656 Mountain View, CA 94040

USING IMAGES

into the system. Anything that you associate with the pictorial or ideographic aspects of an image is fair game. The code is established as a communication between you and the machine, not between you and someone to whom you wish to speak.

This technique would be purely mnemonic if memory were the only mental facility involved. However, this technique relies on association as well. What you associate with a given image today, you are likely to associate with that image tomorrow. This principle is frequently the basis

Figure 5: A possible environment sequence for discussions of scholarship money.

Figure 6: An environment sequence that might represent a bank.

Figure 7: 1/ you use semantic compaction to produce individual words instead of sentences, this image of a telescope might be used to generate the word "look'.'

of psychological tests. You do not so much remember the sequences of images as you reassociate them.

It is not enough to be able to remember how you encoded a sentence; you have to know that you have such and such a sentence at hand. As your eyes scan the various images on the keyboard, you perceive a gestalt. If you are thinking in terms of fast food, each image serves as a prompt to remind you of what you have stored in that environment. Another gestalt occurs as you scan for the environments you programmed. If you set up "money" and "house" (see figure 6) to mean a bank, your mind is alerted that this environmental code sets up certain sentences.

In the examples shown, the codes themselves have been brief. Owing to the special power key used to lock in the environment code, you can express fairly long and often quite specific sentences with a single key. Polysemy is the generating linchpin of a usable concept keyboard. In this article alone, the lightning bolt has been used to mean fast, french fries, and a car battery. Without polysemy the number of symbols you would need to represent all the ideas and topics about which you would want to communicate becomes too large.

The two salient characteristics of semantic compaction are, first, a limited number of graphic images and, second, very short codes to represent the unique items held in the database. Semantic compaction achieves these economies by using the human mind's ability to understand context, a feat as yet fairly difficult for machine intelligence.

Individual Words

The most efficient way to use semantic compaction is to have it output whole sentences, but you can use the technique to output words as well. Even in this, semantic compaction is more efficient than abbreviation systems that rely on spelling, and it develops better syntax for the developmentally disadvantaged while giving you a real opportunity to com

(continued)

164 BYTE • MARCH

Get the speed

and brains

of a $5000 AT for only $595.

Give your PC the power of an 80286 without paying a huge price for it. And, protect your PC investment at the same time. Introducing the new and incredible Victor SpeedPac286.m Available at the introductory price of only $595, the SpeedPac 286 is today's newest generation turboboard. The SpeedPac 286's microprocessor is an 8 MHz 80286, a faster version than the AT's 80286. That's right. Even faster than the AT. Which means that it can make your IBM PC, PC/XT and Victor VPC function over 600% faster.

The Ultimate Productivity Enhancer

The SpeedPac 286 works with your existing PC software. Your software library is protected. And, the SpeedPac 286 is an absolute breeze to install. Measuring just 5" in length, it's the only turboboard that fits into a half slot. An impressive advantage since it frees your long slots for other add-on cards.

60-Day Money-Back Guarantee

We're so sure you'll love the SpeedPac 286, we're offering you a 60-day money-back guarantee. Plus,

IBM PC. PC/XT and PC-AT are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.

Inquiry 369

a one-year warranty. Our introductory price of $595 is good only until March 31, 1986. So, act now. After that, it will be priced at $795.

For your nearest Victor dealer, or to order please call toll-free:

1-800-248-5252

Or simply mail in the coupon.

Victor Technologies Inc., 380 El Pueblo Road, Scotts Valley, CA 95066 Attn: Order Processing

I'd like to order the SpeedPac 286 for my PC, PC/XT or Victor VPC. I enclose payment of $595* plus $5.00 shipping and handling. I understand that if I'm dissatisfied at any time within 60 days, you'll refund my money in full. Please call for details about quantity purchases.

Name

Address . City

State .

. Zip.

Telephone (

).

Method of Payment: Check Money Order MasterCard.

Card # Exp. Date

.Visa

Signature

*Add applicable sales tax to the following states: California, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Ohio.

VICTOR

BM

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 165

USING IMAGES

pose your own sentences with word elements that you can readily learn to manipulate. The system works by assigning a

single word meaning to each symbol on the keyboard. For instance, you might choose to assign the symbol of a telescope shown in figure 7 to the

word "look." To do this, you assign to a key at the top of the keyboard the meaning "Verb" or "Action." The adjoining key bears "Verb + s" or

In Practical Application

Jenny Lowe is pictured using Minspeak (a commercial product using the semantic-compaction technique) in a device called Light Talker by Prentke Romich (see photo A), which was prescribed by her speech pathologists at the Pioneer School in Pittsburgh. (Prentke Romich has leased the exclusive use of the Minspeak patent protections for the disability industry until 1989.) This device became available in the summer of 1985. It is called Light Talker because its front panel exhibits 128 LEDs (light-emitting diodes), each of which emits a beam of infrared light that is read by the optical wand worn by Ms. Lowe. When the wand is in optical rapport with a specific diode for a user-specific amount of time, the device reads it as a keystroke. The panel can have as many as 128 such keys or as few as 8. You make your key selections either directly or indirectly by scanning if your disability makes it difficult for you to point with your head, hand, or foot. Many people with Lou Gehrig's disease, cerebral palsy, or head injuries can operate only single switches or joysticks with ease and accuracy.

Consequently, you can access the Light Talker with a variety of switch interfaces including the optical headpointer brow-wrinkle switch, rockinglever switch, pneumatic switch (sip-puff breath switch), air cushion, joystick, and arm-slot control. The selection of the desired operating mode is simple: You depress the Light Talker's On button for 10 seconds, then a menu of possible operating modes appears, one mode at a time, on the two-line LCD (liquidcrystal display) each time you depress the On button. There are 2 5 different entry modes possible. Among them are 128- and 32-key row-column scanning. 8-key count scanning, two- and three-switch-entry Morse code, and five-switch directional scanning. Speech pathologists, occupational and

physical therapists, and physiatric medical doctors can all have input into the appropriate mode and switch selection for an individual. When the optimal mode and switch have been determined—often through trial and error—you can connect the desired specialized switch to the Light Talker through a standard RS-232C interface. Prentke Romich's Touch Talker (see photo B) is another realization of the Minspeak technique. It is somewhat smaller than the Light Talker, weighs about five pounds, and uses touch to activate 128 membrane switches embedded on the front panel. Specially attached front panels can configure the system with only 32 or as few as 8 touch-sensitive areas. Photo C shows a Touch Talker being used by Tony Miralles. M.S.W.. one of United Cerebral

Palsy's professional staff members in Pittsburgh, who has cerebral palsy. In this photograph the Touch Talker interfaces to a printer for use not as a voice communicator but as a means of lowering the number of keystrokes required to write a social history of a client. You can mix grammatically oriented labels with the multimeaning icons to generate texts that require radically fewer key selections per word. Both devices use Street Electronics' Echo II speech synthesizers and store up to 1526 sentences averaging 2 5 characters each. They come supplied with a set of 100 symbols that have proved helpful to users in developing their communicative systems in the past. Blank overlays are also furnished, as are instructions and materials for designing your own symbol set.

Photo A: \enny Lowe using the Light Talker keyboard. Note the optical wand Ms. Lowe is wearing and the lighted diode on the keyboard. When light contact has been sustained for a user-definable length of time, the keyboard interprets the contact as a keystroke. (Photo by Robin Schwartzmiller.)

166 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 250

USING IMAGES

"Action + s." The next key is inscribed with "-ing." The sequence of "Verb" followed by the telescope image outputs "look," while that of "Verb+s"

and the telescope outputs "looks," and the sequence of "-ing" plus the telescope outputs "looking." An ac

(conlinued)

Photo B: Trie Tower! Ta/fer keyboard. Note trie keyguard to prevent those with motor-coordination difficulties from activating the wrong key. This device also requires a pressure of 4'/2 ounces to initiate a keystroke, enabling those who have problems controlling fine movements to select only the key they really want. (Photo by Robin Schwartzmiller.)

Photo C: Tony Miraltes using Touch Talker. \n this case the keyboard is not being used to generate speech: it interfaces with the computer to lower the number of keystrokes required to enter information. (Photo by Robin Schwartzmiller.)

IEEE 488

GPIB <^> PC

Hardware Flexibility

' Low cost for instrument control

— 300K bytes per second

— $395 complete with software

1 High performance data links

— Maximum speed of GPIB

— On-board buffering

Software

■ Over $1,000,000 in software development

• Easy to use, yet handles any GPIB application

■ Works with Lotus 1 -2-3

• UNIX, DOS and over 12 languages

Applications Support

> Applications Library with sample programs & TIPS for all major instruments

• Full staff of Applications Engineers dedicated to support your specific needs

Other IEEE-488 Products

• I nterfaces & Software for

— Multibus VMEbus

— DECQ-bus&UNIBUS

— STD&S-100bus

• General GPIB Products

— GPIB Bus Testers

— GPIB Bus Extenders

— Stand-Alone Controllers

fj NATIONAL "INSTRUMENTS

12109 Technology Boulevard

Austin. TX 78727

1 (800)531-GPIB

In Texas (800) IEEE-488

Telex: 756737 NAT INST AUS

f

USING IMAGES

©

*\

(b)

>V/AM

(c)

^

(d)

Figure 8: The following are various Egyptian symbols:

(a) is the glyph or ideogram for "sun','

(b) is the phonogram for the sound "hrw'.'

(c) depicts the phonogram for the sound "wbn'.'

[A] shows the Egyptian hieroglyph for "day" (a combination of figures a and b), and

[e] is the hieroglyph for "rise" {combining figures a and c).

tion word that can readily be associated with each image on a concept keyboard is coordinated with simple grammar keys. This gives you 50 or more action words—in their correct form—at only two strokes per word.

The next step is to assign a key at the top of the keyboard the value "Noun" or "Thing." Another key is labeled "Noun PI." or "Thing PI." Then you assign to each image the meaning most appropriate for it. This gives you 50 nouns you can use in sentence composition.

You can repeat the foregoing steps for as many parts of speech as you desire. If you exploit the system to its fullest potential, you can represent many hundreds of words on the keyboard. By this process, even nonreading users can assemble grammatical

168 BYTE • MARCH 1986

ly correct phrases of their own choosing from a large repertoire of words and phrases. You can then store those phrases for later use as sentences, or you can just generate them when appropriate.

Present-Day Hieroglyphs

The hieroglyphics of Egypt were composed of units that were in turn composed of two halves. One half was the phonogram, or the phonetic part of the glyph. The other part was the ideogram, or the conceptual part of the glyph. The two were combined in order to achieve specificity and economy. For instance, the glyph for "sun" in figure 8a suggests various ideas to the mind. Figures 8b and 8c are phonograms that represent the Egyptian sounds "hrw" and "wbn," respectively. Thus, the hieroglyph in

figure 8d combines the Egyptian "hrw" sound with the "sun" ideogram to mean "day." The hieroglyph in figure 8e is constructed by the same technique but with the phonogram for the "wbn" sound and means "rise." The Egyptians combined an ideogram with different sound or phonographic glyphs in order to indicate which idea suggested by the ideogram was intended by the writer.

This is the method used in the concept keyboard except that the phonographic element of the hieroglyph has been replaced by the environmental code. The memory of semiconductor technology allows this. Since the computer remembers the details, we can discard the more exacting and inefficient phonetic components and enter into a totally ideographic man-tomachine interface. ■

Someone new has just entered the world of programming.

Now, everyone can program their computer. Because now, there's ALICE to show you the way.

ALICE: The Personal Pascal...the first complete programming environment that lets you create your own sophisticated Pascal programs, while teaching you how.

Much More Than a Pascal Compiler

ALICE knows the syntax and the rules of Pascal... changing programming from what was once a slow, complex task to simply a matter of selecting the appropriate templates, and merely filling in the blanks. You can't make a frustrating syntax error. ALICE won't let you.

The Programming System With a Difference

ALICE has a unique Pascal interpreter that lets you run - and debug - your programs directly. You can actually see your program executing. And the programs that you develop with ALICE can be used with your Pascal compiler.

Help at Your Fingertips All the information you'll ever need from ALICE. A tutorial, features of Pascal, and the meaning of error messages is now at hand... in over 500 screens of on-line HELP.

Let ALICE be the Teacher

ALICE is currently being used in hundreds of schools to teach Pascal programming. Why Pascal? Because it has emerged as the language of choice of colleges and universities and is now the official language of the SAT examinations. ALICE Offers More!

• windows, menus, and function keys ... easy.

• "undo" feature to take back mistakes ... forgiving.

• screen control, color highlighting, and macros... powerful.

Now you'll program intelligently, accurately, almost intuitively... with ALICE. To order by credit card, call 1-800- 4483400 ext. ALICE (In Canada 1-800-3879018). Specify software or demonstration diskette. Or, fill in the order form and send to:

SOFTWARE^ <*

CHAPELS

Software Channels Inc. lnquiry 3,5

Four King-wood Place,

Kingwood, Texas 77339 (713) 359-1024

Canada and International:

212 King Street West,

Toronto, Canada M5H IKS (416) 591-9131

ALICE

The Personal Pascal ™

For IBM PC, XT, AT and compatibles.

Name:

Address:. City:

_State:.

Telephone: ( )_

Number of Copies:.

Zip Code:.

-Machine Memory (K):_

_@ $95.00 (Canada $129.00)-

□ Demonstration Diskette: Shipping/handling $4.95 (Canada $5.95)=

Payment: VISA D AMEXD MCD Check □ Money Order □ Bank Draft □ Credit Card Expiry Date: /

credi, caxdNumbernnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Signature:

AJJCE:The Personal Pascal software prices include shipping and handling to the U.S. and Canada. COD's will not be accepted. Texas residents add 6'/8% sales tax. Ontario residents add 1% sales tax. Dealer and distributor inquiries welcome. Site licences available.

We don't care which computer you own,

We'll help you get the most out of it

In

^M

xfiSBF

CompuServe puts a wo 14

CompuServe is the world's largest information service designed for the personal computer user and managed by the communications professionals who provide business information services to over one quarter of the FORTUNE 500 companies.

Subscribers get a wealth of useful, profitable or just plain interesting information like national news wires, home

ions, and

shopping and banking, travel and sophisticated financial data. Plus electronic mail, national bulletin boards, forums (special interest groups), and a multichannel CB simulator.

You get games and entertainment, too. Board, parlor, sports, space and educational games. Trivia and the first online TV-style game show played for real prizes.

To buy a CompuServe Subscription Kit,

entertainment at your fingertips.

see your nearest computer dealer. To receive our informative brochure or to order direct call or write:

CompuServe

Consumer Information Service, P. O. Box 20212 5000 Arlington Centre Blvd., Columbus, OH 43220

800-848-8199 in owo can 614-457-0802

An H&R Block Company Inquiry 76

HOMEBOUND COMPUTING

THE ELECTRONIC

UNIVERSITY

NETWORK

by Donna Osgood

Get a degree without ever leaving your computer

UNTIL RECENTLY, education at home meant correspondence courses. Taking courses through the mail is a slow, cumbersome way to learn, and for many people it means missing out on a vital part of the education experience: contact with a human instructor. Without that, you can easily lose interest in the course and drop out.

Meanwhile, as the baby boom generation passes, colleges faced with declining enrollments are looking for ways to reach a wider range of potential students. They need to reach people who would not ordinarily be willing or able to matriculate in the traditional way.

TeleLearning's Electronic University Network addresses both problems. Through the Network, universities offer accredited courses to students who enroll, participate in "class," interact with instructors and other students, and take tests on the material they have studied, all without leaving their microcomputers. Since classes are small (usually 10 students per instructor) and feedback on each assignment comes within a day or so, students taking courses from colleges

through the Electronic University Network get much more individual attention than they would in a large class on campus. Some of the other benefits of telecommunication apply here as well: An instructor can judge a student only on the basis of his or her work, without interference from preconceived notions and biases based on how the student looks, speaks, or acts.

Founded in 1983, TeleLeaming began offering accredited courses in March of 1984. In January 1985 it established full-fledged degree programs, and it now offers two associate degrees, two bachelor's degrees, three MBAs, and specialized professional certificates. The degrees are awarded by fully accredited colleges (Thomas A. Edison State College in Trenton, New lersey, City University in Bellevue, Washington, and lohn F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California). The Electronic University itself offers no credit, acting solely as a coordinating medium and resource center for students. About 17,000 students have enrolled.

Courses available through the Elec

tronic University Network include noncredit courses for personal improvement (writing, computer literacy, drawing, and wine appreciation, for example), business and professional skill classes (time management, accounting, and business math, among others), and tutoring programs for children (reading, math, and computer literacy). Courses for credit span the humanities, natural sciences, mathematics, social sciences, and business at undergraduate and graduate levels.

How It Works

You enter the Electronic University by buying an enrollment package for $150. This one-time fee covers operating software, communications software, and lifetime enrollment in the Electronic University for your entire family. Tuition for individual classes is handled separately. The admissions questionnaire and class registration

(continued) Donna Osgood is an associate technical editor for BYTE. She can be contacted at McGrawHill, 42 5 Battery St., San Francisco. CA 94111.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 171

the odyssey continu

APRIL 3^6, 1986

MOSCONE CENTER

SAN FRANCISCO

Don't miss the best show of '86!

The biggest, most important, most exciting, public computer event on the West Coast will take place at the 11th West Coast Computer Faire. People who are vitally interested in computers will be there. Join us at the show that makes the difference!

See thousands of computer products exhibited by hundreds of leading and innovative companies.

Touch the future with hands-on demonstrations.

Learn from the experts. The

comprehensive conference program attracts industry

Send in for more information:

speakers and computer users from business, education, government and scientific, engineering and research communities.

Take advantage of low cost Professional Development Seminars.

Get FREE one-on-one consulting help.

Save money with incredible "special show pricing" on all kinds of products.

Produced by

K7\

THE INTERFACE GROUP, Inc.

The World's Leading Producers of Computer & Communication Conferences & Expositions

Please send me information on attendee preregistration discounts.

Name

Company. Street

City.

State

Zip

I would like to □ Attend □ Exhibit

Send this coupon to:

The Interface Group, Registration Dept.

300 First Avenue, Needham, MA 02194

You can call us at (617) 449-6600

ELECTRONIC UNIVERSITY

can be completed on line. When you sign up for a class, the University mails you a textbook, study guide, and course disk.

Currently, undergraduate tuition is $180 per course, while graduate courses are $200. Connect time is included in course fees.

Hardware

TeleLearning software is available for the IBM Personal Computer and PCjr, Apple II series, and Commodore 64. According to Ron Gordon, president of TeleLearning, 3 5 percent of the Electronic University's students did not own a microcomputer before but bought one in order to take classes. Any student who doesn't already have a modem can buy one from TeleLearning.

Counseling

If you choose to pursue a degree program through the Electronic University, you consult one of TeleLearning's counselors. The counseling services go beyond those of a traditional admissions counselor. Counselors help students pick a school suited to their needs and design appropriate curricula, incorporating courses from participating colleges, classes taken on campus, and proficiency exams. The TeleLearning counselor who helps you choose courses or design a degree program also follows through with periodic progress checks and is always available to answer questions and offer guidance. In fact, the counselor will keep tabs on your progress in a particular course ("Have you finished lesson 4 yet?"), but only if you request that sort of handholding.

Taking a Class

A typical lesson in a credit course begins when you boot up the course disk and receive an assignment, perhaps chapters in a text to read and workbook sections to complete. After doing this work you go back to the disk to work through the exercises that accompany the lesson. This may include an overview of the sections

(continued)

172 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 396

10 Times Faster Half the Cost of LANs

ALLOY'S PC-PLUS

/ -

Here's how to get the job done — faster and cheaper

Alloy's PC-PLUS is the perfect solution for sharing data among users. Faster, easier to install and maintain, and cheaper than LANs. Begin with a PC-SLAVE/16 expansion card containing an 8 MHz microprocessor which operates at over two times the speed of an IBM® PC's processor. PC-SLAVE/16 lets you read or write hard disk data up to 10 times faster than most LANs at half the cost of LANs!

How PC-PLUS expands your PC's capabilities

Plug a PC-SLAVE/16 into your PC. Add a terminal and Alloy's Network Executive software. You

have the power of TWO PCs! Sharing data, peripherals and printers. Add more PC-SLAVE/16 cards and terminals as you need to grow. And by adding Alloy's PC-XBUS and PC-QICSTOR, up to 31 users can communicate with the PC host and with each other. That's total utilization of your PC's capabilities and your investment in software, hardware and valuable time and data.

Speaking of investments

Because the workstations you add are inexpensive terminals, the cost of increasing your computing capability is much less with PC-PLUS than with the next best thing. When you consider how much more productive your office would be if you added another PC, choose PC-PLUS instead.

Alloy — your PC Productivity Company

Alloy brings you more than networking. It brings you a complete family of personal computer expansion products — from software to hard disks. All to make your PC more than a Personal Computer. With PC-PLUS, you get a Productivity Center plus all the benefits of a Personal Computer.

Call (617) 875-6100 today — for more information — or to see PC-PLUS in action.

Computer Products, Inc.

100 Pennsylvania Avenue, Framingham, Massachusetts 01701. (617) 875-6100, TWX: 710-346-0394 In Europe: Alloy Computer Products (Europe) Ltd., Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. Tel: 0285-69571, Tlx: 43340

Inquiry 13 for More Information.

Inquiry 14 for Sales person or demonstration.

IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 173

ELECTRONIC UNIVERSITY

you've just read, with a series of exercises designed to make you think about the lesson in as many ways as possible. Some of the ideas presented in the reading may be covered in more depth at this point.

The lessons are designed to make learning active, to avoid the electronic page turning that has blighted com

puter-aided instruction (CAI). According to one student, "The lessons are never dull and are not predictable. Just when you think you've got the professor figured out, something changes. That keeps it interesting."

A particular lesson may contain several sections that you complete locally, working through a problem

Why your next generation of products should use our 5th generation tools

The Arily Expert Systems Developmenl A Package J

I The Arity SQL Development Package (Arity/Prolog Compiler and Interp,

arity

We design and distribute high quality, serious application software for the IBM PC, XT, AT and all MS-DOS compatibles.

Arity s integrated family of programming cools allows you to combine software written in Arity/Prolog, the best of the fifth generation languages, with Arity SQL, the best of the fourth generation languages, and with conventional third generation languages such as C or assembly language to build your smarter application.

^bu can use Arity/Prolog to build expert systems using the Arity Expert Systems Development Package. Or to build natural language frontends. Or to build intelligent information management systems. Arity/Prolog lets you build advanced technology into your vertical applications package.

And more...

That's not the whole story. Arity's products are all designed to be fast, powerful, serious. Each of our products contains unexpected bonuses. Such as a one gigabyte virtual database integrated into Arity/Prolog. The most powerful of ics kind on a PC.

Quality first. Then price.

In order to be the best, we had to prove it to our customers. Our tradition of quality software design is reflected in every product we sell. Quality first. Then price. And we always provide the best in customer support.

Our products arc not copy protected. We do not charge royalties. We offer generous educational and quantity discounts. And we have a 30 day money back guarantee.

Try us to know that we keep our promise on commitment to quality and reliability. Try us by using our electronic bulletin board at 617-369-5622 or call us by celephonc-you can reach us at 617-371-2422.

Or fill in this coupon. Whether you order today or not, let us send you full descriptions of our integrated family of Arity products.

Please complete this form to place your order and/or request detailedinformation. *, . , ,

1 ' ' ' Quantity Info only

ABty/BmlogCompitcrandlnttrpretei V4 $795.<><>

Arity/Prolog Interpreter V4 $350.00

Arity Standard Ptolop, $ 95.1)0

Arity SQL Development Package $295.00

Arily Expett System Development Package $295.00

Arity Screen Design 'toolkit $ 49.95

Arity File Interchange Toolkit $ 49.95

'[rjTAl.AW(>UNT(MArcsid1.ntHadd5%salL-,tax)riT^cprice,intlud<;ship(anKi<ijllUS t,iie*| I

NAME

SHIPPING ADDRESS

CrTY/STATc72lP

TELEPHONE

lament: D Check D PO d AMEX Q VISA O MC

Card # Exp. date

Signature _^^^^_^^^_^^^^^^^^^^_^_^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ARITY CORPORATION • .158 BAKER AVENUE • CONCORD. MA 111742 ~ Oflty

and finding the answer in the next section. Some sections are to be completed and sent to the instructor. You leave the assignment in the instructor's electronic mailbox. The instructor reads the material and responds within a day or so.

At this point the advantage to the TeleLearning system becomes apparent. The instructor can respond quickly and can customize that response based on knowledge of your ability, interests, and goals. The instructor spends 15 to 30 minutes on each student's lesson, using prepared responses where appropriate but adapting them to each student's needs. It is this human contact, the student's feeling that someone has a personal interest in his or her progress, that distinguishes Electronic University Network courses from correspondence courses or computeraided instruction.

You can "meet" with the instructor during electronic "office hours" and exchange messages in real time. TeleLearning is presently working to set up bulletin boards where students can exchange messages with other class members and where class "discussion groups" can meet. The goal is to simulate the feeling of community and the interaction that develops naturally when students meet on campus. This can be an important part of the learning process. Perhaps a computer conference is the next best thing to being there.

Tests

If you are enrolled in a degree program, the college involved is responsible for administering the final exam. For students taking individual credit courses, the CLEP (College Level Examination Program) test often serves as the exam. Tests are proctored, administered at a college or library close to the student.

The Library

The Electronic University has, of course, an electronic library. Students have access to extensive on-line database facilities, including abstract ser

(continued)

174 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Inquiry 28

Now There's A Laser Printer That Blasts Through The Prioe Barrier.

QMS introduces the KISS.™ The first laser printer at the never-before-heard-of price of $1,995*KISS keeps it smart and simple. It's the perfect mate to any PC.

It's so sophisticated, you'll want to kiss your old daisywheel and dot matrix printers good-by. KISS is ten times faster. And it's very quiet. It produces crisp, near typeset-quality output at up to 400 characters per second. And it has its own cut-sheet feeder.

With nine resident fonts, you get quality, style and flair. Mix them all on a page—even on one line. Imagine all that power on your desk.

Plus, KISS is smarter than your old printer. It works with WordStar® Lotus® and any other software that will print to a Diablo 630,® Epson FX 80® and QUME Sprint.® At up to 6ppm, KISS is unmatched in efficiency and versatility.

Can you imagine your present printer performing like that? We can't.

QMS is meeting today's needs with proven technology. Like the KISS. It's inexpensive. Dependable. Exciting.

Let us give you a KISS.

Call toll free, 1-800-523-2696 for more information.

QMS'

Print Systems With Imagination.

D Send me more information about the KISS. □ Please contact me to arrange a demonstration.

Name

Phone

Type of system you are now using

Number of print workstations you are considering. Prime application for printer

WordStar is a registered trademark of MicroPro International. Lotus is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. Diablo is a registered trademark of Xerox Corp. Epson is a registered trademark of Epson America. Inc. QUME is a registered trademark of QUME Corp.

• This price good in domestic United States only. Inquiry 287

P.O. Box 81250. Mobile, AL 36689 ©1986 QMS® Inc.

ELECTRONIC UNIVERSITY

Participating colleges handle course design, consulting with TeleLearning to translate courses to the new medium.

vices, an encyclopedia, and databases for business, education, science, medicine, social science, and humanities. News services, stock market reports, and the Official Airline Guide are also available. Students who use the library pay a communication fee ranging from about $10 to $20 an hour (nonbusiness hours).

Course Design

In general, the participating colleges handle course design, consulting with TeleLearning staff and using tools provided by TeleLearning to translate their courses to the new medium. The college can choose its top professor in a field to design a course, then recruit graduate students and associate professors to serve as instructors. Instructors are interviewed and monitored by TeleLearning staff and must have graduate degrees and classroom teaching experience.

Dr. Philip Zimbardo is one of the "master teachers" designing a course for the Electronic University. His Psychology 001, the best-attended class offered at Stanford, draws hundreds of students to the lecture hall. Zimbardo sees the TeleLearning course reaching a new audience, a more diverse group of people than he would find within the confines of a traditional university setting, including many of his favorite sort of student: adults who are not in class for a grade, who simply want to learn what he has to teach and who get excited about the ideas he presents.

Zimbardo believes that students in large lecture sections "develop pas

sive learning habits." He is designing his lessons to stress the conceptual meaning of the material, not to encourage rote memorization. For example, in a section on the biology of behavior and the physiological foundations of psychology, students will not be asked simply to list the parts of the human nervous system. Rather, the problem might be: "You have just been hired as a consultant to a hightech firm that is designing a perfectly programmed humanoid. On the basis of what you now know, you are to design its nervous system. What aspects of the human nervous system would you include, what would you improve, and what kinds of modifications would you make?"

Early, noncredit TeleLearning courses were based on standard CA1 and drill-and-practice models. Dr. lames Milojkovic, vice president of Educational Research and Development, explains that this sort of electronic page turning is not appropriate for college-level courses, which should put an emphasis on critical thinking and higher-order cognitive processes. "We went back to square one, thinking from an educational rather than a technical point of view," Milojkovic says. "We asked, 'What does a master teacher do?' We looked at the best teachers and the best textbooks to extract the educational principles involved, then we built the technology around that."

Since the people best qualified to develop courses often have no expertise with computers, TeleLearning provides developers with "knowledge templates," predesigned generic structures that they can adapt to each course. Dozens of knowledge templates are available to course developers, and using them can cut the time it takes to create a set of lessons.

Some examples of template structures are the tree-diagram template, which can illustrate any sort of hierarchical structure: a matrix template with which the student can organize material, compare items using appropriate criteria, or visualize relationships among a set of elements: the timeline template, to illustrate any se

quence of events: and the T-bar template, for making comparisons.

The templates themselves use rudimentary graphics that the developer can change and adapt as needed. Properly used, they can become sophisticated heuristic tools if the instructor fleshes out the template skeleton with thought-provoking problems. For example, the basic T-bar might be used in an economics course to compare and contrast capitalism and communism in light of issues brought up in the lesson.

In TeleLearning courses, the computer is used only when it is most effective, for interactive study and telecommunication. Milojkovic says, "We don't make the fatal mistake of trying to put everything onto the computer. "A textbook is a perfectly good, portable, random-access information display device, and there's no advantage to dumping the entire textbook and study guide on the computer."

Electronic University's Future

One of TeleLeaming's goals right now is to make the student's experience in the Electronic University as rich as possible in terms of human interaction. A real sense of community can develop around people who know each other only electronically. TeleLearning hopes to give as much of an on-campus feeling as possible to the Electronic University.

Other plans include an emphasis on work-related courses in the office. Some companies are already offering tuition and fee reimbursements to employees who take Electronic University courses, and some even provide a workstation in the office.

The Electronic University offers new options to the student who prefers to study at home in a nonthreatening but highly personalized medium. "Many people talk about lifelong learning," says Milojkovic. "We're making it real." ■

Editor's note: To reach TeleLearning, write to 505 Beach St.. San Francisco. CA 94133, or call (800) 22LEARN: in California, call (800) 44LEARN or (415) 928-2800.

176 BYTE • MARCH

Compatibility withi

iromise 8!

Big Savings

Reliable Support

Full Documentation

BRAND PRODUCT

PC/XT

^™Opl'°nal

$649

•Intel 8088-3 (4.77 MHz)

• Half-Height Floppy Disk Drive

•640KRam

•135 Watt Power Supply

•8Total Slots •Keyboard

Includes 7 Year WarrantyT^^^--^ Don't Compromise Your Price Savings With Poor Quality Or Incomplete Documentation. WeOffer I BM®Compatibility At A Reduced Price I n A Complete Package.

is Non-Infringing BIOS Copyright

^ Extended Burn-In Testing

(X 100 Page Illustrated Users Guide

"Runs All Major

Software Written For

The IBM- PC&XT"

pa

SOURCE

12303-G Technology Austin, TX. 78727

Call Toll Free 1-800-626-4027 Within Texas 512331-6700

Setting The Import Standard

Our Factory-Direct Volume Buying Saves You

Money...Quality Assured With Our

STANDARD 2 Year Warranty

STANDARDS

BRAND PRODUCTS

Enhancement Products I The IBM PC Market.

STANDARCEE MFC

w/384K

'. .;■■'■, ■:,o:i-.::;:^:.r.

.. ■-t*:... ffeiwi^iS

.V. Vj.---■:■:

:■■ ■...■:

■ '

PiiliPffiii8|: i 'la'

Memory

64K. 256K

'384KRam • Parallel Port

'Clock/Calendar •Came Port 'Serial Port "Software

$129

Standard Monographic Card

I |(>r< ul."-( nmpatiblt'Monro limine -,^ ^ Q

C.r.ii.hu -( .mlWithl'.u.illcll'nit 3> I I "

intel

Math Co-Processor

8087. 80287

Standard I■<> Card lnrludfsSifi.il Pi>rl Parallel I'or! .in.i( Iih k ( .iI.tuI.ii

$89

Standard AI -MFC Multifuni lion, Memory I xpansionfor IBM Al « in..

$189

FDC

Controls Upto4 I loppy

Disk (111 hiilr^lnlrm.iU .ihln

$49

5151 Keyboard

$99

MonoCard

Monochrome Displa\ ( ard ii /Parallel Port

$99

150 Watt

----- . , a *

Replacement rower Supply

$85

Bran

ices...

a iMame Products At Bargain trie

:

(5 Hayes

Smartmodems

120CWernal)... . $389

1200B (internal,

w/Smartcom II) Ij>3j"

SixPakPlus

W/384K

Serial Port Parallel Port Clock/Calendar

• Memory Expansion

• Sidekick Software •2 YearWarranty

$249

mi'lim PACKARD

Plotters

SixPenSi/oA&B Sp I 3"5

7440

ColorPor ttftnn

8 Pen, Size A. ^>"^7Zf

No Charge For UPS Ground Shipping. No Surcharge For MasterCard or VISA. Fortune 1000 Purchase Order Welcome. All Warranty Work Must Have A Return Authorization Number. i.mII.'h uli's is,i registered trade mark of Hen ules Computer Te< hnoloHY, ln<

pa

SOURCE

12303-G Technology Austin, TX. 78727

Outside Texas

800-626-4027

InsideTexas 512-331-6700

HOME-BOUND COMPUTING

THE TECHNOLOGY

OF THE KURZWEIL

VOICE WRITER

by Raymond Kurzweil

The present office system provides a clue to future applications for the deaf

Editor's note: This article is not a review of the KVW; it is a look at a technology that may be available on personal computers in the future.

THE KURZWEIL VOICE WRITER (KVW) is a voice-activated word processor with a relatively unrestricted user-specific vocabulary. The system starts with a vocabulary of at least 5000 frequently used words in the English language. It subsequently adds the words you use that are not part of its initial vocabulary and eventually deletes those words that you never use. Total vocabulary, depending on the KVM model, will be in the 7500- to 20,000-word range.

Voice is our most effective and rapid means of communication, and the ability to interact with computerized information services and devices by voice, without the restrictions of artificial vocabularies or syntax, is expected to be of major benefit. The primary application of the KVW is to automate the creation of written text, which is a fundamental activity in the office. Combining large-vocabulary ASR (automatic speech recognition)

with natural-language understanding would also enable professionals and executives to make inquiries of database-management systems or management information systems verbally in natural language instead of through a keyboard.

One planned application of this technology is to create a speakerindependent version of the KVW to serve as a display telephone for the deaf. This would enable a deaf person to hold a phone conversation without being restricted to speaking to other deaf people who have compatible TDDs (telecommunications device for the deaf). It is not yet available but the technology that will be used in its creation is described in essence in this article.

The KVW as it currently exists requires only that you can speak and that you can see. Motion and hearing impairments are not obstacles in its operation. The current version of the KVW is for the business community, but it fills a need for many disabled persons as well. The initial KVM model, which can be shared by multiple users (one at a time) is expected

to be introduced this year at a price under $20,000. Future models of both single-user and multiuser systems are expected to be in the $4000 to $10,000 range. While this is beyond the price range of most individuals, the technology is the clue to future, more individually affordable solutions.

Large-Vocabulary ASR

There are two difficulties involved in creating large-vocabulary ASR. First, you must create a set of linguistic and speech-recognition algorithms that provide the requisite recognition power and that are capable of resolving the fine distinctions and ambiguities that are inevitable when you deal with a large natural vocabulary. The incidence of "perplex clusters" (words that differ by only one phonetic feature) is much higher for

(continued) Raymond Kurzweil is the founder and chairman of Kurzweil Computer Products, Kurzweil Music Systems Inc., and Kurzweil Applied Intelligence \nc. He received a B.S. degree from MIT and an honorary Ph.D. from Hofstra University. He can be reached at AW Waverly Oaks Rd., Waltham, MA 02154.

MARCH 1986

i YTE

177

Inquiry 410

Switches to make your PCs powerful.

Reliable and affordable port expansion without memorizing complicated, software commands. Switch your PC between peripherals with the push of a button. Is MFJ good? Joe Campbell In his book. The RS-232 Solution said. "Switch boxes are sold by many suppliers, but by Jar the two best values are from MFJ Enterprises." Below are just some of those values.

When you need to switch between two peripherals ... or you need to have two computers share the same peripheral... MFJ-1240/$79.95

The 1240 has a built-in transmit/receive switch that allows 2-way information How. LEDs monitor data lines while built-in surge protectors guard Ihem. Can be used as a null modem. MFJ's No. 1 seller!

When you need l-to-4 computers to share one peripheral or l-to-4 peripherals to share a common computer... MFJ-1243/$119.95

The perfect office switch. Save money. Don't buy extra printers or modems. Connect l-to-4 computers to a single printer or let a PC share up lo four peripherals. LEDs monitor data lines; surge protectors guard them. Two way communication is allowed.

When you need to Interconnect four computers and four peripherals at one time! The MFJ-1294 gives you a computer system... MFJ-1294/S299.95

With the MFJ-I294you can create a mini-network of computers and peripherals. All eighl devices can be working simultaneously! Think of the production you'll gel with ihe MFJ-1294 s 16 possible combinations.

Seven additional models to choose from including MFJ's IBM and Centronics Parallel Switches. All RS-232 switches have RS-232 connectors. LEDs to monitor data lines. MOV surge protectors and transmit/receive buttons that allow 2-way communication.

And Power Strips to make them safe.

Your fine computer and peripheral equipment can be damaged by electrical surges much smaller than you've been led to believe. Save them and your valuable data with an MFJ Power Center. Multi-filters isolate equipliminating noise/hash/inlerion; MOVs suppress spikes 1 surges. These are heavy-duty, commercial quality Power Strips. MFJ-1107y8 sockets; 2 unswitched; $79.95 MFJ-1108-7 sockets; 1 unswitched. Drop-out relay /ents disk drive head from ng; $99.95 MFJ-1109-like 1107 but intelligent (switch on the device that's plugged into the control socket and everything else comes on): $129.95

There are other Switches, Power Centers and Computer Peripheral Products available from MFJ. Call and talk with us about all your computing needs. When you do. ask for our latest catalog. Both the call and catalog are free.

1-800-647-1800

For technical/repair information, or in Mississippi, or outside the Continental United States, please telephone...

1(601) 323-5869 or telex 53-4590 MFJSTKV

All MFJ products come with a double guarantee we think is unmatched. Order from MFJ and try any product for 30 days. If it doesn't satisfy your needs, just return it fora/u// refund less shipping. If you keep it you can be assured of continued service and our One Year Unconditioned Guarantee.

Call toll-free 1-800-647-1800 and charge the products you need to your VISA or MasterCard, or send a cheek or money order, plus S5.00 shipping, and our shipping department will promptly have your computer peripheral on its way to you.

MFJ Enterprises, Inc. 921 Louisville Road Starkville, MS 39759

VOICE WRITER

a natural vocabulary than for an artificially created command vocabulary. Indeed, many words do not differ in sound at all (homonyms), but can be differentiated only by context. For example, if you want to recognize "To be or not to be, that is the question," you must deal with the first six words, each of which represents a perplex homonym set: (to, too, two, 2); (be, bee, b); (or, oar); (not, knot); (to, too, two, 2); (be, bee, b). Of the 576 possible phrases, all are acoustically correct, but only one is linguistically correct.

Second, you must provide the necessary computing power. Running the algorithms for the KVW on a sequential computer of Motorola 68000 power requires over an hour per word. One reason that the algorithms require this amount of computation is to provide the very high degree of precision needed to deal with the perplexity of a large natural vocabulary. Significant computation is also required to perform the transformations and property-extraction algorithms required to deal with the numerous sources of speech variance that such a system is subject to. Parallel processing provides the speed improvement of several thousandfold necessary to achieve a real-time response time of 2 50 milliseconds.

The KVW architecture incorporates multiple microprocessors and uses dedicated implementations of specific algorithms in custom VLSI (very-largescafe integration) and discrete circuits. This significantly increases the effective computation throughput levels. A current industry trend finds parallel arrays of dedicated implementations of algorithms in custom VLSI replacing the conventional architecture of a single programmable processor with its one memory space, software, and appropriate peripherals.

VOCABULARY

One type of information that adapts as you use the KVW is the active vocabulary. The system starts out with a vocabulary of at least 5000 common words in the English language. The first time you use a particular

word that is not in this starting vocabulary, the system won't be able to recognize it, and you will have to either type it in or verbally spell it in. This process is required only the first time you use a new word; the system will add the word to the active vocabulary and should subsequently be able to recognize it when you use it again.

Words continue to be added until the vocabulary reaches its maximum size, which will vary depending on the model. (The vocabulary size required will vary from user to user. It is expected that user-specific vocabularies in the 7500- to 20,000-word range will ultimately be provided.) After this, new words continue to be added, but the system must drop words from the original set that you have never used. The final result is a vocabulary that should cover the vast majority of words that you use.

Multiple Experts

Rather than select a single technique such as Markov modeling, dynamic time warping, robust feature analysis, or high-level feature extraction, the KVW technology incorporates multiple experts, each of which uses a somewhat different approach to the problem of large-vocabulary speech recognition. Different approaches to a complex pattern-recognition task such as ASR have different strengths and weaknesses, and a system that incorporates a variety of techniques is likely to provide better performance than a system that relies on a single method.

Some of the experts run in real time on conventional 68000 microprocessors, while others require specialized parallel circuitry to provide real-time performance. In this specialized circuitry, 68000 microprocessors provide function control and sequencing, while the circuitry acts like peripherals to them. The resulting architecture consists of multiple 68000s, each with its own RAM (random-access read/ write memory) space, plus specialized circuitry incorporating additional RAM spaces.

(continued)

178 BYTE

MARCH 1986

MICRO CAP and MICRO LOGIC put your engineers on line...

not in line. |f||f||

1

TV

'ft

^:

/ o—■

"S

M

'(A

_<\ ', / ** r\ \' X l >»

COM P«/Tif» {]

Q)W!pU

*Mfl'

24JmlJiU&im9Li

9

I

jf/j /V£XT/

\A

v\>

/viyoWAi m/o^ksT/IT/oa!

How many long unproductive hours have you spent "in line" for your simulation? Well, no more. MICROCAP and MICROLOGIC can put you on line by turning your PC into a productive and cost-effective engineering workstation.

Both of these sophisticated engineering tools provide you with quick and efficient solutions to your simulation problems. And here's how.

MICROCAP:

Your Analog Solution

MICROCAP is an interactive analog circuit drawing and simulation system. It allows you to sketch a circuit diagram right on the CRT screen, then run an AC, DC, or Transient analysis. While providing you with libraries for defined models of bipolar and MOS devices, Opamps, transformers, diodes, and much more, MICROCAP also includes features not even found in SPICE.

MICROCAP II lets you be even more productive. As an advanced version, it employs sparse matrix techniques for faster simulation speed and larger net

"Typical MICROCAP Transient Analysis"

works. In addition, you get even more advanced device models, worst case capabilities, temperature stepping, Fourier analysis, and macro capability.

MICROLOGIC:

Your Digital Solution

MICROLOGIC provides you with a similar interactive drawing and analysis environment for digital work. Using standard PC hardware, you can create logic diagrams of up to 9 pages with each containing up to 200 gates. The system automatically creates the nedist required for a timing simulation and will handle networks of up to 1800 gates. It provides you with libraries for 36 user-defined basic gate types, 36 data channels of 256 bits each, 10 user-defined clock waveforms, and up to 50 macros in each network. MICROLOGIC produces high-resolution timing diagrams showing selected waveforms and associated delays, glitches, and spikes—just like the real thing.

Typical MICROLOGIC Diagram "

Reviewers Love These Solutions

Regarding MICROCAP ... "A highly recommended analog design program" (PC Tech Journal 3/84). "A valuable tool for circuit designers" (Personal Software Magazine 11/83).

Regarding MICROLOGIC ... "An efficient design system diat does what it is supposed to do at a reasonable price" (Byte 4/84).

MICROCAP and MICROLOGIC arcavailable for the Apple II (64k), IBM PC (128k), and HP-150 computers and priced at 8475 and 8450 respectively. Demo versions are available for S75.

MICROCAP II is available for the Macintosh, IBM PC (256k), and HP-150 systems and is priced at S895. Demo versions are available for 9100.

Demo prices are credited to the purchase price of the actual system.

Now, to get on line, call or write today!

Spectrum Software

1021 S. Wolfe Road, Dept. B Sunnyvale, CA 94087 (408)738-4387 Inquiry 325

Inquiry 366 for End-Users. Inquiry 367 for DEALERS ONLY.

m?&

A Telephon Type Connector Serial Data Switch for Increasing Computer System Productivity.

No computer system should be without a Via West Data Switch. At the touch of a button (or key), you can connect your computer to the peripheral device you want to use.

Over 16 types are available to fit either serial or parallel systems. This includes

I

ioth AB and X-type switches designed to fit and work with all types of computer systems. Now you can put an end to recabling, once and for all. See your local computer dealer or call today for a factorydirect shipment.

DS-RJ11/45 DATA SWITCH

Specify RJ11 or RJ45

534 North Stone Ave. Tucson, Arizona 85705 602-623-5716

Utfl WEST

"The Interface Company"

*Add SI per product for shipping. Quantity discounts available. Visa, MasterCard & COD orders accepted. AZ residents add 7%. Contention Adapters, Port Contenders, Serial to Parallel and RS232 to RS422 devices available. Money Back Guarantee.

OUR PLUG-IN CARD GIVES YOU PLUG-IN CONTROL

PCC0488 allows your IBM i# PC/XT/AT or compatible to control IEEE-488 instruments.

With PC® 488, youcan:

□ Plug-in to BASIC, C, FORTRAN, or Turbo Pascal™

D Emulate hp controllers,

□ Use Tek Standard Codes and Formats,

□ Run IBM's IEEE-488 software, and much more.

Just $395 for the complete hardware and software interface.

cec

Capital Equipment Corporation 10 Evergreen Avenue Burlington, MA 01803 Call today (617) 273-1818

Turbo Pascal is a trademark of Borland International

VOICE WRITER

To take maximum advantage of a multiple-expert strategy, you must combine the results from each expert in a way that recognizes its unique strengths and weaknesses. In general, the system can quickly and accurately resolve each recognition within a small perplex set of words. After this initial cut of the vocabulary to a small set (ranging from one word to a few dozen), the expert-management techniques depend to a great extent on the nature of the resulting perplex set. Some of the expert-management techniques are knowledge-based. For example, the handling of homonym sets is done through a single expert that is capable of differentiating between homonyms based on context. Other techniques involve probability: the methods of combining the probabilities from each expert are controlled by statistics on how the various experts have performed for different types of perplex sets. Some of these parameters are derived from statistics gathered during a particular user's time on the system and thus form part of the overall user-adaptation process.

Language Experts

A number of experts try to predict the likelihood of different words occurring at a particular lexical entry point based entirely on context. These experts use a variety of informationtheory as well as sentence-parsing techniques.

The sentence-parsing expert is similar to the type of parser used in some natural-language understanding programs in that a tree-like structure is generated showing the part of speech of each word and its relationship to other words in the sentence. One significant difference is that the KVW parser is able to generate parses on incomplete sentences. At a particular point in a dictated sentence, we have only the "left" part of the sentence (from the beginning up through and not including the current word). Based on each parse of the incomplete sentences as they come in, the parsing expert is able to assign probabilities to different parts of

[continued)

180 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 58

You would think when IBM needs EPROM Programmers they would choose the best and the most expensive.

They don't. They only choose the best.

GTEK.

MODEL 7956 (w/RS-232 option) S1099

MODEL 7956 (stand alone) 5 979

GTEK's outstanding Gang Programmer with intelligent algorithm can copy 8 EPROMS at a time! Use the 7956 in a production environment when you need to program a large number of chips. Programs all popular chips through the 27512 EPROMS: supports CMOS EPROMS through the 27C256; supports EEPROMS through the X2864A; supports Intel's 2764A & 27128A chips. The 7956 will also program single chip processors.

MODEL 7228 $ 599

GTEK's 7228 has all the features of the 7128, plus Intelligent Programming Algorithms!

It supports the newest devices available through 512K bits. The 7228 programs 6 times as fast as standard algorithms. It programs the 2764 in one minute! Supports CMOS EPROMS through the 27C256; supports EEPROMS through the X2864A; supports Intel's 2764A & 27128A chips. Supports Tektronics, Intel, Motorola and other formats.

MODEL 7128 S 429

The 7128 has the highest performance-to

cost-ratio of any unit. It supports the newest devices available through 256Kbits.

MODEL 7324 $1499

The 7324 has a built-in compiler. It programs all MMI, National and Tl 20 & 24 pin PALS. It has non-volatile memory and operates standalone or via RS-232. MODEL 7322 $1249

Same as Model 7324 but operates only via RS-232. MODEL 7316 $ 749

This PAL PROGRAMMER programs Series 20 PALs. It has a built-in PALASM compiler. MODEL 705 S 299

68705V3, U3, P3 PROGRAMMER.

EPROM, PROM& PAL

PROGRAMMERS

— These features are standard from GTEK —

Compatible with all RS-232 serial interface ports • Auto select baud rate • With or without hand-shaking • Bidirectional Xon/Xoff • CTS/DTR supported • Read pin compatible ROMS • No personality modules • Intel, Motorola, MCS86 Hex formats • Split facility for 16 bit data paths • Read program, formatted list commands • Interrupt driven —program and verify real time while sending data • Program single byte block or whole EPROM • Intelligent diagnostics discern bad and/or unerased EPROM • Verify erasure and compare commands • Busy light ■ Complete with Textool zero insertion force socket and integral 120 VAC power (240 VAC/50Hz available) •

UTILITY PACKAGES

GTEK's PGX Utility Packages will allow you to specify a range of addresses to send to the programmer, verify erasure and/or set the EPROM type. The PGX Utility Package includes GHEX. a utility used to generate an Intel HEX file.

PALX Utility Package—for use with GTEK's Pal Programmers—allows transfer of PALASM" source file or ASCII HEX object code file.

Both utility packages are available for CPM," MS-DOS," PC-DOS," ISIS" and TRSDOS" operating systems. Call for pricing.

CROSS ASSEMBLERS

These assemblers are available to handle the 8748, 8751, Z8, 6502, 68X and other microprocessors. They are available for CPM and MS-DOS computers. When ordering, please specify processor and computer types.

ACCESSORIES

Model 7128-L1.L2, L2A

(OEM Quantity) $259.

Model 71 28-24 $329.

Cross Assemblers CPM-80 $200.

MSDOS; CPM 86 . . . $250.

PGX Utilities Call for pricing

PALX Call for pricing

Erasers DE4 $80; PE14T $129

C25 $349; C50 $599

U/V Eraser DE-4 $ 80.

Cables: Serial or Parallel $ 30.

8751 Adapter $174.

8755 Adapter $135.

48 Family Adapter $ 98.

RUN CPM

SOFTWARE ON

YOUR IBM OR

IBM COMPATIBLE

M

If you are a CPM user who wanted to convert to MS-DOS or PC-DOS but didn't because you wouldn't abandon or rewrite your CPM programs, now you can convert without losing or rewriting a single CPM program!

GTEK's CPEmulator emulates Z-80 code and Televideo or Lear-Seigler terminals. The CPEmulator copies to and from 54 CPM disks and the serial port.

Now all the work you accomplished in CPM is still as valuable with your change to MS-DOS or PC-DOS. And you won't see any difference when you run your CPM programs on your IBM or IBM compatible!

GTEK's incredible CPEmulator is just $199!

JUST RELEASED!!! Need more speed? With GTEK's SPEED KIT you can run your CPM programs much faster. The Speed Kit includes NEC V20 or V30 processors. With your CPEmulator, just $99.00!

Call GTEK's CPM Hotline... 1-601-467-9019

NEW PRODUCT FROM GTEK! MODEL 8014 PROGRAMMABLE PARALLEL PRINTER SWITCH

, "* . Finally, for everyone

using multiple parallel

\ printers, GTEK makes avail

.-•" s4p-''r„ - able a reliable and affordable programmable parallel printer switch. With it's programmable printer port, you can connect your IBM PC or other computer with a single parallel port, to from one to four printers at one time.

Each port is selectable by sending GTEK's 8014 a simple escape sequence. The 8014's microprocessor allows Epson-type graphics codes to pass unchanged. By cascading 8014s, you can access as many printers as you need!

The 8014 will prove invaluable to you... use one computer to print invoices, serial number labels, disk labels, and plain paper... without changing the form each time. There are hundreds of applications for GTEK's 8014 Programmable Parallel Printer Switch.

And with the Model 8014-32k or 8014-128k, you can spool and switch your printer output.

Model 8014 (switch only) $279.00; Model 8014-32k (32k buffer) $339.00; Model 8014-128k (128k buffer) $399.00.

>

GTEK, PALASM, CPM,

Development Hardware/Software P.O. Box 289, Waveland, MS 39576 601/467-8048; telex 315-814 (GTEK UD) , INC.

MS-DOS, PC-DOS, ISIS, TRSDOS, & CPEmulator are registered trademarks.

TEK

Inquiry 148

MARCH I986

1YTE

181

VOICE WRITER

speech. Rather than the eight or nine basic parts of speech that grade school children are familiar with (noun, verb, adjective, etc.), the KVW parser uses approximately 200 types representing subcategories of the basic parts of speech. This degree of specificity enables the parsing expert to increase the value of its predictions.

Using a lexicon of approximately 50,000 words that indicates the likelihood of different parts of speech for each word, the parsing expert is able to assess the likelihood of different words. In particular, the parsing expert is good at eliminating choices that are syntactically unlikely. There is a fortunate orthogonality

between the strengths of the acoustic experts and those of the language experts. For example, most homonyms represent significantly different syntactic types that can be determined from context. "Two," "to," and "too" represent very different grammatical categories with readily identifiable word contexts. Also, short function words, which tend to be more difficult for an acoustic recognizer, are actually easier for the language model to make predictions for.

Acoustic Experts

The acoustic experts share an acoustic front-end processor that includes a high-resolution digitization (over 96-decibel dynamic range) and a robust filter bank made up of several hundred two-pole filter elements with 24-bit accuracy. The resulting spectral data is subsequently processed through a series of normalizations and other transformations to reduce variability and preserve feature invariance. Some of the transformations are based on an auditory model similar in many ways to the human ear's auditory front-end processing.

The acoustic experts utilize a RAM storage of word models, which are updated after each utterance. The acoustic experts are capable of evaluating the likelihood of every word model for a given test token, although the expert manager may request that a particular acoustic expert evaluate only a subset of the models based on the results of earlier experts.

ParallelProcessing Architecture

One area that uses extensive parallel processing is the front-end filtering. In order to make the fine distinctions necessary to handle the perplexity of a large vocabulary, a great deal of accuracy and resolution is needed in the number of filter channels and the accuracy of both the sample stream and the filters. Filtering is handled by the KSC2408 filter chip (from Kurzweil Semiconductor, a division of Kurzweil Applied Intelligence Inc.) with several

[continued)

BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 134

Picture the advantages.

true

Capture TV-quality images on your personal computer for a very affordable price.

Amazing, but true.

Only AT&T Truevision'" lets you capture and display pictures with such clarity and full-color intensity so economically. Using only a singleslot graphics board.

True versatility.

Now your personal computer can grab and store true-to-life images from any standard video source. Modify, enhance, merge and manipulate them. Superimpose text and graphics. And even send them to other locations via ordinary phone lines.

Now you can store photo files. Create electronic slide shows. And display your images in vivid color.

All with Truevision.

True economy.

All you need is the AT&TTruevision

Image Capture Board. Suggested retail price only $1,295. For even higher resolution, AT&T offers the Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter (TARGA) series. Four separate models address the spectrum of your continuous-tone imaging needs. Suggested retail prices range from $2,295 to $4,995.

For applications requiring displayonly capability, the AT&TTruevision Video Display Adapter offers the same image quality at a suggested retail price of $695.

All products can be used with the AT&T PC 6300, IBM or plug compatible PC's. All occupy a single slot in your PC.

AT&T offers software packages, too. The AT&TTruevision Image Processing Software lets you enhance and manipulate digitized video im

ages or create your own. The Truevision PC Carousel Presentation Software lets you pre-time and prearrange your TV-quality images in a sophisticated electronic slide presentation.

AT&TTruevision Still-Frame Teleconferencing Software lets you transmit your electronic photos from here to there over ordinary phone lines, and even lets you annotate screens at both sites simultaneously if you desire.

True advantages.

Picture all the ways you can use TVquality graphics to increase productivity and heighten communications efficiency. For more information, or to place an order, write to: AT&T Electronic Photography and Imaging Center, 2002 Wellesley Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46219, or call 1-800-858-TRUE.

AT&T

The right choice.

Truevision is a registered trademark of AT&T. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Truevision design and development by: ANWJWHCAARAKSGKCCCCBHBBPJKSJSSJAW ©1986 AT&T

Inquiry 30

VOICE WRITER

two-pole filters used for each filter channel. Implementing the 2408's filter algorithm (for a single two-pole filter) on a 68000 requires five seconds to process one second of speech, or five times real time. Each KSC2408 chip includes eight such filters (which operate in real time) and is thus equivalent to forty 68000 microprocessors (for the 2408 filter algorithm). The current model 1 KVW uses 2 5 KSC2408 chips, which is equivalent to using a thousand 68000 microprocessors for the filtering operation.

The equivalent of several thousand additional 68000 microprocessors (for certain dedicated algorithms, not for general-purpose computation) is provided by other special circuits used in the acoustic-matching process. The language experts and elements of the acoustic-recognition process such as normalization and other

transformations are handled by multiple conventional microprocessors.

Using the KVW

In dictation mode, you simply speak your text in a rapid, discrete manner, with brief pauses between words. The pause required between words is adjustable and should be set just long enough to reduce or eliminate the ambiguity between word pauses and stopgaps within a word. In general, this figure ranges from 100 to 250 milliseconds. The system responds within 500 ms after the end of each word by displaying the recognized word on the screen. A special status line displays any alternate word choices. In trials of the KVW, when the system has chosen the wrong word, the correct word has usually been the first or second alternate given.

The basic mode of operation is to speak into the system and watch the

text appear. You don't need to be aware of what is in the active vocabulary. You simply speak and let the vocabulary-adaptation process proceed automatically.

You can also enter commands by voice. To distinguish commands from text, you enter a command mode either by depressing a function key or by speaking an appropriate unique verbal "Enter command mode" instruction (for example, "blix"). Once you enter command mode, you can switch among different types of commands to go, for example, from application-program commands to operating-system commands.

The primary mode of integrating the KVW's capabilities with an application program is through "transparent" integration. In this mode, the KVW simulates the keyboard. Recognized text and commands are converted

[continued]

■

■

HOW CAN YOU REFUSE THIS OFFER, IF YOU ARE SHOPPING FOR IBM CLONE!

Special Sale for IBM PC/XT Compatible Computer System

Jlpinecoitr

OPTIONAL ADD ON:

A. For 5151 100 keys keyboard add $40.00

B. For 3way RGB color monitor 13" add $285.00

C. For 10 MGB internal hard disk with controller add $499.00

D. For 22 MGB internal hard disk with controller add $599.00

E. For Monochrome graphic adapter with printer port and TTL Monochrome 12" Hi-RES monitor add $60.00

Fully IBM PC/XT compatible

640K on board memories

8 IBM PC/XT standard I/O slots

8087 coprocessor ready socket

Standard 4.77 MHz clock speed

Flip-top type metal cabinet

83 key full function key board

(enlarged return key and led indicators)

Color graphic adapter with composit out

(RES. 640 X320)

One parallel port for printer

One RS-232 serial port

One game port for joystick

Real time clock with calendar

(5 years battery back up on board)

135 watts hard disk ready power supply

2 halfheight 360K floppy drives

12"monochrome monitor included

Fully assembled and tested

6 months parts and labor warranty

$949

SHIPPING CHARGES : 5% for C.O.D., 2% for prepaid orders inside Continental U. S. No Personal Checks Accepted. . ___

dealers inquiries invited. inquiry 111

• IBM it registered trad* mark of IBM Corp.

SPECIAL OFFER

PINE COMPUTER INC.

1455 MONTEREY PASS RD., SUITE 103 MONTEREY PARK, CA 91754

PHONE: (213) 269-1103

STORE HOURS: Mon. - Sat. 8 A.M. - 6 P.M.

IBM PERIPHERALS

• PC/XT 640K MOTHER BOARD, $250.00 LOADED W/BIOS

• COLOR GRAPHIC CARD W/RGB & $ 88.00 COMPOSIT VIDEO OUT PUT (640x

400 RES)

• MONOCHROME GRAPHIC CARD $120.00 W/PRINTER PORT (720x348 RES)

• FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER CARD $ 49.00 W/CABLE

• 0/384K MULTIFUNCTION CARD $119.00 W/PARALLEL PORT; SERIAL PORT;

GAME PORT; CALANDER, CLOCK (BATTERY BACK UP) AND 3B4K RAM SLOTS

• DISK I/O CARD W/PARALLEL PORT; $135.00 SERIAL PORT; GAME PORT;

CALANDER, CLOCK (BATTERY BACK UP) AND FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER W/CABLES

• PARALLEL PRINTER CARD $ 25.00

• SERIAL PRINTER CARD (RS-232) $ 53.00

• DUAL SERIAL CARD (RS-232) $ 75.00 (COM-1.COM-2)

• 0/512K RAM EXPANSION CARD $52.00

• MOUSE SYSTEM (MICRO-SOFT $ 95.00 COMPATIBLE) (3 BUTTONS)

• EXTERNAL MODEM 300/1200 BULD 5250.00 (HAYS COMPATIBLE)

• 135 WATT POWER SUPPLY 110/220V $ 95.00 SIDE SWITCH

• KEYBOARD : PC/XT LOOK ALIKE 84 $ 78.00 KEY (5150)

• KEYBOARD: SELECTIC-II LOOK $78.00 ALIKE, LARGE RT KEY

• KEYBOARD: ADVANCE 100 KEY $109.00 MODEL: 5151

• KEYBOARD : AT LOOK ALIKE, LARGE $ 98.00 RTKEY

• PARALLEL PRINTER CABLE (6 FT.) $ 14.00

• SERIAL PRINTER CABLE (6 FT.) $ 14.00

• JOY STICK (SELF CENTERING W/2 $ 25.00 FIRE BUTTON)

• 360K HALF HEIGHT DISK DRIVE $ 95.00 (PANASONIC OR TEAL)

• SURGE SUPRESSED POWER STRIP (6 $ 18.00 OUTLETS)

A CRQ

Klone for $4995

The Closer You Look, the Better We Look!

FEATURING Foreground/Background Communications

MIRROR is the mirror image of Crosstalk XVI V3.6, the industry standard in data communications software for small business computers. MIRROR'S design closely reflects Crosstalk XVI's menus, commands and features. In fact, if you have used Crosstalk XVI before, you will feel right at home with MIRROR. The one thing you will not find reflected In MIRROR is Crosstalk XVI's $195.00 price. Because we control the reflection, MIRROR costs only $49.95.

If you are new to data communications, it makes sense to go with the industry standard in data communications software, but why pay the industry standard price. MIRROR lets you have the industry standard at 1/4 the price. If you or your company have already standardized on Crosstalk XVI, then consider MIRROR for future purchases and upgrades, you'll realize significant savings, without sacrificing on quality, standardization or features.

MIRROR. IAIII5LOS

For New Users, MIRROR Provides:

• Menu/Command Driven

• Complete Crosstalk XVI V3.6 Compatibility

• New User Script File (Enables you to sign-on to your favorite online service in minutes)

• Auto-dial/Auto-answer

• Alphabetized Help-Command Summary

• Money Saving Offers From Online Information Ser

Inquiry 312

THE BIGHT DATA COMMUNICATIONS CHOICE FOR ANY USER!

For Experienced Data Communications Users, MIRROR Provides:

Complete Background Operation (concurrent operation/memory resident) Programmable Script/Command Language (Crosstalk Xvl V3.6 compatible with extensions)

Extended Error-checking Protocol Support (XMODEM-single, XMODEM-multi-file, Crosstalk, HAYES and KERMIT) Integrated Wordstar-like Text Editor MultipleTerminal Emulations (VT-100/52, IBM 3101. Televideo 912C/920/925, Tl 940, ADDS Viewpoint, ADM-3A) Enhanced Individualized Password Protec

SOFKLONE

to Order Call loll-Free

I 1 % j ■«

1210 East Pork Avenue Tallahassee, Florida 32301 For Information Call: 1-904-878-8564 TLX: 6714280 klON

$49.95

Site Licensing Available

60 Day Money-back Guarantee

Not Copy Protected

1.800-538-8157 1-800-672-3470

Ext. 848 Ext. 848

$49.95, plus $5.00 postage/handling ($8.00 for COD orders) ea. Florida residents must add 5% sales tax Overseas orders: Add $18.00 for shipping.

DISTRIBUTED IN CANADA BY:

Saraguay Software Distributors 121 Avenue Road, Suite 202 Toronto, Ontario, M5R 2G3 Ph: (416) 923-1500

VOICE WRITER

into appropriate character strings and transmitted to the operating system as if they came from the keyboard. The character strings come in through a special serial line and an appropriate driver intercepts them and presents them to the operating system as having come from the keyboard.

User Interface

One user interface that has been proposed for ease of use includes a pointing device (such as a mouse) to control the cursor, which is not easily manipulated by either keystrokes or verbal commands. The mouse would have two buttons, one to toggle between text and command mode and the second to correct errors. Again, you would have the choice of using these two buttons or using verbal commands. You would have relatively little use for the keyboard. Being able to correct most errors, go back and forth between text and commands, and control the location of the cursor would provide most of the control necessary aside from the actual verbal dictation of the text and commands.

To take this concept one step further, you could combine a flat-panel display with a touch-sensitive surface to provide a "pad" that you would hold in your lap or on your desk. As you speak to the pad, words would appear on its surface display. To control the cursor for insertion, deletion, or replacement operations, you would simply point to the screen. The two basic functions of error correction and toggle-to-command mode would be provided by either displayed "buttons," real buttons, or voice command (at your option). For the occasional requirement to type in a new vocabulary word, a QWERTY keyboard could be displayed on the screen.

Physical Configuration

The KVW consists of an approximately 100-megabyte Winchester disk, four circuit boards, and a power supply in a standard rack-mountable cabinet. While it would be possible to sit the KVW server next to the work

station it serves, it is generally found in a separate location. Thus, you interact only with your workstation and a microphone. The microphone can be either head-mounted, worn on your lapel, or desk-mounted. It is connected to a small box that digitizes the signal and transmits it on a highspeed serial line.

Future Directions

Future applications of the KVW technology include integration with natural-language-understanding systems, domain-specific expert systems, text-to-speech synthesizers, and a variety of application packages to provide executive assistants that are powerful and easy to use. Such systems will have access to the internal databases and MIS (management information system) information of the user's own organization as well as public, semipublic, and restrictedaccess databases accessed by telecommunications. Professionals, executives, students, and others will be able to converse with such systems to conduct rapid research and inquiry into a variety of questions of interest. Such questions might involve information retrieval ("How did the sales in our Western region for the past quarter compare to those of our three largest competitors?") as well as substantive analysis ("Which financing option for the proposed capital acquisition is best supported by our current balance sheet?"), Questions would be asked by voice in natural language. The questions would be clarified through two-way voice communication (or display), and final answers would be provided by either voice, display, or printout, as appropriate.

The acoustic experts in the KVW are adaptable to continuous speech input. The computation requirements must be increased to handle connected speech, as must the recognition power requirements to handle the additional perplexity of word segmentation, interword coarticulation, and function word reduction. It is expected that economically viable systems that can handle continuous

speech will follow discrete-word KVWs within a few years.

The KVW techniques are also adaptable to European languages. The acoustic experts require very little change. The principal changes necessary to the language experts are (1) to provide the appropriate grammar rules to the parsing expert (although the parsing-expert algorithms themselves don't require substantial change) and (2) to train the language experts on appropriate foreign-language text. Foreign-language KVWs will probably follow the English KVW within a few years.

Handling Japanese requires more work than do European languages such as French or German. While Japanese has only about 120 syllables (compared to around 10,000 in English), the syllable set is a perplex one, with many syllable pairs being distinguished only by the duration of the vowel. Also, the differences in Japanese syntax require modifying more than just the parsing expert's grammar rules. Most of the KVWs techniques are, however, appropriate to the language, and a Japanese machine is feasible.

A number of configurations of a speech-to-display sensory aid for the deaf using the KVW technology have been proposed, which the company plans to pursue. Alternatives range from a speaker-independent version of the KVW (with an increased error rate) to a system that displays phonetic transcriptions rather than words. Such a phonetic transcription would contain some insertion, deletion, and substitution errors but could be understood by the user with appropriate training.

Conclusion

The introduction of large-vocabulary ASR is expected to provide dramatic productivity gains in creating written text, an optimal mode of communication between persons and intelligent computerized devices and services for information retrieval and analysis, as well as improved understanding and communication for the deaf population. ■

1YTE • MARCH 1986

FORTRAN PROGRAMMERS

LOOK FAMILIAR?

F77L GETS YOU OUT OF THESE SITUATIONS

1. PROGRESS IMPOSSIBLE

You've tried other PC FORTRANS, but none of them allow you to complete your project. It could be the lack of key features, the overwhelming bugs, being stuck with a subset, or the inability to run large programs.

The answer to your problems is F77L. With F77L you not only get the full ANSKX3.9—1978) Standard but additional features for flexibility in programming. We have done more than simply design a product to run all your programs, we implemented a system that allows users to reach their full programming potential. At LCS, we have been specializing in FORTRAN for over 16 years, and we believe that our commitment and dedication to FORTRAN has resulted in the finest language system available. "Judging by Lahey's corporate history, they've got lots of experience writing FORTRAN compilers. Judging by my experience with their product, I would agree wholeheartedly." IEEE Software, November 1985

2. THE ENDLESS COMPILE

Your valuable time is spent waiting

endlessly for your programs to

compile.

We have not only developed an

unbelievably fast compiler but we

did it without sacrificing features,

diagnostics, or the speed of execution.

This uncompromising attitude is evident in the quality and performance of F77L. Whether you are downloading from mainframes or developing on the personal computer, you can appreciate the importance of compiler speed.

"FjfL compiled the five files in a total of 12 minutes, which was 4 times as fast as MS FORTRAN and an astounding 6 times as fast as Pro FORTRAN."

PC Magazine, Dec. 24, 1985

3. MYSTERY MESSAGES

The messages your FORTRAN is giving don't make any sense. F77L eliminates the confusion by explicitly diagnosing errors. The compiler and run time messages describe, in plain English, the nature and location of the error. For logical program errors, we provide our unique Source On-Line Debugger (SOLD). SOLD allows you to interface with your program at the FORTRAN level and doesn't require re-compiling or re-linking. If you happen to run into an especially tough problem, you can call our technical staff for assistance.

"The manual that comes with this compiler is well put together. The messages are clearly explained, the compiler's unique features are well documented.. .All in all, FjyL is a fine, well supported product that we think will do very well in the marketplace." Computer Language, January 1986

Isn't it time to say good-bye to all the shortcomings of your old FORTRAN system, and get back to enjoying programming.

F77L

"THE PROGRAMMER'S FORTRAN"

VERSION 2.0 NOW AVAILABLE

"Lahey's F77L FORTRAN is the compiler of choice."

PC magazine

$477

Requires: PC/MS-DOS, 256K, 8087/80287

TO ORDER OR FOR MORE INFORMATION (213) 541-1200

Lahey Computer Systems, Inc.

31244 Palos Verdes Dr. W., Suite #243 Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90274

MS FORTRAN e a trademark of Mcrosorl Corporation Professorial FORTRAN ts a trademark of International Busness Macnines

Inquiry 202

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 187

*>*£

i^S

THE CMO ADVANTAGE

v THE BEST PRICES!

*» Next day shipping on all in slock items.

*• Free easy access order inquiry.

^ Orders from outside

Pennsylvania save state sales tax.

^ Free technicial support with our factory trained technical staff.

x There is no limit and no deposit on C.O.D. orders.

s There's no extra charge for using your MasterCard or Visa. Your card is not charged until we ship.

*• No waiting period for cashiers checks.

s We accept purchase orders from qualified corporations. Subject to approval.

^ Educational discounts available to qualified institutions.

^ FREE CATALOG MEMBERSHIP.

ORDER LINE

CALL TOLL-FREE 1-800-233-8950

Educational Institutions Call Toll-Free

1-800-221-4283

CUSTOMER SERVICE

& TECH SUPPORT

1-717-327-1450 Dept. A103

MAILING ADDRESS

Computer Mail Order Dept. A103

477 East Third Street Williamsport, PA 17701

MEMEER DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION

CREDIT CARDS

HOME COMPUTERS

VISA

IMaitwCaKi;

|"'© Inquiry 84 J [M

SHIPPING0™

Add 3%, minimum $7.00 shipping and handling on all orders. Larger shipments may require additional charges.

All items subject to availability and price change.

Returned shipments may be subject to a restocking fee.

1-800-268-4559

Other Provinces

1-416-828-0866

In Toronto

TELEX: 06-218960

2505 Dunwin Drive,

Mississauga, Ontario

Canada L5L1T1

All prices shown are for U.S.A.

orders.

Call The Canadian Office for

Canadian prices.

GRAPHICS

ATARI

130XE (128K) CALL

520ST (512K) CALL

800XL 64K CALL

1010 Recorder $49.99

1050 Disk Drive CALL

1020 Printer $29.99

1027 Letter Quality Printer $129.00

1030 Direct Connect Modem $59.99

£c commodore

C1Z8 Computer $269.00

C1571 (Disk Drive tor C128) $249.00

C1902 (RGB 13" Monitor for C128).S2B9.00

C1670 (Modem for C128) $179.00

C64 Computer CALL

C1541 Disk Drive $189.00

C1530 Datasette $39.99

M-801 Dot Matrix Printer $149.00

MCS 803 Dot Matrix Printer $179.00

C1802 Color Monitor $189.00

C1660 Auto Modem $59.99

DPS 1101 Daisy Printer $339.00

Comrex 220 (C64 Interface) $79.99

Professional Software

Fleet System II w/Spell^C64/128$49.99

Trivia Fever $29.99

Info Pro $179.00

APPLE

APPLE lie CALL

APPLE lie CALL

MaclNTOSH CALL

lie LCD Display CALL

■Polaroid

Palette $1299.00

Power Processor $229.00

Illuminated Slide Mounter $39.99

Polacolor 2 Pack tilm $18.99

PORTABLE COMPUTERS

What HEWLETT

Wl/iM PACKARD

41CV $189.99

41CX $249.99

HP 11C $62.99

HP 12C $89.99

HP 15C $89.99

HP 16C $89.99

HPIL Module $98.99

HPIL Cassette or Printer $359.99

Card Reader $143.99

Extended Function Module $63.99

Time Module $63.99

We stock the full line of HP calculator products

SEC

PC-8401 LS CALL

PC-8201 Portable Computer....$319.00

PC-8231 Disk Drive $599.00

PC-8221A Thermal Printers $149.00

PC-8281A Data Recorder $99.99

PC-8201-06 8K RAM $79.99

SHARP

PC-1350 $149.00

PC-1261 $149.00

PC-1500A $169.00

PC-1250A $89.99

CE-125 Printer/Cassette $129.00

CE-150 Color Printer Cassette.$149.00 CE-161 16K RAM $129.00

Software Specials

8036 Atari Writer $24.99

Star Raiders $4.99

Missile Command $4.99

Defender $4.99

Galaxian $4.99

Asteroids $4.99

Centipede $4.99

Miner 2049'er $4.99

Eastern Front $4.99

VisiCalc $39.99

Arcade Champ $9.99

BRODERBUND

The Print Shop $28.99

Music Shop $28.99

Graphics Library $17.99

Graphics Library II $17.99

Graphics Library III $17.99

Bank Street Writer $32.99

File (C64) $39.99

Paperclip w/Spell Pack $49.99

The Consultant DBMS $37.99

Home Pak $29.99

Bus Card II $119.00

80 Col Display $99.99

MODEMS

ACCESSORIES

CURTIS

Diamond SP-1 $32.99

Emerald SP-2 $39.99

Sapphire SPF-1 $52.99

Ruby SPF-2 $62.99

Safe Strip SP-3 $19.99

KENSINGTON

Masterpiece $99.99

MaslerPiece Plus $119.00

DISKETTES

maxell

3W SS/DD (10) $24.99

3Va" DS/DD (10) $34.99

5'/i" MD-1 w/Hardcases (10) $12.99

SV4" MD-2 w/Hardcases (10) $18.99

5Vi" MD-2-HD for AT (10) $39.99

3'/2" 5 pack SS/DD $13.99

kTI Verbatim.

5Va" SS/DD $19.99

5Va" DS/DD $24.99

Disk Analyzer $24.99

Elephant 3'/!" SS/DD $29.99

Elephant 514" SS/SD $13.99

Elephant 5V4" SS/DD $14.99

Elephant 5'A" DS/DD $16.99

Elephant Premium DS/DD(50)....$79.99

5V«" DS/DD (loppy disks

(Box Of 10) $26.99

DISK HOLDERS

INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS

Flip'n File 10 $2.99

Flip'n File 50 $17.99

Flip'n File 50 w/lock $24.99

Flip'n File 100 $24.99

Flip'n File Data Case $9.99

AMARAY

50 Disk Tub 5V4" $9.99

30 Disk Tub 3'/!" $9.99

^INCHOTC

Volksmodem $59.99

Volksmodem 300/1200 $189.99

Signalman Express $259.00

Lightning 2400 Baud $399.00

Expressi $199.00

6470 (64/128) 300/1200 Baud..$139.00

DIGITAL DEVICES

AT300 - 300 Baud (Atari) $99.99

©Hayes

Smartmodem 300 $139.00

Smartmodem 1200 $389.00

Smartmodem 1200B £359.00

Smartmodem 2400 $599.00

Micromodem lie $149.00

Smart Com II $89.99

Chronograph $199.00

Transet 1000 $309.00

AST

Reach 1200 Baud Half Card...$399.00

iwp miCROBITS

MPP-1064 AD/AA (C-64) $69.99

[Novation [Si

Smart Cat Plus $299.00

J-Cat $99.99

Novation 2400 $549.00

Apple Cat II $229.00

212 Apple Cat II $379.00

Apple Cat 212 Upgrade $229.00

Macmodem $279.00

Quadmodem II

300/1200 $339.00

300/1200/2400 $499.00

EVEREX

1200 Baud Internal (IBM/PC)...$199.00

DRIVES

HARD

[■MEW

10 meg Bernoulli Box $1899.00

20 meg Bernoulli Box $2599.00

#TAILGKASS TECHNOLOGIES COMMITTED IOMImOB.

25, 35, 50, 80 meg (PC) from $1299.00

IRWIN

Tape Backup CALL

^=^VEREX

60 Meg Internal Backup System$799.00

U-SCI

10 meg Internal IBM $399.00

20 meg Internal IBM $549.00

CORE

AT20-AT72MB CALL

PRIAM

40, 60 MB (PC, XT, AT) CALL

FLOPPY

INDUS

Atari GT $219.00

C-64 GT $219.00

SD1 C-64 Single $219.00

SD2 C-64 Dual $469.00

landon

320K 5V«" (PC) $119.00

TEAC

320K 5V»" $119.00

MONITORS

Video 300 Green $129.00

Video 300A Amber $139.00

Video 310A Amber TTL $169.00

Color 300 Composite $169.00

Color 500 Composite/RGB $289.00

Color 600 Hi-Res. RGB $399.00

Color 710 Ultra Hi-Res $439.00

Color 722 Dual Mode $529.00

SEC

JB1201 G/1205A (ea.) $79.99

JB1270G/1275A (ea.) $99.99

JB12B0G TTL $129.00

JB1285A TTL $129.00

JC1460 RGB $249.00

JC1225 Composite $179.00

JC1401 Multi Sync RGB $549.00

PRINCETON

MAX-12E Amber $179.00

HX-9 9" RGB $469.00

HX-9E Enhanced $519.00

HX-12 12" RGB $469.00

HX-12E Enhanced $559.00

SR-12 Hi-Res $599.00

SR-12P Professional $699.00

115 12" Green $119.00

116 12" Amber $129.00

121 TTL Green $139.00

122 TTL Amber $149.00

610 510x200 RGB $NEW

620 640x200 RGB $NEW

630 640x200 RGB $NEW

640 720x400 RGB $NEW

QUADIWl^

8400 Quadchrome I $499.00

8410 Quadchrome II $339.00

8420 Amberchrome $179.00

6500 Quad Screen $1449.00

ZVM 1220/1230 (ea.) $99.99

ZVM 1240 IBM Amber $149.00

ZVM 130 Color $269.00

ZVM 131 Color $249.00

ZVM 133 RGB $429.00

ZVM 135 RGB/Color $459.00

ZVM 136 RGB/Color $599.00

INTERFACES

Multi I/O (Apple II) $159.00

MMfHtAcrtCAi

mPtJHPHOULS

Graphcard $79.99

Seriall Card $99.99

Microbutter II + $169.00

Microbutfer 32K $189.00

Microfazer from $139.00

Efazer (Epson) from $79.99

JJOrange (Tlkro

Grappler CD (C64) $89.99

Grappler + (Apple) $89.99

Grappler 16K+ (Apple) $159.00

DIGITAL DEVICES

Ape Face (Atari) $4'„.99

U-Print A (Atari) $54.99

U-A16/Buffer (Atari) $74.99

U-Call Interface (Atari) $39.99

U-Print C (C64) $49.99

P-16 Print Buffer $74.99

U-Print 16 apple lie $89.99

a

PRINTERS

Canon

A40 CALL

LBP-8A1 Laser CALL

^CITIZEN

MSP-10 (80 col.) $279.00

MSP-15 (132 col.) $389.00

MSP-20 (80 col.) $349.00

MSP-25 (132 col.) $509.00

crroH

Prowriter 7500 $179.00

Prowriter 1550P $349.00

Slarwriter 10-30 $399.00

corona

Lazer LP-300 $2799.00

DIABLO

D25 Daisywheel $549.00

635 Daisywheel $899.00

D80IF Daisywheel CALL

d*sywriter

2000 $749.00

EPSON

Homewriter 10, LX-80, LX-90 CALL

FX-85, FX-286, RX-100, JX-80 CALL

DX-10, DX-20, DX-35 CALL

SQ-2000, Hi-80. HS-80. AP-80 CALL

LQ-800, LQ-1000. LQ-1500 CALL

JUKI

6000 Letter Quality CALL

6100 Letter Quality CALL

6200 Letter Quality CALL

6300 Letter Quality CALL

5510 Dot Matrix CALL

LEGEND

808 Dot Matrix 100 cps $179.00

1080 Dot Matrix 100 cps $259.00

1380 Dot Matrix 130 cps $289.00

1385 Dot Matrix 165 cps $339.00

NEC

3000 Series $999.00

8000 Series $1399.00

ELF 360 $449.00

Pinwriter 560 $999.00

OKIDA1A

182. 183. 192. 193, 2410, 84 CALL

Okimate 10 (Specify C64/Atari)$189.00 Okimale 20 (IBM) CALL

Panasonic

KX1080 $NEW

KX1091 $259.00

KX1092 $389.00

KX1093 $479.00

Quadjet $399.00

Quad Laser CALL

^SJIYER-REEO

500 Letter Quality $279.00

550 Letter Quality $419.00

770 Letter Quality $759.00

§M»r

SG-10C (C64 Interface) CALL

SB/SD/SG/SR Series CALL

Powertype Letter Quality CALL

Texas Instruments

TI850 $529.00

TI855 $639.00

TI865 $799.00

TOSHIBA

1340 (80 column) $469.00

P341 (132 column) $949.00

P351 (132 column) $1099.00

PC COMPATIBLES

Inquiry 84

SOFTWARE FOR IBM

IBM PC SYSTEMS

Configured to your

specification. Call for Best Price!

IBM-PC, IBM-PC II, IBM-XT, IBM-AT

KP-2000 Portable .7 CALL

Kaypro PC CALL

ANSA Software

Paradox :. $549.00

ASHTON-TATE

Framework II $399.00

dBase III Plus CALL

BORLAND

Lightening $59.99

Sidekick (unprotected) $59.99

Reflex $59.99

Newspack $59.99

CENTRAL POINT

Copy II PC-Backup $29.99

DECISION RESOURCES

Chartmaster $229.00

Signmaster $169.00

Diagram Master $219.00

FOX & GELLER

Quickcode III $169.00

FUNK SOFTWARE

Sideways $39.99

HARVARD SOFTWARE

Total Project Manager $269.00

INFOCOM

Cornerstone $279.00

LIFETREE

Volkswriler 3 $159.00

LIVING VIDEOTEXT

Think Tank $109.00

Ready $64.99

LOTUS

Symphony CALL

1-2-3 CALL

MECA SOFTWARE

Managing Your Money 2.0 $99.99

MICROSTUF SOFTWARE

Crosstalk XVI $89.99

Crosstalk Mark IV $149.00

Remote $89.99

MICRORIM SOFTWARE

R:Base 4000 $249.00

R:Base 5000 $389.00

Clout 2.0 $129.00

MICROPRO

WordStar 2000 $249.00

WordStar 2000 + $299.00

WordStar Professional $199.00

Easy $99.99

MICROSOFT

Word $229.00

Mouse $139.00

Flight Simulator $39.99

MultiPlan $129.00

MULTIMATE

Advantage $289.00

Multi Mate Word Proc $219.00

On File $89.99

Just Write $89.99

NOUEMENON

Intuit $69.99

NORTON

Norton Utilities 3.1 $59.99

ONE STEP

Golf's Best $39.99

PFS:IBM

First Success W/F/P $199.00

File/Graph (ea.) $79.99

Report $74.99

Write/Proof Combo $79.99

PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE

Wordplus-PC w/Boss $249.00

THE SOFTWARE GROUP

Enable $259.00

SATELLITE SYSTEMS

Word Perfect 4.1 $219.00

SORCIMflUS Accounting

AP/AR/GL/INV/OE (ea.) $299.00

SuperCalc III $199.00

EasyWriter II System $199.00

Super Project $199.00

SPI SOFTWARE

Open Access $379.00

SUBLOGIC

Jet $39.99

5th GENERATION Fast Back $109.00

PC-138 Series CALL

PC-148 Series CALL

PC-158 Series CALL

PC-160 Series CALL

PC-171 Series CALL

AT-200 Series CALL

^SANYO

MBC 550-2 Single Drive $649.00

MBC 555-2 Dual Drive $949.00

MBC 675 Portable CALL

MBC775 $1699.00

MBC 880 Desktop CALL

Axnr

Safari (7300) CALL

6300 CALL

corona

PPC400 Dual Portable $1289.00

PPCXT 10 meg Portable $1989.00

PC40022 Dual Desktop $1389.00

PC400-HD2 10 meg $1989.00

ITT

ITT X-TRA

256K, 2 Drive System CALL

256K.10 meg Hard Drive System CALL XP5, 20 meg CALL

Sperry-AT as low as $1749.00

Sperry-IT as low as $2699.00

Call for Specific Configuration! All Models CALL

EME5E3ZIE

Rampage $379.00

Six Pack Plus $229.00

I/O Plus II $139.00

Advantage-AT $399.00

Graph Pak/64K $599.00

MonoGraph Plus $399.00

Preview Mono $299.00

PC Net Cards $379.00

5251/11 On-line $669.00

5251/12 Remote $579.00

IRMA 3270..„~"™~! $879.00

IRMA Print $999.00

IRMA Smart Alec $779.00

=SVEREX—

Edge Card $259.00

Graphics Edge $259.00

Magic Card II $169.00

HERCULES

Graphics $299.00

Color $159.00

ssociaies

IDEA 5251 $589.00

MYLEX

The Chairman $469.00

PARADISE

Color/Mono Card $149.00

Modular Graphics Card $259.00

Multi Display Card $219.00

Five Pack C, S $129.00

Bob Board $359.00

ll —

Captain - 64 $199.00

Captain Jr. 128K $199.00

Graphics Master $469.00

QUADBAN^

Quadport-AT 3sE.. $119.00

Liberty-AT (128K) $349.00

The Gold Quadboard $449.00

The Silver Quadboard $239.00

Expanded Quadboard $209.00

Liberty $309.00

QuadSprint $499.00

QuadLink $399.00

QuadColor $199.00

QuadJr. Expansion Chassis $419.00

Expansion Chassis Memory $199.00

Chronagraph $79.99

Parallel Interface Board $64.99

INTEL

PCNC8087 5MHz

PCNC8087-2 B MHz CALL

PCNC80287 6 MHz FOR

1010 PC-Above Board YOUR

1110 PS-Above Board pc

2010 AT-Above Board

Dept. A103

190 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 68 for End-Users. Inquiry 69 for DEALERS ONLY

HOMEBOUND COMPUTING

INCREASING INDEPENDENCE FOR THE AGING

by K. G. Engelhardt and Roger Edwards

Robotic aids and smart technology can help us age less dependency

FOR THE FIRST time in history, a significant portion of our population is living to be senior citizens, and we have no experience in caring for large numbers of healthy, literate, articulate older persons, many of whom are highly educated. As our society grays, we need more ways to help increase the independence of those with chronic and multiple disabilities. Rapid advances in microprocessorbased technologies are providing us with many new possibilities. Their miniaturization, flexibility, modularity, and ever-decreasing costs now make it possible to realistically address human problems that we could not just 10 years ago.

The need to control our environment and our lives in order to reduce dependence is critical to human development. Loss of personal independence is costly, not only in actual dollars spent on institutional and long-term care, but also in emotional and psychological terms. The need to reduce premature and unnecessary institutionalization of our elderly citizens is critical. We need more devices that will increase the in

dependence and the sphere of control of individuals with disabilities and to augment the care givers' tasks with state-of-the-art tools to help them provide better care.

This article discusses potential applications of microprocessor-based technology for increasing independence in those with declining abilities. From panic buttons to smart houses, from stationary telemanipulators to self-navigating robots, from memory-aid devices to expert systems for daily living, microprocessorbased technology can assist the functionally dependent older person.

Applications

An applications team was formed during the winter of 1984 to investigate potential uses for robots and roboticrelated technologies. The team identified 54 subgroups of tasks and divided them into 12 major categories: patient transport-lift-transfer, housekeeping, ambulation (walking patients to help prevent bedsores), physical therapy, depuddler (urine cleaner), surveillance (to help with wandering patients), physician assis

tant, nurse assistant, patient assistant, vital-signs monitor, mental stimulation, and one miscellaneous group. Let's look at some possible robotic applications in a few of these groups. Lifting and Transferring: The challenge of lifting and transferring individuals with partial or total paralysis, extensive weakness, or increased fragility due to age is significant. One robotic solution could be a trackmounted robot arm that glides along the ceiling until it reaches the room to which it has been summoned. The care giver or the older person could then direct the arm to assist in lifting or transferring the individual from bed to chair or wheelchair to bath, for example. This assistance could also help

[continued

K. G. Engelhardt is a senior research scientist and codirector of the Health and Human Services Robotics Laboratory at the Robotics institute of Carnegie-Mellon University.

Roger Edwards is a research scientist in the H.H.S. Robotics Laboratory at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie-Mellon University. They can be reached at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie-Mellon University, Schenley Park. Pittsburgh. PA 15213.

MARCH 1986

i YTE

191

AGING INDEPENDENTLY

An expert system could aid in keeping people independent and in their homes.

reduce back injuries and increase job satisfaction for health-care workers and offer increased independence for the older person.

Ambulation: This same ceilingmounted robotic arm could offer an "elbow" to people who need exercise but are a bit shaky, or it could help by pushing a wheelchair along the arm's track corridor. Another solution could be comfortable parachute-like harnesses to safely support weakened individuals in standing positions. These "people walkers" would be programmed to move at varying speeds (under computer control) depending on the individual's prescribed exercise needs. Currently, patients are rarely walked individually on a daily basis because there is not enough free staff time to assist them. Regularly prescribed exercises might affect an older person's quality of life, health, and sleeping patterns. Patient Assistant: Robotic aids can also perform manipulation tasks in an older person's physical environment. Our research has shown that older people are capable of using a robotic aid, and it has identified a range of health and independence-related applications from stationary, sensoryless, bedside-mounted manipulators to problem-solving, self-navigating vehicles with robotic arms that work in coordination. A low-cost manipulator could be mounted on a bedside table, hospital bed, or wall track and perform pick-and-place tasks for a bedbound person. A stationary system with some sensory capabilities, such as force and tactile sensors, could help with some personal grooming and feeding tasks. A mobile, guided vehicle could deliver food trays or perform simple fetchand-carry tasks. A self-navigating

robot wheelchair could transport the individual and have a robotic arm attached to perform manipulation tasks.

Daily-Living Expert Systems

Expert systems that offer cognitive assistance are another possibility. Such a system could help someone with physical or cognitive limitations to make the decisions required in everyday living. An expert system could aid in keeping people independent and in their own homes for a longer time. It could help remind older individuals to perform certain tasks. It could also alert a care giver elsewhere should a change of status signal an emergency situation.

Development of a memory aid or "mind jogger" for specific activities is the first step in creating an expert system for daily living. Such aids are needed for a wide spectrum of people with short-term memory deficienr cies. Work on this problem is underway at the University of Michigan (see reference 1). Development of an effective memory aid for those with declining cognitive abilities depends on the system's ability to communicate reminders to its user and on the user's ability to comprehend those messages. Both the quality and content of the information conveyed are important considerations.

What is the best way for a reminding aid to present information so it is most likely to be understood? We know virtually nothing about how much and what kinds of information are needed for various use groups. There is a range of choices that vary depending on the intended user. Whether we use visual or auditory reminders or both depends on the user's "cognitive perceptual and motor demands." Voorhees (see reference 2) has demonstrated the importance of careful integration of multimodal information systems in designing airline cockpits. This analogy is not as farfetched as it may seem, since automated feedback in both instances serves a reminding function. In both cases, we must consider specific characteristics associated with visual and voice output. Our goal, as in Voorhees's

cockpit design, is to deliver the "maximum amount of information transfer under conditions of minimum cognitive effort" (see reference 2, page 54). Determining the requirements for devices that improve independence requires examining the functional capabilities of older users. Their cognitive statuses, hearing losses, and visual abilities are three main factors in designing input control schemes and effective verbal or visual feedback.

Lawton's concept of "centers of control" that older people create in their environments (see reference 3) can be a starting point for considering technology's capability for increasing independence. He observes that older people with decreased mobility generally have a favorite easy chair surrounded by those objects that they consider essential, including tables, television, medicines, water and pitcher, pictures, and other personal memorabilia. They usually face an entrance so they know who is entering and leaving. Since elderly individuals often spend increasing amounts of time in their own homes, control over their home environments becomes increasingly important to their sense of independence.

In an airplane, the cockpit is the organized center for controlling an aircraft. Its design allows the pilot to maximize the interactive workspace. Work with disabled persons, whose wheelchairs serve as their primary interactive lifespace, has brought a new meaning to this concept of "centers of control."

Voice I/O

For older people, voice technology offers a more natural approach to controlling objects and devices within their personal space. They need a natural-language interface that enables them to communicate with the system in everyday English as opposed to computerese.

Environmental and remote control of televisions, appliances, stereos, doors, windows, and locks under voice control already exist. Voice operation of entertainment items is

(continued)

192 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Turbocharged AT ? Turbocharge Your Office.

Introducing the ARC 286 turbo. An AT compatible personal computer.

We're ARC.

OEM and Distributor Sales:

Please contact Debra, (818) 289-8742.

National Accounts:

Please contact Djohan, (818) 289-8744.

.iL r r r r: r r r r r t t t i ■7 V i' i / / iii i r »/ /' . / l i" i' i' f i' i _l/ / / i (I IT! i mjl

m

XVClidbility. We design it in, we build it in, we test it in. With two separate R&D staffs. With the highest quality components and board. With 72 hour burn in. And we guarantee it for two years.

A 6CnnOIOgy . We produced the first guaranteed compatible XT "turbo" system. The first V-20 based system designed to run at 2.8 times XT speed. The first XT dimensioned AT upgrade.

V ill UG. It's not an outdated concept at ARC. Whether your company is small or big, the value we provide makes a difference to your business. At ARC, providing value is our job.

XT and at are trademark of International Business Machines Corp.

American Research Corporation 2001 West Chestnut Street Alhambra, CA 91803

Inquiry 392 for End-Users. Inquiry 393 for DEALERS ONLY.

Reliability.

American Research Corporation Technology. Value.

MARCH I?

IYTE 193

NO OTHER PRINTERS CAN PRINT THIS

Panasonic

Panasonic. That name already says a lot about the kind of reliability you expect from a computer printer.

But we don't just let our name speak for itself. Every Panasonic printer is backed by Panasonic's exclusive 2-year warranty. How many printers do you know of that can make that statement?

And speaking of strong statements, consider these, as well:

All Panasonic printers, whether dot matrix or daisy wheel, are compatible with today's most popular business computers.

All of them offer a variety of sophisticated advances you'd expect from a company like Panasonic. Like astonishingly legible compressedletter styles available for easy-to-read spreadsheets on any of our dot matrix printers. Or an impressive array of word processing embellishments like boldface, shadow, underline and more on our daisy wheel printers.

KX-P1080DOI Matrix 100 CPS KX-P1091 Dot Matrix 120 CPS KX-P1092 Dot Malnx 180 CPS

All of them have Panasonic's seamless, endless, continually self re-inking ribbon so you can print clean and fast from the first character to the last.

And speaking of fast, you'll be able to print your documents at velocities of up to 240 characters per second.

Most printers feature time-saving bidirectional printing and logic-seeking. Some even have a built-in print mode or font selectable switch that allows you to change printing styles directly on the printer rather than through your computer.

But what really says the most about Panasonic printers is how well we back them: two full years, double the standard in the industry. See it at your dealer.

Need we say more?

(Oh, yes.. .for the dealer near you, call toll free:1-800-PIC-8086.)

Panasonic

Industrial Company

KX-P1592 Do! Malnx 180 CPS

KX-P1595 Do! Matrix 240 CPS KX-P3131 Daisy Wheel 17 CPS KX-P3151 Daisy Wheel 22 CPS

194 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 262

AGING INDEPENDENTLY

important also. Security can be enhanced by voice-activated door locks and by using smoke detectors that have feedback designed for "aged ears."

Voice technology might play an important role in functions such as reminding older people to take their medicines. A buzzer or bell gives only one level of communication: sound without content. Voice messages act as a more effective memory jogger by reminding people what they need to do.

We can apply principles already operating in natural-language database interfaces to this area. Several age-related considerations could be important in voice input and output and in a natural query language for older users. The jargon or slang of relevant decades could be stored and used to optimize a specific person's ability to communicate by using

familiar terms. For example, if you want to ask whether an older person wants to listen to the stereo, you might use words such as "record player" or "phonograph" to improve that person's understanding of the question.

Voice output could also be used interactively with human input to help maximize functional well-being. For instance, a smart system might ask its user, "Can you hear this?" and, based on the response (or nonresponse), adjust volume levels of various output devices. The system could also decrease or increase its speech output rate in order to increase intelligibility. In this way, it could temporarily or permanently adapt to changing user or environmental characteristics. Redundancy and repetition may also play important roles in successful use. In one research situation where we worked with older persons with

cognitive deficits, the guide rule was "everything in triplicate—we repeated all instructions three times.

Creating a Safer Smart Environment

Another potential application for the aging or disabled person is the smart card—'one or more microelectronic chips mounted in a piece of plastic the size of a credit card" (see reference 4)—which can contain a complete medical history and other relevant information and may provide an easy, secure way of interfacing with intelligent machines. If paramedics had card-reading machines, they could obtain vital health information very quickly in an emergency situation. Devices that can read such cards also have sufficient information about an individual to adapt its feedback, pace, and overall interaction to that person's

(continued)

,. ••• ••• lit ..

>• ... »*• IJJ ..

»•••« ••••«.i Si.

;::::• Httlv ::

::: ::: *?:•?•!

:::::: nhir

••• ••• ill'

... ••• in ... ••• in its

::::::::::«: ::::::

...... nam ,,.:.:

••• ••••••• *••***•

••* ••••♦•* *•♦••

••• •••••*• ••••■••

••• ••• •*• *••

••• •••■•*• !•• ••*

=•• ••••••• ••• •••

I HHH HHH HIM HKH I^^HI ^HHi H^W HHH HI . '>HHn HH IHi HHM H^fli VHIBH HB MP

■ Lj LiliUl'iMJia'.LL Wf

WWWiWf\\wiWf*rl■<■■ WWMIWWM .: wr

wmmTtmmmmmmwmmwm*

■■■■■■■■■■■■■'

Inquiry 63

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 195

AGING INDEPENDENTLY

People need support without isolation as well as the tools to help protect dignity and privacy.

capabilities. For example, an automatic-teller machine could adjust its speech rate or volume when it detects a particular code on a smart card.

Smart-card technology could also be used to pay for home-delivered groceries ordered through a computerized television catalog. A nutritionist, as part of a home-care team, could maintain a minimum recurring order that the older person could add to. The smart card could pay for and inventory the groceries when they were delivered. In this way, a forgetful older person could obtain and pay for groceries and not have to worry about cash transactions or remembering to buy necessary foods and supplies. Such applications could help delay removing older people from their own homes, from independent living.

Emergency-alert systems provide an individual with immediate access to a health-care affiliate and enable a distressed individual to contact or signal neighbors, family, or professional help. In one European country, the personnel at the midway answering point have met the older users so that the person who responds to the call for help is not an unknown. This blending of a personalized approach with telecommunications technology offers security without isolation for many older people.

Electronic instrumentation enables us to monitor babies during birth, unstable heart patients, and other severely traumatized individuals in order to determine the well-being of a person "at risk." The capabilities of this technology have also been extended to include remote monitoring

of well individuals in potentially hazardous situations, for example, astronauts. By combining remote vital-signs monitoring with panic buttons, we can achieve an interactive biotelemetry that provides a chronically but not critically ill person with the physical and psychological security to remain in a home setting. Individuals who are unable to call for help are assured that "someone" will know when they are not functioning properly and will initiate assistance. We need to provide support without isolation as well as the tools to help protect dignity and privacy.

Ultimately, a total living environment that is smart enough to help maximize functional security and capability for a disabled, elderly person may be the best way to care for our growing over-85 population. The first steps to creating a smart, forgiving environment could incorporate current distributed-intelligence capabilities such as appliances (e.g., irons) that turn themselves off when they are not in use, stoves that buzz or speak to you (like the seat-belt reminder to buckle up), and programmed thermostats that help conserve energy.

Brody claims that the first integrated smart house will be built in 1986-87 (see reference 5) and will include appliances that can communicate with each other and with the occupants, environmental and appliance operation from a single TV-like remote-control device or through voice commands, energy-consumption management, and security through various sensing devices. Subsequent efforts could incorporate technological capabilities already utilized in the space program to monitor the health and well-being of a homebound older person.

Conclusion

While we as a nation have conquered many of the challenges of land, air, undersea, and space travel, we have not conquered the frontiers of our own aging bodies and minds. One of the first steps we need to take is functional rehabilitation. If we can provide

the assistance that will enable people of all ages and abilities to function at their highest level of performance, we will be taking giant steps forward. Using technology to serve human needs is not a novel idea. However, using evolving electronic innovations in this service role is still an exciting new field to be explored as we begin to understand our older citizens and their roles.

A new era of technology demands a new era of attitudes. The use of technology to augment human independence and dignity is a critical concern for each of us as we also age. Today's elderly have witnessed more rapid technological change during their lives than has any prior generation. Many of these people rode in horse-drawn buggies as children, drove family automobiles in their middle years, and now fly to visit their grandchildren. It is up to us to consider what technologies we want developed and available to us as our abilities also decline, so that we can live longer, more independent lives. ■

REFERENCES

1. Levine, S. P.. N. L. Kirsch, M. FellonKrueger, and L. A. Jaros. "The Microcomputer as an 'Orthotic' Device for Cognitive Disorders." Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Rehabilitation Engineering. page 130. Ottawa, Canada: 1984; Washington, DC: RESNA.

2. Voorhees, James W. "The Integration of Voice and Visual Displays for Aviation Systems." ]ournal of the American Voice \nputl Output Society, vol. 1, no. 1, June 1984, page 48.

3. Lawton, M. P. Technology and Aging Conference. Palo Alto. CA: March 1985.

4. Mclvor, R. "Smart Cards." Scientific American, vol. 253. no. 5. November 1985, page 152.

5. Brody, H. "The Smartest House on the Block." Higft Technology, vol. 5, no. 5, May 1985, page 60.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank Margaret Gianinni. director of the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service of the Veterans Administration in Washington. DC. for her support. We would also like to thank the staff and patients who have participated in our research at the VA Nursing Home Care Unit in Menlo Park. California and colleagues at PAVAMC.

196 BYTE • MARCH 1986

WE'RE TEACHING COMPUTERS AND VIDEO NEW TRICKS!

INTRODUCING TELECOMP COMPUTER/VIDEO COMBINERS

Now, Add Full Color Video From Any Video Source To Your Micro-Computer Display...

VIRTUALLY NO LIMIT TO THE APPLICATIONS

With just a few simple cable connections, TELEcomp lets you interface almost any micro-computer with virtually all video equipment without limitation. Imasine the new horizons your microcomputer can attain with the added power of video Simulations become real! Demonstrations come alive! Instruction and training can be combined with data displays. Computer graphics and animations mixed with video take on a new dimension. Research and development groups, scientists, doctors, and trainers, to name a few, can generate computer data and make real-time video observations all on a single monitor screen.

RECORD THE COMBINED OUTPUT ON VIDEO TAPE OR DISC

And with the TELEcomp 2000 Series, you can project the signal using any composite or RGB video projector. In fact, you can broadcast the signal or even transmit it by satellite for applications such as teleconferencing, because the TELEcomp 2000 returns an NTSC standard video signal, equal to the quality of the video input—with the computer output combined!

USE WITH MOST MICRO-COMPUTERS. .. NO SOFTWARE REQUIRED

TELEcomp has been engineered to provide you with the maximum in benefits and versatility. TELEcomp interfaces with virtually all computers with TTL or composite video output. This includes IBM PC/XT/AT and compatibles, Apple, Commodore and countless others. Since TELEcomp does all the work, no software is required. Your computer remains free to run the software you want and to perform the jobs you need. TELEcomp's external peripheral design doesn't use up your computer's valuable board slots or memory.

&\\/i

telecomp

ADD, COMBINE, MIX OR SUPERIMPOSE VIDEO AND COMPUTER

TELEcomp incorporates full window control which permits you to place the video or computer image anywhere on the screen from a dot to a full screen image (4 dials control the horizontal /vertical window image size). Overlay and source selector switches let you view either com^\ puter, video or combined image and then choose which source (computer, video or mix) is dominant, for more flexibility there's even an overlay intensity control. TELEcomp 2000 Series converts your TTL signal to composite video and provides 2 amplified video outputs along with analog RGB output. It even includes a built-in video sync generator in case you want to record, display or project your micro-computer's output when no other video source is present.

EE

MORE VALUE AND A LOT MORE FEATURES STARTING AT UNDER $400.00

Order the TELEcomp you need. TELEcomp-1000 lets you combine genlockable B + W camera video with computers that have composite video output for only $399.95. Choose the TELEcomp-2000M to combine monochrome computer output with any color video source for $995.00. If your needs require color computer output combined with any color video source, order the TELEcomp-2000C for only $1595.00.

SPECIAL LIMITED TIME OFFER

Order a TELEcomp-1000 with our hi-res. B + W genlockable video camera. Get both for only $599.00. Save over $250.00.

ORDER NOW. . . AT THESE INCREDIBLE BREAKTHROUGH PRICES!

All of the capabilities of the remarkable TELECOMP product are available now. With our 10 DAY RISK FREE TRIAL, you can order knowing that TELEcomp will perform to your satisfaction or we'll return your money! Don't delay, order now—call toll free 800-631-0867 and have your Visa, Mastercard or American Express card ready. Or order by writing to the address listed below, enclosing your check or money order with your purchase order. (Prices include shipping/handling,- NJ customers add 6% sales tax).

01= HBAL ; 87* C8AL ... NEXT ft

—- TESTDATA SUBROUTINE

•■" C0= HBAL CO* CBftL/' IF CO = CO G0SUB *

tit co > co cosuL

« C0/I2

OVERLAY SOURCE INTENSITY

COMPUTER COMPUTER VIDEO

V!»E0 _

valiant?

universal micro

195 Bonhomme Street, P.O. Box 488 Hackensack, NJ, USA, 07602. International telex 219-804 NJ call 201-487-6340 Toll-Free 800-631 -0867

0 telecomp

Dealer, distributor and OEM inquires are encouraged.

Inquiry 364

COMPUTER/VIDEO COMBINERS'

MARCH I986 'BYTE 197

A big feature

ofthelBM System/36PC

$5995*

A surprisingly small price to a very small package. Place it on your desk. Or

pull your business together. Some under it. Even beside it. "**** people think it costs four times that And as your business grows, the System/36

much for this kind of power. family can grow to fit your needs. Just connect the System/36 PC to your IBM The IBM System/36 PC. Use it in a department,

personal computer. And you can also connect any Or as a standalone computer for a small

combination of up to three additional IBM PCs, business. But don't expect your business to stay

System/36 terminals and compatible printers. So that size forever.

you can share information and resources. For a free brochure on the IBM System/36 PC or for

Now you can work with the most popular PC information on product availability from participating

software. And with thousands of business Authorized IBM PC Dealers, Value Added Dealers

applications written for the System/36 family. or IBM Product Centers, call 1 800 IBM-2468,

Another big feature: All this power comes in ext. 104/YY. Or call yoiuTBM marketing representative.

♦Suggested Retail Price for a 256K, 40MB System/36 Processor. -Z--Z-=— T i

198 BYTE • MARCH 1986 inquiry 166

HOMEBOUND COMPUTING

COMPUTING

FOR THE BLIND USER

by Aries Arditi and Arthur E. Gillman

Some special human factors must be considered in assembling a workable system

INEXPENSIVE COMPUTERS and nonvisual communications hardware have, in theory, made personal computing as accessible to blind as to sighted persons. But in practice, personal computing has its own special set of problems for the blind user. In this article we'll present some of the human-factors issues specific to nonvisual personal computing. Our concern is to make computers more accessible and efficient for blind and visually impaired persons. We hope our suggestions will be useful to individuals and to designers of hardware and software. Many of the improvements we discuss below can be implemented in several ways, often in more than one component of the system. They are intended to illustrate human-factors issues rather than to critique specific products.

The system we use as a basis for this discussion is a popular one for blind and visually impaired users and is inexpensive enough for home use as well as employment settings. It consists of an Apple He microcomputer operating under DOS 3.3, a Votrax Personal Speech System for voice out

put, and Raised Dot Computing's Braille-Edit program version 2.44a. [Editor's note: There is a more recent version of Braille-Edit with a number of new features and enhancements. See Henry Brugsch's review, "Braille-Edit',' on page 2 51. Also, for an address list for manufacturers of products mentioned in this article, turn to page 208.| Most blind users have a printer for producing sighted (conventional) hard copy. Another useful peripheral is a braille printer, since braille hard copy is easier to proofread than voice output. While we will not specifically discuss braille hard copy, many of the human-factors issues discussed here are relevant to the design of braille printers.

Braille-Edit is an integrated software package designed to satisfy most blind users' needs to process documents. It is intended for use with a low-cost artificial-voice system such as the Votrax Personal Speech System or Street Electronics' Echo series (including the Echo-i- speeejb synthesizer) and various other peripherals. Braille-Edit is not intended to (and does not) make all programs that run on the Apple accessible to the

blind user, nor is it particularly useful in programming the computer. But it has a number of desirable utilities for the blind user, such as a translator of text to and from grade II braille (a commonly used coding system similar to Speedwriting shorthand) that makes impressively few errors and a copy facility for copying files to and from a paperless brailler such as the Versabraille from Telesensory Systems Inc. (TSI).

The hardware and software designed to make a system accessible to the blind user can be viewed as an in

(continued) Aries Arditi, Ph.D., is a vision scientist and experimental psychologist in the Department of Research at the New York Association for the Blind (111 East 59th St., New York, NY 10022) and an adjunct associate professor in New York University's Department of Psychology.

Arthur E. Gillman, M.D., is a practicing psychiatrist and past director of research at the New York Association for the Blind. He is now clinical director of Central Westchester Community Services, Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center. He can be contacted at 3 4 Pryer Manor Rd., Larchmont, NY 10538.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 199

BLIND USER

Our concern is

with the accuracy, speed, and generality of the blind-user interface.

terface between the user and hardware or software that presumes that the user is sighted. Our concern is with the accuracy, speed, and generality of the blind-user interface. Accuracy and speed are areas in which data transmission to and from the computer can be improved by better design of the individual components of the interface or by the coordination or compatibility of the components. Speed and accuracy need to be balanced to produce the greatest levels of efficiency. Generality has to do with the scope of programs not specifically written for blind users that can be run by the blind user as a result of interface design.

Accuracy

Inaccuracies in data interchange between the blind user and the computer arise from imperfect translations of normal input and output into the special modes of the blind user. The normal text output of the screen must not merely be redirected to a voice device but must also be translated into speech that effectively conveys all of the information on the screen. Similarly, if you type in braille, the braille text input must be accurately translated to standard computer text prior to processing.

One of the main functions of any voice-based software interface is to send the text that would normally go to the screen to the voice-output device. The fact that text data is not essentially visual is what makes the accessibility of computers to blind people possible in the first place. The voice peripheral receives streams of characters and pronounces either full

words or individual characters. Fullword pronunciation breaks up each word into likely phoneme or allophone strings based on its spelling. Even though there may be errors in pronunciation resulting from exceptions to these pronunciation rules, this scheme has the advantage of an unlimited vocabulary of pronounceable words. An excellent and readable discussion of issues relating to textto-speech conversion can be found in reference 1.

Full-word pronunciation is desirable when the computer is prompting the blind user or conveying the results of its operations. For example, it is quicker and more natural for the system to pronounce "Enter selection" than to spell it out. Full-word pronunciation is also useful in editing documents, primarily as a means of finding your place in a document. But you cannot rely on artificial full-word text for other aspects of editing because text-to-speech conversion pronounces neither nonprinting characters such as space or tab characters nor punctuation symbols that are embedded in a text file. Typographical errors are also difficult to detect since they may result in only subtle if detectable pronunciation errors. For example, a voice device would pronounce "really" the same way it would pronounce "reelly" because it would analyze the two character strings into the same component phonemes (or allophones).

Spelled-pronunciation mode is the only viable way to know precisely which text characters have been typed and is therefore preferred for most editing and all proofreading. But even with spelled-pronunciation mode it may be difficult to distinguish between similar sounding letters such as "m" and "n" or "t" and "p."

The particular voice device you choose determines both the intelligibility of the artificial speech and usually the quality of the text-tospeech (full-word pronunciation) conversion. The "voice synthesizer" chip within the device is responsible for generating the sounds corresponding to each phoneme or allophone ele

ment, and the discriminability of such sounds is largely determined by this chip. A microprocessor and memory, also parts of the voice device, typically perform the text-to-speech conversion. The time and memory taken by the algorithm that implements the conversion are important factors influencing the accuracy of the conversion. Although most speech devices allow you to control a number of speech parameters, such as speech rate, inflection, and pitch, through special commands or controls, none of the less-expensive speech devices has as yet incorporated these parameters into their text-to-speech algorithm. This would excessively reduce the speed and/or increase the complexity of the algorithm. The result is a usually intelligible but monotonous parade of pronounced phoneme strings separated by short pauses for word separation. The near future will undoubtedly bring us more natural sounding artificial speech at low cost.

Thus far, we have discussed problems translating text to voice. Translating braille to text poses additional accuracy problems. One way for a blind user to enter text into the computer is with a braille keypad or keyboard. The braille keypad can be simulated with an ordinary keyboard by using the space bar and the six keys on the lower tier of the keyboard. These six keys correspond to the dots of a braille character cell. With BrailleEdit you can choose to have whatever is typed show up on the screen as ordinary print-style text (through brailleto-ASCII conversion) or as visual braille, which is of some use to the sighted transcriber.

However, the lack of a one-to-one correspondence between ASCII codes and braille symbols causes significant problems. If the software doesn't take this into account, you will get garbage on the screen and gibberish through the voice device. For example, the "dot 6" character in braille signifies that the next character should be interpreted as uppercase. To have the text spoken out properly, the software that takes input

{continued)

200 BYTE • MARCH 1986

tfco*e

*'*

V*o

rf

9»J

YES YOU CAN RECOVER ERASED FILES

Even '-*.*. With Brown Bag™ Software's File Recovery System for the IBM-PC and compatibles, no programming experience required. If you can erase a file, you can restore it.

MENU-DRIVEN and "FOOL-PROOF..."

Do you have "one-of-those" in your office...we do tool That's precisely why we developed Brown Bag™ Software's File Recovery System for the IBM-PC and compatibles! Our menu-driven system Is a snap.

FIX A DAMAGED FILE TOO!

Sometimes flies can get "glltched," by a power spike, bumping into the hard disk, dropping the computer on the floor, etc. We understand. That's why we've included a full screen editor to repair any spot in any file, hidden or otherwise.

IS IT HARD OR FLOPPY?

We don't care. We work with floppy disk, most hard disks, and moat IBM-PC compatible computers. And we are not copy protected.

HELP IS ONLINE TOO!

We know that most people don't read manuals. (But we include a comprehensive one anyway.) And when ou erase#,tile,and jieed.Jt recovered NOW, you're not in any frame of mind to pour through any manual. We understand. That's why we've put handholding online. Just hit the ? key and the help appropriate to where you are and what you want to do is immediately available. The only thing better would be two asprinl

OTHER HANDY TOOLS...HELP: WHERE'D THE FILE GO?

We provide menu-driven tools to change a file's attributes, change disk labels, modify screen color, locate a lost file that you know Is somewhere on the disk, but It's lost in a maze of sub-directories (you forgot which).

To Order: CALL NOW

24 Hours A Day, 7 Days A Weak Hava Your Credit Card Handy

Brown Bag™ Software

15100 El Camlno Grande

Saratoga, CA 95070

SSOR

TH MAIL- MERGE for the IBM-PC

Includes Spelling Checker

WE DO WINDOWS

Brown Bag™ Software's Word Processor for the IBM-PC and compatibles allows you to edit two documents at the same time or edit two parts of the same document at the same time, You can choose the window size of your choice.

FREE MAIL MERGE

Brown Bag™ Software's Word Processor for the IBM-PC and compatibles comes with Mall Merge built-in, not an expensive add-on! This allows you to send out "form letters" that insert data, names and addresses from your favorite database.

KEYBOARD MACROS INCLUDED

Brown Bag™ Software's Word Processor for the IBM-PC and compatibles Includes a built-in Macro Processor. This feature allows you to re-assign almost any key on the keyboard to a more favored one, or to assign commonly used text, boiler-plate, signature blocks, etc., to a keystroke. Save keystrokes, eliminate errors, increase productivity!

POWERFUL EDITING FEATURES

Like right and/or left justification, global search and replace including wildcards, un-replace, un-do, block moves, block copy and/or delete, word wrap, temporary and permanent margins, footnotes, headers, trailers (multi-line), mixed right and left pages, page numbering option, on-screen page breaks and more more more!

PRINTERS AND FONTS GALORE!

Brown Bag™ Software's Word Processor for the IBM-PC and compatibles Includes drivers for 47 types of printers, Including the new lasers! Multiple fonts are standard too, Including draft printing (high speed) options. Speaking of printing, we can print; any document continuously (until you either run out of paper or terminate), a specified number of times or just once.

GREAT DOCUMENTATION AND FREE TELEPHONE SUPPORT

Brown Bag™ Software's Word Processor for the IBM-PC and compatibles comes with a 175+ page manual which includes a table of contents, index and tutorial. For those "Techie Types," we've also included a complete technical section. A limited amount of free telephone support Is Included for registered owners of this package, only: Additional telephone support is available at a time-bases charge. This additional support is charged to Visa or Mastercards. Support is available Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. through 5^ P.M. Pacific Time, normal business holidays excluded!

COMPATIBILITY

IBM-PC and most compatibles including XT, AT, JR, Compaq, Tandy PC's, Eagle, etc. 128K of memory Is preferred. Monochrome display, single color, or multi-color mode, pick your own colors, or use our defaults, 24 editing lines. Use your existing word processor files, tool Requires 1 double-elded floppy disk drive. It runs on hard disks, and will use DOS 2.0 or greater sub-directory commands and path names.

inquiry 48

BLIND USER

Rates of information exchange between the user and the machine will be inherently worse for a blind user.

from braille-keypad mode and sends it to the screen or speech synthesizer must delete dot 6 characters and capitalize the first character of the subsequent word. This is fine for final copies of documents, but since this translation takes time, it is not really practical for writing and editing. To make the braille-keypad mode usable for editing documents, the voiceoutput device must be made to say "dot 6" or "capital" at the moment a dot 6 is encountered. This can either be done within programs like BrailleEdit, or it can be incorporated into intelligent voice-output-device firmware, whereby they can be made to run in braille mode, filtering out all special braille characters and making appropriate translations when the text is received.

A specific difficulty for systems using braille input resulting from the lack of one-to-one character correspondence is that if you are using the braille-keypad mode, two different systems for coding numbers may have to be remembered. Standard braille uses the convention of coding numbers as strings of characters whose ordinal position in the alphabet (for "a" through "i") is equal to the value of each digit in the number; each such string is preceded by a braille "#" character. For example, the two-character string "34" corresponds to the braille symbols for "#cd," a three-character string, and the print and braille translation facilities assume that numbers have been typed in the latter format.

But user commands .that include numerical arguments (e.g., the command for "advance the cursor 34

characters") are best entered as Nemeth code, a system of braille used for mathematics, in which braille numbers are represented by a string of characters just as in ordinary braille. However, in Nemeth code, the number is not preceded by "#"; instead, each character in the number is shifted down one row in the braille cell matrix to distinguish the character as a digit. Because Nemeth code omits the "#," a Nemeth number requires the same number of characters to represent as a print-style digit string and therefore is much more easily translated into a string of ASCII digits.

These translation problems should not necessarily be solved with software. It would not be difficult, for example, to design a braille keyboard that emulates and could replace a standard keyboard. Likewise, a voice device could easily have a braille-tovoice conversion mode built into its firmware.

Another solution to braille-to-text translation problems is for the blind user to learn to type with a standard computer keyboard as Braille-Edit users do. This circumvents the lack of one-to-one correspondence between braille and ASCII codes entirely. By using spelled-pronunciation mode, you get immediate feedback as to which keys you have pressed. (Incidentally, small raised dots on the D and K keys of the Apple keyboard aid in finding the home keys.)

Speed

Rates of information exchange between the user and the machine will be inherently worse for a blind user than a sighted user because vision conveys text information more quickly than other sense modalities. The sighted user viewing a display screen can receive a screenful of information all at once, whereas the blind user working with artificial-voice output or a braille computer terminal receives information from the computer in serial fashion only and much more slowly than the sighted user. Because of this, increasing speed is especially important for the blind user.

A general design issue that greatly affects the speed of the blind-user interface is the choice of driving the program by menus or by command language. A menu lists on the screen all the options currently available and prompts you to select one. This has the advantage that commands need not be memorized, and thus the user does not need experience to run the program. In contrast, a command language generally provides only a prompting character such as "*" to signal that the program is ready to receive a command. It takes time to learn a command language, but once you learn it, you can specify desired actions more tersely and more quickly than with a menu.

For the blind user, the menu format is especially slow because the menu must be listened to rather than seen. Also, since it is easy to forget options listed early in the menu, lengthy menus must often be repeated. For these reasons, we think command-language format is better for the blind user. Command languages often provide help-command supplements as teaching and mnemonic aids. The command language with help facilities combines the advantages of a menu with those of the command language because you can use a help menu while learning the program and avoid it when it would otherwise be unnecessary clutter.

Another bottleneck that reduces the speed of the blind-user interface is the difficulty in translating screen format to voice format. Redirection of the screen contents to the artificialvoice device makes the primary output of the computer intelligible, but a good deal more effort must go into making the output easily accessible to the blind user. Since so much software is screen-oriented, it is desirable to buffer the output to a "virtual screen." This virtual screen is an area of memory that contains one or more screens full of text and a virtual "voice" cursor. The virtual cursor may be moved about the virtual screen without affecting the contents of the ordinary terminal cursor. With key

(continued)

202 BYTE • MARCH 1986

:

SlfUS 111^3" I

Toshiba 3-in-One

Introducing the com^^Wr^oWwProfWnTO^^

Meet Toshiba's P321 printer It packs the power of 3-in-One technology into a compact new size. At an even more compact price.

Three for all.

What is 3-in-One technology? It's the ability to offer the three things everybody wants in one narrow-carriage printer: speed, letter-quality type and crisp graphics.

It all comes from ourToshiba-designed 24-pin printhead. One that prints at a blazing 216 characters per second, has superb graphics ability and combines those with type that looks like a daisy wheel's.

So one P321 can actually replace three ordinary machines.

Just like the big boys.

The P321 comes with downloadable type fonts,

6faWK!^Heremulation

^pTOiairav1^apnic§ printer emulation, plus year-in, year-out Toshiba reliability. In fact, the P321 gives you almost every office capability the giant machines do. Even spreadsheets.

Not bad for a printer with a footprint about two-thirds the usual size.

Free font cartridge.

With the P321, you have an incredible array of font cartridges to choose from. A face for every occasion.

And while we're introducing the P321, you get a font cartridge FREE with each P321 you decide to buy*

Which should be an easy decision. It's the only compact printer that competes with larger machines on features. While it competes with lesser machines on price.

Call 1-800-457-7777 Operator 32 for your nearest

Toshiba dealer * Offer good through May 31,1986

In Touch with Tomorrow

TOSHIBA

TOSHIBA AMERICA. INC. Information Systems Division

Inquiry 356

BLIND USER

stroke commands such as "Speak phrase at cursor," the blind person can quickly read text anywhere on the screen. This feature has been incorporated in several "talking terminals," in TSl's VERT, and in other recent software packages for the IBM PC.

It is important for the user to know the locations of both the actual and the virtual cursors, and there should be a command serving this function, Locations should be spoken out as line and column number rather than serial character position because it is easier to imagine location in two dimensions than in one. For example, it is of limited use to know that you are 323 characters into a page, especially when that page may contain 100 space characters.

Speed of use also depends greatly on the user's ability to adjust voice parameters of the system. Because intelligibility depends on many factors, including speech rate and sound-frequency content (or "pitch"), such controls should be accessible to the user in some way, whether by command or by knobs on the voice device itself. Your ability to understand the artificial voice improves the more you listen to it, and you can maximize efficiency by using the fastest speech you can understand.

There should also be some simple way to interrupt the voice device. A problem with our example system is that during output of long menus, the only way to terminate voice output is to turn off the power switch on the voice unit. Otherwise, you must listen to boring, lengthy menus you have memorized so thoroughly that it is irritating to have to wait for them to finish. Turning off the power on the voice device to clear its buffer and force it to silence also resets the unit. Then commands to set parameters such as speech rate must be sent all over again. A special key or button on the voice device could be dedicated to the "Abort voice output" function.

The choice of word processors versus text-file processors also affects user speed. These are two fundamentally different approaches in programs designed to aid document writing.

With what we call the "text-file processor" approach, you create a text file with commands embedded within the text to be executed later by the text-file-processor program. These commands do nothing to the text on the screen during an editing session but give the text a more pleasing spatial layout later, when the chapter is printed through the text-file processor. The embedded commands are, of course, filtered out and do not appear in the output.

A more popular approach with personal microcomputers is that of the word processor, in which editing and formatting the page are combined in the same process. Writing with a word processor makes the screen appear similar to the printed page that will eventually be printed out. As you type, the words are automatically arranged on the "page" to fit within the margins with the currently selected line spacing, etc. Commands such as "Center next line" are performed on the screen as soon as you issue them. For example, whereas the file to be formatted with a text-file processor might contain only $$c to signal that the next line should be centered when formatted, the word processor would insert the number of spaces needed for the line to be centered during the editing session.

Each approach has its advantages. Files to be text-formatted are much shorter because blank spaces and lines are added only when the file is processed. Also, you can make sweeping changes to the entire file with single commands such as "Set double spacing." For the blind user working with voice output, blank space and lines are abbreviated as commands such as $a20 rather than being counted one by one as the voice device repeats "space, space, space. ..." A disadvantage of textfile processors is that it is more difficult to imagine how the page will appear when printed out. Although this might not seem to be a drawback for blind users, in fact most blind people make use of spatial imagery in similar ways as sighted people (reference 2) and do imagine the spatial structure of

the printed page. Another disadvantage is that the command strings may be somewhat distracting when spoken out by the voice device in full-word pronunciation mode.

Advantages to the word processor are that the text need not be cluttered with the embedded commands, and you see the page in a form that is more similar to its printed appearance. A disadvantage is that since the text is being rearranged continuously during editing, words move about more. It may be difficult for the blind user to find words, since they rely more on the constancy of word positions in each line. Most word processors, however, allow you to enable and disable the automatic formatting facilities at will.

The choice of word processor or text-file processor generally depends on how the location of the cursor is represented and on how the voice system represents blank space. If cursor location is represented in character units, then the text-file processor is preferred because it is difficult to interpret a cursor location number due to the possibility of significant amounts of blank space. However, if line and column representation is used, and blank space can be spoken out in abbreviated form such as "20 spaces" or as nonspeech sounds representing spaces or linefeeds, then word-processor format is preferred because it is easier to imagine the final output.

Generality

Finally, generality must be considered in designing a system for the blind user. Although a system designed from the bottom up to serve only blind users would have obvious advantages for the blind person, a more realistic goal, and one that fosters better communication with sighted users and produces more employment opportunities, is to design a system that gives the blind user access to all general-audience software that is not intrinsically visual.

A flexible and general system should allow the user to customize

(continued)

204 BYTE- MARCH 1986

SOMETIMES JUST NOT

■ I ■

■ ■ II

IS ENOUGH.

Frankly, there's a lot of good development software on the market today. But when your programming project is on the line, good isn't good enough. You need the best. Because we're an independent publisher and distributor, we can pick and choose. We've been selling to microcomputer programmers since 1976, so we know quality when we see it. Lifeboat offers each of the following popular software development tools and more.... When we offer a product, you know it is the very best in its class.

«>*

LATTICE" C COMPILER

The best selling C compiler! 1

Additional 100 functions in the library. These include functions as

simple as system time to complex functions such as critical error

handling.

• Conforms to the proposed ANSI standards: enumerated types, void types, unsigned as modifier.

• Code is faster and smaller with 3.0.

• Inline 8087 80287 support.

• Fully compatible with current libraries.

• Support for 80186.80286.

In addition to the new features of 3.0, the Lattice C Compiler still provides the widest selection of C support tools, offers four memory models for optimum efficiency, is compatible with the C implementation established by Kernighan and Ritchie and gives you superbly written documentation.

Lattice C Compiler 3.0 adds more reasons to the list of why software developers continue to choose Lattice C, the industry standard.

RUN/C—THE C INTERPRETER™

Learn C the natural way with the RUN'C introductory package. Over 100 sample programs are included on the disk to coincide with the thorough and professionally written C reference manual. RUN.C's user interface is similar to that of the BASIC interpreter with easy familiar commands such as LOAD, LIST, SAVE, EDIT, and RUN. Debug with TRON, TRACE, and PRON. Try your hand at graphics with easy-to-learn functions like PUT, GET, CIRCLE, LINE, SCREEN, and DRAW. Lighten up on the time it takes to learn C with RUN C.

W^"

^

RUN/C PROFESSIONAL "

All of RUNC Lite's features, plus powerful enhancements for program development. LOAD and RUN, your favorite library functions from within your RUN/C" interpreted code. Polish program mpdules before compiling. New source code debugging facilities allow you to set multiple breakpoints, single step through a program, and view and change variables during execution.

^

Me^0'

,w*

GREENLEAF FUNCTIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS LIBRARY

The Greenleaf Functions are more than 200 powerful routines for the PC, AT and close compatibles, including DOS and BIOS capabilities. The Greenleaf Functions has string handling, color text capabilities and much more. Many functions are coded in assembler for speed and compactness. The Greenleaf Communications Library gives your programs asynchronous communications capability. Allows multiple simultaneous file transfers through an arbitrary number of ports at up to 9600 baud. Also supports XMODEM protocol and Hayes-compatible commands.

GSS M PRODUCTS

Industry leading graphics software based on a commitment to standardization. Device independence and source code portability are assured with these powerful software tools.

GSS DRIVERS'"—Provide a standard VDI interface between your PC and a wide variety of peripherals.

GSS" BINDINGS—Provide an interface between the language source and the VDI. Bindings to Lattice C and the following MicroSoft languages are available: Fortran, Assembler, Pascal, Basic Compiler. GSS-TOOLKITS ":

Kernel System—Subroutine library provides quality graphics for computer aided design and engineering. This toolkit adheres to standards described in Level 2b and the ANSI Graphical Kernel System (GKS) specifications.

Plotting System—Device independent subroutine library of twodimensional plotting functions for creating programmer-specified charts efficiently and easily.

Metafile Interpreter—Converts any standard metafile to graphic output commands.

PANEL"

A powerful and flexible tool for interactive screen design. Panel simplifies the tedious screen design process enabling you to create and modify screens interactively from your keyboard. Panel automatically generates source code describing the dataentry screen, including subroutines which dynamically load the screen at run-time.

With Panel you determine the content, position, size and attributes of screen and data fields at any point in the program's design or execution.

Panel handles the details of interfacing a wide variety of terminals, without changes in your program.

For immediate delivery or more information call:

1-800-847-7078

In NY:

212-860-0300

or write: LIFEBOAT™ ASSOCIATES

1651 Third Avenue New York, NY 10128

"The Source For Programming Software With Full Support"

Inquiry 206

c 1985 Lifeboat Associates

MARCH 1986

Y T E 205

BLIND USER

the workings of the blind-user interface. You should be able to set all parameters of that interface while an applications program is running. Generally, this involves having either a separate keypad or switches on the voice device, or a special switch or command that redirects normal keyboard input to the voice device. This

approach would avoid the possible conflicts between keys (e.g., function keys) that are used both to operate the applications program and to control the voice device.

Some voice devices now allow considerable flexibility in speech style, including options such as whether numbers ought to be pronounced by

You already own a computer that can talk.

Now let it.

Now you can upgrade almost any personal computer and make it more powerful than ever, by giving it the power of speech.

The Votrax Personal Speech System is the least expensive sophisticated voice synthesizer available today The PSS's text-to-speech vocabulary is virtually unlimited, and you can define an exception word table and customize your translations. So the PSS can say just about anything

It's a speech and sound specialist.

The PSS can also mix speech and sound effects or speech and music. It contains its own speaker a programmable master clock, 256 programmable frequencies, a programmable speech rate for a more natural rhythm, and 16 programmable amplitude levels for incredible control of word emphasis. You can control the volume. Plus, it doesn't use any of your computer's valuable memory.

It's computer friendly.

The PSS is unbelievably easy to use. It doesn't need an interface card for most computers. It comes with standard serial and parallel ports. Speech, music, and sound effects are as simple as printing out a document.

What do you do with a talking computer?

There are countless practical applications. Businesses may want the PSS for spoken transmission of information, narration of displays, and product demonstrations. It makes verification of data input possible for the blind. It can be part of a burglar alarm system. Children can use the PSS as a study aid. And it helps games come alive, speaking while you play.

Whatever your computer can do, the PSS can help it do it better at a cost that makes it all worthwhile: only $395* Call (313) 583-9884 to hear an actual voice demonstration of the PSS.

'Suggested rela.l price

There's also the Type 'N Talk.

If you want a less sophisticated unit and want to spend a little less, consider the Votrax Type 'N Talk (TNT). Its vocabulary is also limited only by what you can type. It doesn't use any computer memory, it's compatible with most computers, and it's only $249* Just plug it in to your own speaker and go!

For more information about the Personal Speech System or the Type 'N Talk, see your local computer retailer call toll-free or write:

individual digits or as full words, how to handle abbreviations and acronyms, whether or not to signal punctuation symbols, etc. Some allow you to redefine pronunciations of words and thus correct deficiencies of the text-to-speech algorithm. Such options can be useful, but they must be easily accessible through hard controls or software. Our Votrax speech synthesizer, for example, has codes to set the speech rate and to abort speech, but Braille-Edit has no facility to send such commands. If the Votrax had separate knobs or buttons to control them, the system would be completely software-independent in regard to these functions.

Another important feature of the virtual screen with the virtual cursor described above is that it allows blind users to read portions of the screen that they would not be able to read with an ordinary cursor. An ordinary cursor is generally prohibited from moving into certain areas of the screen (protected fields, e.g., an area that displays current margin settings, tabs, etc.) where information is displayed constantly rather than being pushed off the screen (from scrolling) after the screen is full. With the ordinary cursor, the blind user has constant access only to those portions of the screen that have been explicitly directed by the program to voice output. But a virtual cursor can move within the protected fields, and you can read what would otherwise be hidden without affecting the actual cursor that must obey the boundaries set by the applications program.

Perhaps the major disadvantage of our example system is that it is not possible for us to run any applications programs that are not specifically designed for the blind user. Braille-Edit is a useful program that performs all the functions featured on its menus and probably makes the Apple II computers more accessible to blind people than any other system, but greater flexibility can be achieved by systems' that modify or extend the operating-system facilities.

Most applications programs send

[continued)

206 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 371

It's not just that COMB\Qi$6 Computers are getting a rave reviews...

■ ■

::*%

^:W

r /

/

/

It's why

Since we introduced the COMPAQ DESKPRO 286* and COMPAQ PORTABLE 286*, the accolades haven't stopped:

Info World: "(COMPAQ DESKPRO 286 isj a superb performer. It races through its tasks with efficient competence and heartwarming speed. Most IBM PC programs worked much faster than on the PC or XT. Wordstar's speed is a joy. Lotus' 1-2-3 zips along... this machine will outperform the AT."

PC Week: "... the machines IBM should have built." "... significant user advantages over IBM's machine... a standard dual-mode monitor, reliable tape backup,... better construction than IBM's, an impressively fast drive and other little extras—at a price below similarly configured IBM's."

Popular Computing: ". ..genuine enhancements, such as higher CPU speed, greater RAM capacity, portability,.. .greater hard-disk capacity, and an optional tape backup unit."

Why are the COMPAQ1286 computers getting such rave reviews? They simply work better.

For a free brochure or the location of your nearest Authorized COMPAQ Computer Dealer, call toll-free 1-800-231-0900 and ask for Operator 13. "1985 COMPAQ Computer Corporation. All rights reserved.

,

.table 286 Has Po<ver Ml I I I I l||

y

COfnPAOL

It simply works better.

BLIND USER

output and receive input through these facilities. Almost all, for example, request the operating system to type characters on the screen rather than writing a new section of program to perform this task. They do this both because it is easier and because it maintains the generality of the program; i.e., the program will run on all machines that use the same operating system. If the operating system is modified so that all screen output also automatically goes to a voice synthesizer, then virtually any program that is run will send whatever ordinarily goes to the screen to the voice output as well. Operating-system modifications would have the generality that allows programs not written for blind users to be accessible to them nevertheless. In this way, blind and sighted users can work together, using the same software. Braille-Edit is not this kind of modification—it is simply a good applications program written for the blind user. The alternative to operating-system modification is that each commercial program that is devel

oped will require parallel development of a blind-users version of that program.

In recent months several new systems have been offered commercially that do work by these principles. One is TSI's Professional VERT a voice-output hardware and software configuration for the IBM PC that we have not evaluated. Another is an operating-system modification and addition called The Enhanced PC Talking Program (from Computer Conversations). This program also runs on the IBM PC and will work with most inexpensive voice-output peripherals, although the Votrax Type-'N-Talk is recommended. Another similar, more recent package for the IBM PC from Computer Aids Corporation is called Screen Talk. Both VERT (with an additional plug-in board) and The Enhanced PC Talking Program can emulate several popular computer terminals, making them especially attractive in employment settings. Finally, Maryland Computer Services' Total Talk PC system is a talking version of the Hewlett-Packard HP 150 Touch

Products

Mentioned

Screen Talk

ECHO +

Computer Aids Corp.

Street Electronics Corp.

124 West Washington, Lower Arcade

1140 Mark Ave.

Fort Wayne, IN 46802

Carpinteria, CA 93013

(219) 422-2424

(805) 684-4593

The Enhanced PC Talking

VERT

Program

Versabraille

Computer Conversations

Telesensory Systems Inc.

2350 North Fourth St.

455 North Bernardo Ave.

Columbus, OH 43202

Mountain View, CA 94043

(614) 263-4324

(415) 960-0920

Total Talk PC

Personal Speech System

Maryland Computer Services

Type-'N-Talk

2010 Rock Spring Rd.

Votrax Inc.

Forest Hill, MD 21050

1394 Rankin Dr.

(301) 879-3366

Troy, MI 48083

(313) 588-2050

Braille-Edit

Raised Dot Computing Inc.

408 South Baldwin St.

Madison, WI 53703

(608) 2 57-9595

screen personal computer. Yet another system, a passive screen reader card for the IBM PC, currently being developed by Tim Cranmer and others at the National Federation of the Blind, will not modify or add onto the operating system but will receive and interpret all data sent to the video screen buffer, so that even programs that bypass operating-system calls to write to the screen can be run.

The rapid introduction of so many new systems illustrates how rapidly the field of making computers accessible to blind persons is growing and becoming more competitive. Undoubtedly the capabilities of computer hardware and software designed for blind users will continue to grow in parallel with the capabilities of systems designed for sighted users.

For a microcomputer to be as accessible as possible to blind people, designers must interface the system to the blind user at as primitive a level as possible. If the computer's operating system "thinks" it is receiving standard keyboard input but is in fact receiving braille that is translated before it is received by the operatingsystem software, then any program that uses the keyboard ought to be able to use braille entry as well. Similarly, if the operating system "thinks" it is sending output to a screen but actually sends it to a buffer that holds as much as a screenful or more, the blind user can peruse desired sections of it much the same way as a sighted person, for whom the program was originally designed. We hope that our observations have provided some structure to the various problems in designing a blinduser interface. We feel that solutions to the problems we have described will contribute to the more efficient and broader use of computers by blind people. ■

REFERENCES

1. Stoffel, David. "Talking Terminals." BYTE, September 1982. page 218.

2. Kennedy, I. M. "Haptic Pictures." Tactual Perception, W Schiff and E. Foulke. eds. New Rochelle, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

208 BYTE • MARCH 1986

A FRIEND INDEED.

Face it. Everybody needs somebody sometime. And even the best PC occasionally needs help with faulty power.

So give your hard disc or critical-use system LINE Z power conditioning. And eliminate those nagging problems that your PC can't prevent. Like voltage sags and surges. Brownouts. Spikes.v

LINE 2 Power Conditioners are designed

specifically with your PC in mind. High inrush currents don't affect them. Neither do power problems. And they're amazingly economical.

A LINE 2 Power Conditioner can be your PC's best friend. And a friend in need is a friend indeed. Call us today at (619) 279-0831, or contact your local Square D distributor.

Inquiry 354 for End-Users. Inquiry 355 for DEALERS ONLY.

TOPAZ

SqURREf) COM PR NY

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 209

Have It Your

m

XTSYSTEMS

Same System with 32 MB Hard Disk

$2504

Monitor sold separately

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i rm

MAINSTREET ENHANCED

J<T$2284

with 20 MB Hard Disk

360kb Tandon Floppy

20 MEG ADEPT Hard Disk

256K RAM

All Cables, Manual

1 Year Warranty

Many Options Available

■

I I 1 I i

I1M PC/AT SYSTEMS!

11111111111

Illi'111 TTTTi

MAINSTREET

AXplus

$3988

20 MB System Includes:

■ 1.2 MB Floppy

■ 360 KB Floppy

■ 512K RAM

■ 20 MB Hard Disk

■ Serial/Parallel/Clock

■ All Cables, Manual

Monitor sold separately

Same System with 32 MB Hard Disk

$4211

MORE IBM SYSTEMS FROM MAINSTREET

SUPER XT

$2873

SUPER XT+

$3107

• 256K RAM

• 360K Floppy

• 20 MFC

• 640K RAM

• 2 Floppy

• 20 MEG HARD

• Tape Backup

Tape Drive 135 Watt

Quick Six 135 Watt Power

Kl<>< Sn... • 20 MB Hard Disk

» • Persysl Video Combo

3 Slots Available

• 2-360K Floppies

$2566:

PC 2/20

$2135:

• 256K RAM 2 360K Floppies 20MB Hard Disk

r

DalaShield AT 800 . . $689

Back up power 800 Watts DalaShield X 1.100 . . . $369 DalaShield PC20O. . . $285 DalaShield AT500 . . . $559

SURGE Protectio

DalaShield S100 $59

DalaShield S85 $49

DalaShield S75 $36

Kensington

Masterpiece $95

Computer Accessories

1-800-426-MAIN

iTTT^rt r\

TOEa

^/''Usixpack Pins

^T I with 384K ... $245

U**T c_, H Advantage .... $399

C Aal BRampage $349

Shw ll/OPIus $129

^^•^^1 Mega Plus II... $294

Call fonatest RAM prices.

T

comma

FAST 8086 Processor

640K RAM

20 MB Hard Disk

2 - 360kb Floppy

High Resolution Monitor

All Cables, Manual

1 Year Warranty

20 MB System

$2931

MAINSTREET

COMPUTER CORPORATION

1025 Main St. Bastrop. Texas 78602 5I2-.V2M406 ORDERS: 800-426-6246.800-252-3404(Texas) M-F9-6Sat9-3

Desk Pro 286

■ 256K Ram

■ 1.2 MB Flop|»

■ 20 MB Hard Disk

■ Monitor

$4878

\CVmPA£I Portable

K$2466 $2709

/^ 10M

56K, 360KB Floppy, 10MB Hard Disk

with 20 MB Hard Disk

TT

I II I I I I I I

ORDERING INFO: All Mail: 1025 Main St., Bastrop TX 78602. We accept personal and corporate checks. No delay if driver's license and expiration included. Shipping is free on prepaid orders via UPS Ground. Air is extra. We accept VISA, MC. (Am. Exp. and Diner's Club ■ 3% surcharge.) We double manufacturer's warranty on all hardware. Software is not returnable. All goods are new. TELEX 5106007038-MAINSTREET-UQ B386

At Mainstre

omputer

ADEPT PC SYSTEMS

II 11 I I I I I

$749

ADEPT™ Personal Computer

Same System with 20MB Hard Disk

$1228

30 Day Trial/100% Credit Towards IBM PC

• 640K RAM

• 360Kb Floppy

• "Touch Type" Keyboard

• 1 Year Warranty Runs IBM™ Software

Monilor sold separately

ADEPT AT SYSTEMS

11 M 111111 M 111111

$1975

ADEPT™ AT

• 80286 Microprocessor

• 1.2 MEG Floppy Drive

• Hard Disk Controller

• "Touch Type AT" Keyboard

• Runs IBM PC, XT, AT Software

• 8 Full-Size Expansion Slots

• 1 Year Warranty

"Our #1 Seller"

Quick-Six Multifunction Board 3 X«S7

• Serial Port • Clock/Calendar

• Parallel • RAM Disk Software jI*>

384K RAM • Print Spooler v^**^*'

For A Limited Time

jjJ

M Hour Bpllelil Board

Server

MAI K>WN1C)A|> )l IHKIM. 13 .3 II 73 17

II

HIGH SPEED TAPE BACK-UP

$739

20MB

Backs up 20 MB in less than 10 minutes

AT E«X»P BOARD

• 128K-3MB

RAM Capacity (D9jDQ

• Serial Port ty £d & ^

• Parallel Port 128K

• For IBM or ADEPT AT

HARD DISKS

by ADEPT™ 20MB *l9*i

$479 W&\

• Half-Height

• Complete System

• Easy to Install

32MB

• Mounts Internally

• 1 Year Warranty

• Works In Most IBM PC Compatibles

$695

For really FAST access, call our hard drive specialist — 800426-6246

ADEPT

TM

20and 32MB. From $684 20 MB Combination Systems

HARD DRIVE TAPE PRICE

20 MEG 20 MEG $1379

20 MEG 60 MEG $1654

32 MEG 60 MEG $1870

A perfect match! Colors and casing to conform with your IBM or ADEPT PC. In two convenient models to suit your space requirements. Add hard drives in 20, 32 or 40 megabytes. Cartridge tape backup in 20, or 60 megabytes. Combine hard drive and tape backup for complete storage solutions. All units come with power supply, cables, software and manual.

EXTERNAL STORAGE

20 and 32MB.. From $724 20 MB Combination Systems

HARD DRIVE

TAPE

PRICE

20 MEG 20 MEG 32 MEG

20 MEG 60 MEG 60 MEG

$1419 $1694 $1915

TTTT

ORDERS

800 426-6246

In Tcu«

800 252-3404

Mainstreet Computer

1025 Main St.

Bastrop, IX 78602

Hoars:

Mon-Fri: 9 am-6 pin Saturday: 9 am- 3 pm

III

SOFT WARE—Many titles available 800 426-6246 Lowest inquiry 218 Call for Latest Version and Price

Pricing On Borland!

Examples—

Borland Superkey $35 Copy II PC $25 Multimate $238 Norton Utilities $49

I

BITE

Reviews

Reviewers Notebook

by Glenn Hartwig 215

Kaypro 286i

by Harry Krause 217

Modula-2 System for Z80 CP/M

by Brian R. Anderson 225

Pocket APL

by Eric H. }ohnson 237

Arity/Prolog

by William G. Wong 245

Braille-Edit

by Henry Brugsch 251

Printit

by Henry Brugsch and Joseph J. lazzaro. . . 261

Review Feedback 265

THIS MONTH'S SECTION starts with an in-depth look at one of the proliferating generation of machines based on the 80286 processor, the Kaypro 286i. A fact about the machine, which is either a benefit or a defect depending on how you view the IBM PC AT is that the two machines are so close as to be nearly indistinguishable. On the other hand, there is a wide gulf between the prices that our reviewer, Harry Krause, found advertised for the IBM PC AT and the Kaypro 286i.

Reviewer Brian R. Anderson looks at a Modula-2 compiler system for Z80 CP/M from Hochstrasser Computing AG. Mr. Anderson begins by noting that the close association between the authors of the compiler and the author of the language led him to expect a high-quality product. He reports that his expectations were fulfilled.

Eric H. lohnson begins his review of Pocket APL by noting that its cost and special hardware requirements have hampered the spread of a generally popular language outside academic or corporate environments. Now comes a new version of the language that runs in as little as 128K bytes of memory and requires no special hardware. On top of that, it's a complete implementation of the language. Drawbacks? Some. Are they serious? Not if you use the language as a learning tool or to write fairly small programs.

Arity/Prolog is an implementation of Prolog for MS-DOS systems and, says reviewer William G. Wong, one that matches implementations found on a number of mainframes. Given the fact that this version of Prolog is not cheap (you can pay from $495 for the base version Prolog interpreter to a whopping $1950 for a native-code compiler with the interpreter), you would expect it to have something going for it. In Mr. Wong's view, it does indeed.

Braille-Edit from Raised Dot Computing is a word processor that utilizes just about every kind of input and output not dependent on sight. For example, you can print to braille or print to paperless braille (storing braille characters on magnetic tape), you can run it on a variety of speech devices, and you can write files in braille using dedicated keys on the computer keyboard. One of the things blind computer users have long complained about is that products for them were simply shoddy, that they didn't represent a large enough "market segment" for vendors to take seriously. Reviewer Henry Brugsch gives careful consideration to the overall quality of this talking word processor and delivers his judgment on how well Braille-Edit conforms to or rebels against that trend.

In our final review, we hear again from Henry Brugsch, this time collaborating with Joseph J. Lazzaro on a discussion of Printit—a card that lets you print anything you can get up on your Apple lis screen. Printit can also send any nongraphic data to a speech-output device. If you want your software package to "talk," and it won't do so in any other way, Printit will let you hear any text you can get on the screen.

MARCH

• BYTE 213

TODAY

PROGRAMMING BECAME A THREE LETTER WORD

The Artek Ada compiler is the most advanced implementation of Ada available for personal computers. Fast and efficient, the compiler increases programming productivity and cuts costs.

Ada is here to stay

Ada is the most powerful general purpose language available today. It was designed for the largest user of computer hardware and software in the world (a nonprofit organization commonly referred to as the U.S. Department of Defense). Billions of dollars have already been invested in Ada projects, and there is more to come. Ada is unquestionably the computer language of the future. It will be used to program everything from spreadsheets to space stations.

Artek Ada: A new standard in software engineering

Ada provides you with powerful facilities for modular programming and separate compilation. Reusable components (generics) save costly code re-writes. Software reliablility is ensured through Ada's inbuilt error handling. System programming features provide low-level access to hardware while the language's standardization guarantees portability.

Artek Ada: The most advanced Ada compiler for personal computers

Artek Ada implements the DoD's 1983 Ada standard, including

generics, derived types, overloading, packages, separate compilation, dynamic arrays, standard I/O, string handling, array and record aggregates and much more. The only major Ada feature not implemented is tasking. Minimum hardware requirements are: IBM PC or a compatible computer running MS-DOS or PC-DOS (2.0 or later versions) with 384 Kb RAM and one double sided floppy-disk drive. Artek Ada works with the IBM PC network. For further information see our information kit.

Artek Ada is available now

You can order the Artek Ada compiler now for only $ 895.00 including a debugger and a screen editor. Outside the U.S.A. add $ 20.00. A demo diskette is also available for 8 29.95 (including p&panywher in the world). Ask for our free information brochure. For orders or information call toll free 1-800-PC-ARTEK, in New Jersey or outside the continental U.S.A. call (201>867-2900, or write to our address. VISA, MC and AMEX accepted.

New Jersey residents: Add 6% sales tax. Please pay with credit card or a bank draft, payable in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank. Dealer and distributor inquiries welcome.

Ar t e

<4^0t> Inquiry 29

Artek Corporation 100 Seaview Drive Secaucus NJ 07094

Artek is a trademark of Artek Corporation.

Ada is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Defense, AJPO.

IBM and PC-DOS are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.

MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.

REVIEWER'S NOTEBOOK

We've been concerned by what we thought were electrical power problems, so when we saw a power-line monitor designed to work with micros, we felt that this was something we ought to explore. It's called the Powertrac and it comes from Vertex Systems Inc. in Los Angeles. It consists of a power-line interface that plugs into your computer's serial port. From there, a connection leads to an Atari plug-in power supply that you slip into a wall socket. So much for setup. The software is a disk with programs for collecting data on power-line conditions. It'll function as a background data logger if you want to leave it on and running while you go about your normal tasks. When you decide you've sampled an interval long enough, you pull a report. You can also use it as a realtime monitor with a graphics display that simulates a strip recorder. Another graphics display shows up as a crude oscilloscope to help you point out voltage spikes and high-frequency noise. The version we got is for use with the IBM PC, but there's also one that works with the entire Apple II series. The company notes, however, that the background data logger only works on the IBM PC version.

Powertrac generally seems to work pretty well. It's actually kind of fascinating to watch it redraw the graphs every minute or so. Major problems tend to be spectacular enough that we're not really interested in calm, rational responses. But in the normal course of things, you could probably use the Powertrac to make a case for calling in the electrician or asking your next-door neighbor to shut off the arc welder. The Powertrac would probably be a handy thing to have if you moved your computer around a lot and wanted to be sure you weren't deal

ing with a flaky electrical system before you got too deeply involved in an important application.

Super Utility, from Powersoft Products in Dallas, is a repair kit for damaged data files. You use it, first and foremost, to unerase files that you've accidentally gotten rid of. Beyond that, however, it has functions to edit, verify, or modify sectors, copy sectors to files, do sector diagnostics, map file-allocation tables for individual files or whole drives, edit directories and subdirectories, rename files, set their attributes, and do string searches.

This is the same company that makes the popular disk utility program of almost the same name (Super Utility Plus) for the TRS-80. They put a notice in their sales flyer that Super Utility PC is not SU+ "ported over" from the Tandy line. Fair enough, but if you're already familiar with SU + you'll be on more familiar ground.

I think one of the nicer aspects of Super Utility is the fact that it's very simple and straightforward. The company seems to have remembered that someone who's just erased a file or a disk is not going to be in the mood for lighthearted banter that gets in the way of quickly and faultlessly restoring all that lost work. The directions in the little documentation pamphlet

are clear and to the point.

Once you call the program by typing su, you get a screen with a copyright notice, and it also tells you to hit the escape key if you're having a hard time reading the screen. It does this because it's normally set to work with a color monitor and can be unreadable with some monochrome units at first. Once you tell it, in effect, what kind of monitor you have, you go right to a menu that asks you what you want to do and it lets you do it.

When you want to unerase a file, the program shows you a DOS directory of your disk. Those that have been erased—but not yet overwritten—will flash and are printed on the screen with the first letter of the filename missing. You supply the missing letter and the program gives you a screen full of data, asks you if it looks like the data you're trying to restore, and tells you to press the return key if it is. It samples each cluster of likely data and you restore the file, or program, in increments.

Powersoft says you can use Super Utility with the IBM PC, XT or AT and such compatible computers as the Compaq, AT&T 6300, and Tandy 1000, 1200, and 2000. It's being introduced at $89.95 and looks like something that would be a comfort to have around. Glenn Hartwig Technical Editor, Reviews

ILLUSTRATED BY MACIEK ALBRECHT

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 215

"Power Protection

Full sine wave output

200W, 300W^ 800W, 1500W output available

Real-time status display

Extended back-up time I— available

Factory installed, premium

Output filtered Audible Heavy-duty handles

case

5 year maintenance-free batteries and surge protected alarm and rugged

Announcing: AP1000 Series UPS

Full sine wave UPS for low power applications

from Emerson, the Technology and Price Leader

in Uninterruptible Power Systems

Your electronic equipment depends upon clean uninterrupted power. If that power is disturbed by "Black-outs", "Brown-outs", Spikes or Surges, your equipment could be damaged and memory lost. Your valuable system becomes worthless.

Do you have these?

P.C.'s, office computers, ATM's, PBX's, Point of Sale Terminals, Security Systems, or Test Equipment. They could be vulnerable to power-line disturbances.

Now they can be economically protected with the new Emerson AP1000 Series UPS with power ratings from 200-1500 watts and starting at $379. From 200VA to 4,000 KVA, Emerson has you covered.

For a free Technical Brochure and the Distributor/ Dealer nearest you, call toll free 1-800-BACK-UPS. Emerson Computer Power, 3300 S. Standard St., Santa Ana, California 92702.

CALL

1-800-BACK-UPS

For Your Free

Technical

Brochure

m

I5MIER5DN

Computer Power

216 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 124 for End-Users. Inquiry 125 for DEALERS ONLY.

SYSTEM REVIEW

An AT clone

at a good

price

by Harry Krause

Kaypro 286/

Harry Krause (10214 Forest lake

Dr.. Great Falls, VA 22066)

is a marketing consultant

whose interests include

microcomputers, writing,

and sailing.

The Kaypro 286i, a well-designed and well-manufactured clone of the IBM PC AT, is widely available from retail dealers at what appear to be bargainbasement prices.

The $4450 list price (about $1000 less than a similarly equipped IBM PC AT) includes 512K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory), two 1.2-megabyte floppy-disk drives, a built-in battery-backed clock and calendar, a color-graphics driver board, two built-in parallel ports and a ninepin serial port, an RGB (red-green-blue) monitor, and a large assortment of software. However, you can obtain the computer far below the list price; local Kaypro dealers in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area advertise the basic system for $3000, or about $2 500 less than a similar IBM product. One dealer offered the machine with a 20-megabyte hard disk for $3295.

Like the IBM PC AT, the 286i uses the Intel 80286 microprocessor running at the same 6-MHz clock speed. The main board of the evaluation unit had 512K bytes of 150-nanosecond RAM chips. Two rows of nine 2 56Kbit chips each (the extra chip is for parity checking) provide 512K bytes. IBM took a different approach on the AT using piggybacked 64K-bit chips. The Kaypro solution is more elegant.

Two additional rows of empty memorychip sockets are next to the 2 56K-bit chips, and you might assume that you can fill the empty sockets with additional 2 56K-bit chips (for a total of 1024 K bytes of RAM on the motherboard). However, the Kaypro documentation indicates that the empty sockets are for 64K-bit RAM chips only, limiting the motherboard to no more than 640K bytes of RAM, the limit of memory directly addressable by current versions of MS-DOS. If Microsoft raises the 640K-byte memory limitation, you might try installing the additional 2 56K-bit RAM chips. The machine's design and the capabilities of the 80286 CPU (central processing unit) allow up to 15 megabytes of system RAM.

The rest of the Kaypro's guts resemble an IBM PC AT, with generic chips, boards, drives, and sockets. The 286i's motherboard has a socket for Intel's 80287 math coprocessor chip, but the evaluation unit did not have one. The disk-controller card looks just like the one in a PC AT and can handle two hard disks and two floppy disks.

Kaypro shipped its first 286i machines with two floppy drives and later announced the availability of hard disks. The evaluation unit had two 1.2-megabyte floppy drives; you can purchase your unit with a 1.2-megabyte floppy and a 360K-byte floppy or just one floppy drive. The Kaypro dealership I contacted was getting different hard disks for the 286i from three different manufacturers. The dealership installed the drives, a fairly trivial task that takes no more than half an hour and a couple of common hand tools. Compatible 20-megabyte hard disks are available for under $1000.

If you buy your own hard disk, make sure it comes with adequate instructions; you won't find much help in Kaypro's manuals. The bundled software includes voluminous documentation, but the hardware manual is an inadequate 32-page booklet. In fact, it might be a good idea to buy an IBM PC AT technical manual.

Kaypro did not include an operating system with its early production of the 286i. According to the documentation, the computer requires either PC-DOS 3.x or MSDOS 3.x. Therefore, you will need to buy Microsoft's MS-DOS 3.x operating system separately, perhaps from an IBM PC dealer if Kaypro has not yet released its version. Kaypro does bundle GW-BASIC, which runs most programs written for BASICA.

Kaypro is also bundling WordStar Professional, MailMerge, PolyWindows, and MITE (for telecommunications), but if you are already using good applications software, you may not want to switch from your programs. I had no trouble running any software written for the PC AT. I could not run soft

[continued)

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 217

SmarTEAM Smart move.

SmarTEAM 2400

* Bell 103/212A, CCITT V.22, V.22 bis

* Auto speed selection (300, 1200 or 2400)

* Auto answer, auto dial (tone or pulse)

* Hayes compatible

* Call progress detection (dial tone, ringing, busy)

* Speaker with volume control

* 8 LED status indicators

* 6 self test modes

* 2 YEAR WARRANTY

$599

SmarTEAM 2400B

Short card for IBM PC, XT, AT and compatibles software included

$299

SmaiTEAM 1200AT

100% compatible with Hayes 1200

$299

SmaiTEAM 1200B

Full card for IBM PC. XT, AT compatibles MITE software included

ind

SmarTEAM V.21/22 (CCITT)

300, 1200bps full duplex Hayes commands compatible.

$299

$249

SmarTEAM V. 21/2 3 (CCITT)

1200/75/5 bps - Hayes compatible

OEM designs:

Send us your specifications. We will deliver a prototype in 30 days.

Inquiry 340

car

INC.

Unit 1

HEAD OFFICE:

TEAM TECHNOLOGY INC.

I0F, 270. NANKING E. RD., SEC. 3, TAIPEI,

TAIWAN, R.O.C.

TLX; 19725 PETRCHEN ATTN TEAM

TEL: (02)7414270, FAX: (02) 771-2985

U.S.A.

MORRISON &DEMPSEY

COMMUNICATIONS

19209 PARTHENIA ST., SUITE D NORTHRIDGE, CA 91324 TEL: (818) 993-0195

* Hayes is a registered trademark or Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc.

* IBM PC. XT. AT are regislered trademarks ol Inlernaltonal Business Machines Corp.

* MITE is a regislered trademark o! MYCROFT LABS INC

CANADA

BUDGETRON

1320 Showson Drive rvlississougd, Ontario Canada L4W IC3 TEL: (416)6737800 TLX: 06-968080

See us at

)C®ffl»iMi/winter '86

April 1-3. 1986

Los Angeles Convention Center

Ids Angeles, CA

Booth *1523

AT A GLANCE

Name

Kaypro 286i

Company

Kaypro Corp. 533 Stevens Ave. Solano Beach, CA 92075 (619) 481-4300

Size

21 by 161/2 by 5% inches System unit (without hard disk) and keyboard: 40 pounds

Components

Processor: 6-MHz Intel 80286 Memory: 512K bytes of 150-nanosecond 256K-bit RAM chips standard, expandable to 640K bytes Display: Kaypro 14-inch RGB monitor, 80 characters by 25 lines

Keyboard: Detached with 84key QWERTY layout including 10 function keys, numeric keypad, Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock, and indicator lights Expansion: Eight expansion slots

I/O interfaces: Two parallel ports, serial port, RGB monitor port

Software

GW-BASIC, WordStar Professional, MailMerge, PolyWindows, and MITE

Documentation

32-page user's manual for computer, voluminous manuals for software

Price

Dual 1.2-megabyte floppy-disk system

$4450

MEMORY SIZE (K BYTES)

0 200 400 600

DISK STORAGE ( K BYTES) 300 1000 0 400 800 1200 1600 2000

P§§

1

1

BUNDLED SOFTWARE PACKAGES 0 2 4 6 1

10

PRICE ( $1000) 0 2 4

8 10

~J KAYPRO 286i [~~1 IBM PC

APPLE HE

The Memory Size graph shows the standard and optional memory available for the computers under comparison. The Disk Storage graph shows the highest capacity for a single floppy-disk drive and the maximum standard capacity for each system. The Bundled Software graph shows the number of software packages included with each system. The Price graph shows the list price of a system con

figured with two drives, a monochrome monitor, graphics and color display capability, a printer port and a serial port, 256K bytes of memory (64K bytes for 8-bit systems), the standard operating system for the computers under comparison, and the standard BASIC interpreter. Note that the price of the Kaypro 286i is for the dual floppy-disk-drive system and does not include the cost of the operating system.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 219

bhibpii,ii

The back panel of the Kaypro 286i.

DISK ACCESS IN BASIC (SEC) 250

24 1 ~777>

.46

234 J

WRITE

SYSTEM UTILITIES (SEC) 50

READ

Inside the Kaypro 286i: six slots appear on the left. The review unit included two floppy-disk drives.

BASIC PERFORMANCE (SEC) 250

100

CALCULATIONS

SPREADSHEET (SEC) 25

15

an

40K FORMAT/DISK COPY 40K FILE COPY

■ KAYPRO 286i

The graphs for Disk Access in BASIC show how long it took to write and to read a 64K-byte sequential text file to a blank floppy disk. (For the program listings, see BYTE's Fall 1985 special issue, Inside the IBM PCs, page 195.) The Sieve graph shows how long it took to run one iteration of the Sieve of Eratosthenes prime-number benchmark. The Calculations graph shows how long it took to do 10,000 multiplication and 10,000 division operations using single-precision

LOAD APPLE HE

RECALCULATE

numbers. The System Utilities graphs show how long it took to format and copy a disk (adjusted time for 40K bytes of disk data) and to transfer a 40K-byte file using the system utilities. The Kaypro was tested using the drives in double-density mode. The Spreadsheet graph shows how long it took to load and recalculate a 25- by 25-cell spreadsheet where each cell equals 1.001 times the cell to its left. The spreadsheet used was Microsoft Multiplan.

220 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Become twice as productive with half the effort and three times the fun. Whether you're using AutoCAD, Lotus 1-2-3, PC Paintbrush or Reflex. LOGIMOUSE is the productivity demon that gets you there faster.

At a powerful $99 price.

HARDWARE SUPERIOR LOGIMOUSE has always been hardware superior. Which is why it's the consistent choice of professional users.

■ HIGH resolution—twice as high as most other mice

■ NO pad, NO external power supply—FREE of the optical mouse jumble of pads, wires, and plugs

■ IBM PC, XT, AT compatible directly into any serial port

SOFTWARE SUPERIOR LOGIMOUSE software is still a generation ahead in bringing the mouse to its full power within your application.

■ Fully compatible with AutoCAD, GEM, Lotus 1-2-3, MS Windows, all Microsoft compatible programs, PC Paintbrush, Reflex and many, many more

■ LOGIMOUSE Software Disk FREE with every mouse, including:

Universal Mouse Driver with easy Mouse Setting File TAG, the Text-And-Graphics editor LOGIMOUSE INTERFACE for 1-2-3

LOGIMOUSE INTERFACE FOR LOTUS FREE

The all new LOGIMOUSE INTERFACE for Lotus 1-2-3 sets a new industry standard for making 1-2-3 work faster and easier. LOGIMOUSE is not just a replacement for keyboard keystrokes. It's a 1-2-3 liberator that makes Lotus more fun to use. OFFERED FREE for a limited time on every LOGIMOUSE Software Disk.

LOGIPAINTSET $149

LOGIMOUSE C7 plus PC Paintbrush 3.0 is the most advanced paint set available for the PC. Use LOGIPAINT for designing a logo, creating a cartoon, or drawing a picture of a product you're developing. You won't believe its power with either free hand drawing or graphics.

To place a credit card order call our special toll free number:

800-231-7717

In California:

800-552-8885

YES

I I want to seize the LOGIMOUSE Power! ! Please send me:

□ LOGIMOUSE C7 with the Universal Mouse Driver, TAG and the LOGIMOUSE INTERFACE for 1-2-3. $99* □ LOGIPAINT SET—LOGIMOUSE C7 with the Universal Mouse Driver, TAG, the LOGIMOUSE INTERFACE for 1-2-3, PLUS PC Paintbrush 3.0. $149*

*Add $5 for shipping and handling. □ VISA □ MASTERCARD □ CHECK ENCLOSED

Card Number

Expiration Date

SIGNATURE NAME

ADDRESS.

CITY, STATE_ ZIP

. PHONE

m LOGITECH

LOGITECH, Inc.

805 Veterans Blvd., Redwood City, CA 94063, USA

Telephone: (415) 365-9852

LOGIMOUSE is a registered trademark of LOGITECH Inc. AutoCAD is a trademark of Autodesk Inc. GEM is a trademark of Digital Research Inc. Lotus and 1-2-3 are trademarks of Lotus Development Corp. MS Windows is a trademark of Microsoft. PC Paintbrush is a trademark of ZSoft Corp. Reflex is a trademark of Borland/Analytica Corp.

Inquiry 212

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 22!

a message

to our subscribers

From time to time we make the BYTE subscriber list available to other companies who wish to send our subscribers material about their products. We take great care to screen these companies, choosing only those who are reputable, and whose products, services, or information we feel would be of interest to you. Direct mail is an efficient medium for presenting the latest personal computer goods and services to our subscribers.

Many BYTE subscribers appreciate this controlled use of our mailing list, and look forward to finding information of interest to them in the mail. Used are our subscribers' names and addresses only (no other information we may have is ever given).

While we believe the distribution of this information is of benefit to our subscribers, we firmly respect the wishes of any subscriber who does not want to receive such promotional literature. Should you wish to restrict the use of your name, simply send your request to the following address.

BYTE Magazine

Attn: Circulation

Department

70 Main St

Peterborough NH

03458 w

REVIEW: KAYPRO 286i

1111, lillllllllll

aaiiaiiiiiiie

^lltflllill 9!

n n r-i

r r mu i

SU'll'S

llli

:': a m m

Photo 1: The Kaypro 286i keyboard uses the IBM PC AT layout.

ware that will not run on the PC AT.

It is easy to unpack and set up the 286i. Remove the equipment from its boxes, plug in the monitor and keyboard cables, plug in the electrical cord, and turn on the machine. Like the PC AT the Kaypro includes a small barrel key that fits into a lock on the front panel and switches the keyboard on and off. If you leave the lock in the Ready position, you won't have a problem when you lose the key. Fortunately, Kaypro supplies two keys.

It is easy to hook up a printer to the parallel port at the back of the 286i; Kaypro uses the IBM PC adaptation of the Centronics standard. Unfortunately, the serial port follows the IBM PC AT standard. It is a nine-pin male plug, virtually useless without an extra-cost adapter ($40 retail) that turns it into a standard PC serial port. IBM reportedly used the smaller serial plug so that a serial and parallel port could be placed on the same card. Kaypro picked up the PC AT's bad features along with the good.

The Kaypro's keyboard (see photo 1) uses the same layout as the PC AT, but the Enter key and right-hand Shift keys are a little larger. The PC AT's keyboard has the feel of an IBM PC keyboard, requiring firm pressure on the keytops to enter data. It is also noisy. The Kaypro keyboard requires a softer touch and is much quieter.

The 14-inch RGB monitor, bundled with the system or available separate

ly for $595, is barely adequate for a machine with the 286i's capabilities. The retail price is high for a monitor with a shadow-mask aperture of only 0.4 millimeters. Characters closely resemble those produced by the IBM graphics adapter/monitor combination, but the letters are coarse; extended use would probably give you eyestrain. Color graphics are adequate, but there are many more reasonably priced RGB displays on the market that will produce better results with characters and graphics than the Kaypro monitor. The monitor has a built-in tilt stand, a minor convenience.

If you're intrigued by the Kaypro 286i as an alternate to the IBM PC AT, I don't think you'll go wrong. I couldn't uncover any hardware incompatibilities. IBM's Enhanced Graphics Adapter and Enhanced Graphics Monitor worked perfectly. And, like the AT, the Kaypro is very fast. When running the System Information routine from The Norton Utilities, the 286i's CPU processes data approximately 5.7 times faster than the Intel 8088-based IBM PC, the same rating as the IBM PC AT. The Kaypro's results on the BYTE benchmarks were similar to the IBM PC AT (see page 220).

The Kaypro 286i is a true compatible with a list price substantially lower than the IBM machine. A careful shopper can save close to $3000 by buying the Kaypro instead of the IBM. ■

222 BYTE • MARCH 1986

MODULA-2/86 VERSION 2.0

Professional

Modula-2

for $89.

Now the same powerful tools Micropro used to develop its latest word processing system is available to you at a new $89.00 price.

Building Blocks for Tomorrow^ Technology

Universities are switching to LOGITECH MODULA-2. Innovative programmers now develop applications and products with LOGITECH MODULA-2. The most productive teams at major companies depend on LOGITECH MODULA-2. Now you can create your professional software development system using the proven technical sophistication of LOGITECH MODULA-2/86.

Systems to Fit Your Needs.

Base Language System <ICOQ

■ Compiler and Linker

■ Module Library

Base Language System/8087 ^190

■ Inline 8087 code. Wl^y

Base Language System/512K tt 1Q Q

■ Full 8087 support. ^J-U^

■ Uses RAM to increase speed by 40 to 50 percent.

■ 80186 and 80286 support.

Run-Time Debugger € £ Q

■ Monitors the execution of a program with user-defined breakpoints or by stepping through the program.

■ Symbolically displays the source code,data, procedure call chain, and raw memory.

MODULA-2 Editor

■ Fast on-line Modula-2 syntax check.

■ Can run compiler and linker from the editor.

■ User definable templates for Modula-2 syntax constructs.

Utilities Package

■ Decoders: Disassemble link and load files.

■ Version: Administrate different versions of one program.

■ Post-Mortem Debugger: Debugs a program after abnormal termination.

■ Cross Reference: Produces a cross-reference listing of a Modula-2 program.

Sources $179

■ Sources to customize your system.

■ Run-Time System sources.

■ Some library module sources.

Not Copy Protected

$59

$49

INTRODUCTORY OFFER:

Through the end of March you get the new

MODULA-2 Editor for free with any purchase of

the Base Language System.

To place an order call our special toll free number:

800-231-7717

In California:

800-552-8885

YES

I want to create my professional software , development system. Please send me the following building blocks:

□ BLSS89 □ BLS/8087 $129 □ BLS/512K $189 DRTD$69* □ EDITOR $59*

□ UTILITIES $49* □ SOURCES $179*

*$10 less with the purchase of any Base Language System. Please add $5 for shipping and handling.

□ VISA Q MASTERCARD D CHECK ENCLOSED

CARD NUMBER

EXPIRATION DATE

SIGNATURE

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY

STATE.

.ZIP.

. PHONE (_

ffl LOGITECH

LOGITECH, Inc.

805 Veterans Blvd.,Redwood City,CA 94063,USA

Telephone: (415) 365-9852

LOGITECH SA

Box 32,CH-1143 Apples, Switzerland

Telephone: 41 (21) 774545

Inquiry 213

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 223

TEXAS COMPUTER SYSTEMS

Toll Free 1 "800-433-^Iftd

"vv -r^j J lOt Texas 214 264-8511 ting Since 1980 • D & B Rat«.H • ka*:

Kaied • Major corporate PO's accepted.

I

Heart of Texas Computer Systems, Inc. P.O. Box 531198 Grand Prairie, Texas 75053

HARD DISK SYSTEMS

For IBM PC's, XT's and Compatibles.

FREE with each kit: the powerful WindowDOS Resident Utility Software giving instant-window access to many enhanced DOS functions. A $50 value.

External

Cabinets

$149

Easily converts drive kits into external drives.

PC & XT Half Height.

10 Mg

$379

20 Mg

$469

High Performance. Full Height.

Seagate 13 month warranty

20 Mg $749

i We have lowest prices. Compare.

• No surcharge on VISA, MC. Prompt shipping Free on many items. Call!

• Finest service! Your full satisfaction

is our goal!

30 Mg $895

Kits include drive, controller, cables, hardware. & easy instructions. Systems backed by our warranties of 13 or more months.Bootable from hard disk.

For combo

floppy/hard drive

controller

add $75

High performance drive kits include full height drive, conlroller. cables & instructions. Outstanding voice coil technology provides quality performance and 40 ms average access time. Drives require 135 watt power supply.

$795

The New High Performance

TCS TURBO PC

0 2 speed motherboard with keyboard selectable 4.77 MHz regular and 8 MHz Turbo modes.

U 640K on motherboard.

D 8 expansion slots.

□ 735 watt power supply.

□ One 360K half height floppy drive.

□ Floppy drive controller. D Beautiful cabinet with LED lights that

indicate running speed for PC or Turbo.

□ 5750 style keyboard. 5151 style optional.

8 MHz of Turbo Speed! 2nd fl°ppyfor *100 extra

Blaze along with up to 70% increase in processor speed over normal 4.77 MHz PC's, and faster than most other Turbo PC's. Runs all major IBM compatible software. One year warranty. An outstanding value.

i i i i i i i i :,','.',',',',

V '

TAPE BACK-UP SYSTEMS

INTERNAL

10 mg $399

20 mg $699

60 mg $888

EXTERNAL

20 mg $749

25 mg $849

60 mg $1095

EMERGENCY POWER

200 watts from $269

1000 watts $899

MONITORS

RGB Ultra Hi Res $399

13", .31 dot pitch, anti-glare.

RGB Hi Res $349

13" .43 dot pitch, anti glare.

Green Screen TTL $129

12" Looks and works like IBM monochrome monitor.

PC POWER SUPPLIES

135 watt $89

150 watt $119

CARDS FOR IBM PC

AND COMPATIBLES

MULTIFUNCTION CARD $129

• 384K Memory • Clock/ Calendarwith battery backup

• Parallel, serial & game ports. Without memory $99

MONOCHROME CARD $119

• Emulates IBM mono card

• Hercules compatible

• Printer port.

COLOR CARD $119

• Fits 5 inch slot

• Emulates IBM RGB card.

EVEREX GRAPHICS EDGE $299

EVEREX EDGE $279

Color and monochrome, Do-everything graphics card. EVEREX INT. MODEM $225

I/O CLOCK CARD $99

• 2 serial ports, 1 parallel port, 1 game port (no memory).

PRINTERS

FUJITSU DotMax 9 $349

DotMax 24 $1295

PANASONIC 1080 $225

1092 $359

1093 $420

3151 (DW) $412

JUKI 6100 $359

6300 $679

Star SG-10/15 $219/$379

Olympia NP $245

RO (Daisywheel) $289

P-ces, specifications and availahi^'a^^c^^;^^;^-^;-^.".

• All merchandise b'nlw".^ m.7 G?7 'equirCd

• We accept cashier's cnecL 2.1 mj>nuf«turer's warranty.

and approved c^fe^ VISA. MC, C.O.D.

H o'l ru s. ror American Express, add 3%.

inquiry 346

SOFTWARE REVIEW

Modula-2 System for Z80 CP/M

Hochstrasser's package

most features

as defined

by Wirth

by Brian R. Anderson

The Modula-2 System for Z80 CP/M produced by Hochstrasser Computing AG was written in Zurich, Switzerland, by four graduates of ETH SUDDOrtS (Federal Institute of Technology), where Niklaus Wirth developed both Pascal and Modula-2. Because of the close association between the author of the language and the authors of this compiler, I had every expectation of a high-quality product that adhered closely to Wirth's definition of Modula-2.

1 was not disappointed. This is a full-featured system with extensive library support and a very smooth user interface. Everything seems to be well engineered and relatively bug-free. The system supports virtually all features as defined by Wirth, lacking only processes and monitors. Version control is currently disabled. All features are expected sometime in the future and will be available to registered users at a nominal charge for media and printing. This review refers to version 2.0 of the compiler. The release date was March 28, 1985.

The library modules (most with commented source code) include three separate file systems—two sequential, one randomaccess; a program chaining system that allows data sharing; full access to both BDOS (basic disk operating system) and BIOS (basic input/output system) calls; math functions (transcendentals); and many others.

Hardware

A Z80 CP/M system with at least 52K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory) and two disk drives is required. The compiler uses about 170K bytes of disk space. The linker and all its support files (that is, library and utility modules and excluding the source files) take up about 120K bytes. Since the compiler and linker don't have to be present on the system at the same time, it would be possible to work with disk drives as small as 170K bytes. However, to work comfortably, it would be

Brian R. Anderson (2977 East 56!(i Ave.. Vancouver. British Columbia V5S 2A2. Canada) is a certified engineering technician with experience in communications and industrial control He works as an instructor at Vancouver Community College. His interests include motorcycling and playing the guitar.

better to have larger drives; Hochstrasser recommends at least 300K bytes each. The Z80 is a must; the compiler will not work with an 8080 or 8085.

My computer system consists of an S-100 single-board computer made by Intercontinental Micro Systems, using a 4-MHz Z80 operating under CP/M 2.2. All tests were done with an 8-inch single-sided singledensity (SS/SD) disk as the data disk. The system disk was an 8-inch double-sided double-density (DS/DD) disk.

The documentation that comes with the compiler is quite good. The manual, Modula-2 System for Z80 CP/M. is organized so that the first-time user can get up and running quickly

The first section of the manual explains system requirements and guides you through configuration and a sample compile session (several sample programs are on the disks).

The manual's introduction to Modula-2 provides a good insight into the differences between Modula-2 and Pascal. It is not a replacement for Programming in Modula-2 by Niklaus Wirth (Springer-Verlag, 2nd edition, 1983), but this introduction is a worthwhile companion to it.

The implementation section explains the use of the compiler in detail and describes the library modules. The description of the compiler is excellent. Although the library description is adequate for most purposes, it is at times sketchy and vague; keep Wirth's book handy. (Another useful companion is Modula-2 for Pascal Programmers by Richard Gleaves [Springer-Verlag. 1984|. It is based on the MS-DOS implementation of Modula-2 by Volition Systems, and it describes the library modules in some detailalong with example programs. The Volition and Hochstrasser implementations are very similar, and virtually everything in Gleaves's book applies equally to the Hochstrasser Modula-2.)

Also in the system manual is an advanced

{continued)

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 225

REVIEW: Z80 MODULA-2

programming guide that has tips and techniques to improve efficiency, interface to assembly-language modules, and other useful information.

Finally, there is a set of appendixes, including an explanation of the linker format, an EBNF (Extended BackusNaur Form) language definition, and a list of error messages used by the compiler and linker.

Evaluation

The method I chose to evaluate this compiler was to develop several benchmark programs, each testing a specific feature. Compile time is important to everyone, so all compile times (using automated batch processing) are tabulated for the test programs. Different features are significant depending on your application; therefore, 1 have evaluated four separate areas for execution speed: integer math, floating-point math, screen output, and file I/O (input/ output).

As a concession to tradition, 1 also include the Sieve of Eratosthenes among the test programs. The Sieve tests the ability to perform loops, but little else.

Comparison Languages

For comparison, I compiled and ran similar programs in Pascal (using Borland International's Turbo Pascal) and in C (using Aztec C). Choice of comparison languages was dictated mostly by what I had available. However, I'll try to justify my choices on technical grounds, too. Since 1 know of no other Z80 compiler system for Modula-2 (and I've looked), there was no option but to compare with compilers of other languages.

Pascal is closely related to Modula-2, so it seems natural to compare these two. Turbo Pascal is an excellent product, known particularly for its compilation and execution speed.

Both C and Modula-2 are considered to be "systems" languages (that is, useful for writing operating systems). Both have separated scope (visibility) and lifetime (existence) for variables. Both use modules. (C, how

ever, does not formalize this; C's independent compilation units are similar to Modula 2's modules— instead of the import/export lists. C uses the extern concept.) Since C and Modula-2 seem to be vying for the same space, it does not seem unreasonable to compare them. Aztec C has received consistent high marks in

reviews comparing it to other implementations of the language.

The Benchmarks

The math benchmarks are simple. The programs execute one operation repeatedly; I timed the operation and then divided the total time by the number of repetitions. The result is

Listing 1: Benchmark to evaluate integer operations.

MODULE MTIMEI;

FROM Terminal IMPORT (* standard module as def ined by Wi rth *)

Write, WriteLn, WriteString;

FROM ASCII IMPORT bel ;

VAR

x, y, z : INTEGER; i : CARDINAL;

PROCEDURE Delay (x : CARDINAL); (* variable Delay, x in milliseconds *)

VAR

i, j : CARDINAL;

BEGIN

FOR i := 1 TO FOR j := 1 END; END; END Delay;

X

TO

30 18

DO

BEGIN

x := 11; y := 2;

WriteString ('Blank Delay (500); Write (bel); i := 1;

REPEAT

');

WriteLn;

z := y;

i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 10000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Addit Delay (530);

'on

');

WriteLn

Write (bel); i := 1; REPEAT

z := x + y;

i := i + 1; UNTIL i - 10000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

226 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 350

REVIEW: Z80 MODULA-2

the time taken to perform that operation once. To factor out overhead for the loop and assignment portion of the operation. I also included a blank loop in the tests. I subtracted the time for this blank loop from the other times before calculating time per operation. See listing 1 (Integer) and listing 2 (Floating Point). [Editor's note:

All programs shown here are available for downloading from BYTEiief Listings. (617) 861-9764, or on disk (see page 358 for details). |

This compiler implements floatingpoint math in a single-precision format, which is similar to that proposed by IEEE (Task 754. 1981). and pro

[continued)

WriteString ('Subtraction"); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := x - y;

i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 10000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Multiplication'); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := x * y;

i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 10000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Division'); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := x DIV y;

i := i + 1; UNTIL i - 10000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Modulus'); WriteLn; Delay (500);

Write (bel); i := 1; REPEAT

z := x MOD y;

i := i + 1; UNTIL i - 10000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Good-bye...'); WriteLn; END MTIMEI.

«.

Number One in Performance

68010/68000 Coprocessor for

IBM/AT/XT/PC

8/10/12.5mz No Walt States

$1295°°Oiy.1

FEATURES

• 1-2 MB RAM (1MB Standard) •16K-64KEPR0M

• 2-8 Serial Ports Async/Sync/Bisync Communications

• Battery-backed Real Time Clock

• Battery-backed 2K-8K RAM

• 2 Parallel Ports

• 68881 Math Coprocessor

• Memory-mapped Dual-port BUS •3-9 Users Per Board (3 Standard)

• Up To 16 Boards Per AT/XT/PC

• Can Operate As Standalone Processor

SOFTWARE

• 0S9 (Powerful UNIX-like Multi-user OS) •CPM/68K

• Software selectable OS including concurrent PC DOS/OS-9 or CPM/68K operation

• Support Module for IBM Graphics

• High-speed Local/Global Disk Caching

• Basic. Pascal. Fortran, C, and COBOL

US9^j rryMiiid Idjdrmjrh ol U«io»jre S^lrnuOxp ONIBIa J ie<?**ittil'idrminri\ O9UI FbuETitryp

Systems

West: 4704 W. Jennifer Suite 105, Fresno. CA 93711, 209/276-2345 East; 67 Grandview, Pleasantville, NY 10570, 914/747-1450 Distributor: Telemarketing Services, Inc. 1897 Garden Ave,, Eugene. OR 97403. 800/874-2288

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 227

REVIEW: Z80 MODULA-2

vides about 7 significant digits. This degree of precision is useful for many applications, but round-off error can build up quickly if your application requires much iteration. As an example,

I calculated factorials (both recursively and iteratively) and found the error could become excessive after about

II iterations. With no iteration, the transcendental functions appear to be accurate to the full 7 digits provided. All the usual functions are included (sin, cos, arctan, exp. In), plus a power function and two conversion functions (REAL to INTEGER and INTEGER to REAL).

Note that both Turbo Pascal and Aztec C implement their floatingpoint operations in double-precision.

The third benchmark tests console screen output speed—specifically the time taken to completely rewrite the screen with "The quick brown fox. . . ." Rapid screen update is particularly important for writing programs such as text editors or anything that makes extensive use of console I/O. In all cases, the console was operating at 19,200 bits per second. The screen output program is shown in listing 3.

The final benchmark involved disk file I/O (listing 4); it's a simple file-copy program, ostensibly to create a backup file. The text file copied was 100 lines of "The quick brown fox. . ."—7K bytes in total.

Listing 5 shows the Sieve program as implemented in this review.

Statistical results for the mathematical benchmarks are given in table 1. All other benchmark statistics are given in table 2.

I did not encounter any bugs in the compiler or linker, although some were reported at the beta test sites and have been corrected with release of version 2.0. I did come across two errors in the library/utility modules; these also have been corrected in the latest release.

As the tables show, Modula-2 fared quite well in most benchmark categories. Although compile times were much slower than for Turbo Pascal, they were similar to those of Aztec C.

{continued)

Listing 2: Benchmark to evaluate floating-point operations.

MODULE MTIMEF; (* times floating point operations *)

FROM Terminal IMPORT

Write, WriteLn, WriteString;

FROM MathLib IMPORT

sin, cos, arctan, In, exp;

FROM ASCII IMPORT be I;

VAR

x, y, z : REAL; i : CARDINAL;

PROCEDURE Delay (x : CARDINAL); (* variable delay, x in milliseconds *)

VAR

i, j : CARDINAL;

BEGIN

FOR i := 1 TO x DO

FOR j := 1 TO 18 DO END; END; END Delay;

BEGIN

x := 12.5;

y := 0.5;

WriteString ('Blank'); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z :- y;

i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 10000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Addition'); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := x + y;

i := i + 1; UNTIL i - 10000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Subtraction'); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := x - y;

i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 10000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

228 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Inquiry 351

REVIEW: Z80 MODULA-2

WriteString ('Multiplication'); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := x * y;

i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 10000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Division'); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := x / y;

i : = i + 1; UNTIL i - 10000;

Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Sine'); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := sin (y);

i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 1000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Cosine'); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := cos (y);

i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 1000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Arctangent'); WriteLn;

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := arctan (x);

i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 1000; Write (bel); Delay (4000);

WriteString ('Natural Log');

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i :- 1;

REPEAT

z := In (x);

i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 1000; Write fbel); Delay (4000);

WriteLn;

{continued)

Number One In Performance

Hard Disk Intelligent

VCR Backup

for AT/XT/PC

FEATURES

• High speed microprocessor controlled backup (68000)

• Two channel interface

• Built in LAN channel

• Software control of most VCR functions including Fast Forward, Rewind, and auto backup using VCR timer capabilities

• Economical VHS or Beta formats

TLM Systems

West: 4704 W. Jenniler, Suite 105, Fresno, CA 93711, 209/276-2345 East: 67 Grandview, Pleasanlville, NY 10570, 914/747-1450 Distributor: Telemarketing Services, Inc. 1897 Garden Ave., Eugene, OR 97403, 800/874-2288

MARCH I986 -BYTE 229

REVIEW: Z80 MODULA-2

Code size is where Modula-2 really excelled, at times bettering the competition by a ratio of 5 to 1. Execution times were similar throughout, with a slight edge going to Modula-2, on average.

Ease of use

In most ways, Modula-2 for Z80 CP/M runs smoothly and is exceedingly easy to use. The system consists of a four-pass compiler and a two-pass linker. The multipass design results in tight, efficient code and acceptable compile speed, considering the results. Several useful compile switches are provided (for example, assembly output or listing-file output), but not so many that they are hard to remember.

The compiler has two methods of handling errors. The default mode automatically creates a listing file (complete with page breaks, headers, and line numbers), with error messages embedded. A "star bar" flags the line where an error occurs, while a pointer shows the position within the line. A compiler switch allows errors to be handled in a simpler manner: The lines and positions of errors are output to the console. Errors are tagged with uncanny accuracy, and I seldom got an error message that did not make sense.

Errors are noted by numbers, which you must look up in the system manual. 1 did manage to invoke an error that is not listed in the manualError 332 was caused by trying to EXIT from a WHILE statement. This error should have been Error 151 according to the manual. In Modula-2, EXIT is allowed only from a LOOP statement. I guess I've been tainted by C, where you can break (as C calls it) from nearly anything.

The compiler and linker have an excellent system that allows them to find their respective source files no matter what drive they are located on. You can easily customize the search path at installation. With the module concept, such a path search is nearly essential, since you are certain to have modules on more than one disk (sys

(conlinued)

WriteString ('Natural Antilog');

Delay (500);

Write (bel);

i := 1;

REPEAT

z := exp (y); i := i + 1; UNTIL i = 1000; Write (bel); Delay (4000); END MTIMEF.

WriteLn;

Listing 3:

Benchmark to test screen

I/O execution.

MODULE MSCREEN;

FROM TERM1 IMPORT (* nonstandard terminal module *)

Write, WriteCard, WriteString, WriteLn;

FROM ASCII IMPORT be I, sub;

VAR

i

; CARDINAL;

BEGIN Write Write

(sub); (* Clear (bel);

Console Screen *)

FOR i

Wr

Wr

over the

Wr

END;

:= 1 TO 100 DO 'teCard (i, 3); 'teString (' The quick brown fox jumped

I azy dogs back. ') ; 'teString (*1234567890*); WriteLn;

Write (bel); END MSCREEN.

Listing 4: Benchmark to lest disk I/O.

MODULE MFILECPY;

FROM SeqIO IMPORT

FILE, FileState, Open, Create, Close, Read, Write, EOF;

FROM Terminal IMPORT

ReadString, WriteLn, WriteString;

FROM Strings IMPORT STRING;

VAR

inFILE, outFILE : FILE;

name, BAKname : STRING; (* filenames *)

c : CHAR;

230 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 352

REVIEW: Z80 MODULA-2

PROCEDURE MakeBAK (in : STRING

; VAR out :

STRING; tag : STRING);

VAR

i, j : CARDINAL;

BEGIN

i := 0;

WHILE (in[i] # 0C) AND (

n[i] # '.')

DO

out[i] := in[i]; INC (i);

END;

j == 0;

WHILE tag[j] # 0C DO

out[l] := tag[j];

INC (i); INC (j);

END;

out[i] := 0C; (*add NULL

terminator*)

END MakeBAK;

BEGIN

WriteString ('File Backup Uti1

ty');

Wr

"teLn; WriteLn;

WriteString ('Enter filename:

):

ReadString (name); WriteLn;

MakeBAK (name, BAKname, '.bak'

);

IF Create (outFILE, BAKname) =

FileOK THEN

IF Open (inFILE, name) = Fi

eOK THEN

WHILE NOT EOF (inFILE) DO

Read (inFILE, c);

Write (outFILE, c);

END;

IF (Close (inFILE) <> Fi ose (outFILE) <> FileOK) THEN

eOK) OR

(C

WriteString ('Error c

os ing

f i

es...'); WriteLn; ELSE

WriteString (BAKname)

Wr

teString (' completed.'); Wr END; ELSE

teLn;

IF Close (outFILE) <> Fi

eOK THEN

(* do nothing *)

END;

WriteString ('Error creal

ting new

fi

e...'); WriteLn;

END; ELSE

WriteString ('Error opening

file...');

Wr

teLn; END;

END MFILECPY.

^^» A

jiippc

—

Number One in Performance

Z80H

IBM/AT/XT/PC- 8mz No Wait States

FEATURES

• 64K-256K RAM •2K-8KEPR0M/StaticRam

• 2 Serial Ports Async/Sync/Bisync Communications

•Real Time Clock

• Memory-mapped Dual-port BUS

• On-board/Remote Reset NMI capability •Up To 32 Boards Per AT/XT/PC

• Can Operate As Standalone Processor

• Less Than Full Size Board (will fit other compatables.)

SOFTWARE

• ZP/M tm CP/M Emulation Software (Supports Most CP/M Software)

• Multiuser Capability If Used As A Slave Processor

Systems

West: 4704 W. Jennifer, Suite 105, Fresno, CA 93711, 209/276-2345 East: 67 Grandview, Pieasanlville. NY 10570, 914/747-1450 Distributor: Telemarketing Services, Inc. 1B97 Garden Ave., Eugene, OR 97403, 800/874-2288

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 231

REVIEW: Z80 MODULA-2

tern modules on the compiler disk and your modules on the work disk).

Due to a small quirk in the compiler, the object files are always written to the default drive (usually the system or A drive). A great improvement would result if the object files were written (or could be redirected) to the disk where the main source file was found. Maybe it's me that has the quirk, but you be the judge. I think the A drive should have the compiler system on it, and the B drive should have the source and object files.

The best solution 1 could find was to create three separate CP/M SUBMIT files; one to compile program modules (on the B drive), one to compile definition and implementation modules on the B drive, and one to

compile definition and implementation modules on the A drive. Shown below are the three SUBMIT files, along with an explanation" of each. Contents of file modula.sub are

MC $1 N IX ML $1 /V /0:B:$1 ERA $1.MRL

MC invokes the compiler in the verbose mode (A/) and terminates batch processing (IX) if there are any compile errors. As usual with CP/M SUB- Qf A dHVC)

MIT files, $1 specifies the first

command-line argument (in this case the source filename, without the file type).

ML invokes the linker (also in the verbose mode), with the object file redirected to the B drive (10). The /O

Due to a small quirk in the compiler, the object files are always written to the default drive {usually the system

Listing 5: Sieve of Eratosthenes benchmark written in Modula-2.

MODULE MSIEVE;

FROM TERM1 IMPORT

WriteString, WriteCard, WriteLn;

CONST

Size = 8190; (* size of

array *)

Iterations = 10; (* minimum 1 *)

VAR

count, i, iter, k, prime : CARDINAL; flags : ARRAY [0..Size] OF BOOLEAN;

BEGIN

WriteString ('10 Iterations'); WriteLn; FOR iter := 1 TO Iterations DO

count := 0;

FOR i := 0 TO Size DO

flags[i] := TRUE; END;

FOR i := 0 TO Size DO IF flags[i] THEN

prime := i + i +3;

k := i + pr ime; WHILE k <= Size DO flags[k] := FALSE; INC (k, prime); END;

INC (count); END; END; (* FOR *) END; (* FOR *)

WriteString ('There were '); WriteCard (count, 0); WriteString ('

pr imes.'); END MSIEVE.

option allows you to specify the object filename of the linker. Here, the filename itself is the same as the source filename, with the drive specifier forced to B. Linker output is a COM file.

ERA erases the relocatable file (.MRL) output by the compiler. This file is used by the linker and is then no longer needed (at least in the case of stand-alone programs). This prevents .MRL files from cluttering up the system disk.

File Deflmp/B.SUB contains

MC$1.DEF/V/X MC$1.MOD/V/X PIP B: = A:$1* ERA $1.MSY ERA $1.MRL

Definition and implementation modules are compiled separately. The PIP command moves the .MSY (Modula symbol) and .MRL (Modula relocatable) files to the B drive before the unwanted copies on drive A are erased. File Deflmp/A.SUB contains

MC S1.DEF/V IX MC $1.MOD N

When compiling to the system disk (for example, compiling library modules), definition and implementation modules are compiled separately and left on A. Two examples follow. To compile the program module sieve.mod, all that is required is

A>submit modula sieve <CR>

To compile definition and implemen

(continued)

232 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Inquiry 185 —►

THAT IS OUT OF THIS WORLD..

$389

MODEL 2000 20MHz DUAL TRACE

$549

MODEL 3500 35MHz DUAL TRACE DELAYED SWEEP

AT A DOWN TO EARTH PRICE

At last! Truly affordable test equipment with no compromise in design, and features you would expect to find only on oscilloscopes costing hundreds of dollars more! JDR Instruments presents two," new, high-performance models backed by a two year warranty and technical support which is only a phone call away. Perfect for the technician or advanced hobbyist, both models feature Dual Trace capability and a variety of operating and triggering modes, including CH-B Subtract and X-Y operation.

MODEL 2000 has a 20 MHz I JMI MODEL 3500 features a 35

bandwidth and 20 calibrated WiffR I MHzbanclwicltn anclexceptional

sweeps ranging from .2s to .2/iS. B^WBfotfM ImV/DIV sensitivity. Delayed

A convenient built-in component ■XCJ^M I sweep and variable holdoff allow

tester provides additional I stable viewing of complex

diagnostic power. HiSUiSllaliJiSiiri | waveforms.

ORDER TOLL FREE 800-538-5000 800-662-6279 (ca>

T

JDR INSTRUMENTS

1224 South Bascom Avenue San Jose, California 95128 (408) 995-5430

COPYRIGHT 1985 JDR INSTRUMENTS EARTH PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA THE JDR INSTRUMENTS LOGO IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF JDR MICRODEVICES JDR INSTRUMENTS IS A TRADEMARK OF JDR MICRODEVICES

REVIEW: Z80 MODULA-2

AT A GLANCE

Name

Modula-2 System for Z80 CP/M

Company

Hochstrasser Computing AG Chratzstrasse 14 8954 Geroldswil Switzerland

Format

Three SS/SD 8-inch distribution disks; not copy-protected

Computer

Z80-based CP/M system with 52K bytes of RAM required, two floppy-disk drives holding at least 300K bytes each recommended

Documentation

User's manual, 240 pages with index

Price

$160

tation modules for NEWMOD to the B drive,

A>submit Deflmp/B newmod <CR>

Conclusions

These lads from Zurich have done an excellent job of implementing Modula-2 on a Z80. All features operated extremely well. The documentation is good and quite complete. I have no hesitation in recommending this system to anyone interested in working with Modula-2. I stress working—this is not a toy compiler. Because of the small code size, this system would be suitable even for small control applications. The compiler produces native Z80 code that is ROMable and reentrant. Because of the program chaining facilities, very large applications greater than 64K bytes can also be easily developed. At this time, Modula-2 System for Z80 CP/M is available only on standard 8-inch SS/SD (IBM 3740) disks. Other formats reportedly are coming soon. ■

Table 1: Results of math benchmarks. Execution times are in milliseconds.

Compile times are in minutes.seconds. For

the floating-point benchmarks,

Modula-2 uses 7 significant digits. TUrbo

uses 10, and Mec C uses 14.

Integer Operations

Test

Modula-2

C Pascal

+

.007

.04 .01

.011

.05 .01

«

.06

.27 .14

DIV

.36

.55 .43

MOD

.32

.54 .41

Compile time (TIMEI)

1:38

1:44 0:08

COM file

2K bytes

9K bytes 8K bytes

Floating-Point Operations

Test

Modula-2

C Pascal

+

.29

.42 .34

.33

.50 .38

*

.76

11.60 1.60

/

1.20

18.10 2.20

sin

9.50

162.00 22.00

cos

9.30

196.00 23.00

atn

7.20

190.00 19.00

In

9.30

184.00 26.00

exp

10.70

149.00 23.00

Compile time (TIMEF)

2:01

2:18 0:07

COM file

6K bytes

15K bytes 9K bytes

Table 2: Results of I/O and Sieve benchmarks. Execution times are in milliseconds. Compile times are in minutes:seconds.

Screen Update

Modula-2

C

Pascal

Execute

1.1

2.1

1.1

Compile time (SCREEN) COM file

1:25 2K bytes

1:27 11K bytes

0:06 8K bytes

File Copy

Modula-2

C

Pascal

Execute

15.2

14.7

25.1

Compile time (FILECPY) COM file

1:52 8K bytes

1:46 12K bytes

0:08 8K bytes

(Note: PIP copied the same

file in 10.2 seconds.)

Sieve of Eratosthenes

Modula-2

C

Pascal

Execute

18.4

23.2

22.1

Compile time (SIEVE) COM file

1:25 2K bytes

1:12 8K bytes

0:06 8K bytes

234 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Now ¥)u Can Tirade-In lr£>ur 1JSED IBM* PC/XT* or AT* Keyboard!

Easy to Read

Regular Key

Legends Rather

than Symbols.

Easy to Identify ^J Status Lights are on "Lock" Keys.

Easy to Use

"Shift" & " Return"

Keys are in familiar

Typewriter locations.

I 1 T- T- I- 1 [- 1 i i t- ir r-Tir i

w Te jr Tt Jy Tu yi To Tp Ti T>

Easy to Edit

Separate Cursor

and

Editing Keys.

Easy for Numbers

Separate Numeric Keys.

Easy to Enter

Convenient

Enter

Key.

mm

Buy a Key Tronic KB 5151 and Receive $25.

Buy a Key Tronic KB 5151, send in your new or USED IBM* PC, XT* or AT* keyboard and Key Tronic will send you $25. It's that simple!

Type on the KB 5151 keyboard and feel the difference for yourself. It's the Key Tronic touch!

Look at the layout of the KB 5151. It was designed to increase operator speed and comfort. No wonder it's the choice of professionals.

Ask a Key Tronic customer about our products. You will learn about our reputation for manufacturing durable professional products.

Key Tronic is the world's largest independent manufacturer of full travel keyboards and offers a complete line of integrated input devices. «/~-r /*/ IS T" '/> / "

See your local dealer or LfW tlKAQ' lJVm^pllifl call 1-800-262-6006 for more information. (7 am 3 pm Pacific Time) In Washington State call (509) 928-8000.

keytronic

The Responsive Input Company

P. O. Box 14087 • Spokane, WA 99214 • USA

The Key Tronic KB 5150 and KB 5151 keyboards are also eligible for Irade-in under ihe Trade-in offer also applies to purchases of other Key Tronic keyboard products.

'IBM, XT and AT are rcgislcred trademarks of IBM Corporation

s of this rebate program

Inquiry 198

Co%^

To the best of my knowledge the below information is correct and the enclosed keyboard is an IBM PC, XT or AT keyboard, or Key Tronic 5150 or 5151 keyboard. 1 am aware that the conditions for receiving a $25.00 personal rebate check for the keyboard include: replacing each such keyboard with a Key Tronic keyboard and including a copy of the sales receipt showing the purchase of the new eligible Key Tronic keyboard after January 1, 1986, when mailing the keyboard to Key Tronic. I understand that credit will only be given for IBM PC, XT or AT keyboards or Key Tronic 5150 or 5151 keyboards.

Make check payable Company _ .

to:

Key Tronic Corporation ATTN: Rebate Program Building 14

Spokane Industrial Park Spokane, WA 99216

City/State/Zip

Phone

Contact Name .

■

y^5S^

A

'©/,

os

«a

£&

n

'V/,

>

tut*

I

BASF QUALIMETRIC" 1.2 MB FLEXYDISKS."CERTIFIED 100% ERROR-FREE AND WARRANTED.

SOFTWARE REVIEW

Pocket APL

inexpensive

yet complete

version of

the language

by Eric H. Johnson

Eric H. \ohnson is a teaching assistant and undergraduate in the computer science department at Michigan State University. He can be contacted do Lyman Briggs School. Michigan State University. East Lansing. Ml 48824.

Despite the great popularity that APL has gained in recent years, it has remained out of the reach of many microcomputer owners because implementations have been too costly and often required special hardware (such as an 8087 numeric coprocessor) and a special character ROM (read-only memory). Now, however, STSC Inc. has released a reasonably priced, very friendly package for the IBM Personal Computer that runs with as little as 128K bytes of memory and requires no special hardware. Aptly named Pocket APL, it is a complete implementation of APL that incorporates extended system and file functions, a comprehensive on-line help facility, and sample workspaces all on a single disk—and with plenty of room to spare. The introductory tutorial that comes with the package is superb, and there are adequate reference materials, including a user's manual and placards containing the keyboard layout as well as keyword and symbol references.

Pocket APL is aimed at programmers who are beginning to learn APL or who intend to write only small applications. Its only serious disadvantage is that its workspace area is limited to 64K bytes, regardless of how much memory you have. If you require a more powerful APL system, STSC's APL* PLUS/PC offers complete memory utilization, full-screen editing, graphics, and many more features, but for a considerably higher price. On the other hand, if for now you are interested in learning APL but aren't sure about making the investment in a more robust package, then Pocket APL is definitely the way to go. It is by no means a professional package, but you will be surprised at some of its capabilities nonetheless.

Pocket APL comes with some full-screen editing capabilities. However, the insert and delete functions are extremely sluggish, especially with the color/graphics adapter, and there is no "true" insert mode; you must hit the insert key once for every character that you want to put in a line. For

editing user-defined functions, you can use the screen editor along with the "del" editor, a version of the editor found on most APL systems. Its operation is quite straightforward, but when used with the screen editor, it is helpful only for line insertion and deletion. As primitive as it is, the screen editor is much more effective for in-line editing.

Pocket APL supports the use of both APL component files and regular DOS files. APL component files are a powerful tool: They allow entire matrices (either numeric or character) to be stored as easily as if they were single elements, relieving you of the burden of having to restructure data. Components may be accessed randomly, and components may be of both numeric and character type within the same file. Unfortunately, Pocket APL imposes a severe restriction on the size of component files; I could not create one greater than about 10K bytes in size. (This was for an entire file, not just one component of a file.)

File operations are performed through special system functions, and there are many more system functions and commands to control the Pocket APL environment in general. These make for a versatile system, but they can be confusing for a firsttime user, especially with their unusual (but very consistent) syntax. The syntax of system functions is the same as the syntax of APLs other functions, with the exception that system functions are designated by an English keyword preceded by a "quad box" symbol.

When you enter APL from DOS, the system asks you whether you would, like to use APL symbols or their equivalent keywords, and you may switch between the two at any time during your session. The keywords can be used with either the monochrome or the color/graphics adapter card, but I only recommend you use the symbols if you have the latter. For monochrome boards, the standard PC character set is shuffled

(continued)

- Inquiry 35

MARCH 1986 • BYT E 237

REVIEW: POCKET APL

around a bit in a good attempt to reproduce the APL symbols, but many of them aren't there. If just starting out in APL, you may want to use the keywords, but this feature is rather awkwardly implemented. The keywords can interfere with user-defined functions, and they are case-sensitive; as you get bogged down in their use, the brevity of the symbols looks much more attractive. If you come to like APL and are not bothered by Pocket APLs limited environment, then you may want to install an APL character ROM, available from STSC for $3 5. The APL symbols do not interfere with standard ASCII characters, as

only some of the more obscure foreign-language characters are displaced. It is available for the Hercules monochrome board as well as IBM's standard.

Pocket APL comes with a keyboard reference placard that you can lean up against your monitor or system unit. This is fine if you are a touchtypist, because all you have to do is glance at the placard and touch the key where you see the symbol. However, if you are a hacker type (such as myself) who never took typing classes, you have to look at the placard and then at the keyboard to locate the key. I would prefer little decals that stick

Table 1: Benchmark times for Pocket APL and IBM BASICA 2.00. The Disk

Read and Write benchmarks were shortened to account for Pocket APLs limited

file capabilities. For benchmarks involving real numbers, both Pocket APL and

BASIC used double precision unless otherwise noted

(Times are

in

minutes.seconds.)

Test

3ocket APL

BASICA

Integer summation, 1 to 10,000

0:25.4

0:39.2 (single precision)

Create 10,000-element array of random integers

0:3.6

0:1:13.0

Find largest element of 10,000-element integer

array

0:19.8

0:52.0

Sort 100-element integer array in ascending order

0:0.1

0:59.0

Disk Write (shortened)

0:4.1

0:12.0

Disk Read (shortened)

0:1.3

0:10.0

Sieve of Eratosthenes

3:34.0

3:27.0

Calculations

7:18.0

4:14.0

Summation of sin function values (1-360 degrees)

0:12.1

0:19.0

Listing 1: Summation of the integers 1 to 10,000 in (a) APL and (b) BASIC, (a)

+/ i.i0000

(b)

5 R E. M S u m m a t i o n o f i n t e q & r s .1 t o 1.0 O O O

10 SUM=0

20 FOR 1=1 TO lOOOO

30 SUM=SUH+I

40 next :i:

50 PRINT "Done, Sum- "5 SUM

60 'END

on the keys, as I am used to the full APL keyboards found on the terminals of large mainframe systems.

Benchmarks

Although Pocket APL does not have the mind-numbing speed of APL implementations with 8087 numeric coprocessors, it does a good job of holding its own against other interpreted languages. To test the performance of Pocket APL, I ran benchmark tests between it and another popular language, IBM's BASICA 2.00. (It is difficult to compare APL with any other language, so 1 chose the language that I felt was the best known among PC owners.) Where APL could be applied appropriately, the functions were much shorter than the BASIC programs to perform the same task. The benchmarks were run under DOS 2.1 on an IBM PC (see table 1).

First, let's consider some basic operations. The summation of the integers 1 to 10,000, while a bit simple-minded for a benchmark comparison, will allow me to point out the major differences between the way APL and BASIC perform their operations and allocate memory. The BASIC program for this task is simple enough; it is essentially a FOR-NEXT loop, taking five statements. The APL version, however, is far more concise (see listing 1) and yields the answer more quickly. This was not as surprising as one other difference: Pocket APL responded with a clean 50005000, but BASIC came back with an inexact 5.00029E+07. Using double precision in BASIC gave the correct answer, but it took a full 8 seconds more than with single precision, chugging through in 47.3 seconds. In APL, all floatingpoint numbers are double precision by default.

In listing 2,1 compare some elementary APL array operations with the same operations in BASIC. As you can see, not only are the APL versions of these operations much more succinct, but they execute much faster, due to the much lower interpreter overhead. One of the most powerful operators in APL is the "upgrade," used in sorting numeric arrays. Curiously enough.

238 BYTE • MARCH 1986

REVIEW: POCKET APL

it took much less time to sort a 10,000-element array than it did to find its greatest element. The sort program written in BASIC is a form of the selection sort, a common algorithm that requires, for an array of n elements, n~2/2 iterations to complete. More efficient algorithms (particularly those involving recursion) cannot be implemented in BASIC without a great deal of complication, so I had to choose something less powerful. For direct comparison I used an array of size 100. (I had attempted using an array of size 10,000, which Pocket APL still handled very well. The BASIC program, on the other hand, got hopelessly bogged down in the selection sort and I finally stopped the program after about 17 minutes, at which point the variable / of the outer FOR loop had only reached a value of 13.)

These examples show one of the advantages of using APL, in terms of time, accuracy, and the generality of solutions (also see the text box "APLs Flexibility" on page 243). But APL also has a dark side. While the BASIC program and variables for the first example occupied only 132 bytes of memory. Pocket APL hogged nearly 2OK bytes to do the same job. This was the consequence of APLs not having to construct a loop to perform the summation; it had to generate a 10,000-element array containing the numeric sequence and then perform the summation over the array. (In this case, the memory occupied by the array was released back into the workspace because 1 did not create a variable with it.) This is why Pocket APLs small workspace is such a disadvantage. APL can be so memory-intensive that in a small system, even simple array operations can take up all available memory if the arrays are large enough.

This memory restriction made itself emphatically clear when I tried to run some of the standard benchmarks required of BYTE reviews; the arrays generated by the operations quickly inundated the small workspace, and in each case, all I received for my pro

(continued)

Listing 2: Elementary array operations in APL: (a) generates a 10,000-element random integer array, [b] finds the largest element and (c) sorts it in ascending order. The associated code fragments in shown in (d), (e). and (/).

of the array. BASIC are

(a)

A * 1 10000 p 10000

(b)

r .-■ a

(c)

A *■ A [ 4 A 1

(d)

5 REM Gen©rat e a 1 9 , 9 B 9 — e 1 ernen t arr

'• 3. v

of r andom inteqers.

1 9 DIM AX (. 1 0 0 9 9 )

29 FOR 1 = 1 T 0 19 0 0 0

39 AX>; I > = 1 + 1 0 090*RND

48 NEXT I

50 END

(e)

5 REM Find the largest element

of an array.

6 REM A s s urne e x i s t e n c e o t 1 9 , 9 9 9 - e

& m & n t

a r r a y AX.

19 0 XX=AX(1)

119 F 0 R 1=2 T 0 10 0 0 0

120 IF XX<AX(I> THEN XX=AX(I)

130 NEXT I

140 PR INT "Don e . Large s t el erne n t =

i .■■ .-■ ■

150 END

(f)

5 REM Array aor t usi ng se1 setion a

gor i thm.

6 R EM A s s u me e x i s t e n c e of 1 9 9 - e 1 e m e n t

ar r a y AX.

100 FOR 1=1 TO 100

119 FOR J=l TO 199

129 IF AX'XJ) <AX< n THEN T=AX

: I ) :

AX(I)=AX(J>:AX(J)=T

130 NEXT J

140 NEXT I

150 PRINT "Done."

160 END

MARCH 1986

YTE 239

REVIEW: POCKET APL

AT A GLANCE

Name

Pocket APL

Type

Language

Company

STSC Inc.

2115 East Jefferson St. Rockville, MD 20852 (301) 984-5123

Computer

IBM PC, IBM PCjr, and some PCcompatibles equipped with PC-DOS or MSDOS; requires at least 128K bytes of memory; IBM PC graphics board required for APL soft character set

Documentation

APL is Easy!, a 173-page tutorial; 22-page reference manual; keyword reference card; APL keyboard placard

Price

$95 ($5 shipping)

gramming efforts was an unceremonious WS FULL (workspace full) message. To avoid this, I either had to "scale down" the benchmark programs or formulate iterative solutions, which I found to be quite frustrating. Another problem was with the component files (for the reasons I mentioned earlier).

The standard benchmarks used were Disk Read and Disk Write, Calculations, and the ubiquitous Sieve of Eratosthenes (see listing 3). The results summary indicates that in cases where APL could be used most appropriately, it was appreciatively

faster than BASIC. However, where APL had to be applied iteratively, as in the Sieve and Calculations benchmarks, BASIC gave it a hard time. In fact, if you compare the code for each case, you will see that as the degree of iteration increases, the slower APL performs. While in the Sieve function some degree of parallelism could be maintained, there were no parallel operations whatsoever in the Calculations function, where APL did the worst, although it did return an error of zero. To further test the precision of APLs floating-point operations, I

[continued!

Listing 3: The standard benchmarks in APL: (a) is the Disk Write benchmark,

(b) is

the Disk Read benchmark, (c) is the Sieve benchmark, and [d) is the

Calculations benchmark. Note that programs (a) and (b) had to be modified to fit

Pocket APLs file-size limitations (see text). For the BASIC versions of these

programs, see the June 1984 BYTE, page 327, and October 1984, page 33.

(a)

7DISKUFITE[G]7

[0]

DISKURITE;A;B

m

n Diskwrite benchmark

[2]

n

[3]

n Create A, an 8 element character vector

[4]

A*-' 12345678'

[53

ft Create E, a 96 by 96 element character matrix

[63

E*- 96 96 eA

[7]

ft Create file 'TEST', with tie number 1

[8]

'TEST' DFCREATE 1

[9]

ft Write B to the first component of TEST

[10]

B OFAPPEND 1

Cii]

ft Close file TEST

[12]

DFUNT1E 1

(b)

?DISKREAD[03"

[0]

BISK.REAB

[13

ft I'iskread benchmark

[23

ft

[33

n Open file TEST with tie number 1

[43

'TEST' DFTIE 1

[53

n Read B from first component of TEST

[63

B4-DFREAB 1 1

[73

ft Close file TEST

[83

DFUNTIE 1

240 BYTE- MARCH 1986

REVIEW: POCKET APL

(c)

CO]

Ci]

[2]

[33

[4]

[5]

[6]

[?]

[8]

[9]

[103

[113

[123

[133

[143

[153

[163

[1?]

[183

[193

[203

[213

[223 (d)

[03

[13

[23

[33

[43

[53

[63

[?]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

9S1EVEED3?

Z<-SIEVE N;FLAGS;I;ILIMIT;PRIME; K;SETZER0

ft Perform first iteration of Sieve of Eratosthenes.

ft

ft Set Index Origin to zero

0I0«-O ft Initialize flag array

FLAGS«-<N+i)pi n Initialize looping parameters

ILIMITHN*3

1*0 ft TOE I«-i TO ILIMIT F0R:Kt-I + PRIHE«-I + I + 3 ft IF FLAGS['I]=0 THEN NEXT I

-KO=FLAGS[I])/NEXT ft Generate indices to set elements of FLAG to zero.

SETZER0*+\K,i "l + UN-mpRIME>PPRIME ft Set FLAG elements to zero

FLAGS[SETZERO]K> ft NEXT I

NEXT:-XILIMIT2I«-I+1)/F0R n

A Number of primes is equal to number of 1's left in FLAG

Z«-+/FLAGS

?CALC[D]s CALC;A;E;C;I ft Calculation benchmark ft

A«-*i ft A«-Natural log base e

Bt-oi n B«-Pi

Oi ft Initialize looping parameter

H-l ft FOR I<-1 TO 5000 FOR:

CKxA

OCxB

OC-^A

C*C*B ft NEXT I

NEXT:-K50002I<-I + i)/FOR ft

'DONE'

'ERRORS '

C-i

CopyWrite

BACKS UP IBM PC SOFTWARE

Hundreds of the most popular copy-protected programs are copied readily. CopyWrite needs no complicated parameters. It needs an IBM Personal Computer, or an XT or an AT, 128k bytes of memory, and one diskette drive. CopyWrite will run faster with more memory or another drive.

CopyWrite is revised monthly to keep up with the latest in copy-protection. You may get a new edition at any time for a $15 trade in fee.

CopyWrite makes back up copies to protect you against accidental loss of your software. It is not for producing copies for sale or trade, or for any other use that deprives the author of payment for his work.

To order CopyWrite, send a check for $50 U.S., or call us with your credit card. We will ship the software within a day.

Quaid Software Limited

45 Charles Street East

Third Floor

Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1S2

(416)961-8243

Ask about ZeroDrsk to run copy-protected software from a hard disk without floppies.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 241

REVIEW: POCKET APL

Listing 4: Am illustration of the order of operations in APL. This example calculates a summation over the values of sin(x), where x ranges from 1 to 360 degrees.

+/io(^i80)xov360

+ / 1 o (4-180) x o ,,360

Generate integers 1 through 360

+/ 1 o (4-130) x o v360

multiply each by Pi

♦/ 1 o (4-180) x o v360

divide result by 180

+/ 1 o (4-180) x o ^360

take the sine of' each element of' the result

*/ i o (4-130) x o v360

finally, take the sum of the whole.

"1.193489751E"15 «■

Answer printed directly by system.

made it perform the summation of the sines of the angles 1 through 360, which should yield a null result. (Besides, 1 could do it noniteratively so as not to offend my sense of purism.) The expression is in listing 4;

it is reminiscent of the gloriously undecipherable "one-liners" that are the experienced APL programmer's claim to fame. These are fun once in a while, but I don't recommend that you adopt them generally unless you

either document them very well or enjoy solving computational puzzles later on when you've forgotten what you wrote them for.

Documentation

The introductory tutorial that comes with the package deserves more than the passing mention I gave it earlier; it is truly excellent. APL is Easy! by Jerry R. Turner offers newcomers a straightforward introduction to the language. Its only flaw is that it assumes you are at once familiar with the APL keyboard, which for new users can be terribly confusing. A general overview of each chapter is given in the introduction, and the format of the tutorial is clearly explained. There are exercises at the end of each chapter (with solutions in the back of the book) and examples galore. The sample programs in the book are even on the system disk so you don't have to type them in. APL is Easy! will not teach you everything there is to know about APL, but it will give you an excellent working knowledge and a very solid base upon which you can further develop your skills.

In addition to the tutorial is a 22-page reference guide containing summaries of APL and system features. Like the tutorial, it is well

EPROM PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY: $995.00

14 DAY FREE TRIAL OFFER

c^

gangpro-8 - meets time- critical production needs. This upgraded unit simultaneously programs eight EE/EPROMs with speed, reliability, and accuracy. Nontechnical personnel can efficiently learn to operate GANGPRO-8 within 30 minutes.

• Programs 2716-27512, 27513

(incl. A versions), 68764 & 87C64/128

• verifies at 4.75,5.00, and 5.25 vcc margins

• Isolates and displays the location of any failures

• Fast, intelligent algorithms

• RS232 option for up/ download to any computer/ includes IBM PC software

Compare features, compare price; then make the Logical choice.

IT'S LOGICAL

For details, write or call:

1321 NW 65th Place

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309;

(305) 974-0967;

toll free 800-331-PROM

TELEX 383142

LOGICAL DEVICES INC

242 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 210

REVIEW: POCKET APL

APL's Flexibility

Array operations in APL can be extended to arrays of any dimension. For a one-dimensional array, called a vector, we can find the summation of its elements with the expression + /A, where A is the name of the vector. The number of elements in the vector is of no concern to the programmer; the parameters for controlling the summation are taken care of internally. In BASIC, the summation would have to be handled this way:

10 Sum = 0 20 For I = 1 to Maxl 30 Sum = Sum + A(l) 40 Next I

If the length of A were to change, the value of Maxl would have to be changed, too. What's worse, if the number of dimensions of A were to

change, then more code would have to be added:

10 Sum = 0

20 For I = 1 to Maxl

25 For J = 1 to MaxJ

30 Sum = Sum + A(l,J)

35 Next J

40 Next I

and so on as the number of dimensions were increased. The values of Maxl and MaxJ (the number of elements along each respective dimension) might have to be changed as well.

In APL, to perform the summation of any numeric array, the expression is + /,A. The comma between the slash and the A acts on the array A by "raveling" it, or taking all its elements and forming a vector for the purpose of the summation.

organized and its format is explained in the introduction.

If you require assistance with APL on line, the system help facility is very useful. The panic button is F6; when you press it, the screen clears and is filled with the names of the various topics (there are 3 5 of them). To see information on a topic, just move the

cursor to where you see it listed and hit the enter key: the screen for that topic then appears, and there are often subtopics to choose from.

Conclusion

Although Pocket APL has some maddening limitations, STSC should be applauded for creating an APL pack

age that is intended for the general PC user. It's terrific for quick-and-dirty calculations, and the fact that it runs on an unmodified PC makes it even more attractive. If, however, you are an experienced APL user, you will be disappointed. Many features found in more advanced APL systems are missing, such as groups, shared variables, and auxiliary processors.

The most disappointing part of reviewing Pocket APL was the fact that, since the standard benchmarks could not be implemented in the most appropriate way, it performed very poorly on them. I tell people unfamiliar with APL that it has power and elegance, especially in its handling of arrays.

If nothing else, Pocket APL is a means of exploring an entirely different kind of programming language, one that will make you think about programming in a new and broader sense. Naturally, it is much slower than professional APL packages, particularly for floating-point operations. But since both the workspace size and file capacity are so limited, you will not find yourself using it for serious applications to begin with. You may find that it works well for small numerical applications, but don't push it too hard. ■

STAND-ALONE EPROM PROGRAMMER: $395.00

14 DAY FREE TRIAL OFFER

7

SHOOTER - Aim low in cost and high in quality with this stand-alone EPROM programmer containing 128 k-bits of internal RAM. Program all popular single voltage EPROMS 2716-27256 including CMOS and "A" versions.

• Ideal for light use and personal projects; field service too!

• Stand-alone copy and verify

• Fast intelligent algorithm

• Built in debug firmware for RAM editing via terminal/PC

• RS232 port: to 2400 baud

• Communication software available directly from Logical Devices

• up/download INTEL/Motorola type file formats and ASCII/Hex/ Binary type file formats

Compare features, compare price; then make the Logical choice.

IT'S LOGICAL"

For details, write or call: 1321 NW 65th Place, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309; (305) 974-0967; toll free 800-331-PROM TELEX 383142

LOGICAL DEVICES INC

Inquiry 2II

MARCH I986

IYTE 243

The Best C Book + A Powerful C Compiler

One Great C value $39.95

A good C book just isn't complete without a good C compiler to go with it. That's why we give you both. You get a comprehensive 450 page book and a full feature standard K&R C compiler with the Unix V7 Extensions. The Book is loaded with examples that teach you how to program in C. And our fast one pass C compiler comes with an equally fast

linker so you don't waste a lot of time watching your disk drives spin. You also get a Unix compatible function library that contains more than 150 functions (C source code included ). And if all that isn't enough, we offer you a 30 day money back guarantee. So what are you waiting for? The exciting world of C is just one free phone call away.

Language Features

Functions

abs

conbuf

feof

isascii

movmem

replace

• Data Types: char, short,

asm

cone

ferror

getdseg

Iscntrl

open

repmem

stremp

int, unsigned, long, float,

asmx atan

cos

cpystr

fflush

fgets

getd putd

isdiglt islower

outp peek

rewind right*

strcpy strlen

double

atof

creat

fileno

getdate

isprint

perror

rindex

strncat

atol

cursblk

filet rap

gettime

ispunct

poke

rmdir

strnemp

atol

curslln

find

geti

Isspace

poseurs

scanf

strncpy

• Data Classes: auto,

bdos

curscol

floor

puti

isupper

pow

setbuf

strsave

bdosx

curs row

fopen

getkey

Itoa

printf

setbufsiz

system

extern, static, register

bios

cursoff

forintf

getmode

keypress left!

putc

setcolor

tolower

blosx

curson

routs

setmode

putchar

set date

toupper

• Typedef, Struct, Union,

calloc

cell

delete

(hand

(read free

gets getw neaps iz heaptrap

len log

puts putw

settlme

setjmp

ungetc ungetch

unlink write

Bit Fields, Enumerations

cfree chain

exec execl

freopen fscanf

loglO longjmp

rand read

setmem sin

character

execv

feeek

hypot index inp

lseek

readattr

sound

writechs

• Structure Assignment,

chdlr chmod

exit exitmsg

ftetl

fwrite

malloc alloc

reach writech

sprintf

sqrt

xmembeg xmemend

Passing/Returning

clearerr close

exp fabs

getc getch

insert iofllter

mathtrap mld$

readdot writedot

srand sscanf

xmemget xmemput

Structures

clrscrn

fclose

putch

isalnum

mkdir

realloc

stacksiz

xmovmem

cmpstr

fdopen

getchar

isalpha

modf

rename

str$

^exit

MIX Editor $29.95

When you're programming in a high level language you need a high powered editor. That's why we created a programmable full/split screen text processor. It lets you split the screen horizontally or vertically and edit two files at once. You can move text back and forth between two windows. You can also create your own macro commands from an assortment of over

100 predefined commands. The editor comes configured so that it works just like Wordstar but you can change it if you prefer a different keyboard layout. The editor is a great companion to our C compiler. Because they work so well together we want you to have both. To make sure you do, we're offering the editor for just $15 when purchased with the C compiler.

ASM Utility

*10

The ASM utility disk allows you to link object files created by Microsoft's MASM or M80 assemblers. Lots of useful assembly language functions are included as examples.

ORDERS ONLY

1-800-523-9520

EN TEXAS

1-800-622-4070

NOT COPY PROTECTED

Canadian Distributor Saraguay Software: 416-923-1500

Editor *

C $

C & Editor *

ASM Utility J

TX Residents I

Shipping S

Total t

□ Check □ Money Order

□ MC/Visa*

(29.95)

(39.95)

(54.95)

(10.00)

(6.125% sales tax)

(see below)

Exp

D PCDOS/MSDOS ( 2.0 or later) Name .

□ IBM PC Single Side

□ IBM PC Double Side

□ Tandy 2000

□ 8 Inch

□ Other

Shipping Charges: (No charge for ASM Utility) USA: 15/Order Canada: JlO/Order Overseas: tlO/Editor • S20/C • J30/C & Editor

□ CPM 80 (2.2 or later)

D

8 Inch

□

Kaypro 11

□

Kaypro 4

□

Apple (Z80)

□

Osborne I SD

□

Osborne I DD

□

Morrow MD II

n

Other

Street. City _

State _

Zip

Country .

Phone

MDC

2116 E. Arapaho Suite 363 Software Richardson,TX75081

(214) 783-6001 Ask about our volume discounts.

Unix is a trademark of Bell Labs. CPM is a trademark of Digital Research. MSDOS is a trademark of Microsoft. PCDOS is a trademark of IBM. WORDSTAR is a trademark of Micro Pro.

244 B YTE • MARCH 1986

SOFTWARE REVIEW

An

excellent

microcomputer version of

Prolog

by William G. Wong

William G. Wong [Logic Fusion

Inc.. 1333 Moon Dr.. Yardley. PA

19067) is president of Logic Fusion

Inc. and a developer of systems and

applications software.

AritylProlog

Arity/Prolog is an implementation of Prolog for MS-DOS systems, one that matches implementations found on a number of mainframes.

The base version of Arity/Prolog includes the Prolog interpreter and is available for $3 50. You can purchase a native-code compiler with the interpreter for $795. (I reviewed version 3.2; see the text box "Arity/ Prolog 4.0" on page 247 for a look at the recently announced version.) The compiler can generate code for stand-alone programs or code that you can use with the interpreter. There are no license fees for stand-alone programs. Compiled Prolog code has all the advantages of conventionally compiled code, including faster execution.

Copy Protection

Arity/Prolog is a great product, as the rest of this article will show. However, it has what I consider one major problem: copy protection using a key-disk system. This only applies to the interpreter and compiler. Standalone programs do not have copy protection.

You must have the key disk in drive A when you initially run the programs, even on a hard-disk system. Also, you get only one key disk and nothing runs without it. 1 would hate to have the key disk fail in the middle of important research or writing.

DOCUMENTATION

Arity/Prolog comes in a nice vinyl binder with two books entitled The Programming Language and The Programming Environment. Arity Corporation expects to have new documentation in the near future. The existing documents are good and include appendixes and an index.

The Programming Language describes the implementations of Arity/Prolog, including all functions built into the system. This book contains a number of good examples but is not intended to be a tutorial. The only item not covered in enough detail is the tailrecursion optimization.

The Programming Environment describes how to use the interpreter, compiler, and utility programs. It also describes the assemblylanguage and Lattice C interface and has a detailed presentation of the Prolog internals. The organization and examples are excellent.

Data Types

Arity/Prolog has a number of different basic data types, including 16-bit integers, floating-point numbers, strings, lists, variables, atoms, and structures. It lets you manipulate integers and floating-point numbers using normal arithmetics, logical bit operators, and logarithmic and trigonometric functions. The language uses an 8087 numeric coprocessor for floating-point manipulation if it is resident.

Strings and lists have the usual set of manipulation functions found in languages such as C and BASIC. Strings are character-based vectors, while lists can contain any data type. A string is written with dollar signs as delimiters; double-quote delimiters are reserved for a list of characters. This is different from other languages but does provide the required differentiation. See table 1 for examples of the two types.

Although lists have the advantage of holding an item of any type, the string usually holds text more efficiently. You will often use lists to hold a list of atoms that can be searched quickly. However, Arity/Prolog

also provides the string search function,

which allows quick examination of strings for tokens. Multiple occurrences of a string

can be found using string .search because

it supports backtracking. For example,

string search($xyz$, $xyz abc xyz$, X)

would succeed twice with X being instantiated to 0 and 8.

Prolog variables start with a capital letter or an underscore. An underscore alone is the anonymous variable. Atoms are constants and start with a lowercase letter or

(continued)

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 245

REVIEW: ARITY/PROLOG

are enclosed in single quotes. See table 2 for a list of valid variables and atoms.

Unfortunately, all variables are converted into internal names when they are placed into the database. Internal variable names have an underscore and a hexadecimal number, as in

1CD8. This is an inconvenience

only when you use the interpreter because

likes( X, some fruit) :

likes( X, apples), likes( X, oranges ).

gets converted to

likes( _0123, some_fruit) : likes( _0123, apples ), likes( 0123, oranges ).

Structures provide a generalpurpose mechanism for describing relationships between terms. The name of a structure, called a functor, must be a constant. A structure can have a number of terms listed between parentheses and separated by commas. The functor can be listed by itself if it includes no terms, as in

functor with no terms

likes( John, apples) plural( apple, apples) kind of( apple, fruit)

The only quirk is that the left parenthesis must be adjacent to the functor. Any intervening spaces indicate

that the functor has no terms associated with it. In addition, infix operator precedence can be specified so the previous examples could appear as

John likes apples apple plural apples apple kind of fruit

Database Support

Arity/Prolog uses a single database containing clauses that are structures. Clauses can be hidden in a modular fashion only if you use the compiler. A complete set of operators is provided for adding and deleting clauses. Any interpreted clauses can be listed to the screen or to a file. This capability is somewhat limited, but you can easily extend it.

In addition, you can save the entire database or restore it from a file very quickly. The save option allows incremental backup. The restore option lets you resume a session in the same condition as it was saved. This process is much faster than reading Prolog text, since information is already placed into the database.

I/O Support

Arity/Prolog supports a wide variety of I/O (input/output) functions for character devices and disk files. You access character devices, such as the console and the printer, by using the

Table I: Examples

of lists and strings in Arity/Prolog.

Example

Description

[a, b]

Two-element list

.( a, .( b, nil))

Same as [ a, b ]

$This is a string.S

Normal string

$A dollar sign$$.$

String with embedded $ sign

"abc"

Same as [ 97, 98, 99 ]

Table 2: Arity/Prolog's valid variables and atoms.

Variables

0394

Sack of items

Atoms

anonymous

x

'France'

box of apples

same functions as the disk file. I/O is stream-oriented and disk files can be randomly addressed. All input and output uses character- string-, or structure-based operations. The language currently has no formatting options similar to PRINT USING in BASIC or format strings in C. However, you can convert numbers to strings by using a limited formatting capability, and then you can print them.

The I/O operators can use the standard input and output files or specific file handles. For example,

getO(Character) getO(Handle, Character)

shows the use of the character-input operator with the standard input file and a specified file handle. I/O redirection is possible and is described in the documentation. You can perform redirection of the standard input and output files permanently or for the duration of a Prolog goal search.

Arity/Prolog supports the DOS 2.x subdirectories and a search-path facility for data files similar to the DOS PATH command. Directory-maintenance operations and subdirectory creation and deletion are also supported.

You can access the screen directly, including cursor-positioning control and character-attribute manipulation. This makes menu presentation much easier. You can also retrieve screen contents, which makes programming menu windows a snap.

Arity/Prolog includes direct access to the I/O ports accessible to the 8088/8086. This lets you create communications or process-control programs in Prolog without using assembly-language functions.

In general, the I/O support is adequate for most AI (artificial intelligence) applications but is limited for general applications that require formatted output. You can access binary files, but this is difficult using the existing operators.

System Access

Direct access to the DOS for non-filerelated functions is limited to time functions and invocation of the DOS

246 B YTE • MARCH 1986

REVIEW: ARITY/PROLOG

Command program. The latter lets you run other programs directly from Prolog.

You can directly access the current time and date. Also, the format of the time-stamp structure is the same as that used by the directory-manipulation functions.

Access to DOS interrupts and other system-related functions is possible if you include assembly-language or C functions.

Error Handling and Tracing

Arity/Prolog error handling is adequate but different from most languages. It lets you change error messages and turn the error messages for syntax and file I/O on and off. Arithmetic errors cause the evaluation to fail, and any variables involved are bound to the atom err. This is a nice feature when you are dealing with mathematical proofs. All other operations cause the goal to fail.

Only fatal errors, such as insufficient space, will cause the program to abort. This is unfortunate, since the state of the database is lost. Aborting current computation and returning to the top-level prompt or some specified clause would have been preferable.

The trace facility is very good. It includes a single-step-mode option with a number of other options. You can monitor a clause when it is called, when it exits, when it fails, or when backtracking occurs.

The only type of operation not supported by Arity/Prolog is a LISP-style CATCH/THROW including an UNWIND_PROTECT. This would let a computation return a single result without your explicitly declaring such a possibility within a database. It also would provide a better error-handling facility for both fatal system and program-induced errors.

Virtual Memory

Virtual-memory support is built into Arity/Prolog, both interpreted and compiled. The Prolog database is automatically moved between a file and main memory as the program re

Arity/Prolog 4.0

I received some preliminary documentation for version 4.0 just before this article was to be published. Although 1 could not review the actual software, the documentation gives a glimpse of things to come.

The first change is a cleaner "cut" operation called a "snip." A snip looks like a list with cut symbols added, as in

[! snippet !]

where snippet can be any clause. The snip prevents backtracking through the snippet if it succeeds. This allows more control over the backtracking than a cut, which prevents backtracking to any prior point in a body. For example,

test :- a, [! b, c !], d. test :- a, b, c, !, d.

The first allows backtracking on a if b and C succeed but d fails, whereas the second causes test to fail if d fails.

Version 4.0 also adds support for multiple "worlds." A world is a partition within the database (there is still only one). Separate "code" and "data" worlds are possible, with a current and

default set being accessible at one time. The structure is not hierarchical nor automatic for any set larger than the current and default worlds.

Multiple worlds let you partition information for ease of use. It also increases efficiency, since the virtualmemory system works on world boundaries. Access to data within a particular world is faster because information in other worlds does not have to be examined.

TWo other major additions are support for B-trees and hash tables. These are structures within the database and not file-oriented support modules. However, they do provide faster access to large amounts of information, even faster than using different worlds. Multiple-key support is described in the documentation but is not built in.

If all goes as planned, the new version of Arity/Prolog should be a powerful superset of the existing product. Sophisticated applications seem appropriate for this implementation, especially if you have a large hard disk and extended memory support.

quires. Obviously, faster file access leads to faster program execution. Virtual-memory files are impractical on floppy disks, acceptable on hard disks, and very nice with RAM (random-access read/write memory) disks. Arity supplies a menu-driven environment-definition program to control the operation of the virtual-memory system and a number of other system parameters.

Compatibility

Arity/Prolog is an extended version of Prolog as found on many mainframes. A recommended Prolog text is Programming in Prolog by W. F. Clocksin and C. S. Mellish, which matches Arity/Prolog very well.

Arity/Prolog supports some sophisticated Prolog features, such as infix notation with operator precedence and definite clause grammars (DCGs).

This module is very useful for building natural-language parsers.

Compiler and AssemblyLanguage Interface

The compiler is available at additional cost and provides a number of major benefits. You can compile any interpreted program unless it contains string or floating-point constants. However, you can achieve the desired effect by placing these constants in compiled code as atoms along with atom-conversion operators. Even so, this limitation can cause major problems. Additional mechanisms provide a method of defining modules that let you hide internal definitions from other modules. You can reduce name conflicts by using this feature.

Compiled code runs faster than interpreted code. The speed increase is

(continued)

MARCH 1986 • BYT E 247

REVIEW: ARITY/PROLOG

AT A GLANCE

Name

Arity/Prolog 3.2

Company

Arity Corp. 358 Baker Ave. Concord, MA 01742 (617) 371-2422

Computer

IBM PC, XT, AT, or compatible

PC-DOS/MS-DOS 2.0 or later

256K-byte minimum (640K bytes

recommended)

One floppy-disk drive (hard disk

recommended)

Compatible Software

Microsoft MASM assembler and linker Lattice C

Documentation

The Programming Language The Programming Environment

Price

Demo disk

$19.95

Interpreter

$350

Compiler/interpreter

$795

highly dependent upon the application. Computationally bound algorithms that do not allocate new objects might be up to 20 times faster, while other operations might be only two or three times faster. Disk operations might be only 10 to 20 percent faster.

Running the compiler is easy; it prompts for all information. Unfortunately, these parameters cannot be on the command line, which makes batch files less useful. The compiler generates object files compatible with the Microsoft linker normally supplied with MS-DOS. You can use compiled code with stand-alone programs. The code can also be included with the interpreter, in which case the compiled operators are available interactively.

You can also use assembly code and functions written in Lattice C in the same fashion as compiled code. C code can handle only those arguments that are integers, atoms, strings, and floating-point numbers. The documentation gives a number of examples and describes the interface mechanism in detail.

Benchmarks

I performed a few of the standard BYTE benchmarks, using an IBM PC XT with PC-DOS 2.1, 640K bytes of RAM, a 320K-byte floppy disk, a 20-megabyte hard disk, and no 8087 numeric coprocessor.

As you can see from table 3, the Write and Read benchmark operations are slightly faster than interpreted BASIC and change little between interpreted and compiled code, indicating the hardware limitation of the floppy disk. In general, screen

Table 3: A comparison of performance times in seconds for interpreted and compiled versions of standard BYTE benchmark programs [writing, reading, and calculations) and two additional programs (loop and append), written in Arity/Prolog.

248

Benchmark Name

Interpreted

Time

Compiled Time

Write

31.5

29.9

Read

32.3

28.7

Calculate

362

153

Loop

15.5

0.9

Append

25.3

1.2

BYTE ■

MARCH 1986

based I/O will speed up when compiled, but disk-based code will have limited speed benefits.

The floating-point calculation example is significantly slower than interpreted BASIC. However, BASIC is using a single-precision floating-point number, while Arity/Prolog uses double-precision. Arity/Prolog is slower for another reason: Unlike integers, floating-point numbers are allocated like strings. This uses additional overhead. Even so, floating-point operations are acceptable, and using an 8087 can speed up calculations.

The Loop benchmark (which tests the speed of an empty loop) and Append benchmark (which tests the speed of list manipulation) show the greatest change in elapsed time due to compilation. This marked improvement is more typical of Al-based applications where a good deal of unification is performed along with integer and list manipulation.

I did not do a benchmark for the Sieve of Eratosthenes prime-number program, because Arity/Prolog lacks arrays, which the Sieve algorithm uses. Using Prolog lists would significantly degrade the indexing operations in the algorithm. Modification of the algorithm to suit Prolog would make the algorithm very different from one written in BASIC or C. Comparisons would be difficult at best. Arity/Prolog works well with computationbased operations but not with arrays.

Summary

Arity/Prolog is an excellent product. It provides a complete set of operators, including random file access and screen support. The virtual-memory facility can handle very large applications; it works well with a hard disk and is even better with a RAM disk. The new expanded memory boards should really make the system hum. The only major items that need changing are the addition of a resident editor, removal of the copy protection, and better window support. However, Arity/Prolog provides a suitable environment for major AI work, especially on a PC AT with a large RAM disk and hard disk. ■

Inquiry 240—►

^^FmWm/J'W^J^^KmCll^w

Triple your PC speed for only $799!

8087 Upgrades

MicroWay is the world leader in 8087 support. Our 8087 development software has been in use since 1982. By 1984 we had become Intel's 97th largest OEM account. When you buy from us, you can be confident that you will receive the 8087 chip designed for your PC and that our unique diagnostics will instantly verify that your processor works correctly as installed. Call for current prices.

287Turbo

This card plugs into the 80287 socket on your AT or COMPAQ, doubling the 80287 clock from 4 to 8 Mhz. It does not change the 80286 clock speed or affect your warranty. The card comes with an 8 Mhz 80287 and has provisions for faster crystals as better 80287s become available. It also has a reset button and circuit that provide a hardware alternative to CNTRL-ALT-DEL. 287Turbo with Diagnostics and Reset $395

Micro Way

Number Smasher™

Number Smasher gives you AT speed and 100% compatibility with all PC software and hardware. It comes with a 10 Mhz 8086 and 512K of no wait state RAM. Most are shipped with an optional matched 10 Mhz 8087 and 128K daughterboard. The card runs programs a factor of 2.5 to 4.0 faster than the PC, XT or compatibles it runs in. Other features include FASTROM, a Ram Disk, Print Spooler and Disk Cache. Revision 2 of the Smasher is designed and manufactured by MicroWay in the U.S.A. and has the best service and support of any accelerator card.

MegaPage

MicroWays "Lotus/Intel" extended memory card has all the features of the others plus one: it uses low power, cool running CMOS DRAM. Ask for our pamphlet "Extended vs Expanded Memory" and learn why MegaPage is the right card for you. MegaPage with 2 Megabytes CMOS $549

P.O. Box 79, Kingston, Mass. 02364 USA (617) 746-7341 Tempo House, London, U.K. call 01-223-7662

Number Smasher, MegaPage and 287Turbo are trademarks of MicroWay, Inc. MicroWay is a registered trademark of MicroWay, Inc

tompuren WAREHOUSE

^^g^m 1-800-528-1054 FREE ^^^Thardware

I'cOMPlI

Air Express Shipping

See Details Below

PRINTERS

Anadex All Models Call

Brother All Models Call

Cannon Laser Printer S2099

Citizen MSP-10 S293

MSP-15 S349

MSP-20 S319

MSP-25 S485

Datasouth All Printer Models Call

Diablo 0-25 SS49

635 S1079

Other Printer Models ■ ■... Call

BEST PRICES U:^

NOW 2 No Charge for Bank Cards

Toshiba 321

P351 Parallel

Call S969

COMPUTERS

Compaq All Models Call

EPSON

All Printer Models ....

.Call

MaxeriMD-2 Plastic Box (Oty 100) . S125 Sony MD/2(Qty 100) SI20

MONITORS

Amdex All Monitors Call

NEC All Monitors Call

Princeton Graphics Call

Taxan All Models Call

Zenith All Models Call

Zenith Computer Products

SAVE up to 50%

Z-158 All Models Call

Z-138 All Models Call

Z-148 All Models Call

Z-171 Call

Z-200 Call

Juki 6000 S169

6100 S349

6300 S679

NEC 2010, 2015. 2050 S629

3510. 3550 3515 3530 S749

6810, 8830, 8850 SI 079

P2. P3 Call

Elf 360 S399

Ell 370 S389

OKIDATA

All Printer Models Call

Panasonic 1091

1092

1093

KXP3151

S235 S309 S419 S399

STAR MICRONICS

All Printer Models Call

VIDEO TERMINALS

IBM 3161 8,3163 Series

Qume QVT Green 101

QVT Amber 101

Wyse 30

50

75

Wyse 85

Wyse 350

Zenith z-22

2-29

Z-49

MODEMS

AT&T

4000 External

Anchor Automation

Anchor Express

Call S299 S314 S299 S419 SS59 S439 S859 S455 S559

Call

DISK DRIVES

Alpha Omega Turbo 10 S529

Turbo 20 S529

Turbo 30 $729

Haba Macintosh 800K S409

Iomega

Bernoulli Boxes tor IBM Call

Bernoulli Boxes for Macintosh Call

Paradise Macintosh Hard Disk Call

BOARDS

AST Advantage S389

Six Pack Plus S219

Everex Boards Call

Hercules Color Card S149

Graphic Card S299

Intel

Above Boards Call

Paradise Modular Graphic 06-1 ... S259

FivePak S119

Quadram

Quadlink S325

Tec MarGraphics Master S445

Captain No Memory S1 55

PLOTTERS

Enter Sweet-P600 S749

EpsonHi-ao , .. . Call

KEYBOARDS,, Keytronics5151 jH MS, S159

S309

Silver Reed

EXP400 Parallel

EXP500 Parallel or Serial EXP550 Parallel or Serial. EXP770 Parallel or Serial.

HAYES

All Modems Call

S205 S279 S389 S699

Prometheus All Models Call

US Robotics Courier 2400 S389

Password 1200 S189

Microlink 2400 S389

COPIERS

Canon iff PSD)

Canon PC-10 S509

Canon PC-14 $649

Canon PC-20 S719

Canon PC-25 S939

XEROX

1020w/Toner $1099

SANYO

SFT600 Call

SOFTWARE

Gem Collection ..

Gem Desktop

Gem Draw

$115

$29

..Call

LANGUAGES

C Compiler (Microsoft)

Fortran Compiler (Microsoft)... Macro Assembler

S235

S209

SB9

S178

Turbo Pascal 3.0

Lattice C Compiler

Run C Interpreter

S35

S229

$85

$59

S28

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Harvard Total Project Manager $269

Microsoft Project Call

Super Project S182

COMMUNICATIONS

S94

$78

Remote

$94

IBM PC and 100% Compatibles

SPREADSHEETS

Lotus I-2-3 Call

Multiplan S114

Spreadsheet Auditor 2.0 S83

INTEGRATIVE SOFTWARE

Enable 1.1 $329

Framework II Call

Smart Software System Call

Symphony Call

TRAINING

Flighl Simulator S30

Typing Instructor $29

Typing Tutor III $29

GRAPHICS

WORD PROCESSORS .„

Lightening S52

Leading Edge Word Processor $50

Leading Edge W/Pwilh-SpellS Mail .$105

Microsoft Word 2.01 S229

Multimate 3.3 S206

PFS:Write $78

Wordstar w/Tutor $169

Wordstar Pro Pack $239

Supercalc3(Ver.2.1). .Call

Chartmaster

TurboGraphixTool Box.

Diagram Master

Energraphics.

S206

S28

190

$165

Energraphics w Plotter Option $214

Microsoft Chart S175

PC Draw $203

PC Draw Light Pen $104

PC Paint w Mouse $ 123

PC Mouse w/Dr. Halo II $107

PFS Graph $78

Printmaster $30

Signmasler S135

Word Perfect (Ver.4.1)$199

Wordstar 2000 $239

Wordstar 2000 Plus.. $285

UTILITIES

1 DIP.

Copy II PC

Norton Utilities 3.1

Sidekick

Sidekick (Unprotected)

Sideways

Superkey

Printworks

Sidekick—Superkey (Bundle) .

$48 $19 $49 $28 $43 $36 S3 5 $36 $65

MONEY MANAGEMENT

Dollars & Sense w/ForcasI S95

Tobias Managing Your Money S95

DATA BASE MANAGEMENT.

Cornerstone S255 2b

dBase II Call 3

dBasetll Call |

Nutshell $50 I

PFS:File $78 0

PFS:Report $70 s

Quickcode $139 5

QuickFteport S139 |

Extended Report Writer $80 o

Think Tank $93 "

Clipper S355 I

Knowledgeman ll $299 £

Knowledgeman Upgrade Kit SI52 "

Reflex S52 ■

R:Base5000.

.$335

Many other titles available.

Inquiry 88 for MS DOS Products. Inquiry 89 for all others.

^XnPUTER

UURREHOUSE

Order Line: 1-800-528-1054 Order Processing; 602-224-9345

2222 E. Indian School Rd. Phoenix, Arizona 85016 602-954-6109

Store Hours: Mon-Fri 10-5:30

Saturday 9-1 Order Line Hours: Mon-Fri 7-5:30

Saturday 9-1 Order Processing Hours: Mon-Fri 10-3

Product shipped in tactory cartons with manufacturer's warranty. Please add S6.00 per order for UPS ground shipping on orders up to 10 lbs. Orders 10 lbs. and under you pay tor ground service, receive air service at no extra charge. Available on orders 11-30 lbs. s 17 fdrair service. Prices & availability subject to change without notice. Send cashier's check or money order..all other checks will delay shipping two weeks.

^5 'CD ^^

'AMERICAN!

Igg^ CWI -18"5

SOFTWARE REVIEW

Raised Dot's

talking

word

processor

by Henry Brugsch

Henry Brugsch (32 Morgan Ave.. Medford. MA 02155) is a professional piano tuner who recently became interested in computers. He has a B.A. from Tufts University. His other interests include amateur radio and steam-locomotive preservation.

Braille-Edit

The revolution begun by the printing press and the linotype machine has created a barrier for the blind. The printed word is another reminder that we are unable to read or write without verification. The development of the typewriter brought us the capability of generating text, but we had to type and handle print without being able to read it or verify what we had typed. This meant that we had to be able to type flawlessly and accurately or that we had to have a proofreader on hand. In the last few years, with the advent of the microcomputer and breakthroughs in speech technology, a word processor for the visually impaired has become a reality.

Braille-Edit from Raised Dot Computing performs general word processing and translates printed material into braille and back (via a braille input device). You can write files in braille using dedicated keys on the computer keyboard, and you can move from Braille-Edit's file format to generating text files or other word-processing files.

To use the program, you need to install a speech synthesizer. Braille-Edit runs well with a variety of speech devices, including Intex Talker, Type-'N-Talk, and Street Electronics' Echo General Purpose Speech Synthesizer. But the most successful synthesizer for this program, the one on which it is based, is the Echo II (also from Street Electronics), now supplanted by the Echo+. This slot-mounted device requires 16K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory) to support its speech algorithms, which are built into the Braille-Edit program. When you purchase Braille-Edit, you get a print-interface guide, either a print manual or a braille manual (your choice), or cassette versions of both. You also receive the double-sided disk-based software for the Apple II, Apple II + , and Apple He along with a year's subscription to Raised Dot News letter. The Echo training disk is an option. Speech devices and attendant software are available from the appropriate manufacturers or directly from Raised Dot Comput

ing. Braille-Edit is written in Applesoft BASIC and is licensed to run on ProntoDOS, a variant of DOS 3.3.

Version 2.50 of Braille-Edit features these formats: print to braille, print to paperless braille (storing braille characters on magnetic tape), braille to print, Braille-Edit to text file, and text file to Braille-Edit. The program lets you copy unprotected disks and initialize blank ones. It also lets you construct files in the Bank Street format.

Getting Started

You are first confronted with the doublesided disk and a fairly formidable manual. For a first-time user, the "boot before reading" approach is not recommended. The first time you run Braille-Edit, it asks you for a configuration. You can run one of four default configurations, which assume certain basic equipment conditions, or you can set up your own configuration (by hitting the asterisk key). To choose a default configuration, you key *2 for two-drive machines or *1 for one-drive machines. If you want speech synthesis, you key in *E followed by the number of drives on your machine to activate the on-board speech synthesizer. From the configuration prompt, * E enables you to enter your configuration through speech, following the appropriate prompts.

Once you have set up a configuration appropriate to your equipment, you are ready to use Braille-Edit. The program tells you the title of the menu you are using. In the first menu the words "STARTING MENU, ENTER COMMAND" are either displayed on the screen or spoken if you have a speech synthesizer. The starting menu lets you copy disks, initialize them, list their directories, etc. As the program is currently written, you get to the main menu by turning the disk over and pressing the space bar.

From the main menu you can execute basic editing operations or print docu

(continued)

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 251

REVIEW: BRAILLE-EDIT

AT A GLANCE

Name

Braille-Edit

Type

Talking word processor for the visually impaired

Company

Raised Dot Computing Inc. 408 South Baldwin St. Madison, Wl 53703 (608) 257-9595

Computer

Apple

e, He, and compatibles

Documentation

Choice of print or braille manual and printinterface guide, or cassette versions of each

Price

$300

($275 prepaid)

merits; you can translate chapters (files) into grade 2 braille and back again (grade 2 applies to general generic braille); you can access a number of braille devices and interface to them; you can also load a file from another computer with a modem. You can initiate most BrailleEdit commands with a logical mnemonic. If you can't think of it, however, help is available. Either a return or a ? will give you a command reference to jog your memory.

From the main menu you can also access two other menus. Entering an S takes you to the secondary menu, which lets you process chapters. (The help functions are available here also.) From this menu you can manipulate chapters by changing their names or deleting, splitting, or merging material. Typing a Z at either the main menu or the secondary menu provides entry to the page menu, which

lets you treat chapters one page at a time. By enabling you to reorganize a chapter by shuffling its pages, this page-manipulation ability gives the program a text-handling capability not available in many word processors.

The Editor

Braille-Edit is a chapter- and pageoriented word processor. The editor creates a chapter from which you can create pages of text. A page can hold up to 4096 characters, the limit of allocated buffer memory. When one page is full, you can select and write the next page. You assign a chapter name and fill pages with your text. As you write and manipulate text, you can move pages about and alter their sizes. You can leave one chapter's environment and pull pages to another one. You can call in pages from other chapters and merge them with the

{continued)

SMART CABLE

Universal RS-232 connections — Just $149.95!

Just arrived from I.Q. Technologies Inc.

The SC821 Plus

• Only 30 sec. from hook up, to communication, to pin configuration

display.

• Instantly interfaces all RS 232 Serial asynchronous equipment.

• Displays the correct configuration of the equipment being interfaced.

• Reconfigures for each RS 232 application needed. Comes with 2 cables with male and female DB 25 connections on

each end.

Eliminates the need for breakout boxes. Cable making has never been easer.

Just SI49.95, plus shipping

252 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 179

FARSIGHT "SHOCKS" THE INDUSTRY WITH $1000 WORTH OF SOFTWARE FOR $99.95. DOIPT BELIEVE US?

JUST ASK THE FRANKLINS.

SPREADSHEET, WORD PROCESSOR, WINDOWS: $99.95. Introducing Farsight. The first truly integrated spreadsheet, word processor and window manager priced to put a jolt into the competition. Because $99.95 delivers a 1-2-3® like spreadsheet, a highend/full-featured word-processing system and an expandable window manager. Systems that purchased separately would easily cost $1,000.00.

LIKE 1-2-3. ONLY BETTER. Farsight's Spreadsheet is everything you've loved about 1-2-3 plus some new high-voltage features. And you can move up to Farsight today without any down-time. Your existing 1-2-3 data files are read directly, plus keyboard and menu-driven macros are fully supported. You won't even have to re-learn your commands. So your investment in 1-2-3 data and procedures is not lost. Easy enough.

WORD PROCESSING + SPREADSHEET. TOGETHER AT LAST. Farsight's Word Processor combines all the features contained in the leading high-end products with the ease of use typically found in entry

IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. 1-2-3 is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corp.

Not available through dealers. Hardware requirements: IBM PC family or 100% compatible, dual-floppy or hard disk, PC/DOS2.0 or higher.

level systems. But the real spark in your word processing productivity comes from Farsight's multiple user-defined windows. You can virtually open as many document or spreadsheet windows as you wish and cut 'n paste text from one to another. With as little as six keystrokes.

BANK SOME BENS WITH FARSIGHT.

Ben Franklins, that is. About nine of them. And that's just the value built into Farsight. Feature-rich software that's going to change the way the industry conjures up its inflated prices. So order today. We'll ship you Farsight and our 500-page manual within three days of your phone order. And if you don't agree that Farsight is the best value on the market, we'll send you your money back.

NON COPY-PROTECTED. MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE.

from Interface Technologies Corp. 3336 Richmond, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77098

1-800-922-9049

(In Texas, call 7131523-8422) Telex: 322127 In Europe, call ITC in Switzerland at (01) 700-3037

PARTIAL FEATURES LIST

Farsight's Spreadsheet/Data Manager

□ All spreadsheet/data manager features of 1-2-3 Rel. 1A

□ 1-2-3 macros, templates fully supported

□ 1-2-3 data file read directly, no tedious importing

□ Speeds comparable to or better than 1-2-3 Rel. 1A

□ Pop-down menu user interface

□ Sparse matrix technology like 1-2-3 Rel. 2.0

□ Can search for values and labels D 2048 rows by 256 columns

Farsight's Word Processor

□ Full editing with insert or strikeover modes

□ Multiple ruler layouts within a document D Decimal tabs

D Search and replace backward or forward— case insensitive optional

□ Continuous reformatting, underlining, boldfacing, italics, page breaks indicated on screen

□ Proportional and micro-spacing supported

□ Undo feature restores text deletions

□ Can move columns

□ Multiline headers and footers

□ Soft hyphenation

Farsight's Window Manager

D Allows any combination of spreadsheet and word processor windows with full cut 'n paste integration

□ On-line context sensitive help

D Filer supports subdirectories, file copy, move, rename, delete and search

□ Supports over 40 popular printers

□ Background printing

□ Can have multiple printers on one machine

□ Can add new Farsight applications as they become available

D User assignable keys for all applications D Can record macros from the keyboard

I I

Yes, rush me copies of Farsight. I've enclosed $99.95 for each copy plus $7.00 shipping and handling. In Texas, add $6.13 sales tax. U.S. prices only. No purchase orders accepted. □ Check □ Money Order DAMEX DVTSA □ MASTERCARD

Credit Card #

Expiration Date

Signature

Name.

please prim

Shipping Address.

City

State/Zip

Day Phone

International orders add $30 shipping/handling. If paying by check, check or draft must be in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank.

INTERFACE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION 3336 Richmond, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77098 (713) 523-8422

L

'J

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 253

REVIEW: BRAILLE-EDIT

original work. Only the size of your disk limits you.

Many of Braille-Edits functions are chapter-oriented; others, however, are limited to page orientation. For example, the search feature can only be done one page at a time. If you wish to create a braille chapter, you run your completed text through the braille translator. You can also translate a braille chapter into print.

When you move from page 1 to page 2, Braille-Edit saves the text from page 1. Each time you change the page you're working on, the editor saves the previous page. This process is ongoing as you write and fill pages. Quitting the editor also saves your text.

The editor holds up to six screens of text in memory at a time. Control characters let you move about the document. The Apple He's arrow keys control up and down line movements

as well as back and forward space movements. Control-F takes you forward to the next screen, while Control-B moves you back. If you are using the speech capabilities, there are five additional characters plus the arrow keys for working with screens.

Braille-Edit provides a globalreplace function, available from the secondary menu; it lets you replace all occurrences of one given character or group of characters with another. This is done by means of a Braille-Edit chapter. You are limited to two pages of changes, or 8192 characters. The grade 2 translator is based on one of these transformation chapters.

Braille-Edit incorporates sound cues to help the blind user more readily access the features of the program. If you enter a control function in the editor, the program beeps to let you know when the function has finished execution. There are no sound cues

for moving forward in text, but there is a quick buzz to tell you when the voice synthesizer has finished reciting the menu help screens. This is particularly useful during long chapter transcription runs. These buzzes can keep you informed of program status if you have silenced speech with a Control-X.

Screen Formatting

Braille-Edit formats screens by embedding special commands based on the dollar sign; for example, $P indicates a paragraph, $F initiates a form feed, $$H centers and underlines, and $L tells the program to issue a carriage return. So does Control-M, but for certain braille functions, this is not recommended. Tabs are based on real line spacing; they are not influenced by current margins. There are other $ commands that ma

(continued)

;fci

SMART CABLE

Universal RS-232 connections — Just $49.95!

Here's the one cable to connect virtually any computer to nearly any serial peripheral. No more custom cables. It's easyl It's the Smart Cable SC 817 from IQ Technologies. Just plug it in, flip a switch, and its ingenious electronics do the rest. Instantly. Automatically. "Another heaven-sent accessory." —PC Week

"A marvel of ingenuity."

—Microcomputing Magazine

"The answer to a costly problem."

—PC Magazine Just S 49.95, plus shipping

InfoWorld

Report Card

Smart Cable

Setup

Ease of use

Performance

Serviceability

mmm$

IB

jjimil

•^rfc^'.^iaViffi

^5~:,v .^f^\ < ^«p)

CALL SEATTLE DATA SYSTEMS

•800-232-081 7 MASTER CARD. VISA ACCEPTED IN EUROPE. CALL (3 I J-[0) 2280-16049

254 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 180

Q

*r, > .no-*

£*$ &M>

^~JL^

m

m

, * » «*)W*«l<S

ECCELL

Multifunction Card with Error Correction Cods

.**'**

ORCHID This Card Sfghiftaa ECCELL'S PARITY ERROR PROTECTION PLAH

Give Your:

l'BH ftT m 'Cfi»P*|!liI4£

HWi.fl!FiiNi|E'll!OllJi * fit?!

ECCELL: Don't Use Your AT without it.

Because You Never Know When You'll Need Protection.

But ECCELL has more: it is the only multifunction card for the IBM AT with Error Correction Code. It continuously checks memory and corrects single-bit errors before they do any harm. Parity errors don't stop you; they don't even slow you down.

ECCELL is like having a PARITY ERROR PROTECTION PLAN. It protects you by preventing disaster in the first place. The beneficiary is anyone who uses an IBM AT or compatible equipped with ECCELL. It pays the best benefit of all—the peace of mind that comes from parityerror protection.

IBM AT owners beware—the AT can hold 25 times more memory than the PC. That's 25 times more chance for a parity error. You know what that means: your work is lost and your computer freezes with the message.

PARITY CHECK 2

Orchid's ECCELL is your "insurance card"—a multifunction card that guards against parity errors. It has serial & parallel ports, Productivity Software to make your whole system run better, and ultrasimple Switchless Installation. It holds up to 3 megabytes of memory, including Lotus Expanded^ Memory, to break the 640K DOS limit (EMS).

'Orchid's Limited Warranty is included with each ECCELL.

ECCELL is a trademark of Orchid Technology- Other products named in this document are trademarks of their manufacturer.

Inquiry 257

Features:

•Up to 3 Mb of RAM

• DOS, Extended, and EMS Memory (all three modes simultaneously)

• Switchless Installation gets you up and running in minutes

• Error Correction Code (ECC)

• Includes: RAM Disk

Disk Caching Print Spooling

• Serial/Parallel Ports or 2 Serial Ports

• Adds EMS to ATs that already have multifunction cards

47790 Westinghouse Dr. A V Fremont, CA 94539

M

(415)490-8586 Telex 709289

ORCHID

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 255

REVIEW: BRAILLE-EDIT

nipulate margins and page numbering, and you can enter these characters with a space on either side where appropriate in your text.

How do you see what you have typed? The main menu has a printer option where you can format the screen as you call the print routine. When the program asks for a specific printer option, you key an S to see your text on the screen in print format. The Echo II speech synthesizer can analyze a 40-column line while suppressing the dollar signs. This tells you if your formatting is correct and whether you have neglected to place spaces between the commands.

When you are satisfied with your screen presentation, you can print your text. Since Braille-Edit isn't configured for any particular type of printer, it makes some basic assumptions that might need changing. For instance, you may have to insert printer commands to obtain a desired type font.

Problems

As functional as Braille-Edit is, 1 found a few rough edges. The manual covers most contingencies very well. In section 26, the author explains what to do during an editor crash, which occurs far too frequently. In the event of a crash, you press Reset and then enter RUN 999. This saves whatever text is left in the editor in a chapter called Save. Then you go to the secondary menu, use the F option to "fix" the Save chapter, and create a new Braille-Edit chapter. Then you can append the new page to your article. A)) this takes some time. On a few occasions, I found a lot of random rubbish (control characters and the like) that I had to manually strip from the text. One time my system crashed while formatting a list I was trying to create. When the editor died, the usual panic stations and alarm bells went off. I spent the next hour manually cleaning house. There was a lot of garbage, which proved a bit of a problem for the speech synthesizer. Indeed, until I got rid of the garbage, the editor crashed every time I loaded the tainted file. Obviously,

the garbage in the file contributed to the program crash. (However, later versions of Braille-Edit seem to have fixed some of the problems with editor crashes.)

As it turns out, there is an easier solution. On the program disk is a transformation chapter called TXVB, which prepares text for formatting on a special braille device. It can also do double duty as a housecleaning aid. It strips all control and formatting characters from the text, and where double carriage returns exist, the program inserts a $P to make the paragraph acceptable to Versabraille, a cassette recorder from Telesensory Systems that delivers braille instead of music.

Another problem with Braille-Edit occurs with the command WRITE CHAPTER TO TEXTFILE. If you write an unformatted chapter to a text file without specifying a formatting command anywhere in the file, you get an unformatted text file with no carriage returns. As an early user of version 2.44a, which created a formatted text file whenever the WRITE CHAPTER TO TEXTFILE program was run, that's what I expected to find. The old version placed carriage returns at appropriate intervals (designated by the user) in the text. The transition to an unformatted text file in the later versions of Braille-Edit, 2.45 and up, was quite a jolt. After a number of phone calls to the author, I got the explanation that you have to insert certain formatting commands into the text to be converted. If you specify the width of a line by embedding a $W followed by the appropriate number, you will get a carriage return at the column width you specify. If, on the other hand, you wish to leave your carriage returns as you previously entered them, you will lose them unless you specify a line delimiter that tells the program to leave all existing carriage returns alone.

A Feature Lost

The older version of Braille-Edit, 2.44a, contained a program called Text Print that would display your text file on the screen. You could see

whether the text file you created still ran true to form. This program doesn't exist in versions 2.45 and up; you must find your own means of reading your text files.

Another minor irritation is the search command. Since it is not a global search, you must comb several pages of text to locate a specific entry. This command is extremely effective, but its utility is lost to some degree by having to individually scan pages. Since each page has a finite limit of 4096 characters, that is the largest single amount of text that you can store in memory.

Comments

on Braille Translation

Although I cannot evaluate the braille output of the program at this time, I can summarize the braille features available. The configuration menu contains a number of profiles for different braille output options. BrailleEdit supports Versabraille. It also supports the Kranmer Brailler, an adaptation of the mechanical Perkins Braille Writer. The Kranmer Brailler was designed to be a stand-alone terminal and to interface with other machines. Braille-Edit also works with the braille embossers built by Triformations. Another braille output variant is the Dipner Dot system, which enables a standard letter-quality printer to produce braille. Braille-Edit can offer grade 2 braille output with any of these devices.

Overall Impressions

I have been using Braille-Edit for the last nine months and have mixed feelings. It is a highly developed program with a great number of useful features, but it has a few failings and suffers from excessive construction. Since it now encompasses two sides of an Apple disk, Braille-Edit is somewhat cumbersome and involves frequent disk movements. It is not an easy program to use and has never been offered as such. With practice, you can get used to the numerous menus and disk accesses. As a diversified word processor and braille

[continued]

256 B YTE • MARCH 1986

MAS

LETS YOU:

, M I.

MEGASRAM is the highest density static RAM board available for the S100 bus today. A full MEGABYTE of high speed, low power STATIC RAM on a single height SI00 board without a daughter board. MEGASRAM offers the power and density required by today's high speed 16 bit microprocessors. With this board and our 8Mhz 80286 you can run WITHOUT WAITSTATES. NO ONE can offer any better performance on the S100 bus. In addition to the high speed MEGASRAM can be provided with an optional battery backup option to provide non-volatile operation. The standard MEGASRAM offers 150Ns operation, fast enough to run with an 8Mhz 80286 with no waitstates. Faster versions are available at extra cost providing as fast as lOONs maximum access times. All our access times are quoted as board access times, not chip access times.

IBM COMPATIBLE S100 BUS COLOR GRAPHICS

LOMAS DATA PRODUCTS presents COLOR MAGIC, the most complete compatibility solution for S100 bus computer products. COLOR MAGIC includes three major hardware subfunctions which allow it to emulate the IBM-PC: An entirely compatible video function, an IBMPC keyboard interface and an IBM-PC compatible timer interface including IBM-PC sound compatibility. HOW COMPATIBLE IS IT? Currently we are running MICROSOFT'S FLIGHT SIMULATOR recognized as one of the severest tests of compatibility. We can also directly boot PC-DOS for the IBM-PC with no alterations. Other programs which have been tested and function without problems are: LOTUS 1-2-3, DBASE III, WORDSTAR and VOLKSWRITER. COLOR MAGIC (16K byte version) .. $595.00

■THUNDER 186 single board computer provides a high performance 16 bit computer all on one board. It is an ideal companion to the COLOR MAGIC to provide a low cost, high performance IBM-PC compatible system. The 8Mhz 80186 offers lOMhz 8086 performance. THUNDER 186 provides all the components necessary to form a complete system including: 2S6K bytes of no wait-state RAM, 2 serial ports, a parallel printer port, high performance floppy disk controller controls both S'/i" and 8" drives simultaneously, full IEEE 696 (S100) bus for system expansion. The COLOR MAGIC

and THUNDER 186 combine to provide performance you won't find in other compatibles. The price includes the powerful Concurrent DOS operating system. THUNDER 186 $1195.00

■ NV-DISK is a solid state memory with software to emulate a disk drive under MS-DOS, Concurrent DOS, and CP/M-86. NV-DISK is entirely COMPUPRO software compatible allowing COMPUPRO users to take advantage of the lower cost and battery protection support offered by NV-DISK. It offers the advantage of high speed access and no moving parts. It can be battery protected to allow data to stay even while powered down. The board is available in either 512K or 2 Megabyte configurations and multiple boards may be used to create disk drives with up to 16 Megabytes of storage. NV-DISK 512K, $595.00 2 MBYTE, $1695.00

■MEGARAM is a high density, high performance dynamic RAM board with up to two Megabytes of storage. Megaram offers no wait state performance in 8086 systems with up to 10 Mhz processors at a fraction of the cost of comparable performance static RAM.

MEGARAM V4 MBYTE, $475.00

1/2 MBYTE, $595.00 1 MBYTE, $295.00

2 MBYTE, $1095.00

IBM-PC COMPATIBLE S100-BUS SYSTEM

LOMAS DATA PRODUCTS offers IBM-PC compatible systems with performance far ex

ceeding that available from IBM. You can purchase systems offering performance of an eight Mhz 8086 or up the performance of an 8Mhz 80286. Each system is capable of supporting 8Mhz math coprocessors. Our 8Mhz 80286 system offers IBM-PC compatibility while offering up to 2 times the performance of the IBM-PCAT. For applications where PC compatibility is desirable but higher performance is a benefit or requirement LDP offers the only viable solution.

WHO IS LOMAS DATA PRODUCTS ...

LOMAS DATA PRODUCTS has been shipping 16 bit microprocessor S100 bus products for five years. We have earned a strong reputation for reliability and performance over these five years. We were running MS-DOS (SCP-DOS/ PC-DOS) before IBM knew the operating system existed. We offer a wide range of 16 bit operating systems including MS-DOS, CP/M86, CONCURRENT CP/M-86 and CONCURRENT DOS. All our products are backed by a one year guarantee. We offer no 8 bit products and concentrate entirely on high peformance 16 bit systems. If you are looking for the highest performance posible on the S100 bus, you can be sure LOMAS DATA PRODUCTS offers it.

The S100 Bus Experts.

Dealer inquiries invited.

MS-DOS. trademark of Microsoft

PC-DOS trademark of IBM

Concurrent CP/M-86. concurrent DOS. trademark of Digital Research

LOMAS DATA PRODUCTS, INC.

182 CEDAR HILL STREET, MARLBORO, MASSACHUSETTS 01752 □ TELEPHONE: (617) 460-0333 □ TELEX: 4996272

For orders outside the U.S., contact our exclusive dealers: □ Australia - LAMRON PTY. LTD., (02) 808-3666 □ Malaysia - EXA COMPUTER (m) SENDIRIAN BERHAD, 795284 Li England - RATIONAL SYSTEMS, 0908-613209 or 0908-611349; SHARPBORN LTD., 018764559. Inquiry 214 MARCH 1986 • B Y T E 257

REVIEW: BRAILLE-EDIT

translator, it currently has no equal, but there is always room for improvement.

Although I had used the program before getting the chance to review it, 1 requested a braille manual from Raised Dot Computing for this article. When the package arrived, it contained both braille and print manuals, as well as the cassette versions. The braille manual was on thick fanfold braille paper. Before I could read the manual, I had to remove all the tractor-feed edges and tear apart the pages. Since the manual contains 94 of these fanfold sheets, this was quite an undertaking. Would a commercial program for sighted users survive if you had to tear apart and organize your own manual? The disks arrived in two pieces of cardboard stapled together. The cassettes were wrapped in a piece of paper.

Version 2.50 of Braille-Edit experiences too many crashes. The time gained by the improvements in the editor are offset by the time lost recovering from editor crashes. In trying to deal with this problem, I approached several other Braille-Edit users to see what their experiences have been. One has experienced frequent crashes in the editor, while another has never had a problem.

Phone calls to the people at Raised Dot Computing indicate that they know about the problem; they suggested 1 install a line-surge protector. I have done this and grounded all the equipment in the circuit. The crashes still occur.

Braille-Edit has been highly useful during the nine months 1 have had it. As improvements have .come out and changes have been made, the features have multiplied. But as it has grown in complexity, it has also grown in size—from one side of a floppy disk and two menus to two sides of a floppy disk and four menus.

If you like, you can bypass BrailleEdit's menus. Once you are familiar with the program, you can move through the different functions by typing in the desired command. You won't see the menus until you enter a return or a ? at the prompt.

1 have performed some timing tests on the program. You should realize that these tests were performed with Echo speech invoked. The times would be shorter without the audio clues. The scrolling function required between 10 and 12 seconds per page; the character count per page varied from 3077 to 3328. On top of this, each disk access requires 10 seconds, and each page requires one disk ac

cess. The search function was much quicker, needing only 1 second per page. However, you must add the constant of 10 seconds of disk access per page to this number as well.

Summary

Braille-Edit has moved from a strong, reliable word processor in its earlier versions to a form that is taking some steps backward in version 2.50. The program has had to use more disk space and generate more disk accesses in order to preserve memory continuity. This means that as you proceed from the main menu to the secondary menu and then to the page menu with approximately 10 seconds for each disk access, you spend a fair amount of time waiting. This doesn't take into account the boot-up procedure.

Except for the editor crashes, Braille-Edit functions reliably. I haven't had any irretrievable situations, but sometimes it is frustratingly slow to get the program going again. However, at the time I write this, it is still the best talking word processor available (there are indications of other programs of this type to come). In fact, this article would have been impossible without Braille-Edit because I am visually impaired. ■

TURBO PASCAL PROGRAMMERS

TURBO PROFESSIONAL 2.0 is available now!!!

□ Safe, resident programs

□ Virtual windows

□ Service interrupts (no assembly)

□ DOS program execution

□ Change file modes

□ Directory searches

□ Read & write disk sectors

□ Access hidden files

□ DOS memory allocation

□ Read strings from screen

□ Background printing (D0S3)

□ Keyboard macro processor

□ Many example programs

□ Source code included

□ Royalty free applications

Expertly crafted Pascal and Assembler, TURBO PROFESSIONAL will take your programs to new heights. Optimized for speed and minimum code size, these routines offer capabilities previously not available. Ever tried writing safe, resident applications which can actually use DOS? Will they work with Sidekick, DOS's PRINT, mouse software, and a RAM disk? They will if you write them with TURBO PROFESSIONAL. In fact, we believe that TURBO PROFESSIONAL offers the most advanced systems level routines available for any language. So, while the other guys are playing catchup, we're not playing at all.

S69.95 + 5.00 Shipping and Handling, VISA and Mastercard welcome.

ORDER LINE (206) 367-0650

Requires Turbo 2 or 3 for compatibles, DOS 2,0 Sidekick & Turbo Pascal trademark Borland Inil

Sunny Hill Software'

13732 Midvale North Suite 206 Seattle, Washington 98133

ft

3^ W

258 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 387

We have over 1000 Software and hardware items in stock. Shipments on almost all items within 24 hours!

Call for programs not listed

WAREHOUSE

DATA PRODUCTS

FREE SOFTWARE! With over $100 purchase you will receive a free diskette for your IBM PC with label maker, checker game and banner programs.

Technical & Other Info. (602) 246-2222

TOLL-FREE ORDER LINE 1-800-421-3135

SOFTWARE DATA BASE MANAGERS

Clipper $345

Clout 2 129

Condor III 299

Fox and Geller Quickcode 145

Fox and Geller Quickreport 145

Knowledgeman 225

Knowledgeman II 299

K Paint 60

K Graph 135

KText 105

K Report 135

Nutshell 55

PFS: File 78

Power Base 2.1 199

RBase 5000 Call

Think Tank 93

Tim IV 169

WORD-PROCESSING

Easy (Micro Pro) 89

Leading Edge w/Merge/Spell 130

Microsoft Word 2.01 230

Multimate 3.31 205

Multimate Advantage 255

Oasis Word Plus 85

Peachtext 5000 145

PFS: Write 78

Random House Spell Checker 36

Samna III 3.0 265

Volkswriter 3 139

Word Perfect 4.1 199

Wordstar 170

Wordstar Propac 238

Wordstar 2000 238

Wordstar 2000+ 285

SPREADSHEETS

Microsoft Multiplan 115

PFS: Plan 78

Supercalc II 145

Supercalc III 2.1 Call

Twin 79

ACCOUNTING

BPI Accounts Payable 299

BPI Account Receivable 299

BPI General Accounting 299

BPI Payroll 299

Cyma Call

Dollars and $ense 95

MBSI Call

Tobias Managing Your Money 94

TCS. Big Four equivalent of Peachtree Series 4 - Specially augmented and customized for your IBM PC Terminal and Printer - GL, AR, PA, AP, CP/M-80, CP/M86 for PC XT, DOS 1.1, 2.0. Each Module $65 For All Four $249

INTEGRATED

Enable Call

Smart Software Call

TRANSFER PROGRAMS

Crosstalk XVI 89

Hayes Smartcom II 88

Microsoft Access 149

Move-It 79

Remote 89

GRAPHICS

Chartmaster 215

Dr. Halo II 99

Energraphics w/o Plotter 170

Energraphics w/Plotter 220

Fontrix 99

Freelance 199

Graphwriter/Combo 310

Microsoft Flight Simulator 30

PC Paint Brush 62

PFS Graph 78

Signmaster 135

INCREDIBLE VALUE!

Nationally advertised boards for IBM PC and compatibles at giveaway prices.

1 year warranty

5151 Equivalent Keyboards $89

Monochrome Board w/Printer

Port... $79 Hercules Graphic Board Equivalent with Parallel Port $99

Expansion Board 0 to 576 K .... $59

AST Six Pack Equivalent with game port $99

Four Drive Floppy Controller ... $45

Color Card without printer port.$79

Color Card with printer port.... $95

IBM PC CLONE

256K, 2 drives 7 expansion slots $695

LANGUAGES

Concurrent PC/Dos Call

Fortran 77 208

Lattice C Compiler 3.0 Call

Run C Professional 169

Microsoft C Compiler 239

Microsoft Fortran 209

Microsoft Macro Assembler 89

Microsoft Pascal Compiler 178

Microsoft Quick Basic 65

Multi Halo 140

UTILITIES

Copy II PC 19

Copy II PC Board 79

Copywright 45

Norton Utilities 3.1 52

PC Tools 22

Prokey 4.0 75

Superkey 35

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Harvard Project Manager 199

Microsoft Project Call

Super Project 165

HARDWARE

HARD DRIVES

Bernoulli 20 MB 'A ht 2439

Seagate 20 MB Internal w/Controller ... 499 Turbo 10 internal 529

MODEMS

Anchor Express 235

Hayes 1200 Call

Hayes 1200B w/Software Call

Hayes 2400 599

U.S. Robotics Courier 2400 Call

U.S. Robotics Password 1200 Call

RAM

64K 150NS Chips (Japan - Set of 9) .. 9.50 256K Ram Chips (Set of 9) 27

BOARDS

AST Advantage 359

HARDWARE

AST Sixpack (384K) 259

Hercules Color Card 145

Hercules Graphics Card 289

J RAM III Call

Paradise Five Pak 119

Paradise Modular Graphics Card 249

Quadram Board with Par/Ser

and Game Port 199

Quadcolor I 185

Sigma Maximizer Multifunction 149

STB Chauffeur Board 249

STB Mono Board 155

AB Parallel Print Switch w/cables 75

Mini Micro Parallel Print Buffer 69

COMPUTERS

Corona PC Call

Sperry PC Mono 256K Dual Drive Serial Port, Clock, MS/DOS 2.11 $1650

IBM PC-AT Call

ITT Computers PC Compatible 256k Dual Drive, Mono, MS/DOS 1395

ITT XP 80286 IBM/PC Compatible, 512K, 10 MB Winchester, 3 times faster than an XT. 30% faster than an AT $2650

Zenith 171 Call

PRINTERS

FREEI PRINTER SET SOFTWARE

Purchase an Okidata, Epson, Gemini, Citizen or Toshiba printer and receive at no charge a menu driven program to set print characteristics or to make your computer function as a correcting typewriter. Retail value $35. Available for most disk formats.

CITIZEN

MSP-10 255

MSP-15 355

MSP-20 329

Citizen 120D 169

Premiere 35 Daisywheel 415

EPSON - Call on all models JUKI

Juki 6100 349

Juki 6300 685

NEC

3550 989

8850 1349

P5 Parallel 995

Elf 360 398

OKIDATA - Call on all models PANASONIC

1091 239

1092 320

1093 429

KXP3151 410

STAR MICRONICS - Call for prices TOSHIBA

1340 460

P351 1049

P341 875

MONITORS

AMDEK Call for price

Monochrome TTL Monitors

Amber or green $65

Taxan 610 319

Taxan 121 Green 125

Taxan 122 Amber 134

Princeton Max 12 169

1

TERMS: Prices include 3% cash discount. Add 3% for charge and C.O.D. orders. Shipping on most software is $5.00. AZ orders *6% sales tax. Personal check- allow ten (10) days to clear. Prices are subject tochange. We accept purchase orders.

TOLL-FREE ORDER LINE 1-800-421-3135

WAREHOUSE DATA PRODUCTS

2701 West Glendale Ave. • Phoenix, AZ 85051

Inquiry 372

Comes standan

with 512K RAM,

expandable to 640K

Normal IBM speed emulation switch

300% performance increase

Compatible with IBM Basica programs

That's right, guaranteed performance. The Univation Turbocharger will triple the processing speed of your IBM PC, PC/XT, or 100% compatible.

Just think, the data process ing speed and performance of a PC/AT without the expense. Plug it in, and your PC will do everything it did before, only 300% faster.

Best of all, the Univation Turbocharger works with all

your existing PC software automatically. Nothing to lear nothing to change. Speed spreac sheets, databases, graphics, even IBM Basica programs. The Turbocharger will spark each and every program you use.

To ensure complete reliability, our Turbocharger is extensively tested. It's available for immediate delivery. And, best of all, it's 5 _a guaranteed. Guaranteed to work exactly as promised

to provide all e processing power you'll ever need. So why not make your life a little easier and do your work a lot quicker with the Univation Turbocharger.

See it at your local computer dealer today. For the dealer in your area call: (408) 745-0180.

Dealer and distributor inquires invited.

IBM PC, PC/XT and PC/AT are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. 260 B YTE • MARCH 1986

UNIVATION

Your Expansion Compan

1037'North FairOaks Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94089 (408) 745-0180

Inquiry 362

f • ••

HARDWARE REVIEW

Printit

r

A card that

lets you print

anything that's

on an Apple II

screen

by Henry Brugsch and Joseph J. Lazzaro

Henry Brugsch attended Perkins

School for the Blind and is a

graduate of Tufts University. He is a

self-employed piano technician and

can be contacted at 32 Morgan

Ave.. Medford. MA 0215 5.

\oseph }. lazzaro is a

freelance writer and consultant

{Talking Computer Systems. POB

524. Revere. MA 02151. (617)

289-3828). He specializes in voice

I/O systems.

How many times has protected software prevented you from printing text or graphics displayed on your Apple Us screen? Here is a printer interface card that lets you send text or graphics to your printer under any software circumstances.

Printit is a combination serial/parallel printer interface card made especially for Apple and Franklin computers. The purpose of Printit is to dump the contents of the screen to any standard serial or parallel printer, independent of whatever software you are running. This is significant since most software marketed today takes a heavy-handed approach: total domination of your computer. If a programmer decides that you should not have a printer routine in your new software package, then you are forced to live within those limits.

Printit changes all that. You can print anything on your screen automatically with a full set of print options: ordinary text, lowresolution graphics, high-resolution and double high-resolution graphics, 80- or 40column text, side-by-side pages, inverse images, rotated images, double-size images, mixed graphics and text, black-and-white or color images, and emphasized print. With Printit's Control-I command, you can even send format commands to your printer. You can also use multiple options (for example, print a double-size black-on-white image). The combinations are many and useful. Printit is also not limited to just driving printers. The external device can be a plotter, another computer, or even a speech synthesizer.

Installing the Printit board is simple: Plug it into any Apple expansion slot and connect it to a printer with the supplied cables. (Be sure you get the right cables when you order your Printit.)

Push the activation button on the card and then hit a carriage return with any program in memory to get a full screen dump. Printit stops the software dead in its tracks. When the printing is finished, the program

restarts where it left off, totally unaware that it was interrupted.

Suppose you have a graphics screen you would like to preserve and you can't initialize your printer card because the software is protected. Press the Printit button and a carriage return and you will get an immediate dump of your screen to your printer.

You can print anything that appears on your screen, even if it doesn't want you to. If you wish to change your printer's configuration during a program run, simply press the Printit button to halt the program. Then press Control-1 (ASCII value 9). This tells Printit to send control codes to the printer. You can then reconfigure the printer with its own set of commands.

Printit and Speech Synthesizers

Printit can send nongraphic data to a speech device. This can be very useful to those people dependent on speech synthesis as their sole output medium. Printit works with the Votrax Personal Speech System, the Intex-Talker, or the Street Electronics Echo General Purpose speech synthesizers. The Votrax and Intex-Talker are both serial/parallel synthesizers: they will work with Printit configured either as a serial or a parallel device. With an Echo GR you can use only the serial configuration. Think of Printit used in this way as a bruteforce speech dump. It is not a user-friendly way for a blind computer user to access his or her software, but if you cannot get a software package to "talk" by any other means, Printit is one solution.

A Standard Interface Card

Printit functions just like an ordinary serial or parallel printer interface card. You do not need to press Printit's button to make your printer print. Printit can be driven in the normal way by most software packages. For example, if your Printit is in slot one and you want to set up your printer for 80-column

{continued)

MARCH 1986

IYTE 261

REVIEW: PRINTIT

AT A GLANCE

Name

Printit

Type

Serial/parallel printer interface card

Company

Texprint

220 Reservoir St.

Needham Heights, MA 02194

(617) 449-5808

Hardware Needed

Apple II or Franklin computer with either dot-matrix or letter-quality printer

Software

ROM-based firmware requires no external software drivers

Features

Prints any screen when activation button is pressed; drives serial and parallel printers

Documentation

24-page manual

Options

Serial interface cable, parallel interface cable

Price

$199

print, do the following: push Printit's button, press Control-I. then type 80 N. You can even issue these commands from within a BASIC program:

10 PRINT CHR$(4)"PR#1" 20 PRINT CHR$(9)"80N" 30 END

As far as a word processor is concerned, it is talking to a standard Apple parallel interface card. All text formatting is accomplished in the normal manner, and all printer control setup codes are the same.

Compatibility

Printit is totally Apple-compatible. It runs on any Apple II computer (except for the He) and Franklin Apple II clones. The Franklin 80-column card, which resembles the Videx, will not work with Printit in certain configurations.

If you have a Microsoft CP/M coprocessor card in your system, you may encounter problems. When you press Printit's button, it may not be able to halt the coprocessor card.

Printit with Printers

We tested Printit on the Star Micronics Gemini-lOX and the Okidata MU-92

printers. The Printit manual provides an easy-to-use chart of switch settings for most printers. You don't need to know anything about data-transmission rates or data formats, since the chart is indexed by printer type. We were able to get good-quality screen dumps from popular software packages at the press of a button.

We were also able to double the size of the image by pressing Printit's button, typing D, and hitting a carriage return. You can print a doublesize emphasized version of the screen by entering ED and a carriage return. It is easy to mix multiple command options: you can even get an emphasized, doubled, inverted, white-onblack image. See table 1 for a complete list of printer options.

Conclusion

Printit is worth its price, especially when you consider that this board has built-in serial and parallel compatibility. Its one drawback is its inability to handle two-way telecommunications traffic, like the Apple Super Serial Card. If you need a flexible printer interface card with the power to punch through protected software, give this board a close look. ■

Table 1:

Printit's commands and their functions. Commands can be passed to

Printit either through software or the keyboard after you press Printit's button.

Commanc

Function

1

Display page #1

2

Display page #2

4

40-column print

8

80-column print

P

Print graphics only

M

Print mixed graphics and text

V

Double high-resolution or low-resolution graphics

C

Normal high-resolution or low-resolution graphics

S

Print pages #1 and #2 side by side

D

Print double-size image

R

Rotate image 90 degrees

I

Print inverse image (white on black)

W

Print black and white

L

Left-justify image

E

Print emphasized image

Control/I

Send commands to external device

262 BYTE' MARCH 1986

_ IN APP/TiON TO ,' °

PR/UT/fJ& TETXT j o

2jx> cps, -me.

/SA1 PfZOPRjATTE-IS. ' °

caa/ Print ah-- . •

'Z-TATlONE.RW WtThlOVT REWOI//N& THE

OMPftfE.!*. PAPEJZ .

-foe i&m pkopk/htek <5>u'pp6t?rr'=>

Mje^T FtoPuj-AR SOFTWARE

Built to take it. Priced to take it with you. The Proprinter from IBM.

There's just one thing that's as remarkable as the rugged reliability of our most versatile personal printer—and that's its price. Under $550.

The Proprinter is built by IBM to last. And simplicity of design is what makes it so reliable.

Yet the IBM Proprinter is a full-featured machine. It has three printing speeds to give you everything from fast first drafts to sharp, near-letter-quality correspondence. It takes perforated

computer paper for long jobs and —without removing the paperwill easily print on a sheet of stationery or an envelope, thanks to a handy slot in front.

With its all-points-addressable graphics and its comprehensive character set. the IBM Proprinter supports most popular software.

The Proprinter attaches to every IBM PC and to other leading personal computers. And it's just part of our growing family of personal printers. All are

designed to serve a single purpose: To give everything you do the finishing touch.

For the authorized IBM dealer or the IBM Product Center nearest you—or1 for free literature -call 1800 IBM-2468, Ext. 104/ LH. Or contact your IBM marketing representative.

IBM Personal Printers...The Finishing Touch

Inquiry 164

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 263

15,000 SAVED FROM CRASH.

No hysteria. No panic. No reports of data loss. No wonder more than 15,000 Alpha Micro users have chosen our Videotrax™ backup technology over streamer tape or floppies.

The best news is it's now available for the IBM PC-AT, XT and true compatibles.

BETTER TO BE FAILSAFE THAN SORRY.

Exhaustive testing and long term use of Videotrax technology prove it more reliable than any other backup

High-tech.

Open your PC and slide Hie controller board into any expansion slot. Low-tech. Hook up VCR to computer uith standard connector cables.

option available. Even more reliable than the hard disk you're backing up.

At the heart of the system is a patented video tape controJJer board that employs a standard video cassette recorder for copying data. Which means Videotrax offers the sophisticated technology of today's VCRs. And the depend

ability of a durable consumer good.

EASY DOES IT.

If you own a VCR, you already own half the system. And you already know how to use it. Or you might opt for the complete subsystem (controller board plus enhanced VCR) and experience the

Your basic (idea cassettes, Reliable, cheap, easy h> find.

joy of its

automatic, unattended backup

capabilities.

Either way, our menu driven software, clear documentation and wide range of backup modes keep it simple: Insert a blank video cassette tape and follow the directions that appear on your screen.

You can copy or restore your entire hard disk, specific files, or only files modified since the last backup, while the system busily self-monitors for proper functioning.

And for the price of taping your favorite TV shows, you can record your most valued computer data. Up to 80MB can be stored on a single cas

sette at less than a third of the cost of streamer tape.

Of course, if you ever require service, your authorized Alpha Micro dealer and our worldwide network of factory service centers will provide all the support you need. For more information on how Videotrax can keep you off the crash course, call your local dealer or Alpha Micro at 1-800-992-9779 (in California call 1-800-821-0612).

DATA BACKUP FROM ALPHA MICRO.

Corporate Headquarters: 3501 Sunjhwer, PO. Bar 25059, Santa Alia, CA 92799© Alplia Microsystems 1986

264 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 17

REVIEW FEEDBACK

Enable

I have been an Enable user for ten months. The following is my review of your review of Enable (January, page 331).

Steve King concluded the review with the statement "Although I've heard version 1.1 is better, 1 found Enable 1.0 not quite ready and able. . ." It seems unprofessional to publish a review of a product that is not the current version. The review mentioned but a fraction of Enable's features. One of these was so misunderstood by both Rich Malloy and King that it was singled out as a major drawback, namely the fact that Enable's menu and command sequences were dissimilar and therefore (so you thought) confusing.

On the contrary, this is in fact an asset, once you understand that the menu selection is for those who prefer to use the arrow keys to move the block cursor and/or type single initials to match the displayed choices of the menu. In this case your review was a disservice to both prospective Enable buyers and to the Software Group, producers of Enable. The update 1.1 version was first shipped three months before the January date of BYTE.

1 realize the publishing predicament of soliciting a review then finding it is out of date at the time of publication. The only fair course in this case is a new in-depth review of Enable 1.1. rather than trying to redeem the time-expired review with a hasty half-page text box about the new version.

Rev. Francis G. McCloskey Albany, NY

Steve King's review of Enable was right on target, making it obvious that he has used the program.

King is absolutely right that version 1.0 was unusable. My version of 1.1, with some October 1985 changes, is a vast improvement. (1 mention the date of my latest changes because they are continuing to make minor changes. An earlier release of 1.1 is clearly different.)

Some may wonder what Enable is good for. Enable is the only integrated program I've seen with adequate help screens and prompts. No keyboard overlay is necessary, and the commands, if sometimes awkward, are at least usually consistent.

1 have found Enable to be well suited to odd multifunction jobs, especially where there are involved computations to be done in a relational database (exponentials and trigonometric functions, etc.), and the results are to be included in a mailmerge letter. Billing for leased equipment where there is a variable interest rate is a good example of its capabilities. If the new release has as many improvements as were made in version 1.1, it should be a winner.

Carter Harison Beaverton, OR

AT&T PC 6300

I am writing in response to Bob Troiano's review of the AT&T PC 6300 (December 1985, page 294). 1 am very familiar with the IBM PC XT and I think the AT&T is by far the better of the two, especially if you use Lotus 1-2-3!

PC 6300 readers should take note of the suggestion for adding 512K bytes of memory to the motherboard. This will save the PC 6300 owner a lot of money. I paid an estimated $550 less than if 1 ordered from AT&T, and $450 less than if I acquired AST's SixPakPlus with 384K bytes of memory a memory-expansion board, and a 128K-byte expansion kit. 1 had already installed the 2 56K memory chips, but I could not get anyone to give me the appropriate DIP switch settings. Mr. Troiano's article gave me most of the information I needed.

One caution about the setting of DIP switch 1 (aka bank 1): The switch should not be adjusted unless the PC 6300 user wishes to reconfigure the unit's disk drives. For example, the setting that Mr. Troiano recommends configures the system with a floppy-disk drive and a hard-disk drive designated as drive C Settings are different if you have two floppy drives or if you designate the hard disk as drive C, as shown below:

Troiano recommendation: 00110011 Two floppies: 00000110 One floppy and the hard disk designated as C: 00110100

In addition. I'd like to offer advice to potential PC 6300 buyers: Many dealers sell the PC 6300 equipped with 128K or

2 56K bytes at very similar prices. If you select a unit with 2 56K, you will be forced to purchase a memory-expansion board as well as chip sets to increase the PC's memory to 640K. 1 recommend that potential buyers order the 128K unit, install eighteen 2 56K chips, and set switch

0 as recommended.

As far as software is concerned. AT&T has released an update disk for MS-DOS 2.11 and GW-BAS1C. This disk includes some new programs.

Michael J. Sobota Schaumburg, IL

1 purchased an AT&T PC 6300 in August 1985 and really do like it: however, it has also caused hours of frustration.

1 agree with Bob Troiano's comments on the machine's speed, operability, and compatibility. I have upgraded to 640K bytes of memory and have added virtual-disk capability with 360K bytes. Uploading my operating software to drive C really makes the machine faster than any I've seen. I imported the virtual-disk operating software from PC-DOS 3.0, as the AT&T user's manuals do not discuss virtual disks. All common IBM software runs fine on my machine. As the review pointed out, however, the GW-BAS1C provided with the unit does not directly interface to BAS1CA. As a matter of fact, I have several programs waiting for patches to get them running.

On the other hand, 1 don't agree with Troiano's speculation on AT&T's product support. 1 have had my machine in the shop three times for a total of over seven weeks. It has gone through three power supplies, two disk drives, two keyboards, and three motherboards. The longest delays 1 experienced were because motherboards were out of stock. If indeed motherboards are scarce, I would caution potential customers against buying the machine until the problem is corrected. Al Sargeant San Diego. CA m

REVIEW FEEDBACK is a column of readers letters. We welcome responses that support or challenge BYTE reviews. Send letters to Review Feedback. BYTE Publications. POB 372. Hancock. NH 03449. Name and address must be on all letters.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 265

V

w

w

V

BYTE

Kernel

Computing at Chaos Manor: All Sorts of Software

by \erry Poumelle 269

Chaos Manor Mail

conducted by }erry Poumelle 293

Applications Only: First in a Series

by Ezra Shapiro 297

According to Webster: 68000 Wars: Round 1

by Bruce Webster 305

BYTE JAPAN:

A New Language and a Laptop

by William M. Rflife 327

BYTE UK.: The Amstrad PCW 8256

by Dick Pountain 333

Mathematical Recreations: Diophantine Equations

by Robert T. Kurosaka 343

Circuit Cellar Feedback

conducted by Steve Garcia 354

ONE COMMON THREAD that seems to weave itself through many of Jerry's columns is his attendance at parties. We all realize that this is a nasty job, but Jerry knows full well that somebody has to do it. This month's column finds him hosting a BIX party at Chaos Manor. Fortunately, he is able to survive the party and forge ahead. Much of the column deals with a wide variety of software. One of the products that he is quite impressed with is an integrated package known as QSA.

BYTE presents a new column this month—Applications Only, written by Ezra Shapiro. The column is intended to provide a quick look at various applications software packages. This time, Ezra reviews four new products—Turbo Editor Toolbox, Ready!, Balance of Power, and Easy.

The Macintosh from Apple, the Atari 520ST, and Commodore's Amiga are the three prominent 68000 machines that are causing a stir in microcomputer circles. Now having all three of these computers, Bruce Webster begins his comparison of them in this month's According to Webster. He takes a number of different areas and ranks the machines in each of them. Bruce's observations show him that each machine has both strengths and weaknesses and that there is no clear winner.

In BYTE Japan, Bill Raike looks at a new language called Mind, which he believes is the first programming language created in Japan. All of Mind's reserved words are written in Japanese kanji characters, and the statement syntax resembles that of the Japanese language. Bill also describes his new laptop—the Fujitsu FM-167T.

The Amstrad PCW 82 56 is a Z80-based computer and word processor from Amsoft of Essex, England. At £399, it is actually a dedicated word-processing system for less than the price of many electric typewriters. So far, these new Amstrads have been popular in their homeland, and Dick speculates that they may soon be available in the U.S.

The subject covered by Bob Kurosaka in Mathematical Recreations is the Diophantine equation. A number of methods are available for solving this type of equation, but this month's column looks for a method of solution based on general principles of mathematics. There is also a section on mail received from readers of previous columns.

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 267

FORTRAN, C, and BASIC Programmers..

Programming just got easier with Scientific Subroutine Libraries from Wiley Professional Software.

You need to quickly generate dependable, accurate and error-free code. Whatever language you use, Wiley Professional Software has a powerful Scientific Subroutine Library that can save you considerable programming time and development money.

Each library consists of more than 100 pretested and precompiled mathematical and statistical subroutines, supplied on disk as a linkable library and as source code. Each package includes 400plus pages of documentation, providing you with extensive reference material, a listing of the subroutine's source code, complete test programs and the results of running each test. The Subroutines cover formulas for:

♦ General statistics

♦ Interpolations

♦ Function evaluations

♦ Probability

♦ Fourier analysis

♦ Systems of equations

♦ Analysis of variance

♦ Cross tabulations

♦ Solution of equations

♦ Regressions

♦ Differential equations

♦ Times series analysis

♦ Matrices

♦ Roots of biquadratic equations

♦ and more

Just out, Professional FORTRAN! Coming Soon, MORE FORTRAN!

And now all the subroutines are available to those of you programming in Professional FORTRAN. All that's required is IBM Professional FORTRAN or Ryan McFarland FORTRAN. On the way is MORE FORTRAN, which includes subroutines covering such areas as:

Analytical Geometry ♦ Vector Algebra ♦ Utility (including complex matrix manipulation) ♦ Numerical Analysis (including fast Fourier transforms, and solution to systems of non-linear equations) ♦ Assembler Service Routines—FORTRAN CALLS

LIBRARY

PRICE

REQUIREMENTS

FORTRAN Library

$175

Microsoft FORTRAN ver. 3.13 or later, or IBM 2.0

C Language Library

$175

Lattice C Compiler ver. 2.12 or later

BAS1CA Library

$125

BASICA

Professional FORTRAN Library

$175

IBM Professional FORTRAN: Ryan McFarland FORTRAN

MORE FORTRAN Library

Call for Price

Microsoft FORTRAN ver. 3-2 or later; IBM Professional FORTRAN; PC DOS 2.0 or better

Developed by Peerless Engineering Service

To order, or for free literature, call: 212-850-6788

Or write: Wiley Professional Software John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Leslie Bixel, 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158

Dealer Inquiries Invited. Educational site licenses available.

THE TECHNICAL SOFTWARE SOURCE

268 BYTE • MARCH I986

Inquiry 19I

The Big Party

BIX

Crosstalk

Printer Optimizer

Q&A

XyWrite

Ready!

Logimouse

Alien Names

Beyond Compare

PC Calculator

Quick BASIC

Heath/Zenith Show

by Jerry Pournelle

\en\j Pournelle holds a doctorate in

psychology and is a science-fiction

writer who also earns a comfortable

living writing about computers

present and future.

COMPUTING

AT CHAOS MANOR

All Sorts of Software

Well, we survived the big party. About half the civilized world, and a third of the barbarians, seem to have wandered through Chaos Manor at one time or another during the evening. My neighbor's yard was so littered with champagne corks the next morning that I had to send the boys out with trash bags. Half a dozen Black Forest and San Honore cakes, a gallon of Athol Broz, three gallons of chili, and 12 feet of stevedore sandwich disappeared without a trace. We had two separate computer systems connected to BIX (BYTE Information Exchange) so that those on the network could share in the festivities. And a good time was had by all. Mrs. Pournelle, who thinks computers are boring and computer parties more so, had fled to San Jose for the evening and returned with some trepidation; but amazingly nothing was broken. In fact, thanks to honorary hostesses Pamela Clark and Barbara Clifford, things were in such good shape that the housekeeper gave no more than a token look of disapproval.

Communicating

One of the people I met at my party was Connie Kageyama. It happened this way: when we got Philippe Kahn of Borland International on BIX, he was somewhat unhappy with the speed of the mail system. (It was pretty'slow, but that's been fixed.)

"It takes too long. You're on line too much," Philippe said.

"True, but what can I do?"

"Talk to Connie Kageyama," said Philippe, which turned out to be good advice. Connie is a system operator for CompuServe's IBM Special Interest Group and calls himself a computer hobbyist; but he knows more about computer communications than most professionals I've met. He says he isn't creative, which may be, but he's one heck of a problem solver. After a couple of weeks playing with BIX, he had some suggestions, including some programs he wanted to bring over; it seemed natural enough to in

vite him to the party.

The result is a series of command scripts for the Crosstalk communications program. I can use these to log on to BIX, get my mail and the conference materials 1 want to read, and log off the system. All this happens while I go for coffee. Then I can read the stuff at my leisure.

I also have a program furnished by one of the Bixen—inhabitants of the BIX network—that is said to parse headers and sort the conference messages. 1 confess I haven't used it yet because I'm told an improved version is in the works. What I really need, though, is a program that will do even more: sort through the messages, assigning some to a priority file and others to the bit bucket depending on subject matter and origin; then let me, still off line, answer the messages using a good full-screen editor with a spelling checker; then go back on line and squirt the answers into the various conferences in which they belong.

I don't have such a program, but I'm working on it. "Working on it" doesn't mean I'm going to write it, because I have neither the time nor the expertise to do it. What I have done is tell every computer genius I know that a real integrated communications package making use of current artificial intelligence concepts is likely to make a lot of money. It seems a natural: more and more people are involved in computer communications whether they like it or not, and most of them are going nuts.

Burnout?

There's a lot of literature on computer conferencing. Most experts in the field describe a pattern: a new user discovers computermediated conferencing; it's wonderful—the best thing that's happened in years; the user becomes addicted. Then the trouble starts. A recent letter described the problem exactly: whereas an open computer conference begins with a small number of wellinformed and highly interested participants,

[continued)

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 269

CHAOS MANOR

it soon attracts others. That's all right; it's supposed to attract others. Where else would you get new ideas? But soon it attracts too many, far too many, and some of them are not only uninformed but aggressively misinformed. Dilution takes place. Arguments replace discussions. Tempers are frayed.

The result is that while computer conferencing began by saving time, it starts to eat up all the time it saved and more. Communications come from dozens of sources. Much of it is redundant. Some of it is stupid. The user spends more and more time dealing with irrelevancies. One day, the user wakes up, decides the initial euphoria was spurious, and logs off, never to return. This is known as burnout, and it's apparently quite common.

Certainly something like that happened to me; but as it happened 1 noticed something: most of the irrita

tion came from a handful of people, sometimes only one or two. If I could only ignore them, the computer conferences were still valuable. Alas, it's not always easy to do; temperament and emotion work against overlooking some of the dreadful things people say, while good manners (and in my case, residual memories of being a teacher) dictate that you pay some attention to the sincere but confused. Easy or not, you must restrict your interactions, especially on a system with thousands of users, or burnout is inevitable. I can't do that alone, but the next generation of communications software should help me accomplish it. I can hardly wait.

Crosstalk

In addition to the scripts, Connie Kageyama brought over a copy of the latest revision of Crosstalk. Crosstalk scripts—command files—are one of

XT WINCHESTER

WITH

TAPE.

Interface gives you enhanced IBM PC-XT storage plus data security with its new DoubleBarrel0 combination drives. These are internally-mounted units that are simple to install and give you 10, 22, or 33 megabytes on a half-height Winchester disk drive plus a half-height cartridge tape. Now, you have enhanced Winchester storage plus tape backup in a single package that mounts simply

in the "B" drive location using a single slot.

Interface provides a full range of IBM PC and PCcompatible storage products that are recognized for their performance and quality. Since 1978, Interface has been providing quality peripheral subsystems for personal computers along with complete service and technical support.

Interface, Inc.

21101 Osborne Street

Canoga Park, CA 91304

(818) 341-7914 Telex 662949 CNPK

In Canada Sanlronic Sales. Ltd. (604) 589-4454

270 BYTE- MARCH 1986

IBM is a registered trademark ol IBM Corporation DoubleBarrel is a copyright ol I' Interlace, Inc

the program's best features. You don't need to understand them to get Crosstalk running—the basic communications package is easy to implement—but given some work and experience, you can really customize Crosstalk.

The program is also full of undocumented, or poorly documented, features. For example, I installed the new Crosstalk by copying it into the XTALK subdirectory of the Kay pro 286i's hard disk, then invoking it. All my old scripts and communications files worked fine—as they were supposed to—except that now, instead of white letters on a black screen, I had green letters.

1 don't much like green on black. The newest version of Crosstalk has needed features, such as the Kermit system for sending long files, so I didn't want to go back to the old one; but I also didn't want those green letters. Surely there's a way to change back to white on black. 1 thought.

Clearly it was time to open the manual. First things first. Start with the index and look up "color." No. Try "screen." No index entry for that either, and none for any other word I thought relevant. Eventually 1 gave up on the index.

Next step: the old version didn't change screen colors. This is a new revision. Look at the pages specific to this revision. Aha! A new command. Video (all Crosstalk commands can be invoked by their first two letters). Surely that will do it—but of course it didn't. I tried other approaches, but eventually I gave up and called Microstuf. Crosstalk's publisher. After a couple of minutes, I was connected with Bob Strong, who with Les Fried founded Microstuf back in the hobbyist 1970s.

I'm glad I called. Strong is one of Crosstalk's designers, and he knew all about its undocumented features. "There are two ways to change the screen color," he said. "You can patch the EEKS file |that's how he pronounced it; 1 presume that means the EXE file, although I never got around to asking|—there's one byte for the

{continued)

Inquiry 175 for End-Users. Inquiry 176 for DEALERS ONLY.

PICTURE WITH FACIT 6-PEN PLOnERS

Symphony, Fast Graphs, DR Draw/ Graph, BPS, etc.

Got the picture? Get it at your nearest Facit representative!

Multicolour graphics on paper and overhead transparency film are now a reality at a price every computer owner can afford - with the new Facit 4550 and Facit 4551 Pen Plotters.

The 6-pen cassette design provides instant colour changes with a multitude of colour set-ups. Longlife ballpoint for paper, oil-based fiber-tip for transparencies and water-based ceramic pens for high-quality CAD drawings are available with 8 to 12 different colours. Two pencassettes can be stored in pockets on top of the casing. The pens are securely sealed to prevent drying.

EI M m ■ _ I m

Head Office: Facit AB, S-l7291 Sundbyberg. Sweden. Phone: (8) 764 3000. USA: Facit Inc. P.O. Box 334, Merrimack. NH 03054. Phone: (603) 424-8000

Business graphics, CAD, CAE, science and engineering plottings are handled with a character resolution as high as 10 x 10 elements per character. Facit 4550 accepts media sizes ISO A4 or 8 lk x 11", while Facit 4551 takes media up to ISO A3 or 11 x 17".

FRIENDS WITH ALL MAJOR COMPUTERS

With HP-Graphic Language emulation and serial/parallel interfaces, the plotters easily make friends with all major computer models on the market. Software packages include Lotus 1-2-3,

Inquiry 322

BRIEF:

"There is nothing this editor can't do

except make babies and I understand

that's in the next release."

— David Irwin, Data Based Advisor, 12/85

Tailor Editing to Your Style

• A high-level, readable Macro Programming Language - allows customization for programming languages . . . Complete, unlimited variables, etc.

• Edit multiple files of unlimited size (2 Meg is OK)

• Multiple Windows on screen with different or same file, fragments, etc.

• A bona-fide UNDO stack (up to 300) of all operations: deletions, reading files, search, translate, more.

For PC, AT, compatibles and Tandy 2000.

Only $195

Full Refund if not satisfied in 30 days.

CALL 800-821-2492.

Full "regular expression search" wild cards, complex patterns

Reconfigurable keyboard

Adjustable line length - up to 512.

Keystroke macros - for common typing sequences

Suspend BRIEF to execute, exit to DOS - run another program (like a compiler, dir, XREF, DIFF, or DEBUG) then resume BRIEF session

Compiler-specific support like auto indent, syntax check, compile within BRIEF

tSoluti

. jon ystems

335-B. Washington St.. Norwell. MA 02061 617-659-1571

LEARN LISP

Interactively and Write "Realistic" Programs with TransLISP for Only $75

"COMMON LISP" compatible Tutorial, Interpreter, Debugging, and Pretty Printer plus a Fast, Full Screen Editor, Samples and Help

□ Write Realistic Programs:

Short examples and substantial programs or about 10 pages in length help you learn by modifying, studying and using the key concepts needed to write programs of 1000 lines or more.

□ The "COMMON LISP" Standard:

TransLISP includes a 230+ function subset of the "COMMON LISP" Standard. Use extras like the MSDOS interface and graphics. Or use "strict compatibility" to make programs written in TransLISP, with no changes, work with other COMMON LISP systems like VAX LISP, GC/LISP or LISP Machine LISP.

Use and Modify the Mailing List program to learn how to handle "normal" programming in LISP.

Runs on any MSDOS or PCUOS Systems: Not copy-protected, TransLISP is available in just about any 3", 5" or 8" format. PC compatibles can run TransLISP with no installation procedure. 192K memory and 1 floppy drive are the minimums required.

ONLY 'or Beginners and Experienced Programmers

$75 f>-l_ _!• _ 335-B Washington St.

Full refund if not -TDOIUllOll Norwell, Mass. 02061

satisfied during v^jUStefinS™ 617-659-1571 first 30 days. «-*5pWI ■ ■» 800-821-2492

□ Start Easily and Quickly:

A complete, modular tutorial helps you learn LISP at your own pace. An integrated, interactive environment provides all of the elements needed to enter, modify, analyze and debug programs.

□ Natural Language, Expert Systems and Mailing List:

Natural Language concepts are illustrated by a phone number retrieval program. Choose the best word processing program for you with the Expert System. File handling and typical data processing work are demonstrated by a Mailing List program.

CHAOS MANOR

With Crosstalk you can change background and highlight colors.

highlight color and another for the normal letters—or you can use the SCreen command."

"SCreen command?" 1 asked blankly.

"If you have Crosstalk up, enter SCreen HEIp."

I did. and up came information on changing the screen colors. For a moment 1 felt sheepish, then 1 remembered I had looked for SCreen in both the index and the command summary and found nothing.

As it happens, if you just enter HEIp, Crosstalk gives you a list of possible commands. Sure enough, buried in the middle of a 7 by 12 array, not sorted in any order whatever, is the word SCreen. All 1 had to do was read each of those 84 commands. For that matter, I find that on the third page of the table of contents, the seventeenth entry for Chapter 6 (Terminal Features) is "Changing the Screen Colors."

Indeed you can, given close reading of the manual, change both background and highlight colors; you can make the letters pale blue on a bright blue screen with yellow highlighting (rather pleasing, actually; just enter SC N Cb) or almost anything else. You can put screen colors into your various communications files so that, for example, you can use one set of colors for BIX, another for Dow Jones Information Retrieval, and yet another for communicating with your friendly neighborhood hobbyist bulletin board and have those colors come up automatically. Of course, you'll first have to find the proper commands.

Even then you want to be careful. The example they give of using the SCreen command is "SCREEN A FB, where A specifies the type of characters you want to set (N for normal, H for highlighted, or L for status line),

(continued)

272 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 323

Alloy's Streamliner Series.

The best protection for your company's

past, present, and future.

The best protection for your personal computer data storage needs is available today. From Alloy. Choose tape only. Or combined disk and tape. Either way, the Streamliner Series provides the performance you expect from the leader. At a remarkably affordable price.

Alloy's FT-60 streaming tape backup subsystem gives you up to 60Mb storage capacity and high-speed data transfer. The SL-60 models give you the same high quality tape unit plus integral hard disk And you can choose 20Mb or 41Mb formatted data capacities.

With Alloy's Streamliner Series, you'll get the best protection for your company's past, present, and future. So call Alloy today at (617) 875-6100.

ALLOV

Computer Produds, Inc.

100 Pennsylvania Avenue, Framingham, MA 01701 (617) 875-6100, TWX 710-346-0394 In Europe: ALLOY Computer Products (Europe) Ltd., Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. Tel.: 0285 69571 Telex: 43340

Inquiry I 5 for More Information. Inquiry 16 for Sales person or demonstration.

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 273

CHAOS MANOR

The Printer Optimizer stores text and doles it out to the printer as needed; meanwhile, you can use the computer for something else.

F sets the foreground color, and B the background color." Sounds clear enough, but if you do that, you will get a blinking background that drives you mad. It turns out that you must use a lowercase letter to specify the background, else it blinks. The manual never tells you that. I suspect that the only reason they don't get more frantic phone calls is that so few people find the instructions to change the screen colors in the first place.

Incidentally, it turns out that you can change the color of the status line, meaning that you can, if you like, blank it out entirely by putting black letters on a black background. Of course, if you do that, you'd better remember how to get it back again, or you'll have to give all your commands by memory.

1 do like Crosstalk. I can't claim to be an expert on communications programs, but I have used several of them, and I now use Crosstalk for all my conferencing and telecommunications, meaning that I prefer it to anything else I've tried. I also like Microstuf's upgrade policy: if you have bought the program in the last year or so, the upgrade is free, and if you have an ancient copy that requires a new manual, the cost is still nominal.

I like Crosstalk, but that manual has real problems. Of course, it is a dilemma. The Microstuf people don't want to overwhelm you with hundreds of pages that you must read before you can use the program; on the other hand, they keep adding features.

For example, there's a DEbug command. With DEbug you can set the

way incoming control characters are treated: let them come through unaltered and display them as hexadecimal numbers so that an incoming Control-Z is shown on your screen as [1A], display as ASCII mnemonics so that the Control-Z is shown as [SUB], or show the Control-Z as ~Z. The really nifty feature of DEbug, though, is the RS232 command: when you invoke it, you see precisely what's happening with pins 2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 20 of your serial communications line. Bob Strong says he added that feature because he got tired of having the batteries bum out in his breakout box.

There are tons of other features, some well-documented, some pretty obscure. Documenting them all in great detail would scare off users; not documenting them drives us nuts. What to do? The problem is hardly unique, and there is a solution. Read on.

Printer Optimizer

By coincidence, I'd just finished talking to Bob Strong at Microstuf when I decided to hook up my new Printer Optimizer from Applied Creative Technology (ACT). The Printer Optimizer is a smart box with lots of memory. It sits between the computer and the printer, and the computer talks to it at 9600 baud. The Optimizer stores the text and doles it out to the printer as needed; meanwhile, you can use the computer for something else.

That's worth something, but actually the Optimizer does a lot more. It's programmable, so you can take text formatted for one printer and translate it into the format for another one. You can store a huge bunch of text in the Optimizer and print it later. You can stop printing, bring in more text, print that, and go back to the original job. You can use the Optimizer to dial up special features for your laser printer. You can even use the Optimizer as an adapter to let your Macintosh drive a non-Apple laser printer.

Finally, the Optimizer is pretty smart: you can have two computers

and two printers hooked up to it and use it as a switching device so that either computer can drive either printer. In my case l have Zeke II. the CompuPro Z80 I write with, and Big Kat, the Kaypro 286i AT-compatible, both connected to the Optimizer. Works like a charm.

I've had an Optimizer for a couple of years now. Last summer, just before we went to Europe, Tim Wylde, founder of ACT, was here in California and came over for a visit. He discovered just how ancient my Optimizer was and sent an upgrade.

The main feature of the new Optimizer is that it takes up to a full megabyte of memory. The 64K-byte boards from the old one also work, either by themselves or in combination with the newer 2 56K-byte boards. My Optimizer has one 2 56K-byte and three 64K-byte boards, for a total of 448K bytes, which is as much as I'm likely to need. (Well, Footfall was almost a megabyte long, but that was an unusual case.)

The Optimizer comes with lots of documents. It has to, since it's designed to work with a variety of computers and printers. Unlike Crosstalk's documents, these make no attempt to conceal the machine's features: just the opposite. Begin reading, and you're soon plunged into the mysteries of character substitution, how an RS-232C port works, and like that. It's all written in plain language and is very useful.

However, I didn't need an introduction to the RS-232C port. I didn't even need the discourse on switch and cable settings because all I had to do was copy the switch setting from the old Optimizer into the new one. Indeed, when I compared the two, I found that the new switch had already been set up like the old one. Good, I thought. One less thing to worry about. )ust plug in the cables and send over a test file—which I did.

The Optimizer displays the amount of free memory; as text is pumped into it, the number on its screen decrements. Sure enough, 448 went down to 447, then 446, at which point

{continued)

274 BYTE

MARCH 1986

»iuuKHHHmnnnl«a»»u

helps save time, money and cut frustrations. Compare, evaluate, and find products.

mmm

Programmer's Referral List • Dealer's Inquire 1 Compare Products • Newsletter

' Help find a Publisher * Rush Order

Evaluation Literature FREE • Over 700 products BULLETIN BOARD • 7PM to 7AM 617-826-4086

\l -Kxpert System Dev t

Free Literature - Compare Products

Evaluate products. Compare competitors, Leam about new alternatives. One fax call brings information on just about any programming need. Ask for any "ftcfcef"or Addon Packet □ AID ADA. Modula □BASIC DC DCOBOL □Editors DFORTH QFORTRAN □PASCAL □UNIX/PCorLTDebuggers, Linkers

AritySystem - incorporate w/C. PC $295 ExpcrtEASE - Develop by describing examples of how you decide. Call

EXSYS - All RAM, Probability. Why. Trees, Solid, files, popular PC $359

1st Class - by example, interfaces $250 Insight 1 - Probabilities, required thresholds, menus, fast ($79). 2 adds backward, forward, partitions, dB2, lang, access. PC $399

Others: APES ($359), Advisor ($949), ES Construction ($100), ESP ($845), Experteach ($399), Expert Choice ($449)

List Our GC LISP - "Common", rich.

Interpreter - Interactive Tutorial $495 Call

LARGE Model - 2 to 15 meg. Compiler and Interp. " $1190 Call TLC LISP- "LISP-Machine" - like, all

RAM, classes, turtle graphics, 8087,

compiler. CPM-86, MS $225

WALTZ LISP - "FRANZ LISP" - like, big

nums, debug, CPM-80 MS $149

Others: IQLISP($l55),BYSO($125),

MuLISP-86($I99)

u-prolog

95 350 795

1250 229

725 359

ARITY Standard - full, 4 Meg

Interpreter - debug, C, ASM

COMPILER/Intcrpreter - EXE

With Exp Sys, Screen - KIT MicroProlog - enhanced MProlog - Improved. Faster PC Professional MicroProlog MS

TransPROLOG - Learn Fast, Standard,

tutorials, samples MS Call

Others: Prolog-1 ($359), Prolog-2($l895)

Kditors for Programming

BRIEF Programmer's Editor-undo, windows, reconfigure PC Call

C Screen with source 80/86 $ 75

EMACS by UniPress - powerful, multifile, windows, DOS, MLISP, programming. Source: $949 $299

Entry Systems for C PC $325

Epsilon - like EMACS, PC $169

FirsTime by Spruce - Improve productivity. Syntax directed for Turbo ($69), Pascal ($229), or C ($239)

Kcdit- like XEDIT PC $115

PMATE - power, multitask 80/86 $159

VEDIT-wcll liked, macros, buffers, CPM-80-86. MS PC $119

XTC - multitasking PC $ 95

Ijgjjygg

TransLisp- "Common subset, tutorial, editor, PP, trace. Best to learn.

All MS Only$ 75

Inquiry 283

C Support • Systems

Basic C Library by C Source C Debug - Source debuggers - by

Complete Soft ($269), MSD ($ 149). C Sharp - well supported. Source,

realtime, tasks C ToolSet - DIFF, xref, source Lattice Text Utilities The HAMMER by OES Systems H.E.L.P. By Everest Solutions

Fortran & Supporting

Forlib + by Alpha - graph, comm. Fortran > > C - FORTRIX creates maintainable translations. MACFortran by Microsoft - full '77 MS Fortran

No Limit - Fortran Scientific PolyFortran - xref, pp, screen Prospcro - '66, reentrant RM Fortran - enhanced "IBM Ftn" Scientific Subroutines - Matrix Statistician by Alpha Strings and Things - registers, shell

TIRBO PASCAL and SI PPORT

BORLAND: Turbo 3.0

3.0 with 8087 or BCD

3.0 with 8087 and BCD

Turbo Graphix - graphs, windows

Turbo Toolbox or Editor

Turbo Tutor TURBO . . . Asynch by Blaise, full

MetaWindow by Mctagraphics

Power Tools by Blaise - library

Power Utilities - profiler, pp

Professional - interrupts, macros, OTHERS: Screen Sculptor ($99),

Pascal Pac($ 100), Tidy ($45),

MultiHalo($89).

OTHKR PRODUCTS

Btricvc/N ($469). single user CPR1NT - by ENSCO DoublcDOS - concurrent Faster C - scrap your linker HTcst/HFormat - thorough XT Fix Microsoft Windows Opt Tech Sort - sort, merge Panel - Screens, windows

Ask about ATARI ST, Amiga

$139

$600 $135 $105 $179 $329

$ 59

$995 $239 $239 $129 $149 $390 $429 $149 $269 $ 59

$ 49 $ 79 $ 85

$ 39 $ 55 $ 29 $ 89 $ 49 $ 89 $ 89 $ 70

$199 $ 50 $ 85 $ 95 $119 $ 75 $ 85 $239

Call for a catalog, literature, and solid value

800-421-8006

THE PROGRAMMER'S SHOP"

128-M Rockland Street, Hanover, MA 02339 Mass: 800442-8070 or 617-826-7531 186

RKCKNTDISCOYKRY

Dan Bricklin's Demo Program Prototype quickly, with realism. User feedback without programming. All 250 ASC characters plus attributes. Subscting, building blocks, macros, thorough. PC $ 75

( Language - C ompilers

BDS C - solid value, fast

C86 by CI - 8087, reliable

Consulair Mac C w/toolkit

ECO C/88

Lattice C - from Lifeboat

Lattice C - from Lattice

Mark Williams-debugger

Megamax - tight full AT

Microsoft C 3.0- new,

Q/C 88 by Code Works - Compiler source,

decent code, cross/native MS $295

Wizard C - Lattice C compatible,

full sys. Ill, lint, fast. MS $379

CPM80

$125

MS

Call

MAC

$299

MS

$ 59

MS

$289

MS

$339

MS

$379

ARI/ST

$179

MS

$259

C Language - Interpreters

C-terp by Gimpel - full K & R,. OBJ and ASM, large progs. MS $249

INSTANT C - Source debug, Edit to Run-3 seconds MS $399

Interactive C by IMPACC Associates. Interpreter, editor, source debugger, profiler. PC $395

IntroducingC- Interactive C to learn fast, tutorial PC $115

Professional Run/C has C plus ability to create add-in libraries, (Lattice C compatible) and load/ unload them. MS $199

Run/C - improved MS $109

C Libraries-General

Blaise C Tools I ($109), C Tools 2 $ 89 C Food by Lattice - ask for source $119 C*LIB by Vance $129

C Utilities by Essential - Comprehensive screen graphics, strings, file handling, memory mgmt. Source. MS $139

Entclekon C Function Library $119

Entclekon C Windows $119

Entclekon Superfonts for C $ 45

Greenleaf Functions-portable, ASM $139 Polytron - for Lattice, ASM source $ 99 Software Horizons - Pack I $129

C Libraries -Communications

Asynch by Blaise $149

Greenleaf - full, fast $139

Software Horizons - pack 3 $119

C Libraries -Files

FILES: C Index by Trio - full B + Tree, vary length field, multi compiler /File is object only $ 89

/Pro is partial source $179

/Plus is full source $349

CBTREE- multiuser record locking, sequential, source, no royalties $99

MARCH 1986

:YTE 275

CHAOS MANOR

Zeke indicated that as far as he was concerned, the file was all printed. The printer, however, remained silent. (Laser printers take about 2 5 seconds for the first page, then print about eight pages a minute.) I waited—

Still nothing. Clearly the Optimizer wasn't giving instructions to the printer. Back to the manual. Aha!

Here's a hands-on tutorial for getting started—only it tells me how to do command substitutions. Nothing about making the thing print. Try another page. And another. Hmm. Here's an interesting note. "If any problem takes you more than 10 minutes, call Applied Creative Technology." Right.

Lattice Works

VERSION 3 OF THE LATTICE MS-DOS C COMPILER IS NOW AVAILABLE.

This is a major upgrade of the product and is available to registered users for a $45 update fee, toon-registered $60. The list price remains $500.

New compiler features include:

• ANSI language constructs...

"unsigned" as a modifier

"void" data type

"enum" data type

structure assignments, arguments,

and returns

argument type checking

• Inline code 8087180287 80/86/80286

• Code generation

The compiler also contains numerous improvements such as better aliasing algorithms, more efficient code generation, and more flexible segmentation. The library includes more than 200 new /'unctions in the following categories:

• ANSI I UNIX/XENIX compatibility

• Extended support for MS-DOS '

• Extended support for networking, including file sharing, file locking, and I/O redirection

• flexible error handling via user traps and exits

The Library has also been re-engineered to produce much .smaller executables.

Lattice

(.111| 858-7950 TWX 910-291-2190 INTHRNAflONAl. SALES OFFICES; Benelux: De Vboght. (32)-2-720-91-28. Japan. Lifeboat fac (03) 293-4711 England: Roundhill. (0672)54675 France: SFl (I) 46>6G- [1-55

LATTICE ANNOUNCES NEW DATA ENCRYPTION SOFTWARE

Now you can keep your confidential data confidential. Thanks to new SecretDisk, a new data encryption system for IBM PC, XT, AT and compatibles.

Utilizing the NBS Data Encryption Standard, SecretDisk provides complete security for salaries, customer lists, or other sensitive information stored on a floppy or hard disk. SecretDisk is loaded as a disk driver by MS-DOS. It creates new DOS drives (like I):) on floppy or hard disks where all data and programs are always fully encrypted.

SecretDisk is extremely easy to use. A password is entered when the system is booted, and protection can be switched on and off with a single password controlled command line. However, without the password, there is no way to access the encrypted files. $59.95.

LATTICE CREATES C COMPILER FOR COMMODORE AMIGA

Amiga C, produced by Lattice for the Commodore Amiga, supports the Amiga's 68000 microprocessor and offers the same high speed and extensive capabilities of the MSDOS Lattice C compiler currently used by more than 30,000 software developers worldwide. Available from both Commodore and Lattice. $149.95.

In addition, Lattice also offers cross compilers that allow you to develop Amiga programs on MSDOS. Native'and Cross $250.

Contact Lattice, to discuss your programming needs. Lattice provides C compilers and cross compilers for many environments including Tandy, Sony, HewlettPackard, Tandem, and IBM Mainframe. Corporate license agreements available.

1 called. It turns out that the Optimizer by default wants to send the text out through its parallel port, which is port 1. To change to the serial port, you press the R the 2, and the Exe buttons on the Optimizer's little control pad. It took the ACT people about 10 seconds to tell me that, and once it was done, printing began immediately. Nothing to it—except that I couldn't find that instruction, although I'm sure it's buried somewhere in the manual. Everything else is.

"Be sure to tell them we're revising the manuals. Also that we're real helpful on the phone," said the ACT people; and indeed it's all true. More than that: the Optimizer's documents have some of the best material on the mysteries of the RS-232C port that / have seen. The Optimizer includes a little built-in breakout board, and the appendixes on how to use it to hook the Optimizer to different printers are outstanding for their simplicity and clarity. They explain complicated stuff very well; it's the obvious they've overlooked. It's not an unusual situation.

I have a remedy. Both the Printer Optimizer and Crosstalk documents need examples. Here's what you do, and here's the result. Put in a dozen or so of those, and most users will be able to figure out what's going on. Moreover, documents should start with the simplest possible applications. I've always recommended that every computer language document should begin with that language's equivalent of PROGRAM 'Hello', which does nothing but print "Hello" on the screen. Similarly, every hardware and software document should have a section showing precisely how you go about getting the most elementary feature to work.

Pournelle's law of documentation: "You can't have too many examples."

Out of Memory

It was inevitable. It began with SideKick. the indispensable—to me at any rate—memory-resident utility from Borland International. Then

[continued]

276 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 204

TAS

'

TM

\

the "Hard-nosed" Relational

\

.

the Database + Integrated Accounting

If You Liked DBase III, You'll Flip Over TAS™

Hard-nosed business owners have been asking for the power of DBase III™ and RBase 5000™ but without the high price. That's why Business Tools, Inc. created TAS™

Compare TAS with DBase III and RBase 5000. You'll see why we think TAS is the best "Hard-nosed" value around. TAS includes a data dictionary. TAS includes a true procedural language. TAS includes a run-time compiler. Plus TAS can be upgraded to multi-user for $100.

TAS lets you develop your own professional menu-driven business applications. And not just simple ones either. TAS applications can hold up to 17 million records. And because TAS compiles them, they run fast.

Get TAS Accounting Software for $349

But why stop with just a database? For just $349, you get TAS Relational Database/Language plus General Ledger, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable. And for $499 you get all the above plus Inventory, Sales Order Entry, Purchase Order Entry, and Payroll.

Source code is included FREEI So you can even modify the accounting to fit your business.

TAS"

DBASE III

RBASE 5000

Multi-User

$100

No

$1400

Data Dictionary

Yes

No

Yes

Procedural Language

Yes

Yes

Yes

Compiler

Yes

No

Yes

Records Per File

Unlimited

Unlimited

Unlimited

Files Open

16

10

40

Fields Per File

Unlimited

128

400

File Size

Unlimited

Unlimited

Unlimited

Record Size

10,254

4,000

1,530

Field Size

254

254

1,530

Prices

$199

$696

$700

And TAS is no new comer. TAS was written by Phil Mickelson, the same "Hard-nosed" business person who created The Sensible Solution™ (relational database) in 1982.

TAS comes with a 30 day money back guarantee (less handling fee of $15 Level 1, $30 Level 2, $45 Level 3 and $10 MultiUser). TAS is available for the IBM PC/XT/AT™ Compaq™ AT&T 6300™ Tandy 1000, 1200, 2000™ and most MS-DOS™ CP/M™ and MP/M™ systems. Multi-user and LAN versions also available.

'•

-.

.

Call Today 1-80 0 648-6258

Ask for operator 11

Call our Toil-Free Hotline. Use your VISA or MasterCard to order today. Outside Washington call 1-800-648-6258. Washington residents call 1-206-644-2015. Dealer Inquiries Welcome. ^ ^ •• ^

Software I

, computet system

D 16 bit

-Business

QuantityTAS

\

BUSINESS

^TOOLS

INC.

4038-B 128th Ave. SE Suite 266 Bellevue, WA 98006

Inquiry 51

MS-DOS PC-DOS

The following are registered trademarks of these companies: TAS. Accounting Solution, Business Tools Inc; RBase5000, Microrim Inc; DBase III, AshtonTate Inc; CP/M and MP/M, Digital Research Inc IBM PC/XT/AT International Business Machines CorD; Compaq. Compaq Computer Corp; AT&T 6300, AT&T Information Systems Inc; Tandy 1000,1200,2000, Tandy Corp; MS-DOS, Microsoft Corp; The Sensible Solution trademark rights are claimed by O'Hanlon Computer Systems Inc.

©Copyright 1985 Business Tools Inc.

Hot

£Of>y.

Needs"

3*5*

■

^Language

.$199

„MVS«9

$100

__i**w»*w.c255> .WW***98

Multi-user upgrade

snipping p,9».$20.oo

Total Enclosed- ,sChecK

P^en,-D:»ep°va^^^U"d50nW (All amounts are pay

Credit Card Expiralion

Card Number:

Name on card

4038-B UBth Ave.

S"'*e2('6VVA 98006 Bellevue, WA »

Signature:

Inquiry 359

Top

Quality

Programming

Tools

Irom the

Developers

of the

TurboPower

Utilities

Turbo EXTENDED

Tired of fighting 64K Code and Data Segments?

Bored while waiting for your 10,000 liner to Compile?

Want to optimize those sluggish Overlays?

LARGE CODE MODEL

Write Turbo Pascal programs using all 640K of MSDOS memory, based on any number of separately compiled modules. Provides complete parameter passing using normal Pascal syntax. Heap and Data Segment are shared between all modules. No memory-resident kludges or unnatural parameter passing schemes. Comes with a utility which automatically converts your existing applications.

LARGE DATA ARRAYS

v ■ ■■ ---■ ■ ~ ~ ■'■■">■■ -'

Transparently access 1 and 2 dimensional arrays of any conceivable size and type. Four models support Normal RAM to 640K, Expanded memory (EMS) to 2Meg, Virtual (Disk-based) to 30Meg, and sparse arrays like the most advanced spreadsheets. Comes with a fast full-screen array browser.

MAKE FACILITY

"r

A Unix-like MAKE program that is optimized for the Turbo EXTENDER large code model. Rebuild multi-module programs with no wasted effort.

OVERLAY ANALYST

vz

Perform Static and Dynamic analysis of overlayed Turbo programs. Determine sizes of all procedures in each overlay group. Monitor the running program to find the number of overlay reads, procedure calls, and the load address of all procedures.

AND EVEN MORE!

DISK CACHE can be incorporated in your program to speed up disk reads for data bases, overlays, et al. Multi-file full screen BROWSE works on any text file. Pascal ENCRYPTOR makes your source safe from prying eyes, improves compile speed 15-30% and leaves the code 100% functional. SHELL generator creafes fast compiling shells of unexercised code.

Two DSDD disks with complete Source Code 100 page printed manual, 30 day guarantee

Requires Turbo Pascal 3.0

and DOS 2.X or 3.X. Runs on

IBM PC/XT/AT and compafibles. , -r

Call for generic MSDOS support. V.__ complete,;

$85

Also get the TurboPower Utilities

with the acclaimed Pascal Structure Analyzer

Includes a Pretty Printer, Execution Profiler, and

powerful Text and Command Automation Tools.

With full source $95, executable only $55.

Credit Card Orders only call Toll-free 7 days per week (US)800-538-8157x830 (CA)800-B72-3470x830 PO, COD, Dealers, Questions, Brochures, call or write:

478 W. Hamilton #196 Campbell, CA 95008 ph. 408-378-3672 M-F 9AM-5PM PST

IU-8Q

CHAOS MANOR

The Turbo Lightning memory-resident on-line thesaurus is a wonderful tool for editing text. It beeps at you if you misspell a word.

came Borland's SuperKey macro program, which isn't quite as indispensable as SideKick but darned useful. I use SuperKey to define a whole bunch of convenient BIX commands; for example, Alt-down-arrow is Skip to last, which in BIX jumps to the last message in a conference, while Alt-F9 does a long and complicated routine of some 20 keystrokes to prepare previously edited text to be sent out on BIX. I could live without those, but I wouldn't want to.

Then came Borland's Turbo Lightning memory-resident on-line thesaurus. It's a wonderful tool for editing text. Lightning beeps at you if you misspell a word while writing. This is sufficiently annoying that I generally turn off that feature until I have the draft composed; then it's simple and convenient to switch Lightning back on and have it check the spelling; and meanwhile the thesaurus has been instantly ready for use at all times. I guarantee that writers who get used to an on-line thesaurus won't give it up lightly.

For that matter, the continuous spelling checker with its beep can be useful when writing letters, composing quick answers to questions in an on-line conference, or anytime you're in a hurry and aren't trying to be creative. It's something else you can get pretty accustomed to having around.

SideKick, Lightning, and SuperKey among them use up a lot of memory, but they do work together.

The trouble started with Gordon Eubanks. Gordon is a former Navy submarine driver. He's been in the microcomputer revolution since the beginning. He wrote the first compiled BASIC—public-domain EBASIC—while a professor at the U.S. Navy Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. After retiring from the Navy, he turned E-BASIC into CBASIC, which, despite my enthusiasm for Modula-2, is still the language I've used for all my large and important programs. Eventually, Gordon's company was sold to Digital Research, and Gordon became Digital Research's vice president in charge of languages. About a year ago, he left to run a new outfit known as Symantec.

Symantec is seriously trying to apply artifical intelligence (AI) principles to business programs. The first result is an integrated package known as Q&A (see the Product Preview in the January BYTE, page 120), and just before my monster party, Gordon wanted to come down and show it to me.

1 don't usually let software publishers find out what city Chaos Manor is located in, much less invite them to my house. But Gordon isn't a publisher, he's a hacker from the early days, and Lord knows back in those days I bent his ear enough about problems I'd found and features 1 wanted in CBASIC. So the day before the big party, Gordon Eubanks showed up with a colleague, Brett Walter.

Walter's business card gave his title as Product Marketing Director, which was a bit frightening. In fact, Brett turns out to be a hacker and former philosophy student, and it didn't take long before we began talking about some of the AI theory in Q&A, including intercensal references. Somewhere in the conversation—I can't believe I said it—came the word "disambiguation." This caused Eubanks to say, "Jeez, we work for years to make this thing user-friendly, and all these Ph.D.s want to complicate things. You're not going to talk about that, are you?"

Meanwhile, Gordon and Brett were

[continued)

278 B YTE • MARCH 1986

"The C86 C Compiler is Great...

Computer Innovations' Support is Even GREATER

DALE HILLMAN,

PRESIDENT, XOR CORPORATION

CREATOR OF "NFL CHALLENGE"

1

"":^ift

When Dale Hillman decided to create the most exciting football simulation game ever, he knew he needed good language support. The portability and maintainability of C made it a natural choice. Which C compiler to choose was another matter entirely.

"Of the many C compilers available, choosing the best one for the job was not easy. Comparing benchmarks, most compilers were strong in one or two categories, yet decidedly weak in others.

Computer Innovations' C86 was the exception. I found the C86 Compiler consistently strong in all categories.

"C86 had a reputation for being a solid, reliable, highperformance compiler. 8087 math support, source level debugging — it had it all. BEST of all was Computer Innovations' incredible technical support. Their highly knowledgeable support team was always available. Their assistance helped cut development

time substantially. And since NFL CHALLENGE took 12 Vi man-years to create — every little bit helped. It was a service you just can't place a dollar value on. . ."

If you're working on the next great program, call Computer Innovations. We'll show you why you'll never have to look any further than C86.

For Further Details Call Toil-Free:

800-922-0169

Behind Iti

ehind innovative Program* Computer Innovations

Comt

m COMPUTER INNOVATIONS, INC

980 Shrewsbury Avenue.

Tinton Falls, NJ 07724 USA (201) 542-5920

EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTOR

Boston Micro, Inc., TELEX: 6712477 BMI USA

®1986 Computer Innovations, Inc.

™ NFL Challenge is a trademark ol NFL Properties

:

Inquiry 82

MARCH 1986

IYTE 279

CHAOS MANOR

The Q&A editor is very similar to WRITE, the CP/M text editor that I use for all my creative work.

working to install Q&A on Big Kat; only it wouldn't install. There wasn't enough memory.

The Q&A Editor

Eventually we solved the problem by killing off Turbo Lightning. Q&A says it works with both SideKick and SuperKey installed, provided that you've completely filled the machine with memory. 1 used to have SideKick, SuperKey, and Lightning all come up when I turned on my machine, and now J can't do that if I want to use Q&A. The temporary solution is batch files: I rename my AUTOEXECBAT file to HOLD.BAT and rename QA.BAT.to AUTOEXEC.BAT. Then I reset the machine, and it comes up in Q&A with SideKick and SuperKey installed. On exiting Q&A, I invoke yet another batch file, RESTORE.BAT, which puts everything back the way it was so that on reset I'm in my normal mode. That works, but it's hardly convenient.

On the other hand, Q&A has such a nice text editor that I'd seriously consider using it as my primary writing tool. It does have its problems, including the inevitable status line at the bottom with the little blob moving along it every time I type a letter. The Q&A editor is very similar to WRITE, the CP/M text editor 1 use for all my creative work. (Confusingly, Symantec calls its editor Write also; I don't see how they can get away with that, since WRITE was trademarked by Tony Pietsch, but I'm not a lawyer. Anyway, to avoid confusion here, when I refer to WRITE, I'm speaking of Tony's editor that works on CP/M

systems.) The Q&A editor does automatic on-screen reformatting on both insertion and deletion. It moves text around nicely. It's fast and clean and handles the screen layout well. The command structure is reasonable and logical, and there's a nicely laid-out one-screen summary of commands available at the touch of the Fl key.

There's a macro capability and scrolling by screen or document page or continuously (on the Kaypro 286i it scrolls fast, as fast as my Z80 memory-mapped video). There are commands to delete lines, characters, and words. It doesn't count words automatically, but there's a way to get a word count. (That takes seven keystrokes. WRITE automatically gives you a word count, and with two keystrokes you can get a count of words, lines, and paragraphs for text before and after the cursor—a real boon for columnists. I've mentioned that to the Symantec people, and they're looking into it.)

I could go on for a while, but the bottom line is, it isn't WRITE. However, if Symantec would only let me turn off that damned bouncing ball at the bottom of the screen, I'd seriously consider writing books with the Q&A editor—especially if I could figure out some way to use both it and the Turbo Lightning thesaurus. I keep hoping Symantec will be able to work something out.

Intelligent Assistant

Of course, Q&A is more than a text editor. It integrates your text editor, file manager, database, and report generator. Now let me confess immediately that I am no expert on databases and file managers. I don't even use the darned things much. I should, of course. There are lots of ways a good computerized database could help run my life. For a start, I could get all my royalty statements entered and thus keep track of which publishers have paid and which are overdue, which books have foreign editions, what printing each book is in, and a whole raft of stuff that I now painfully dig out of paper records. The reason I haven't done it is that

each time I need the information it's easier to dig out by hand than to put it all in a database; and so far I haven't seen a database and file manager that I could use to design my entry fields, then hand the whole mess over to an assistant to fill in the data. Not only are most databases hard to learn, but sure as anything, my form design is going to lack something. For example, suppose I put in fields for nearly everything, but when we're entering the data, we discover that The Mote in God's Eye has been translated into Finnish, and I haven't included a Finnish rights category. Where do we enter that revenue? Miscellaneous might be an obvious answer in this case, but then we discover Malay translation rights, and after a while the miscellaneous category gets filled with all kinds of stuff.

Q&A solves that problem. You can add new fields at any time. You can also rearrange them. The data-entry fields are designed with the Q&A text editor and can be as complex as you like: keyword fields, numerical data, Boolean data types, labels, you name it and Q&A seems able to handle it. Simple to learn, easy to use.

All well and good, but that's not what makes Q&A different from other database programs. The real reason I'd like to adopt Q&A is the Intelligent Assistant, an AI program that takes plain English instructions and uses them to control the Q&A database. Intelligent Assistant—IA, and I suspect the similarity to AI is no coincidencecan make up quick-and-dirty reports, find information, sort information, do calculations, answer questions about the database, and, while it's at it, learn a lot about how you operate. It has a synonym dictionary, so if you don't like the built-in commands Q&A uses, you can substitute your own.

For example, IA can do things like "Find me all the books that have revenue from Danish and Finnish rights." It needs to know that "Finnish rights" is the same as "Finnish translation rights," but that turns out to be a simple thing to teach it. Indeed, you begin by giving the Intelligent Assis

[continued]

280 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Doors Open When

You Know C

■M

\ \ • UL'

/\~

'< ' /.

*y±-±-Liii'//

Unlock Them With

c

The growth of the C language is nothing short of phenomenal. Over the past five years, it has emerged as the language of choice for most major PC applications. Why? Speed, portability, and compactness of code are a few of the reasons. But more important, its structured approach vastly reduces the time involved in ANY programming task. It's a big step beyond BASIC.

Now, Computer Innovations makes learning C fast and easy with Introducing C. A unique, interactive learning system, Introducing C combines a thorough, self-paced manual with a C INTERPRETER for fast results. Introducing C provides a solid background in standard C functions, operators, and data types including structures, unions, arrays, and pointers. Plus the

©1986 COMPUTER INNOVATIONS. INC

package includes a screen text editor, extensive error diagnostics, and sample programs.

"...one of the best C training systems I have seen..."infoworld,9/85

Introducing C is so effective, many corporations have made it their standard C training system. Make it your personal one!

Introducing C-. The Key To Your Future ONLY* $125 Not Copy Protected

CALL 800-922-0169

COMPUTER INNOVATIONS, INC.

9B0 Shrewsbury Avenue, Tinton Falls, NJ 07724 (201) 542-5920

EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTOR

Boston Micro, Inc., TELEX: 671-2477 BMI USA

Prices And Specifications Are Subject To Change Without Notice.

Inquiry 83

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 281

CHAOS MANOR

tant lessons: what the database is all about; what fields identify a form (what most databases call a record); adjective forms of nouns; units of measure; alternate field names; strange verb forms (associate "paid" as well as "pay" with a particular field); adjectives ("lousy" means royalties of less than 8 percent); stuff

like that. Interestingly, 1A already knew that "royalties" was the plural of "royalty," so I didn't have to teach it that. There's lots more, mostly good. Some isn't so good.

Problems

I like Q&A, and 1 think it has great potential; but 1 think Symantec still

Programmer Essentials

"Offers many capabilities for a reasonable price"

W. Hunt, PC Tech Journal "I highly recommend the G UTILITY LIBRARY"

j ESSENTIALS $100

200 functions: video, strings, keyboard, directories, files, time/date and more. Source code is 95% C. Comprehensive manual with plenty of examples. Demo programs on diskette. Upgrade to THE C UTILITY LIBRARY for $95.

THE ^UTILITY LIBRARY $185

Thousands in use world wide. 300 functions for serious software developers. The C ESSENTIALS plus "pop-up" windows, business graphics, data entry, DOS command and program execution, polled async communications, sound and more.

ESSENTIAL GRAPHICS $250

Fast, powerful, and easy to use. Draw a pie or bar chart with one function. Animation (GET and PUT), filling (PAINT) and user definable patterns. IBM color, IBM EGA and Hercules supported (more soon). NO ROYALTIES. Save $50 when purchased with above libraries. Available February, 1986.

Compatible with Microsoft Ver. 3, Lattice, Aztec, Mark Williams, CI-C86, DeSmet, and Wizard C Compilers. IBM PC/XT/AT and true compatibles.

OCompMer Packages: Microsoft C - 319, Lattice or CI-C86 compilers -$329. Save $40 - $50 when purchasing compiler and library combinations. Specify C compiler and version number when ordering. Ada $4 for UPS or $7 for UPS 2-day. NJ residents add 6% sales tax. Visa, MC, Checks, PO's.

££5 ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE, INC

=_5 5 P.O. Box 1003 Maplewood, NJ 07040 914/762-6605

has some work to do. Some problems are cosmetic; I want them to kill that bouncing ball in the text editor, and nearly as important, let me change the cursor from a blinking underline to a transparent solid blob. And l would like to change screen colors. I've become enamored of light blue on darker blue, and I don't see why I can't tell the text editor to do that; it only involves a couple of bytes of code. Just tell me the screen-attribute locations, and I'll be glad to write a BASIC program to patch it.

Q&A does use a lot of memory; too much for some systems. Because Q&A is such a memory hog, Symantec will make you one of the best memory deals I ever heard of: a 2 56K-byte memory board that also contains a clock/calendar, for only 50 bucks if you buy it when you get Q&A. If you've got a PC without full memory, this is a deal you ought to consider.

Bottom Line

I like Q&A. I like the concept, and I like most of its execution. I like the documents, which are clear and explicit. I'm fond of the Intelligent Assistant. The database looks like the easiest one to use that I've yet encountered, and indeed I'm rather eager to get my troops to work using it to enter all my books. I'd love to be able to ask a database, "Who owes me royalties in November?" and get a sensible answer, and Q&A looks well able to do that. While I have some quibbles about the text editor, by and large it's as good as anything I've seen for an MS-DOS system.

On the other hand, while Q&A has great features, giving up all memoryresident programs seems a pretty high price to pay in order to use it. True, the industry is moving rapidly. Pretty soon we ought to have the hardware and software to give PC AT users megabytes to play with. When that happens, integrated programs like Q&A will come into their own. Until then, much as I like Q&A, I'll probably do without or use some

Iconlmued)

282 BYTE • MARCH !986

Inquiry 126

THE ULTIMATE CABLE ASSEMBLY

DATA SPEC® a quality name in computer support products, has spent years of extensive research and development in designing the Ultimate Cable Assembly. No other cable looks or works quite like the Ultimate Cable Assembly. It not only visually enhances your computer environment, but provides superior quality inside and out. With the DATA SPEC® cable assemblies, you have purchased the highest quality cable available for connecting your valuable equipment.

The Ultimate Cable Assembly by DATA SPEC® features:

• Full shielding exceeding the F.C.C. EMI/RFI emission requirements.

• Positive strain relief.

• Exclusive Polyvinyl Doping Technique (P.D.T.), which insures maximum strength and durability under the most adverse conditions.

• Gold-plated pins.

• Individually soldered (not crimped) conductors which are PVC jacketed and color coded.

• Full Aluminex shielding.

• Large convenient thumbscrews. (No screwdrivers are needed.)

DATA SPEC® produces Ultimate Cable Assemblies to fit any of your Interface needs: RS232, parallel (Centronics), printers, modems, disk drives, and monitors. DATA SPEC® also has a full line of high Integrity computer support products.

HTDLH OtJOCT

The Ultimate in Computer Accessories

20120 PI ummer Street

Chatsworth, CA 91311 • 1-818-993-1202

Inquiry 401 for End-Users. Inquiry 402 for DEALERS ONLY

In Japa

n contact Data Spec J^arTlTP.. No. 3-17-5 Minami Otsuka, Toshima-Ku Tokyo. Tel (^98^-9425, FAX (03) 980-2^JLX2723374j

CHAOS MANOR

thing else, something that I may not like as much but that will give me back my SideKick. SuperKey, and Lightning thesaurus.

Last-minute update: 1 just got a new spelling checker and thesaurus program from Wayne Holder, whose The Word Plus is still my favorite CP/M spelling checker. Holder's new pro

grams are designed to work with Q&A and will be bundled with future editions of the program. There went one of my objections.

I am also told that Symantec is working furiously on a version of Q&A that can make use of the extended memory boards manufactured by Intel and others for the PC AT. When

UNLOCK Removes Copy Protection

RUNS YOUR SOFTWARE ON ANY HARD DISK

• Produce non-protected DOS copies from popular software programs.

• For IBM* PC, XT, AT, compatibles

Currently supports only programs listed below:

UNIock ALBUM "A"

<£/IQ OR Plus w shlp'

9<l9i99 handling

• LOTUS 1-2-3™ (la, 1.A-, 2.0)

• dBASE III™ (1.0,1.1 & 1.2)

• FRAMEWORK™ (i.o, 1.1, II)

• SYSTAT™ (is & 2.0)

• SPOTLIGHT™ (i.o & 1.1)

• GRAPHWRITER™ (4.3 & 4.31)

• REALIA COBOL™ (1.2, 2.0)

UNIock ALBUM "B"

C/IQ ftE Plus w stl'P' ^Hr9a99 handling

• SYMPHONY™ (1.0 & 1.1)

• CLIPPER™ (Winter 84, Summer 85)

• ELECTRIC DESK™ <1.04)

• DOUBLEDOS™

• MANAGING YOUR MONEY™

(1.5 & 1.51)

• smARTWORK™(i.o rev 8,rev 9)

• DATA BASE MANAGER II™

(2.0, 2.02)

UNIock ALBUM "C"

CfrylQ AJB plus $4 ship/ ^"V*7b«#W handling

• MICROSOFT WORD™

(1.5, 2.0, 2.01)

• MULTILINK ADVANCE™ (3.02)

• IBMWRITINGASSISTANT™(i.oi)

• LOTUS 1-2-3 REPORT WRITER™(i.o)

• PARADOX™ (1.0)

• PFS ACCESS™ (1984 Edition)

• THINKTANK™ (2.0)

TranSec UNIock is a unique software copying disk that removes copy protection, providing standard non-protected DOS copies. UNIock runs on IBM® PC, XT, AT, and compatibles with 256K or more, DOS 2.0 or higher.

BACKUP COPIES. UNIock safely and easily makes backup copies.

RUN ON HARD DISK. Programs load faster, use less disk space and work with any hard disk, including Bernoulli Boxes. No longer do you need the original in drive "A".

RUN ON RAM DISK. UNIock is the only software that can run copy protected software on a RAM disk or micro-floppy.

EASY TO USE. I) Type UNIock. 2) Select program destination. 3) Insert program disk.

SAFE ORIGINAL. UNIock does not alter your original distribution disk. UNIock works by creating a copy of your distribution disk on a hard or floppy disk. It then removes copy protection from the copy!

Recommended by the editors of:

PERSONAL

COMPUTING

"The Best Software Utilities For Under $100"

ORDER TODAY BY TELEPHONE!

1-305-474-7548

TM

TranSec Systems, Inc., 1802-200 North University Drive, Plantation, FL 33322

Trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners. • UNIock is For Use Only to Improve the Useability of Legally Acquired and Operated Software.

they get that done, I'll be able to use Q&A, SideKick, SuperKey, Turbo Lightning, and so forth. I can hardly wait. Symantec has a winner with this program.

XyWrite Reconsidered

The one unforgivable sin for a text editor is losing text. XyWrite managed to do that the other day. Somehow the program created too many temporary files, filled a floppy, and gave up, trashing about 90K bytes of text that my assistant, Don Hawthorne, had painstakingly entered. In fairness, Don had pretty well filled the disk and ought to have been more careful; but the program ought to have warned him.

Fortunately, Barry Workman was able to use one of his disk utilities to go onto the disk and pull off the information file by file, so we lost nothing important; but we have retired XyWrite until we know that bug is fixed.

Late addition: XyWrite 111 fixes many bugs, including that one; we've been unable to lose text with 111, and I tried fairly hard. I'm told that an even later edition of XyWrite III will allow the program to be used with SideKick, SuperKey, Turbo Lightning, and other memory-resident programs. I'm eagerly awaiting that one.

Ready!

As if SideKick, Turbo Lightning, and SuperKey didn't use up enough memory, now comes Ready! from Living Videotext, the people who brought you ThinkTank. Ready! is also a memory-resident program and a darned good one at that.

Ready! is an outline processor; it's a bit hard to describe how outline processors work to someone who hasn't used one. I first heard of ThinkTank a year or so ago when my friend and editor )im Baen called to rave about it. "You've got to try it," |im said. "I was just mucking about learning to use it, and I wrote one of my best editorials. It really lets you get thoughts down as you think them and organize as you go."

[continued]

284 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 358

In the next seventeen seconds, the AT&T Model 4000 Modem

will send 12 call reports, last week's sales figures and this month's inventory projections from one PC to another.

AT&T's telephone wires have always served us well. Now they also serve to transmit large volumes of data from a personal computer, say, in Philadelphia to one in Fresno.

In a matter of seconds. This phenomenal achievement is made possible by the AT&T Model 4000 Modem and SoftCall™ Communications Software. A communications system that's not only a link between PCs, but one that can also access an increasingly large number of sophisticated data bases.

And since the use of SoftCall Software doesn't require any technical expertise, it offers you the unique advantage of accessing and transmitting that data with remarkable ease. Whether you're

The AT&T

Model

4000

Modem

working on a PC from AT&T, IBM* or any other standard asynchronous terminal, the AT&T Model 4000 Modem will establish lines of communication.

All things considered, what better name to have on your modem than AT&T? The company with high-peifonnance computers and integrated communications tools.

Which proves that AT&T is not merely the right choice. It's the obvious one.

For more information on the AT&T Model 4000 Modem, call 1800 247-1212, Ext. 240, for your nearest authorized AT&T Dealer.

Then you can begin to send data regardless of where you're perched.

©1<«(> AT&T Information Systems. *IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp.

AT&T

The right choice.

MARCH 1986

IYTE 285

CHAOS MANOR

I've said it before, but there's no harm in saying it again: if you like Pascal you'll like Modula-2, and you won't have much trouble learning it.

All of this is true. ThinkTank was great; and if you liked ThinkTank, you'll like Ready!. More: if you're a professional writer using a PCompatible and you're not using either ThinkTank or Ready!, you're working too hard.

Ready! doesn't use as much memory as Q&A, and it works fine with all the Borland utilities in place. You can invoke Turbo Lightning's thesaurus and spelling checker while doing outlines. I've got mine installed on Big Kat, and it works fine with SideKick, SuperKey, and Lightning. I've been using Ready! pretty constantly for the past six weeks, and there's been nary a glitch. It's the kind of thing you can get to depend on pretty fast.

Ready! is available in a version that isn't copy-protected, installs easily on a hard disk, and can be brought in with an AUTOEXEC.BAT file. It is one of the first programs to be designed to make use of the extended memory boards; used that way, Ready! takes up almost no space in memory. Even without extended memory. Ready! works with Symantec's Q&A. If you work with words and ideas, you can't afford to be without Ready!. Highly recommended.

Of Mice and Modula

Logitech has a new mouse and new prices for the Modula-2 compiler. Both are good buys.

The Logimouse connects to your PCompatible through the 9-pin connector, and its software installs painlessly in the AUTOEXEC.BAT start-up.

It doesn't take much room: Q&A will run with Logimouse implemented. It's a three-button mouse ("standard" for all Modula-2 systems), works fine with the Kaypro 286i, and what else can you say about a mouse?

Meanwhile, Logitech has unbundled its Modula-2 compiler; you can get it for $89. What you get is the full compiler with integrated text editor. It generates native code for IBM PCs and compatibles. The code is certainly comparable in speed and efficiency to the best PCompatible C and Pascal compilers I've seen.

I've said it before, but there's no harm in saying it again: if you like Pascal, you'll like Modula-2, and, moreover, you won't have much trouble learning it. Most Pascal source code can be translated into Modula-2 by means of programs written in Modula-2.

The main advantage of Modula-2 over Pascal—and darned near any other language—is the total independence of the modules. In Modula-2, no matter what it is, if you didn't explicitly import it, it can't affect what's going on inside the module; and if you don't export it, it can't affect anything else. The result is that you can build up library after library of small modules and never have to worry about variable names. (Who cares if you have 400 different counting variables called f? They can't affect each other if they're in separate modules.) You can also hand someone else the definition module describing what your code does, let that person write code to mate with yours, and be secure in the knowledge that nothing your partner does can have side effects inside your own modules.

Flash: Workman and Associates have a CP/M Z80 Modula-2 compiler they call FTL Modula. It's less than $100, fast, and you get the source code to its integral editor.

Modula-2 has been getting theoretical applause for years; what it has needed was a good low-cost compiler for a popular machine. Logitech has remedied that defect and is to be congratulated. If you hack, try Modula-2. Even if you don't like the language,

you ought to know something about it. If you haven't done any hacking, here's your chance.

A Whole Bunch of Stuff

It's short-shrift time: I've dipped into the peach crates in the storeroom. First, Alien Names is a shareware program—copy it freely and give it to friends, but if you like it, recompense the author—that generates odd names according to specified patterns. For example, CVVCVC (C= consonant, V= vowel) generates as many names as you like, say 100, in that pattern. Examples are Puochek, Seathol, Doafid, Baudet, Daulab; it's up to you to pick the good ones. It can give you many different vowel-consonant patterns.

It also generates alien insults. Take that, yukky dozam! Alien Names does its job well. Of course, there aren't too many BYTE readers who need alien names and insults. . .

There's a new version of Beyond Compare, which is quite the best textcomparison program for PClones I've seen. The newest version has features for copy editors. Professional writers working with PCompatibles simply can't afford to be without this program.

Sammamish Data Systems (13730 Northeast 20th St., Bellevue, WA 98033) has programs and libraries that draw U.S. maps by census tract or zip code and can include various graphical information you supply. This program and its libraries—or something else that does the same job, only I haven't seen anything elsewould be indispensable to people conducting market analyses and extremely useful to anyone trying to display census information, poll results, etc.

Keymate Systems (922 5 Mira Mesa Blvd., Suite 212, San Diego, CA 92126) has a kit to convert your IBM PC keyboard into something not merely tolerable but pretty snazzy. The kit has five new keys and software with documentation. They move the offending Squiggle key so it's not in the way of the Return, make the Return

(continued)

286 BYTE • MARCH 1986

The world's best selling monochrome graphics card for the IBM PC.

There are more Hercules" Graphics Cards in more IBM* PCs, XTs and ATs than any other monochrome graphics card in the world.

Over a quarter of a million demanding users around the world use a Hercules Graphics Card to improve the performance of their software. The Lotus 1-2-3* Booster.

Consider Lotus 1-2-3. Hercules gives an off-the-shelf copy of 1-2-3 the highest resolution possible on an IBM PC, XT or AT. More 1-2-3 users choose the Hercules Graphics Card to get crisper text and sharper graphics than any other monochrome graphics card.

And we bring the same performance to other integrated programs like Symphony™ Framework™ and SuperCalc*3.

But we don't stop there. The Hercules Graphics Card

improves all kinds of software.

Like Microsoft" Word, a word processor that enables you to display text with subscripts, superscripts and italics.

Or pfs: Graph, an easy-touse business graphics program that converts your data into presentation quality graphs.

Or Microsoft' Flight Simulator, the high flying game for the overworked executive.

Or our own Graph X™ a library of graphics subroutines that eases graphics programming.

Or AutoCAD™ a computer aided design program that offers features normally associated with expensive CAD systems.

And we supply free software with each card to do hi-res graphics using the PC's BASIC interpreter. State-Of-The-Art Hardware.

The Hercules Graphics Card gives you graphics resolution of 720h x 348v and a

parallel printer port. Our unique static RAM buffer provides sharp 9 x 14 characters and flicker-free scrolling. Our exclusive safety features help prevent damage to your monitor. State-of-the-art custom IC technology delivers unsurpassed reliability. Ordinary graphics cards use up to 30 ICs to do what one Hercules IC does. By using fewer parts, we reduce the possibility of component failure.

Which is one reason we warranty the Hercules Graphics Card for two years.

Unbeatable reliability. Advanced technology. Proven by over a quarter of a million users. Why settle for anything less than Hercules?

Call 1-800-532-0600 Ext 408 for the name of a Hercules dealer nearest you and we'll rush you our free info kit.

Hercules.

We're strong on graphics.

Address: 2550 Ninth St.. Berkeley. CA 94710 Ph: 415 540-6000 Telex: 754063. Trademarks/Owners: Hercules, Graph X/Hercules; 1-2-3, Symphony/Lotus; IBM, XT, AT/IBM; Framework/Ashton-Tate;SuperCalc/Sorcim-IUS; Microsoft/Microsoft; pfs:/Software Publ; AutoCAD/AutoDesk. Printer Cable Offer expiresMay 31,1986. Good only in U.S.A., offer subject to change without notice.

Inquiry 153

MARCH 1986

287

CHAOS MANOR

key bigger, and deal properly with the Shift keys. When it's finished, it's very much like an IBM Selectric keyboard. If you like the feel of the PC keyboard but hate the layout, this is probably the kit to get.

It has always seemed ridiculous to have three or four computers and still keep a desk calculator, but I've no

ticed that most people do. It's convenient. One remedy for that is SideKick, which has a good programmer's calculator (it does hexadecimal and binary as well as decimal arithmetic); but the SideKick calculator is limited. For logarithms and trigonometric and scientific calculations, we still must either write a BASIC program or, more

One

Star

Always Shines

Brightest.

Display Telecommunications Corporation

announces a complete family of IBM® compatibles.

MEGA-BOARD-AT™

80286 CPU • Our own Mega-BIOS-AT™ • Full megabyte RAM motherboard

"... masterpiece of IBM Imitation...minor masterpiece of the circuit designer's art." Winn L. Rosen, Cloning Your Own PC, PC Magazine, July 10, 1984.

MEGA-NET™

Token-passing ring LAN • IBM NETBIOS Compatible ' Uses existing twisted pair telephone wire

MEGA-BOARD-XT™

Our Industry standard board with Mega-BIOS

New OEM pricing. XT-AT BIOS licensing.

'The most compatible IBM clone I've ever worked with." Lee Konowe, American Software Club, Ridgefleld, Ct.

8445 Freeport Parkway • Suite 445 • Irving, TX 75063

J-800-227-8383 • For Technical Calls Only: 1-214-607-1382

TELEX 51060001 76 DTC UD

We've Earned Our Reputation. Let Us Help You Earn Yours.

likely, turn to the desk calculator.

No more. Comes now a shareware program from Mitchell Schoenbrun called PC Calculator—send him $2 5 for a copy or get a copy from a friend and send him $10 if you like it—which emulates a Hewlett-Packard calculator, reverse Polish notation (RPN) and all. PC Calculator has logs and trig, e and pi, and financial calculations: it's also programmable—hardly surprising given that it's really a program for a computer! If you often find problems that the SideKick calculator can't handle and you're tired of keeping a calculator next to your computer, this is a good remedy—provided you can remember RPN.

I wish I had room to say a lot more about Microsoft's Quick BASIC; they've improved it yet again, removing some bugs and problems detected in beta test; experienced users of Microsoft BASIC and BASCOM are very excited. If you program in BASIC, be sure to look Quick BASIC over; I think you'll like it. More on that another time.

Heath/Zenith Show

The regional Heath/Zenith User Group show was held at the Disneyland Hotel this weekend, and I went down for a day. Fascinating: that show still retains the excitement and general atmosphere of the old days before computers became such big business.

The best news is that there are now two different boards that make your Zenith Z-100 about 99 percent PCompatible (plays Flight Simulator, for example). Considering that the Z-100 also runs CP/M 2.2 programs, including WRITE and CP/M-86, and now all PC programs, and that the Z-100 can handle a RAM (random-access read/ write memory) disk, hard disk, and 8-inch disk drives all at once, it's arguable that a Z-100 may be the best computer buy in the industry. More on that another time: it will take most of a column to describe all the nice things they've done with the Z-100, and it's worth doing.

Meanwhile, Barry Watzman (560 Sunset Rd., Benton Harbor, Ml

(continued)

288 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 113

GoldStar

-"«■

Another Futuristic Leap From Goldstar's

Long Line of Electronics—5%" & 37/' Floppy Disks

Goldstar Floppy Disks are engineered to the highest possible quality precision for the maximum in long archival life, accuracy, data integrity, and reliability.

So, for superiority and reliability— CHOOSE GOLDSTAR FLOPPY DISKS, either 5W or 31/2".

LINE-UP

—«■*.

I"***

Goldstar is determined to keep pace with the new frontiers in this electronic age. So, we now market both 51A" Floppy Disks and 3W Micro Floppy Disks for all of your computer consumers.

All of Goldstar's pioneering experience, research, and demand for excellence has been channelled into this surge for technology. Therefore, you can be sure of our reliability, as Korea's electronic history-maker.

Our self-imposed demands match yours exactly—nothing less than perfection; and we're even trying to improve that, as we keep on top of the latest devel opments in computers and peripherals. Both lines of disks, the 5W and 31/2", are manufactured with the most advanced technology.

All Goldstar disks are individually certified 100% errorfree at all levels, equal to or above ANSI, DIN, ECMA, ISO and JIS standards.

IS LUCKY GOLDSTAR INTERNATIONAL CORP.

Magnetech Group:C.P.O. Box 1899,Seoul, Korea;Tel.(02)756-9090;Tlx. LGINTL K29579. ^»^^^^^^— ^^^^^^^^^^^^mm^^^^mmmmmmmmmm^m^mmmm [E3WCKY GOLDSTAR

•New York Office: 2nd Floor 1050. Wall Street West. Lyndhurst, New Jersey 07071, U.S.A.;Tel. (201) 460-8010; Tlx. LGI UR 219108; Fax. (201) 935-5686 -Los Angeles Office: 13013 East 166th Street. Cerritos, Calif. 90701. U.S.A.:Tel. (213) 404-2626/9; Tlx. LGI LA (910) 583-5719; Fax. (213) 926-0849 •London Office: Tel (01)840-7111Tlx. 21765 LGI UK 'Frankfurt Office: Tel. 069-6664083/5; Tlx. 4185337 LGIF 'Paris Office: Tel. 734-52-06; Tlx. LGIPAR 201877.

Item

Type

Tracks/inch

Bits/inch

Capacity

M-1S

48

2768

125 KB

M-1D

48

5536

250 KB

M-2D

48

5876

500 KB

M-2DD

96

5922

1 MB

MF-1D

67.5

8128

250 KB

3 V

MF-2D

67.5

8650

500 KB

MF-1DD

135

8130

500 KB

MF-2DD

135

8720

1 MB

Unformatted)

Inquiry 2I5

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 289

CHAOS MANOR

Items Discussed

t

Alien Names (shareware)

Crosstalk

$195

Q&A (for IBM PC & compatibles)

from Roberts

$15

Microstuf Inc.

1000 Holcomb Woods Parkway

unbundled

bundled with 256K-byte

$299

from a user

....$10

Ralph Roberts

Suite 440

board

...$349

POB 8549

Roswell, GA 30076

Symantec

Asheville, NC 28814

(404) 998-3998

10201 Torre Ave. Cupertino, CA 95014

The Ancient Art of War

(408) 2 53-9600

for IBM PC, PCjr, &

Logimouse

.$99

Macintosh

.$44.95

MODULA-2/IBM PC

.$89

Ready! (for IBM PC)

. .$99.95

for Apple II, lie, & lie . . .

.$39.95

Logitech Inc.

Living Videotext Inc.

Br^derbund Software

805 Veterans Blvd.

2432 Charleston Rd.

17 Paul Dr.

Redwood City, CA 94063

Mountain View. CA 94043

San Rafael. CA 94903

(415) 365-9852

(415) 964-6300

(415) 479-1170

•

Wizardry 1

Beyond Compare

....$30

PC Calculator (shareware)

for Apple II

. .$49.95

Genera] Transformation Comoanv

from Schoenbrun

.$2 5

for Mac, PC. PCjr. & monochrome

POB 10083

from a user

.$10

. .$59.95

Berkeley, CA 94709

Mitchell Schoenbrun

SirTech

(415) 644-0702

1133 Guerrero St.

San Francisco. CA 94110

POB 245

32 3 Washington St.

BIX (BYTE Information Exchange)

Ogdensburg, NY 13669

for BYTE subscribers ....

....$25

(315) 393-6633

for non-BYTE subscribers

.. . .$39

Printer Optimizer. . .starts at $4 59

BYTE Magazine

Applied Creative Technology Inc.

XyWrite III

. . .$395

BIX Business Office

2156 West Northwest Highway

XyQuest Inc.

70 Main St.

Suite 303

POB 372

Peterborough. NH 03458

Dallas, TX 75220

Bedford, MA 01730

(603) 924-9281 ext. 131

(214) 556-2916

(617) 275-4439

49022), who was the principal system architect for the Z-100, has Perks, a SideKick-like desktop utility that includes scratchpad and calculator. Z-100 users who don't have it will probably want it. He can also furnish enhancements to CP/M-86 or CP/M+ for the Z-100. Write for his catalog. More on new Zenith stuff later.

Winding Down

Once again I'm out of space and time. There are two games of the month, both for the Macintosh: Br0derbund's .The Ancient Art of War, a game of military strategy that I have yet to actually win (although my boys have managed to defeat the PC version), and Wizardry 1.1 don't know what the fascination of Wizardry I is; if 1 describe it in objective terms, it seems boring—which it certainly is not, as witness the time it has eaten this

month. I've penetrated deeper into the dungeon and found the office where 1 get a pass to the private elevator. . .

The book of the month is Cities and the Wealth of Nations by Jane Jacobs (Random House. 1964). She has a rather startling theory of economics that makes more sense than just about anything else I've seen; and she writes so well it's a joy to read her work. I've long been one of her admirers. Her book The Economy of Cities was the economic inspiration for Oath of Fealty by Niven and Pournelle.

There's a plethora of computer books this month. Que has some excellent new books on C Microsoft has brought out a new edition of Van Wolverton's MSDOS (1985), which doesn't have enough examples and the index isn't complete, but it is the best MS-DOS user's book I've come

across. There's also a new edition of Cary Lu's book on the Macintosh (The Apple Macintosh Book, Microsoft, 1985). It's much improved over the first edition, and the first edition was the best Macintosh book around. If you have a Mac or are curious about them, this is the book to have.

And now I really am out of space. 1 have a luncheon speech next week to the U.S. Space Federation; they tell me three senators and the Secretary of Defense will be there. Something tells me I'd better work on that talk. ■

jerry Pournelle welcomes readers' comments and opinions. Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to jerry Pournelle. do BYTE Publications. POB 372. Hancock. NH 03449. Please put your address on the letter as well as on the envelope. Due to the high volume of letters, jerry cannot guarantee a personal reply.

290 BYTE • MARCH 1986

V'r

\

\ t

(

/

-f

t

Hi

IONEYWELL VIP

emulation using standard

IBM hardware. Synchronous

and asynchronous.

CALL USING possible.

File transfer as

standard FTF and ASCII.

Compatible with TopView and IBM PC Network

Rivergate Plaza

444 Brickell Avenue

Miami, FL 33131

1-800/826-7439 or 305/372-9332

Connections IBM PC-Honeywell DPS4 DPS6 DPS7 DPS8

Inquiry 337

Look at what we're plugging now.

Plug-in Teacs.

We offer a full line of PC compatible components to increase your floppy storage, to add Winchester drives, or to include a streaming cassette back-up.

Our FD-55 Series, half-height, low power, 5 H-inch floppy disk drives are the world-wide standard of excellence with over 3 million in service to date. A quick and easy way to double your capacity

Our MT-2st Kit is all you need to plug-in a streaming cassette back-up system. With 90 ips performance, you can store up to 20 megabytes of backup incredibly quick.

Our PS-5250 subsystem is a completely self-contained, self-powered add-on that includes a 20 megabgte_ Winchester drive and a 20 megabyte streaming cassette back-up.

With Teac, adding on more storage capacity is an open and shut case. . .#^«a^

B

I

**lii|

</A

7/

•ilt To

\mm

Inquiry 339

[\ StandarckTE AC

MENTATION AND COMPUTER PRODUCTS DIVISION, 7733 TELEGRAPH ROAD, MONTEBELLO, CA 90640 Last (617) 475-7311 South/Midwest (312) 351-9124= Rocky Mountain (602) 242-4025 (303) 337-6329 (801) 532-2111

Northwest (408) 727-1427 Southern California (213) 726-0303 *™s

CHAOS MANOR MAIL

Language

Dear Jerry.

As you mentioned in your column in July of 1985, rigid, top-down programming design is at least sometimes not the way successful programmers actually carry on their skills. One can find, as you did, convenient analogies with the writing of fiction.

While strict, top-down, and modular design may prove (has proven) beneficial in some circumstances some of the time, it seems to me that these circumstances and times are not initial circumstances; that is, they are not beginnings. In the first stages of creating anything, one might well have a structure in mind. But even so, only the most rigid of souls (and by that I suppose 1 mean "uncreative") could avoid the spontaneity that the act of creation urges upon us in those moments of insight and inspiration.

This is because ideas do not usually jump, full-blown, to the conscious mind. They have to be groped for, culled, begged, prodded, and bribed into being, and that is not always done by mere thought. Often it is the very doing that brings forth a framework, structure, or purpose for the doing itself. Sometimes a writer simply writes words or phrases, as though they were mnemonics or special incantations that will call forth what really is to be said. Musicians will tinker with notes and chords in order to allow a melody to gather together under their fingers. An artist may sketch almost idly in order to discover not only what is to be drawn but how something should be drawn.

We do not expect a baby to remain silent until it can speak in complete sentences. That cannot be done without a great deal of practice with sentence components, yet such practice must nevertheless be practice in speaking. For this reason. I believe that Pascal is not a good teaching language, because it is difficult to practice with bits and pieces. And even as adults—as experienced users—most of our conversations are partially acts of discovery: We may have the gist of what we want to say already in mind, but the words and phrases actually used are discovered

by us as we are in the process of uttering them.

And at the ends of things, too, adjustments need to be made. The last part of our melody requires a change in the first part; and the ending of our novel now tells us something new about the beginning, which we did not know at the time, and we find ourselves revising what seemed for so long to be fundamental; and the creation of certain routines in a programming project forces us to revise or discard earlier ones. This is one reason why a person in charge of a team programming project ought to be good at facilitating communications—that is, a dialogue of creation—among the team's various members.

Remember that language has a motive power all its own. We make a serious mistake if we start to believe that language is a static tool that we may pick up for various purposes at will or set down when it no longer suits our needs, as though our purposes and our needs could be determined in the absence of using that very language.

This is one of the important ways in which artificial "languages," such as programming languages, are like natural languages: Their use encourages the flow of thoughts in certain ways (and discourages certain other ways). Because there is such a high degree of ceremony in ALGOL-like programming notations, it is hard to get to the heart of the matter until fairly strict preparations have been made. (And even then, all that ceremony sometimes stands in the way. 1 find it difficult to begin scanning a Pascal program without thinking, "Damn it! Get to the point!") But the coding of a program, like the performance of a play, is not achieved without rehearsals. When we make rehearsing easier, we tend to have a final product more to our liking.

David B. Suits Rochester, NY

Your letter is an excellent one; and indeed, it's thoughtful feedback like this that makes writing this column so much fun.

Thanks.—Jerry

True BASIC

/ have received a great deal of mail, much of it thoughtful, regarding my views on True BASIC that were given last September. The following things seem clear:

1. I had a broken copy. Certain operations everyone else can perform simply will not work with the copy that was sent to me.

2. I was probably hasty in my reaction. In my own defense, I will point out that 1 did write the ANSI committee in question, and my letter was neither acknowledged nor answered; and I have yet to meet anyone from the micro community who was invited to submit inputs to that committee. I do not believe they much listened to micro users when they devised this "standard."

3. I have written to Addison-Wesley requesting a new and unbroken copy. So far they have not replied. When and if I get a new copy, I will take another look, paying due attention to the mail I've received and the fact that some of True BASIC'S features are described only in the Reference Guide rather than the User's Manual.

4.1 am still inclined to the view that compilers should compile and interpreters should interpret. I freely admit that I wouldn't be much interested in Microsoft BASIC if it didn't have the BASCOM (now renamed Quick BASIC) compiler to turn loose on the code.

My own practice has been to do quickand-dirty programs—filters, file transformers, things that will be run once or twice to get a job done and then thrown away—in Microsoft BASIC; larger and more permanent programs in Compiling CBASIC (which, especially if augmented with the Minnow Bear CBC Tools, is still one heck of a well-structured language); and think hard about transforming all this stuff to Modula-2, where I can build up a basic toolbox.

It may be that there's a real place for True BASIC; in any event, I have enough letters from people I respect to convince me I need to give it a second chance. —Jerry ■

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 293

It's amazing what you can reveal when you strip.

■ "■"*"»

Introducing a shape that's about to turn on an entire industry.

The Softstrip™ data strip. From Cauzin.

This new technology allows text, graphics, and data to be encoded on a J strip of paper, then easily entered into

your computer using a scanning device called the Cauzin Softstrip™ System Reader.

Creating a simple, reliable and cost efficient way to distribute and retrieve information.

Softstrip data strips, like those you see here, can contain anything that can be put on magnetic disks.

Facts. Figures. Software programs.

Video games. Product demonstrations. Sheet music.

The Cauzin Softstrip System Reader replaces tedious typing by scanning the strip and reading it into your computer.

The Cauzin Softstrip System Reader is now compatible with the IBM PC. Apple II and Macintosh.

A single strip can hold up to 5500 bytes of encoded data.

It can stand up to wrinkles, scratches, ink marks, even coffee stains.

And it can be entered into your computer with a higher degree of reliability than most magnetic media.

Simply by plugging the Cauzin Reader into your serial or cassette port and placing it over the strip. The reader scans the strip, converts it to computer code, and feeds it into any standard communi- cation interface.

Because strips are so easy to generate, most of your favorite magazines and books will soon be using them in addition to long lists of program code. And you'll g ,, .

be able to enter programs without typing a single line.

There is also software for you to generate your own strips. Z*

BASIC Business Subroutings

Soon everyone will be stripping as data strips appear in popular magazines, computer books and text books.

Letting you send everything from correspondence to business information using our new technology.

Find out how much you can reveal by stripping. Just take this ad to your computer dealer for a demonstration of the Cauzin Softstrip System Reader.

Or for more information and the name of the dealer nearest you, call Cauzin at 1-800-533-7323. In Connecticut, call 573-0150.

Softstrip

COMPUTER READABLE PRINT ■

Cauzin Systems, Inc. 835 South Main St., Watering CT 06706

Apple® and Macintosh® are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc.. Apple* is a registered trademark of Apple Records, Inc., Softstripw and llie Softstrip® System Header are trademarks of Cauzin Systems, Inc., IBM® is a registered trademark of IBM, Inc.

294 BYTE* MARCH 1986

Inquiry 60

HYPER FACTORING

Recently, there has been a revival of interest in factoring large numbers. The interest is due to the growth in popularity of public-key ciphers for security.

In its simplest fotm, a public-key cipher is a larger number (N) that has two prime-number factors (p and q). The number (N) is so large that it is impractical to factor ir.

In the March, 1985 issue of BYTE Magazine, (Page 396), Richard B. Leining took up the challenge and wrote HYPER, a program that quickly factors large numbers.

Read the data strips on the righr into your computer and then enter BASIC to RUN the program. LOAD and RUN the program called HYPER.REV. It is menu-driven.

IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Reprinted with permission of Richard B. Leining and BYTE magazine, apublication of McGraw-Hill

ACCURATE CALCULATIONS

What if you asked your 10-year-old to square your Social Security number? After extensive pencil chewing you would get your answer. Your computer will do the same and give you an answer that might look something like this:

302,325,885x302,325,855 9.140092260148103D+16 Actually the correct answer is 91,400,922,601,481,025. The reason for the slight inaccuracy is that all computer assign a specific amount of space for storing integers.

The concepr is fascinating and anyone working with large-number transactions will demand software that can accurately calculate to the penny.

These data strips contain the program ARITHMETIC by Peter Rice, reprinted from BYTE Magazine (March 1985, p.119). Read the strips into your computer and enter BASIC to RUN the program. The screen will ask for a number up to 200 digits in length. From that point on the program is menudriven.

IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Reprinted with permission of Peter Rice and BYTE magazine, a publication of McGraw-Hill. i

IP III

if

;,"

m

I

hh

tilt;:!:

■tt:0Wi;

mm

1mm

mm

MfkAu

§1111

liisi

2I

mm.

mm

■l

■>Jffl Ml r ■',

'. Ill

^ HH

# 1

' ill HH

■';'l.;."!;v>],v--',;\'

■■-.O/lllJilJ: '.'-'r-n;,^:-

..■ ■.' .-.V. .. ;:,-,-. >■■,;:<

>:.'■■,!; .■■> .;i:'f • i:V. &«:

;.;:.!rf-'i;i-i:;; rtift'.i

HH

1 ■

111'.-' 1 111

V. |M'JJ-fr V| I

■ iA'l Ji^fflIlflllll

mm*

mm

■iil-ii i .] ;-,;-'■.■■.■■■;■■

H

&«$

111 HB

If ill

■J;,: pita

■Bh

mm

m

II.

1

ilSl

wis

iiiiii

111

m

mm

§

in.

i

Hi

HH HH

•111!

ill if

■n

Ml

111910 111 1

wlwffl

i-M

I

SMJ9KMS1U

ffllW ■■

W

i

m

iin

>' 'J 1 i'J 11 r,l i lj

MM

Will)

gfi

:

lilll

111

,.iiii

mm

WfflfflmW

IHH

iill

IHH

If

WNnM

!W,1 if1 i :

wpv

ill

ii

■I

IH

m

ill I.

a

IS f

# 1

Hl,

mmm

m

Bh

:*i I

i

ill

If

II1,' ■;■■■

Hi

HmSn

■ >

■tl

HL

It

I ■life

HI UK

1: iHI

m

m

SI'"

liii

Inquiry 60

MARCH 1986 'BYTE 295

I .•• ^^H I l_/eonardo Da Vinci was ^^H no! only a great artist, he was also a great engineer and architect. His innovative designs which blended art, science and technology

|fc'/3l>'^i^^ stressed efficiency and PftOj^JjiXJvl detail and were years Wa^B ahead of their time. Today, DaVjnptjfs lives on in puter Systei exciting graphics card. . . VIVA

VIVA was designed for PC graprriqirsoft- i'T I /are developers by providing graphics r primitives in hardware, increasing piodtjctivi

VIVA DaVINCI!

QDP PRESENTS

THE ULTIMATE IN GRAPHICS CARDS

Q^'carn"'. i;: 11 -I

■gfriiSrf|j--;r:::!rlMLl ;

aohidsrsof - rr i r~ 1 ! '- - • • '"• H ' •

ware developers by providing graippl primitives in hardware, increasing pi ty and reducing application devetopriienjl time. ' q.i

VIVA was designed for graphics^oftwarJT m users by providing compatibility with e»stifejj-ri PC/AT software packages, ultra high'T«MuV;i ■ tion color and vastly increased drawiik_£jkriJ over standard graphics cards. ' -» , j r j

VIVA, like DaVinci, is now the;fltw—• J ] standard by which all other graphics' cJ4St must be measured. This is VIVA. ^ . r

• Compatible with IBM, PC/XT, PI and clones

.n-f-|!

;!'! j !

n i i

1;! ! !

■ ;'■ 1

,.jra.* . " r ' '

1 ! •- ■ ■!■

l.fn :':!

4-4..;; i.

1- I f~t- ■ 4 . . ..• _i

screen drawing-w^~disj$yr\_l{ ' high speed /eaf'%Jak4_jLJ-,t 114. ZPV free to perfbrrn 6theV~-X' I- 1

• Onboard video multiplexer

/Mows a single monitor to peAts< both normal text and graptytp^Siirml plug the output of your sttmdBr^'T]' color graphics card into VW-A 'tj/i(/i' port. The display selection \slcoi trolled through software. j

• On-board 16 bit graphics coproctesp^r

Performs all

functions at

computer's CPU free to perfl

tasks.

• Use with standard IBM color fit BG

monitors

• Supports analog RGB monitors on iheii

(You get ultra high resolution color' normally only available on mini and\main frame computers.)

• Standard resolution of 640 by 400, 16 co\or 128K of video ram on the Silver Card.

• Maximum resolution of 1024 by 1024, 16 hplors with S12K of video ram on the Gold Card.

• Expansion connector:

Allows upgrades which extend and enhance features of the basic card—no more obsolete hardware. Planned extensions include:

• 256 colors (8 bits/pixel) displayable froi pallete of 262,144 colors.

• 512 colors (9 bits/pixel) displayable from a pallete of 16,777,216 colors.

• Display characteristics are fully programmable

• Interlaced mode allows use of low cost monitors.

• Non-interlaced mode for flicker-free display

• Display size up to 1024 by 1024 (40MHz bandwidth.)

• Flash hardware enable/disable on 4 colors (Layers) allows any of. 4 specified layers to be temporarily "disabled" i.e., erased, then later can be "enabled", i.e., put back on the screen without being redrawn. This greatly increases'speed of use.

• Light pen input port. (Permits a light pen to.be used as a pointing or pick device)

• Hardware pan and zoom support. (Allows smooth panning, and zoom up to 16 times magnification) . / y

• Compatible with existing software including AutoCAD; ' p-cad, VERSACAD, MasterCAD, etc. /

• Software support. Planned software Includes // Tektronix emulation, Graphics support library. /

Get VIVA and bring your PC to life! VIVA is versatile, state of the art quality at a price you can afford. Call today and we'll be there—QDP! VIVA Da VINCI!

This

zcepted by over

m computer systems

QDP Computer Systems, Inc.

10330 Brecksvllle Road

Cleveland, Ohio 44141

(216)526-0838 Telex 241596

Cable: Quasdata, Brecksvllle

p-cad is a trademark of Electronic Design Automation • AutoCAD is a trademark of Autodesk Inc. • VERSACAD is a trademark of T&W Systems, Inc. VIVA and MasterCAD is a trademark of QDP Computer Systems, Inc. • IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines

APPLICATIONS ONLY

Turbo Editor Toolbox

Ready!

Balance of Power

Easy

by Ezra Shapiro

First in a Series

Ezra Shapiro is BYTE's West Coast bureau chief. He can be contacted do BYTE. McGraw-Hill, 425 Battery St.. San Francisco. CA 94111.

Why this column? Software. Lots of software. Software in boxes. Software in stacks. Software filling bookcases, filing cabinets, entire rooms. Software in battered binders and shrink-wrapped slipcases. Software all over the place.

The problem is quantity. And time. Organizing a fishing expedition in this sea of products is no mean feat; you go for minnows and wind up with sharks; you go for sharks and wind up with whales.

Applications Only is a shortcut, a quick glance at applications software—word processors, database managers, spreadsheets, communications packages, utilities, etc. Pournelle and Webster look at machines, compilers, operating systems; I don't. This is the slick, commercial stuff—the (shudder) "productivity tools" and (sigh) "software solutions."

In format. Applications Only is something between review and opinion. Prejudices stated up front. Intended to pick out winners, losers, and occasional oddities, but no guarantees. And monthly, so you can learn my biases and figure out if it makes more sense to follow my recommendations or avoid them.

Opening Salvo

Turbo Editor Toolbox (Borland, $69.95) struck me as a nifty way to kill two birds with, well, two stones. The Toolbox is a wonderful idea—source code in Turbo Pascal for a complete editor, a thorough well-written manual, and no royalties to pay if you use the routines in your own programs.

This was my plan: Turbo Pascal costs $69.95; the Editor Toolbox costs $69.95. Buy both, compile the code, and you get a word processor and a Pascal compiler for under a hundred and forty bucks. Not bad! Or so it seemed.

How does the Toolbox stack up as an editor? The cover of the Toolbox manual is pretty convincing. "Features that word pro

cessors selling for several hundred dollars can't begin to match," it trumpets. "Create your own word processor. We provide all the editing routines. You plug in the features you want. You could build a WordStar-like editor with pull-down menus like Microsoft's Word, and make it work as fast as WordPerfect." Borland has even gone so far as to name the editor "MicroStar." What would you think you were getting?

And the list of features is impressive, as far as it goes. A WordStar command set. Multiple windows. Multitasking. Undelete. Memory-mapped screen handling. An interface to Turbo Lightning for spelling checking as you type. Block operations. Search and replace. And you get the source, so you can change anything you don't particularly like.

I have to admit that the folks at Borland never actually say you're buying the code for an improved version of WordStar; they just make it very easy to leap to that conclusion.

However, a little something is missing. There are no facilities—none—for any kind of output formatting. No page breaks. No page numbers. No headers. No footers. No dot commands. No mail merge. No printer font changes. No proportional spacing. No pausing to insert single sheets of paper. None of that stuff.

What Borland has produced is a great gift to programmers and an excellent product, but it's not a substitute for a true word processor. Turning it into one is a big project. So, if you want to spend a lot of time programming, buy the Editor Toolbox. If you want WordStar, buy WordStar.

Better News

Ready! (Living Videotext, $99.95) is one of those nice programs that's difficult to write about because it does exactly what its publishers claim, and it does it well. It's a memory-resident outline processor that closely resembles ThinkTank, Living Video

[conlinued]

MARCH 1986

IYTE 297

TEK

2213A/2215A/2235

DUAL TRACE OSCILLOSCOPES

THE ANSWER

BY ANY MEASURE

Now! Tek quality and expert advice are just a free phone call away!

The industry standard in CRT performance.

Crisp, easy-toread, bright CRT; 14kV accelerating potential, provides high writing rate and small spot size. Full size 8x10 cm display for measurement accuracy.

Display controls are flexible and easy to use. Separate intensity controls reduce blooming in alternate sweep mode. Focus tracking minimizes control adjustment and BEAM FIND eliminates confusion.

Vertical system provides measurement assurance. Flat transient response and high accuracy ensures true reproduction of your signals. Fast risetime and high bandwidth is well suited for a variety of measurement.

Perform delayed sweep measurements accurately

and easily. Both

sweeps can be displayed alternately making differential measurements easy and accurate (1%). An interlocking SEC/DIV control simplifies set-up.

Stable hands-off triggering. P-P

AUTO detects signal peaks, then sets the trigger level for you. Display asynchronous signals using VERT MODE triggering. Independent TV field and line selection.

Front panel laid out by function for ease of use.

Color coding aids the user in operation. Functions and modes are placed logically. All nomenclature is clearly labeled, and protected behind a scratchless Lexan surface.

Our direct order line gets you the industry's leading price/performance portables... and fast answers from experts!

The 60 MHz single time base delay 2213A, the 60 MHz dual time base 2215A and the 100 MHz dual time base 2235 offer unprecedented reliability and affordability, plus the industry's first 3-year warranty* on labor and parts, CRT included.

The cost: just $1275 for the 2213A, $1525 for the 2215A, $1750 for the 2235.t Even at these low prices, there's no scrimping on performance. You

have the bandwidth for digital and analog circuits. The sensitivity for low signal measurements. The sweep speeds for fast logic families. And delayed sweep for fast, accurate timing measurements. All scopes are UL Listed and CSA approved.

You can order, or obtain literature, through the Tek National Marketing Center. Technical personnel, expert in scope applications, will answer your questions and expedite delivery. Direct orders include comprehensive 3-year warranty*, operator's

manual, two 10X probes, 15-day return policy and worldwide service backup.

Order toll free: 1-800-426-2200, Ask for Rick.

In Oregon, call collect: (503) 627-9000. Or write Tektronix, Inc. P.O. Box 1700 Beaverton, OR 97075

Tektronix

COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE

Copyright" 1985. Tektronix, Inc. All rights reserved. #TTA-439-3 t Price F.OB Beaverton, OR. '3-year warranty includes CRT 298 BYTE- MARCH I986

Inquiry 344

APPLICATIONS ONLY

text's full-scale outliner. Ready! lacks some of the sophisticated word-processing features of ThinkTank, but because it lives in RAM it's faster and, of course, it's designed for other purposes.

The program takes a short amount of time to learn. You use cursor keys and function keys to create an indented outline. You can insert, delete, alphabetize, or reorganize items with little hassle. Not much to it.

Readyl's chief distinction is its ability to transmit outlines into other applications programs. With one keystroke, you can drop a Ready! outline into a word-processor file and then proceed to edit it there as raw text. The program comes with 27 different output configurations for popular products, of which you can have 10 loaded at any one time. Why that many? Ask the people who developed other software. Word processors usually—but not always—like lines ended with carriage returns; spreadsheets use arrow keys. No standardization.

Living Videotext suggests that Ready! can be used for generating spreadsheet labels and database forms, storing keyboard macros, and suchlike, as well as developing textual outlines. I use it for keeping various lists that often have nothing to do with the material on screen in my primary application.

Other reviewers have compared Ready! to Borland's SideKick, differentiating between the two by noting that Ready! builds outlines while SideKick produces flat text files. That's missing the point.

Let me coin some terms here. I see SideKick as an inbound utility, and Ready! as an outbound one. What do I mean by that? SideKick can pick up on-screen data and let you massage it; it's handy for collecting chunks of data from other programs and organizing a new document file. It outputs to disk or printer, not directly into another program. Ready! can't capture material from other sources; you use it to originate data, which you can then send to disk, to a printer, or into an open applications file. I use Side

Kick for manipulating and Ready! for creating. The two programs are not merely different approaches to taking notes; if anything, they're complementary.

My only complaint is that Ready!, when configured to hold a 32K-byte outline file, chews up 127K bytes of memory. That reduces my 640K-byte computer system to 512K bytes. I liked having that memory pad, since I prefer RAM-based editors and databases. Oh, well. You have to make sacrifices, I guess.

Anyway, Ready! gets high marks from me. It's more than worth its modest price.

Tour de Force

Webster's Dictionary defines "transcendent" as "exceeding usual limits . . . extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience. . . ." it's the best word I can find to

describe Balance of Power (Mindscape, $49.95). Ostensibly a game for the Macintosh, this simulation is one of the finest programs—of any typethat I've seen on a microcomputer. Subtitled "Geopolitics in the Nuclear Age," the game is an exploration of superpower diplomacy played on a world map. You choose to be either the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. (In a oneplayer game, the computer takes the other side. You can also play against a friend.) In brief, you decide whether to support or undermine the governments of each of 60 countries; you can send economic or military aid to either government or rebel forces, conduct covert operations to destabilize unfriendly regimes, apply diplomatic pressure, sign treaties, station troops. The object is to increase your sphere of influence and international prestige—at your opponent's

[continued]

SMD/SCSI And More For .

COMPLETE, COMPATIBLE, SMD DISK/TAPE MEMORY SYSTEMS WITH . .

SMD/SCSI or Pertec, and 8 inch Winchester technology intelligently adapted to meet your needs in leading system environments.

Data rates up to 2.4 MB/SEC, access times of 15ms-20ms.

Disk storage/systems of 84MB, 168MB, 335MB, 474MB, 689MB, and up. Compatible with major networks. . .designed for performance.

Industry standard nine-track % inch, and Vi inch tape back up systems.

Multifunction single board controller for PC-AT, PC-RT, Unibus, and Q-Bus.

Tower, desk top and rack mount configurations are optional.

Laser optical disk technology and systems too!

fTSE -^Haslet**!

l_ f Kt-Tiiimaf Eafc...

SMD/SCSI multifunction for PC-AT/RT

TWX 9103866006 TELEX 821892 NMS UD LIVERMORE, CA 94550

National Memory Systems

CORPORATION

Desk Top/Rack Mount Disk/Tape Systems

475-443-7669

-WE ARE HERE FOR YOU—

Inquiry 251

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 299

APPLICATIONS ONLY

expense—while avoiding nuclear war, in which both sides lose. The dynamics of the game consist of challenging your opponent's moves; at every step the other side takes you can choose to send a diplomatic protest, which can expand into a full-scale crisis. Your opponent has the same opportunity. It's a grand global game of "chicken," played for the highest stakes possible.

1 don't have the space to get much further into a discussion of how the game is played. It's an intriguing adult simulation, provocative as well as entertaining. A carefully thought-out game could take days, and, as an educational tool, I could see Balance of Power as a month-long project for a high school social science class.

But what strikes me most forcefully about the game is how beautifully it uses the Macintosh's resources. You can display vast amounts of political, social, economic, and military data about the world, ranked in several ways, on cross-hatched maps. Every "event" triggers changes in status reports, maps, and mock newspaper displays. And the algorithms for analyzing the progress of the world situation over the course of a game's eight-year span are very complex.

Limitations? My mouse arm gets tired. 1 wish the Mac allowed more keyboard shortcuts. And I suppose someone with a Ph.D. in political science could take issue with the

game's content. But as Chris Crawford, the game's designer, points out in the comprehensive manual, as long as you're asking questions about the realism of Balance of Power, it still has something to teach you.

If 1 gave out little stars or little disks for computer programs, this one would get the highest rating. This is what computers should do.

Parting Shot

I wanted to like Easy (MicroPro, $150). I really did. I've got a certain amount of residual loyalty because (even though I've tried to find a replacement) I've been using WordStar as my "serious" word processor for about three and a half years. Easy files are compatible with WordStar files; you don't need any annoying export/import utilities. And on paper, Easy seems to have a lot of desirable features lacking in WordStar—pull-down menus, automatic paragraph reformatting, support for a massive list of printers (including my neglected MannesmannTally), a simplified command set, and undelete. Plus it's cheap. So far. so good.

However, every time I sit down to play with Easy, I stumble onto something that drives me to distraction. I realize that MicroPro has geared the program for first-time users, so I'm not the typical customer. However, if you've used any other text editor or word processor, Easy is a letdown.

Items Discussed

1\jrbo Editor Toolbox ....

. $69.95

Balance of Power $49.95

Environment: MS-DOS

Environment: Macintosh

Borland International Inc.

Mindscape Inc.

4585 Scotts Valley Dr.

3444 Dundee Rd.

Scotts Valley, CA 95066

Northbrook, 1L 60062

(408) 438-8400

(800) 221-9884

For orders: (800) 2 5 5-8008

In Illinois: (800) 942-7315

In California: (800) 742-1133

Ready!

$99.95

Easy $150

Environment: MS-DOS

Environment: MS-DOS

Living Videotext Inc.

MicroPro International Corp.

2432 Charleston Rd.

33 San Pablo Ave.

Mountain View, CA 94043

San Rafael. CA 94903

[415) 964-6300

(415) 499-1200

To begin with, it's slow, particularly with the auto-reformatting. It feels like I'm typing through molasses. 1 haven't timed the response with a stopwatch, but it's not great.

Next, if you move your cursor beyond the end of a line and type a character. Easy automatically fills the dead area with spaces. This might be considered a useful feature by some, but it means that you can't move from the end of one line to the beginning of the next by leaning on the cursor key; you must use Ctrl-right-arrow.

Then three bothersome things happen when you're inserting text into a preexisting block. First, the automatic paragraph reformatting becomes visually annoying. If you add enough characters to force the last word on a line to the line below, Easy drops the word to a brand new line with nothing else on it. The program thinks for a second, then brings the remaining text up to where it should be. So you have a constant flashing effect as Easy opens a gap and then closes it, and this happens every time you push a word to the next line.

Second, if you want to break a line in the middle, you've got to hit Ctrlenter. Hitting the enter key merely drops you to the line below. This gets irritating when you're trying to reformat material to shorter line lengths.

Finally, if you move to the next character position beyond the end of a line, Easy will not let you add a space. If you try to type a space followed by more text, Easy will remove the space and run the words together. If you teach yourself to get to the end of a line using the Ctrl-arrow combinations, you'll discover a soft space at the end of every line; use those combinations and you can add text just fine.

Conclusion: If you've never used a computer word processor before, get a demonstration of Easy before you buy it. See if you can live with the slowness and flashing-on-reform. If you have used other text-handling programs, note that you'll have to learn unfamiliar ways to move around the screen. As a second word processor, Easy is tough. ■

300 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Connections mmm 2780/3780 RJE IBM PC HOST

m%

IS

rn^L eep your file transfers § %. on the track. Using standard IBM hardware. PC3780 lets you transfer files between any sites using 274013740137411278013780. 100% error free.

Inquiry 338 Rivergate Plaza, 444 Brickell Avenue, Miami, FL 33131, 305/372-9332

Possible Connections

o PC to PC

o PC to any other computer using

one of these protocols:

- Standard IBM B5CA V24 interface

/?57j?2iijjjij|[i}flllllllllHlllllJ!i|[iiiilillllllHillliii

- Modem: synchronous; leased or public line; half duplex; 9600 baud maximum speed

- Direct connections need RX/TX

clocks iiii!!ii!iilijiiiiliiliilii!lliitltl1tt!tttttlllti!il Characteristics

o Remote control possible o Automatic error correction o Operation log per file o CALL USING from local program o Multi file iijiijjiijijjjiiijijjjijiiiiijjijijl.jjjjjijjjj. o Multi record per block o Maximum block size 512 bytes o RJE support o Automatic ASCII EBCDIC translation jjiJjjijijjjiiiiJiiiiiiiUiiiiijjjjijjiijijjjijj o Transparent mode with translation option for ASCII on receive o Space compression o Record size definition o Adding and deleting of characters such as CR/LF for each record o Record separator as ITB or IRS o Translation table modification

Ascii/EBCDic/Ascii |jjj!j!!ij!!iii!l!!l!ll!iiii!iii

o The PC can work as the host o Installable on hard drive o Manual or automatic execution o The parameters (per file) can be introduced from the keyboard or from the parameter file iiiiliiiliilWUl o Minimum configuration: IBM PC with 128K and IBM BSC ASM card

PRICE $149

1-800-826-7439

I

48

With the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Printer.

Page 2

1985-86 Marketing Report

indicating a lower overall risk than had originally been projected.

Market Penetration

Since introduction in 1976, the product has experienced tremendous growth in all geographical areas. In fact, the only quarter-to-quarter exception occurred Q1-Q2 1980, when the rate of

penetration stalled as a result of the $.35 coupon offered by the leading competitor (See Fis. 2a).

Market Penetration

Percent

of Market

Share / ^^ Growth stalled for one quarter dm

;o competitors' coupon campaign.

78 80 82 84 Fiscal Year

Figure 2a. Market Penetration (all geographic areas)

All regions are contributing to this growth, especially the Southern Region, which is experiencing a growth in market penetration far greater than the industry average. In the last three quarters, the Southern Region has increased at a rate twice that of the same period in the previous year. F if* it re 2b compares Southern Region and overall company performance with industry growth rates.

15 r Southern Region All Regions

Percent

of Market

Share Growth

■

Industry Southe 1984 1984

Company Company Industry 1984 1985 1985

This would indicate that the increased effort directed at the dealers in the South has proved successful. No other elements were altered.

Impact on Profitability

After expenses for the new dealer program, profits have increased 29% in the Southern Region. In the other regions, profits have held steady. This indicates that the ROI for dollars allocated

No matter what business you're in, the impressions you make on paper have a lot to do with the impressions you make on people.

And nothing makes a better impression than Hewlett-Packard's LaserJet Printer.

Super sharp, publication-quality printing. The blackest blacks. A wide variety of graphics. All printed in resounding silence. Eight times faster than a daisy wheel for a standard page of text. And completely compatible with all leading PCs and software.

The HP LaserJet Printer will even make a good impression on your ledger sheet. Just $2995.* For new enhanced graphics: LaserJet PLUS, $3995.*

Call (800) FOR-HPPC, Dept.710 G, for the HewlettPackard dealer nearest you and see an impressive demonstration.

HEWLETT PACKARD

Inquiry 157

Print sample printed on an HP LaserJet Printer using Polaris PrintMerge." Polaris Software, San Diego, California. (619) 471-0922. •U.S. List Price

SHIFT YOUR

HARD DISK

BACK INTO HIGH GEAR

with

ril

irnnzGf only

$49.95*

Special Introductory Price

Tunes Your Disk Files For Highest Performance

The Disk Optimizer organizes your disk to make your PC run faster. You'll discover faster program loading, faster file loading and sorting, faster file creation, faster backups to diskette. And the disk Optimizer reduces the chances of error during your disk I/O.

AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA

BBBBBBBB BBBBBBBB

DDDD DDDD

rnsn

DOS IS SLOWING YOU DOWN!

Whether you realize it or not, the more you use your hard disk, the slower it is likely to react. This is because the operating system (PC-DOS/MS-DOS) stores things (programs, overlays, batches, etc.) randomly, wherever unused disk space is available. Your operating system doesn't keep pieces of the same file together. This means slower access time. Lost speed. Lost productivity.

Order Toil-Free: 1-800-272-9900

TURN THE THROTTLE BACK UP!

Now, the Disk Optimizer puts the zip back into your hard disk! The Disk Optimizer collects all the scattered pieces of your files and re-stores them together in neat, well-organized areas on your disk. The result: immediate performance improvement... faster loading programs (and their overlays).. . faster sorting .. . faster loading and storing spreadsheets or document files.

BONUS EXTRAS - at no extra cost

- DISK ANALYZER

Displays a visual performance analysis. .. shown in percentages... for any disk or diskette.

*> PERSONAL FILE SECURITY

Password protect any file or program.

,- FILEPEEKER

Now you can visually examine any file on your system

$49.95*

Soft/Logic w

SOLUTIONS

Creators of DoubleDOS

530 Chestnut Street, Manchester, NH 03101 1-800-272-9900. In NH, call 627-9900

Disk Optimizer works with IBM PC's and true compatibles.

'Plus $5.00 Shipping & Handling

Macintosh

Atari 520ST

Amiga

by Bruce Webster

Bruce Webster is a consulting

editor for BYTE. He can be

contacted do BYTE. POB 1910,

Orem, UT 84057, or on BIX as

bwebster.

ACCORDING TO WEBSTER

68000 Wars: Round 1

I

t is late November—almost Thanksgiving—as I finish writing this, and the editors back in Peterborough are screaming for my column. It's nice to be wanted, eh? However, if 1 don't wrap this up and upload it posthaste, I may be wanted in two or three states. Worse yet, a certain managing editor may end up being wanted for manslaughter, though I doubt if any reasonable jury would convict him. I must type faster. . .

I now have all three of the prominent 68000 machines: Apple's Macintosh, the Atari 520ST, and Commodore's Amiga 1000. I've had the Mac for nearly two years and the ST and Amiga for less than two months. And the single most common question I get these days is, "What do you think of the |one of the above| as compared to |one or two of the others above|?" Also, a lot of claims and counterclaims have been floating around concerning the relative merits of and problems with the three machines. In this column and the next few, 1 hope to sort out fact from fantasy and present some well-supported—if not completely objective—opinions. (Note: "Objective opinion" is an oxymoron, that is, a selfcontradictory phrase, like "intelligent idiot" or "deliverable vaporware.")

Mac versus ST versus Amiga

The format of this column is simple. I'll take a number of different areas, one by one, and give my opinion on how the three machines stack up—who wins, who places, who shows. Where possible, this is based on direct experience. However, since I am not all-seeing or all-knowing, I have asked questions of those with more experience or knowledge, and I've done my best to acknowledge them at the end of the column.

Appearance and Physical Setup

The Macintosh wins this category easily. My 2-megabyte Mac has a 20-megabyte hard disk (MacBottom) and two disk drives (in

ternal and external). The design is clean, attractive, professional, and unique. Better yet, the system takes up less than one square foot (9Vi by 9/2 inches) for the main unit and another 6 by 13 inches for the detachable keyboard, which can be easily moved 3 to 4 feet from the main unit. The Mac itself needs only one power outlet, though the hard disk requires its own as well. It definitely looks good in an executive suite and won't eat up all your desk space.

The Amiga comes in second, resembling the IBM PC (though, in my opinion, it looks nicer). The main unit is 17!/$ by 13 inches, covering more than twice as much desk space as the Mac. The monitor stacks nicely on top of the main unit, but a second (external) disk drive must sit to one side and takes up an 8- by 6-inch area. The detachable keyboard (6 by 16 inches) is larger than the Mac's, but it slides nicely under the main unit when not in use, and it can be moved almost as far as the Mac's. One warning, though: Since the expansion bus is on the right side of the Amiga, adding hardware is going to cause the Amiga to grow wider. The basic system (with two drives and monitor) needs two power outlets.

The ST comes in last, for reasons groused about last month. The main unit is 18!/$ by 9l/2 inches. It therefore takes up less space than the Amiga, but neither the monitor nor the external disk drives can stack on it, so a complete system takes up much more desk space than either the Mac or the Amiga: A conservative estimate is about 21 by 21 inches. The keyboard is built into the main unit, so you don't have the additional space requirements for that, but you also don't have the flexibility of a detachable keyboard. The ST has a nice design but looks much like a home computer (which it is). Most unfortunate are the thick cables and external power supplies—one for the main unit and one for each disk drive. A basic system with monitor and two disk

(continued)

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 305

The Same Onlyfietter

The PC AT

layout

for the J

PC

LEDsforall lock function

Large,

full surface

key caps

Both

symbols &

legends

/% W ^ ™ i

/

/ Key

Solutions flhas improved on the familiar PC layout.

Plug Compatible Models: KS 8300 AT/PC • PC/XFM code KS8300 AT/AT • PC AP'code

Introductory special only $99

Normally priced at $125 Call for volume discounts • Dealers inquiries invited

Call 612- 435- 2720

KEY

dEJum@m"

5MK Company

1294 West County Road 42 Bumsville, MN 55337

PC and PC AT are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.

ACCORDING TO WEBSTER

drives uses four power outlets and seven cables. One last problem: With the main unit of the ST so wide, finding room for the mouse is tougher than with the other two systems.

Monitors

For a monochrome display, the Mac barely noses out the ST, mostly due to cleaner-looking text and icons, as well as the monitor's size (i.e., built in, doesn't eat up desk space). However, if you are using the Atari monochrome monitor, you'll find it just about as crisp as the Mac, and the display itself is larger, both physically (12 inches versus 9 inches) and in terms of pixels displayed (640 by 400 versus 512 by 342). Both also have a true 1:1 aspect ratio. If you have an Atari color monitor, you can choose medium-resolution mode, which is 640 by 400 pixels with two colors; however, the aspect ratio is not quite 1:1, so icons and text look a little elongated. The Amiga doesn't have a monochrome mode or a monochrome monitor. You can set up a display using only two colors, but it doesn't look nearly as crisp as on the Macintosh or the 520ST

For a color display, I think the Atari RGB (red-green-blue) monitor produces crisper, more brilliant colors than the Amiga RGB monitor (Model 1070). The Atari display has a cleaner look, while the Amiga display tends to look a little mushy. I'd like to swap monitors between the Atari and Amiga to determine where the real praise or blame for the display quality should go, but the Atari hardware uses a rare round 13-pin DIN connector that makes it hard to hook up other monitors to the ST or the Atari monitor to other computers. The Mac, of course, isn't even in the running for color display—yet.

While the ST is the overall winner for display clarity, the Amiga completely blows the other two away for display versatility, i.e., video-signal options. The Mac has no external video output. The ST has both color (analog RGB) and monochrome coming out of a single port, but—as mentioned—it is hard to hook up anything but an Atari monitor. If you want both crisp monochrome and color graphics, you have to have both monitors, eating up more money and desk space. Also, a number of ST software packages will run only with the color monitor—I don't know of any that will run only with a monochrome monitor—so that complicates things even more.

The Amiga, however, presents you with multiple options. You have RF (radio frequency)-modulated video and audio, for hooking up the Amiga to older TV sets. You have highquality NTSC (National Television System Committee) composite video for newer TV sets as well as color monitors you might have lying around from other computer systems. You have both analog and digital RGB output for RGB monitors and top-of-the-line TV sets. And Commodore has a genlock board that lets you take an external video source (laser disk, VCR, camera, TV) and mix it with your graphics display. The external video then

[continued)

306 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 196 for End-Users. Inquiry 197 for DEALERS ONLY.

Ohanlon delivers the bottom line:

PROFIT

in any business, profit is the bottom line. In application development, profit not only depends on quick development cycles. It also depends on the ability to maintain your software cost effectively and implement modifications swiftly.

O'Hanlon's SENSIBLE SOLUTION DataBase Language delivers the bottom line.

ivsk Dick and Judy Buffo, publishers of the highly successful Terra/Pac Agricultural system.

Hundreds of state-of-the-art applications have been developed using the Sensible Solution DataBase Language by itself or in conjunction with the Sensible Solution Management Series accounting applications. Discover a new dimension in application development.

^t>

fcCC

otf

jrftfp

,c*e*

6*

The SENSIBLE SOLUTION DataBase Language

" Syntax-free,

Self-Prompting

Source Code Editor " Screen and Report Format

Painting m High-Speed Compiler " Complete Application

Transportability * Data Dictionary " B+ Tree File Indexing " Run-Time Module

The SENSIBLE SOLUTION Management Series available with source code

" General Accounting

General Ledger

Accounts Receivable

Accounts Payable a Wholesale Distribution

Sales Order Entry

Purchase Order Entry

Inventory Tracking m Law Office Management

General Ledger

Accounts Payable

Law Office Management & Billing

L/all or write today! Or better yet, send for a 30-day evaluation package and redeem this coupon for 10% off your first SENSIBLE SOLUTION system.

s^v<

atv

.Sov

c^s^^y;

<k%*

X\&

if*

oi<*

A»

a*

.cC

ftsx

s&

o*'

C&*

&&

0S.

te»c

\&°

^To*<l*^

*&

^Ko\^°\oi^

pw

»Wtf

J**1

.CO'

<^^ISgl#^

I

■

ef'

^e«a

^

!SS^

efc*

Ocv£

tfV

Ae

l«

.tv?,e

be

^z^°:i>^

ct»'

tfS?

rfOJS

o.e

*"

o^

o?

et

atf

\JMW

»i\rt

a^

»t

W

gfr

VBflf

tfN

T.'ifc

^

D^

OHANLON

C OM pit [•: R

11058 MAIN STREET SUITE 110

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON 98004 (206) 454-5350 Ext. 379

Development Software for Computer Professionals

I Yes I'm interested, please have a representative call me.

I Yes I'm interested, please send full descriptive literature.

i Yes I'm interested, please send a 30-day evaluation in the following format:

Single-user Multi-user 8" 514

DOS MP/M CP/M Other

NAME

TITLE

COMPANY

ADDRESS

CITY

STATE

ZIP

PHONE

PHONE EXT

Tell us about yourself: VAR OEM MIS.

. Dealer Distributor End-user .

TOTALCONTROL

with LMIFORTH"

For Programming Professionals:

an expanding family of compatible, high-performance, Forth-83 Standard compilers for microcomputers

For Development:

Interactive Forth-83 Interpreter/Compilers

• 16-bit and 32-bit implementations

• Full screen editor and assembler

• Uses standard operating system files

• 400 page manual written in plain English

• Options include software floating point, arithmetic coprocessor support, symbolic debugger, native code compilers, and graphics support

For Applications: Forth-83 Metacompiler

• Unique table-driven multi-pass Forth compiler

• Compiles compact ROMable or disk-based applications

• Excellent error handling

• Produces headerless code, compiles from intermediate states, and performs conditional compilation

• Cross-compiles to 8080, Z-80, 8086, 68000, and 6502

• No license fee or royalty for compiled applications

Support Services for registered users:

• Technical Assistance Hotline

• Periodic newsletters and low-cost updates

• Bulletin Board System

Call or write for detailed product information and prices. Consulting and Educational Services available by special arrangement.

urn

Laboratory Microsystems Incorporated

Post Office Box 10430, Marina del Rey, CA 90295 Phone credit card orders to: (213) 306-7412

Overseas Distributors.

Germany: Forth-Systeme Angelika Flesch, D-7820 Titisee-Neustadt UK: System Science Ltd., London EC1A 9JX France: Micro-Sigma S.A.R.L., 75008 Paris Japan: Southern Pacific Ltd., Yokohama 220 Australia: Wave-onic Associates, 6107 Wilson, W.A.

ACCORDING TO WEBSTER

becomes the background "color" (color 0), with all other colors appearing on top of it.

Graphics

While the ST and the Mac beat the Amiga in display quality, the Amiga breezes ahead of both in terms of graphics speed and variety. I'll have an extensive set of graphics benchmarks in next month's column, but here's the basic information about each machine.

The Mac has a single graphics resolution: 512 by 342 pixels, monochrome. Video RAM (random-access read/ write memory) is a single 21K-byte block of memory; each bit represents exactly one pixel. There is no hardware support for the graphics, so every pixel that appears on the screen is put there by the 68000 processor. Extensive and sophisticated software support is provided via QuickDraw and other ROM (read-only memory) routines.

The ST has three graphics resolutions: 320 by 200 pixels, 16 colors; 640 by 200, 4 colors; and 640 by 400 (noninterlaced), monochrome. All colors are taken from a palette of 512 (3 bits each of red, green, and blue). A special mode lets you redefine the palette on each scan line; however, when invoked, you have to handle it for every scan line. Video RAM is a 32K-byte block of memory. An interlaced bit-plane approach is used. If you have four bit planes (16 colors), every four consecutive words represent one word from each of the four planes. Again, the 68000 processor has to draw each and every pixel on the screen. Software support is provided via GEM (from Digital Research), which has some limitations compared to the Mac routines. However, overall graphics performance on the ST seems to be better than on the Mac.

The Amiga has four basic resolutions: 320 by 200 pixels, 32 colors; 320 by 400 (interlaced), 32 colors; 640 by 200, 16 colors; and 640 by 400 (interlaced), 16 colors. You choose from a palette of 4096 colors (4 bits each, RGB). Bit planes are truly separate, can be located anywhere in the lower 512K bytes of RAM, can be larger or smaller than the display screen, and can be allocated as needed. For example, if you want a 320 by 200 display with 4 colors, you need to set aside only 16K. bytes of RAM (8K bytes for each bit plane). Special graphics modes include half-bright (which lets you have up to 64 colors in the 320-resolution modes), dual playfield (which sets up two independent graphics displays, one "in front of" the other, with color 0 for the front display being "transparent" and letting the back display show through), and hold-andmodify (which lets you have up to 4096 colors on the screen simultaneously). You can change resolution (320 versus 640) and palettes at will while moving down the screen, and you can scroll both vertically and horizontally merely by changing some register values.

Most of the grunt work is done by custom graphics hardware, leaving the processor free to do other work (more on this in a minute). And I haven't mentioned hardware and virtual sprites, object animation, hardware collision

Continued)

308 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Inquiry 201

MACH1 PAD 4th Generation Productivity ... Under $1000!

(Cincinnati, Ohio) January, Tominy, Inc. announced the immediate availability of a single-user version of their Mach 1 System Generation Facility on the IBM PC.

Professional Applications Developer on the IBM PC

The Mach 1 Professional Application Developer (PAD) provides the micro computer system developer with an advanced set of System Generation tools to develop applications that run on MACH l's micro, mini and mainframe multi-user environments.

At the core of all Tominy systems is a powerful Data Base Management System, used worldwide since the 1970's in business and commercial applications.

Logical Data Base, Program Generator, and Query/Report Generator

The Logical Data Base Structure of the Tominy products provide unlimited record sizes, multiple file keys, data independence, record locking and free space management. The Logical Data Base's flexible design supports Relational, Hierarchical, and Network Data Views.

Programs to maintain the Data Base can be completely generated by MACH 1. A MACH 1 Generated Program allows users to inquire on the Data Base and add, update, or delete Data Base information.

Ad hoc data analysis or reports are addressed by the MACH 1 Query/Report Generator. The simple "English-like" Query statements allow-data to be selected, sorted, summarized, displayed and printed.

To allow for more complex transaction processing and reporting, MACH 1 contains the fourth-generation procedural language "LOGIC."

Fourth- Generation LOGIC Language

The LOGIC language provides the command structure to manipulate data; perform data base, screen and print I/O; control program flow; manipulate tables and arrays; log system messages; and perform mathematical calculations.

A standardized approach to program development is ensured using the "program framing" concept of the MACH 1 products. MACH 1 "frames" the LOGIC code by "writing" the complete data variable section, and including various LOGIC modules.

This approach to application development ensures a consistent structure while still providing the flexibility required by the serious application developer.

The LOGIC programs are tested on-line using the Interactive Program Tester which steps through the execution of the LOGIC code and permits immediate changes to the program statements, variable values, and the test data base.

Screen Designer,

Automatic Editing, and

Simplified Print Logic

To facilitate LOGIC program development, MACH 1 includes a full screen designer. Screens for applications and menus are easily created and maintained by entering prompts and data entry fields on the screen itself.

MACH 1 has the capability to automatically edit each data entry field for date format, numeric data, and required field length. In addition, MACH 1 will perform data validation against existing File Keys, or Table Entries.

The Report Design tools of MACH 1 removes report handling (headings, form control, and print queues) from the

program, reducing print logic to a simplicity not found with other programming languages.

Menus, Help Screens, and Full System Security

The MACH 1 is a menu driven package. It is simple and easy to use. Full-screen text editors are included for entering the LOGIC code, Job control statements, and Data Base Descriptions.

On-line HELP screens are provided to guide the developer through the numerous utilities provided with MACH 1. In addition, the MACH 1 manuals walk the owner through designing, developing, testing, packaging, and maintaining their Application System.

And all this is offered with system security. Security codes will be validated upon entry to MACH 1, and whenever a program function is executed.

Full Application and Development Portability

Applications developed using MACH 1 PAD run on micro, mini and mainframe multi-user systems using MACH 1. IBM, DEC and Data General are current MACH 1 environments.

The MACH 1 PAD requires

IBM PC/XT/AT or Compatible PC DOS 2.1 or up 128 KB Memory 8 MB on-line storage

Discover the power and performance of MACH 1 PAD. Now, just S129-95 (regular retail % 199.95) when you order by April 31, 1986. Save S70.00! Mail the coupon or call Tominy toll free at 1-800-543-8628. In Ohio call 1-800-445-1737.

SAVE '70 on WacHtW only l129.95

Please send me MACH 1 PAD, the complete development package for single-user environments.

□ Check Enclosed

□ MasterCard Account Number

□ Money Order Enclosed

□ Visa Expires

(PLEASE PRINT)

Name

Single-user Environment @'129." _ Shipping & Handling '5 ('10 foreign). Sales Tax, Ohio residents: 51/2 % _ Total Amount of Order S_

(Offer expires April 31. 1986)

_ Signature

Address

.Phone.

City, State, Zip

Please send me information about the unlimited version of MACH 1 for: □ Main Frame, □ Mini, □ Multi User Micro Systems

MACH 1 and MACH I PAD are registered Trademarks of TOMINY, Inc.

Send to: TOMINY, Inc. • MACH 1 PAD Division • P.O. Box 160 • Cincinnati, Ohio 45242

Inquiry 353

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 309

Expansion Chassis/ Sub-System

Specification

Model No.

No. of Slot

Half Height Drive

Power Supply

Dimension DxWxH(cm)

Price

M-r

0

1

A or B

30x15x6.5

S149

M-2

3

3

C

42x25x16

S299

M-3

5

3

c

39x30x15

S259

M-4

12

2

D

40x39x14

$299

M-5

0

2

E

39x18x15

S149

M-6

0

1

A or B

26.5x18x13.5

S169

M-7

5

2

C

38.5x30x13.5

S299

M-8

0

2

E

39.5x18x13.5

S149

M-9

0

2

F

38.5x49x9

S249

M-10

8

4

Gor H

43x49x14

S259

Extra space 1

EXT and RCV Adapters

• Connecting master expansion chassis to PC,

XT or

AT

• Fully buffered address, data and control sig

lals.

• 3 feet shielded flat cable.

Price $159

Power Supply

Watt

+5V

+ 12V

-12V

-5V

A

50

5.0

2.5

B

50

1.8

3.5

C

100

8.0

5.0

0.3

D

100

10

3.5

0.5

0.5

E

45

4.0

2.0

F

60

5.0

3.0

G

135

15

4.2

0.3

0.3

H

150

15

6.0

0.3

0.3

ORDER TOLL FREE: (800) 826-0267 In California Call (415) 651-3355

DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED

SOURCE ELECTRONICS CORP.

45277 Fremont Blvd., Unit 6

Fremont, CA 94538

Telex: 279366 FAX: (415) 791-0935

ACCORDING TO WEBSTER

detection, multiple screens and windows, display list processing by the Copper (graphics coprocessor), minterm processing by the Blitter, and so on. Software support exists on three levels: direct access of the custom chips, low-level graphics routines, and high-level graphics routines. The routines are not as complete or polished as the Mac's but still have some significant capabilities not found in the other two machines.

A Digression

I want to make some comments here about the custom chips on the Amiga, mostly in response to some misleading and distorted comments floating around on the bit stream. The internal bus of the Amiga runs at 14.2 megahertz, twice the clock rate of the 68000 processor. Alternate cycles are given to the 68000 and the DMA (direct memory access) channels, so that the 68000 is usually running at full speed. However, two different situations can occur to cause the 68000 to run slower.

First, if the 68000 is running code located in the lowest 512K bytes of RAM (the Amiga's internal memory, known as chip RAM), contention may—but does not necessarily— occur between the 68000 and the DMA channels. You can, for example, run a four-plane low-resolution (320 by 200 by 16) display (or a two-plane high-resolution display), with all four audio channels, all eight sprites, and be accessing the disk as well—and the 68000 will still be going full tilt. However, if you have a six-plane low-resolution display, the 68000 will slow down by 50 percent during the video update cycles, due to bus contention, if and only if the 68000 is accessing chip RAM. (Note, though, that the 68000 still has no contention during horizontal and vertical blanking.) However, if you've expanded the Amiga beyond 512K bytes, and your code is running in the external memory (known as fast RAM), there is no contention at all, and the 68000 continues to run at full tilt, regardless of the current screen resolution.

The second situation in which the Amiga's 68000 loses cycles is when the Copper or the Blitter is running. Both will steal cycles to accomplish their work: however, since both can accomplish in a few cycles what would take the 68000 many cycles, the net effect is significantly greater performance than either the Mac or the ST, both of which rely upon their 68000s to draw every pixel.

Sound

The Amiga is the winner in the area of sound. It has four audio channels, each with its own 8-bit D/A (digital-toanalog) converter and DMA channel. Left and right audio outputs on the back (standard RCA jacks) let you hook up the Amiga to your RGB monitor (you'll need a Yadapter) or your stereo system: two channels are assigned to each output. (By the way, both outputs also go out through the TV video port, though the current RF modulator combines them to produce monaural sound.) Because the audio channels are DMA-driven, they can run

{continued)

310 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 403 for End-Users. Inquiry 404 for DEALERS ONLY.

R>r thousands of years, man used personalcomputers without decent tape backup*

Enough*

Personal computers have come a long way. Unfortunately, tape backup systems have not. Their functions are primitive, they're frightening to install and truculent to use.

Genoa's Galaxy™ Systems are more highly evolved. So not only do they outperform competitive systems, but using them is actually something that can be done by an ordinary human.

The simpler. The better.

Our software is what makes the difference between our systems and everybody else's. And it's designed to help you use the system easily in either of two modes. Namely, menudriven or batch file.

The menu mode operates true to its name, with menus showing all the commands you have to choose from. And there isn't a thing you can't do from the menu mode because it's comprehensive.

You'll want to use the batch mode for routine operations though, because it allows you to create a "file"

to contain those operations and run them automatically, just by hitting a few keys.

But probably the best example of just how downright civil the Galaxy systems can be is our auto backup. You just preset the time and the desired function, and the system does the rest. Automatically.

No other tape backup systems, by the way, operate this simply.

The features all

tape backups should have.

But don't.

Before you make your first backup — which is the right time to do this—our installation software checks your disk configuration to make sure your tape drive will run at top speed. And it checks the entire system to guarantee it will perform as promised. No competitive system offers anything like it.

Another thing you can do is abort any command at any time. So you don't have to sit through a 20-minute

file-by-file restore just because you hit the wrong key.

You can also do a file-by-file restore from an image backup. So you can get back the one file you need rather than all the files you don't.

But whether it's a couple of files or a complete image, you'll be pleased to know you can restore to any storage device, thanks to Galaxy's interchangeability feature.

Multiple backups on the same tape — even from multiple sources like a floppy or another hard disk— aren't a problem either. The system simply starts recording where the last backup ended.

Or you can use multiple tapes to back up very large files.The system will just let you know when it needs a new tape.

We also perform crc error checking constantly. We can back up a 20 Mb disk in just over 4 minutes. And we're network compatible.

What price progress?

Surprisingly, the Galaxies cost somewhat less than tape backup systems that offer less. Which includes all of them.

For the Genoa Galaxy dealer near you or complete specs, call 408-945-9720. Or write Genoa Systems Corporation, 73 E.Trimble Road, San Jose, CA 95131.

The Genoa Galaxy Systems. The most civilized tape backup in history.

The lBMm-compatibk Genoa Galaxies are available as internal or external versions of Vn" streaming tape or cassette models. (External cassette not shown.)

Galaxy is a trademark of Gonna Systems Corp. 01986 Genoa Sysl

s Corporation

Inquiry 143

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 311

Inquiry 93

e.^.-=- PC/XT/AT ■fcW&w IN TURBO TOP OF THE LINE IBM PC COMPATIBLE COMPUTER

MOTHERBOARD

\m

NOVA'S PC/XT

TURBO ON BOARD

UP TO

640K DUAL SPEED (4.77 MHZ, B MHZ), keyboard software selectable, 8 slots, external reset $125.00 (In large OEM quantity)

NOVA'S AT 286 DUAL SPEED (6 MHZ, 8 MHZ)

keyboard software selectable, battery on board and memory expandable up to 1 MB. 8 slots, external reset switch power good detection circuit which guarantees that the power supply and reset Is working properly, (optional on board: 2 serial /1 parallel) includes legal ROM BiOS $S9S.OO w/SET UP DISKETTE (in large OEM quantity)

SYSTEM

NOVA'S PC/XT BARE BONE

64K includes keyboard, 130W power supply, 8 slots, up lo 640K on mother board and case $510.00

NOVA'S PC/XT 2 DRIVE SYSTEM

8 slot mother board W/256K, 130W power supply and two half ht. TEAC floppy drives and case $795.00

NOVAS AT 286 BARE BONE

1 MB RAM memory, 1.2 M drive, keyboard, 195W power supply, case, HD/FD controller $1,985.00

NOVA'S XT 2 DRIVE SYSTEM

8 slots mother board W/256K, 130W power supply, (wo hail ht. TEAC drives, one 10MB hard disk, DTC controller card and case $1,295.00

NOVAS AT 286 ENHANCED MODEL

1 MB RAM memory, 1.2 M drive, 20 MB hard disk, 195W power supply, HD/FD controller, SIP card $2,795.00

100% hardware and software compatible ENHANCED GRAPHIC ADAPTER $450.00 640 x 350 enhanced color mode, 16 color in 640 x 200 resolution 720 x 350 in monochrome mode, total of 256K bytes of memory Plus Printer Port (can select LPT1 to LPT3) Build in Printer Port Jumper for LPT1 to LPT3

OEM, WHOLESALER, RETAILER, END USER ARE WELCOME

•IBM IS TRADEMARK OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP

COMPUTRADE COMPANY

780 Trimble Road, Suite 605, San Jose, CA 95131 Tel: (408) 946-2442 Telex: 171605 Fax: (408) 435-5458

MAX IBM AT COMPATIBILITY

SMUTTLE-AT

board

■ 80286 CPU at 6, 8, 10 MHZ

■ Upgradable to 1 megabyte

■ 1 parallel, 4 serial ports on board

■ 4 models (S-286, TS-286, C-286, TC-286)

■ Legal and true compatible BIOS

OEM QUANTITY PRICE $595.°°

EGA BOARD

256K on board ■ Parallel port on board ■ Adapts to EGA, Monochrome, RGB monitors 640 x 350 pels (64 colors) ■ Less than half the cost for IBM® EGA from S295.00

BIOS CONTRACT AT, XT, PC, EGA available to manufacturers

IBM, AT are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation

IBS Corporation-professional quality and support

2700 E. Imperial Hwy, Bldg. A.. Brea, CA 92621 To order an evaluation call: (714) 579-0680, 579-0691, Hill1' 579-0692, TLX: 753197. & FAX (714) 579-0695.

ACCORDING TO WEBSTER

with little processor overhead. You can also combine channels to do frequency and amplitude modulation. The Amiga's software support of sound is also excellent, including standard routines to play back digitized sound and to do speech synthesis.

The ST takes a different approach to sound. It has no D/A converters or audio outputs. Instead, it uses a standard three-voice sound chip, which was designed primarily for music synthesis and arcade sound effects and has previously shown up in machines like Mattel's Intellivision. Again, use of this chip helps to relieve any burden on the processor; however, you do not have the same ability to play back digitized sound found in the Amiga (or, with some work, in the Mac). This audio signal is then fed to the monitor via the cable. However, what excites a lot of music enthusiasts about the ST are the standard MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) in and MIDI out ports on the back. This makes it easy to use the ST to control synthesizers and other audio exotica, with some impressive results. Software support for both the sound chip and the MIDI ports seems to be minimal, though; all I could find in the technical documentation were a couple of BIOS (basic input/output system) calls, and I found no information at all as to how the hardware worked.

The Macintosh has a four-voice synthesizer using a single 8-bit D/A converter. Only a little overhead is involved with a single voice, but if you're running all four voices, you place a significant load on the 68000. It is possible to play back digitized sound, but it requires custom software; the ROM routines do not directly handle it.

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

The Mac wins here. For all the grousing that I and others have done about the Mac's Finder, OS (operating system), and even its Toolbox, they are still perhaps the finest system software put on a microcomputer, and they really shine when viewed next to the ST and the Amiga. Of course, Apple has had longer to polish them, but I think the Mac at its release still had far better stuff than either of the others, especially since it had to run on a 128Kbyte machine.

It is hard to come up with a clear winner between the ST and the Amiga in the area of system software, but I'll go with the ST, mostly because of GEM and GEM Desktop. Even though they have some limitations and often lack intelligence and flexibility, they are still more polished than their counterparts on the Amiga. And because of the accepted limitations, GEM can often outperform both the Mac and the Amiga in standard system functions (opening windows, etc.). Atari was smart to go with a system to which someone else had already devoted a lot of resources, leaving Atari with more time to concentrate on the hardware.

Commodore, on the other hand, has done everything in-house and just hasn't done the job on the Amiga system software that it should—probably due to too few peo

(continued)

312 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 397 for End-Users. Inquiry 398 for DEALERS ONLY.

//

Dr. Martin Alpert is pleased to re-introduce his

state of the art" products now marketed by his

new subsidiary - Scientific Solutions.

IBM PC Data Acquisition and Control for Laboratory and Industry.

Lab Master

• Resolution-12,14 or 16 bit

• Speed - to 80 KHz

• Channels-to 256

• Remote A/D for maximum signal clarity

• Timer counter with 1 microsecond resolution Plus much more!

IEEE488 Interface

• 3 different addressing modes

• Operates as talker, listener or controller

• DMA controlled transfers

• Control up to 15 instruments

Scientific Solutions' Lab Master and IEEE488 Interface are used by more scientists and engineers worldwide than any other brands!

Don't forget the other top-selling products now sold through Scientific Solutions:

• Lab Tender™ - Economical 8 bit A/D - D/A • Base Board™ - 96 I/O lines with opto options

• DADIO™ - High speed 12 bit D/A • Stepper Motor Controller™ - Control 1-2 steppers

And more! For the location of your nearest Scientific Solutions dealer, call 216-349-4030.

SCIENTIFIC

$

S O L U T

O N S

Scientific Solutions, Inc., 6225 Cochran Road, Solon, Ohio 44139, 216-349-4030. Telex: 510,100,9900 Scientific Solutions International, Inc., Chausseede la Hulpe181, TI70 Brussels, Belgium. Telex: 20256

Inquiry 408

IBM is a registered trademark of Internationa! Business Machines Corporation

Inquiry 73

COMPETITIVE EDGE

631 S. Main Street, Plymouth, Ml 48170 — 313^51-0665

Compupro®, LOMAS, EARTH, TELETEK S-100 CIRCUIT BOARDS

CcmpuPro286CPU

$671.

Lomas 286 8MHZ

$821.

Color Magic 32K

$556.

CompuPro SPUZ"8MHZ

296.

Lomas 8086

420.

Lomas 10MHz 8086

520.

CompuPro 8085/88"

263.

LomasOctaport" SSenal

320.

Lomas 4 serial

200

CompuPro Disk 1A "

371.

Lomas LDP "72

206,

Lomas Color Magic" 16K

476.

CompuPro Disk 3 "

446.

Lomas 256K Dram

358.

Lomas MSD0S"2.11

200

CompuPro Ram 22 "*

446

Lomas512KDram

448.

CompuPro MDrivc H1512K

446

CompuPro Ram 23"

188.

Lomas Ram 67"

599.

CompuPro I/O 3 8 port

371

CompuPro Ram23128

263.

Lomas Hazilall"

244.

TeletekSBC16MHz128

375

CompuPro CPU Z"

169.

Thunder 186"

895.

Turbodos" for Telelek

650

CompuPro CCP/M"816*

300.

Lomas CCP/M* 86"

280.

Lomas 2 Megabyle

System Support One "

263.

CompuPro 1/04

263.

Ram-(2048K) just $821

TelelekHD/

375.

Syslemaster II"

795.

Earth Turbomaster

$795

Telelek Syslemaster*

495.

I.T. 1024x1024 Brd

$995

Illuminated Technology 1024x1024 Board for Autocad $995. Earth Computer TURBO SLAVE 18MHz 128K $395.

Turbo Slave I runs with Teletek, North Star Horizon. Advanced Digital and Others under Turbodos"

SYSTEMS

CompuPro 85/88,256K,CDOS. SS1.I/0 4.2-96TPI DRS, 15 Slot

CompuPro 85/B8.256K.CDOS, SS1.I/0 4.1-96TPI.20MB. 15 Slot

CompuPro 286, SPUZ, 40MB. SSI, I/ 3. CDOS. 15 Slot, 30 amp P/S

286, 1024K. 20MB. AutoCad 2 System — Ready to Run

Lomas 286.1024K.20MB HD,1-5",CDOS, 6 SERIAL. 2 Par. 15 Slot

Lomas Thunder 186. 256K, 20 MB HD, 1-5", CDOS, 4 Slol

TeletBk 8MHz Master, 4-8MHz 128K SLVS, 1-5". 20 MB HD, TDOS

AT CLONE 286. FAST 20 MB HD. enhanced 512K

AT CLONE. 10MHz 286. 1024K, FAST ZOMB. mono card

$3095 $4295 $6995 $8395 $4995 $2895 $4995 $2995 $3695

UPGRADE YOUR IBM" PC'"!! GRAPHIC BOARDS

EverexEdge $279

Hercules" Color Card S159

Tecma r G raphics M a si e r $449

Enhanced Graphics Clone, 256K $475

PBS Color Card w/parallel $125

Hercules Compatible MONO $ 119 FLOPPY DRIVES

Mitsubishi 4B54-AT $175

Mitsubishi 96 TPI $125

5"DSDDColorDiskolles $ 21

ALL PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND STOCK ON HAND

CompuPro is a Registered Trademark ol Vtesyn, CPU 2. Disk 1A. Disk 3, Inlertacer 3, Interlacer 4.. CPU 286. CPU B0a&'8B, Syslom Suppod 1. MDRIVE-H, Rom 22, Ram 23 are trademarks or regislu«Kt irademarks ol Viasyn CP'M 2.2, CCP/M, arc registered trademarks ol Digital Research Inc. MSDOS is a lurjisieted trademark ol Microsoft. Syslemaster 5 Syslemaster II are registered Irademarks ol Teletok Enterprises. Turbodos is a registered tradumark ol Software 2000 Hercules is a trademark ol Hercules IBM & AT are Irademarks or registered trademarks ol International Busi trademark of AutoDesk. Inc.

MONITORS

Amdox3IOA

$159

Princeton Max 12Amber

$169

Pnncoton Color HR-12

$459

PnncelQn Color S R -12

$649

2B6ACCELERATOR

TurtxAccet-286aMHZ

$895

MULTI-FUNCTION BOARDS

PC-PBS7Pack0K

$119

PC-PGS7Pack384K

$147

ATMF 3000 DlS. 3MB W/OK

$275

$495 $595 $795 $1295 $2295 $3295 $3595

HARD DRIVE KITS

PC 10MB PC PC 21 MB PC AT21MBATFAST AT 36MB AT AT 70MB AT AT BOMB AT AT119MQAT PCFIpyConlroller AT SER/POH

; Machines AutoCad 2 is a registered

Quality Communication Software

for the IBM and Compatibles

NOW! — VERSION 1.1 with more features.

• TWO TERMINALS IN ONE — Bluestreak supports simultaneous independent terminal sessions over COM1 and COM2.

• EMULATES MOST POPULAR TERMINALS - Emulations include IBM 3101, VT100, VT52, FREEDOM 100, ADDS REGENT 25, ADDS VIEWPOINT, HAZELTINE 1500, TELEVIDEO 920, ADM 3A, DG DASHER 6053 AND MIME 340, BLOCK MODE EMULATIONS - IBM 3101 and Televideo 925, Special requests considered.

• CHARACTER TRANSLATION — Set up a user table or use the built in ASCII/EBCDIC table.

• EXTENSIVE SETUP FACILITIES AND OPERATIVES - Hardware and software flow control, Baud rates to 9600, file receive and file send control utilities, XMODEM, keyboard definition, character filtering.

• TELECOMMUNICATION SUPPORT — Modem functions using the AT command set with Phone directory.

• DOS ACCESS — Enter DOS with a single keystroke. Return with terminal session still intact on COM1, COM2 or BOTH.

BLUESTREAK PLUS - $89.95 All of Bluestreak plus a Trigger function to command operation from the remote computer. Also "HOOKS" to run user programs within the Bluestreak environment. Source examples in C, Turbo Pascal and Basic included,

DATA EXTRACTION MODULE - $149.95 A slandalone program which extracts data items from captured files based on user selected criteria. The data is placed in DIF, WKS, WRK or SDF files.

BLUESTREAK 3101 AND 925 — $89.95 Full BLOCK MODE emulations.

BLUESTREAK — STILL ONLY $52.95 Postpaid

ORDERS OR INFORMATION, CALL TOLL FREE

(800) 541-2255, AT THE TONE PRESS 6771539

MasterCharge, Visa, Check or Money Order 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

LANG-ALLAN, INC.

2431 ALOMA AVENUE, SUITE 103

P.O. BOX 1341, WINTER PARK, FL 32790

(305) 677-1539

ACCORDING TO WEBSTER

pie and too little money. The Amiga is a complex piece of hardware; writing ROM and OS routines to take advantage of that complexity isn't easy, and the gaps often show. I do not like AmigaDOS, which is a modified version of Tripos, a 68000-based OS developed in England (see the February BYTE U.K.. page 321). It is nonstandard, ignoring common microcomputer conventions like Control-Q/ Control-S, wild cards, and so on. The command-line interpreter is simply a little routine to execute programs. so that even common commands like DIR (show directory) and CD (change directory) require it to go back to the boot disk to load in a DIR or CD program. Intuition, a window-based user interface, works nicely but will not show you any file on a disk that does not have an icon explicitly defined for it; in other words, each file must have a corresponding <filename>.INFO with the icon definition inside for you to be able to open. move, delete, or execute the file; otherwise, you have to use the commandline interpreter.

If there is a bright point to the Amiga's system software, it is the multitasking Kernel, which makes everything you do inherently multitasking; you can. for example, edit a file while compiling another one. Since the Kernel exists below AmigaDOS and Intuition, no special provisions need to be made for handling the multitasking. Mac and ST developers make a lot of noise about multitasking on their systems, but in both cases it will have to be something of a retrofit and a kludge.

Application Software

The Mac has the advantage, simply because it has been out so much longer than the other two machines. There is a wide variety of polished, professional applications for just about every use (though, curiously, the selection of word processors is limited). The Mac market continues to mature and grow, and some second- and third-generation packages are beginning to emerge, held back mostly by the previous limits on memory and mass storage.

The ST has an impressive number of titles available right now, as demonstrated by the large and crowded Atari booth at COMDEX, probably more so than the Mac had four months after its release. Most though, are geared toward development, entertainment, and personal productivity; few slick, powerful programs have come forth, simply because they take longer to write and because the ST's memory is being eaten up by TOS/GEM, which is not yet in ROM. Also, I suspect that most business software houses don't see the ST as a business machine, so they haven't put any effort into developing programs for it.

Few titles are currently (November) shipping for the Amiga. This is so for a couple of reasons. First, the Kernel and system software have been changing continually all year, and many developers have had to do significant rewrites to accommodate each change. Version 1.1 of the system software is due to be released within a few days, and a number of firms plan to start shipping titles as soon

(continued)

314 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 203

JX\

£

Slowest prices

^NO SURCHARGE

4f

#

9

&K,

ON BANK CARDS

SILICON SP€CinLTI€S

PRINTERS

Anadex All Models Save

Brother All Models Save

Cannon Loser Printer S2099

Citizen MSP 10 $255

MSP-l5orMSP-20 $349

MSP-20 5319

MSP-25 . . S485

Datasouth All Primer Models Save

Diablo D-25 $549

635 SI 079

Oilier Printer Models Save

Epson All Printer Models Save

Juki 6000 SI 69

6100 S349

6300 S679

NEC 2010. 2015. 2050 S629

3510.3550 3515 3530 57 49

8810.8830,8850 $1079

P2, P3 Save

Ell 360 $399

Ell 370 $389

Okidato All Printer Models Save

Ponosonic 1091 $235

1092 $309

1093 $419 KXP3151 $399 Stor Micronics

All Printer Models Save

Silver Reed

EXP400Porallel $205

EXP500 Parallel or Serial $279

EXP550 Parallel or Serial $389

EXP770 Parallel or Serial . . $699

TOSHIBA PRINTERS SPECIAL

Parallel SAVE

Serial $AVE

341 Parallel $829

341 Serial & Parallel . $879 351 Serial & Parallel . $985

MONITORS

Amdex All Monitors NEC All Monitor! Princeton Graphics Taxan All Models Zenith All Models

Save Save Save Save Save

HARDWARE

BOARDS

AST Advantage

Six Pack Plus Everex Boards Hercules Color Cord Graphic Card Intel

Above Boards

Paradise Modular Graphic 06-1

Five Pah

Quadram

Quadlink

Tec Mar Graphics Master

Captain No Memory

COMPUTERS

Compaq All Models Zenith

Z-158 All Models . Z-138 All Models Z-148 All Models

171

200

VIDEO TERMINALS

IBM 3161 & 3163 Series. Qunrte QVT Green 101

QVT Amber 101

Wyse 30

50 .

75

Wyse 65

Wyse 350

Zenith Z-22

Z-29

Z-49 ......

DISK DRIVES

Alpha Omega Turbo 10 Turbo 20 Turbo 30

Haba

Macintosh BOOK .......

Iomega

Bernoulli Boxes for IBM . . Bernoulli Boxes (or Macintosh Paradise Macintosh Hard Disk

MODEMS

AT&T

4000 External

Anchor Automation Anchor Express Mark XII

Hayes Smorlmodem 300 Baud Smartmodem 1200 Baud Smartmodem I200B(IBM) Smartmodem 2400 Baud Micromodem HE (Apple) Prometheus All Models

US Robotics Co, Password 1200 Microlink 2400

!l 2400

S389 $219 Save $149 $299

Save $259 S119

$325 $445 $155

$ave

Save Save Save Save Save

Save S299 $314 $299 $419 $559 $439 S859 S455 $559 Savo

S529 S529 $729

Save

Save Save

$309

5229 S229 Save Save Save Save Save Save $389 $189 $389

KEYBOARDS

Keytronics 5151

DISKETTES

Maxell MD-2 Ploslic Box (Qty 100)

MD-20 Plaslic Box (Qly 100)

SonyMD/2(Oly 100)

PLOTTERS

Enter Sweet-P600 .... .!

Epson Hi-80 Sa

SOFTWARE

IBM PC and 100% Compatibles

WORD PROCESSORS

Lightening . S52

Leading Edge Word Processor S50

Leading Edge W/P with Spell 8. Moil $105

Mkrosoll Word 2.01 S229

Mullimate 3.3 ....., $206

PFS-Write $78

Wordstar w/Tulor $169

Wordstar Pro Pack . $239

MONEY MANAGEMENT

Dollars & Sense w/Forcos! . $95

Tobias Managing Your Money S95

Gem Collection SI 15

Gem Desktop S29

Gem Draw Save

Word Perfect (Ver.4.1). . $199

Wordstar 2000 $239

Wordstar 2000 Plus . . . $285

GRAPHICS

Chartmaster ... S206

Turbo Craphix Tool Box $28

Diagram Master 190

Energraphiu .... 5165

Energraphksw Plotter Option $214

Mkrosoll Chart $175

PC Draw 5203

PC Draw Light Pen $104

FC Painl w Mouse $123

PC Mouse w/ Dr. Halo II $107

PFS Graph $78

Prinlmastcr ..... S30

Sigrtmasler SI 35

LANGUAGES

C Compiler (Microsoft) .... $235

Fortran Compiler (Microsoft) $209

Macro Assembler $89

Pascal Compiler (Mkrosoll) $178

Turbo Pascal 3.0 535

Lollice C Compiler . 5229

Run C Inlerpreler 585

Quick Bask 559

Turbo Tool Box 528

UTILITIES

1 DIR S48

Copy II PC $19

Norton Uiilities 3.1 549

Sidekick $28

5idekick (Unprotected) $43

Sideways . . S36

Superkey $35

Printworks 536

Sidekkk-Superkey(Bundle) 565

TRAINING

Flight Simulator Typing Inslructor

Typing Tutor 111

$30

529 $29

^H ^S VISA

Inquiry 308 for MS DOS Products. Inquiry 309 for all others.

Prices reflect 396 to 5% cash discount. Product shipped in factory cartons with manufacturer's warranty. Please add $ 10.00 per order for UPS shipping. Prices & availability subject to change without notice. Send cashier's check or money order., .all other checks will delay shipping two weeks.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Harvard Total Project Manoger $269

Microsoft Project , . Save

SuperProjecl S182

Timeline 2.0 . S249

COMMUNICATIONS

CompuServe Starter Kit 519

Crosstalk XVI $94

PFS Access $78

Remote $94

INTEGRATIVE SOFTWARE

Enable 1.1 $329

Framework II $avo

Smart Software System . Save

Symphony Savo

SPREADSHEETS

Lotus 1-2-3 Savo

Multiplan SI 14

Spreadsheet Auditor 2.0 S83

| Supercede 3 (Ver.2.1). . SAVE"| DATA BASE MANAGEMENT

Cornerstone $255

dBase II Save

dBase III ... Save

Nulshell $50

PFS:FHe S78

PFS:Repott ... $70

Qulckcode $139

QuickReport $139

Exlonded Report Writer $80

Think Tank . ........ $93

Clipper 5355

Knowledgeman II 5299

Knowledgeman Upgrad* Kit SI 52 Powerbase

(NewVer.Reb.320K) 5205 Roflcx 552

lR:Base5000.$335/V

^£#<sv

Inquiry 141 for End-Users, inquiry 142 for DEALERS ONLY.

For All IBM PC & XT & Compatibles ... ELIMINATE NUM-LOCK !

Available - IBM AT

KEYPATCH™ -10 - A full travel mini-keyboard. Plugs between keyboard connector and CPU. Automatically activates NUM-LOCK placing your IBM™ keyboard into the number pad mode while KEYPATCH™ -10 provides separate cursor and screen control functions without the use of the NUM-LOCK key. Saves time — eliminates errors. KEYPATCH™ -10 requires no software. A must for spread sheets; word processing; graphics; etc.

For Immediate Shipment J5JJ PC/XT $8495

,_ . , , , IBM AT J929S

?„*,?? T®chnol°9ie8'lnc" Compatibles W*

1331 E. EdingerAve. i-iTr-Columbia-ncr

Santa Ana, Calif. 92705 Leading Edge - Sperry - Desk Pro

fF4A\ CAT r»QOn -PLEASE SPECIFY SYSTEM

[11**) 0*»f-UOOU (Cal. Res Add 6% Sales Tax)

'"Patents Pending Visa, Master Card, Check, Money Order

KEYPATCH'" is a trademark of Genest Technologies, Inc. Plus $2M Shipping IBM'" is a trademark of International Business Machines Corp.

HARMONY COMPUTERS

2357 CONEY ISLAND AVE.. BROOKLYN. NY 11223 800 VIDE084 OR 800-4411144 OR 718-627 1000

t*-^;

Commodore 128

PANASONIC 1091

&2 Jff

$238.95

$221.95

.^jP^S^^1^

STARSG10

IBM P.C. NO DRIVES

*BL^7

$196.95

$1099.95

"PRINTER SPECIAL

S"

Brother HR15XL

312

NEC 8850 1

084

StarSD 10

291

Brother HR35

635

Okidata 192

323

Star SD 15

390

Citizen MSP 10

23d

Okidal 193

439

StarSR 10

406

Epson LX80

189

Okidata 182

208

StarSR15

510

Epson LO 1500

837

Panasonic KXP 1091

222

Star SB 10

479

FX85

339

Panasonic KXP 1092

292

Silver Reed Exp 550

338

Epson 286

499

Panasonic KXP 3151

382

Silver Reed Exp 500

199

HP Laser Jet 2

288

Panasonic KXP 1080

184

Silver Reed Exp 800

619

IBM Proprintet

358

Panasonic KXP 3131

244

Silver Reed Exp 400

189

Juk.6100

335

Panasonic KXP 1592

409

Toshiba 1340

385

NEC 2050

593

SlarSGlO

197

Toshiba 341

739

NEC 3550

756

SlarSG15

331

Toshiba 351

984

M/V1T1

71

.MfYYn

T\

.T ViV

H

t

IBM

IBM

MONITORS

AT Unenhanced

912

20 Meg Drive w/conl

449

Amdek 300 Green

104

AT Enchanced ISM Monilor IBM PC No drives PC XT

1796 218

099 569

8087 Chip 60287 Chip

AST Advantages

99 158

369

Amdek 300 Amber 310 Amber Color 300

109 129 148

Everex Graphics Pacer

259

Color 600

364

PC XT Clone IBM Dfive-360K IBM Pro Printer

489 99 358

Everex Graphics Edge Everex Edge

219 226

ColOr710 Color 722 PrmctonHX12

390 4S2

390

AST Six Pack 64K

198

ATARI

PinctonHX12E

^59

Tall Grass 25 Meg .

392

PnnctonMax 12E

142

Quad Board

172

130 XE

119

SR12

533

Hercules Color

139

800 XL

59

Hercules Monochrome

277

1027 Printer

104

Color Card

109

1050 Drive

129

Mono Graphics Card

119

Indus. Drive

189

APPLE

Multifunction Cafd

109

Graphic Primer

109

Paradise Graphics

248

MODEMS

2E

679

Paradise5 Pack

109

STB Graphics + 2

202

Hayes 1200

349

COMMODORE

STB R10 + 2

172

Hayes 1200B w/Smarlcom

323

STB Mono Board

146

Hayes 300

120

Commodore 64

144

Tecmar Graphics Tecmar Caplian Persysi Monocard

411 148 137

Hayes 2400 Hayes2400B Micromodern 2E

556 489 123

1541 Disk Drive 1802 Monitor 1902 Monitor

172 177 284

Bernouli Bo» Tallgrass 35 Meg

lOMegDr w/conlroller External 10 Meq

589 120 379 439

Promeihous 1200

284

MPS 803 Indus. Drive Commodore 128

104 195 239

800-441-1144

Monitor 1571 Drive

244

208

Hems relied 4% casf

or che

k discount For your protectir.

n wee

leek lor stolen credii cards

m.c

visa

welcome. Personal checks ca

se 4 w

>ek delay

ACCORDING TO WEBSTER

as that happens. The second reason is that most developers (such as those who attended the Amiga developers' seminar last May) weren't able to get machines until late August or early September, while the ST has been in the hands of developers since last spring. One possible saving grace: Some of the big guys, including Microsoft, are doing serious development work on the Amiga and may help it to get some professional software.

PORTS

This is a close one. All three machines have good and bad aspects, but I'll pick the ST as the winner on the basis of three ports: the hard-disk DMA, the serial port, and the printer port. As I mentioned last month, I was impressed when 1 could simply unplug my printer and modem cables from my Compaq, plug them into the ST, and immediately use my Epson printer and Hayes modem. No fuss, no muss. And the hard-disk port helps to offset the lack of an expansion bus. The two MIDI ports and the two joystick ports are also assets, while the very obscure 13-pin video port and the lack of composite or RF video output are liabilities.

The Amiga gets good marks for the variety of ports: parallel, serial, floppy disk, RGB, composite video, RF video, left and right audio, and dual ports that can accept mice, potentiometer- or switch-type joysticks, or light pens. The bad marks come from some of the nonstandard pinouts. The parallel port uses a DB-2 5 (male) connector rather than the DB-2 5 (female) connector of the IBM PC. So (unlike the ST) you cannot just plug in an IBM printer cable: instead, you have to use a special Amiga cable. Likewise, the serial port is not standard RS-232C but has some unusual signals for a serial port, like audio in, audio out, and several voltage levels (-5, +5, and +12). The RGB port uses a DB-23 connector that, while easier to build than the Atari's 13-pin DIN, is still odd enough to slow you down.

The Mac gets negative points for the lack of ports—just two serial ports—and their nonstandard nature, i.e., "almost" RS-422. This is especially serious in light of the lack of any external bus or internal slots. Which brings us to the next topic. . .

EXPANDABILITY

The Amiga comes in first, simply because it's the only one of the three really built to be expandable. Both the Mac and the ST are closed boxes, though heroic efforts are being made for after-the-fact expandability. Having been through the Amiga technical documents completely, I can tell you that the machine was designed from the ground up, both in terms of hardware and software, to grow. The 60-pin expansion bus gives external hardware complete access to and control of the insides of the machine, including the custom chips. The memory map allocates a little over half to RAM (8'/2 megabytes); much of the rest is reserved for future use. Part of the memory map is set

(continued)

316 BYTE • MARCH 1986

BetterBASIC, Version 2.0

Runs Existing BASIC Programs

"/ write a lot of complicated mathematical models for air pollution control.

I have used FORTRAN for its speed, and BASIC for its text handling and graphics, but now I use BetterBASIC for all three. Most of the programs require dozens of different parameters, and BetterBASIC"s modular structure allows

me to have common routines resident while designing the input forms.

' Thave recommended BetterBASIC to my coworkers, and I recommend it to you.''

Phil A. Lawless, Ph.D. • Research Triangle Park, NC

ACCESS FULL MEMORY—

BetterBASIC accesses the full memory of the computer enabling you to overcome Microsoft's 64K barrier.

INTERACTIVE COMPILER—BetterBASIC compiles to an intermediate code giving you five to six times the speed of traditional BASICs. There is immediate feedback on line entry.

COMPATIBLE—Version 2.0 of BetterBASIC is GW-BASIC, PC-BASICA compatible when running on IBM PCs. BetterBASIC is easy to learn because the syntax is the same. STRUCTURE—Create well-organized programs using procedures and functions that are easily identified and understood. NOT COPY PROTECTED—Install BetterBASIC on your hard disk. BetterBASIC is licensed to the programmer, so you can compute at work and at home using the same copy of BetterBASIC. USER DEFINED KEYWORDS—The BetterBASIC language can be extended by adding your own procedures and functions to the language as keywords. RUNTIME SYSTEM—Creates stand-alone EXE. files. Developers can distribute their programs written in BetterBASIC without royalties.

SAMPLE DISK—Contains a tutorial, a demo, and allows you to use an abbreviated form of BetterBASIC. It also contains a 60 page on-line mini manual.

AND MORE—Such as DOS and BIOS ROM calls, Chaining, Overlays, Local and Global Variables, Recursion—Graphics and Windows—You can define up to five windows. Optional 8087/80287 Math Chip Support. LIBRARIES—Write reusable code. TECHNICAL SUPPORT— Available to all registered users. BetterBASIC Runs on IBM PC, XT, AT and all IBM-compatibles. Ask your local dealer for BetterBASIC or call 1-800-225-5800. In Canada call 416-469-5244. Also available for the Tandy 1000, 1200 and 3000 at Tandy/Radio Shack stores.

PRICES:

Better BASIC

8087/80287 Math Module Runtime System Sample Disk with Tutorial

$199 $99

$250 $10

Because It's The Best.

Summit Software Technology, Inc.r

106 Access Road, Norwood, MA 02062

Inquiry 329

MasterCard, Visa, Checks, Money Order, C.O.D. accepted and P.O. on approval.

BetterBASIC is a registered trademark of Summit Software Technology Inc.

IBM PC, XT, AT, are registered trademarks Of International Business Machines Corp Tandy is a registered trademark of Tandy Corp.

(If you're using BetterBASIC and would like to be featured in one of our ads, please write to the Director of Advertising at Summit.)

$495

Little Board /186....

High Performance, Low Cost PC-DOS Engine

Boots IBM PC-DOS 'not included)

I Three times the COMPUTING POWER of

a PC i Data and File Compatible with IBM PC,

runs "MS-DOS seneric" programs ' 8 MHz 80186 CPU, DMA,

Counter/Timers, 128/512K RAM zero

wait states, 16-128K EPROM i Mini/Micro Floppy Controller

(1-4 Drives, Single/Double Density,

1-2 sided, 40/80 track) i 2 RS232C Serial Ports (50 -38,400

baud), 1 Centronics Printer Port i Only 5.75 x 7.75 inches, mounts

directly to a 5-1/4* disk drive i Power Requirement: +5VDC at 1.25A;

+12VDC at .05A; On board -12V

converter

i SCSI/PLUS'" multi-master I/O

expansion bus > Software Included:

• PC-DOS compatible ROM-BIOS boots DOS 2.x and 3.x

• Hard Disk support i OPTIONS:

• Expansion board with:

• 128 or 512K additional RAM

• 2 Sync/Async RS232/422 serial ports

• Battery backed Real Time Clock

• 8087 Math Co-Processor

• Buffered I/O Bus

• STD Bus Adapter

• Utilities source code

• TurboDOS / Networking

TM

Setla 200

BOOKSHELF

Fast, compact, high quality, versatile PC-DOS system

Three times the COMPUTING POWER or a PC

Priced from $1295.00

• Data and File compatible with IBM PC-DOS 2.x and 3.x

• Runs "MS-DOS generic" programs (Dbase II, Multiplan, Wordstar, Supercalc Q, Turbo Pascal, Fortran 77, Microsoft C, Lattice C, IBM Macro Assembler, Intel compilers & tools, GW Basic, etc )

• Works with any RS232C ASCII terminal (not included)

• Compact 7.3 x 6.5 x 10.5 inches, 12.5 pounds, all metal construction

• Based on Little Board/186

• 512KRAM,no wait states

• Two RS232 serial ports

• One Centronics printer port

• One or two 360 Kb floppy drives

• 10MB internal hard disk drive option

10MB System Only $1945.00

Software Included:

• PC-DOS Compatible ROM-BIOS boots DOS 2.x and 3.x

• Hard Disk Support

• T/Maker III — Word processing, spreadsheet, relational database, spelling checker, and data encrypt/decrypt

Expandable:

• Floppy expansion to four drives

• Hard disk and tape expansion

• SCSI/PLUS'" multi-master I/O expansion bus

DISTRIBUTORS

ARGENTINA: FACTORIAL, SA, (1) 41-0018, TLX 22408 BELGIUM: CENTRE ELECTRONIQUE LEMPEREUR, (041) 23-4541, TLX 42621 CANADA: DVNACOMP COMPUTER SVSTEMS LTD, (604) 872-7737 ENGLAND: QUANT SYSTEMS, (01) 253-8423, TLX 946240 REF:19003131 FRANCE: EGAL+, (1) 502-1800, TLX 620893 SPAIN: XENIOS INFORMATION 593-0822, TLX 50364 AUSTRALIA: ASP

MICROCOMPUTERS, (613) 500-0628 BRAZIL: CNC-DATA LEADER LTDA, (41) 262-2262, TLX 041 -6364 DENMARK: DANBIT, (03) 66-20-20, TLX 43558 FINLAND: SVMMETRIC Oy, (0) 585-322, TLX 121394 ISRAEL: ALPHA TERMINALS, LTD., (3) 49-16-95, TLX 341667 SWEDEN: AB AKTA, (08) 54-20-20, TLX 13702 USA: CONTACT AMPRO COMPUTERS INC, TEL: (415) 962-0230 TELEX: 4940302

IBM*, IBM Corp,- 80186 * Intel, Corp,; TufboDOS*, Software 2000, Inc., Dbase II*, AshtonTate; Wordstar*, MicroPro, Inc.; Supercalc 2*, Sorcim, Inc.; Turbo Pascal;, Boriand, Intl., Inc.; Microsoft C*, GW Basics, Multiplan*, Microsoft, Inc.; Lattice C«, i COMPUTERS. INCORPORATED Lattice, Inc.

V. 67 East Evelyn Ave.. Mountain vlewt CA94041. (415) 962-0230. TELEX 4940302 ^

Inquiry 22 for Little Board. Inquiry 23 for BOOKSHELF.

ACCORDING TO WEBSTER

aside for expansion hardware, so that if developers follow the protocol given, the system will configure itself when booted, avoiding the need for DIP (dual in-line package) switches and so on.

One of the best examples of the Amiga's open architecture comes from Computer System Associates, a firm that makes a board for 68000 development systems. The board, which plugs into the 68000's socket, has a 68020 processor and a 68881 floating-point processor. Vic Wintriss, the president of CSA, bought an Amiga, opened the machine, removed the 68000, and plugged in his board. Not only did the Amiga work fine, but Vic says he got an immediate 70 percent increase in speed, which doesn't count the floating-point hardware. Similar attempts to upgrade the Mac have failed; I don't know if anyone has tried it with an ST.

As mentioned, neither the Mac nor the ST is designed to be expandable: the Mac, because of philosophy; the ST, because of cost. It is possible to expand RAM in both, but this is usually at the cost of your warranty and sometimes your power supply. ROM changes and system-software patches are often required as well, and some application programs may not work or may not recognize the extra memory. And neither is really set up for significant non-RAM hardware expansion. The ST does have an edge over the Mac, though, because of both the hard-disk port (which uses DMA for speed) and the cartridge port (which makes some data and address lines available). Also, because the 520ST is not designed for hardware expansion, most of its 16-megabyte address space is available for RAM, while the current Mac is pretty much limited to 4 megabytes.

Technical Manuals

The Amiga wins here easily. The seven technical manualsmore than 2000 pages, all professionally printed and bound—are the best I've seen for a new computer and may well be the best I've ever seen for any computer. They are well written, well organized, and amazingly complete, covering hardware, Kernel routines, AmigaDOS, and Intuition. Addison-Wesley is bringing out mass-market versions of the manuals; the ones I have were put together by Commodore, which makes the feat even more impressive.

\nside Macintosh is, well, the manual we all know and love. And hate. It is a large collection of technical notes about various aspects of the Mac's system software, with almost no mention of, nor significant information about, the hardware. There is little overall organization to the manual: however, most sections follow a consistent format that makes it easy (once you've found the right section) to dig out what you need. However, as Kathe Spracklen (coauthor of Sargon II) once observed, each section (there are 30 or so) requires that you understand all the others, which can make your initial exposure to Inside Macintosh a challenging experience in intellectual bootstrapping. I have

(continued)

318 BYTE • MARCH 1986

SOLVE PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS THE WAY YOU THINK.

PURE AND SYMBOL

Introducing the new APL*PLUS®PC System, Release 5.0

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But unfortunately, that's not the case in programming.

Most languages require you to go through an enormous number of steps before an idea becomes reality.

That's why the APL • PLUS PC System is such a dramatic and exciting software tool for serious PC programmers and application developers.

Instead of requiring you to learn—and write—long-winded and complicated programs, APL is based on your instinctive ability to deal in symbols. And once you begin using APL's quick notations, you'll find it the ideal programming

environment for all your application needs.

The incredible shortcuts you get with APL will let you spend less time on drudgery and more time creating. Intricate calculations and modeling on PC's are a snap.

The Release 5.0 version features:

• multi-window, full-screen editing

• graphics primitives, now with EGA support

• spreadsheet-like numeric editing

• fast Assembler library

• built-in terminal mode

• and report formatting. Plus concise notation for

programs like sorting, matrix inversions, string searching,

-^

and more. And the complete package price is just $595 with major credit cards accepted.

Act now, and we'll send you a free Convincer Kit. Contact your local dealer, or call 800-592-0050 (in Maryland, call 301-984-5123) to order your system, or for more information about our other APL * PLUS products—from our UNIX™ version to the new streamlined Pocket APL™

Or write STSC, Inc.,

jjj | Software Publishing Group, 2115 East Jefferson St., RockviUe, MD 20852.

You'll see how symbol PLUS*WARE products are to use, the very first time you use them.

,.;0~

Problem-solving at the speed of thought.11

{<•## APL * PLUS PC System requires 256K and DOS 2.0 or later. A soil character set can be used lor computers with IBM compatible graphics board. A character generator

3^ | 3% R0U of software is included lor the IBM PC or selected compatibles.

a comoi company PLUS * WARE and Pocket APL are trademarks ot STSC, Inc. APL * PLUS is a registered trademark of STSC, Inc. UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories.

Inquiry 328

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 319

ACCORDING TO WEBSTER

both the original loose-leaf and the phone book editions. Addison-Wesley is bringing out mass-market versions of Inside Macintosh in softbound and hardcover editions.

Then we have the Atari technical documents, such as they are. These can be divided into two major groups: those from Digital Research and those from Atari. The documents from Digital Research, which make up the bulk of the package, are generally well done, if sometimes sparse on explanations and examples. However, the Digital Research documents all refer to other machines or systems. The GEM documents—which are exactly the same as those I received at the seminar last spring—all refer to the IBM PC, while the language documents all refer to CP/M-68K. There is, in fact, a CP/M-68K manual in the package, though the ST doesn't use it. The Atari manuals leave much to be desired. They are generally photocopies of dot-matrix output and are sparse and incomplete. The ST hardware documents, including schematics, are about 15-20 pages; by comparison, the Amiga hardware manual is more than 300 pages (and, of course, the Mac hardware manual doesn't exist). The DOS, BIOS, and "Line A" documents for the ST are better than its hardware documents but still represent less than 300 pages (more than 400, if you include the BIOS listing), while the Amiga ROM

Kernel manual alone is 1500 pages long. More isn't necessarily better, but in this case it definitely is.

Price and Price/Performance

The ST wins the price comparison by a wide marginthere is just nothing like it for less than $1000. It was not long ago that a Commodore 64 with a disk drive and color monitor cost $995. Now you can buy a 520ST with an RGB monitor and a single-sided disk drive for the same price. The ST also wins the price/performance comparison, but not by as much. The 520ST is a closed box with a fixed shelf life; Atari has announced its successor, the 1040ST, but there will be no upgrade path to it, at least no easy one. Even so. Atari will probably continue to sell as many 520STs as it can make.

Despite its impressive credentials, the Amiga is still somewhat overpriced, though not (in my opinion) as badly as most people claim. I can buy a $1295 Amiga—which has 2 56K bytes of memory and a double-sided disk drive holding 876K bytes—take it home, hook it up to my TV set or a spare color monitor (using RE composite, or RGB), boot up BASIC, and have more than 40K bytes of memory available. To do the same with a 520ST, I would have to

(continued)

IBM PC AT performance! PCjr price!

AMPRO Little Board/186 $419 •8 Mhz 16 Bit 80186 CPU •128 512K RAM; 1 MB w add-on board • 128K EPROM -2 Byte Wide sockets • 4 Drive floppy disk controller • SCSI (SASI) hard disk interface ■ IBM compatible ROM-BIOS •Boots PC DOS 2.x. 3.x • Two RS232 C serial ports

• Parallel printer port

• Expansion board w 512K RAM. 8087-2. Clock. 2 serial ports. RS422 port

• AMPRO Little Board Plus $289

• Same as Little Board 186 except 4 Mhz Z80A (8 Bit) CPU. 64K RAM, 4 - 16K EPROM; w CP.M 2.2, ZCPR3

• AMPRO Little Board (the original) $239

• Same as Little Board Plus except no SCSI. 4K EPROM; w/ CP.M 2.2, ZCPR3

■& 25 different enclosures w'power supplies, cables, etc from S99

■A Floppy/Winchester drives from $89

ft XEBEC 4000 OWL 1 /2 Ht 10Mb drive w. integral controller $595

i-i- Terminals; Wyse, Qume, Kimtron from $395

it Power supplies, cables, connectors in stock

Complete technical support. Assembled systems available. Wrile or call for

free catalog. Most orders shipped same day.

VISA, MasterCard, Money Order. COD. Checks allow two weeks.

Purchase orders and bids welcome. Prices ROB. Prairie View. IL.

IBM PC AT. PCjr. PC DOS are Irademarks ol Internalional Business Machines Corporalion XEBEC OWL is a trademark of XEBEC. Inc

DISKS PLUS

15945 West Pope Blvd. Prairie View. IL 60069 (312) 537-7888

ONE STOP CABLE SOURCE

Our cables are custom manufactured with the highest quality materials and are guaranteed to the original buyer for life!

CABLE DESCRIPTION:

• IBM-PC & Compatibles Shielded Parallel Printer Cable

• Centronics 36 Pin Parallel Cable W/Bail Lock Connectors.

Extension Type

• RS-232 Type-DB-25 Cable W/Screw Lock Connectors.

Extension Type

• Commodore Serial 6 Pin DIN Connector

Extension Type

• AMIGA-Parallel Printer Cable

IMPORTANT: -6MM designates a 6 ft. male to male type

— 10MF designates a 10 ft. male to female type, etc. Order only the exact numbers above

ORDER #

PRICE

1103-8MM

$16.95

1103-12MM

$21.95

3036-6MM

$22.95

3036-1OMM

$26.95

3036-6MF

$23.95

3036-10MF

$27.95

3025-6MM

$18.95

3025-10MM

$22.95

3025-6MF

$19.95

3025-10MF

$26.95

3006-5MM

$ 9.95

3006-8MM

$12.95

3006-5MF

$10.95

3006-8MF

$13.95

3040-6MM

$17.95

3040-1 OMM

$21.95

-we do not stock others.

INTERFACES:

• APPLE II, lie, II + Parallel Printer Interface

1104

$76.00

"PC Ware" W/O Graphics

• APPLE IIC "Printer Jack" Parallel Printer

1109

$79.00

• C-64 & C-128 Printer lnterface-"G-WIZ"

1105

$46.95

AB SWITCHES:

• ABC-3 to 1 Centronics Switch

4036

$65.95

• ABC-3 to 1 RS232 (DB-25) Switch

4025

$60.95

2 Week Money Back Guarantee - 1 Year Warranty

Send Order to:

APROTEK 1071-A Avenida Acaso, Camarillo, CA 93010

TECHNICAL INFO: 1- (8051 987-2454

OR CALL OUR TOLL FREE ORDER LINES TODAY:

1- (800) 962 5800 USA or 1- (8001 962-3800 CALIF.

Add: S3.00 Shipping. Listed are cash prices. VS & MC add 3%.

320 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 394

Inquiry 26

FVom the minds of MASTERVOICE. Introducing Butler - In - A - Box. The worlds first environmental control system that responds to voice commands. The first with AIR. (Artificial Intelligent Recognizer); a futuristic software program which makes it a reality.

Replace pushbutton control with voice activated magic!

Butler-In-A-Box replaces old-fashioned pushbutton control systems making them obsolete. At the sound of your voice, he carries out your tasks. All you have to do is ASK! Evom the comfort of your favorite easy chair, up to twenty feet away.

Control all of your electronic devices at the sound of your voice.

Butler-In-A-Box puts all of your electronic devices, high tech or not, under your voice control. He will dial your phone and answer incoming calls without ever touching him. He turns your TV, stereo, heating systems and other electronic devices on and off, even dims lights. All of this instantly or at the predetermined times you desire.

Computerized protection against intruders.

Butler-In-A-Box has a unique, built-in infrared sensor and intrusion detection system that guards your home and alerts you to uninvited guests. When he detects intruders, he will speak, and ask them to identify themselves. Only you can verbally command him to turn off his intrusion detection system, because he is trained to recognize only your voice. He is also capable of interfacing with your existing home security system.so it can be activated by yourvoice.

Speaks and understands any

language.

Your Butler-In-A-Box is smart enough to call vou bv name and answer "intelli

gently" with a variety of random responses — in any language you wish! Even with an accent.

Easy to install and use.

Your Butler has been designed with you in mind. He's so simple to install and use you won't believe it. Complete with instructional audio cassette and easy to follow written Instructions, And, no *7)(Vifl/MvV/H# of your home is required.

Experience the technology of tomorrow, today! Put Butler-In-A-Box to work for you.

Order direct or send for our free brochure by just lifting a finger, (possibly for the last time), and dialing our tollfree hot-line: 1-800-O-BUTLER. (In California) 1-(714) 952-7056. Or write:

Future Systems Marketing 5067 Cumberland Drive Cypress, CA 90630

_

^^^k.

aire coi/niOL |

•j

f/Wiffl BUTLER IN A BOX

Future Systems Marketing — Tomorrows dreams, today's reality.

11985 Mastervolce, Ltd.

Inquiry 223 for End-1

Inquiry 345

RS-422

CONVERTER

TO/FROM RS-232

• Up to 100 kilobaud at 4000 feet

• Up to 3 miles at 1200 baud

• Supports eight signals

• Doubles as a high speed short haul modem

• All handshake signals and clock

• Write or call to order or for more information

TELEBVZE

A PUBLIC COMPANY

Remark Division • Telebyte Technology, Inc. • 270 E. Pulaski Rd.

Greenlawn, NY 11740 • (516) 423-3232 800-835-3298

ACCORDING TO WEBSTER

There is no clear winner. Each machine has its strengths and its weaknesses.

spend $1095, which would get me the nice Atari RGB monitor (since the ST can't use a TV set or a composite color monitor), a double-sided drive (holding only 709K bytes, or about 81 percent of the Amiga's drive), and 512K bytes, of which only about 2 56K bytes is available since GEM/TOS is not in ROM yet. (However. I have just had late word that Atari has started shipping EPROMs with GEM/TOS to developers and that ROMs for end users should be available shortly. That will make a big difference in the amount of memory available for applications.) And while I would like to see the Amiga down at, say, $995, Commodore has little incentive right now to lower the price since—like Atari—it's selling all it can make.

I'm not sure what the Mac's official list price is, but the street price right now for a 512K-byte single-drive (400K bytes) Mac is slightly less than $2000. The Mac, therefore, comes in a distant third in both price and price/performance. Since the Mac still has a tremendous advantage in terms of software, support, and company stability, the price isn't likely to come down too far or too fast.

Wrap-up of Round I

Based on the observations above, there is no clear winner. Each machine has its strengths and its weaknesses. The Mac is an established machine, with lots of software and hardware available, a large installed base, and sound financial backing (at least in comparison to Atari and Commodore). The 520ST is an amazing bargain, much more a computer "for the rest of us" than the Mac ever was, and it should sell well. The Amiga is slow coming out and is in a precarious position in terms of price, software, and financial backing. But if it (and Commodore) can survive the next six months, the Amiga could easily be around for 5 to 10 years, long after 520STs are gathering dust on closet shelves.

In the Queue

Next month will feature round 2 of the 68000 wars. I'll have a number of tables comparing system features and showing the results of various benchmarks. I hope to squeeze in comments on some of the software that is piling up, especially those packages for the 520ST and the Amiga. Until then, I'll see you on the bit stream. ■

Many thanks to the following people for technical information and corrections: Eric Zocher of Silicon Beach Software: Bob Pariseau of Commodore: Neil Harris of Atari; ]ez San of Argonaut Software Ltd.; Scott Turner of L5 Computing; Charlie Heath of MicroSmiths; the Amiga crowd on BIX; and the SIG ATARI crowd on CompuServe.

322 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 99

If you need easy access

to your IBM mainframe,

our Emulation Adapters

are just the tickets.

With the IBM Enhanced 5250 Emulation Adapter or the IBM 3278/79 Emulation Adapter, you can quickly convert your IBM Personal Computer into an online terminal. Thereby gaining easy access to mainframe data without leaving your desk. And making the transfer of data between PC and mainframe simple.

What's more, you can access programs at the host and run PC programs simultaneously. Switching from one to the other with a simple keystroke sequence.

You can even pick your own printer in most cases: the host's high-speed printer or your own PC's printer.

Put the power of our most popular mainframes on your desk.

The enhanced 5250 emulation card allows you to access the IBM System/34, 36 or 38 with your PC, PC XT. PC AT or Portable PC. (Remote access is available on the System /36 and 38 using appropriate hardware and software.)

And the 3278/79 card lets you and your IBM PC, PC XT or PC AT interact with the IBM 4300. 3081, 3083 or 3090, either local or remote.

You'll thank us for the memory.

The 3278/79 card's emulation

control program requires only 23K of memory.

Which means, with our 3278/79 card, you've got more memory left for application programs. And less tied up with housekeeping functions.

The key to keyboard familiarity.

The enhanced 5250 card's emulation program lets you define keyboard functions. Default definitions make it easy to map the PC. PC XT, PC AT or Portable PC keyboards to the 5291 keyboard. You can also define your own personal keyboard layout and play back predefined strings of keys.

The 3278/79 Emulation Adapter

is now available

through your dealer.

The 5250 card is carried by selected dealers. Both Emulation Adapters are available at IBM Product Centers and

through your IBM marketing representative. You'll be pleasantly surprised by the cost of either card. So if you'd like to put the power of your i company's mainframe to work for you. 1 put in one of our Emulation Adapters. I And you'll find out why our cards are the ' hottest tickets in town. —— — —■

Inquiry 165

COMMON SENSE IN DATABASE MANAGEMENT 41 ^_^—■- NUMBER FIVE IN A SERIES. .==_ >&^

324 BYTE • MARCH 1986

SOME THINGS CAN

NEVER BE SHARED

OTHERTHINGS

SHOULD BE.

The people who make database software have some strange logic. They tell you information is the most valuable thing in the world. And then they design their products for single-user systems. Which means that every time different people actually need to use your data, they have to stand in line for it.

INTRODUCING R:BASE,M 5000 MULTI-USER.

At Microrim, we have a much better idea of the way offices work. So we've developed a multi-user version ' of R:base 5000 that lets users update their database while other people analyze it. And we've made this new version fully compatible with our singleuser version. Which means any application you develop on the single-user version today can be run on our multiuser version tomorrow.

DATAPRO RANKS R:BASE 5000 #1.

Of course, we gave the multiuser version all the features that convinced the Datapro Research Corporation to rate our single-user version as the best DBMS on the market. But we've also designed it to make optimum use of all the extra capabilities offered by the IBM PC Network (IBM PC DOS 3.1). To optimize data sharing, R:base 5000 MultiUser takes full advantage of the front end processing power of the PC. As

a result, multiple users will be able to work with the same database at the same time.

While editing, data integrity is protected by a locking mechanism that operates at the item level. This important feature lets the other users work with columns and rows of the same table. Instead of making them wait around for the other guy to finish his editing job.

SEE FOR YOURSELF: 1-800-547-4000.

The full price is $1500, complete with three sets of documentation. But if you believe in common sense as much as we do, you won't make a decision this big till you get your hands on a copy and see for yourself. And that's just what we'd like you to do. For only $50, we'll send you a copy of the program that has all the features, one set of documentation, and all the functionality of the full product, except for limitations on the numbers of rows, columns and tables.

Just call 1-800-547-4000 and ask for Dept. 906. From Oregon, or outside the U.S., call 1-503-684-3000, Dept. 906. Or head straight for a leading software store or computer dealer.

And see how nice it is to take advantage of information. Instead of taking turns at it.

R:BASE 5000 MULTI-USER

FROM MICRORIM

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO COMMON SENSE.

100% compatible with IBM XT, AT and PC protocols. Does not support IBM 36

IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines. Inc.

Datapro Report on Microcomputers is published monthly by Datapro Research Corporation.

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 325

.®

11 «& IBM PC~ AT COMPATIBLE $1499? T=PLUSlBM XT COMPATIBLE $399?

®

AI />8MHz COMPATIBLE AT SPEED $699.

IBM PC AT compatible computer, 6MHz clock, 640K mem

ory, keyboard, FD/HD Controller, 1.2MB Floppy .. .$1499>

,®

IBM PC ATcompatiblecomputer, 8MHzclock, (enhanced version), 640 memory expandable to 1MB, Keyboard, FD/HD Controller, 1.2MB Drive, 20MB Hard Disk... $1999.

"O" wait state Option extra $ 300.

DEALER & OEM SPECIAL

(25 or more unit purchase price)

Floppy Disc Controller $ 29.

Monochrome Graphics Card/PP 79.

Disk I/O Card FDC, PP/SP, Game, Battery Clock .... 79.

1200 Baud Modem 139.

1200 Baud Modem for AT (1/2 size) 199.

XT-Mother Board "0" K expandable to 640K 99.

Mother Board for AT 650.

Keyboard 5150 49.

Keyboard 5151 79.

Keyboard AT 79.

20MB Drive with Controller 425.

Power Supply 135 watts 69.

Power Supply 200 watts 129.

XT Chassis 31.

AT Chassis 99.

Hl-Res Color Graphics Card (640x400) 399.

Hi-Res Color Monitor 499.

8MHz IBM PC XT Compatible Mother Board "O" K... 199. 30MB Drive with Controller 650.

IBM PC XT compatible, 300% faster than IBM PC XT, 8 MHz Clock (dual speed, hardware or software switch), 640K on Mother Board, using V-20 chip, Keyboard, Floppy Disc Controller, two 360KB Drives - Runs Lotus 123, Wordstar, dBase III, Flight Simulator and more...all for $699®

IBM PC XT compatible, 4.77 MHz Clock, 640K on Mother Board, 8088 Intel Chip, Keyboard, 135 watts Power Supply; all for $399®

Qj Prices for quantity purchases only

(2) Registered trademark of IBM Corporation

AMERICAN

MICRO

TECHNOLOGY

1322 E. EDINGER SANTA ANA, CA 92705

(714) 972-2945

TWX 5106003265

*

ASK FOR FREE CATALOG JlCDEALERS WANTED

*'

326 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Prices and Availability subject to change without notice i

Inquiry 20

Mind and

the Fujitsu FM-167T

by William M. Raike

William M. Raike, who has a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Northwestern University, has taught operations research and computer science in Austin. Texas, and Monterey. California. He holds a patent on a voice scrambler and was formerly an officer of Cryptext Corporation in the United Slates. \n 1980, he went to lapan looking for 64K-6/I RAMs. He has been there ever since as a technical translator and a software developer. He can be contacted do BYTE, POB 372, Hancock. NH 03449.

BYTE JAPAN

A New Language and a Laptop

In last month's BYTE Japan I lamented the fact that so few interesting Japanese software products appeared at last October's Software Show. Almost immediately after I wrote that column, one of the local computer journals carried ads for two new software products that 1 think are worth mentioning. One is an all-Japanese programming language called Mind, and the other is EM/3 + , a unified operating environment that supports all three of the most widespread microcomputer operating systems in Japan. This month, I'll talk about Mind.

The Mind Compiler

Mind was developed jointly by Rigi Corporation and Microsoftware Associates (which, by the way, is not related to Microsoft Inc.). I haven't been able to do a handson evaluation because Mind is available only for NEC personal computers and I own a Fujitsu machine, but I still think it's worth mentioning for several reasons. As far as I can determine, this is the first programming language created in Japan. Although its overall structure seems similar to a kind of structured BASIC, all of the reserved words are written in Japanese kanji characters, and the statement syntax has some patterns that resemble the Japanese language. The language has control, arithmetic, string, graphics, input/output, and file-processing features that seem to be about on a par with recent versions of BASIC in terms of power and flexibility. Mind is compiled rather than interpreted, and programs can be compiled and then linked with separately compiled object libraries using the linkage editor. The language includes a screen editor, and the whole package comes with a fairly extensive collection of source libraries, including graphics, mouse, and communications libraries, and programmaintenance utilities, including a lapaneselanguage dictionary maintenance utility.

Mind runs under MS-DOS on the NEC PC-980I series of personal computers (ex

cept for the top-of-the-line 80286-based PC-98XA machine). It costs only about $200, a real bargain compared to the cost of most other compilers here, which usually range from $400 to $1500 or more. Those prices are for products that sell for onefourth to one-half as much in the U.S. (One exception is Turbo Pascal, which is almost as much of a bargain in Japan as it is in the U.S.)

I don't forecast a particularly bright future for Mind, since it seems to offer little that isn't available with other compilers and languages. On the other hand, it could (but probably won't) be used for teaching purposes. The only other language I know of that handles source programs written in Japanese characters (other than for character string constants and comments) is Fifth-86 (a successor to FORTH-86).

For programmers who are familiar with conventional programming languages. Mind will be somewhat slow and cumbersome to use because it takes longer to type Japanese characters than alphanumeric or katakana characters. The screen editor supplied with Mind may help to overcome that drawback; I can't be sure until I see it in action.

Resistance to Word Processing

One popular weekly Japanese magazine, Shukan Bunsho (October 1985), recently carried an article on whether word processors are a boon or a bane to creative writing. The issues are a little different here than in the U.S. and other Western countries. As I've mentioned before in this column, Japanese typewriters have never been popular or widespread, even in the business world. Japan is now in midleap—jumping straight from handwriting into word processing. Since authors writing in English have long been accustomed to typing their manuscripts, the switch to word processors, while not altogether without trauma, has by and large been welcomed eagerly.

(continued)

MARCH 1986

1 Y T E 327

BYTE JAPAN

Besides the numerous wordprocessing programs you can buy for every lapanese personal computer, lapanese consumers now have a choice of dozens of models of dedicated word processors, at prices that start at about $300 for the simplest portable electronic typewriter. These machines offer various levels of

sophistication and flexibility in the way they convert phonetic characters (katakana, hiragana, and in some cases the Roman alphabet) into Japanese kanji characters, as well as in how they perform common editing functions like insertion and deletion, cutand-paste, formatting, and so forth. (Among other things, lapanese can be

Here are 79 reasons to buy at Elek-Tek, not to mention the fastest delivery anywhere.

LMZGA

BERNOULLI BOX

1. 10 meg Vi height Drive lor IBM-PC/XT/AT & compatibles $ 1675

2. 20 meg V2 height Drive for IBM-PC/XT/AT & compatibles 2335

3. Non-Bootable Interface

Card 104

4. Bootable Interface Card ...234

5. 10 meg cartridges for above

(3 pak special) 125

14. Amdek310A

Amber Monitor $ 150

15. Generic Multl Multifunction Board, 64K... 135

16. Generic Multl 384K Multifunction Board, 384K .. 175

17. AST Six Pak + Multifunction Board, 64K . .225

18. AST Six Pak + (loaded) Multifunction Board, 384K .290

19. Quadrarn Quadboard Multifunction Board. OK ... 195

20. Mutt Board. 64W384K . .210/267

21. Orchid Tech.

PC Turbo 186 570

22. ECCELL0K 399

38. Dysan

Internal H.D. Subsystem

20 Megabyte $500

Save 30% to 43%

off Manufacturer Suggested Ret. prices on America's most wanted Printers Huge Discount on

TOSHIBA

OKJDATA ii^jlp

^^■^^ EPSON

EPSON® FX8S

LX80 $215

RX 100+ 299

FX 85 340

FX286 CALL

LQ 1500 parallel CALL

DX10 Daisy Wheel 10CPS ... 230 DX20 Daisy Wheel 20CPS .. .320 DX35 Daisy Wheel 35CPS .590

UNBELIEVABLE™ XEROX/DIABLO D-36

DaisyWheel 35CPS

Mfr. Sugg. Ret. $1495

Elek-Tek Price $450

P-38 Dot Matrix 400CPS

Mfr. Sugg. Ret. $1995 Elek-Tek Price $600

PRODUCTS FOR IBM-PC

23. ECCELL Daughterboard... 135

24. ECCELL I/O Board 99

25. Hercules

Monochrome Card 299

26. Hercules Color

Color Graphic Card 155

27. Novation 4905921

1200B Inl No Software 150

with MITE Software 165

28. Novation 490605-1 2400BPS inc. Mite Software .620

29. Novation 490603

V4 Card Modem 2400 BPS

No software 425

30. Novation 490603-1

As above inc MS-DOS Sottvare . .490

39. I BAR 8-15

8 Outlet Surge Protector. $50

31

Hayes 1200

External modem 360

Hayes 1200B

Internal modem w/software .359

Hayes 2400

External modem 599

34. Hayes 2400B

Internal modem w/software . 525

35. AT&T 4000

300/1200 Ext Modem 335

36. US Robotics Courier 2400 Ext. 2400B Smart Modem . 460 Toshiba HND 04DT '/2 ht. DSDD Disk Drive 90

32

33.

37.

DISKETTES

Dym

maxal

3M

3Vi"SSDD DSDD

S%"SSDD

DSDD

SSDD96TPI

DSDD96TPI

51." DSDDHD

(For IBM AT)

8" SSDD" 8" DSDD"

"Unformatted

20.00 27.00

15.00 19.00 24.00 33.00 33.00

22.00 26.00

20.00 26.00

13.00 15.00 24.00 29.00

28.00

29.00

32.00

23.00 29.00 12.00 15.00 24.00 29.00 30.00

25.00 29.00

11.50 14.00

11.00 12.00

Call tor Quantity pricing for 10 boxes or more.

40. XIDEX Precision DS/DD Diskette 10pk/$7.00

5 boxes minimum

3M DATA CARTRIDGES

73. DC100A $ 13.50

74. DC300A 17.50

75. DC300XL 20.50

76. DC300XL/P 21.50

77. DC600A 23.00

78. DC1000 14.50

79. DC2000 19.50

Call for quantity pricing tor 10 cartridges or more.

CALL TOLL rati 800-82112»8 EXCEPT Illinois, Alaska

CANADIAN TOLL FREE 800-458-9133

Corp. AockL ImriMd. Wfrt. Old. S1UO. Vim or UMtorCard by aW or Phono. ■

PP.. Canada add IKL00 flrat lam] 11*0 aa. addl ahao. * h

nrl.rttm Only: btoi produc* ropfcad w«Nri 30 day, ot ( 3 -or* day* of d*ayary)L«r» proMama cwarad by n

Im&tfW?*""'

., Paraonal Chad* a ana. to etaor] aaubj. to Chang*. WPJTfi tor fr**

elek-tex waKoSS^SnSSaimmKnl^oSS^^SomimMn.

J-_ _ 6557 N Lincoln . IMC [312] G31 7B00

ncago, IL E0645 {312)677 7660

written either conventionally from left to right or vertically from top to bottom starting at the upper right corner of the page. Some word processors rotate each character 90 degrees and then print them horizontally on a page inserted sideways into the printer.) Different machines offer larger or smaller kanji dictionaries, depending on the price.

A Variety of Concerns

Popular acceptance of the new technology has never been in question, but some authors are putting up resistance, claiming they are forgetting how to write some kanji. One author of science fiction, Motoko Arai, told Shukan Bunsho that she was embarrassed when she couldn't remember how to write people's names. Shintaro Ishihara, a novelist who's also a politician, writes some of his copy by hand and uses a word processor for the rest; he says his handwriting is terrible but claims the word processor results in a stiff writing style. One poet believes it's impossible to compose poetry at the keyboard, claiming that the concentration involved in calligraphy is essential to his art. On the other hand, novelist Masahiro Mita scorns such attitudes; he feels that the brain's creation is the central issue and that the medium used to capture it is irrelevant. And novelist Ayako Sono uses her word processor all the time but has modified the kanji conversion system to have the machine select particular characters she wants to use.

For foreigners living in Japan, myself included, word processors provide a shortcut to writing Japanese. I'm lazy, and it's much easier to learn to recognize a character when you see it than it is to write it. Most people, lapanese included, can read many more characters than they can write. With a word processor, you type in the phonetic reading of a character, word, or phrase, and then step through a selection of the possible characters with that pronunciation until you find the desired one. In effect, you can write (or type) as soon

(continued)

328 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry I2I

In the tradition of SamuelMorse's telegraph, weVe created an easier wytodashoff messages onyour computer.

c

[

I

tf

In 1844 Morse tapped out a series of dots and dashes on his new telegraph, and the message "What hath God wrought?" traveled instandy between Washington D.C. and Baltimore. Telecommunications was born. Today, we've teamed our new 1200 bps modem with Microsoft's Access software, and telecommunications has come of age.

Making information easier to send and receive was the reason we designed the Kyocera modem for the IBM PC, AT, XT* and compatibles. That's why we gave it 8K of intelligence for a variety of time and money-saving functions. Like unattended operation, busy and dial tone detection, 11 result codes, and help menus.

Then we teamed it with today's most advanced communications software. Access by Microsoft. Access is the communications program with X.PC, the amazing protocol that allows you to open 15 live connections over a single line while actually viewing 8 of them simultaneously through "windows" on your screen. At the same time, it automatically checks for data errors during transmission. In addition, Access has built-in interfaces for the information services you need, like CompuServe® and Dow Jones News/Retrieval! And the Access Learn command turns long command sequences into one-stroke functions that quickly get you on your way to solving problems and doing business. So get the communications package that makes it easier to get the business information you need. The bundle includes modem, Access software, all accessories,

The 1844 Morse telegraph. With it, Samuel Morse revolutionized telecommunications.

■>—*—

Microsoft Access with X.PC allows multiple live connections.

and even the RS-232C cable (for IBM PC, XT and compatibles). It's a system even Sam Morse would be proud of.

3

KyDCERa Modems

A tradition of innovation.

For your nearest Kyocera dealer, call toll-free (800) 2354222 or (408) 257-8000.

©llW5Kya'tTiilntEnijtional,Iiic.,VallcoPark, 10050 N. Wolfe RiJ., Suite 266, Cupertini^, CA 95014. MitTtTOflwaR^milrTadanarkofMiaiJSoftCcirporation. CompuStrwisan^isn^traima^

Inquiry 199 for End-Users. Inquiry 200 for DEALERS ONLY

Cjj KyDCERa 1200s

r

—

Microsoft Access

==

MMM.)"

Wmm &AM

W^

~

■

_

WARE

--.

BYTE JAPAN

as you can read. I wonder whether U.S. universities are using these machines in Japanese language courses yet.

Last on My Block

I held out for a long time, but last week I finally bought a laptop portable computer. Phil Lemmons, BYTE's editor in chief, has been extolling the virtues of laptop portables for a long time, but 1 hadn't felt 1 could justify buying one. And I hadn't really seen one I liked. Well, I overcame my objections and went to Tokyo's Akihabara computer and electronics district to buy a Fujitsu FM-16ir. I described this Fujitsu portable briefly in the January BYTE Japan (page 381). My chief complaint then was the awkward design of the space bar on the keyboard: It's split into three sections, and only the middle one works as a space bar; the other two are used to control Japanese word-processing functions. It turned out not to be so hard to get used to after all, and just about everything else about the FM-16tt is a delight. The whole machine weighs just over 6 pounds, stands about 2 inches high, and is exactly the size of a sheet of stationery. It uses an internal rechargeable battery plus a separate memorybackup battery and comes with an AC adapter/charger.

Two features convinced me to buy this computer. One was the excellent readability and visibility of the liquidcrystal display. It's an 80- by 2 5-character (640- by 200-dot) panel, with adjustable contrast, and it has the best readability I've yet seen in this size display—far better, for example, than the Data General/One (which is double the price of the Fujitsu) and as good or better than the Datavue 2 5. When displaying Japanese characters it can display 11 lines of 40 characters in a very clear 16- by 16-dot font. The other strong incentive was the type of microprocessor used in the FM-I6x; it's a CMOS (complementary metaloxide semiconductor) version of the 8086 (the MBL8086L) running at 5 MHz. The machine runs under CP/M-86, so most of the software I run

on my Fujitsu at home can run on the portable, too.

The FM-16ir comes in three versions, with either 128K, 288K, or 448K bytes of main memory. 1 bought the 448K-byte version and use 320K bytes as a RAM (random-access read/write memory) disk. The operating system is contained in a ROM (read-only memory) cartridge, along with some utility software. You can buy either of two cartridges; 1 bought the one containing a communications utility, a Japanese word processor, a primitive English-language screen editor, and BASIC, The other choice is for Kanji COBOL and the communications utility, which struck me as a particularly useless combination in a laptop computer. One of the built-in utilities is a setup program that lets you do things like allocate memory for the RAM disk, set communication parameters, initialize function keys, set the date and time (there's a built-in calendar/ clock), choose an auto-power-on sequence, and choose the interval after which the machine powers itself down when no key has been pressed.

1 connected my main computer and the new portable by cable and had no trouble downloading both text or program files at speeds from 300 to 9600 bps (bits per second). Both WordStar and Turbo Pascal work just fine, along with my own all-purpose communications program (it's more convenient than the one supplied in ROM), a spreadsheet program, and other homegrown software. They all fit in the RAM disk (drive A) with plenty of room to spare.

The FM-I6ir has no built-in floppydisk drive, although you can buy a separate 3K2-inch dual microfloppydisk drive for about $425.1 felt I didn't need it because I'll be able to either upload files to my main computer at home using an RS-232C cable or, if I'm traveling, send them to The Source or elsewhere by telephone. There is a microcassette drive built into the machine, but it's slow (about 200 characters per second), so I doubt I'll use it very often.

Regrettably, while the built-in RS-232C interface works just fine for

communications, the FM-16t doesn't have an internal modem, which forces me to use my Epson portable acoustic coupler instead. It's inconvenient, but the.lack of a modem is understandable here in Japan, since it's only been a few months since it became feasible to attach a directconnect modem to phone lines in Japan. In fact, as I write this, there is only one model of 1200-bps fullduplex modem generally available to personal computer owners here, and it's a single-speed device that doesn't work at 300 bps. That situation is certain to change in the very near future, as personal computer communications continues to grow rapidly. Importing the popular U.S. personal computer modems hasn't been a solution, since the Japanese phone system (along with most of the rest of the world) uses different telephone standards (the CCITT, or International Telephone and Telegraph Consultative Committee, standards), with different signaling frequencies, than the Bell 103 and 212 A standards. (I did recently discover, though, that many people have found that the American modems work all right at 1200 bps, since the frequencies are apparently close enough.)

Computing En Route

Since 1 normally send the copy for this column back to BYTE headquarters in Peterborough, New Hampshire, via The Source, I plan to take my new Fujitsu portable along with me on an upcoming visit to the U.S. Then if BYTE's monthly manuscript deadline falls on the dates that I'm away. I'll be able to file my next column from the nearest telephone. | Editor's note: Because Bill Raike is traveling, gathering material for upcoming columns. BYTE \apan will not appear in the April issue of BYTE but will reappear in the Mag issue.] Since Turbo Pascal works so well, I may even get a chance to finish some small software projects. And here at home I can take the computer along with me and work at the local coffee shop. I think the convenience of the FM-16T is worth the investment of $1400 or so. ■

330 BYTE • MARCH 1986

YOU BE THE JUDGE!

$2675

THEY'RE EVEN LOOK ALIKES!

I 512K on Mother Board

18 Slots and 192 Watt P. S.

I 20mgb. H.D., and 1.2 mgb. Floppy

I AT Keyboard (monitor not included)

512K on Mother Board 18 Slots and 192 Watt P. S.

20 mgb. H.D., and 1.2 mgb. Floppy I AT Keyboard (monitor not included)

AND THE DIFFERENCE ... A $2000 SAVING!

ROBYTE PC

IBM Compatible

with2/360K

floppy drives on

XT mother board

and keyboard

$775

ROBYTE XT

IBM Compatible

with 10mgb. hard disk drive

and 1 floppy with keyboard

$1475

ROBYTE

40-60M

Tape Back Up

Int. or Ext. (For all IBM compatibles)

$595 to$795

ROBYTE

Super Quality Boards,

Multi-Ply & Socketed

One year guarantee

MULTIFUNCTION CARD

Serial and parallel ports. 384 K exoandable. clock/calendar, game OPTION PORT $139.00

SERIAL CARD $59.00

PARALLEL CARD $39.00 COLOR GRAPHICS

CARD $74.00

MONO GRAPHICS

CARD $99.00

I/O MULTIFUNCTION

CARD $119 00

AT MULTIFUNCTION

CARD. EXPANDABLE TO

3M. includes

piggyback $349.00

NEW!

POWER SURGE PROTECTOR

with Monitor Swivel Attached

6 outlets A $175 VALUE

$89

COMPAQ "286"

Desktop Model "2" full configuration

$4395

Regular Use Also

WESTERN ELECTRIC

Touch-Tone

Modem Telephones

$29

Reg. Use Also

Ennm

WORD PROCESSING

W0RPSTAR 2000

PLUS WORPSTAR EASY WORDPERFECT

W/SPELLER MICROSOFT WORD

S315 00

$99 00

S250.00 $240.00

PRINCETON GRAPHICS

HX-12 HI RES $545.00

SR-12 W/DOUBLER S714.00

ROBYTE

COLOR

MONITOR

640 x 200 res.

$395

IBM SPECIAL

IBM. 1-320K DS, DD Disk

Drive 10 Meg. Hard Drive,

Amber or Green Monitor,

256 K, Par Port PFS. Write

and File

$2350.00

SPREADSHEETS & DATABASES

LOTUS 1-2-3 $327.00

SYMPHONY S459 00

DBASE III PLUS $417 00

FRAMEWORK II $417 00

SUPERCALC $211.00

MULTIPLAN S117 00

FINANCIAL SOFTWARE

HOME ACCOUNTANT S89.00

MONOGRAM 00LLARS & SENSE S10800

AMDEK

COLOR 300 RGB COLOR 600 COLOR 710 HI-RES

IBM

PROF.

GRAPHICS M0N ENHANCED

GRAPHICS MON

I III I —■

EPSON

FX-286 S559.00

FX-85 $372.00

LO-1500 $967 00

STAR MICR0NICS

—— Ml I III

SEAGATE

SEAGATE 20 MG

W'CONT SEAGATE 30 MG

W'CONT

$35900 $439.00 S499.00

S96900 S64900

$595.00 $895 00

SG 10 SD 10 SR 10

$206.00 $27900 $394.00

BROTHER

HR-25 $55400

HR-35 $796.00

TWINWRITER5 $973 00

HEWLETT PACKARD

LASERJET $23)6 00

6-PEN PLOTTER $1466 00

THINKJET $349 95

LASERJET PLDS $3089.95

Call for

special prices

on limited supply

of T.I. closeouts

Call for

special prices

on all variety CABLES.

50% and more off!

HAYES

SEAGATE 42 MG

SMARTM0DEM 300

$145.00

W/0 CONT

$1250,00

SMARTMODEM

(37 MS)

1200B

S399 00

SMARTM0PEM2400

S655 00 $42.95

DISKS

MAXELL HI-DEN

mnnf mim

AST

MAXELL DS-DD

S19.95

SIX PACK PLUS

$24200

VERBATIM DS-DDC

$2195

ATADVANTAGECARD

$381 00

■i m urn

HERCDLES

GRAPHIC CARDS COLOR CARD

PARADISE

GRAPHICS CARD $272 00

MULTIDISPLAY CD SI97 00

S289.00 S14500

ZOOM MODEM FOR HE $90.00

DIABLO

RIBBON CARTRIDGES

$2.95

ORDER LINE 1-800-334-8989 IN CALIF. CALL 1-818-341-9193

OPEN 6 DAYS/WEEK, M0N.-SAT. 6 AM - 6 PM Pacific Sid. Time Inquiry 278

IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Co.

Shipping & handling charges. 3%. Cal. residents only, 6.5% tax. All prices and availability subject to change without notice. For fast delivery, send cashier's check, certified check or money order. MCand Visa at discount prices above. American Express add 4%. Defective merchandise replacedwith same item only. Returns require authorization number. Allow 3 weeks for personal or company checks to clear. Government, quasi-government, or educational institutions on Net 15 terms. Refused shipments subject to 25% charge ($50 minimum). No returns on software.

Price-Line Computers. Inc.

9710 Topanga Canyon Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311

NEW RELEASE

Ecosoft's Eco-C88 Rel. 3.0 C Compiler

$5995

Release 3.0 has new features at an unbelievably low price. ECO-C88 now has:

■ Prototyping (the new type-checking enhancement)

■ enum and void data types

■ structure passing and assignment

■ All operators and data types (except bit fields)

■ A standard library with more than 200 functions (many of which are System V compatible for greater code portability)

■ cc and mini-make that all but automates the compile process

■ 8087 support (we sense the 8087 at runtime - no dual libraries)

■ ASM or OBJ output for use with MSDOS linker

■ Tiered error messages - enable-disable lint-like error checking

■ Fast compiles and executing code

■ Expanded user's manual

■ Enhanced CED program editor (limited time offer)

We also offer the following support products for Eco-C88.

$2995

CED Program Editor

CED now supports on-line function help. If you've forgotten how to use a standard library function, just type in the name of the function and CED gives you a brief summary, including function arguments. CED is a full screen editor with auto-flagging of source code errors, multiple windows, macros, and is fully configurable to suit your needs. You can edit, compile, link, and execute DOS commands from within the editor. Perfect for use with Eco-C88. For IBM PC, AT and look alikes.

$20

C Source for Standard

Contains all of the source code for the functions that are distributed with Eco-C88, excluding the transcendentals and functions written in assembler.

Developer's Library

Contains the source code for all library functions, including the transcendentals and those written in assembler. Perfect for the developer that wish to write their own custom functions or learn how we implemented the Eco-C88 library.

ISAM Library

Contains the code from the C Programmer's Library in relocatable format (i.e., .OBJ) including the delete code for the ISAM file handler.

Library $1A

ie library A. \J

C Programming Guide

After reading the 1st edition, Jerry Pournelle (BYTE Magazine) said: "I recommend this book... Read it before trying to tackle Kernighan and Ritchie." The second editon expands this best seller and walks you through the C anguage in an easy-to-understand manner. Many of the error messages include references to this book making it a perfect companion to Eco-C88 for those just starting out with C.

(s20if not with order)

$25

($50if not with order)

$15

(J30ifnot with order)

$17

C Self-Study Guide

(Purdum, Que Corp.). Designed for those learning C on their own. The book is filled with questions-answers designed to illustrate many of the tips, traps, and techniques of the C language. Although written to complement the Guide, it may be used with any introductory text on C.

C Programmer's Library

$20

(Purdum, Leslie, Stegemoller, Que Corp.). This best seller is an intermediate text designed to teach you how to write library functions in a generalized fashion. The book covers many advanced C topics and contains many useful additions to your library including a complete ISAM file handler.

Eco-C88 C compiler requires an IBM PC, XT, or AT (or compatible) with 256K of memory, 2 disk drives and MSDOS 2.1 or later. Call today:

1-800-952-0472

or

1-317-255-6476

(for orders)

(tech. info.)

Ecosoft, Inc.

6413 N. College Ave. • Indianapolis, IN 46220

TRADEMARKS: ECO-C88, ECOSOFT

Vl .

332 B YTE • MARCH

Inquiry 119

A complete

word

processor

and

computer

that costs

less than

many electric

typewriters

by Dick Pountain

BYTE U.K.

The Amstrad PCW 8256

DM Pountain is a technical author

and software consultant living in

London. England. He can be

contacted do BYTE. POB 372.

Hancock. NH 03449.

Progress in the computing business is a more subtle phenomenon than is commonly appreciated. At first glance, it appears to be a steep upward curve: more bits on the data bus. more MIPS (million instructions per second) in the central processor, more memory, more pixels on the screen, more bugs in a bigger operating system—in fact, more of everything.

But in the real world, an apparent step backward can represent progress. Amstrad (Amsoft, Brentwood House, 169 Kings Road, Brentwood, Essex CM 14 4EF, England) recently loaned me its new PCW 82 56 (see photo 1), a Z80-based personal computer and word processor that runs the "old" CP/M Plus operating system. So where is the progress in that? In the price. The PCW 82 56 retails for £399 in the U.K. This price buys a complete system including a 90- by 32-character green-screen monitor, a near-letter-quality printer, and software. Moreover, the PCW emulates a dedicated word processor with a keyboard full of special keys. For the first time you can buy a completely functional, ready-to-go wordprocessing system for less than the price of a modest electric typewriter.

The effect on the market here appears to be quite galvanizing. Suddenly, writer friends of mine who have resisted buying a computer for years are asking, "How good is that new Amstrad?" or even, "I'm getting one of those new Amstrads!" It seems as if £500 represents the magic psychological pricing barrier for self-employed professionals, just as £200 has become the barrier for home games players, at least in this country.

I wrote about Amstrad's debut machine, the CPC 464, in fairly positive terms in the lanuary 1985 BYTE U.K. (page 401). Since then, Amstrad boss Alan Sugar has led the company to become the only U.K. personal computer manufacturer to increase profits and stock price amidst the general financial gloom. His formula looks very much like a

hardware version of Borland International's road to success—decent products at prices people can afford.

The Hardware

The PCW 82 56 is a 4-MHz (megahertz) Z80-based computer with 2 56K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory). Since the Z80 can only directly address 64K bytes, the RAM is bank-switched under the CP/M Plus (sometimes called CP/M 3.0) operating system. This provides for a 61Kbyte TRA (transient program area), and all the spare memory (normally more than 100K bytes) is automatically configured as a RAM disk called drive M. The video buffer occupies its own memory bank and can only be accessed by CP/M calls.

Physically, the PCW consists of three units. The monitor unit, which looks very much like a portable television set, sits on a small pedestal and contains the power supply and all the computer components (there is no separate system unit). The detached keyboard plugs into the side of the monitor. A dot-matrix printer takes its power from a 24-volt socket on the back of the monitor, so the whole system can be fed by a single power cord.

In the top right corner of the monitor there is a 3-inch disk drive with a space below it (covered by the maker's name plate) for an optional second drive. Amstrad made the controversial decision some time ago to run with Hitachi's 3-inch microfloppies rather than Sony's 3/2-inch standard that Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Apricot have adopted. When pressed on this point, Amstrad cheerfully claims to have sold enough computers (450,000) to establish its own standard. Right now, though, the decision creates headaches in transporting old CP/M software to the new format.

The 3-inch disk looks quite similar to the now well-known 3'/2-inch disk, although it is rectangular rather than square. It is fully enclosed in a plastic case with an automat

(conlinued)

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 333

BYTE U.K.

ically retracting metal shutter to protect the recording surface. Amstrad uses the disks in single-headed drives with 180K bytes on each side of the disk. Each unit is therefore treated as two separate disks—it must be flipped over to access the other side—and each side needs to be formatted independently.

The green-screen monitor is unorthodox in that it can display 90 columns by 32 rows rather than the CP/M (and MS-DOS) standard of 80 columns by 24 rows. This enables you to see a lot more text on screen than usual. A utility program that comes with the system switches it to 80 columns by 24 rows for use with standard CP/M software, while another utility switches from green-on-black to black-on-green display for those (like myself) who prefer it. The monitor emulates a Zenith Z-19 terminal when installing standard CP/M software.

The display's definition is respectable, if not outstanding. It's similar to that of a decent serial terminal. The display character set is also quite good with true descenders and serifs. It uses a full 8-bit character repre

sentation allowing 2 56 symbols; the extras are used as on the IBM Personal Computer to support math symbols and European language characters.

The screen is capable of dot graphics at a resolution of 720 by 248 pixels, and Digital Research's GSX (Graphics System Extension) software is bundled with the machine. In fact, as on previous Amstrad machines, video handling is completely "soft," with no distinction between text and graphics modes; all characters are bitmapped and could be redefined by a competent system programmer. Despite this, the CP/M applications programmer sees conventional character-based output, as CP/M Plus handles all the underlying trickery.

The keyboard unit has proper keys with sculpted tops and full travel. The feel is not as good as an IBM PC's, but it is much better than the typical home computer. The keys make a hollow "boxy" sound rather like the Macintosh's. I found the spacing cramped, with no gap between the main keyboard and the special-keys pad. The keyboard has no less than

aLLtmu-j.i

t i t i i i l . i f■■„ l i I l '

i't'i it i i i. ' y Y'V-'

- l.f Jv lv- lw-1^- l.jj" *"y ti'- '™^ !•£. i-f l^-'

ill- III

Photo 1: The new Amstrad PCW 82 56 personal computer and word processor. This 256K-bute CP/M Plus computer comes complete with built-in disk drive, keyboard, monitor, letter-qualitu printer, and word-processing software for a price of £399 inclusive. It also can take a second built-in disk drive.

six special keys level with the space bar (i.e., below the shift keys), which also takes some getting used to. The whole keyboard is software-redefinable using a CP/M utility SETKEYS and a file of new key assignments.

The dot-matrix printer has a normalsize 80-column carriage but is very small in the fore-and-aft dimension (around half the depth of an Epson FX-80). The printer comes with a detachable tractor feed and can accept either single sheets or continuous paper.

For me the most heartbreaking feature of this printer is that its highquality-mode output is as good as anything 1 can get from my Epson FX-80, which cost me almost as much as a whole PCW system. While not quite daisy-wheel quality, the text is as good as that from a portable electric typewriter, with no dots discernible. High-quality mode gives 960- by 1368-dot resolution at 20 characters per second—faster than cheap daisywheel units—while draft mode runs at 90 cps. The printer supports underlining (word or continuous), bold, italic, true subscripts and superscripts, and five font sizes (10, 12, 15, and 17 pitch, and proportionally spaced).

Amstrad has chosen to fully integrate the printer into the hardware and software. The disadvantage is that it is difficult to fit alternative printers. The advantage is that software control of the printer is superb. You can press a dedicated Ptr key at any time to bring up a menu from which you can control all of the printer's functions, including linefeeds, form feeds, and switching from single sheet to continuous paper. The software can even detect when the paper-bail bar is retracted and prompt you to close it. In direct print (i.e., typewriter) mode, you can control the print-head position using the cursor keys: this provides sufficient accuracy so that you are able to fill in complicated forms.

Given the outstanding price, I think that Amstrad's decision to integrate the printer was the right one. The PCW is being sold as a complete writ

(continued)

334 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Pick A Racehorse, A Workhorse, Or Your Choice Of Saddles

Trying To Rope in a pure bred PC or AT compatible computer system? Basic Time has the system you've been looking for. With more than 10 years as a computer manufacturer and distributor, Basic Time systems have the breeding it takes to be real reliable performers. That experience has created systems with carefully selected and integrated components, providing top notch performance at a surprisingly low price.

Hun

With Our Racehorse The ST/AT.

This 80286 computer with fast access drives of 20, 40, or 70Mb capacity, running at selectable 6 or 8 Mhz clock rates will run circles around the IBM™ AT. Its new system board comes standard with a full 640K of RAM and can still be expanded to

2Mb on the system board, with up to 15.5Mb directly addressable by the system. Also standard are two serial ports and a parallel port on the Basic Time system board, keeping precious I/O slots available for future expansion.

Inquiry 36 for End-Users. Inquiry 37 for DEALERS

Standard features include an 84-key keyboard, 1.2Mb/360K floppy, MSDOS and GW-BASIC. Rounding out the system is a Hercules compatible monochrome monitor (color or EGA compatible color optional). All this and more at the lowest price available for an AT compatible*.

Try Our WorkhorseThe BT/KT

A new standard in price/performance for an 8088 computer. 8 slots, 256k RAM, AT type keyboard, Hercules compatible monochrome monitor and adapter, 20 Meg hard disk, floppy drive, 135 Watt power supply, MS-DOS, and full PC compatibility.

Your Choice Oi Saddles.

Either horse you choose, we can outfit you completely. Our HR series monitors support monochrome, color, or EGA adapters. Communication is easy with Basic Time internal or external modems. Hard disk storage is simple and reliable with our 20Mb systems for PC's and BT44 and BT70Mb drives for AT's. Tape backup systems are available to secure your data too. Need more memory and I/O ports? The BT6Plus and AT4x4Plus multifunction boards give you unrivaled bang for your buck.

For Information

on where to purchase Basic Time products, call or write:

Basic Time Department B

3350 Scott Blvd.,

Bldg. 52 Santa Clara, Ca. 95054

(408) 727-0877

basic time

*lnfoworld Sept. 2, 1985, Page I.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 335

BYTE U.K.

ing tool, and if you wish to use alternative printers, you probably should buy something else (of course, then you'll end up spending a lot more money).

There are no standard I/O (input/ output) ports provided on the basic Amstrad PCW 82 56. Amstrad supplies an extension unit that adds both

RS-232C serial and Centronics parallel ports.

The Word Processor

As with the original Amstrad CPC 464, software development for the PCW was done by Locomotive Software. In particular. Locomotive put up an extended version of its BASIC (called

ATRON BUGBUSTERS GREASE BORLAND LIGHTNING

"/// were starling a software company again, from scratch, Atron's AT PROBE™ would be among my very first investments. Without Atron's hardware-assisted, software debugging technology, the flash of Turbo Lightning™ would be a light-year away'.' Philippe Kuhn, President, Borland

HOW BORLAND DOES SO MUCH, SO WELL, SO FAST

We asked Borland International president Philippe Kahn to share his secrets for rapidly taking a good idea and turning it into rock-solid reality. How does the Borland team do so much, so well, so fast?

He begins, "I remember when Atron used the June 24, 1985 Wall Street Journal chart of top-selling software in an ad!' [Note: At that time, seven of the lop ten software packages were created by Atron customers; it's now now nine out of ten.] "SideKick was number four, and I let Atron quote me in saying that there wouldn't have been a SideK ick without Atron's hardwareassisted debuggers.

"You might say lightning has literally struck again. Turbo Lightning made number four on SofiSel's Hoilist within weeks of its introduction! And again, 1 say we couldn't have done it without Atron debugging technology.

"Cleverly written code is, by definition tight, recursive, and terribly complex" he continues. "Without the ability to externally track the execution of this code, competent debugging becomes very nearly impossible!'

Concludes Philippe, "And after Turbo Lightning was solid and reliable, Atron tuning software turned our Probes into performance analyzers. How do you think we greased our lightning?"

Philippe, along with a couple million or so of your satisfied customers, we say congratulations on yet another best-selling product. We can't wait to see what awesomely useful technology will come shooting out of Borland international next.

(<,py,ij:hr O (9X5 t>y Atnm Cojp. PC PROBE'" and AT I'KOHIi1" Almn SiikKkk

HOW BUGBUSTERS KEEP YOU FROM GETTING SLIMED

The AT PROBE is a circuit board that

plugs into your PC/AT. It has an

umbilical which plugs into

the 80287 socket and

monitors all 80286 activity.

Since AT PROBE can

trace program execution in

real time, and display the

last 2048 memory cycles in

symbolic or source-code

form, you can easily answer

the questions: "How did I

get here?" and "What are

those silly interrupts

doing?"

It can solve spooky debugging problems. Like finding where your program overwrites memory or I/O impossible with software debuggers.

You can even do source-level debugging in your favorite language, like C, Pascal or assembler. And after your application is debugged, the AT PROBE'S performance measurement software can isolate performance bottlenecks. Finally, the AT PROBE has its own 1-MByte of memory. Hidden and write-proteclcd. How else could you develop that really large program, where the symbol table would otherwise take up most of memory. LOOK AT IT THIS WAV.

History shows that non-Atron customers don't stand a very good chance of making the Top Ten list. Lightning really does have a way of striking twice!

The PC PROBE™ is $1595 and the AT PROBE is $2495. So call Atron today. You can be busting some really scarey bugs tomorrow. And maybe, just like Borland, you can also bust some records.

/^liiy^V

THE DEBUGGER COMPANY

20665 Fourth Street • Saratoga, CA 95070 • 408/741-59O0 I Tint*, l.ichmin,:'- Borland Inicmntuirvjl. Inc., Ailv by TUBA, J(lhV2SX-2708.

Mallard BASIC) and the dedicated word-processing program Locoscript.

Locoscript does not run under CP/M Plus, but it is a turnkey program that runs straight on the machine, all diskmanagement activities being performed from within its own menu system. One drawback is that although Locoscript uses the CP/M physical disk format (and can read CP/M directories), it does not use standard CP/M files, so it cannot be used as the system editor.

The initial disk-manager screen displays the directories not only of the floppy and RAM drives but of the separate "groups" on each device. Groups are really CP/M-user partitions, but Locomotive has doctored the software to manage them in a more transparent and intuitive way (more like Macintosh folders). Each device can have up to eight groups on it, and each group contains the same kind of document. The group contains a file defining a template for that group (e.g., letters, memos, reports) and also a file of keyboard macros called "phrases." These utility files are automatically copied to the RAM disk when the system is booted up, although you must deliberately copy your document files to the RAM disk. The directories of all the groups,are displayed in vertical columns, and the screen smooth-scrolls sideways to view them all. There is no command line. All file activities are selected by moving a reverse-video cursor block to the filename.

One useful feature is that deleted files are put into limbo; on request you may see a menu of limbo files and call them back if desired. Limbo files are eventually written over as the disk fills up, but this feature provides good insurance against disaster for the neophyte.

The large number of dedicated editing keys on the keyboard simplifies the use of Locoscript. There are keys to move through text by character, word, paragraph, page, or userdefined "unit," and to move to either end of a line. Find and Replace functions have a special key. Cut, Paste,

[continued)

336 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 31

NRI Trains You At Home—As You Build Your Own IBM-Compatible Computer

GET THE

TO

COMPUTER

-HOW EVERY THIS PAGE

Learn the Basics the NRI Way-and Earn Good Money Troubleshooting Any Brand of Computer

The biggest growth in jobs between now and 1995, according to Department of Labor estimates, will occur in the computer service and repair business, where demand for trained technicians will actually double.

You can cash in on this opportunity—either as a fulltime corporate technician or an independent serviceperson— once you've learned all the basics of computers the NRI way. NRI's practical combination of "reasonwhy" theory and "hands-on" building skills starts you with the fundamentals of electronics, then guides you through advanced electronic circuitry and on into computer electronics. You also learn to program in BASIC and machine language, the essential languages for troubleshooting and repair.

You Build-and Keep-a Sanyo MBC-550-2

The vital core of your training is the step-by-step building of the 16-bit Sanyo MBC-550-2 computer. Once you've mastered the details of this state-of-the-art machine, you'll be qualified to service and repair virtually every major brand of computer, plus many popular peripheral and accessory devices. With NRI training, you learn at your own convenience, in your own home. You set the pace—without classroom pressures, rigid night-school schedules, or wasted time. You build the Sanyo MBC-550-2 from the keyboard up, with your own personal

IBM is a Registered Trademark of International Business Machine Corporation.

Epson Is a Registered Trademark of Epson America, Inc.

Apple and the Apple logo are Registered Trademarks ot Apple Computer, Inc.

NRI instructor and the complete NRI technical staff ready to answer your questions or give you guidance and special help whenever you need it.

Praised by critics as the "most intriguing" of all the IBM-PC compatible computers, the new Sanyo uses the same 8088 microprocessor as the IBM-PC and features the MS/DOS operating system. As a result, you'll have a choice of thousands of off-theshelf software programs to run on your completed Sanyo.

Your NRI course includes installation and troubleshooting of the "intelligent" keyboard, power supply, and disk drive, plus you'll check out the 8088 microprocessor functions,

using machine language. You'll also prepare the interfaces for future peripherals such as printers and joysticks.

100-Page Free Catalog Tells More

Send the postage-paid reply card today for NRI's big 100-page color catalog on I NRI's electronics training, which gives you all the facts about NRI courses in MicroI computers, i Robotics, / Data Communications, TV/ Video/Audio Servicing, and other growing hightech career fields. If the reply card is missing, write to the address below.

Your NRI course includes the Sanyo

MBC-550-2 Computer with 128K RAM,

monitor, disk drive, and "intelligent" keyboard; the NRI

Discovery Lab®, teaching circuit design and operations;

a Digital Multimeter; Bundled Spread Sheet and Word

Processing Software worth $1500 at retail—and more.

SCHOOLS McGraw-Hill Continuing Education Center

3939 Wisconsin Avenue, NW m'lJf Washington, DC 20016 j^yg

We'll Give You Tomorrow.

MARCH 1986

iYTE 337

BYTE U.K.

and Copy keys let you rearrange the text, and there are two delete keys, Del> and <Del. These make word processing seem rather blissful after years of struggling with nonstandard backspace and delete key actions.

This excellent keyboard is not without its drawbacks for experienced computer users. The escape key is called Exit, the control key is called Alt. and Return and Enter are separate keys. The large Return key performs a typewriter-style carriage return, but you must use the Enter key to execute commands; I'll guarantee that it will take weeks for an experienced computer user's reflexes to adapt. For a first-time user, though, the arrangement is far less mysterious than the curious hodgepodge we have come to accept as the "standard" keyboard. The Exit key is used consistently to terminate operations, while a different key, Can (for cancel), will

countermand a mistaken selection.

Commands in Locoscript are selected from pull-down menus activated by function keys Fl through F8. A master menu of the current function-key assignments always appears at the top of the screen. You make menu selections either by entering the initial letter of an item or by moving the cursor, Macintosh-style. When you have gained some familiarity with the commands, you can bypass the menus by hitting the special Select and Deselect keys on either side of the space bar. followed by any recognizable abbreviation for the command. If your abbreviation is too short to be unique (e.g., R could stand for reverse or right-justify), then a shortened menu containing only those options that could fit will be displayed—very smart indeed.

Locoscript has great formatting capabilities. You can introduce new

formats, called layouts, at any point in the text, and they take effect on all the text below them until they are overidden by another new layout. A layout includes the margin and tab settings, type pitch and style, and line spacing and justification parameters. You can create a new layout by editing on screen from a pull-down menu; this layout is then assigned a number and stored in memory. Henceforth, you can insert that layout like any other attribute by entering a single code into the text.

If you modify an existing layout, the changes you make automatically take effect everywhere you have used that format; the layouts used are automatically saved with the document. As the cursor enters the zone of a rvew layout, the layout number is displayed along with other status information at the top of the screen. I found this feature more powerful and easier to use than Microsoft Word's style sheets.

The Show menu controls whether attribute codes, layout ruler lines, and other nontext items are visible. You can have spaces visible as dots, Wangwriter-style, and carriage returns shown as bent arrows. The attribute codes are words rather than cryptic control codes. For example, boldface is indicated by + Bold to select and - Bold to deselect, and a layout might appear as +Layout3. Only underlining is shown as such on the screen.

Locoscript is an inserting editor with wordwrap and it features semiautomatic reformatting. The text is reformatted from the cursor position onward whenever you issue a movement command, so the screen always reflects the current state of the document.

The down side of the story lies in the speed of some of its functions. I ran the BYTE word-processing benchmarks on Locoscript using a standard 23K-byte document with the results shown in table 1.

The times for Document Save and Search are excruciatingly slow, while the times for Document Load and Scroll compare well with WordStar

[continued]

338 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Inquiry 299

Wm

^m'

l^s

s* —=»

J

MBBk

W. ; ; '

\\ ■'■■'■■'■■'■■•■■■•

"' ''

IBM COMPATIBILITY

. at a not so IBM price

TECH TURBO PC/AT $2399

PRICE INCLUDES:

■ 6 70 8 MHZ 80286 CPU m512K

■ ONE, 1.2 MB FLOPPY DRIVE

■ 8 EXPANSION SLOTS

u 195 WATT POWER SUPPLY

■ COMPLETE MS DOS, PC DOS, XENIX COMPATIBILITY

■ RUNS LOTUS 123, DBASE III FRAMEWORK AND ALL OTHER POPULAR AT SOFTWARE

■ ONE YEAR WARRANTY!!

OPTIONS:

TECH TURBO PC/AT WITH 20MB HARD DISK $2825 TECH TURBO PC/AT WITH 20MB HARD DISK, MONOCHROME MONITOR, HERCULES® COMPATIBLE MONOGRAPHICS CARD

$2999

ALSO AVAILABLE WITH TAPE BACKUPS, MODEMS, LARGER HARD DISKS, AND NETWORKING SYSTEMS.

TECH PC/AT $1999

PRICE INCLUDES:

mBMHZ 80286 CPU m512K

■ OWE, 1.2 MB FLOPPY DRIVE

■ 8 EXPANSION SLOTS

■ 195 WATT POWER SUPPLY

■ COMPLETE MS DOS, PC DOS, XENIX COMPATIBILITY

■ RUNS LOTUS 123, DBASE III FRAMEWORK AND ALL OTHER POPULAR AT SOFTWARE.

■ ONE YEAR WARRANTY!!

OPTIONS:

TECH PC/AT WITH 20 MB

HARD DISK $2499

TECH PC/AT WITH 20MB

HARD DISK, MONOCHROME

MONITOR,

HERCULES® COMPATIBLE

MONO/GRAPHICS CARD

$2699

ALSO AVAILABLE WITH TAPE BACKUPS, MODEMS, LARGER HARD DISKS, AND NETWORKING SYSTEMS.

TECH TURBO PC/XT $1099

PRICE INCLUDES:

■ 4 TO 7 MHZ SOFTWARE SWITCH ABLE CPU

*640K

■ TWO 360K DS/DD FLOPPY DISK DRIVES

■ 8 EXPANSION SLOTS

■ 135 WATT POWER SUPPLY

■ ONE YEAR WARRANTY!!

OPTIONS:

TECH TURBO PC/XT WITH 20MB HARD DISK $1699 TECH TURBO PC/XT WITH 20MB HARD DISK, MONOCHROME MONITOR AND HERCULES COMPATIBLE MONO/GRAPHICS CARD

$1950

ALSO AVAILABLE WITH TAPE BACKUPS, MODEMS, LARGER HARD DISKS, AND NETWORKING SYSTEMS.

TECH PC/XT $799

PRICE INCLUDES:

■ 4.77 MHZ CPU m256K

■ TWO, 360K DS/DD FLOPPY DRIVES

■ 8 EXPANSION SLOTS

■ 135 WATT POWER SUPPLY

■ ONE YEAR WARRANTY!!

OPTIONS:

TECH PC/XT WITH 20MB HARD DISK $1449

TECH PC/XT WITH 20MB HARD DISK, MONOCRHOME MONITOR, HERCULES COMPATIBLE MONO/GRAPHICS CARD $1649

ALSO AVAILABLE WITH TAPE BACKUPS, MODEMS, LARGER HARD DISKS, AND NETWORKING SYSTEMS.

HI-TEK PGS AVT TAXAN IBM AMDEK HERCULES GENOA PARADISE TEAC TOSHIBA HARDWARE/SOFTWARE NETWORKING HAYS AST JRAM HI-TEK PGS AVT TAXAN AMDEK HERCULES GENOA PARADISE TEAC TOSHIBA

PLEASE ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR SHIPPING

VISA, MASTERCHARQE

TELEX: 272006 Answer Back-TECH FAX: 714/556-8325

TECH PERSONAL COMPUTERS

2131 South Hathaway, Santa Ana, California 92705

714/754-1170

©1985 TECH PC

•IBM, IBM PC, XT, and AT are fegisiefed irademarks of International "Hercules is a registered trademark ol Hercules Computer Business Machines Corp Technology

Inquiry 341 for End-Users, Inquiry 342 for DEALERS ONLY.

BYTE U.K.

and other programs. Slow saving is particularly dangerous, as it discourages frequent safety backups. The small difference between RAM drive and floppy timings indicates that the problem lies in the program itself and is not significantly I/O-bound. The PCW's disk system can physically copy a 23K-byte file in 9 seconds. The root cause of the speed problem is the internal representation used to hold text, which involves traversing a linked list, and it is the price you pay for great flexibility of layout and formatting. In practice it means that Locoscript is usable for letters and short documents up to 5K bytes, but not really for books or theses. You could run WordStar as an alternative, but that would be a shame, since Locoscript is so superior in every other way.

System Software

CP/M Plus is the latest version of the famous 8-bit operating system that many of us grew up with. It fixes most of what was wrong with CP/M 2.2 and adds features that make it feel more like MS-DOS. For example, you no longer need to hit Control-C after changing a disk, you can edit command lines, and the error trapping is almost civilized. CP/M Plus came along just as the IBM PC was transforming the personal computer market, and very few implementations became available. The Amstrad might draw some new attention to CP/M Plus. It is certainly a grown-up operating system, and there are lots of serious programs available that will be able to run under it—just about any

thing that will run under CP/M 2.2— when the disk-format problem is cracked. I tried out Caxton Software's (10 Bedford St., London Wl, England) range of programs, including Cardbox and Brainstorm and the SmartKey keyboard enhancer, and they all ran immediately.

The PCW version of CP/M Plus includes the GSX software and a bunch of programmer tools, including the RMAC macro assembler, SID debugger, XREF cross-referencer, and loads of utilities. You also get Mallard BASIC and Digital Research's Dr. Logo bundled in for your £399. The latter is a first-class implementation of Logo that looks particularly nice on the PCW's high-resolution graphics screen.

Mallard BASIC is business-oriented and differs from earlier Amstrad BASICs that were home-computer-oriented with lots of color and sound commands. (Incidentally, the name Mallard refers to a famous British railway locomotive that held the world speed record.) Mallard is a large superset of MBASIC version 5.2, and its claim to fame lies in a keyed filemanagement extension called Jetsam. Jetsam provides indexed sequential and random file accesses with file and record locking. You can use the keyed file-management extension to write multiuser database programs, although you can't use it under the single-user CP/M Plus.

To get some impression of its speed —Mallard is, after all, an illustrious name to live up to—I ran the BYTE BASIC benchmarks. The results that I obtained were consistently 25 percent

Table 1: The results of Locoscript on the BYTE word-processing

benchmarks

using a standard 23K-byte document. The results of WordStar or

an IBM PC is

shown for comparison.

LOCOSCRIPT

WORDSTAR

Floppy Drive RAM Drive

IBM PC Floppy

Document Load 11 seconds 9 seconds

10 seconds

Document Save 143 seconds 119 seconds

25 seconds

Search 292 seconds 265 seconds

11 seconds

Scroll 65 seconds 62 seconds

41 seconds

faster than the results of BASICA on an IBM PC.

Conclusion

The Amstrad PCW 82 56 is a first-rate CP/M computer, regardless of price. Once you consider the price and the included software, it becomes an astonishing bargain. Amstrad has blown the whistle on the pricing policies and the profit margins of other manufacturers.

The PCW should appeal to two completely different groups of users. A large number of first-time users will be attracted by the price and will consider using the PCW as an alternative to an electric typewriter. These firsttime users will find Locoscript easy to use and the printer capable of excellent-quality output. Users who are writers intending to use the Amstrad to write books may want to consider an alternative CP/M editor such as WordStar, Perfect Writer, or Final Word.

On the other hand, computer enthusiasts who wish to upgrade from a home computer to a serious machine will find that the PCW can meet almost any of their needs. Also, impoverished scientific and technical users will find the PCW to be a capable machine.

The hardware and CP/M Plus operating system provide plenty of scope for adventurous programming, and you can have the total system for less than the price of upgrading a Commodore 64 to a by-no-means-equivalent specification. Put Turbo Pascal on it and you have serious computing at a sensible price.

As 32-bit processors and multimegabyte memories crowd into the marketplace, it is easy to forget that a machine like the Amstrad has all the computing power that many single users will ever need, plus a software base that includes compilers and applications that were state-of-the-art only a couple of years ago.

Amstrad is keeping quiet about transatlantic plans at present, but by the time this column is published, I wouldn't be surprised to see the PCW announced in the U.S. ■

340 BYTE • MARCH I986

Princeton

Graphic Systems

Number One

Again

Sharp resolution, full compatiblity, and rugged reliability. That's what you get in every Princeton Graphic Systems monitor. That's why Princeton Graphic Systems is number one in the minds of more and more personal computer owners every year.

Only Princeton Graphic Systems offers a complete family of quality personal computer

displays. Our color and monochrome monitors outperform the competition every time. That's why, for the second year in a row, our HX-12 high resolution color monitor has been voted best in the world.*

So for the very best in personal computer monitors, pick the company that's number one. Princeton Graphic Systems.

*PC WORLD Magazine's 1985 World Class Survey

PRINCETON

GRAPHIC SYSTEMS

AN INTELLIGENT SVSTEMS COMPANY

601 Ewing Street, Bldg. A, Princeton, NJ 08540, (609) 683-1660, Telex: 821402 PGSPRIN, (800) 221-1490 Ext. 704

Inquiry 280

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 341

The SB180 Computer

Reasserts 8-Bit Computing

In A 16-Bit World

I ou're one of the few heroes left. The stalwart CP/M user who's held the fort despite all I the odds against you - a slow, bulky system that can't seem to compete against today's 16-bit computers. Well, help has finally arrived. IT'S THE SB 180 COMPUTER.

The SB 180 is a true singleboard computer: A CMOS CPU, 256K Ram, 8K ROM Monitor, disk controller for * up to four 3 1/2", 5 1/4" and/or 8" drives, console serial port, modem port parallel printer port . . . ALL ON ONE BOARD

High Speed And Small Enough To Fit In A Lunchbox

You can run standard 8080/8085 and Z-80 software at up to twice-the-speed of a 4MHz Z-80. And the entire SB 180 package is only 4" x 7 1/2".

Software Compatibility With The World

Any of the thousands of application programs, languages or utilities which run under CP/M will also run on the SB 180.

The SB180's Z-System is an enhanced 8-bit operating system. It is a complete replacement for CP/M 2.2 from Digital Research, yet provides functions and facilities similar to MS-DOS and UNIX.

Asynchronous Serial Communications Interface, Clocked Serial I/O port, 16-bit Programmable Reload Timer and a 12 source interrupt controller. The expanded instruction set includes hardware multiply and a sleep instruction for low power standby operation./

S^S^XZ,

Reduced System Cost And Low Power Operation

The SB 180 uses the most powerful of the new generation 8-bit CPU's- the Hitachi HD64180.

The chip is based on a microcoded execution unit and advanced CMOS manufacturing technology.

System costs are reduced because many key functions have been included on-chip: Memory Management Unit, Direct Memory Access Controller, wait state generator, dynamic RAM refresh,

The entire SB 180 computer with 256K bytes RAM and the 8K ROM monitor is only $369.00. If you want ZCPR3, ZRDOS, ROM and BIOS sources, the whole package comes to S499.00.

Quantity discounts are also available. Dial toll free 1-800-635-3355 to order the SB 180. For technical information write us at 25 Terrace Drive, Vernon, CT 06066 or call 1-203-871-6170. (Telex: 643331)

So call now, and say you're a CP/M user who's ready for reinforcements.

IB

V

342 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Finding

whole-number

solutions

to equations

by Robert T. Kurosaka

MATHEMATICAL RECREATIONS

Diophantine Equations

Robert T. Kurosaka teaches

mathematics in the Massachusetts

State College system. He invites

your correspondence do BYTE.

POB 372, Hancock. NH 03449.

A man buys some x's at $154 each and some y's at $69 each. If he spends a total of $5000, how many of each did he buy?

Although this problem appears to be from a first-year algebra text, we find that the techniques required are not usually found in a "mainstream" course in mathematics. The equation 154x + 69y = 5000 has infinitely many solutions. However, assuming the man bought whole-number quantities, we want integral solutions [x,y] for the equation, and now we need a method for solving such equations.

Diophantine Equations

Equations of the form ax + by = c, for integral a, b. and c and integral solutions (x.y). are called Diophantine equations. No one is certain when or where Diophantus of Alexandria was born. Sources vary from "born about A.D. 50" to "flourished about A.D. 2 50." He is called "the father of algebra," having promoted algebraic notation and algebraic treatment of mathematical problems. Previously, such work was done by "rhetorical algebra" or geometric proofs.

A variety of methods are available for solving Diophantine equations. One of these is modulo arithmetic, a powerful and fascinating concept that 1 may explore more closely in a future column.

A very simple method of solving our original problem comes to mind. Since the equation is equivalent to y = (5000154x)/69, we can simply try consecutive values of x (from 1 to 32 only) until we get an integral value for y.

Since we are mathematically inclined, such an inelegant approach may not sit well with us. Rather, we may prefer to look for a method of solution based on general principles of mathematics. What can we say in general about integral solutions for an equation of the form ax + by = c?

First, we can readily see under what conditions the equation would have no solu

tion. Consider the greatest common denominator (GCD) of a and b. We will call it d. If d is not a factor of c, the equation will have no integral solutions. Why? Since aid is, by hypothesis, an integer and bid is also one, the value (ald)x + (bld)y will be an integer if x and y are integers. That is, the integers are closed under addition and multiplication. Thus, if eld is not an integer, either x or y must not be an integer.

Diophantus Meets Euclid

This leads us to Euclid's algorithm, which was the subject of my last column in lanuary (page 397). If we employ Euclid's algorithm to determine the GCD of a and b, we can immediately determine whether there are integer solutions to the Diophantine equation by dividing the GCD into c. But we can use Euclid's algorithm for much more than that. To see how, let us reexamine the algorithm with an eye toward solving Diophantine equations. Figure 1 outlines the way the Euclidean algorithm finds the GCD of 154 and 69. Their GCD is 1, meaning that the two numbers are relatively prime. Now, to begin our examination of the way to solve Diophantine equations, let's modify our original equation to 154x' + 69y' = 1. That is, we will begin with the case where c is equal to the GCD.

In figure 2, I have rewritten the divisions of figure 1 as equations. In order to find integer values of x' and y' that solve the equation 154x' + 69y' = 1, all 1 need to do is substitute 154-2(69) for 16 in equations 2 and 3 and 69-4(154-2(69)) for 5 in equation 3. After collecting terms, I find that 1 = 13(154)-29(69). Thus, x = 13, y—29 will satisfy the equation 154x' + 69y' = 1. We will call (13,-29) the basic solution to 154x' + 69y' = 1. Is it the only solution?

Let us write our equation in the general form again: ax + by = c. Now, let n be any integer and d be the GCD of a and b. If we add 0 to the left-hand side of the equation, we haven't changed it, so ax + by + (nab/d

(continued]

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 343

INTEGRAL SOLUTIONS

nabld) = c. Rearranging, ax + nabld + by - nabld = c. Collecting terms, a(x + nbld) + b[y-nald) = c. So, once we have the basic solution for x and y. we can generate an infinite number of x's and y's that satisfy the equation by selecting any integer n, multiplying it by bid, and adding it to the basic solution value of x while we multiply n by aid and subtract it from the basic solution y. In the case of 154x" + 69i/ = 1, where the basic value of x is 13, the

basic value of y is -29, and d is 1, any set of numbers [x",y") such thatx" = 13 + k(69) and y"—29-«(154) will satisfy the equation.

So far, I have shown two things. First, if c is not a multiple of the GCD of a and b, there is no solution to the Diophantine equation. Second, if c equals the GCD of a and b, the Euclidean algorithm will provide a path for finding all integer solutions of x and y. But what if c is a multiple of the

To find the GCD of 154 and 69 by the Euclidean algorith

m:

1. Divide 154 by 69.

2

69

154 138

16

2. Divide the divisor by the remainder.

4

16

69 64

5

3. Repeat step 2 until the remainder is 0.

3

5

He"

15 1

4. The GCD is the last nonzero remainder, or 1.

5

1

5 5

0

Figure 1: The Euclidean algorithm is illustrated with the numbers 154 and 69.

Rewrite the divisions of figure 1 as equations:

1. 16 = 154-2(69)

2. 5 = 69-4(16)

3. 1 = 16-3(5)

Substitute 154-2(69) for 16:

2. 5 = 69-4(154-2(69))

3. 1 = 154-2(69)-3(5)

Substitute 69-4(154-2(69)) for 5:

3. 1 = 154-2(69)-3(69-4(154-2(69)))

Collect terms to find the basic solution to 154x + 69y = 1: 3. 1 = 13(154)-29(69)

Figure 2: How to use the Euclidean algorithm to find basic solutions to Diophantine equations.

GCD of a and bl

We have let d equal the GCD of a and b. We will now introduce one last letter, e, such that e = eld. Then, c = de. Since ax' + by = d and c = de, e{ax + by') = de = c. Thus, x = x'e. y = ye. and a(x'e) + b(y'e) = c. That is, to solve the equation ax + by = c, we solve the equation ax + by = d. find e such that e = eld. and multiply x by e and y by e to find the basic solution of ax + by = c. Listing l (available for downloading from BYTEnet Listings at (617) 861-9764 or on disk |see page 358|J provides a BASIC program that prompts you to enter the Diophantine equation, checks to make sure that there are integer solutions, and then prints out the basic solutions for x and y. the GCD of a and b, and the parametric equations for obtaining all integer solutions to the Diophantine equation (see figure 3). Other than the Euclidean algorithm that was discussed last time, the program is just a lot of bookkeeping, so I won't bother discussing it here.

Less Is More

What's that? The man in our starting problem didn't buy a negative number of x's or y's? Okay, we're almost done. For 154x + 69y = 5000, a = 154, 6 = 69, c = 5000, d = \. e = 5000, X" - 13, and y = -29. Thus, x = 13(5000), or 65,000, and y = -29(5000), or -145,000. The parametric equation for all x solutions is x = 65,000 + 69n; for y, y - 145,000- 1 54k. Since both x and y must be greater than 0, we can write

0 < 65,000 + 69k for x and 0 < -145,000-154k for y. Thus, n > -65,000/69 and n < 145,000/(-154). Combining and simplifying, -941.56 > k > -942.03. Therefore, n = -942 and x = 65,000-69(942), or 2, and y = -145,000 + 154(942), or 68. Writing a program to handle inequalities is kind of a pain, so I'll leave that as an exercise for you (don't you wish you were a columnist?).

Mail Call

1 have been receiving a lot of interesting mail recently. Professor Gemot

(continued)

344 BYTE • MARCH 1986

We've gone to great widths to make you look gi

I

Introducing New SIDEWAYS™ Version 3.

Sideways has always been the favorite way to print nearly everything that's too wide for a printer. Not surprising.

It's quick. It's easy. And it makes clean, one-piece printouts as wide as you like. So you get spreadsheets that really spread out. Pert charts that peer far into the future. All kinds of extra-wide reports without staples, glue or tape.

But now Sideways Version 3 goes even further.

Especially for 1-2-3™ and Symphony.8

Now you can make short work of those wide 1-2-3 spreadsheets. No need to make print files. Just highlight a range and print right from your worksheet file using familiar Lotus-like menus.

Mix bold, underlined and expanded type, all on the same page. Print through or skip over perforations. Make the finest extra-wide printouts this side of typesetting.

Using Symphony? Sideways chimes right in to print any worksheet you've loaded without ever leaving your Symphony session.

No matter what software you use.

Spreadsheets, databases, word processors, project planners. Whatever you use, you'll get more out of new Sideways.

Choose from nine different type sizes, from "minuscule" to "mammoth." Print bold, underlined or expanded - whatever your software can create. Even foreign language and line-drawing characters. Plus, there are so many ways to adjust margins, spacing and page size, it stretches the imagination.

Sideways Version 3 for the IBM® PC and all popular dotmatrix printers. Available now at computer dealers nationwide. Or directly from Funk Software with your check, Visa or Mastercard.

At just $69.95 a copy, you'll never want for width again.

Funk Software, 222 Third Street, Cambridge, MA 02142. Phone (617) 497-6339.

Copyright 1985, Funk Software, Inc. Sideways is a trademark of Funk Software. Lotus, 1-2-3 and Symphony are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corp.

Inquiry 139

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 345

Subscription Problems?

'US.MAIL

~W

We want to help!

// you have a problem with your BYTE subscription, write us with the details. We'll do our best to set it right. But we must have the name, address,

and zip of the

subscription (new

and old address, if

it's a change of

address). If the

problem involves a

payment, be sure to

include copies of

the credit card statement, or front

and back of

cancelled checks.

Include a 'business

hours" phone

number if possible.

We'll respond

A.S.A.P.

BiTE

Subscriber Service

P.O. Box 328 Hancock, NH 03449

INTEGRAL SOLUTIONS

Listing 1: A BASIC program to solve Diophantine equations.

10 '•***• 20 " 30 '*

40 '****" 50 CLS 60 PRINT 70 PRINT 80 PRINT 90 PRINT

DIOPHANTINE EQUATION SOLVER BY BOB KUROSAKA

'This program solves equations of the form AX + BY = C," 'where A, B, C, X, and Y are all integer values." :PRINT "Enter your equation as shown in the general form." "For example, enter 154X + 69Y = 5000 or 154X-69Y = 5000." 100 PRINT "Do not enter negative coefficients with parentheses." 110 PRINT "That is, do NOT enter 154X + (-69Y) = 5000." 120 PRINT :PRINT "The program will not work properly for the degenerate case" 130 PRINT "where either A or B is 0."

140 PRINT :INPUT "Enter equation";EQUATION$:A$ = EQUATIONS 150 REM DEFINE A READABLE FUNCTION FOR DISCARDING LEFTMOST

CHARACTERS. 160 DEF FNDROP.LEFT$(A$) = RIGHT$(A$,LEN(A$)-1) 170 REM PARSING ROUTINE 180 A = VAL(A$)

190 IF A = 0 THEN A=1:IF LEFT$(A$,1) = "-" THEN A=-1 200 A$ = FNDROP.LEFT$(A$) 210 DISCARDS = LEFT$(A$,1)

220 WHILE DISCARD$<>" + " AND DISCARDSo"-" 230 A$ = FNDROP.LEFT$(A$)

240 DISCARDS = LEFT$(A$,1)

250 WEND 260 B = VAL(A$)

270 IF B = 0THEN B=1:IF DISCARD$ = "-" THEN B= -1 280 WHILE DISCARDSo" = " 290 A$ = FNDROP.LEFT$(A$)

300 DISCARDS = LEFT$(A$,1)

310 WEND

320 A$=FNDROP.LEFT$(A$) 330 C = VAL(AS) 340 IF AolNT(A) OR BolNT(B) OR C< >INT(C) THEN PRINT "NOT A

DIOPHANTINE EQUATION":GOTO 760 350 REM END OF PARSING ROUTINE 360 REM EUCLIDEAN ALGORITHM FOR FINDING GCD. 370 REM FIRST, INITIALIZE THE TERMS FOR THE ALGORITHM 380 IF ABS(A)>=ABS(B) THEN DIVIDEND = A:DIVISOR = B 390 IF ABS(A)<ABS(B) THEN DIVISOR = A:DIVIDEND = B:SWAP.XYS= "YES" 400 REM USE 'FIX' INSTEAD OF 'INT' TO TRUNCATE RATHER THAN ROUND

NEGATIVE #s. 410 QUOTIENT= FIX(DIVIDEND/DIVISOR) 420 REMAINDER = DIVIDEND - DIVISOR*QUOTIENT 430 REM X1 = ONGOING COUNT OF X', Y1 = ONGOING COUNT OF Y'. YOU

CAN KEEP TRACK OF ALL ONGOING COUNTS BY USING ONLY THE

PREVIOUS TWO VALUES FOR X' AND Y', SO WE NEED ONLY X1, X2, X3,

AND Y1, Y2, Y3. 440X1=1:Y1 = -QUOTIENT 450 REM IF EITHER A OR B IS AN EVEN MULTIPLE OF THE OTHER, THEN

EITHER X' OR Y' WILL EQUAL 1 WHILE THE OTHER EQUALS 0.

460 IF REMAINDER = 0 THEN X2 = 0:Y2= 1:GOTO 620

470 DIVIDEND = DIVISOR:DIVISOR = REMAINDER

480 QUOTIENT = FIX(DIVIDEND/DIVISOR)

490 REMAINDER = DIVIDEND - DIVISOR*QUOTIENT

500 X2= -QUOTIENT*X1:Y2 = 1 -QUOTIENT*Y1

510 REM IF A GCD IS FOUND ON THE SECOND ITERATION OF THE

EUCLIDEAN ALGORITHM, THEN X'=X1, Y'=Y1. IN ALL

SUBSEQUENT CASES, X' = X2, Y' = Y2.

520 IF REMAINDER = 0 THEN X2 = X1:Y2 = Y1:GOTO 620 , . ,

(continued)

346 BYTE • MARCH 1986

"NOW IN OUR 8TH WAR"

TH€ UJORLD OF PC UPGRflD€S

FR€€

5 Mega Bytes Of software ujith the purchase of any P.C. hard disk

PC HARD DISK

^^

^

10 Mbyte IS10 $495

TANDY 1000 MULTI-FUNC BOARD

TMF-1

$255

INT€RNRL TRP€ BACKUP

i^T

10 Mbyte MT10 $385

CASH ASSIST

SPC-CDS

DISK ACCCSS

$49.95

PORTABLC TAP€ BACKUP

9^

10 Mbyte MT10P $525

AT HARD DISK

20 Mbyte AT20 $545

AT HARD DISK

33 Mbyte AT33 $750

PC HARD DISK

20 Mbyte IS20 $545

PC HARD DISK

$»

DIR€CT ASSIST

SIMPLIFICS

DOS

OPCRATIONS

<■?

$49.95

INTCRNAL TAPC- BACKUP

60 Mbyte MT60 $895

1

30 Mbyte IS30 $895

COMMAND ASSIST

AT HARD DISK

70 Mbyte AT70 CALL

DOS

MANUAL

ON

DISK

$49.95

D€SK TOP TAP€ BACKUP

MT106 $575 MT60C $995

-——-—

PC/AT HARD DISK

120 Mbyte ATI 20 $4,995

ORDCR LIN6

800-228-0891 305-677-833

-UK

IJMH'Hl

Micro Design International Inc.

6566 University Boulevard, UJinter Park, Florida 32792 (305) 677-8333 T6L6X 332559 MDIIORl UD

Inquiry 232

1 V6RR WARRANTY, 30 DAY MONC-Y BACK GURRANTC6 ON ALL OUR PRODUCTS

MARCH 1986 ■ BYTE 347

INTEGRAL SOLUTIONS

530 REM THE FIRST TWO ITERATIONS ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT DO NOT

FOLLOW THE PATTERN: X(N) = X(N-2)-QUOTIENT*X(N - 1),

Y(N) = Y(N-2)-QUOTIENT*Y(N-1). 540 WHILE REMAINDER< >0

550 DIVIDEND = DIVISOR:DIVISOR = REMAINDER

560 QUOTIENT = FIX(DIVIDEND/DIVISOR)

570 REMAINDER = DIVIDEND - DIVISOR*QUOTIENT

580 IF REMAINDERS THEN 610

590 X3 = X1 -QUOTIENT*X2:Y3 = Y1 -QUOTIENT*Y2

600 X1 = X2:X2 = X3: Y1 = Y2:Y2 = Y3

610 WEND 620 REM CALCULATE BASIC SOLUTION FOR AX + BY = C FROM GCD

RESULTS, WHICH HAVE PROVIDED AX' + BY' = D BASIC

SOLUTION. 630 D = DIVISOR:E = C/D

640 IF C/DolNT(C/D) THEN PRINT "NO INTEGER SOLUTIONS.":GOTO 760 650 IF SWAP.XY$="YES" THEN SWAP X2.Y2 660 PRINT "The basic solution to the Diophantine equation," 670 PRINT EQUATIONS;" is:" 680 PRINT "X = ";X2*E:PRINT "Y = ";Y2*E 690 PRINT "The GCD of ";A;" and ";B;" is:";ABS(D) 700 PRINT "The parametric equations for all integer answers is:" 710 PRINT "X = ";X2*E;:IF B/D>0 THEN PRINT " +"; 720 PRINT B/D;"N, and"

730 PRINT "Y =";Y2*E;:IF A/D<0 THEN PRINT " +"; ELSE PRINT " -"; 740 PRINT ABS(A/D);"N" 750 PRINT "for all integer values N." 760 END

This program solves equations of the form ax + by = c, where a, b, c, x, and y are all integer values.

Enter your equation as shown in the general form. For example, enter 154x + 69y = 5000 or 154x - 69y = 5000. Do not enter negative coefficients with parentheses. That is, do not enter 154x + (-69y) = 5000.

The program will not work properly for the degenerate case where either a or b is 0.

Enter equation? 74x + 85y= 1

The basic solution to the Diophantine equation,

74x + 85y=1 is

x = -31

y = 27

The GCD of 74 and 85 is 1.

The parametric equations for all integer answers are

x = -31 + 85n and

y = 27 - 74n

for all integer values n.

Figure 3: A screen dump of the program in listing 1 solving a Diophantine equation.

Metze of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign stunned me with this concept: Use 4>, the Golden Mean, as a number base. (I will wait while you catch your breath.)

The system uses the digits 0 and 1 and is based on the identity </>2 = 4>

+ 1. In order to get a feel for what he has to say, we should take a brief excursion into another way of using the Euclidean algorithm: representing numbers as continued fractions. Figure 4a shows how to represent 154/69 as a continued fraction. You

One interesting letter suggested using the Golden Mean as a number base by employing the identity </>2 = </> + 1.

just collect all the quotients from the Euclidean algorithm (2, 4, 3, 5) and stack them as shown in the figure. Any rational number can be expressed as a finite continued fraction. Now, <j> = (1 + V5)/2, and \l~5 is irrational. Its continued fraction will be infinite but regular (see figure 4b). When we "add" the continued fractions for 1/2 and V5/2, we get the continued fraction for 0 in figure 4c. <j> turns out to be the simplest continued fraction, (T). Back to Professor Metze.

The identity $2=0+ 1 means that "100" = "011" in the <£-nary system, and these two patterns can be interchanged anywhere in a <£-nary number. For example, 10011 = 10100 (the rightmost "011" becomes "100"), and 1110= 10010 (the leftmost "011" becomes "100"). That is, the final representation need not contain consecutive Is.

You may want to try to construct an addition table in base <f>, but some mental agility is required. Our first snag is "1 + 1." How do we "carry" in this system? Since 1 = 1.00 = 0.11 (remember the pattern switch?), we can proceed: 1 + I = 1.00 + 1.00 = 1.00 + 0.11 = 1.11, which can be rewritten as 10.01, and we have found "2"! You may wish to verify that 10.01 = 2, that is, that <£+<£-2=2. Similarly, we find "3" with 10.01 + 1.00= 11.01, = 100.01, and so on. The representations grow rapidly in both directions.

There was a large and enthusiastic response to the "ir, e, and All That"

(continued)

348 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Even the smallest bug is big game.

There are no insignificant bugs. They're often ferocious... and elusive!

That's why we built the better "bug hunter." The UDL (Universal Development Laboratory). It's actually an:

• Advanced 48-channel bus state analyzer

• 8/16 bit in-circuit emulator

• EPROM programmer

• Input stimulus generator All packed into one, compact box for only $2995.

UDL turns almost any PC/MS-DOS and CP/M" computer into a powerful, integrated workstation for hardware/software debugging. UDLs unique,

CH'M is a trademark of Digital Research. Inquiry 258

real-time emulation lets you track bugs of 46 different target microprocessor "species" without buying expensive hardware adapters.

Access all four instruments through the same control program. Handle single-step debugging with the emulator. Aid quickly define a complex trigger spec, so the built-in logic analyzer can find those nasty, subtle bugs.

When your tested program is bug-free, plug a PROM into the socket. Aid with one command, simply write your program from emulation memory directly into the PROM.

Let our UDL simplify the hunt, and keep you quick on the trigger. If you're serious about bug hunting, find out how to qualify for a no-obligation, 10-day "safari" with UDL. Call: 800/245-8500 (or 415/ 361-8883 in California). Or write: 702 Marshall Street, 6th Floor, Redwood City, CA 94063.

Instruments

Become a Professional Bug Hunter.

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 349

INTEGRAL SOLUTIONS

column (September 1985, page 409). Many readers requested the derivation of the complete permutations formula. Everyone found or already knew of the hiding place of 4> in the Fibonacci sequence. Others de

manded to know why e'v= -1.

All who were interested in the approximation of tt by the Buffon experiment agreed that my program was dishonest for its inclusion of tt/2 in the program itself. Several readers offered

(a)

■

The quotients of the Euclidean algorithm for the GCD of 154 and

69 are (2,4,3,5). The continued fractional representat

on of 154/69

IS

154/69 = 2 + 1

4 + 1

3 + 1

5

(b)

The continued fractional representation of V5 is

V5 = 2 + 1

4 + 1

4 + 1

(c)

The continued fractional representation of <£ = (1 +

V5)/2 is

0 = 1+ 1

1 + 1

1 + 1

Figure 4: The way of representing numbers as continuing fractions, (a) 154/69 as a continuing fraction: (b) the infinite continuing fraction for \l5; (c) the simplest infinite continuing fraction, </>.

Listing 2:

Donald Wiggins's program to

approximate ir

bg the potshot method.

5 REM Program to approximate pi by Donald S. 10 INPUT "TRIALS"; N

Higgins,

St. Petersburg,

FL.

20 FOR l =

1 TO N

30 X = RND(O)

40 Y= RND(0)

50 IF X*X + Y*Y < 1 THEN C = C

+ 1

60 NEXT I

70 PRINT ■

ESTIMATE OF PI ="; 4*C/N

An impressive method for doing the Buffon experiment without using -k involves calculating slopes for random pairs of points.

alternative methods that avoided using ir.

The most popular suggestion was the potshot method. There is a circular target inscribed on a square board. Random shots are fired at the board, and, assuming all shots hit the board, we count the number of shots that strike inside the circle. For longer and longer volleys, the ratio of the number of strikes inside the circle to the number of shots fired approaches tt/4. Donald S. Higgins of St. Petersburg, Florida, offered the miniprogram in listing 2.

It turns out that I was lucky not to have adopted his method because the April 1985 Scientific American described it (among other simulations) in the "Computer Recreations" column by A. K. Dewdney.

Ellis Golub of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, offered an impressive method. Select four random decimals and use them to form two random points: (x\.y\) and (x2,y2). Consider the slope of the line through these two points: SLOPE = (y2-y1)/(x2x1). Then let PROJ = ,25/SQR (SLOPE "2 + 1), which is equivalent to my .25*COS(ANGLE) but completely eliminates the use of trig functions and any mention of tt. He also had a 2 5 percent reduction in running time.

in the next column, I will examine Pellian equations, which are of the form x2 - ng2 = 1, where n is a nonsquare integer and the solutions (x.g) are integral. Until then, keep those cards and letters coming. ■

350 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Turbo, who?

Do you have to give up power and advanced potential

to get ease of use and af fordability? Not anymore.

Because now, you can have UCSD Pascal for only $79.95!

If you're making your move into programming, there's no better way to go than Pascal. And starting now, you don't have to settle for a stripped-down version of Pascal in order to get a price thafs right. Instead, you can choose UCSD Pascal-the recognized Pascal programming standard in colleges and universities throughout the country-at the incredibly low introductory price of $79.95 for your PC-DOS, MS-DOS, or other popular computer.

Start with the standard

With an entry-level system, you spend a lot of valuable time learning a non-standard form of Pascal. And you don't get all the capabilities a true Pascal system is supposed to deliver-unless you buy a lot of add-on utilities-which can send the cost of your system sky-high! Worst of all, when you're ready to tackle anything more than short, simple programs-you have no choice but to move up to a more sophisticated system (like UCSD Pascal). And at that point, you also have to relearn standard Pascal.

UCSD Pascal

has everything you need

With UCSD Pascal, you get a

HJCSD Pascal

full-featured, professional programming tool thafs being used right now in the development of major scientific and business applications. The system comes with an outstanding text editor, a complete on-line tutorial, 8087 math coprocessor support and BCD (decimal arithmetic) included in the package at no extra cost. In fact, UCSD Pascal contains virtually everything you need-as standard '" equipment-for devel

' oping the simplest

to the most

sophisticated programs.

UCSD Pascal is available for MS-DOS, PC-DOS, UNIX, VMS, MSX and many other operating systems. You can use UCSD Pascal to write programs of any size on virtually any computer, and port them to any other computer. And if speed is what you're after, the latest native code version of UCSD Pascal actually benchmarks favorably with Turbo Pascal' in execution timel "7^ *

Programming that's easy ...and fun!

At Pecan Software Systems, we strongly believe programming should be as easy as possible. Pascal was originally designed for teaching programming skills, so ifs extremely easy to learn and to use. With UCSD Pascal, you'll be developing programs right from the start that are easy to write, easy to understand, and easy to maintain. We also believe that programming should be fun. So we've made UCSD Pascal as enjoyable to use as it is powerful.

The right tool at the right price

When the fun gets serious, you'll have a comprehensive programming system right at your fingertips with UCSD Pascal-a system that will help you develop those big-league programs you may eventually want to write-at a price you can readily afford.

Put UCSD Pascal programming power on your PC now for only $79,951 Order by mail today or phone now 1-800-63-PECAN. UCSD Pascal -the original standard of Pascal programming excellence. The new leader in Pascal price/ performance. ^M

OCS*>*ecte°

The UCSD Pascal Company

Pecan Software Systems, Inc.

1410 39th Sfreot, Brooklyn, NV 11218

718-851-3100 ^^^^

inn 1,1

60

.daV

rt»o'

opV to»c

,SoW*t\

w

i\eWs

\<\c

»&&&

«*«<5ffiSrs

89A0

nwkoi

eiHCIHXliCS

■

Ctitporaliofi

HMNE10W is a

■ ol Diadiil

lurtWP*'... ■

reqatered I

ofBorland inummwnal

SliSS^^

01*

aw**

,W)<«

m

a*

>^«g&*°*

■w&

pajfl*'

lew

aflw

*+"*"

UCSD Pascal is a registered trademark of The Regents ol University ol California

Inquiry 268

MARCH 1?

IYTE 351

From McGraw-Hill... the professionals' publisher

Join BYTE: The Book Club for the Computer Professional

ADVANCED PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE Featuring dBase II and dBase III. By L.

Castro, J. Hanson andT. Rettig. 450 pp., illus. softbound. Most complete guide now available on advanced dBase. Covers the latest debugging techniques, subroutines, structured programming and system design and documentation. Thorough coverage included on the implementation process. 583149-XB $28.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS. By R.

F. Graf. 760 pp.. 1.256 illus. Delivers 1256, fully illustrated circuits, each accompanied by explanatory circuit notes for your convenience. Covers the full gamut from filters to sensors and controllers to pulse generators and converters. Fully indexed this unique compendium has broken these proven circuits into 98 categories. 583265-8A $50.00

(Counts as 3 of your 3 books)

HANDBOOK OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING. Edited by C. Vick and C. Ramamoorthy. 683pp., 332 illus. and tables. Emphasizing quality assurance, this first-ever guide shows you how to design, implement, test and maintain virtually any type of software. Ranging from graphic theoretic modeling to software development you see how to apply the latest software engineering techniques in each stage of development. 583204-6A $62.50

(Counts as 3 of your 3 books)

SINGLE-CHIP MICROCOMPUTERS. Edited by P. Lister. 231 pp., 102 illus., 25 tables. Comprehensive coverage of the single-chip micros now available, their characteristics and application range. Separate chapters cover Motorola's M6801 & M6805 families, Tl's TMS 1000 & TMS 7000 devices, Zilog's Z80. National Semiconductors COPS 400 and Mostek's 16-bit MK 682000.

308/309B $39.50

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

SYSTEM DESIGN FROM PROVABLY CORRECT CONSTRUCTS. By J. Martin. 392 pp., 155 two-color illus. Covers "Higher Order Software," the breakthrough in system development that translates & refines human thinking until program codes generate automatically.

582259-3B $37.50

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

Get the competitive edge with

the newest and the best information

in your field ... with books from

all the leading publishers.

New Members TAKE ANY 3 BOOKS FOR ONLY S|QO EACH Values up to $83.50

THE HANDBOOK OF COMPUTERS AND COMPUTING.

Edited by A. Seidman and I. Flores. 874 pp., illus. This monumental handbook, aimed specifically at computer professionals, covers everything from microprogramming, online systems and programming ergonomics to software engineering and computer security. Features the first intensive exploration of ATE to appear in print. 583138-4A $77.50

(Counts as 3 of your 3 books)

DATA STRUCTURES FOR PERSONAL COMPUTERS. By

Y. Langsam, M. Augenstein and A. Tenenbaum. 560 pp., 116 illus. Gives you a solid grounding in highlevel programming techniques by combining the elementary concepts of data structures with guidance on structured programming in BASIC.

583186-4B $29.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

COMPARING AND ASSESSING PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES: ADA • C • Pascal.

Edited by A. Feurer and N. Behani. 277 pp., softbound. Enhances your understanding of these languages by comparing their strengths and weaknesses. Contrasts and assesses each so you can choose the best for your application. 583262-3 $16.95

PROGRAMMING ASSEMBLER LANGUAGE. By P. Abel. 2nd Ed., 581 pp., 154 illus. and listings. Updated and expanded this carefully detailed study of the 370 mainframe and Assembler covers the essentials of Assembler coding, binary operations, and external storage. Also discusses debugging, floating point operations, macro writing and operating systems. 583088-4B $26.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

MULTIPLE PROCESSOR SYSTEMS FOR REAL-TIME APPLICATIONS. By B. Liebowitz and J. Carson. 383 pp.. 150 illus. This definitive guide for the practicing professional covers each of the'MPS's major building components, design tools and techniques and implementation methodology. Case histories from both government and industry are included. 583237-2B $36.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

ART AND THE COMPUTER.

By M. Prueitt; intro. by CARL SAGAN. 256 pp., 277 full-color illus. First comprehensive survey of today's extraordinary computer graphics. Describes and illustrates, in full color, the principles and techniques behind this revolutionary new art form. 508/941B $39.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

COMPUTATIONAL ASPECTS OF VLSI. By J. Ullman. 495 pp., 252 illus. Coverage ranges from the theoretical to current VLSI design tools and the algorithms that underlie them. Includes specific algorithms for circuit extraction, rule checking, switch-level simulation and automatic routing. 582990-8B $44.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

SUCCESSFUL DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM ANALYSIS, 2/e. By T. Gildersleeve. 369 pp., 117 illus. This completely revised, updated and expanded guide covers the whole process of system analysis. In clear, professional language it covers identifying the problem and developing a costbenefit analysis to testing the system for acceptability. 583311-5B $30.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

PROGRAMMABLE CON

TROLLER HANDBOOK. By R.

Wilhelm, Jr. 718pp., 341 illus. First comprehensive reference on these special-purpose computers that are now the standard solution to most industrial control applications. Special attention is given to the many functions and operations not possible to perform with industrial control relays.

583244-5B $49.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

DATA COMMUNICATIONS, NETWORKS AND SYSTEMS.

T. Bartee, Editor-in-Chief. 359 pp., 196 illus. Brings you up-to-date pm digital system design. Shows how they operate and the trade-offs they entail. Covers basic system approaches, network security, error control techniques and common carrier regulations. 583276-3B $39.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

352 BYTE • MARCH 1986

DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTED REAL-TIME SYSTEMS. By P. Fortier 216/193B $36.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL COMPUTER CONSULTANT.

By A. Simon

572/968 $16.95

THE THEORY 8- PRACTICE OF COMPUTER WRITING. By J.

Tremblay & P. Sorenson 651/612B $39.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

INTRODUCING PC-DOS & MSDOS. By T. Sheldon 565/597 $18.95

68,000 MICROPROCESSOR.

By W. Triebel & A. Singh 583613-OB $34.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

PROGRAMMING WITH

TURBO PASCAL. By D. Carroll 852908-5B $34.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE,

3/e. By C. Foster & T. Iberall 583278-XB $38.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

MICROPROCESSOR SYSTEM DESIGN CONCEPTS. By N. Alexandria^

583313-1B $32.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

CREATING COMPUTER

SOFTWARE USER GUIDES.

By D. Houghton-Alico

304/718 $17.95

FUNDAMENTALS OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES,

2/e. By E. Horowitz

583303-4B $29.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

MICROCOMPUTER ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING. By G. Elfring 583190-2B $29-95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

CICS: MASTERING COMMAND LEVEL CODING USING COBOL. By W. Bruno & L. Bosland 583216-X $24.95

STEVE CIARCIA'S ASK BYTE.

By S. Ciarcia

881200-3 $14.95

MATHEMATICS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHMS. By D. H. Greene & D. E. Knuth 582707-7 $14.95

THE MASTER HANDBOOK OF HIGH-LEVEL MICROCOMPUTER LANGUAGES. By C.

Taylor

583096-5 $21.95

*&

m

* 3 books for only $1.00 each ... if you join now for a trial period and agree to purchase three more books— at handsome discounts—during your first year of membership. (Publishers' prices shown)

VIDEOTEX/TELETEXT. By A.

Alber

009/570B $32.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

CIARCIA'S CIRCUIT CELLAR VOLUME V. By S. Ciarcia 109/697 $19.95

COMPUTER PERIPHERALS FOR MINICOMPUTERS, MICROPROCESSORS, AND PERSONAL COMPUTERS. By

C. L. Hohenstein

294/518B $36.50

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

PROGRAMMING WITH ADA: An Introduction By Means of Graduated Examples. By P.

Wegner

789/24XB $25.00

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

REAL-TIME COMPUTING: With Applications to Data Acquisition and Control. Edited by D. A. Mellichamp 582844-8B $44.50

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

ASSEMBLERS, COMPILERS, AND PROGRAM TRANSLATION. By P. Calingaert 582110-9B $27.50

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

PASCAL FOR PROGRAMMERS. By O.LeCarme& J. Nebut 369/585B $25.00

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

DISCRETE MATHEMATICS.

By M. Marcus

582987-8 $19.95

DATABASE DESIGN, 2/e. By

G. Weiderhold

701/326B $38.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

INTERACTIVE MESSAGE SERVICES. By D. Chorafas 108/501B $32.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

STRUCTURE S- INTERPRETATION OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS. By H. Abelson & G. Sussman

583258-5B $34.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

C PRIMER PLUS. By M. Waite. S. Prata & D. Martin 583111-2B $29.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

THE UNIX PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENT. By B. Ker

nighan & R. Pike

583007-8B $26.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

THE THEORY OF RELATIONAL DATABASES. By D.

Maier

582986-XB $33.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

i— More Books to Choose from —i

LEARNING WITH LOGO.

By D. H. Watt

685/703 $22.95

MICROCOMPUTER AND MICROPROCESSOR INTERFACING. By J. C. Cluley 582585-6B $27.50

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

MICROPROCESSOR AND MICROCOMPUTER DATA DIGEST. By W. H. Buchsbaum & G. Weissenberg 582835-9B $29.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

MICROPROCESSOR DATA BOOK. By S. A.

Money

427/062B $35.00

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

BUILD YOUR OWN Z-80 COMPUTER. By S. Ciarcia 109/621 $22.95

MICROCOMPUTER INTERFACING. By B. Artwick

789/436B $28.00

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

PRINCIPLES OF INTERACTIVE COMPUTER GRAPHICS, 2/e. By W. M.

Newman & R. Sproull 463/387B $41.95

(Counts as 2 of your 3 books)

MICROCOMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEMS. By

M. Dahmke

150/710 $18.95

ELECTRONIC ENGI

NEERS' HANDBOOK,

2/e. By D. G. Fink & D.

Christiansen

209/812A $83.50

(Counts as 3 of your 3 books)

Z80 USERS MANUAL. By

J. Carr

582336-5 $16.95

INTRODUCING THE UNIX SYSTEM. By H. McGilton & R. Morgan 450/013 $24.95

HANDS-ON BASIC For the IBM® Personal Computer. By H. Peckham 491/78X $23.95

Why YOU should join the Byte Book ClubM now!

• Best and newest books from ALL publishers! Books are selected from a wide range of publishers by expert editors and consultants to give you continuing access to the best and latest books in your field.

• Big savingsl Build your library and save money too! Savings range up to 30% or more off publishers' list prices—usually 20% to 25%.

• Bonus books! You will immediately begin to participate in our Bonus Book Plan that allows you savings up to 70% off the publishers' prices of many professional and general interest books!

9 Convenience! 14-16 times a year (about once every 3-4 weeks) you receive the Club Bulletin FREE. It fully describes the Main Selection

and alternate selections. A dated Reply Card is included. If you want the Main Selection, you simply do nothing—it will be shipped automatically. If you want an alternate selection—or no book at all—you simply indicate it on the Reply Card and return it by the date specified. You will have at least 10 days to decide. If. because of late delivery of the Bulletin you receive a Main Selection you do not want, you may return it for credit at the Club's expense.

As a Club member you agree only to the purchase of three addtional books during your first year of membership. Membership may be discontinued by either you or the Club at any time after you have purchased the three additional books.

Fill out the card and mail today! If the card is missing, write to:

BYTE BOOK CLUB,™ P.O. Box 582, Hightstown, New Jersey 08520-9959

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 353

CIRCUIT CELLAR FEEDBACK

Conducted by Steve Garcia

SB 180 Questions

Dear Steve.

After reading about the SB180 in the September 1985 BYTE, I have a couple of questions and observations.

Last year, I sold my old computer and a TeleVideo 925 terminal, and I now have an IBM PC. I did some of the beta testing for the Trump Card, and it seems that the ideas behind it and the SB180 aren't too remote from one another. Would it be possible to somehow use the IBM's power supply and disk drives for the SB180 as well as interfacing the IBM PC to act as a terminal?

I'm a big fan of the Oasis operating system, and 1 still help maintain a friend's computer using Oasis. If 1 were to return to 8 bits, 1 would like to take advantage of all the experience I've had using Oasis. Do you know if it can be implemented on the SB 180? A 5l2K-byte memory disk (or maybe even a 10-megabyte hard disk) would be a great addition to such a system.

Now for the observations: One thing that really appeals to me is the possibility of the SB180's portability. However, I keep running into the same problem—no one makes a readable screen for a portable. Mostly, it seems that this is because people want a battery-operated system. Thus, the portable must rely on the limited power that batteries can supply. I am rarely far from a plug and would much prefer a system that has a highly readable screen. Any thoughts on this?

Michael Casey Highland Park, IL

You can certainly use the IBM PC's case, power supply, and disk drives with the SBI80. The SBI80 draws little current, so it wouldn't be much of a drain on the PC's power supply. At least one of the disk drives must be a double-sided double-density unit in order to boot up the Z-System; otherwise, the drives will be fine. It would even be possible to have a dual-processor system and use the PC as a terminal into the SBI80. You could mount four half-height drives in the PC: two for use by the PC itself, and two for use by the SBI80. When you wished to use the SBI80, you could boot up a terminal-emulation program (Crosstalk, PC-Talk), which would actually be connected to the console input of the SB 180. Then, Z-System would be loaded from the other two drives.

You should have little trouble implementing such a system since no major modifications are needed to either computer. Most of the work would be in making mechanical/electrical connections, so a minimum of technical know-how would be required. If you do attempt this project, please send me a write-up.

As far as I know, no one has brought up Oasis on the SBI80 yet. The BIOS source code that comes with the software for the SBI80 would be invaluable. If you have ever ported Oasis to a different machine, getting it on the SBI80 should be no different. I agree that a hard disk is a near necessity. In December 1985, I presented a combination 300/ 1200-bps modem and SCSI hard-disk expansion board for the SBI80.1 also plan

Table

1: The neu

key codes needed f

ir the Dvorak

layout.

278

esc

ctl/s

ctl/l

LF

VT

null

tab

ctl/n

280

BS

ctl/p

ctl/q

ctl/r

Gtl/O

7

8

9

288

2

3

4

6

5

7

1

8

290

\

9

0

null

null

null

298

W

E

R

Y

T

U

Q

I

2A0

underbar

0

[

P

1

4

5

6

2A8

S

D

F

H

G

J

A

K

2B0

CR

L

j

\

1

2

3

2B8

X

C

V

N

B

M

Z

2C0

rubout

null

/

null

0

null

2C8

null

null

null

null

null

null

space

a more sophisticated presentation in May 1986.

As soon as I find an economical portable display, I'll be looking for a way to incorporate it into an article—perhaps with a revision of my Term-Mite board. —Steve

Dvorak Keyboard

Dear Steve,

I have a question about your Term-Mite design (lanuary and February 1984). I am particularly interested in implementing a Dvorak simplified keyboard, and the TermMite offers some possibilities in that direction. According to your description of the keyboard-scanning routine, it would be necessary only to substitute the desired ASCII values in the lookup table that the routine uses to assign values to the keystrokes. Where is that table located?

R. F. White Ft. Worth, TX

You are correct about changing the keyboard-scanning table to implement a Dvorak keyboard. The table is in the EPROM, beginning at location 278 hexadecimal. The current table contains the ASCII code for each key in 1 byte. You need only substitute the bytes in this table for the new key encodings for the Dvorak layout. See table I.

Code resumes at location 2CF hexadecimal. When you change the EPROM code, you must set switch swl, position 6, closed to enable the EPROM. One problem may be that the punctuation above the numbers will not be separately controlled by these changes, because they are generated from the character codes themselves. The source code for the Term-Mite is available for $20 from

The Micromint Inc. 25 Terrace Dr. Vernon, CT 06066

To understand it. get "NS455-Series Terminal Management Processor (TMP)'' from National Semiconductor. It has a complete description of the chip and a description of the instruction set of the processor—Steve m

354 BYTE • MARCH 1986

COPYRIGHT © 1986 STEVEN A. CIARCIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

There's a Familar Face Behind the New Name

m )

NANAO MONITORS. The name is new to the American market. That's because tor the tirst time in history, a huge new line of computer monitors is available to the U.S.—factory direct. 26 different models offered in three series, bringing you a range of features broader than any other. Color resolution from 480 dots x 200 lines up to 720 dots x 480 lines. And Fh scanning from 15.75 to 24.75 KHz. But the truth is that Nanao has been around for a long time. For over a decade we've supplied OEM's worldwide, designing and manufacturing monitors recognized for their outstanding performance and reliability. Now that same quality, selection and value is yours—right from the source. Nanao. The old standby with a new name.

Inquiry 245 for End-Users. Inquiry 246 for DEALERS ONLY.

NANAO

NANAO USA CORPORATION

373 G. Vintage Park Drive Foster City, California 94404 Phone (415) 341-7055

Distributor Inquiries Welcomed

BYTE InvitesYou to join El\

BYTE is the world's leading high-tech microcomputer magazine. Us readers collectively possess more information about personal computers and related topics than any other group in the world. BIX is BYTE's brand-new electronic information exchange, a computer conferencing system that puts you in touch with BYTE readers and other computer enthusiasts on a daily basis.

YOU AND BIX

BIX goes far beyond electronic bulletin boards to give you all the advanced features of true computer conferencing. It's the first major system dedicated to microcomputer information. Check these features:

• You can join ongoing discussions about your favorite computers, programming languages, operating systems, and applications programs, exchange information, ask questions, and offer opinions.

• You can read what others have already entered, add your own thoughts, and download information.

• You can participate when it's convenient for you, from home or office or while you're traveling.

• You also get electronic mail with BIX, putting you in direct, private contact with BYTE editors and BIX users everywhere.

Customize bix to Meet Your Needs

As a BIX user, you select only the conferences and topics that are of real interest to you. You may join a new conference or leave an old one anytime you want. Each time you log on to BIX, you're immediately notified of any electronic mail messages waiting for you, and you see which of the conferences you've joined have had new activity since the last time you logged on. BIX keeps track of your interests.

With BIX, you're an active participant in a giant microcomputer information exchange.

WHAT BIX COSTS. . .HOW YOU PAY

ONE-TIME REGISTRATION FEE:

BYTE Subscriber $2 5

Nonsubscriber $39

BIX HOURLY USAGE FEES (All times are local): Off Peak (6 p.m.-7 a.m. plus weekends

and holidays) $9

Peak (7 a.m.~6 p.m. weekdays) $12

TELECOMMUNICATIONS CHARGES:

BIX is available via Tymnet from anywhere in the

United States.

TYMNET (Continental U.S.):

Off Peak $2/hr. Peak $6/hr.

PAYMENT

BIX and Tymnet charges are billed through either

VISA or MasterCard. No cash, checks, or money

orders.

Start Using BIX Now!

With our easy on-line registration, you can start using BIX in the next few minutes. No lengthy waiting for your registration to be processed by mail. (Step-by-step instructions on how to log on to BIX follow. Reading this material before you log on will speed you through the registration process.)

log-on instructions

and Registration Information

BEFORE YOU CALL BIX: Having your credit card handy (VISA/MasterCard) before you log on will speed you through BIX registration. You will not be billed for the time you spend on line registering for BIX. If at any time during the on-line process you decide not to register for BIX, just hang up.

HOW TO LOG ON TO BIX:

Step 1: Set your computer's telecommunications

program for full duplex using 8-bit words, no parity,

356 BYTE • MARCH 1986

and 1 stop bit, or 7-bit words, even parity, and 1 stop bit. You may call at either 300 or 1200 baud.

Step 2: To reach BIX via Tymnet.

• Call your local Tymnet number and log on.

• Tymnet will ask you for a "terminal identifier." Type the letter "a."

• Tymnet will ask you to log on. Type "byteneti" and a carriage return.

• Tymnet will ask you for a password. Type "mgh" and a carriage return.

• You will then be at the BIX computer. At the next prompt, type "bix" and a carriage return. You're now on line with BIX.

BIX is accessible from anywhere in the country through local Tymnet numbers. Call Tymnet's 24-hour customer service number. (800) 336-0149, for local Tymnet numbers and for assistance in setting your computer's communications program properly. This is also the number to use to report problems with the Tymnet system. (There is a premium charge for Tymnet, but you still reach BIX for much less than regular long distance.)

Step 3: Once on BIX, you will be asked to enter your name. Since this will be your first time on the system, enter "new" and a carriage return. This will take you to a special section where you enter the information we need to register you as a BIX user. Follow the on-line prompts and supply the infor

mation requested. BIX lets you reenter data if you make a mistake.

When you've completed your registration, BIX will automatically take you to a special "Learn" conference where you'll get a quick tutorial on how to use the system. (Typing "help" or "?" at any prompt while you are on BIX will give you an immediate review of available commands.)

Problems: If you follow these instructions but still are unable to log on to BIX, call the BIX Customer Service Line for assistance at (800) 227-2983 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. eastern time weekdays. In New Hampshire, call 924-9281.

ACCESSING BIX FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES

BIX is accessible from most foreign countries via the Tymnet network in the United States. Once you reach Tymnet, follow the log-on instructions listed here.

If you do not know how to reach Tymnet from your country, call or write us for more detailed information.

Users Groups, trade and membership Organizations

To learn how the members of your organization can qualify for BIX registration discounts, send us the name and address of your group on official letterhead.

We'll Send You a BIX User's Manual and Subscriber Agreement As Soon As We've Processed Your Registration

BYTE Information Exchange 70 Main Street Peterborough, NH 03458 (603) 924-9281

Inquiry 450

MARCH 1986

IYTE 357

DISKS AND DOWNLOADS

Ordering Disks of BYTE Listings

Source-code listings in the form of text files of programs that accompany BYTE articles are now available from BYTE on disk. To order a disk of these listings for noncommercial purposes, indicate the issue (the first available is December 1985) and the kind of disk on the form below. Enclose a check or money order in the correct amount made out to BYTE Listings. All prices include postage. Send requests to BYTE Listings. 70 Main St., Peterborough, NH 03458.

BYTE issue:

COMMON 5%-INCH FORMATS

(all cost $5 per disk in North America, $6 in

Europe and South America, $7 in Asia, Africa, and

Australia)

□ Apple II 5/4-inch DOS 3.3

□ Apple II 5!4-inch ProDOS

□ Atari

□ Commodore 64

□ Hewlett-Packard 12 5

□ IBM PC

□ Kaypro 2 CP/M

□ Texas Instruments Professional

□ TRS-80 Model 111

□ TRS-80 Model 4

□ Zenith Z-100

COMMON 3'/2-INCH FORMATS

(all cost $6 per disk in North America, $7 in

Europe and South America, $8 in Asia, Africa, and

Australia)

□ Apple Macintosh

□ Atari 520ST

□ Commodore Amiga

□ Data General/One

□ Hewlett-Packard 150

CP/M STANDARD 8-INCH FORMAT ($6 per disk in North America, $7 in Europe and South America, $8 in. Asia, Africa, and Australia) □ Single-sided single-density

OTHER FORMATS

(all cost $6 per disk in North America, $7 in

Europe and South America, $8 in Asia, Africa, and

Australia)

Size Machine

D 8-inch

□ 5 '/4-inch

□ 3 '/2-inch

SEND DISK TO:

Name

Street

City

State or Province. Country

Postal Code

Check or money order enclosed for $_

Bulletin Boards in Canada

Listed below are some computer bulletin boards that carry program listings from BYTE. Programs are for noncommercial use in connection with BYTE articles only. Some BBSs may charge an annual maintenance fee, and you must pay your own telephone charges.

Western Canadian Distribution Center (101 11112 101st St., Edmonton, Alberta T5G 2A2) will be supplying listings to its member bulletin-board systems.

Edmonton, Alberta, (403) 454-6093

Meadowlark, Alberta, (403) 43 5-6579

Montreal, Quebec, PComm Systems, (514) 989-9450

Prince George, British Columbia, (604) 562-9519

Regina, Saskatchewan, (306) 586-5 585

Toronto, Ontario. Canadian Remote Systems, (416) 231-9202

Toronto, Ontario, Epson Club of Toronto (EPCOT), (416) 63 5-9600

Winnipeg, Manitoba, (204) 452-5529

In addition, arrangements for BYTEnet Listings have been made with one or more system operators in the following nations: Australia, Denmark, Italy, lapan, The Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. Contact us at (603) 924-9281 for an up-to-date list.

358 B YTE • MARCH 1986

The ITT XTRA XP desktop personal computer

You can't buy time.

Long before Queen Elizabeth I, man began his quest to hoard that most precious and elusive of commodities. Time.

He can only make better use of the few hours he already has. Hence, the development of today's business computer.

The ITT XTRA™ XP. Our crowning achievement.

By matching memory to the muscle of the Intel 80286 microprocessor, we're able to achieve "no wait states!'

Processing never pauses for slower memory.

Making the ITT XTRA XP thirty percent faster than the IBM AT. And fully XT-compatible.

Giving you speed and flexibility.

Because, being a corporation of many businesses, we're in a unique position to better understand what you need to grow.

Today, as well as tomorrow.

ITT XTRAXP

COMPAQ 286

IBM PC/AT

Lotus 1-2-3 Usee

13sec

15sec

dBase 36sec

52sec

56sec

FbrmSort 52sec

lmin 5sec

lmin lOsec

All comparisons are tor purposes of illustration only. User's application performance is dependent on application.

A moment's investment todaycan pay off royally tomorrow.

Call (800) 321-7661. In California, (800) 368-7300.

And call quickly. Every moment wasted is a potentially profitable moment you'll never possess again.

PERSONAL COMPUTERS

BECAUSE TIME IS THE ULTIMATE BOTTOM LINE.

(- 1986, ITT Information Systems. IBM, PC/AT and PC/JCT are registered trademarks of

i iter national Business Machines. Intel 80286 is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.

Compaq 286 is :i registered trademark of Compaq Computer Corporation. Lotus and

1-2-3 are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. dBase is a registered

trademark of Ashion-Talc

Inquiry 181 for End-Users. Inquiry 182 for DEALERS ONLY.

ITT

LETTERS

[continued from page 32)

Another Software-Only Speech Synthesizer

I am writing about a letter from Gary W. Odom of Melborne. Florida, entitled "Long Live the Macintosh" (Letters, October 1985, page 30). In his letter he said, "The four-voice sound generator produces astounding computer music, so good that

the Macintosh has the only software-only speech synthesizer available on a computer of any size."

1 would like to correct his error. I have an Atari 400 and 800XL, and both have four-voice music with the ability to synthesize speech using S.A.M. by Don't Ask Software. S.A.M. produces speech and allows the user to vary both pitch and speed.

Tools for the Programmer from Blaise Computing

Save Up To $130 On These Special Offers!

TOOLS & TOOLS 2

i For C or Pascal

■ For a limited time, pick up both packages and

' save$50 off our regularlist price. The C version

comes with libraries for the Lattice, Computer

:. Innovations and Microsoft (version 2.03 and

3.00) compilers. The Pascal version supports I IBM and Microsoft Pascal. $175."

VIEW MANAGER With Source

All libraries are included. Please specify C or I Pascal. Regular $425. Save $130. $295

Blaise Computing provides a broad range ot fine programming tools for Pascal and C programmers, with libraries designed and engineered for the serious software developer. You gel clearly written code that's fully commented so that it can serve both as a model and also be easily modified to grow with your changing needs. Our packages are shipped to you complete with comprehensive manuals, sample programs and source code.

■ None oft

FOR C AND PASCAL PROGRAMMERS'

TOOLS' $125

Extensive string and screen handling, graphics interface

and easy creation of program interfaces. Includes all

source code.}

TOOLS20$100

Memory management, general program controlandDOS

tile support. Interrupt service routine support. Includes all

source code.

VIEW MANAGER 0 $275

General screen management. Create data entry screens that can be easily manipulated from your application program. Block mode data entry and retrieval with last screen access.

VIEW LIBRARY Source < $150 Source code to the VIEW MANAGER library functions. ASYNCH MANAGER $175 Powerful asynchronous communications library providing interrupt driven support for the COM ports. All source code included.

FOR THE TURBO PASCAL PROGRAMMER:

Turbo POWER TOOLS 0 $99.95

Extensive siring support, extended screen and window management, interrupt service routines, program control and memory management, interrupt fillers. Ail source code included. Turbo ASYNCH C$99.95

Interrupt driven asynchronous communication support callable from Turbo Pascal. ASYNCH is written in assembler and Turbo Pascal with all source code included.

PACKAGES FOR ALL PROGRAMMERS:

EXEC $95

Program chaining executive. Chain one program Irom another even if the programs are in difterent languages. Common data area can be specified. Source code included it you're a registered C TOOLS and C TOOLS 2 user.

SPARKY 0 $75

Run-time resident (or stand-alone) scientific, fully programmable, reverse polish notation calculator. No limit . on stack size, variables or tape. Includes all standard scientific functions and different base arithmetic.

TO ORDER, call Blaise Computing Inc. at (415) 540-5441

♦ 2034 Blake Street ♦ Berkeley, CA 94704 ♦ (415) 540-5441

I may be overreacting, but it bothers me when someone makes an all-encompassing statement, as in Mr. Odom's letter. Some degree of responsibility must be assumed by anyone making such a statement. Without this responsibility, a letter becomes pure conjecture and opinion. Roger N. Asch Fishkill. NY

VLSI: Not Very

So many of your articles use the acronym VLSI (very-large-scale integration) when indeed LSI would be the correct term. For instance, in the lanuary issue, "The Acorn RISC Machine" by Dick Pountain (page 387) stated that the ARM chip contains 2 5.000 transistors. Surprise! This meager amount of devices constitutes LSI, not VLSI, and there is a vast difference in complexity.

Here is a table for your reference showing the relationship between level of integration and device count.

Device Count Integration

1,000,000 ULSI

100,000 VLSI

10,000 LSI

1000 MSI

100 SSI

Examples of LSI are the 68000 microprocessor and 16K dynamic RAMs. Examples of VLSI are the 80286 microprocessor and 64K dynamic RAMs. Please try to apply some standard meaning for integration acronyms.

Daniel J. Payne Santa Cruz, CA

Who Needs Integrated Programs?

Jerry Pournelle's comments in the 10th anniversary issue (Computing at Chaos Manor, September 1985, page 347) just confirmed my feeling that integration is becoming a much less important term in computerdom. In fact, I think the integrated products have reached their zenith and it will all be downhill, AppleWorks notwithstanding.

As a journalist and a computer user since 1980, I've been using Apple PIE for word processing and pfs:File and dBASE II for database applications. Until recently, I had no use for a spreadsheet. When 1 did start using a sheet, I went to my own library, shook the dust off an early version of VisiCalc, and starting using it.

The reason 1 haven't changed my main programs is comfort. 1 know all four programs backward and forward, well enough

(continued)

360 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 40 for End-Users. Inquiry 41 for DEALERS ONLY.

Inquiry 267 —►

THE PC'S LIMITED AT™-$ 1995. THE PC'S LIMITED TURBO PC ™-$795

At these prices, it's no wonder we're burning up the marketplace.

Yes, you can believe it. Since we ran our first advertisement for the PC's Limited AT™ and Turbo PC1M, the calls we've received mostly start with comments like "Is this for real?" And "How can that be?" But now that our machines are in the hands of influential buyers, the questions tend to concern quantity discounts for further purchases. (Which are available.) You see, the PC's Limited machines are assembled from components bought worldwide with our strong buying power. Then they are offered directly to you—with no middleman markups. So light a match to your old budgets. With the savings we're providing, you'll have money to burn.

PC'S LIMITED AT

-80286-based System Unit running at 6MHZ. (8.MHZ option

included at no charge.) -1024K on Mother Board — 1.2 Meg Floppy Drive

—Combined Floppy /Hard Disk Controller Card —AT Keyboard -192W Power Supply —2 Serials and 1 Parallel Port —Clock/Calendar with Battery Backup

Runs all Major Software written for the IBM PC1", PC XT'", and PC AT™. I'nit has 8 Expansion Slots. Same Bus Configuration as IBM PC AT "'.One year limited warranty.

GW Basic S95 • DOS 3.1 $85 • 80287 S195

PC'S LIMITED TURBO PC

- 16-bit 8088-2 System Unit (running at 4.77 or 6.66 MHZ)

—640K on Mother Board

-360K Floppy Drive

—Keyboard

—135W Power Supply

Runs all Major Software written for the IBM PC'andPCXT"', 40% faster, without modifications. Unit has 8 Expansion Slots, with 7 available in above configuration. One year limited warranty.

GW Basic $95 • IBM DOS 3.1 $85 • 8087-2 $149

IBM' Is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.

IBM PC, PC XT, and PC AT are trademarks of international Business Machines Corporation.

PC'S LIMITED

SALES CALLS OUTSIDE TEXAS, 1-800-426-5150

1611 Headway Circle, Building 3, Austin, Texas 78754

Sales Calls from anywhere in country, (512) 339-6962

Technical Support Calls, (512) 339-6963 Customer Service Calls, (512) 339-6964

Telex No. 9103808386 PC LTD

Ad Number 403/86

THE SMARTEST BUY YOU'LL EVER MAKE:

20 MBYTES OF AUTOMATIC TAPE BACK-UP FOR JUST $795.

LYFR

The Sysgen Smart Image:"

More capacity. More features. More value.

The best-selling tape back-up system for the IBM® and compatibles gets even better!

Now the Sysgen Smart Image delivers double the storage capacity-. 20 Mbytes on a high density cassette. It backs your data up automatically. And it comes in two convenient versions: The internal model, for just $795—or the slim, half-height external chassis for $895. Only Sysgen gives you unattended back-up. Set the Smart Image once, like a VCR, and it will back up your data up to twice daily, seven days a week. And, if you're using your system, the Smart

Trademarks; Sysgen, Smarl Image-Sysgen, Inc. Registered Trademarks: IBM. PC DOSInternational Business Machines Corporation.

47853 Warm Springs Blvd., Fremont, CA 94539 (415) 490-6770, Telex 4990843

Image will wait until you're through, then back up

your files automatically. That's smart.

You can't pass up a buy like this.

You won't find a smarter solution—or a better price.

Sysgen's entire disk and smart tape family offers an

unbeatable combination of capacity and value. Our

systems are IBM® standard compatible, and

run all software written

for current versions of PC

DOS.® Compare

for yourself:

For a Sysgen f«

dealer

near you,

call 1-800

821-2151,

Dept.30

^

SYSGEN

INCORPORATED

LETTERS

to tutor other people in their use. I have no desire for an "integrated" program. The degree of program improvement and data interchangeability simply doesn't merit tackling a new learning curve.

Furthermore, until I needed a spreadsheet, none of the integrated programs on the market would have met my needs. However, I will admit to looking at AppleWorks very closely, since I have need for all of its functions. Throw in the upcoming leeves and the system appeals to me greatly.

As a sometime consultant, I've also had occasion to computerize a friend, an internationally known sculpture. His son left him a Zenith while he went gallivanting off to other parts of the world, and he's decided to get more serious about computers.

He asked me about Symphony, the supposed king of integration.

I asked him, "Have any complaints about WordStar?" He shook his head.

"Got any major problems with dBASE II?" Another shake of the head.

"Multiplan does just about everything

else you want, right?" An affirmative shake of the head.

"In other words, you feel comfortable with what you're using."

My friend laughed and abandoned plans to become integrated.

I think the main problem with integrated programs is that they are too powerful. 1 cheerfully admit that my "regulars" don't have as much power as I would like. But they fill the bill 95 percent of the time.

As a result. I don't get my computer loaded up with RAM-consuming modules that slow down the modules that I do want.

Something like Switcher for the Macintosh is an important idea. It allows the user to cobble together the integrated system of his or her choice. Two years ago, 1 would have put PIE together with pfs:File (if there had been an Apple II analogy of Switcher back then) and would have been as happy as a clam. Then, when I found the need for a spreadsheet. I would have reconstructed my system to include VisiCalc.

Notice I've never found a need for a

graphing program, and I am happy I'm not wasting RAM to have one at the press of a button.

I don't think I stand out all that much. Very few business users actually end up using all the various modules of integrated programs. Many businessmen make use of spreadsheet and graphing programs, with occasional access to the database. The word processing is left to secretaries, who rarely have any reason to do spreadsheeting.

That is not an all-encompassing statement. Many businessmen, and many secretaries, do use all the various modules. But many don't. And of the many that do. how many can't afford the time to quit a program and load another one. instead of going from module to module?

No, if I were a programmer right now, I'd be working on Switcher-like programs, the kind of Chinese-menu programs that will allow people to do their own integration.

Gary MacPherson Mugford Bramalea, Ontario, Canada ■

New Quark/PC SBC

Base model 5" x 8"

Only $

495.

Quantity discounts available

• IBM PC-XT® compatible single board computer mounts to 51M" drive

• Includes Floppy Disk & Color Graphics CRT Controllers plus more

AISO includes: Legal BIOS* Boots MSDOS- 'Printer Port • 2 Serial Ports • 256K RAM • Clock Speed at 4.77 MHz • Alphanumerics and Graphics Modes for Color Video Controller.

Options include: 512K RAM • Motherboard with IBM PC" Bus Expansion Slots • XT ■ Compatible Hard Disk Controller • Real Time Clock with battery-back-up • Clock speed of 9.5 MHz (Twice as fast as a PC)

The Megatel Quark/PC is for the OEM designer or systems integrator who wants reliable PC compatibility in an easyto-use SBC The Quark/PC BIOS will run most IBM PC' software including Flight Simulator and Lotus'. To meet your specifications a set of options let you add memory, speed and an XT-compatible hard disk controller. Not only does it quickly mount to a 5 '/>" drive, it also comes with floppy disk and CRT color graphics controllers — all for just $495.

To order or enquire call us today. Dealer enquiries welcome. Megatel Computer Technologies (416) 745-7214 150 Turbine Drive, Weston, Ontario M9L2S2 Telex: 065-27453 U.S. Address: 1051 Clinton St., Buffalo N.Y. 14206 Distributors: NCS Electronics Varese, Italy • SES Electronics — Nordlingen, Germany • Perdix Microtronics - Biggin Hill, U.K. • Microcomputing - Ghent, Belgium.

Quotk is a leg.sieted Iradeimvh ol f and K MfG CO LID IBM IBM PC and IBM Xr ate tegisleted tiddemaiks ol inietnationoi Business Machines Coid Lotus iso

Development Coip MSDOS

eiedtrodemotk olMiCtosotlCoip

megatel

Ask aBbut our monthly "SPECIAL"

Dy§m

51" Disks

S3&13*

SSK.18®

£8 2395

^ 299J

HD'eGnH3995

31" Disk

SSIDE 243-5

8" Disks

SDEN. ZU^

SSIDE og5 DDEN. ZZP-2

DSIDE O750

maxell

51 Disks

SSIDE Qog DDEN. ir^

D SIDE 4*7^ D DEN. 147-?

SSIDE ._„ 96TPI 199?

DSIDE O150 96TPI Zf¥£?

*DENH 2815

3|Disks

SSIDE 184P DSIDE 26?5

3 Disks

SSIDE 0>i95 D DEN. 24:2-D

DSIDE /5CQS DDEN. ^O^

SONV

3|Disks

SSIDE 18?5 DSIDE 2895

MINI

5

BOX

95E

ATHANA

72§E

buTk"

50 D

w

*29a

Old Reliable

T>i$ette3

Connection1"

Media Mate

$«95 O ea

»2°-° Shipping

SiDisks

d"Sde£1095

SSS15V

SSIDE .1095

96tpi iy^?

96TPt ZfVm *DENH30?5

3|Disks

SSIDE 19?5 DSIDE 27?5

8 Disks

S3 199-5

53523V

SK.27W

\ferbatim

51 Disks

SSIDE 1175 DDEN. ll'-S

DSIDE .t/iqc; DDEN. 145?

SSIDE 1Qqc 96TPI 195?

■SSS 24®

Hd'eGnH 2995

3 2" Disk

sside 189-5

8" Disks IS 19i§

SSIDE DDEN.

DSIDE DDEN.

21?5

24?_5

'Delaware 1800 4511849

P.O. Box 10247 Wilmington. DE. 19850

'Oklahoma 1 800 654 4058

RO. Box 1674 Bethany, OK. 73008

'Nevada 1-800-621-6221

RQBo*i213 Boulder City. NV. 8900S

TERMS"- Minimum20 disks or ^35°^ — VISA or MasterCard accepted COD. orders add 2* for special handling. SHIPPING* Z\i 5jj' Diskettes, Add 3°-° tor every 100 Diskettes or any fraction thereof. 8 "Diskettes; Add 4* for every 100 Diskettes or any fraction thereof. We ship UPS; orders requiring other delivery methods add shipping, plus 2% of total order.

Inquiry 229

Inquiry III

MARCH 1986

YI£ 363

When the World Sells Micros,

Have you considered your international prospects already? Good. Then you know that capturing this market will have a tremendous impact on your business. Now is the time to plant the seeds of recognition—the international micro industry is taking off. In fact, in Europe alone, annual micro sales are in the billions of dollars.

Europe) outside the North American continent—all of whom comprise the most select audience for your advertising investment. BYTE is the micro medium that communicates your sales message in a language understood all over the world. And BYTE is the only U.S.-based micro publication to earn the reputation as the international standard.

So how are you going to do it? Let BYTE offer you a solution: in addition to the 1.9 million BYTE readers in the U.S., we have over 177,000 readers (80% in

rinii

For subscription information in Europe, call Margaret Woollen In England: 011-44-628-23431

BYTE also offers a special International Advertising Section (IAS) which allows you to advertise your products only to BYTE readers outside the North

364 BYTE • MARCH 1986

the Common Language is BYTE.

American continent at reduced rates. Call your regional sales representative to find out how BYTE can speak for you.. .all over the world.

For advertising information, call:

Austria, Vienna

Hans Csokor

222 75 76 84

France, Paris

Alain Faure

(1) 47-20-33-42

Hong Kong

Seavex, Ltd.

5-260149

Israel, Bat Yam

Gurit Gepner

3 866 561 321 39

Italy, Milan

Savio Pesavento

02 86 90 617

Japan, Tokyo

Hiro Morita

3 581 9811

Singapore

Seavex, Ltd.

734-9790

Spain, Madrid

Maria Sarmiento

1 45 52 891

Sweden, Nacka

Andrew Karnig

8-44 0005

U.K., London

Arthur Scheffer

01 493 1451

W. Germany, Frankfurt

Fritz Krusebecker

69 72 01 81

BYTE. The Official Translator of the Micro World.

BYTE

THE SMALL SYSTEMS JOURNAL

70 Main Street Peterborough, NH 03458 (603) 924-9281

MARCH I986 -BYTE 365

BETTER SONY THAN SORRY.

The bomb's up. The system's down. You've

error because you made a very basic human error. You didn't use

Sony floppy disks.

Next time, go with the industry standard, the company who invented the 3.5" disk drive system, and a floppy disk that comes 100% certified error free. Sony

Only Sony 3.5" micro floppy disks contain such error suppressing materials as patented Vivax™ magnetic particles and a highmolecular DDL™ binder system. This protects your micro floppy disk, and the information on it, for its lifetime; and assures data retrieval in the order you choose. Guaranteed.

So use Sony 3.5"or 5.25" floppy disks, and avoid disk error. If you use somebody else's, you could be sorry.

SONY.

THE ONE AND ONLY*

SON*

S£b

2r©

<S> 1986 Sony Corporation of America. Sony is a registered trademark of the Sony Corporation

Vivax and DDL are trademarks of The Sony Corporation. The One and Only" is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation of America.

Inquiry 390

Best of bix • best of BIX • best of BIX

EIX

Best of bix "• best of BIX • Best of Bl,

AMIGA

Topics this month include notes on compiling programs for the Amiga, recovery of inadvertently zapped disks, and posting source code to the BIX network. The Software Bugs and Fixes section contains a workaround for a disk font system bug. Users of both Amigas and Macintoshes compare notes on disks, windows, and menus.

Alastair J. W. Mayer, author of BIX's CoSy software, presents a comparison of precision versus resolution with regard to computer graphics systems, there is discussion of Electronic Arts' IFF graphics protocol for message exchange, and Bob Pariseau of Amiga reveals the secret of Amiga's bouncing-ball demo.

Compiling Amiga Programs

amiga/main #733, from crunch [John Draper]

The Amiga BBS in Los Gatos has a demo program called "toydemo.c" which is supposed to use the Amiga's speech system. Unfortunately, I cannot get it to compile. Has anyone else had the same problem? Would anyone from Amiga care to comment on it? The program was written by Dave Lucas in Los Gatos. I think it is supposed to show a person talking with lips moving and speaking.

I sure would prefer the programs on the Amiga that support BBSs to compile on the native compiler without modification. I get the "system error" request. The program is rather long. I tried for several days to break it up into two smaller pieces. Then I broke off the gadget, menu, ana other structure definitions into a separate header file.

I was very frustrated because I was curious what the program looks like.

amiga/main #740, from mikez [Michael Zarembski]: a comment to 733

If you are referring to the speechtoy.demo.c, I had the same problems till I reset the stack to 30,000 (by doing a "stack 30000"), and then it compiled just fine. It appears that phase 1 of the Lattice C compiler was overwriting the system stack and the system would go out to lunch (Lattice claims V3.03 will do stack checking).

The program is neat for checking out the speech variables interactively using the mouse.

amiga/main #743, from crunch: a comment to 740

Please tell me where I'm supposed to type the stack 30000? Do I type it into CLI or "INCLUDE" it in the source?

amiga/main #748, from mikez: a comment to 743

At the CLI prompt (1 > ), type "stack 30000," or you can do what I did and put the stack command in s/startup-sequence so that it will automagically reset the stack for me.

amiga/tutorial #208, from pariseau [Bob Pariseau, CommodoreAmiga]

TITLE: Up That Stack!

There have been several reports from folks saying that they get system crashes or other strange results when they try to compile or link large programs on the Amiga.

These failures are almost always due to insufficient stack space for the compiler. The default stack setting in a new CLI is 4000. As a mat

ter of course, I bump mine up to 20,000 when I'm doing compiling.

If you have modified your s/startup-sequence file to leave your CLI around when you boot, I would recommend that you put the command stack 20000 in that file as well.

If you get to your CLI from the Workbench icon, either remember to reset the stack when you start or, for those of us with short memories, put the stack 20000 command in the front of your Make script. That way you're assured of having a sufficiently large stack whenever you compile. Note that the commands are not "cumulative" in any sense; thus you can issue and reissue stack commands to your heart's content.

In particularly complicated programs, a stack of 20,000 may not even be enough. If your system crashes while compiling, double the size of your stack.

Using a Pascal Compiler with a Single Disk Drive

amiga/softw.devlpmt #476, from jmeyer [Jim Meyer]

TITLE: Pascal and Single Drive?

Some of the members of my users group, who don't yet access the BBSs, can't get their Pascal to work with a single-drive system. The Pascal manual seems to indicate that a second drive is required. Is it possible to simply create a RAM disk and assign it to df1? (I'd give it a shot, but I'm W.P.-Without Pascal.)

amiga/softw.devlpmt #477, from jdow [Joanne Dow]: a comment to 476

You might have to use two disks with Pascal compiler and INCLUDE files on one disk and the linker on the other. If the Pascal is anything like the C, you will find you can shove some of the files off into the RAM:. (Simply "copy source file to RAM:".)

The linker seems to take enough memory that it will not run for me if there is very much else working in the 512K RAM I have. Hence, it might have to be on its own disk with the libraries.

Trashed Disk Recovery

amiga/tech.talk #152, from sdb [Scott Ballantyne]

TITLE: Help with Garbaged Disks!

I have had a lot of fun reading the messages here, and I'm sorry to

leave this one as my first, but, HELP!

I made a small change to my start-up script, and BOOM!, the disk became unreadable when I wrote it out.

Has anyone figured out the disk format and DiskEd enough to help me recover it?

PS.: Do I have the honor of being the first to trash a disk on the Amiga?

amiga/tech.talk #155, from cheath [Charlie Heath, MicroSmiths]: a comment to 152

You're not the first, unfortunately.

It is possible to recover zapped disks with a tool called DiskEd, which is included in the developer's kit. It is not fun.

Software Bugs and Fixes

amiga/softw.devlpmt #473, from pariseau

TITLE: Disk Font System Bug!

There is a bug in the V1.0 and V1.1 diskfont.library code that can cause the system to crash when memory gets low. A workaround is presented below. Disk-based system resources such as fonts and device drivers are

(continued)

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 367

EST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX *

EIX

Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX

brought into memory when they are first opened. They remain in memory thereafter until some task asks for more memory than is available in the system "Free Memory Pool." At that point the Exec function AllocMem() "expunges" (removes from memory) any resources that currently have zero openers. This design means that resources tend to hang around in memory so that if they are frequently opened and closed there is no time lost reloading them from the disk.

Many applications periodically use the trick of attempting to "AllocMem()" more memory than can possibly be in the system, to flush any unused resources from memory. Note that if AllocMem() finds any resources to expunge, then the number returned by AvailMem() after the call to AllocMem() will be [larger] than before the call (presuming, of course, that the AllocMem() does not, in fact, return a newly allocated chunk of memory to you).

The bug is that when a disk-based font is expunged from memory, the expunge code in diskfont.library does not properly remove the font descriptor from the list of fonts known to be in memory. Thereafter, whenever a font is looked up, there is a chance that the system will crash since the font node now points at memory that has been returned to the system "Free Pool."

The workaround involves manually removing the font from the font list before you close it. The workaround, as presented, provides maximum protection for the system at the expense of possibly having multiple copies of the font temporarily exist in memory together. If you know that all font users in the system are using the workaround, then only the last closer of the font need do the Remove() function,

Note that version 1.1 of Notepad (for instance) does not implement this workaround.

The workaround for the diskfont.library bug is, whenever closing a font:

1. Forbid();

2. Check the font flags to see if it is a disk font.

3. If a disk font, check that this font is in a list by ensuring that the predecessor's and successor's nodes point to it.

4. If the font is in a list, "Remove(0, font)" it.

5. Permit();

6. CloseFont();

Note that the first argument to Remove(), the 0, is a dummy argument present for historical purposes. The TextFont structure is described in the include file text.h (or text.i if you speak assembly). Note that the "Accessors" field contains the opener count for a font.

If you are not concerned with reclaiming the memory space taken up by your unused fonts, it is sufficient, as an alternate workaround, simply to never close your fonts. This will ensure that AllocMem() never tries to expunge the font.

Note that this would keep the font from ever going away—even after your program terminates. If Notepad, or another program, has opened and closed disk fonts prior to the running of your program, the font list has the potential of being messed up the next time AllocMem() goes to expunge resources.

If such an expunge has already occurred, there is no recovery other than to reboot the system. On the other hand, if an expunge has not yet occurred, you can protect yourself by emptying the font list before you first trigger an expunge. To empty the font list, traverse it starting from the TextFonts pointer found in the structure GfxBase. Do a Remove() on each disk-based font in the list.

(Warning*. Only Remove() disk-based fonts.) The elements of the list are structures of the type TextFont. Note that you must do this cleanup prior to triggering your first expunge (i.e., before calling AllocMem() with a large value). This cleanup should be done while tasking is disabled (i.e., between a Forbid() and a Permit()).

This bug will be fixed in the V1.2 system software. Any application implementing the above workaround will continue to work under the new system software.

Posting Source Code on BIX

amiga/main #704, from crunch

TITLE: Amiga Source

I have some Amiga source code to post on BIX. It is quite long and was written by a friend of mine who asked me to post it. Would anyone please BlX-mail me instructions on what procedures I need to follow to post it?

amiga/main #707, from jdow: a comment to 704

If you are uploading to this conference (source less than perhaps 50K bytes to 70K bytes), there is a reasonably successful procedure. For longer files, find the Amiga section in the Listings conference and upload there.

1. If logged on through Tymnet, make sure flow control (XON/XOFF) is disabled (i.e., do not send a Ctrl-X and/or Ctrl-R during log-in). Set up your terminal program to generate a local echo of your typing; then set Tymnet to half-duplex by typing a backspace during the typing of the "byteneti" prompt.

2. To set up for XMODEM transfer mode, type "opt up xmodem down xmodem q."

3. Have a clear scratchpad—uploading clears out what is currently stored in your scratchpad to start out fresh. This way you wont be surprised upon finding something valuable was deleted from your scratchpad area.

4. At any "R:" prompt type "UP" You'll get several lines of "UMODEM ready for upload" messages.

5. When the messages stop, proceed to engage your XMODEM program and send the file.

6. Pray (or prey, depending on your proclivities).

I hope this helps.

Oh, yes. This may fail if your XMODEM program time-outs are too short.

amiga/main #737, from greggw [Gregg ' Editor, BYTE]: a comment to 707

lliams, Senior Technical

The "upload" and "download" commands will eventually disappear from BIX; they are not all that useful and they're hard to use. I know this is placing software outside of a conference, but please put listings, executable programs, and long text documents in the Listings conference. Type "join listings" to get there, then "?" for help. There is a separate "Amiga" file area.

Crunch [John Draper] has posted a set of C files there. Items in the Listings conference are tagged with a description, keywords, and the contributor's name.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Precision versus Resolution

amiga/tech.talk #153, from al [Alastair J. W. Mayer, University of Guelph]

TITLE: Precision versus Resolution

I'm not sure the best single place to put this, so I'm going to copy it to

a few other places. Apologies to those who read it twice.

(continued)

368 BYTE • MARCH 1986

AT&T presents maxims for better international communication.

ometimes, it's better to put all your eggs in one basket.

AT&T International Services offer the strongest, sturdiest basket for your telecommunications needs.

Because AT&T has a long history of making international connections and developing international services.

AT&T offers a wide range of international services for your company, whether you're involved in manufacturing, distribution, marketing or any other function. AT&T International Long Distance Service, for example, helps your company build better business relationships. AT&T International 800 Service encourages the steady flow of contact between customers, salespersons and suppliers, so you can maintain a competitive edge.

But how do you choose the services that are right for you? It's simple. Just contact your Account Executive or Sales Specialist at AT&T. They're experts in a wide range of businesses, and they can offer you our entire basket to accommodate your needs. Together you and your AT&T representative can tailor services and applications that work for you.

To learn more about AT&T's state-of-the-art telecommunications and the applications they have for your business, please contact your Account Executive at AT&T Communications now. Or call a Sales Specialist at the toll-free number below.

1 800 222-0400 Ext. 515

©1985 AT&T Communications

International service to and from continental U.S.

AT&T

The right choice.

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 369

Best of bix • Best of BIX • Best of BIX •

BIX

Best of Bix • best of bix • Best of bi>

The title, "Precision versus Resolution," refers to two computer graphics terms whose meanings seem to have become confused in the wave of advertising hype for new micros, including the Atari 520ST and the Commodore Amiga.

"Precision" refers to how finely the coordinates of a given pixel can be specified, which boils down to the number of addressable points along each axis of an image. "Resolution" refers to the number of distinct dots that can be displayed in a given area of the screen.

Thus, saying the 520ST or Amiga has a resolution of 640 by 200 is totally meaningless. They may have a precision of 640 by 200 (in one particular graphic mode—different in other modes), but the resolution is entirely dependent upon the display device.

For example, no matter what graphic mode I'm in, there is no way I am going to get much better than about 300 by 200 (if that) resolution on a normal color TV. Why do I bring this up? In part, just for the sake of clarity of language. But also because I believe that, while the precision of the 520ST and Amiga is comparable (and indeed, the Amiga has higher precision in some graphic modes), the resolution—which visually is more important—differs between the Atari monitor and the Amiga monitor.

I have seen both (I am comparing the 640 by 200 color modes here), and my impression is that the image on the Atari monitor is much sharper and crisper (i.e., at higher resolution) than the image on the Amiga monitor. Indeed, the "feel" is that the resolution of the Amiga monitor is just barely adequate for the precision, while the Atari monitor has resolution to spare.

In all honesty, I have not had the opportunity to compare the two side by side. But I have used both for several hours and on several occasions, over the space of a week or so. It may be that my perception of the resolution of these monitors (and I've seen more than one of each, so discount individual variation) is affected by optical illusions because of the different diagonal screen size (Atari is smaller), or color choices, or text font.

But there is a difference between precision and resolution, and even with displays at the same precision, the visual effect is that the Amiga monitor has lower resolution.

What I'm interested to know is

1. Does anyone agree or disagree with my subjective feelings about these two monitors in particular?

2. And how about some comparisons with these machines using other (e.g., Sony, Hitachi, etc.) RGB monitors? (The point behind the latter is I am wondering about the quality of the signal put out by the Atari and Amiga—whether the fault lies in the monitor or the video circuits of the computer—if indeed there is a "fault."

Comments?

(N.B.—I'm not trying to start a war here; minology and (b) looking for info.)

I'm just (a) clarifying ter

amiga/tech.talk #154, from jsan [Jez San, Argonaut Software]: a comment to 153

Al—I disagree with your definitions of "precision" versus "resolution." We live in the real world here, and not some textbook definition.

People in the real world talk about the graphic resolution of a computer as its x and y addressable pixel range. Maybe in a textbook world you are right, but don't think for a second that people are going to start saying "precision" instead of "resolution"!

amiga/tech.talk #156, from al: a comment to 154

And in the real world, I can't display the 640 by 400 pixels of the

Amiga on a color TV in any way that a human being can resolve them as distinct.

Resolution is display-dependent, not computer-dependent. By the same token, displaying C-64 output on a Sony monitor will give you fantastic resolution, but no more than 320 by 200 precision (but you'll be able to resolve those pixels easily).

IFF Graphics Protocol

amiga/softw.devlpmt #157, from gregr [Gregg Riker, Electronic Arts]

TITLE: IFF (Information Format Files) Is Available!

I mentioned that I used IFF files with the SlideShow. Allow me to

elaborate.

Electronic Arts has a general interest in promoting standards, so we knocked heads with some people at Commodore-Amiga and came up with IFF.

IFF is intended to be used by any and all interested developers. It offers a convenient way of allowing programs to exchange data with one another.

For example, Graphicraft will be able to exchange files with Deluxe Paint and other EA products. The design is extensible, in that you may add your own types to the standard. There are programs available in C (public domain!) that will read and write graphic images in IFF format.

If you're interested in a copy of the spec, please contact Rob Peck at Commodore-Amiga. He can supply you with a copy. If you have any problems or need more information, please contact Jerry Morrison at Electronic Arts, (415) 571-7171.

P.S.: IFF covers graphics, audio, and text and is expandable!

amiga/softw.devlpmt #164, from pariseau: a comment to 157

IFF documentation will be included with the standard V1.1 release package. Commodore-Amiga has decided to adopt IFF as our standard interchange format. In the short term, this will affect graphics files produced by the paint packages (Graphicraft and EA's Deluxe Paint) as well as the format for text and graphics clips through the clipboard device.

amiga/softw.devlpmt #218, from al: a comment to 157

Is IFF NAPLPS-compatible? If not, why not?

A plea: Anyone out there doing any kind of software development that involves the software creating pictures: give it a NAPLPS option!

Either creating NAPLPS files describing the pictures, or interpreting NAPLPS and drawing the pictures. Or both. (NAPLPS includes text, too.) This will allow the exchange of such images and text with many other such systems—including via BIX.

amiga/main #381, from cheath

Let's all study IFF and NAPLPS real carefully. I hope we don't get a split camp on this. I suspect most fast graphics programs will want to use IFF. Where is the NAPLPS spec? Let's get IFF up here!

amiga/main #399: a comment to 381

Another BIX subscriber said that NAPLPS is a good protocol for transmitting images over communication lines but not ideal for local graphics storage. He further stated that bit maps were best stored in IFF format and converted to NAPLPS format for transmission.

[continued]

370 BYTE- MARCH 1986

How to get all the ATs you want1

^>-'i

\

!

. •

<^^

V.

^^' v

£*--■■

..-" *0

Personal Computet AT I

Personal Computer AT

j^>

^?

2iw

"^

*^

A number of products promise to "make your PC perform like an AT"

Unfortunately, the resulting "AT'1 all too often lacks one or more important characteristics.

Like compatibility with PC and AT software. Like IBM serviceability. Like support for multitasking.

And like the ability to manage large, AT-size spreadsheets and databases.

Classic's 286 Speed Pak performs 33% faster than an AT— without damage to your PC, with no BIOS problems, and with no service problems. It's completely

hardware—and softwarecompatible.

And it's the only board you can upgrade to let your PC or XT perform multiple tasks simultaneously. For example, you could compile a new program, rim a spreadsheet and print a large document all at once. Just add our TaskMaster multitasking software and 2.5Mb memory adapter.

■ DOS 3.0 and 3.1 compatible

■ 100% I/O emulation of the 8088 (no timing problems) ■ 8088 native mode ■ 512K or 1 Mb memory

■ Can address up to 16 megabytes of memory on add-in expansion

boards ■ Optional 80287 math co-processor ■ 16-bit BIOS ■ Full 16-bit data path.

For more information about the 286 Speed Pak and the name of your nearest dealer, phone 408/434-9333. Because if you're not with Classic, you're not where it's really AT

SB CLASSIC

Everything you always wanted from IBM.

Classic Technology Corporation

2090 Concourse Drive, San Jose, CA 95131 • 408 434-9333

IIIM i» a registered trademark of loicmatinnal Brumous Machines Corporation. CLASSIC. 2II(> SPEED I'AK and [liskMaster are trademarks of Classic Technology Corporation. Inquiry 66 for End-Users. Inquiry 67 for DEALERS ONLY.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 371

Best of bix • Best of BIX • Best of BIX •

BIX

est of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of bi>

amiga/softw.devlpmt #230, from cheath: a comment to 229

Is IFF being limited to Amiga? We are developing on Amiga and Atari, It would be nice to be able to use the same data format, for us.

amiga/softw.devlpmt #231, from gregr: a comment to 230

IFF is absolutely designed to be used with other systems. Please consider yourself invited to use IFF on the Amiga. Contact me by telephone so that we can arrange your receipt of the spec.

amiga/softw.devlpmt #232, from rjm [R. J. Mical, Commodore-Amiga]

IFF is great. It has everything that we currently need.

I arrogantly stated once, when asked about standards, that "one can't standardize that which hasn't been dreamed yet. Standards look backward; I want to look forward."

The IFF standard looks forward. It is extendable in many unique and flexible ways. This extendability costs a little bit (bulk in overhead, processing), but it will be worth it, especially if IFF is still a viable standard ■three years from now.

We at Amiga give it our stamp of approval, and we intend on supporting it completely. Congrats to the folks at Electronic Arts for dreaming it up and polishing it until it shines (we helped just a little, and just at the end).

amiga/main #390, from tenney [Glen Tenney, Fantasia Systems]

IFF is really a very good standard for Interchange Format Files, meaning that it is intended for any and all processors and operating systems as a means to interchange as many different kinds of data as possible. IFF is very open-ended, allowing new data types to be defined.

I am not certain, but I believe that, aside from example C code, real code is in use on the Amiga, IBM PC, and Mac (I think). My recollection of NAPLPS is based more on Telidon, so pardon my errors. NAPLPS seemed too slow and cumbersome for interactive use on the computer actually sitting in front of you. I remember it as being more suited as a file transfer and don't think I'd like to sit there with a 68000 and a hard disk waiting for a picture to be processed.

amiga/tutorial #182, from cheath

Duck, I'd be upward-compatible if I knew how. I'm just using the documentation I have available, which is for V1.0. Don't the IFF routines make the same assumptions?

amiga/tutorial #184, from duck [Dale Luck, Commodore-Amiga]: a comment to 182

The IFF data format actually specifies 8 bits per color. This is the encoding on the file and must be converted to the actual hardware/software abilities, like SetRGB4, so that the Amiga's 1000 colors 0-F map to 00-FF on the IFF (0 = black, ff = full bright).

I do not claim to know all there is to know about graphics, compatibility, upward portability. If any of you have suggestions, by all means make them; they may make it in the next release, but not 1.1—the window for enhancements is closed on this version.

amiga/softw.devlpmt #378, from cheath

TITLE: IFF Report

I set up the IFF graphics file load/save, using the C files sent by Electronic Arts. I used their packaged routine, which is designed to save a full-screen 320- by 200-pixel scene. It took a bit of wading

through code to figure out how to use the stuff.

The routines are PutPicture and GetPicture in the file exiff.c; the calling arguments are fairly simple: an open file, a BitMap, a ColorMap, a character buffer, and bufsize.

My only problems came with setting up the ColorMap. You cannot use the ViewPort color map, and I also had trouble using a map allocated by the call GetColorMap. Finally, I allocated and initialized a map explicitly, and Rah smiled upon my efforts.

The performance was a bit sluggish. Before I had been using a simple "save 32000 bytes," which would take about 3 or 4 seconds for a load or save operation. With the IFF, loads take from 4-6 seconds, and saves take about 10 seconds. The routines added about 8K bytes to my execute file. Some of this can probably be reclaimed by removing unused routines.

The good news, aside from compatibility, was that the files averaged about 10K bytes versus the 32K that would result from a simple bitmap save. It is possible to store the images more compactly, but this is a reasonable balance between speed, simplicity, and compaction.

We are hoping to use the IFF standard for saving Atari 520ST graphics files. It looks like a fair amount of work to replace the Amiga data structures, but that only needs to be done once. We would be interested in hearing from anyone else interested in this.

Bugs:

1. Symbol "OFFSET_BEGINNING" (iffr.c, iffw.c) should be OFFSET_BEGINING. (Spelling is correct!)

2. Unable to write files on RAM: device. Files could be read from RAM: but not written to it.

Suggestions:

1. A set of simple, well-documented routines for screen dumps would go a long way to promote widespread acceptance.

2. It would be nice to be able to pass a RastPort rather than a BitMap. How does this tie in with clipboard?

amiga/softw.devlpmt #406, from mposehn [Mike Posehn]: a comment to 378

About IFF

1. I'm not sure what you mean about not using the color map directly. Here's how I read a three-plane picture and set the colors:

/* Set default colors in case this picture doesn't have them */

for(n = 0;n<8;n + + ) colorMap[n] = GetRGB4(vport- >ColorMap,n + 8);

/* Read the picture and color map */

success = GetPicture(file, bm, colorMap, tmpras.RasPtrjmpras.Size);

if (success)

{

/* Ok, set the colors 7 for(n = 0;n<8;n + + ) SetRGB4(vport,n + 8,(colorMap[n] << 8) & Oxf,

(colorMapjn] > >4) & Oxf,

colorMapjn] & Oxf); }

2. The IFF reading and writing speed is greatly improved in the version being released now. I upgraded to it today—you'll like it a lot more.

3. As you know it's OFFSET_BEGINING in the dos.h file. Some people can't put up with a little spelling error and insist on redefining it with a "#define OFFSET_BEGINNING OFFSET_BEGINING".

4. As far as passing a RastPort instead of a BitMap—I'm glad it's a bit map. Many months ago it seemed like every ROM routine wanted a RastPort and I was continually wasting code making fake RastPorts for

(continued)

372 BYTE • MARCH 1986

COMPUPRO OPENS THE DOOR TO THE WORLD OF IBM" PC SOFTWARE

Now owners of S-100 systems can have the best of both worlds-a multi-user, multi-tasking environment and the business applications that go with it-p/tvs limited access to the world of IBM PC software and it's personal productivity tools. And you can do it all with one system by adding our PC VIDEO™ board and Concurrent DOS 816™ Version 4.1* operating system.

The PC VIDEO board is an affordable $495, and Concurrent DOS 8-16 V4.1 sells for $500, but buy them both together and get them for just $895—you save $100! Hurry! Offer expires April 30, 1986.

1 2 3®

gg^

Boost Your System Performance With Our CPU 286™

Your system should have the most advanced CPU available—and that's our CPU 286 which features an 8MHz 80286 and a socket for the 80287 math co-processor. $895. Order it with Concurrent DOS 816 V4.1 and get them both for $1295—give your system all the power it deserves and save $100 to boot! Hurry! Offer expires April 30, 1986.

Other S-100/EEEE 696 Boards From CompuPro

CPU 8085/88'": Our still popular 8/16 bit workhorse features a 10 MHz 8088 and a 6 MHz 8085 for 8 bit program capability. $350.

CPU 8086'": A no-nonsense 16 bit CPU featuring a 10 MHz 8086, socket for 8087 math co-processor. Works with 8 or 16 bit memory. $395.

CPU-Z": Our popular 8 bit CPU now features an 8 MHz Z80H.

$275.

CPU 68K'": Features the powerful 68000 processor and runs it at 10 MHz. Has socket for Memory Management Unit. $425.

$795 with MMU.

CPU 32016'": Features the 32 bit 32016 processor. Includes interrupt controller/timer chip, sockets for math processor and memory manager $895.

SPUZ": Our 8 bit slave processor features an 8 MHz Z80H and either 64K or 256K of local RAM. Allows concurrent processing of 8 bit tasks in a 16 bit system without slowing down the host, multiple boards are supported as well. $295 with 64K.

$395 with 256K-runs four tasks.

STATIC RAM BOARDS: Available from 64Kto 1 Megabyte. All feature fast, static, low power operation. Compatible with 8 or 16 bit processors per IEEE 696 specifications. RAM 23" w/64K: $250. RAM 23 W/128K: $350. RAM 22" W/256K: $595.

Call The Distributor Near You For The Name Of Your Local Dealer:

Arizona-Micro Peripheral Marketing (602) 991-7870 California—Compac Microelectronics Inc. (408) 773-0444 Hawaii-Viaduct (808) 536-5263 lllinois-Tek-Aids Industries Inc. (312) 870-7400 North Carolina-General Semantics (919) 378-1500 Ohio-QDP Computer Systems Inc. (216) 526-0838 Pennsylvania-Tek-Aids Industries Inc. (215) 337-3220 Texas-Business Systems (214) 785-0041

CompuPro. PC VIDEO. CPU 286. CPU 8085/88, CPU 8086, CPU-Z, CPU 68K. CPU 32016. SPUZ. RAM 23, RAM 22. RAM 24, M-Drive/H, Disk 1A, Disk 3, Interfacer 3, Interfacer 4. System Support 1, and NET 100 are trademarks of Viasyn Corporation. Concurrent DOS 816 is compound trademark

NEW RAM 24™ with 1 megabyte of extra fast static RAM on a single board: $2995.

M-Drive/H'" : Our solid-state disk emulator can increase system throughput by as much as 3500%. Also used as a hard disk cache with Concurrent DOS 816 V4.1. $495 for 512K version,

$1095 for a 2 megabyte version.

Disk 1A": The most popular floppy disk controller on the market features simultaneous operation of both 5.25" and 8" drives and DMA transfers. $495.

Disk 3": Intelligent hard disk controller for ST-506/412 interface type drives. Features high level command interface, DMA transfers and high speed operation. $595.

Interfacer 3": Eight serial RS-232C ports. $495.

Interfacer 4'": Three RS-232C serial ports, Centronics-type parallel printer port, and a general purpose parallel port. $350.

System Support T": Multi-function board includes interrupt controllers, timers, real time clock/calendar with battery back-up, serial port, sockets for RAM/ROM and math chip. $350.

Net 100'": Local Area Network board features high speed (2.5 MBPS) transfers using standard coax cable. Allows multiple CompuPro systems to be networked together to form even larger installations. Uses ARCNET® hardware and DR-NET" software protocols. $395.

'The following minimum hardware configuration is needed to run Concurrent DOS 816: 384Kof RAM, Disk 1A, System Support 1, Interfacer 3 or 4, and one of the following CPUs: CPU 8085/88, CPU 8086 or CPU 286.

fompuPro

Inquiry 368

CompuPro/Viasyn Corporation 26538 Danti Court, Hayward, CA 94545-3999 (415) 786-0909

ol Digital Research Inc. and Viasyn Corporation. ARCNET is registered trademark ol Datapoint Corporation, DR-NET is a trademark of Digital Research Inc. IBM is a registered trademark of international Business Machines Corporation. 123 is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. Medical Manager is a trademark of Personalized Programming, Inc. INMASS is a trademark of Microcomputer Consultants. Inc. DAGAR is trademark of Software Development Corporation.

Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX

BIX

Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of Bi>

every little blit. The RastPort structure is needed for the image in your window or screen, but for all the other little images floating around in your code, bit maps are a lot simpler.

amiga/softw.devlpmt #408, from cheath: a comment to 406

I agree that RastPorts are not a good way to read in such things as sprites, but there are times when I'd like to write the contents of a window without doing a ClipBlit into a bit map. Those 256K-byte machines are so small!

I'm not sure what my problem with the ColorMap was. I was using the screen ViewPort->ColorMap. I seem to have had some problems writing into a subdirectory, probably an AmigaDOS problem with seek, etc. Have you seen any problems in this regard?

How are the IFF sound specs coming? I'd love to get them whenever they're done.

amiga/softw.devlpmt #414, from mposehn: a comment to 408

Changing colors in ViewPort->ColorMap won't have any immediate effect because the colors are actually controlled by instructions in the Copper list. So after changing the color map, you must rebuild the Copper list. Here's the magical incantation I use (if there is a better way, duck, please advise):

Forbid();

MakeScreen(myscreen); MrgCop(myview); WaitTOF(); LoadView(myview); Permit();

I've had no problems using subdirectories. You can either concat the path and file name before opening the file or use Lock() to gain access to the subdirectory before opening the file.

The IFF sound specs are not there yet. I need them very badly, too. Jerry Morrison at EA is still working on a way to factor everyone's requirements for music, MIDI, and sound effects into a clean spec.

amiga/softw.devlpmt #418, from cheath

TITLE: IFF for Sprites?

It seems to me that there is a lot of redundancy in using ILBMs and OESTs for defining animated images. The format allows a lot of flexibility and is nice for editing the images; however, for use in an application program, the overhead can be substantial for small images with many animations. Has anyone defined a FORM designed for applications use of sprites?

amiga/softw.devlpmt #428, from mposehn: a comment to 418

In Deluxe Video we read files in a simple IFF animation scheme called an ANimated BitMap object or ANBM. It's a simple sequence of frames of the same size and relative position with an IFF file structure like this:

FORM ANBM SEQN LIST ILBM PROP ILBM BMHD CMAP FORM ILBM } repeat this part once per frame BODY }

We have written a program called "Framer" that lets you cut a multiple frame sequence out of a picture (an IFF file created by Deluxe Paint or by Graphicraft) and save it in this ANBM format. You can then put that animation into a video or use it in some other program. We plan to include Framer with Deluxe Video.

Hopefully, someone will write a tool for creating more complex animated objects and save them in IFF format

Disks, Windows, and Menus

amiga/main #806

A BIX participant who uses both an Amiga and a Macintosh compared mouse functions, menus, and windows.

He liked the Mac's one-button mouse and found using the second button for menus a moderate annoyance. He found it frustrating that he had to put his windows back to where he wanted them, since the Intuition desktop would not leave them in position. He felt both the Mac and the Amiga were equal as far as responsiveness, once your preferences are set, though he missed the clock time-stamping on the Amiga (he used the alarm-clock desk accessory instead).

amiga/main #800

Another Macintosh/Amiga user commented that she was accustomed to the responsiveness of the Amiga. She didn't like the response of the Mac with a one-button mouse but hadn't tried the Atari.

amiga/main #809

Another Amiga owner offered a way to make Intuition leave the disks and windows the way you had them. With the Snapshot menu option, you should indicate the disk concerned as "selected."

amiga/main #812, from pariseau: a comment to 806

Icon and window positions on the Amiga can be recorded using the Snapshot menu item. Taking a snapshot on an icon whose window is open records the window position and size as well as the icon location. You can use Extend Select to snapshot a bunch of stuff at once—hold down either Shift key while clicking each icon with the Select button (left mouse button); release Shift key and choose Snapshot with the Menu button (right mouse button). We chose explicit rather than automatic position recording because

1. We wanted to have a disk eject button so that folks wouldn't get paranoid about not being able to remove their disks.

2. Given that we couldn't cache the positions in memory, we felt it was too sluggish to write them out every move.

Oh, yes, the snapshot stuff for windows only works for Workbench disk and drawer windows—there is currently no way to change the initial window position and size for an application window such as the clock.

By the way, is it true that the ST does not let you arbitrarily position your icons?

amiga/main #814 [Tom Thompson, Technical Editor, BYTE]: a comment to 812

Thanks for the inside design info on something apparently "simple" as saving the "desktop." Of course, then you run the risk of somebody ejecting a disk during the update sequence (it's mentioned in your manuals) or using a paper clip to physically eject the disk when the Mac won't let you have it. An interesting choice, no?

{continued)

374 BYTE • MARCH 1986

"When I was growing up, I was the quickest kid on the block. But the streets were catching up with me. I'm sure glad there was a Boys Club around to help keep me a step ahead.

"You know, a Boys Club shows kids there are lots of ways to reach goals, besides scoring touchdowns. It gives them every chance to be leaders. And encourages something every bit as important as good leadership— good citizenship.

"They sure pointed me in the right direction, and I've been running my life ever since —running through BOYS

lines, running through airports. Now I'm even running my own business!

"It's no wonder so many Boys Club kids grow into productive, civic-minded adults, like teachers, politicians, business executives and professional athletes. Which gives more than 1,200,000 young people, at 1,100 Boys Club facilities across the country, something to look forward to.

"Hey, I'm not saying a Boys Club can turn every kid into a star. But a Boys Club sure can teach 'em how to CLUB reach for one."

The Club that beats the streets.

MARCH 1986 • BYT E 375

Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX •

BIX

£ST OF BIJ

Amiga IBM PC Emulator

amiga/main #778, from atm [Andrew McLaughlin]

Does the IBM PC emulator allow the Amiga to operate "normally'? By that I mean, can you boot the emulator, start something running under the emulator, and then also run Amiga programs (e.g., Boing!)?

Also, what is Commodore planning to do when they finalize the ROMs? Will we have to ship them to West Chester for service or ?

amiga/main #787, from cheath: a comment to 778

The emulator is "stand alone"; it takes over the whole machine.

Regarding ROMs, it has been a unanimous plea among developers to never put the ROM software in ROM. This is to allow alternative operating systems like UNIX to run without using any extra RAM. If the Writable Control Store is always there, alternative operating systems can count on it. The short-term policy of Commodore seems to be to keep the WCS. I dont know if they have a long-term policy.

More About Boingi

[Editor's note: For more on this topic, see Best of Bix—Atari]

amiga/main #736, from greggw

Regarding the bouncing-ball demo, is it true that the Amiga bouncingball demo could have been faster but was slowed down to make it look realistic? (Just idle curiosity.)

amiga/main #747, from greggw: a comment to 736

Folks, Bob Pariseau sent me a letter that includes the following remarks about the Boing! the bouncing-ball demo; I thought Id share them. (Letter excerpt follows.)

The ball can be made blindingly fast without any significant increase in 68000 overhead. The ball rotation is done by color cycle animation. Each red and white patch on the ball is actually 7 strips of color.

Push the Workbench screen to the back while the ball is forming (LeftAmiga-M), and you'll see what I mean. We assign 14 of the 32 color registers to ball rotation. At any instant 7 are white and 7 are red. We cycle the colors through them to make the ball appear to rotate. To rotate faster, just cycle faster. How fast can you change 14 memory locations with a 68000?

The ball bouncing is done by changing the start-of-data pointers for the ball/shadow bit planes with respect to the grid bit plane. By clever use of the video DMA pointers, the grid appears stationary while the ball appears to move. Again, no blitting is involved. Again, making it go faster is easy.

Curiously enough, the hard thing is making the ball go slowly and still appear to be smooth. We can get as slow as you see on the Amiga because, with 32 color registers, we can afford to burn 14 just on ball rotation.

ATARI

[Editor's note: Before using February's instructions to upgrade your 520ST, read Atari/tech.st #239 or download ST.DOC from BYTEnet Listings.]

This month, Dave Betz describes his experiences in porting XLISP successfully to the Atari 520ST, David Allen presents some background information on the new Grolier/Activenture CD-ROM encyclopedia, and there are comments on BASIC, DEGAS, and the Atari Boink demo.

XLISP

atari/tech.st #122, from dbetz [David Betz, Contributing Editor, BYTE]

I just got my Atari ST development system and software. I'm intending to port my XLISP interpreter to the ST. My first goal is just to get the generic version running on the Atari. Then, I'm going to add some support for interfacing with the GEM graphics routines. My first problem is that, looking through the C compiler disk that came with the development package, I seem to be missing the setjmp.h include file that supports the setjmp/longjmp library routines. These routines are mentioned in the CP/M-68K C manual that came with the development package, but I have been unable to find the supporting include file. Anyone have any idea where I can get a copy of it (it should be only a single line long)?

atari/tech.st #125, from dbetz

Well, I've just gotten all of the XLISP source code to compile and link on my ST (but not run, unfortunately). I thought that I'd share something of my experiences in accomplishing this.

First, I'm sure that I had the same reaction as everyone else the first time I realized the number of cables required to hook up this beast. I have two drives and both monitors, so I guess I have the maximum number of cables possible. Before I could do anything wifh the machine I had to buy one of those multi-way power adapters just to free up enough outlets to plug in the four power cables! It really is pretty easy to set up, though. I didn't read any of the manuals and managed to get it to work the first time. Once I had all of the cables and power supplies (three) hidden behind the machine and under the table, it really looked nice sitting on my computer table (next to an old DEC Rainbow with only 256K of memory).

The first thing I needed to do was to copy all of the XLISP source code from my Rainbow to the ST. I used a program called LCTERM on the Rainbow and Kermit on the ST. The transfers happened flawlessly! I typed a single command on each machine and transferred all 24 XLISP source files to the ST without any errors at 9600 baud. This took a while, but since everything happened automatically, I didn't have to stay and babysit. I went off to the living room and read about GEM.

After transferring the files, I had to do some minor editing in order to select the correct options for compiling with the DRI C compiler. I used MicroEmacs and had no trouble changing the few lines required to tailor XLISP.H for the ST.

Then I started to compile the sources. My first problem was to track down three include files that should have been part of the C development package but were left out of the version that I received. The files in question were setjmp.h, ctype.h, and math.h. I searched through all of the disks that came with the development package and couldn't find any of them. The C documentation mentioned the existence of both setjmp.h and ctype.h but didn't even mention math.h. Well, in order to proceed, I made an educated guess about what went into those files and created my own versions. After this, all 23 XLISP source modules compiled without errors!

Then it was necessary to link all of the resulting object modules. I used MicroEmacs to create a batch file to run the LINK68 and RELMOD programs to create an executable version of XLISP Because there are so many object files in XLISP, I had to create a separate input file for the linker. This was easy to create using MicroEmacs also. I had no trouble linking XLISP and creating an executable file with RELMOD. My only problem now will be to find out why XLISP doesn't work! When I run XLISR I get the banner line and then the program immediately exits. Just before exiting, I get two tiny mushroom-shaped characters at the left-hand side of the screen centered vertically. I have

(continued!

376 BYTE • MARCH 1986

A COMPUTER

PROGRAM

THAT SPEAKS

YOUR LANGUAGE

The Computer Chronicles, a halfhour weekly television series brings you news and information from Silicon Valley andaround the world. Correspondent Stewart Cheifet and Gary Kildall, creator of CP/M cover today's headlines and the stories behind them. Find out what is, what was and what will be, with the only computer program you're ever going to need. The Computer Chronicles, every week on a public television station near you.

(Check local listings for time and channel.)

Produced by KCSM, San Mateo, CA and WITF, Harrisburg, PA with funding from AFIPS and McGraw-Hill's EVTE magazine.

lM

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 377

Best of bix • Best of bix • Best of BIX •

EIX

• Best of BIX • Best of Bix •Best of Bl>

no idea what these mean or why the program just exits without doing anything, but in the next few days I hope to find out.

All in all, I am impressed with the ST. It hasn't crashed as much as I had been led to believe that it would. It has a very nice crisp monochrome display (I haven't really tried the color monitor much yet). The keyboard seems reasonably good. The desktop software seems to work well, although I did experience some strange behavior after compiling about 15 of the 23 XLISP source files. When one of the compiles finished and I returned to the desktop, one of the disk windows had mysteriously been closed. When I tried to reopen it, I was unable to. I had to reset the machine to continue with the next compile.

The COMMAND.PRG doesn't seem to be very useful on its own. It doesn't have any way to copy files from one disk to another. It doesn't have a way to rename files, and its delete program (RM.PRG) doesn't accept wild-card file specifications. When I invoked MicroEmacs from the command-line interface, I ended up in the editor with no visible cursor! I was able to edit, but I had to insert dummy characters to determine where the cursor was. Fortunately, it isn't really necessary to use the command-line interface. Everything that you need to do can be done through the GEM desktop.

In summary, I really am impressed with this machine. I like the crispness of the display in monochrome and the window system seems to be fairly responsive, I wish the packaging was a little nicer (fewer cables, maybe one built-in disk drive, no external power supplies). It could use higher capacity disks. (I am aware that a double-sided disk is now available. It should probably be made standard.) What I really like about it is that I get a fast, 68000-based machine with a highresolution bit-mapped display for under $1000! I think that this machine has quite a bit of potential, and I intend to continue to explore its capabilities. I want to develop a good interface to the graphics support from within XLISP, and I'm sure that I'll have some comments about programming with GEM in the process.

atari/tech.st #126, from jsan [Jez San, Argonaut Software]: a comment to 125

If you are not already linking the file apstart.O to the front of your object files, then please do so! It sets up and reserves a Stack area for your application program to use and thus is vital to the correct execution of your program. Simply ensure when linking your file together that apstart.0 is the first one in the list.

Failing that, two mushrooms means an address error (I think, or is it bus error!?).

Let me know how you get on.

atari/tech.st #128, from dbetz: a comment to 126

I am linking with gemstart, gemlib, and libf. I just noticed that the default stack size is only 1000 bytes, so I'm going to try increasing that to about 16K and see what happens. Thanks for the advice.

(just a number) to see if it really worked and got no response. XLISP thinks that all lines need to be terminated by a linefeed, and I suspected that the run-time library might be looking for a CR-LF pair at the end of a line, so I typed Ctrl-J (the code for LF) and XLISP printed the result of evaluating the expression! I would have been impressed except that immediately after printing the result, XLISP exited back to the desktop. The only reason that XLISP would do this is if the next call to getc returned end-of-file. In order to test the behavior of terminal input in a simpler environment, I wrote a very simple test program. Here is the text of the program:

#include <stdio.h> main()

{

int ch:

for (;;) { ch = getc(stdin); printf("%02x "ch); if (ch == '\ri)

printf(" \n"); }

This program just reads characters from stdin and echoes the ASCII code of the character in hexadecimal. It starts a new line every time it gets the LF character. I ran this program, and absolutely nothing happened when I typed characters. I did some further investigation and found out that getc(stdin) was always returning -1 (end-of-file). I have no idea what I am doing wrong and am not sure how to proceed from here. It seems as though the standard I/O library just doesn't work correctly when reading from the keyboard.

In addition to this problem, I have been continually plagued by disk windows getting closed automatically on return from an application. Whenever this happens, I am unable to reopen them. I must reset the machine and start the desktop over again.

While I still like the hardware on this machine, the software seems to leave a lot to be desired. Why doesn't it come with its own development documentation? The C manual and the system documentation are for CP/M-68K; the GEM documentation is for PC-DOS. After taking a few minutes to look at the documentation for the Amiga, I am left with the feeling that this machine was released too soon. It doesn't really have adequate development tools. I suppose that someone will point out that the Macintosh didn't have any decent development tools when it was released either. The difference is that the ST doesn't come with any useful applications (like MacWrite and MacPaint) or any decent tools to build your own applications. In its current state, it's a not a very useful machine for either a software developer or an end user. I'm going to continue to struggle with it for a while. Maybe the support for developing native applications is better than the support for porting generic programs like XLISP.

atari/tech.st #129, from jsan: a comment to 128

I'm not familiar with gemstart, so I wouldn't know if it performs the functions of apstart too, but just in case, please try linking in apstart before gemstart and see what happens!?

atari/tech.st #130, from dbetz: a comment to 128

Well, I increased the stack size to 16K by reassembling gemstarts and XLISP came up and printed its prompt. I tried typing an expression

atari/tech.st #131, from jsan: a comment to 130

On CompuServe, Russ Wetmore (sysop of Atari SIG) has uploaded the C stdio header file. I suspect it will work better than the ones you are presently using.

I'm afraid I have no experience of C. I only use the ST from an assembly-language viewpoint and can easily help you with I/O that bypasses TOS, but I can do nothing much to help you with OS calls of any description.

(continued)

378 BYTE- MARCH 1986

MOST COMPATIBLE — LEAST EXPENSIVE XT and AT Compatibles by: AFTON COMPUTER

QUANTUM XT $799.°o

256K Expandable to 640K 2 x 360K Floppy Drive 135W Power Supply Color or Monochrome Card

Hi-Res Monitor

Keyboard

Parallel Port

Socket for 8087 Coprocessor

QUANTUM XT TURBO $749.°°

System includes:

■ 640K on MB

■ 360K Floppy Drive

■ Keyboard

135W Power Supply Fully Assembled and Tested

QUANTUM AT $1995.°°

(Includes 20MB Hard Disk)

512K

1.2 MB Floppy Drive Floppy/Hard Controller 200 W Power Supply

Keyboard Socket for 80287 20 MB Hard Drive

60 MEG TAPE STREAMER

For the AT or XT

$999.00

STANDARD AT-MFCw/128K

Up to 2.5 MB Memory Expansion. Serial and

Parallel Port

for IBM AT.

$275.oo

AMERICAN MADE

300/1200 Baud

Modem - internal

with software

$199.oo

MONOCARD

Monochrome

Display Card with

Parallel Port

$110.

oo

I/O

Serial & Parallel

Port Card for IBM PC and AT

$99.oo

STANDARD MFC

• Clock/Calendar

• Serial Port

• Parallel Port

• Game Port

• Software

$129.oo

COLOR CARD

Color Graphic Card w/ Parallel Port

$99.oo

COMPLETE HARD

DISK SYSTEMS!

For The

| == =^= pc™ and Compatibles

1 YEAR WARRANTY!

Half Height

Hard Disk Kits

for the IBM PC™

5^

• Boots from Hard Disk

• Instruction Manual

• Cables and Mounting Hardware

• Half Height Bezel

• Hard Disk Controller

20MB$465.00 33MB $849.°<»

MONO MONITOR

TTL or COMPOSITE

f

$99.

oo

TAPE BACKUP SYSTEM

• 10.35 Meg Formatted Capacity

• Half Height

• Low Power

^^^^TJol Included

$450.oo

FDC

Controls Up To 4

Floppy Disk

Includes

Internal Cables.

$45.0°

5150 KEYBOARD

m^^wm,

$89.oo

NAME BRAND

FLOPPY DISK

DRIVES

• Half Height

• DS/DD

$95.0°

135 WATT

Replacement Power Supply

$85.oo

— 48 Hour Burn In Period And Testing On Every Machine —

FULL ONE YEAR WARRANTY

CALL for FREE CATALOG and PRICE LIST

AFTON COMPUTER

(714) 259-1127 • TELEX 756731

24825 CALLE EL TORO GRANDE * EL TORO, CALIFORNIA 92630

Prices and availability subject to change without notice. • IBM15 is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.

Inquiry 405 for End-Users. Inquiry 406 for DEALERS ONLY.

best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX

EIX

• Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX

atari/tech.st #140, from dbetz

Well, I finally finished my port of XLISP to the 520ST. It seems to work pretty well. It is a bit faster than XLISP on the Macintosh, but you have less space to work with on an ST than on a 512K Macintosh. I assume this will be fixed once the OS comes out in ROM. The only major problems that I encountered were some missing include files (ctypeh, setjmp.h, and math.h). I invented my own versions of those files and was able to compile all of the XLISP code without further problems. My next problem was that the standard I/O library that comes with the DRI C compiler doesn't seem to work when doing I/O to the terminal (keyboard/screen). I ended up writing my own code for terminal I/O, Once those two problems were solved, XLISP came up and ran without a hitch. I uploaded it to the Atari area of the Listings conference. The file is called XLISPTTP and should be downloaded in binary mode. The documentation for the ST version is the same as the IBM version and the Macintosh version. You should be able to find the documentation text file in the Macintosh area of Listings under the name XLISRMEM. If you download XLISP, please let me know what you think and report any problems you might encounter.

CD-ROM

atari/tech.st #11, from dpallen [David Allen]

Grolier engaged with Activenture to produce this CD-ROM as the first practical exercise of a new CD-ROM authoring language by Activenture (a company formed by Gary Kildall of Digital Research fame) called KRS, or Knowledge Retrieval System. This is a high-level "language" that is designed to work on a DEC VAX-11/750. When fed with any large database from a master machine-readable source, KRS creates a "file inversion" or electronic index of the database. This can be as large as the database itself, and in the case of the Grolier encyclopedia, does, in fact, occupy 60 megabytes of CD-ROM real estate, the same amount that the encyclopedia itself occupies. KRS is written in C

In comparison, the encyclopedia itself also occupies 60 megabytes of CD-ROM space and is the equivalent of 10 volumes of 10,000 pages of nine million words. So there is room for three more totally different "encyclopedias" of the same size! (Don't look—they aren't there!)

The file inversion is a specially constructed file of all of the keywords in the database less some "stop words." Stop words are those words that appear in the database more than 32,767 times and are considered unworthy of search. These include words such as "the," "an," "and," "of," and about 25 other words in the case of the encyclopedia.

The user may institute a search for any combination of keywords and the KRS will come back with suggestions. For example, if a student was writing a report about the relationship between Eisenhower and Nixon, he might ask for all the entries with those two names. The system would respond by asking if the user wished those entries with the keywords in the same paragraph or same article. Within 3-5 seconds the system will deliver a list of all entries so described. The user may apply any sort of Boolean logic to enter the keywords (all that have word A but not word B, or all that have word A and word B or word C, etc.).

Activenture is promoting itself as "optical typesetters" and is prepared to massage any third-party database with KRS for similar results.

The encyclopedia disk will be marketed by Grolier, and there will be a parallel marketing campaign for the necessary hardware to play the disk on. The hardware will not be OEM'd by Grolier but will be marketed by the manufacturer of the hardware. No official announcement yet of the brand(s) of CD-ROM hardware to be available at that time nor of the computers to be initially interfaced, but my intuition says to expect that the initial computers to be interfaced will be the IBM PC (and clones) and the Atari ST.

atari/tech.st #39, from dmenconi [Dave Menconi]

I can't help but think that the encyclopedia is going to be important. I have always thought that the real use for computers would be to supply users with a library of information in an easily indexed way. That way the user could find facts quickly. This will eliminate a lot of the half-truth myths and "pseudo-science" that plagues us now. Is anyone writing a more sophisticated access system for all that data than just a word search? Like something that would answer the question: 'What is the relationship among average rainfall, the value of the dollar, and the age of the president?" I admit that this data is not going to be on the first disk, but there will be other disks and a word search just doesnt do it. Anybody have any ideas about the best way to access all that data?

atari/tech.st #40, from dpallen: a comment to 39

I played around with the Grolier on an IBM PC last week. KRS really works very well, although I think they are a bit optimistic on their maximum search time of 5 seconds. More like 10.

I exercised using some Boolean functions and it handled them very nicely. (Find A and B and C; find A and B and not C; etc.) Came up with just what I was looking for.

Philips was showing off a new CD-ROM database manipulation consisting of a newspaper file with pictures in both black-and-white and color. Used an AT&T video digitizer board that worked really well. (Expensive.) It also provided sound over still voice with each picture.

atari/tech.st #41, from neilharris [Neil Harris, Atari Corp.]: a comment to 40

I think the way to go is to develop a parsing language similar to the one that Infocom uses in their adventure games. Searching the database itself is easy using Activenture's inversion process, but some intelligent preprocessing would add a dimension that would make life easy.

First Word on BASIC

atari/news.st #136, from jimj [James Joyce]

I sent in my registration card and Atari sent me ST BASIC this week. The package included disk and manual. The manual is much better than the Logo manual I received when I bought my system. There are some typos and errors. One major omission is a chart for the SHAPE argument of WAVE. (And I sure would like to know how to use WAVE.) The sample programs they give in the back are nice. The one titled "Low Resolution Demo" seems to be excessively slow, but I havent checked to see if I inserted my own typos here, so it may be my fault.

BOINK AND THE AMIGA

atari/non.tech.st #102, from jsan

In our latest game (on the Atari ST) we've got sampled sounds and speech working! Yes, it can be done. It's just nowhere near as good as the Amiga's hardware, since ours is done in software and requires about 6 percent overhead in processor time to accomplish an 8-kHz bandwidth. It's not bad, nevertheless.

I would say that Atari's Boink program is a stunning effort of high ingenuity in trying to beat the Amiga. I'm very impressed that they got it that goodl

atari/non.tech.st #105, from cheath [Charlie Heath, MicroSmiths]: a comment to 102

> Six percent of cycles; what percent of development effort?

(continued)

380 BYTE • MARCH 1986

ACM SIGGRAPH 8 6

Dallas Convention Center Dallas, TexasAugust 18-22, 1986

A combination of the highest standards in technical achievement, creative artistry and today's most advanced graphics systems.

13th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques

Sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics in cooperation with the IEEE Technical Committee on Computer Graphics.

Technical Papers Panel Sessions Courses

Industry Exhibition Art Show Electronic Theatre

II

♦N't/

ACM SIGGRAPH 86

Conference Management 111 East Wacker Drive #600 Chicago, IL 60601 3121644-6610

Please send a copy of the SIGGRAPH '86 advance program to:

NAME

COMPANY

ADDRESS

CITYISTATEI COUNTRY

ZIP TELEPHONE

Members of ACM SIGGRAPH will automatically receive these materials in the mail in April and need NOT return this coupon. 2 Inquiry 5

BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX

EIX

• BEST OF BIX •* BEST OF BIX * BEST OF BIX

atari/non.tech.st #106, from jsan: a comment to 105

Hmm, what do you mean what percent of development effort!?

If you mean how hard was it to write, then, well, it was an offshoot from the normal Sound (d)effects subroutines that we had to write anyway, and so we decided to go one stage further and add full sampled synthesis (which allows Speech, or any other digitized waveform). It's less than a week's work for a full-time machine code programmer, but most ST programmers don't do machine code. (C seems to be overpopular!) Here in England, people are raving about Modula-2, but as far as I'm concerned nothing beats machine code for either execution or readability!

atari/non.tech.st #112, from neilharris: a comment to 95

After seeing the two bouncing balls (ST and Amiga) side by side for 5 days at COMDEX, not one person thought Amiga's was any better, faster, or smoother! Any arguments?

atari/non.tech.st #113, from jsan: a comment to 112

Yes, here's an argument.

The Atari bouncing-ball demo is running flat out, using every trick in the book to get its speed and smoothness working. It is using 100 percent processor time, and so nothing else could be working at the same time, nor could two or three bouncing balls be working at the same time.

The Amiga bouncing ball, on the other hand, is done using total hardware register modification. What that means is that not only the ball's spin, but even its movement is done without any loss of processor speed or software. It moves the instant that the bit-plane Start registers have been altered, whereas the Atari one must block move the entire beachball in order to make it move. The bottom line is that the Amiga bouncing demo is an incredible effect, considering it's using a negligible amount of processor, whereas the Atari gains the effect working flat out as hard as it can!

The Amiga can, of course, pull up a screen in front of or behind that bouncing ball, and the user can pull the screen up or down interactively with the mouse while the ball is still bouncing (and boinging in stereo, I might add!). The Atari cannot do that, as it has no hardware registers at all, except for a Palette.

The reason the Atari ball appears to spin faster is that Atari used fewer colors to define the ball, half the number that the Amiga version used; thus the Amiga one spins smoothly—much more smoothly than the Atari version ever could.

Having said all that, I'm very impressed that the Atari programmer managed to get it Sooo Goood on an ST! I didn't think that kind of graphics was possible on an Atari. He must have done pretty well!

atari/news.st #159, from duck [Dale Luck, Commodore-Amiga]: a comment to 158

It was probably running faster because that is the way the programmer wanted it. It looked very nice.

atari/non.tech.st §V, from duck

The first Amiga version was programmed between the hours of 12 midnight and 4 a.m. on about January 7, 1984. Although the initial spinning ball had been created some time before then.

About May, another 8 hours was devoted for sound and left-right bounce effects. Once the demo was running, little was done to make it

faster; it seemed to create the right effect.

[Editor's note: For further comment from the staff at CommodoreAmiga, see the comments of Bob Pariseau in Best of BIX—Amiga.]

DEGAS

atari/news.st #117, from rsimonsen [Redmond Simonsen]: comment to 115

[Editor's note: This dispatch is in response to comments by thud, Tom Hudson, who implemented DEGAS]

If you plan the program for use by both casual and serious users, joystick, mouse, and tablet support is really desirable. Serious drawing requires a stylus-like instrument. Unfortunately, such tablets are not cheap, therefore not widely owned nor supported by commercial software.

By way of a compliment, your program made me feel better about the potential of the 520ST, and I'm now actively rooting for its success, know how feature glut can make one freeze in anticipation of all that revision. But press on.

I am struck by a false separation in software categories between "paint" programs and "drawing" programs (with the latter being more elaborate and expensive and usually object-oriented). To artists and architects, there is little to applaud about such a dividing line in technique and approach to putting images on the screen.

Speaking of screens, is that of the ST orthogonal; i.e., does the distance between vertical pixels equal the distance between horizontal pixel positions? If not, does your program compensate for the appearance of images on the screen versus the same output on a printer? My PC Paint does not and it's very annoying. Moreover, mathematically correct circles are visually incorrect on the screen of my AT&T 6300 (they look like ellipses) but correct when printed (but all the freehand stuff in the drawing gets squashed, of course). Graphic software for machines like the ST ought to be sophisticated enough to compensate for these differences.

atari/news.st #119, from thud [Tom Hudson]: a comment to 117

DEGAS generates true circles on the ST as far as the x and y size is concerned. Unfortunately, the screen shows them as slightly elliptical. Outputting the picture to a printer or plotter with a correct aspect ratio will correct it (but, as you say, freehand drawing will be squashed). It's a no-win situation.

atari/news.st #120, from rsimonsen: a comment to 119

Why can't DEGAS have an intelligent picture processor that remaps the picture to compensate for the peculiarities of various printers? All drawing on the screen should be done on a "looks right" basis (i.e., circles are not x,y correct, but they look right). When the picture is printed instead of doing a simple screen dump, the picture is redrawn into a RAM buffer with the y-axis appropriately scaled to compensate for the particular printer being used. Sounds like pretty simple software to me. I wrote a turtle-graphics system on the Apple II (in FORTH) that did circle and polygon compensation on the screen. I didnt do a printer output processor, but all you'd have to do is rotate the bit map and rescale the now-horizontal lines. Correct?

atari/news.st #121, from mdulcey [Mark Dulcey]: a comment to 120

It's not that simple. The catch is that scaling the bit map like that (especially by a small scale factor) will lead to excessive jaggies on

(continued)

382 BYTE • MARCH 1986

THE X-10 POWERHOUSE INTERFACES WITH YOUR COMPUTER TO CONTROL YOUR HOME...FOR SECURITY, COMFORT AND ENERGY SAVINGS.

This remarkable Interface lets you run your home through your Apple lie, He, Macintosh, Commodore 64 or 128 and a mouse, keyboard or joystick.

When you're away, it makes your home look and sound lived in. When you're home, it can turn off the TV at night and wake you ! > \i;, up to stereo and fresh brewed coffee in the morning. It caq ■.■%"_ even turn on your air conditioner and control your heating.

SPECIAL COLOR GRAPHICS MAKE PROGRAMMING A SNAP.

You simply pick a room from the display screen. Use your mouse, joystick, or keyboard to position graphics of lights or appliances. Then follow on-screen instructions to program any light or appliance to go on or off whenever you choose. You can even control thermostats, light intensity and more.

THE WAY IT WORKS. The X-10 Powerhouse Interface is cableconnected to an Apple RS-232 port or a Commodore "User" port and plugged into a standard 110V outlet. After it is programmed, the Interface sends digitally encoded signals through your home wiring to special X-10 Modules. To control a lamp or appliance, you simply plug the electrical device into a Module

and then plug the Module into an outlet. The Interface can control up to 256 Modules throughout your home and won't interfere with normal use of lights and appliances.

There are plug-in Appliance Modules, Lamp Modules, Wall Switch Replacement Modules and Special 220V Modules for heavy duty appliances such as water heaters and room air conditioners. Plus Thermostat Controllers for central heating and air conditioning, Telephone Responders to control your home from any phone, and much more.

IT WON'T TIE UP YOUR COMPUTER. Use your computer only for programming. When you're finished, disconnect the Interface from your computer and keep it plugged into any convenient power outlet in your home. It will operate as a stand-alone controller with battery back-up and will run your home automatically.

NEW LOW PRICE! A Powerhouse System including the Interface, software and connecting cables now costs less than $70. X-10 Modules are less than $17 each. Software for IBM PC and compatibles available soon.

For the Dealer Nearest You Call: 1-800 526-0027

or, write to: X-10 (USA) P" "J: (201) 784-9700]

185A Legrand Avenue Northvale, NJ 07647

X-10 POWERHOUSE

NUMBER ONE IN HOME CONTROL

Apple, Apple lie, Apple lie and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Commodore 64 and 128 are registered trademarks of Commodore Int'l Ltd. IBM PC is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.

Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX

EIX

BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX

some objects. Remember, you want the text to print correctly, not just the circles and polygons.

The real solution would seem to be for Atari to adjust the monitors so the aspect ratio is correct. The pixel counts are appropriate for this, given the size of the screen.

atari/news.st #139, from al: a comment to 121

No, no, the real solution is device independence.

atari/news.st #123, from rsimonsen: a comment to 121

Actually, I assert that it is that simple. It should at least be attempted and tested. Yearning for Atari to change their monitor is a cop-out, since they'll never do that to address this problem.

atari/news.st #125, from thud: a comment to 120

Actually, DEGAS doesnt do a raw screen dump but uses special printer drivers that may scale the output any way they like. Therefore, in theory, all the printers/plotters could have perfect aspect ratios, as long as they were written properly. In practice, though, most dot-matrix printers give trouble, because their pin-spacing/linefeed ratios aren't infinitely variable to provide accurate scaling. Somebody give me a laser printer.

atari/news.st #126, from thud: a comment to 123

It could be done to a certain extent, but your average, casual computer user isn't going to care about it that much. Plus, the cost for the additional factory alignment would probably be a no-no for Atari right now. Not to mention the in-the-field variables involved.

atari/news.st #128, from rsimonsen: a comment to 125

Regarding scaled pictures: On my AT&T 6300 using PC Paint, the ratio of depth to width is 1.2; i.e., a square box (in terms of pixels) measures (with a ruler) 20 percent deeper than its width. I presume it's something similar on the 520ST. What should happen with regular polygons, circles, et al., is this:

1. The on-screen image is presented as visually correct (so, for example, a square 100 pixels wide would only be 83 pixels deep). This would make it look correct on the screen.

2. When printed (presuming we have a printer that spaces its dots evenly in both directions), the image is first rotated 90 degrees in memory, and then the bit string is scaled by 1.2, then printed.

3. Printers that were incapable of producing a truly square grid of dots would have the picture processed by a scaling factor that approximated their aspect ratio.

4. The user would be given the option of printing the picture without processing.

Since the greatest use of pictures is "on screen," it is important to be able to produce geometric figures that look geometric and can be easily made so (as opposed to the approximation methods one must now resort to by twiddling with the mouse-cursor).

atari/news.st #131, from mdulcey: a comment to 128

This procedure won't produce optimal results in all cases. Suppose I carefully design a font to use only straight and diagonal lines (say I

don't like jaggies). After this is scaled, it won't look right anymore. There are only two good solutions:

1. Use object-oriented draw software.

2. Use monitors with the same aspect ratio as the printer.

atari/news.st #138, from al: a comment to 117

Of course, he said, climbing onto a convenient soapbox, if such "paint" and "draw" programs simultaneously saved away a list of the instructions used in creating the image (in a convenient notation like NAPLPS, hint, hint), then circles would be circular whatever the output device.

Rather than simply transfer the screen bit map to the printer (and end up with aspect-ratio problems), simply pass the NAPLPS file to an appropriate printer driver, and there you are.

(And you have the added benefit of being able to send the pictures over phone lines in reasonable amounts of time—and displaying them on otherwise incompatible computers.)

See also (plug, plug) the conference Graph.exch, particularly the "naplps" topic.

IRJVI

JL JL# JL w JL

This month we are featuring the discussions in the MS-DOS conference. The section on DOS commands focuses on FORMAT errors and use of the RESTORE command. Another discussion covers harddisk slowdowns.

MS-DOS Commands

ms.dos/commands #90, from mose [Michael Mosely]

Backup using DOS 2.0: Help, please. Awhile back I used the BACKUP command to back up a directory or two using DOS version 2.0 on an IBM PC XT. Today I tried to restore them using "RESTORE A: C:." Well, the system clicked and whirled and told me there were no files to restore. DIR finds all of them including the BACKUPID.@@@ file. I'm kind of stuck because I can't even do a straight COPY operation and have my .EXE file execute. The files copy okay with the same number of bytes and all, but when I try to run them the system complains about not having enough memory. BACKUP must diddle something. Can anyone offer advice or sympathy?

ms.dos/commands #91, from petewhite [Pete White]: a comment to 90

If you were backing up a subdirectory, try the "/S" option. Other than that, RESTORE should work.

ms.dos/commands #92, from rich [Rich Sidney]: a comment to 90

Try

C>RESTORE A:\«.« C:/S

You have to tell RESTORE which files to restore. It does not assume any files. As you gave it a null filename, it restored nothing.

ms.dos/commands #95, from kebrown [Ken Brown]: a comment to 90

You will not be able to just copy the files off the backup disk, you

[continued)

384 B YTE • MARCH 1986

TAKE THE 3-VOLUME

HANDBOOK OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

(A $141.95 VALUE) FOR ONLY $4.95

when you join the Library of Computer and Information Sciences.

I

Just completed, the massive, 3-volume HANDBOOK OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE promises to become the standard reference work in the growing AI field.

Conceived and produced by leading scientists and researchers at Stanford University, with contributions from universities and laboratories across the nation, the Handbook makes available to scientists, engineers, students, and hobbyists who are encountering AI for the first time the techniques and concepts in this rapidly expanding computer universe.

The 200 articles cover the emerging issues, technical problems, and design strategies which have been developed during the past 25 years of research. The Handbook has been written for people with no background in AI; jargon has been eliminated; and, the hierarchical organization of the book allows the reader to delve deeply into a particular subject or browse the articles which serve as overviews of the various subfields.

The 15 chapters (5 per volume) include: the history, goals, and current areas of research activity; the key concept of "search"; research on "natural languages"; the design of programs that understand spoken language; applications-oriented AI

mmmmm

• ll^elllislft?"'' " i" i

The comprehensive HANDBOOK OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE answers questions like:

• What is a "heuristic problem-solving program?"

• How do computers understand English?

• Can computer programs outperform human experts?

AND INCLUDES:

• Over 1,450 pages.

• More than 200 articles in 15 chapters.

• With numerous charts, tables, and schematics.

• Edited by Avron Barr, Paul Cohen and Edward Feigenbaum.

research in science, medicine, and education; automatic programming; models of cognition; automatic deduction; vision and learning research; and, planning and problem solving.

The Library of Computer and Information Sciences is the oldest and largest book club especially designed for the computer professional. In the incredibly fast-moving world of data processing, where up-to-date knowledge is essential, we make it easy for you to keep totally informed on all areas of the information sciences.

Begin enjoying the club's benefits

today!

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS: In addition to getting the 3-volume Handbook of Artificial Intelligence for only $4.95, when you join, you keep saving substantially on the books you buy. Also, you will immediately become eligible to participate in our Bonus Book Plan, with savings of up to 70% off the publishers' prices. At 3-4 week intervals (16 times per year) you will receive the Book Club News, describing the coming Main Selection, and Alternate Selections, together with a dated reply card. If you want the Main Selection, do nothing and it will be sent to you automatically. If you prefer another selection, or no book at all, simply indicate your choice on the card, and return it by the date specified. You will have at least 10 days to decide. If, because of late mail delivery of the News, you should receive a book you do not want, we guarantee return postage.

If the reply card has been removed,

please write to:

The Li lira ry of Computer and

Information Sciences

Dcpt. 7-DN7-00614, Riverside, N.J. 08075

to obtain membership information

and an application.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 385

Best of bix • best of BIX • best of BIX

BIX

Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of Bl

have to use RESTORE. BACKUP adds a 128-byte header to the front of each file as it backs it up, so if you copy an executable file off a backup disk it will not run. If there is really something wrong with the backup disk and RESTORE won't get it, there are programs on some bulletin-board systems that allow you to copy individual files off backup disks.

ms.dos/commands #96, from Imowatt [Lee Mowatt]: a comment to 91

RESTORE will only restore those files on disk that came from the directory in question. If it finds none from the directory, then it restores none.

ms.dos/commands #98, from leroy [Leroy Casterline]: a comment to 94

Under Compaq DOS 2.1 and PC-DOS 3.0/3.1, RESTORE A: C:/S works fine. I haven't seen a version of DOS that required the "*.*". The /S is very important, however, if the files were backed up from a subdirectory. RESTORE isn't smart about restoring files and must be told to put them back in subdirectories with the IS. Another possible cause is a damaged BACKUPID.@@@ file. Check the length of the file; if it's 0 bytes long, it's bad and RESTORE will fail. One possible solution is to use UNDOBACK (a public-domain utility) on each individual file. UNDOBACK removes the "header bytes" that BACKUP puts at the beginning of every file as it writes them to the disk. A better solution is to use another public-domain utility called "BF" to recreate the BACKUPID.@@@ file. I've got both these utilities and will be glad to share them if need be.

ms.dos/commands #100, from georgehoffman [George Hoffman]

FORMAT 3.x errors?: I've been getting drive timeout/not ready errors trying to format floppies under DOS 3.0/3.1 using Qume 142 drives on an XT. Any suggestions? All other disk operations seem to work fine. It's not head settle or motor start parameters, since I've already played with these.

ms.dos/commands #103, from billbourn [Bill Bourn]: a comment to 100

I would amend the query to include a request for comment on the status of the previous releases' FORMAT problems with storage placement. FORMAT used to have a bug that gave similar problems as George mentions because it didn't like its starting storage location. Something about the work area not being partitioned properly. Adding a buffer or two "fixed" it so you could format again. That was such a well-known problem that I would be surprised if it is still lurking in 3.1. I also seem to remember someone having drive not ready problems with a drive whose door lever had a small crack that prevented complete and tight closing of the drive hub inside. Hard to detect, but push on the lever a bit to see if you can get some other results.

ms.dos/commands #106, from rsimonsen [Redmond Simonsen]

How do I get my AT&T 6300 to send DOS-level print output to my second parallel port? MODE is no help. Isn't there a way to do this from DOS (without some sort of utility program)?

ms.dos/commands #108, from mhaas [Mark Haas, Contributing Editor,

BYTE]:

a comment to 106

I strongly recommend getting a copy of PC Secrets by James E. Kelley.

On page 87 it has an assembly-language program for swapping LPT1 and LPT2. It also contains tons of other useful goodies.

ms.dos/commands #116, from inci [Claude West Jr., ATST): a comment to 106

Your MODE command should have provisions for LPT2. My copy of MS-DOS 2.11 does. Look in one of the previous issues of PC World; in the *.* Global column; there's a program to switch between LPT1 and LPT2. [Editor's note: PC World, November 1985, page 95]

ms.dos/commands #121, from mmb [Michael Bosen]: a comment to 106

There is a book called A Guide to the AW PC by Robert Traister, published by Prentice-Hall. It's not terribly good, but that's from one person's point of view, It has some technical information, some info on software, running XENIX, etc. Nothing is done to completion, but there's a little for everyone. As far as really technical stuff, AT&T has the Programmers' Guide available at around $65. You might like to visit The Softline BBS in Wakefield, MA, at (617) 245-4909, where you'll find a newly formed AT&T Users Forum.

ms.dos/commands #125, from bomb [Jerry McReynolds]: a comment to 106

I can help you out on redirection ">" and COPY commands; print screen and control print screen are a different story.

If, for instance, you wish to send a listing of your directory to the printer that sits at port 2, you would type the following at the system prompt: DIR >LPT2:; all output that is supposed to go to the screen will be redirected to port 2. Likewise, if you wish to list a text file to port 2, you can type: TYPE filename >LPT2:; if you wish to list several files to the printer at the same time, try: COPY *.TXT LPT2:. You can also use the supplied print queue PRINT.COM. The first time you load PRINT.COM it asks you to supply the default printer port.

Past that, you have few choices; move your printer, change the physical address, or intercept and reroute printer calls.

Keep in mind that PRN is a filename for LPT1, as AUX is a filename for COM1. That does not stop you from writing directly to the device as in COPY CON LPT2:.

Hard-Disk Slowdowns

ms.dos/other #119, from tfritter [Terry Ritter]

I have a Leading Edge PC with a hard drive that seems to have a peculiar problem associated with the disk. There is no data loss, but, at a particular "place" on the disk, file-storage operations seem to take about a hundred times longer than they should. My guess is that there is a bad region on the disk, and the delay I see is the result of software error correction in action. This is not easy to tell, though, since the controller does not report an error—at least, not through the BIOS call. (I use a disk error reporting program resident in memory.) The reason I suspect a "place" on the disk is that it occurs around a particular value of free storage; if storage is allocated sequentially, the storage being allocated there would always be the same.

Anyway, this is an irritation, and I would like to remove it. If I knew how to test for this condition, maybe I could force that storage to be nonallocatable somehow. Anybody got any ideas?

ms.dos/other #120, from jimkeo [Jim Keohane]: a comment to 119

Not quite a factor of 100, but I've seen severe slowdowns once the number of directory entries (main or subdirectory) exceeds some value.

(continued)

386 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Actually, we give you two things free.

Our source code. And your freedom.

Just buy part or all of our excellent integrated business accounting system, the SBT Database Accounting Library.

Well give you our source code absolutely free.

Which, in turn, gives you the freedom to customize our software to fit your business needs.

Say, for instance, you want to change the way a management report is formatted. Our free source code enables you to change it.

What's more, the change will be quick and simple because our software is written in easy-touse dBASE.

In fact, the entire SBT Database Accounting Library runs with dBASE III or dBASE II, * so you get the power and flexibility of those best-selling programs. Plus the freedom to use any computer that runs dBASE.

The SBT Database Accounting Library. Great software and freedom. All in the same box.

Call today for our demo disk and brochure.

(415) 331-9900.

THE SBT DATABASE ACCOUNTING LIBRARY.

dProfessional

Time & Billing

$395

dOrder

Sales Order processing

$195

dlnvoice

Billing/Inventory Control

$195

dStatement

Accounts Receivable

$ 95

dPurchase

Purchase Order

$195

dPayable

Accounts Payable

$295

dPayroll

Payroll/Labor

$395

dLedger

General Ledger/Finance

$395

dAssets

Asset /Depreciation

$295

dProject

Project/Job Accounting

$395

dBackup

Menu/Backup

$ 65

SBT

l*lil:M:M.»l

Three Harbor Drive Sausalito,CA 94965 (415)331-9900

Call today for the name of the SBT consultant in your area.

Free source code in every box.

Accounting Software Library in dBASE IP/dBASE IIP

Compiled and Multi-User versions also available. dBASE III and dBASE II are registered trademarks of Ashton-Tate, Inc. Copyright 1985, SBT Corporation. Inquiry 303 MARCH 1986 -BYTE 387

Best of BIX • best of BIX • Best of BIX •

EIX

ST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BK

Could it be disk directory thrashing, jumping back and forth between parts of a directory that is too large to be read in all at once? This might fit better than free space as an indicator, since I believe allocation is no longer sequential once files have been deleted and their clusters reused.

ms.dos/other #121, from tfritter: a comment to 120

Don't think so; the symptom appears repeatedly during Turbo development. That is, a new file is created, an old one erased. Moreover, if I allow stuff to collect, I seem to get out of the area, and everything looks fine then. This is old-time MS-DOS 2.11, so I think allocation here is sequential (could be wrong, though). I'm also running 99 buffers, so the directory, at least, should be mostly in RAM (there will probably be a reload after Turbo terminates, but the symptom also appears during inmemory execution, so the only files created are text and overlays). The factor of 100 is, of course, an approximation. The delay is not just a casual burp; it seems to be on the order of 2 seconds. I imagined that this is the controller doing error correction.

ms.dos/other #122, from jimkeo: a comment to 121

Don't know if there's a connection but I read somewhere that Turbo reopens the overlay for each fetch (to keep the number of open files to a minimum). Are trie overlay files in same directory?

ms.dos/other #123, from tfritter: a comment to 122

Yes. I think so, but doubt connection. The big slowdown comes at endof-edit (new text-file creation), not execution per se. And if I unload 1 megabyte or so from the drive, no problem, or if I let it load up (this would be approaching full), again, no problem. Probably I could learn how to command the controller to read and write sectors, then analyze errors, but in the process I would be stamping on my working drive—a little scary!

ms.dos/other #124, from barryn [Barry Nance]: a comment to 123

The IBM Advanced Diagnostics program, as well as several publicdomain programs, already provides for the kind of disk-error scanning that you refer to. Why don't you try the Advanced Diagnostics program and see what it says? If there are errors, I think your worst-case situation would be that you would have to reformat the disk in order to mark the bad sectors and then restore the hard-disk files from your backup. The Advanced Diagnostics program contains a formatting routine that catches some errors that the DOS FORMAT command doesn't.

ms.dos/other #126, from tfritter: a comment to 124

I guess the main reason that I have not tried the IBM Advanced Diagnostics is that I don't have it. I have a Leading Edge machine, and I would not know what is in the IBM Advanced Diagnostics program that would be worth whatever effort would be required to locate and purchase a copy.

The diagnostics program with this machine (DIAGX) does do a harddrive write/read test (apparently), and part of the time it does come up with an error on a particular track and sector. Not all the time, just sometimes; as likely as not, FORMAT will not find it. Moreover, it is not particularly clear that this error is related to the peculiar slowdown problem—the error is on track 610 (out of 1224), which would make it

about halfway through allocatable storage, but the problem occurs somewhere around 2.8 megabytes free, which would seem to make it somewhere else.

It seems to me that the ability to access the collective experience of a large segment of power users is one of the advantages a network has over a magazine. If exposing my private problems to the world is inappropriate here, I would be glad to refrain.

ms.dos/other #128, from billn [Bill Nicholls]: a comment to 121

It may not be a bad disk. Your BUFFERS = 99 is fine except when DOS has to look through them to find something. I recall a Peter Norton column in PC Week some time ago that recommended 8 buffers for a PC, 16 for a XT, and 32 for an AT, based on performance testing he had done. You may have too many buffers.

ms.dos/other #140, from bomb: a comment to 119

Your problem seems twofold. First, jimkeo is right about nonsequential allocation of file space after files have been deleted. DOS will allocate on an as-needed basis, using the lower offset clusters first. If you wish to see how your files are linked, use the CHKDSK program included on your DOS disk.

Use the command line "CHKDSK \*/V" to get the program to list all of the errors that it encounters (the switch /V) and to list all the files that are not stored in contiguous areas (the file spec ».*), I am sure that you will find quite a few of your files are spread all over the disk. (Note: Norton's Utilities shows a graphic view of how the files on your disk are allocated.)

If you COPY all your files to some other disk, reformat your hard disk, then COPY all your files back to the hard disk, those files will be contiguous. This will help speed up the loading of the large files.

As for setting your BUFFERS = 99, I have yet to see a situation that warrants that many buffers. As a rule of thumb, I set my buffers to match the amount of files that can be concurrently open. That is, if I have FILES = 20, then I set BUFFERS = 20; from that point it is simple to time my sessions and adjust the buffers accordingly.

ms.dos/other #142, from billbourn: a comment to 140

I'm not so sure about contiguous allocation in DOS 3.0 and 3.1. I have seen some strange allocations of space for those releases of PC-DOS. Maybe the MS-DOS has a saner allocation algorithm.

ms.dos/other #143, from billn: a comment to 142

DOS 3.0 changed the algorithm for space allocation to better use contiguous space, as I recall from the Norton article.

ms.dos/other #144, from billbourn: a comment to 143

So the totally empty disk situation might give the same results to the reorganization. The funny results I mentioned are for a hard disk that has seen quite a few files come and go. I hate to think of the fragmentation on that disk now. It seems to me that the most serious problem with fragmentation is the placement of subdirectories that are on the command path. If one of those is misplaced or gets fragmented by overfilling one cluster's worth of entries, the access arm is going to grind a bunch every time you do a command.

[continued]

388 BYTE • MARCH I986

SPyco Computet JUa/tketmg & Consultants

ON THESE IN STOCK

2686 89

PRINTERS

C. ITOH

ProWriler8510Sp+ 349

1550Sp+ 489

SlarWriter 769

PnntMaster 929

TOSHIBA

P1340 469

P351 + 1149

P341P 969

P341S 999

3S1 Sheet Feeder 529

CORONA

LP300 Laser Printer 200361 Toner Cartridge

EPSON

FX85 (New)

LX80

FX185 (New] . LX90 (New) ... SQ2000 (New)

JX80

Homewriter 10

CR-20-Atari

CR-220-C-64

DX-10 (New) DX-20 (New) HS-80 (New)

LQ1500P

LQ1500S

RX-100

FX-100+

333 212

.464 226

1555

-467 193 153 153 207

.297

288

. 975

1039

356

CALL

CITIZEN

MSP-10 269

MSP-15 358

MSP-20 337

MSP-25 495

Sheetidr (10/20) iaa

Sheetldr (15/25) . . 199

OKIDATA

Okimate 10 179

Okimale 20 ..CALL

182 ... 214

192 348

193 563

92P 349

93P 56b

645

92 Imagewriler 349

'IBM versions also

BROTHER

HR-15XL-P 359

HR-15XL-S 359

HR-35P 839

HR-35S 839

2024L-P 949

M1009-P 189

JUKI

Juki 6100 347

RS232 Serial Board 55

6100 Tractor 119

6100 Sheel Feeder 209

Juki 6300 757

LEGEND

1080 222

1380 262

'385 296

LEGEND 808 159

DIGITAL DEVICES

16K BUFFER 75

32K BUFFER 89

64K BUFFER 125

DIABLO

D25 549

630 API 1599

630 ECS 1759

D 80 1F 2395

P32CQ1 699

P38 1749

C 150 999

DX-35(NEW) ..... CALL

AP-80 . CALL

SG-10 $208

PANASONIC

1091 233

3131 (NEW) 269

1092 373

1093 426

3151 Letter 426

4K Buffer 65

SILVER REED

EXP400 249

EXP500 295

EXP550 399

EXP770 749

STAR MICRONICS

SG-10 208

SG-15 373

SD-10 336

SD-15 442

SR-10 483

SR-15 . 583

SB 10 595

Power Type 303

SG-10 C-64 (NEW! CALI

MONITORS

TAXAN

115 12" Greeen Composite...CALL

116 12 Amber Composite....CALL

121 12' Green TTL 135

122 12" Amber TTL 145

220 14" Color Composite 259

410 12" RG8 Hi Res IBM 329

420 12" RGB Super Hi IBM 409

440 12" RGB Ultra Hi Res 555

Til! Stand 35

ZENITH

ZVM 122A Amber 75

ZVM 123G Green 75

ZVM 124 Amber IBM 129

ZVM 131 Color 275

ZVM 133 RGB 389

ZVM 135 Composite 449

ZVM 136 Hi Res Color 589

ZVM 1220 95

ZVM 1230 95

ZVM 1240 149

TEKNIKA

MJ-10 Composite 179

MJ-22 RGB 255

AMDEK

300 Green 118

300 Amber 128

310 Amber IBM 155

Color 300 Audio 234

Color 500 Composite 369

Color 600 397

Color 700 495

Color 710 569

247 329 395 175 166 .419 109 109

PANASONIC

DT1300D 13" RGB/Composite.. DTM140 14" RGB/Composite DTH103 10 RGB Hi Res.. DTS101 10' Composite

DT1000G 10" RGB

TX12H3P 12" Color

TR120M1PA 12" Green ..

TR120MBPA 12" Amber

TR122M9P 12" Green IBM.. TR122MYP 12" Amber IBM.

SAKATA

SG 1000 12" Green 99

SA 1000 12" Amber 109

SG 1500 12" Green TTL 119 SA 1500 12" Amber TTL 129 SC 100 13" Color Comp 209 SC 200 13" RGB 389

STS1 Tilt Stand 29

X-TRON

Comcolor I Composite Green

NEC

J8-1260 Green 95

JB-1201 Green 135

JC 1215 Color 235

JC 1216 RGB 375

JC 1460 Color 265.

PRINCETON GRAPHICS

MAX-12 Amber 185

HX-12 RGB 465

3R-12 RGB 595

Mi

HAYES

Smartmodem 300... .

133

Smartmodem 1200.

377

Smanmodem 1200B. .

347

Smartmodem 2400...

.598

Micromodem HE

. . 135

TELE LEARNING

Total Telecommunications

(C-64)

29.95

AP-250 (300 Baud Apple)

69.95

IB-250 (300 Baud IBM)

69.95

ANCHOR

Volksmodem

. 55

186

MODEMS

US ROBOTICS

Password 1200M 229

Password 1200F 229

Password 300M 139

Password 300F 139

Autodial 212A 359

PCM5 319

PCM64 519

PCM256 769

S-100 379

Courier 469

Microlink 469

Telpac Ms-DOS 79

DRIVES

INDUS

GT ATARI 215

GT COMMODORE 235

TANDON

SD1 Drive SD2 Drive

MSD

(C-64).... C-64....

..229 .469

TYMAC

MDD-640 3"! Apole Drive 640K 289

DISKETTES

DENNISON

ELEPHANT 5'A" SSSD ELEPHANT 5V«" SSDD ELEPHANT 5'A" DSDD PREMIUM 5';" SSDD PREMIUM 5%" DSDD

11.99 12.99 14.99 13 99 1599

1

5'A 5V4

5'A' 5'A'

VERBATIM

SSDD 13.99

DSDD 19.99

BONUS

SSDD 9.99

DSDD 12.99

IBM-PC COMPATIBLE

*QUADRAM

Quad Jr. Exp. Chassis....519!00 Quad Jr. Exp. Memory....209.00 Quad Memory Jr 209.00

*LOTUS

Lotus 1-2-3 309.00

Symphony 439.00

MICROPROSE (IBM)

F-15 Strike Eagle 20.75

Solo Flighl 20.75

Hellcat Ace 20-75

Spitfire Ace 18.75

'LEADING EDGE

Nutshell 69.95

LEWP Basic :.65.00

LEWP Merge Print 99.00

LE Spell Correction 169.00

TOLL FREE 1-800-233-8760

TO ORDER

CALL TOLL FREE

800-233-8760

Customer Service 1 -71 7-327-1 825

or send order to Lyco Computer P.O. Box 5088

Jersey Shore, PA 17740

RISK FREE POLICY

In-stock Hems shipped wilhin 24 hours of order No deposit on C O D orders Free shipping on prepaid cash orders within the continental U S Volume discounts' available PA residents add sates tax. APO FPO and international orders add S5 00 plus 3% for priority mail service Advertised prices show 4% discount for cash, add 4% for MasterCard or Visa. Personal checks require 4 weeks' clearance before shipping Ask about UPS Blue and Red label shipping. All merchandise carried under manufacturer's warranty Free catalog with order All items subject lo change without notice

MARCH 1986

BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX

BIX

Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of bix

ms.dos/other #146, from rbrukardt [Randall Brukardt]: a comment to 121

DOS 2.11 (etc.) never keeps more than one 512-byte block of a directory in memory at one time, no matter how many buffers you use. That's the best reason for buying DOS 3.1, because it doesn't suffer from that stupid design. It makes a large difference for software that does a lot of directory searching (such as our Janus/Ada compiler); on the compiler, DOS 3.1 is almost 50 percent faster, all other things being constant.

ms.dos/other #148, from johnf [John Fistere]: a comment to 126

I don't think that you can correlate the track number with its usage with a certain level of memory usage. It will write to whatever empty areas it finds, depending on what has been deleted. Of course, if your disk is new, there is a correlation. The fact that your DIAGX program finds a bad sector part of the time correlates well with slow writing. Can you mark the sector with DIAGX?

ms.dos/other #149, from tfritter: a comment to 148

Yes, you are probably right. Even though disk storage is allocated in sequence, only free store can be reallocated. If, somehow, there is a lot of high-end store allocated, this would mean that the free store may be in the middle (low store is always gobbled first), I did not expect to see this in my case, since I rarely fill the disk over 8 megabytes, but I may have done so, and this may be the case; will try to check it out.

No, cannot mark the sector with DIAGX, nor with anything else I have, as far as I know. The problem is an annoyance; I would spend some money to fix it, but not a lot. I guess there probably are publicdomain programs available to do this, and the best deal would be to get the source. Any such program would probably be free, but I would be more interested in reading the code, to see what they do, and maybe to extend it.

ms.dos/other #150, from barryn: a comment to 149

I recall seeing some public-domain disk utility programs on a variety of bulletin boards. I think the BYTEnet Listings node has quite a few, if memory serves. I havent accessed it in a while. The number and communication parameters are as follows:

BYTEnet Listings 1 (617) 861-9764 1200-8-N-1

Although some of the material available in the Listings conference appears to have been copied from the BYTEnet Listings files, I think there a few files that haven't been copied. Until Listings becomes fully operational, it might be advantageous to look in BYTEnet for the kind of program you need.

ms.dos/other #184, from tfritter

The problem I have previously reported (a 2-second pause during hard-drive file store) does, indeed, turn out to have something to do with my original BUFFERS = 99 command (as suggested by billn in message 128 and bomb in 140). Reducing BUFFERS to 10 or 20 either solves or hides the problem; BUFFERS = 90 and 99 show similar results. Now, a 2-second pause is a long, long time at computer speeds. Even a linear search of 100 buffers should be possible in milliseconds, not seconds. The Norton article on buffers was, in fact, the reason for choosing a large number; as I recall, the article did show that there is often an optimum number of buffers for a particular pro

gram. Above the maximum, there was some decrease in efficiency, due, we would expect, to buffer search time. But below the maximum, the cutoff was dramatic. It thus seemed reasonable to me that a large number of buffers would avoid dramatic inefficiencies, while accepting lesser inefficiencies for most programs. I think that so far the reasoning is valid. But there must be something else involved, because of the weird 2-second delay problem that I had with BUFFERS = 90 or 99. This just cannot be a search. Maybe if they moved the contents of each buffer up one, for some reason. During this period the drive light is off—the problem is not a disk access. Anyway, the nuisance of the delay is gone, so I expect to let the puzzle rest as it is. Thanks to those who contributed suggestions, and to everyone else for putting up with my particular problem.

ms.dos/other #185, from bahama [Joe Galen]: a comment to 184

According to the PC-DOS 2.1 manual, pages 4-6, for most database applications, a value between 10 and 20 buffers will usually provide the best results. Beyond that point, the system may appear to start running slower. This is because with a very large number of buffers it can take DOS longer to search all buffers for the record than it would take to read the record from disk.

ms.dos/other #186, from tfritter: a comment to 185

The delay was 2 whole seconds! It doesn't take 2 seconds to search all the buffers. In fact, it shouldn't even take close to 50 msec, which would approximate the disk access time. There seems to be a small matter of 1.5-2 orders of magnitude here. I don't know—I guess one could write code to run that slow, but I think they probably would have to work at it.

ms.dos/other #188, from tfritter: a comment to 185

This actually would make sense if there were a lot more going on in BUFFERS than just caching. Suppose somebody thought it would be a good idea to sort the buffers? I guess this might make a convenient multisector disk write. Now suppose that the sorting algorithm used was a simple bubble sort (and that the data in each buffer would also have to be relocated); now that could take 2 seconds.

Of course, this is all mental vaporware. I have no more evidence than I ever did.

ms.dos/other #191, from cjackson [Craig Jackson]: a comment to 188

Actually, if one is writing more than a sector, DOS doesn't even put the full-sector portions of the write into the buffers, let alone use them for multisector work. Anyway, the buffer control information is stored next to the buffer.

ms.dos/other #192, from billn: a comment to 184

The second part of the problem may be due to directory and FAT updating. Does the problem happen as you open/close files? I got the impression from the Norton article that degradation got serious as buffers exceeded approximately 32 and was not a linear process. No doubt DOS 9.4 will address that problem.

ms.dos/other #193, from rbrukardt: a comment to 186

I often think Microsoft did work at making DOS slow. You have to think

[continued)

390 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Betcha our compiler can beat up your compiler.

Or your money back.

If you program in BASIC, Pascal, Fortran or C, you're using yesterday's

technology. We know this statement will start a brawl, but it's true. So, before you start a fight you can't win, take a closer look at the Modula-2 language and the Modula-2 Software Development System (M2SDS) from Interface Technologies. Just compare the features and performance of M2SDS to your system. You'll find a new language and a programming environment that's more flexible, much faster and works on any IBM* PC or 100% compatible with 256 K memory or more.

M2SDS

COMPILE SPEED (MIN.SEC) 30 LINES 300 LINES

0:15.58 0:25.48

EXECUTION SPEED (MIN.SEC) SIEVE FIBONACCI 30X30 MATRIX (8087) FP OPERATIONS FP OPERATIONS (8087)

0:13.92 0:53.49 0:08.84 0:27.56 0:01.97

SYNTAX CHECKING EDITOR

YES

MULTIPLE WINDOW EDITING

YES

EDITOR FILESIZE LIMIT

MEMORYSIZE

COMPILE ERROR CALLS EDITOR

YES

LINKER

YES

PRODUCES .EXE FILES

YES

EXECUTABLE CODE SIZE LIMIT

DISK SPACE

DOS ACCESS FROM EDITOR

YES

DOS ACCESS FROM PROGRAMS

YES

8087 SUPPORT STANDARD

YES

COPY-PROTECTED DISK

NO

COST WITH 8087 SUPPORT

$50.88l$80.88

Source: Software Resources, Inc. Sieve program from BYTE, January 1983. Fibonacci program from Dr. Dobb's Journal, February 1985. Matrix program from BYTE, October, 1982. FP Operations program from BYTE, May 1985. M2SDS with or without 8087 uses 8-byte accuracy. Programs compiled with all checking options on. All tests conducted on a standard IBM-PC/XT with 512K of memory and an 8087 math coprocessor.

'Original or back-up diskette may be sent for trade-in. Diskette will be destroyed immediately upon receipt so that your current compiler license agreement is not violated.

IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.

Trade In and Trade Up. Just to prove that we're not all brag... we'll send you M2SDS for just $50.88 if you mail us your present compiler or interpreter diskette.* That's $30.00 off the regular price. If within 30 days you're not programming faster than ever, just return the diskette and we'll send you your money back.

Heavyweight Champion

SDS-XP. If you're ready to move into light-speed, you need SDS-XP. It has everything M2SDS has with a little "punch" added. Like Extended Libraries, M2MAKE and a Foreign Object Module Importer. SDS-XP offers buyers a stout discount when compared with the cost of buying M2SDS and the additional components as add-ons. For a limited time only, SDS-XP is available for $99.00 with compiler trade-in. That's $150.00 off the advertised price of $249.00.

a,

INTERFACE TECHNOLOGIES

3336 Richmond, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77098

1-800-922-9049

(In Texas, call 7131523-8422) Telex: 322127 In Europe, call ITC in Switzerland at (01) 700-3037

Knock Out Bugs $79.95.

Announcing M2DEBUG. A symbolic, compact (only 20K RAM) interactive run-time debugger with features most requested by software programmers and system developers. It comes with a Virtual Resource Overlay Operating Manager (VROOM) that speeds up compile time 50%.

Calling All Compilers. So now

that you're wise to the limitations of your system, why not trade it in. You'll soon see that it was smarter to switch than fight. And a pretty safe bet.

Here's my diskette. Rush me:

□ M2SDS for $50.88 each, plus $7 shipping and handling.

D SDS-XP for $99.00 each, plus $7 shipping and handling.

Or, send me:

□ M2SDS for $80.88 each, plus $7 shipping and handling.

□ SDS-XP for $249.00 each, plus $7 shipping and handling.

D M2DEBUG for $79.95

□ My check is enclosed.

□ Apply charges to credit card indicated below:

VISA/MasterCard/American Express (circle one).

Credit Card #

Expiration Date.

Signature

Name

(please print)

Shipping Address.

City.

State/Zip

Day Phone

Texas residents add 6.125% Sales Tax. International orders add $30 for shipping/handling. If paying by check, check or draft must be in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank.

INTERFACE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

3336 Richmond, Suite 200, Houston, Texas 77098

I 1

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 391

iest of BIX • Best of BIX • best of BIX *

BIX

Best of BIX • Best of BIX • Best of BIX

that they know more about timing issues than that. A program running under DOS 2.0 or later is supposed to let the operating system do its buffering for it, but I can often cut the run time of a program in half by adding buffering routines. That's not helping the programmer at all!

ms.dos/other #194, from leroy: a comment to 190

When I was using a Compaq Plus (bought one when they first appeared), I had a problem with the thing stopping for a while in the middle of heavy disk activity. When I say a while, I mean between 5 and 10 seconds. The machine would just stop dead, then continue as if nothing had happened, I was using 20 buffers, and adjusting the buffer size seemed to make no difference, so this is clearly a different problem. The pause would occur even while copying a file from one subdirectory to another.

ms.dos/other #196, from tfritter: a comment to 194

I don't know, it could be the same thing. Maybe changing the buffers has just hidden the problem.

Slopping is right! Since I spend most of my computer time in Turbo Pascal, that is where I noticed it. It is real noticeable when the line count stops incrementing, the disk light is off, and this continues for several seconds. Then it would start again and complete okay. It was fairly common; I suppose it happened hundreds of times over the course of a few months. When I first started to notice it I assumed the problem had something to do with filling the disk to a level beyond what I normally run. But reducing the BUFFERS spec sure seems to either have solved it, hidden it, or reduced it to the extent that it is no longer a problem.

MACINTOSH

Discussions of the Macintosh this month cover file transfers, use of the Finder as an aid for the blind, multitasking capabilities, and projecting the Macintosh screen display. Information is posted on the Mac serial port, on programming the Mac to eject a disk, and one programmer's experience with debuggers on a 1.5-megabyte Mac.

Projector for the Mac

macintosh/qanda #143, from frankb [Frank Boosman]

TITLE: Cinemascopemac?

I've read plenty on projectors for the Macintosh, but all of them presuppose a deep bank account. Is there a cheap, homegrown way to magnify the Mac's image large enough for a roomful of viewers? The quality doesn't have to be great or even good, just viewable.

As an example of the kind of thing I'm thinking of, would it be possible to align the upper half of an overhead projector with a Macintosh laid on its back, thereby projecting the screen image up?

macintosh/qanda #144, from lloeb [Larry Loeb]: a comment to 143

Someone I know actually did lay his Mac over on its back and tried that. Burned up the power supply on it after 1 hour. There is a magnifying Fresne! lens that's not projection, but makes the image about two times larger. You can even make a holder for one you buy out of coathanger wire. MacNifier is a commercial product just along those lines, I

believe. Other than that you may have to have deep pockets. Or wait for Apple to announce a Mac monitor.

macintosh/qanda #145, from ccrawfor [Chris Crawford]: a comment to 143

It is possible to train a video camera onto a Mac screen and get a usable image. You could then feed the video into any number of video devices (large-screen TVs, for example). That is the quickest, simplest video interface.

macintosh/qanda #146, from dpallen [David Allen]: a comment to 143

I have installed the Mentauris Technologies composite video adapter in my Macintosh, and it works very well. It provides a BNC connector on the back of the Mac. You connect this with any monitor that can handle a 21-kHz sweep rate and has a 20-30 MHz video bandpass. There are quite a few monitors that meet this specification, and Mentauris provides a full-page list of them, both CRT screens and projectors.

Mentauris costs about $200, and they can provide the special tools needed to get inside the Mac. No soldering is required, but you do have to drill a small hole in the Mac plastic case, very easy to do.

For more information, contact Mentauris Technologies, 1658 Interstate 35 S, POB 1467, San Marcos, TX 78667-1467.

File Transfers

macintosh/qanda #175, from bbayer [Barry Bayer]

TITLE: Red Ryder Text Files

I have a problem with a text file received by Red Ryder. I know it is a perfectly good file, because I just uploaded it from the Compaq. (Simple, if sometimes expensive, way of file transfer between machines.) I use the Receive ASCII option on the Red Ryder File menu.

Reading it into MacWrite (with a carriage return signifying paragraph breaks), I get a small square at the beginning of each line. Presumably this stands for some sort of character, but I am not sure what. How do I get rid of this? Is there a filter on Red Ryder that I should set? (Removing them one at a time is just a little tedious. Help!)

macintosh/qanda #176, from lloeb: a comment to 175

The square is a linefeed. You can strip all control characters with an option available under the Mode menu. This will also drop the CRs as well.

macintosh/qanda #177, from tom_thompson [Tom Thompson, Technical Editor, BYTE]

In reference to lloeb's message #176, he's correct that it's linefeeds. An alternative method in MacWrite is to cut one of the linefeeds, then paste it into the Find What input box under the Search menu. Leave the Change To box empty and click on Change All. This zaps every linefeed without obliterating the CRs in the file. Warning: Some people have had this technique crash the system, so work on a copy of the file. I've used this technique successfully with MacWrite and the MDS editor many times. Another alternative is Scott Waton's Didler program, which will selectively strip linefeeds (or add them) from a text file. It's fast, too. I have Red Ryder and Didler on one disk that I use to transfer source code between the Mac and the IBM-compatible machines here.

[Editor's note: The problem just discussed occurs with any text-file transfer between the Mac and an MS-DOS machine, regardless of the communications program. Both computers have different formats for

(continued)

392 BYTE- MARCH I986

The United Way volunteer gives a gift that's hard to measure.

Because without his or her contribution of time, energy and dedication, the community services and local programs of United Way simply cannot exist. i

United Way has much to do in our community. From day care for the young to services for the elderly.

So this year, be generous.

Give yourself. Unibed Wiay

THANKS TO YOU IT WORKS FOR ALL OF US.

Cxxnal A Public Service of This Publication

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 393

EST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX •

EIX

• BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX

text files, and linefeeds must be stripped or added to the file depending on destination machine.]

The Mac and the Blind

macintosh/software #97, from hbj [Henry Brugsch]

TITLE: Talking Software

I would like to start some discussion about the potentials for the development of Macintalk, specifically in terms of applications for blind users. Ever since the advent of the Mac, some blind users, myself included, have perceived it as a threat. Since the Mac relies upon userdriven icons instead of text from the keyboard to control applications, there is a tendency on the part of software manufacturers to develop software that is, naturally, screen-oriented.

Macintalk is one of the best speech software programs I have heard. But there is, as far as I know, no way for a blind user to interface with this tool. It will do a fine job with text files, clearly reading what is coming up on the screen. Yet, the blind user has no way of accessing the software, since there is no way of translating the icon into speech. Thus, some of us perceive the Mac as a real threat to the ability of users to benefit from new speech technology. This seems to be borne out by the fact there has been no development of a keyboard-driven speech program. I would like to see some comments on this subject and also invite members to come down to Handicapped conference and post some thoughts in the Speech topic.

macintosh/software #98, from lloeb: a comment to 97

You raise an interesting point in this. That the Finder itself handles the icon highlighting when selected indicates that is where the hook to call the speech routine must fall. I'm not sure that a cracked Finder with a Macintalk driver inserted isn't possible, you understand. But it would be tote easier if Apple was involved in it. It's their code.

Multitasking

macintosh/prod.discussn #177, from jamurphy [Joe Murphy]

I just received the software upgrade of my Thunderscan software, and the new version (2.7) allows multitasking with Switcher. It lets you scan a document in the background while you work in another program. It seems to work well; disk access and the clicking of the mouse, however, stop the scanning in the background. This is my first experience with multitasking and the Macintosh. Are there any other programs that multitask with Switcher? Anyone have any other experiences?

macintosh/prod.discussn #179, from rschnapp [Russell Schnapp]

All desk accessories have a certain amount of background processing capability. This is mostly at the mercy of the foreground (application) task. It's not the nicest form of concurrency, but a careful programmer can do neat things.

A trivial example of a background processing DA: the alarm clock. Also, check out MacWait in the Listings/Macintosh conference. It makes the hands on the waiting watch spin!

macintosh/prod.discussn #184, from deu [William Deu]

I was wondering, how do you like the resolution of your Thunderscan? Does it pick up details well?

macintosh/prod.discussn #187, from jamurphy

The new software gives you much better control over the scanning. I am very satisified with the resolution. It can only get text in a readable

format by 300-400 percent enlargement of what you're scanning. That takes up a lot of memory and would not be practical on a 128K Mac. What is really neat is you can print the scanned document on a LaserWriter to get really nice results. The manual shows an example of a map scanned at 400 percent magnification and then printed at 25 percent reduction on a LaserWriter, giving a printed resolution of 288 dots/inch.

macintosh/hardware #25, from richard [Richard Shuford]

Fact and Opinion Concerning the Macintosh Serial Port The serial port on the Apple Macintosh is not an implementation of the ElA's RS-232C standard, as are most other serial ports on microcomputers. The electrical characteristics of the Mac's port approximate the higher-speed RS-422A standard, but an RS-422A port is supposed to be wired according to a connection standard called RS-449. The Macintosh's port is not.

However, the Macintosh port seems to work okay according to its own odd setup, and with careful wiring it can be made to talk to devices that use an RS-232C interface.

The definitions of the serial-port pin-out from an early printing of Inside Macintosh are as follows:

Pin Signal

RS-232C Interconnection Notes

1

frame ground

2

+ 5V

dont use this

3

signal ground

4

TXD +

ignore pin 4

5

TXD

use this as RS-232C TD (Transmitted Data)

6

power-on detect (+12 V)

can be used to provide Data Terminal Ready

7

HSK (handshake)

can be used somewhat like Clear To Send

8

RXD +

ignore pin 8

9

RXD

use this as RS-232C RD (Received Data)

Several RS-232C/Macintosh interconnection schemes have been posted on various bulletin-board systems around the country. Some of them have been strange in some respect. I'm not necessarily saying that they do not work for the purpose for which they were wired, but that some unnecessary or illogical cross-connections were made in them.

Using Software to Reset the Mac

macintosh/softw.devlpmt #2, from ccrawfor

Does anybody know how to get the system to cycle through a cold start? Inside Macintosh refers to system initialization procedures in its index, but these are in a manual that is not part of Inside Macintosh. My goal is to eject the disk on command and shut the system down, rather like the results of the Shut Down menu item in the new Finder. I've got the Eject function working fine but can't kill the system; it just asks the user to insert the disk again.

macintosh/softw.devlpmt #3, from callen [Chris Allen]: a comment to 2

The assembly for reboot on the Macintosh is quite simple: Take the ROM base, add 1C to it, then jump to that location. If the computer is a Lisa, you have to go into a little more involved process.

Or if you have Lisa Pascal 3.0 and a disassembler, make a program with one command, REBOOT and disassemble it.

(continued)

394 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Computers For The Blind

Talking computers give blind and visually impaired people access to electronic information. The question is how and how much?

The answers can be found in "The Second Beginner's Guide to Personal Computers for the Blind and Visually Impaired" published by the National Braille Press. This comprehensive book contains a Buyer's Guide to talking microcomputers and large print display processors. More importantly it includes reviews, written by blind users, of software that works with speech.

This invaluable resource book offers details on training programs in computer applications for the blind, and other useful information on how to buy and use special equipment.

Send orders to:

National Braille Press Inc.

88 St. Stephen Street

Boston, MA 02115

(617) 266-6160

$12.95 for braille or cassette, $14-95 for print. ($3 extra for UPS shipping)

NBP is a nonprofit braille printing and publishing house.

BYTE

back issues for sale

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

Jan.

S3.25

S3.70

$4.25

$4.25

S4.25

Feb.

S3.25

S3.70

S3.70

S4.25

$4.25

$4.25

March

$3.70

$3.70

S4.25

$4.25

April

$3.25

S3.70

S3.70

S4.25

S4.25

May

$3.70

S3.70

S4.25

S4.25

June

$3.70

$3.70

$4.25

S4.25

July

S3.70

$4.25

$4.25

Aug.

$3.70

$4.25

$4.25

$4.25

Sept.

$3.70

S4.25

S4.25

S4.25

Oct.

S3.25

$3.70

S4.25

$4.25

S4.25

Nov.

S3.25

$3.70

$4.25

$4.25

S4.25

Dec.

S3.25

$3.70

S4.25

$4.25

$4.25

SPECIAL ISSUES and INDEX

BYTE '83-'84 INDEX

SI.75

1984 Special Guide to IBM PC's

(Vol. 9, No. 9]

$4.75

1985 INSIDE THE IBM PCs (Vol

10, No. 11)

$4.75

Circle and send requests with payments to:

BYTE Back Issues P.O. Box 328 Hancock, IMH 03449

Prices include postage in the US. Please add $.50 per copy for Canada and Mexico; and S2.00 per copy to foreign countries (surface delivery).

Payments from foreign countries must be made in US funds payable at a US bank.

□ Check enclosed □ VISA □ MasterCard

Card #

Exp.

Signature

Please allow 4 weeks for domestic delivery and 12 weeks for foreign delivery.

NAME

ADDRESS CITY

STATE

ZIP

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 395

IEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX • BEST OF BIX

BIX

♦ Best of BIX •best of BIX • Best of BIX

RS.: The JMP is legal Apple—they will not change it in future releases of the ROM.

Debugger Problems

macintosh/sofiw.devlpmt #9, from ephraim [Ephraim Vishniac]

TITLE: Very Large Macs and RAM Disks

I'm currently working on RAM-disk software for two local (Boston area) companies that offer Mac memory upgrades past 512K. I've been beating my head against the wall on one particular problem: If I have a 1-megabyte RAM disk running in my 1.5-megabyte Mac and MacsBug is installed, the Mac heads west when the RAM disk goes past about half-full. If MacsBug isn't installed, all's well. Out of curiosity, I tested some other RAM disks. The Assimilation Process RAM disk doesn't blow up, but MacsBug is dead! (I press the interrupt switch and nothing happens.) The public-domain RamStart program also appears to kill MacsBug, but still blows up. The results suggest chance, not design.

Questions: Who out there has a Mac with > 1-megabyte memory? What RAM disk(s) are you using? Ever try it with MacsBug?

Progress: I've been slowly crawling toward the exact point where the system dies. I think it croaks during a block move during a compaction of the application heap. I'm not sure yet, and I have no idea why.

macintosh/softw.devlpmt #12, from ephraim

After more investigation, I think the problem is most likely with MacsBug (I'm using Maxbug, actually, but close enough). I hope to confirm the diagnosis within a few days using a hardware emulator (how else to debug when the debugger breaks?), but my current belief is that MacsBug is relying on memory wraparound. That is, it writes/reads at some very high address, expecting that the data will wind up in real memory at some useful place. With a power-of-two memory size fully recognized by the system, that's probably a safe policy (although not a very good one). With an odd memory size, such as my 1.5-megabyte, that policy is a big loser.

Does the Levco upgrade have a 512K mode in which the system recognizes a half-megabyte and the rest is reserved for RAM disk? I would expect that configuration to have the same problem. If anyone wants to try this stunt at home, just boot from a disk with MaxBug installed (i.e., renamed to "MacsBug"), then start filling up your RAM disk. If you hit the problem, you'll know it. Symptoms vary, but are swift and fatal.

macintosh/softw.devlpmt #13, from ephraim

TITLE: MaxBug Bites Programmer, MacNosy to Rescue

While developing away on my 1.5-megabyte Mac, I found that I had

system crashes when my 1-megabyte RAM disk reached about half-full

only with MaxBug installed. Without MaxBug, no problems. I struggled

with this problem for several days (Is it me? Is it hardware? Is it

MacsBug?) and gradually became convinced that the problem lay with

MacsBug.

Last week, I bought a copy of MacNosy, "the disassembler for the rest of us." (Note: Apparently, 'the rest of us" use glass TTYs with bizarre command-line syntax and inscrutable abbreviations.) Happily, one of the sample MacNosy journals was a disassembly of the very same version of MaxBug I was wrestling with. The cause of the problem?

Read on.

MacsBug (and MaxBug and TermBug) assume:

— That wraparound provides reliable access to top-of-memory relative

locations.

— That the world ends at 1 megabyte.

So, if you've got a Mac with more than 1 megabyte, MacsBug is not for you. Also, MacsBug will bomb if you've got a 1-megabyte Mac that doesn't map video to the top of memory but uses the additional memory solely for RAM disk.

The fix? I wrote an MS-BASIC (gasp!) program (below) that filters a copy of MaxBug, looking for certain addresses. The output of the filter has these addresses patched to other, hardware-dependent values. But at least I have a version that works on my machine.

Program to patch up MacsBug

Ephraim Vishniac October 2, 1985

Send BIX mail to "ephraim"

Send Usenet mail to decvaxlwanginstlvishniac

MacsBug addresses its variables as though the Mac had 1-megabyte memory and relies on wraparound to fix things up. These are bad assumptions on > 1-megabyte Macs and on 1-megabyte Macs operating in 512K mode. This program takes an original copy of MacsBug and creates a version that expects some different memory size. This program has been tested using MaxBug and a 1.5-megabyte Mac. To adapt this program for your memory size, alter the line that defines the string named "Replaces."

SourceFileS = FILES$(1,'????")

IF SourceFileS = "" THEN END

OPEN "I", #1, SourceFileS

DestFileS = FILES$(0,"Output file name?")

OPEN "0", #2, "Temp MacsBug"

PRINT "Converting "SourceFileS" to "DestFileS

' TestS is set to the 16-bit value SOOOF. This is used to detect

' the high word of possible offending addresses.

TestS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(15)

' Replaces is set to the 16-bit value $0017 (for 1.5-megabyte

' memory). When an offensive address is detected, Replaces is

' substituted for its high-order word.

' *****Change the next line to fit your real memory size! *****

Replaces = CHRS(O) + CHR$(23)

Within the following loop, we search for 4-byte sequences of the ' form SOOOFAxxx. Because of alignment constraints, we only ' have to test on word boundaries, not at every byte.

1 Start the pipeline. x$ = INPUT$(2,#1) Gotten = 0 : 'Number of addresses patched

WHILE N0T(E0F(1))

y$ = INPUT$(2,#1)

IF (x$ = TestS) AND ((ASC(LEFT$(y$,1)) AND &HFO) = &HAO) THEN x$ = Replaces : PRINT "Got one!" : Gotten = Gotten +1

PRINT #2,x$;

x$ = y$ WEND

' Flush the pipeline PRINT #2,x$:

CLOSE #1 CLOSE #2

NAME "Temp MacsBug" AS DestFileS,'????" PRINT "Conversion done." PRINT Gotten" patches made." ■

396 BYTE • MARCH 1986

• T

iii HH 5J* «'» "»« !>««■ tr«. e|.i

ilia ■ • """^.M 01 it I" !»s ntml!/ o( It l»« utnctil tl li

debug faster.

Source PrintM

Source Formatting Utility

For C, Pascal, BASIC, dBASE II, III, III+, Modula-2

km

■

x ■

Everything you'd expect...

Index/Cross reference. This is particularly useful for locating identifiers in source listings when you are away from your editor; SOURCE PRINT™ can list line and page numbers of all occurrences for each alphanumeric identifier,

Page headings and line number. SOURCE PRINT gives you page headings which include current and file date/time, page number, and source line-number range. Lines may be numbered if desired.

Table of contents. You may imbed titles and subtitles in your source text; SOURCE PRINT can then generate a table of contents. Titles and subtitles will also appear on page headings.

Automatic indentation. SOURCE PRINT can automatically indent source listings based on control-structure nesting. For Pascal and Modula-2, indentation is also based on procedure and module nesting.

Printer control. Extensive control of your printer's features: size, font, emphasis,.

Plus these new tools...

Program structure outlining. SOURCE \ \\ .... IM

PRINT can draw lines to connect the beginning and "• "^s- ^

end of nested control structures. Even complex structures stand out clearly.

Key words emphasis. Emphasize key words in your programming language with styles your printer supports: boldface, underline,...

Extraction of routines. SOURCE PRINT can extract selected subtitled procedures or functions from one or more source files to form a new source file. Selection may also be done by line-number range.

Printing selected routines. Save time and paper by printing only part of a file, using the above selection methods.

... all in one utility program!

Pascal

<i> Shell Sort

integer]

i—rep I lint

procedure ahelliortj label 1;

v«r indl, lnd2, hint, vect: begin

hint i« 1; repeat

hint := 3 ■ hint + 1 til hint > STEPS) repeat

hint :* hint div 3;

for indl := hint + 1 to STEPS do

begin

vect := aray(indl);

ind2 := indl;

if ar«y[ind2-hlnt] > vect then

r repeat aray(ind2]:=aray[ind2-hint);

Llnd2 untl a ray end; 1—until hint nd;

lnd2

hint)

Routine Extraction

BASIC

1

ph Mnl v. 1.11 (C)CiiMPJqht IW Milium 119 lints fxtr«t«l of 1663 lines fro* el.c

H

3

1

100 110

120 130 140 150

IF H <= N THEM QOTO 30 H = INT[H / 3] FOR r = H + 1 TO N

V = MI 1 : J = I WHILE A[J - HJ > V A[J] = MJ " H] J = J - H

IF .: v- ii THEM QOTO 130 VEMD A[J] = V NEXT I IF H <> 1 THEM OOTO 50

Easy to use, one-line commands.

All combinations of features can usually be specified on a single command line!

For IBM PC, PC/XT, PC AT, portable, compatibles, floppy or hard drive; >128K RAM, DOS 2 or 3. Not copy protected

Order Source Print by phone:

800-257-5773 (outside ca) 800-257-5774 (within ca)

Immediate delivery

$9700

for only

30-Day unconditional

money-back guarantee

VISA, MC, Am. Ex.

Inquiry 382

Akfebaran

Laboratories Inc

Developers of High-speed Professional Software

3738 Mt. Diablo Blvd., #312 Lafayette, CA 94549

Call (415) 283-7084 for *&,. technical brochure

SOURCE PRINT is a trademark or Aldebaran Laboratories. Inc.

dBASE II, III, & III* are trademarks of Ashton Tate.

by ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIES

D A Complete Application Generation Enviroment □ Develop Applications in Less Time

□ Eliminates Database Management Systems D Reduce Code Requirements by 90 Percent

TURN HOURS OF DEVELOPMENT TIME INTO MINUTES

TAKE AOVANTAGE OF ADVANCED COMPUTER SCIENCE TECHNIQUES

A COMPLETE SET OF APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT TOOLS

MANAGES ALL PHASES OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

DATABASE DEFINATION

PROGRAM GENERATION

SCREEN AND REPORT FORMATION MULTIPLE LEVELS OF MENUS

TRAPS ERRORS INTO A FILE WITH DETAIL ANAYLSIS AND EXPLANATION PERFORMS AUTOMATIC DATA VALIDATION

Rich Library of Functions

7Z

Z

THE CREATOR ELIMINATES THE AMOUNT OF CODE TO BE WRITTEN TO ACCOMPLISH A SPECIFIC TASK

A COMPLETE LIBRARY OF FUNCTIONS INCLUDINO ARITHMETIC AND RELATIONAL OPERATORS

MULTIPLE FILE ACCESS IS AUTOMATICLV PROVIDED WITHOUT ANY PROGRAMING CODE

SYSTEM AND USER DEFINED VARIBLES AVAILABLE 99 INDEXES PER EACH DATAFILE AUTOMATIC RECORD LOCK AND UNLOCK UNLIMITED FILE AND RECORD SIZE

/

Relational

File Structure

s

ISAM File

Access

Method

\A

Internal

Expression

Complier

Screen and

Report Generator

/

No Command

Language

Required

Complete Development System

Available for the IBM PC,XT and AT Requires 256K Ram

Includes Unlimited Run Time ]o)t^Jt^J Advanced Development Technologies

Master Card/VISA

800 528 6600

EXT. 239

2720 N 68 St.,Suite 5379 Scottsdale, Arizona 85251

Checks and Monty Ord«rt Aeoepted

(C) Th« Crtalor ,t » trademark of Advanced Davelopma.nl Technologies

398 B YTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 11

WHAT'S NEW

NEW SYSTEMS

Transportable from Bondwell

The Bondwell 18 is a transportable computer that runs on a 4.77-MHz 8088 microprocessor and is compatible with the IBM PC. It comes with 512K bytes of RAM, two 514-inch doublesided double-density floppydisk drives, a keyboard, and a built-in 9-inch monochrome monitor with a resolution of 640 by 200 pixels.

Also included is an RS-232C and a parallel port, standard 9-pin RGB output and composite color output, a real-time clock, and a 110/220-volt power supply.

The Bondwell 18 comes with MS-DOS 2.11 and GWBASIC. It weighs 29 pounds and, according to the company, is smaller than comparably equipped transportable computers.

The suggested retail price for the Bondwell 18 is $1295. For more information, contact Bondwell, 3300 Seldon Court #10, Fremont, CA 94539. (415) 490-4300. Inquiry 564.

Corona's AT-Compatibles

The Corona ATD is based on an 8-MHz Intel 80286 microprocessor with no wait states and is compatible with the IBM PC AT. The ATD's motherboard also includes a floppy-diskdrive controller, a parallel

The Bondwell 18 transportable computer.

and serial port, a socket for an 80287 floating-point coprocessor, and 640K bytes of RAM.

Three models are available: The ATD-8-Q comes with a 1.2-megabyte floppydisk drive. The ATD-8-Q20 has a 1.2-megabyte floppydisk drive, a 20-megabyte hard-disk drive, and an ATcompatible hard-disk controller. The ATD-8-CfT40 has a 1.2-megabyte floppy-disk drive, a 40-megabyte harddisk drive and controller, and a 60-megabyte streaming-tape backup drive.

All models are equipped with a 14-inch monitor with 640- by 400-pixel graphics resolution or 640- by 200-pixel resolution in emulation mode. A color/ monochrome graphics card lets you add a color monitor to the system.

Other standard features include four AT-compatible and two PC-compatible expansion slots, a real-time clock/calendar, a 130-watt switch-selectable power supply, and an AT-compatible detachable keyboard. All models come with MSDOS 3.1 and GW-BASIC 3.1. Suggested list prices are S3995 for the ATD-8-Q, $5495 for the ATD-8-Q20, and $8995 for the ATD-8-OT40. Contact Corona Data Systems Inc., 275 East Hillcrest Dr., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360, (805) 495-5800. Inquiry 565.

Multiuser Computer from Eagle

Eagle Computer's multiuser computer, the Concorde, is compatible with

the IBM PC AT and VME/ VMX 32-bit systems. The Concorde is based on an Intel 8-MHz 80286 microprocessor with no wait states. Each processor board comes with I megabyte of memory a keyboard port, color monitor port, and an RS-232C port.

The Concorde runs the Pick operating system and supports up to 16 users. It has 12 AT-compatible and 12 VME-compatible expansion slots for additional processor boards, device controllers, and memoryexpansion boards. The system supports most major device controllers, including the IBM PC AT ST506/ST412 and SA400 standards, QIC-02 and QIC-36 tape interfaces, and SMD and SCSI standards. You can install up to eight 5Vi- and 8-inch drives in the system cabinet and upgrade the power supply to 12 50 watts with add-on modules.

The base model with one 80286 main processor board, 16 serial ports, one 1.2-megabyte 5!4-inch floppy-disk drive, one 140-megabyte (unformatted) hard-disk drive, one 60-megabyte tape-cartridge drive, and the Pick operating system will sell for between $25,000 and $30,000. For more information, contact Eagle Computer Inc., 7100 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove, CA 92641. (714) 891-2665. Inquiry 566.

PERIPHERAL S

Drives

for the Mac Plus

LoDOWN recently introduced a series of harddisk drives and tape backup systems for the Macintosh Plus. Available with storage capacities of 10, 20, 40, or

80 megabytes, the hard-disk drives support Apple's enhanced system software, which provides larger volume sizes, more files per volume, hierarchical file management, and faster speed.

Two tape backup systems are available. A cassette unit uses 22-megabyte tape cartridges, while a standard 14-inch DC600A unit uses 60-megabyte tape cartridges. Both systems back up or restore a 20-megabyte hard disk in 4 minutes and work

with Apple's Hard Disk 20, LoDOWN's hard disks, General Computer's Hyperdrive, and others.

You can connect up to eight LoDOWN hard disks

{continued)

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 399

WHAT'S NEW

PERIPHERALS

and tape backup systems to a Macintosh Plus through the SCSI port on the computer's back panel. The 10-megabyte hard-disk drive costs $795; the 20-megabyte. $995; the 40-megabyte. $1995; and the 80-megabyte. $3995. The T20 tape backup system is $895. and the T60 version, $1795. For more information, contact LoDOWN, POB 5146. Pleasanton, CA 94566. (415) 426-1747. Inquiry 567.

Excelsior RAM-Cache Disk Drives

Computer Products International has introduced the Excelsior line of disk drives, available in hard-disk and removable-cartridge versions, as well as in configurations that include both. The Excelsior drives support up to 48 megabytes of storage on removable cartridges and up to 360 megabytes on hard disks.

Designed to provide greater access speed, the drives use a RAM-cache disk controller incorporating a disk-caching algorithm that stores the most frequently used data in the controller's 2 56K-byte RAM buffer. The data is subsequently accessed at RAM speeds rather than at disk speeds. The average access time for the hard disk can be as low as 33 milliseconds, and for the removable cartridge. 85 milliseconds." maximum transfer rate is 570K bytes per second.

The Excelsior drives are available with 12 to 360 megabytes of hard-disk capacity and 12 to 48 megabytes of removable-cartridge capacity. Prices start at

Electroworks' Model 20 Temperature Scanner.

$1795 for a 12-megabyte hard-disk drive. A 24-megabyte hard-disk and 12-megabyte removable-cartridge system costs $3495.

The drives are available for the IBM PC and compatibles, NEC APC. Epson QX-10. Victor 9000. Apple. Apricot, and other personal computers. Adapter boards for these computers sell for $300 each. Contact Computer Products International Inc., 740 South Hillview Dr.. Milpitas, CA 9503 5. (408) 945-0100. Inquiry 568.

Temperature Scanner for Commodores and Apples

Electroworks' Model 20 Temperature Scanner for the Commodore 64 and Apple lie computers measures temperatures from -20°C to +I00°C with an accuracy of ± 0.5°C. The scanner is equipped with two solid-state temperature sensors and two input channels that are software selectable. You can program the computer to display temperatures in Fahrenheit or

Celsius, record temperatures at predetermined intervals, set audible alarms for high and low limits, and display and record the temperature differential between the two sensors.

The Model 20 scanner sells for $179. Contact Electroworks, Building One, Brown Rd.. Cornell Research Park, Ithaca. NY 14850. (607) 257-1344. Inquiry 569.

Sharps 256-Color Ink-Jet Printer

Sharp's JX-720 color inkjet printer can produce up to 2 56 colors and is designed for printing businesspresentation graphics. CAD/CAM drawings, and other color images. The 1X-720 prints text at 3 5 characters per second and a fullpage 1024- by 1024-dot image in 2.2 minutes. Standard resolution is 120 dots per inch. With graphics software, you can adjust the resolution to produce halftone images up to 8]A inches wide.

The IX-720 has four ink cartridges—yellow, cyan, magenta, and black. The printer is equipped with a Centronics parallel interface and an automatic print-head cleaner designed to mini

mize problems with nozzle clogging. The IX-720 can print images on 8>/2- by 11-inch cut sheets, overhead projector transparencies, and roll paper.

Suggested list price for the IX-720 is $1495. For more information, contact Sharp Electronics Corp., Systems Division. 10 Sharp Plaza, Paramus, N| 07652, (201) 599-3856. Inquiry 570.

High-Speed Dot-Matrix Printer

The NP-2410 dot-matrix printer from Nissho Information Systems produces near-letter-quality text at 180 characters per second (cps) and draft-quality text at 300 to 540 cps. depending on pitch. The printer comes with a modular RS-232C or Centronics parallel interface and emulates the Epson LQ-1500 printer. Standard features include a 6K-byte buffer, friction feed, rear and bottom feed, and singlesheet feed.

The NP-2410 has three resident letter-quality fonts—Courier, Letter Gothic, and Century—and four resident draft-quality fonts. You can supplement these with additional fonts, including Prestige, Script, and OCR A and B. available on cartridges.

With a standard modular interface, the NP-2410 sells for $184 5. An optional 48Kbyte buffered interface costs an additional $150. Font cartridges cost $60 each. Contact Nissho Information Systems. 3838 Carson St.. Suite 105. Torrance. CA 90503. (213) 543-1885. Inquiry 571.

[continued]

400 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Avocet turns an ordinary PC into an extraordinary development system.

And saves you $20,000 in the process.

Now, there's a way to see all your best microprocessor designs take root, easily and eftectively. Avocet cross-assemblers, simulators,

THE AVOCET

CROSS-ASSEMBLER FAMILY.

Avocet

target

CP/M-86

Cross

Micro

IBM PC,

assembler

processor

CP/M'-80

MSDOS"

XASM04

6804

$250.00

$250.00

XASM05

6805

200.00

250.00

XASM09

6809

200.00

250.00

XASM18

1802/1805

200.00

250.00

XASM48

8048/8041

200.00

250.00

XASM51

8051

200.00

250.00

XASM65

6502/65C02

200.00

250.00

XASM68

6800/01,6301

200.00

250.00

XASM75

NEC 7500

500.00

500.00

XASM85

8085

250.00

250.00

XASM400

COP400

300.00

300.00

XASMF8

F8/3870

300.00

300.00

XASMZ8

Z8

200.00

250.00

XASMZ80

Z80

250.00

250.00

XASM6811

68HC11

250.00

250.00

XASM180

HD64180

250.00

250.00

XMAC682

68200

595.00

595.00

XMAC68K

68000/68010

595.00

595.00

' Trademark of Digital Research

" Trademark of Microsoft

emulators and EPROM programmers turn your personal computer into a sophisticated development system. No more waiting for the continually overloaded mainframe. Or, wondering how to pay for a $20,000 dedicated development system. Avocet products save time and money, and provide the most flexible development system available.

Avocet allows you to develop software for practically any microprocessor without switching development systems. And equally important, Avocet development tools are easy to install and easy to use. We provide you with everything you need to develop microprocessor software, from data entry through assembly, debugging and final EPROMs.

Inquiry 33

Now "debug" on your PC.

Avocet has realistic answers for

users who,want low cost

'debugging capability. Until now, engineers have been very much on their own in the area of testing. But now Avocet simulators

and emulators virtually eliminate

the frustrating and often costly

"crash and burn" method.

New AVSIM family

of full screen simulators.

Avocet's new software simulator/ debuggers let you test your code in a crashproof, interactive environment, without additional hardware. Your PC's screen becomes a "window" into the simulated target CPU. Extensive break point, I/O, and interrupt facilities make AVSIM a truly useful development tool. Price $299.

New TRICE in-circuit emulator.

At last, an affordable in-circuit

emulator! With the self-powered TRICE, you can examine target memory and register, set break points, single-step, trace and more; TRICE recognizes 34 different commands. Its serial interface lets you control emulation and download code from your terminal or PC. Priced from $498.

AVPROM programmers work with any PC.

The AVPROMs program over 37 different devices, including EPROMs through 27512, CMOS and E2 PROMS, and MPU/EPROM combos, using fast "adaptive" algorithms. Intelligent, self-contained units work with any personal computer, using Avocet's GDX driver software...from $429. Gang programmers from $979. To find out more about Avocet software development tools and accessories, call us toll-free:

1-800-448-8500

(In the U.S. except Alaska and Hawaii.)

VISA and Mastercard accepted. Most popular disc formats now available—please specify. Shipping and handling additional— call for exact quotes. OEM INQUIRIES INVITED. Avocet Systems Inc., PO. Box 490-B9, Rockport, Maine 04856, (207) 236-9055. Telex: 467210 AVOCET CI.

AVOCET yy SYSTEMS INC:

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 401

WHAT'S NEW

PERIPHERALS

Portable Optical-Disk Drive for PCs

The BackPac BP-100+ from Portable Solutions is a portable optical-disk drive for IBM PC, XT. AT. and compatible computers. The drive reads removable, write-once laser disks with a minimum of 115 megabytes of formatted storage capacity. The drive's read-data rate is 10 megabytes per minute, and its data-transfer rate is 2.5 megabits per second. The average access time is less than 200 milliseconds, and the read error rate is 1 bit per 1012.

The BP-100 + , which weighs 7 pounds, comes with three laser disks, each of which is encased in a hard plastic cartridge equipped with a built-in write-protect switch. The drive also comes with three Adaptacon plug-in boards, which provide power and interface connections for three computers and fit into short expansion slots. The BP100+ is bundled with Survival software, a collection of utilities for backing up and restoring files.

The drive sells for $4995. Additional LitePac 330 optical disks cost $100 each, and additional Adaptacon boards cost $99 each. For more information, contact Portable Solutions Inc.. 1701

The BackPac BP-I00+ portable optical-disk drive.

Directors Blvd., Suite 2 50. Austin, TX 78744, (512) 448-4965. Inquiry 572.

Tempest-Certified Printers

Tempest Technologies has introduced daisywheel and line printers that meet the U.S. Government's Tempest security standards.

The DWP5I55SQ daisywheel printer, which operates at 45 characters per second, costs $4500. Two line printers are available: The LPM5300XQ, a 300-line-perminute model, costs $9950; the 600-line-per-minute

LPF5600XQ is $11,500. Ail three printers operate at less than 55 decibels.

Contact Tempest Technologies Inc., 11411 Isaac Newton Square South, Reston, VA 22090. (703) 471-0157. Inquiry 573.

Low-Cost Modem with Phone

The JC-1200A is a 1200-bps modem from Theall Engineering that includes a built-in telephone for voice communications. The unit's tone-sensing circuit detects carrier and voice signals and automati

cally passes the signals to the computer or phone. The JC-1200A is Hayes-compatible and features auto-dial, auto-answer, auto-redial, and compatibility with Bell 103 and 212A standards.

The unit has a built-in speaker and clock/calendar that lets you track the length of calls on screen. Battery backup stores the time and phone numbers while the power is off.

The )C-1200A connects to computers through an RS-232C port and costs $289.95. Contact Theall Engineering Co.. POB 167, Oxford, PA 19363, (215) 932-3488. Inquiry 574.

■■■■■■■■i

ADD

I N S

Data-Acquisition Board from Data Translation

Data Translation's DT2821-F is a dataacquisition board compatible with the IBM PC AT. The board is designed for waveform, vibration, speech, particle analysis, and other applications that require high

speed data acquisition. It has an A/D rate of 130 kHz and provides 12-bit resolution for 16 single-ended or 8 differential analog inputs, programmable gain, a programmable clock, and support for interrupts and DMA transfers. Sixteen digital I/O lines are standard. A/D sampling is controlled

by a channel-gain list RAM that lets you sample input channels in any sequence and at any gain. The board uses two DMA channels on the IBM PC AT and switches between the two to provide continuous performance. Analog output is provided by two 12-bit independent deglitched digital-to-analog converters with a throughput of 130 kHz each.

The optional ATLAB software package contains a library of subroutines designed for the DT2821-F. List price for the board is $1595; ATLAB costs $449. Contact Data Translation Inc., 100 Locke Dr., Marlboro. MA 01752. (617) 481-3700. Inquiry 575.

{continued)

402 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Atari

Atari's new computer serious threat to Macintosh. Will the Amiga survive?

The Atari 520 ST is a serious challenge to the Apple Macintosh and will open up a major fight in the personal computer market.

By Joseph Sugarman

Imagine this. If I could offer you a Macintosh computer—(a computer that sells for over $2000)—for one third the price, you might wonder.

But what if I offered you a better computer with none of the disadvantages of the Mac and what if I added new features which improved its speed and performance? That's exactly what Atari has done in an effort to grab the ball from Apple and really explode into the personal computer market.

HEADING EFFORT

Heading the effort at Atari is Jack Tramiel—the same man who built Commodore into a billion dollar corporation, sold more computers than any other man in the world and believes in giving the consumer incredible value without sacrificing quality. The new Atari is a perfect example.

First, let's compare the new Atari ST to the Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga. Sorry IBM, we can't compare the ST to your PC because yours is almost five years old, much slower, and, in my judgement, over priced. Price The cheapest you can get the Macintosh with 512K of memory is $1800 with a one-button mouse, a disk drive and a monochrome monitor. The Amiga sells for $1995 with a two-button mouse, a disk drive and a color monitor. The Atari ST sells for $699 with a two-button mouse, a disk drive and a monochrome monitor and for $200 more, a color monitor. Read on. Monitor With the Mac you can only use its 9" monochrome monitor and with the Amiga you can only use its 12" color monitor. With the ST you have a choice of either a 12" monochrome or high-resolution color monitor or your own TV set.

Resolution The number of pixels or tiny dots on a screen determine the sharpness of a computer monitor. The Mac has 175,104 pixels and has one of the sharpest screens in the industry. The Atari ST has 256,000 pixels or almost a third more than the Mac. And the Atari color monitor compared to the Amiga in its non interlace mode is 128,000 pixels or exactly the same. Power All the computers have a 512K memory with a 68000 CPU operating with a 32-bit internal architecture. But Atari uses four advanced custom chips which cause the CPU to run faster and more efficiently giving it some tremendous advantages. For example, it has a faster clock speed of 8Mhz com

pared to the Mac's 7.83 and the Amiga's 7.16. And the speed of the unit is hardly affected by the memory requirements of the monitor which in the Amiga can eat up much as 70% of the unit's cycle time or speed. Keyboard This is the part I love. The Mac has a small 59-key keyboard and a mouse. That's all. The 95-key Atari has both a mouse, cursor keys, a numeric keypad and ten function keys. The keyboard looks fantastic and is easy to type on. Although the 89-key Amiga has almost all the features of the Atari keyboard, it looks like a toy in comparison. (Sorry Commodore, but that's my opinion.) Disk Drive The Mac's 31/2" disk drives run at variable speeds—slowing down as they run. The Atari 3Vz" drives run faster at a constant speed—and quieter than any other unit. Features The Atari ST comes equipped with the same printer and modem ports as the IBM PC—a parallel and RS232C serial port. The Mac comes only with a tiny non-standard serial and modem port. The ST has a hard disk interface capable of receiving 10 million bits per second. There are two joy stick ports and a 128K cartridge port for smaller programs or games. It has 512 colors (for the color monitor), it has a unique MIDI interface into which you can plug your music synthesizer and record or play back your music. Software Right now, the Mac has more than the Atari ST and the Amiga combined. The Atari is a new system but the track record of Atari's Jack Tramiel and the potential of the new unit is causing a flood of new software titles. In fact, I'll predict that eventually the Atari will have more software than the Mac. There are now hundreds of titles, from word processing to spread sheet programs, from graphics and games to data base management—all with those easy drop-down menus and windows. There's plenty from which to select now and plenty more to come.

If you think I'm enthusiastic over the ST, listen to what the press is saying. Creative Computing exclaimed, "Without question, the most advanced, most powerful micro computer your money can buy." and finally, the Atari ST is the best selling computer in Europe and acclaimed, "The computer of the year," by the European personal computer press.

I am going to make the ST so easy to test in your home or office that it would be a shame if you did not take advantage of my offer. First, I will offer the computer itself for only $299. You will need, in addition, either

one or two disk drives and either an Atari monochrome or color monitor or your own TV. If you order with your credit card during our introduction I will ship your order and only bill you for the postage and 1 /3 the purchase price. I will also add a few software packages free including "Logo"—a beginners programming language, a disk for programming in BASIC and Neochrome—a graphics paint program.

COMPARE THE TWO

After you receive the Atari ST, put it next to your Mac or Amiga or even IBM. See how extremely sharp the graphics appear, discover what a perfect word processor it is, how great the keyboard feels and finally how much faster and quieter it runs.

If you're not convinced that the Atari is far superior to your present computer and a fantastic value, simply return it and I'll refund your modest down payment plus our postage and handling charges. If you decide to keep it, I'll bill your credit card account for the remaining balance and enroll you in our discount software club (a $50 value) that lets you buy software for up to 50% off the retail price.

But act fast. We have only 2,000 units and 1,000 free memberships that we will offer as part of this introductory program and we are certain they will go fast. Order today.

To order, credit card holders call toll free and ask for product by number (shown in parentheses). Please add $20 per order for postage and handling. (If you pay by check, you must pay the full amount but we will provide you with a bonus software package.)

ST Keyboard & CPU (4060BY) $299

Disk Drive (4056BY) 199

Monochrome Monitor (4057BY) 199

RGB Color Monitor (4058BY) 399

Note: A list of software will come with the unit.

IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. Commodore & Amiga are trademarks of Commodore Electronics trD. Apple & Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer. Inc. Atari. S7" & Logo are trademarks of Atari Corp.

PRODUCTS JHAT •VMINK

One JS&A Plaza

Northbrook, Illinois 60062

CALL TOLL FREE 800 228-5000

IL residenls add 7% sales tax. ©JS&A Group, Inc.,1986/1986 MARCH 1986 • BYTE 403

WHAT'S NEW

A D D - I N S

CMS s Internal Hard Disks

CMS has introduced the Drive Plus 20-megabyte internal hard-disk drives for the IBM PC XT and compatible computers. Several models of the disk drives are available: One version has an SCSI, the second has an ST506 interface, and the third has an ST506 interface and is ruggedized for use with portable computers.

Each Drive Plus fits in a full-sized expansion slot in the IBM PC XT. The ST506 models have a data-transfer rate of 5 megabits per second, and the SCSI model. 7.5 megabits per second. The drives will also run in the IBM PC and compatibles with upgraded power supplies.

Suggested list prices are $995 for the standard ST506 drive; $1159 for the ruggedized ST506 drive; and $1239 for the SCSI drive. Prices include adapter boards and controllers. For more information, contact CMS Inc., 401-B West Dyer Rd., Santa Ana, CA 92707, (714) 549-9111. Inquiry 576.

MDL-22 Data Logger

The MDL-22 plug-in board for the IBM PC and compatible computers lets you monitor, control, and report real-time events. The board also works as a stand-alone data logger. Standard features include 22 8-bit analog inputs, 16 digital I/O lines, a DB-2 5 serial port for RS-232C or 20-mA current loop communications, a DB-25 parallel port, and a battery-backed clock. A piggyback switching power supply and 40-column printer are optional.

Drive Plus 20-megabyte internal hard-disk drive.

The MDL-22 sells for $159. The optional power supply is $45. For more information, contact The Automation Group Inc., 848-0 Nandino Blvd., Lexington, KY 40511, (606) 252-6753. Inquiry 577.

Chromatography Board for the IBM PC

MetraByte's CHROM-1 is a data-acquisition board that plugs into an expansion slot inside the IBM PC. The board has four software-selectable input ranges, a + 1.000 volt reference for calibration, two softwareselectable input channels, and 1000 volts of optical isolation. It also has four opto-coupled digital inputs and two double-throw, double-pole relay outputs.

The CHROM-1 board comes with a data-acquisition and display software package with no anaylsis capabilities. The software lets you set sample rate, test duration, input range, and other functions from a menu, and it can create ASCII files that you can download to other software for analysis. The optional CHROM+ software package provides a results report

with peak area, peak start, peak end, peak maxima, and other factors.

The CHROM-1 board costs $595; the CHROM+ software costs $995. For more information, contact MetraByte Corp., 2 54 Tosca Dr.. Stoughton, MA 02072, (617) 344-1990. Inquiry 578.

Smartek Board Plugs into IBM PC AT

The Smartek 1 Mega Byte System Board is based on an Intel 6-MHz

80286 microprocessor that also operates at either 8 or 10 MHz. The board comes with 1 megabyte of paritychecked RAM. eight expansion slots, a socket for an

80287 math coprocessor, three programmable counter/timers, 7-channel DMA, and 16 levels of system interrupts.

The 12- by 13.8-inch board can be mounted in the PC AT or compatible chassis and, according to the company, is fully compatible with the PC AT. No selection jumpers are required for system configuration.

The Smartek-1 runs at 6 or 8 MHz and costs $1295; the Smartek-2, which runs at 6 or 10 MHz, costs $1495. Both boards are also available with no-wait-state mem

ory for an additional $300. For more information, contact Smartek Inc., 2000 Wyatt Dr., Suite 3, Santa Clara. CA 95054, (408) 988-4112. Inquiry 579.

Image Digitzer from Genoa Systems

The Capture plug-in board from Genoa Systems is an image digitizer for the IBM PC. XT, AT, and compatible computers. The board captures an image from a standard RS-170 video input, such as a camera, and stores the captured frame in on-board memory. You can simultaneously display the image on a monitor or print it on a standard graphics printer.

You can use the software bundled with the board to enhance the image by editing, binary thresholding, and filtering. Other capabilities include zoom, text on overlay, selective shading, cutting, and combining with previous pictures.

The Capture board supports a display resolution of 512 by 512 pixels with 64 colors. The digitization rate is 1/30 second per frame. An output table of four 256K by 8-bit hookup tables is standard. Options include piggyback boards for memory expansion, pseudocolor display, and an RGB hookup table of three 2 56K by 8 bits.

The board's suggested retail price is $1495. Contact Genoa Systems Corp., 73 East Trimble Rd., San lose. CA 95131, (408) 94 5-9720. Inquiry 580.

{continued)

404 BYTE • MARCH 1986

MICROWAY'S 8087 RUNS 1-2-3!

MicroWay is the worlds leading retailer of 8087s and high performance PC upgrades We stock a complete selection of 8087s that run at 5 and 8mhz. All of our coprocessors are shipped with a diagnostic disk and the best warranty in the business - one year! We also offer daughterboards for socketless computers such as the NEC PC, and a board which increases the clock speed of the 80287 from 4 to 8 mhz. Our NUMBER SMASHER'" includes512K ram. It will run the IBM PC at clock speeds up to 10mhz and achieves a throughput of .1 megaflops with

9

■'•■■~y. tJM Btfjhi^,^^w _.

■M

HiS^l! SPEED UP YOUR AT ; Z V : WITH 287TURBO" • (

Jmhz

87BASIC/INLINE Intel Fortran, or Microsoft Fortran. Software reviewers consistently cite MicroWay software and 8087 expertise as the best in the industry! Our customers frequently write to thank us for recommending the correct software and hardware to meet their specific needa They also thank us for our same day shipping! In addition to our own products which support the 8087 and 80287, we stock the largest supply of specialized software available. For information call us at

617-746-7341

Micro IMay

FASTBREAK'" employs the 8087 to increase the speed of Lotus 1 -2-3'" Version 1A or 1 A* by up to 36 to 1 .. $79 FASTPAK™ includes FASTBREAK software and a 5mhz 8087 $179

87SFL'" - MicroWay's Scientific Function Library contains 170 scientific and engineering functions ranging from simple trigonometries to Kelvin, Airy, Ellipticals, Integrals, Bessel, Weierstrass, Polynomials and Probabilities. It is callable from most 8087 compatible compilers.

First Language $250

Additional Languages each $1 00

8087$

NUMBER SMASHER" The World's Fastest Accelerator Card for the IBM PC, XT, and Compatibles! Includes an 8086 and 8087 pair tested to 10mhz, and 512K bytes of high speed ram. Compatible with all software, operating systems and hardware! Your program speed is increased by a factor of 2.5 to 4.0. Floating point programs run up to 2.8 times faster on the PC than on an 80287 equipped PC AT $1049

MATRIXPAK" manages a MEGABYTE!

Written in assembly language, our runtime package accurately manipulates large matrices at very fast speeds Includes matrix inversion and the solution of simultaneous linear equations Callable from MS Fortran 3.3, MS Assembler, and 87BASIC/INLINE each $99

87FFT" Written in assembly language, performs Forward and Inverse FFTs on real and complex arrays which occupy up to 512K bytes of RAM. Also does convolutions, auto correlations, hamming, complex vector multiplication, and complex to radial conversions. Callable from MS Fortran, 87MACRO, C, TURBO PASCAL or

87BASIC/INLINE $200

87FFT-2™ performs two-dimensional FFTs Ideal for image processing Requires 87FFT $100

GRAPHICS PACKAGES

Grafmatic for Fortran or Pascal $125

Plotmatic for Grafmatic $125

MultiHalo (one language) $189

DFixer" - A disk utility which thoroughly checks PC or AT hard disks for bad sectors and updates the MS DOS file allocation table accordingly $149

A2D-160'" - MicroWay's Data Acquisition Board performs 160,000 12 bit Analog to Digital conversions per second! Includes software drivers. The fastest 12 bit A to D board available. For the IBM PC or XT $1295

For the IBM PC, PC XT,

87BASIC/I NLI N E'" converts the output of the IBM Basic Compiler into optimized 8087 inline code which executes up to seven times faster than 87BASIC. Supports separately compiled inline subroutines which are located in their own segments and can contain up to 64K bytes of code. This allows programs greater than 128K! Requires the IBM Basic Compiler and Macro Assembler. Includes 87BASIC $200

87 BASIC" includes patches to the IBM Basic or MS Quick Basic Compiler for USER TRANSPARENT 8087 support Provides super fast performance for all numeric operations including trigonometries, transcendentals, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division each $150

87MACRO/DEBUG" - contains all the pieces needed for writing 8087/80287 assembly code including 8087 macros, object libraries for commonly used functions including transcendentals trigonometries and conversions between strings and real numbers Our 87DEBUG completes the package $199

OBJ—ASM'" - a multipass object module translator and disassembler. Produces assembly language listings which include public symbols, external symbols and labels commented with cross references Ideal for patching object modules for which source is not available $200

RTOS - REALTIME OPERATING SYSTEM

RTOS is a multi-user, multi-tasking real time operating system. It includes a configured version of InteFs iRMX-86,LINK-86,LOC-86,LIB-86,OH-86, and MicroWay's87DEBUG. Runs on the IBM-PC, XT, PC-AT and COMPAQ $4O0

INTEL COMPILERS

FORTRAN-86

PASCAL-86

PL/M-86

ASM-86

$750

$750

$500

$200

All MicroWay product names are trademarks of MicroWay, Inc.

Manufacturers' product names are trademarks of individual

manufacturers

European Customers: Please call MicroWay in London at 01-223-7662.

Micro May

P.O. Box 79 Kingston. Masa 02364 USA (617)746-7341

The World Leader in 8087 Support!

Inquiry 241

PC AT and Compatibles. 8087 5mhz $109

Including DIAGNOSTICS and one-year warranty For IBM PC and compatibles

8087-3 5mhz $175

For the Tandy 1200.

8087-2 8mhz $175

For Wang, AT&T, DeskPro, NEC, Leading Edge.

80287-3 5mhz $199

For the IBM PC AT and Compaq DeskPro 286.

80287-8 8mhz $295

For 8mhz sockets.

287Turbo™ 8 mhz $395

With Reset and Diagnostics for IBM PC AT.

88Turbo" $195

For the IBM PC and XT.

64K RAM Set 150ns $9

256K RAM Set 150 ns $29

256K RAM Set 120ns $39

128KRAMSetPCAT $89

JRAM, MAYNARD, V20, V30 . . . CALL

COMPILERS and UTILITIES

Microsoft Fortran Version 3.31 $209

IBM Professional Fortran 565

Ryan-McFarland Fortran 399

FORLIB+ or STRINGS and THINGS 65

Lattice C 269

Microsoft C 299

FLOAT87 150

IBM Basic Compiler Version 2.0 465

Microsoft Quick Basic 89

Summit BetterBASIC™ 175

True Basic 105

IBM Assembler with Librarian V. 2.0 155

Microsoft Assembler Version 3.01 99

Microsoft Pascal Version 3.31 199

Borland Turbo with 8087 Support 85

STSC APL*PLUS/PC 450

STATGRAPHICS 595

COSMOS Revelation 750

Phoenix Plink86 295

SPSS/PC+ 595

SPSS ADVANCED STATISTICS 275

SPSS TABLES 275

EPSILON Text Editor 195

LABTECH NOTEBOOK CALL

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 405

WHAT'S NEW

Multitasking for C

Multi-C is a library of C and assembly-language functions from Cytek that let you incorporate multitasking within programs. Designated functions become tasks that can schedule other tasks, communicate with each other using queues and flags, and use almost all standard C functions. The software supports interrupt handlers.

Multi-C is available for Lattice's and Computer Innovations' 8086 C compilers and Paragon's Z80 C cross compiler. The software runs on the IBM PC and compatible computers and sells for S149. For more information, contact Cytek Inc., 805 Turnpike St., Unit 202. North Andover, MA 01845, (617) 687-8086. Inquiry 581.

Fundamental BASIC from Philon

Henry's Fundamental BASIC is a simplified version of BASIC from Philon. It includes such features as a library of predefined functions; multiple-line, user-defined functions; support for a math coprocessor: doubleprecision math; and some FORTRAN functions. You can also call text editors and system utilities from within the interpreter.

Henry's Fundamental BASIC is a subset of Philon Fast/BASIC-M, a more advanced compiler. Priced at $49. versions are currently available for the IBM PC and compatibles, Atari 520ST, and Commodore Amiga. A minimum of 128K bytes of memory is required. Contact Philon Inc., 641 Avenue of

the Americas, New York, NY 10011, (212) 807-0303. Inquiry 582.

Program Generator for Turbo Pascal

Zeus, a program generator from JMC Research, works with Borland International's Turbo Pascal to let you generate database programs, write reports, and build menus. You build a menu-driven database program by drawing the input screen layout and naming the variables and their types. With minimum system requirements, you can build programs with a maximum of 300 fields per record and 80 characters per field.

The program includes a similar utility for writing reports. The menu builder lets you input multiple programs to execute with a single keystroke. These programs need not be written in Pascal.

Zeus runs on IBM PCs and compatibles, requires a minimum of 128K bytes of RAM and an RGB monitor, and costs $59.95. A harddisk drive is recommended. Contact JMC Research Inc., 803 Eisenhower Dr., Augusta, GA 30904, (404) 736-8265. Inquiry 583.

Multitasking FORTH for the Mac

Designed for developing multitasking Macintosh applications, Machl from Palo Alto Shipping is a 32-bit version of FORTH-83 that the company claims is twice as fast as other

FORTH applications. The program uses local variables and named input parameters for recursion, a standard Motorola assembler, a symbolic debugger, and normal text files from any editor, including MacWrite.

Other features include the 80-bit SANE floating-point library, a Toolbox interface for access to all Macintosh traps, MacinTalk drivers for programming speech, vectored I/O, and loading from the clipboard.

Machl is not copy-protected and runs on the 512K Macintosh. It comes with the latest Switcher and Edit programs for $49.95. Contact The Palo Alto Shipping Co.. POB 7430. Menlo Park, CA 94026, (415) 854-7994. Inquiry 584.

Structured Printing Aid

Aldebaran Laboratories' Source Print is a utility program that formats printouts of source code written in C, Pascal. BASIC, and dBASE II and III. Designed to show a program's structure at a glance. Source Print draws lines that indicate nesting, indents the code based on nesting levels, and prints reserved words in boldface type. Source Print's "library" function lets you insert titles and subtitles in a source file, usually within comment statements. The program tracks which file contains which subtitle and lets you select up to 40 subtitled functions or procedures from 1 to 16 files to form a

new source file. The program also prints page headings that can include the filename, date and time, titles, subtitles, and page numbers. You can use these headings to print only the parts of files you designate. Source Print sells for $97. It runs on the IBM PC, XT. AT. and compatible computers and requires at least 128K bytes of memory. Contact Aldebaran Laboratories Inc.. 3738 ML Diablo Blvd.. #312, Lafayette, CA 94549. (415) 283-7084. Inquiry 585.

Z80 Cross Assemblers

Two programs for assembling Z80 code on an IBM PC are available from United States Software Corp. AX Z-80. an absolute version, translates an assembly-language source file to a downloadable object file in Intel hexadecimal format. RX Z-80, a relocatable version with a linker, translates an assemblylanguage source file to a relocatable file. You can then link the file with other relocatable files to form a downloadable object file in Intel hexadecimal format.

Both versions of the cross assembler include pseudoops, conditional assembly, and cross-reference tables. Both run on the IBM PC, XT, AT, and compatibles with 64 K bytes of memory. The absolute version costs $250. and the relocatable version with linker is $400. Contact United States Software Corp.. 5470 Northwest Innisbrook Place, Portland. OR 97229. (503) 645-5043. Inquiry 586.

{continued)

406 BYTE • MARCH 1986

The Conference

That Takes

A Hard Look

At The Business

Side Of Software.

The Software Business Conference April 2 & 3, Los Angeles, California

This prestigious conference, held in conjunction with COMDEX/Winter, will provide a forum for developers, publishers and resellers of software to discuss common interests, challenges, and solutions.

The Software Business Conference will also create an environment in which to discuss and establish new business relationships.

By bringing the three main bodies of the software industry together at one major conference, the Software Business Conference proposes to raise the visibility of software issues worldwide, and to assist in bringing high quality products to the market.

To ensure that the Conference meets its goals and is relevant to your interests, these and other noted distinguished industry leaders are helping to shape this major event: Joel Berez, President, Infocom, Inc.; Daniel Bricklin, President, Software Garden, Inc.; Seymour Rubenstein, President, MicroPro International Corp.; Gary Kildall, President, ActiVenture Corp.

Software Business Conference Schedule

Plenary Sessions

A Marriage of Objectives; Keeping Pace with a Changing PC Environment.

Marketing Sessions

What's Selling? The Software Marketplace; Who's Buying? Applications and Users.

Presented bv

General Sessions

Managing the Successful Software Company; Software Development Technical Strategies; Software Development Management Strategies; Exploiting the New Software Product; Supporting the New Software Product; The Great Code Rush: Prospecting for New Packages

Workshops in Software Entrepreneurship

Workshop in Creative Financing; Workshop in Creative Marketing and Selling

To be part of this exciting business and learning experience, send today for complete registration information.

Yes. I Want To Take A Hard Look At Software, Too. Send Me Detailed Information.

Name

Address

City/State/Zip. Phone

I'm a □ Developer □ Publisher □ Reseller □ Other

Mail to: Software Business Conference 300 First Avenue Needham, MA 02194

K7\

z5J

THE

INTERFACE GROUP, Inc.

Inquiry 174

The world's leading producer of computer and communications conferences and expositions.

300 First Avenue. Needham, MA 02194 Copyright 1986

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 407

WHAT'S NEW

SOFTWARE • SCI EN TIF

D ENG

ER

CAN

N G

Timing Verifier for Circuit Designs

Case Technology has introduced the Case Timing Verifier (CT2600) for the IBM PC AT. Based on the original Scald timing verifier developed at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, the program performs worstcase timing verification. It checks for all timing errors that might occur through the full range of a circuit's delays and generates waveforms displayed on screen that indicate a logic design's worst-case timing parameters.

The program verifies partial and completed designs and detects setup and hold errors, race conditions, minimum pulse width errors, and clock glitches. It accepts values for wiring delays generated by Case's PCB layout program and can reveal timing problems in the physical PCB layout.

The Case CT2600 Timing Verifier for the PC AT costs S3 500. For more information, contact Case Technology Inc., 633 Menlo Ave., Suite 2 50, Menlo Park, CA 94025, (415) 322-4057. Inquiry 587.

The Case CT2600 Timing Verifier.

Tool for Scientific and Engineering Calculations

Calculus, from A I Ware, is a calculator program that features mathematical functions commonly used in scientific and engineering calculations.

Among the software's features are Bessel functions, polynomial-root calculations, matrix operations, and memory-management commands. The program supports real and complex numbers in most mathe

matical functions. It operates in a simple calculator mode as well as in an advanced mode that, the company says, uses a command structure similar to that in spreadsheets.

Calculus costs $99. It runs on the IBM PC, XT, AT, and compatibles. The program requires I92K bytes of memory and an 8087 or 80287 math coprocessor.

For more information, contact A I Ware Inc., POB 367, Rosemead, CA 91770, (818) 446-0998. Inquiry 588.

Structural Analysis and Design

Innovative Analysis's Larsa is a structural analysis and design program for engineers and architects. The software analyzes twoand three-dimensional structures such as buildings, bridges, towers, and most other conventional structures. It performs static and dynamic linear and static nonlinear analysis and lets you study displacements, stresses, and forces.

The software includes modules for data entry, editing, analysis, plotting, and report generation. It lets you display and plot complete and partial models and generate nodes, elements, and loads.

Larsa runs on the IBM PC, XT, and AT. It requires a minimum of 512K bytes of RAM, a 10-megabyte harddisk drive, and an 8087 or 80287 math coprocessor. Larsa Linear and Nonlinear Analysis sells for $3495. Larsa Linear Analysis costs $1995. Contact Innovative Analysis Inc., 330 West 42nd St.. New York, NY 10036, (212) 736-1616. Inquiry 589.

SOFTWARE • BUSINESS

Relational Database Program

XDB, from Software Systems Technology is a relational database system designed for generating sophisticated applications. The system includes a query language, command language, database editor, report writer, menu generator, utilities, and an optional forms manager and graphics module. XDB's forms manager can access and update multiple tables. The

program's import/export utility lets you transfer data to or from dBASE II and 111. spreadsheet files, and other programs.

The software uses SQL, IBM's relational query language and the proposed ANSI standard for microcomputer and mainframe query languages. The company says that SQL minimizes the amount of programming required for generating applications.

XDB runs on IBM PCs and compatibles and requires between 192K and 320K bytes, depending on the modules you use. Three modules are available. The Extended Database System alone costs $450 and includes a query language, report writer, database editor, command language, menu generator, and utilities. The Form Manager option costs $22 5. and the Graph Writer option costs $75. A C-language interface is available for $500. Con

tact Software Systems Technology, 7100 Baltimore Ave., Suite 206. College Park. MD 20740. (301) 779-5486. Inquiry 590.

3-D Designs on the Mac

MacSpace. a computeraided design program for the Macintosh, lets you design three-dimensional objects. The program divides the screen into four win

{contimted)

408 BYTE • MARCH 1986

O Tte Si ii| ■ i -■ Ede^ BIllI

Recognized as the authoritative source for micro users!

WE SHOW YOU HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM YOUR COMPUTER

• Superior Selections • Business Success

• Practical Prices • Personal Achievement

Select 5 Books for Only$2"

Plus FREE copy of "Making Money with your Microcomputer"!

1748P List $10.95 (paper)

1997

1993

1501

1901

1822

1873

List $21.95

List S21.95

List S21.95

List 522.95

List $24.95

List $21.95

Making Money With Your Microcomputer

FREE when you join!

Publisher's [ making List $8.25 MONEY

(paper) No.1506P

7 very good reasons to join The Computer Book Club®

• Big Savings. Save 20% to 75% on books sure to increase your computer know-how

• No-Risk Guarantee. All books returnable within 10 days without obligation

• Club News Bulletins. All about current selectionsmains, alternates, extras—plus bonus offers. Comes 13 times a year with hundreds of up-to-the-minute titles to pick from

• "Automatic Order." Do nothing, and the Main selection will be shipped automatically! But... if you want an Alternate selection—or no books at all—we'll follow the instructions you give on the reply form provided with every News Bulletin

• Bonus Books. Immediately get Dividend Certificates with every book purchased and qualify for big discounts of 60% to 80%

• Extra Bonuses. Take advantage of added-value promotions, plus special discounts on software, games, and more

• Exceptional Quality. All books are first-rate publisher's editions selected by our Editorial Board and filled with useful, up-to-the-minute information

iria LJnnputer Ekinh [Bud*

P.O. Box 80, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214

Please accept my membership in The Computer Book Club® and send the 5 volumes circled below, plus my FREE copy of Making Money with your Microcomputer (1506P), billing me only $2.95 plus shipping and handling charges. If not satisfied, I may return the books within ten days without obligation and have my membership canceled. I agree to purchase 4 or more books at regular Club prices (plus shipping/handling) during the next 12 months, and may resign any time thereafter.

1437 1501 1556 1737 1748P 1822 1848 1852 1873

1874 1901 1907 1908 1918 1921 1939 1948 1968 1970

1976P 1989 1993 1997 2620 2622 2623 2627 2652

Name

Address.

City

State_

^Zip

_Phone_

Valid for new members only. Foreign applicants will receive ordering instructions. Canada must remit in U.S. currency. This order subject to acceptance by The Computer Book Club* .

BY-386

Inquiry 80

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 409

WHAT'S NEW

OFTWARE•BUS1NES

dows that display top, front. and side views, as well as an axonometric projection of the object. Below the windows, an information strip displays various values of the object you're designing—its perimeter, surface, geometric quotes, or choice of drawings proposed.

MacSpace works with the Imagewriter and LaserWriter printers and can transfer drawings to MacPaint, MacDraw, and other graphics and drawing programs. It can also send output to a variety of Macintosh-compatible plotters.

The program runs on the 512K Macintosh and costs $385. Contact Abvent, 9903 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 268, Beverly Hills, CA 90212, (213) 659-5157. Inquiry 591.

Low-Cost Word Processor

WPro, a word-processing program for IBM PCs and compatible computers from Natural Language Inc., features a twolevel interface designed for beginning and experienced computer users. You can customize and extend the interface with the macro definitions the program provides.

WPro has built-in forms management, windows, mail merge, label printing, concurrent print spooling, translation tables for foreign languages, automatic indentation, the ability to execute external programs or commands, and the ability to display directories. The program can combine text with images generated by business graphics and drawing programs. WPro can also import and export data to and from spreadsheets and database programs.

The program supports multiple fonts and runs on a variety of laser, dot-matrix, and daisy-wheel printers. WPro retails for $96 and runs on IBM PC and compatible computers with 256K bytes of RAM. For more information, contact Natural Language Inc., POB 13467. Kanata, Ontario K2K 1X6, Canada, (613) 820-8299. Inquiry 592.

Graphics Database for CAD

Micro-Vector's CADRover is a graphics database program that finds and retrieves stored images you've created with other CAD packages. Designed for presentation, CADRover lets you arrange and display drawings in sequences. If you specify one or more points in a drawing, the program activates these points to display selected images in an order you define. The program can also link graphics with text.

CADRover can read a variety of file formats used by other applications programs and currently reads files produced by CADMaster and VersaCAD Selling for $495, the program runs on the IBM PC and compatibles. Contact MicroVector Inc., 1 Byram Brook Place, Armonk, NY 10504, (914) 273-8700. Inquiry 593.

Software

for Speeding PC ATs

Dynamical Systems' software utility. AT SpeedFixer, facilitates speeding up an IBM PC AT. The package consists primarily of a memory-resident program designed to prevent diskdrive errors that might occur with an AT running faster than 6 MHz. Also on the disk is a utility that increases keyboard speed by reprogramming the chip inside the AT keyboard.

Along with the software come instructions on how to speed up an AT by replacing the crystal and how to quicken a hard disk used with an accelerated AT.

AT SpeedFixer costs $24.95. For more information, contact Dynamical Systems Inc., 2 511 Fulton St., Berkeley, CA 94704, (800) 227-2400, ext. 929. Inquiry 594.

Atari ST Graphics Software

DEGAS, from Batteries Included, runs on the Atari 520ST and 1040ST. The program incorporates GEM and adjusts to whichever ST graphics mode you use.

Within DEGAS, you can employ drawing functions; choose your colors; design your own brush, fill, and line patterns: and use magnify,

WHERE DO NEW PRODUCT ITEMS COME FROM? The new products listed in this section of BYTE are chosen from the thousands of press releases, letters, and telephone calls we receive each month from manufacturers, distributors, designers, and readers. The basic criteria for selection for publication are: (a) does a product match our readers interests? and (b) is it new or is it simply a reintroduction of an old item? Because of the volume of submissions we must sort through every month, the items we publish are based on vendors' statements and are not individually verified. 1/ you want your product to be considered for publication [at no charge), send full information about it. including its price and an address and telephone number where a reader can get further information, to New Products Editor. BYTE, 70 Main St.. Peterborough. NH 03458.

shadow, mirror, and airbrush features. The mouse acts as paintbrush or pencil, and a click can move you between the main menu and the drawing screen. The program allows combined text and graphics and lets you create your own text fonts. The results of work with DEGAS can be printed on any Epson or compatible graphics printer. DEGAS costs $39.95 U.S. ($54.95 Canadian). Contact Batteries Included, 30 Mural St., Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1B5. Canada, (416) 881-9816. U.S. sales: 17875 Sky Park North. Suite P, Irvine, CA 92714, (714) 250-8723. Inquiry 595.

CP/M for MS-DOS Computers

RUN/CPM. from Micro Interfaces, is packaged with NEC's V20/V30 microprocessor and is designed for running CP/M software on the IBM PC and compatible computers. In addition to being compatible with Intel's 8088 and 8086, the NEC microprocessor provides instructions for Intel's 8-bit 8080.

The software's features include 15 logical and physical drive assignments, support for subdirectories and pathname assignments, terminal emulation for many CP/M terminals, a disk-transfer utility for transferring CP/M software to MS-DOS format, and the ability to issue MSDOS commands in CP/M mode.

RUN/CPM sells for $99.95 and includes software, the NEC V20/V30 microprocessor, and documentation. Contact Micro Interfaces Corp., 6824 Northwest 169th St., Miami. FL 33015, (305) 823-8088. Inquiry 596.

410 BYTE • MARCH 1986

-The Buyer's Mart

A Directory of Products and Services

THE BUYER'S MART is a monthly advertising section which enables readers to easily locate suppliers by product category. As a unique feature, each BUYER'S MART ad includes a Reader Service number to assist interested readers in requesting information from participating advertisers.

RATES: 1x-$375 3x-$350 6x-$325 Prepayment must accompany each insertion.

AD FORMAT: Each ad will be designed and typeset by BYTE. Advertisers must

furnish typewritten copy. Ads can include headline (23 characters maximum), descriptive text (250 characters maximum), plus company name, address and telephone number. Do not send logos or camera-ready artwork.

DEADLINE: Ad copy is due 2 months prior to issue date. For example: June issue closes on April 1. Send your copy and payment to THE BUYER'S MART, BYTE magazine, 70 Main Street, Peterborough, NH 03458. For more information call Karen Burgess at BYTE 603-924-9281.

ACCESSORIES

SOFTWARE PACKAGING, DISKS

Cloth binders & slips like IBM's. Vinyl binders, boxes, and folders-many sizes. Disk pages, envelopes, & labels. Low qty. imprinting. Bulk 4 branded disks. Much More! Low prices. Fast service. Call or write lor FREE CATALOG.

Anthropomorphic Systems Limited

376-B East St. Charles Road

Lombard, IL 60148

1-800-DEAL-NOW (312) 629-5160

ACCESSORIES

FREE CATALOG

Outstanding prices on computer accessories for your computer and workstation. Our catalog features a wide selection of quality products to meet all your accessory needs. Call or write today to receive your free catalog.

UNTEK COMPUTER ACCESSORIES

POB 8056, Grand Rapids, Ml 49508 (616) 241-4040

COMMUNICATIONS

SMART ANSWERING MACHINE

SAM transforms your IBM PC into an intelligent phone answering & real-voice messaging center. FEATURES: 999 personal messages, call screening, message forwarding, timed or grouped message delivery, sortable phonebook/autodialer, time/date log, voice prompted remote access, AND WORE!! All hardware & software included. Retail $295. VISA/MC.

DIALECTRON, INC.

2035 California St., Ste #17, Mountain View, CA 94040

(415) 960-3040

Inquiry 652.

Inquiry 747.

Inquiry 743.

BAR CODE

CONTRACTS

PERIPHERAL SWITCHES

2 Position Serial $39.95

2 Position Parallel $59.95

Common Cable Included

Various Connector Options

Write or Call for Free Brochure

SYNTAX ENGINEERING

Rle. 3, Box 344, Escondido, CA 92025 (619) 741-4000

BAR CODE READERS/PRINTING

Programs $49-$299. Readers-$325 up. PRINT Bar Codes on PC and Epson/Okidata or IBM Proprinter • Code 39. I 2of5, UPC. MSI, DOD-LOGMARS, AIAG. Graphics chs up to 1". Labels, Catalogs from files. Subroutines for BASIC, Cobol. Clipper, Turbo, Pascal, C. dBASE III Plus.

Worthington Data Solutions

130 Crespi Court, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (408) 458-9938

FOR ENTREPRENEURS

Legal contracts for hardware/software developers. Employee agreement, non-disclosure form, contracts (or sale (hardware and/or software), consulting, development, hardware & software maintenance, non-competition, project delivery & more,

$50 Waters Publishing $50

8235 Douglas - Suite 1000

Dallas, TX 75225

800-628-2828

Inquiry 67a

Inquiry 741.

BOOKS / DISKS / VIDEOS

DISK CONVERSION

LASER PRINTERS

I will pay you cash for your used toner cartridges!!! (HP, Apple, Canon, etc.)

Recharging Service $40

Call or write for free instant pickup service:

PC Corporation, Laser Printer Products

11 Freeman Street, Stoughton, MA 02072

(617) 893-9000 (24 hours)

(617) 341-300S (9-5 pm Eastern)

Dealer inquiries welcome

* * WORDSTAR USERS • •

TRY THE NEW. DIFFERENT, UNIQUE APPROACH TO LEARNING WORDSTAR. Introducing an instruction book that skips the unnecessary and gets on with the substance of how to use your program! A superior primer and a concise reference in one manageable text! CHEATBOOK FOR WORDSTAR $10 Post Paid. Send check or M.O., to: The EASYKEY Company, Bx 1758 Murphys, CA 95247 CA orders add 60c sales tax

INCOMPATIBLE WORD PROCESSORS?

We convert to and from: XEROX, DEC, IBM,

LANIER, WANG, PC-DOS, CONVERGENT

TECHNOLOGY, WORDSTAR, MULTIMATE,

SAMNA ASCII, MICOM.

Also most CP/M systems.

LOWEST PRICES

DATA CONVERSION INC.

6310 Caballero Blvd. • Buena Park, CA 90620

(714) 522-7762 (800) 824-4651 In CA.

Inquiry 763

Inquiry 684.

Inquiry 675.

DATA CABLES & PARTS

EIA RS232-C Data Cables - standard, extended distance, Teflon Assemblies. Also Centronics (parallel), Coaxial (RG59U, RG62A/U, Dual Wang, Twin-axial), Ethernet, Ribbon, IBM, DEC Compatible cables, AB switches, connector parts, bulk cable; tools & hardware (wall plates). Send for Catalog.

Communication Cable Co.

POB 600-B, Wayne, PA 19087 215-644-1900

• HARD DISK MADE EASY •

Every Hard Disk Owner Needs

EASYBRIEF FOR COMPUTERS WITH

A HARD DISK

A How-To Book $10 Post Pd. Send Ck or M.O. CA Orders add 601 sales tax.

To: The EASYKEY Co. Bx. 1758. Murphys, CA 95247

CONVERSION SERVICES

Convert any 9 track magnetic tape to or from over 500 formats including 3Vi", 5V4" 8" disk formats & word processors. Disk to disk conversions also available. Call for more info. (312) 459-6010

Plvar Computing Services, Inc.

. . 47 W. Dundee Road + + Wheeling, IL 60090

Inquiry 727.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Self-Inking Printer Ribbon

For users of Okldata and other open spool ribbon printers. Controlled Printout Devices are a new kind of printing ribbon that re-ink themselves, and will last 15 times longer than the ribbon you are now using. For further information please call or write.

CONTROLLED PRINTOUT DEVICES, INC

POB 869, Baldwin Rd., Arden, NC 28704 (704) 684-9044

Inquiry 670.

VIDEO STORES

We need ambitious dealers in all U.S. states and Canada to market a powerful system to computerize video tape rental stores.

WINCHESTER DATA PRODUCTS INC.

3301-Executive Drive., #204, Raleigh, N.C. 27609 (919) 872-0995

Inquiry 754.

DISK AND TAPE CONVERSIONS

High quality conversion services for Dedicated Word Processors, Mini and Microcomputers. Over 600 3V2", 5V4", and 8" formats. Also 800-1600BPI tape. Included: Wang, NBI, CPT, DEC, Vldex, Lanier, OS/6, Xerox, IBM Sys/34/36/38/5520. Mac, Victor, TRS, Apple. NSTAR, IBM PC/AT. HP, and most of the other microcomputers. We can convert directly into word processing software such as: DW3, WR MS/WRD, WS, Samna, MM, PFS, and many others.

DATA FORMATS, INC. (408) 972-1830

MARCH I986 -BYTE 411

The Buyer's Mart

DOCUMENTATION

HARDWARE

HARDWARE ADD-ONS

COMPUTER ASSEMBLY MANUALS

BIG BLUE SEED lor IBM- BUILDERS: parts list, placemen! diagrams, instructions lor assembling over 65 IBM compatible bare cards - $14.95. APPLE SEED II lor APPLE" BUILDERS: inlructions tor assembling 77 Apple-compatible bare cards including the II + and He motherboards - $12.95.

OVER 40 DIFFERENT BARE CARDS IN STOCK FOR THE HOBBYIST

NuScope Associates

P.O. Box 790 • Lewiston NY • 14092

1AM . . . In-Circuit Emulators

Real lime full function In-Circuit Emulators for Design Engineers. Load Hex Files, Assemble/Disassemble, Edit Memory, Set Constants, with Break and Print Points. Stand alone operation or turns your Personal Computer into a Development System. And at an incredibly low Price ... $498. Models Available Z80, 8085. 8088 and NSC800. For immediate response Call (916) 961-8082

IAM

P.O. Box 2545, FairOaks, CA 95628

APPLE & IBM PERIPHERALS!

FACTORY DIRECT! He 64K/80 Column Bd. $39. II +/lie Cooling Fan $24.95. II +/lie Mouse w/SFVVR $49.95. Joystick III w/fire on stick Apple or IBM $24.95.10 Ft IBM Parallel Cable $12.95. RAM Set/9 PC-$5 XT-$7, Add $3 Shipping. Write for complete list

NEXO DISTRIBUTION

8824 Golf Drive - Spring Valley, CA 92077 (619)589-7926

Inquiry 723.

Inquiry 699.

Inquiry 721.

DUPLICATING SERVICES

DUPLICATION SOLUTIONS

We have the answer to your duplication needs, no matter what the volume. We supply autoloaders, disks, and technical support. We provide copy protection, serialization, package assembly, and distributive shipping.

MegaSoft

P.O. Box 1143, Freehold, NJ 07728

1-800-222-0490 201-462-7628 (in NJ)

POWERLINE GREMLINS?? POWER FAILURES??

The MEIRICK STANDBY POWER SYSTEM

is the TOTAL SOLUTION to your

powerlino problems.

240 watt system - $365: 400 watl system - $495;

800 watt system - $795

MEIRICK Inc., POWER SYSTEMS DIV.

Box 298, Frisco, CO 80443 303-668-3251

TURBOCHARGER FOR IBM

• Increases processing speed over 300% s Full software compatibility with PC and XT s Supports Intel 10 MHz 8087 coprocessor

Everett/Charles® Marketing Services

6101 Cherry Avenue

Fontana, CA 92335

800-443-1860 Calif. 800-821-0589

Inquiry 708

WESTERN TRANSDATA, INC.

Why risk duplicating your important programs on your computer, when our equipment is designed solely to duplicate disks & verify their perfection 100%? Over 600 formats, m", 514" & 8'! Plus serialization, copy protection, labeling, packaging, shrink-wrapping and fast, personalized service.

WESTERN TRANSDATA, INC.

1701 E. Edinger Ave. A-4 Santa Ana, CA 92705 714/547-3383 (collect)

MATRIX CALCULATOR

Programmable calculator with 70 + matrix opns, statistics, system of lin & nonlin & diff eq'ns, numer. integral, 1-d optm. User program'd func. $49.95 includes S&H, 100+ pg manual, 1 yr, support. Same for 80B7 ver. Visa, MC accepted.

SoftTech Inc.

Suite 104, 18505 W. 8 Mile, Detroit, Ml 48219

(For Credit Card orders) 1-800-835-2246 ext. 80

313-534-4933

Tandy 1000 Hardware

TanPak Multifunction Cards $329

Memory to 512K. RS232. Clock. DMA

TanPak Secondary $249

Memory to 256K, RS232. Clock

10 Meg Hard Drive with Controller $549

20 Meg Hard Drive with Controller $749

Hard Drive Specialist

1-800-231-6671 or 1-713-480-6000

16208 Hickory Knoll, Houston, Texas 77059

inquiry 761

Inquiry 695

HARDWARE

USED APPLES & IBM's

APPLE 11+ as low as S275.00

APPLE lie as low as $525.00

Motherboards & accessories — call

We really do buy and sell used computers! Trade

in your apple for an IBM or compatible.

SHREVE SYSTEMS

845 Lark Ave., Shreveport, LA 71105 318-865-6743 4-8 p.m. C.S.T. VISA/MC

EPROM/EEPROM PROG. $250

Programs 2716-27512. 25xx and 68764/66 eproms via RS-232. Also 874x micros and 28xxA & 52Bxx EEPROMs. Automatic baud rate select, built in help menus, no personality modules!

16 BIT I/O MODULE $75 Low cost control via RS-232. Expands to 512!

INTELLITRONICS

P.O. Box 3263, Tustin, CA 92680

(714) 669-0614

HEATH/ZENITH UP TO 640K

Dolen's $89.95 G-2 user-installed option upgrades 2960 memory board to full 640K for model 150 or 160. G-3 factory-installed memory expansion is only $139.95. No additional board required. Prices include shipping. Call (203) 222-1174 to order.

Dolen Computer Corporation

10 Bay Street, Westport, CT 06880

Inquiry 731

Inquiry 701

Inquiry 762

SOFTWARE/BUSINESS

GOULD COLORPLOTTERS

Model 6120-HP Equivalent small footprint under $1000.

Everett/Charles® Marketing Services

6101 Cherry Avenue

Fontana, CA 92335

800-443-1860 Calif. 800-821-0589

SINGLE BOARD COMPUTER INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH

• FORTH O.S., Edilor, Assembler. Target Compiler, RAM Disk • 8085 CPU • 16 A/D Channels • RS232 • Realtime Clock ■ Buffered Digital I/O • Battery Backed RAM

• Single Supply • Watchdog Timer • Full Line of Support Hardware/Soltware • Counler/Timer • IBM/CPM Support • RS422 • FROM $199.96 •

EMAC, INC.

1400 West Main, Carbondale, Illinois, 62901 (618) 529-4525

TAXPAK -86 Eases Tax Hassle

Fast, friendly, full-featured tax program in its 4th year. Menu driven. Unique status line shows wealth of info. What-if function explores tax options. Complete recalculation in only 1 second. Prints in IRS formal. $39.95 for IBM PC, Apple II, CPM-80. Try-il-first disk only $3.

PEOPLEWARE

10762 Twin Spruce, Golden, CO 80403 (800) 621-8385 ext. 669 VISA/MC

Inquiry 725.

E(E)PROM, PROM PROGRAMMER

Program all EPROMS, EEPROMS, microcomputers, zero-power RAMs, 35 nS PROMS for under $300!

B & C Microsystems

See our ads on page 424.

Inquiry 654

412 BYTE • MARCH 1986

KING OF MICROCONTROLLERS

' 4000 Microcontroller Boards & Kits for

8035/8039/8040/8048/8049/8050/8031/8032/ 8051/8052/8751/6511/7001/7809 from $19.95

• 4008 Mini RS232 Terminal Kit, Full Keyboard.

LCD Display $159.95

* 4015 8052 Basic System. EPROM Programming,

RAMs & I/O $299.95

TECH STAR LABORATORY

Suite 709 R&B Corp. Park, 1701 N. Greenville Ave. Richardson, Texas 75081

CUSTOM PAYROLL

All systems have multiple pay categories, calculation of all taxes, user defined deductions, 401 (k) handling, many reports, paychecks. W-2 forms, and much more. Custom features are available. Prices start at $695 for system, manual, and PC Basic source code.

Datasmith, Inc.

Box 8036, Shawnee Mission, KS 66208 (913) 381-9118

The Buyer's Mart

SOFTWARE/BUSINESS

SOFTWARE/BUSINESS

SOFTWARE/BUSINESS

Programmers:

We guarantee our products to be solid, bugfree ' CorrectForlh ■ Very professional.

' Correct Datamizer - 50:1 data compression

guaranteed. ' SafeModem ■ Hackerproof. $8075 per program MC/VISA/MO/Check. Specify computer.

Correct Software, Inc.

RR1 Box 140, Black Hawk, SD 57718 (605) 787-5904

PC-File III" Version 4

Search, sort, browse, global changes, macros, mailing labels, format reports with selection & calculations, subtotals, totals, averages, encryption. Exchange data with 1-2-3, WORD, WordStar Over 190,000 users. $59.95 + $5 s/h. For IBM PC.

ButtonWare, Inc.

P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 1-800- J-BUTTON

MINUTE-a-DAY MANAGER" TAX SURVIVAL SPECIAL

New Shadow Writing™ feature adds the power of Al to your record keeping. 256K MS/PC-DOS package includes FREE Custom Calendar Kit PLUS:

• CHECKBOOK/CREDIT CARD MANAGER

• COMPUTER LOGGER • AUTO LOGGER Visa/MC (May be tax-deductible.) $59.95 + $3 s&h

Multi-Data Management Associates

1-800-255-2255 ext. 3300

Inquiry 671.

Inquiry 658

MoneyCounts'" Only $29.95

A complete money management system thai provides: Checking, Savings and Credit Card Management, a comprehensive budgeting tool, a financial statement generator, sharp graphics, and on-line help screens to guide you each step of the way. Great tor home or small business use.

CPA designed. IBM PC/XT & compatibles with DOS 2.0 or later and 192K. $29.95

PARSONS TECHNOLOGY

6925 Surrey Dr. NE„ Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 (319)373-0197 CHECK/VISA/MC

Inquiry 724

WORD IMAGE

Edit 4 large files, undo, key macros, math, search/replace in ranges, all printers, help, on-screen attributes, sub-directories, command driven, batch, manual w/index & tutorial, fast, MORE!!! Needs 320KB. PC DOS 2.0 + . Intro: $50.00, 30-Day trial.

Software Ideology

P.O. Box 305, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11204 718-236-3876

PC-File/R™

All the power of PC-File III plus: Relational link to other databases, integrated letter writing & mailmerge, context sensitive pop-up help windows. New binary search retrieves data hundreds of times faster. $149.95 + $5 s/h.

ButtonWare, Inc.

P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 1-800-J-BUTTON

LP88-LINEAR PROGRAMMING

A powerful menu-driven system for solving linear programs w/ up to 510 constraints & 2510 variables. Features include interactive & batch operation, spreadsheet-style input & editing, storage of problems & bases, Simplex Algorithm restart, report generator, sensitivity analysis. Req IBM PC, 192K. $99 w/8087 support, user's guide. VISA/MC. EASTERN SOFTWARE PRODUCTS INC. P.O. Box 15328, Alexandria, VA 22309 (703) 549-5469

DATA ENTRY SYSTEM

Heads-down data entry with two-pass verification for the PC/XT/AT & compatibles. Loaded with features like: Auto dup & skip, verify bypass, range checks, & table lookups. Fully menu driven only $395. Call for free 30 day trial period.

COMPUTER KEYES

6519 193 SW. Lynnwood, WA 98036 (206) 776-6443

ALL FORMS TAX SOFTWARE

• Individual Federal Income Tax Software

• Computes all forms and schedules

• Prints all forms

• IBM-PC, XT, AT & compatibles

$49.95

Unique Computer Systems

140 East Commonwealth Ave. #208

Fullerton, CA 92632

In CA. 1-800-331-5088 714-525-7118

nquiry 757

ACCOUTING SYSTEMS $49.95 + $2.50 S&H

■ Construction - Equipment Rental

- General Systems - Manufacturing

- Medical Billing - Professional

- Retail Sales - Wholesale

Menu-Driven — Full File Maintenance

Each includes GL, AR, AP, INVENTORY, PAYROLL & morel

HIGH TECHNOLOGY, INC.

9312 W. 92nd Ave., Westminster, CO 80020

(303) 431-7596 VISA and MASTERCARD Accepted!

TSA88-TRANSPORTATION

A general-purpose system for solving transportation, assignment and transhipment problems. Solves transportation problems with up to 510 origins and/or destinations by applying the Transportation Simplex Algorithm. Menu-driven with features similar to LP88. Requires 192K, $99 with 8087 support user's guide. VISA/MC.

EASTERN SOFTWARE PRODUCTS, INC.

P.O. Sox 15328, Alexandria, VA 22309

(703) 549-5469

TAX-PREP '86 MAKES TAXES EASIER

Multiplan, 1-2-3 or Excel users, easily prepare totally professional tax returns. 22 linked schedules, IRS approved printout. IBM, Apple, TRS-80, CP/M $129.95; MAC $99.95. Call now for full information.

EZWare Corporation (215) 667-4064

Inquiry 696

Inquiry 691.

MY WORD!® is just $35.00

Complete word processing plus sort, add rows & columns, mergeprint, quickprint, macros, math, microjustify, use all 256 char. Source: add $35. 150 page printed manual. 30-day money-back guarantee. IBM PC or compatible, 128K, one drive, any printer.

T.N.T. SOFTWARE, INC.

34069 Hainesville Road, Round Lake, IL 60073 (312) 223-8595

PC-Type™

Fast, compact, capable & easy! Help panels, handson tutorial, macros, multiple-line headings & footings, DOS path support, print spooling, block operations, etc. ASCII files. Install program allows customization. $59.95 + $5 s/h. For 128K IBM PC.

ButtonWare, Inc.

P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 1-800-J-BUTTON

PC-Write™ Shareware

Fast, friendly, flexible word processor and text editor for IBM PC. Easy to use. Advanced features like macros, split screen, footnotes, mailmerge. Many good reviews, thousands sold. All software, manual on disk $10. OK to copy! Register for full manual, support, source $75.

Quicksoft (206) 282-0452 Visa/MC 219 First N. #224J, Seattle, WA 98109

Inquiry 752

Inquiry 660

• FORECASTING *

MODELING * PUNNING *

Compatible with IBM PC & Apple II MICBO-BJ- NUAMETRICS

• Box-Jenkins ARIMA • Econometrics package

• Identify, estimate, forecast $195.00

S295.00 PROFESSIONALS CHOICE XTRAPOLATOR- • Link to Lotus. Visicalc • Automatic forecasting Multiple order discounts $195.00 50% off Apple II orders STRATIX

P.O. Box 4413 •

Burlingame, CA 94011

(415) 697-0573

MC/VISA

PC-Calc™ Version 3

64 columns x 256 rows, math and Stat functions, horizontal bar graphs, title locking, individually adjustable column widths, IF, , THEN, link to other spreadsheets or PC-File databases, much more. Requires 256K IBM PC. $59.95 + $5 s/h.

ButtonWare, Inc.

P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 1-800-J-BUTTON

TurboTax®

"Very easy to use. Documentation-Excellent"—PC Magazine. POWERFUL and FAST! 33 forms plus multiples CALCULATES in 3 seconds! Pop-up menus. IRS approved 1986 planning module. Many extras Simply the best! IBM & compatibles 256K $65 + $5 S/H. Visa/MC. Many states avail.

ChlpSoft, Inc.

5674 Honors, San Diego, CA 92122

(619) 453-8722

inquiry 664

MARCH I986 -BYTE 413

The Buyer's Mart

SOFTWARE/BUSINESS

SOFTWARE/CHURCH

SOFTWARE/GENERAL

STANDARD FORMS

Easy lo use with on screen step by step prompts. Prints data required in proper spaces on any preprinted form that fits in your printer. Free phone support. $79 (VISA/MC/AMEX). MS-DOS/CPM-80. Other original software. FREE catalogue.

MICRO-ART PROGRAMMERS

173 Birch Avenue, Cayucos, CA 93430 (805) 995-2329 (24 hours)

Church Package

Parishioner Time, Talent and Treasure System program is written in modifiable dBASE source code. • Contributions • Disbursements • Ledger • Names with mailing labels • Personal information database. Requires dBASE II or III. PC-DOS/CPM-80 $200.

Feller Associates

550 CR PPA, Route 3, Ishpeming, Ml 49849 (906) 486-6024

LEARN TOUCH TYPING NOW

Are you a hunt-and-peck typist? Then you need the TOUCH TYPIST computer typing course. Over 10,000 have already learned to type with TOUCH TYPIST. For IBM-PC, DEC Rainbow, or DECmate II and III. List $79. SPECIAL PRICE $27.97. FREE SHIPPING. MC/VISA. COD + $3.

Newline Software

P.O. Box 289, Tiverton, Rl 02878 (401) 624-3322

Inquiry 709

Inquiry 692

Inquiry 718.

► TIME & BILLING ■*

400 clients/20 partners/80 job & 40 out of pocket categories/20 areas of practice/fixed fee or hourly/more! Prints billing/statements/aged rec's/more! Free phone support. $149 (VISA/MC/AMEX). MSDOS/CPM-80. Other original software. FREE catalogue.

MICRO-ART PROGRAMMERS

173 Birch Avenue, Cayucos, CA 93430 (805) 995-2329 (24 hours)

Inquiry 710

ROMAR CHURCH SYSTEMS™

Membership-61 fields plus alternate address; labels, letters, reports any lield(s). Offering-256 funds; oplional pledge; statements; post to 255 x/year. Finance-G/L with budget: up to 500 sub-totals & 99 depts; month & YTD reports anytime lor any month Size 2000 people/floppy; 25000/10 meg Ad too short! Write!

Romar Church Systems, Attn: BMB

P.O. Box 4211, Elkhart, IN 46514 (219) 262-2188

FREE SOFTWARE

Disk includes sample programs of TOUCH TYPIST, PROFESSIONAL TEXT PROCESSOR, and PROFESSIONAL SPELLING CHECKER. Plus information about other software and computer products. Indicate IBM-PC or DEC Rainbow or Zenith Z-100. $3 s&h.

Newline Software

P.O. Box 289, Tiverton, Rl 02878 (401) 624-3322

Inquiry 719

SOFTWARE/EDUCATION

INCOME TAX SOFTWARE

TAXWORKS® software to enter, calculate, and print Federal Form 1040 and 17 supporting schedules. 1985 marks 3rd year of production. 240 programs sold last season. Free phone support. For IBM, MS-DOS, CPM-80. Federal $400. California $100. Demo $25.

TAXWORKS®

881 Alma Real Dr., Suite T-2

Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

(213) 459-2746, In Calif. (800) 232-"1040"

War or Peace? YOU Decldel

Stimulates discussion on the role of nuclear weapons in national security. Players chose U.S. or Soviet side. High school or home use, both teacher and student manuals included. IBM or Apple. $49.95 MC/VISA/AMEX

Bright Ideas, Inc.

52 Exeter St., Portland, Maine 04102-2839 1-800-628-2828 ext. 649

TAX PREPARER PROGRAM

Prepare client's or your own Fed. Income taxes on your PC. Simplified data input. Program calculates and produces printout lor transfer to IRS forms 1040, 2210. Sched. A, B, C, G, & W, For IBM-PC, Zenith Z-89. Z-100, DEC Rainbow. Requires BASIC. List $60 SPECIAL $39 + $3 s&h.

Newline Software

P.O. Box 289, Tiverton, Rl 02878 (401) 624-3322

Inquiry 656

Inquiry 720.

Powerful Accouting Software At $35 Per Package

For schools, municipalities, printers, accountants, contractors, & others. Acct. RecyBilling/lnventoryG/UFund Accounting-Acct. Pay-Payroll/Job CostWork in Process.

Elite Systems, Inc.

Box 820-4 Hayward Rd. • Carmel, ME 04419 To Order Call 207-848-5771

Inquiry 746.

XENIX TUTOR AT LAST!!!

A 6 hr. training program on effective use of XENIX (UNIX) operating system. Ideal for non pros wanting grasp of multi-user/multi-tasking systems. Runs under PC-DOS on IBM PC, PC/XT, PC/AT & compatibles: Requires 128K + graphics board. $350. COD/VISA/MC/AE.

Hurricane Software

19415 S. Dixie Hwy., Miami, FL 33157 800-238-2389 FL 305-238-4800

Inquiry 673.

Personal Tax Planner, $75.00 a lotus lemplaie tot 1-2-3 or symphony One lile includes Ihe 13 most commonly used federal lorms. which can be combined with one state file (all stales with income tax & sates tax are available). All forms federal and stale are interactive

Micro-One-Write, $95.00 a checkbook accounting system This unique single entry syslem is last, accurate, and very flexible. Unique features include windowing instant viewing of active account or department codes and running balance of money accounts. Export results to Lotus or dBase.

PERMAR & ASSOCIATES

800-538-8157 ext. 955 In CA. 800-672-3470 ext. 955

1125 Sunnyhills Rd.. Oakland. CA 94610 Include $3.00 s&h, CA residents odd 6.5% sales tax.

Inquiry 726.

SOFTWARE/GENERAL

INEXPENSIVE PC SOFTWARE

#1 Loan Amortization and Interest Calculations $50

H2 Business Costs and Breakeven Analysis $50

#3 Prolog Interpreter - Excellent teaching tool! $65

#4 Polynomial Roots - N degree real/complex! $45

#5 Curve Fitting - Ten different tests! $45 Add $1.50 S&H. Va residents add 4% tax.

VIRGINIA INFORMATION SERVICES, INC.

P.O. Box 6566, Richmond, VA 23230 804-745-5012 10 to 6 EST

► SOFTWARE FOR PENNIES ■+

GET BEST AND LATEST PC-DOS, CP/M-80 AND CP/M-86 PUBLIC DOMAIN PROGRAMS FOR BUSINESS. PERSONAL, EDUCATION. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, MODEMING, SCIENCE, AND MORE, AT LOW COST OF COPYING. 3-V4, 5-'A AND 8" DISK FORMATS ARE SUPPORTED SEND $8.00 FOR CATALOG.

MULTIPATH, INC.

Box 395, Montville, NJ 07045

(201) 575-5880

THE MAGIC KEYBOARD $46.50

Print Letters from 3/32" to 100'. or Sideways to 12". 10 fonts. Print one line at a time or from text file. Store signs, posters, overheads, large labels, etc. Okidata 92-3,192-3, Epson FX, Star Micronics, Proprinter. MS-DOS & Kaypro.®

WOODSMITH SOFTWARE

Rt. 3 Box 550A, Nashville, IN 47448 (812) 988-2137

Inquiry 716

Inquiry 742.

ABACUS

ONLY FROM SUNSOFT . .. Complete Accounting System for $49.95 plus S&H. SOURCE CODE only $20 extra!!! Complete documentation. Runs on CP/M & PC-DOS systems. 2-5'/." DSDD min.

' completely menu driven

' lull tile maintenance

' GIL, AIP, AIR, PIR, CIA

SUNSOFT Inc.

P.O. 1168, Marquette, Ml 49855 For orders: 1-800-624-7008 For info.: (906) 226-3370

Inquiry 751

414 BYTE- MARCH 1986

Dr. Ts MUSIC SOFTWARE

A music composition system with true word processing capabilities for APPLE and COMMODORE computers. Also, algorithmic composition programs for computer generation of sequences. Fully editable Bach songbook, Keyboard, Bass, and Drum disks. Patch librarians available for Yamaha and Casio synthesizers. Reviewed in Jan. '85 COMPUTE.

66 LOUISE RD. CHESTNUT HILL, MA 02167

(617)244-6954

Inquiry 680

Al for the IBM PC

TOPSI is a lull version of OPS5 which runs under MSDOS. Unix or CP/M. A last, etiicient expert system development tool.

Prototyping: $75

Production: $175

C version, add $20 Shipping, add $5

Dynamic Master Systems

POB 566456. Atlanta, GA 30356 (404) 565-0771

Inquiry 6B1.

The Buyer's Mart

SOFTWARE/GENERAL

SOFTWARE/GRAPHICS

SOFTWARE/LANGUAGES

CPM-80 LIVES on your PC

CP/Mulalor puts a 4mhz 8 bit CP/M emulator in your IBMPC for $99.

- A great 8 bit development system

■ Saves expensive CPM-80 applications

- Increases PC speed 10% for 8088 programs

- Priced less than most software only products

- Uses no valuable board slots

Source Information

P.O. Box 2974, Warminster, PA 18974 Phone (215) 628-4719

FORTRAN PROGRAMMER?

Now you can call 2-D and 3-D graphics routines within your FORTRAN program.

GRAFMATIC: 75 callable routines for

screen output. S135. PLOTMATIC: Pen plotter driver. $135. For the IBM PC. XT, AT and compatibles. We support a variety of compilers, graphics boards and plotters.

MICROCOMPATIBLES

301 Prelude Drive, Dept. B

Silver Spring, MD 20901

(301) 593-0663

CROSS ASSEMBLERS with "UNIVERSAL" LINKER and POWERFUL LIBRARIANS for IBM PC MS-DOS

Full featured for most microprocessors

ENERTEC, INC.

BOX 1312, Lansdale, PA 19446 215-362-0966 MC/VISA

Inquiry 733

Inquiry 711.

Inquiry 687

APPLE II USERS:

3780 RJE WORKSTATION EMULATION 3270 TERMINAL EMULATION No special software or protocol converter is required in the mainframe. Interfaces to all major IBM operating systems. Fast, error-free bisynchronous transmission, easy to use. APPLE-BISYNC by Urgeo Software, Inc.

Call us collect at: (509) 838-6058

GRAPHICS PRINTER SUPPORT

A T LAST! Use the PrtSc key to make quality scaled B& W or color reproductions of your display on any dot matrix, inkjet, or laser printer. GRAFPLUS supports all versions of PC or MS-DOS with IBM. Tecmar, and Hercules graphics boards. $59.95.

Jewell Technologies, Inc.

4302 SW Alaska St., Suite 207, Seattle, WA 98116 (206) 937-1081

Inquiry 760

Symbolic Debugger for Turbo Pascal "

- Set breakpoints at line numbers or procedures

- Display and modify variables symbolically

- Fully integrated into Turbo Pascal environment

Requires Turbo 2.0 or 3.0, IBM PC version. Only $49 plus S2 S&H.

KYDOR COMPUTER SYSTEMS

812 S. Sherman St., Richardson, Texas 75081

(214) 669-1888

SOFTWARE/LANGUAGES

Boot Up Your Resume!

Send your resume out on disk for a high impact impression THE RESUME DISK offers standard resume form plus indepth information at a keystroke. Customize, update, and distribute your resume on THE RESUME DISK. IBM PC and compatibles. 128K/two drives. $29.95. Checks, Visa/MC.

MT. LOOKOUT SOFTWARE

P.O. Box 26096, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226 513-871-5222

* INSTANT EDT/ASEM $50 PPD *

Full Macro Assembler. All the features of IBM's & Microsoft's. Syntax and file compatible. Runs like 'Turbo Pascal.' Write, assemble and run programs in seconds, in memory! 'WordStar' like editor built in. Supports full Intel 16-bit family. PC DOS-MS DOS compatible. Money back guarantee!

Computer Solutions

P.O. Box 354, Mason, Michigan 48854

1-800-B74-9375 VISA/MC 1 -517-628-2943

Catalog with 300 items sent with order.

ATLAS SYNTAX VERIFIER & TUTOR

* In accordance with IEEE Std 716

* Save valuable test station debug time

* Runs on IBM PC or work-alikes

* $400 each or $550 for both

DUBERT International, Inc.

(619) 277-4700

Inquiry 714

Inquiry 669.

Inquiry 745

SOFTWARE/GRAPHICS

THE DGI TYPE SHOP

Turn your IBM or APPLE computer and HEWLETTPACKARD plotter into a desktop publishing system. THE DGI TYPE SHOP offers a quick and economical alternative to typesetting - PLOTSETTING. Price $175. Ten optional fonts that range from a very formal script to Greek - Scientific are available.

DECISION GRAPHICS, INC.

PO. Box 2776-B, Littleton, Colorado 80161

Phone (303) 796-0341

Minnesota

SNOBOL4 La"9uage

Powerful string & data handling facilities. Interpreter compatible with mainframe SNOB0L4. 32K strings, 32 bit integers, 8087 for float & large memory model. Sample pgms include ELIZA. For >128K IBM PC & DOS or equivalent. Definitive "green" book by Griswold available.

Guide + 5Vt" SSDD diskette $44.95

Guide + diskette + "green" book $59.95

"Green" book only $24.95

Postpaid in USA. In NY add tax. VISA/MC (914) 271-5855

BERSTIS INTERNATIONAL

POB 441, Millwood, NY 10520

K&R standard C COMPILER with extensions

Assembler, Overlay Linker, Librarian, Unix-like Shell w/hierarchical directories, Library source for Shell and ProDos interface, allows production of stand-alone programs. CDOS version w/complete o/s source $49.95. ProDos versions: Entry: $49.95, Professional $99.95. No license fee.

WSM GROUP INC.

1161 N. Eldorado Place, #241, Tucson, AZ 85715 (602) 298-7910

Inquiry 655

Inquiry 767

Z-100 GRAPHICS FOR TURBO

Provides the graphics support that PC users get in Turbo Pascal 3.0 plus many enhancements for the Zenith Z-100. Handcrafted in Pascal and assembly language. Full source code included! Requires: 64K color ram, Turbo 2 or 3, MS-DOS. Price: $29.95.

Zlmbazl Products

7405 Berkman Drive, Austin, Texas 78752

RUN FAST, LOOK BEAUTIFUL

If this is what people expect frcm your BASIC programs, then you need YES MASTER!: a DOS-resident development aid that includes a screen painter, an ISAM file manager, a window manager, a printer generator and more. All in one package. $245. No royalty.

SOFTWAY, INC.

500 Sutter St., Suite 222 BC

San Francisco, CA 94102

(415) 397-4666

68020

Motorola compatible macro Assembler Package features linker, object librarian, symbol report generator with cross reference. Produces S-records and ROMable code. For CP/M-68K, MS-DOS $750. Portable Source in C $3500. AVAILABLE NOW.

Quelo, Inc.

2464 33rd Ave. W. Suite 173, Seattle, WA 98199 206/285-2528 telex 910-333-8171

Inquiry 759.

ENG/SCI GRAPHICS PLUS

GRIDS software system for mapping and processing 3D data on PCs and MINIS. Contouring, gridding, interpolation, Fourier transforms. No Programming. Large data sets. Screen, printer and plotter support. Grid operations in space and freq. domains. $400.

Machine Algorithms

1515 - 9th St., Boulder, CO 80302 303-442-1072

FINALLY! A Subroutine Library (or Compiled BASIC

OVER 100 SUBROUTINES AND FUNCTIONS for Use with Microsoft QUICK BASIC or IBM BASIC Compiler 2.0. Full Documentation Package with Examples, 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee. VISA/MC FINALLY! is only $99.00 + $4.00 S&H

KOMPUTERWERK, INC.

851 Parkview Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15215 (412) 782-0384

$25 BASIC Screens & Forms

Generate any size screen or form for input or output quickly. SCRENGEN.COM writes BASIC subroutines for incorporation into your program Fully documented, not copy protected. Available in most CPM formats and MS-DOS & Atari 520ST - Specify BASIC version used.

GALAXY COMPUTERS

8112 5th Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11209

718-238-0464

Inquiry 693.

MARCH I986 'BYTE

4I5

The Buyer's Mart

SOFTWARE/LANGUAGES

SOFTWARE/SCIENTIFIC

SOFTWARE/SCIENTIFIC

UNIVERSAL CROSS-REFERENCER

—WORKS WITH ALL LANGUAGES—

BASIC, C, Pascal, FORTRAN, COBOL. ASM. ..

You name it!

MS/PC-DOS V2 + . IBM PC. XT & compatibles

Unbeatable at $39.95 + $3 s/h. MCA/isa/Check

DALSOFT SYSTEMS

3565 High Vista. Dept E2 Dallas, TX 75234 (214) 247-7695

SYSTEM DESIGNER

SD is a tool for the design of hierarchical systems and processes, representable by trees. SD breaks a task of designing a large system into a great number of small, easy tasks while keeping track of all pieces. SD plots a graph of a tree representing the proposed system. The price is $399.

CUSTOM SYSTEMS

23 Crestwood Ct., Lansdale, PA 19446 (215) 468-7773

CADD for $99.95

FEATURES: Drawing layers • User Defined Fonts

• Component Libraries • Video & Digitizer Menus

• Color Graphics.

Autocad™ file conversion - $24.95

Dot Matrix Printer/plotter option ■ $24.95

MC. VISA. COD, add $3,00 for shipping

60 day money back guarantee.

GENERIC SOFTWARE

13250 N.E. 40th St., Bellevue, WA 98005

1-800-228-3601

Inquiry 674

Inquiry 766

Inquiry 694

WINDOW & SCREEN Mang't

For Modula 2, C, Pascal. IBM/compatibles, Atari 520ST Create overlap, pop-up menu/screen/windows without touch program, beat 64K limit. Save, move, zoom/shrink swap/delete, color, border, header, cursor control. $59.00 VISA/MC.

APPLIED COMPUTING

3368 Westchester Rd., Bloomfield Hills, Ml 48013

519-254-4472

Affordable Engineering Software

CALL OR WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG Circuit Analysis • Root Locus • Thermal Analysis • Matrix Manipulation • Signal Processing • Filter Design • Graphics • Text Proofreader

BV Engineering

2200 Business Way Suite 207, Riverside, CA 92501 VISWMC (714) 781-0252

—LINCAD-PC FOR DESIGN—

An interactive program for linear electronic circuits. Graphics, Optimization, Sensitivity, Filters, Active Devices, OpAmps. Introductory offer, $79 for IBM/PC disk and manual + $3.50 S/H. Oh. Res. add 5.5% sales tax. Check or M.O.

SOFCAD ELECTRONICS, INC.

P.O. Box 21845, Columbus, Ohio 43221

Inquiry 662

Inquiry 732.

SOFTWARE/SCIENTIFIC

SOFTWARE/SYSTEMS

ENGINEERING SOFTWARE WRITTEN BY ENGINEERS FOR ENGINEERS

Highest power per dollar. Highest power per K of memory. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Electronic Circuit Analysis $450.

Logic Simulation System $395.

Tatum Labs

33 Main St., Newtown, CT 06470 (203)426-2184

BEAM ANALY. & SPRING DESIGN

Beam analysis program calculates shear, moments, reactions, slopes and deflections in beams. Price: $50,00. Helical spring design program for compression, extension and torsion springs. Price: $75.00. Both packages include disk and documentation. For Apple II series of computers or IBM PC, PCjr and compatibles.

SYLCA CORPORATION

33-47 14 Street, Dept B, Long Island City, NY 11106 718-278-4604

LASER TYPOGRAPHY $495.

Typographic composition software to drive (he Corona L300 Laser Printer as a typesetter, H & J 24 proportional space fonts, widths for 78 fonts available. Mix face & point size on any line, multicolumn capability.

Micro Print-X, Inc.

P.O. Box 581, Ballinger, TX 76821 (915) 365-2343 Dealer Inquiries Welcome

Inquiry 737.

Inquiry 734

Digital Logic Design on the Macintosh™

The LogicWorks™ series allows you to create, test and document digital circuitry on your Macintosh. Full simulation capability lets you catch design errors before committing your circuit to hardware. From $79.95 (US). Demo pkg. $10. Visa/MC Accepted.

Capilano Computing Systems Ltd.

Box 86971, N. Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V7L 4P6 (604) 669-6343

DIGITAL SIGNAL ANALYSIS

Fourier Perspective II w/graphics. FFT/IFT, convolution, deconvolution, Hanning, Power Spectrum, Cross Correlation, 25 more. Graphics 2D and 3D. 8087 recommended, not required. Easy to use menus. FP II $395 or FP I (FFT w/graphics only) $149. Runs on PC, PC-XT, PC-AT.

Alligator Transforms Scientific Software

P.O. Box 11386, Costa Mesa, CA 92627 (714) 662-0660

► SCIENTIFIC CALCULATOR ■*

Memory resident emulation of theHP-11C plus direct insertion of results in foreground program, graphically presented, decimal, hex, binary, & octal operations, boolean functions and more. Mouse support. 8087 or Standard versions $49.95 + 3.00 s&h.

K SOFTWARE HOUSE

Rt. 2, Box 83B1 Unionville, TN 37180 (615) 294-5090

MATRIX 100

Powerful Matrix operations with single statements in IBM PC BASIC. Perform multiple regression, solve simultaneous equations, invert matrices, etc. MATRIX 100 commands are fast, reliable and easy to use. Price $80. 8087 support $125; compiler support $250. ($4 shipping & handling. CA res. add sales tax).

STANFORD BUSINESS SOFTWARE, INC.

4151 Middlefield Rd., Suite 215, Palo Alto, CA 94303 To Order Call (415) 424-9499

BACKBONE™

The Easy DOS-Interface for IBM PC/XT/AT and Compatibles Customize linked menus with the MENU PROCESSOR'". Then, any program, batch process, submenu, even DOS. may be accessed by a keystroke. A perfect hard disk organizer, ideal for LAN'S. Provides speed, convenience, simplicity Only $39.95 + $4 p&h Guaranteed! And Well Supported!

Synchrony Systems

4191 San Juan Ave.. Jacksonville. FL 32210 Orders: 1400-2374360 X314 In FL 1400-282-11521314

Inquiry 735

ACT1 PROFESSIONAL FULLY

INTEGRATED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM

for PC-DOS

Proven 3V6 years. Includes General Ledger; Accounts Receivables; Order Entry/lnv.; Accounts Payable; Inventory: Payroll (incl. Post Facto).

only $99.50 plus ship. & hand. (800) 344-2540

Cougar Mountain Software

Box 6B86, Boise, ID 83707

Inquiry 672.

FORTRAN SOURCE CODE

PROFESSIONAL SIGNAL PROCESSING & MATRIX ANALYSIS UTILITIES

34 PROGRAMS VvTTUTORIAL & EXAMPLES Spectral Analysis, Digilal Filters. Singular Value Decomp, Conj. Gradient, Root Finder, Graphics. More. Disk/Hardcopy. Documented. Rsrch Bibliography. Send for info. $99

CLAREN SOFTWARE

P.O. Box 5333 -MESA, AZ 85201

Inquiry 665.

416 BYTE • MARCH 1986

CMX MATRIX CALCULATOR

Evaluate complicated matrix expressions as easily as arithmetic on a calculator. Over a dozen useful operators invoked by a single keystroke. Fully prompting learning mode plus a rapid entry silent mode. MS/PC-DOS or CP/M68K (Sage/Stride) versions. $55.

Estanco, Inc.

444 So. Cotner Blvd., Lincoln, Nebraska 68510 phone (402) 489-6435

pcSHARE MULTI-USER O/S

pcSHARE allows your IBM-XT/AT or compatible to support up to 5 users running 1 -2-3, dBASE, WordStar, etc. on inexpensive serial CRTs. For software developers. pcSHARE efficiently runs compiled Basic. Pascal & C programs with full DOS 3.0 compatible record locking.

Digitrol Computers Inc.

440 Phillip Street

Waterloo. Ontario. CAN, N2L 5R9

(519)884-4541

The Buyer's Mart

STATISTICS

UTILITIES

UTILITIES

STATISTIX™

$75 - Satisfaction guaranteed

A comprehensive, powerful, yet easy-to-use statistical analysis system for IBM PC/XT/AT's, Apple Its. and MS DOS machines. Clear 200p manual. Write for information.

NH Analytical Software

801 West Iowa Ave., St. Paul, MN 55117 (612) 488-4436

The Statistician

Includes: Multiple Regression (Stepwise, ridge, all subsets, backward elimination)

• Time series analysis • descriptive statistics

• transformations • survey research ■ nonparametrics

• X-Y plots ■ ANOVA • random samples • data base

• data editor • search & sort • hypothesis tests

For IBM, MS-DOS, XENIX, CPM, TBS-DOS. Please call TOLL FREE 1-800-334-0854 (Ext. 814)

QUANT SYSTEMS

Box 628, Charleston, SC 29402 803-571-2825

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIBRARY SYSTEM

TUB™ keeps ALL versions of your program in ONE compact library file, even with hundreds of revisions.

• 5 times faster than Unix SCCS

• LAN-shared libraries with PC Network MS/PC-DOS 2.x & 3.x. $99.95 + $3 S&H. VISA/MC

BURTON SYSTEMS SOFTWARE

POB 4156, Cary, NC 27511 (919) 469-3068

Inquiry 657

IBM PC UTILITIES $19.95

This high value utility package has 20 powerful system utilities. Some of the functions included are userspec'd keyboard redefinition, file compare, set screen colors, directory renaming, disk park, file kill & more. For information contact

Radcliffe R&D

4449 Snowden Ave., Lakewood, CA 90713 (213) 420-3744

ZERODISK

ZeroDisk runs dozens of copyprotected business packages from your hard disk without floppies. Call tor the latest list of software it handles. Needs IBM AT, XT, PC, or compatible, DOS 2.0 or higher. ZeroDisk is revised monthly and is not copy protected. $75 US. Check or Credit Cards accepted.

QUAID SOFTWARE LIMITED 45 Charles St. E. 3rd Fl.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4Y 1S2 (416) 961-8243

BASIC PROGRAMMERS

Add SALT & PEPPER to your existing/new programs. Create dazzling Menus, intelligent Input Screens. Walking Strings, ASC/DescSort, PRT. SCR. Date processing & more. SALT & PEPPER has 28 modules, (in MS-DOS compatible BASIC). They merge with your program in minutes. S & P performs all the tricks, YOU get the applause. $59.95 plus $2.50 s&h. Demo disk $2.50 ppd.

MCMSA COMPUTER GURU

40 Wagner Ave., Piscataway, NJ 08854 201-356-6477

Inquiry 730.

NUMBER CRUNCHER STAT SYS

Menu-driven. Multiple & stepwise regressien, ANOVA, time series, discriminant analysis, principal components, scatter plots, histograms, t-tests, contingency tables, nonparametrics. Import expprt data. Sort, join, merge. Site license $79. IBM PC/Macintosh.

NCSS-B

865 East 400 North, Kaysville, UT 84037 801-546-0445

MEDIA MASTER PLUS

READ, WRITE, and FORMAT over 60 CP/M disks and run most CP/M-80 programs on your IBM PC! Two program package includes ZP/EM, a CP/M-80 emulator program that transforms your IBM PC into a 1 -2 MHZ CP/M 2.2 computer. $59.95 + $3.00 S/H (CA 6%)

Intersecting Concepts, Inc.

4573 Heatherglen Ct.. Ste. 10

Moorpark. CA 93021

(805) 529-5073

IBM -TOSHIBA PRINTER INTERFACE

• all extended capabilities of the TOSHIBAS available

• bit mapped graphics supported

• Prints all IBM extended ASCII characters

• screen dumps in text and graphics

• escape sequences supported

• popular software supported directly

• "Sideways" and "Pyxel Visuals" support

• dealers welcome $79.95 ($2,50 S&H) Integrated Data Technologies, Inc. 4775 Bunchberry Lane, Colorado Springs, CO 80917

303-488-2583 MC/VISA

Inquiry 702

Inquiry 700.

RATS!

RATS is a fast, accurate & complete regression package with unsurpassed POWER. Has both time-series & cross section analysis. Includes Box-Jenkins, logit & probit. Spectral analysis & graphics also available. Requires 256K RAM, IBM PC or compatible. $200. MC/Visa.

VAR Econometrics

P.O. Box 19334, Minneapolis, MN 55419 (612) 822-9690

STATISTICS CATALOG!

If you need statistics for IBM PC or Apple II, call

us and let our technical advisors help you find the

statistics programs you need.

Write or call now to get a FREE catalog of statistics

and quality control software.

HUMAN SYSTEMS DYNAMICS

9010 Reseda Blvd., Ste. 222

Northridge, CA 91324

(800) 451-3030 (818) 993-8536 (CA)

DOS PATHING EXTENSION

Give your software the full PATHING capabilities that are missing from the 2.xx and 3,xx versions of MSDOS and PC-DOS. FULLPATH object license: $19.95, source license: $399.95. (+$5 S&H + 6% in MN). VISA/MC/PO/CHK 30 day money back guarantee.

P. fl. GLASSEL and ASSOCIATES, INC.

30255 Fir Trail, Stacy, MN 55079 612-462-1337

Inquiry 748.

PACKED

HOT STUFFII

UTILITY DISK

FOR

IBM-PC

$10

EXPECT A MIRACLE!

MICRO TOOLS INC.

POB 357 N. Chili, NY 14514 (716) 594-1088 Circle the Inquiry 0713 . .. We'll do the rest

"USER-FRIENDLY" REDEFINED

Don't laugh. Now if your P.C.'s aren't friendly, it's your own fault. Meet TheEMCEE, your application manager. Replaces DOS prompt with custom menus. Runs programs, batch files and menus. 99 levels of password protection, Fast, friendly interface for users, powerful access and control for systems managers. Only $49.95. What could be friendlier than that?

COMMAND SOFTWARE SYSTEMS, INC. 1-800-423-9147 or 1-818-707-7100

Inquiry 765.

MMZ8 BUS/HARDWARE

BCC 52 AND MMZ8 BUS COMPATIBLE

16 channel, 12 bit plus sign and overrange bit, A/D converter board is designed to interface to the MMZ8 Bus. Input voltage ranges include Ov to +10v, -10v to + 10v, and -5v to +5v. Custom calibration is available. Software and documentation included. Price $160 plus $4 shipping and handling.

SMR DESIGN AND PROGRAMMING CO.

17509 Mapleboro Ave., Maple Hts., Ohio 44137 (216) 663-7809

Inquiry 713.

Advertise your computer products for

as little as $325 in THE BUYER'S MART.

For more information call

Karen Burgess at BYTE 603-924-3754.

MARCH 1986

, YTE 417

WE HAVE THE LOWEST PRICES - MOST ITEMS IN STOCK WE WILL BEAT ANY ADVERTISED PRICE ON THE SAME TERMS!

SPECIAL #1

CORONA PORTABLE

• IBM Compatible

• 256K • 2 Drives Monitor • Keyboard • DOS

$1195

All Sales Are Warranteed for 90 Days, Parts & Labor

WE SERViCE WHAT WE SELL!

MAIL ORDER AND SAVE

ORDER TOLL FREE (800) 621-0849 ext. 446

SPECIAL #2.

IBM PC 256K

• Two 360K Drive

Only

$1499

SPECIAL #3

COMPAQ PORTABLE

• IBM Compatible

• 256K • 2 Drives Monitor • Keyboard • DOS

$1875

SPECIAL #4

COMPAQ 286 PORTABLE

• IBM AT Compatible • DOS

• 1.2 Meg Floppy • 640K • 20 Meg Hard Disk • Monitor

$4589

SPECIAL #5

20 MEG HARD DISK FOR IBM

• Seagate • Western Digital

$495

SPECIAL #6

PC XT COMPATIBLE

• 256K • Two 360K Drives Keyboard • Green Monitor • w/Graphics • Dos 2.1

$799

SYSTEMS

IBM

PC 256K, 2 Drives $1575

XT 256K, 1 Drive 1880

XT 256K, 1 Drive 1-10 MG 2280

COMPAQ

Portable, 2 Drives, 256K . .$1875 Call on Desk Pro's

CORONA

Portable $1195

Desk Top, 2 Drives, 256K w/monitor 1479

MONITORS

PRINCETON GRAPHICS

Max 12E $159

HX-9 Call

HX-12 425

SR-12 w/doubler board 749

TAXAN

620 Color $399

640 Color 499

121 Green 125

122 Amber 135

AMDEK

310A $145

600 Color 389

722 Color 519

PRINTERS

EPSON

Call for Best Pricing

OKIDATA

182, 120 cps $218

192, 160 cps, w/Roms 349

193, 160 cps, IBM 499

84, 200 cps, IBM 658

OKI-MATE 20, Color, IBM . 229

TOSHIBA

P1340 $ 519

P351 1059

STARMICRONICS

SG10/15 $219/389

SD10/15 355/469

SR10/15 489/589

CITIZEN

MSP-10 $259

MSP-15 369

MSP-20 399

MSP-25 549

DISKETTES

Qty.

BULK PRICES

100 SS/DD 5V4 $ 59.00

100 DS/DD 5V4 69.00

100 1.2MG for AT 5V4 .299.00

IBM EXTRAS

AST RESEARCH

SixPak+ , 64K w/Side Kick . $209

Reach wCrosstalk 369

Preview Mono Card 239

Advantage wl28K 399

D & D MEMORY CARD

MF-100 + , 64K same/6Pak + $109

HERCULES

Color Card w/Printer Port . .$149 Mono Graphics Card 305

GOODIES

IBM Printer Cable $19

64K Ram Set of Nine Chips . 11 256K Ram Set of Nine Chips 39 Power Supply 135 Watts .... 84

8087 Coprocessor 109

DOS 2.1 55

DOS 3.1 64

MODEMS

HAYES

Micromodem HE $159

300 149

1200 379

1200B IBM Internal 349

2400 External 639

PROMETHEUS

Promodem 1200 $295

Promodem 1200A 309

Promodem 1200B 275

Promodem 1200MAC 339

DISK DRIVES

IBM COMPATIBLE

Teac 55B $99

Mitsubishi 4851 99

Tandon TM 100-2 99

Siemans DT542 89

In quantities of 2 or more

TEAC

55B, 320K $119

55GF, 1.2MG for AT 149

100% APPLE COMPATIBLE SW

525Afor He and 11+ $109

525C for He 119

350M for Mac Call

HARD DISKS

10 Meg for PC $259

20 Meg for PC 359

20 Meg for AT 489

30 Meg for AT 789

Controller for PC 135

BUILD A P.C.

640K Mother Board

w/8 Slots $179

Flip Top Case w/speaker... 59

Disk Controller 49

Color Card 99

Monochrome Card 129

5151 Keyboard 99

Dual Drive Kit 189

135 Watt Power Supply .... 79

WE OFFER VOLUME DISCOUNTS! MAKE THAT CALL (800) 621-0849 ext. 446

SPECIAL #7

PC XT Compatible Turbo

• 640K • 8 MHz • Keyboard • Color Graphics • Color Monitor • Dos 2.1

Complete

$1149

SPECIAL #8

IBM AT COMPUTER SYSTEM

• 20 Meg Hard Disk • 1.2 Meg Floppy • Color Graphics • Color Monitor • Dos 3.1 FREE UPS SHIPPING ON SPECIAL #8

$4,399

SPECIAL #9

10 MEG HARD DISK

• For IBM or Compatible

Complete !)>*>/"

<fc

Di/count Computer/

SELLING TO YOU SINCE 1978

MAIL ORDER:

13324 HAWTHORNE BLVD., SUITE 201 HAWTHORNE, CA 90250

ORDER DESK:

Inside California (213) 970-0206

Outside California (800) 621-0849 x446

Hours: Monday—Friday 8 am to 6 pm Open Saturdays

WE CARRY TOO MANY ITEMS TO LIST, PLEASE CALL FOR A QUOTE ON ANY ITEM.

No Surcharge for Credit Cards Terms: Prices reflect a cash prepaid discount. All merchandise new. We accept MC, Visa, Wire Transfer, C.O.D.'s require deposit, Certified Check, P.O.'s from qualified firms. Shipping: minimum $4.00 first 5 pounds. Tax: California residents only add 6V2% sales tax. All returns subject to 15% restock fee. Prices Subject to Change.

418 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 106

CALIF. ORDERS & TECHNICAL INFO

213-644-1140 Dealer & OEM Inquiries Invited

PTAnr HOI IDC- M0N-FRI 9:00am■ 6:00pm jIvJKC nUUKj. SATURDAY 10:00am - 5:00pm

ORDERS ONLY - TOLL FREE

1-800-421-5775

SUN-ST COMPUTER SYSTEM

8 MHz HIGH-SPEED $(

995

00

SUN-ST Computer System is an IBM Compatible System. It works with the same software used on the IBM; Lotus 1-2-3, Symphony, DBASE II & III, Framework, AutoC.A.D., Wordstar, MultiPlan, etc.

The basic system is fully operational. All you need to do is insert your DOS disk and application software. (Does not run programs that require ROM BASIC).

□ Uses MS & PC DOS Operating System & XENIX Compatibility.

d 8MHz High Speed Operation Clock.

HARDWARE INCLUDES:

□ 8 MHz CPU Board with 640K, 70% Faster Speed

□ Computer Cabinet

□ Enhanced Full Function Keyboard (Large RTN & Shift Keys)

□ 2 Disk Drives (DSDD, 360KB, '/> Height) D 135 Watt Power Supply

□ Floppy Disk Controller

□ 12" Green High-Resolution Monitor (TTL)

□ Monochrome Graphic Card (720x348) with Parrallel Printer Port

n Fully Assembled and Tested a Meets FCC Class "A" Reg. for Industry & Business Use.

SUN-XT CPU

: 8088 CPU (8087 Option) : RAM Expandable to 640K 3 Fully IBM Compatible I Same Dim. as IBM PC/XT : No RAM Included : 8 Expansion Slots

$165oo

Monochrome Graphics Card

D 720(H) :<348(V) High-Res d 80x25 Text Mode D Runs Lotus 1-2-3, ect. □ With Parallel Printer Port

$11000

Multi-I/O Plus Board

□ Parallel Printer Port

□ Serial I/O Port (Opt. Dual)

□ Clock Cal. w/Battery Back-up D Game Port

$110oo

SUN-ST CPU

Fully IBM PC/XT Compatible

Run 8MHz using 8088-2

with 8087-2 Optional.

Same Dimension as IBM PC/XT

Expandable to 640K

$24500

Color G Card

C RGB & Composite Video

□ 640 x200 High-Res (B&W)

□ 320x200 Mid-Res (Color) D 80x25 Text Mode

□ Light Pen Interface 316 Colors (160x100)

$9900

Hi-Res Mono Monitor

□ 12" Green Monitor C800 Lines at Center d 18MHz Band Width

□ Separate TTL Sig. Input Q Dual Intensity Sig. Level

$105oo

SUN-AT CPU Board

□ 80286 CPU (80287 Optional) c 640K Memory

c 6MHz System Clock

□ Built-in Real-time Clock (Batter)' Back-up optional)

c Dimensions & Expansion same as IBM-AT (6-16 bit, 2-8 bit)

□ Expand Multi-User Many Megabyte with XENIX

□ Fully IBM/PC Compatible

c with bios sgggoo

PC/XT Power Supply

135 Watt 150 Watt

$ggoo

510900

Full Function Enhanced Keyboard

□ Enhanced Layout like AT Keyboard

□ Large Return Key d Large Shift Key

□ Caps, Numeric, Scroll, Lock Light Indicator $7500

"GOLD STAR" RGB Monitor

D 13" Display DB-9 Conned

□ 640x400 High-Resolution (Requires Special Card)

□ 2500 Characters (80 x 32) D RGB TTL Level Signal

□ 0.31mm Dot Pitch

$36500

Floppy Disk Controller

□ Standard 5'/i" DSDD

□ Run 2 Internal & External Ports

□ Cable for Internal Drive

$4900

IBM PC/XT Style Case

□ 8 Slot Back Panel

c Incl. Mount Brk/Hardware

□ Fits IBM Power Supply

□ Side Switch Hole

$4900

SUN XT OEM System

□ SUN-XT CPU

□ 640KRAM System 1

Q135WP.S D FDC W/Cable

□ Computer Cabinet

□ Full Function Keyboard

□ No Disk Drive

c No Graphic Card S/irroo

□ No Monitor tOJ Assembled (For Qty. 5-up)

System 2

D SUN-XT CPU D 640K RAM

□ 135 WP.S

□ FDC with Cable

□ Computer Cabinet

□ Full Function Keyboard D1 Disk Drive

c Mono G Card or Color G Card

Assembled $625°°

(For Qty. 5-up)

SUN-XT Computer System

□ SUN-XT CPU W/640K

□ 2 Disk Drive w/Controller

□ Mono G Card w/Parallel P Port

□ 12" Green TTL Monitor D135 W P.S & Keyboard

□ Assembled & Tested

+ Please Call for Other Configurations

Available.

$

895

00

SUN AT Computer System

□ SUN-AT W/640K RAM

□ 1.2MB Disk DriveCl each)

□ 200W.P.S.

□ FDD & Hard Disk Contoller

□ AT Enhanced Keyboard

a&t $1795

00

AT Style Cabinet

200 W Power Supply AT Style Enhanced

Keyboard

FDD & Hard Disk

Controller

1.2 MB 5'/i Disk Drive

20MB Hard Disk Drive

$1 t QOO

$16900 $11 o00

$265oo

$-|42°°

$699oo

.... »450"" □ KB5151 Compatible Keyboard *109°"

$550°" □ EPROM Prog. (2716, 32, 64, 128) $139°"

s59™ □ 256K RAM Kit (9 each) '35""

s39"° □ Parallel Printer Cable s15""

s39"" □ 6 Outlet Surge Supressor

□ 576K RAM Expansion Card (OK) *59°" (Midland Ross Ind.) s145"

D 10Mb Hard Disk w/Controller

□ 20 Mb Hard Disk w/Controller c ASYNC RS232 Card

□ Parallel Printer Port

□ Dual Game Port

o Citizen MSP-10

□ Citizen MSP-15

a Swivel Monitor Base (MN-5) . . d Tatung 1370 High Resolution

(800x400 with BOB Card)

0 5'A" DSDD V-2 Height Disk Drive

S?nno<

*3750(

. 'IS'"

*870"'

SUNTRONICS CO, INC

12603 Crenshaw Blvd., Hawthorne, CA 90250

TERMS: VISA, MasterCard [No Surcharge]. COD, Cash or Certified Check (VISA or MC Ref. Required). School & Gov. Contractor P.O. accepted. Shipping S. H/C $4.00 for 3 lbs plus $ .60 for each additional lb. CA residents add Calif, sales tax. £10.00 Min. order. IBM is a registered trade mark of International Business Machines

Inquiry 33!

MARCH I?

BYTE 419

Inquiry 104

CCT-4

SYSTEM SERIES

The latest CCT implementation of the new generation Intel 16-Bit Processor technology. This means extreme speed, unequaled power, and the ultimate in reliability, and of course, the innovators at CCT behind it.

This series in the CCT line exploits the speed and power of the Intel 80286 and Zilog Z-80H (8MHz), on the 286Z CPU board. This combination, along with CompuPro DMA controllers and I/O boards, yields a dramatic improvement in system throughput speeds, from basic CP/M operation, up to large powerful multi-user/multi-tasking machines. The CCT-4 represents the most advanced hardware presently available in a microcomputer to run the thousands of CP/M type software programs on the market, and with CONCURRENT DOS 8-16 and the CompuPro PC Graphics board (when available), all software written for the IBM PC machines. This series is for the serious business/scientific user.

CCT-4A State-of-the-art power in it's basic form. Consists of CCT-286Z CPU board and CCT-M256 (256K), along with CompuPro: Enclosure 2 Desk (21 slotMF), DiskIA, System Support 1, Interfacer 4, the CCT-2.4 floppy drive system, and CP/M 8-16, and with SF-200 surge suppressor system $5,269.00

CCT-4B Single-user/hard disk power. As the 4A, except priced without the CCT-2.4, to add in your choice of CCT hard/floppy

combination drive subsystem, at the published pricing $4,149.00

(Example: CCT-4B Mainframe with CCT-10/1 = $6,198.00) plus cost of selected drive subsystem

CCT-4C o Multi-user/hard disk power. As the 4B, with the CCT-M512 (512K static RAM board) instead of M256; Interfacer 3 inL^ stead of Interfacer 4; SF-400 instead of SF-200, plus Concur. DOS 8-16 O.S. (4 to 6 user system) .... $4,999.00

Plus cost of selected drive subsystem

j^F^. (Example: CCT-4C Mainframe with OT-40/1 = $8,048.00)

<$!<$*

Limited Time Offer - FREE 80287 Math Chip with any CCT-4!

*JU

*S»

&^Q* The above systems include all necessary cabling, assembly, testing, minimum 20 hour burn-in, ''tyv ^ and the CCT unconditional 12 month direct warranty. fa

CCT-M512 WORLD'S TOP SELLING CCT STATIC RAM. IEEE Standard 12MHz. 512K in one slot! — Special Price: $799 " CCT-M256 256K version of M512 upgradeable to full 512K. Perfect 256K RAM board for any CompuPro system $439

CUSTOM COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY / BOX 4160 / SED0NA, ARIZONA 86340

TOLL FREE ORDERING: 800-222-8686 / For technical support / service: 602-282-6299

• ••.••••••.•

*•

*:

*

*:

•:

•

•:

•:

•

*:

•

*

•:

■ ■""IA..A ^/T £> A T H i ! I I H I I I I I I I l I I I I I I I

|3/*t XI (5k /% I Compatible Systems

•••••••••

•

*:

*

•: •

•: • *

• *:

•

•

• •: * *

MONITOR ADAPTORS

Mono w/o printer port S69

Color Graphics w/o pp $89

Mono w/prinrer port $115

Color Graphics w/p. port...$115 Mono Graphics w/p. port... $135 _

STD Chauffer $299

Everex EDGE $299

Taxan 555 $225

Genoa 5pectrum $315

MULTIFUNCTION BOARDS

AST Six Pak 64K $265

64K Generic 6-pack $145

MISC. ITEMS

Floppy controller $59

Hard disk controller $1 75

Floppy Drives Call

135 W Power Supply $85

150 W Switching PS 135

XT Mother Dd OK $250

Turbo Mother Dd OK $350

Chassis $89

5150 style Keyboard $99

5151 style Keyboard $155

AT style for XT $135

AT

$

SOLUTION

1024K RAM on the Mother Doord 1 2 Meg Floppy drive 192W Power Supply, 6 Keyboard Clock Calendar

1895

IEMAT

compatible

m

TURBO

SOLUTION

775

360 Floppy, 640K. 135 watt power supply. 8 slots, Keyboard Turbo Systems are equipped with 8088-2 processor with dual speed 4.77 & 7 MHZ. 40% Faster than IBM XT

$649

PC SOLUTION XT .

360K Floppy. 256K RAM. expandable to 640K, 135W Power Supply, enhanced Keyboard

Complete System

$995

Two 360K Floppies, 256K Ram . 135W Power Supply. 8 Slots . Keyboard. Monogrophics adopror, TTL Monitor, printer port.

Call for SUPER XT & Hard disk Configurations

Maryland & D.C. Residents include 5% Sales Tax. AH returns require RMA No. and subject to 15% restocking charge. Advertised prices for mall orderonry, Retail prices slightly higher. Prices subject to change, and limited to stock on hand. We reserve the right to limit quantities.

JnorKJc

Computers & Electronics

4j 0524 Detrick Ave., Kensington, MP 20695

s

301) 564-9500

Jjfa

.Ul^^ntL

Hard Disks & Controllers

20 Meg Internal $475

30 Meg Internal $895

20 Meg card $995

20 Meg streamer $725

10 Meg Reel tape $545

MODEMS

Hayes 1200 $399

Hayes 1200D $355

Everex 1200B $195

MONITORS

NEC TTL $160

Amdek310A $189

PGSMAX-12 $165

PG5HX-12 $450

NEC Color $395

Taxan 640 $550

XrronTTL $125

PRINTERS

StarSG-10 $249

Citizen 35 LQ $489

Citizen MSP-10 $289

Citizen MSP-15 $399

Epson 800 Call

Epson 1000 Coll

Epson 286 Call

NEC P5 $995

:*

•

*

* ■• :*

■• :•

• :• -*

•

:•

:• •

•

• :• • * :•

iririririricirifiririr^iriririririririr^iriririficirir^irir^iririririr^ir^^irir^irir^irir

420 BYTE • MARCH

Inquiry 158

CCT

®

CUSTOM COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY ~k

TOLL-FREE

ORDERING:

800-222-8686

FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT/ 1 CCT PLAZA — P.O. BOX 4160 — SEDONA, ARIZONA 86340 SERVICE / IN ARIZONA: 602-2824299

Purchase your Hardware and Software directly from an OEM / Systems Integrator. Take advantage of our buying power! We stock afull line of Board Level Components, Software and Peripherals. Call for your needs. We'll give you the Lowest Prices, and the Technical Support and Know-How we are quickly becoming well-known for. Satisfied Customers Nationwide. The Nation's Custom Systems House for Business, Education and Science. Call for a system quote. CCT Implements Tomorrow's Technology Today!™

• FOREMOST QUALITY • ADVANCED SUPPORT • REASONABLE COST

ccr

80286 NOW!

□ CCT-286Z is our model designation for the MI-286 dual processor board from Macrotech. It features the super high speed combination of Z-80H and 80286, with provision for the 80287 math chip. Directly replaces 8085/88 and 8086 CPUs running CP/M, MP/M Concurrent DOS, and MS-DOS, at throughput increases of 3X to 5X! SPECIAL PRICE-$795 80287 Option - Installed - $250

SEE THE CCT-4 SERIES

USING THIS BOARD

DETAILED ON THE FACING PAGE

NOW! BATTERY BACK-UP

ON CCT RAM BOARDS!

VOLATILE PRICES CALL FOR QUOTE

LIBERTY TERMINALS

• Superior Reliability •

110-14" GREEN-80/132 Column .. CLOSE

110-14" AMBER OUT

200-14" GREEN-80/132 Super Deluxe PRICES 200-14" AMBER CALU!

OKIDATA PRINTERS - Top Quality 182 - 80 Col. . CALL 183 -132 Col.. CALL 192 - 80 Col. CALL 193 -132 Col.. CALL 84 -132 Col/200cps—Top of the Line . CALL For Serial Interfaces CALL

TOSHIBA P351 - 288 CPS/24 PIN - $1499

DIABLO — Letter Quality Series Model 620 $969 Model 630 $1799

WE HAVE ALL SOFTWARE-CALL

$ ACROSS THE BOARD PRICE REDUCTIONS $

INDUSTRIAL GRADE SUPERIOR QUALITY

CCT DISK DRIVE SYSTEMS

ROLLS ROYCES OF THE INDUSTRY

S-100 HARD DISK SUBSYSTEMS

Professionally engineered ST-506type systemsforthe business market S-100 Computer user. Includes industry top quality drives, CompuPro Disk 3 DMA controller, all cabling, A&T, formatted, burned-in. Provisions for up to two hard disks in each system. We include operating system update. CP/M 80, CP/M 86, CP/M 8-16, CCP/M 8-16, CP/M 68K. (/1 Systems are CCT innovated hard/floppy combinations, with Mitsubishi DSDD 8" drive.) 12 month warranty.

CCT-10(11 + MEG) $1399

CCT-20 (22 + MEG) $1549

CCT-40 (36 + MEG) $2579

CCT-75 (75 + MEG) $3349

CCT-90 (87 + MEG) $4799

CCT-125(123 + MEG) $6099

CCT-10/1 $1999

CCT-20/1 $2149

CCT-40/1 $3179

CCT-75/1 $3949

CCT-90/1 $5399

CCT-125/1 $6699

HOT NEW PRINTERFACER1 ™ - Print buffer I/O Board. Up to 1 Meg. RAM on board. Looks as/works with CCT Interfacer 3/4. Single or Mu Itiuser/lntemjpt driven or polled. Super-slick design handles one serial, one parallel, BOARD software switchable. Also for Zenith and Alpha. Intro Price — $349 Incl. Cable Set.

CCT-2.4»Dual8"DSDD rLurr» °,olcmo CCT-5»51/i" DSDD

Mitusbishi 2.4 Megabyte in Extra Heavy horizontal enclosure, IBM Compatible Mitsubishi 360K. Extra Heavy Cabinet removeable filter air system, all cabling, A&T, Burned in. The accommodates two drives, hard or floppy. All cabling, A&T,

fastest system available: $1429 Bumed-in. Perfect for our Concurrent DOS Package . $349

CCT-8/5 • FULL IBM COMPATIBILITY

One Mitsubishi 8" DSDD (1.2 Meg)/One 5-V*" DSDD (360K) IBM Drive

For Concurrent DOS and PC DOS $1029

• SUPERPRICES * COMPUPRO COMPONENTS* INST0CK •

CPU-Z-$159 • Disk 1A-$399 • Disk 1A w/CP/M - $499 • CPU 8086/10 - $359 • SPUZ/256K - $319

CPU 8085/88 - $229 • CPU 286-$849 • CPU68K- 10Mhz-$359

Disk 3-$459 • RAM22(256K)-$489 • RAM23/64K-$199/128K-$289

Concurrent DOS 8-16 CCT Enhanced - $449 • SUPER SALE - M-Drive/H - 512K - $399 / 2 Meg - $899

Enclosure 2 Desk-$699/Rack-$749 • Interfacer 3-$409 • Interfacer 4-$289 • System Support 1 - $299

Concurrent DOS 8-16-$379 • CP/M 80 (CCTHMX) - $125 • CP/M 86 (CCTTMX) - $175 CP/M 8-16 (CCTTMX) - $199 • CP/M 68K (CCTCX) - $279 • Operating System Updates/Remakes - $30

16 Bit Upgrade Kit: CP/M 86, RAM 23, System Support 1, Cable $649 D CP/M 8-16 - Kit - $673

CCT-1 - ENTRY LEVEL S-100 BUSINESS SYSTEM

Enclosure 2-Desk-21 Slot Mainframe • • CCT-2.4-Dual 8" Mitsubishi

• CPU-Z - 6 Mhz Z-80 CPU Board • DSDD Drive System - 2.4 Megabytes • Disk 1A - DMA Floppy Disk Controller • • CP/M 80 - 2.2 HMX - CCT Modified •

• RAM 23 - 64K Static RAM - 12Mhz • . ah Cabling, Complete CCT Assembly, > Interfacer 4 - 3 Serial/2 Parallel I/O • Testing, and Minimum 20 Hour Bum-in •

RUNS ALL STANDARD 8" CP/M SOFTWARE - INCLUDES OUR EXCLUSIVE 12 MONTH DIRECT WARRANTY

SPECIAL PRICE

$3,350

Prices & availability subject to change. All products new, and carry full manufacturer's warranties. Call for catalog. Free technical help to anyone. All products we sell are CCT individually tested and set up for your system - Plug-In & Go! Arizona residents add sales tax CCT© Trademark — Custom Computer Technology; MS-DOS© Trademark — Microsoft; IBM© Trademark — International Business Machines; CompuPro© Trademark—W.J. Godbout; CP/M © MP/M © Trademarks — Digital Research HERCULES™ Trademark — Hercules Computer Tecrmotogv

Inquiry I05

MARCH I986 'BYTE 42I

Inquiry 239

IBM PC, 256K, 1 Drive .. .$1589.00 IBM PC XT, 256K,

1 Drive $1825.00

IBM AT 256K, 1.2 MB . . . .$3199.00

Conquest PC Turbo 640K, 2 Drives ....$1225.00

comPAa

Deskpro 286, 256K, 1-2 MB Drives

Portable 286, 256K, 1-2 MB Drives

Deskpro 256K, 1 Drive .,

Portable 256K, 2 Drives .

. $3349.00

<Jk

Amiga Computer 256K .. 256K Ram Memory

Cartridge

3.5" External Disk Drive.

. $3399.00 .$1775.00 .$1995.00

.$1195.00

$ 175.00 00

Printers

Epson LX80 $235.00

Epson FX85 $369.00

Epson FX185 $509.00

Epson JX 80 $299.00

Starmicronic SG 10 $249.00

Starmicronic SG 15 $395.00

Cannon Wide Carriage

PW-1156A $299.00

Toshiba P351 $1125.00

Toshiba 1340 $535.00

Toshiba P-341 $899.00

Okidata182 $235.00

Okidata 192 $369.00

Okidata 193. $515.00

Brother HR-25 $499.00

Brother HR-35 $775.00

IBM Pro Printer $425.00

Legend 1380 $280.00

Legend 1385 $375.00

Monitors

PGS HX-12 $459.00

PGS MAX-12 $179.00

PGSSR-12 $599.00

Amdek 300 Green $135.00

Amdek 300 Amber $145.00

Amdek 310 Amber

w/TTL Plug $165.00

IBM Monochrome Display .$260.00

IBM Color Display $590.00

Taxan 620, 630 & 640 CALL

SPECIAL

Eagle Monitor High Res

Green Screen 720 x 350 TTL Plug

$99.00

MONITOR CARDS

Persyst Color $169.00

Persyst Monochrome $189.00

Hercules Color $169.00

Hercules Graphic $319.00

IBM Color

Graphic Adapter $225.00

IBM Mono

Printer Adapter $230.00

Paradise Modular Graphic Card $299.00

Everex "The Edge" $299.00

Conquest Color $125.00

Conquest Monochrome ...$145.00

Sigma Color 400 $495.00

Genoa Spectrum $299.00

EVEREX

20 MB Tape Internal $739.00

45 MB Tape Internal $899.00

45 MB Tape External $999.00

PRINTERS

Ooumu NP S285

0«i» RO 344

Own Compact 2 349

StarSG-10 239

Cannon Laser Printer .... 2169

Okidata, Epson, NEC CALL

Brother 1009 149

PLOTTERS

QqcdqqsGCDDO instrument

DMP-29 SI 795

DMP-41/42 2365

DMP-51/52 3579

Roland DXY-BBO 979

Roland DXY-9B0 1279

EXPANSION CARDS

Hercules Graphics Card . . S325 AST B-Pack CALL

Paradise Multi Display .... 209 Orchid PC-Turbo 256K . . . 679 Tecmar Graphics Master . . 499

MASS STORAGE

TALL GRASS 25 MB Vs Height Drive . . . S759 TG-4060 BOMB Tape B/U . . . 1299 25 MB w/BO MB Tape . . . 2769 80 MB w/BO MB Tape . . . 5899 10 MB Bernoulli Box .... 1859

20 MB Bernoulli Box 2299

Con/us Trimline Combo . . . 2399

Corvus 21 MB 2399

Tecmar 20/60 Disk/Tape . . . 2559

Scottsdale Systems

617 N. Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85257

(602)941-5856

For Inquiries

1 -800-367-2369

Toll-Free For Orders Only

MailorCard j

SOFTWARE

Wordstar S195

Microsoft Word 239

Samna Word III 279

WordPerfect 4.1 235

Easy Writer II 219

dBasell 299

Friday! 179

R:BASE 4000 269

pfs:File/Report 159

Framework II 419

Enable 379

Supercalc 2 159

Multiplan 119

Smart Series 255

pfs:Plan 89

GEM Draw 150

Sidekick 39

Superkey 49

Print Shop 45

Norton Utilities 59

pfs:Graph 89

Dollars and Sense 109

Dow Jones Invest . . . PeachtreeGL/AR/AP

. 99 210

ATARI520ST

Ezna

Monochrome S699

RGB Color 899

Precision Graphics/Mouse/BBOOO CPU/512K RAM/BMHZ Clock Software/Parallel & Serial I/O Optional DS Drive

ATARI SOFTWARE

VIP Professional . .

Final Word

4 x Forth

Express

HippoWord

Hippo-C Compiler . Hippo Disk Utilities Ultima II

S149 . 115 . . 79 . . 39 . . 75 . . 65 . . 44 . . 49

Prices listed are for cash/Mastercard and Visa odd 3%/American Express add 5%/AZ residents add 6%/All items are new with manufacturer's warranty/Returned product subject to 20% restocking fee/Personal G Company checks rake up to 3 weeks to dear/No COD's or APO's/Prices and specifications subject to change/Product subject to availability/All applicable trademarks reconnized and on file.

H S. D Toolkit 25

H S. D Database 69

Zork I 33

Zork II or III 38

Hitchhiker's Guide 33

ALTOS

20BB-2 S14599

10B6-T-50 10819

586, 98B CALL

Altos Software CALL

PC-8088 by IDS

/ An IBM-PC look-alike that's compatible with your bottom line.

IB0B8 CPU or 4.77 MHz IMonochrome Moritor ■Two DSDD Drives IMS-DOS, MyWnte. MyCalc

IB Expansion Slots IFIIEBASE, Spell

1258K RAM I RGB/ Composite Can!

■ 1 Year Warranty

The PC-BOB8 by IDS ... S1149 with RGB Monitor 1298

COMPUTERS

The Fox 5995

TurboFox 1499

The AMSTRAD System . . . 439

422 BYTE

MARCH 1986

Inquiry 306

o

COMPUTERBANC

HARD DRIVE KITS

20 MB Internal w/Controller $495 30 MB Internal for AT S759

* External Models Add $150

TAPE DRIVES

20 MB I 45 MB I 60 MB $699 $899 I $999

'File by File 'Mirror Image 'Software Included

sO,

*,

QV>C

3*

<%

IBM PC AT 20 MB

(Seagate Model 225) 512 K Serial. Parallel

$4,299

Thesis

FASTCARD IV

$259.00

Up to 2 MB Multifunction Lotus, Intel. Microsoft Specs

IBM PC XT

20 MB, 256K $2549

$1900

256K 2 Drive IBM PC

AT COMPATIBLES

Sperry IT44 MB

§3,999

$2549

Compaq Desk Pro j 20 MB, 640K,Ser, Clock!

STB EGA Plus $359.00

16 Colors, 256K, Parallel IBM Compatible

IBM PC COMPATIBLES 1

LEADING EDGE

CALL ■

ITT XTRA 2 Drive, 256K

$1,495 ■

AMIGA

CALL 1

PC Clone System

$899 1

'All systems include monochrome monitor, DOS, and parallel port

IBM SOFTWARE

LOTUS 123 CALL

Symphony CALL

ENABLE 379.00

OEM COLLECTION 129.00

ASHT0N TATE Framework 379.00

rJBASEi! 289.00

dBASE 111 369.00

CUPPER dBASE III Compiler 379.00

MULTIMATE 229.00

S0RCIM SUPERCALC III 210.00

Super Project 210.00

MICROSOFT Mulliplan 125.00

Word 229.00

Proiect 159.00

FOX&GELLERQuickcode 139.00

NORTON UTILITIES 52.00

TURBO PASCAL ver 3.0 49.00

SUPERKEY 37.00

SIDEKICK (unprotected) 46.00

ASCI PRO Comm Software 69.00

CROSSTALK XVI 105.00

PEACHTREE Back to Basics CALL

IN-HOUSE ACCOUNTANT 89.00

WORDPERFECT 249.00

MICROPRO WordStar Pro 259.00

WordStar 2000 + 279.00

SAMNAPLUS 345.00

WORD III 279.00

RBASE5000 389.00

PRINTMASTER 35.00

ENERGRAPHICS 169.00

BPI General Accounting 316.00

IBM HARDWARE

AST 6 Pack Plus w/384k 249,00

Advantage W/128k 399.00

HERCULES Mono Graphics 319.00

Color Card 159.00

ORCHID Turdo w/256k 669.00

QUADRAMQuaddoardO-K 198.00

EGA + NEW 405.00

QuadPorltorATser&par 115.00

TECHMAR Graphics Master 469.00

STB Rio plus 64K 5 Function .189.00

Rio Grande 3 (unction lor AT 289.00

COMPANION PC 0-2 MB 189.00

Chaffeur monographics 234.00

PARADISE Modular Graphics Card .... CALL

SIGMA High Res Color 400 CALL

IBM Compatibles

Mulli(unclionCard384ks.p,clck 169.00

Multifunction Card 0K-1.2mb 179.00

Compatible Mono Card w/par 129.00

5151 Compatible Keyboard 119.00

Expansion Chasis CALL

130 WAHPdwer Supply 85.00

MON0CR0ME Graphics Card 110.00

Color Graphics Card 99.00

TALLGRASS W/Tape CALL

IRWIN Tape Drive 499.00

EVEREX TAPE Pc/XI/AT CALL

Graphics Edge Card 259.00

TEAC55B 95.00

1.2MB FLOPPY lor AT 189.00

360K Floppy (or AT 115.00

MOUSE SYSTEMS Mouse 135.00

FIELDMOUSE 113.00

MICROSOFT Mouse w/sftwr 117.00

KOALA KAT 149.00

DISKETTES 2S DD 15.00

MODEMS

ANCHOR Express 300/1200 229.00

Volksmodem 1200 (5 yr wrnty) 169.95

Lightning 2400 Baud CALL

HAYES 1200 379.00

1200B 349.00

2400 CALL

Micromodem //e CALL

PROMETHEUS 1200 CALL

Promodem 1200B lor

Promodem 1200A Blow-out

Promoden300 lie Prlcos

MONITORS

AM0EK300A 139.00

310A Hi-Res Amber 155.00

COLOR 600 HI-RES RGB 433.00

COLOR 710 474.00

PRINCETON GRAPHICS HX-12 469.00

HX-9 449.00

SR-12 625.00

MAX-12 179.00

TAXAN 121/122 149.00

620 (RGB) 640 x 200 NEW CALL

640 (RGB) 720 x 400 NEW CALL

PANASONIC DT-S101 Color 141.00

DT-H103 10"High Res HGB 369.00

IBM COMPATIBLE Monocrame 99.00

Color RGB Monitor (640 + 200) 349.00

PRINTERS

PANASONIC (2 yr warranty)

KX-P1080 199.00

KX-P1091 229.99

KX-P1092 305.00

KX-P1592 439.00

KX-P3131 17cpsDaisey 269.00

KX-P3151 22cps Daisey 395.00

Citizen MSP-10 266.00

MSP-15 355.00

MSP-25 489.00

STAR MICRONICS SG-10 219.00

SG-15 399.00

EPSON LX-80 Call

FX-286 lor

LO-800 Best

LQ-1000 Prices

BROTHER We Will Beat

Twinwriler 5 Any Advertised Price

OKIDATA-All Models CALL

TOSHIBA P351 CALL

CANNON Laser Printer CALL

HEWLETT PACKARD PRINTERS CALL

HOUSTON INSTRUMENTS Plotters . CALL Digitizers CALL

APPLE PRODUCTS

APPLIED ENG. Ramworks 64K .... CALL

ASTMullil/O CALL

MICRO SCI A2 Drive lie 169.00

lie compatible drive 139.00

APPLE Compatible Drive 119.00

MAC Compatible 3'A drive .... 229.00

BERNOULLI 5MB MAC drive CALL

MACINTOSH Harddrive CALL

MICROSOFT Macenhancer CALL

Softcard II 259.00

Multi-plan//eS Mac 129.00

Basic (Mac) 109.00

ASCII XPRESS (Communications) 69.00

THE DESK ORGANIZER (Mac) . . 133.00

APPLE MOUSE II 129.00

APPLEWORKS 215.00

SPELLW0RKS 39.00

PRINTSHOP . 35.00

Mach III Joystick 39.00

SYSTEM SAVER Fan 69.00

VIDEO 7 lie Enhancer CALL

Than Accelerator 229.00

VIDEX Ullraierm 169.00

APRIC0RN (Liletime Warranty)

Super Serial Imager 75.00

Graphics Interface 65.00

80Column/64K 75.00

EXTEND IT 64K 55.00

KOALA SpeedKey 99.00

DISKETTES APPLE/MAC . 12.00/24.00 ORANGE MICRO CALL

Look for our Bulletin Board Featuring Multi-user Games

Call for catalog. Thousands of products available. Volume discounts.

a

TM

COMPUTERBANC

16783 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach, Cfl 92647 TCLCX #550757 RNSUJCR BACK—COMPUTER UD 714/841-6160

*w3T No Charge for Credit Cards Orders Only

800/332-BANC

OUTSIDe CALIFORNIA

Cosh prices indicated, fill products are In factory sealed packages. UJe guarantee all items for 30 days. Within this period, defective merchandise returns must

be accompanied by flMfl number, fill other returns uiltl be subject to a 10% restocking fee. for prepaid orders, there Luill be a 3% shipping charge; 5% for UPS

Blue Label; $5.00 minimum; all orders outside U.S.A. at 15% shipping. California residents add 6% sales tax. Prices subject to change without notice.

©Copyright 1985 COMPUTC-RBANC, fill flights Reserved.

Inquiry 90

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 423

GETANUKI FOR YOUR OKI

[Now have the best of both worlds with] the flick of a switch! Get the compatibility of IBM Plug-N-Play and the versatility of the OKIDATA instruction set for I your OKI 82, 83,92,93,192,193. Have both available as your software and needs dictate. Easy, fast trouble-free | installation, with no permanent modifi

I cation to your printer. Complete, with I no other ROM purchase necessary. OKI 82, 83, 92, 93: $49.95. OK1192, 193:

I $79.95. Printer utility software in-1 eluded [if sold separately, $7.95], Add |

I $3.00 shipping. [NY res add sales tax/

UKI-SWITCH CORP.

506 Hempstead Ave. [Suite 111] West Hempstead, NY 11552

Inquiry 360

AN I/O Series Analog Interfaces for your PC/APPLE

Versatile Accurate and Fast

AP-8 • 8-bil A/0 and D/A 10 50Khz amplilier. anti

aliasing liltets. elc.S299.

AP-12 • 12-bit A/D and D/A lo dOKhz. analog multi

plexer, amplilier. S/H. Obit I/O. clock, elc. S450.

PC-12 • 12-bilA/DorD/Ato60Kri2.analogmulIiplexer

amplilier. anti-aliasing lilter. S/H. on board VCO lunclion generator. 8-bit I/O, etc. S750.

PC DMA • Our best available analog interlace 12-bilA/D or D/A 10 100Khz. DMA driven to allow real-lime processing.on board timer for zero liming letter inpul and output filters, amplilier. S/H multiplexer 500Hz to lOOKhz phase-locked (to llmerl lunclion generator lully program mable. S1250 PC-model designation reters to IBM PC compatible boards. AP lor Apple II Prices include software Peripheral multichannel inpul signal conditioner and (liter and PC-based FFT board available soon For purchase or info please contact

CANETICS. Inc.

PO Box 70549. Pasadena. Ca 91 107 Telephone (818) 5840438

LOW COST UNIVERSAL PROGRAMMER KITS

" NO PERSONALITY MODULES REQUIRED " ON LINE HELP AND MENU SELECTION " ON BOARD 110/220V POWER SUPPLY " FAST PROGRAMMING MODE AT 6V VCC " BUILT IN MONITOR FOR I/O DEBUG " CAD PCB, SILKSCREEN & SCHEMATIC " SOFTWARE DRIVERS FOR MOST PCs " SUPPORTS ALL 5V EPROMS. EEPROMS AND INTEL MICROCOMPUTERS

KITS FROM $125 ASSEMBLED $295 DRIVERS $35 SHIPPING $1 VISA & MASTER CARD ACCEPTED

B&C Microsystems

6322 Mojave dr. San Jose CA 95120 Phone (108)997-7685 Telex 1995363

Inquiry 57

NEW!

New Low Price

$39.95

V«

#

Model 232CL2

Interface any RS-232 Port with standard 20 Ma. Current Loop Systems. High speed optical isolators couple Transmit and Receive Data lines. Order now! Just $39.95. Optional Power Supply $14.95. All cash orders ppd. (IL res. add 6% sales tax); we accept MC, VISA. FREE: new illustrated catalog of RS-232 interface and testing equipment. Phone: 815-434-0846. Make checks payable to:

&H electronics

■0 MANUFACTURING COMPANV

P.O. Box 1008B, OTTAWA, IL 61350

VAX/IBM PC

DECkllAND - Utilities

MS-DOS Utilities with VAX/PDP-11 switch processing. DIR, COPY. DELETE. RENAME, TYPE with extended wildcards, lull DATE processing, attribute processing, query, backup and more. S69.00

ZSTEMpc'--VT100 Emulator

High performance COLOR VT100 / VT102. Double high/wide, smooth scrolling or ISO and attribute mapped color. XMODEM and KERMIT, softkey/MACROS. S150.00

ZSTEMpc"-4014 Emulator

Interactive zoom and pan. Save/recall images to/from disk. Keypad, mouse, printer, plotter support. S99.00

KEA SYSTEMS LTD.

#412-2150 W. Broadway

Vancouver, B.C. CANADA V6K 4L9

Support (604) 732-7411

TELEX 04-352848 VCR

Order Toll Free (800) 663-8702

by

KHA

UNIVERSAL EPROM PROGRAMMER

" NO PERSONALITY MODULES REQUIRED " ON LINE HELP AND MENU SELECTION " ON BOARD 11O/220V POWER SUPPLY " FAST PROGRAMMING MODE M" 6V VCC " BUILT IN EPROM ERASER W/TIMER K GANG PORT FOR FUTURE EXPANSION " SOFTWARE DRIVERS FOR MOST PCs " SUPPORTS ALL 5V EPROMS. EEPROMS AND INTEL MICROCOMPUTERS

1109C-33 $515 1109C-31 $695

DRIVERS $35 SHIPPING $6

VISA & MASTER CARD ACCEPTED

B&C Microsystems

G322 Mojave dr. San Jose CA 95120 Phone (108)997-7685 Telex 1995363

Inquiry 34

Inquiry 381

DYNAMIC RAMS

41256

41256 j>41256

4164 ^4164

4464

100ns 120ns

150ns 120ns

150ns

$4.85 $3.15

8087-3 80287-3 80287-8 V-20 V-30

■ STATIC RAMS 6264LP-15 150n

5mHz

6mHz amHi 8mHi 8mHz

I E. PROMS

27C256 250ns

27256 250ns

27128 250ns

27C64 200fis

2764 250ns

2732A 250ns

I.C.EXPRESS

15358 Valley Blvd., City o( Industry, CA 91746

Phone: 818-369-2688 (Mon-Fri • 8-5)

ORDER TOLL FREE

I (800) 892-8889 •(800) 882-8181

Outside California Inside California

I CALL FOR CURRENT PRICES 8. VOLUME DISCOUNTS.!

e Shown lor UPS COD Cash • MastorCardtVISA add 3g/= mc

Prices am subject 10 change Minimum order J10 00.

California residents must add 6.5% sales lax.

Shipping A Handling UPS Ground S5 00. UPS Au $7 00 (under 1

ALL MERCHANDISE IS 100% GUARANTEED.

Inquiry 167

f Heritage Systems Corp. J

HSC9128 Video Terminal Card

80 by 24 Alpha-numeric video display ANSI X3.64 command set TTL/CMOS serial port (50 to 38.4K baud) Off card line drivers (RS-232, Fiber optic) IBM PC compatable keyboard Input On Screen configuration utility 100 by 10mm, 5V only, 200mA

HSC-9128vldeotermlnalcard $129

HSC-9128 with RS-232, cables $159

HSC-9129 keyboard $119

Amdek 300G Video monitor (Green) $139

vAmdek300A Video monitor (Amber) $149

PO Box 10588,

Greensboro, NC 27404-0588

(919) 274-4818

in

.. touch-Ton^8 *~*

comPuvet'

Vnd remember. ^

_ConflputerI£-~

Inquiry 154

Inquiry 330

Inquiry 75

0ompu$ave

Of Arizona

Call Toll Free: 1-800-624-8949

COMPUTERS

Altos 586T-40 Multiuser System Corona PPC-400 Port/2 FDrives AT&T 6300/1 FDrive Monitor.. Televideo PM-4T Multiuser Syst

Wyse-PC/2 Floppy Drives

Zenith 171-PC Port/2 FDrive.. Zenith J5S-PC/1 Floppy Drives Alloy/Corvus/IBM/Molecular..

.7695 .1159 .1695 4895 .1159 .1879 1549 CALL

NEC/Sharp/Sperry/Olher Models. CALL

PC-XT CLONE $925

640K/2 DRIVES I CONTROLLER/KEYBOARD MONO GRAPHICS CAR0/13SW POWER SUPPLY TTL MONITOR/PARALLEL PORT

(WITH TURBO 4.77 & 8 MHZ BRD S1015)

PC-AT1M/BMHZ/20M0R/TTL MONITOR.$2795

TERMINALS

Adds Viewpnt+ .429 Kimtron KT7

Altos III 595 Qume 101G

Ampex 210.. 365 Qume 201G Ampex 219... 495 Visual 65. Ampex 230.. . 449 Wyse 30..

| Televideo 921.. 415 Wyse 50..

j Televideo 9220..545 Wyse 85.. Televideo 955 455 Zenith Z29 CIE/DEC/Esprit/IBM/Liberty...

495

293 .525 .425 .293

418 .499

595 CALL

MONITORS

Princeton HX9..415 Amdek300G116 Princeton HX12. .435 Amdek310A143 Princeton HX12E.. 499 AmdekB00.389 PrincetonMAX12E162 Sharp RGB.398

Taxan 115 115 Taxan 620 .399

Taxan 121 132 Taxan 640..519

Wyse 600 W/Card.519 Wyse 500.. 169 Zenith 122/123 ... 75 Zenith 1330.465

noland/12"/RGB/540x240 325

Thomson/14"/RGB & Comp 299

NEC/Quadram/Tatung/Samsung. CALL Cables/Video Interfaces/Stands.. CALL

MODEMS

AST Reach Hall-Card W/Soft 345

Anchor Volksmodem 55

Anchor Volksmodem 12 179

Hayes MicromodemllEW/Soft 132

Hayes Smartmodem 1200 365

Hayes Smartmodem 1200B W/Soft. 345

Prometheus Promodem 1200 285

Prometheus Promodem1200BW/Solt.235

US Robotics Password 1200 194

Rascal-Vadic 1200PC W/Soft 215

Racal-Vadic 2400PC W/Soft 399

Ven-Tel PC Modem Half-Card 365

Novation/Rixon/UDS/Zoom CALL

PRINTERS

Canon LBPA1.. 1999 Abati LQ20.. 299 Citizen MSP10. .250 Diablo 635.1155 Citizen MSP25. .479 Epson LX80.218

C.ltoh 8510 379 Epson LX90. 255

Corona LP300. .2599 Juki 6100...345

Data Prod. 8052.1129 NEC P5 975

Data South 220.1295 Star SG-10. . 209 Panasonic 1080.. 205 Tally MT86. . 425

Panasonic 1091.. 234 Tl 865 725

Toshiba 1340. ..435 Cables 10'.. .19 Anadex/Brolher/Fujitsu/Legend. . CALL Okidata/OTC/Qume/Televideo ., . CALL Buffers/Sheet Feeders/Tractors.. CALL Stands/Switch Boxes/Ribbons.25%0FF

Houston DMP 51/52 Plotter 3995

Roland DXY 880 Plotter 975

Houston TG8017 Digitizer 1395

Other Plotters And Digitizers CALL

DISK DRIVES

Apple Compatible Floppy Drives. ... 124

Seagate lOMKIt/IBM Compatible... 425

Seagate 20MKit/IBM Compatible... 525

Western Digital 10M Hard Card. ... 715

OTHER FLOPPY AND HARD DRIVES

ALPHA OMEGA • CDC • CORVUS

IOMEGA • MAYNARD • MICRO SCI

MITSUBISHI • PRIAM • SHUGART

TANDON • TEAC • TECMAR

LOW PRICES CALL

BOARDS

AST Advantage/128K 375

AST Six Pack Plus/64K 218

AST Six Pack Clone/Game/384K... 185

Cardo G-Whiz (Commodore) 55

Hercules Color Card 148

Hercules Color Card Clone 99

Orange Grappler + (Apple) 70

Orange Hot Link (Apple) 52

Orchid Conquest/OK 265

Paradise Modular Graphics 258

PC I/O Card/1 Par,2 Ser Ports 85

PC Mono. Graphics (Par Port) 109

PC RAM Board/OK 69

Persyst Bob Board 335

Quadram Silver Quadboard/OK 219

Sigma 400 High Res Card 455

STB Graphics Plus II 235

Taxan 555 High Res Card 189

Tecmar Maestro AT 379

ABM/Micro Sci/Microtek/PGA. . . CALL Prac. Peripherals/Thesys/Vutek.. CALL

SOFTWARE/ALL TYPES.... CALL

WE ALSO CARRY

Bonus Diskettes/DS-DD (10 Per Bx).. 13

Maxell/Memorex/Verbatim/3-M.. CALL

Keyboards/Joysticks/Power Supplies

Chips/Mice/Labels/Surge Protectors

Cables/Graphics Tablets/Light Pens

HOURS: MON ■ FRI 8AM - 6PM/SAT 9AM - 2PM IN ARIZONA CALL (602) 437-4855

CompuSave: 4207 S. 37th St., Phoenix, AZ 85040/ For Customer

Service Call (602) 437-4856/Prices Reflect Cash Discounts And Are

Subject To Change Without Notice/Minimum Shipping Charge $4

Purchase Orders & Major Credit Cards Welcome

CompuSave Is A Division 01 Adlanko Corp.

-BYTE CONNECTION INC.

BOTTOM LINE PRICE BUSTERS! — "Who you acnna call?"

(714) 778-6496

PERSONAL COMPUTERS:

UBM * 1 (IBM Compatible), 640K, two 360 floppies, hi-res graphics card,

monitor and KB $ 995

UBM • II, all the above, w/10MB HO $1495

AT 4 T 6300, 256K, two 360 floppies, AT & T graphics card, monitor and K.B $2095

all the above, w/360 floppy and 20MB HD drive $2525

AT A T 6300 Plus, 640K. 1.2 MB floppy, 360 floppy, 20MB HD,

K.B., AT & T monitor DOS $4295

COMPAQ PORTABLE. 640K, 360 floppy, 10MB HD $2595

COMPAQ DESK PRO, 640K. two 360 floppies, hi-res graphics card, KB $2020

all the above w/360 floppy, 10MB HD, 10MB tape b/u $3131

with 30MB $3636

COMPAQ PORTABLE MODEL 286, 512K. two 12 MB floppies $3838

above with one 1.2 floppy, 20MB HD $4444

COMPAQ DESK PRO MODEL 286, 640K, two 1.2 floppies, hi-res

graphics card, monitor and KB., S..P., C/C $3838

above with one 1.2 MB floppy, 20MB HD, 10MB tape b/u $4994

above W/30MB HD $5353

above W/70MB HD and 60MB tape b/u $6969

IBM PC, 256K, two 360 floppies, hi-res graphics card, monitor.

P., S. C/C, KB $2099

above w/360 floppy, 10MB HD, 10MB tape b/u $3131

IBM PC XT. 640K, 360 floppy, 20MB HD, 10MB tape b/u $3663

IBM PC AT, 512K, 1,2 MB floppy. 20MB HD, S., P., C/C, hi-res graphics card,'

monitor. KB $4444

IBM PC AT, above with 70MB HD. 60MB tape b/u $6969

We carry all name brand MFC, modems, monitors, monitor adapters and software. Call for what is not listed. Prices and availability subject to change without notice. WE GUARANTEE THAT YOUR CALL WILL NOT BE A WASTE.

PRINTERS:

ANADEX 9620 - 9752

BROTHER DM40 - DH45 .'.'..'.,

CITIZEN MSP15-25

DATA PRODUCT 8070 - 8072 DIABLO P32 ■ 34LQ

DIABLO AP1 -P38

EPSON

HPLAZERJET

HP LAZERJET PLUS

NEC

OKIDATA 192 -193

PANASONIC 1093

TOSHIBA P351

PLOTTERS & DIGITIZERS:

CALCOMP1043

HP 7475

HITACHI DIGITIZERS

H1 DMP41 -42

H1 DMP51/52

H1 DMP51MP-52MP....

NICOLETDPX

ROLAND DPX

10 LINE

SPECIAL OF THE MONTH 20 MB HD, SUBSYSTEM ......

30,40,70 MB

$11 29-$1350 $ 950 $1050

CALL

$1750 $1850 $ 685 $1250 $1550 $1595

CALL

$2350

$3250

CALL

$ 389$ 495

163 West Cerritcs Ave., Anaheim, CA 928C<5 -(714) 778-649C

Inquiry 52

MARCH 1986

IYTE 425

Bullet-286 8-MHz 80286 XT Motherboard

• Faster and more compatible than turbo expansion cards

• 9 times faster than XT, 65% faster than AT

• Completely XT hardware and software compatible*

• Up to 1 MB onboard RAM with no wait states

• 10-minute, screwdriver-only installation

• One-year warranty

Marchand International

1240 N. Van Buren, Unit 108, Anaheim, CA 92807

(714) 630-3382

■Except IBM ROM BASIC

MODULAR DATA ACQUISITION

• For IBM & Compatibles

• Flexible and Inexpensive

• Money Back Guarantee

• Free Technical Support

Fast Delivery QUA TECH, INC.

478 E. Exchange St. Akron OH 44304 (216)434-3154 TLX: 5101012726

O

PORTABLE MEMORY EXPANSIONS

8K MEMORY MODULES $29

For Model TOO, NEC PC-8201A

& Olivetti M10

24K MEMORY MODULES $89

For Tandy 200

128K SIDESTAR $399

A Ram Disk Cartridge lor the NEC Starlet

128K SIDECAR $259

Ram Cartridge lor the NEC PC-8201A

TTXpress 1280 $99

Portable Thermal Printer—2.2 lbs., bat. oper. FREE SHIPPING IN USA

(800)732-5012 (805)987-4788 (in Calif.)

VISA MIC & AMER.EXP.

420 Constitution Ave.. Camarillo. CA 93010

<*JCOMPUTING

Inquiry 409

Inquiry 289

Inquiry 285

TERMINAL EMULATION

Softerm PC emulates over 3D popular terminals including the:

• DECVT102.VT220

• Data General D200, D410

• IBM 3101-20 (block mode)

• Hewlett-Packard 2B22A

• Honeywell VIP7801, VIP7803 Guaranteed Compatibility

Call for free product brief

S195MC-VISA-COD

For the IBM PC/XT/AT, DG1, NEC,

Wang PC, Tl Pro, Gridcase, Tandy

sofihonics

7899 Lexington Dr., Ste 210

Colorado Springs, CO 80918

C303) 593-9540

TIME SAVING — MONEY SAVING

PRINTER BUFFER

^1

SPOOL-2-Q PLUS

2SbK RAM ih.ps Spool-Z-Q Plus is the ptoli'ssjondl'sihoici

butter Spool-Z-Q Plus ipplnil complete »ith easyw Install and use.

> hy lusl plugging in sl.indjid

lOM

?. fean

(Without Cablet 12UK-S279 256K-S309 512K-S369 (Including C.ible) 128K-S309 256K-$339 512K-$399 SPOOL-Z Q BLUE PLUG IN PRINTER BUFFER FOR IHE IBM PC .inrj Compatible < cimpmrr'. IS A GENUINL" HARDWARE I'KINTER BUFFER, NOT A Sl'< X HER,

Parallel only and Serial/Parallel models available Works with .my software and

dot", not use any nl the (umputiv's memory Sizes from 25fiK to 1.024K are available, Spoot-Z-Q Blue replaces the parallel printer card in the PC (May be LPT1, J, or II. M,itiy. many iiiiv.irucil fiMturev ( jllor ivnie lor lull deuils. Pines sl.irt jI 1119 (P,ir.il!el only) jnd SJI't iSeojl opablel

llble Irom dealers or direct from us \Ve accept WC, VfSA. AMEX m COD is No chaiRe loi shipping or COD. 15 day tn.il period (no-hassle relund .>) on jll products CA residents — 6% lax. . i

DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED. #0460110010

O.E.M.s - We can modify our 1601 Fullon Ave.,Suitc I0A

buffers to meei your special Sacramenlo, CA 95825

requirements. (916) 483-0709

COMPATIBLE COMPUTER

When you buy one of Ihe following products at very affordable Introductory prices.

UNIVERSAL PROGRAMMER $1,595

Programs EPROMS & PAL expandable to BI-POLAR and single chip micro

LOGIC ANALYZER $1,795

50 MHZ, 8 channel expandable lo 32 channel

GANG PROGRAMMER $1,295

Programs 8 EPROMS wilh same data or

different data.

PROTOCOL ANALYZER

Monitor and Simulator,

$1,595

ABOVE PRODUCTS A VAILABLE WITHOUT PC.

Advanced Microcomputer Systems, Inc.

2780 SW 14th St.

Pompano Etch.. FL 33069

1-800-9PC-FREE

sims

Inquiry 314

Inquiry 193

Inquiry 9

9-TRACK MAG. TAPE SUBSYSTEM FOR THE IBM PC/XT/AT

*4757

For information interchange, backup and archival slorage. IBEX offers a 9-track, IBM formal-compatible V?" magnolic lape subsystem lor the IBM PC, featuring:

■ 42 M-Bytes on a single reel.

■ IBM format 1600 cpl.

■ Software for PC-DOS, MS-DOS.

IBEX COMPUTER COHR

20741 Manila SI Chalsworth.CAS13H {818) 709-8100 TWX 910-493-2071

RS-422

Communications Board

• For IBM-PC/AT/XT and j

compatibles

• Dual RS-422 serial interface

• Programmable to 56k baud

• Differential drivers to 4000 ft.

$345.00 QUA TECH, INC.

478 E. Exchange St. Akron OH 44304 (216) 434-3154 TLX: 5101012726

O

Maxell Floppy Disks

The Mini-Disks with maximum quality.

Dealer inquiries

invited. C.O.D's

accepted. Call

FREE (800) 235-4137.

PACIFIC EXCHANGES

su, \ 100 Foothill Blvd.. San Luis

■rliHrl San Luis Obispo. CA 93401

llL. In Cat. call (800) 592-5935 or ^V&~^I805)543-1037.

Inquiry 162

Inquiry 288

Inquiry 260

Software Selectable for

■ ■■#>■■ **w%ww-w% A*% Hill J^ A_—_ .-_.^. aonware beiectaoie for

HIGH SPEED 12 MHZ OPERATION 6,8,10, andi2 MHZ!

FULL IBM PC-AT* COMPATIBILITY!

FOUR MEGA-BYTE RAM CAPACITY ON MOTHERBOARD!

USING 1 MEGA-BIT DRAMS.

QUANTITY DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE FOR QUALIFIED DEALER, OEM, UNIVERSITY AND CORPORATE ACCOUNTS.

Eight Compatible I/O Interface Connectors

(Same as PC-AT)

Keyboard Interface

(Same as PC-AT)

Extended ROM Capability

(Operates on all compatible BIOS ROMS)

On Board Battery

CMOS Clock Calendar

Extended Memory Capacity! Full Four Mega-Byte Capacity on Motherboard!

(Uses 256k or NEW 1 Mega-Bit Drams)

"&&&

X0P1

a ATTAK-286'" FULLY ASSEMBLED (LESS ICS) $499.95

D AT CASE 100% COMPATIBLE $129.95

□ AT POWER SUPPLY 192W $129.95

D ATTAK-286" TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL. .. .$ 29.95 D TURBO-SCOPE™ A/D BOARD $ 99.95

HIGH SPEED INDUSTRIAL GRADE COMPUTER FOR:

• Scientific

• Engineering

• Industrial

• Medical

• University/Education

• Artificial Intelligence

• Etc., Etc., Etc.

Standard Power Connector

(Same as PC-AT)

80287 Math Processor

(Same as PC-AT)

Runs Intel 80286 at

6,8,10&12 MHZ!

(Software selectable)

Peripheral Support Circuits

(Same as PC-AT)

100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. 10 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE IF .NOT COMPLETELY SATISFIED!

Board Size: Standard IBM-AT* Dimensions: 12 inch x 13.8 inch with 6 mounting holes to fit all AT compatible cases.

'AMEFjtlCAN|

^ISA_

ji^r^^

O

EURO CARD

ATTAK-286™ evaluation board kit highest quality multi-layer PC board with full assembly instructions and parts lists!

A\T

CORPORATION

ADVANCED

INTELLIGENCE

TECHNOLOGY

4100 Spring Valley Road Suite 400

Dallas, Texas 75244 (214) 490-0344

'IBM and IBM PC-AT are trademarks of International Business Machines

TERMS: We accept cash, checks, money orders and credit cards. Prices and availability subject to change without notice. Shipping and handling charges via UPS ground 50c/lb UPS air S1.00/lb. Minimum charge S3.00.

© 1986 AIT CORP.

Inquiry 8

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 427

Osborne

As available only! Very limited quantity.

Important:

Always call 10 check availability before ordering.

To fix yourself, or for parts. Complete, but known not

working.

Guaranteed for 30 days. May be new or lefurb., depending on avail. Exch/ Outright Repair

Main Board OS-1

$79

$79

$139

Main Board Exec.

$159

$139

$299

Battery Pack, 40 Watt

—

$49

Double Density Kit **

*• Includes board, cabl

, docume

$79 I

ntation & disk

5" CRT (Grn/Whitt)

$9.95

$19

$29

7" CRT (Amber)

$19

$49

$99

15" CRT, no case

$85

Drive Analog Card

$9.95

$29

$59

Drive Mechanism

$19

$25

$69

Power Supply

S4.95

$24

$29

Keyboard (No enclos.)

$9.95

$99

Shipping charged on all orders

Computer Parts Mart 415-493-5930 200 Park Blvd * Palo Alto * CA 9430(

TAX PAK

INTEGRATED TAX PROGRAM WITH:

Forms

Schedules

1040 TaxRelurn

A Itemized Deductions

1040A Short Form

B Interests Dividends

2106 Employee Bus. Exp.

C Business Profit or Loss

2119 Sale of Residence

D Capital Gains

2441 ChildCare

E Supplemental Income

3468 Investment Credit

F Farm Income

3903 Moving Expense

G Income Averaging

4562 Depreciation

R Elderly/DisabledCredi

4684 Casualties & Thefts

SE Self Employment

5696 Energy Credit

W Married Cpl. Both Work

8" FORMATS: (SSSDonly) CPM2.2(Z80), CPM86.

5Vk" FORMATS:(DSDD only)IBM PC-DOS 2,1 or later,

CPM 2.2 (280) for Televldeo, KayPro, Morrow, Osborne

Suitable for multiple clients or evaluating alternate filing strategies Produces transcribeable IRS forms. $33. For 1986 edition, return 1985 serialized disk and $27,00. Licensing and volume discounts available To order send check or money order to:

CANDELARIA WORKS 3955 Club Dr. Atlanta, GA 30319

404/266-2420

5

for

$99.00

Vi" Hard Disk Contrail

Micvomint COMM180 and c

ers

thers

Ml

1610

.u,ul,',„„»,

■m

™;;f

».C»

disk drives

tec 4000 YSTEMS

•ds

3ASI/SCSI to ST506 interlace [all 5'/." har EMULATES: XEBEC S1410

DTC510

SCSI-similar to Adap WORKS WITH MANY POPULAR S • Micron-tint COMM180

■ Wavemate Bullet

■ AMPRO Little Board - All Boa » MAC, APPLE He

■ ACS 1000

'ISI 5160 As* aoour others

These Shugart 1610 boards are new, Shugart tested controllers are guaranteed 90 days. They will mount on a 5% " hard disk drive. Manual and schematic included.

Computer Surplus Store

3675 Desoto Ave., Santa Clara, CA 95051 (408) 248-0134

Chuck Schuetz, proprietor Quantity and Dealer pricing available

Inquiry 86

Inquiry 56

Inquiry 87

KEYBOARD PROTECTOR Remains in place during keyboard use. Prevents damage from liquid spills, dust, ashes, etc. Fits like a second skin, excellent feel. Available for: IBM-PC, AT, Apple (all), Compaq, Model 100, NEC 8201, C64, Zenith 150, DEC, Kaypro and many others, Send S29.95, check, M.O., Visa & MC include exp. date. Specify computer type. Dealer inquiries invited. Free brochure avail.

Merritt Computer Products, Inc.

2925 LBJ Fwy. #180 / Dallas, Texas 75234

(214) 942-1142

I/O Bus for Data Acquisition & Control

now available for IBM PC & Apple II series computers

TheLocal Aj3plicat)onstBusv v v ;lab ,4p'.

In pliotrjnro'LAB40-PC'!)«iiomiora,LAB40>r ilgrmiicqulililon module.

• Modular approach to data acquisition and control.

A 40 conductor ribbon cabla bus la generated by a card In Ihs host computer. Up to 8 low coat modules can be located anywhere on a cable up lo 100 tt. long. Our LAB 40 generator cards (or the IBM PC or Apple II are priced at 9185.

• Signal Acquisition and Control Module, modal 'LAB 40-1*. Features: 8 bit resolution. 4 channels, differential Inputs, sampling rate up to 650KHz. software programmable gains and offset, digital output pod, low price of 8220. Twelve bit module available.

• Full featured 'digital oacllloaooM' software. Documented ana user modify-able. PC version $175 Apple II

• Development tool.

Unique to LAB 40 Is lis ability lo Interface directly to microprocessor compatible Integrated circuits and hybrids. We encourage users to develop projects and products. LAB 40 Is an Ideal educational tool.

• New low coat modules.

Twelve bit A/D. Port/Relay Driver. Real Time Clock.

Computer Continuum

75 Southgate Ave., Suite 6 • Daly City, CA 94015 (415) 755-1978

SS/DD

Soft

DS/DD Soft

High Density $0 CQ (IBM-AT) C.JC/e

BASF

FLEXYDISKS

10-90 100 +

■ «7£ea lOV

$2.49 ea

$1.02,

2.10ea $2.05

3.5 / SS $<

Micro

In Stock — Immediate Shipment.

Mastercard, VISA, Check or Money Order.

Add $3.00 shipping charges per each 100 or part.

Add $2.50 additional tor C.O.D. shipments.

N.J. residents add 6% sales tax.

Data Exchange

Dept. B. P.O. Box 993 178 Route 206 South Somerville, N.J. 08876

(201) 874-5050

Inquiry 230

Inquiry 107

Vfeature DIP disks

for Dl Utiles

User-Transparent

Security Features Included.

Golden Bow Systems

w5

SSO - $120

Add S3 lor shipping* handling I >/

Calllorrtla residents /■,' \ add m. sain tax.

619/298-9349

San Diego, CA 92103

Space Saving CRT Arm

This sturdy steel arm swivels 360° at its base and its monitor tray swivels and tilts. It provides a comfortable, glare free viewing angle, while saving valuable desk space. Retails $89.95

Lirffekllllllli

P.O. Box 8056

Grand Rapids, Ml 49508

(616) 241-4040

NO SHIPPING CHARGES

ORDER TOLL-FREE 800-824-3432

DRIVES

V4HT. IBM COMPATIBLE

89.99

TANOON 100-2

99.99

TANDON 100-4 (80 TRACK)

129.99

von/tors

Princeton Graphics MAX-12E

159.99

Princeton Graphics HX-12

449.99

MOON CARDS

Multifunction Card W/384K RAM

Included. Serial/Parallel Pod.

Clock/Calendar. Game Pod

159.99

Monochrome Card

99.99

RGB Card

119.99

SYSTEMS

BLUE XTRA

• PC/XT Compatible • 8 Slot Motherboard

• 1 -"i HT. 360K Floppy • 256K RAM

• 135W Power Supply • Runs IBM Dos 2.1 or 3.1

FULL WARRANTY

699.99

HARD DRIVE SUB-SYSTEMS

10MEG."!HT.

449.99

20 MEG. "i HT.

549.99

30 MEG.

1099.99

42 MEG.

1499.99

85 MEG.

2799.99

4%|nicorn electronics

4^^Jf lOOIOCanogaAve UnnB6 Chaiswoflh CA9I31I

Minimum cwaei 510 00 - No mipo.ng cnaigei on piopa.O QiOe.i

S3 00 - UPS Blue aao S3 00 - Cm 'uvoont. .oa 6 V. .ates

cnec.sneiaio'cioa'ance VIS* MC

Inquiry 145

Inquiry 207

Inquiry 361

that's New at

AMERICAN DESIGN COMPONENTS?

"The Source" of the electro-mechanical components for the hobbyist.

We warehouse 60,000 items at American Design Components — expensive, often hard-to-find components for sale at a fraction of their original costl

You'll find every part you need — either brand new, or removed from equipment (RFE) in excellent condition. But quantities are limited. Order from this ad, or visit our retail showroom and find exactly what you need from the thousands of items on display.

Open Mon. - Sat., 9-5

THERE'S NO RISK.

With oui full 90-day warranty, any purchase can be returned for any reason for full credit or refund.

Originally designed for use in Atari coinoperated games. Contains 3-gun color tube, focus and brightness controls. Requires external X-Y inputs, 250-0-24V transformer for power. May be used for oscilloscopes, reprogra/nmed for game use, or modified with the use of external vertical and horizontal oscillators to a rastor scan display or TV monitor for computer use. (IBM compatible.) Transformer supplied. |tem #5449 $99.00 New

ADAM COMPUTER KIT!

(Less printer & w/o cabinet}

-< ! ML i *

Build it yourself from subassemblies. No wiring necessary (just plugs together). Hook-up diagram included. Includes: Keyboard, 2 cassette digital data drives, 2 game controllers, power supply, all memory boards, and one cassette. Is capable of running CP/M, has built-in word processor.

Item #7410 $99.00 (complete!

COLECO VISION KIT

(Assemble yourself, diagram incl.)

Complete unit, without housing. Can be easily mounted on any base. Contains: game board, 2 controllers, power supply, TV game switch & connecting coaxial cable ltem#7411 $19.95

5%" DISK DRIVES

% HT

96TPI

DS/Quad

Tandon 0TM55-4

Item #1904 $79.50 ea.

or2for$150.00

FULL HT

96TPI

DS/Quad

Tandon #TM101-4

Item #1901 $99.00 ea.

115 CFM MUFFIN FAN

115 VAC/60 Hz., 21 W„ 28A., 3100 RPM; 5-blade model, aluminum housing. Can be mounted for blowing or exhaust. Dim.: 4t1/iB"sq. x 1'/a "deep. Item #5345 $7.95 RFE

APPLE 2c

DISC

DRIVE

Original equipment drive, compatible with Apple 2e, 2 +, and 2c. (Tested.)

$99.00 RFE

Item #7671

30 CFM

MINI

FAN

12 VDC

Low noise level. Can be mounted

for cooling or exhaust.

Dim.: 3Vb" sq. x 1 Vi " deep

12VDC - Papst #8312

Item #7017 $12.95 New

75-KEY MECHANICAL KEYBOARD - For Adam

ill

For computer upgrade. . .

21 user-defined keys, SPST mechanical switches, 21 -pin ribbon cable connection. General instructions for replacement of membrane keyboards incl. Update computers suchastheTimexSinclairZ81/1000 Dim.: 13'/i"Wx 1%"Hx 5"D. Item #7429 $5.95 New

COMPUTER

TAPE DRIVE (For Adam)

i i irN

Serial format. Search 80IPS

Read/ Write 20IPS. 12V motor,

5V logic, 8 & 9 pin connector

cables. Originally designed for the

Adam.

Dim: 5"Wx3%"H x 4" deep

Item #6641 $9.95 New

PRINTER MECHANISM

Originally designed for the Gavalin computer.

• Centronics interface

• 80 column width

• Friction drive (schematic incl.) Item #5223 $ 1 9.95 New

of the 'ADAM'

Logic board for the Adam computer. Includes the following components: 8 ea. 4164-4s, 74LS157, 74LS541, LS273N; 2 ea. LM339s, plus microprocessors with ROMs. Mfr — Coleco Item #7231 $9.95 RFE

12" COMPOSITE VIDEO MONITOR

Green phosphor; 40/80 column, 1000-line resolution. 18MHz bandwidth. Compatible with IBM, Apple, Commodore, and more. Includes external transformer for operation on 115 VAC & video cable. Mfr - Elston Elec. #DM30 Item #6602 $29.95 New

PLUG-IN POWER SUPPLY

OUTPUT: +5VDC, .9A -5 VDC, .1A + 12 VDC, .3A INPUT: 120 VAC/60 Hz., ,25A Mfr - Coleco #55416 Item #1882 $4.95 New

LINEAR DISK DRIVE POWER SUPPLY

DC Output: - 5V (ffl 200 ma + 5V @ 3 amps + 12V (3) 2.9 amps + 18V (inductive) (S) 1 amp Input: 115V/60 Hz. Chassis Dim: 11 "W x 4"H x 8"D Item #6642 $14.95 New

PUMPS - COMPRESSORS - BLOWERS - MOTORS - POTENTIOMETERS - COUNTERS TIMERS RELAYS VOLTAGE REGULATORS POWER SUPPLIES

STEPPING MOTORS for ROBOTICS

Precision steppers with increments from 1 to 7.5 degrees. Speeds up to 5,000 steps.

Stall Dimensions

Item Step DC Torque H x W x D (In No. Angle Volts oz/in 1) Body 2) Shaft

#5275

Mfr. & Part No.

Price

#5272

5272 1.

5275 1.8

17*

1.3 200

11 1V. x 1 % x 1 211/, x 'A II 4'/. diax4'/i 21 '/.dia. x 1Vi. 11 1'/„Lx2%dia 21 M dia. x Vi L 1) 2J/„Lx2J/„dia 21 '/. dia. x % L

N.A. Phillips A82310-M2 Sigma 4742TD200F1.3 N.A. Phillips B82916 Superior Elec. MO61-FF-6201B

2/$ 9.95 2/ 59.50 2/ 17.95 2/ 37.50

#5431

24 VDC

POWER SUPPLY

For robotics, motors, etc. Variable output from 20-25VDC. Input: 105-125; VAC (5> 60Hz. Maintains constant voltage output between 5 & 6 amps at rated input. AC fuse protection. Size: 4" x8'/i" x7%". Mfr - AcmePS59134

Item #62 $19.95 RFE

AMERICAN DESIGN COMPONENTS, 62 JOSEPH STREET, MOONACHIE, N.J. 07074

YES! Please send me the following items:

Item How

No. Many? Description Price

Total

Shipping & handling, we ship UPS unless

i-~^^ otherwise specified. Add $3 plus 10% total.

^^fSp^-^Canadian: $3 plus P.O. cost. Charge only.

^'ec''o-n,r/^G«~/ Sales Tax INJ- residents only,

•"fees ,ha"ical / Please add 6% 0( ,0,al1

S£2Lo4>8,'" *"'»> / ORDER TOTAL

□ My check or money order is enclosed.

□ Charge my credit card.

D Visa □ Master Card □ Amex Card No.

MINIMUM

ORDER

$15.

Byte-36

Exp, Date

Signature

Telephone: Area Code

Number

Name

Address

City

State

Zip

All inquiries and free catalog requests call 201-939-2710.

For all phon^orders, call TOLL-FREE 800-524-0809. In New Jersey, 201-939-2710.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 429

Serial 4 I"1"" ■ ■► Parallel

Convert What You Have To What You Want!

* RS232 Serial ' Centronics Parallel ' 8 Baud Rates ' Handshake Signals

* Lalched Oulpuls * Compact 3% x 4% x 1£

No longer will your peripheral choices be limited by the type o! port you have available! Our new High Performance 700 Series Converters provide the missing link. Based on the latest In CMOS technology, these units feature Full baud rate selection to 19.2K, with handshake signals to maximize transfer efficiency. Detailed documentation allows simplified installation. Order the Model 770 (Ser/Par) or Model 775 (Par/Ser) Today!

JiaErfran/cs

2734-C Johnson Dr. Posi Office Box 3717

Ventura. California 93006

onl»«89.95

Counselor Option stc CA Residents OV. la: UPS Shipping. 13.00

CALL (805) 658-7466 or 658-7467 r For FAST Delivery I

ONE GPIB-488 INTERFACE

FOR ALL

IBM PC, XT, AT,

CLONES, APPLE MACINTOSH,

TANDY 2000, 1200HD, 1000

ANY LANGUAGE EASY TO USE

'£?=- Irl

MODEL 488-2000 PRICE $675

+ SHIPPING, INSURANCE & TAX When ordering specify computer for proper cable.

Scientific Engineering

LBDorBtorlcs

104 Charles St. • Ste. 143 • Boston, MA 02114 Telephone: (617) 262-3903

Inquiry 349

Inquiry 305

$91.00

Single Board Computer

1

maxell

BULK DISKETTES

6800 MPU, serial I/O, parallel I/O, RAM, EPROM, 44-pln 4.5" » 6.5" PCB EXPANSION MODULK: RAM, EPROM, CMOS RAM/battery, analog I/O, serial I/O, parallel I/O, counter/timer, IEEE-488, EPROM programmer, (loppy disks, cassette, breadboard, keyboard/display.

1 Wlntek Corp.

I ■ «r|1 ■; mr I 1601 South Street I I H I B Ik | Lalavette. IN 47904

SS/DD $.70

31/2"

SS/DD $1.60

Prices based on quantities of 500 Orders shipped with 24 hours

1-800 222-0490 201- 462-7628 in N.J.

Lafayette, IN 47904 317-742-8428

P.O. Box 1143*Freehold, N.J. 07728

Inquiry 377

Inquiry 228

B4K-128K-256K DRAMS

80287-8 ■80287-3

8087-3 "8087-2

8087-1

B I T T N € R

CLCCTRONICS

B99 SOUTH COAST HIGHWAY LAGUNA BEACH, CA 92651

(714) 497-6200

CALL NOW FOR FREE CATALOG

P-tral:

BASIC to Pascal Translation Software

P-tral is the user-friendly translation software that converts Applesoft BASIC programs to Apple Pascal.

• Translates any business, scientific, graphics and game software from source.

• Translation results approach 100%.

• Translates any sized programLarge or Small.

• Essential compile directives generated.

• Version 1.0 S179.00.

REQUIREMENTS: 64/128K RAM, Dos 3.3 80-column card/Apple II, lie, lie Apple Pascal 1.1 or 1.2

To order or request more information contact: W00DCHUCK INDUSTRIES' 340 West 17th Street. New York. NY 10011 (212) 924-0576 / (212) 206-6490

DATA

• Multi-user Database!

• Powerful!

• Multiple Operating System Compatibility!

• Attractive Dealer Pricing!

• Full Dealer Support!

Dataflcx is s trademark of Data Access

Dealer Inquiries Invited

24000 Telegraph Road

Southfield, Michigan 48034 USA

(3I3| 352-2345

Inquiry 70

OLcm printer' lstterI

RERCOROER VOICE RE

DOUBLE

THE OPTION

OF YOUR IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER

PC-XTRA

• DIRECT EXTENSION OF ISM PC BUS

• NO SOFTWARE CHANGES

• NO HARDWARE MODIFICATION

• STYLING CONSISTENT WITH 18 Add atltnc-se special options that you've been wanting without worrying aboul Mling your plug-In ana back panel space

0«*» F.O.B. SANTA ANA

■] -CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ADD 6^ SALES TAX

P C HORIZONS, INC.

1701 E. Edinger, Ste. A6, Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 9S3-S396

Inquiry 259

nil (TlflRYmflC INDUSTRIES INC

800-231-3680

Radio Shack® Tandy® Epson Printers

People you Trust to give you the very best!

• Reliable Service

• Quality Products

"World's largest independent authorized computer dealer"

22511 Katy Fwy., Katy (Houston) Texas 77450 (713) 392-0747 Telex 774132

Inquiry 39

Inquiry 379

Inquiry 222

MHMHMB

The^^^-1200 bps & 2400 bps Modems

Fully Hayes Compatible 2 Year Warranty

Supports all 20 Hayes Commands and all 6 responses

• Tone & Pulse dialing • Built-in speaker

• Auto dial/auto answer • 8 status lights

• Auto speed selection • Self-test

1200 bps Standalone 2400 bps Standalone

Bell 103 and Bell 212A CCITT V22, V22BIS, Bell 212A,

Compatible and Bell 103 Compatible

$199

$399

1200 bps IDM PC Compatible Card w/MITE Communications Software

$199

BCPRIZIP12 (4ibs.) Retail $299.00 BCPRIZIP24 ceibsj Retail $599.00 BCPRIZIP12B ,4,bs.) Retail $299.00

VIDEO MONITORS

IBM-PC COMPATIBLE MONITORS PGS MAX-12 Amber 12" 25lbs. BCPGXMAX12 PGS HX-12 RGB 12" 37lbs. BCPGXHX12

AMDEK 31OA Amber 12" 26lbS. BCADK31OA AMDEK600 RGB640x240res35lbsBCADK600C AMDEK700 RGB720x240res35lbsBCADK700C

GENERAL PURPOSE AMDEK 300 Green Com p. 12" 25lbsBCADK300 AMDEK300AAmberComp12"25lbsBCADK300A AMDEK 300C Color/audio Comp. BCADK300C 13"25lbs.

AMDEK 500 RGB/Color Comp. BCADK500C 13"25lbS.

IDM COMPAT1DLE BOARDS

AST

SixPacPlus 64K BCAST6PACK64

RAM Page! 256K BCASTRP256

MegaPlus II 64K BCASTMP2

MegaPak 128K for above BCASTPAC4

Preview! BCASTPRVW

QUADRAM EXPANDED QUADBRD zero K BCQDRQDBRDXPO QUADBOARD II zero K BCQDRQDBRDIIO

$179 $479 $169 $429 $479

$129 $139 $249

$369

PARADISE

5 PACK zero K BCPAR5PACK $149

5PACK W/384K incldedyou install BCPAR5PACK384 $199

EMULEX/PERSYST BOB Super display adaptor 8CPSTBOB $399

EXPANSION CHIPS

64K Expansion Contains PDBIBMMEM9

9 64Kx 1 1S0nS RAMs $12.00

GOLD QUADBOARD zero K BCQDRGO

SILVER QUADBOARD zero K BCQDRSO

LIBERTY BOARD 64K BCQDRL64

QUAD 512+64K BCQDR512

QUADCOLOR II BCQDRQDCII

HERCULES

MONO GRAPHICS CARD BCHECGC

COLOR graphics card BCHECCC

ORCHID

CONQUEST zeroK BCORCCQ

CRAMRAM Half card zeroK BCORCCR SIP panel mem exp for above 256KBCORCCRRP

PC TURBO 186 BCORCT86

Serial daughter board for above BCORCT8650

$259 $399 $343 $179 $279

$239 $199 $449 $269 $349 $259 $399

$329 $179

$369 $369 $ 79 $829 $129

256K Expansion Contains PDBIBMMEM36

36 64K X 1 1 50nS RAMS

«39.00

256K Expansion Contains PDB256MEM9

9 256KX 1 150nSRAMs

S3S.00

MEG Expansion Contains PDB256MEM36

36 256KX 1 150nS RAMS 8180.00

KEYTRONICS KEYBOARDS

Improved PC type 5lbs BCKEYKB5151

$189

KB51 51 with touch pad 5lbs BCKEYKB5153

$379

POWER SUPPUES FOR IDM PC™

170watt replacement 7lbs BCTEATP409B

$159

130watt replacement 6lbs BCTEATP41 2

$ 99

TERMINALS

WYSE 50 32lbs BCWYS50

$499

2 or more

$479

WYSE 30 32lbs BCWYS30

$359

QUME 101 Amber 32lbs BCQMEQVT101 AM

$359

QUME 101 Green 32lbs BCQMEQVT101GR

$359

MODEMS

HAYES

2400bps Smartmodem 4 lbs. BCDCH2400

$599

1 200bps Smartmodem 4 lbs. BCDCH1200

$399

1200bps PC Smartmodem 4 lbs. BCDCH1 200B

$379

PROMETHEUS

ProModem 1200 Standalone 4lbs BCPRMPM1200 $299 ProModem 1200 for MAC 4lbs BCPRMPM1200M $349 Communications buffer 11b. BCPRMOPTPRO $129

Alpha/numfor ProModem 11b. BCPRMDISPLAY $ 79

512K ProModem upgrade 11b. BCPRMX512 $99

ProModm 1200 Apple lie card4lbs BCPRMPM1200A $349 ProModm 1200 PC crd/sftwr 4lbs BCPRMPM1200B $279

PRACTICAL PERIPHERALS 1200bps Vi card w/software BCPRPPM12 $179

HARD DISK PC SUBSYSTEMS

Systems include drive, control & data cables & V2 card contrllr

INTERNAL (Include $6 shipping) 10Mbyte Vi high BCPRIPCSUB10I $399

20Mbyte Vi high BCPRIPCSUB20I $559

30Mbyte full high BCPRIPCSUB30I $999

42Mbyte full high BCPRIPCSUB42I$1 299

EXTERNAL (Include $10 shipping) Drives mounted in a IBM PC styled enclosure 10Mbyte subsystm BCPRIPCSUB10X $599

20Mbyte subsystm BCPRIPCSUB20X $759

30Mbyte subsystm BCPRIPCSUB30XS1199

42Mbyte subsystm BCPRIPCSUB42X$1499

"AT' Subsystems - Drive, Cobles & ROM

30 Mbyte Subsystem BCPRIATSUB30I $899

40 Mbyte Subsystem BCPRIATSUB40I $1499

HARD DISK DRIVES (Sh wt. 5 lbs.)

ShugartSA712 12Mbyte BCSHUSA712 $329

Seagate ST225 25Mbyte BCSEAST225 $ 449

Seagate ST4051 51Mbyte BCSEAST4051 $1199

Maxtor XT1140 143Mbyte BCMXTXT1140 $3295

FLOPPY DISK DRIVES (Sh. wt. 3 lbs.)

TANDON 55-2 5'A" DS,40T,% hi BCTND552 $ 79

Tandon TM100-2 5%" DS,40T full hiBCTNDTMl 002 $1 29

$29.95

■NNUtllN List: $49.95 (Shipping Weight 2 lbs.)

Surge Suppressor Noise Filter

IRVINE H

18241 Mc Durmott, Irvine, CA 92714 (714)660-1411

PRIORITYLone

inquiry 282 Mail Your Order To

ELECTRONICS®

21622 Plummer St, Chatsworth, CA 91311-9970 RETAIL (616)709-5464 INDUSTRIAL: (618)709-5111

SAN JOSE

542 W. Trimble Rd,

San Jose, CA 95131

(406)946-7010

MINIMUM PREPAID ORDER $25.00. Terms U.S. VISA MC, BAC, Check, Money Order, U.S. Funds ONLY. CA residents add 6%, 6Vi%, or 7% Sales Tax, depending on your local rates. Include MINIMUM SHIPPING & HANDLING of $3.00 for the first 3 lbs, plus 50« for each additional pound (25$ if within Calif.) Plus 25c per $100.00 value of your order for

insurance. Orders over 70 lbs. sent freight collect. Just in case, include your phone number. Prices subject to change without notice. We will do our best to maintain prices through March 1986. Credit card orders will be charged appropriate freight We are not responsible for typographical errors.

PRIORITY ONE ELECTRONICS and PRIORITY 1 ELECTRONICS are registered service marks of the Heath Group, Ltd. Zipper 212A, Zipper 2400, Zipper 1200B and Zipper Modem are trademarks of the Heath Group, Ltd.

g^ ORDER TOLL FREE (800)423-5922 (NOW IN CALIF. TOO!!)

ROSS

MAYBE THE ONLY DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE YOU'LL EVER NEED

• Table based 8 bit cross-assembler

• Tables/Source files included for:

1802 6502 8048 COP400 3870 6801 8051 Z8 8096 6805 8085 Z80

• Modify/Create tables for most 8 bit micros Create your own instruction sets

• INTEL, MOTOROLA, TEKTRONIX output formats " Use with any EPROM programmer

" 36 page manual, full instructions

• Available in the following disk formats:

5" IBM-PC PC/MS-DOS 2.0 or greater, compatibles 5" APPLE ll + yile CP/M-80 (Softcard), compatibles 8" SSSD CP/M-80 {280 only)

*998

*1299

I Credit card orders: Include card no., name on card, expiry date, I signature. Nova Scotia residents add 10% sales tax.

BULK DISKETTES

BY

NASHUA

#75

4

each Qtt. !00

5'A" DS/00 with hub ring and Tyvek sleeve, bulk

packaged no labels, factory warranteed Shipping

extra For quantity 50. add 10c each

Get the same low price our high-volume

duplication customers get!

CALL TOLL FREE

1-800-321-4668

in Colorado, 303-234-0871 VISA. MASTERCARD, OR COD ACCEPTED

ALF

1315-F Nelson St. Denver, CO 80215

Sure itis insured?

SAFEWARE® Insurance provides full replacement of hardware, media and

purchased software. As little as $39/yr. covers: • Fire • Theft • Power Surges

• Earthquake • Water Damage • Auto Accident

For information or immediate coverage call:

1-800-848-3469

In Ohio call 1-614-262-0559

SAFEWARE, The Insurance Agencr Inc.

Inquiry 363

Inquiry 12

Inquiry 302

.J~ PC/XT USERS!

r

COGTREE Utilities by

Cogitate

S129.95

M

LYNC by Norton-Lamber. . .

. SI99.95

i

DATAFLEX by Data Access.

. . Varies

r

RM/COBOL by Ryan/

McFarland

. . Varies

r

Universe by Omnitrend...

S 98.50

M

Blue Mac! by Cogitate. . ..

S 599.00

i

CadPower + by Trilex

S995.00

w

Softext Teaching Aids

S 95.00

M

PrintSet by Cogitate

S 79.95

T

CogiTAPE by Cogitate

. .CALLII

t

Anti-Static Products

. . Varies

JT Uninterruptible Power

Backups

. . Varies

J~ TeleVideo Software

. .CALLII

siifwi

"A Higher Form of Softwa

re"

24000 Telegraph Road

Southfleld. Ml 48034

(313) 352-2345/Telex 386581

VISA/MASTERCARD ACCEPTED

Dealer Inquiries Welcomed

DATA ACQUISITION TO GO

INTERFACE FOR ANY COMPUTER

FREE IBM SOFTWARE

Connects via RS-232. Fully IBM compatible. Built-in BASIC. Stand alone capability. Expandable. Battery Option. Basic system: 16 ch. 12 bit A/D, 2 ch. D/A, 32 bit Digital I/O. Expansion boards available. Direct Bus units for many computers.

(201) 299-1615 P.O. Box 246, Morris Plains, NJ 07950

ELEXOR

72 Digital I/O

PXB-721

Parallel Expansion Board

• For IBM-PC & Compatibles

• 72 Digital I/O Lines

• Simple Programming

• Uses One Expansion Slot

• Fast Delivery

$195

tj/QUA TECH, INC.

478 E. Exchange St. Akron OH 44304 (216)434-3154 TLX: 5101012726

Inquiry 71

Inquiry 122

Inquiry 290

1st PLACE

COMPUTER SYSTEMS 13422 N CAVECREEK RD.

PHOENIX. AZ. 85022

CALL FREE 1-800-841-2748

ALTOS-2086T80 $14,599

LEADING EDGE $CALL

ITT PC $CALL

ZENITH $CALL

STAR SG10 $214

JUKI 6100 $339

WYSE 50 $419

QUME 101G $289

CITIZEN MSP10 $255

HARD DRIVES $CALL

MODEMS $CALL

OTHER NAME BRANDS IN STOCK CALL FOR LOW PRICES

28 PIN PROM BLASTER

WITH LIFETIME WARRANTY*

Plugs into your

IBM PC, XT or PPC and

programs most 28 pin

EPROMS. Includes the

following features:

• Menu Driven • Rdit function for the data buffer* Moves systems memory into data buffer ■ Performs a died sum • Reads P.PROM into data buffer Wit] program the Mo»1ng EPROMS: • 2764 • 27128 • 27256 • 2764A • 27128A

OTHER APPARAT ADD-ONS: 24 Pin Prom Blaster, AT 3Mb. Combo Card, 5I2K RAM Card, J84K RAM/dock, Hard Bisk Subsystem, Add-on Disk Drive, Clock-Calendar. 256K RAM Caul. Parallel Serial Card for PPC, I2&384K Short Slot RAM Gird for the PPC and more

ApparatJnc.

ADO ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON

440] So. Tamarac Parkway I Denver. CO 80257 / 3W1-1778

ORDERING AM) DEAI-ER INFORMATION

800/525-7674

Stores in Denrer& Chicago/*0n all cards sold after June 1,1984

INLAB28

LOGIC/MEMORY

PROGRAMMER

It must be magic!

How else could

INLAB load all

these features into such a small package:

• Capable of programming hundreds of logic and memory devices!

• Small and portable-less than 26 ounces!

• Inexpensive firmware updating!

• Available with CUPL™ design software!

• Standard RS232 interface!

• EPROM emulation, from 2716 up to 27256 (including CMOS)!

It's no illusion! For only $1995. we can make a Model 28 appear before your very eyes! Just give us a call at 303/460-0103.

We'd like to do some magic for you!

INL&B

A Hatwtty Company

2150-1 West 6rh Avenue Broomfield, CO 80020

Inquiry 407

Inquiry 24

Inquiry 168

COMPUTER PRODUCTS, Inc. ORDER TOLL FREE

(800) 538-8800

(CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS)

(800) 848-8008

I MasterCard]

STATIC RAMS

i

2

2L-4

2L-2

I

2

4

4-2S

4L-4

41-3

41-2

7

II

S4044-4

14044-3

14044-2

4111

112016-20

K20I6-I5

12010-10

6116-4

0110-3

0110-2

OIIOLr-4

0II0LP-3

0M01P-2

132

0204P-I5

6284LMS

0204LP-I2

250 I 4 IK I 1 IK I 1 IK i 1

256 i 4

266 I 4 IK I 4 IK I 4 IK I 4 IK I 4 IK i 4 4Kl I

25014 4Ki I 4K I I 4Ki 1 IKlO 2Ki B 2KlO 2KlO 2Ki6 2Kl0 2Kl6 2Ki6 2KlO 2Kl0 4Ki0 OK i 8 OKlO 6K16

45011 450ll 450ll 250ll 450ll 45011 450lt 250« 450ll 300n 20011 55» 45011 45011 300ll 200u 25011 20011 I SOU 10 On 200lt I SOU I20n 200u I SOll 12011 300ll 150u 15011 12011

CMOS CMOS CMOS CMOS CMOS CMOS

CMOS CMOS CMOS

DYNAMIC RAMS

S4027

1411

I52S0

4100

15296

10-20

16-15

16-12

IB

14-25

14-20

14-16

'56-20

156-15

12

16

It

6

lt-1

S25I6

B27I6

S2532

It

12 4-4

12 4-35

12 k

32 k-2

■4

04-26

64-20

IS2664

:MiS764

:M6S766

.74-45

121-30

128-25

150-25

4K i 1

4Kl 1 4Ki I 8Ki I SKi I 1BK I I lOKil I6K1 1 I6K1I 641 i I 64K I 1 64KII 258 I I 2561 I

25011 30011 300ll 20011

250n 200ll 150n 12011 I SOll 250n 200ll 150n 200ll 150n

EPROMS

266 lS IKlS IX I 8 2Ki8 2(1 8 2Ki» 2Kl6 4KlB 4Kl6 4Kl6 4Ki8 4Kl6 4Kl6 ■Kit 8Kl* 6Kll 8Kl6 IK. 6 IK I I ItKlt I8K18 I6K16 32Kl8

I II

45011 460ll 45011 350ll 450ll 46011 450ll 450ll 460ll 360ll 260ll 200ll 450ll 260ll 200u 450ll 450ii 3S0n 45011 300ii 25011 250ll

61 61 Si

5. 5, 21. til 2ll til 5< 61 5i 5i 5i 5< II 5. Si I4l

1.90 .79 .09

1.29 2.29 2.29 .99 1.10 1.20 1.30 1.40 3.95 3.00 2.96 3.45 3.95 9.95 2.49 2.99 4.49 2.49 2.99 6.49 2.99 3.49 8.49 29.95 5.95 6.96 8.98

1.45

1.96

1.95

.49

.49

.79

.99

1.49

3.95

CALL

CALL

CALL

2.89

2.69

3.95 2.49 5.90 2.96 3.95 3.95 6.95 3.95 2.95 2.96 3.95 5.95 8.96 3.95 4.96 5.96 9.95 17.95 19.95 5.00 5.50 0.00 9.95

74LS00

74L800

.23

74LS125

.41

74LS260

.58

741S0I

74

74LS126

.41

7418266

.64

74LSQ2

74LS03

24

74L8I32

.61

74L8Z73

1.45

.24

74L8I33

.61

74L8276

3.30

74LS04

73

74L8I36

.31

7418279

.48

74LS05

.24

74L8I37

.98

7418280

1.96

74U01

,27

74L8I3S

.64

74L8283

.68

741809

n

74L8139

.64

74L82I0

.88

74LSI0

74

7418146

1.16

74U2I3

.86

741811

.34

74L8I47

2.45

741820b

.18

74LSI2

.34

74L8I48

1.30

7418298

.88

74LSI3

44

74L816I

.54

74LS299

1.70

741SI4

.81

74L8153

.54

7418323

3.45

74LSI5

.34

74L8I54

1.66

74L8324

1.70

74LS20

.24

74L8155

.81

74L8352

175

74LS21

78

74L815B

.68

74L8363

175

74LS22

74

74L8167

.64

74L8363

1.30

74LS26

78

74L8I56

.68

74L8384

1.90

74LS27

78

74L8160

.66

74L8365

.48

74LS2S

.34

74L8161

.64

74L8386

.48

74LS30

74

74L8I62

.88

7418367

.44

74L832

71

74L8163

.64

74L8368

.44

74LS33

.64

74L8164

.66

74L8373

1.35

74L837

.34

74L8105

.94

74L8374

1.36

74L836

.34

74L8I66

1.90

7418377

1.35

741840

74

74L8I68

1.70

74L8378

1.13

741842

48

74L8169

1.70

74L8378

1.30

74L847

74

74L8170

1.45

74L8305

1.86

74L84I

.74

74L8I73

.68

7418386

.44

74LS49

.74

74L8174

.64

74L8390

1.16

74L8G1

.24

74L8I76

.54

74L8393

1.15

74LS54

.28

74L8181

2.10

74L8395

1.15

74L855

78

74L8I69

8.90

74L8399

1.45

74LS63

170

74L8I90

.16

74LS424

2.00

74L873

.38

74L819I

.68

74L8447

.36

74LS74

.34

74L8192

.78

74LS490

1.90

74L875

.38

7418193

.78

74L8624

3.05

74LS76

.38

74LS194

.68

74LS640

2.15

74L87I

.48

74LS195

.61

74LS645

2.15

74LSB3

.61

74L8I18

.71

74L8666

1.66

74L885

.88

74L8I97

.71

7418669

1.85

74L8B8

.38

74L822I

.88

74L8670

1.46

74LS90

.64

74L8240

.94

74L8674

9.60

74LS1I

88

74L8241

.98

7418682

3.16

741892

.64

74L8242

.98

741.8663

3.15

74L893

.64

74L8243

.98

74L86I4

3.15

74L895

.74

7418244

176

74L86B5

3.15

74LS96

.88

74L8245

1.48

7418688

2.35

74LS107

.38

74L8247

.74

74L8689

3.15

74L8109

.38

74LS248

96

7418783

23.95

74L8II2

.38

74L8241

.98

811895

1.46

7418113

.38

74L8261

.68

61L896

1.45

74L8114

.38

74L8263

.51

6IL897

1.45

74L8I2Z

.44

74LS257

.58

81L898

1.45

74LS123

.78

74L8258

.58

26L82621

2.75

74LSI24 2.05

7418259

2.70

25L82560

4.20

We will try to BEAT All Competitor's Prices

CALL for Quote!

8031

8016

1081

118-8080 1*8-8073 ....

8080*

8016

60864-2

1010

1017-3 |6 MHz) 8087-2 (JMHd

6011

8089

8000

. 14.00 8263 6.10

. 6.00 1283-5 7.00

. 5.00 1268 4.48

. 11.00 1266-6 4.10

. 21.10 1167 7.10

. 3.00 1267-6 6.00

. 4.00 8281 6.00

. 11.00 8269-6 0.00

. 24.00 8271 80.00

.124.06 8272 10.00

.199.96 8274 26.10

. 10.00 1276 21.10

. 60.00 1271 1.90

1271-5 7.10

8100

1131 .. 1166 .. 1156-2 . 1161 .. 1116 .. 6165-2 .

B2B2 6.46

6283 6.46

2.00 8214 4.00

6.00 0186 0.46

7.00 8287 0.46

6.00 8288 12.00

28.10 6280 44.00

38.00 8292 12.00

8200

8300

8202 8203 6206 8212 6114 6218 8224 8226 8226 6237

23.00 38.00 2.00 1.76 3.76 1.76 2.20 1.76 3.45 12.00

6303

1304 0307 8306 6310 0311

2.00 1.00 2.00 2.00 3.00 3.00

0237-5 14.00

0236 6243

8260 1261 .

6251A

4.46 4.46 0.00 3.00 4.46

8700

0741 28.00

0748 19.00

0740 20.00

0766 23.00

80000

60166-8 00.00

80166 60.90

THIS IS A SAMPLING ONLY . . . CALL WITH

ALL YOUR COMPONENT NEEDS

CRYSTALS ALL STANDARD VALUES... 1.69 CRYSTAL CLOCK OSC. ALL STANDARD VALUES... 4.89

DIP SWITCHES

4.5,6,7,8, 10 ALL... .79 ea.

ZIF SOCKETS

MpflZIF 4.80

It III ZIF 4.80

24 ill ZIF 5.80

28 Ml ZIF 6.80

40 pll ZIF 0.80

ORBITAL SYSTEMS:

EXTENDED 80-Column Card for APPLE Me

• 64Kto 128K Upgrade

• 2-Year Warranty.... $69.95

Z-80 (CP/M) CARD

APPLE II+, HE*

• Compatible w/all Apple CP/M

• Lifetime Warranty 69.95

MEG-O-RAM EXPAND DESKTOP SPACE 1 MEGABYTE

on APPLEWORKS t APPLE II et $259.°°

APPLE ACCESSORIES

Parallel Printer Cord 49.95

80-Col. card tor Apple 11+ ... 149.95

BO-Col. card lor Apple lie ... 129.95

Serial Cent (communication) ... 69.95

Cooling Fen 38.95

Power Supply 69.95

Joystick 29.95

Joystick Adopter Apple lie... 14.95

RF Modulator 13.95

Disk Drive Full Height 169.95

Disk Drive Vi Height 169.95

Controller Cent 49.95

Apple Paddles 5.95

16K Card 39.95

4 BULK 4

w DISKETTES x

SS/DD 25/$17.25

DS/DD 25/$19.75

ATI disks.... 25/$50.00 3W disks....25/$50.00

ALL DISKETTES HAVE A FULL 1-YEAR WARRANTY

MEMORY EXPANSION KIT

UV ERASERS

QUV-T8/1 $49.95

ECONOMY Model

• Erase* 15 EPROMS In 20 minute* e Plastic Enclosure

DOKAY carries the Full Line of LOGICAL DEVICES, Inc.

41256 150ns $2.89 each!

APPLEt or IBM* JOYSTICK $29.95

■ix MERCURY MODEMS £

For APPLE+and IBM* HAYES COMPATIBLE MODEM 195.00

- FULL ONE YEAR WARRANTY

• IBM* ACCESSORIES •

8087-3 |5MHz) 124.95

8087-2(8 MHz) 144.95

TEAC 55B 99.95

TAN DON TM100-Z 129.95

135W XT POWER SUPPLY.. 99.95 512K RAM MEMORY BOARD.. 139.95 MULTIFUNCTION BOARD with 384K RAM 179.95

MACINTOSH1 UPGRADE

(Parts only)

128K to 512K 50.00

Consists of: 16 41256 150ns 1 74F253

17 16 Pin Sockets Resistors eod Capacitors ALSO INCLUDED

t A TRADEMARK OF APPLE COMPUTER % A TRADEMARK OF IBM CORPORATION

CALL or WRITE

for our FULL CATALOG

TERMS: MinimumorderSIO.OO. For shipping and handling include $2.50 for UPS ground or $3.50 for UPS Blue (air). For each additional air pound, add $1.00. California residents must include 6% sales tax; L. A., S.F., S. Cruz, & S. Mateo counties include 6.5% sales tax and Santa Clara include 7% sales tax. All items subject to availability and prices subject to change Typographical errors are not our responsibility.

No additional charge for Mastercard or Visa. We reserve the right to substitute manufacturers and to limit auantities.

raffwnpitTiirTJ^irnni

HOURS: Mon - Fri 7 30 to BOO .Saturdays lOOOto 100

VISIT OUR RETAIL STORF

2100 De La Oiw Blvsl

Santa Clara CA 950SO

I4O8I988-069?

ALL MERCHANDISE IS

100% GUARANTEED

EE

BAR CODES MADE EASY

E-Z READER

PERCON" E-Z-READER™

Read the Fine Print before You Call.

PC/XT! AT/Compatibles-YES. Serial and Mulli-user-YES- Auto-recognition of codes- YES. Free phone suppori-YES 15 second keyboard installalion-YES. Bar code printing software-YES Soflware changes-H/lRDty EVER 1000s in use. 2 Year Warranty. S63S

"st NOW CALL US AT

503 344-1189

2190 W. 11th St.. Eugene. OR 97402

P E R C

MEMO:

TO: COMPUTER COMPETENT O.E.M.s,

ENGINEERS, & DEALERS. FROM: MARTIN GREEN, PRESIDENT MASTERBYTE COMPUTERS OF N.Y. INC.

We are distributors for a 4th generation 68000 SUPERMICRO and are currently establishing dealerships and selling to sophisticated O.E.M.s. Contact us now for an exceptional opportunity.

MASTERBYTE COMPUTERS

OF NEW YORK, INC.

19 WEST 34TH STREET

NEW YORK, NY 10001

(212) 564 - 2247

TWX #9103801502 (MASTERBYTE)

[Listed in the D&B Procurement Planning Service Directory!

£S ELECTRONICS euAnr

SHARE computers, printers, any parallel or serial device ELIMINATE cable swapping INEXPENSIVE way to network COMPATIBLE with all computers. Businesses, Schools, Homes WE ALSO OFFER: Data Buffers, Line Drivers. Modems, Protocol Converters, Parallel - Serial Converters, Cables. Computers. Printers, Disk Drives, and more. AUTOMATIC - CARETAKER is ideal for a business or school to share a printer or modem among many computers. Operation is fully automatic with no software required. Parallel or Serial 4 channels - $295 8 channels - $395 MANUAL - HARDSWITCH is operated with the flip of a switch. 2:2 and 2:4 models allow simultaneous communication.

Serial 1:2 ■ $59 1:4 - $ 99 2:2 - $109 2:4 ■ $169

Parallel 1:2-$79 1:4 ■ $139 2:2-$119 2:4 ■ $199 LED and spike protection on serial models add $20. CODE ACTIVATED - PORTER connects one computer to multiple peripherals. A software code selects the peripheral. Parallel or Serial 4 channels - $295 8 channels - $395 Buffer option 64K - $100 256K • $250 REMOTE - TELEPATH connects multiple computers to multiple peripherals. Aselector at each computer or terminal chooses up to 4 peripherals and displays busy status. 4:4-$495 4:B-$795 selector - $39. '• ^»* * K«« * yav« (impute*

ROSE ELECTRONICS (713) 933-7673

P.O. BOX 742571 HC & VISA Acctpl.d

HOUSTON, TX 77274 Dealer Inquiries Invited

CALL US FOR ALL YOUR INTERFACE NEEDS

Inquiry 269

Inquiry 225

Inquiry 298

DATA ACQUISITION

and control for ANY computer

The Model 1232 communicates via RS-232, and has 8 analog inputs (± 4 VDC; 12 bits). 8 digital inputs and outputs, and a 2000 point buffer. Suitable for field data logging or lab use. the 1232 costs only S690. The 8-bit system (0-5 VDC) is $490. Detailed manual, $6. Phone our applications engineer at 617-237-5514 or write:

w w STARBUCK w w

"T- "T" DATA COMPANY "T" "T"

2 Mica Lane, Wellesley, MA 02181

Inquiry 326

Fl>8

Publication Quality Scientific Graphics

- linear, log, & polar plots

-• bar charts S. Smith charts -■ contour plots with labels

- 3-D curves, 3-D surfaces with hidden llnB removal

-• 4 curve types, 8 markers

I - 14 fonts, font editor

I - ;tigor scripts

■ - 4096 x 3120 raeolution

-» 16 colors on EGA, Tecmar,

i Slgmo, TeleVideo HCB boards.

i — zoom, pan, window plats

1 -» multiple plots on a page

- high resolution printer dumps, full or half page

Over 100 routines can be called by your C program. SOURCE INCLUDED for personal use only. $350

256k. IBM St Corona PCs. DOS 2 ■». 3 «

Epson, Ob,a

■Pecki

. Slorr

Scientific Endeavors

Aouto 4, Box 79, Kingston TN 377B3 [615] 370-4140

* THIS At) WAS PRODUCED Br Gr.phC'

:::: ibmpc/vt22o

EM220 $149

VT220, VTI02 emulation

File Transfer

132 Column modes

Color Support

Hot Kev

SSSS TEK 4010/4014

EM4010 $249

m

Tektronix 4010 emulation

VT220, VT102 emulation

Picturefiles

High resolution hardcopy

Supports IBM, IBM Enhanced,

Hercules, Tecmar and AT&T.

Diversified Computer Systems, Inc.

3775 Iris Ave., Suite IB Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 447-9251

Trademarks: VTtOO — OiRitat Equipment: IBM PC. XT-IBM Carp.

Inquiry 114

Real-Time Multitasking Executive

■ No royalties

■ Source code included

■ Fault free operation

■ Ideal for process control

■ Timing control provided

■ Low interrupt overhead

■ inter-task messages

■ Resource Manager I Buffer Manager

■ Integer Math Library

■ Language Interfaces: C Pascal

PL/M Fortran

i DOS File Access : CP/M-80 IBM PC DOS

mMuMiw

AMX for 8080 $800 US

8086 950

6809 950

68000 1600

Manual [spacrry processor) 75

Jl KADAK Products Ltd. W

(604) 734-2796

Telex: 04-55670

206-1B47 W.Broadway, Vancouver, BC.Canada V6J1Y5

R1/. 3M

W /*# FLEXYC

SS/DD Soft

DS/DD Soft

High Density (IBM-AT)

3.5 /SS Micro

m

w.

FLEXYDISKS

H

10-90 100

$1.15e

$1,59e $3.29e $2.35e

• I I ea ■ UH"ea

O.iy ea

$2.25 ea

In Stock — Immediate Shipment.

Mastercard, VISA, Check or Money Order.

Add $3.00 shipping charges per each 100 or part.

Add $2.50 additional for C.O.D. shipments.

N.J, residents add 6% sales tax.

Data Exchange

Dept. B, P.O. Box 993 178 Route 206 South Somerville, N.J. 08876

(201) 874-5050

NEC PRINTERS

(1 Year Factory Warranty)

Pinwriter P5 $ 925

Pinwriter P5XL $1100

Pinwriter P6 $ 445

Pinwriter P7 $ 575

Elf 350/360 $ 380

3510/15/30/50 $ 715

8810/15/30/50 $1040

Optional Forms Handling Devices CALL

QUALITY PRINTERS 8415 Cement City Road Brooklyn, Michigan 49230 Phone: 517-592-3749

Inquiry I94

Inquiry 108

Inquiry 291

BVTi

LIMITED EDITION

INTELLIGENT REFLECTIONS

Fascinating...And Unique!

The two 1985 Byte covers shown above are now available as 16" X 20" limited edition prints. Each edition is strictly limited to 1000 prints, which are individually inspected, signed and numbered by the artist, Robert Tinney. These excellent reproductions are made from the original paintings) not from transparencies or photos) to ensure accurate color fidelity.

Byte Limited Edition Classics are printed on select 100% cotton fiber stock. This is a museum grade acid free paper, highly resistant to yellowing and cracking; you will be assured of a print which will retain its color and beauty for generations. Accompanying each print is a handsome Certificate of Authenticity, which is also personally signed and numbered by the artist, and which certifies the quality and limited number of the edition.

Price and Shipping

The price of each Byte Limited Edition Classic is $55; if two or more prints are ordered, the price of each is only $45.

Beautiful 16" X 20" Limited Edition Prints, each signed and numbered by the Artist.

#B

fe*$fe

STORAGE SPACE

Byte Limited Edition Classics are shipped flat, and are guaranteed to arrive undamaged or be immediately replaced. In fact, if for any reason you are not satisfied with your order, you may return it within 30 days for a no questions asked refund. Your prints will be shipped UPS Blue Label (two day delivery), and will usually be shipped within one week of receipt of order.

Ordering

To order your Byte Limited Edition Classic(s), just clip out and mail the coupon below. If you prefer, you may call in a MasterCard or Visa order to Robert Tinney Graphics, l-(504)272-7266.

r

Send me the following print for $55($45 each for two or more).

Qty. # Title Amount

— $

postage & handling $4($10 overseas) $_ Total S Bill my □ Visa or □ Mastercharge: Exp. DateL Card No.

□ I have enclosed check or money order to Robert

Tinney Graphics

□ Please just send me your free color brochure.

Ship To:

Name:

Mail this coupon to: Robert Tinney Graphics

1864 N. Pamela Drive Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70815

Address:. City:

States

_Zip:.

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 435

PC

PROMPT DELIVERY!!!

S SAME DAY SHIPPING (USUALLY)

OUTSIDE OKLAHOMA: NO SA

LES TAX

r V20 $16.00 V30

$17.50

~ o

8087-2 Malh Coprocessors

145.00

J-o

DYNAMIC RAM

J*

256K 64Kx4 150 ns

$4.75

256K 256Kx1 120 ns

3.37

r> o.

256K 256Kxi 150 ns

2.57

128K 128Kx1 150 ns

5.50

5

64K i6Kx4 150 ns

2.50

*

64K 64Kxi 150 ns

1.15

li i

EPROM

- ;

27C256 32Kx8 250 ns

$7.50

27256 32Kx8 250 ns

4.75

1

27C64 8Kx8 250 ns

3.75

6

2764 8Kx8 250 ns

2.75

1 5

STATIC RAM

I 6264LP-158Kx8 150 ns

$3.15

OPEN 7 DAYS: WE CAN SHIP VIA FED-EX ON SAT.

MasterCard/VISA or UPS CASH COD

NO EXTRA COST FOR FED-EX £AT DELIVERY ON ORDERS RECEIVED BY Th SwA>rS6/4« Fr P-OneSQ-2*

Factory New, Prime Parts jjPqo

MICROPROCESSORS UNLIMITED, INC.

BEGGS. OK. 74421

Prices shown above are (or Jan. 20,1986

Please can lor currert press Prices sucjod lo orange Please eipecl higher or \o*ai prices on some parte Que lo suppty 4 demand and our chancuig cfsts Sftcpmrj & insurance extra Cash asccunf proas snown Orders roCBvod by 6 PMCSTcan usuatybe Oekveteo'10 you by Dm next morning, via Fattend Exprw Stmdfd Air <■: « 00, or Priority One (<• 111001

16-BIT RESOLUTION ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL

CONVERTER 12,000 SAMPLES/SEC

for IBM PC, XT & AT

SINGLE PIECE PRICE

$475

We manufacture a broad line of data acquisition and control hardware and software for Apple and IBM computers.

Call for quotes on custom hardware or complete systems.

LAWSON LABS, INC.

5700 RAIBE ROAD COLUMBIA FALLS, MT 59912 406-387-5355

USE AN IBM STYLE

KEYBOARD ON ANY

COMPUTER!

BUY CORVATEK'S

KEY-UP INTERFACE

FEATURES $129.00

• Reprogrammable Keys

• Type Ahead Buffer

• Dvorak option

• Key Click Option

• Beeper

KEYBOARDS

KEYTRONICSKB5150KB5150DJ $112.00 KB5151 KB5151DI $164.00

iDut. JVoa 9,..,,,, COKVATEK (503) 752-4833

1100N.W.VANBURENST. » 2E

CORVALLIS, OR 97330

Key-up is a trademark of CORVATEK. Keytronics and IBM a. trademarks of Keytronics Corp. and International Buslnef Machines. t Dvorak keyboard layout on D version

Inquiry 238

Inquiry 205

Inquiry 98

DATA SWITCH

Parallel 2 pos(A-B) $39

Serial 2 pos(A-B) $35

Parallel 4 pos(A-D) $52

XT, AT POWER SUPPLY

XT-135 Watt

AT-200 Watt >

ADD-ON & ACCESSORY

5150 Style Keyboard $56

AT Style Keyboard $77

384K Multifunction (OK) $95

Color/Graphic/Printer $63

Mono/Graphic/Printer $79

Floppy Drive Controller $39

Parallel Printer Cable $10

RS232 to RS232 Cable $10

XT Type Case $39

AT Type Case $95

Dealer Call for Qty Price

BUDGET COMPUTERS

2620 Concord Ave., Suite 108 Alhambra, CA 91803 (818) 281-2833

tm

FANSICONSOLE

The Integrated Console Utility TM All the little things IBM forgot! for IBM—PC, XT, AT & clones.

• 1.2 to 3.0 times faster DOS & BIOS screen writing

• more escape sequences than ANS'.SYS

• usable in any language

• scroll recall facility

• compatibility w/PC & AT software

• full EGA support

• 255 character typeahead buffer

• increase key repeat rate

• no scroll blink for some adaptors

• VT 100/52 emulation

• auto dual screen disable

• keyboard induced breakpoints

• window support

• support for 50 line display

• many many more little features

Shareware disk $25 or

400p Manual (w/slip case) & disk 575

As described in Lotus June 85 pg. 8

HERSEY MICRO CONSULTING, INC.

Box 8276J, Ann Arbor, Ml 48107 (313)994-3259 x525 VISA/MC

PC EXPANSIONS

AST SixpackPI JS (384 K) $259

Advantage (128 K) $369

Advantage (1.5 M) $499

Advantage (3 M) $759

I/O Plus $129

Quadboard (384 K) $235

LibertyAT (2 M) Scall

QuadportAT $135

Tecmar Maestro (2.5 M) $609

HERCULES graphics board $299

Color Card $159

Everex Graphics $calt

HAYES Smartmodem 1200B $359

Smartmodem 1200 $399

Maynard Disk Controller $100

Sandstar Series Scall

Internal 10 MB

HD systems from $599

MaynStream Tape backup from $979

Set of 9 chips (64 k) $10

Set of 9 chips (256 k) $27

8087-3 $119

Qume 142A $109

Teac FD55B $109

Teac FD55BV (for AT) $109

Tandon TM100-2 $109

CDC 9409 $119

Verbatim (Box of 10) $19

Maxell (Box of 10 for AT) $39

VLM Computer Electronics

10 Park Place • Morristown, NJ 07960 (201) 267-3268 Visa, MC, Check or COD

Inquiry 49

Inquiry 155

controls up to 4 motors from any CRT, terminal or computer

STEPPING MOTOR CONTROLLER

• CHOPPER or • acceleration R/L drives deceleration

• RS232 interface • 1-4 axis moves Standard R/L Version with BASIC $985 16K BASIC, R/L, Battery Backup $1335 CNC R/L Version $1950 Stepping Motor Tips Cookbook $8 Users Manuals $12

CENTROID (814) 237-4535 Box 739, State College, PA 16804

• With Hub Rings

• Write Protect Tabs ■ Envelopes

• User ID Labels

• In Factory Sealed Poly Packs ot 10

(YOU GET EVERYTHING BUT THE BOX) Prices are per Disk

| QTY

| 50

100

500

1000

I SSDD

I -59

.56

.52

.49

| DSDD

I .64

.61

.57

.54

Library Case Holds 15 Diskettes. Only . . S1 00! plus 50C S&H

The 100 File, Only S10.95! plus S2.00 S & H

100% ERROR FREE — LIFETIME WARRANTY Mm. order S25.00 Add 10% for less than 50 diskettes Shipping and Handling: 54.00 per 100 diskettes. Reduced shipping tor larger quantities. C.O.D add $4.00. Cash or certified check.

coo. -r

Precision Data Products

P.O. Box 8367. Grand Rapids. Ml 495IS (Mo) 452-3457 • Michigan I-X00-632-24GK Outside Michigan I-K00-25K-0028

E

of

ICs and Disk Drives

□ 64K / 128K / 256K

D-RAMs at LOW PRICES D TEAC FD-55BV DSDD Disk Drives

S89.00 each

fw/one year factory warranty!) D V-30 5-MHz ® S14.00

B-MHz S17.00

V-30 B-MHz S19.95

D MEMORY BOARDS

*ABM MULTI-FUNCTION BOARD W/3B4K S185.00

'ABM MEM513 W/512K RAM $159.00

'TALL-TREE JRAM-2 w/2-MB S295.00

'JRAM-3 w/2-MB S400.00

D 155W POWER SUPPLY

FOR IBM PC G XT S135.00

D INTERNAL 300/1200-B MODEM for PC. XT and

AT by Best Data Products for only S245.00 each

* Most popular brand 1200-B Modem compatible. " Complete with communications software.

* With 2 year factory warranty. ' Made in U.S.A.

M

WARRANTY: All I date dii defeclivt

ExcelTec Industries, Inc.

P.O. Box 2205 Silver Spring, MD 20902

Phone: (301) 933-3523

OEMs and DEALERS are invited

CALL US FOR THE LATEST PRICES

Inquiry 61

Inquiry 276

Inquiry 130

.'"■74]

mz:*£*

FORTRON CORPORATION

3225 SELDON CT., FREMONT, CA 94538

IN CALIF: (415)490-8171

TLX: 559291 FORTRON

FAX: (415)490-9156

ORDER TOLL FREE: (800) 821-9771

U.L. Rated • High Reliability • Full Technical Support

FC 135-40 150W (max) PC/XT $129.00

• U.L. recognized, yellow card available File # E-101115(S)

• Meet FCC class B, european safety spec.

• 115/230V AC convertible

• Low noise DC fan

• OVP, OCR short circuit protection

• IBM" standard pin out or Faraday type pin out selectable

• 100% 24 hrs. burn-in 100% pre-shipment test. One full year warranty

Your PC represents a substantial investment It does down time bug to baraain power supply wnen tat a le the confidence ol FORTRON QUALITY

FC 5192 200W (max) PC/AT $189.00

PROFITABLE DISCOUNT PRICES FOR SYSTEM INTEGRATORS & DEALERS - PLEASE CALL

FC 520

Color Graphic/Mono/Printer

• TTL/composite level oulpuls

• 320 x 200 (color) 640 * 200 (BSW) ■ Centronics printer port

sggoo

FC 550 (CT-6040) Monochrome/Graphic/Printer

•80x25 lexi mode

• 720x348 graphic mode

• Run Lolus 1-2-3 auto cad. i 1 Hercules* companble

S11900

FC 730 (CT-6050C) 384K Multifunction

■ Memory expansion to 384K • Clock/calendar

■ Serial, parallel ports " Game port

(J0K) S129°°

FC 730 AT

Multifunction Card for PC AT

Mi

■ 1 EIA-RS232 port (2nd optional)

• 128K 10 1 5 MB memory

• Expandable to 3 MB (optional) by piggy back

■Spot, *219°°

FC740

Multi-I/O w/Floppy Controller

FC 930 AT

RS232/Printer Port for PC AT

FC 940

RS232/Real Time Clock

• t EIA-RS232C pott (2nd option;

• 1 Cemronic pott, game pott

• Clock/calendar

• Control 2 (loppy drives (FC770I w/o Floppy Controller

S119°°

• EIA RS232C pott (2nrJ optional) ■ Centronics parallel port

10900

■ RS232C porl

■ To 9600 baud

> Battery back-up

sggoo

S5900 (clock only)

Plus More. .. for PC XT

i 512K memory expansion card (OK) S89.00

' RS232/parllel port $69.00

i Monochrome controller with printer port $99.00 ■ Floppy drive controller (w/cable) $59.00

XT HD Controller

AT FD & HD Controller

XT HD Controller I DTC5150BX WDWX-2 Cable

AT FD & HD Controller DTC5290 WD WA-2 Cable set

159 00 149.00 10.00

270.00 265.00 20.00

Internal Modem

' Free PC Talk software

■ 300/1200 baud

1 Auto busy redial. auto answer

' Dual phone jack plus RS232 port

S17900

XT CPU Board

■ 4 77 MHZ,

■ Optional 6 77 MHZ

■ 8 slots Expandable lo 640K on board memory

Optional 8087 co-processor Optional IBM' comp BIOS

M69°° (OK)

FC447

PC/AT Keyboard

»»•'

IBM AT compatible keyboard Enlarge return key Light on rum lock key

S109°°

FC 427 (5150 Type) $7goo

■'■•'.

wv

FC 437 (5151 Type) sggoo

**£'■■

■ For PC XT ' Large -eturi * Light en nu

JBEBffi!1

key

v lock keys

CABINETS & EXPANSION CHASSIS

FC 630 A-2

• For PC XT compatible. SggOO side switch

• To use FC 135-40 power supply ■ Complete mounting hardware

FC 630 A-T

7<hn"Ul

For PC AT compatible LED lamps, key. key 10' speaker and mounting hardware, included

s-ogoo

FC 610 Drives Chassis

\

> Capable ol Holding 2 Mall-height drives • Come w'power supply Ian 1 LED power indicalor

$14goo

FC 640 5 Slot Expansion Chassis

S25900

I

• W/5 slot moiher board

■ 100W power supply, (an

■ Capable ol holding 3 hall-height drives

• Dia 15Vr" x 12" xQVt"

• Oplion ol system interf^ adaptor

FC 650 8 Slot Expansion Chassis

S259

iiigli^jj2iitt

i

> PC XT identical size i W/8 Slot moiher board 1 '40W power supply

• 4 halt-height drives

• System interlace adaptc

S159

FC 660 12 Slot Expansion Chassis

5299

Dia 15^" x 15v*" x5''2"

W/12 slot mother board

power supply, Ian

Capable ot holding

2 hail-height drives

System interlace adaptor b 1 59 |

MONITORS

» Monochrome Tatting MM 1222 A/G Golden Star Green

• Color Hi-Res (640x200) Tatung CM-1360

• Enhanced Graphic Tatung CM-1380 Super Hi-Res (640x300)

129.00 109.00

359.00 Call

DISK DRIVES

Floppy

COC 360K . ,

Teac 55BV

12 MB . ,

Hard (w/controller & cable)

10 MB

20 MB ST-225

20 MB ST-4026 (40ms)

30 MB ST-4038 (40ms)

99 00

Call

139.00

419.00

51900

Call

Call

ENHANCED GRAPHIC ADAPTOR

IBM Compatible

• For PC/XT/AT and compatibles

• 256K on board memory

• Full 16 colors in 640x350 on IBM' enhanced color display

• Support 640 x 350 IBM * compatibles enhance color and monochrome monitors

• Parallel port • Light pen interlace

• call (or price

RAM CHIPS

• 64K RAM 10/9-pc I ' 256K 33/9-pc

• 128K 53/9 set

(for PC AT)

Terms:

• Mm shipping & handling S6 00

• CA res. add 6.5% lax

• Restocking charge I5°.b

• No rln. goods w/o a RMA no.

• Prices subject to change w/o notice

juiry 136 (or DEALERS ONLY

MARCH 1986 • BY

YOU UKB IT. K|

i« WE TAKE IT BACK1

H for any reason you are ^ yQu with any product^gup q{ fe ipt KpremeTcredUorafuHretund

WE'LL PAY YOU If YOU «N0UA LOWER PWCE g cjng

lf you buy any ^\^%l from

in this ad and find *JJ ^ naS the

any source in this issue,

fdentical productmrtocK. j» only refund the di«erency dfffefence but also pay you 20%>9 )ower

for yo«r trouWeMJ guf^ f rom

fffor any *»^S?%t£&*S* date you *'? <f0ftL*products shipped

includes drive, PC/XT controller card, cables and install procedures. Capacities listed are unformatted. We sell only the finest drives from Seagate, Mitsubishi. Microscience. and others guaranteed to meet or exceed original manufacturer's specifications.

13MB 1/2 Ht. 85ms ....

25MB 1/2 Ht. 85IT1S starting at

38MB Full Ht. 40ms

51MB Full Ht. 40ms ....

$388. $438. $788. $928.

FLOPPY DRIVES

PC COMPATIBLE PANASONIC 1/2 Ht. $89.8 SANYO 1/2 Ht $79.0

APPLE II Compatible, inc. cable $97.7!

MODEMS

SmarTEAM 103/212A

ZOOM 1200

1200/300 baud auto answer/auto dial. Hayes'"(AT) compatible external modern. Monitor speaker, tone/pulse dialing, status indicator lights.

1200/300 baud, auto answer/auto dial. Hayes;"(AT) compatib internal modem. Deamon dialing, monitor speaker. tone/puls> dialing, dual phone jacks, call progress tone detection, 2 Yeai Warranty. Made in USA.

$178.00

2 Year Warranty

$199.88

INCLUDING SOFTWARE!

MONITORS

TATUNG

The highest image quality, most reliable monitors we've tes

1360 13" Hi-Res RGB 640 X 200 1370 13" Ultra Hi-Res RGB 720 X 400

BORLAND

SIDEKICK 1.5 c/p $27.75

SIDEKICK 1.5 nc/p $42.99

SIDEKICK MAC nc/p $42.99

TURBO PASCAL 3.0 nc/p . . . $35.33 SUPERKEY 1.1 nc/p $35.33

TRAVELING SIDEKICK nc/p $39.97

TURBO LIGHTNING nc/p $55.00

REFLEX nc/p $55.00

COMPONENTS

Quality Japanese mfg, from companies like OKI. HITACHI. TOSHIBA and FUJITSU,

256K DRAMS Set of 9150ns 64K DRAMS Set of 9150ns .

SOS7-3

8087-2

80287

27128

V20-5MHZ replaces 8088

27288

2784

MULTITECH

MULTIFUNCTION BOARD

AST Sixpack™ compatible. Serial port, Parallel port. Game port. Clock/Calendar. RAMDISK and PSPOOL software. Up to 384 K memory expansion (empty)

$99

1 Year Warranty

Certified Quality 5v„" FUJI Bulk Disks With or without box.

DISKETTES

NEW LOWER PRICES! t

. $26.46 . . $8.91

DS/DD in White Box DS/DD Bulk w/o box, sleeves, labels or w/p tabs

With sleeves, labels and w/p tabs. Priced per box of 10 Price each, in increments of 20 only, poly bagged

1-19 I 20-99 1 100-499 I 500-999 I 1000+ 60-180 I 200-480 1500-9801 1000-4980 | 5000

9.99 9.30 8?79 8.32 I 7.99 32 A2

ACCESSORIES

PC POWER SUPPLIES

150 WATT $94

KEYBOARDS: IBM/XT'" and KEYTRONICS™ COMPATIBLE:

5150 style $69

5151 style $89

REPLACEMENT HARD DISK DRIVES:

25MB 1/2 ht. 85ms or better $348

25MB Full ht. 40 ms $568

38MB Full ht. 40ms $678

51MB Full ht. 40ms $848

BOARD PRODUCTS: Western Digital PC/AT type Hard/Floppy com. . $279

MULTITECH 2 Drive PC floppy controller $45

MULTITECH 4 drive PC floppy controller $58

AST Advantage 128K $384.

MULTITECH color graphics board (1-2-3 comp.) $98

HERCULES graphics board $287

QUADRAM Quadboard w/64K $197

MULTITECH 384K mem. exp. board (empty) $49

MODEMS: NOVATION SMARTCAT+ 1200/300 baud, int. or ext.

Auto ans/Auto dial Hayes^fAT) comp w/MITE $308

HAYES 1200B w/Smartcom II $349

NOVATION 2400 with MS-DOS or Macintosh software$548 ZOOM HE 300 baud AA/AD Hayes™ comp W/software$96

MONITORS:

AMDEK 710 RGB 720 X 400 $486

PRINCETON MAX-12 Amber $166

PRINCETON HX-12E RGB $544

TATUNG-1222 12" Amber $118

TAXAN 122 monochrome $137

TAXAN 640 RGB 720 X 400 . . . - $529

L-800-358-8881T 1-800-826-3736

Inquiry 395

*THE FINE PRINT

Excluding software. Prior return authorization required; all items returned must be in original condition with carton, packing and all manuals, etc, We accept Cashier and Certified checks, Money Orders, personal checks (product shipped when check clears), VISA and MasterCard with no surcharge and American Express (4% surcharge). All products shipped UPS ground unless specified otherwise (freight FREE for orders over $100), All normal manufacturer's warranties apply.

Everybody hates us but our customers.

6311-L Desoto Ave., WOODLAND HILLS, CA 91367

HOURS: 7:00AM-6:00PM Pacific Time

**IF YOU DON'T SEE IT, CALL!

We have virtually any product available at the best pricing Space limits us to only a fraction of what we sell. Call u-, for a quote and deliver information. If we don't have it. we'll try to get. for you! All items priced and in stock at time o) ad placement and subject to vendor changes and prior sale at time of ad publication

Dealers: Call for quantity prices!

1-800-826-0843

Tim Comput in Btkm

Super Low Prices on Micro Computers and Accessories...

WYSE 30

$ 330

TeleVideo 905 $ 285

WYSE 50

409

TeleVideo 9220 485

WYSE 75

539

Canon Laser 8A1 2195

WYSE PC

1159

Canon A40 245

WYSE 85

439

Diablo 635 1095

Compaq Port 2100

Compaq DskPro2

IBM PC

1650

WY-500 (Green Mono) $ 160 IBM XT W/10MB 3295

IBM AT W/20MB 5095

CASE/RIXON, ARK PARADYNE, PRENTICE, Modems. Complete line of Canon, Diablo, Datasouth Printers. Many other Products.

CALL FOR FREE BROCHURE

Inquiry 79

FREE SOFTWARE

FROM THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

User Group Software isn't copyrighted, so no fees to pay! 1000's of CP/M and IBM software programs in .COM and source code to copy yourself! Games, business, utilities! All FREE!

Rent

IBMPC-SIG 1-4S4 Disksides 475.

IBMPC-BLUE 1-175 Disksides 200.

SIG/M UG 1-246 Disksides 160.

45. 25. 70. 65. 100.

Buy 950. 495. 675. 250. 100. 210. 200. 200.

CP/M UG 1-92 Disksides

PICO NET 1-34 Disksides

KAYPRO UG 1-60 Disksides

EPSON UG 1-52 Disksides

Commodore CBM 1-93 Disksides Public Domain User Group Catalog Disk $5 pp.

(payment in advance, please) Rental is for 7 days after receipt, 3 days grace to

return. Use a credit card, no disk deposit.

Shipping, handling & insurance $9.50 per library.

(619) 941-0925 Orders & Technical (9 to 5)

(619) 727-1015 24 Hr. 3 Min. Info Recording

Have your credit card ready!

National Public Domain Software

1533 Avohill Dr. ^^m

Vista, CA 92083

800-621-5460 then dial 782-542

BBB

AM EX,

Inquiry 249

EPROM OR RAM DISK AND DISK DRIVE EMULATORS

IBM PC*. COMPATIBLES AND APPLE lie*

• Diskless control and communications system

• Autoboot applications for dedicated workstations and improved productivity

■ Customized high speed, smart terminals

• Solid state speed, reliability and performance

• Selt contained control and EPROM program circuitry

• PC and MS DOS* compatible

• ROMDISK and RAMDISK are I/O mapped

• RAM disk - with battery back-up

• Plug compatible EPROM and RAM modules

ROMDISK PC-I |I80K| S495 ROMDISK PC-2 |360K) S595 RAMDISK PC-D I360K] S595 ROMDISK A FOR //E |144K| S349

CURTIS, INC. 22 Red Fox Road

St. Paul. MN 55110 612/484-5064

•IBM PC And PS DOS IS if registered trflderrwk of IBM Corpor.iuon MS DOS ii if regisieied iradenwk of Microsoft Corporation Apple//e is a registered tr^rJe/nnrli of Apple Computer Corporation

Inquiry 103

APPLE II COPROCESSOR 6. I/O

INTRODUCING

THE BUKOVSKI ROBOTICS

VIP CARD

A VERSATILE CONTROLLER CARD THAT CAN STAND ALONE

OR IN AN APPLE SLOT AS AN INTELLIGENT PERIPHERAL CARD THE VIP CARD NOT 0NLV GIVES VOL! 16 1/0 PORTSt EXPANDABLE TO 46) BUT ALSO AN ONBOARD 65C02 MICRO-COMPUTER. VIP WILL RUN MINIBASIC AND HAS ENDLESS APPLICATIONS ...FOR EXAMPLE PARALLEL OR SERIAL PRINTER PORTS. PRINTER CARD. INDUSTRIAL AND HOME CONTROL.

ONLY $ 1 29 VISA/MASTERCARDACCEPTE0

BUKOWSKI ROBOTICS I 555 W. UNIVERSITY* 105 TEMPE,AZ 85281 (602)966-6230

Inquiry 50

__ FOR THE BEST OF US... |_

"»■ THECVPHER ■"■

A COMPLETE 68000 & Z80A SINGLE BOARD COMPUTER SYSTEM WITH ULTRA-HIGH-RES GRAPHICS!!

iM~> uuke,, pfl(CES! , MEEABTTI QYFHER FROM $849 [10Q (|IIWIT(| ASSEMBLED WITH

ALL ON ONE BOARD!

Ill

MOTEL COMPUTERS LIMITED

1 74 BETTY ANN DRIVE, WILLOWDALE.

3, ONTARIO, CANADA M2N IXr

(18)229-4727

inquiry 242

™<>RS232 SERIAL<bLnm

NPUTIN-pufrPftRftl I Fl (Wltfct

PRINTER BUFFER<>

BI -DIRECTIONAL

This is the most eophIstIcated Printer Buffer In the market today, (11 croprocessor controlled, ulth tuo separate inputsjSerI a I and Parallel, and tuo outputs,SerI a I and Parallel, Automatic selection of Input/output, uhereveT you connect yours units. Comes in tuo models=1] w/64K to 25BK and 2] u^256K to 1 HPyte of buffer. Including COPT, RESET and PflUSE that alious you to print single sheets. External pouer supply Included. Also ue haue a BI-DIRECTIONAL Serial Parallel converter, without buffer, fully modes, baud rate and protocols programable by Jumpers, ulth DTR,RTS or XON/XDFF protocol. External pouer supply Cnot included].

DCB-A 64K Cex DCB-B 25GK Cex DCU Bl-directI

to 25610 to 1 flB)

255.

295.

80.

S?2 Order t oGay at •

INTECTRA IMC. - Department 232 2629 TERMINAL BLUD MOUNTAIN UIEU - CA - 94043 C415J 967-8818 - TLX 345545

IN-PARALLEL OUTiPflRALLFX IN-SFKiaL OUTifa

IMPORT YOUR OWN PC XT & AT CLONES

MASTED PACKS

SAMPLE

IMPORT

IMPORT

WE RETEST EVERY PACK

1-9

10+

100+

BEFORE WE SHIP

PC-XT $898.00 $595.00 $474.00

256K RAM - 360K FLOPPY - KEYBOARD MONOCHROME/GRAPHICS/PRINTER CARD (Hercules Comp.) 12" TTL HIGH RES MONITOR

SAMPLE 10+ 100+

PC-XT TURBO $999.00 $696.00 $595.00

640K RAM. 8088-2. (4.77 MHZ or 6.66 MHZ) 360K FLOPPY - KEYBOARD - MONOCHROME/ GRAPHICS PRINTER - 12" TTL HIGH RES MONITOR

1-4 5+ 50+

PC-AT $1695.00 $1595.00 $1299.00

512K RAM (Up 10 1M on Board) 1,2 M FLOPPY - FLOPPY & HARD DISK CONTROLLER AT KEYBOARD - CLOCK WITH BATTERY BACKUP 195W POWER SUPPLY- DOS 3.10 & MANUAL

SAMPLE 5+ 50+

PC-AT COLOR $2199.00 $1995.00 $1699.00

SAME AS ABOVE WITH COLOR MONITOR AND COLOR/GRAPHICS CARD

DRIVES

1-50

50+

XT 360X FLOPPY

$89.00

$65.00

XT 10 MEG INTERNAL <h HEIGHT

$395.00

$355.00

XT 20 MEG INTERNAL !6 HEIGHT

$495.00

$465.00

AT 1.2 MB FLOPPY

$149.00

$129.00

AT 20 MEG INTERNAL 40 MSEC

$599.00

$579.00

AT 30 MEG INTEHNAL 40 MSEC

$749.00

$699.00

INDIVIDUAL PART PRICING FOB COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

10+

100+

PC-XT-256K 8 SLOTS (super XT BIOS)

$74.75

$65.00

135W POWER SUPPLY

$51.75

$45.00

FLIP-TOP CLONE 00X

$26.45

$23.00

MONOCHROME/GRAPHICS/PRINTER

CAHD (Here Comp)

$52.90

$46.00

KEYBOARD

$36.80

$32.00

FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER

$23.00

$20.00

RAM KITS 256K

$25.30

$22.00

12" TTL HIGH HES MONITOR

$74.75

$65.00

SUBTOTAL BASIC PC NO DRIVES

$365.00

$318.00

RESIDENT AGENT INSPECTION FEE

$12.00

$12.00

OCEAN FREIGHT

$24.00

$20.00

AIR FREIGHT $100 extra

DUTY 4.1X

$14.99

$13.04

ACS IMPORT FEE S350.00/HTRY+10%

$71.57

$35.30

TOTAL LANDED COST, LA. HARDOR

$488.26

$398.34

AD ON BOARDS-PARTIAL LIST

10+

100 +

PC-XT-640K MOTHER BOARD 8 SLOT

4 LAYER (MEGA BIOS)

PC-XT-640K TURBO 4.77/6.66 MHZ

TRANS-NET (LAN)CARD 1.0 MHZ

384K MULTI-FUNCTION (0k; AST Six

Pack comp)

RAM KITS 384K

MODEM CARD 300/1200 BAUD

(Hayes comp)

COLOR GRAPHICS CARD

AB SWITCH BOX (Centronics 2:1 or 1:2)

AB SWITCH BOX WITH 64K BUFFER

$150.65 $131.00 $145.00 $123.00 $199.00 $185.00

$66.70 $58.00 $36.80 $32.00

$166.75 $145.00

$42.55 $37.00

$27.60 $24.00

$65.55 $57.00

100 UNIT ORDERS MAY BE SCHEDULED OVER 6 MONTHS

ACS IMPORTERS

5311 DERRYAVE., UNIT A

AG0URA HILLS, CA 91301

1818)889-1092

TELEX:299353 POST UR

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED ASK ABOUT OUR 30 DAY RETURN POLICY

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 439

The Diversified Group

2% DISCOUNT ON ALL ADVERTISED PRICES WITH PREPAYMENT - Call (800) 523-1041 TO ORDER NOW!

Mflnrn mtrniiNT'i

IVIMnOn UIOuUUIMIo

It J" "

UFRrill F<! MMUnrHRhMt rftMPATIRIF 1/? HPIiWt fillW DRIVES

nCnl/ULCO Irlit//VI/IyflfU/Irll. ul//r/r/i I FDf-f. ti frciijfif u/wn uniiLu

*p£ratt Pitt :6ML!ILMoJitLV^uailL

tt-ius video ifiipn cs -iiCfUpieitJoiiflH!^

<MflQ WW 9 fnr 'MRf!

«tluy.yD i. Toi 0 lou

271/IzjiAEFlit HAFIL) DISiX mart ffl1ltsntfrC*\tntt

'iiifF/wilNil nr S r^olnloc * f For»t 'illiolrioH

w/\>OillrOI ci 0: uaijlcs CM^jun oinciucu

"" Yc^Varratiy *"_if(stirio VfiirrsirfiL

$47£.95 Jil^SI

TEACtSS3t? 3E.Xf//^B^SV^I7C^r£tWr

lr 'stocic ra,ane~i'*i*niierj»~

*363C DM/Chl "" v«ii Position

i!9iriir ^t93>

omi/ir»r o/iiivrui/iTP /ii//iu adit /*aii /on/iico'i f#M *f

ItHv'LchwnrACiS AvAHrAbLE — Wttjwniiftn^HWT

HHARDHWSXlDRWESh

40 Hard fli'sta Come H-Wi: J Yr. Warranty, Cables, Controller and are Formatted

QTY. 1 QTY. 5

$369.95 $359.95

489.95 469.95

789.95 779.95

10 Megabyte w/Controller 20 Megabyte w/Controller 30 Megabyte w/Controller

for 1/2 Height Drives add $50

Most Hard Disks are Shugart, Microsci, CMI, Hotline

Call for Others

BERNOULLI BOX

10 Meg 20 Meg

S1779.95 2399.95

TAPE BACK-UP BY IRWIN

10 Meg internal Vz Height,

Low Power

10 Meg Externa) Back-up

$495.95 $485.95 635.95 615.95

DISK DRIVE CONTROLLERS

Western Digital Hard Disk Cant. $179.95 Adaptec Hard Disk Cent. 199.95 —

DG Hard Disk Cent. 139.95

1B0ISK! DIMES

MPI B-52

• Tandon Compatible • 360K

Double Side/Double Density • Full Height

2 lor $137.00

5V4" DISK DRIVES

Teac 55B

Epson

IBM "Logo" Drives

Tandon TM100-2

MPI (Tandon Compatible)

AT 3S0K whvhitetace

QTY. 1 QTY. 5

S 99.95 S 99.95

89.95 86.95

119.95 89.95 69.95

109.95

109.95 87.95 69.95

DISK DRIVE CONTROLLERS

IBM (Original) Controller IBM Compatible Controler

$ 99.95 59.95

--

PRIN

tt

ftfr "

— rTnln

+w—

ML182 ML1B2 ML192 ML192

ML193 ML193 ML84P ML84S

1

We Will

UTTER QUALITY - DOT MATRIX

OKIDATA

, 120 cps, Parallel $229.95 , 120 cps, Serial 309.95

>, 160 cps, w/NLQ 339.95 , 160 cps, Serial 439.95

', 15" Carriage, 160 cps, w/NLQ 539.95 , 15" Carriage, 160 cps, Serial 639.95 15" Carriage, 200 cps 749.95 15" Carriage, 200 cps, Serial 659.95

EPSON — Call tor Availability

Ve also carry Juki, Dyiiax, Toshiba, Star,

Panasonic, NEC, Brother Also Beat All Competitors Prices on These Too.

VISA No Surcharge on Credit Cards

AMDEK

300G Composite Green 300A Composite Amber 310A Monochrome Amber

TAXAN

620 (640 x 200) 630 (640 x 400) 640 (720 x 400)

$124.95 134.95 159.95

$399.95 499.95 549.95

PRINCETON GRAPHICS

HX12, 640x200 Dot Pitch .31 HX12E, 640x350 Dot Pitch .28 SR12. 640x400 Dot Pitch .31 SR12P, 640x480 Dot Pitch .26 HX-9, 640x350 Dot Pitch .26 MAX12E, 720x350

$442.95 517.95 573.95 7B7.95 432.95 169.95

DIVERSIFIED GROUP

100 Ill-Res Green 18MHZ Composit 80 col. $ 79.95 100 Hi-Res Amber 18MHZ Compos. 80 col. 89.95 200 Hi.rt.es Green 20MHZ Mono. 80 col. 89.95

200 Hi-Res Amber 20MHZ Mono. 80 col. 99.95

DG Monitors come with 1 Year Warranty

TERMS:

P.O.'s from Government Institutes,

Universities, Fortune 1000

C.O.D.'s w/Guarantee, Visa, MC, MO,

Cashier's Check, Cash. Please Call lor Shipping:

Approx. system $25, printers & monitors $15.

Minimum Shipping $4.50

We Ship Federal Express, UPS, U.S. Mail

440 BYTE- MARCH [986

The Diversified TtROup

MAIL ORDERS TO: 8726 S. Sepulveda, Suite A132, Los Angeles, CA 90045

WAREHOUSE: 4732 Rosecrans, Hawthorne, CA 90250

TOLL FREE ORDER LINE

(800) 523-1041

INSIDE CALIFORNIA

(213) 675-0717

Inquiry 115

The DG PC Series computers offers the maximum alternatives in the PC XT compatible market. Alternatives which exceed current PC XT configurations.

Standard features on all DG PC Series computers include:

• Full compatibility with IBM PC XT® machines

• 640K bytes of parity checked memory, 8 slots

• 150 watt power supply • Keytronics 5150 compatible keyboard

• 1 Full Year Warranty on Parts and Labor.

• 4 Layer Motherboard

DG-PC

DESKPRO

Model I $1724.95

Model II 2049.95

Model III 3549.95

PORTABLE

Two 360K Drives,

256K

$1987.95

COMPAQ

BASE UNIT

System Unit

640K on Board

One 360K Drives

w/Controller 150 Watt

Power Supply

$699.95

286

SYSTEM

System Unit

640K on Board

Two 360K Drives

150 watt pwr sply

Hi-Res Green Mon

w/lnterface Card

$847.95

AT

System Unit

80286 Microprocessor

512K Memory

1.2 Meg Floppy

AT Type Keyboard

Runs PC, XT & AT Sftwr

$1889.95

XTSystem Unit 640K on Board One 360K Drive 10Meg w/150 watt Monochrome Mon Hercules comp. Mono Card

$1195.95

20 Day Trial Period 1100% Credit Towards IBM PC All DG Systems are fully IBM Compatible w/1 Year Warranty

IBM

Deskpro 286 w/128K 1.2 Meg $3295.95 Portable 286 W/128K 1.2 Meg 3295.95

PORTABLE + DG

One 360K Drive, 256K

10 Meg Hard Disk

$2389.95

Some Compaqs have been Enhanced by The Diversified Group All Come with 1 Year Warranty through The Diversified Group

IBM PC One 360K Dr, 256K $1389.95 Two 360K Dr, 256K 1492.95

IBM XT

One 360K Drive & 10 Meg Drive $2197.95

IBM AT Unenhanced $3395.95

Enhanced 3995.95

IBM SYSTEM

PC-XT

with 10 Meg

One 360K Drive,

Hercules Color

Compatible Card

Hi-Res Green Monitor

Dos 2.1

$2392.95

AST SlxPac+ W/64K 2 Yr War $239.00

Mf■'■too SixPac Compatible plus Gameport

Par., Ser., Game, 0K-3S4K, Software

Clock Calendar. 2 Year Warranty $109.95

AST Advantage w/1.5 Megabyte of Memory Parallel & Serial Ports $497.95

HAYES

I200B w/Smartcom II $356.95 1200 External $385.95 2400 External $599.95

PROMETHEUS

Pro 1200 El. $289.95 Pro 1200B Int. {309.95

MEMORY

64K SETS

All Upgrades Carry a 2 year Warranty

Nine 4154, 150ns $8.95

10 Sets $8.45 ea. 100 Sets $7.95

128K SETS 256K SETS

Nino. 4128 25 Sets

S39.95 32.95 ea.

9. 41256. 200ns $28.95

25 Sets 27.95 ea.

80287

5MHZ for AT & Deskpro $189.95

8087-3

5MHZ Math Co-Processor lor IBMPC $109.95

8087-2

8MHZ Math Co-Processor

for ATiT.Compaq. Deskpro

$124.95

IBM ACCESSORIES

A-B SWITCH BOXES

Parallel 2 pos. S49.95 Serial 2 pos. $64.95

DISKETTES

Polaroid Dbl/Dbl 5 Year Warranty 1 bx. $12.95 10 bxs. $11.95 100 bxs. $9.95

KEYTRONICS KEYBOARDS

5153 Touch Pad $289.95 5150 Standard S1E9.95 5151 Deluxe S179.95

BELKIN CABLES

5 foot Shielded IBMPC to Par. S14.95 IBMPC to Modems Hi.95

r i VIDEO CARDS n

HERCULES COMPATIBLE

Color Graphics w/Parallel Port 2 Vr. War. S104.95 119.95

Monochrome Graphics w/Par Port

EVEREX

The Edge Color/Mono The Graphics Edge

IBM

IBM Monochrome w/Parallel Port IBM Color Card w/Parallel Port

PARADISE

Modular Graphics Card Mufti Display

SIGMA

S269.95 269.95

S219.95 214.95

$259.95 219.95

Color 400 Board

TERMS: P.O.'S from Government Institutes,

Universities, Fortune 1000

C.O.D.'s w/Guarantee, Visa, MC, MO,

Cashier's Check, Cash. Please Call for Shipping:

Approx. system $25, printers & monitors $15.

Minimum Shipping $4.50

We Ship Federal Express, UPS, U.S. Mail

No Surcharge on Credit Cards

The Diversified Group

MAIL ORDERS TO: ^08726 S. Sepulveda, Suite A132, Los Angeles, CA 90045

WAREHOUSE: 4732 Rosecrans, Hawthorne, CA 90250

TOLL FREE ORDER LINE

(800) 523-1041

INSIDE CALIFORNIA

(213) 675-0717

Inquiry 115

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 441

TOLL FREE

800-854-8230

CA Residents 714-558-8813

OUR POLICY

• Surcharge for VISA or Mastercard.

•Volume purchasing agreements available.

•Orders sub|ect to availably. "Supply limited on certain items.

•Pricing subject to change without notice.

•ACP Retail Store pricing may vary. Not responsible for typos.

I I I I I I i i i i i i i i i r i i i i i i i

''''''

Compatible

PRICE BREAKTHRU

Don't miss out on this unbeatable system manufactured by Toshiba for ACP. ACP has sold over 3,000 ADVANCED XT's to satisfied customers including "true blue" users like Rockwell, Hughes, and Kodak. Not only is the price affordable but the features and compatibility are unbeatable. For more details call one of our expert consultants. Don't hesitate this will be a sellout!

$

/§.'•.■ .'.'•.'• .'•.'•'•.'■ •,;^\\ \-Kv.

69900

ACP

BASE

PRICE

Call for complete Monochrome or Color RGB system packages with 10 or 20 Mb hard disk drives.

IBM COMPUTERS

IBM PC W/256K, Keyboard, (2) 360K Floppy Disk Drives, Floppy

Disk Controller $1586.00

IBM XT W/256K, Keyboard, 360K Floppy Disk Drive, Floppy Disk Controller,

Hard Disk Optional 1725.00

IBM AT W/256K, 1.2 Mb Floppy

Disk Drive 3199.00

COMPAQ PORTABLE W/256K,

(2) 360K Floppy Disk Drives 1845.00

COMPAQ 286 DESKPR0 W/256K,

1.2 Mb Floppy, 20 Mb Hard 4595.00

COMPAQ DESKPR0 W/640K, 360K

Floppy, 10 Mb Hard 2495.00

COMPAQ DESKPR0 W/640K,

360K Floppy, 10 Mb Hard, 10 Mb

Tape back-up 3099.00

IBM HARDWARE ACP

130 Watt Power Supply $89.95

PC/AT Keyboard 89.00

ACP Color Graphics Card 95.00

ACP Monochrome Graphics 135.00

ACP Floppy Controller 75.00

384K Card Sixpak Comp (OK) 129.00

Parallel Cable (IBM) 19.00

Serial Cable (IBM) 21.00

12" Monochrome Green TTL 99.95

Green Composite Monitor 69.95

6 Slot Expansion Chassis 399.00

ACP Hi-res Text Mono Card 149.00

ACP IBM Style Flip Case 69.95

ACP Hard Disk Case (FH or HH) 169.95

ARCHIVE

20 Mb Tape Back-up (Ext) $795.00

60 Mb Tape Back-up (Ext or Int) Call

AST

Sixpak Plus W/64K $235.00

Advantage 128K, AT 399.00

AST 5251-11 575.00

AST 3780 575.00

RAMpage up to 2 Mb Call

DCA

Irma $785.60

Irmaline 895.00

DIABLO/XEROX

620 Serial LQP was 1495 now $395.00

620 API LQP 445.00

620 D36 (36cps) 485.00

Tractor was 395 now $99.00

F-21 Sheet Feeder was 896 now 249.00

Cable for 620 (to IBM) 29.00

Diablo P-11 100cps 129.95

Diablo S-11 100cps Serial 139.95

Diablo P-31 Wide 249.95

Diablo S-31 Wide 269.95

Other Diablo Dot Matrix's available Call

EPSON

FX85 160cps NLQ $375.00

FX185 160cps Wide 499.00

All Epson Models Lowest Price

EVEREX

Graphics Edge or Edge $259.00

HAYES

Samrtmodem 1200 $385.00

Smartmodem1200B 349.00

Smartmodem 2400 575.00

Smartcom II 2.1 Software 88.00

Hayes Comp. 1200 (Int) w/SW 169.95

Hayes Comp. 1200 (Ext) 199.95

HERCULES

Color Card $166.00

Graphics Card w/Software 295.00

INTEL

Above Board PC or AT Lowest Price

IRWIN

310A 10 Mb Tape (Ext) $849.00

110D 10 Mb (Int) 495.00

KEYTRONICS

5151 Deluxe Keyboard $169.95

5153 w/Touchpad 285.00

PC Jr. Numeric Keypad 39.95

MICROSOFT

Mouse $125.00

Mouse (Serial) 145.00

MOUSE SYSTEMS

PC Mouse w/Paintbrush $138.00

ACP Mouse w/Keyboard 149.00

ORCHID

PC Turbo 186 W/25BK $585.00

PARADISE

Color/Monocard $185.00

Modular Graphics Card 274.00

PERSYST

Mono Board w/Parallel $159.00

Color Board 139.00

Time Spectrum Sale Call

PRINCETON GRAPHICS

HX-12 RGB (640x240) $445.00

MAX-12E Amber TTL 175.00

SR-12 575.00

HX-12E (690x350) 545.00

PROMETHEUS

ProModem 1200 w/Mite (Int) $239.00

ProModem 1200B (Hayes Comp.)... .289.00 Alpha/Num or Options Proc 79.95

QUADRAM

Expanded Quadboard (OK) $185.00

Gold Quadboard (OK) 385.00

Silver Quadboard (OK) 215.00

Quadlink 399.00

SIGMA

Color 400 Card $485.00

SHARP

12" Med-res RGB Monitor $269.95

Color Plotter w/Software 219.00

STAR MICRONICS

Gemini 10X reduced $149.95

Gemini 15X sale 179.95

SG10, SR10, Radix etc. Lowest Price Yell

TAXAN

415 (640x260) RGB. was 699 now $279.95 Mod. 640 (Ultra Hi-res) 595.00

TEMPLATES

Lotus, dBase III, etc Lowest Price

TITAN

Accelerator PC W/256K sale Call

TOSHIBA

P1340 24 Pin 80 Col sale $399.00

P341 24 Pin 136 Col 869.00

P351 24 Pin w/Serial & Parallel... .1099.00 T-300 MS-DOS Computer Call

WESTERN DIGITAL

Filecard 10 Mb Plug-in Call

Cobra Hard Disk Controller $179.95

ZENITH

ZVM-1220/30 12" Grn/Amb TTL.. .$109.00 ZVM-1240 & ZVM-135 RGB Call

I 10 Mb CQ70 20Mb <t/lRQ

Upgrade $0/3 Upgrade $HU3

Package (1 Yr War) Package 1 Yr War) 20 Mb Package for AT $556.00

SA 712 10 Mb $229.00

ST225 20 Mb $349.00

Tulin 30 Mb Call

Western Digital Controller.. .$179.95

PC UPGRADE SPECIAL

T SET OF (9) 64K RAMS

26 5SET OF (9) 256K RAMS

$5.95 4128 PIGGYBACK RAM

$120.00 8087-2 Coprocessor

1200 Baud Hayes™ Comp. Modem

Short Card by U.S. Robotics with Telpac I Software.

List $499 ACP. $169.95 Buy (6) $159.95

20Mb Tape Back-up

Archive, #1 in

tape back-up

technology.

High speed

20Mb back-up

for only

$795.00

Gavilan Compass MS-DOS Lap Computer Demo Sale Call for

Details. 100's in

Stock as Low as

sgggoo

STAR MICRONICS One Time Offer

We have 1000's of new in the box dot matrix printers including SG-10, SR-10, Gemini 10X

& 15X, all priced substantially below market price. Call now as they will move fast at our too low to print prices!

APPLE Add-on SALE

All ACP Apple Product is priced to move out. Call for values such as:

Joysticks $7.95

Disk Drives 119.00

80 Column Cards 69.00

16K Cards 34.95

Jl

SSSiiffiiilE

llll|j|ijlll|

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

WE WILL MEET ANY PRICE FOR CURRENT PRODUCT ADVERTISED IN POPULAR MAGAZINES. POLICY APPLIES FOR BOTH SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE!

GET OUR FLYER?

IF NOT - CALL & GET ON OUR MAIL LIST.

J I LJ I I 1 ' ' i

i'ii ~ r

MARCH SPECIALS

UPS POWER SUPPLY

lack Up Power tor your IBU,

AppJa or Compatible UPS-PC 200 Watts $277.00

UPS-XT 300 Waits 419.00

UPS-AT 800 Watts 739.00

A-B PRINTER SWITCH

An AB Switch allows uso ot two printers with your compuler syslom We slock over 15 dllloranl ccnligurallons.

AB Switch (Centronics) 559.00

AD Switch (OB25) 59.00

NEW NEC V20

P/N upD 70108 Replace You/ B088 io Increase Speed aj— —_ up lo 40% $18.95

DRIVE CABINETS

IBM Stylo Hard Disk wilh power

From AMPEX

SLPply a

Dual Hard Disk w/powar sup S Ian

Dual 5*A" Full HolQhl vortical mount

Dual 5V«" Full Height horitonta! moun

Dual SVi" Thlnhna w/powot sup 5 (an

Single B»" Full Holghi w/power sup & (an 56.00

Single 5V«" Thlnllno w/powor sup S Ian 60.00

1179.00 295.00 65.00 89.00 80.00

FLOPPY DRIVES

TEAC FD5SB $89.95

TEACFD55F 99.95

TANDON TM100-2 99.95

CDC 'A HEIGHT IBM 79.95

REMEX 2/3 HEIGHT . . . 69.95

SIEMENS FD100-8 6" 119.00

SIEMENS FD200-8 DS/DD .179.00

DEC RAINBOW UPGRADE 192K CARD

SPECIAL BUY — Only $129.95

INTERSIL STD BUS BOARDS

ALMOST SOLD OUT

Send or Call for List

640K XT

Compatible

Motherboard

• 8 Expansion Slots

• Expandable to 640K

• IBM Compatible

ACPonly $159.95 XT-BIOS Add..$39.95

TRANSISTORS/DIODES

CAPACITORS

OtuF DISC BYPASS CAPACITOR 100/55.50

F DISC BYPASS CAPACITOR 100/8.50

OluF MOtlOUTHIC CAPACITOR 100/11.25

1 uF MONOLITHIC CAPACITOR 100/14.25

CORCOM EMI FILTER

STD CORCOM 3 ConOuctor Fillet 54.50

is Cord lor above — 6 loot 1.49

Line Cotd 2 Conductor — 6 loot .35

is Cord 3 Conductor — 6 loot .95

MUFFIN FANS

Ovar to.ooo In Clock

Torln 3" TA-300 Fan NEW) S9.95

Totln 4.6s" Muffin Fan NEWI 12.95

IKVOCFM NEW! 14.95

Finger Guards add 1.49

Power Cuds add 1.49

IC SOCKETS

SOLDER TAIL 1-99 100

8 Pin ST/LP f .13 J .10

14 Pin ST/LP .15 .11

ISPlnST/LP .17 ,12

18 Pin ST/LP .20 .17

20 Pin ST/LP .28 26

22 Pin STfLP .29 £7

24 Pin ST/LP SO .27

28 Pin ST/LP .39 32

36 Pin ST/LP .45 .36

40 Pin ST/LP .48 42

64 Pin ST/LP 395 3.25

WIREWHAP (GOLD) 1-99 100

S Pin WW/3L 5 .49 5 .40

14 Pin WW/3L .62 .49

16 Pin VVW/3L .65 .55

f8 Pin WW/3L .88 .77

20 Pin WW/3L .99 .96

72 Ptn WW/3L 1.19 t.13

24 Pin WW/3L 1.25 1.17

2B Pin WW/3L 1.49 1.39

40 Pin WW/3L 1.89 1.75 TEXTOOL/ZIF ZERO INSERTION

16 Pin 56.75 24 Ptn 57.85 28 Pin 58.95

|W. Stock All Type* of Socket*}

PN2222A PN2369A PN918 2N221BA

2N2219A 2N2905 2N2907 2N3055 2N3S55 2N3638 2N3772

7/51.00 5/1.00 3/1.00

2N3904 2N3906 T1P29A T1P30A T1P31A TIP32A

1N751 1N4002 1N4004 MPQ2232

2/1.00 2/1.00 2/1.25 2/1.25

25/1.00 5/1.00 12/1.00 10/1.00 1.49

OPTO ISOLATORS

MCT-E

MCT-5

MCT-66

MCA-E55

4N26

4N27

4N28

Jumbo fled Jumbo Green Jumbo Yellow Mini 51 le Red

Mini Sure Yellow

4N33 4N3S 4N37 4N38

SPECIAL VALUES!

MCM68705 EPROM

81l6/2016-150mS

DB-25P Male

DB-25S Female

2732A-2

2718fX-450mS

2764-450mS

59.95 10/1995

10/17.50 10/19.95 10729.95 10/24.50 10/29.95

CALL ACP FOR ALL YOUR VOLUME IC REQUIREMENTS

EDGE CONNECTORS

S-100ST

53.95

53.25

S-100WW

4.75

4.10

44 Pin ST

2.75

2.60

44 Pin WW

4.75

4.25

72 Pin ST

6.50

6.10

72 Pin WW

7.25

6.95

D-SUBMINIATURE

1-24

29

0S2SS (Female

53.10

KLH

DS25P (Male)

2 40

429

Hood 51 25

Mlg H/W 5 .99

DE37S (Female)

55.95

$5.75

OE37P (Male)

5.25

5.10

Hood 51.75

Mlg H/W 5 .99

DD50S (Female)

58.95

$8.65

DD50P (Male)

6.00

5.75

Hood 13.25

Mlg H/W 5 99

(OTHER STYLES IN CATALOG)

CENTRONICS

IDC 36 Pin Male

58.95

IDC 36 Pin Female

9.49

Solder 36 Pin Mate

7.49

Solder 36 Pin F omnia

8.95

(CALL TOLL FREE FOR IDC'i)

IDC CONNECTORS

Soldet Header

Rl Angle Solder Header

Ribbon Header Socket

Ribbon Header

Ribbon Edgecard

Wirowrap Ho art or

Rl Angle W/W Heador

NUMBER OF CONTACTS 10 20 26 34 40 SI

.99 3.10 4.10 4.20 4.60 7.15

NOTE: To order Insert number ot contacts in place of xx In ACP pari number. ORDER QUANTITY OF 50pcs (mixed) AND TAKE AN ADDITIONAL 10W OFF.

UV EPROM ERASER

We Stock Full Line

of UV Products

CALL FOR PRICES

LOGICAL DEVICES SIX-SHOOTER

Programmer for IBM

$395.00

We Stock All Models

68000

68000L10

6800

6504 6507 8520

6035

5 5 75

8214

8039

5.75

8216

8080A

2.95

8224

B085A

4.90

8226

B0C85/

9.95

8086

24.50

8237

6087-2

129.95

B237-5

8088

17.50

8238

8089

88.95

8243

B155

8.75

8250

B156

B.75

8251

BfB5

26.95

B251A

6202

23.95

8253

8203

37 95

8255

8205

3.25

825SA

S2f2

1.95

6257

6850 5 3 25

68047 2295

5 6.75 69 95 26 95 8.75 625

8748 8749 87S5A

27.05 24.50 24.50

Z80-CPU

ZBO-CTC

ISO-DART

Z60-DMA

ZBO-PIO

ZB0-SIO/0

ZBO-SIO/1

ZBO-SIO/2

ZBO-SIO/9

34.95 I Z8002

DISK CONTROLLERS

59.95

1797 521.95

6843

15.95

2791 32.95

8272

22.75

2793 3295

1691

21.50

2795 32.95

2143

21.50

2797 27.95

9216

CRT CONTROLLERS

11.95

8275 528 50 1 TMS9918

17.95

7220 34.95 B350

11.50

5027 17.95 8545

14.75

5037 21 95 1 B0O2

19.50

NEC7220 Graphics

UARTS/USARTS

1602B 53.95 | 2350

IM640Z 7.75

1702 (ImS) 2708 (450nS) 2758 (5V) 2716 (450nS) 2718(350nS) 2516 (5V) TMS2716 TMS2532 2732 (4S0nS) 2732 (250nS) 2732 (200nS)

2732A-4 (450nS) S 2732A (250nS) 2732A-2 (200nS) 2784 (450nS) 2764 (250nS) 2764 (200nS) TMS2564 (450nS) MCM68764 (450nS) MCMBB766 (350nS) I 27128-3 |300r>S) 27128 (250nS)

54.95 1 27C64

STATIC RAMS

2101 (4S0nS) SI.89

21L02[450nS) .99

2102-1 (450nS) .79

21L02-2 (250nS) 1.39

2111 (450nS) 2.75

2112(4S0nS) 2.75

2114 (450nS) 1.45 B/9.50

21I4L-4 (4S0n) 1.698/12.50

2114L-3 (300n) 1.79 8/13.30

2114L-2 (200n) 169 B/I3.90

2147 (55nS) 4.50

4044-4 (450nS) 3.25

4044-3 (3O0nS) 3 75

4044-2 (200hS) 4.35

UPD410 (iOOnS) 3.75

5101 (CMOS) 3.50

MK411B 54.95

TMM2016-2 (20C-nS) 3.10 TMM2016-15(t50n) 3.95 TMM2016-1 (10C-n5) 3.00 HM6116P-4 (200nS) 4,75 HMB116P-3 (150nS) 3.25 HM6H6P-2 (120nS) 5.75 HM0116LP-4(LF) 3.60 HM8116LP-3 (LP) 3.95 HM8118LP-2ILP) 3 95 Z6132(300nS) 3295 HM8264P-15(150) 14.95 HMB264LP-15 (LP) 16.95 74S1B9 (35nS) 1.85

93415 (50nS| 3.95

93425 (50nS) 3.95

DYNAMIC RAMS

4027 (250nS) 1103(300nS) 41l6N-2(150nS) 4116N-3 (200nS) 4l16N-4(250nS) 4I64N-I50(150n) 4I64N-200 (200n) 4164N-120 (120nS) TMS4164 ftSOnS)

TMS44l6(200n5) S6.9:

TMS4416(150nS) 7.71

41256-150 (150n) 2.7:

41256-200 (2O0n) 2.7:

TMS4050 (300nS) 1.8:

TMS400Q (30CnS) 1.8:

MM5280 |3O0nS) 18!

UPD41I (3Q0riSi 1.81

MM5298 |2S0nS) 1.8!

DISK SPECIAL (ibm pc dsddj

79* 'SST' wowi

■ Wd, Hub Rings

PACKAGE Tyvac cow Supply Limited OF 100 Major Mfgr

5V." DISKETTES VERBATIM 525-01 SS/DD VERBATIM 55001 DS/DD (IBM) MAXELL MD-1 SS/DD (All) MAXELL MD-2 DS/DD (IBM) MAXELL DISKS lor AT (96lpi) DYSAN 104/10 SS/DD (All) DYSAN 104/ZO OS/DO (ISM) ACP SS/DD (All) ACP DS/DD (IBM) 3W DISKETTES VERBATIM 3vj" MF3S0 (MAC) MAXELL 814" MICRODISK (MAC)

DISKETTES VERBATIM 8" SS/DD VERBATIM 8" DS/DD DYSAN 8" SS/DD DYSAN B" DS/DD

1 Bo> 10 Boi 522.95 51996 27.95 24.95

28.95 26.95

38.95 36.95

32 95 30.95

49.95 47.95

4D00 S

4001

4002

4006

4007

4008

4009

4010

4011

4016 4017 1018

4023 4024 4025 4027

4028 5 .65

4029 .75

4030 .39

4031 3.B5

4032 2.15

4034 1.91

4035 .79 4037 1.95

4040 .75

4041 .75

4042 .85

4043 .85

4044 .69

4046 .80

4047 .89

4048 .99

4049 .35

4050 .34

4051 .75

4052 ,78

4053 .75

4055 3.95

4056 2.95

4070 4071 4072

.76

.35 4078 .35

4081 .29

4082 .29

4085 .95

4086 .95

4093 .45

4094 2.95

4098 1.90

4099 1.65

4501 .69

4502 .95

4503 .49 CALL FOR

4505 4506

4507 4506

4616

4520

4555

4556

4586

80C95

80C97

MCI 4408

MC14409

MC14410

74CO0 5

PR

74C02

29

74C04

■At

74COB

fi

74C10

35

74C74 5.65 I 74C16I 51.15 I74C373 52-35 74CB5 1.89 74C175 1.15 74C374 2.35 74C90 1.15 74C240 1.69 74C901 .59 74CB3 1.1B I 74C244 1.69I74CB22 4.45 MORE 74C IN STOCK — ALSO IN CATALOG

LM108AH

53.95

LM300H

.99

LM301N

.35

LM304H

1.89

LM305H

.85

LM306H

4.75

LM307N

.40

LM306CN

.65

LM310CN

1.65

LM311CN

.62

LM312H

1.75

LM31BCN

1.45

LM31BH

1.55

LM319N

1.19

LM320 (see

VRs)

LM324N

.55

LM339N

.95

LM340 (see

VRs)

LM348N

95

LM358CN

.65

LM359

1.75

LM360N

2.95

LM370N

4.95

LM373N

3.95

LM376N

3.75

LM377N

1.90

LM380CN

.85

LM3B0N

1.05

LM381N

1.59

LM382N

1.35

LM383N

1.95

LM384N

1.75

LM3B6N

.89

LM387N

1.29

LM389N

1.15

LM392N

.69

LM723N

.46

LM723H

.55

NE531

2.85

NE555

.35

NE556

.65

NE558

1.49

NE561

23.50

NE564

2.85

LM565

.95

LMS66

1.45

LM587

.85

NES70

3.85

NE571

2.90

LINEAR

NE590 52.4

NE592 2.7

LM709N .5

LM709H 1.9i

LM710 .61

LM711 .7!

LM715 3.9!

LM723N .5!

LM723H .7!

LM733 .91

LM739 1.8.'

LM741CN SI

LM741H .41

LM741N .2!

LM747 &

LM748 5!

LM1014 t.t!

LM1303 1.91

LM1310 1.41

MC1330 1.6!

MCI 349 1.8;

MC1350 1.1!

MC135B 1-6!

MCI 372 6.71

LM1414 1.51

LM1556H 2.9!

LM1800 2.31

LM1812 8.11

LM1B71 5.45

LM1872 5.45

LM1877 3.20

LM1889 1.90

LM1896 1.70

ULN2001 1.95

ULN2003 1.49

XH2200 3.75

XR2207 2.90

XR2208 240

XR2211 3.75

LM2877P 2.00

LM2878P 2.25

LM2900 .83

LM2901 .99

LM2903 .69

LM2907 2.45

LM2917 2.85

LM3900 .55

LM3905 1.15

LM3909

LM3914

LM3915

LM3918

MC4024

MC4044

RC4131

RC4138

RC4151

CA3023

CA3039

CA3046

CA3059

CA3O60

CA3065

CA3080

CA3061

CA3082

CA3083

CA3086

CA3089

CA3096

CA3130

CA3140

CA3146

CA3160

LM13080

LM13600

LM 13700

LF347

LF3S1

LF353

LF355

LF358

LF357

TL071CP

TL072CP

TL074CN

TL081CP

TL084CN

TL494

TL496

TL497

MC3423

MC3453

MC3456

MC3459

MC3469

MC3470

VOLTAGE REGULATORS

7B05T Also ftQ

8, 12. 15, 24V Da

78L05. 12, 15V .65

78M06C SB

78MG/79MG 1.49

78H05KC 8.75

7805K Also

12. 15. 24V.

7905T Also -__

8, 12. IS. 24V /a

1.29

1.39

79C5K Also 12, 15. 24V.

79L05, 12, 15V 75

LM309K 1,25

LM317H/K. .. 1.25/3.85

LM323K 4.8S

LM337K 3.75

LM338K B.75

LM350T 4.55

LM350K 4.75

58174

(11.25

5632

3.75

AY52376

1150

AY53600

11.50

2513-001L

9.50

2513-002L

950

UPD7201

27.95

3341

4.50

11C90

13.25

MC15906

2.95

SPECIAL PURPOSE CHIPS

95H90 76477 76488 76469 AY3B910 5307 10.50 2513-002L 950 AY38912

MC4024 3.75 UPD7201 27.95 SSI-283 36.95 8038 3.75 3341 4.50 Volrax 39.95

5369 3.50 11C90 13.25 Dlgilolkor 34.95

58167 SP10O0 Speech 59.95 TR1863 5V UART 54.25

DATA ACQUISITION

DAClOO 7.B5

DACOfl 7.95

DAC01 6.95

LF13Z01N 1.99

EXPANSION MEMORY

64K UPGRADE (Set of 9) $7.95 256K RAMS (Set of 9) $26.95

CABLES/ACCESSORIES

IBM PAHALLEL (Shielded) 510.95

IBM SERIAL (Shielded) 19.95

KEYBOARD EXTENSION 4.95

RS232 GENDER CHANGER Male-Male 9.95

HS232 GENDER CHANGER Fern ale-Fern ale 9.95

NULL MODEM ADAPTOR 9.95

ADC0600

514.95

ADC0804

3.45

DAC0806

1.90

ADC0809

4.45

ADC0B18

14.25

AD7523JN

1.99

ADC0817

S9.75

DAC08O0

475

DAC0808

2.65

DAC1020

7.95

DAC1022

5.85

LF3S3N

1.99

DISK DRIVE SPECIALS

Toshiba N0040 DS/DD IBM $89.50

Toshiba ND04E-G fof "AT" 99.50

Toshiba NDOBDE-G 1.2Mb for 'AT"149.50 ALL WITH MOUNTING KIT

(SUPPLY LIMITED)

ALL NEW FACTORY BOX wilh 1 Vear Warranty!

MODEL 127 20Mb HARD DISK

External Unit with Controller Built-in.

Available with Host Adaptor tor IBM-PC,

IBM-XT or Apple II (Add $149.95 for Host

Adaptor).

Reg Retail $1495 ACP $499.00

MODEL 227 20Mb w/TAPE

Complete Subsystem with 20Mb Hard Disk and High Speed Tape Back-up. Requires Host Adaptor at $149.95. Reg Retail $2995 ACP $1399.00

uwxm

SUPER NUMERIC KEYPAD

Manufactured by Keytronics. We have sold

ACP $29.95

or 6 for 24.95 ea

Reg Retail $99

74LSO0 74LS01 74LS02 74LS03 74LS04 74LS05 74LS08 74LS09 74LS10 74LS11 74LS12 74LS13 74LSI4 74LS15 74LS20 74LS21 74LS22 74LS26 74LS27 74LS28 74LS30 74LS32 74LS33 74LS37 74LS38 74LS40 74LS42 74LS47 74LS48 74LSS1 74LS54 74LS55 74LS73 74LS74 74LS75 74LS76 74LS78 74LS83 74LS85 74LS86 74LS90 74LS92 74LS93 74LS9S 74L596 74LS107 74LS109 74LSI12

74S0O S.

74S02

74S03

74S04

74S0S

74S08

74S09

74S10

74511

74S1S

74S20

74S22

74S30

74S32

74S38 89

74S40 39

74S51 .35

74564 .39

74565 39

S .18

7446 S

58

74123

1 .45

.18

7447

S5

74125

.42

.18

7448

Ufl

74126

.18

7450

19

74128

.49

.18

7451

19

74132

45

7453

19

74136

.49

7454

19

74141

.B5

.40

7459

25

74142

2.55

.24

7460

H7

74143

3.70

7470

79

74144

2.95

.19

7472

29

74145

.59

.24

7473

■M

74147

1.49

.38

7474

34

74148

1 19

.34

7475

■»

74150

1.09

747B

34

74151

.55

7479 *

HO

74152

.B7

7480

74153

.S3

7482

DS

74154

.35

7483

45

74155

.45

7485

74156

.59

.58

35

74157

.59

M

7489 1

*S

74156

tj»

29

7490

35

74159

1.58

7491

Ut>

74160

.7 a

7492

74161

.69

.18

7493

35

74162

.89

J2B

7494

15

74163

M

as

7495

SO

74164

.69

.29

7495

74165

.69

.58

7497 2

70

74166

B5

.19

74f00 1

50

74167

2.75

74f07

74170

1.25

.48

74109

37

74172

4.78

74t16 1

45

74173

.89

LIB

74121

29

74174

M

.89

74122

44

74175

.89

74179 1,34

74180 .75

74181 1.75 741B2 1.15

74184 2.25

74185 2.25

74190 .67

74191 .67

74192 .67

74193 .67

74194 .67

74195 .67

74196 .75

74197 66

74198 1 15

74199 1.15 74221 1.19 74251 .75 74273 -1.85 74276 1.89 74279 75

74283 1.40

74284 2.90

74285 290 74290 1.49 74298 149

74365 .55

74366 .55 74357 .55 74368 .55 74390 1.45 74393 1.33 74490 2.25

74LS00

74LS113 74LS1I4 74LS122 74 LSI 23 74LS124 74LS125 74LS126 74LS132 74LS136 74LS138 74LS139 74LS14S 74LS14B 74LS151 T4LS153 74LS154 74LS155 74LS156 74LS157 74LS15B 74LS160 74LS161 74LS162 74LS163 74LS164 74LS165 74LS166 74LS168 74LS169 74LS170 74LS173 74LSI74 74LS175 74LS181 74LS190 74LS191 74LS192 74LS193 74LS194 74LS195 74LS196 74LS197 74LS221 74LS240 74LS242 74LS243 74LS244 74LS245

74LS247

74LS248

74LS249

74LS251

74LS253

74LS257

74LS258

74LS259

74LS260

74LS261

74LS266

74LS273

74LS275

74LS279

74LS283

74LS290

74LS293

74LS295

74LS298

74LS324

74LS347

74LS348

74LS352

74LS353

74LS363

74LS365

74LS366

74LS367

74LS368

74LS373

74LS374

74LS375

74LS377

74LS385

74LS386

7«LS390

74LS393

74LS395

74LS399

74LS424

74LS668

74LS670

81LS95

81LS96

81LS97

8ILS98

25LS2521

25LS2569

74S74 $.55 74SB5 1.89 74S86 .55

745112 .55

745113 .55

74S00/PROMS*

74S158 5.99

74S1B0 2.49

74S161 1.89

745174 1.19

745175 1.19 74S188' 1.49

745194 1.49

745195 1.49

745196 1.49

745240 1.99

745241 1.99

745242 1,99

745243 1.99

745244 1.99 74S251 1.19 74S253 1.19

745257 1.19

745258 1.19

748114 .55

74S124 2.69

745132 1.39

745133 .45

745134 .50

745135 .69

745136 1.39

745138 89

745139 .89

745140 .55 74S151 .99 74SIS3 .99 74S157 .99

74S280 $■ 74S2B0 74S28774S2B8*

745373 I

745374 I 74S387*

748471* !

74S472" ■ 74S473* ' 74S474" 4 74S475" 4 74SS70" S

748571* I

745572- '

745573- '

74S940 74S941

ESTABLISHED 1977

ORDERS 800-528-3138

TECH. SALES/CUST. SERVICE 602-991-7870 TELEX 165025 FTCC SEC PHX

Computer Systems

8

•D

'!

CD

w

a.

SI

(ft co

O

<u

x: F

■o

i

I

8

«*

5

o

z 0

• ■

Ul

hO

HI

3

QmguPro 816/286-H40 W/256K SPUZ & .5MDrv/H. $$SPECIAL... TOO LOW TO ADVERTISE!!!

VIASYN 876/C2 Wl 80286, 512K RAM, SPU2-256, 40Mb H.D., 10Mb Tape, 5%" 96TPI FLPY, CDOS 816/286,

NewWord & Su percale II REDUCED!! $7,499

VIASYN CORE SYSTEM W/256K RAM. I/F-4. Syst. Supp. 1, ENCL. 2D. Disk 1A, Disk 3. 5V4" FLPY, & 20Mb H.D. Add Your Choice of CPU & Oper. Sys.... $3,939

VIASYN 816/10-H40 wA'ape & 1Mb MDrv $5,177

CALL FOR OTHER SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS

MORROW

MORROW MICRODECISION MD-3 W/MDT-70 Terminal, CP/M & NewWord Word Processor . $1,149 MORROW MICRODECISION MD-11 w/ MDT-70 Terminal. CP/M 3.0, 128K, 11 Mb H.D, FLPY, NewWord Word Processor $1,849

O corona data system, inc.

CORONA PPC-400-22 Portable 256K. Dual Flpy's. 640X400 GRN Monitor. 4 Expan. Slots. Serial & Paral.

Ports, MS DOS. GW-Basic & PC-Tutor $1,279

CORONA PPC-400-XT Portable w/20Mb H.D . $1,895 CORONA PPC-400-XT Portable w/40Mb H.D. . $2,198 CORONA PC-400-22 Desk TOP PC Same Ful Featured PC-Like The Portable w/14" Green Tilt & Swivel

Monitor $1,525

CORONA PC-400-HD2 w/10Mb HARD DISK .. $2,049 For 20Mb Add S195/For 40Mb Add $450

data systems

PC COMPATIBLE & FASTER TOO!

ZENITH Z-758 PC-DESK TOP SYSTEM:256K RAM, 2 DSDD FLPY DRIVES, Serial. Paral. Monochrome & Color Composite & RGB Color Ports, & MS-DOS w/4.77 & 8 MHZ CPU Clock Rates, G or A Monitor... $1,849

Z158 with Floppy & 20Mb H.D. DRVS $2,395

Z158 with Floppy & 40Mb H.D. DRVS $2,798

'A HT 10Mb TAPE OPTION INT $498/EXT $598

Z-148 PC W/256K, 2 FLPYS, MS-DOS, 4.77 & 8MHz.

Serial & Parallel Ports, Amber Monitor $1,259

Z-138 PC TRANSPORTABLE 24 Lbs, 320K. Dual FLPYS, 7" Amber Screen, MS-DOS. 4.77 & 8MHz, Serial &

Parallel Ports $1,499

Z-171 Lap-Top Portable. Dual Drvs., 640K, MS-DOS Battery, Padded Carrying Case. Video RGB & CMPST.. Hayes Compatible 300/1200 Baud Modem $2,739

Power Solutions

PC/XT REPLACEMENT P/S 130 WATT$89 . 150W $99

SAFT SPS 400VA 400 WATT & SINE WAVE $475

SAFT SPS1000VA 1000 WATT/SINE WAVE $999

SOLA 750/4500 WATT HI-INRUSH UPS $1,795

TRIPPLITE ISOBAR Line Suppressor-Filters Irom $35 TRIPPLITE BC-425-FC 425 Watts 15-20 Minutes. $398

TRIPPLITE BC-1000 Watts 20-30 Minutes $925

TRIPPLITE LC-1B00 Conditioner/Stabilizer $215

TRIPPLITE COMMAND CONSOLE CCI 8-12 .... $110

Diagnostic-Keyboards-Voice

DATACOM TRI-STATE RS232V.24 Break-out Box$189

DYSAN DISK DRIVE INTERROGATOR $115

DYSAN ODD Digital Diagnostic Disk SS $30 / DS $40 DYSAN AAD Analog Alignment Disk SS $25 / DS $50 DYMEK RID FLPY DRV. DIAGNOSTIC DISKETTE $29

DYMEK -THE DRIVE ALIGNER"/PC-XT $85

FLUKE 77 DVM with Holster $129

KEYTRONICS 5150... $169 / 5157...$185 / 5)53 .. $299 VOTRAX PERSONAL SPEECH SYSTEM $295

Hard Disk/Tape Subsystems PC's-MAC's-S-100's

AT-INSIDER. PC-INSIDER. PC-OUTSIDER HARD DISK SERIES FOR IBM. BOOTS FROM HARD DISK. FORMATTED Wl CONTROLLER S. ALL NECESSARY CABLES. HARDWARE & P/S or PC STYLE CABINET. PC-INSIDER-33 33Mb Formatted •A HT. TULIN .. $939 PC-OUTSIDER-33 W/T 33Mb & 10Mb Tape ... $1,539 PC-INSIDER-72 72Mb FMT. Micropolis 1325 . . $1,795 PC-OUTSIDER-72 W/T 72Mb & 60Mb Tape . . . $2,995

PC-INSIDER-116 116Mb Formatted $3,989

PC-OUTSIDER-116 W/T 116Mb & 60Mb Tape . $5,195 AT-INSIDER-33 33Mb FMT. Quantum Q540 ... $1,129

AT-INSIDER-72 Micropolis 1325 $1,599

AT-INSIDER-120 120Mb FMT. Maxtor XT-1140 $3,895

ALLOY PC-BACKUP 17.7Mb TAPE $1,729

ALLOY PC-QICTAPE Up to 69Mb $1,719

ALLOY PC-9TRACK 42Mb $4,995

IRWIN 10Mb Tape Drive SELLOUT: INT $498EXT $598

TECMAR Q/C60 TAPE For PC'S $1,299

TECMAR QIC60 HOST l/F Board $109

TECMAR 40200 II Slot Expan. Chassis w/ 10Mb $1,795 TECMAR 40410 33Mb Fixed/5Mb Removable In 11 Slot

Expansion Chassis $2,495

TECMAR 73200 MACDRIVE 10Mb '. HT. with Software

and Hardware For Easy Installation $1,325

TECMAR 73210 MACDRIVE with 10Mb Fixed And 5Mb

Removable Cartridge $2,195

WANGTEK PC-36 60Mb Tape Internal-Same As

TECMAR QIC60 Tape For PC'S $1,095

CALL For DLR &/or QTY. PRICES on HARD DISKS:

MICROPOLIS 1303 43Mb 30MS $1,195

MICROPOLIS 1323 43Mb 25MS $1,300

QUANTUM Q540 40Mb FACTORY DIRECTI1 YEAR

WARRANTY! REDUCED!!! $1,095

S-100 BUS SUBSYSTEMS Supporting Turbodos, Concur. Dos. CP/M 80 & 816 Operating SystemsCALL

DRIVE SUBSYSTEMS FOR COMPUPRO

with DISK 3, CABINET, P/S, FAN. CABLES. ETC

•20Mb SEAGATE $1,139

•37Mb QUANTUM Q540 $1,775

•45M6 MICROPOLIS 1304 2,179

• 72Mb 1325....$2,195/XT-1085 or M6085 $2,295

•89Mb MAXTOR XT-1105 $3,695

• 116Mb MAXTOR XT-1140 $4,395

10Mb TAPE INTERNAL $498 EXTERNAL $598

ALLOY ITS-100+ 9TRACK 42Mb/S-100 $4,995

ALLOY IDXCS-100T 17.7Mb External Tape Subsystem For CP/M 80. 86. CDOS-816 $1,699

Floppy Disk Drives

MITSUBISHI 2894 STD 8" $395. ... 2896 Vi HT 8" $369

TEACFD55GFI//AT96TPI $129

TEAC FD55FV 96TPI $115

MITSUBISHI MF507 4BTPI $95 .... TEAC FD55eV $99

Mainframe & Drive Enclosures

ECTflM-70 Rack Card Cage 10Slot-15A $250

ECT TT-10 Desk 10 Slot - 15 AMP $365

FULCRUM 880 with Front Panel & 20 Slots $565

INTEGRAND 2200A w/4 Slots & 2 X 8" ViHT FLPY$349 INTEGRAND 2210 w/4 Slots & 5'/." FLPY + H.D. . $315 INTEGRAND Laser Turbo 10 Slots, 2 H.D. 5'/<" .. $498

PARA DYNAMICS 3020D 20 Slot Desk $639

PARA DYNAMICS 5820-S "TOWER" with SNAP-ON PANELS For Easy Access to Drive. 20 Slot Card Cage and Power Supply Compartments. Status LED'S and ON-OFF-RESET Key Switch on Front Panel, Houses

5'<4&8" Drives $1,869

INTEGRAND 2909 2X8" SS HT Horiz. Stack $189

JMR TH5 5'/." H.D. PC Style Cabinet $189

JMR 2SVB Dual Vertical 'A HT. 8" $175

JMR 2H5 Dual 5'/." Horizontal H.D $225

MPS 8462 Dual Horizontal 8" Slimline $215

MPS 8465 Dual 5" & 8" Horizontal Slimline $225

MPS 5500 5'/." STD. HT. H.D. & Vi HT. Drive $225

MPS 5505 5'/." H.D. & V, HT Flpy or Tape $209

MPS 5401 5M" STD HT H.D. or Dual V, HT $215

MICROWARE SINGLE STD. 5'/." Flpy Horizontal . $59 MICROWARE DUAL HORIZ. 5'/." <A HT. Floppy .. $79 MICROWARE 920004 Dual STD. 5%. PC-Style... $149 PARA DYNAMICS 2300-G3 2X8" Flpy & 5 H.D .. $395

Chips

We Have Some ol the LOWEST PRICES in the Nation!! 64K, 256K, 8087 & 80287 CALL

Printers, Plotters & Buffers

ANADEX DP9620B 240 DATA/120NLO 15". ... $1,135 BROTHER HR-15-XL 17CPS Daisywheel S or P . $359 BROTHER HR-10 12CPS Daisy w/ TRAC. S&P . $249 BROTHER TwinRiter 5 Dot Matrix & Daisywheel $849 BROTHER 2024L 24 Pin Hi-Res Print&Graphics . $809

BROTHER M-1509 180/45 NLQ. P&S l/F $359

BROTHER M-1009 EPSON Compatible Plug & Play$H9 BROTHER HR-5 Plain-Paper Thermal Portable .. $169

CITIZEN MSP-10 160/40 NLQ 80/132 $269

CITIZEN MSP-15 160/40 CPS 15" Low Profile . .. $385

CITIZEN MSP-20 200/50 N LQ 80/132 $369

CITIZEN MSP-25 200/50 CPS 15" ULTRA QUIET $515 CORONA LASER LP-300 W/IBM CTRL CARD. $2,698

CORONA LASER PRINTER FONTS $29

EPSON LQ-1500 Cut-Sheet Feeder. Single Bin .. $309

NEC 3550/PC 30 CPS Daisy Wheel $1,097

OKIDATA 182 80 Column 120 DATA/60 NLQ . .. $222

STAR 120 DATA. 30NLQ: SG10 $239 SG15 $409

STAR 160 DATA, 40NLQ: SD70 $369 SD15 $495

STAR 160 DATA, 40NLQ: SD70 $369 SDT5 $495

STAR 200 DATA, 50NLQ: SRW $535 SR15 $659

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 855 with TRACTOR .... $679 HOUSTON INST. PLOTTERS & DIGITIZERS .. CALL HANZON 12315 64K-256K INTELLIGENT BUFFER SER.-SER., SER.-PAR., PAR.-SER., PAR.-PAR. Computer to Printer Combinations Possible. So easy to use-instructions printed on bottom of cabinet ... $289

HANZON ADD-IN MODULE 64K RAM $45

PRACT. PERIPH. APPLE GRAPHICARD & CBL. . $70 PRACTICAL PERIPH. APPLE SERIAL BOARD .. $112 PRACTICAL PERIPH APPLE PRINTERFACE $55

Monitors & Terminals

AMDEK 370 AMBER IBM-PC TTL Monochrome . $133 PRINCETON GRAPHICS HX-72 690X240RGB ... $465 PRINCETON GRAPHICS SR-12 690X4B0RGB ... $589 TATUNG CM-7322 640X200 RGB Same as IBM . $375 TATUNG CM-7360 LIKE 1322 with G-A Switch .. $419 TATUNG CM-1370 720X480 RGB w/GRN Switch, Long Persist Phos. Works w/ STB'S SUPER RES 400 .. $469 TATUNG DM-12VL 12" Monochrome A $114 / G $109 TATUNG MM-1222Hi-Res12"TTL (IBM) A$125/G$119

TAXAN 12" 176 AMa...$119/715 GRN $109

TECMAR Z^M-736 640X480 RGB 13", Grn Switch$499

ZENITH ZVM122A AMB or ZVM723A GRN $79

KIMTRON KT-7 14" Green $459

LIBERTY FREEDOM TERMINALS CALL

LINK 125 Wyse 50 Compat. 14" GRN or AMB w/Higher RES. More Emul'S, Selectric K.B.. 6 Scroll Rates $429 LINK PC-TERM IBM or ASCII VIDEO. 14" GRN or AMB. IBM-AT Keyboard Layout, 132 Column. Also Compatible with WY-50 & TVI 925 $449

Computer Accessories

CA P75 Expandable 5 Circuit Monitor Base with Modem

Protection & Surge/Noise $101.97

CA P150.P151.P152.P15 with ABC Data Switch$217.28

CA C1-6 6' IBM-Paral. CBI (1-9) $9.50, (10*) $8.83

CA C1-9 9' IBM-Paral. CBL. (1-9) $11.95, (10+) $11.06 CA C200 SERIES Premium Molded RS232 Cables ....

(1-9) $12.48 TO $28.47, (10*) $11.86 TO $27.05

CA C300 SERIES Premium Molded Parallel Cables ...

(1-9) $19.98 TO $45.57, (10*) $18.98 TO $43.29

CA C400 VIDEO CABLES

(1-9) $2.48 TO $21.29, (10+) $2.36 TO $18.10

CA C500 SERIES Cable Extender Packs w/ MON. PWR, VIDEO & KEYBD. CBLS ... (1-9) $29.98, (10+) $28.48 CA S4 4 Circuit Surge Supp. (1-9) $26.47, (10+)$25.15

CA S6 6 Circuits Surge & Cable Storage

(1-9) $31.77, (10+) $30.18

Monitor Till & Swivel Stand (1-9) $14.95, (10+) $12.95

Diskettes & Cartridges

3M TAPES In Stock 300XL & 600A $29.95/7000,4 $19.95

DYSAN SSDD 3.5" $28.95 CASE $270

DYSAN DSDD 3.5" $34.50 CASE $325

DYSAN 704/7D SSDD 514" $18.95 CASE $171

DYSAN 104I2D DSDD 5VS" $22.50 CASE $212

DYSAN 204/7D 96TPI SSDD 5%" $28.95 .. CASE $271 DYSAN 204/2D 96TPI DSDD 5'A" $36.95 . CASE $347 DYSAN UHR2 Ultra Hl-Density $47.50 .... CASE $449

DYSAN 3740/1D SSDD 8" $23.95 CASE $225

DYSAN 3740/2D DSDD 8" $29.95 CASE $282

FUJI SSDD 5'/." $15 DSDD 5V4" $19

XIDEX PRECISION DSDD 5'/." $8.95 CASE $77

S-100 DIV./698 CORP.

14455 NORTH 79th ST.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ 85260

Inquiry 300 for End-Users, Inquiry 30! for DEALERS ONLY.

FULL DEALER SUPPORT VISIT OUR SHOWROOM

HRS: 8:00AM - 5:00PM M-F

WORLD'S LARGEST SELECTION OF PC & S-100 PRODUCTS

Networking & Switch Boxes

INTERCONT. MICRO SYS. LAN-PC w/o RAM. . . $469

INTERCONT. MICRO SYSTEMS LANS-100 $359

COMPUPRO/VIASYN NET 11 For 816/10 Sys... $448 COMPUPRO/VIASYN NET 100/ PC-S-100 BUS . $297 GILTRONIX MANUAL and AUTOMATIC SWITCHING UNITS to Fit all ol your SHARED PRINTER, TERMINAL. MODEM & other Peripheral Needs. These Units In Stock:

5100 8 Wire A-B Serial CALL

5110 8 Wire A-B-C Serial CALL

5200 24 Wire A-B Serial CALL

5210 24 Wire A-B-C Serial CALL

5400 CENTRONICS A-B CALL

5500 IBM - Parallel A-B CALL

Call For Prices & Configurations On Other Units

PC & AT Multifunction/Slave Bds.

We Have a Good Selection of Multifunction and Memory Boards for PC. XT. AT, JR. AT & T. and PC Portables INTEL ABOVE BOARD PCMB 1010 PC/XT 64K to 2Mb Allows Lolus. Symphony. Framework, Etc. to Run Above

640K $299

INTEL ABOVE BOARD AT 128K-4Mb w/ CPU to

Address all Available Memory $459

LASER DISK I/O FLPY CTRL. S.P & G Porls. CLK-CAL.

Ram-Disk & Print Spool. MS-DOS $195

MACROTECH MSR-A T Unpopulated to 3Mb For PC/AT

120mSEC to Keep Pace With 80286 From $269

STB GRANDE BYTE 128K $225

STB RIO PLUS II 64K-512K. S,P. Clock $216

STB SUPER RIO 256K. CLOCK, S.P. 4 G Ports . $239 STB RIO GRANDE PC-AT 128K-1.5Mb, S.P&G . . $319 TECMAR CAPTAIN UNPOP W/Treasure Chest . . $154 TECMAR EXPANSION CHASSIS With 8 Slots ... $675 TECMAR MAESTRO Unpopulated tor IBM-AT .. $325

TECMAR MAESTRO For PC/AT 2.5Mb $529

TECMAR WAVE 64K to 256K Fits XT Short Slot . $179

PC & AT Slave Boards/Pkg's

Make Your Computer A Mighty Multi-User

ADVANCED DIGITAL PC-SLAVE W/256K, 8MHz 8088 CPU.2 S Ports. RTNX S/W-For Multi-User P.C .. $695 ADVANCED DIGITAL PC-SLAVE PACKAGE with Link

PCTerm Terminal. RTNX Software $999

ALLOY PC-SLAVE 16 256K to 768K RAM $629

ALLOY PC-SLAVE PKG: 256K With Link PC-TERM Terminal And 9' Cable $1,095

PC Video/Graphics & Cad

STB EGA PLUS TTL MONO. & HI-RES. RGB, . .. $371 STB CHAUFFEUR RGB Port/16 Grey Shades Produced

on Monochrome TTL Monitor $209

STB GRAPHICS PLUS II w/ Paral. PRT Port .... $249

STB SUPER RES 400 Color Hi-Res w/ 32K $325

TECMAR GRAPHICS MASTER 16 Color Hi-Res. $439 TECMAR GRAPHICS TENDER RGB/PRT Port . . $195 CSD-PC AUTOCAD-2 PACKAGE: 1024X1024 Monochrome Graphics • 15" 1100X1250 Res. . $3,149 ILLUMINATED TECHNOLOGIES AUTOCAD PACKAGE: 8 Color 1024X1024 S-100 Board • Inside Autocad Handbook • Autocad 2 • Mitsubishi 19" 1024X874 RGB Analog Color Monitor • Hitachi Tiger

11 "X11" Tablet with 12 Button Cursor $4,995

TECMAR SUPER-RES PKG: Board S. 13" ZVM-136

Monitor with 16 Colors @ 640X400 $925

VECTRIX VXPCA 4096 Colors ... CLOSE-OUT $1",795 VECTRIX VX'PC Video Cable $79

PC Scientific/Industrial Boards

INDUSTRIAL COMPUTER DESIGNS:

• 1018-PC with 96TTL I/O Ports. Like Baseboard Only More Features $469

• A/D 64-PC 64 Input $469

• D/A 64-PC 64 Output $555

TECMAR BASE BOARD 96 Digital I/O Lines . . , CALL

TECMAR DADIO D to A Up to 24 Devices CALL

TECMAR IEEE-488 Board CALL

TECMAR LABMASTER CALL

TECMAR EXPANSION CHASSIS 12AMP P/S. Dual AC Outlets. 7 Useable Slots. Space for Hard Disk ... $675 PC PROTOTYPING BOARD S18.95

S-100 Bus BDS & Accessories

// you purchased before calling us. you probably paid too much! We Slock ACKERMAN DIGITAL, ADVANCED DIGITAL. CCS, COMPUPRO. CROMEMCO. DUAL, ELECTROLOGICS, ICM, KONAN, MULLEN. PICKLES & TROUT, INDUSTRIAL COMPUTER DESIGNS. TARBELL. TECMAR, VECTOR ELECTRONICS

A FEW OF THIS MONTH'S SPECIALS ARE...

ACKERMAN MEMORIZER 0-64K Ram&Eprom . . $211

ACKERMAN KLUGE CARD A&T $175

ACKERMAN PROMBLASTER II Up to 27256KS . $306 ACKERMAN PROMBLASTER EXTENDER .... $79.95 SPECTRONICS PE24TI9 EPROM ERASER/TIMER 146 ADV. DIGITAL SUPER 186/256K MASTER .... $1,495

CCS 2422 Dual Floppy CTRL With CP/M 8" $350

CCS 2710 4 Port Serial Board $275

CCS 2720 4 Port Parallel Board $215

CCS 2S70 Z80 CPU with Serial Port $235

COMPUPRO RAM 16 64K STATIC . $95

COMPUPRO RAM 22 256K STATIC $479

COMPUPRO RAM 23 128K STATIC $285

COMPUPRO MDRIVE'H-10-1Mb for 816/10 $589

COMPUPRO PC-VIDEO BOARD $398

COMPUPRO DISK 1A 5" & 8" Floppy CTRL $398

COMPUPRO Disk 3 ST506 5" H.D.C $479

COMPUPRO SVS7EM SUPPORT 1 w/ CLK-CAL $289

COMPUPRO MOTHER BOARD 21 Slot $239

COMPUPRO CPU 8085/88 6 & 10 MHz $285

COMPUPRO CPU 8086 - 10MHz $319

COMPUPRO CPU 68K - 10MHz $340

COMPUPRO CPU 286 - 8MHz $719

CROMEMCO XPU 10MHz 68000 CPU $1,196

CROMEMCO DPU 68000/2-80 Dual CPU $636

CROMEMCO SCC 2-80 Single BD. Computer... $396

CROMEMCO 8P/0 8 Port Parallel $276

CROMEMCO D*7A 8 Channel 8 Bit D/A $276

CROMEMCO BIART Dual Sync/Async $636

CROMEMCO 64FDC 5"&8" Floppy CTRL $476

DUAL AIM-12 A/D Input 12 Bit/32 Channel $629

DUAL AOM-12 D/A Output 12 Bit/4 Channel $540

DUAL WDC Winchester DMA 2 BD. Set SA-4000 $840 INTERCONTINENTAL MICRO SYSTEMS MASTER & SLAVE BDS. 8&16 Bit From AS LOW AS $395

INDUSTRIAL COMPUTER DESIGNS:

•D/A 64-700 64 Analog Outputs $375

•AID 64-100 64 Analog Inputs $279

• CCT-100 Highly Accurate Time & Date Controller with Battery Back-Up *315

KONAN DGC-100 ST 506 5V. H.D. Controller... . $325

KONAN SMC-200 SMD 8" Controller $450

MACROTECH VRAM 512K Static with Batterv Back-Up

and MDrive/H Capability $769

MACROTECH M/-286 80286/280H Dual Proc. . .. $675

MACROTECH MSR-ll 1Mb Dynamic Ram $825

MACROTECH MSR-ll 2Mb Dynamic Ram $1,059

MULLEN 28-7 EXTENDER with ZIF Sockets .... $125 MULLEN TB4A EXTENDER BD. w/ Logic Probe. . $69 MULLEN ICB10 8 Channel Low Voltage Controller $165 PICKLES & TROUT P<ST 488 IEEE 488 BD & S.W. $429 VECTOR RAM 17 64K Static Ram (VIASYN) Excellent

with Z80 CPU'S $299

VECTOR INTERFACER I Dual Serial (VIASYN).. $199 VECTOR INTERFACER II 3 Para.. 1 Serial $219

Modems

PROMETHEUS PROMODEM 1200 Hayes Compatible w/ Built-in PWR Supply-RS232 Stand Alone Unit $289 OPTIONS FOR PROMODEM 1200 ARE: COMMUNICATIONS PROC. BUFFER 2K-512K .. . $99

572K RAM tor Communications Buffer $49

ALPHA NUMERIC DISPLAY $75

PROMETHEUS 7 200A Apple II, II+. lie Card w/Terminal

Software in ROM $265

PROMETHEUS 300C Apple IIC Piggy Back $139

PROMETHEUS 72006 For PC'S with•Procom ... $239 PROMETHEUS 1200M Stand Alone MAC Modem with

Cable and Communications Software $348

HAYES SMART MODEM 1200 RS-232 $429

HAYES SMART MODEM 2400 Universal $659

U.S. ROBOTICS PASSWORD 1200 $225

U.S. ROBOTICS AUTO DIAL 212A $309

U.S. ROBOTICS PC 'X T MODEM with TELPAC. . $199 U.S. ROBOTICS PC MULTI-MODEM with Clk-Cal..

Batt. Back-up. PRT Port. 256K RAM Telpac $395

U.S. ROBOTICS MUL TILINK COURIER 2400 . . . $421

Software » Software » Software

We have Access to all Well Known Brands - ORDER CORRECTLY -- SOFTWARE IS NOT RETURNABLE!

Word Proc./Screen Formatter

MICROPRO CORRECT STAR I PC-DOS S95

MICROPRO MAIL MERGE I CP/M-86 8" $75

MICROPRO PROPAK $309

MULTIMATE WORD PROCESSOR I PC-DOS ... $315 NEW STAR N£WWO«D//w/Merge Print, The Word PLUS Spelling Checker- Easier Than WordStar But File

Compatible: 8 Bit $79.95 16 Bit $129.95

NEW STAR NEWWORD III For PC Compatibles, With Context Spelling Checker, Indexing, Table Of Contents. Shorthand Keyboard, Macro's, Run Other Programs In Middle Of NewWord, Supports File Paths For Hard Disks Plus Greatly Increased Speed ... $209

PFS WRITE $89

OASIS THE WORD PLUS Spelling Checker $95

OASIS PUNCTUATION S STYLE $79

MARK OF THE UNICORN THE FINAL WORD... $189

COMPUVIEW l/ED/7~$113 VEDIT Plus $169

COMPUVIEW VEDIT PLUS. V-PRINT S SPELL .. $259 COMPUVIEW V-SPELL CP/M 80 8" & PC DOS... $59

Communications Programs

MICROSTUF CROSS TALK XVI $115

MYCROFT LABS MAXIMITE PLUS For PC'S .... $159 WOOLF MOVE-IT PC-PC Communications $96

Language And Tools

BD SOFTWARE "C" Compiler 8" SS SD 8 BIT ... $95

BORLAND PC TURBO PASCAL 3.0 $44

BORLAND PC TURBO PASCAL 3.0 W/ 8087 $70

DIGITAL RESEARCH Most Products 36% OFF

LATTICE "C" Compiler $299

MICROSOFT Complete Line 32% OFF

SUPERSOFT FORTRAN PC/MSDOS $199

DIGITAL RESEARCH COMPLETE LINE .... 36% OFF AMERICAN TRAINING INT'L TUTORIALS .. 36% OFF

BORLAND PC SIDEKICK (Unprotected) $54

BORLAND PC SUPERKEY (Unprotected) $41

BORLAND PC TURBO GRAPHIX TOOLBOX $35

BORLAND PC TURBO TOOLBOX $35

BORLAND PC TURBO TUTOR $22

FOX & GELLER QUICKCODE For dBASE 2 S184

FOX & GELLER dGRAPH For dBASE 2 $187

FOX 6 GELLER dUTIL For dBASE 2 $63

FOX & GELLER QUICK SCREEN For dBASE 2. . . $94 FOX & GELLER PC GRAFOX BUS. GRAPHICS . $159 FOX & GELLER PC QUICKREPORT III $187

Data Bases & Spreadsheets

ASHTON-TATE ALL PRODUCTS 32% OFF

DATAFLEX FILE/RECORD Locking Multi-User . CALL

MDBS Knowledgeman CP/M86 8" $295

MICROPRO REPORT STAR $119

MICROPRO INFO STAR/16 Bit $239

MICRORIM R: BASE 5000 $439

PFS FILE $85/flfPOflT $75

SORCIM SUPERCALC-3 Better Than 1-2-3M .... $179 V.I.P. PROFESSIONAL For ATARI 520ST $139

Hobby Corner

SOLD "AS IS" WITH NO RETURNS

ELECTROLOGICS QUASI-DISK CP/M80 RAM DISK

with Battery Back-up. 2Mb. .$1,695/4Mt> S3.095

ITHACA PASCAL Z CP/M80 8" Version 4.0 $195

MORROW MD-2 W/MP100 Daisy Printer, CP/M 2.2. Word Proc. Spreadsheet. Basic. Etc.. Software.. $695 NORTH STAR ADVANTAGE G/MSDOS & CP/M $169

NOVATION SMART CAT 212 $219

PMMI MM-103 600 Baud S-100 Modem $139

PRAGMATIC DESIGNS PD20MS 8" FUJITSU 20Mb

H.D. Add-On Drive For CompuPro System $2,495

REMEX RFD-480 48 TPI 5 V. Standard HT $65

SD SYSTEMS XRAM-4 256K EDC $195

SD SYSTEMS VERSAFLOPPY III with CP/M 3.0. $195

SD SYSTEMS RAMDISK 256K $195

SD SYSTEMS MPU-100 Z80 CPU Kit $89

SEATTLE SYSTEM SUPPORT BOARD $169

SMS STATIC RAM 64K For N.S. Horiz. Etc $149

TEI TFD-O Cabinet For 3 STD 5V FLY. DRVS. . S195 TRANSEND/SSM MB8A Kit 16K EPROM BD .... $59 TRANSEND/SSM EP128 Reads Up To 16 EPROMS

>

m

z o

>

o o

CD "O

}»

3

s

8

2

3

a

a

Ol

d1

CD

O

CD

en zr

TJ

T3 S»

a o'

CD

All merchandise new. Advertised prices are cash prepaid only. MC, Vi:

Wires, COD'S ($5min. fee) wlthCashiersCheck/MO& APO'saccepted.Shipping: m

RES ONLY add 6% sales tax, AM returns subject to 20% restocking fee or credit towards future

prices slightly higher. All prices subject to change without notice.

California Digital

17700 Figueroa Street • Carson, California 90248

IBM Compatible Computet

• 256K Expandable to 640K on Motherboard

• Double Sided Double Density Disk Drive

• IBM Type Keyboard (with LED indicators)

• Floppy Controller Card

• Eight Expansion Slots

• 135 Watt Power Supply

The Eclipse 16 is an outstanding value in IBM Compatible Computers. After careful research and evaluation we found it to be the most reliable unit. Our computer includes some of the newest features available, such as the 4.7MHz, multi-layer motherboard with 256K of RAM upgradable on board to 640K. A generous eight expansion slots and 135 Watt power supply give you ample room and power for add-on boards. The enclosure has an easy-access flip top lid making upgrades a breeze. And our floppy controller supports up to four drives, so as many as three additional drives can be used. Finally, each computer is configured and fully tested before sending it to you.

Satisfaction Guaranteedl We're really excited about this new unit, and so sure you will be too... that you may return the Eclipse 16 for afull credit towards an IBM PC if you are not completely satisfied.

OPTIONS

RGB Color Monitor 199

20MB Hard Drive w/Controller $495

Additional Drive-Installed 99

Irwin 10 Meg. Tape Back up 489

Upgrade (ram 256K to 640K RAM 79

8087 Math Co Processor 119

Color Graphics Card 79

Monochrome Graphics Card 99

TTL Monochrome Monitor 139

Microsoft Mouse 139

Upgrade from Floppy Controller to Disk I/O 2 drive controller, clock/col., software

parallel, serial, and game ports 79

1200 Baud Internal Modem w/Software 179

XEROX '299

SUNRISE COMPUTER

The Xerox Sunrise 1B10 is by far the best value we have ever seen in a micro computer. This is asell contained battery

and AC operated portable. The Sunrise was originally prices at $2995. Xerox has since elected to drop the computer

trom their product list. California Digital has purchased all the remaining inventory and is making the unit available at a

fraction of its original cost.

This portable features a built in 80 column liquid crystal display, 64K of memory along with both RF monitor and

television outputs. The internal 300/1200 baud modem includes an auto dial telephone assembly. The units has both

Centronics parallel and a serial port programmable to 19,200 baud. The self contained micro cassette is capable of

capturing data from the keyboard as well as doubling as an recorder for dictating messages.

An optional dual floppy disk drive module, pictured above, is available for only $219. Also available, for S59 is an 80

column printer that mounts in the drive module. The Sunrise features a CP/M operating system which allows the

operator to use any CP/M program in Xerox 5VV' disk format and over 5O00CP/M programs available in public domain.

We have avalable a 15 minute tape on the Sunrise Computer. The tape is in VHS format and was produced by Xerox to promote the computer. California Digital is offering the promotional tape at $15. This will be applied towards purchase price of the Sunrise 1810 computer.

Eclipse 1200 /jSfa

1200 Baud* Hayes Compatible «p W M %M

The Eclipse 1200 and 1200B (IBM inter-' nal) represent the best value we have ever offered in a fully Hayes Compatible 300/1200 baud modem. Both units include speaker, auto dial and data communication software. The external also features status indicators LED's. The internal includes an auxiliary RS-232 serial port. California Digital is so comfident of your complete satisfaction that we will allow the return of either Eclipse 1200 modem and apply the full credit towards the purchase price of any other modem.

1200 BAUD MODEMS

hski UltraLink 1200

This Hayes compatible modem features completely unattended operation, auto answer/auto dial and even includes "redial number when busy". Help commands, real time clock and internal speaker add to the ease of use of this unit.

SMARTEAM 1200

*w

The Team 212A offers all the features of the Hayes Smart Modem 1200 for a fraction of the price. Now is your opportunity to purchase a 1200 baud modem at the price of a 300 baud modem.

SIGNALMAN 300 BAUD

MARK VI

The Anchor Automation Mark VI is a 300 baud direct connect modem that plugs into any slot of your IBM/PC. This modem supports auto answer and auto dial capabilities. Other features include telephone number storage, send / receive text files, single key-stroke dialing along with many other functions provided on disk. The Mark VI was originally priced at over $300.

The UltraLink is a 1200 baud HALF DUPLEX bell 202 compatible internal modem card for the IBM/PC. This unit operates full ( duplex at 300 baud. %

The UltraLink adds a voice/data demen- ' sion to your PC. Manufacturers original sugqested orice on this modem is $795. California Digitals price is only $99.

99

MODEMS

Eclipse 1200 100% Hayes, wiih status lamps. Eclipse 1200B internal with software Hayes Smartmodem 2400 baud modem Fujitsu 2400/1200 baud auto everything. Team 1200 Hayes Compatible, 300/1200 baud. UltraLink 1200 data and voice on same line. CTS212AH 1200 baud, auto dial Terminal software for CTS 212AH Prometheus 1200 super features Prometheus 1200B internal PC Signalman Mark VI, 300 baud internal PC Hayes Smart Modem 1200 baud, autodial Hayes 1200B for use with the IBM/PC, 1200 baud. Hayes Smartmodem, 300 baud only, auto dial Hayes Chronograph, time & date

ECP-1200

179.00

ECP-1200B

179.00

HYS-2400

599.00

FUJ-1935D

459.00

TEM-SM1200

189.00

UTL-1200A

99.00

CTS-212AH

219.00

CTS-212SFT

35.00

PRM-P1200

289.00

PRM-P1200B

279.00

SQL-MK6

49.00

HYS-212AD

369.00

HYS-1200B

299.00

HYS-103AD

199.00

HYS-CHR232

199.00

Seagate $2CC

20 MEGABYTE . W\*W

WINCHESTER ^ ~ W

WINCHESTER HARD DISK DRIVE

Quantity Two

Five Inch Winchester Disk Drives

each Iwd+

SEAGATE 225 20 Meg. Vi HI. 389 359 SEAGATE 4026 26 M.35mS. 859 829 SEAGATE 4051 51 M.35mS.1095 1059 FUJITSU 2242 55 M.35mS. 1799 1729 FUJITSU 2243 86 M.35mS. 2295 2219 RODIME RO-202E 27 Meg. 759 729 RODIME RO-203E 40 Meg. 995 959 RODIME RO-204E 53 Meg. 1259 1195 CONTROL DATA 94155-86 M.1829 1779 MAXTOR XT1140 140 Meg. 3379 3295 HONEYWELL 85M. 27 mS. 1795 1695 TOSHIBA MK5670M.30mS.1789 1729 TAND0N 502 10 Meg. 419 379

• Winchester Controllers lor IBM/PC < FALCON FT-HDC half card 18 XEBEC 1220 with flanpy controller 26 NATIONAL COMPUTER 5004 15 DTC 5150BX 1! 0MTI 5510 half card 11 ADAPTEC 201OA software install 1E WESTERN DIGITAL WD/1002 1E

• SCSI/SASI Winchester Controllers < XEBEC 1410A 5V." loot print 2! 0MTI 20L 11

• Winchester Accessories • Installation Kit with manual

Winchester enclosure and supply 1

Dual 20/34 cable set ; Switching power supply

TOLL FREE ORDER LINE

(800)421-5041

TECHNICAL & CALIFORNIA

(213)217-0500

California Digital

17700 Figueroa Street # Carson, California 90248

SW DISK DRIVE

SALE *89

LETTER QUALITY £AAf%

F-10 DAISY **tZY-.

WHEEL PRINTER

Quantity

Single piece price $499. But II you have already purchased an F-10 printer from California Digital, we will honor the $429 price on the second printer.

I.HHUfl

The TEC F-10 Daisy Wheel printer is the perfect answer to a reasonably priced 40 character word processing printer. While this printer is " extremely" similar to C.ltoh's F-10/40 Starwriter printer. Legal counsel for the C.ltoh Company have advised us that we should refrain from referring to the TEC printer as a Starwriter. This 40 character per second printer auto installs with Wordstar and Perfect Writer. Features extensive builtin word processing functions that allow easy adaptability and reduced software complexity. Industry standard Centronics interface provides instant compatibility with

MITSUBISHI SUBSYSTEM

'239

The dual Mitsubishi subsystem features two M48535 (96 tpi) 51/4" double sided disk drives. Also supplied within the subsystem is 50 watt power supply

•LOTTE

all computers equiped with a parallel printer port. The TEC F-10 accepts paper up to 15 inches in width. These printers were originally priced to sell at over $1400. Through a special arrangment California Digital has purchase these units from a major computer manufacturer and is offering these printers at a fraction of their original cost.

Options available include sheetfeeder, tractor feed, buffered memory and an assortment of printer cables for a variety of computers.

IRW

m

Streamer Tape Back Up

The Irwin Streamer Tape Drive is a low cost answer to backing up your hard disk drive. One removable cartridge can backup 10 megabytes of data in less than eight minutes. The Irwin drive includes software for file by file or total disk backup. All programs are menu driven for easy use.

QuickLink300

The Comrex Comscnber I is the ideal solution to make short work ol translating linancial and

numonc dala into a graphic presentation.Many ready to run programs such as Lotus 1 -2-3.

Vist-on and Apple business graphics already support this plotter.

The Comscnber I features programmable paper sizes up to 8\> by 120 inches. 6 inch per

second plot speed and 0 004 step size Easy to implement Centronics interface allows the

Comscnber I immediate use with the pnnter port ol most personal computers

The Comscnber I is manufactured lor Comrex by the Enter Computer Corporation The

plottor is marketed by Heath Kit and also sold under Enters own Sweet P Label. This is

your opportunity to purchase a plotter which was originally pneec at S795 lor only 5219

Also available is a support package which includes demonstration software, interface cable.

a multicolor pen assortment and a variety ol paper and transparency material

NEC RGB

COLOR MONITOR

<219

Hie NEC JC-1401D is a 13 medium/high resolution RGB monitor suitable (or use with the Sanyo M8C-550/555 oi the IBM/PC The monitor features a resolution ol 400 dots by 240 ines. Colors available are Red. Green. Blue, Yollow, Cyan. Magenta. Black and White. The NEC monitor carries tho Lilt on-Monroe label and was originally scheduled lor use in :hetr Ollice ol the Future" equipment. A change in Monroe's marketing slrategy has made :heso units excess inventory which were sold to California Digital. We are ollering these now" RGB monitors at a fraction of Iheir original cost. Sanyo compatible NEC-1401/SlBM/P/CComputercompatibleNEC-!40l/PC

The Quick-Link 300 gives you an instant link to any dial up data base. Such as Dow Jones, Western Union or the Source. The Quick-Link has four user programmable log-on keys, allowing the operator, with only one key stroke, to dial the data base, log-in and give Ihe password. All this Information is permanently stored in non-volatile RAM.

Features include video output to television or monitor, auto dial, auto-log, full sized keyboard, 300 baud modem and 1200 baud auxiliary printer port. All this is available for only $59.

DRAGON

'99

Compatible with most Radio Shack Color Computer software. ThB world famous Dragon computer is now available in the United States. Manufactured by the Tano Corp. under license of the British Broadcasting Company. The Dragon comes complete with 64K Byte of memory, serial modem port along with a Centronics printer interface. This unigue microcomputer features Motorola's advanced 6809E microprocessor and comes standard with Microsoft Color Basic, data base manager, and a complete word processing package. The computer outputs color composite video along with R.F. video that allows the unit to be used in conjunclion with any color television. This is the Ideal low cost computer to be used with any dial up information system such as the Source. EasyLink or any other lime share service.

Quantity Two

Your Choice any 48 or 96 TPI drive

SHUGART • TEAC • QUME

MITSUBISHI J MATSUSHITA

TEAC FD55B half height 99

TEAC FD55F 96 TPI, half ht. 119 TEACFD55FC for IBM AT 189 SHUGART SA455 Half Height 99 SHUGART SA465%Ht.96TPI 99 TANDOH 100-2 full height 129

MITSUBISHI 4851 half height 99 MITSUBISHI 4853 96/TPP/2 Ht. 99 MITSUBISHI 4S54 8" elec. 295 QUME 142 half height 99

Switching power supply Installation Kit with manual Dual enclosure for SVa" drives 34 pin edge connectors Scotch head cleaning kit Flip 8. File Storage tubs

wo Ten

89 89

89 89

179 175

89 89

89 89

125 119

89 89

89 89

285 275

89 89

49

10

59

5

19

15

UME

*M9

Eight Inch Single Sided Drives

QUME 841 single side 159 149 call

SHUGART 801R 359 359 354

SIEMENS FDD 100-8 119 115 109

Eight Inch Double Sided Drives QUME 842 "QUME TRACK 8" 189 179 call SHUGART SA851R 495 485 475

OLIVETTI double sided 189 179 159

REMEX RFD-4000 179 169 159

MITSUBISHI M2896 63'2 Ht. 459 449 409 Dual 8" enclosure with power and fan 259 Switching power supply 89

Installation kit with manual 10

PRINTERS

MATRIX PRINTERS

Star Gemini-SGIO 120 char/sec. STR-SGiO

StarGeminl-SGl5,100 char ./sac. 15" paper. STR-SG15

Star Gominl Delta 10,160 Char/sec STR-DlO

Citizen MSP/10FT 160 char/sec. CIT-MSPIO

Toshiba P1351.192 char/sec. letter quafiy TOS-1351

Okidata 182A serial & parallel 9V paper OKI- 1B2A

Okidata 192A parallel interlace, 160 char/sec. OK1-192A

Okidata B4P parallel 15" paper OKI-84P

Epson LX-60 10" 120 Char/sec. EPS-LX80

Epson FXB0FT, 10" 160 char./soc. with graphtrax EPS-FX80

EpSOnRX100+ 15"wllhGraphtrax EPS-RX100

Epson FX100FT 15" 160 char./sec with graphtrax EPS-FXi 00

Epson LQ1500. 15" corospondonce quality EPS-LQ1500

Epson JX80 Color printer EPS-JX80

Prowriler 8510 parallel 9W" paper PRO-8510P

Dataproducts B-600-3. band printer 600 LPM. DPS-B600

Printronix P300 nigh speed printer 300 lines perminuto. PTX-P300

Printronix P600 ultra high spoed 600 lines per minute. PTX-P600

WORD PROCESSING PRINTERS

Starwriter F10 parallel, 40 diar/sec. PRO-F10P

NECB810 55 char/second, serial interlace NEC-8810

NEC6830 55 char/sec. pari interface. NEC-B830

NEC3550 popular printer designed (or the IBM/PC NEC-3550

NEC2050 designed(orlBM/PC20char/sec.par'l. NEC-2050

Silver Rood EXP500.14 char/sec. pari interface SRD-EXP5O0

Silver Reed EXP550 17 Char/sec par'l interface. SRD-EXP550

Diablo 630 40 char/sec, serial DBL-630 Diablo 620, proportional spacing, horz.& vert. lab. 20 cps. DBL-620

Jukl6100. 18char./soc. JUK-6100

Juki 6300.40 char./sec, JUK-6300

Comrex CR2. 5kbuffer, proportional, spacing.pari. CRX-CR2P

239.00 389.00 359.00 289.00 1495.00 257.00 345.00 789.00 239.00 369.00 389.00 469.00 895.00 519.00 329-00 6985.00 3995.00 5795.00

499.00 1659.00 1659.00 1599.00 669.00 319.00 429.00 1569.00 769.00 399.00 699.00

<5.00

Shipping: First five pounds S3.00, each additional pound S.50 Foreign orders: 10% shipping, excess will be refunded. California residents add 6'/2% sales tax. • COD'S discouraged. Open accounts extended to state supported educational institutions and companies with a strong "Dun & Bradstreet rating.

What the world really needs

is a 69 cent

Double Sided, Double Density Diskette

with a LIFETIME WARRANTY!

And DISK WORLD! has

Introducing Super Star Diskettes:

the high quality diskette with

the lowest price

and the best LIFETIME WARRANTY!

In the course of selling more than a million diskettes every month, we've learned something: higher prices don't necessarily mean higher quality.

In fact, we've found that a good diskette manufacturer simply manufactures a good diskette...no matter what they charge for it. (By way of example, consider that none of the brands that we carry has a return rate of greater than 1/1,000th of 1 percent!)

In other words, when people buy a more expensive diskette, they aren't necessarily buying higher quality.

The extra money might be going toward flashier advertising, snazzier packaging or simply higher profits.

But the extra money in a higher price isn't buying better quality.

All of the good manufacturers put out a good diskette.

Period.

How to cut diskette prices .. .without cutting quality.

Now this discovery posed a dilemma: how to cut the price of diskettes without lowering the quality.

There are about 85 companies claiming to be "diskette" manufacturers.

Trouble is. most of them aren't manufacturers.

Rather they are fabricators or marketers, taking other company's components, possibly doing one or more steps of the processing themselves and pasting their labels on the finished product.

The new IBM diskettes, for example, are one of these. So are IBM 5W diskettes. Same for DYSAN. Polaroid and many, many other familiar diskette brand names. Each of these diskettes is manufactured in whole or in part by another company!

So. we decided to act just like the big guys. That's how we would cut diskette prices...without lowering the quality.

We would go out and find smaller companies to manufacture a diskette to our specifications...specifications which are higher than most...and simply create our own "name brand" diskette.

Name brand diskettes that offered high quality at low prices.

FRAUD ALERT!

Please be careful!

A lot of the "no-name" diskettes flooding the market at prices of less than $1.00 are what we in the industry call "floor sweepings."

In other words, they're garbage.. .stuff that six months ago, no self-respecting manufacturer would have sold.

But times got tough and some people's scruples got a little lost in desperation.. .and so a lot of computer users are getting some really bad disks...and that isn't bargain at all.

So, when the price seems too good to be ,true...like 39 cents, be careful...very careful!

HOURS: Human: 8AM-6PM Central Time, Monday through Friday

| SUPER | STAR

■diskettes!

5V4" "

W 5V<"

SSDD

DSDD

.55 ea.

1 .69 ea.

Qty. SO

1 Qty. 50

Super Star diskettes are sold in multiples of 50 only Diskettes are shipped with white Tyvec sleeves, reinforced hubs, user ID labels and wrile-protect tabs.

Boy, did we get lucky. Our Super Star

Diskettes are the same ones you've been

using for years.. .without knowing it.

In our search for the low priced, high quality diskette of our dreams, we found something even more interesting.'

We found that there are several manufacturers who don't give a hoot about the consumer market for their diskettes. They don't spend millions of dollars in advertising trying to get you, the computer user, to use their diskettes.

Instead, they concentrate their efforts on turning out the highest quality diskettes they can...because they sell them to the software publishers, computer manufacturers and other folks who (in turn) put their name on them,. .and sell them for much higher prices to you!

After all, when a software publisher or computer manufacturer or diskette marketer puts their name on a diskette, they want it to work time after time, everytime. (Especially software publishers who have the nasty habit of copyprotecting their originals!)

HOW TO ORDER:

ORDERS ONLY:

1-800-621-6827

(In Illinois: 1-312-256-7140)

INQUIRIES:

1-312-256-7140

FOR FASTEST SERVICE, USE NO-COST MCI MAIL:

Our address is DISKORDER. It's a FREE MCI MAIL

letter. No charge to you. (Situation permitting, we'll

ship these orders in 24 hours or less.)

SHIPPING: 5%" & 3Vf DISKETTES—Add $3.00 per each 100 or fewer diskettes. OTHER ITEMS: Add shipping charges as shown in addition to other shipping charges. PAYMENT: VISA, MASTERCARD and Prepaid orders accepted. COD ORDERS: Add additional $5.00 special handling charge. APO. FPO, AK, HI & PR ORDERS: Include shipping charges as shown and additional 5% of total order amount to cover PAL and insurance. We ship only to United States addresses, except tor those listed above. TAXES: Illinois residents, add 7% sales tax.

MINIMUM ORDER: $35 00.

Super Star Diskettes. You already know

how good they are. Now you can buy

them...cheap.

Well, that's the story.

Super Star diskettes don't roll off the boat from PagoPago or emerge from a basement plant just east of Nowhere.

Super Star diskettes have been around 'p ...and you've used them for years as copy-1" .ottware

originals, unprotected originals. Sni- spending

on which computer you own, the si :f may have

been on a Super Star diskette. Ann e than once,

you've bought a box or two or more of a ., otar diskettes without knowing it. They just had some Dig company's name on them.

Super Star Diskettes are good. So good that a lot of major software publishers, computer manufacturers and other diskette marketers buy them in the tens or hundreds of thousands.

We buy them in the millions.

And than we sell them to you.

Cheap.

When every little bit counts, it's Super Star Diskettes.

You've used them a hundred times...under different names.

Now, you can buy the real McCoy, the same diskette that major software publishers, computer manufacturers and diskette marketers buy...and call their own.

We simply charge less.

Super Special!

Store 75 diskettes for only $5.95!

Yep. that's right, order 50

Super Star diskettes, add S5.95 and we'll include a Media Products DISK MINDER II...a well made unil that we're impressed with.

II holds 75 diskettes securely and looks nice too!

DISK WORLD!, INC.

The Super Star LIFETIME WARRANTY!

Super Star Diskettes are unconditionally warranted against defects in original material and workmanship so long as owned by the original purchaser. Returns are simple: just send the defective diskettes with proof of purchase, postage-paid by you with a short explanation of the problem, and we'll send you the replacements. (Incidentally, coffee stained diskettes and diskettes with staples driven through them don't qualify as "defective".)

WE WILL MEET OR BEAT ANY NATIONALLY

ADVERTISED PRICE

ON THE SAME PRODUCTS AND QUANTITIES

SUBJECT TO THE SAME TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

629 Green Bay Road Wilmette, Illinois 60091

448 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 112

KODAK DISKETTES:

Discover the future today!

'Kodak

M

Oil

w

Di»

M

Dohrttai

KODAK. THE NAME SAYS IT ALL.

Take a Century of experience in coating products like photo film, add two brandnew state-of-the-art plants for manufacturing diskettes and you have something new: KODAK diskettes, a taste of the future.

Kodak spends more than three million dollars a day in research and development. They have more than 120,000 employees and manufacture and market more than 30,000 products.

But George Eastman said it best:

George Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak and the man who made it possible for everyone to have a family album expressed Kodak's philosophy almost a century ago: make "good goods!"

That's why we're so pleased to add KODAK diskettes to our line. Great quality, great value!

For those of you who want a "brand name" diskette with top-of-the-line quality...without paying through the nose, the choice is simple: KODAK.

Of course, there's a LIFETIME WARRANTY!

Except as noted, all KODAK diskettes are packed in boxes of ten with Tyvec sleeves, user ID labels and write-protect tabs. Bulk packed diskettes are labelled as KODAK diskettes and are packed in 4 bundles of 25 diskettes with Tyvec sleeves, user ID labels and write-protect tabs.

Qty. Qty. Qty. 20-40 60+ 100

5.25" SSDD. .. $1.11 ea. $1.01 ea. 5.25" DSDD. . $1.46 ea. $1.33 ea. 5.25"DSDD-HD $3.47 ea. $3.15 ea.

3.5" KODAK DISKETTES 3.50" SSDD . $2.06 ea. $1.87 ea. 3.50" DSDD $2.73 ea. $2.48 ea. KODAK LABELLED BULK DISKETTES 5.25" SSDD in package of 100 $ .93

5.25" DSDD in package of 100 S1.24

for orders only: information &

1-800-621-6827 inquihies:

(In Illinois' 1-312-256-7140) 1-312-256-7140 HOURS: 8AM-5PM Central Time, Monday-Friday WE WILL BEAT ANY NATIONALLY ADVERTISED PRICE ON THE SAME PRODUCTS AND QUANTITIES!

DISK WORLD!, Inc.

629 Green Bay Road • Wilmetle. Illinois 60091

FANTASTIC LOW PRICES ON

a BASF ~

mJ QUALIMETRIC 7 DISKETTES!

LIFETIME WARRANTY!

Buy in bulk and save. 150 lo the carton with envelopes, writeprotect tabs and user ID labels. Boxed product is the same, except in cardboard boxes of 10.

Qty 50 Qty. 150

5.25" SSDD 83 ea .80 ea.

5 25" DSDD .94 ea .92 ea.

5 25"DSDD-HD 2.13 ea. N/A

5.25"SSDD-96TPI .94 ea N/A

5 25" DSDD-96TPI 1.06 ea N/A

3.50SSDD-135TPI 1.84 ea. 1.68 ea.

3.50DSDD-135TPI 2.40 ea 2.28 ea

NOTE: 3 50" diskettes in Quantity 50 are packed in plastic library cases That's why they seem to be a better buy. But there are only 5 diskettes to a case so the bulk diskettes are really a better deal, unless you like expensive little library cases.

for orders only: information & 1-800-621-6827 inquiries: (In Illinois: 1-312-256-7140) 1-312-256-7140 HOURS: 8AM-6PM Central Time, Monday-Friday WE WILL BEAT ANY NATIONALLY ADVERTISED PRICE ON THE SAME PRODUCTS AND QUANTITIESI

fl IC U Authorized Reseller

LMOr\ Information Processing ™ RA^F

WORLD!"

DISK WORLD!

Ordering & Shipping Instructions

Shipping: 5V," & 3.5" DISKETTES—Add $3.00 per each 100 or lewer diskettes Oilier Items: Add shipping charges as shown in addition to other shipping charges. Paymenl: VISA and MASTERCARD accepted. COD Orders: Add additional $5.00Special Handling charge APO. FPO. AK. HI & PR Orders: Include shipping charges as shown and additional 5% ot total order amount to cover PAL and insurance. Taxes: Illinois residents only, add 7% sales tax.

Prices subject to change without notice. This ad supercedes all other ads.

Not responsible lor typographical errors.

minimum total order: $35.00

for orders only: information &

1-800-621-6827 inquiries:

(In Illinois: 1-312-256-7140) 1-312-256-7140

HOURS: 8AM-6PM Central Time

Monday-Friday

WE WILL BEAT ANY NATIONALLY ADVERTISED PRICE

ON THE SAME PRODUCTS AND QUANTITIES!

DISK WORLD!. Inc.

629 Green Bay Road • Wilmette, Illinois 60091

DISK WORLD!

ATHANA

DISKETTES The great unknown!

hf|( 5vSSDD VA.v

UU*" 5*" DSDD- f t Q<*50

You've used these diskettes hundreds of times...as copy-protected originals on some of the most popular software packages. They're packed in poly-bags of 25 with Tyvek sleeves, reinforced hubs, user identification labels and write-protect tabs.

LIFETIME WARRANTY!

SOFT SECTOR ONLY! Sold in multiples of 50 only.

FOR ORDERS ONLY: INFORMATION &

1-800-621-6827 INQUIRIES:

(In Illinois: 1-312-256-7140) 1-312-256-7140 HOURS' 8 AM-6PM Central Time. Monday-Friday WE WILL BEAT ANY NATIONALLY ADVERTISED PRICE ON THE SAME PRODUCTS AND QUANTITIESI DISK WORLD!, Inc. 629 Green Bay Road • Wilmette. Illinois 60091

All 3M diskettes are factory packed in boxes ot 10 and come with Tyvec sleeves, user ID labels and write-protect tabs.

5.25* SSDD

5.25" DSDD

5.25" SSDD-96TPI

5.25" DSDD

5.25" DSDD-HD

3.50" SSDD

3.50" DSDD

3M DATA CARTRIDGES

(Sold 10 to a carton only.)

(Add S5.00 shipping charges tor cartridges!)

DC1000 $12.43 ea.

DC300XLP 519.09 ea.

DC600A $20.30 ea.

Oly. 20-40

Oly. 50+

S1.20 ea.

$1.09 ea

$1.70 ea.

$1.54 ea.

$2.18 ea.

$1.98 ea.

$2.73 ea.

$2.48 ea.

$3.45 ea.

$3.14 ea.

$2.18 ea.

$1.98 ea

S3.09 ea.

$2.81 ea

DISK WORLD!

Authorized Distributor Information Processing Products

PRINTER RIBBONS:

at

extraordinary prices!

Brand new ribbons, manufactured to Original Equipment Manufacturer's specifications, in housings. (Not re-inked or spools only.)

LIFETIME WARRANTYI

Epson MX-70/80 .. $2.70 ea. + 25« Shpng.

Epson MX-100 ... $4.08 ea. + 25C Shpng.

Okidata Micro83.. $1.37 ea. + 250 Shpng.

Okidata Micro84.. $2.98 ea. + 25c Shpng.

for orders only: information &

1-800-621-6827 inquiries:

(In Illinois: 1-312-256-7140) 1-312-256-7140

HOURS: 8AM-6PM Central Time. Monday-Friday

WE WILL BEAT ANY NATIONALLY ADVERTISED PRICE

ON THE SAME PRODUCTS AND QUANTITIES!

DISK WORLD!, Inc.

629 Green Bay Road • Wilmette, Illinois 60091

DISK WORLD!

DISKETTE STORAGE CASES

AMARAY MEDIA-MATE 50: A REVOLUTION ^* IN DISKETTE STORAGE

^BP Every once in a while someone takes '.he

W*0^> simple and makes H elegant' This unit holds

■k 50 5V<" diskettes, has grooves for easy

^^ ^F stacking, inside nipples to keep diskettes

from slipping and severa' other features. We

like it! CQ CQ < $2 00

OJ.Uj ea Shpng

DISKETTE 70 STORAGE: STILL A GREAT BUY.

^tff Dust-free storage lor 70 5v diskettes

^HT4 Six dividers included. An excellent value.

■JET " VDISK CADDIES $9-95 Shpng

S ^SX ^F Ttle original llip-up holder loi 10 5'v Sr"Y ^^(liskenes iSfiiqe or grev only C "1 f\E\

•■# I 20«Shpng.

for orders only: information*

1-800-621-6827 inquiries:

(In Illinois: 1-312-256-7140) 1-312-256-7140

HOURS: 8AM-6PM Central Time, Monday-Friday

WE WILL BEAT ANY NATIONALLY ADVERTISED PRICE

ON THE SAME PRODUCTS AND QUANTITIES!

DISK WORLD!, Inc.

629 Green Bay Road • Wilmette, Illinois 60091

DISK WORLD!

DISK WORLD!

Authorized Distributor MAGNETIC MEDIA

DISK WORLD!

The value leader In Computer supplies And accessories.

Inquiry II2

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 449

7400

Part No.

Price

Part No.

Price

SN7400N..

19

SN7485N

... .55

SN7402N..

19

SN7486N

... .35

SN7404N..

25

SN7489N

. . 1.95

SN7405N.

29

SN7490N

... .39

SN7406N.

29

SN7493N

... .35

SN7407N.

29

SN74121N

... .29

SN7408N.

25

SN74123N

... .49

SN7410N.

19

SN74125N

... .45

SN74126N

... .49

35

SN74143N

. . 3.95

35

SN74150N

.. 1.29

SN74154N

.. 1.25

SN7432N.

29

SN74173N

... .75

SN7438N.

29

SN74174N

... .59

SN7442N.

.45

SN74175N

... .59

SN7445N.

69

SN74176N

... .89

79

SN74181N

.. 1.95

SN7447N.

79

SN74189N

. . 1.95

SN7448N.

79

SN74193N

... .69

39

SN74198N

.. 1.35

SN7473N.

35

SN74221N

... .89

SN7474N.

35

SN74273N

.. 1.95

SN7475N.

39

SN74365N

....59

SN7476N.

35

SN74367N

... .59

_JB.l

74LS00. . .

19

74LS165

. . . .79

19

74LS166

... .89

74LS04. . .

25

74LS173

. .. .49

74LS05. . .

25

74LS174

... .39

99

.. . .39

74LS07. . .

99

74LS189

. . 3.95

19

19

39

74LS14. ..

74LS221

... .59

74LS27. .

25

74LS240

... ,69

74LS30. .

19

74LS243

... .69

74LS32. .

.25

74LS244

... .69

74LS42. .

39

74LS245

... .79

74LS47. .

89

74LS259

. .. 1.19

74LS73. .

35

74LS273

... .79

74LS74. . .

.25

74LS279

... .39

74LS75. .

29

74LS322

.. . 2.95

74LS76. .

29

74LS365

... .39

74LS85. .

49

74LS366.

... .39

74LS86. .

25

74LS367

... .39

74LS90. .

39

74LS368

... .39

74LS93. .

39

74LS373

... .79

74LS123.

49

74LS374

... .79

74LS125.

39

74LS393

... .79

74LS138.

39

74LS590

... 5.95

74LS139.

39

74LS624

... 1.95

74LS154.

1.49

74LS629

. . . 2.49

74LS157.

35

74LS640

... .99

74LS158.

35

74LS645

... .99

74LS163.

.49

74LS670

... .99

74LS164.

49

74LS688

... 1.95

■ u

ROMS*

74S00. .

29

74S188V..

... 1.75

74S04. . .

35

74S189

... 1.95

74S08

35

74S196

.. . 1 49

74S10. . . .

29

74S240

... 1.49

74S32

35

74S244

... 1.49

74S74

49

74S253

.79

74S85. . . .

1.49

74S287

... 1.69

74S86. . .

35

74S288"

... 1.69

74S174. ,

79

74S374

... 1.69

74S175. .

79

74S472'

. . . 3 49

yiju «

74ALSO0.

35

74ALS138

89

74ALS02.

35

74ALS174

... .89

74ALS04.

39

74ALS175

... .89

74ALS08.

35

74ALS240.

.. . 1.79

74ALS10.

35

74ALS244.

... 1.79

74ALS27.

39

74ALS245

. . . 2.49

74ALS30.

35

74ALS373

.,. 1.95

74ALS32.

39

74ALS374

... 195

74ALS74.

55

74ALS573

... 1.95

74F

74F00....

59

74F139

... 1.29

65

59

74F08. ...

74F10....

59

74F240

2 49

74F32....

65

74F244

. . 2.49

74F74....

69

74F253

... 1.79

74F86....

89

74F373

.. . 2.95

74F374

CO—-4

:mos

CD4001 .

19

CD4081

. 25

CD4011...

19

CD4082

... 25

CD4013..

35

CD4093

... .39

CD4016..

29

CD4094

. . 1.49

CD4017..

49

CD40103

. . . 2.95

CD4018..

69

CD4503

... 49

CD4020..

59

CD4510

. .69

CD4024..

49

CD4511

... .69

CD4027..

39

CD4515

... 1.39

CD4030..

39

CD4518

... .79

CD4040..

65

CD4520

79

CD4049..

29

CD4522

... .79

CD4050..

.29

CD4538.

... .89

CD4051..

65

CD4541

. 89

CD4052..

65

CD4543

... .99

CD4053..

65

OD4553

. 4.95

CD4059..

3.49

CD4555

... .89

CD4060..

89

CD4566

.. 1.95

CD4066. .

29

CD4583

... 1.19

CD4069..

25

CD4584

... .59

CD4070..

29

CD4585.

... .75

25

25

CD4072..

MCI 4490P

. . 4.49

CD4076..

89

MC14572

89

TT^TFHlt

(M; motorola

MC68701 -Microcomputer with EPROM

The MC68701 is an 8-bit single chip microcomputer unit (MPU) which significantly enhances the capabilities of the MC6800 family of parts. On-chip resources include 2048 bytes of EPflOM, 128 bytes of RAM, Serial Communications Interface (SCI), parallel I/O, and a three function Programmable Timer.

MC68701 $24.95

CUSTOM COMMODORE CHIPS for VIC-20, C-64 and C-128 Personal Computers

Part No. Description Price Pert No. Description Price Part No. Description Price

'6510 CPU... $19.95 ■6525 TPI . . . $20.95

'Specs. Available @ $1.50 ea.

'6526 CIA.... $25.95 '6560 VIC-I... $29.95 •6567 VIC-II... $44.95

•6581 SID .... $32.95 S2S100PLA.... $37.95

NOTE: 828100 = U17 (C-64)

MICRO

<;

MICROPROCESSOR CHIPS

Part No. Price

D765AC 4.95

CDP1802CE 9.95

2661-3 6.95

Z80, Z80S, Z80B, SERIES

Z80-DART. . . .

4.95

Z80A

ZBOA-GTC

Z80A-DART. . .

1.85 1.89 5.25

Z80A-S10/0. ..

Z80B

Z80B-CTC

5.25 3.95 4.95

B50B/6B0O/B8B0B SER.

6502 2.75

6520 2.95

6522 4.95

6532 6.49

6551 6.95

6800 1.95

6802 4.95

6810 1.95

6821 1.95

8500/6800/68000 Cnnt. Part No. Price

6840

. . . 6.75

6845

. . . 4.95

6850

... 1.95

6852

. .. 4.75

68000L8

. . . 9.95

68661

. . . 8.95

8000 SERIES

8031

. . . 6.95

80C31BH

.. 19.95

8073N

.. 29.95

8080A.

. .. 3.95

8085A.

.. . 2.75

8086-2

, . . 8.95

8087 (5MHz)...

.129.95

8087-2 (8MHz).

.139.95

8088

. . . 7.95

8116

. . . 8.95

8155

. . . 2.75

8156

. . . 2.75

8202

. . . 9.95

8203

. . 29.95

8212

... 1.95

8224

... 2.25

8228

. . . 3.49

8237-5

. . . 6.95

B000 SERIES Cont.

Pert No. Price

8243 2.49

8250A 6.95

8250B (For IBM).... 5.95

8251A 2.25

8253-5 2.25

8254 9.95

8255A-5 2.25

8257-5 2.49

8259-5 2.49

B272 4.95

8279-5 2.95

8741 8.95

8748 7.95

8749 9.95

8751 29.95

8755 14.95

DATA ACQUISITION

ADC0804 3.49

ADC0808 8.95

ADC0809 3.95

ADC0816 14.95

ADC0817 8.95

DAC0808 1.95

DAC1008 7.95

AY-3-1015D 4.95

AY-5-1013A 3.95

Part No.

Function

DYNAMIC RAMS

Price

4116N-20

4128

4164N-150

TMS4416-12

MM5280

8118

41256-150

50464-15

TMM2016-12

2102

2102-2L

2114N

2114N-L

2114N-2

2114N-2L

21C14

2149

5101

HM6116P-3

HM6116LP-3

HM6264P-12

HM6264LP-12

HM6264P-15

HM6264LP-15

6514

1702A

2708

TMS2716

2716

27C16

2732

2732A-20

2732A-45

27C32

2758

2764-20

2764A-25

2764-45

27C64

27128-25

27256-25

27C256-25

68764

687B6

74S387

74S471

82S123

82S129

16,384 X 1 (200ns) 39

131,072x1 (200ns) 4.95

65,536 x 1 (150ns) ,89

16,384 x 4 (120ns) 4.95

4096 X 1 (200ns) 2107 1.95

16.384 X 1 (120ns) (+5V Only Required) 1.95

262,144 x 1 (150ns) 3.29

65,536x4 (150ns) (4464) (41464) 7.95

STATIC RAMS

2048x8 (120ns) 1.69

1024 X 1 (350ns) 39

1024 X 1 (250ns) LR (91L02) 1.49

1024 X 4 (450ns) 99

1024 X 4 (450ns) LP. 1.09

1024 X 4 (200ns) 1.05

1024 X 4 (200ns) LP. 1.49

1024 X 4 (200ns) (CMOS) 49

1024 X 4 (45ns) 4.95

256 x 4 (450ns) CMOS 3.95

2048 x 8 (150ns) CMOS 1.79

2048x8 (150ns) LP CMOS 1.85

8192 X 8 (120ns) CMOS 4.69

8192 x 8 (120ns) LR CMOS 4.79

8192 x 8 (150ns) CMOS 4.49

8192 x 8 (150ns) LP. CMOS 4.59

1024 X 4 (350ns) CMOS (UPD444C) 4.49

PROMS/EPROMS

256 X 8 (lus) 3.95

1024 x 8 (450ns) 3.95

2048 X 8 (450ns) 3 voltage 6.49

2048 X 8 (450ns) 2.49

2048 X 8 CMOS 9.95

4096 X 8 (450ns) 2.49

4096 X 8 (200ns) 21V 3.95

4096 X 8 (450ns) 21V 2.75

4096 X 8 CMOS 10.95

1024 x 8 (450ns) Single +5V 3.95

8192x8 (200ns) 21V 3.95

8192x8 (250ns) 12.5V 2.95

8192 X 8 (450ns) 21V 2.19

8192x8 CMOS 21V 6.95

16.384x8 (250ns) 128K21V 2.95

32.768 X 8 (250ns) 256K (12.5V) 7.95

32,768x8 (250ns) 256K (CMOS) (12.5V) 13.95

8192x8 (450ns) 25V 15.95

8192 X 8 (350ns) 25V 16.95

256 x 4 PROM O.G 1.69

256 x 8 PROM T.S 4.95

32 x 8 PROM T.S 2.95

256 X 4 PROM T.S 2.95

Part No.

LOW PROFILE (TIN) SOCKETS

1-9 10-99 100-up

8 pin LP 13

14 pin LP 15

16 pin LP 17

18 pin LP 25

20 pin LP 28

22 pin LP. 30

24 pin LP 31

28 pin LP. 39

40 pin LP. 49

.15

.13

.23

.21

.26

.23

.28

25

.30

.29

WIRE WRAP SOCKETS (BOLD) LEVEL #3 1-9 10-99 100-up

Part No.

8 pin WW. . 10 pin WW. . 14 pin WW. . 16 pin WW. 18 pin WW. . 20 pin WW. 22 pin WW. 24 pin WW. .

28 pin WW 1.39

36 pin WW 1.49

40 pin WW. 1.79

.75 .85 .95 .99 1.19

.89 .95 1.09 1.29 1.39 1.69

.59 .65

.99 1.19 1.29 1.59

- SOLDERTAIL STANDARD (BOLD 1 TIN) AND HEADER PLUS SOCKETS ALSO AVAILABLE

Part No. Function

2816A 2048X816K E'PROM 350n».. $8.95

■ On-board Address/Data Latches • Auto-Timed Byte Write (on-chip timer) ■ SV Erase/Write/Read ■ Opt. High Voltage Erase/Program (9-15V) • Power Up/Down Write Protection

■ Auto Erase before Write The 2816A is an ideal nonvolatile memory providing in-system allerabillty with the same ease and with the same features as 2Kx8 Static RAMs.

DT1050 — Applications: Teaching aids, appliances,

clocks, automotive, telecommunications, language translation!, etc. The DT1050 is a standard DIGITALKER kit encoded with 137 separate and useful words, 2 tones, and 5 different silence durations. The words and tones have been assigned discrete addresses, making it possible to output single words or words concatenated into phrases or even sentences. The "voice" output of the DT1050 is a highly Intelligible male voice. The DT1050 consists of a Speech Processor Chip, MM54104 (40-pin) and two (2) Speech ROMs MM52164SSH1 and MM52164SSR2 (24-pln) along with a Master Word list and a recommended schematic diagram on the application sheet. Part No. Description Price

DT1050 Digitate" . . .

MM541 64 Processor Chip

.. $24.95 . $12.95

DT1 057-Expands the DT1050 vocabulary Irom 137 words to over 250 words. Includes two (2) ROMs and specs.

DT1057 $11.95

Part No.

Price 12.95 12.95

Part No.

Price

FE0202D . FE0203D....

7207AEV/Kit

72111PL (TTL) 7211MIPL (Micro). 7217UI

8.49

7.95

.,849

7106EV/KU..

46.95

10.95 .8.95

7107EV/KH.. 7207AIPO. . .

46.95 5.95

7224IPL

7226AEV/KIL ....

10.95 99.95

74HC00

35

74HC175

89

74HC02

39

74HC221

1.95

74HC04

39

74HC240.

1.39

74HC08

39

74HC244

1.49

74HC10

.39

74HC245

.... 1.59

74HC14

59

74HC253.

79

74HC30

39

74HC259

.... 1.19

74HC32

45

74HC273

.... 1.79

74HC74

.45

74HC373

1,49

74HC75

.69

74HC374

.... 1.49

74HC76

69

74HC393

.... 1.19

74HC85

.... 1.19

74HC595.

1.95

74HC86

59

74HC688

.... 1.95

74HC4040 74HC4049 , 74HC4050

1.19

79

74HC132

79

79

74HC138

79

74HC4060

.... 1.19

74HC139.

79

74HC4S11

.... 1.95

74HC4514 74HC4538 74HC4543

2.95

1.95

74HC174 ...

89

2.95

74CO0

29

74C174

89

29

74C175

89

74C04

25

74C221

1.19

74C08

35

74C240

1.59

74C10

29

74C244

1.59

74C14

.49

74C373

1.95

74C32

35

74C374

1.95

74C74

.49

74C912

7.95

74C85

1.19

74C915

1.19

74C86

29

74C920

9.95

74C89

3.95

74C921

9.95

74C90

.89

74C922

3.95

74C154

2.95

74C923

3.95

74C925

DS0026CN

1.69

TL074CN

79

TL084CN.

....1.09

LM307CN.

45

LM309K.

.... 1.25

LM311CN

45

LM317T.

99

LM319N

.... 1.19

LM320K-5

1.35

LM320T-5

59

LM323K.

... 4 49

LM324N

... 39

LM338K.

3.95

LM339N

49

LM340K-S.

.... 1.35

LM340K-12

. . .. 1.35

LM340K-15

1.35

LM340T-5

49

LM340T-12....

49

LM340T-15....

49

LF347N

99

LM348N

... .69

LF351N

49

LF353N

59

LF355IM

89

LF356N

89

LM358N

49

LM360N

.... 2.19

LM361N

.... 1.59

LM380CN.....

.... 1.09

LM386N-3

89

LM387N

99

LM393N

45

LM399H 3.95

TL497ACN 2.19

NE540H (C540H).... 2.95

NE555V 29

XR-L555 69

LM556N 59

NE55BN 1.19

LM565N 99

LM567V .89

NE592N 89

LM741CN 29

LM747N 59

LM1458CN 49

LM1488N 69

LM1489N 69

LM1496N. 99

LM1871N 1.95

LM1872N 2.49

LM1896N 1.59

ULN2003A .99

XR2206 3.95

XR2207 2.49

XR2211 2.95

LM2907N 1.95

LM2917N(8pln).... 1.55

LM3900N 59

LM3905CN 1.19

LM3909N 89

LM3914N 1.95

LM3916N 1.95

NE5532 99

NE5534 89

75477 1.19

76477 3.95

PARTIAL LISTING • OVER 4000 COMPONENTS AND ACCESSORIES IN STOCK! • CALL FOR QUANTITY DISCOUNTS

450 BYTE* MARCH I986

Inquiry 184

Worldwide • Since 1974

• QUALITY COMPONENTS • COMPETITIVE PRICING • PROMPT DELIVERY

Mail Order Electronics-Worldwide

^nrre

ELECTRONICS

COMMODORE COMPATIBLE ACCESSORIES

RS232 Adapter for VIC-20 and Commodore 64

The JE232CM allows connection of standard serial RS232 printers, modems, etc. to your VIC-20 and C-64. A 4-pole switch allows the inversion ol the 4 control lines. Complete installation and operation instructions included.

• Plugs mlo User Port ■ Provides Standard RS232 signal levels ■ Uses6 signals iTransmil. Receive. Clear loSend, Request to Send, Dala Terminal Ready, Data Set Ready).

JE232CM $39.95

Voice Synthesizer VIC-20 & C-64

Plug-In — Talking in Minutes!

JES20CM $99.95

300 Baud Auto Modem

Mitey-Mo <fo,c-64) $74.95

Parallel Printer Interface

FREE 4K Buffer Included!

MW350 (ForVICr20.C-64&C-128) $69.95

TRS-80 COMPATIBLE ACCESSORIES

E-X-P-A-N-D TRS-80 MEMORY

All kits come complete with documentation

TRS-80 MODEL I, III

TRS-16K3 200ns (Model III) $5.95

TRS-16K4 250ns (Model I) $5.49

TRS-80 COLOR AND COLOR II

TB.S-64K-2 $9.95

TRS-80 MODEL 4, 4P

TRS-64K-2 $9.95

Expands Model 4 from 16K-64K or Model 4P from 64K-128K

TRS-64K-2PAL $29.95

Expands Model 4 from 64K lo 128K

TRS-80 Model 100 • NEC • OLIivetti

M1008K $29.95 ea. or 3 for $79.95

TRS-80 Model 100 Expansion

NEC8KR $29.95 ea. or 3 for $79.95

NEC Model PC-8201A Expansion

OM108K $29.95 ea. or 3 for $79.95

Olivetti Model M10 Expansion

TANDY 200

M200R $99.95 ea. or 2 for $189.95

Tandy Model 200 Expansion

PROMETHEUS MODEMS

Intelligent

1200/300 Baud

Modem with

Real Time Clock/Calendar

The ProModem ~ is a Bell 212A (1200/300) intelligent standalone modem • Hayes command set compatible plus an additional extended command set • Shown with alphanumeric display option RS-232 Stand-Alone Unit:

PM1200 $299.95

Options for ProModem 1200

PM-COM $79.95

ProCom Communications Software. Please specify Operating System - Apple: ProDOS or CP/M - IBM: PC DOS or MS DOS

PM-OPS12K. $129.95

Communications Buffer Option

BUF512K. $54.95

512K Memory for PM-OP512K

PM-ALP $79.95

Alphanumeric Display for ProModem 1200

PM-SPECIAL #2 $249.95

Includes PM-OP512K, BUF512K and PM-ALP

ACCESSORIES

All Apple Cards come complete with instructions. MADE IN THE USA!

16K RAM CARD (Language Card)

For AppleTl and II+*

Expand from 48K-64K. Runs AppleSpft, DOS. CP/M and Pascal. (ARC-16K/MEM-1)

JE860".. $39.95

CONTROLLER CARD

For Apple II, 11+ and lie'

Capable of handling up to two drives. Recommended drives: ADD-514 or ADD-12. (ACC-1)

JE875.... $49.95

80-COLUMN PLUS 64K RAM

For Apple lie'

JE864 doubles the amount of data the Apple tie can display, and memory capacity too.

JE864.... $69.95

128K RAM CARD

For Apple II, II+and//e*

Five key software programs are Included: Memory Management System, Utilities, Diagnostics, Demos, and RAM Disk Emulators tor DOS 3.3, CP/M & Apple Pascal. Features DOS relocalor. Expand-A-RAM:

JE868" $119.95

0i«urmais

APPLESURANCE

DIAGNOSTIC DISK

CONTROLLER CARD

For Apple II, lit and Me'

PREVENTS CRASHES!

Test your RAM, ROM, CPU and Disk Drives. DRV-1/Applesuranee II:

JE877 $69.95

EgptoMLnimis

PARALLEL

PRINTER CARD

For Apple II, 11+ and lie'

Fully compatible with Apple CP/M, Apple Pascal (or FORTRAN), and most other operating systems and software packages. Available for Apple II, 11+ and lie'. PRT-1:

JE880 $59.95

liwu_n.iiia.is

PARALLEL/SERIAL 64K BUFFER CARD

For Apple II, II+ and He'

Using the parallel jumper cable supplied, the JE883 will attach to the JE880 (above). Parallel Card needed for operation. The JE883 includes a standard parallel input with both parallel and serial (RS232) buffered outputs. P/S Buffer:

JE883 $79.95

'APPLE, APPLE II, ll-t and lie are registered trademarks of Apple Computers. "When using CP/M, the JE860 and JE868 will only function with Version 2.20 or earlier; PASCAL (JE868) Version 1.1 or earlier.

ADDITIONAL APPLP COMPATIBLE PRODUCTS

Key: a--Apple II or 11+ b-Apple lie

APF-1 Cooling Fan with Surge Protection • Key: (a,b) $ 39.95

KHP4007 Switching Power Supply ■ Key: (a,b) $ 39.95

JE614 Numeric/Aux Keypad- 11 accessible functions ■ Key: (b). ... $ 49.95

AMON 12 Green Monitor with Swivel Stand ■ Key: (a, band (fc) $ 99.95

KB-EA1 Apple Keyboard and Case ■ Key: |a) $ 99.95

JE520AP Voice Synthesizer - Plug-In, User Ready • Key: (a.b) $119.95

ADD-1 2 5V." Half-Hoighl Disk Drive ■ Key: (n.b) $129.95

ADD-IIC 5V." Half-Height Disk Drive • Kay: (He) $129.95

ADD-514 5'. Full Height Disk Drive ■ Key: (a.b) $139.95

PM1200A Prometheus Internal Modem - 2 Cards • Key: (a.b) $299.95

PM1200M Prometheus Macintosh Em. Modem ■ Key: (Macintosh) $349.95

Power/Mate Corp. REGULATED POWER SUPPLY

• Input: 105-125/210-250\/AC @ 47-63HZ • Line regulalion: ±0.05%- 3 mounting

surfaces • Overvoltage protection ■ UL recognized • CSA certified

Part No. Output Size (Inches) Weigh! PRICE

EMA5/6B EMA5/6C

5V@3A/6V@2.5A 5VS6A/6VIS5A

«Lx4Wx2»H 5%Lx«Wx2'*H

2 lbs. 4 lbs.

S29.95 $39.95

4-CHANNEL SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY

■ Microprocessor, mini-computer, terminal, medical equipment and process control applications - Input: 90-130VAC. 47-440HZ • Output: +5VDC ® 5A. -5VDC @1A:+12VDC@1A,-12VDC@1A-Lineregulation: • 0.2%-Ripple:30mVp-p

■ Load regulation: 11% • Overcurrent protection • Adjustment: 5V main output = 10%'Size:6V1_x 1VW x 4-15/16'H -Weight: 1ft lbs.

FCS-604A. $59.95

$20 Minimum Order - U.S. Funds Only Shipping: Add 5% plus $1.50 Insurance

Send stamped,

self-addressed envelope

to receive a Quarterly

Sales Flyer - FREE!

3/86

IBM COMPATIBLE ACCESSORIES

Build an IBM PC/XT Compatible!

• 8 Card Slots

• Flip-Up Lid

• All necessary hardware for expansion is included

• Weight: 17 lbs.

IBM-Case $59.95

Additional Add-Ons Available!

IBM-KB Keyboard $ 79.95

IBM-FCC Disk Controller $ 59.95

IBM-MCC Monochrome Card $ 89.95

IBM-MON 12" Monochr. Monitor. . . . $109.95 IBM-51 51 Keyboard $ 99.95

(Equivalent to Keytronics™ 5151) IBM-ICB Colo- Card $109.95

(With Printer Port)

IBM-E384K 384K RAM Card $169.95

IBM-MB Motherboard $269.95

IBM-10MBK 10MB HH Hard Kit $499.95

IBM-20MBK 20MB hii Hard Kit $599.95

IBM PC/XT

Equivalent

130 Watt

Power Supply

Upgrade Your PCI

■ Input: 110V(860Hz- Output: +5VDC® 15A.-5VDC@0.5A + 12VDC @ 4.2A, -12VDC @ 0.5A ■ Plug compatible connectors ■ Fits into IBM PC ■ Weight: 6 lbs.

IBM-PS $99.95

IBM

Compatible!

DISK DRIVES

FD55B Teac 5V DS 'A-Height $99.95

SA455 Shugart 5V." DS Vr-Height $99.95

TM100-2 Tandon 5V. DS Full-Height. . . . $99.95

JMR 51A" DISK DRIVE ENCLOSURES

Complete with power supply, switch, power cord, fuseholder and connectors.

DDE-1FH $69.95

Houses 1 Full-Height 5V Floppy Drive.

DDE-2HH $79.95

Houses 2 Half-Heighl 5V Floppy Drives - Vertical

HDDE-1FH $199.95

Houses 1 Hard Disk Drive

UV-EPROM ERASER ~

Erases all EPROMs. Erases up to 8 chips within 21 minutes (1 chip in 15 minutes). Maintains constant exposure distance of one inch. Special conductive loam liner eliminales sialic build-up. Built-in safety lock to prevenl UV exposure. Compact - only 9.00"L x 3.70"W x 2.60"H, Complete with holding tray for B chips.

DE-4 UV-EPROM Eraser. . . . $74.95

UVS-11EL Replacement Bulb. . . . $17.95

DATA BOOKS

30003 National Linear Data Book (82) $14.95

30009 Intersil Data Book (85) $ 9.95

30013 Zilog Data Book (85) $ 9.95

30022 Natl. Logic Data Book Set (84) $24.95

210830 Intel Memory Handbook (83/84) $19.95

230843 Intel Microsystem Hndbk. (83/84), . . . $19,95

MUFFIN/SPRITE-STYLE FANS

MUF60 (SPN3-15-2462).... $9.95 Howard Industries (4.68" sq.. 60 elm) SU2C7 $9.95

EG&G Rotron (3.125" square. 20 cfm)

California Residents: Add 6% or 61/2% Sales Tax

Spec. Sheets - 30C each Prices Subject to Change

Send $1.00 Postage for a

FREE

1986JAMECO

CATALOG

1355 SHOREWAY ROAD, BELMONT, CA 94002 • PHONE ORDERS WELCOME 415-592-8097 Telex: 176043

Inquiry 184

MARCH 1986

IYTE 451

,/'

/ \

UJ

mi m « in CO Ol 0> 0)

<

(OtAOIOI

,' /

\ \.

.Wkyi

1/7

(f)

_J

co co co m tt CO o o>

co cm cd m

!-/w; ..

\

— ■o — -o

\/L

c co c co

o

irr

Exter PCC Exter PCC

00

SCO

CD C 0> O

c °

TJ TJ TJ TJ

3 3 3 3

b a n b

o

SCO

o o o o o o o o

CN CM « "Cf

o

CM

CO W 3 CO

OX

JADE1 JADE 1 JADE 2 JADE 2

— Q

<7) (7) C7) O) <7>

- h- <N oo en m < in jp ep cp en

J- CJ) CO CO CO CO (/) CO CO CO CO CO

3 ft- sp sp bfiP

13?

»EE S eg o>

* TJ TJ TJ O O

0 ~ " co co

dee gcoco

g to us

CM qj Qj

s >■ >■

01 < <

Z I I

SO HOES

co m

m o

o o

o o

CM CM

Y* f

CO CO

Ul Ul

>- >•

< <

X X

Q en en en o> en

< Mffl N O r s CM CM a t- "

H cn lo en en en co en en en ^ en

O

2

CD CM

CD "■

o o

o o

CM CM

E E

0) 0)

TJ TJ

O O

5 5

o o

rx a.

o. 6 o

Ow *■ co c

a " c

CO Q. CD

E o^1

< z S

m m

UJ

a> o>

- ^

O) O) 00 O)

CA t/>

^ E a.

CO CO

(0 _ — cn

O a CO 3

co «t

t- CM

w £ a

cyj- <*>

5/1

op-in

WE

•*- •*-•

CO (0

COqO

££

•- CL

m o

co in

i~ ^"

I

in in in in

00 CD CO CD * * ^ *

£ O

^co Si)

£ O)

CO CO o Q. g CO Q.

slot tted ca nly 11

minute ndard

cs

to nt © -*-> .3

c E I <2 co

UJ i

°S ir

s only MB f powe

alls in

ks wit

Dly

o<<

3 CM _l > CO

CMS O

in

o o

q oi tn 0) oi «

" to id d q-cn

^ J- J" " - 1J)

co

>•

o

UJ CA

0 >

CO CO

speed plotter specify) rranty

uantity

X

h.

«*

- o J "

c

9"

co m

•" t CO

7)

0)„-B u

(0

r

OC

o

>

Fast 8 ips plottin 3 pen auto selec Parallel or serial 90 day factory w HURRY! Limited

CO

c c It)

E

CO

0)

c c

UJ

o

CD to CD

o

CL

to _J

CU CD

2 o t * 13

0 CO

c

- r

X

-J

CO

V

-cSS

°

ui O

CO

s

Q.

• ••••(

f

<

8 extra 4 extra 100 she 50 shee Plotter <

r O

o *

><

UJ

Q

<

o» o, «r o,

.It

= i =»w P

•^H^s^

i:

o ^

ct™-? m

h -)'—

f ^

en en =

1149 fora

RITER™

r 40 cps letter heel from the lufacturer is o

$399

i

1 -1 f u

f go,

b a)

»_ CO

luxe tractor s2 ;et feeder '-4

a Trademark of C ll Products. Inc.

^■5

<!</

in

de t sh

ter i! Digit

&ce

-• s >- N\

">o,

O CM

>na cu

rWr

S;<

c co E co o (/) N

CD CO < -I <

CM "

'■c'-s f

£ h

x: tj

I _,

£ E

^eo

$

CJ en

< ?

Ul

J. 3 CD <

Q> 8

Ul 1- t

tp r

JZ

s z »

ON Pitc

—1 —, CO

O —

i— %

2

3 °

OC 5

GH RESOL x 240, .37 1

RGB COLO MONITOR

s319 set

CO

< !P SP ft- SP «

o I i I r,

: I I I

CD

— ^ ^ CD CO CO »- 00 cm 5 5 5

O <N t- m m m

u. r- in t- cm ^r

5? s> y tf> t

m I I 1 I I

> l ^ ^ CD CD

O TT in r- *= m

U. CD CM in 1- CM

452 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 183

"O r t "D i:

.c "c »- O «o o

« XJ £ w .9 E

^ 5 2 co .5 o co

5 w

<

m

* 2 5 * .2 Offl

5 inwi-Q-tflOd ^" "2 • • "W"

(0

X < Q. CO

eg

<

cr

CD LD

cm

if r

CO o

.* O Ql

W CO i

tJ ° fl>

— •*-* jf

co « aj

Oi ■

CD

0} j*:

o = OJ

c co "D

o co E

5 Q. <

00 CM

. o <o

CO O no

O w

.2r>*

IS

goo

to O

< r*.

(1) vw

• E:

0)0)

c <«. < CO

w rOCV

Ml W

y W -i s

£3

=> ° o. E£°.|

1*2

2 — P I

Si*

E iD

^S"

a jG D I

H8H

cc

o

i

O CD CD ■*

CD "?

c?S CO °>

a> O

DC c

§|

Inquiry 183

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 453

WEDGE-PC OEM PRODUCTS PC-AT Compatible $1659/one

512k RAM, 1.2M disk drive, hard disk & floppy

disk controller, monochrome card, 200W

power, keyboard, enclosure.

PC-XT compatible S595/one

256k RAM, one 340 disk drive, monochrome

card, keyboard, 130W power, enclosure.

20M hard disk with control $555

Color monitor $319 Monochrome monitor $109

Dealer call for qty price

WEDGE TECHNOLOGY INC.

1190 Mt. View-Alviso Rd., Suite R

Sunnyvale, CA 94089 (408) 734-9866

Telex 3719075 EDGE UB

Inquiry 373

DISKETTES & MORE

NORTH HILLS CORP.

1-800-328-3472

Maxell Brown

3M Diamond

Competitive Prices

COD — VISA — MasterCard All orders shipped within 24 HRS.

NORTH HILLS CORP. INTERNATIONAL °

3564 Rolling View Dr.

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

MN. call collect—612-770-0485

Inquiry 254

n«.s>AAAA SINGLE

M68000 BOARD

COMPUTER

S^

On board 6-10 MHz CPU, 20K RAM, 32K EPR0M, two RS-232,16-bit port, 5-counter/limers expandable via Memory/FDC Board.

M68K CPU (bare board) $ 89.95

M68K CPU A&T (6MHz) $495.00

MD512K Memory/FDC (bare board) S 89.95

MD512K Memory/FDC (128K) $495.00

FDC/Hard Disk inlerface option $150.00

M68KE Enclosure w/power supply $249.00

M68K Monitor EPROM's $ 95.00

M68K Macro Cross Assembler $195.00

4XF0RTH OS w/assembler, editor $295.00

CP/M 68K OS w/"C" compiler $395.00

p'XjIf Educational P.O. Box 16115

•-• rVl ^* Microcomputer Irvine. CA 92713 I—ilTlv_7 Systems (714)854-8545

Inquiry 120

BAR CODE READER'

• IBM PC/XT COMPATIBLE (AND MOST CLONES)

• CONNECTS BETWEEN KEYBOARD AND THE PC

• NO CARD SLOT REQUIRED/SIMPLE INTERCONNECT

• NO CUSTOM SOFTWARE DRIVERS REDUIRED

• HIGH FIRST READ RATE

• READS DOT MATRIX S PRINTED BAR CODE LABELS

• CODE 3 OF 9. INTERLEAVED 2 OF 5. UPC

• AUTOMATIC BAR CODE SELECTION

• AUDIO AND VISUAL INDICATORS

• READS HIGH. MED. AND LOW DENSITY LABELS

• SWITCH SELECTABLE OPTIONS «*^QE

• SELF-TEST DIAGNOSTICS 3199 ea.

PC/MS DOS BAR CODE PRINTING SOFTWARE $79 ea.

AMERICAN MICROSYSTEMS

P.O. BOX 830551, RICHARDSON, TX. 75080 (817) 834-9659 Mm

MASTERCARD AND VISA ACCEPTED HW

ATTENTION Trno BERNOULLI BOOSTERS

Go Either Way!

BOOT

from the Bernoulli Boxl from the AT Hard Diskl

FORMAT WITH DOS

PARTITION WITH FOISK

NO SLOWING

We've been shipping Bernoulli Boots

that work lor over a year —

still walling?

Golden Bow Systems

S95-S110

Add 13 lor stopping! handling

California residents ai 6% sales lai

\l\s San Diego, CA 92103

f^\ (619) 298-9349

DUST COVER PROTECTION WITH ANTI-STATIC, LINT FREE NYLON PACK CLOTH

Keyboard 14.00

Monitor 16.00

Drive 16.00

Mon/Dr Combination 1 pc 28.00

Mon/Dr/Kybd Comb. 1 pc 38.00

Printers from 16.00

Macintosh Set: Compu, Ky, Image Wr. ... 24.00

IBM, APPLE, COMPAQ, AMIGA, AT&T, EPSON,

OKI, NEC, HP - OTHER COVERS AVAILABLE

Silver Gray with Black Trim

CHECK/VISA/MC

Plus $2 Ship. & Hand.

(401) 245-0532

(omputerAi^

P.O. BOX 293, BARRINGTON, R.I. 02806

Inquiry 146

Inquiry 78

WE CAN MAKE

INCOMPATIBLE DATA

COMPATIBLE!

We can transfer datafiles between different operating systems; convert media (disks and tapes); decode and translate documents between major dedicated word processors and/or major PC software; re-arrange database files; transfer texts and re-formulate spreadsheet data.

Write or call to discuss your needs, then send a disk or tape sample of your datafile for a complimentary translation.

CompuData Translators, Inc.

6565 Sunset Blvd., Suite 301

Hollywood, CA 90028

(213) 462-6222

ADAPSO Member

mBSSBSBBOBmammm

System 501: $2245

DATA ACQUISITION & CONTROL

Call or write for FREE brochure

KEITH LEY

Keithley Data Acquisition

and Control, Inc.

28775 Aurora Road

Cleveland, Ohio 44139

(216) 248-0400 Telex: 98-5469

EPROM

PROGRAMMER

itfiStSai mbl APROTEK 1000

?¥^\ only , ja-J \ $265.00

"—H H \ COMPLETE WITH

PERSONALITY MODULE 117 VOLT AC POWER-RS232 -6 BAUD RATES - HANDSHAKE TO HOST ALLOWS READ, WRITE. VERIFY & COPY

Comes complete with a CPM, IBM-PC or Apple Driver Program on Disc.

Programs the following 5 Volt 24 or 28 pin devices: 2716 series through 27256, 25xx series, 68764 plus others. Please Specify Personality Module desired with order. Additional Personality Modules only $1 5.00 ea. Full 1 year warranty.

TO ORDER: CALL 1 800 962 SHOO OR WRITE

APROTEK

1071 A AVENIDA ACASO Atlil

CAMARILLO. CA 93010 S4 00 Shipping USA

lulu I80SI 987 24!i<1 VISA 01 NIC Add 3%

Inquiry 74

Inquiry 195

Inquiry 27

I

icro

products nternational

MlUiriclUUndl 7141898-0840

Telex: 887841 XORDATA HTBH Fax: 714/897-3363 ► 15392 Assembly Lane, Unit A* Huntington Beach, CA 92649 <

M s

The XAT is out mosl versatile and powerful system Using iniel s 80286 processor the system runs at 6 and 8 MHz with a true 16-Qil data bus Comes standard witn a 3 meg Add-On board 2 parallel & one serial port monitor keyboard DOS 3 1. two 'jheignt DS DD 1 2 meg floppies

5 Complete Systems

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii i

////:■

This standard system is as compatible with IBW as it can be. Featuring a 4-layer motherboard. 8-slot expansion, up to 640K memory on the motherboard, and the 6 57 MHz TURBO mode. Also included. DOS 3.1, keyboard. 135 watt power supply TTL 720 ) 348 resolution video card, green or amber monitor serial & parallel ports. Real Time Clock and software.

Amsterdam ■ 020-45-26-50

2 Meg Above Board

Our 1986 Catalog is HOT} off the press!

/ ' s Dealers! Check our J < Profitable Discount

Pricing!

The perfecl choice for the system integrator who needs the IBM compatibility bu! not m the standard PC cabinet This model features hinged and removable sides up to 3 'jheight peripherals out front front mount AC switch ana rear mount t35 watt power supply Also makes an ideal Host or File Server unit Hi multiuser configurations'

="=■■

jr.

1 1

■■In

m^

mjgwi

The XTjr. is only junior in size' With up lo 640K memory on the motherboard and four expansion slots, this stand-alone system is also great for workstations in a networking environment It can be upgraded to the TURBO two speed motherboard and you can also add up to 2 serial & 2 parallel ports or any IBM compatible expansion card. A perfect word processing.data entry system

Compact

This is truly the affordable portable and we I build il lo your specifications Need a 20 meg nard disk and 20 meg tape with 640K memory in your portable"? No problem' The XPC Compact comes standard with a 9 " amber TTL monitor. 135 watt PS 256K memory, two 360K drives Real Time Clock Calendar w battery Back-up. serial and | parallel ports and our TURBO Motherboard

24 Add-On Cards

This board satisfies the new Above Board approach suggested Dy INTEL and Lotus 1-2-3 Also may be used on our XT-SBC TURBO board lor memory based at OK

Hard Disk Controller

This Western Digital controller handles 1 or 2 drives. 5 to 140 megabytes with minimum software configuration Features DOS 2.1 & 3.1 compatibility and ST-506 Interface

384K Multi-Function

A Multifunction board featuring Parallel Port Serial Port. GarflB Port Real Time Clock Calendar witn Battery Backup Expand lo 364K all Cables PrmtSpoolei and RAM Disk Software and Manuals

Germany

4 Meg Token Ring

Connect your workstation to an existing 4 Megabyte IBM token ring system or build up your own IEEE 802 5 standard system The lowest possible cost for 100°oindustry standard compatibility

AT H.D. & Floppy

Mono & Color Graphics

7 PAK Multi-Function

PROM Laser

This new Western Digital combo board with its n -speed VLSI technology will give you a data transler rate 50% faster than the existing combo board in Ihe AT Runs both 360K and I 2 meg floppy disk drives

Supports Iwo levels of graphics and text In composite monochrome or RGB color Low resolution 320 x 200 pixel, high resolution 640 x 200 pixel

Features Floppy Controller. Parallel Port. Serial F (optional 2nd Serial). Game Port. Real Time Clock Calendar with Battery Back-up. RAMdisk. PrintSpooler all cables & manuals

Hi-speedalgonlhmes will burn 2716, 2732. 2732A, 2764 (in 52 sec). 27128, 27256 EPROMS under sol ware control right in your PC Zero Force Insertion Sockets. Software, and Manual

35 Components

Bombay ■ 357172

Motherboards

XAT TURBO XT-SBC

• RTC Calendar

• 6 i 8 MHz clock

• 8-slot expansion <

• Intel 80286

XPC TURBO

4 77 S 8 MHz clock Serial a Parallel 4-layer PCB design RTC Calendar

XPC-XT

■ 4 77S667MHZ ' 4 layer PCB design 1 6-sloi expansion

1 upto6-lOK Memcry 1 8088-2 processo*

• Standard 4 77 MHz ■ up to 64QK memory

• 8-slol expansion

• standard 8088 CPU

• 8087 socket avail

Power Supplys

XT 135 watt XT 150 watt

• I35w switching ■ Whisper Fan

• Side AC switch

• +5V-15A -5V-5A

• +12V-4.2A -12V-.5A

AT 200 watt

• Whisper fan

' Hi.output 150 watt ' 4 DC connectors

• +5V-15A -5V-5A

• +12V-5 5A -J2V-5A

XTC 135

iff.

j

%

• 200 Walt power

• Exterior AC switch

• 4 DC power conn

• + 5V-20A -5V-5A

> -M2V-7 7A -12V-5A

1 Rear Mount ■ Rear On Oil switch i extra AC outlets ' + 5V-15A -5V- 5A 12V-4A -12V-5A

3 Sub-Systems

Cabinets

illinium • ■■■

The XTJr. cabinet is only 3 ~ x 16 5 ' x 15" yet il will hold a standard XT compatible motherboard Includes a switching power supply Front panel cut-out lor a half-height floppy or hard disk

minim

Our XPC-XT cabinet has an 8-slol hack panel with additional cut-outs lor two RS-232 I O ports Features mounting for up to tour hall height peripherals

Keyboards

AT

fti -.

This Keyboard is standard equipment wlIfTaTT of our XAT systems, bul the layout is so well liked, we're offering it here.

XT

PI

r volume purchases ol these IBM style allows us to lower the price once again

The right choice lor an external add-on cabinet1 Add-on a floppy [ape Dack-up. or up to 33 meg ol hard disk (hall-height] Switching power supply is included

5151

Now a lully selectnc unit at an affordable price Features a 10-key numeric pad & a separate cursor pad

I

IIIIIMSbl IUC

I Panasonic |>jj Seagate TEAC Tulin

Drives

Archive

Irwin

Maxtor

Memtek

Miniscribe

i Panasonic

Seagate

TEAC

Tulin

This full Height cabinet will hold a Tape Back-up with full or 'jheight Hard Disk inside lor two Hard Disks!

A perfect cabinet lor Tape or Hard Disk a nice addition to your

Cnoose I

ilh lullh trollers c

smgle 'iheight dual 'jheight or 'jheight it base All Sub-systems include cons software, and manuals

3 Networks f Cassette Training j Int/Ext Modems

■■» MHH

One way lo stay ahead ol the competition is by using a Mult>User cr Network system configuration (ram Micro Product! International Choose Hi-speed RS-232 XOR-NET SDLC or Token Ring Data transfer rates up to 4 megabytes second can be obtained

r I

What is the Cassette Training concept7 Using Interactive

Audio Training lo combine Ihe advantage ol classroom and sell-leach'ng methods

The Method One audio track delivers a lecture explaining ine program, while Ihe second Irack emulates the keyboard, actually running the student s computer At frequenl intervals Ihe lape pauses automatically lo allow Ihe student keyboard mput which is monitored lor accuracy by Ihe MITS COED

• FCC approved lor direct • Runs Ihe popular RJ-11 connection Hayes communications

• Phone Cable & Power Supply software

Finally a price breakthrough on a Hayes compatible external 300 1200 baud modem Includes driver software

• Q-Modem software included Also runs XC0M software

* All cables included

We included every leature you would It's FCC regislered lor direct connect phone jack with tne cord included

Runs trie popular Hayes communications' sol I ware

BUILD A COMPLETE XT SYSTEM—$698

STATIC RAMS

2101

256x4

(450r,5|

1.95

5101

256x4

<450ns)(CMOS)

3.95

21021-4

1024x1

(450ns)(LP)

.99

2102L-2

1024x1

|250ns)(LP|

1.45

2112

256x4

(450ns)

2.99

2114

1024x4

(450ns)

.99

2114L-4

1024x4

(450ns) (LPI

1.09

2114L-2

1024x4

(200ns)|LP|

1.49

2114L15

1024x4

(150ns)|LP)

1.95

TMS4044-4

4096x1

(450ns)

1.95

TMM2016-150

2048x8

(150ns)

1.49

TMM2016-100

2048x8

|100ns)

1.95

HM6116-4

2048x8

<200ns)|CMOS)

1.39

HM6116-3

2048x8

|150nsl(CMOSI

1.49

HM6116LP-4

2048x8

(200ns)(CMOSI[LP|

1.49

HM6116LP-3

2048x8

(150ns)(CMOS)(LP)

1.59

HM6116LP-2

2048x8

|120ns)(CMOS)ILP!

2.95

HM6264P-15

8192x8

(150ns)(CMOS)

3.89

HM6264LP-15

8192x8

|150ns)(CMOS)|LP)

3.95

HM6264LP-12

8192x8

|120ns)|CMOS)(LPI

4.49

LP=Low powur

DYNAMIC RAMS

4116-250

16384x1

(250nsl

.49

4116-200

16384x1

(200ns)

.69

4116-150

16384x1

(150ns)

.89

4116-120

16384x1

|120nsl

1.49

MK4332

32768x1

(200ns)

6.95

4164-200

65536x1

(200ns)|5V)

1.19

4164-150

65536x1

(150ns)(5V)

1.29

4164-120

65536x1

(1 20ns) (5 V)

1.95

MCM6665

65536x1

|200ns)l5V)

1.95

TMS4164

65536x1

|150ns)(5V|

1.95

4164 REFRESH

65536x1

(150ns)(5V)(REFRESH| 2.95

TMS4416

16384x4

|150ns)|5V)

4.95

41128-150

131072x1

(150ns)(5V)

5.95

41256-200

262144x1

(200ns)(5VI

2.95

41256-150

262144x1

(150ns)(5V|

2.95

5V= Single 5 Volt Supply

REFRESH Pin 1 Refresh

• •••HIGH-TECH**** NECV20 UPD70108 $14"

REPLACES B088 TO SPEED UP IBM PC 10-40%

* HIGH-SPEED ADDRESS CALCULATION IN HARDWARE

* PIN COMPATIBLE WITH 8088

* SUPERSET OF 8086/8088 INSTRUCTION SET

* LOW POWER CMOS

8 MHZ V20 UPD7010B-8 $24.95 8 MHZ V30 UPD70116-8 $26.95

• •••SPOTLIGHT****

ORDER TOLL FREE

; i IB* :Brii 11

800-662-6279,

EPROMS

2708

1024x8

(450ns)

3.95

2716-6

2048x8

(650ns)

2.29

2716

2048x8

|450ns)|5V)

2.25

2716-1

2048x8

!350ns)|5V)

2.79

TMS2532

4096x8

|450ns)(5V)

3.95

2732

4096x8

(450nsl(5V|

2.45

2732A

4096x8

(250ns|(SVI(21VPGMI

2.75

2732A-2

4096x8

(200nsl(5V)[21V PGM]

3.95

27C64

8192x8

(250ns)(5V)(CMOS)

5.95

2764

8192x8

|450ns||5V)

2.45

2764-250

8192x8

|250ns)(5V)

2.85

2764-200

8192x8

|200ns|(5V)

3.49

TMS2564

8192x8

|450ns)(5V|

8.95

MCM68766

8192x8

(350ns)(5V)(24 PIN)

17.95

27128

16384x8

|250ns)|5V)

2.79

27C256

32768x8

(2S0ns)|5V|(CMOSI

12.95

27256

32768x8

|250ns)|5VI

7.49

5V= Single

5 Volt Supply

21V PGM^ Program et 21

Volts

Hi^ES EPRQMERASERS

U CORPORATION

Model

Timer

Capacity Chip

Intensity

(uVvVCm'l

Unit Price

PE-14

NO

9

8.000

583.00

PE-14T

YES

9

8.000

S119.00

PE-24T

YES

12

9.600

S175.00

8000

8035

1.49

8039

1.95

8080

2.95

8085

2.49

8087-2

139.95

8087

109.00

8088

6.95

8088-2

9.95

8155

2.49

8155-2

3.95

8748

7.95

8755

19.95

80286

129.95

80287

185.00 J

8200

8203

29.95

8205

3.29

8212

1.49

8216

1.49

8224

2.25

8237

4.95

8237-5

5.49

8250

6.95

8251

1.69

8251A

1.89

8253

1.89

8253-5

1.95

8255

1.69

8255-5

1.89

8259

1.95

8259-5

2.29

8272

4.95

8279

2.49

8279-5

2.95

8282

3.95

8284

2.95

8286

3.95

8288

4.95

' 6500

1.0 MHZ

6502

2.79

65C021CMOS112.95

6507

9.95

6520

1.95

6522

4.95

6526

26.95

6532

6.95

6545

6.95

6551

5.95

6561

19.95

6581

34.95

2.0 MHZ

6502A

2.95

6520A

2.95

6522A

5.95

6532A

11.95

6545A

7.95

6551A

6.95

3.0 MHZ

6502B

6.95

CRT CONTROLLERS

6845 68B45 6847

HD46505SP MCI 372 8275 7220 CRT5027 CRT5037 . TMS9918A

4.95

8.95

11.95

6.95

2.95

26.95

19.95

12.95

9.95

19.95 .

DISK CONTROLLERS

Z-80

280-CPU2 5MH

r1.69

4.0 MH2

Z80A-CPU

1.79

Z80A CTC

1.89

Z80A-DART

5.95

Z80A-DMA

5.95

Z80A-PIO

1.89

Z80A-SIO/0

5.95

Z80A-SIO/1

5.95

Z80A-SIO/2

5.95

6.0 MH2

Z80B-CPU

3.75

ZBOB-CTC

4.25

Z80B-PIO

4.25

Z80B-OART

14.95

Z80B-SIO/0

12.95

Z80B-SIO/2

12.95

Z8671 ZILOG

19.95

6800

1.0MHZ

6800

1.95

6802

4.95

6803

9.95

6809

5.95

6809 E

5.95

6810

1.95

6820

2.95

6821

1.95

6840

6.95

6843

19.95

6844

12.95

6845

4.95

6847

11.95

6850

1.95

6883

22.95

2.0 MHZ

68B00

4.95

68B02

5.95

68B09E

6.95

68B09

6.45

68B21

3.50

68B45

6.75

68B50

3.95

68B54

7.95

CLOCK

CIRCUITS

MM5369

1.95

MM5369EST 1.95

MM58167

12.95

MM58174

11.95

MSM5832

2.95

1771 1791 1793 1795 1797 2791 2793 2797 6843 8272 UPD765 MB8876 MB8877 1691 . 2143

4.95

9.95

9.95

12.95

12.95

19.95

19.95

29.95

19.95

4.95

4.95

12.95

12.95

6.95

6.95 .

BIT RATE GENERATORS

MC14411 BR1941 4702

COM8116 , MM5307

9.95 4.95 9.95 8.95 4.95 ,

UARTS

AY5-1013

3.95

AV3-1015

4.95

TR1602

3.95

2651

4.95

IM6402

6.95

IM6403

9.95

INS8250

6.95

' CRYSTALS

32.768 KHz

.95

1.0 MHz

2.95

1.8432

2.95

2.0

1.95

2.097152

1.95

2.4576

1.95

3.2768

1.95

3.579545

1.95

4.0

1.95

4.032

1.95

5.0

1.95

5.0688

1.95

6.0

1.95

6.144

1.95

6.5536

1.95

8.0

1.95

10.0

1.95

10.738635

1.95

12.0

1.95

14.31818

1.95

15.0

1.95

16.0

1.95

17.430

1.95

18.0

1.95

18.432

1.95

20.0

1.95

22.1184

1.95

24.0

1.95

32.0

1.95

CRYSTAL

OSCILLATORS

1.0MHz

5.95

1.8432

5.95

2.0

5.95

2.4576

5.95

2.5

4.95

4.0

4.95

5.0688

4.95

6.0

4.95

6.144

4.95

8.0

4.95

10.0

4.95

12.0

4.95

12.480

4.95

15-0

4.95

16.0

4.95

18.432

4.95

20.0

4.95

24.0

4.95

74LS00

MISC.

rSOUND CHIPS

76477

3.95

76489

8.95

SSI 263

39.95

AY3-8910

12.95

AY3-8912

12.95

SP1000

39.00

TMS99531

TMS99532

ULN2003

3242

3341

MC3470

MC3480

MC3487

11C90

2513-001 UP

AV5-2376

9.95

19.95

.79

7.95

4.95

1.95

8.95

2.95

13.95

6.95

11.95

I AV5-3600 PRO 11.95 ,

74LS00

.16

74LS01

.18

74LS02

.17

74LS03

.18

74LS04

.16

74LS05

.18

74LS08

.18

74LS09

.18

74LS10

.16

74LS11

.22

74 LSI 2

.22

74LS13

.26

74LS14

.39

74LS15

.26

74LS20

.17

74LS21

.22

74LS22

.22

74LS27

.23

74LS28

.26

74LS30

.17

74LS32

.18

74LS33

.28

74LS37

.26

74LS38

.26

74LS42

.39

74LS47

.59

74LS48

.69

74LS51

.17

74LS73

.29

74LS74

.24

74LS75

.29

74LS76

.29

74LS83

.49

74LS85

.49

74LS86

.22

74LS90

.39

74LS92

.49

74LS93

.39

74LS95

.49

74LS107

.34

74LS109

.36

74LS112

.29

74LS122

.45

74LS123

.49

74LS124

2.75

74LS125

.39

74LS126

.39

74LS132

.39

74LS133

.49

74LS136

.39

74LS138

.39

74LS139

.39

74LS145

.99

74LS147

.99

74LS148

.99

74LS151

.39

74LS153

.39

74LS154

1.49

74LS156

.59

74LS156

.49

74LS157

.35

74LS158

.29

74LS160

.29

74LS161

.39

74LS162

.49

74LS163

.39

74LS164

.49

HIGH SPEED CMOS

A new family of high speed CMOS logic featuring the speed of low power Schottky (8ns typical gate propagation delay), combined with the advantages of CMOS: very low power consumption, superior noise immunity, and improved output drive.

74HC00

74HC: Operate at CMOS logic levels and are ideal for new, all-CMOS designs.

74HCT: Direct, drop-in and can be intermixed with

74HC148

1.19

74HC151

.89

74HC154

2.49

74HC157

.89

74HC158

.95

74HC163

1.15

74HC175

.99

74HC240

1.89

74HC244

1.89

74HC245

1.89

74HC257

.85

74HC259

1.39

74HC273

1.89

74HC299

4.99

74HC368

.99

74HC373

2.29

74HC374

2.29

74HC390

1.39

74HC393

1.39

74HC4017

1.99

74HC4020

1.39

74HC4049

.89

74HC4050

.89

'TOO

replacements for LS TTL

74LS in the same circuit.

74HCT166

3.05

74HCT174

1.09

74HCT193

1.39

74HCT194

1.19

74HCT240

2.19

74HCT241

2.19

74HCT244

2.19

74HCT245

2.19

74HCT257

.99

74HCT259

1.59

74HCT273

2.09

74HCT367

1.09

74HCT373

2.49

74HCT374

2.49

74HCT393

1.59

74HCT4017

2.19

74HCT4040

1.59

74HCT4060

1.49

74F00

74F74 .79 74F86 .99 74F13B 1.69 74F139 1.69 74F157 1.69 74F240 3.29

74F251 1.69 74F253 1.69 74F257 1.69 74F280 1.79 74F283 3.95 74F373 4.29

74F244 3.29 74F374 4.29 .

VISIT OUR RETAIL STORE LOCATED AT 1256 SOUTH BASCOM AVENUE IN SAN JOSE

HOURS: M-W-F, 9-5 TU-TH, 9-9 SAT, 10-3

• •; ,,,,.. , , PLEASE USE YOUR CUSTOMER NUMBER WHEN ORDERING

EfhjDR Microdevices

■ ■ 1224 S. Bascom Avenue, San Jose, CA 95128 800-538-5000 • 800-662-6279 (CA) • (408) 995-5430 FAX (408) 275-8415 • Telex 171-110

TERMS: Minimum order S10.00. For shipping and handling Include J2.S0 lor UPS Ground and S3 50 (or UPS Air. Orders over 1 lb. and foreign orders may require addiltonal shipping charges - please contact our sales department lor the amount CA residents must Include applicable sales lax. All merchandise Is warranted for 90 days unless otherwise slated. Prices are subject lo change without nonce. We are not responsible for typographical errors. We reserve the right lo limit quantities and lo substitute manufacturer. All merchandise subject lo prior sale.

© COPYRIGHT 1986 JDR MICRODEVICES THE JDR MICRODEVICES LOGO IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF JDR MICRODEVICES. JDR INSTRUMENTS AND JDR MICRODEVICES ARE TRADEMARKS OF JDR MICRODEVICES IBM IS A TRADEMARK OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES. APPLE IS A TRADEMARK OF APPLE COMPUTER. mmmKmmtKtmm.

456 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 186

PARTIAL LISTING ONLY — CALL FOR A FREE CATALOG

CMOS

4001

.19

14419

4.95

4011

.19

14433

14.95

4012

.25

4503

.49

4013

.35

4511

.69

4015

.29

4516

.79

4016

.29

4518

.85

4017

.49

4522

.79

4018

.69

4526

.79

4020

.59

4527

1.95

4021

.69

4528

.79

4024

.49

4529

2.95

4025

.25

4532

1.95

4027

.39

4538

.95

4028

.65

4541

1 29

4035

.69

4553

579

4040

.69

4585

.75

4041

.75

4702

12.95

4042

.59

74C00

.29

4043

.85

74C14

.59

4044

.69

74C74

.59

4045

1.98

74C83

1.95

4046

.69

74C85

1.49

4047

.69

74C95

.99

4049

.29

74C150

5.75

4050

.29

74C1S1

2.25

4051

.69

74C161

.99

4052

.69

74C163

.99

4053

.69

74C164

1.39

4056

2.19

74C192

1.49

4060

.69

74C193

1.49

4066

.29

74C221

1.75

4069

.19

74C240

1.89

4076

.59

74C244

1.89

4077

.29

74C374

1.99

4081

32

74C905 10.95

4085

.79

74C911

8.95

4086

.89

74C917

8.95

4093

.49

74C922

4.49

4094

2.49

74C923

4.95

14411

9.95

74C926

7.95

14412

6.95

80C97

.95

7400/9000

7400

.19

74147

2.49

7402

.19

74148

1.20

7404

.19

74150

1.35

7406

.29

74151

.55

7407

.29

74153

.55

7408

.24

74154

1.49

7410

.19

74155

.75

7411

.25

74157

.55

7414

.49

74159

1.65

7416

as

74161

.69

7417

.25

74163

.69

7420

.19

74164

.85

7423

.29

74165

.85

7430

.19

74166

1.00

7432

.29

74175

.89

7438

.29

74177

.75

7442

.49

74178

1.15

7445

.69

74181

2.25

7447

.89

74182

.75

7470

.35

74184

2.00

7473

.34

74191

1.15

7474

.33

74192

.79

7475

.45

74194

.85

7476

.35

74196

.79

7483

.50

74197

.75

7485

.59

74199

1.35

7486

.35

74221

1.35

7489

2.15

74246

1.35

7490

.39

74247

1.25

7492

.50

74248

1.85

7493

.35

74249

1.95

7495

.55

74251

.75

7497

2.75

74265

1.35

74100

2.29

74273

1.95

74121

.29

74278

3.11

74123

.49

74367

.65

74125

.45

74368

.65

74141

.65

9368

3.95

74143

5.95

9602

1.50

74144

2.95

9637

2.95

74145

.60

96S02

1.95 J

74S00

EDGECARD CONNECTORS

74S00

.29

74S163

74S02

.29

74S168

74S03

.29

74S174

74S04

.29

74S175

74S05

.29

74S188

74S08

.35

74S189

74S10

.29

74S195

74S15

.35

74S196

74S30

.29

74S197

74S32

.35

74S226

74S37

.69

74S240

74S38

.69

74S241

74S74

.49

74S244

74S8S

.95

74S257

74S86

.35

745253

74S112

.50

74S258

74S124

2.75

74S280

74S138

.79

74S287

74S140

.55

74S288

74S151

.79

74S299

74S153

.79

74S373

74S157

.79

74S374

74S158

.95

74S471

74S161

1.29

74S571

1.29

3.95

.79

.79

1.95

1.95

1.49

1.49

1.49

3.99

1.49

1.49

1.49

.79

.79

.95

1.95

1.69

1.69

2.95

1.69

1.69

4.95

2.95

DATA ACQ

INTERFACE

AOC0800 15.55

8T26

1.29

AOC0804 3.49

8T28

1.29

AOC0809 4.49

8T95

.89

ADC0816 14.95

8T96

.89

ADC0817 9.95

8T97

.59

ADC0831 8.95

8T98

.89

DAC0800 4.49

DM8131

2.95

DAC0806 1.95

0P8304

2.29

DAC0808 2.95

DS8833

2.25

OAC1020 8.25

OS8835

1.99

DAC1022 5.95

DS8836

.99

I MC1408LB 2.95

0S8837

1.65

100

PIN ST

S-100

.125

3.95

100

PIN WW

S-100

.125

4.95

62

PIN ST

IBM PC

.100

1.95

M>

PIN ST

APPLE

.100

2.95

44

PIN ST

STO

.156

1.95

44

PIN WW

STD

.156

4.95

30 PIN CENTRONICS

MILE

IDCEN36 RIBBON CABLE 6.95

CEN36 SOLDER CUP 4.95

CEN36PC RT ANGLE PC MOUNT 4.95

FEMILE

[IDCEN36/F RIBBON CABLE 7.95,

INTERSIL

VOLTAGE REGULATORS

TO 220 CASE

7805T .49 7905T .59

7808T .49 7908T .59

7812T .49 7912T .59

7815T .49 7915T .59

TO-3 CASE

7805K 1.39 7905K 1.49 7812K 1.39 7912K 1.49

TO-92 CASE

78L05 .49 79L05 .69 78L12 .49 79L12 .69

OTHER VOLTAGE REGS

LM323K5V 3A TO-3 4.79 LM333KAdj5A TO -3 3.95 78H05K 5V 5A TO 3 7.95 78H12K12V5A TO-3 8.95 I 78P05K 5V 10A TO-3 14.95

LINEAR

ICL7106

9.95

ICL7107

12.95

ICL7660

2.95

ICL8038

4.95

ICM7207A

5.95

ICM720S

15.95

' IC SOCKETS

1-99

100

8 PIN ST

.13

.11

14 PIN ST

.15

.12

16 PIN ST

.17

.13

18 PIN ST

.20

.18

20 PIN ST

.29

.27

22 PIN ST

.30

.27

24 PIN ST

.30

.27

28 PIN ST

.40

.32

40 PIN ST

.49

.39

64 PIN ST

4.25

CALL

ST-SOLDERTAIL

8 PIN WW

.59

.49

14 PIN WW

.69

.52

16 PIN WW

.69

.58

18 PIN WW

.99

.90

20 PIN WW

1.09

.98

22 PIN WW

1.39

1.28

24 PIN WW

1.49

1.35

28 PIN WW

1.69

1.49

40 PIN WW

1.99

1.80

WW WIBEURAF

16 PIN ZIF

4.95

CALL

24 PIN ZIF

5.95

CALL

28 PIN ZIF

6.95

CALL

40 PIN ZIF

9.95

CALL

ZIF=TEXTOOL

(ZERO INSERTION FORCE)

TL066

TL071

TL072

TL074

TL081

TL082

TL084

LM301

LM309K

LM311

LM311H

LM317K

LM317T

LM318

LM319

.99 .69

1.09

1.95 .59 .99

1.49 .34

1.25 .59 .89

3.49 .95

1.49

1.25

LM320 snn7900

LM322

LM323K

LM324

LM331

LM334

LM335

LM336

LM337K

LM338K

LM339

LM340 see7800

LM350T 4.60

LF353

1.65 4.79

.49 3.95 1.19 1 40 1.75 3.95 3.95

.59

LF356

LF357

LM358

LM380

LM383

LM386

LM393

LM394H

TL494

TL497

NE555

NE556

NE558

NE564

LM565

LM566

LM567

NE570

NE590

NE592

LM710

LM723

H=TO-5 CAN. K

.59

.99

.99

.59

.89

1.95

.89

.45

4.60

4.20

3.25

.29

.49

1.29

1.95

.95

1.49

.79

2.95

2.50

.98

.75

.49

LM733 LM741 LM747 LM748 MCI 330 MC1350 MC1372 LM1414 LM1458 LM1488 LM1489 LM1496 LM1812 LM1889 ULN2003 XR2206 XR2211 XR2240 MPO2907 LM2917 CA3046 CA3081 CA3082 CA3086 CA3089 CA3130E CA3146 CA3160 MC3470 MC3480 MC3487 LM39O0 LM3909 LM3911 LM3914 MC4024 MC4044 RC4136 RC4558 LM13600 75107 75110 75150 75154 75188 75189 75451 75452 75453 75477 75492 TO-3, T=TO

.98

.29

.69

.59

1.69

1.19

6.95

1.59

.49

.49

.49

.85

8.25

1.95

.79

3.75

2.95

1.95

1.95

1.95

.89

.99

.99

.80

1.95

.99

1.29

1.19

1.95

835

2.95

.49

.98

2.25

2.39

3.49

3.99

1.25

.69

1.49

1.49

1.95

1.95

1.25

1.25

.39

.39

.39

1.29

.79

220

DIPCt

INNECTORS

DESCRIPTION

ORDER BY

CONTACTS

8

14

16

18

20

22

24

28

40

HIGH RELIABILITY TOOLED ST IC SOCKETS

AUGATxxST

.62

.79

.89

1.09

1.29

1.39

1.49

1.69

2.49

HIGH RELIABILITY TOOLED WW IC SOCKETS

AUGATxxWW

1.30

1.80

2.10

2.40

2.50

2.90

3.15

3.70

5.40

COMPONENT CARRIES (DIP HEADERS]

ICCxx

.49

.59

.69

.99

.99

.99

.99

1.09

1.49

RIBBON CABLE DIP PLUGS (IDC)

IDPxx

.95

.95

1.75

2.95

DIODES/OPTO/TRANSISTORS

FOR ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS SEE D-SUBMINIATURE BELOW

'"i rfT'n ri i '/"tt

AUGAT 24ST

D-S

U6MINIA

TURI

:

DESCRIPTION

ORDER BY

CONTACTS

9

15

19

25

37

50

SOLDER CUP

MALE

DBxxP

.82

.90

1.25

1.26

1.80

3.48

FEMALE

DBxxS

.95

1.15

1.50

1.50

2.35

4.32

RIGHT ANGLE PC SOLDER

MALE

DBxxPR

1.20

1.49

1.95

2.65

FEMALE

DBxxSR

1.25

1.55

2.00

2.79

WIRE WRAP

MALE

DBxxPWW

1.69

2.56

3.89

5.60

FEMALE

OBxxSWW

2.76

4.27

6.84

9.95

...

IDC RIBBON CABLE

MALE

IDBxxP

2.70

2.95

398

5.70

—

FEMALE

IDBxxS

2.92

3.20

4.33

6.76

HOODS

METAL

MHOODxx

1.25

1.25

1.30

1.30

—

GREY

HOODxx

.65

.65

.65

.75

.95

MTG HDWR

33

ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS: INSERT THE NUMBER OF CONTACTS IN THE POSITION

MARKED "xx" OF THE 'ORDER BY~ PART NUMBER LISTED.

EXAMPLE: A 15 PIN RIGHT ANGLE MALE PC SOLDER WOULD BE DB15PR.

MOUNTING HARDWARE $1.00

IDC CONNECTORS

DESCRIPTION

ORDER BY

CONTACTS

10

20

26

34

40

50

SOLDER HEADER

IDHxxS

.82

1.29

1.68

2.20

2.58

3.24

RIGHT ANGLE SOLDER HEADER

IDHxxSR

.85

1.35

1.76

2.31

2.72

3.39

WW HEADER

IDHxxW

1.86

2.98

3.84

4.50

5.28

6.63

RIGHT ANGLE WW HEADER

IDHxxWR

2.05

3.28

4.22

4.45

4.80

7.30

RIBBON HEADER SOCKET

IDSxx

.79

.99

1.39

1.59

1.99

2.25

RIBBON HEADER

IDMxx

...

5.50

6.25

7.00

7.50

8.50

RIBBON EDGE CARD

IDExx

1.75

2.25

2.65

2.75

3.80

3.95

FOR ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS SEE D-SUBMINIA TURE ABOVE

HARD TO FIND "SNAPABLE" HEADERS

CAN BE SNAPPED APART TO

MAKE ANY SIZE HEADER,

ALL WITH .1" CENTERS

1m40 STRAIGHT LEAD .99

1x40 RIGHT ANGLE 1.49

2x40 STRAIGHT LEAD 2.49

.2x40 RIGHT ANGLE 2.99

Inquiry 186

SHORTING BLOCKS

GOLD

CONTACTS

SPACED

AT.1"

CENTERS

.5/S1.00

1N751

.25

4N26

.69

1N759

.25

4N27

.69

1N4148

25/1.00

4N28

.69

1N4004

10/1.00

4N33

.89

1N5402

.25

4N37

1.19

KBP04

.55

MCT-2

.59

KBU8A

.95

MCT-6

1.29

MDA990-2

.35

TIL-111

.99

N2222

.25

2N3906

.10

PN2222

.10

2N4401

.25

2N2905

.50

2N4402

.25

2N2907

.25

2N4403

.25

2N3055

.79

2N6045

1.75

2N3904

.10

TIP31

.49

LED DISPLAYS

FND-3571359)

COM CATHODE

.362" 1.25

FNO 500(503)

COM CATHODE

.5" 1.49

FND-5071510)

COM ANODE

.5" 1.49

MAN-72

COM ANODE

.3" .99

MAN-74

COM CATHODE

.3" .99

MAN 8940

COM CATHODE

.8" 1.99

TIL-313

COM CATHODE

.3" .45

HP5082-7760

COM CATHODE

.43" 1.29

TIL 311 4x7 HEXW/LOGIC

.270" 9.95

HP5082-7340 4x7 HEXW/LOGIC

.290" 7.95

DIFFUSED LEDS 199

100-UP

JUMBO RED

T1% .10

.09

JUMBO GREEN

T1V* .14

.12

JUMBO YELLOW

TIV4 .14

.12

MOUNTING HDW

T1>/4 .10

.09

MINI RED

T1 .10

.09

SWITCHES

SPST MINI-TOGGLE ON-ON

DPOT MINI-TOGGLE ON-ON

DPDT MINI-TOGGLE ONOFF-ON

SPST MINI-PUSHBUTTON NO.

SPST MINI-PUSHBUTTON N.C

SPST TOGGLE ONOFF BCD OUTPUT 10 POSITION 6 PIN DIP

1.25

1.50

1.75

.39

.39 I

.49 I

1.95

DIP SWITCHES

| 4 POSITION

5 POSITION

, 6 POSITION

.85 7 POSITION

.90 8 POSITION

.90 10 POSITION 1.29.

It was a pleasure to place an order with your people. I found the response pleasant and helpful and the answers prompt and correot. The delivery on my most recent order was fast, correct and well packed. I already had faith in the quality since my family has been using some of your "' problems.

Sincerely, J.D. Hattaway

CALL FOR VOLUME QUOTES © copyright ismjor mi

1

IBBON CAB

LE

CONTACTS

SINGLE COLOR

COLOR CODED

V

10'

V

10'

10

.18

1.60

.30

2.75

16

.28

2.50

.48

4.40

20

.36

3.20

.60

5.50

25

.45

4.00

.75

6.85

26

.46

4.10

.78

7.15

34

.61

5.40

1.07

9.35

40

.72

6.40

1.20

11.00

50

.89

7.50

1.50

13.25

© COPYRIGHT 1986 JDR MICRODEVICES

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 457

order toll free 800-538-5000 800-662-6279 (caj

BARGAIN HUNTERS CORNER

FRAI

MO

dT^

yH|VEF(

)r4^£

prfi

* RELIABLE,^*

mcr drivej

lECHmm

S^ADEFOR

FRANKLIN^

(HITACHI

BLDLEA*

ER IN FDDs

FOR APPLET

• 100% COlTO

tIbleA

K ii, Jb

3WJd lie; USE

W/STAyBA«

^applh

UOLLEfH

BBPTIONAL

S49.95 LUMU

|Ql.LER^B

• FULLHEI«i

SflGHHcfl

■em*

WfflftfPPLE;

BAKED ENaS

IeIfinB

■bscr

fflRpfclES

• shieldlIPw

WtEWITWB

Mndinq

HlGFOR

EMI-FREEQj

PRATION ■

g¥EAR WARRAW

HURRYf

BR?E LIMITED!

SPECI/fl-S El

1LV3/31/86

PAGE WIRE WRAP WIRE

PRECUT ASSORTMENT IN ASSORTED COLORS $27.50

lOOea: 5.5", 6.0". 6.5", 7.0" 250aa: 2.5". 4.5", 5.0" 500oa: 3.0", 3.5", 4.0"

SPOOLS

100 feet S4.30 500 feet si 3.25

250 feet $7.25 1000 feet (21.95

Please specify color:

Blue, Black, Yellow or Red

[EMI FILTER

• MANUFACTURED BY CORCOM

• LOW COST

• FITS LC-HP BELOW

• 6 AMP 120/240 VOLT

6 FOOT LINE CORDS

LC-2 2 CONDUCTOR .39

LC-3 2 CONDUCTOR .99 LC-HP 3 CONDUCTOR W/STD

FEMALE SOCKET 1.49

MUFFIN FANS

3.15" SQ ROTRON 14.95

3.63" SQ ETRI 14.95

.3.18'SO MASUSHITA 16.95,

WIRE WRAP PROTOTYPE CARDS

FR-4 EPOXY GLASS LAMINATE WITH GOLD-PLATED EDGE-CARD FINGERS

'BMPR2 IBM

BOTH CARDS HAVE SILK SCREENED LEGENDS

AND INCLUDES MOUNTING BRACKET

IBM-PR1 WITH *5V AND GROUND PLANE . . . . S27.95

IBM-PR2 AS ABOVE WITH DECODING LAYOUT $29.95

S-100

P100-I BARE - NO FOIL PADS $15.15

P100-2 HORIZONTAL BUS $21.80

P100-3 VERTICAL BUS $21.80

P100-4 SINGLE FOIL PADS PER HOLE $22.75

APPLE

P500-1 BARE - NO FOIL PADS $15.15

P500-3 HORIZONTAL BUS $22.75

P500-4 SINGLE FOIL PADS PER HOLE $21.80

. 7060-45 FOR APPLE lie AUX SLOT $30.00

SOCKET-WRAP I.D.'"

■ SUPS OVER WIRE WRAP PINS

■ IDENTIFIES PIN NUMBERS ON WRAP SIDE OF BOARD

. CAN WRITE ON PLASTIC; SUCH AS IC #

INS

PARTS

PCK. OF

PRICE

8

IDWRAP08

10

1.95

14

IDWRAP 14

10

1.95

16

IDWRAP 16

10

1.95

18

IDWRAP 18

5

1.95

20

IDWRAP 20

5

1.95

22

IDWRAP 22

5

1.95

24

IDWRAP 24

5

1.95

28

IDWRAP 28

5

1.95

40

IDWRAP 40

5

1.95

PLEASE ORDER BY NUMBER OF PACKAGES {PCK. OF)

CAPACITORS

TANTALUM

1.0*1

15V

.35

,47/jf

35V

.45

6.8

15V

.70

1.0

35V

.45

10

15V

.80

2.2

35V

.65

22

15V

1.35

4.7

35V

.85

.22

35V

.40

10

35V

1.00

DISC

lOpI

50V

.05

680

SOV

.05

22

50V

.05

.oov

50V

.05

27

50V

.05

.0022

50V

.05

33

50V

.05

.005

50V

.05

47

50V

.05

.01

50V

.07

68

50V

.05

.02

50V

.07

100

50V

.05

.05

SOV

.07

220

50V

.05

.1

12V

.10

560

50V

.05

.1

50V

.12

MONOLITHIC

.01</f

sov

.14

■Vf

50V

.18

.047(/f

50V

.15

.47*)

50V

.2b

ELECTROLYTIC

RADIAL

AXIAL

JlH

25V

.14

1//f

50V

.14

2.2

35V

.15

10

50V

.16

4.7

50V

.15

22

16V

.14

10

SOV

.15

47

50V

.20

47

35V

.18

100

35V

?5

100

16V

.18

220

25V

.30

220

35V

.20

470

SOV

.50

470

25V

.30

1000

16V

.60

2200

16V

.70

2200

16V

.70

4700

25V

1.45

4700

16V

1.25

COMPUTER GRADE

44,000*1

30V

3.95

FRAME STYLE

TRANSFORMERS

2 AMP 5.95

4 AMP 7.95

8 AMP 10.95

2 AMP 7.95 ,

[DATARASE EPROM ERASER $34.95

• ERASES TWO EPROMS IN 10 MINUTES I COMPACT-NO DRAWER . THIN METAL SHUTTER

PREVENTS UV LIGHT

FROM ESCAPING "" a

V« WATT RESISTORS

5% CARBON FILM ALL STANDARD VALUES

FROM 1 OHM TO 10 MEG. OHM

10 PCS aamevalue .05 100 PCS same value .02

. 50 PCS samevaluB .025 1000 PCS samevahje .015

RESISTOR NETWORKS

SIP

10 PIN

9 RESISTOR

.69

SIP

8 PIN

7 RESISTOR

.59

DIP

16 PIN

8 RESISTOR

1.09

DIP

16 PIN

15 RESISTOR

1.09

DIP

14 PIN

7 RESISTOR

.99

DIP

14 PIN

13 RESISTOR

.99

SPECIALS ON BYPASS CAPACITORS

.01 (A CERAMIC DISC 100/S5.00 .01 fit MONOLITHIC 100/S10.00 .1 tit CERAMIC DISC 100/S6.50

.1 /jf MONOLITHIC 100/S12.50

WISH SOLDERL

ESS BREADBM

RDS

PART NUMBER

DIMENSIONS

DISTRIBUTION STRIPISI

TIE POINTS

TERMINAL STRIPISI

TIE POINTS

BINDING

POSTS

PRICE

WBU-D

.38 x 6.50"

1

100

2.95

WBU-T

1.38x6.50"

1

630

6.95

WBU-204-3

3.94 ■ 8.45"

1

100

2

1260

2

17.95

WBU-204

5.13x8.45"

4

400

2

1260

3

24.95

WBU-206

6.88 x 9.06"

5

500

3

1890

4

29.95

WBU-208

8.25 x 9.45"

7

700

4

2520

4

39.95

PS-IBM

SWITCHING POWER SUPPLIES $99.95

• FOR IBM PC XT COMPATIBLE

• 130 WATTS

■ ♦5V@1SA. *12V@4.2A PS-IBM

-5V @ .5A. -12V @> ,5A

• ONE YEAR WARRANTY

PS-130

$99.95

• 130 WATTS

• SWITCH ON REAR

• FOR USE IN OTHER IBM TYPE MACHINES

■ 90 DAY WARRANTY

PSA

$49.95

« USE TO POWER APPLE TYPE SYSTEMS

• +5V @> 4A. +12V @) 2.5A -5V <S> .5A, -12V (5) .5A

• APPLE POWER CONNECTOR

PS-SPL290 $49.95 ps-a

> *5V(5)25A, *12V@ 3.5A -5V @ 1A, -12V @ 1A

■ ULAPPROVED

■ ALUMINUM ENCLOSURE

PS-TDK

$29.95

. +5V@4A. +12V<5> 2A

+12V@2.8A,-12V@ .30A . 6.2" x 7.4" x 1.7", 1.6 LBS.

PS-11951

$29.95

I MANUFACTURED BY ASTEC . *SV(S)6A,+12V<5>2A

H2V(S>1.5A.-12V@2A. I 5.0" x 8.0" x 2.0". 1.6 LBS.

NEW BOOKS BY STEVE CIARCIA

BIULD YOUR OWN Z80 COMPUTER

I CIRCUIT CELLAR VOL 1 CIRCUIT CELLAR VOL 2 CIRCUIT CELLAR VOL 3

1 CIRCUIT CELLAR VOL 4

$19.95 $17.96 $18.95 $18.95 $18.95 I

LITHIUM BATTERY

AS USED IN CLOCK CIRCUITS

MICROCOMPUTER

HARDWARE HANDBOOK

FROM ELCOMP $14.95

over 800 pages of data sheets on the most commonly used ic>. includes ttl, cmos, 74ls00, memory, cpus. mpu support. Land much morei

IG MASTER $79.95

3 VOLT BATTERY $3.95

. BATTERY HOLDER $1.49 .

LTHE INDUSTRY STANDARD

VISIT OUR RETAIL STORE LOCATED AT 1256 SOUTH BASCOM AVENUE IN SAN JOSE

JDR Microdevices

1224 S. Bascom Avenue, San Jose, CA 95128

800-538-5000 • 800-662-6279 (CA) • (408) 995-5430

FAX (408) 275-8415 • Telex 171-110

HOURS: M-W-F, 9-5

TU-TH, 9-9

PLEASE USE YOUR CUSTOMER NUMBER WHEN ORDERING

TERMS: Minimum order $10.00, For shipping and handling include S2.50 for UPS Ground and 53.50 (or UPS Air, Orders over 1 lb. and loreign ordera may require additional shipping charges - please contact our sales department lor the amount. CA. residents must Include applicable sates tax. All merchandise is warranted lor 90 days unless otherwise suited. Prices are subject to change without notice. We are not responsible lor typographical errors. We reserve the right to limit quantities and to substitute manufacturer. All merchandise subject to prior sate.

© COPYRIGHT 1986 JDR MICRODEVICES

458 BYTE • MARCH 1986

Inquiry 187

PARTIAL LISTING ONLY—CALL FOR A FREE CATALOG

120 CPS DOT MATRIX PRINTER

DISK DRIVES

FOR APPLE COMPUTERS

AM 50 $99.95

■ V, HT, DIRECT DRIVE

■ 100% APPLE COMPATIBLE

■ SIX MONTH WARRANTY

BAL-500 $129.95

^^Slft

I TEAC MECHANISM DIRECT DRIVE • 100% APPLE COMPATIBLE . FULL ONE YEAR WARRANTY

AM 35 $129.95

l \

^v

mm

'»

=~

• FULL HT SHUGART MECHANISM

• DIRECT REPLACEMENT FOR APPLE DISK II

• SIX MONTH WARRANTY

MAG535 $249.95

' 3.5" ADDON DISK DRIVE . 100% MACINTOSH COMPATABLE • SINGLE SIDED 400K BYET STORAGE ■ HIGH RELIABILITY DRIVE

HAS AUTO-EJECT MECHANISM I FULL ONE YEAR WARRANTY

AD-3C $139.95

r^Qft

• 100% APPLE Mo COMPATIBLE. READY TO PLUG IN. W SHIELDED CABLE 8. MOLDED 19 PIN CONNECTOR

• FAST. RELIABLE SLIMLINE DIRECT DRIVE

• SIX MONTH WARRANTY

DISK DRIVE ACCESSORIES

FDD CONTROLLER CARD $49.95 lie ADAPTOR CABLE $19.95

ADAPTS STANDARD APPLE DRIVES FOR USE WITH APPLE lie

$79.95

KB-1000

CASE WITH KEYBOARD FOR APPLE TYPE MOTHERBOARD

• USER DEFINED FUNCTION KEYS . NUMERIIC KEYPAD WITH

CURSOR CONTROL

• CAPS LOCK • AUTO-REPEAT

[KEYBOARDAP $49.95

• REPLACEMENT FOR APPLE II KEYBOARD

• CAPS LOCK KEY. AUTO-REPEAT . ONE KEY ENTRY OF BASIC

OR CP/M COMMANDS

;:;::::;;::£

EKTENDER CARDS

IBM-PC

$45.00

IBM-AT

$68.00

APPLE II

$45.00

APPLE lie

$45.00

L MULTIBUS

$86.00 ^

APPLE COMPATIBLE INTERFACE CARDS

EPROM PROGRAMMER $59.95

MODEL RP525

■ DUPLICATE OR BURN ANY STANDARD 27xx SERIES EPROM

• EASY TO USE MENU-DRIVEN SOFTWARE IS INCLUDED

• MENU SELECTION FOR 2716. 2732. 2732A. 2764 AND 27128

> HIGH SPEED WRITE ALGORITHM

• LED INDICATORS FOR ACTIVITY ' NO EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLY

NEEDED

• ONE YEAR WARRANTY

16K RAMCARD

$39.95

I FULL TWO YEAR WARRANTY ■ EXPAND YOUR 48K APPLE TO

64K • USE IN PLACE OF APPLE

LANGUAGE CARD

I BARE PC CARD W/INSTMICTIONS $9.95

IC TEST CARD

$99.95

' QUICKLY TESTS MANY COMMON ICs

• DISPLAYS PASS OR FAIL

• ONE YEAR WARRANTY

• TESTS: 4000 SERIES CMOS, 74HC SERIES CMOS. 7400.74LS, 74L 74H 8. 74S

1300B MODEM $49.95

FOR APPLE OR IBM

INCLUDES ASCII PRO-EZ SOFTWARE

' FCC APPROVED

• BELL SYSTEMS103 COMPATIBLE

' INCLUDES AC ADAPTOR

■ AUTO-DIAL/AUTO-ANSWER

. DIRECT CONNECT

[CABLE FOR APPLE lie S14.95

[JOYSTICK cr-401 $7.95

FOR ATARI 400. 800, 2600, VIC 20/64 AND APPLE Me

DISKFILE

HOLDS 70 5V." DISKETTES

3.5" DISKFILE holds 40 $9"

POWER STRIP

. ULAPPROVED • 15A CIRCUIT BBEAKER

$12.95

m 3-WAY SWITCH BOXES

• SERIAL OR PARALLEL

■ CONNECTS 3 PRINTERS TO ONE COMPUTER OR VICE VERSA

• ALL LINES SWITCHES

• HIGH QUALITY ROTARY SWITCH MOUNTED ON PCB

• GOLD CONTACTS

• STURDY METAL ENCLOSURE

SWITCH-3P CENTRONICS PARALLEL $89.95 [ SWITCH-3S RS232 SERIAL $99.95

» PRINTER BOFFERS

FREES COMPUTER FOR OTHER TASKS WHILE PRINTING LONG DOCUMENTS STAND ALONE DESIGN: WORKS WITH ANY COMPUTER OR PRINTER ALL MODELS FEATURE PRINT PAUSE MEMORY CHECK. GRAPHICS CAPABILITY

SP120P PARALLEL $139.95

64K UPGRADABLE TO 256K

LED INDICATOR SHOWS VOLUME OF DATA

IN BUFFER

SP120S RS232 SERIAL $159.95

64K UPGRADABLE TO 256K

6 SELECTBALE BAUD RATES. FROM

600B-19.200B

SP11DP PARALLEL $249.95

64K UPGRADABLE TO 512K

SPOOLS OUTPUT OF UP TO 3 COMPUTERS

LED BARGRAPH DISPLAYS AMOUNT OF

DATA IN BUFFER .

RESET FUNCTION CLEARS

DATA IN BUFFER

REPEAT FUNCTION CAN

PRODUCE MULTIPLE

COPIES OF A DOCUMENT

NASHUA DISKETTES DEALS

5V." SOFT SECTOR DS/DD WITH HUB RINGS

$990 69Cea 590ea

BON OF 19 BULK QTY 50 BULK QTY 250

NASHUA DISKETTES WERE JUDGED

TO HAVE THE HIGHEST POLISH

AND RECORDED AMPLITUDE OF ANY

DISKETTES TESTED ACCORDING TO

"COMPARING FLOPPY DISKS , BYTE 9/84

DISKETTES

NASHUA 5V4"

N-MD2D N-MD2F N-M02H

DS/DD SOFT DS/QUAD SOFT DS/HD FOR AT

NASHUA 8"

09.90 S34.95 $49.95

N-FD1 N-FD2D

SS/DD SOFT DS/DD SOFT

NASHUA 3.5"

S27.95 534.95

N-3.5SS

3.5" SS/DD FOR MAC

VERBATIM 5V4"

$32.95

V-MD1D V-MD2D V-MD110D

SS/DD SOFT DS/DD SOFT SS/DD 10 SECTOR HARD

$23.95 $29.95 $23.95

MODEL SP-1200

$169.95

EPSON/IBM COMPATIBLE

9-WIRE PRINTHEAD • 120 CPS-BIDIRECTIONAU 80 COL. ■ FRICTION AND TRACTOR FEED r PROPORTIONAL SPACING . CENTRONICS PARALLEL INTERFACE . 8 CHARACTER SETS AND GRAPHICS

6FOOTIBMPRINTER CABLE $9.95

k REPLACEMENT RIBBON CARTRIDGE $71.95 J

5V4" FLOPPY DISK DRIVES

TEAC FD-55B Vi HT DS/OD (FOR IBM) 999.95

TEAC FD-55F '/> HT DS/QUAD IFOR IBM) 999.96

TEAC FD-55GFV Vi HT DS/HD (FOR IBM AT) »154.95

TANDON TMT 00-2 DS/OD (FOR IBM) 599.95

TANDON TM60-2 Vi HT DS/DD (FOR IBM) $69.95

MPI-B52 DS/DD (FOR IBM) $89.95

QUME O.T-142 Vi HT DS/DD IFOR IBM) $69.95

8" FLOPPY DISK DRIVES

FD 100-8 SS/DD (SA/801 EQUIV) FD 200-8 DS/OD (SA/851R EQUIV)

$119.00

5159.00

DISK DRIVE ACCESSORIES

TEAC SPECIFICATION MANUAL $5.00

TEAC MAINTENANCE MANUAL $25.00

V, HT MOUNTING HARDWARE $2.95

MOUNTING RAILS FOR IBM AT $4.95

'" POWER CABLE FOR 5V." FDD» $2.95

5V." FDD POWER CONNECTORS $1.19

TANDON TM10O-2

DISK DRIVE ENCLOSURES

CUB-APPLE $24.95 I

APPLE TYPE CABINET W/OUT POWER SUPPLY

CAB-1FH5 $69.95

FULL HT 6V." BEIGE CABINET W/POWER SUPPLY

CAB-2SV5 $49.95

DUAL SUMUNE 5%" CABINET W/POWER SUPPLY

CAB-2SVB vertical $209.95

DUAL SUMUNE 8" CABINET W/POWER SUPPLY

CAB-2FH8 horizintal $219.95

DUAL FULL HT 8" CABINET W/POWER SUPPLY

$54.95

CAB-2SVS

TEST EQUIPMENT FROM JDR INSTRUMENTS DIGITAL MULTIMETER PEN DPM-1000

AUTO RANGING, POLARITY AND DECIMAL!

■ LARGE 3.5 DIGIT DISPLAY

. DATA HOLD SWITCH FREEZES READING

■ FAST, AUDIBLE CONTINUITY TEST

. LOW BATTERY INDICATOR

i OVERLOAD PROTECTION

20MHZ DUAL TRACE OSCILLOSCOPE MODEL 2000 $389.00 | I 35MHZ DUAL TRACE OSCILLOSCOPE MODEL 3500 $549.00 |

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE OSCILLOSCOPES. SEE 00R FULL FABE AD ON PABE 233

CALL FOR VOLUME QUOTES

© COPYRIGHT 1986 JDR MICRODEVICES

Inquiry 187

MARCH 1986 • BYTE 459

BUILD A COMPLETE XT SYSTEM—$698

XT COMPATIBLE MOTHERBOARD

$169.00

• 4.77 MHi 80S8 CPU. OPTIONAL 8087 COPROCESSOR

• 8 EXPANSION SLOTS

• OK RAM INSTALLED, EXPANDABLE TO 640K ONBOARD MEMORY

• ALLICs SOCKETED-HIGHEST QUALITY PC BOARD

• ACCEPTS 2764 OR 27128 ROMS

PRO-BIOS $29.95

HARD DISK SYSTEMS

10 Mil $389 20MD $489

Includes short slot HD Controller, | cables, mounting hardware and instructions. All drives are pretested and come with a one year [warranty.

IBM COMPATIBLE INTERFACE CARDS

ALL WITH A ONE YEAR WARRANTY

MULTI1/0 FLOPPY CARD $129.95

PERFECT FOR THE 640K MOTHERBOARD

• 2 DRIVE FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER

• 1 RS232 SERIAL PORT; OPTIONAL2nd SERIAL PORT

• PARALLEL PRINTER PORT

• GAME PORT

• CLOCK/CALENDAR

• SOFTWARE: CLOCK UTILITIES, RAMDISK, SPOOLER

MULTIFUNCTION CARD

ALL THE FEATURES OF AST'S 6 PACK PLUS AT HALF THE PRICE

• CLOCK/CALENDAR I 0-384K RAM

• SERIAL PORT

• PARALLEL PORT

• GAME PORT I SOFTWARE INCLUDED

PRINTER CABLE S4K RAM UPGRADE

$119.95

COLOR GRAPHICS ADAPTOR

FULLY COMPATIBLE WITH IBM COLOR CARD

{9.95 9/S11.61

$99.95

• 4 VIDEO INTERFACES: RGB, COMPOSITE COLOR, HIRES COMPOSITE MONOCHROME, CONNECTOR FOR RF MODULATOR COLOR GRAPHICS MODE: 320 X 200

> MONO GRAPHICS MODE: 640 x 200

■ LIGHT PEN INTERFACE

MONOCHROME GRAPHICS CARD

$119.95

FULL Y COMPA TIBLE WITH IBM MONOCHROME ADAPTOR 4 HERCULES GRAPHICS

1 LOTUS COMPATIBLE

• TEXT MODE: 80 x 25 > GRAPHICS MODE: 720 x 348 ' PARALLEL PRINTER INTERFACE

• OPTIONAL SERIAL PORT S19.95

MONOCHROME ADAPTOR

$49.95

ANOTHER FANTASTIC VALUE FROM JDR! IBM COMPATIBLE TTL OUTPUT • 720 x 350 PIXEL DIPLAV

| PLEASE NOTE: THIS CARD WILL NOT RUN LOTUS GRAPHICS AND DOES NOT INCLUDE A PARALLEL PORT

FLOPPY DISK DRIVE ADAPTOR

$49.95

* INTERFACES UPTO FOUR STANDARD

FDDs TO IBM PC OR COMPATIBLES

* INCLUDES CABLE FOR TWO INTERNAL DRIVES

* STANDARD DB37 FOR EXTERNAL DRIVES

* RUNS QUAD DENSITY DRIVES WHEN USED WITH JFORMAT

EASYDATA 1200 BAUD MODEM FOR IBM

INCLUDES PC TALK III COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE ' HAYES COMPATIBLE I AUTO DIAL/AUTO ANSWER » AUTO RE-DIAL ON BUSY ■ INCLUDES SERIAL PORT! I ONE YEAR WARRANTY

$169.95

#JDR Microdevices

CRT MONITORS FOR ALL APPLICATIONS

TAXAN

RGB VISION III

| MADE FOR TAXAN BY ACORN ' 640 x 262 PIXEL RESOLUTION - 16 COLORS

• IB MHz BANDWIDTH

• 12- BLACK MATRIX

• IBM ANO LOTUS COMPATIBLE

SAKATA

COMPOSITE COLOR

MODEL SC-100

TOP RATED FOR APPLE 13" COMPOSITE VIDEO RESOLUTION: 280H x 300V INTERNAL AUDIO AMPLIFIER ONE YEAR WARRANTY

SAMW00/ALPHA MONOCHROME

MODEL DM-216B

• PERFECT COSMETIC MATCH FOR IBM PC

• IBM COMPATIBLE TTL INPUT 12" NON GLARE SCREEN P39 GREEN PHOSPHOR HI-RES 22 MHi BAND WIDTH

CABLE FOR IBM

$289.95 $169.95 $99.95

BUILD YOUR OWN XT COMPATIBLE SYSTEM!

XT MOTHERBOARD $169.00

PRO-BIOS $29.95

64K RAM $8.91

130 WATT POWER SUPPLY $89.95 FLIP-TOP CASE $49.95

DKM-2000 KEYBOARD $79.95 V2 HEIGHT DISK DRIVE $69.95 FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER $49.95 MONOCHROME ADAPTOR $49.95 MONOCHROME MONITOR $99.95

TOTAL $697.51

IBM STYLE COMPUTER CASE $fe

AN ATTRACTIVE STEEL CASE

WITH A HINGED LID FITS THE

POPULAR PC/XT COMPATIBLE

MOTHERBOARDS

« SWITCH CUT-OUT ON SIDE FOR PC/XT STYLE POWER SUPPLY

• CUTOUT FOR 8 EXPANSION SLOTS

• ALL HARDWARE INCLUDED

$49.95 *

MONITOR STAND

TILTS AND SWIVELS

ONLY $12.95

IBM PRINTER CABLE

& -^

■ DB25 TO

CENTRONICS A. oc

' SHIELDED CABLE 03.30

IBM COMPATIBLE KEYBOARDS

DKM-2000 $79.95 KB-5151 $99.95

Fr-1-1-1---—— lr&u-r-<

JJJ LL.LJ_1_1LLUU U l.V.I.I.V.V V*.

iMMtili

• FULLY IBM COMPATIBLE

■ LED STATUS INDICATORS FOR CAPS & NUMBER LOCK

• 83 KEY IDENTICAL TO IBM

POWER SUPPLY

NOW ONLY $89.95

* FOR IBM PC-XT COMPATIBLE

* 130 WATTS

* +5V @ 15A, +12V @ 4.2A -5V @ .5A, -12V @ .5A

150 WATT MODEL $99.95 4

• ENHANCED IBM COMPATIBLE

• SEPARATE CURSOR 8. NUMERIC KEYPADS

' CAPS LOCK 8. NUMBER LOCK

INDICATORS I IMPROVED KEYBOARD LAYOUT

DISK DRIVES TANDON TM50-2

$69.95

\A HT DS/DD IBM COMPATIBLE EXTREMELY OUIET!

I TEAC FD-5SB DS/DD $99.95

TEflC FD-5SF DS/QUAD $99.85

TEACFD-55B DS/HD $154.95

MIME QT 142 DS/DD $69.95

MOUNTING HARDWARE $2.95

.JT/R6ILS $4.85

1224 South Bascom Avenue, San Jose, CA 95128 800-538-5000 • 800-662-6279 (CA) • (408) 995-5430 • FAX (408) 275-8415 • Telex 171-110

460 BYTE • MARCH 1986

©COPYRIGHT 1986 JDR MICRODEVICES

Inquiry 188

UNCLASSIFIED ADS

WANTED: Nonprofit chemical-dependency treatment center seeks tax-deductible donation of computer, peripherals, and equipment for academic use. Prefer IBM. Apple. Commodore, or compatible. Will pay shipping and provide receipt. Robert Sundrud. Odyssey House of Louisiana. 112 5 North Tonti St.. New Orleans. LA 70119. 1504] 821-9211.

WANTED: San Francisco Bay Area Council needs old video and computer equipment for regular cable TV show they produce called "Young Ideas." Taxdeductible. Keith St. Clare, Explorer Scouts and Boy Scouts of America, 150 2nd St., 5th Floor. San Francisco. CA 94105.

NEEDED: Nonprofit legal-aid organization seeks taxdeductible donation of TRS-80 Model 100 or Tandy 200 portable computer. Will pay shipping and provide receipt. Florida Institutional Legal Services Inc., 2614 Southwest 34th St., Gainesville. FL 32608. (904] 377-4212.

WANTED: Magic Computer Users Group or any Magic users interested in forming a users group. Together we can discover how to reconfigure the function keys. Dean H. Brailey. POB 16201. Lansing. Ml 48901, (517] 372-0432.

WANTED: Two bezels to fit Siemens FDD 120-8 drives. Mine were destroyed by shippers. Might buy a couple of old drives for the needed parts. O. K. Hudson. POB 68. New Strawn. KS 66839, (316] 364-8635.

WANTED: Public-domain software for the IBM PC and compatibles. Send your list of programs. P. Rathod. Revefaret 4. 0491 Oslo 4, Norway.

NEEDED: Two parts for NCR 1-9020 computer: AS 6090-F208 to add 2 56K memory and AK 6081-K901. a universal dynamic addressing translator. Julio Guzman. Constructora Lobeira, Monterey. Mexico, telephone: (011-52831 77-7100 or 77-9615: Telex 382132 MOTIME.

FOR SALE: Conographic Cono-Color 40 adapter for IBM PC. Amdek Color IV video monitor with cable, and more: SI 500 Teac model FD-5 5F disk drive for IBM PC: SI 50. Roland processing unit and interface card: asking S200. Terry Gilmore, Hatfield Village, AA2-12, Hatfield, PA 19440. (2151 855-0741.

FOR SALE: Slicer 80186 SBC: $2350. Apple 11+ with 64K. dual floppies. 10-megabyte drive, SP-PP-CC MFC. 300/1200 modem, carry case, PROM burner. 80-column display, and more. All for S2250 or separately. Ed O'Neill. 633 Cotton Ave., Birmingham. AL 35211. (205) 787-4195.

FOR SALE: HP 82163 A HP-IL video interface with all accessories and manual. As-new condition. S100 includes UPS. Steve Tedder. IITRI/NIPER. POB 2128. Bartlesville. OK 74005. (918] 337-4250.

FOR SALE: Tandon Half-Height 8-inch floppy-disk drive. Brand new. S95. Several hard-disk drives for IBM PC AT. loowon Kim. 473 Sapena Court #11. Santa Clara. CA 95050. (408) 727-6995 or 378-1246.

WANTED: Formula 1 development system(s). Eric Rossi. EMAC. 1400 West Main St., Suite 5. Carbondale. IL 62901. (6I8| 529-4525.

FOR SALE: Apple lie with 65C02 enhancement, one Disk II. IDS 480 printer. Taxan RGB Vision III monitor with RGB 64 K extended 80-column card. Applemouse He. all cables, and more. Dan Rosenberg. 252 Spring Ridge Dr.. Berkeley Heights. N| 07922. (201) 464-5269.

WANTED: RCA 1802/Super Elf user seeks a copy of Quest 12K Super Basic and manual. Will pay reasonable price. Also interested in other 1802 software and correspondence with hobbyists still using the 1802. Douglas Connolly, 5415 Connecticut Ave. NW. Apt. 307. Washington. DC 20015. (202) 362-2089.

WANTED: Comrex ComFiler hard disk. 8000 series disk-formatted or other hard-disk drive for Epson QX-10. Americus Mitchell. POB 1335. Kilmarnock. VA 22482. (804] 435-3489.

WANTED: Manual and schematics for Xcomp S-100 hard-disk interface boards (or copies). Forrest Anderson. POB 31790. Phoenix. AZ 85046. (602) 863-9981.

FOR SALE: Tl PC. two 320K drives. Persyst board. 2 56K main memory. 13-inch high-resolution color monitor. 3-plane graphics board, and 850 printer with tractor feed. David Pearl, R.R. 4, Box A-33. Warsaw. IN 46580. (219) 269-2744.

FOR TRADE: Hewlett-Packard Series 200 for IBM PC XT in good condition or PC XT hardware clone. Brandon lones. 115 Home Estate Dr.. Slidell. LA 70460. (504| 643-2329. evenings.

FOR SALE: BYTE: May 1977 through present. Excellent condition. S200 or best offer. Stewart Fleisher. 2000 South Logan. Denver. CO 80210, (303) 722-7247,

FOR SALE: Radio Shack 32K expansion interface for RS Model I. with cable: SI 50. One Tandy disk drive and one Teac disk drive for Model I. both in case and with power supply: SI00 each. Perfect condition. R. Friedman. 495 East 18th St.. Brooklyn. NY 11226. 1718) 282-4029.

FOR SALE: Heathkit H-19 video terminal and Anderson lacobson A-242A acoustic coupler. Asking SI 75, or will swap for HP 41CX calculator. Robert David. 975 Vallevista. Pittsburgh, PA 15234.

FOR SALE: Sorcerer II computer, disk display unit with two 77-track drives. S-100 expansion box. and extensive documentation. Asking S500. B. Walther. POB 58. Tam-Sui. Taiwan.

WANTED: Student of electrical engineering seeks old computer hardware. Will pay. Will also.trade publicdomain programs. T. Belding. POB 743' Granger, TX 76530-0743.

FOR SALE: California Computer Systems computer. CP/M. Z80. NEC 5500D Spinwriter. two Shugart 500K drives. Hazeltine 1420 monitor, and more: S3500. Bill Barto. 323 Haddon Ave.. Westmont. Nl 08108. (609] 858-4201.

FOR SALE: CompuPro 20-slot computer. 68K CPU. 640K RAM, two Shugart SA85ls, cabinet, power supply, and more: S2500. Dale Satterfield. 1122 Kelly Dr.. San lose. CA 95129. (4(5) 367-4421.

FOR SALE: Two Hewlett-Packard HP 87XMs. S900 each. Three HP9130AS. S290each. Hard-disk unit, modules. ROMs and accessories. Don Person. Box 3103. Albany. NY 12203. (5181 482-9023.

NEEDED: Student seeks information on computer graphics, lerzy Mityk. 2 5-531 Kielce. Rew Pazdz 47/139. Poland.

WANTED: Hewlett-Packard 16K memory module for HP85A computer Gordon Kirchhevel. POB 14172. Chicago. IL 60614. (3121 549-1475.

FOR SALE: Apple He. enhanced. Apple extended 80 card. Duodrive and controller. Grappler+ printer interface. Gemini-lOX. Hayes micromodem Me, Apple joystick. Monitor II. Commodore color monitor, and more. S1600. You pay shipping. Timmy Hu. 11 Benford Dr., Princeton lunction. N| 085 50.

FOR SALE: Two Teletype Model 33 ASRs with builtin reader and punch, RS-232C interface and pedestal. S90 each. Need a service technician or can barter above item for fix of a Reactron editing typewriter with IBM Selectric Printer. D. Test. POB 9064. North Newark. Nl 07104,

FOR SALE: Intel 80286 Microsystem Design Kit. Complete with 14 ICs and Intel data sheets including 80286. 80287. 82062. 8272A. 82730. 8207. 8208. 82586. and more S350 firm. Fred Moran. 2604 West 24th St.. Wichita. KS 67204. (3161 838-5234.

FOR SALE: BYTE: All issues from September 1975 through September 1982. except lanuary 1976. Best offer over S200. George Colman, 44 Fox Hill Rd.. Framingham. MA 01701. (617) 879-4031. evenings and weekends.

FOR SALE: Digital Group cards: Parallel. TV/CASS, Z80 CPU: S30 each: Serial: S40: Ham: S75: 32K

UNCLASSIFIED ADS MUST be noncommercial, from readers who have computer equipment to buy. sell or trade on a onetime basis. All requests for donated computer equipment must be from nonprofit organizations. Programs to be exchanged must be written by the individual or be in the public domain. Ads must be typed double-spaced, contain 50 words or less, and include full name and address. This is a free service: ads are printed as space permits. BYTE reserves the right to reject any unclassified ad that does not meet these criteria. When you submit your ad (BYTE. Unclassified Ads. POB 372. Hancock. NH 03449), allow at least four months for it to appear.

Memory: S80: Proto: S20: UNROM: SI5. Dual 801R drives and DD Controller: S400 or best offer. Keyboard: S40: terminated expanded motherboard: $75: printer: $40. lerry Flanders, 1767 Gregory Lake Rd„ North Augusta. SC 29841. (803) 278-0984.

WANTED: Aeronautics engineer turned analyst/programmer seeking correspondence with computer science students/engineers. Also seeking publicdomain assembly-language listings and information on addressable bit-mapped graphics. Will pay mailing. Dante S. Ponte. 5617 Tramo St.. San Dionisio. Paranaque. Metro Manila. Philippines.

WANTED: Seeking information for a graduate research project in computer music and music education. Also interested in looking at privately developed music programs for any microcomputer system, lerry Ozipko. 12223 Eighty-Seventh St., Edmonton. Alberta T5B 3N9, Canada. (403) 477-2984.

FOR SALE: IBM 3101 Video terminal in good condition: $200 plus shipping. Shugart 860 disk drive. DS/DD 8-inch, like new: $2 50 plus shipping. Matthew Boytos. 19 Canal Run W. Washington Crossing, PA 18977. (2)5) 493-1554.

FOR SALE: NEC 8001A microcomputer (32K RAM. M-BAS1C in ROM, parallel port, serial port). CPU/keyboard unit only: great shape. $100 or best offer. Thomas Trana. POB 829. East Lansing. Ml 48823.

FOR SALE: Heath 3400 microprocessor course with trainer. Theodore Turk. 17820 Schenely Ave.. Cleveland. OH 44119. (216) 692-1607.

FOR SALE: Heathkit H-89, 48K RAM. 100K floppy-disk drive, monitor, two serial ports, and more. SI000 or best offer. Peter Lunde, 104 Spragg Circle, Markham, Ontario L3P 5C2, Canada. (416) 471-1616.

FOR SALE: MPX-16 microcomputer. 2 56K. two DS/DD Tandon drives. IBM-type Key Tronic keyboard, Quadcolor-I color graphics adapter. 640 by 200 NEC RGB monitor. Epson MX-80 printer. SI 500. Narayan Nayak. I Foxglove Court. Yarmouth. ME 04096. (207) 846-3867.

FOR SALE: Radio Shack LP-I (Centronics 779) printer: willing to trade. Set of ACCESS \ournal. No. I to No. 24. lerry Sabin. 6022 Sage Dr.. Orlando. FL 32807.

WANTED: Seattle and Tecmar S-100 boards. Must be fully operational with complete documentation and schematics. A. B. Price. 545 East Orange Grove. Burbank. CA 91501. (818) 841-8542.

FOR SALE: Atari 800XL. 64K with disk drive, printer, and more. $525 or best offer. Duy Nguyen. 3783 Kauai Dr., San lose, CA 95111, (408) 629-5965.

FOR SALE: Tecmar 5-megabyte removable hard-disk subsystem for IBM PC or compatibles. Includes controller, three cartridges, and all documentation. $650. Will pay shipping. Mike Heck. 1104 Continental Dr.. Harleysville, PA 19438. (215) 368-7059.

WANTED: Documentation on Rockwell AIM 6500-series micros. Hardware manuals, schematics, programmer's manuals, memory map. etc. Also information on any peripherals or operating systems still available. Will pay shipping. Rick Gerlach, RD 1, Box 300, Wallkill, NY 12 589.

FOR SALE: Heathkit H-89 microcomputer, two drives, serial card. Magnolia Microsystems I28K card. Novation Auto 212 1200-bps modem, and more. $700 plus shipping. Michael Smith. 3203 Alma. Palo Alto. CA 94306-2925, (415) 494-7098.

WANTED: Someone willing to trade their used Apple lie with one disk drive for TRS-80 Model 100 (24K) with DMP-105 printer and acoustic couplers. All manuals and cables included. Daniel Warren, 10 Parkview Ave., Buffalo. NY 14210. (716) 822-7191.

FOR SALE: Apple accessories: speech synthesizer: $50: 16-channel A/D plus D/A: $150: clock/calendar: SI40: RF modulator: S30. Full documentation. Excellent condition. |. Michael Callahan. Old Colony Rd.. Eastford. CT 06242. (203] 974-3842.

FOR SALE: Cromemco Z80 S-100 kit. Dual 8-inch drives, CRT $800. Factory-built dual 5'/i-inch drives and 64K: $800.1. Soderblom. POB 160. Olema. CA 94950. (415) 663-8356.

FOR SALE: Used Alpha Micro Systems AM-1000 multiuser system. Dual 800K drives. 128K RAM (68000). three serial ports and multiuser operating system. Includes AM-60 terminal and more. $3000. Creigh Shank, POB 4764. Coral Gables, FL 33114. (305) 442-0234. ■

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 461

BOMB

BYTE's Ongoing Monitor Box

ARTICLE* PAGE ARTICLE

1

9

2

37. 399

3

44

4

57

10

84

96

128

135

145

II

155

12

160

13

171

14

177

AUTHOR(S) ARTICLE*

Microbytes staff 15

What's New staff

Ask BYTE Ciarcia

Book Reviews Crabb. Kenner. 16

Norman. Price Product Preview: 17

The Atari 1040ST Robinson. 18

Edwards 19

Finding the Titanic Spalding, 20

Dawson 21

Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar: Real-Time 22

Clocks: A View Toward the Future . . Ciarcia Programming Project: 23

A Simple Windowing System,

Part I: Basic Principles Webster 24

An ANSI Standard for

the C Language Hersee, 25

Knopoff Programming Insight: 26

Macintosh Explorer Andrade

Working at Home with Computers . .Tazelaar 27

Using Images to Generate Speech . . Baker

The Electronic University Network . .Osgood 28

The Technology of the

Kurzweil Voice Writer Kurzweil 29

PAGE ARTICLE

AUTHOR(S)

BOMB Results

191

199

217 225 237 245 251 261

269

297

305

327

333

343

367

Increasing Independence

for the Aging Engelhardt.

Edwards Computing for the Blind User Arditi.

Gillman

Kaypro 286i Krause

Modula-2 System for Z80 CP/M .... Anderson

Pocket APL lohnson

Arity/Prolog Wong

Braille-Edit Brugsch

Printit Brugsch.

Lazzaro Computing at Chaos Manor:

All Sorts of Software Pournelle

Applications Only:

First in a Series Shapiro

According to Webster:

68000 Wars: Round 1 Webster

BYTE |apan:

A New Language and a Laptop ... Raike

BYTE U.K.:

The Amstrad PCW 8256 Pountain

Mathematical Recreations:

Diophantine Equations Kurosaka

Best of BIX staff

ENTER: THE WINNERS

According to Webster: "Microcomputer Color Graphics—Observations,'' Bruce Webster's column, wins first place in December BYTE. In second is Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar: "Turnkey Bulletin-Board System" by Steve Ciarcia. "The Norton Utilities" is third: Rubin Rabinovitz wins the S100 bonus

because his Software Review was the first nonstaff-written article to appear in the lineup. In fourth place, and the winner of the S50 bonus, is Bob Troiano for his System Review of "The AT&T PC 6300." Dick Pountains BYTE U.K. covering "The Torch Triple X" came in fifth. We all applaud the winners of the final 1985 issue.

BYTE ADVERTISING SALES STAFF:

Dennis I. Riley, Advertising Sales Manager, 70 Main Street, Peterborough, NH 03458, tel.

(603) 924-9281

NEW ENGLAND

SOUTHEAST

SOUTH PACIFIC

WEST COAST SURPLUS

ME. NH. VT, MA. Rl,

NC. SC. GA. FL. AL, TN

SOUTHERN CA, AZ. NM, LAS VEGAS

AND RETAIL ACCOUNTS

EASTERN CANADA

Maggie M. Dorvee (4041 252-0626

lack Anderson (714) 557-6292

Tom Harvey [8051 964-8577

Paul McPherson Ir. 16171 262-1160

McGraw-Hill Publications

McGraw-Hill Publications

3463 State Street-Suite 256

McGraw-Hill Publications

4170 Ashford-Dunwoody Road

3001 Red Hill Ave.

Santa Barbara. CA 93105

575 Boylston Street

Suite 420

Building #1-Suite 222

Boston. MA 02116

Atlanta. GA 30319

Costa Mesa. CA 92626

The Buyer's Mart

Karen Burgess (603) 924-9281

ATLANTIC

MIDWEST

Karen Niles [213] 480-5243. 487-1160

BYTE Publications

NY, NYC. CT, Nl INORTH)

IL, MO, KS. IA, ND. SD, MN, Wl. NB. IN

McGraw-Hill Publications

70 Main Street

Leah C. Rabinowltz 1212] 512-2096

Bob Denmead 1312) 751-3740

3333 Wilshire Boulevard #407

Peterborough, NH 03458

McGraw-Hill Publications

McGraw-Hill Publications

Los Angeles, CA 90010

1221 Avenue of the Americas—

Blair Building

BYTE BITS (2x3)

39th Floor

645 North Michigan Ave. Chicago. IL 60611

NORTH PACIFIC

Dan Harper (603| 924-6830

New York. NY 10020

HI. WA. OR. ID. MT. NORTHERN CA.

BYTE Publications

NV (except LAS VEGAS). W. CANADA

70 Main Street

Dick McGurk (2031 968-7111

GREAT LAKES. OHIO REGION

McGraw-Hill Publications

Peterborough. NH 03458

McGraw-Hill Publications

Ml. OH. PA [ALLEGHENY], KY.

425 Battery Street

Building A—3rd Floor

ONTARIO, CANADA

San Francisco. CA 94111

Post Card Mailings

777 Long Ridge Road Stamford. CT 06902

Mike Kisseberth 1313) 352-9760 McGraw-Hill Publications

Bill McAfee (415) 964-0624

National

Bradley Browne (6031 924-6166

4000 Town Center—Suite 770

McGraw-Hill Publications

BYTE Publications

EAST

Southfield. Ml 48075

1000 Elwell Court-Suite 225

70 Main Street

PA [EAST). Nl [SOUTH).

Palo Alto. CA 94303

Peterborough, NH 03458

MD. VA. W.VA, DE. D.C.

SOUTHWEST. ROCKY MOUNTAIN

Daniel Ferro (2151 496-3833

UT. CO, WY, OK. TX. AR. MS. LA

McGraw-Hill Publications

Kevin Harold [214) 458-2400

Three Parkway

McGraw-Hill Publications

Philadelphia. PA 19102

Prestonwood Tower—Suite 907 5151 Beltllne Dallas. TX 75240

International Advertising Sales Representatives:

Mr. Hans Csokor

Mrs. Maria Sarmiento

Mr. Arthur Scheffer

Seavex Ltd.

Publimedia

Pedro Teixeira 8. Off. 320

McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.

503 Wilson House

Reisnerstrasse 61

Iberia Mart 1

34 Dover St.

19-27 Wyndham St.

A-1037 Vienna. Austria

Madrid 4. Spain

London W1X 3RA

Central. Hong Kong

222 75 76 84

1 45 52 891

England 01 493 1451

Tel: 5-260149

Telex: 60904 SEVEX HX

Mrs. Gurit Gepner

Mr. Andrew Karnig

Mr. Savio Pesavento

McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.

Andrew Karnig & Associates

McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.

Hiro Morita

PO Box 2 1 56

Flnnbodavagen

Via Flavio Baracchini 1

McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.

Bat Yam. 59121 Israel

S-I3I 31 Nacka. Sweden

20123 Milan. Italy

Overseas Corp.

3 866 561 321 39

8-44 0005

02 86 90 617

Room 1528

Mr. Fritz Krusebecker

Mr. Alain Faure

Seavex Ltd.

Kasumigaseki Bldg. 3-2-5 Kasumigaseki. Chiyoda-Ku Tokyo 100, lapan 3 581 981 1

McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.

McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.

400 Orchard Road. #10-01

Liebigstrasse 19

17 rue Georges Bizet

Singapore 0923

D-6000 Frankfurt/Main 1

F 75116 Paris

Republic of Singapore

West Germany

France

Tel: 734-9790

69 72 01 81

[1] 47-20-33-42

Telex: RS35539 SEAVEX

462 BYTE- MARCH 1986

READER SERVICE

inquiry No.

Page No.

407 1ST PLACE COMR SYSTEMS. . 432

2 A.ST RESEARCH 19

3 AST RESEARCH 19

4 AB COMPUTERS 60

5 ACM SIGGRAPH '86 381

• ACS IMPORTERS 439

6 ADV. DIGITAL CORP. 36

7 ADV DIGITAL CORP 36

8 ADV. INTELLIGENCE TECHN. ... 427

9 ADV. MICROCOMPUTER SYS. ... 426

10 ADVANCED COMP PROD. . 442, 443

11 ADVANCED DEVLPMNT. TECHN. 398

405 AFTON COMPUTER 379

406 AFTON COMPUTER 379

382 ALDEBARAN LABS INC 397

12 ALF PRODUCTS. INC 432

13 ALLOY COMPUTER PRODUCTS.. 173

14 ALLOY COMPUTER PRODUCTS. . 173

15 ALLOY COMPUTER PRODUCTS . 273

16 ALLOY COMPUTER PRODUCTS . 273

17 ALPHA MICRO 264

18 AMDEK CORP. 103

■ AMER DESIGN COMPONENTS . 429

• AMERICAN MICROSYSTEMS 454

20 AMERICAN MICRO TECHNOLOGY326

392 AMERICAN RESEARCH 193

393 AMERICAN RESEARCH 193

22 AMPRO COMPUTERS INC 318

23 AMPRO COMPUTERS INC 318

24 APPARAT INC 432

26 APROTEK 320

27 APROTEK 454

28 ARITY CORPORATION 174

29 ARTEK CORP. 214

383 ASHTONTATE 20. 21

• AT&T COMMUNICATIONS 158

• AT&T COMMUNICATIONS 159

• AT&T INFO. SYS 285

• AT&T INTERNATIONAL 369

30 AT&T PHOTO & IMAGING CTR. . . 183

31 ATRON CORP. 336

32 ATRONICS INTL. INC 66

33 AVOCET 401

34 B&B ELECTRONICS 424

• B&C MICROSYSTEMS 424

• B&C MICROSYSTEMS 424

35 BASF SYSTEMS 236

36 BASIC TIME 335

37 BASIC TIME 335

38 BAY TECHNICAL ASSOC 23

39 BITTNER ELECTRONICS 430

450 BIX 356, 357

40 BLAISE COMPUTING INC 360

41 BLAISE COMPUTING INC 360

42 BORLAND INTL Cll. 1

43 BORLAND INTL Cll. 1

46 BORLAND INTL 39

47 BORLAND INTL 39

48 BROWN BAG SOFTWARE 201

92 BTE COMPUTERS 68

49 BUDGET COMPUTERS 436

50 BUKOWSKI ROBOTICS 439

51 BUSINESS TOOLS INC 277

• BYTE BACK ISSUES 395

• BYTE MARKETING 364. 365

• BYTE SUB MESSAGE 222

• BYTE SUB. SERVICE 346

52 BYTE CONNECTION. THE 425

53 BYTEK COMP. SYS. CORP. 74

• C WARE/DESMET C 148

54 CI COMPUTERS 48

55 CI. COMPUTERS 48

• CALIFORNIA DIGITAL 446. 447

56 CANDELARIA WORKS 428

57 CANETICS. INC 424

58 CAPITAL EQUIPMENT CORP. 180

60 CAUZIN SYSTEMS 294, 295

99 CEC 322

61 CENTROID CORP. 436

62 CERMETEK MICROELECTRONICS 134

Inquiry No.

Page No.

63 CHINA EXTERNAL TRADE 195

66 CLASSIC TECHNOLOGY 371

67 CLASSIC TECHNOLOGY 371

68 CMS 190

69 CMS 190

70 COGITATE 430

71 COGITATE 432

• COMMODORE BUSN. MACH. ... Ill

• COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP..... 207

73 COMPETITIVE EDGE 314

• COMPUADD CORP. 176 A-B INSERT

74 COMPUDATA TRANSLATORS INC. 454 368 COMPUPRO/VIASYN CORP 373

75 COMPUSAVE 425

76 COMPUSERVE 170

77 COMPUTER AFFAIRS INC 110

78 COMPUTER AID 454

79 COMPUTER BARN. THE 439

80 COMPUTER BOOK CLUB. THE . . 409 ■ COMPUTER CHRONICLES 377

• COMPUTER CONTINUUM 428

396 COMPUTER FAIRE. INC 172

82 COMPUTER INNOVATIONS 279

83 COMPUTER INNOVATIONS 281

84 COMPUTER MAIL ORDER . . 188. 189

86 COMPUTER PARTS MART 428

87 COMPUTER SURPLUS STORE ... 428

88 COMPUTER WAREHOUSE 250

89 COMPUTER WAREHOUSE 250

90 COMPUTERBANC 423

93 COMPUTRADE 312

94 CONCORD TECHNOLOGY CO. . . . 70

95 CONROY-LAPOINTE 72. 73

96 CONROY-LAPOINTE 72. 73

97 CONROY-LAPOINTE 72. 73

98 CORVATEK 436

385 COTTON SOFTWARE INC 30

102 CUESTA SYSTEMS CORP. 30

103 CURTIS INC 439

104 CUSTOM COMP TECH 420

105 CUSTOM COMP TECH 421

106 D AND D DISCOUNT 418

107 DATA EXCHANGE 428

108 DATA EXCHANGE 434

401 DATA SPEC 283

402 DATA SPEC 283

110 DIGITALK. INC 18

111 DISKETTE CONNECTION 363

394 DISKS PLUS 320

112 DISKWORLD!. INC 448. 449

113 DISPLAY TELECOMMNCTNS .288

114 DIVERSIFIED COMPUTER SYS. . . 434

115 DIVERSIFIED GROUP. THE . 440, 441

116 DOKAY COMR PROD. INC 433

117 EARTH COMPUTERS 4

118 EARTH COMPUTERS 4

147 EAST DIGITAL CO. 74

119 ECOSOFT 332

120 EDUCATIONAL MICROCOMP. SYS454

121 ELEK-TEK 328

122 ELEXOR INC 432

123 ELLIS COMPUTING INC 77

124 EMERSON COMP. POWER 216

125 EMERSON COMP. POWER 216

126 ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE INC 282

128 EVEREX SYSTEMS 43

129 EVEREX SYSTEMS 43

130 EXCELTEC INDUSTRIES, INC ... 436

131 FACIT AB 271

132 FLAGSTAFF ENGINEERING 143

133 FLAGSTAFF ENGINEERING 143

Inquiry No.

Page No.

134 FLAMINGO MICRO 182

135 FORTRON. INC 437

136 FORTRON. INC 437

137 FOX SOFTWARE. INC 32

138 FUJITSU AMERICA 157

139 FUNK SOFTWARE 345

140 CABE TECH LTD. 54

141 GENEST TECH 316

142 GENEST TECH 316

143 GENOA SYSTEMS CORP. 311

144 CLENCO ENGINEERING 93

145 GOLDEN BOW SYSTEMS 428

146 GOLDEN BOW SYSTEMS 454

148 GTEK INC 181

• HARMONY COMPUTERS 316

151 HAYES MICROCOMP. PROD 47

152 HERCULES COMPUTER TECH. . . 154

153 HERCULES COMPUTER TECH. . . 287

154 HERITAGE SYSTEMS CORP. 424

155 HERSEY MICRO CONSULTING . . 436

156 HEWLETT-PACKARD 41

157 HEWLETT-PACKARD 302. 303

158 HI-TEC COMP & ELECTR 420

159 HOOLEON COMPANY 163

160 HOOLEON COMPANY 163

161 HOUSTON INSTR./BAUSCH&LOMB . 22

167 IC. EXPRESS 424

162 IBEX COMP. CORP. 426

166 IBM 198

164 IBM - IISGI SERVICES 263

165 IBM ■ IISGI SERVICES 323

397 IBS 312

398 IBS 312

168 INLAB INC 432

169 INMAC 163

• INTECTRA INC 439

171 INTEGRAND 26

172 INTERCONTN. MICRO SYS 131

173 INTERCONTN. MICRO SYS 131

174 INTERFACE GRP. SFT BUSN 407

175 INTERFACE INC 270

176 INTERFACE INC 270

• INTERFACE TECH CORP. 253

• INTERFACE TECH CORP. 391

181 ITT INFORMATION SYSTEMS ... 359

182 ITT INFORMATION SYSTEMS ... 359

183 IADE COMP. PROD 452. 453

184 IAMECO ELECTRONICS . . . 450, 451

185 IDR INSTRUMENTS 233

186 IDR MICRODEVICES 456. 457

187 IDR MICRODEVICES 458, 459

188 IDR MICRODEVICES 460

• IS&A GROUP INC 403

193 IVB ELECTRONICS 426

194 KADAK PRODUCTS LTD. 434

381 KEA SYSTEMS 424

195 KEITHLEY DAC 454

196 KEY SOLUTIONS CO 306

197 KEY SOLUTIONS CO 306

198 KEY TRONIC CORP. 235

199 KYOCERA 329

200 KYOCERA 329

201 LABORATORY MICROSYS 308

202 LAHEY COMPUTER SYSTEMS. .187

203 LANG-ALLAN. INC 314

204 LATTICE. INC 276

205 LAWSON LABS. INC 436

206 LIFEBOAT ASSOC 205

207 LINTEK INC 428

210 LOGICAL DEVICES 242

211 LOGICAL DEVICES 243

TO GET FURTHER information on the products advertised in BYTE, either pick up your touch-tone telephone and use TIPS (if you are a subscriber), or fill out the reader service card. Either way full instructions are provided following this reader service index which is provided as an additional service by the publisher, who assumes no liability for errors or omissions. "Correspond directly with company.

Inquiry No.

Page No.

400 LOGICSOFT 144 A-D INSERT

212 LOGITECH INC 221

213 LOGITECH INC 223

214 LOMAS DATA PRODUCTS 257

215 LUCKY-GOLDSTAR INTL 289

216 LYBEN COMP. SYS 144

217 LYCO COMPUTER 389

• MACMILLAN BOOK CLUBS 385

218 MAIN STREET COMPUTER . 210. 211

219 MANX SOFTWARE SYS 25

409 MARCHAND INTL 426

220 MARK WILLIAMS CO 59

221 MARK WILLIAMS CO 61

222 MARYMAC INDUSTRIES INC. ... 430

223 MASTER VOICE 321

224 MASTER VOICE 321

225 MASTERBYTE COMP. OF NY ... 434

226 MAXELL DATA PRODUCTS 7

227 MAYNARD ELECTRONICS 15

• MCGRAW-HILL BOOK CO.. .352, 353

228 MEGASOFT 430

229 MEGATEL COMPUTER TECH 363

230 MERRITT COMP PRODUCTS .428

410 MF| ENTERPRISES. INC 178

231 MICRO DATA BASE SYS 139

232 MICRO DESIGN INTL 347

233 MICRO MART. INC 64, 65

234 MICRO PRODUCTS 455

235 MICROCOMPUTER ACCESSORIES 63

236 MICROCOMPUTER ACCESSORIES 63

237 MICROCRAFX 17

• MICROMINT INC 342

238 MICROPROCESSORS UNLTD. . . .436

• MICRORIM INC 324. 325

239 MICROSHOP 422

• MICROSOFT CORP. . 32 A-H INSERT

• MICROSOFT CORP. 51

• MICROSOFT CORP. 126. 127

240 MICROWAY 249

241 MICROWAY 405

• MIX SOFTWARE 244

242 MOTEL COMPUTERS LTD 439

243 MOUNTAIN VIEW PRESS 164

245 NANAO USA CORP. 355

246 NANAO USA CORP 355

247 NANTUCKET 27

248 NANTUCKET 27

249 NATL. PUBLIC DOMAIN SFTW . . 439

250 NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS 167

251 NATIONAL MEMORY SYSTEMS . 299

252 NEC HOME ELECTR.USA 12. 13

253 NEC INFORMATION SYS CHI

• NEWSNET INC 16

254 NORTH HILLS CORP. 454

• NRI SCHOOLS ELECTR. DIV. 337

255 OHANLON COMP. SYS 307

256 OHANLON COMP. SYS 307

257 ORCHID TECHNOLOGY 255

258 ORION INSTRUMENTS 349

259 PC. HORIZONS. INC 430

260 PACIFIC EXCHANGES 426

261 PANASONIC INDUSTRIAL DIV. ... 55

262 PANASONIC INDUSTRIAL DIV. . . 194

263 PC NETWORK 79

264 PC NETWORK 80. 81

265 PC TECH 62

266 PCS LIMITED 52. 53

267 PCS LIMITED 361

268 PECAN SOFTWARE SYS. INC. ... 351

269 PERCON 434

270 PERSOFT INC 8

272 PINE COMPUTER INC 184

273 PLUS DEVELOP CORP. . 149, 150. 151 276 PRECISION DATA PRODUCTS ... 436

278 PRICE-LINE COMPUTERS INC. . . 331

279 PRINCETON GRAPHIC SYS 49

280 PRINCETON GRAPHIC SYS 341

281 PRINTER ACCESSORIES DIRECT. .70

282 PRIORITY ONE 431

283 PROGRAMMER'S SHOP 275

MARCH 1986 -BYTE 463

READER SERVICE

Inquiry No.

Page No.

284 PROSOFT 45

285 PURPLE COMPUTING 426

286 ODP COMPUTER SYSTEMS 296

287 QMS 175

288 QUA TECH INC 426

289 QUA TECH. INC 426

290 QUA TECH. INC 432

• OUAID SOFTWARE LTD 241

291 OUALITY PRINTERS 434

293 RADIO SHACK CIV

294 RADIO SHACK II

296 REXWIL ELECTRONICS 50

297 ROLAND CORP 141

298 ROSE ELECTRONICS 434

299 S NW ELECT.6 APPL 338

300 5-100 DIV 696 CORP . 444. 445

301 S-100 DIV 696 CORP . . 444. 445

302 SAFEWARE 432

303 SBT CORPORATION 387

• SCIENTIFIC ENDEAVORS 434

305 SCIENTIFIC ENCR LABS 430

408 SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS 313

306 SCOTTSDALE SYSTEMS 422

179 SEATTLE DATA PRODUCTS . . .252

180 SEATTLE DATA PRODUCTS 254

308 SILICON SPECIALTIES 315

309 SILICON SPECIALTIES 315

311 SOFTCRAFT INC 24

312 SOFTKLONE DISTRIBUTING 185

• SOFTLINE CORP 71

Inquiry No.

Page No.

313 SOFTLOGIC SOLUTIONS INC 304

314 SOFTRONICS 426

315 SOFTWARE CHANNELS INC . 169

316 SOFTWARE LINK THE 147

317 SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS INC . 34. 35

322 SOLUTION SYSTEMS 272

323 SOLUTION SYSTEMS 272

390 SONY CORP OF AMERICA 366

403 SOURCE ELECTRONICS 310

404 SOURCE ELECTRONICS 310

325 SPECTRUM SOFTWARE 179

326 STARBUCK DATA CO 434

327 STATSOFT 75

328 STSC INC ... 319

329 SUMMIT SOFTWARE TECHN INC 317

330 SUNCOAST SYSTEMS INC . . 424 387 SUNNY HILL SOFTWARE 258

331 SUNTRONICS CO INC 419

• SYSGEN 362

332 SYSTEM CONTROL INC 46

333 SYSTEMS MFG TECHNOLOGY 109

334 SYSTEMS MFG TECHNOLOGY 109

335 TANGENT TECHNOLOGIES 62

337 TDT 291

338 TDT 301

339 TEAC 292

340 TEAM TECH INC 218

341 TECH PC 339

342 TECH PC 339

343 TEKTRONIX INC .... 101

Inquiry No.

Page No.

344 TEKTRONIX INC 298

345 TELEBYTE TECHNOLOGY INC 322

346 TEXAS COMP SYS 224

• TINNEY. ROBERT GRAPHICS .435

347 THOMSON COMSUMER PROD .56

348 THREE M COMPANY 94. 95

65 THUNDERSTONE CORP. 67

349 TIGERTRONICS 430

350 TLM SYSTEMS INC 227

351 TLM SYSTEMS INC 229

352 TLM SYSTEMS INC 231

353 TOMINY INC 309

354 TOPAZ INC 209

355 TOPAZ. INC 209

356 TOSHIBA AMERICA INC 203

357 TRANSEC SYSTEMS, INC 69

358 TRANSEC SYSTEMS. INC 284

277 TURBO SIX 133

359 TURBOPOWER SOFTWARE .278

360 UKI-SWITCH CORP 424

361 UNICORN ELECTRONICS 428

362 UNIVATION 260

363 UNIVERSAL CROSS-ASSEMBLERS432

364 VALIANT INC 197

365 VEN-TEL INC 28, 29

366 VIA WEST 180

367 VIA WEST 180

369 VICTOR TECHNOLOGIES 165

370 VICTORY ENT TECHNOLOGY . 144

• VI.M COMPUTER EI.ECTR . . 436

Inquiry No.

Page No.

371 VOTRAX. INC 206

372 WAREHOUSE DATA PRODUCTS 259

373 WEDGE TECHNOLOGY INC . 454

374 WESTERN COMPUTER 58

375 WESTERN COMPUTER 58

376 WHOLESALE OUTLET. THE 76

191 WILEY PROFESSIONAL SFTW. . 268

378 WINTEK CORP 5

377 WINTEK CORP 430

379 WOODCHUCK INDUSTRIES . 430

395 WORLDWIDE ACCESS 438

388 X-10 USA INC 383

380 ZSOFT CORPORATION 31

* Correspond dimily iniii tompany.

INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING SECTION

500 AMERICAN BUYING & EXPORT

SERVICES 224C

• BYTE 224A

■ BYTE NEW SERVICES 224F

501 CASIO 224H

502 GREY MATTER 224B

503 MULTITECH INDUSTRIAL

CORP 224D, 224E

504 SERTEK 224G

No domestic inquiries, please.

TIPS

SUBSCRIBERS ONLY! *

Use BYTE's Telephone Inquiry Processing System

Using TIPS can bring product information as much as 10 days earlier.

SEND FOR YOUR 1) If you are a new subscriber or have lost your I.D. card, circle #1 on the Reader Service

SUBSCRIBER I.D. CARD Card; attach mailer label. We will immediately send your personal TIPS subscriber card.

GET PREPARED

2) Write your Subscriber Number, as printed on your Subscriber I.D. Card, in boxes in Step 5 below. (Do not add O's to fill in blank boxes)

3) Write numbers for information desired in boxes in Step 7b below. (Do not add O's to fill in blank boxes.)

CALL TIPS

4) Now, on a Tbuch-lbne telephone dial: (413) 442-2668 and wait for voice commands.

ENTER YOUR SUBSCRIBER AND ISSUE NUMBERS

5) When TIPS says: "Enter Subscriber Number"

(Enter by pushing the numbers and symbols [# or * enclosed in the boxes] on telephone pad

ignoring blank boxes)

Enter DDDDnDDDIi

6) When TIPS says "Enter magazine code & issue code" Enter \S ffl H 82 1 H

ENTER YOUR INQUIRIES

7a) When TIPS says "Enter (next) Inquiry Number"

Enter one inquiry selection from below (ignore blank boxes)

b) Repeat 7a as needed (maximum 17 inquiry numbers)

l.DDD 2.DDD

3. □ □ □

4. □ □ □

5.DDD

6.DDDI 7.DDDI 8.DDD 9.DDDI

10. □ D □ I

u. an d i

i2. a a a i i3. a a n

14. d a D

15. a a a i6. a a a i7. a a a

END SESSION

8) End session by entering H H El LTJ ID Lf

9) Hang up after hearing final message

If you are a subscriber and need assistance, call (603) 924-9281.

If you are not a subscriber fill out the subscription card found in this issue or, call BYTE Circulation 800-258-5485. 'Domestic and Canadian Subscribers Only! 464 BYTE- MARCH 1986

TODAY IS THE

BLACKEST DAY IN

DOT MATRIX PRINTER

HISTORY

fay,

m

It would pay you t0 mark it on your calendar. Because today is the day we introduce our new Pinwriter"' P5XL dot matrix printer. The only dot matrix printer available capable of producing the rich, black printing you associate with a letter-quality printer. Because it's the only one designed to use a multistrike film ribbon—the same ribbon used in typewriters and letter-quality printers.

Black letter-quality printing is only the beginning. The Pinwriter P5XL printer can also use an optional ribbon to print in seven other colors. And it has the finest graphics resolution of any impact printer you can buy Plus it's very fast and exceptionally quiet. It's only natural that

■ 2fcl j,1-"111!""1'1'' andCommunicfilions 01986 NEC Corp

A LITTLE BLACK MAGIC.

Actual line printed with the Pinwriter P5XL printer.

the first dot matrix printer with true letterquality printing should be an NEC. After all we make Spinwriter® letter-quality printers, the most popular line today as well as the Pinwriter P5 dot matrix printer, the most advanced 24-pin printer.

The Pinwriter P5XL printer is part of the most extensive line of 24-pin printers available. You'll find a model designed to fit every need and budget. See them at your dealer or call 1-800-343-4418 (in MA 617-264-8635). Or write: NEC Information Systems, Dept. 1610, 1414 Massachusetts Ave., Boxborough, MA01719.

NEC PRINTERS.THEYONLY STOP WHEN YOU WANTTHEM TO.

NEC

NEC Information Systems, Inc.

Inquiry 253

DeskMate® 7*in4 software

makes your Color Computer

better than ever*

Now our popular DeskMate® software is available for disk-based Color Computers! DeskMate (26-3259, $99.95) features seven popular personal-productivity programs—all on one disk! A general-purpose TEXT entry and editing program is ideal for writing correction-free letters, memos and short reports. LEDGER, a simple spreadsheet program helps you do budgeting, sales forecasting, proiit,„, „,: and-loss projec

LEDGER

CALENDAR

tions and other "What if. . . ?" calculations. Using the fourcolor PAINT picture editor.

you can create colorful charts, graphs, designs and "doodles" on your screen. Print a copy on a dot-matrix or ink-jet printer. The INDEX CARDS personal filing system lets you enter and edit data and perform simple sorts and searches. It's ideal for keeping track ol names and addresses. TELECOM gives you access to national information services, plus transmits

TELECOM

INDEX CARDS

and receives files from other computers by phone (requires modem). A simple monthly calendar program displavs "to do's" for any date. CALENDAR is an easv way to organize your day. A four-function CALCULATOR is also available within the operations of any application. With DeskMate, you get the power of seven programs for one low price! TEXT EDITOR Come in today.

If you don't already have a disk drive for vour Color Computer, vou can add one for just $299 (26-3131). The 51/-*" thinline floppy drive plugs into your Program Pak® port for over 156,000 characters of storage. Add a second drive at any time, too.

Radio Shack

The Technology Store

A DIVISION OF TANDY CORPORATION

Prices apply at Radio Shack Computer Centers and

participating stores and dealers. DeskMate/Registered

TM Tandy Corp.

Inquiry 293