™ B Vb/. L No. 3

Apple's new

Monitor IL

A sight for

sore eyes.

If youVe been using aTV as a monitor, perhaps you can get a friend to read this for you:

Apple's brand new Monitor II will improve your vision.

It features all the latest ergonomic improvements in monitor technology.

For example:

Studies have shown that the leading cause of eye fatigue for computer users is lack of contrast between the displayed characters and their background.

So we designed the Monitor II around a high contrast green phosphor CRT that provides an extremely dark background. That means you can read text at a lower brightness. And that means you can be more productive — working longer and more comfortably.

Toward that same end, we also gave Monitor II a tilt screen. So you can angle it perfectly for your working position, without scooting your chair around or sitting on phone books.

And we made that screen antireflective to reduce glare from ambient light.

Monitor II also features a high bandwidth video amplifier and a high tolerance linearity circuit. The former keeps characters from smearing

on the screen and eliminates the annoying "ghosts" left by a fast moving cursor. The latter keeps characters crisp, legible and prevents u keystoning n right up to the edges of the display. Both add up to superior display of 80-column text and extremely

accurate graphics.

Designed as the perfect system partner for the Apple 11 He Personal Computer, Monitor II requires no monitor stand. Its a perfect fit, aesthetically as well as technically So its pleasing to the eye even when its turned off. See for yourself.

At your local authorized Apple dealer.

Screen tilts for best working position.

Antireflective screen

Interior of CRT is etched to reduce glare and improve crispness.

Fits perfectly atop the Apple lie.

Now Apple plots color.

Since color graphics are becoming ever more important in business, we've been hearing more and more calls for a color plotter as reliable as an Apple.

Here it is:

Apple s new Color Plotter can generate all kinds of presentation graphics, engineering drawings or anything else you have to illustrate in up to eight brilliant colors.

And it can perform its art on any size paper up to 11" x 17" Or, with optional transparency pens, it can draw right on transparent film for overhead projection.

Measuring just 4.8"H x 16" W x 12"D, its the smallest four-color, wide bed color plotter you can buy — about half the size of conventional flatbed plotters. So it takes up less space on your desk and can easily be

High tolerance

linearity circuit.

High bandwidth

video amplifier.

moved to someone else's desk.

There are two color plotter accessory kits to choose from to assure a perfect marriage with your Apple II or He, or Apple III.

Each kit comes with eight color pens — red, blue, green, black, burnt orange, gold, violet and brown. Plus a starter package of plotter paper. Plus all the manuals, documentation and cables appropriate to

your particular kind of Apple. So you can get up and coloring right away.

Apple also offers a complete selection of 24 different pen packages — so you can choose whatever colors you need in a variety of widths for a variety of applications and media types.

As you might expect, all of the above is available at many of our authorized Apple dealers.

Carry on with AppleCare* Carry-In Service.

No matter how long youve owned your Apple system, you can now get a long term service contract at a very reasonable cost.

AppleCare Carry-In Service is a service plan that will cover most Apple-branded components in your system for one full year.

It covers an unlimited number of repairs and is honored by over 1500 authorized Apple dealers nationwide.

Apple-trained technicians assure you of the highest quality service, fast — in most cases less than 24 hours.

AppleCare Carry-In Service is ideal for anyone who needs to know ahead of time the cost of maintenance for their system. So check out the details — you'll find it's the lowest cost health plan an Apple can have.

Apple Computer Inc., 20525 Mariani Ave , Cupertino, Calif 95014. For the authorizcd dealer nearest you, call (800) 538-9696. © J983 A pple Computer Inc.

AppleCare is a service mark of Apple Computer Inc.

Circle 30 on inquiry card.

In The Queue

BOTE

Volume 8, Number 11

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Page 78

Columns

36 Build the H-Com Handicapped Communicator by Steve Garcia I The Intel 8748 is the basis for a scanning communicator that users can control with just one switch.

52 BYTE West Coast: California Hardware by Barbara Robertson / A look at four new products, from a portable computer to bubble-memory boards.

65 User's Column: The Latest from Chaos Manor by Jerry Pournelle / This month's

potpourri begins with a discussion of disk formats.

Themes

76 Inside the IBM PC by Gregg Williams / IBM's famed Personal Computer spawned

the largest group of third-party vendors the microcomputer industry has ever seen and single-handedly enabled microcomputers to assume a greater percentage of the world's computational tasks. This month's theme articles explore the ubiquitous machine from a wide variety of angles.

78 IBM PCs Do the Unexpected by Steven S. Ross / The IBM PC can conquer a fascinating array of scientific, business, and educational tasks,

88 IBM's Estridge by Lawrence J. Curran and Richard S. Shuford / In an interview with BYTE's editors, the president of IBM's Entry Systems Division talks about standards, the PC's simplicity, and a desire not to be different.

99 Enhancing Screen Displays for the IBM PC by Tim Field / With a program called Screen, you can take full advantage of the capabilities of both monochrome and color displays and adapt them to your own needs.

121 POKEing Around in the IBM PC, Part 1: Accessing System and Hardware Facilities by Hugh R. Howson / How to use BASIC'S PEEK and POKE commands to realize the speed and flexibility of machine-language code without sacrificing the convenience of a high-level language.

135 Could 1,000,000 IBM PC Users Be Wrong? by Frank Gens and Chris Christiansen / Everyone knows the IBM PC has had a profound effect on the personal computer market. But what direction will it take in the future?

144 Big Blue Goes Japanese by Richard Willis / The capabilities of IBM Japan's new 5550 Multistation will make it a formidable competitor in the red-hot Japanese market.

168 Expanding on the IBM PC by Mark 1 Welch / A survey of expansion boards

including 17 fact-filled tables.

188 Installable Device Drivers for PC-DOS 2.0 by Tim Field / A look at the importance of device drivers and how they work with the PC.

199 A Communications Package for the IBM PC by Richard Moore and Michael

Geary / How one company's communications software package evolved as a result of user feedback.

211 A Graphics Editor for the IBM PC by Charles B. Duff / A graphics editor called

GLYPHE makes drawing with the PC's graphics characters fun as well as efficient.

232 Comparing the IBM PC and the Tl PC by Bobbi Builard / They may look alike,

but each of these computers has its own special features.

247 Technical Aspects of IBM PC Compatibility by Charlie Montague, Dave Howse, Bob Mikkelsen, Don Rein, and Dick Mathews / The IBM PC's success paved the way

for IBM PC-compatible computers. But it takes more than an 8088 board to create a plug-compatible machine. The authors explain why.

254 The Making of the IBM PC by Brian Camenker / The success of the 70-year-old international Business Machines Corporation can be explained in one word: marketing.

257 Concurrent CP/M by Joe Guzaitis / This operating system efficiently uses computer and operator resources.

Page 52

BYTE is published monthly by McGraw-Hill Inc., with offices at 70 Main St.. Peterborough, NH 03458, phone (603) 924-9281. Office hours: Mon—Thur 8:30 AM — 4:30 PM, Friday 8:30 AM — Noon, Eastern Time. Address subscriptions to BYTE Subscriptions. POB 590. Martinsville. NJ 08836. Address changes of address, USPS Form 3579, and fulfillment questions to BYTE Subscriptions, POB 596, Martinsville, NJ 08836. Second-class postage paid at Peterborough, NH 03458 and additional mailing offices. USPS Publication No. 528890 (ISBN 0360-5280). Postage paid at Winnipeg, Manitoba. Registration number 9321. Subscriptions are $21 for one year, $38 for two years, and $55 for three years in the USA and its possessions. \n Canada and Mexico, $23 for one year, $42

November 1983

272 The IBM PC Meets Ethernet by Larry Birenbaum / By adopting Ethernet technology IBM PCs can share peripherals and Information.

285 MS-DOS 2.0: An Enhanced 16-bit Operating System by Chris Larson / The

most recent version of Microsoft's popular single-user operating system offers installable device drivers, Xenix compatibility and background tasking.

Reviews

294 The IBM PC XT and DOS 2.0 by Rowland Archer Jr. / With the XT, IBM took a conservative developmental step; PC-DOS 2.0, on the other hand, took more of a leap.

308 The Corona PC by Rich Malloy / Compatible with the IBM PC, the Corona PC features an 8088 microprocessor, 128K bytes of memory, a high-quality display, and the Multimate word-processing program.

328 A Look at the HP Series 200 Model 16 by Berry Kercheval / Hewlett Packard's 68000-based microcomputer offers a lot of power in a small package.

352 Three Generations of Business Charts for the IBM PC by Jack Bishop / Reviews of Graphics Generator from Robert J. Brady Co., Chartmaster from Decision Resources, and Business Graphics from Business and Professional Software Inc.

370 A Versatile IBM PC Word Tool: Sorclm's Superwrlter by Richard S. Shuford / A

powerful and easy-to-use word-processing program, Superwriter provides many functions that are useful in a business environment.

Features

394 Japan and the Fifth Generation by Phil Lemmons / A look at Japan's efforts to develop artificial intelligence.

402 Speech Images on the IBM PC by A J. Cote Jr. / With an experimental speech-input card, the IBM PC can plot sounds that can prove useful as speech aids for the deaf.

410 Lmodem: A Small Remote-Communication Program by David D. Clark / Written in the BDS version of the C programming language, the Lmodem program provides terminal emulation, text capture, and transfer of files.

430 The Software Tools: Unix Capabilities on Non-Unix Systems by Deborah K. Scherrer, Philip H. Scherrer, Thomas H. Strong, and Samuel J. Penny / This package includes utility programs, a command interpreter, and a large programming library.

449 Double the Apple II's Color Choices by Robert H. Sturges Jr. / How to get your Apple U to provide a wide selection of colors without sacrificing resolution.

467 A Character Editor for the IBM PC by Raymond A, Diedrichs / A BASIC program called Font lets you substitute custom symbols for a portion of the computer's standard character set.

560 Statistical Programs for Microcomputers by Peter A. Lachenbruch / Test the accuracy of statistical microcomputer software with these tools.

Nucleus

Cover painting by Robert Tinney

for two years, S61 for three years. $ 53 for one year air delivery to Europe 1 7,100 yen for one year surface delivery

to Japan $37 surface delivery elsewhere. Air delivery to selected areas at additional rates upon request. Single

copy price is S3. 50 in the USA and its possessions, $3.95 in Canada and Mexico, $4.50 in Europe, and $5.00

elsewhere. Foreign subscriptions and sales should be remitted in United States funds drawn on a US bank. Printed

in the United States of America.

Subscription questions or problems should be addressed to:

BYTE Subscriber Service, POB 328, Hancock, IMH 03449

Page 394

eiti

the small systems j ournal

Editor In Chief: Lawrence J. Curran Managing Editor: Pamela A. Clark Senior Technical Editors: Gregg Williams, Richard MaUoy

Technical Editors: Richard S. Shuford, Arthur A. Little, Stanley Wszola, Bruce Roberts, Gene Smarte; Anthony J. Lockwood, New Products Editor; Steve Garcia, Consulting Editor; Mark Welch, Staff Writer; Alan Easton, Drafting Editor. West Coast Editors: Philip Lemmons, Bureau Chief; Barbara Robertson, Technical Editor; Donna Osgood, Assistant Editor, McGraw-Hill, 425 Battery Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 941 M (415) 362-4600

Copy Editors: Nancy Hayes, Chief; Warren Williamson, Elizabeth Kepner, Joan V. Roy, Dennis E. Barker, Anne L. Fischer, Bud Sadler; Margaret Cook, Junior Copy Editor Assistants: Faith Kluntz, Beverly Jackson, Lisa Jo Steiner, Jeanann Waters, Peggy Dunham

Production: David R. Anderson, Assoc. Director; Jan Muller, Virginia Reardon, Michael J. Lonsky; Sherry McCarthy, Chief Typographer; Debi Fredericks, Donna Sweeney, Valerie Horn Advertising: Deborah Porter, Supervisor; Marion Carlson, Rob Hannings, Cathy A. R. Drew, Lisa Wozmak, Jeanne Cilley, Jeanna Reenstierna; Patricia Akerley, Reader Service Coordinator; Wai Chiu Li, Quality Control Manager; Linda J. Sweeney, Advertising/Production Coordinator Advertising Sales: J. Peter Huestis, Sales Manager; Sandra Foster, Administrative Assistant Circulation: Gregory Spitzfaden, Director; Andrew Jackson, Subscriptions Manager; Barbara Vamum, Asst. Manager; Agnes E. Perry, Louise Menegus, Jennifer Price, Jane Varnum, Phil Dechert, Mary Emerson; James Bingham, Single-Copy Sales Manager; Deborah J. Cadwell, Asst. Manager; Carol Aho, Linda Turner Marketing Communications: Horace T. Howland, Director; Vicki Reynolds, Coordinator; Timothy W. Taussig, Graphics Arts Manager; Michele P. Verville, Research Manager

Business Manager: Daniel Rodrigues

Controller's Office: Kenneth A. King, Asst.

Controller, Mary E. Fluhr, Acct. & D/P Mgr.;

Karen Burgess, Linda Fluhr, Vicki Bennett, Vern

Rockwell, Lyda Clark, Janet Pritchard, JoAnn

Walter, Julie Ferry

Traffic: N. Scott Gagnon, Manager; Brian

Higgins, Cynthia Damato

Receptionist: Linda Ryan

Personnel/Office Manager: Cheryl A. Hurd

Associate Publisher/Production Director: John

E. Hayes

Publisher: Gene W. Simpson;

Doris R. Gamble, Publisher's Assistant

Editorial and Business Office: 70 Main Street, Peterborough, New Hampshire 03458 (603) 924-9281

Officers of McGraw-Hill Publications Company: President: John G. Wrede; Executive Vice Presidents: Paul F. McPherson, Operations; Walter D. Serwatka, Finance & Services. Senior Vice President-Editorial: Ralph R. Schulz. Senior Vice President Publishers: Harry L. Brown, David J. McGrath, James R, Pierce, Gene W. Simpson, John E. Slater. Vice President Publishers: Charlton H. Calhoun III, Richard H. Larsen, John W. Patten. Vice Presidents: Kemp Anderson, Business Systems Development; Shel F. Asen, Manufacturing; Michael K. Hehir, Controller; Eric B. Herr, Planning and Development; H. John Sweger, Jr., Marketing.

Editorial

Growth vs. Quality

Lawrence J. Curran, Editor in Chief

The exploding market for personal computers has created tremendous prospects for growth in revenues and profits for suppliers of both systems and software. But as companies race to satisfy a seemingly insatiable demand for small systems, there's a growing risk that they may cut corners in their quality-assurance programs. Never before has the admonition of caveat emptor been more appropriate than it is today in the personal computer business.

For their part, hardware and software suppliers should constantly evaluate existing quality-assurance procedures. One major supplier to do so recently is Hewlett-Packard Co. An article by John A. Young, the company's president and chief executive officer, on the Wall Street Journal's editorial page outlined the program Hewlett-Packard undertook to analyze its methods for achieving product quality. Some surprising results flowed from that analysis.

For example, Young notes that Hewlett-Packard had previously believed— erroneously—that the "find-it-and-fix-it" method of ensuring quality was sufficient. Upon close examination, however, the company discovered that as much as 25 percent of its manufacturing assets were tied up in solving quality problems—a situation that increased production costs and product prices.

Young relates that after learning of the high cost of quality assurance, management decided that a bold and highly visible program was required to alter Hewlett-Packard's approach to quality assurance, even though "with above-average quality standards already established, it would be difficult to ask for better results." Nevertheless, Hewlett-Packard set out to improve quality standards with a program that included establishing a tenfold reduction in product failure rates in the 1980s, selecting a team of key people in the company to "champion the quality cause" and spread their gospel throughout the company, and sending several team members to Japan "to see what kinds of approaches worked well there."

The study team's most significant finding in Japan, Young notes, was that Japanese companies achieved impressive quality and low-cost manufacturing by following the simple principle of "doing it right the first time."

There are other elements in the Hewlett-Packard quality-assurance program, but that simple axiom is its most fundamental building block. The program is only a third of the way toward the goal of a tenfold reduction in product failure rates, but early results are convincing. At one division, service and repair costs for desktop computers were reduced by 35 percent through improved design and manufacturing. Further, the drive for quality has helped cut company-wide inventory over three years by an amount equal to about $200 million.

Other computer and software suppliers who want to maintain standards of quality as pressure builds to push products out the door should stop to determine whether their quality-assurance methods are founded on the principle of doing it right the first time.B

4 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

How to buy a computer by the numbers.

IntroducingtheCromemcoC-lO Personal Computer. Only $1785, including software, and you get more professional features and performance for the price than with any other personal computer on the market. We've got the numbers to prove it.

The C-10 starts with a high-resolution 12" CRT that displays 25 lines with a full 80 characters on each line. Inside is a high-speed Z-80A microprocessor and 64K bytes of on-board memory. Then there's a detached, easy-to-use keyboard and a 5 l A" disk drive with an exceptionally large 390K capacity. That's the C-10, and you won't find another ready-to-use personal computer that offers you more.

But hardware can't work alone. That's why every C-10 includes software —word processing, financial spread sheet, investment planning and BASIC. t Hard-working, CP/M R -based software

meets your everyday needs. Soft-e that could cost over $1000 some-

ati

where else. FREE with the C-10. There's really nothing else to buy.

But the C-10's numbers tell only part of the story. What they don't say is that Cromemco is already known for some of the most reliable business and scientific computers in the industry And now for the first time, this technology is available in a personal computer.

One last number. Call 800 538-8157x929 for the name of your nearest Cromemco dealer, or to request literature, fn California call 800 672-3470 x929. Or write Cromemco, Inc., 280 Bernardo Avenue, P.O. Box 7400, Mountain View, CA 94039. In Europe, write Cromemco A/S, Vesterbrogade 1C, 1620 Copenhagen, Denmark.

CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc. All Cromemco products are serviced by TRW.

Cromemco

Tomorrow's computers today

Circle 120 on inquiry card.

!L M — * m

mfMmmi

«««

Brilliant!

Here's another brilliant idea from the makers of the popular MicroAngelo® graphics board —the SUONPC640. Whether you're a systems developer or an end-user, this solidly-designed color graphics board is your best choice for high-resolution color graphics on the IBM PC, as well as many PC-compatibles.

Here's why:

• 640 x 480 x 16 out of 4096 colors

• Memory-mapped for very high speed operation

• Over 60 2-D drawing primitives, accessible from Basic, Fortran, C, Pascal or Assembler

• High-level software packages available for painting,

business graphics, CAD and slide production

For more information on why

u u vr r^j? The PC640 Professional Color board delivers De a brilliant Idea superior resolution at 640 ■ 480, and the simulta-for yOU please neons use of 16 out of 4096 colors.

contact Jim Mather at (703) 476-6100, TWX: 710-833-0684, or write: SCION Corporation, 12310 Pinecrest Road, Reston, Virginia 22091.

BYTE November 1983

Circle 408 on inquiry card.

MICROBYTES

Staff-written highlights of late developments in the microcomputer industry

NEW IBM-COMPATIBLE AND MS-DOS COMPUTERS WILL FLOOD COMDEX

Several computer manufacturers are developing 16-bit MS-DOS computers, most of which will be formally announced at COMDEX, an industry trade show, scheduled for November 28 to December 2 in Las Vegas. Leading Edge Products, Canton, MA, which announced its word processor for the IBM Personal Computer several months ago, plans to unveil a complete line of IBM-compatible hardware and software, including a computer it says is more IBM-compatible than the Compaq portable computer.

Leading Edge says its computer's 8088 microprocessor will run at 7.16 MHz, 50 percent faster than the IBM PC, which runs at 4.77 MHz. The Leading Edge Personal Computer also will have seven expansion slots, two more than the IBM PC. With a clock, parallel and serial ports, 128K bytes of RAM, a monitor, and word-processing software, the Leading Edge computer will list for about 40 percent less than a comparably equipped IBM PC.

Olivetti plans to announce the M18 computer, which is based on Corona Data Systems' Personal Computer, uses an 8088 microprocessor, and runs MS-DOS. With 128K bytes of RAM, serial and parallel ports, one 5%-inch disk drive, four expansion slots, and a high-resolution monitor, the M18 will sell for $2595. A hard-disk version will be $4495. Olivetti is working on two portable computers—notebook-size and transportable—for possible introduction in early 1984.

Three new MS-DOS portable computers are scheduled for announcement at COMDEX. Eagle Computer, Los Gatos, CA, is working on an 8088-based IBM-compatible portable with a 10-megabyte hard disk. With a 9-inch display, serial and parallel ports, four expansion slots, 1 28K bytes of RAM, and both the CP/M-86 and MS-DOS operating systems, it will be priced at between $4000 and $4500.

STM Electronics, Menlo Park, CA, is preparing an 80186-based MS-DOS portable with a liquid-crystal display, a built-in 40-column printer, a modem, two 5%-inch disk drives, and bundled software for a target price of $2500. Panasonic, Secaucus, NJ, is developing an 8088-based portable with a built-in thermal printer.

Jonos Ltd., Anaheim, CA, will sell an 80188 processor board to enable its Z80-based portable computer to run MS-DOS and CP/M-86 software. The 80188 combines the 8088 microprocessor and related peripheral chips in a single chip.

Burroughs Corp., Detroit, Ml, is making an 8086-based computer to be marketed as an ergonomic intelligent terminal. With two 5%-inch disk drives, MS-DOS, and 256K bytes of RAM, the ET-2000 lists for $3795.

TWO NEW INTEGBATED SOFTWABE PACKAGES JOIN A CBOWDED MABKET

Ovation Technologies, Canton, MA, has announced Ovation Software, a new integrated software package for the IBM Personal Computer that combines spreadsheet, word-processing, graphics, database-management, and communications capabilities. The package will be able to read from and write to files from existing software packages such as 1-2-3, Visicalc, Wordstar, and dBase II.

Ovation Software will include templates for common word-processing and spreadsheet applications, and users may define macros to perform any series of commands. It will require an IBM PC with 256K bytes of RAM and either two floppy disks or one floppy and one hard disk. The package, which Ovation will market as an enhancement of Lotus's 1-2-3 and Visicorp's Visi On, will sell for between $695 and $895 in early 1984.

Fox & Geller Inc., Elmwood Park, NJ, has announced Oz, a "financial-management system" for the IBM PC. Oz features three-dimensional viewing of data, allowing users to view budget information, for example, in charts by department and month, line item and month, or line item and department. The package, which also features graphics capabilities and variance analysis, enables managers to locate and explain budget changes. Oz will sell for less than $500.

MODULA RESEARCH INSTITUTE OFFERS A $40 MODULA-2 COMPILEB FOB THE IBM PC

The Modula Research Institute, Provo, UT, has announced a full Modula-2 compiler for the IBM Personal Computer for $40. The four-pass compiler generates intermediate M-code, similar to the p-code used by Pascal compilers. MRI, a nonprofit organization, will sell the source code for the compiler for $160 and plans to offer a native-code (machine-language) generator later this year. MRI has versions of the compiler for the 68000 and PDP-1 1 as well.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

MICROBYTES,

COMPUTER-AIDED DRAFTING SYSTEM UNVEILED FOR IBM PC XT

United Networking Systems, Houston, TX, has unveiled a series of computer-aided drafting programs for the IBM Personal Computer XT. A "Pro 100" package for $595 is designed for drafting departments and professionals, while a $395 "Academic" version is aimed at colleges and technical schools. A starter version is available for $95. United Networking Systems also offers a complete hardware and software system for drafting service centers for $50,000 to $100,000.

SEAGATE PROPOSES A HIGH-CAPACITY HARD-DISK INTERFACE STANDARD

Seagate Technology, Scotts Valley, CA, maker of 5%-inch Winchester hard-disk drives, proposed a new interface standard for high-performance, high-capacity small Winchester drives. Three other hard-disk manufacturers—Tandon, Priam, and Atasi—said they would support the proposed ST41 2HP standard, and Adaptec Inc. and Western Digital Corp. planned to develop controllers for the standard. Seagate also announced it would begin making and selling disk controllers based on the SCSI interface standard.

DATAPRO RELEASES RESULTS OF SURVEY OF COMPUTER USERS

Datapro Research Corp., Delran, NJ, has announced the results of a survey filled out by 561 5 personal computer users who read £YT£and Popular Computing magazines. Among systems, the Apple II Plus was the most popular (1 7 percent), with the IBM Personal Computer in second place (1 6 percent), edging out Radio Shack's Model III (15 percent). The Osborne 1 was the fifth most popular computer, after the Apple He. Only 1 5 percent of the respondents had computers more than two years old, and 56 percent had owned their computers less than one year.

Among software packages, Datapro noted that Wordstar, Visicalc, and dBase II still held the leads for word processing, spreadsheet, and database management, respectively, although each program received a relatively low rating from users. Datapro suggested that these packages may have become popular because they were the first, rather than the best, in their application areas. Datapro will sell the survey results for $25.

NANOBYTES

Coleco Industries Inc., Hartford, CT, has obtained exclusive rights to market home computer and videogame versions of Dragon's Lair, a popular arcade game that uses a laser disk to store high-resolution animation. Coleco also announced a joint venture with AT&T to develop an interactive game and entertainment service using existing phone lines, a special modem, and a home computer or video-game system. . . . DMA Systems Corp., Goleta, CA, has announced a removable 5!4-inch Winchester cartridge disk drive to sell for $500 in OEM quantities. The half-high DMA-360 will have a storage capacity of 7.5 megabytes and measure only 1% by 5% by 8 inches. . . . Apple dealers will give free "tool kit" software to owners of Apple's $175 Apple Logo programming language. The tool kit includes utilities, sample programs, and documentation. . . . Digital Equipment Corp., Maynard, MA, announced a hard-disk version of the Rainbow 100. Intended to compete with IBM's PC XT, it will sell for $6295. Digital's Professional 350 computer is now available in a coin-operated version, with a printer, for use in colleges and libraries. . . . Apple has dropped the price of its Lisa computer from $9995 to $8190, which includes six applications software programs. The Lisa will also be available without software for $6995. . . . IBM officially withdrew its 4-inch disk system from the market in mid-September, leaving three sizes in the sub-5 V% -inch marketplace: 3-, 3V4-, and 372-inch disks. In another product area, IBM announced an experimental 51 2K-byte dynamic RAM chip. . . . Radio Shack has unveiled a transportable version of the TRS-80 Model 4. The 26-pound Model 4P includes a 9-inch display, two 5%-inch disk drives, 64K bytes of RAM, and a parallel printer port for $1799. . . . LQ Corp., Meriden, CT, has introduced a $595 sheet feeder for printers, including versions for the NEC 3500 and 2050, the Daisywriter, and the C. Itoh F10. The company will add new versions soon. . . . Televideo Corp., Sunnyvale, CA, announced a graphics program using Digital Research's CP/M and GSX graphics extension. Teledraw is an interactive drawing system for the Televideo TS-803 and TS-1603 computers, compatible with Epson printers and Hewlett-Packard plotters. The package, which requires Televideo's Supermouse, will sell for $295. . . . The Department of Commerce is accepting nominations through November 31 for the new National Medal of Technology, which is to be awarded to "innovators in technology" who develop new products or processes. Instructions and nomination forms are available from the Assistant Secretary for Productivity, Technology and Innovation, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230.

8 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

ATARI COMPUTER OWNERS:

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Prices subject to change without notice.

Circle 359 on inquiry card.

With all the clamor about personal computers,

a fundamental fact is often overlooked:

some simply work better than others.

Consider the COMB\Q Portable.

A computer will make you more productive. A computer will make you more efficient. You hear it everywhere. But you don't hear about which computer actually works best. A computer isn't magic. It's a tool And just like other tools, some computers work better than others.

The COMPAQ™ Portable is a combination of 20th-century electronics and 19th-century pragmatism. It simply does personal computing better. Here's why.

Works in more places

You don't do all your thinking in one place. Why have a computer that stays in one place?

The COMPAQ Portable has all the capabilities of a large desktop computer. But now those capabilities can go where you go.

You can move it from office to office to share its resources. You can move it into the conference room to answer questions when and where they come up.

With the COMPAQ Portable, you can be as productive in your hotel room or your lake house as in your own office. It's a reliable companion on a business trip. It's a powerful sales aid in your customer's office.

What's more productive than a computer? A computer that works for you in more places.

Works with the greatest number of programs

The most important consideration when you choose a computer is "what programs will it run?" And that's one more reason for choosing the COMPAQ Portable. The COMPAQ Portable runs more programs

The COMPAQ Portable was designed to fit under a standard airline seat so you can take it on business trips.

flffl^^^' The unique alu-

minum frame of the COMPAQ Portable has cross-members that strengthen it front-to-back, side-to-side, and top-to-bottom. It's a design practice commonly used in race cars.

than any other portable. In fact, it runs more than most non-portables. That's because it runs all the popular programs written for the IBM® Personal Computer. There are hundreds of them. They are available in computer stores all over the country, and they run without any modification, right off the shelf.

Imagine the power of a portable word processor. There are dozens of different word processing programs available for the COMPAQ Portable.

Planning, problem-solving, and "what-ifs" are a cinch with a variety of popular electronic spreadsheet programs. The COMPAQ Portable runs them all. There are accounting programs for

anything from computerizing your _ _ family budget to full-scale professional management of payables, receivables, inventory, and payroll for your company.

There are programs for making charts and programs for communicating with other computers. Or if you want something really specialized, there are even program languages for writing your own programs.

So, you get portability and you don't give

up problem-solving power. The combination adds up to the most useful personal computer on the market today.

Works better because it's easy to read

The display screen of the COMPAQ Portable measures nine inches diagonally. It shows a full "page width" of 80 characters on a line so tasks like word processing are easier. And those characters are big enough to read even if you're leaning back in your chair. The display shows both high-resolution graphics and easy-to-read, ***^*% upper- and

lowercase characters. One screen

)

There are hundreds

of useful programs for the

COMPAQ Portable because it runs

all the popular programs written for the IBM.

for all the information. With some personal computers, including the IBM, you can have either the graphics or the legible characters, but you can't have both unless you buy two different displays.

Incidentally, computer prices are often quoted without a display. The display of the COMPAQ Portable is built in, of course.

Add-on options make it work the way you work

Inside the COMPAQ Portable are three open slots. Electronic devices called expansion boards fit those slots and give the COMPAQ Portable new powers.

Just like the programs, expansion boards designed for the IBM work with the COMPAQ Portable, so there are dozens available right now. With them, you can make your personal computer more personal.

Want to check a stock price? Or look up something in The New York Times Information Service? One expansion board enables the COMPAQ Portable to handle those communications over ordinary phone lines.

Want to use your company's central computer files while you're on a trip? There are boards that allow the COMPAQ Portable to communicate with a variety of large mainframe computers.

Other boards let you hook up controllers for computer games or increase memory capacity. Still others let you connect personal computers in a network so several people in your office can share the same information.

Jj»

Inside the COMPAQ Por-table are three slots for optional electronics that can add new capabilities. Most portables have none.

Works better because it's tough enough for the road

Portable doesn't just mean smaller. Portable means tough, too.

The COMPAQ Portable was built to withstand the hard knocks of constant travel. An aluminum frame within the case completely surrounds the computer's working components. Each disk drive is mounted in rubber shock absorbers instead of being bolted directly to the frame.

To test internal components, the COMPAQ Portable was subjected to impacts of 40 G's while running a program. After impacts on each side, there was no internal damage and the program was still running. Without error.

Computers are for getting rid of worries, not giving you new ones.

Designed to help you work better, too

The COMPAQ Portable was designed to feel good.

Specifications

Software

D Runs all the popular programs

written for the IBM PC Memory

□ 128K bytes RAM

□ Expandable to 640K bytes Storage

□ One 320KT>yte minifloppy disk drive, second drive optional

Display

□ 9-inch (diagonal) monochrome screen

□ 25 lines by 80 characters

□ Upper- and lowercase, high-resolution text characters

□ High-resolution graphics Expansion board slots

D Three IBM PC-compatible slots Interfaces

□ Parallel printer interface

□ RGB color monitor interface

□ Composite video monitor interface

□ TV RF modulator interface

□ Communications interface optional

Physical specifications

□ Totally self-contained and portable

□ 20"W x 8V 2 "H x 16"D

The keyboard is detached so it can fit into your most comfortable working position.

The keyboard cable remains connected at all times. So you don't have to unpack it and hook it up every time you use your computer.

Because the display is built in, the COMPAQ Portable makes a neat,

small package on your desk, instead of a big obstacle you have to talk around. The built-in display also avoids the usual cable clutter because there's no need for separate cables for the display.

The COMPAQ Portable even has an electronically synthesized sound to create the familiar keyclick of a typewriter. With a simple keyboard command you can adjust the volume to suit the level of background noise in your office.

The added usefulness is free

The COMPAQ Portable can do what desktop computers do and do it in more places. But it doesn't cost any more than an ordinary desktop.

In fact, it costs hundreds less than a comparably equipped IBM or Apple® III. The COMPAQ Portable comes standard with one disk drive and 128K bytes of memory, both of which are usually extra-cost options. A second disk drive and additional memory are available to make your COMPAQ Portable even more powerful.

The bottom line is this—you just can't buy a more practical, useful, productive computer. Before you decide on a computer, you owe it to yourself to compare the COMPAQ Portable.

For the location of the Authorized Dealer nearest you, call 1-800-231-9966.

c 1983 COMPAQ Computer Corporation

COMPAQ™ is a trademark of COMPAQ Compurer Corporation.

IBM* is a registered trademark of International Business Machines

Corporation.

Apple* is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc.

• r r ir r n v \\ \

• r i r r nr v itj

IT 1 1 I IT \ \ \

comPAa

The most computer you can carry

Circle 443 on inquiry card.

Letters

SimPaLink —the low cost

introduction to PAL®

programming—will program

MMI, National, AMD and Tl

20-pin PALs.

SimPaLink can be used with any personal computer with an RS232 port and terminal software, or any terminal (onboard editor and PALASM ""assembler). JEDEC Serial I/O available as model SD900J

$500.00

(Sugar cone extra)

Get THE INSIDE SCOOP for yourself! call Ron Scott at (408) 988-0725

structured design incorporated

1700 Wyatt Drive Santa Clara, CA 95054

*PAL and PALASM are trademarks of Monolithic Memories, Inc.

Views on BYTE Content

In the June BYTE, you gave us 13 "theme" articles on 16-bit designs. These included a report on the DEC Professional 300 written by a DEC product manager; a piece on the TI 99/2 written by two representatives of Texas Instruments; an article about the Pronto Series 16 by a vice-president of that company; and four other articles, all penned by staff members of the companies supplying the products.

I, for one, do not buy BYTE to read PR material disguised as objective reviews.

Mike Lewis

48 Willoughby Rd.

London N.W.3.

England

As a (fairly) longtime reader of BYTE, I have mixed feelings about the recent shift in editorial policy that seems to have taken place. For the past several months, a large portion of the articles have been descriptions of products written by the people who developed (and/or sell) that product. While these articles have been well done for the most part, I am concerned that BYTE may lose its position as a source of trustworthy information about "small systems." I don't want to see BYTE become another Mini-Micro Systems, serving primarily as a mouthpiece for companies that provide the magazine's advertising revenue.

A small but telling example of the type of distortion that can creep into articles such as these appears in Stephen Hey-wood's article "The 8086—An Architecture for the Future" (June, page 450) where he proclaims that the 8086 can address "1,048,576 bytes of memory. . . more than 16 times the memory capacity of an 8-bit microprocessor." Granted, this incorrect use of "more than" is rather trivial and harmless hype, but I have always believed that there was no place for hype in BYTE (excluding the ads, of course!). More important, one must wonder whether articles such as this, with their underlying motivation to "sell," are concealing more serious errors.

Don't get me wrong: if the developer of a product can provide uniquely valuable insights, then by all means take advantage of this. I think Tim Paterson's "An Inside Look at MS-DOS" (June, page 230) is an excellent case in point. But, whenever possible, please try to seek out alternative

reviewers, or perhaps you could make a point of providing a "counterpoint" article, or box, for each "in-house" article that you print,

I suppose that the series of articles from Motorola on the 68000 and Intel on the 8086 serve to counterbalance each other to some extent, but, in addition, a comparative article written by an outsider would be helpful to weigh the various merits of these two processors.

Christopher J. Kapilla Cybernetic Systems 1109 Edward Terrace St. Louis, MO 63117

We share your concern about product-related articles written by the companies making the products, and we hope that our judicious use of such articles does not damage our reputation with our readers. We carefully select such articles from a much larger group of articles offered to us, and we try in both the selection and editing of such manuscripts to make sure that the information content is high and the promotional content is low.

In all cases, we prefer to have a review by an independent reviewer over one from the manufacturer (in fact, we are doing independent reviews for some of the products profiled in the June issue). There are, however, some good reasons for going with articles from the manufacturers. First, as you mention, who is more qualified than the designers to contribute significant insights about a product? A second reason is timeliness: because of the ratio of qualified reviewers to important machines (perhaps 1 to 10) and the difficulty of obtaining prerelease copies of new machines, a full product review often comes out six months later than a company-supplied article discussing the design of the machines. Always we face a choice of providing readers with some information or no information at all.

Your point on providing counterpart articles is a good one, and we do that whenever we can. For example, we had company-supplied articles about the National Semiconductor NS16000, the Intel 8086, and the Motorola 68000 in our April and June issues. Strictly speaking, these are not counterpoint articles, but they give coverage to three important chip families. This was the best we could do under the circumstances.

12 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

In November

We're Gonna Blow

\bur Socks Off.

In November, Intertec will take the wraps off the smallest, smartest, fastest, most powerful business computer anyone can buy.

Come December, we suspect most everyone in this industry will be walking around barefoot

So no matter what your requirements for business computers are, or if you're simply in need of a free pair of socks, write on your letterhead to: Intertec, Dept"B," 2300 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210. Limited sock quantities available.

intertec

See us at Comdex Booth *6104 Las Vegas, Nevada Nou28-Dec.2

Circle 45 on inquiry card.

BTA's MODEL 524 MULTIPORT CONTROLLER is a code activated one to four serial port expander — but that's not all since it has separate and independent UARTS, buffers and handshaking each port can operate with a different configuration, i.e. different baud rates, stop bits, etc. These features also permit two or more devices to communicate with the 524 simultaneously.

L«tt«r-quality

printer

High sp««d printer

Full duplex with EIA RS-232 protocol

Baud rates up to 19,200

Expansion to 16 ports by cascading

Peripheral ports may be configured by user software

One year warranty

•MODEL 524 $249.00

•MODEL 524A $279.00

same as model 524 except has 256 byte rx/tx buffers per port

•MODEL 524 D $269.00

same as model 524, plus continuous polling of each peripheral device for data transfer requests. The device is automatically connected when its 'turn comes up . ON, BUSY and OFF messages are sent to the peripheral device. Other models available — Contact us or your dealer for additional information.

. RAY TECHNICAL ASSOCIATES, inc. _

IP^ HIGHWAY 603.RO. BOX 387

y^ BAY ST. LOUIS, MISSISSIPPI 39520

(6011467-8231

Letters.

In conclusion, we publish company-written articles only when we feel that the information contained in them is important and useful to you, the reader. We edit out the "hype" wherever we find it and continue to commission independent reviews, but we also must trust you to read these articles with a discriminating eye and to judge a product based on the quality of the manufacturer's arguments in presenting its viewpoint.

A Lament from "Down Under"

The article by Gregg Williams on the Lisa Computer System (February, page 33) was fascinating.

However, reading the article also left me feeling rather sad. Gregg Williams hit the nail on the head with his comment: "The history of microcomputing has been exciting so far because it has enabled individuals working in their spare time to make significant contributions to the state of the art. . . . The days of the successful entrepreneur/programmer are probably gone." I believe that the fascination and attraction of microcomputers to individuals has been the opportunity to indulge in creative and mentally stimulating activity, which is unfortunately lacking for most people at work and at home. Lisa and her successors will probably destroy that opportunity in areas that many BYTE readers are currently involved in.

Recall how the staple fare of electronics magazines some years ago was constructional articles on radios and hi-fi stereo systems. The mass production of these and their reasonable selling price has destroyed them as topics for electronics magazines, except for reviews of commercial units. Microcomputer magazines such as BYTE are already following the same path. Over the past couple of years many more pages have been devoted to reviews of commercial systems and software.

Mass production and standardization of microcomputer hardware and software are to be applauded in making computers accessible to the masses. However, it will mean that microcomputer design and construction, the writing of systems software, language implementations, and applications such as word processors, etc., will no longer be fertile ground for those seeking creative and mentally stimulating activity. Perhaps this is good, as it shifts the emphasis away from the computer itself to more creative applications where the ideas of the individual are still needed to

provide the concepts that will advance the state of the art.

David L. Craig 2 Bridle St. Mansfield, 4122 Queensland, Australia

Gregg Williams replies:

Thank you for your kind words about my Lisa article. In turn, I think that your letter has also hit the nail on the head. We are no longer in a hobbyist/homebrew industry; we are in a consumer industry where you can (and are likely to) buy the hardware and software you want. Although it follows that BYTE reflects that change, we are still speaking to the hobbyist vart of our readership. Steve Giar-cia's hardware construction articles always place high in our BOMB readership popularity contest. John Smith's "Public Key Cryptography" article in the January issue placed second in that month's BOMB, and a two-part article by Richard Fobes, "Program Your Own Text Editor" (September and October 1982), won fifth place in the BOMB both months. These articles indicate both our and our readers' interest in seeing such articles published, and I assure you we will continue to do so.

As for the importance of the lone programmer, I have two thoughts. First, most (but not all) applications software will be designed and executed by more than one person. In contrast, most (but not all) game software can be designed by one person — this, I feel, is cause for rejoicing. However, my second point is this: today, all software, game or otherwise, requires a staff of people doing marketing, verification, documentation, and other tasks to make a product successful. So my original premise still stands: the days of the successful (individual) entrepreneur/programmer are probably gone.

In Praise of Public-Domain Software

In February BYTE's Bits (page 127), you mentioned the "large amount of public-domain software available" for the Apple. I purchased the software mentioned in that article, Dr. Cat's Grafix Disk, and I found it to be tremendous. My hat is off to the author, David Shapiro.

My question is: does there exist a source for more of this "free" software? If so, I'd like to contact this group. Please provide more reviews of, and information about,

14 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

INTRODUCING

_

J l\

0»W*V*W*V*V*V

COa,YifcJhJhffi

farjiljjjjl^ijl

YOU'LL LOVE THE VIEW!

With UltraTerm, the revolutionary new card from Videx, you'll enjoy sweeping panoramas of spreadsheets that you've never seen before: 128 columns by 32 lines, 132 columns by 24 lines and even 160 columns by 24 lines. You'll revel in the scenics of a whole year of records stretching out across your screen.

You'll also delight in the new horizon of 80 columns by 48 lines—double the lines you normally have. So your word processing will reveal a "depth of character" never possible before!

Another breath-taking view of UltraTerm—it delivers absolutely flicker-free, state of the art display with 8x12 character matrix giving you preposterously clear, readable characters. Not only will you see more characters on your screen (a whopping 4096 possible), but they'll also be larger and more readable than the characters you read every day in Circle 495 on inquiry card.

8 3B6 6 8

.299 Equipment r .599 2nd office

Photo of actual-size

characters on Apple Monitor HI.

your newspaper! And you can differentiate those characters in several modes: normal (white on black), inverse (black on white), bright intensity and dim intensity

UltraTerm. Come on over and enjoy the view. Suggested retail price: $379

I!

idex

897 NW Grant Ave. • Corvallis, Oregon 97330 (503) 758-0521

UltraTerm features a built-in soft video switch and has complete

firmware support for BASIC, Pascal and CP/M®. Use it with the Apple® II,

Apple lie.

Apple and the Apple logo are registered trademarks of Apple

Computer, Inc.

CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc.

See us at Comdex Booth #1977.

STATE OF THE ART, WORLD'S APART

The UCSDp-Syf tern bringing the future chser to you. *

Letters

public-domain software in future issues. I congratulate you on advertising these sources. It must be a little like biting the hand that feeds you to add this to your magazine.

John H. DeRosa 150 Birch wood Rd. Lake Marion, IL 60110

Not at all, John; no advertiser is biting our hand over such listings. Their products give good value for the money — including such things as documentation, professionally tested software, and customer support, things you don't get with public-domain software (sometimes called "freeware"). We would like to mention more public-domain software and will print recommendations that you send us.

As for getting more public-domain software, you should find the nearest Apple users group and join it; most have libraries of public-domain software available to members at moderate cost. If you don't have a users group nearby, A.P.P.L.E. (Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange) is a nationwide users group that offers a variety of commercial and public-domain software. The group also publishes an excellent Apple magazine, Call-A.P.P.L.E. Contact A.P.P.L.E. at 21246 68th Ave. S., Kent, WA 98032 (206) 872-2245) for membership information. If you're a CP/M user, SIG/M, jointly sponsored by Amateur Computer Group of New jersey and the New York Amateur Computer Club, distributes public-domain CP/M software; their address is SIG/M, Box 97, Iselin, N] 08830.

8086 Controversy

After reading Stephen Heywood's article, 'The 8086—An Architecture for the Future" (June, page 450), I am compelled to respond. I would like to title this letter 'The 8086—An Architecture for the PAST."

I cannot argue with Mr. Heywood's justifications for the existence of the 8086; it is obvious that the 8080, a processor with only 64K bytes of memory, no hardware multiply/divide, and only 8-bit operations was insufficient in the burgeoning microprocessor marketplace. Unfortunately, Intel chose to continue worshipping that false god of marketing, upward compatibility. Rather than breaking away from the 4004/4040/8008/8080/8085 ancestry to produce a truly modern

16 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 353 on inquiry card.

E We bought an

IBC Middi Cadet because no other system could do

the job."

Sue Kardas

Director of Career Training

Burlington Area Vocational-Technical Center

"When the Burlington Area Vocational-Technical Center needed a multi-user system for student training, we considered many multi-user systems, but in demo after demo there was too much of a user delay.

Then IBC contacted us, and offered to demonstrate the Middi Cadet's multi-user capabilities-we were skeptical, but we gave it a try.

First, the Middi Cadet ran 9 users doing word processing without any delays. As a second test, we had the Middi operating 3 terminals each on word processing, accounting and BASIC programming. Again, no user delay. This was the multi-user, multi-tasking system we had been looking for.

With the Middi Cadet, we got a higher speed Z80B processor, a very fast hard disk drive and enough memory to do the job (512K Bytes].

On top of that, we felt that we got a very good price from an excellent vendor. Our system was delivered and installed two weeks later. Since then we've been so pleased with the Middi that we're planning to buy another. With two systems providing 18 stations we will be equipped to offer training in all aspects of information processing."

The Middi Cadet is a 10 user system that includes a 6MH Z , Z80B CPU; 256 to 512K Bytes of RAM memory; a 20 MB, 5Va" hard disk drive and a one megabyte SVa' floppy disk drive.

For more information on the Middi Cadet, see your local IBC dealer.

To locate the dealer nearest you, call or write:

OUTSIDE THE USA

WITHIN THE USA

IOC/

Integrated Business Computers

21592 Manila Street

Chatsworth, CA 91311

(213) 882-9007 TELEX NO. 215349

Circle 217 on inquiry card.

Rill '83 See

US at Booth #2872

IBC/ DISTRIBUTION

1140 36th Street, Suite 212 Ogden, Utah 84403 (801)621-2294

BYTE November 1983 17

WRITE IT. PROOF IT.

THE WORD JUGGLER™SYSTEM FROM QUARK.

F re serious about word processing on r Apple lie or Apple III, you should test the ftd Juggler System from Quark. Integrated 1 fols that combine ease of use with extraordinary power.

■ > i.. i ■ .urnm i . i i ii. iim i i n

RITE IT WITH WORD JUGGLER.

The anchor of the system is Quark's Word Juggler word processor, a program that lets you easily perform the most intricate editing tasks. For example, you can delete characters, words, even paragraphs with just a single keystroke. You can instantly copy, move or delete entire blocks of text. Then display or print your document by simply pressing a key.

And there's virtually nothing to memorize. Because editing and formatting commands are always right there on the keyboard. Word Juggler for the Apple III comes with special templates which identify principal word processing functions. On our version for the He, the editing commands are labeled on easy-to install, replacement keycaps.

Plus, Word Juggler lets you generate form letters from existing mailing lists, because the program has a built-in interface with both

PFS:File and Apple's Quick File.

♦ ♦

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C

PROOF IT

WITH LEXICHECK™

Once you've written your document, you can quickly proof it with Lexicheck—a high performance spelling checker with a 50,000-word dictionary. Simple and fast, Lexicheck is invoked from within Word Juggler by a single keystroke. The program scans your document and highlights unrecognized words in context. If the words are actually misspelled, you can quickly correct them. If words are merely unknown, as with jargon or abbreviations, you can add them easily to your own personal . dictionary. . £*)

SEND IT

with terminus:

TM

And with Quark's new Terminus communications program, you can use Word Juggler for electronic mail applications. A single keystroke invokes the program from within the word processor, allowing you to communicate with most any RS232 device. You can predefine the protocols you need to communicate with as many as 14 different systems, at transmission rates up to 9600 baud.

L

L

Your dealer wants to give you a complete demonstration of all the features and capabilities of The Word Juggler System from Quark. And while you're there, check into Quark's full line of Office Automation Tools for the Apple III.

L E

Word Juggler for the Apple III, $295 Word Juggler lie, $239 Lexicheck for the Apple III, $149 Lexicheck lie, $129

Terminus for the Apple III, $89

Terminus He, $89

All prices suggested U.S. retail

Quark

■■■■■■■■■■ INCORPORATED

Office Automation Tools

Circle 380 on inquiry card.

Quark, Word Juggler, Lexicheck and Terminus are trademarks of Quark, Incorporated.

Apple and Quick File are registered trademarks of Apple Computi PFS is a registered trademark of Software Publishing Corporation

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SCOTCH 3M SSDD $23

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PRINTER Pal 24

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CORONA Int. 5MB Hard Disk 1545

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Letters.

machine, it chose to merely stretch the venerable old 8080 into a 16-bit machine with a few extra registers. This incestuous dedication to purity of bloodline has just as damaging an effect in the microprocessor world as it does among humans.

Keeping upward compatibility in mind, Intel carefully embedded the ancient 8080 register set into the "new" machine. Also in keeping with the 8080 tradition, each of these new registers has a special purpose, instead of creating a good set of general-purpose registers. If the "general" registers were truly general, there would be no such thing as a "data group" or a "pointer and index group."

Instead of a 64K-byte memory, Intel chose to implement a fixed number of segments (four), each of a fixed size (64K bytes, of course). The only ways these segments can be of other than 64K-byte size is either through very careful programming or physically missing memory. Segmented memory is an excellent idea, but a very limited set of fixed-size segments is not.

Due to the complete lack of hardware-memory protection and privileged instructions, it is impossible to implement an operating system for this machine that has even the slightest hope of keeping different tasks from interfering with each other. A more modern processor would provide for this.

I would like to point out that Intel has historically been the first manufacturer in the industry to bring out new sizes of microprocessors: perhaps, someday, it will make one I'd like to use.

Paul Hoefling Software Engineer 7095 SW Oleson Rd. Portland, OR 97223

Stephen Heywood replies:

You have raised a lot of points in your letter that I will attempt to address individually.

First of all, the 8086 is not upwardly compatible with the 8080 microprocessor. Yes, there is software available to convert the 8080 source code to make it run on the 8086. The registers may even look the same on these processors. But that is where the similarity ends. The 8086 took the modern approach of using segments instead of linear addressing, having addressing modes that support the programmer's needs, and support for compilers with its registers and instructions.

When you begin writing software for an

Circle 18 on inquiry i

Circle 172 on inquiry card.

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Letters

application, one of the first things that you do is set down the ground rules for your application. You may be dedicating the registers to perform a particular function within your application as well as having some general-purpose functions to perform. Part of your software development might be done in a high-level language. If you are writing assembly-language routines to be called from that compiled language, you have to know the compiler's rules for register use. Also, you want this final application to take the smallest possible space. The instruction set in the 8086 is designed to place as much information in 1 byte as possible to save coding space. To do this, some instructions require that certain registers contain the proper information. The 8086 would then require fewer bits to define an instruction and allow you to have instructions that would take only 1 byte of memory space. The registers and the instruction set have been designed for the compilers so that they can produce compact code. This makes it a lot easier to add your assembly-language procedure because you don't have to worry about things such as which register is pointing at the stack. If you want general-purpose operations, then the general-purpose registers are just that for the more commonly used arithmetic and logical instructions (such as ADD, SUB, AND, OR, etc.).

Most programming consists of code to be executed, data variables, a stack for saving information, and possibly an extra data area for additional data storage. You can execute only one piece of code at a time, but your application may consist of several pieces of code located throughout the memory. You can go to one of these other code segments by simply changing the code segment register to point to the new segment and begin execution from there. To accomplish this, you would use interrupts and the far jumps and calls. Multiple data segments can be supported by changing the data segment register to point to the new data. Therefore, the fixed numbers of four segment registers are all the segment registers you need at one time.

The maximum length of a segment is 64K bytes, but they are by no means fixed to that length. Most assemblers' and compilers' outputs will have segments that will be smaller than that. As these final segments are placed contiguously in memory, the segment register, which must be on a paragraph boundary with the least

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Letters ~ i ' ;• ■———J

significant 4 bits equal to 0, will point to the beginning of the segment, and the offset will be the first byte or word in that segment. These segments do not have to have their own 64K~byte space to reside in.

The beginnings of memory protection are in the 8086 with its segmented architecture. This is a step toward future microprocessors. This same architecture, for example, is taken one step farther to include hardware-memory protection with privileged instructions in the 80286 microprocessor. The 80286 keeps the same concepts of the 8086 but expands the segmentation by including descriptors to describe these segments more fully as to their length, type, access rights, and other properties.

No More JETSET

My article "JETSET" won an award in BYTE's 1982 Games Contest and was subsequently published in the November 1982 BYTE. The article mentioned that readers could obtain a copy of the program, a flight simulator for the TRS-80 Model II, by sending $8.00 and a blank disk.

Please be advised that I discontinued this service several months ago. Readers from the U.S. and abroad are still sending me disks and requests for copies of JETSET—often for the wrong computer. Perhaps this message will spare others the inconvenience of having their material returned to them unopened.

For interested readers, I've designed an enhanced and fully programmable version of the flight simulator for the IBM Personal Computer. This model is named CADET. To obtain more information about the IBM PC version, please contact me directly at my home address in Princeton, or write to A veil Inc., POB 6051, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648.

Eugene Szymanski 693 Rosedale Rd. Princeton, NJ 08540

It's Not That Simple

In his letter "A More Powerful Pencil" (August, page 26) Mr. Yriart made some good points but did not hit the nail on the head about the use of turnkey systems— that is, not if he's ever operated a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I with interface and disk drives.

24 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Letters

This computer requires that, besides knowing how to turn it on and follow the prompts, you become thoroughly familiar with all the TRSDOS utilities, commands, error messages, and some disk BASIC, too. In my opinion, this type of knowledge is a valid form of computer literacy, though not to be confused with actual programming.

With a Model 1, the idea of being able to just turn it on and load and run a program is strictly a pie-in-the-sky idea that rarely was the case in my 4-year battle with that machine!

Helmut Vies

Box 416

Rockland, ME 04841

Requests for Help

For an anthology, I welcome contributions of humor in the sciences, historic and contemporary, especially computer-related science. The ordinary man's disquiet about computers has sometimes

been expressed in contrived jokes that bring the resented superiority of the expert down to earth. How are jokes changing with the spread of personal microcomputers?

Contributions can be anecdotes, biographical notes, witty accounts, cartoons, parodies, verse, self-deception, and hoaxes. Especially sought are items that, while humorous, also have value in the history of a science, providing insight into changing attitudes or illuminating personalities. Please fully identify the sources of contributions.

Dr. Robert L. Weber Pennsylvania State University Physics Department 104 Davey Laboratory University Park, PA 16802

I am looking for a public-domain or moderately priced (under $150) commercial screen-oriented program editor that is compatible with Apple CP/M and the Videx Videoterm 80-column display board (ED just doesn't cut the mustard). It must have comprehensive editing fea-

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tures. If such a program exists, please notify me. If not, I will try to write one myself—a task I do not look forward to!

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I am a newcomer to computing and have been reading BYTE regularly, and I thought perhaps you could put me in touch with readers with the same interests or problems as myself who would be willing to assist me.

I have acquired a previously owned Zenith-89 with three disk drives (5V4-inch single-sided single-density hard sector) and CP/M.

My special interests/problems are: •BASIC-E: this is a public-domain compiler and interpreter that I have recently obtained. The documentation that I have is sketchy and I need to locate a BASIC-E users manual or other documentation for BASIC-E that will allow me to better understand this language. •COBOL: I am a neophyte COBOL programmer and I would like to communicate with someone who has implemented COBOL on a microcomputer, particularly the 2-89. I would be interested in an evaluation of the Nevada COBOL that I have seen advertised. •IDS-460 printer: I would like to hear from someone who is using or has used this particular printer. I am especially interested in learning how to use the graphics capability of the IDS-460.

Wm. F. Fowler 4014 Hillwood Court Beltsville, MD 20705

More on Using Computers in Aircraft

I must take issue with Alexander Raue's statement that "the operation of portable electronic devices aboard a commercial aircraft or an aircraft flying under instrument conditions is prohibited by law." (Letters, July, page 10). He makes reference to Federal Aviation Regulations, section 91.19. It is a pity he did not quote the next two sentences of that regulation, which state, in part, that "the air carrier or commercial operator of the aircraft on which the particular device is to be used" may determine that the "portable electronic device. . . will not cause interference with the navigation or com-

28 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Letters

munication system of the aircraft. ..." Upon such determination by the air carrier, operation of the portable electronic device is permitted.

Most portable computers bear a label indicating that they are "certified to comply with Class B limits, part 15 of the FCC rules." The Class B requirement limits the permissible field strength at 3 meters to well under a millivolt per meter, depending on the frequency. This requirement, which has been in effect for about two years, has been and will be a help to airlines in deciding which pieces of equipment may be operated aboard the aircraft.

It bears noting that nearly all airlines permit use of handheld calculators. Many calculators now in use were manufactured before the Class B rules went into effect and emit radio-frequency energy at far higher levels than those permitted by the Class B rules for computing devices.

Carl Oppedahl Kreindler & Kreindler 99 Park Ave. New York, NY 10016

Alexander Raue replies:

My principle concern was not with isolated, individual units in good working order, but rather with the cumulative emissions of multiple units and/or the excessive emissions radiated by those units which are, for one reason or another, in less than perfect condition.

Part 15, Subpart J of the FCC Rules and Regulations sets electromagnetic interference standards for individual devices or systems tested pursuant to procedures outlined in Section 15,840. These procedures test a sample unit for compliance with the following emission standards for Class B computing devices:

These standards were designed to minimize the possibility of radio interference .in a normal environment. They do not pretend to be a safety standard to determine the suitability of certificated equipment for use aboard aircraft. Class B standards regulate emissions between 30 and 1000 MHz. Unfortunately, airborne navigation equipment relies on signals that range between 10.2 kHz and 5250

Introducing the First 2.5 Mb Minifloppy Drive.

Isn't it just like Rana Systems to introduce a floppy disk drive for the IBM® with the mass storage benefits of a hard disk, plus the floppy's strength of removable media. The first minifloppy that stores an incredible 2.5 megabytes on a single diskette. Imagine, storing a word processor, a spelling checker, mailing list, and dictionary on one floppy With megabytes to spare.

Rana's new drive needs only 10 floppies to give you all the capacity of five 5-megabyte hard disks. And that's not the limit. In fact, there is no limit. Like any floppy with its removable media, you can use diskette after diskette to increase your storage. Our expanded capacity disk drive not only acts like a hard disk, it also serves as an ideal back-up for one.

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Letters

MHz. This is a considerably broader spectrum than is addressed in Part 15.

Furthermore, Class B standards specifically do not address the problems of the cumulative EMI of multiple units or provide for units in less than perfect working order due to manufacturing defects, use, abuse, or subsequent modification. Portable units, by their very nature, will be subjected to considerable abuse by the user which can result in emissions in excess of Part 15 standards.

In the never-ending war for passengers, the airlines may decide to allow personal computers. Already, in the effort to lure the all-important "business-class" traveler, they "allow" considerable violation of the law with regard to carry-on luggage. The next time you fly, take a good look at what is stuffed in the compartments above your head. Then take a look at the legal limits set by the manufacturer and the FA A for your safety. If the compartments pop open from the strain in the take-off roll, imagine what they will do in any form of accident.

Officially, the airlines say it is against their policy to allow these violations; in practice, they do nothing but encourage them.

In the end, carry-on luggage won't cause a major accident. The same cannot be said for equipment that causes navigational jamming.

In Defense of APL

Jerry Pournelle remarked that APL was great "as a quick calculator" but he could not imagine APL being used for large programs ("The User Goes to the Faire/' June, page 306). Many people at companies like IBM, Xerox, Mobil, Upjohn, and others have come to a quite different conclusion after actually using APL for large-scale systems. APL may look strange at first, but so does anything else, and APL is not hard to learn or teach.

If the many APL operators are thought of as macros or subroutines, APL is structurally similar to other powerful programming languages. For people with some mathematics background, many of these APL operators are already familiar symbols; for those without a mathematics background, I believe APL symbols are no more foreign or hard to learn than their alternative idioms. For example, how many times does a person have to code a quick or sync sort before he is

32 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

familiar enough with its coding to think of it as an elementary idiom? In APL a sort consists of (C) t MAT, where C is an optional alternate collating sequence, 1 is the ascending sort operator, (! would be a descending sort), and MAT is an alpha or numeric vector or matrix to sort. Other high-level languages have similar capabilities but are generally less succinct.

Because of its power, APL can reduce the total code required for a system by a factor of 10 or more; this speeds the coding and actually makes support easier (would you rather look through 10 or 100 pages of code for a bug or enhancement change?). Because the language is interpretive, each APL operation within each line of code can be (and often is for complex computations) tested while coding; thus, development time is greatly shortened. Finally, APL can be very efficient even with the overhead of interpretation (for example, the Sieve benchmark, which is possibly the worst case for APL because of its iterative method).

Over the last 14 years I have programmed systems in many languages (a few different assembly languages, BASIC, several levels of FORTRAN, PL/I, COBOL, many packages, etc.). None of these languages has given me the power, speed, or flexibility of the APL. Having this experience, I cannot imagine how I, or others, endured large-scale system development with primitive tools such as BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, and other such languages. APL is not perfect, but it is one of the languages that I believe is heading down the right road to improved productivity. As an unknown author put it: "Life is too short to spend it coding do-loops."

Michael C. Rowe, PhD The Upjohn Company 7000 Portage Rd. Kalamazoo, MI 49001 ■

BYTE's Bugs

Table 4 of "The Unix Tutorial, Part 2: Unix as an Applications-Program Base" listed an incorrect address for Structured Methods Inc. The correct information is

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Circle 496 on inquiry card.

Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar

Build the H-Com Handicapped Communicator

During an engineering assignment a few years ago I went to meet a man we'll call Dave, the owner of a small development company and its chief designer. As I sat in the lobby waiting to see him, I couldn't help but notice

by Steve Ciarcia

the many plaques, patents, citations, and honors bestowed on the company. "Surely/' I thought, "to possess such impressive credentials, the manager of this company must be a real dynamo." I pictured him barking

orders and moving at a furious pace, carrying a memocorder in one hand and a wireless phone in the other, being pursued by a cadre of support personnel. How else could anyone accomplish so much?

Photo 1: The H-Com scanning communicator, a kind of keyboard simulator, can be used to send text directly to a printer, such as the Radio Shack CGP-115 shown here, or to a text-to-speech synthesizer, such as the Intex Talker, in this fully configured system. Using the serial-output commands and phrase mode, the H-Com can transmit words and sentences from a prestored vocabulary.

36 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

The Intel 8748 self-contained microprocessor forms the heart

of a scanning communicator

I don't now remember what we discussed at that first meeting, I only remember my shock at discovering that this super executive was a quadriplegic, suffering from a degenerative disease of the nervous system that left him with no fine motor control, virtually paralyzed.

During our meeting Dave used a one-switch scanning communicator, a sophisticated machine that enabled him to type on an electric typewriter. A scanning communicator presents a display of alphabetic, numeric, and punctuation characters. Under or beside each character is a lamp indicator. The device illuminates the lamp for one character (or group of characters) in a sequence. By biting down on a mouth switch at the right instant, Dave could cause the indicated character to be typed. The machine also stores a vocabulary of frequently used words and phrases. In later conversations with other staff members I learned that Dave often wrote entire design proposals using this technique.

Dave's body was frail, but he had one of the sharpest minds I've ever met. I've since given up dealing in stereotypes.

My purpose in relating this experience to you is not to solicit your sympathy but rather to inform you how technology has helped one man compensate for physical limitation. This meeting left me with a profound appreciation for the value of communication and the important role that electronics can play in aiding disabled people.

While it would be hard to duplicate the sophistication of the scanning communicator that Dave used, technology has advanced to a state where we can reproduce certain of its primary functions at minimal expense. In view of this, I decided to present a project that can serve both as an example of an application for the Intel 8748 single-chip microcomputer and as a demonstration of the potential benefits of technology.

Build the H-Com

This month's Circuit Cellar project is called H-Com, which stands for "handicapped communicator." It's intended to do the same job as a normal computer keyboard, but using only one "key," a single user-input point hereinafter referred to as the switch. Because there is only one switch in the H-Com, its user need control only one muscle to actuate it. Any kind of normally open momentary-closure switching contacts will work. An eye-blink detector would work, or the system could even use the biofeedback detector I wrote about in a previous Circuit Cellar article (see reference 4).

The H-Com has three outputs: two RS-232C ports and one audible horn. The RS-232C output ports can be turned on or off and the data rate set by user input. For serial communication, the full ASCII (American National Standard Code for Information Interchange) character set, including all control characters, can be generated. The horn can be used to beep out seven different patterns, intended principally for obtaining the attention of other people nearby.

The H-Com terminal has a pre-stored vocabulary of words and complete sentences that can be transmitted upon receipt of a single command. These canned transmissions can take the form of ASCII-encoded text sent to a voice synthesizer (such as the one discussed in reference 3) or control codes sent to an autodial-ing telephone (or modem) that directly links the user to help in an emergency. And the H-Com is designed with eventual expansion in mind. All of these design criteria require that the H-Com contain one of the devices we've used so often lately in high-performance electronic equipment—a microprocessor.

The microprocessors you're probably most familiar with are the general-purpose Z80, 6502, and 8088. But these chips are designed to be used in relatively large digital systems;

other less well known microprocessors have been built to be easier and cheaper to use in simple control applications.

The Intel 8748

One of Intel Corporation's product lines is a set of VLSI (very large-scale integration) chips—containing processor, memory, and support-logic circuitry—of which the flagship product is the 8048. The 8048 features mask-programmed ROM (read-only memory), which is good for applications that require thousands of the chips to be installed in identical pieces of equipment, such as the keyboards of IBM Personal Computers. But small-scale experimentation can more practically use its cousin, the 8748, which sports on-chip EPROM (erasable programmable ROM). Figure 1 is a functional block diagram of the Intel 8748 single-chip 8-bit microcomputer, which is shown in photo 2.

The resident program memory in the 8048 consists of 1024 (IK) words 8 bits wide (in other words, the memory is IK bytes), which are addressed in random-access fashion by the program counter. In the 8748 this memory consists of EPROM, which allows the processor's program to be loaded in the system designer's workshop rather than at the factory. To burn the program into the 8748's EPROM, external circuitry must activate the program mode, apply and latch an address, apply data, and pulse the chip's program line. Each word of memory is verified immediately after it has been burned. The entire EPROM contents can be erased by exposing the 8748 to ultraviolet light (see reference 2).

The 8748 contains 64 eight-bit registers, called the resident data memory,

Materials pertaining to the 8748 are reprinted courtesy of Intel Corporation.

Copyright © 1983 Steven A. Ciarcia. All rights reserved.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 37

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RESIDENT RAM ARRAY 64 X 8

Photo 2: Shown in this photomicrograph, Intel Corporation's 8748 microprocessor is largely self-sufficient, containing its own EPROM, scratchpad RAM, and I/O circuitry.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 39

The Intel 8048/8748 Instruction Set

The processor contains the basic data-manipulation functions and can be divided into four major functional sections: the arithmetic/logic unit (ALU), the accumulator, the carry flag, and the instruction decoder.

In a typical operation, data stored in the accumulator is combined in the ALU with data from another source on the internal bus (such as a register or I/O port), and the result is stored in the accumulator or another register. The ALU accepts 8-bit data words from one or two sources and generates an 8-bit result under control of the instruction decoder. The ALU can perform the following functions:

•add with or without carry •AND, OR, exclusive OR

• increment/decrement

• bit complement

• rotate left, right

•swap nybbles in accumulator •decimal adjust accumulator (BCD)

One machine instruction makes very efficient use of the working registers as program-loop counters: the D]NZ (decrement, jump if not zero) instruction allows the program to decrement and test the register in a single instruction.

which can be used as scratchpad RAM (random-access read/write memory). The first eight locations in this array (numbered 0 through 7) are designated as special-purpose "working" registers and are directly addressed by several instructions. All 64 locations are indirectly addressable through either of the two RAM-pointer registers, registers 0 and 1. Because the first eight registers are more easily addressed, they are typically used to store frequently accessed data or intermediate results. The text box above discusses the 8748's instruction set.

The 8748 has 27 I/O (input/output) signal lines. Twenty-four of these lines are grouped into three I/O ports of eight lines each; these can be used for input, for output, or bidirectional-

ly. The remaining three lines are single-bit "test" inputs, which can alter program flow when tested by conditional-jump instructions.

I/O ports 1 and 2 are each 8 bits wide and have identical characteristics. The lines of these ports are called quasibidirectional because they employ a special output-circuit structure that allows each line to serve as an input, an output, or both, even though the outputs are statically latched (that is, data written to these ports for output remains unchanged until new data is loaded into them). However, when used as input ports, these lines are nonlatching; this requires the external circuitry to keep the levels for each transferred byte valid until the 8748 reads the byte by an input instruction. The I/O ports are fully compatible with TTL (transistor-transistor logic); the outputs will drive one standard TTL load.

The third I/O port is called the bus port. It is also an 8-bit port, but it is truly bidirectional, having associated input and output strobe signals. If bidirectional operation is not needed, the bus port can serve as either a statically latched output port or a nonlatching input port. However, input and output lines on this port cannot be mixed. In some modes of operation, the bus port is used to address external memory.

In static-port operation, data is written and latched using the 8748's OUTL instruction; data is input using the INS instruction. The INS and OUTL instructions g enera te p ulses on the corresponding RD and WR output strobe lines; however, in the static-port mode these signals are generally not used. In bidirectional-port operation, the MOVX instructions are used to read and write to the port. A write t o the port generates a pulse on the WR output line, and output data becomes valid at the trailing edge of the pulse. Reading the p ort generates a pulse on the RD output line; input data mu st be valid at the trailing edge of the RD pulse. When not being written or read, the bus-port lines are in a high-impedance state.

The 8748 also contains a counter/

timer register intended for use in enumerating external events and generating accurate time delays without placing an extra burden on the processor. This 8-bit binary up counter can be preset and read with two MOV processor instructions, which transfer the contents of the accumulator to the counter, and vice versa. The contents of the counter are not cleared by a processor reset; they can be initialized solely by the MOV instructions. Counting is stopped either by a processor reset or when a STOP TCNT instruction is executed. After counting has stopped, it can be restarted for use as a timer by a START T instruction or as an event counter by a START CNT instruction. Once started, the counter is continually incremented, overflowing to zero when its maximum value (hexadecimal FF) is reached but continuing its count until stopped by a STOP TCNT instruction or processor reset. The 8748 contains all necessary circuitry for generating timing signals, with the exception that a frequency reference, which can be a crystal, inductor, or external clock pulse, must be connected. The on-board oscillator is a high-gain series-resonant circuit with a frequency range of 1 to 6 MHz. A crystal or inductor connected between the 8748's pinouts XI and X2 provides the feedback and phase shift required for oscillation. A 6.144-MHz crystal allows easy derivation of all standard serial-communication frequencies.

Implementation of the H-Com

The H-Com consists of a small case with a character grid of 64 elements arranged into 8 horizontal rows and 8 vertical columns (see photo 3). Each element is the equivalent of a keyboard key.

The characters are arranged in the array such that the ones most frequently used are clustered in the upper left, the position reached most quickly during the scanning process. The least used characters (special punctuation) are placed at the end of the scan in the lower right. The rightmost (eighth) column is used to control the H-Com's operation rather than transmit characters. A practiced

40 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Photo 3: The U-Com's character display contains 8 rows and 8 columns of characters and control functions, numbered from top to bottom and from left to right. The intersecting lines of red LEDs are used in scanning the row and column positions, while the yellow LEDs along the right edge indicate which mode is in use.

user can select and transmit characters with relative ease and surprising speed.

Each of the 8 rows and 8 columns has a corresponding selection indicator, a total of 16 red LEDs (light-emitting diodes). The scanning operation proceeds as follows. The LEDs for the 8 rows are lighted individually in sequence from top to bottom: first row, second row, third row, and so on to the eighth row, then back to the first row and repeat. The row scan continues until the H-Com senses that the switch is closed, indicating that the user has made a selection of the row for which the LED is lit. The H-Com program stores the selected row number and proceeds to the column scan. In this second phase of selection, each of the column LEDs is lit in succession from left to right. Once again, the user closes the switch during the interval in which the LED is lit that corres-

ponds to the column containing the desired character.

When both a row and a column have been selected, the microprocessor looks in a table to find the character associated with the row and column position (x and y coordinates, if you will). The character or function assigned to the position may vary according to the major mode of operation selected. If the character is in the printable set, the H-Com transmits it through either or both RS-232C ports.

H-Com Modes

The rightmost column, as I mentioned, is used for controlling the H-Com, mostly for shifting its six modes of operation. Beside each mode square is a yellow LED, which is lighted when the corresponding mode is in use. When the H-Com is powered up, it starts out in the All-Caps mode, in which it will transmit

only the main character set consisting of uppercase A through Z, numerals 0 through 9, and commonly used punctuation. Separate modes generate lowercase characters, braces, ASCII control characters, and special functions.

For example, to send a Control-C, you first select the control-characters mode (by closing the switch first during the row-4 interval and then in the column-8 interval), and then select the particular character ("C") with the next row/column scan. Immediately after sending the Control-C character, the H-Com reverts to the All-Caps mode. One of the modes even lets you transmit lengthy prestored messages by selecting a two-character mnemonic key. Let's look at the six H-Com modes:

All Caps: This is the default mode. All characters are converted to uppercase (capital letters) before being sent.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 41

Photo 4: The prototype of the H-Com circuit, viewed from the rear to show the integrated circuits. The light-emitting diodes are mounted on the other side.

One Cap: This mode, when selected, sends the first character after its invocation as uppercase, and then all subsequent characters as lowercase. This is useful for capitalizing words because normally only the first letter is uppercase.

Lowercaseiln this mode, characters are sent out lowercase.

Control Characters: This mode is used to generate the control codes. It acts much like One Cap except that it converts the next character selected to its control equivalent for transmission. Because the Escape control code is treated as a normal character, you need not use the Control Characters mode to generate it. The control codes normally used for cursor control are accessed by Control-8, -4, -6, and -2. Also, seldom used punctuation is generated in this mode, not in one of the caps modes.

Phrase: This mode is used to generate sequences of many characters to form complete words, sentences, etc. The text strings are stored serially in a type-2716 EPROM, each phrase tagged with a mnemonic key. For the H-Com to transmit the sequence, you select the Phrase mode, the characters of the mnemonic key, and then the space character. When the H-Com has detected the scan selection of a space while in Phrase mode, the 8748 takes the key and looks through the EPROM until it finds the corresponding text string; it then sends the string exactly as if the letters were being selected one at a time. If there is no phrase associated with the entered key, the H-Com beeps the horn and returns the mode to All Caps or Lowercase, whichever was last selected. The internal storage format for the EPROM is shown in list-

ing 1, a simplified example. Normally this listing would be several pages long and contain hundreds of words.

Local: This mode is used for tasks that don't involve sending characters. The first three rows of the character array do nothing in Local mode.

The fourth row in the array controls the horn. The dot and dash symbols in the squares indicate the beep patterns, which superficially resemble Morse code. To sound a pattern of three short honks, for example, you select Local mode, then the H key, which causes three short beeps to be emitted. Each letter of the fourth row beeps a different pattern.

In Local mode, the fifth row selects the operating parameters for serial port A. The first position in the row, labeled Backspace/A = 110, sets port A to communicate at 110 bps (bits per second). The second position,

42 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

7/A = 300, sets port A to 300 bps, the third position to 600 bps, the fourth to 1200 bps, and the fifth (labeled */A = OFF) turns the port off. To turn port A on, you select the data rate desired (if you want it off, select Local and then */A = OFF). The sixth row controls port B in the same manner. The seventh and eighth rows control the scanning rate of the row- and column-select LEDs. The seventh-row, first-column position sets the slowest rate, and each succeeding column sets a rate faster by a factor that increases geometrically.

H-Com Hardware

Shown in the schematic diagram of figure 2, the circuitry of the H-Com can be divided into seven sections: the power supply, the RS-232C drivers, the microprocessor, the LED decoder/drivers, the phrase-lookup EPROM, the horn-tone generator, and the input switch. The prototype circuit board is shown in photo 4.

The H-Com draws about 300 mA (milliamps) at 12 V (volts). Current could be drawn from a motorized wheelchair's battery, a separate battery pack, or a 110-V AC-powered supply. If a 12-V supply is chosen, the currently available Radio Shack CGP-115 printer can be used as a convenient portable display device. The + 12-V potential is reduced to +5 V through a type-7805 voltage regulator to power the logic circuitry.

IC1, a type-556 dual-timer chip, serves two purposes. It produces an audio signal at pin 9 to sound the horn and generates a second AC signal used as input to a charge-pumping circuit to produce a -9-V supply for the RS-232C transmitter section.

The horn signal, the direct output of IC1, drives a loudspeaker, which generates a sound low enough in frequency and loud enough to be heard by someone in an adjacent room. (Solid-state piezoelectric transducers, while efficient and compatible with TTL circuits, are not loud enough or low enough.) A series resistor (about 100 ohms) keeps the volume at a comfortable yet noticeable level. Sounding of the horn is controlled by an output bit on the 8748.

User inputs to the H-Com are

handled through the 8748's Tl test input. This line is one of three input pins (TO and INT are the others) that allow conditional program branches without using I/O instructions of the type that load the accumulator from the input port. Because Tl is to be connected to a mechanical switch, a debouncing integrator (resistor/capacitor combination) and a Schmitt trigger (IC6) smooth out its transitions.

Control of the H-Com functions is handled through the three parallel ports. Four bits of port 1 are reserved for serial communication. (The four remaining bits could be programmed to provide more ports if necessary) With the data rates and character framing generated by software, each

The only unconventional part of

the circuitry is the phrase-memory section.

port transmits independently at data rates from 110 to 1200 bps. When the H-Com is first turned on, the program sets port 1 to 600 bps to be compatible with the CGP-115 printer. IC8 and IC9 are the familiar MC1488 and MC1489 RS-232C driver and receiver chips. The -9-V supply mentioned earlier is used in the 1488. These devices were chosen primarily for simplicity; they could be replaced with a couple of transistors if you wanted to reduce the number of integrated-circuit packages.

Port 2 drives the LED display. The high-order 4 bits of port 2 are connected to a 4- to 16-line decoder driver, IC2, which produces the row/ column scanning action. Depending upon the 4-bit value appearing at IC2's input, one of the 16 LEDs will be lit. As the count is incremented, the next LED in the row or column lights up, and scanning takes place.

The low-order 3 bits of port 2 are connected to a 3- to 8-line decoder/ driver, IC3. Functioning in a manner similar to IC2, this circuit drives the yellow LEDs that indicate what mode

the H-Com is in. The remaining bit of port 2 controls the horn.

The program for the 8748 single-chip microcomputer, IC9, is stored in the on-chip IK- by 8-bit EPROM.

The only unconventional part of the circuitry is the phrase-memory section. The signals to address this memory are not generated by the processor, as is commonly the case. Instead, they are generated by two 8-bit binary counters (IC5 and IC7).

Initially, the counters are cleared (reset) by a low-level signal on the WR (pin 10) line of the 8748 (IC9), under the direction of a bus-port write instruction. When the processor needs to look up a phrase from the memory, it reads the bus port. After each such read instruction, an active-low pulse appears on the RD line, increasing the value in the counters by 1. When you request transmission of a stored phrase, the 8748 clears these address counters and begins reading at the beginning of the 2716 EPROM. The 8748 keeps reading and incrementing the counters until it finds a match to the phrase key.

This circuit, although not commonly seen, requires few chips and uses a relatively simple searching algorithm. Also, because the counters produce 16 address bits, up to 64K bytes of text storage can be easily accommodated. In fact, simply changing the type-2716 EPROM to a type-27128 would add 14K characters. But even with as many as 64K characters of stored phrases, the search would take less than one second.

Words and phrases are stored in the EPROM as ASCII character strings preceded by one or more mnemonic key characters that identify the particular word or phrase. As you can tell from listing 1, the mnemonic key is stored first in the EPROM, followed by a space character (hexadecimal 20), followed by the word or phrase (any length), and concluded by a null character (hexadecimal 00). Phrase storage could also be used to remind you how to operate certain features, with a help message triggered simply by setting Phrase mode and then selecting H, P, and a space on successive scans.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 43

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Figure 2: The schematic diagram of the H-Com. The external EPROM (IC4, a 2716) is used for storage of mnemonically keyed phrases; addresses for the EPROM are generated by the two binary counters IC6 and IC7.

H-Com Software

The source code of the control program stored in the 8748's memory is shown in listing 2. The program is

structured to deal with one quirk of the 8748's instruction set, its eight-level fixed-size stack. When the stack pointer is incremented beyond 7, it

"wraps around" to 0, reusing its memory area and subsequently limiting the programs to no more than eight levels of subroutine nesting.

44 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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However, at any point in the program, control can branch to a second point without having to clean up the contents of the stack. The H-Com

control program uses this feature.

But the jump (branching) procedure is odd, too. Conditional jumps are restricted to within the

256-byte page of memory containing the jump instruction. This characteristic is not particularly convenient, but it can be circumvented by condi-

Text continued on page 50

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 45

Listing 1: Part of the customized vocabulary of words, sentences, and phrases, as formatted for storage in the 2716 EPROM.

Listing 2: The control program for the H-Com, written for the Intel 8748, using an external EPROM for storage of canned phrases.

3

0000 747420 0003 74686174

0009 7720 000B 77697468

0011 747920 0014 74686579

001A 747320 001D 74686973

0023 6620 0025 66726F6D

002B 6820 002D 68617665

0033 777420 0036 77686174

003C 786120

003F 49742077

0062 786220 0065 506C6561 008A 68617320

00AC 786320 00AF 4D7 9206E 00D4 49742069 00FA 616E6420 011C 79617264

0122 6E20

0124 4A6F686E

012D 31323334

013F 486F6D65

0154 0157 016E 0190 01B1 01D8 01FA

687020

48454C50

49206E65

72656164

31323320

74686520

616E6F74

020C FF 0000

;EPROM text must be assembled with the following form:

;phrase key

;one space

;text, which may include any ASCII char except a NUL (00H)

;one NUL character (hex value of 0) to end the text

CR

EQU ORG

DB

DB

DB DB

DB DB

DB DB

DB DB

DB DB

DB DB

DB DB

DB DB DB

DB DB DB DB DB

DB DB DB

DB

DB DB DB DB DB DB DB

DB

END

0DH

'tt ' 'that ',0

■with

•ty ' 1 they

'ts ' •this

i f .

' from

«h ■ "have

•wt ■ ■what

'xa '

'It was so nice to get your letter.',CR r fl

•xb '

'Please excuse my spelling - it never 1 ,CR

'has been one of my strong points.',CR ,0

'My new address is 1234 Perth Avenue.',CR 'It is a small cottage with pink walls',CR 'and a large oak tree in the front',CR •yard.',CR,0

'John Doe*,CR

'1234 Perth Avenue',CR

•Homestead FL 33030',CR r CR,0

'hp '

'HELP HELP HELP HELP',CR

'I need medical help. Would anyone 1 ,CR

'reading this message please dial',CR

'123 4567 and tell the person answering',CR

'the phone that John Doe is having',CR

'another seizure.',CR,0

000D

0FFH

;end of file marker

;This code is hereby placed in the public domain

test 0 and test 1 pins reserved for human interface interrupts, internal timer, and alternate registers 0-3 also reserved for human interface

bus port reserved for text EPROM

writing to the port resets the serial address counter reading from the port fetches the "next" byte, and increments the serial address counter after the read

port 1 reserved for RS-232C I/O:

b0 - b3 (P10 - P13) input to 8748

b4 - b7 (P14 - P17) output from 8748

specific assignments made according to implementation

port 2 reserved for LED scan and beeper:

b0 - b2 (P20 - P22) select yellow "page" indicator LEDs

b3 (P23) beeper control, high = beeper on

b4 - b7 (P24 - P27) select red row/column scan LEDs

main R0

Rl -R2 R3

R4 -R5 -R6 -

R7 -

RAM: 00H 08H 18H

1CH 20H

register set:

pointer for phrase match key

LED scan rate

current key pressed, also data to send

shift counter for serial output stream

also countdown storage for WSCAN

serial port parameters as follows:

b0 - bl baud rate port A

b2 - A status 0 = active, 1 = inactive

b3 - unused

b4 - b5 baud rate port B

b6 - B status 0 = active, 1 = inactive

b7 - unused

07H, main register set, see above

17H, 8 level stack area

1BH, alternate registers R0 - R3 reserved for human

interface interrupt routine if necessary 1FH, storage for phrase match key 3FH, high memory unused at present

ROM (87 48 program memory) 000H - 0FFH main housekeeping program 100H - 1FFH serial ascii output routines 200H - 2FFH user interface routines (KBIN) 300H - 3FFH

CR EQU 0DH

;page 0 INIT yskip interrupt vectors

;external interrupt vector ,'counter/timer interrupt vector

305A 23FF 005C 02

i

3 039 9AF8

303B 8A03

303D 5400

303F FD

3040 4340

3042 E3

3043 AD

3044 3400 3046 B611 3048 042B

ORG

INIT: MOV MOV ORL ANL

ALLCAP:

ONECAP:

LOCASE:

CLR

CPL

ANL

CALL

MOV

MOVP3

MOV

CALL

JMP

CLR

CPL

ANL

ORL

CALL

MOV

MOVP3

MOV

CALL

CLR

ANL

ORL

CALL

MOV

MOVP3

MOV

CALL

JMP

9 /main program here

R7,#22H /set both ports hot, B = 600, A = 600

R4,#50 /led scan raate

Pl,#0FFH;port 1 all hi at start

P2,#0 ;port 2 all lo at start

F0

F0 /caps flag set

P2,#0F8H/light all caps LED

KBIN /get key (row/col) in r5

A,R5 /fetch keypress

A,@A ;look up char

R5,A ;put char in R5

SEND /send it to whichever ports are hot

ALLCAP ;loop back to caps

F0

F0 ;set caps flag

P2,#0F8H

P2,#l flight caps once LED

;get next key

/load key

/look up char

;put char in R5

;send it, then drop into...

;caps flag aown

KBIN

A,R5

A,@A

R5,A

SEND

F0

P2,#0F8H

P2,»2 ;light lower case LED

KBIN ;get next key

A f R5 /load key

A,@A ;look up char

R5,A /put char in R5

SEND ,*send it to whichever ports are hot

LOCASE ;loop to lower case

;control sends one character and branches back to the ;previous mode - either all caps or lower case. The /character sent is not necessarily an ASCII control /character, it's whatever is in the lookup table at /address 380H. ;The previous mode branch is also used by other routines.

CTRL:

/light ctrl LED

/get next key

/load key

/set b6

/look up char

/put char in R5

/send it to whichever ports are hot

/loop to all caps if caps flag set

/else loop to locase

/Phrase resets the serial address counter with the WR strobe /and looks for the phrase requested.

/light up the phrase LED R1,#1CH /Rl points to key storage

MODE:

/get next keypress

/load key

/look up char (note - it's lowercase)

/put char in lookup key memory

/bump pointer

;NZ if nonspace

/loop till space was loaded

MOV A,#0FFH /pattern to send to bus port

OUTL BUS,A /actually all we use is the WR strobe

/The key, terminated with a space, is set up in mem at 1CH. /The eprom is reset (equivalent of tape rewound).

PHRA2: MOV

PHRA3:

PHRA4:

INS

JB7

MOV

CPL

INC

ADD

JNZ

MOV

ADD

JNZ

INS

JZ

MOV

CALL

JMP

ADPROM: INS JNZ JMP

BUMPR1: INC

JMP

ERROR:

LOCAL:

NOISE:

ORL CALL ANL JMP

ORL

CALL

MOV

RR

RR

RR

ANL

ORL

JMPP

MOV

RRC

MOV

CALL

MOV

RRC

MOV

CALL

MOV

RRC

MOV

CALL

JMP

BEEPC: JC BEEPS: ORL CALL ANL CALL RET

BEEPL:

ORL

CALL

CALL

CALL

ANL

CALL

R1,#1CH /reset key pointer (Rl)

A,BUS

ERROR

R5,A

A

A

A,@R1

ADPROM

A,R5

A,#0E0H

BUMPR1

A f BUS

MODE

R5,A

SEND

PHRA4

/read der prom data

/end of prom - no phrase matched

/save eprom char

/NZ if no match with key

/no match, advance eprom to next phrase

/match, see if itsa terminating space

;NZ if it was a nonspace

/if nonspace, we bump pointer & continue

/we're at the phrase

/here's where we bail out

/chuck it into R5 to send

A,BUS /advance eprom to just past next 00H

ADPROM

PHRA2 /reset Rl pointer and try next phrase

Rl /advance the key pointer and loop

PHRA3 /we seem to be matching one up

P2,#08H /raise honker control line

WSCAN

P2,#0F7H /lower honker

MODE

/light local LED

/get next key

/look at key pos (not char)

P2,#7

KBIN

A,R5

A

A

A

A,#07H

A,#0E8H /address of branch table

/move row number to lo 3 /strip to low 3

@A

A,R5

A

R5,A

BEEPC

A,R5

A

R5,A

BEEPC

A,R5

A

R5,A

BEEPC

MODE

/indirect jump to command

/lo bit to accum

/save it

/beep according to cy flag

;lo bit to accum

/save it

/beep according to cy flag

;lo bit to accum

/save it

/beep according to cy flag

BEEPL /CY = long beep

P2,#08H /raise honker control line

WSCAN

P2,#0F7H /lower honker

WSCAN

P2,#08H /raise honker control line WSCAN

WSCAN WSCAN P2,#0F7H WSCAN

lower honker

Listing 2 continued on page 48

z

f

©

Listing 2 continued:

30BA 83

30BB FD 30BC 5307 30BE 2F 30BF 5370 30C1 4F 30C2 AF 30C3 0446

30C5 FD 30C6 5307 30C8 47 3 0C9 2F 30CA 5307 30CC 4F 00CD AF 30CE 0446

30D0 FD

00D1 43F0

30D3 A3

00D4 AC

00D5 0446

00E8

00E8 46464692

00F0

30F0 FFD4B092

00F8 45393028

SETA:

SETB:

RET

MOV ANL XCH ANL ORL MOV JMP

MOV ANL

SWAP XCH ANL ORL

MOV JMP

A,R5 ,-look at key pressed

A,#07H ;low 3 bits have status

A,R7 ;store for now

A,#70H ;save port b configuration

A,R7 ;"or" in port a configuration

R7,A ;record both ports config

MODE ;and back

A,R5 ;look at key pressed

A,#07H ;low 3 bits have status

A ;swap nibbles (b config in hi nibble)

A,R7 ;store new b, get old a

A,#07H ,-save port a configuration

A,R7 ;"or" in port b configuration

R7,A ;record both ports config

MODE ;and back

;scan speed set - put new wait constant in R4

SCANSP: MOV ORL MOVP MOV JMP

ORG

DB

ORG

DB DB

A,R5 ;look at key pressed

A,#0F0H ;point to high 16 bytes of page

A,§A ;get new wait const

R4 ,A ;and store it

MODE ;and back

0E8H ;jump table to 1 of 8 commands

MODE,MODE,MODE,NOISE,SETA,SETB,SCANSP,SCANSP

0F0H .-geometric ratio, .83 common mult

255,212,176,146,121,100,83,83 69,57,48,40,33,27,23,23

,-RS23 2 OUTPUT - sends ASCII byte in r5 to hot ports

;Note: when the comments refer to "hi" or M lo" signals, ;they ,-are referring to the TTL levels at port 1 of the ^•microprocessor, NOT the levels on the RS232 connector.

;The RS232 levels are: 1 = negative, 0 = positive with respect ;to ground. An oscilloscope connected to the RS23 2 data output ;should show a normally negative (about minus 6 volts) DC level,

;with data appearing as bursts of positive voltage (about 10 ;volts).

3100

ORG

100H

;if f0 set, fold all lowercase

;get bit storage

;invert bit 2 (ignore others)

;RS23 2 port A hot, ship byte ,*get it again

;invert bit 6 (ignore others) ;B hot, send it

;get character

;NC if 6 0H or lower

rbye bye

;get char again

;C if 7BH or higher

?bye bye

;get char again

jsubtract 20H

;folded char in R5

;return to caller

SENDA: SA1:

SA2:

DIS

IN

JT1

JB0

CALL

MOV

MOV

RRC

MOV

CALL

DJNZ

CALL

CALL

MOV

RRC

RRC

MOV

EN

JMP

AOUTC: JNC

AOUTHI: ORL

JMP

AOUTLO: ANL JMP

SENDB:

SB1:

SB2:

DIS MOV SWAP MOV

IN

JT1

JB1

CALL

MOV

MOV

RRC

MOV

CALL

DJNZ

CALL

CALL

MOV

RRC

RRC

MOV

MOV

SWAP

MOV

EN JMP

BOUTC: JNC

BOUTHI: ORL

JMP

BOUTLO: ANL JMP

WTBIT: MOV ORL MOVP

WTBIT2: DEC NOP NOP NOP NOP

I A, PI

UNHANG

SA1

AOUTLO

R6,#7

A,R5

A

R5,A

AOUTC

R6,SA2

AOUTHI

AOUTHI

A,R5

A

A

R5,A

I

SEND2

;disable interrupts

;xxxx xxxl if printer busy

;so's we don't hang up forever

Ihi line = busy

;send a start bit

;set up loop counter

;get data

;CY holds next bit

;store what's left

?wiggle the port

;two stop bits

;straighten out r5

;re-enable interrupts ;maybe send to b,too

AOUTLO

P1,#1FH ,* raise bit4

WTBIT ;and wait one bit time

Pl,#0EFH;lower bit4 WTBIT

I

A,R7 A R7,A

A,PI

UNHANG

SB1

BOUTLO

R6,#7

A,R5

A

R5,A

BOUTC

R6 , SB2

BOUTHI

BOUTHI

A,R5

A

A

R5,A

A,R7

A

R7,A

I

SEND3

;disable interrupts

;rotate nibbles for wtbit

;xxxx xxlx if printer busy

;break the possible lockup w/button

,*hi line = busy

;send a start bit

;set up loop counter

;get data

;CY holds next bit

;store what's left

;wiggle the port

;two stop bits ;straighten out r5

;straighten out r7

,* re-enable interrupts ;b sent, back to caller

BOUTLO

P1,#2FH ;raise bits

WTBIT ;and wait one bit time

Pl,#0DFH;lower bit4 WTBIT

A,R7

A,#0FCH

A,@A

A

,*get baud rate selection

;a points to one of top 4 addr

;this page, get wait time in accum

;it takes 15 machine cycles to ;go through this inner loop ;for a total of 225 clock cycles ;which is 36.62 microseconds if the

I

0200

0200 5600

0202 9A0F

0204 5439

0206 0 2 08

560C

5445

020A 4404

020C 020E 020F 0210 0212 0213 0215 0217 0219 021B 021D

021F 0221 0222 0223 0225 0226 0227 0229 022B

022B 0 2 2C 022E 022F

0231 0232 0233 0234 0235 0237 0 23 8

560C

0A

77

5338

AD

9A0F

8A80

5439

561F

544C

4417

56 IF 0A 47

53 07 4D AD

543 9 5600

FD

43F8 37 96 38

FD

77

77

77

43F8

B3

;clock is running at 6.144 MHz

;back to the former loop

;last 4 bytes this page

110 baud wait const

300

600

1200

;Kbin goes through the keyboard selection game and updates r5

;to the key position selected.

;b7 - b6 returned zero

;b5 - b3 designate rows 0-7 (numbered from top to bottom)

;b2 - b0 designate cols 0-7 (numbered from left to right)

ORG 200H

KBIN: JT1 KBIN ;hang if button pressed (active)

ANL P2,#0FH ;set hi nibble =0 (red LEDs)

ROW: CALL WSCAN ?wait one scan interval

JT1 COL ;this the one, skip out

CALL NEXROW ;otherwise shine next row scan LED

JMP ROW

COL2:

GOT:

JT1

IN

RR

ANL

MOV

ANL

ORL

CALL

JT1

CALL

JMP

JT1

IN

SWAP

ANL

ORL

MOV

CALL

JT1

MOV ORL CPL

JNZ

MOV

RR

RR

RR

ORL

JMPP

COL

A,P2

A

A,#38H

R5,A

P2,#0FH

P2,#80H

WSCAN

GOT

NEXCOL

COL2

GOT

A,P2

A

A,#07H

A,R5

R5,A

WSCAN

KBIN

;hang if button active

;get the LED phase in accum

;bits 654 to 543

;strip to bits 543

;store bits 5,4 & 3

,*set hi nibble = 0

;set bit 7 for col scanning

;wait one scan interval

,*this the one, skip out

,* otherwise shine next col scan LED

;hang if button active

;get the LED

;swap nibbles

;strip to bits 210

;or in previous 3

;store it in r5

;wait a tad, unless delete

;oops, a keypress in the cancel

;time window, start over

A,R5

A,#0F8H

A

NOTMODE

A,R5

A

A

A

A r #0F8H

@A

if A is xxxx xlll itsa mode shift 1111 1111 '

" " " 0000 0000 "

A has 00nn nlll, where nnn is mode #

" " 100n nnll

M " 1100 nnnl

" " 1110 0nnn

M " 1111 lnnn

jump indirect via table at 2F8H

which in turn points to the vectors

02F8

32F8 53555759

33 00

;on this page - if you understand this ;sequence, give youself a jellybean, and ;thank Intel for a nonmarchable stack

;get current scan rate

;256 gives 2.4 sec per row/col

;9.375 milliseconds ;return if switch on ;bump scan count ;look at it

;get current phase ;bump hi nibble ;make sure b7 is lo

;get current phase ;bump hi nibble

;make sure b7 is hi

the vector table which gets you off of this page.

;This here is the indirect page jump address lookup table, used ;by the JMPP A,@A instruction. The indirect jump in an 8748 ,-chip cannot make it across a page boundary (multiple of 256 rbytes) . The doubly confusing double jump used here is a way ;around this limitation.

ORG 2F8H

DB V0,V1,V2,V3,V4,V5,V6,V7

;page 3, lookup table for keyboard layout ORG 300H

DB DB DB DB DB DB DB DB

DB DB DB DB

DB DB DB DB

END

1 eondpy ' 'tarlmgx ' 'iscfbkj ' ■huwvzq',1BH,20H 08H,'789*?! ' 0DH,'456/ H & ' '.123 + 0 » \0$=-<> '

20H,0 5H,0FH,0EH,04H,10H,19H,20H 14H,01H,12H,0CH,0DH,07H,18H,2 0H 09H,13H,03H f 06H,0 2H,0BH,0AH,2 0H 08H,15H,17H,16H,lAH f llH f lBH,20H

7FH,37H,lEH,3 39H,7EH,6 0H f 5EH,2 0H 0 0H,1CH,35H,1DH,5CH,27H,40H,20H 3AH,3iH,lFH,3 3H,23H f 7BH,7DH,2 0H 3BH,3 0H / 25H,7CH,5FH,5BH,5DH,2 0H

Text continued from page 45: tionally jumping to an unconditional-jump instruction (which is not so restricted). Unconditional jumps include normal direct jumps to any place in program memory and several types of indirect jumps within the page. (For an extreme example of this technique, look at location hexadecimal 0237 in listing 2, where the mode switching occurs. Here, subroutine KBIN is called, with the calling routine expecting control to return with the character-selection code held in register 5. But if you actuate the switch to select a mode, such as the Phrase mode, the subroutine calculates where to continue execution and simply jumps there. Structured programming hasn't made much progress on the 8748.)

The H-Com program is arranged in three sections, plus a lookup table. These four modules fit conveniently in the 8748's four pages of program memory. The first page (page 0) is where the code for all the various modes of operation reside; each code section considers itself the main routine and calls the other sections as subroutines. The first section of code sets up the major modes (All Caps, Phrase, etc.)

The second section (page 1) is the text-transmission section. It sends the contents of register 5 out to one or both RS-232C channels, according to which are active at the time. It sends the data at the most recently selected data rate or at the default data rate set up by code in the first page. If the H-Com "hangs up" waiting for a device-ready status that never comes, you can resume the active scanning mode by pressing the switch.

The third section (page 2) is the scanning subroutine. As we've seen, it scans the rows and then columns until you make a selection. When in the column scan, you can return to the row scan by pressing the switch twice instead of once. If any position in the first seven columns is selected, this subroutine returns to the calling routine with the element position (not an ASCII value) in register R5. The calling routine must either convert this into a character or take some appropriate action (e.g., beeping the horn). If a position in the eighth

(mode-select) column of the array is selected, this subroutine disregards the normal subroutine return and jumps to the appropriate mode routine.

The first half of page 3 of program memory is the character-lookup table. Its layout corresponds to the character-display arrangement, which serves to minimize access time. If you would prefer some other "keyboard" layout, merely change this table.

The H-Com program does not make use of the 8748's interrupts, interval timer, or alternate registers R0 through R3. These have been reserved for customization of the system to an individual user. The alternate register set R4 through R7 is used for phrase-key storage, and keys longer than three characters use the high end of scratchpad memory. Other than this, the memory above the alternate registers is unused.

The software for this project was written by Ralph McElroy. To encourage use and further development of the H-Com and similar devices, we are placing the software in the public domain.

Parting Thoughts

This project has been on my mind for some time. Its subject matter was suggested by my meeting with Dave, but I'm doing it now because of the recent increase in the number of letters I've received describing how disabled individuals are being helped by the speech synthesizers I've presented in these articles.

I can guarantee that I'll continue to investigate speech-related topics, but specific projects like this one will require some reader feedback and suggestions. I'd like to hear your comments and suggestions. If there is sufficient interest in the H-Com, I may make arrangements for it to be manufactured commercially. For information on its availability, contact Intex Micro Systems Corporation, 725 South Adams Rd., Suite L8, Birmingham, MI 48011, telephone (313) 540-7601.

If you want to see how a research group at Tufts University approached the same problem, you can read an

article in the September 1982 issue of BYTE (reference 5); that issue also contained a number of articles on computer applications to help disabled people.

Next Month:

There are dark clouds on the horizon. Thunder is rumbling through the hills of central Connecticut. . . . I'm getting worried. So next month well look at what happens when electronic devices are hit by high voltages and discuss how to prevent it.m

Editor's Note: Steve often refers to previous Circuit Cellar articles as reference material for each month's current article. Many of these past articles are available in reprint books from BYTE Books, McGraw-Hill Book Company, FOB 400, Hights-town, NJ 08250.

Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar, Volume I covers articles that appeared in BYTE from September 1977 through November 1978. Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar, Volume II contains articles from December 1978 through June 1980. Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar, Volume III contains articles from July 1980 through December 1981.

Special thanks to Ralph McElroy for his contributions to this project.

References

1. Baker, Bruce. "Minspeak." BYTE, September 1982, page 186.

2. Ciarcia, Steve. "Build an Intelligent EPROM Programmer." BYTE, October 1981, page 36.

3. Ciarcia, Steve. "Build the Microvox Text-to-Speech Synthesizer." Part 1, BYTE, September 1982, page 64. Part 2, BYTE, October 1982, page 40.

4. Ciarcia, Steve. "Mind Over Matter: Add Biofeedback Input to Your Computer." BYTE, June 1979, page 49.

5. Demasco, Patrick, and Richard Foulds. "A New Horizon for Nonvocal Communication Devices." BYTE, September 1982, page 166.

6. Schwejda, Paul, and Gregg Vanderheiden. "Adaptive-Firmware Card for the Apple II." BYTE, September 1982, page 276.

Steve Ciarcia (POB 582, Glastonbury, CT 06033) is an electronics engineer and computer consultant with experience in process control digital design, nuclear instrumentation, product development, and marketing. In addition to writing for BYTE, he has published several books.

To receive a complete list of Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar project kits available from the Micromint, circle TOO on the reader service inquiry card at the back of the magazine.

50 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Teletek's New Combo Could Make You A Hero!

The SBC-II could be just the right ingredient for your latest concoction. The newest member of Teletek's family of multi-user, multi-processing S-100 products, the SBC-II essentially combines, or "sandwiches" two Teletek SBC-I's into one board. The SBC-II provides the capability to support two users from one standard size IEEE-696/S-100 sj/ave board.

The SBC-II maintains full performance for each user with an independent CPU (Z80A or Z80B), 64K RAM, Serial I/O, and FIFO communications port to the system master. The system integrator benefits by getting complete support for two users for the price of one board.

TurboDOS and MDZ operating systems will support combinations of SBC-I's and SBC-ll's offering system design efficiency and flexibility never before possible.

If you're hungry for value and efficiency, order an SBC-II from Teletek. You'll love every byte.

TELETEK

4600 Pell Drive Sacramento, CA 95838 (916) 920-4600 Telex 4997834 TELETEK Dealer inquiries invited.

©Teletek 1983

Circle 465 on inquiry card.

BYTE West Coast

California Hardware

New products deliver specialized functions

by Barbara Robertson

This month BYTE West Coast looks at three products from the Silicon Valley: Convergent Technologies' new portable computer called the Workslate, Intel's BPK70-4 Bubble Storage Subsystem, and the Cygnet Communications Cosystem; and one from Southern California: bubble-memory boards for the IBM Personal Computer from Helix Laboratories.

Workslate

Monday morning. You plug a telephone into the Workslate and listen to the Dow Jones report on the speaker phone while you're getting dressed. Nothing earthshaking, so you check the Workslate calendar. Oops. There's a 10 o'clock marketing meeting today The pricing-analysis spreadsheet was prepared last week, and a few things have changed since then. You use the Workslate's calculator to try out a couple of possibilities, adjust a number in one of the spreadsheet cells, and recalculate the totals.

Driving to work. As random thoughts cross your mind, you pull the Workslate out of your briefcase, turn on the recorder, and begin dictating. No need to worry about turning it off. The Workslate does that for you if you haven't used it for 5 minutes.

At the office. You hand the tape with your notes and the new pricing data to your secretary, sit down at your desk, and once again use Workslate to call Dow Jones. This time, though, you read the current stock quotes into one window on the display and enter the new prices into a stock-portfolio worksheet in the other

window. Because this worksheet is set to automatically recalculate, new totals appear on the screen while you update prices.

An alarm beeps. The screen message tells you to "Sell 50 shares of Quicktech." You check the Quick-tech cell and remember that you set the alarm to beep if the price fell below $25. Leaving the worksheet on the screen, you disconnect Dow Jones, autodial your broker, and give him the order over the Workslate's speaker phone.

The alarm beeps again, and this time the message reminds you of the 10 o'clock meeting. You slip the Workslate into your briefcase just as your secretary shows up with the transcribed notes and printout of the pricing spreadsheet. You're ready.

The Workslate (see photo 1) is small, lightweight, and packed with features. A 16-line by 46-character LCD (liquid-crystal display), 60-key button-style keyboard, 64K bytes of ROM (read-only memory), 16K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory), 300-bits-per-second (bps) modem with auto-answer and autodial, microphone, speaker, and a microcassette recorder for voice or data all fit into a battery-powered

portable computer about the size of this issue of BYTE. Workslate weighs in at about 3% pounds.

Driven by Hitachi's 6303 microprocessor (a CMOS version of the 8-bit Motorola 6800) and powered by four AA alkaline batteries (or a nickel-cadmium pack), the Workslate has spreadsheet capabilities that rival those of software packages designed for desktop computers. It's quick, powerful, and sells for $895. You can order it now from the American Express Christmas catalog and pay for it in monthly installments with no interest charges or shop later this year at Computerland or Businessland stores. First delivery is scheduled for November 17.

But before you run out and buy a Workslate, you should bear one thing in mind. One reason Convergent Technologies was able to pack so much in such a small package is because this machine is designed specifically for people whose business is numbers rather than words. In fact, a group of 50 to 100 potential users in this vertical market, including bank managers, body-shop owners, construction estimators, and data-processing managers actively participated in the product's design.

52 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

At a Glance

Name

Workslate

Manufacturer

Convergent Technologies Inc. Advanced Information Products Division 2441 Mission College Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95050 (408) 727-8830

Uses

Portable spreadsheet computations, dictation, time management, telecommunications

Dimensions

8Y2 by 11 by 1 inch (under 4 pounds]

Features

A 16-line by 46-character liquid-crystal display 60-key button keyboard with dedicated function keys and numeric keypad, 6303 microprocessor, 64K bytes of ROM, I6K bytes of RAM, built-in microcassette recorder, built-in 300-bps modem with auto-answer and auto-dial, clock-calendar, A/C adapter/recharger, modular phone jack cable, 9600-bps serial-interface port, and soft case

Software

Proprietary operating system, spreadsheet, communications including terminal emulation, ROM templates for calendar, memo pad, and phone list. Optional Taskware tapes (templates) range in price from $29.95 to S49.95

Documentation and Customer Support

Software developers guides; "Teach Me Now" and "Teach Me Later" audiotapes, owners manual, exercise workbooks, reference

guide, and user newsletter; 800 "hot line" number for users; return for repair service

Price

S895

Options

Microprinter: battery-powered portable plotter with four colored

pens and one roll of 4!/2-inch paper, 7 by 8V2 by 1/2 inches,

under 2 pounds, plugs into serial port: $250

I/O box with RS-232C and Centronics port: $199

Nickel-cadmium battery pack: $29.95

Microprinter pens (four black or one each blue, green, red, and

black): $3.95

Microprinter paper (four-pack): $5.95

Although the software in ROM includes the operating system, a spreadsheet, time and date management, and communications functions, from a user's point of view there is only one application: a spreadsheet. Even the ASCII (American National Standard Code for Information Interchange) terminal emulator is built into the spreadsheet. This is not necessarily a limitation once you begin thinking of the many uses of a spreadsheet program.

The Workslate comes with three spreadsheet application templates built into ROM: a calendar, a phone list, and a memo pad (for audio or text). Ten more templates, called Taskware, are available on tapes for $49,95 and under. (See table 1.) Keeping the razor-blade theory of marketing well in mind, Convergent has plans for 20 more tapes to be available within a year.

Serious hackers will probably lament the lack of an available language. All the software was programmed in assembly language, no BASIC is provided, and the operating system is proprietary and confidential. The only way to add programs to the Workslate is to use the programming capabilities within the spreadsheet (see table 2) to design new Taskware templates. As for expansion possibilities, we weren't able

to look inside the machine, but we were told there are two empty 32K-byte ROM slots.

Writers will probably decide against this machine because the keyboard and the software were obviously not designed with them in mind. But businesspeople, managers, note-takers, appointment

keepers, cost estimators, and a wide range of other people will find the Workslate very useful.

Physical Dimensions

The Workslate fits on your desk or in your briefcase as easily as a thick pad of paper. It's 8V2 by 11 by 1 inches and weighs less than 4 pounds with

Photo 1: A standard Workslate spreadsheet. White pointer arrows ivithin the dark, inverse-video Cell and Row label lines and the block of inverse-video on the selected cell help you keep track of where you are. The status line at the top shows the worksheet name, the formula for Cell D12, the percentage of remaining memory, and the date and time.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 53

batteries. The color is dark slate gray with button keys in two lighter shades of gray (see photos). The display is on the left near the top of the machine, and a speaker and cassette drive are on the right. The built-in microphone fits in a barely noticeable slit in the front of the machine. On the right side are plugs for an external microphone and headset and a volume control. Two phone connectors, the serial port for the optional portable plotter (see photo 2), and the A/C adapter/recharger connector are in the back; the LCD brightness control is on the left side. Batteries can be replaced by removing a small panel on the underside of the machine.

Keyboard

The calculator-style button keys are well spaced and have a nice touch. With the help of the 10-key buffer, I found I could type very fast. All the keys on the keyboard repeat.

Notice the large diamond-shaped pointer control pad between the typewriter keys and the numeric keypad. Pressing a ribbed area at the top, left, right, or bottom moves the pointer between cells in the expected direction. Within a cell, data is entered by typing and edited by backspacing and retyping. However, in the edit mode, the pointer-control pad can move the cursor across characters for selective editing.

Five function keys at the top of the

keyboard have green labels identifying them as Calc, Finance, Memo, Phone, and Time. Memo, Phone, and Time are spreadsheet application templates. Calc splits a display into two windows, with the lower window functioning as a calculator. Finance produces sets of software keys that help you calculate depreciation, loans, and net present value. All the software templates have five softkeys (called "action keys" in the Workslate) at the bottom of the display that correspond to the keyboard function keys. When no softkeys are displayed, a function key calls up its labeled function. When softkeys are displayed, the corresponding function key calls into action a softkey

54 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

function. However, with the use of the green Special key (at the bottom of the keyboard), the labeled functions can always be accessed.

The photos show that green labels are assigned to many keys other than the function keys and that green characters are next to some of the keys. Pressing the Special key along with a second key produces the result labeled in green next to the second key.

A row of dedicated keys on the left side of the keyboard includes the On/Off control and the traditional Shift key. The Cancel and Options keys work with the software. Cancel rescinds a command or returns you to a previous layer of softkey functions; Options calls up three sets of softkey commands, including an On/Off toggle for the keyboard click. (More on these options in the software section.)

The Worksheet key to the right of Options is used to move between worksheets. Pressing this key produces softkeys labeled with worksheet names.

The familiar Return (or Enter or left-legged arrow) key has been moved to the bottom row (to the right of the space bar) and relabeled Do It.

The numeric keypad, to the right of the typewriter keyboard, has numbers 0 through 9 and dedicated keys for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimal point, and calculation (formula or =). A variety of other characters often used in formulas, such as parentheses, brackets, and less-than and greater-than signs, appear on the keypad in green and can be accessed with help from the Special key.

The numeric keyboard can be reconfigured as a telephone keypad rather than a calculator by using one of the Options softkeys, and Convergent Technologies provides an appropriate overlay.

People who make their living with typewriter keyboards rather than numeric keypads will find this keyboard inconvenient. A typewriter it isn't. The Return key, period, and apostrophe, for example, are in the wrong places, and there is no right Shift key. However, this keyboard

Photo 2: The Workslate options. The battertf-powered plotter can form 40 to 80 characters in four colors on a line or print them sideivays for extra-wide spreadsheets. The Metric converter template on the screen comes on the Travel Taskware tape.

should be fine for two-finger typists and occasional note-takers.

Display

The 16-line by 46-character LCD was designed by Convergent Technologies and built in Japan by a company Convergent Technologies won't identify (it's neither Sharp nor Epson). The software uses the top line of the display as a status line telling you the name of the worksheet, the contents of a cell, the percentage of memory remaining, and today's date and time. (Remember, there's really only one application—you're always in a spreadsheet program.) The status line may also contain a phone icon, an alarm message, and a tape counter if appropriate. The bottom three lines are used for the softkeys (lines 15 and 16) and system messages or prompts (line 14).

The display is easy to read, and contrast can be adjusted. With a display size of more than half that of a desktop monitor, several spreadsheet rows and columns can be viewed on the screen at once. Scrolling is by line or page.

Microprocessor

The Workslate uses the Hitachi 6303 microprocessor, a low-power CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) version of the 8-bit Motorola 6800. This central processor was chosen for its ability to move blocks and its onboard I/O ports. Clock speed is 1.228 MHz.

Memory and Power Supply

The Workslate comes with 64K bytes of ROM and 16K bytes of RAM. One spreadsheet with 16K bytes of data or up to five spreadsheets with a total of 16K bytes of data can be resident in RAM. The amount that can be stored in RAM depends on actual data entered into a spreadsheet, not the number of cells in the spreadsheet. The 16K bytes of stored data could, for example, be in 1000 cells, each with 16 bytes, or in 2000 cells, each with 8 bytes. RAM memory is saved whether the machine is on or off. Power can be supplied with four AA batteries, an external A/C adapter/recharger, or an optional nickel-cadmium power pack. One backup button battery protects

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

memory for up to two months. Warning messages indicate when to replace main and backup batteries. The maximum power requirement is 1 watt. Standard microcassette tapes provide external storage for audio and digital information. The built-in dual-track microcassette recorder from Olympus can store 30 minutes of audio or 5 worksheets (80K bytes) on each side of a tape. Normally, audio is stored on one side of a tape and digital information on the other. Worksheets, however, can have 1 minute of voice annotation on the same side of a tape. Users can listen to this recording while worksheet data .is being loaded into RAM. A typical 16K-byte spreadsheet can be loaded into RAM in about 60 seconds. The transfer rate to tape is 2400 bps, and data is stored in a density of 2560 bits per inch (bpi).

Communications

Both voice and data communications capabilities were given very high priority in the Workslate design.

The machine comes with a 300-bps internal LSI (large-scale integration) modem and can dial in Touch-Tone or pulse mode. The Workslate comes with a phone cable and has two phone plugs in the back. Workslates can be plugged into a standard modular telephone jack or connected in series between the wall and a standard telephone.

The Workslate comes

with a phone cable

and has two phone

plugs in the back.

In data mode, modem/phone functions include auto-dial, auto-answer, manual answer, manual originate, acoustic coupler, and data-to-talk mode-switching. Voice mode gives you auto-dial, auto-answer with taped message, manual voice answer, speaker phone, call holding, conversation recording/playback to phone, and talk-to-data mode-switching. The

Workslate can answer the phone and play a message tape, but it can't record phone messages. Chances are, though, you would keep the machine with you rather than use it as a telephone answering machine.

Communications can be unattended. Terminal configurations include XON/XOFF, DTR/CTS (with an optional I/O box), or "no" handshake'; even, odd, zero, one, binary (for receiving 8-bit code) or no parity; character echo on or off; and line termination with crlf, cr, or If. Acoustic coupler, answer-back password memory, send/receive security, and single-keystroke transmission of user-defined strings are also available. Worksheets are represented in 7-bit ASCII; 8-bit codes (such as line drawings) are sent masked down to 7 bits and surrounded by tildes.

The serial port can be used for 9600-bps direct-connection data transfers. An optional I/O (input/output) box ($199) plugs into this port and provides 300-, 1200-, or 9600-bps

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56 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 255 on inquiry card.

communications. Convergent Technologies is currently working on software that will run on its other machines as well as on the IBM Personal Computer to facilitate data transfer from Workslate to those machines.

Printer

The optional ($250) battery-powered portable plotter connects to the serial port and plots worksheets at a rate of about 8 characters per second. The Microprinter is 7 by 8V2 by IV2 inches and weighs less than 3 pounds with batteries. It's powered by four AA alkaline batteries or a nickel-cadmium pack, has an A/C re-charger, uses roll paper, and comes with four colored pens. (Negative numbers print in red.) It can print 40-character lines, 80 characters in condensed mode, or 90-degree sideways characters for extra-wide spreadsheets. The printer is based on the pen mechanism developed by Alps, a Japanese corporation, but manufactured by Convergent Technologies.

The optional I/O box has RS-232C and Centronics ports and can be used to connect letter-quality or dot-matrix printers to the Workslate.

Software

The operating system is proprietary, multitasking, and invisible to the user. Multitasking lets you work with spreadsheet data while you're on the phone, printing, or

The operating system

is proprietary,

multitasking, and

invisible to the user.

loading or saving data. You can create your own spreadsheet forms using a blank worksheet or start with one of the three ROM templates: memo pad, phone list, or time/calendar.

The ROM templates are always available through the five function keys. If a displayed softkey label doesn't correspond to the matching function-key label, you just press the

Special key and then the particular function key.

Each ROM template has its own set of softkey functions. Memopad is used for audio or text and includes record, stop, play, forward, and reverse functions for controlling the tape. The default column width in this template is set at 40 characters for note-taking. Text is entered one line at a time; there is no word wrap. The contents of a cell (one line of text) can be moved to an edit line for word-processing functions such as inserting characters.

The Phone List template controls communications. Softkey functions include dial, answer, speaker, terminal, and hang-up on the top level. Selecting "terminal" brings up pause, send, receive, talk, and hang-up soft-keys. The Workslate draw option was used in this template to create divisions between columns. Column A, titled Name, is 15 characters wide; Column B is a vertical line (draw character) I character wide; Column C, Phone Number, is 13 characters

Graphics

for the

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Please send Apple Designer 3D -$85 □ IBMpc Designer 30 - $85

Name__

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□ check unclosed

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call (617)934-0445 for faster delivery KERN PUBLICATIONS • P.O. Box 1029BN • Duxbury, MA 02332 Jl

call (617)934-0445 for faster delivery KERN PUBLICATIONS • P.O. Box 1029BN • Duxbury, MA 02332

Circle 256 on inquiry card.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Photo 3: The Worksite's calendar is resident in ROM and can be assigned to any Worksheet with the Time function key. The user-modifiable template has formulas for a two-week calendar. Reminder alarms can he set for any appointment. Batten/ power keeps RAM memory active, and a backup battery provides an extra two months of memory protection.

wide; D is again a vertical line; and E, Company, is 10 characters wide.

The Calendar (or Time) template (see photo 3) is designed to hold a two-week calendar. Column A is used for morning times, B for dates and date formulas, C for afternoon times, and D for the day of the week. Date arithmetic is built-in so that when a current date is typed in to cell Bl, the Workslate calculates the remaining dates. The softkey functions are alarm, date, set time, timer, and reset. When the "timer" function is set, the Workslate tracks the length of a phone call. You can then enter this time into a client billing spreadsheet.

ROM templates can easily be modified by a user and their softkey functions can be assigned to any worksheet. Worksheets can use 128 columns and 128 rows; however, the maximum spreadsheet size is 1000 cells. Worksheets without ROM templates attached can be Standard (no softkey labels assigned) or Finance (financial formula softkeys assigned). Cells can hold words, numbers, dates, times, formulas, or "draw" characters.

The depth of the spreadsheet capability belies the size of the computer. More than 40 formula functions (see table 2) are available for any cell, and more than 30 editing/formatting options can be accessed by pressing the Options function key at the bottom of the keyboard.

There are two methods of entering formulas. In the interactive mode, the system builds formulas such as average, minimum, maximum, total, and copy cell for you depending on the softkey selected. You can enter your own formulas in direct entry mode. Cell references may be specific cells, a number of individual cells, a range, or any combination. Relative cell references are entered by pointing to a cell. If a relative reference changes, the worksheet is automatically readjusted.

Options are organized into three sets of five, each selected by using the function key corresponding to the softkey label. Each set of options has additional layers of softkey functions. Within this structure you can sort columns of data in ascending or descending alpha or numeric order; copy, move, delete, and format data

in cells; draw lines and boxes using and expanding ASCII characters (photo 2); recalculate a worksheet; specify printer-pen colors and margins; set communications protocol and password protection; change column width; and create or link vertical and horizontal windows. The Workslate has no Help function. The project team decided at the beginning that the software design would have to be understandable without additional on-screen help.

Designing the Workslate

The Workslate's design reflects an enormous amount of end-user interaction during development and the company's intention from the beginning to design a machine to do a few specific tasks very well.

Matt Sanders, vice-president and general manager of Convergent Technologies' new Advanced Information Products Division, said the project began for him about a year and a half ago. At that time, as the sole employee of the new division, he was charged with developing a computer for the low-end market. His first responsibility was to develop proposals for the next generation of machines. He began researching the project by wandering through corporations and from one small "Main Street" business to another asking people what they were doing with their computers.

It became obvious to him that while clerical and administrative people were using word-processing functions, managers and proprietors were using spreadsheets. In addition, this latter group of business professionals spent much of its time on the telephone and managing its calendars. While the managers were interested in communications to larger machines and databases, they were not at all interested in word processing. Sanders became convinced that an electronic-spreadsheet machine with integrated time-management and communication functions could be designed and targeted specifically for this audience. (This decision to build hardware and software in tandem, starting from the ground up, probably accounts for some of the

58 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Workslate's surprisingly quick processing speed.)

Sanders's second responsibility and what he found the hardest part of the project was hiring the project team. He said you begin with a vision of the team and the machine in your mind, but once you begin hiring people, you find you're completely wrong. "You hire the first person and suddenly it's not your product, it's the two of yours. Then you look for the third person. The result is that the product gets better and changes right in front of your eyes." The Ultra team (as the project came to be called) is composed of people hired away from Savin, Texas Instruments, Motorola, Atari, and Hewlett-Packard.

The Ultra team started by taking its ideas on the road, testing the Work-slate concept with groups of potential end users in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. These one-day brainstorming sessions evolved into an ongoing interaction. Local members of the users group have participated on a weekly basis, stopping by Convergent Technologies' offices nights, weekends, and at lunch time to try out the latest software and hardware designs. Long-distance communications have been kept up through newsletters, questionnaires ("Rate the following 10 functions in order of priority"), and exercises ("Imagine you're a copywriter describing this product").

Karen Toland, marketing manager for Convergent Technologies, acted as a liaison between the user groups and the software-development team. She noted that being able to cite actual examples from end users gave her additional support when she was bargaining for changes with software engineers constrained by 64K bytes of ROM and aggressive schedules. End users were no longer invisible. They were in the next office. The result of this iterative process is evident in the simplicity and depth of the software, in labels such as Do It assigned to dedicated keyboard function keys, the use of softkey labels, and the integration of communications and time management within spreadsheet applications.

$ Puts dollar sign at beginning of formula result. Does not convert to dollar

decimal position.

@ Specifies cell reference to be absolute, not relative.

Abs Returns absolute value of argument. Single parameter is numeric value, cell

reference, or formula.

ACRS Accelerated depreciation. Calculates depreciation value based on number of

periods, percentage rate, cost, investment-tax-credit percentage, and period number. Any value may be cell reference.

Alarm Sets date and time when alarm should activate. Alarm may be set to beep

when conditions entered in formula are met.

And Returns logical value true if all specified argument values are true. Other-

wise, returns false. Argument entries must be logical values.

Average Calculates numerical mean average of all cells contained in given argument. If no numeric cells are in the list, the average is zero.

Count Returns number of cells that contain numbers or formulas that evaluate to

numbers in a specified area.

Date Value of cell is equal to current system date when recalculation is performed.

There are no parameters for this function.

Decline Declining balance. Indicates specific depreciation value based on number of

periods, percentage rate, book value, and period number,

Delay Number of seconds to delay the system from sending information.

Dial Dials the number supplied. A second parameter determines the nature of the

call, talk, or data. Default is "talk" if no parameter is supplied.

FutrValue Calculates future value in interest calculations based on percentage rate, periods, payment, and present value.

GoTo Moves pointer to a specified cell reference.

If Describes logical value, then value, and optional else value.

Index Returns value of cell selected by a relative numeric subscript reference

within a specified range of cells (area and single cell reference). The result is the contents of that cell.

Int Integer. Returns argument as a whole number. Calculated as nearest whole

number less than the value entered.

IsErr Returns the logical value true if argument is any of the error values.

Keep Requires four parameters. First describes where incoming information should

be stored in a worksheet. The next three describe the exact location of information as it would display in terminal window in terms of beginning line number, starting character position, and number of characters per line of the area to be kept.

Line Replicates a specific character a specific number of times.

Lookup Searches for arguments in first row or column of area reference as table.

Returns contents of the cell from the last row or column of table. Numeric value and range parameters are required.

Max Produces largest arithmetic value in area specified. Area may be specified

by a list or range of cell references.

Min Produces the least arithmetic value in area specified. Area may be specified

by a list or range of cell references.

Mod Returns remainder of dividend divided by divisor.

NPV Produces present value of a series of periodic future receipts, given a dis-

count rate. The two parameters are percentage rate and list.

Not Returns the opposite of the logical value argument.

Or Returns the logical value true if any value in the list is true.

Payment Calculates the amount of payments based on periods, percentage rate, present value, and future value.

PresValu Calculates present value in interest calculations based on percentage rate, periods, payment, and future value.

Round Rounds a value to the number of digits specified.

Send Transmits a string of information. Used in sign-on functions.

Straight Straight-line depreciation calculation based on periods, book value, salvage value, and period number.

SumYears Sum of the year's depreciation calculation based on periods, book value, salvage value, and period number.

Total Calculates the total amount of area specified.

WaitFor Waits for a specified string to be sent to the system.

; or - Pause

/ Date

: Time

< Less than

> Greater than Equal to

* Not equal to

°/o Percent

< = Less than or equal to

> = Greater than or equal to

Table 2: The Workslate includes more than 40 function formulas that can be used in a direct-entry formula mode.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Trends

It will be interesting to watch the development of portable computing. The Workslate machine comes to market a short time after the introduction of the first battery-powered portables and points in a direction different from that of the full-functioned Dynabook concept that the Gavilan and Grid portables try to approach. The concept of designing a machine specifically to handle the most important tasks for a particular segment of the population could easily be carried into other areas. An obvious choice would be to target a machine for people who work with words. It wouldn't be a surprise if the Workslate team began putting its energies into designing a "word" slate or perhaps a slate for students, doctors, or architects.

In last month's BYTE West Coast, Trip Hawkins of Electronic Arts said that one reason he built Electronic Arts on the model of individual producers and artists was because the framework of large corporations often

inhibits the quick development of innovative products. Indeed, as you look through this month's BYTE, it becomes apparent that the only way IBM Personal Computer peripheral and compatible manufacturers can keep their edge is if they can move faster than IBM.

Convergent Technologies, primarily known as a manufacturer of multifunctional workstations for the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) market, took a radical, if not entirely new, approach when it sent Sanders on his mission. The Ultra team had the best of both worlds. Its members had the advantage of "startup" enthusiasm and corporate financial backing. The entire Workslate project took little more than a year.

The fate of the Workslate will be due at least in part to the contributions from end users drawn into the product design early in the project. Sanders called the Ultra team a "talented group of software engineers, marketing, human-interface, and testing people all working as a

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team on behalf of the end users/' He said that a clinical laboratory and cognitive psychological approach rather than an interactive approach to design probably would have resulted in a different product—perhaps a more efficient one. But Sanders went on to say that the company decided it was going to have fun. "We did it grass roots. We wanted to do it interactively."

If the Workslate is a resounding success, it's possible that other companies will borrow Convergent Technologies' idea of small design teams working directly with potential users to design products specifically for vertical markets.

Intel's BPK70-4 Bubble Storage Subsystem

Whatever direction the portable computing field takes, it will undoubtedly be influenced by Intel's recent announcement of a price drop for its BPK70-4 1-megabit (128K-byte) Bubble Storage Subsystem.

Bubble-memory storage falls somewhere between RAM and disk storage in application. Like RAM, bubbles offer compact, solid-state read/ write memory storage, but they're much slower. Bubble memory is six times faster than floppy disks with one-third the power requirements and 1000 times better error rates, and, like disks, the memory is nonvolatile. But until now, bubble systems have been too expensive for wide application such as mass-storage memory. As a result, bubble memory has often been the forgotten stepsister in the microcomputer industry

Intel's 1979 price for its bubble-memory system was a whopping $2500. Today's volume price for the Bubble Storage Subsystem is $199 (in production lots of 5000), and a two-step, two-year price-reduction program will drop the tab to a guaranteed $99 (for lots of 25,000) by the fourth quarter of 1984. That will mark the first time bubble memory will cost less than $100.

With a BPK70-4 system you get 1 megabit of nonvolatile, solid-state, read/write memory and a mean-time-between-failure rate of 40 years with a system operating continuously at a

60 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Photo 4: The 4-megabit Helix bubble-memory board plugs into an IBM Personal Computer slot for quiet, nonvolatile mass storage. The Helix PCBM is switch-selectable (on-board ROM BIOS bootstraps DOS from the bubble or floppy disk) and is configured as a fixed disk.

temperature of 55 degrees centigrade. Average access time is 40 milliseconds.

The "subsystem" consists of a 7110 1-megabit bubble-storage device accompanied by a set of Intel's LSI support chips that run the storage unit and interface with the microprocessor. The set includes a 7220-1 controller, a formatter/sense amplifier, current pulse generator, and driver circuits. The bubble-memory subsystem can operate in parallel for faster memory transfer or multiplexed for low power consumption. A software program acts as a conduit for information between the bubble system and the external system.

An additional controller, the 7220-4, which supports up to eight BPK70-4 Bubble Storage Subsystems, can be purchased separately and is also being reduced in price.

The next price step for Intel is a targeted $150 tab by 1986 for its 7114 4-megabit bubble system. The 7114 will be compatible in form and function with the 1-megabit kit for easy upgrade design paths. By that time, a new generation of bubble devices, built around the 16-megabit bubble, should make its first appearance.

Because of their high price, reliability, and immunity to environ-

mental stresses, bubbles have been used primarily for mass storage in military, manufacturing, and industrial applications. They've found homes in battlefield command and communications terminals, factory-floor robots, aircraft navigational systems, and numerical control machines for machine-tool manufacturers.

A bubbles

nonvolatility eliminates

the need for backup

batteries and lowers

the power

consumption.

Price reductions to less than $300 per unit in 1982 have helped bubbles move into point-of-sale and banking terminals and portable computers, notably the Grid Compass (with 3 megabits of bubble memory) and the Teleram.

Bubble memory has many advantages over tape and disk storage for portable manufacturers and users. A bubble's nonvolatility eliminates the need for backup batteries used to protect RAM memory and lowers the power consumption. (The Teleram uses power cycling techniques to

shut off power to the bubble when it is not accessed.) With no moving parts in the system, problems caused by dust, vibration, shock, and wide temperature ranges disappear, reducing maintenance problems and increasing reliability. In addition, because the system is protected with a sleeve of magnetic shielding material, it can be used in the vicinity of strong magnetic fields without damage. The density and compactness of bubble systems make 128K bytes of mass storage easily possible in a briefcase computer, and the absence of disk drives reduces a portable's weight.

Grid's solution to the problem of how to load programs into a computer that (initially) didn't have a disk drive was to have Compass owners use the built-in modem to load programs over telephone lines from a Grid central computer.

Loading programs is not a problem, though, when bubbles are used in networked office systems. In this type of system, bubbles can provide a large amount of working storage for application programs and data loaded from large computers into workstations that may or may not be portable. It's possible that we'll see portable workstations plugged into an information network during the

62 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

The Professional's Editor for Program Development, Word Processing, Source Code Translations

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VEDIT is completely customizable -- it easily configures to your favorite keyboard layout. Use any function or cursor key you wish. Plus, our total commitment to hardware support ensures that VEDIT will be perfectly matched to your individual needs and to any microcomputer you are ever likely to own.

VEDIT cuts programming time in half - with multiple file handling, macro capability and special features for Pascal, PL/1, *C\ Coboi, Assembler and other languages. And it can help with source code translations (example ZILOG to/from INTEL translator macros are included). A complete line of translators will be available soon.

Word processing is a snap with word wrap, paragraph and print functions. Command macros free you from tedious search/replace operations. Hundreds of search/replace on dozens of files can be performed by VEDIT without waiting or intervening

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BYTE November 1983

day and riding home in a briefcase at

night.

Helix PCBM

Helix Laboratories of San Diego, California, has announced the first bubble-memory board for the IBM Personal Computer (photo 4). The 4-megabit Helix PCBM uses four Intel 7110-4 1-megabit bubble memories and offers 512K bytes of nonvolatile, high-speed mass storage for the IBM PC. Its operation is completely silent and several times faster than a floppy disk. The 4-megabit Helix PCBM will retail for $1500, and a 2-megabit (256K-byte) board will cost $1000. When Intel's price reductions go into effect in 1984, bubble memory will become highly competitive with RAM disks—comparable in cost, slower, but nonvolatile.

The Cygnet Communications Cosystem

Cygnet Technologies of Sunnyvale, California, introduced the Cygnet Communications Cosystem at the IBM PC Faire in San Francisco in August. The Cosystem (see photo 5) takes up a little more space than a telephone but provides a much greater range of communications. The Cosystem is designed to work concurrently with a personal computer—at first release, the IBM PC.

The Cosystem contains its own Z80 central processor and 90K bytes of RAM, including 64K bytes of battery-backed CMOS RAM for storing messages. While the user performs normal operations on the PC, the Co-system will perform background communications—automatically receiving or sending messages. The Cosystem automatically dials telephone numbers from a directory of 400 names. If a number is busy, the Cosystem will automatically redial it. A built-in text editor permits composing messages, a calendar/clock provides for scheduling appointments and receiving automatic reminders, and communications management provides unattended sending and receiving of electronic mail, including distribution lists and copies to listed parties. Communications software emulates 15 common terminals and

Photo 5: The Cygnet Communications Cosystem works with an IBM Personal Computer (and some compatibles), extending the PCs communications capability by providing simultaneous voice and data communications, unattended automatic electronic mail automated database access, and intelligent telephone features.

supports file transfers and attachment of data files such as spreadsheets to electronic mail. The Cosystem permits simultaneous spoken and textual communications and three-way teleconferencing. PBX functions are also included.

With a built-in 1200-bps 212A modem, the Cosystem costs $1845. With a 300-bps modem, the price is $1495. A speaker phone costs an additional $150.

That's a fairly high price, but when you consider all the features that the Cygnet Cosystem provides, the price seems more reasonable. Its features include a telephone, an auto-dial/ auto-answer modem, sophisticated communications software, concurrent operating system capabilities, a data buffer, and PBX (private branch exchange) functions. The only other

feature that you might need is a voice-synthesis module that could politely tell unwanted callers that you were "in a meeting."

One of the nicest things about the Cosystem is that you apparently can interrupt work in a program on the PC, answer a telephone call (voice or data) on the Cosystem, and then return automatically to your previous place in the program. The Cosystem thus offers personal computer owners an easy way to move into some very sophisticated telephone management and electronic communications. And all of this is accomplished without tying up the computer's central processor. ■

Barbara Robertson, a West Coast technical editor of BYTE, can be reached at McGraw-Hill, 425 Batten/ St., San Francisco, CA 94111.

64 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

User's Column

The Latest from Chaos Manor

A discussion of disk formats leads this month's foray into microland

by Jerry Pournelle

As Alice said, things flow here so. If that's true in microland, it's particularly so here at Chaos Manor. We try to stay out at the edge of what's happening. It's not always easy. One thing I've always insisted on is the best possible software, particularly for operating systems. I hate it when systems crash with text in them.

Alas, it's not easy for users to understand what's going on inside the operating system. Digital Research's new CP/M documentation is greatly superior to the gibberish it used to publish, but the intricacies of the CBIOS (customized basic input/ output system) can be arcane indeed and are usually well beyond me.

Fortunately, I don't have to know all these things. We've had Tony Pietsch. The good news is that Bill Godbout has put Tony to work doing software for Compupro; by the time you read this, the standard CBIOS that comes with Compupro equipment will be what I'm using now.

That carries a number of pluses. For example, you can do amazing things to reconfigure your keyboard. Terminals operate reliably at 19,200 bits per second. It's now easy to tell the system that you have a "Silicon Disk" (see apology below). I can operate 5V4-inch as well as 8-inch disk drives. Moreover, it's simple to change things around. You can do it inside the CBIOS, or you can change an external Submit program that runs automatically on start-up. Either works, and it sure makes things convenient.

The good news is that Tony's CBIOS will be standard with Com-

pupro equipment bought through its Systems Centers. It will become the standard BIOS for all Compupro equipment, including previous stuff. Updates will be available for those who have older Compupro equipment. In addition, the company intends to set up a CBBS (computerized bulletin board system) to help distribute new BIOS ideas, but only on the understanding that this sort of thing isn't supported by Compupro itself.

Things are a bit up in the air on this; it's also possible that Workman and Associates will distribute a heavily supported version of Tony's BIOS (Workman will supply the support). Watch this column for more details. In any event, the CBIOS will come complete with source code, and you'll need Digital Research's RMAC to assemble it. Previous versions had to be assembled with Sorcim's ACT assembler.

Let This Be a Lesson to You . . .

Tony brought over the new CBIOS as soon as he's finished testing it. His machine is similar to our Golem: an 8085 Dual Processor with lots of extra memory and various other bells and whistles. He'd even borrowed my 5y4-ineh disk controller and drives.

It was simple enough setting it up for the Golem, and while he was doing it he told me of some of the more interesting problems he'd run into, such as a bug in the disk-controller chip that interacted with the disk-format routines to cause real quality-assurance problems. That, however, was all fixed.

The new CBIOS worked fine. Then came the bad news: Tony couldn't put the new system into Zeke II, the Compupro Z801 write with, because he hadn't had a Z80 to work with, and it would take a couple hours to set up and check out.

There was only one answer to that. "Be my guest," I said. After a while he got tired of me hanging over his shoulder, and I went in to watch The ATeam. About midnight all was well, we tested everything, and he went home.

I now had a new Systems Master Disk for Zeke II. Naturally I wanted to transfer a bunch of the programs from the old Systems Master over to it. Then I'd copy the whole works onto the old Systems Master, archive the new disk, and use the old one as the working copy. I expect you can guess what happened next.

Late at night. Tired. Through an asinine series of mistakes, I managed to reformat the new disk. As soon as it happened I knew, and despite a frantic stab at the Reset button I was too late. Frantic call to Tony.

He hadn't made a copy

We shouted "Rule One!" at each other a couple of times, then laughed, although there wasn't anything very funny about it. More than two hours' work was gone, and Tony was leaving town. The result was that I had the new system on the Dual Processor, and the old one on Zeke II, and I had a week to contemplate the error of my ways.

Rule One: Thou Shalt Make A Backup Copy Immediately.

Rule Two: Thou Shalt Not Insert

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

The Only Master In Thy Machine Except For The Purpose Of Making A Backup Copy.

On these two rules hang all the law and the profits.

One Overdue Apology

As regular readers know, I'm enamored of disk emulators—that marvelous trick whereby you convince your computer that a lot of memory is really a disk drive. It does wonders for spelling checkers, speeds up long assemblies, and in general makes life a lot easier. Eventually, I suppose, "memory drives" will be replaced by hard disks; but at the moment they're sufficiently good that I've been able to wait while hard-disk prices fall (and hard-disk software gets better).

Comes now the apology. In tracing the story of disk emulators, I've sometimes mentioned Mr. Peter Cheesewright and his Microcosm Research company in London, but alas, I've often forgotten; worse, I've even tended to use his product name, Silicon Disk, as if it were a generic name for disk emulators.

That's less than fair. To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Cheesewright's Silicon Disk was the first disk emulator available for microcomputers. I've never used Silicon Disk (a great name, that), but I have used his Microcache, and I'm quite impressed; and people I respect tell me his Silicon Disk works quite well also.

I know better, and I'll try not to do it again. My apologies.

Ye Immortal Gods, Where Are We?

Dr. Allan Trimpi and I are working on a book. He doesn't have a word processor. I, however, wasn't about to work with Stone Age tools like typewritten pages, so I told him I'd lend him one of the computers floating about Chaos Manor.

Comes now the problem of selecting a machine. What's needed is an easy means of getting his files onto disks readable by Zeke II, since I'm pretty set in my ways. Of course, that ought to be easy.

Hah. Easy it wasn't. Nobody's machines read other people's disk for-

mats. This situation is plain getting out of hand!

There is some hope in sight, but it's limited. A program called Uniform comes with the Kaypro II. It will let the Kaypro II read, write to, and format many single-sided 5V4-inch disk formats. However, that presents a number of problems even so.

Example: Dr. Trimpi did much of his preliminary work with the Kaypro II. Now we needed to make 8-inch disks for Zeke II to read. I asked my son Alex and his partner Barry Workman to help out. If I'd known what I was getting them into, I might not have.

Step One: the Kaypro II will read and write, but not format, 5V4-inch disks readable by the Xerox 820 (which is also Cromemco CDOS-compatible). They used Ralph, Barry's Lobo Max 80, to format some disks in Xerox 820 format. (This step is no longer needed; Uniform now allows the Kaypro II to format disks for the Xerox 820.)

Step Two: put a system track, and PIP, onto each and every one of Dr. Trimpi's data disks. Now use PIP to transfer all the files from his disks (in the left drive) to the Xerox 820-format data disk.

Step Three: put the Xerox 820 disks back in Ralph and use PIP to transfer to 8-inch IBM single-sided single-density disks. These are readable by Zeke II.

So far so good. There's worse . . .

Oh No!

We needed the Kaypro II before Dr. Trimpi was finished. However, we weren't using the Z-100, so we lent him that. Only one problem: getting his Kaypro II files onto the Z-100. That wasn't hard.

The Z-100 will transfer files from an 8-inch disk drive; just plug it into the 8-inch drive connector on the back of the Z-100.

This is easy except for one tricky point: when you boot up the Z-100, the 8-inch drives must be connected at that time. If they aren't—if you boot up and then connect the 8-inch drives—the Z-100 will never learn that the 8-inch drives exist even if you do Control-C until you starve.

Note well: the Z-100 will write to Compupro-formatted 8-inch double-density disks, but the results are not always good. It will reliably write only to single-sided single-density IBM-format (3740/1) 8-inch disks. On the other hand, it will (almost always) read double-sided double-density disks, Compupro format. If you want to be utterly safe, transfer your files to single-sided double-density Com-pupro-format disks before reading them with the Z-100. That always works (although, alas, writing to them doesn't).

Late addition: the Z-100 will reliably read and write 8-inch single-sided disks formatted by the Compupro Disk One Controller and the new Compupro Format program. You must select format 3, 8 tracks by 1024 bytes, double-density. Other double-density formats are not reliably read.

However: then we got a Kaypro 4, which has double-sided 5V4-inch disks. We decided to lend that to Dr. Trimpi. (Poor chap, he gets to check out the new machines.) Now, the Kaypro 4 will read Kaypro II disks. Just boot up as usual, and put the Kaypro II disk in the "B:" drive. All's well.

Alas, he'd done a lot of work on the Z-100. We were recalling the Z-100 for tests with a new memory board. Nothing for it but to transfer his work to the Kaypro 4.

Step One: transfer from Z-100 to 8-inch disks. Easy.

Step Two: make Xerox 820 disks on the Kaypro II using the Uniform program.

Step Three: use the Lobo Max 80 to transfer from 8-inch to the 5V4-inch Xerox 820-format disks.

Step Four: transfer from Xerox format to Kaypro II. Alternatively, you can boot up the Kaypro 4 as if it were a Kaypro II (i.e., using the Kaypro II boot disk in your Kaypro 4); this makes the Kaypro 4 believe it has only single-sided disks. Alas, the Kaypro 4 cannot read Xerox 820-format disks, or indeed any other single-sided 5V4-inch disk except the Kaypro II—and it cannot run the Uniform program unless you boot it up as a II. (Kaypro says it's fixing this Real Soon Now.)

66 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Step Five: remove the Kaypro II-format disk from the 4; reboot the 4 as a 4; use the Kaypro II disk as a data disk and use PIP to send the files from it to a Kaypro 4 disk.

Step Six: take a long pull at the slivovitz . . .

Whimper

There are a few problems with all this. As an example, the Xerox 820 format, which is the common format through which these transfers had to be made, holds only 80K bytes per disk. Because an IBM single-sided single-density disk holds 241X bytes, it takes quite a few of these transfer operations before you're done. Alex learned a lot of patience.

There are also bugs, most of which are said to be fixed.

The original distribution of Uniform from Micro Solutions had a menu option to make a Z-100 single-sided disk (on the Kaypro II, which, recall, is a single-sided-disk machine). Alas, it didn't do that. It made disks that the Kaypro could read and write, but the Z-100 could make no sense of them at all.

This stopped direct transfer from the Z-100 to the Kaypro II. The bug is now fixed; owners of the old version can send in their original distribution disks and receive the updated version with the bug fixed. Those who received Uniform with their Kaypro II need not bother: your version doesn't even offer the option of formatting Z-100 disks. You'll have to buy the new Uniform (which has 15 formats) from Micro Solutions.

In case you're wondering why we didn't use the Z-100 to format Z-100 disks—I mean, it does seem reasonable, doesn't it?—you may be able to guess the answer. The Z-100 cannot format single-sided disks. It can read them. It can write to them. It just can't format them.

You may recall that the Z-100 uses disk-controller circuitry very close to that of the Compupro Dual Processor—which is identical to the IBM PC disk format. Thus, one ought to be able to read Z-100 ZDOS disks in an IBM PC, and vice versa, and indeed one can. You just can't format single-sided disks in a Z-100 (double-

sided disks are no problem). There is one expensive solution: you can get an external single-sided 5V4-inch disk drive for your Z-100. Otherwise, forget th.3 whole thing.

Tony tells me there's another solution: you can install a switch that makes the Z-100 believe one of its drives is single-sided. This is way out of my department, though, and I mention it only for completeness.

A final note, in case anyone's still listening: the Morrow Micro Decision will read and write Osborne 1 single-density disks. However, if you make one with the Lobo, although the Osborne will read and write to that disk, the Morrow can't. I have no explanation, and by now I'm beyond emotion; I merely report . . .

Help at Last

There is a remedy to this, at least for me. After considerable persuasion, Tony worked into his new BIOS the capability for supporting a whole raft of different 5V4-inch disk formats. All you need is a 5 ¥4-inch disk-con-

troller board and a 5V4-inch disk drive (plus, of course, a Compupro Dual Processor S-100 computer). You can then read, write, and format about 65 percent of all the 5 ¥4-inch disks in existence. This includes Otrona, Kaypro, Compupro, all flavors of Osborne, and Z-100.

With Tony's new system we can painlessly read and transfer not only data files but software.

There is one problem. With 40-track disk drives—such as the IBM PC drives—things are very slow. This means you must read off the programs onto some other disk, such as a hard disk, 8-inch disk, memory disk, or, for that matter, even a different format of 5 ¥4-inch disk, and operate them from that; otherwise, you pay a severe (factor of two) speed penalty.

It seems a small price to pay. This too will be available from Compupro about the time you read this. (I have it now, so I know it will work; the uncertainty is in getting it all into production.)

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November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Mrs. Pournelle's Dilemma

Roberta Pournelle has had the summer off from her school and has decided to write her own book about how to teach people to read. She has, after all, been teaching incarcerated illiterate teenagers for a dozen years and has yet to find one she couldn't teach. But she thinks she can't write and wants me to work on the book with her. Fine, says I, only you'll have to work with a word processor.

That was all right by her.

When Roberta decided to do her book, the Epson QX-10 with Valdocs was still on my secretary's desk, and I was out of town. Valdocs was very easy at first, but sufficient problems arose to cause her to abandon it.

She wasn't about to invade my office. Query: which machine should she use?

Simple, thought I. Use Adeline, my Otrona portable.

She did. She loved it. Came the next weekend, when I was scheduled to go make speeches. I packed up Adeline. Now what? "Use Zeke," said I. But she wouldn't, for fear of breaking something and ruining our livelihood.

I showed her the Osborne Executive. There was only one problem. Adeline has WRITE, my favorite text editor, and she'd learned that; she wasn't about to learn a new text editor in midstream.

I solved the problem by setting up the Z-100, which does use WRITE, and at last count she'd finished some 30,000 words including 50 lessons. At least it's simple enough to transfer her files from the Z400 to Zeke II. I merely have to carry the Z-100 from one end of the house to the other. Once it's physically next to Zeke, there's nothing to plugging in the 8-inch disk drives, I'm sure the exercise is good for me.

Back to Dr. Trimpi

Every now and again I get evidence to support my prejudices.

By now, Allan Trimpi, MD, has used just about every machine and text editor around. He's had a spell using Zeke II while I was out of town. He's used Select on the Kaypro II. He's used Wordstar on the Kaypro 4

and the Osborne Executive. He's used WRITE on both Adeline the Otrona and Zorro the Z-100. He's even used Spellbinder on the Eagle 1600.

He prefers WRITE, regardless of the machine it's on; enough so that we've had to go to some lengths to make that possible. Of course, he's creating text, much as I do, not programming, or doing fancy formatting; but it's one more data point. I have yet to meet a creative writer who, having given WRITE a fair chance, didn't prefer it to the text editor now in use.

Incidentally, Allan also loves the Kaypro 4, and the newer hard-disk Kaypro 10, both of which now run WRITE.

WRITE Now

Meanwhile, Tony Pietsch, who wrote WRITE more or less to specs drawn up by Larry Niven and me, has made arrangements to bundle WRITE in with some upcoming Compupro machines. By the time you read this, Compupro's "Shirley" (that was Compupro's internal code name; as of this afternoon, Bill God-bout still didn't know the official name of the machine) will come with a large array of software that includes both WRITE and Sorcim's Super-writer.

I have also seen a version of WRITE with an install program that lets it run with a fairly wide variety of terminals and printers. This will probably be distributed through Workman and Associates.

I've seen a lot of text editors. One day I'll see one I like better than WRITE; certainly I can think of features I want that WRITE doesn't have. For example, I'd like a "line" count.

That is: WRITE doesn't have "lines." It's text oriented and marks the ends of paragraphs, not lines. (I can instantly change the on-screen format from a width of as low as two characters per line to as wide as the screen.) However, I sure wish WRITE gave me a count of the number of paragraph markers. I'd also like a command to allow me to jump to a particular paragraph; as it is, I have

to page my way through the text. That's easier than it sounds because WRITE scrolls so fast, and of course I can always use the FIND feature, but a "JUMP x PARAGRAPHS" command would be useful.

There are other features I'd like to see in a text editor. For example, I'd like an internal "desk calculator" and a way to embed "variables" into the text easily. Tony is keeping track of my suggestions; he swears that before I find a text editor I like better than WRITE, he'll have incorporated the new stuff.

I love it when a plan comes together . . .

More Apple Polish

We have an updated Applicard for the boys' Apple II. This one has 128K bytes of memory disk.

The Applicard, like the Microsoft Softcard, plugs into your Apple II and makes it think it's a Z80 running CP/M—indeed, while the Applicard is running, it is a Z80 running CP/M. Unlike the Softcard, the Applicard has on-board memory, so that your Apple becomes a full 64K-byte CP/M system.

The new card with memory disk is very easy to install and customize. It has some very nice features. Item: it reads CP/M into the Apple's memory; thus, whenever you do a Con-trol-C, it gets that from Apple memory. The result is that you can insert disks without systems tracks and run them (after you've booted with the CP/M system master, of course).

Applicard also installs uppercase and lowercase. It supports such peripherals as a Centronics printer card, although there are no ports on the Applicard itself.

We've had only one major problem with it. If you have a serial port in your system, Applicard will find it and initialize it; but, alas, it initializes it to "Modem 7 format," which is 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity. There's no mechanism for changing that. Whether that's the problem, or something else is, we've been unable to get the Apple with Applicard and serial port to communicate with other machines.

68 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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However, help is at hand. Alex has been on the phone to Winthrop Saville of Personal Computer Products (the Applicard people), and they're working on a generalized program to fix the problem. I'm supposed to get it Real Soon Now, and I'll let you know when I do.

However, I don't want to leave you with negative impressions. The new Applicard, with its memory disk, speeds up Apple CP/M something wonderful.

Unlike the Softcard, Applicard lets you operate with a full-up Apple. This is because it does most of its processing on-board, relegating the Apple to a smart terminal with a bit of extra memory. The Softcard works the Apple more heavily, and since full-up Apples are already at the edge of reliability, Apples with lots of cards plus Softcard often make strange errors. We haven't noticed those with the Applicard.

The Applicard people also make a board that will trick your Apple into thinking it's an IBM PC. I don't have one yet, but I'm looking forward to testing it.

Word Handler

The Apple II belongs to Phillip, 15, and Richard, 13. For about a year they used it only to play games. Lately, though, I notice they're using Word Handler, which they're really pleased with. They're doing their homework with the Apple now (but they're also still playing Temple of Aphsai and other games). Phil is also designing his own dungeon.

I confess I know little about Word Handler. However, I can guarantee that young computer users can learn it without help, because I've yet to tell the boys one thing about using it— and they're certainly doing their homework with it.

I'm no great fan of the Apple as a professional computer because I think you can get a lot more for your money; but as an all-around machine for learning that mysterious skill known as "computer literacy," there's a lot to be said for it. Besides, you can play Crush, Crumble, and Chomp, which is still my favorite computer game.

Printmates

When my mad friend first got me into the small-computer business way back in the dark ages of the seventies, the only letter-quality printer was the Diablo Daisy Wheel. Later came the NEC Spinwriter. Both were impact printers.

I still have my Diablo 1620. I also have an elderly NEC 7710. The Diablo has been to the shop two or three times and is covered by a service contract. Amazingly, the NEC 7710 has never been out of service except for about 15 minutes when the housekeeper had inadvertently thrown a switch while dusting.

In those days you simply wouldn't consider a dot-matrix printer for professional work.

That's no longer the case. True: I still think professional writers would do well to have real letter-quality printers, since their output is marginally easier to read, and anything that saves an editor's eyesight is a plus for sales; however, really good dot-matrix printers have become good enough.

Some are better than good enough. The machines from Micro Peripherals Inc. ("The Printer People") certainly are. We have two, the large Printmate 150, which usually operates with the Z-100, and the smaller Printmate 99. Both work exceptionally well. The 150 has a "Screen Dump" program for the Z-100, so that anything you can see on the screen, you can get a paper copy of. That's neat.

One important thing about dot-matrix printers is that the matrix have enough dots. Some of the really cheap printers don't, and therefore they have no true descenders. Descenders are those letters (g, j, p, q, y) that extend below the normal line of print. Some printers can't print below the line, so that the q looks a lot like the figure 9, while the j and p are simply ugly. Print without descenders is surprisingly hard to read, at least for me.

Graphics are an important advantage dot-matrix printers have over letter-quality machines like the Diablo. In theory you could, I suppose, make a daisy-wheel printer do crude graphics by programming

periods and squiggles and other simplistic characters, but in fact it's very hard to do, and there's almost no commercial software to simplify the task.

Finally, dot-matrix printers allow you to change typeface and font without physically changing the type elements; it's all done under software control.

The MPI printers all have these desirable features. They also come with readable documentation, so that it's not all that hard to use the advanced features. It's also easy to get the paper in, change the ribbons, and do all the other stuff needed to make full use of the machines.

We've had ours for some time now and have experienced no difficulties. True, I haven't worked the MPI printers as hard as I have the NEC Spinwriter, because I'm still old-fashioned enough to prefer the letter-quality print output of the NEC. However, that's changing. I'm setting up the Printmate 99 to work with the Dual Processor as the primary device for program listouts and other stuff for internal use. In the next few months we'll really bash it about. I don't expect any trouble from it.

John Matlock of MPI tells me the company will soon come out with a small, very rugged, and very portable printer. I'm hoping it will be small and rugged enough that I can have a fitted case built for it and take it with me on trips as checked luggage. If it can survive the airport baggage smashers, it will be just what I want.

Where Do We Go From Here?

A year ago it seemed clear enough: systems based on the Intel 8086 chip would dominate the market. The 8086 would be followed by the 1-86, then the 2-86, and so forth; each upgrade would be able to run the previous chip's software.

The only real rival to the 8086 and its successors was the 68000, and it had no clear follow-on, no clear path to future development.

I still believe that the 8086 and its successors will win out, but the battle is going to take longer than I thought. The reason is that the successor chips aren't being produced in

70 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

quantity. For reasons I don't quite understand, Intel took some shortcuts, resulting in 1-86 chips that ran slower than the 8086s do. That's been fixed, but the result is that 1-86 chips are in very short supply.

Meanwhile, the 68000 has arrived, and people are writing software for it. We have the Sage, running both UCSD Pascal and CP/M-68K. Modula-2, which is so far my favorite language, is available for the Sage (although only as a p-code generator; as I write this, there's still no native code compiler). I have a database and a text editor for the Sage.

The Compupro 68000 S-100-bus board is also available. This took a bit longer to deliver than anyone thought, but it's alive and well now. I've yet to do any serious comparisons between the Compupro 68000 and the Sage (this time it's not sloth; I had to run a Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy meeting, and it ate more time than I thought it would); however, so far I've seen no really dramatic dif-

ferences between the two machines when running CP/M-68K.

It's clear that machines based on the 68000 chip are here to stay. Moreover, a lot of software is being written in the C programming language. CP/M-68K thrives on C programs; thus, much of what's written in C for the IBM PC, and even for Z80 machines, can, with varying amounts of effort, be made to compile and run on 68000 systems.

Even so, I think the future belongs to the 8086 family.

First: the 8086 has IBM behind it. Big Blue isn't likely to go away. It's clear that IBM has a 1-86 machine already designed, and it's a good guess that the company is working on 2-86 follow-ons.

Second, Digital Research's Concurrent CP/M-86 (CCP/M) will one day catch on. This will be spurred on when Digital brings out its already-developed PC-DOS emulator—that is, a program that will let you run MS-DOS software under the CCP/M operating system. Much of that IBM

PC software will be available to any 8086 computer.

Third, Logitech has an 8086 native code compiler for Modula-2. This may not seem like much, but watch: in a year there will be a flood of software for 8086 machines written in Modula-2. The language is just too good to be passed up, and Modula-2 plus CCP/M is a dynamite package, comparable in power to some really expensive minicomputer systems.

Fourth, the portability of C goes both ways: if programs written in C for the 8086 can be brought over to 68000 systems, the reverse will be true also.

Finally, the tiger teams are working on CP/M-86. The original CP/M-86 was not a lot more than a translation of CP/M-80; the result was that it sure was slow. MS-DOS wasn't a heck of a lot better. Digital's people-including some outsiders—are now getting inside CP/M-86 with a view to optimizations to use the inherent speed and efficiency of the chip. The results are likely to be dramatic.

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November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 71

Items Reviewed

Applicard

Personal Computer Products 16776 Bernardo Center Dr. San Diego, CA 92128

(619) 485-8411

CHIOS

Dual Processor

Compupro

3506 Breakwater Court Hayward, CA 94545 (415) 786-0909

Concurrent CP/M-86 2.0

Digital Research 160 Central Ave. Pacific Grove, CA 93950 Available from dealers only

Kaypro II Kaypro 4 Kaypro 10

Kaypro Corporation 533 Stevens Ave. Solana Beach, CA 92075

(619) 481-3424

Modula-2

Logitech

165 University Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94301 (415) 326-3885

Printmate 99 Printmate 150

Micro Peripherals Inc. 4426 South Century Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84107 (801) 263-3081

S-100 Memory Board

Macrotech International Corporation 20630 Lassen St. Chatsworth, CA 91311 (213) 700-1501

Silicon Disk

Microcosm Research 26 Danbury St. London Nl 8JU, England

Uniform

Micro Solutions 125 South 4th St. De Kalb, IL 60115

(815) 756-3421

Word Handler

Silicon Valley Systems 1625 El Camino Real Belmont, CA 94002 (415) 593-4344

WRITE

Workman and Associates 112 Marion St. Pasadena, CA 91106 (213) 796-4401

$375

$595 with 128K-byte

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Help!

Every time I write about something—anything—three things happen. One, I carefully look up the names of the companies, and their addresses, and include them; BYTE's editors dutifully verify price and availability data, then list the company names and addresses in a special boxed feature that's inserted into my column.

Two, someone writes to ask how to get more information on the programs. Sometimes a lot of people do that.

Three, all these people get mad at me when I don't answer their letters. I realize that in some cases they've read a borrowed magazine and can't go look up what they want, and I feel a bit guilty; but, alas, I have neither the time nor the staff to do the job.

That's typical problem one.

Typical problem two: someone writes to ask that I analyze his particular situation and make recommendations. He's sure I can help, and no one else can. Alas, he's asking for several hours of work.

If I answer those letters, then a lot of other letters don't get answered. Either way I'm thought unfriendly. Besides, I was taught that one ought always to answer one's mail; alas, my mother never told me what to do when it became impossible.

That kind of problem causes some guilt feelings. There's another that doesn't: the form letter "requesting more information about" some product or another that I've mentioned. Unfortunately, word processors make it possible to write such letters without it being obvious that they are form letters, so I waste a certain amount of time reading them before I see what they are and pitch them in the circular file.

Then I worry: maybe it wasn't a form letter after all.

However, though I'm buried in mail, I do appreciate all the information I get, and I want to thank all those who write. I also apologize for not answering every letter I get. There's just no way I can do it. Worse, the pattern is capricious: some days I get to more mail than on others, and mail I don't get to on the day it comes

72 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

in usually settles into piles that the housekeeper eventually removes on grounds of public health.

If I didn't answer your letter, it may have been because it deserved a better answer than I could give. That's an awful thing to have to say, but alas, it's all true.

Coming Up

Astute readers will by now have noticed there's little correlation between what I think I'll do "next month" and what I actually write about. However, I'm told that my new IBM PC will indeed arrive in about a week; I look forward to playing with it.

Another neat toy is Macrotech's full-megabyte S-100 Memory Board. Mr. McMannis, our research assistant, had this to say:

"Finally brings true memory management to the microcomputer, with on-board memory-map registers, each allocating a 4K-byte block just like the PDP-lls use. There is also a 'bank-switched' mode as well as a '24-bit' mode so it can be used on both newer and older systems."

We've had Macrotech's board here far too long; it's time it got a thorough workout. It looks well made. I've a mild worry about airflow and heat dissipation. We'll see.

Other stuff I hope to look at includes Nevada Pilot, Cache/Q, Digital Research's Access Manager, and The Stiff Upper Lisp. Having learned my lesson about promises, I won't say next month; but Real Soon Now . . ■

Jerry Pournelle welcomes readers' comments and opinions. Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to ferry 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.

Jerry Pournelle is a former aerospace engineer and current science-fiction writer who loves to play with computers.

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Over 90,000 Apple computers are using Orange Micro products. Innovation and excellence have made us the #1 manufacturer of intelligent printer interfaces. The top selling Grappler + has become an industry standard, recommended by more software houses and Apple dealers. To meet the users' latest needs, Orange Micro will continue to introduce new products. Recent innovations include the Grappler + for IDS color printers and the new Orange Interface, with text screen dumps and formatting at a low price. There is an Orange Micro product designed for your application.

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BYTE November 1983 75

Inside the IBM PC

In 1977, I was using a computer, the IBM 5100. The machine was so expensive that my company could hardly afford it, but there it sat on my desk. It had BASIC, APL, and a magnetic-tape cartridge, and I was the only one using it —hence, it was a personal computer. Little did I know that only six years later the world of personal computers would be so different.

The introduction of the IBM Personal Computer transformed the computer industry: it spawned the largest group of third-party vendors the microcomputer industry has ever seen, it legitimized personal computers to an entire generation of executives, and it single-handedly enabled microcomputers to assume a greater percentage of the world's computational tasks. At the same time, it can be argued that the effect of IBM's preeminent position has not been all positive. Companies jumping on the IBM bandwagon to reap some of the profits may be holding back the technological innovation that would bring us computers that are more powerful and easier to use. Nevertheless, the world of IBM PC-compatible computing remains an immense and fascinating one.

One of the most compelling things about computers is that you can change their function by changing the software that drives them. In this issue, you can explore the IBM PC through several articles on software construction. On a higher level, several theoretical articles explain what makes the PC the machine it is.

Without doubt, the PC continues to influence the microcomputer market: the fortunes of many companies ebb and flow with IBM's moves. Beginning with an interview with Philip D. Estridge, president of IBM's Entry Systems Division, we analyze the PC and its place in the market.

The amount of activity surrounding the IBM PC is evident in the number of companies providing specialized hardware and software for it. In this issue, we report on state-of-the-art work being done by Microsoft, Digital Research, 3Com, and Small World Communications.

Several general-interest articles explore the PC in other ways. We have special reports on a Japanese IBM PC, expansion boards, and some of the more interesting uses people have found for their PCs.

The IBM PC will undoubtedly continue to influence the microcomputer industry. It remains to be seen if the spread of this machine throughout the world will provide us with the best of personal computing or, less ideally, an adequate but universally accepted standard. —Gregg Williams

78 IBM PCs Do the Unexpected by

Steven S. Ross

88 IBM's Estridge by Lawrence J. Curran and Richard S. Shuford

99 Enhancing Screen Displays for the I BM PC by Tim Field

121 POKEing Around in the IBM PC, Part 1: Accessing System and Hardware Facilities by Hugh R. Howson

135 Could 1,000,000 IBM PC Users Be Wrong? by Frank Gens and Chris Christiansen

144 Big Blue Goes Japanese by Richard Willis

1 68 Expanding on the IBM PC by Mark J. Welch

188 Installable Device Drivers for PC-

DOS 2.0 by Tim Field

1 99 A Communications Package for the IBM PC by Richard Moore and Michael Geary

211 A Graphics Editor for the IBM PC by

Charles B. Duff

232 Comparing the IBM PC and the Tl

PC by Bobbi Bullard

247 Technical Aspects of IBM PC Compatibility by Charlie Montague, Dave Howse, Bob Mikkelsen, Don Rein, and Dick Mathews

254 The Making of the IBM PC by Brian Camenker

257 Concurrent CP/M by Joe Guzaitis

272 The IBM PC Meets Ethernet by Larry

Birenbaum

285 MS-DOS 2.0: An Enhanced 16 bit Operating System by Chris Larson

Painting by Robert Tinney

76 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

. n

^!*

IBM PCs Do the Unexpected

Proving that it is indeed a personal computer, the PC performs all sorts of unusual tasks; it's even an electronic therapist

In one of IBM's comical commercials advertising its Personal Computer, a Charlie Chaplin look-alike stands between two conveyor belts in a bakery. As he tries to jam a big cake into a little box on one line, disaster strikes: the other conveyor belt drops cakes all over the floor.

Could it be that bakeries are actually using PCs to avoid such accidents? And what other interesting tasks are being accomplished by the ubiquitous machine? I called around to find out—to PC user groups, to my friends who own PCs, and even to IBM-computer-user bulletin boards (which never seemed to detect that it was my Kaypro II doing the talking). I even asked a class I addressed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute if any of the 120 technical writers assembled there had any good leads.

Well, just about everybody did.

"Funny you should ask about bakeries," said Joe Rigo of the New York City PC Users Group. (He 'hadn't seen IBM's bakery ad.) "Time magazine called and asked if I knew of a bakery that might be using a PC

by Steven S. Ross

for inventory control, or whatever, for use in its cover story on IBM." He suggested that I talk instead to Al Goldstein, controversial publisher of a sex magazine called Screw and of Gadget, a fascinating newsletter that features mechanical, nonsexual toys for adult-age "children."

A congenial Goldstein said that his company has four PCs. "I've had one

The PC is replacing

larger computers in

many imaginative

applications.

at home for five months. I haven't used it; I'm intimidated by it," he confessed. "But my 9-year-old son loves it."

And what would Goldstein do with the PC, once he overcame his computer phobia? "I want an electronic schedule, so I can call my office and get a copy of my appointments and trip itineraries printed out at home. I want to do word processing.

I want to be able to retrieve facts and articles quickly. I want to file names and addresses of friends. The office [already] does use it to keep track of airline incentive mileage for bonus trips."

Until he feels comfortable with the PC, though, he said, "I feel like I'm standing outside a bordello. I can guess at the wonders inside, but the front door is stuck."

Fortunately for the PC market, however, the door is open for many other users, wide enough to push a mainframe through. Dr. Haig Kafa-fian of the Washington-based Cybernetics Research Institute, for example, has been developing ways of disabled people to communicate, work, and run a household using PCs and other computers with standard hardware and software. Making use of standard equipment and programs would hold the cost of such an electronic aid to a price that many disabled people could afford.

Artists such as Paul Ravina and John Schnell of New York have programmed PCs for complex graphics

78 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

tasks. The PC can be used to increase their productivity as well as their creativity. Indeed, PCs are performing many scientific, business, and educational tasks previously handled by much larger machines.

Emulating the Cray-1

One researcher, for instance, is using the PC to study how energy is transferred from the sea to the atmosphere. "It turns out that bubbles are the most important mechanism," says Ferren Maclntyre, a physical chemist turned oceanographer and research professor with the University of Rhode Island. The number and size of bubbles in the ocean can be measured two ways—optically, by measuring the intensity and color of light reflected back from the bubbles, and acoustically, by determining how much sound energy they absorb.

"Unfortunately, the two methods give answers that vary by orders of magnitude," says Maclntyre. So, with Duncan Blanchard of the State University of New York at Albany, he set out to learn why, by examining the optical properties of bubbles.

"We borrowed some programs to do the calculations from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and ran them on the NCAR Cray-1 supercomputer," said Maclntyre. Using those programs, it took less than a second to perform the necessary calculations. To avoid the headaches involved in writing additional grant proposals and working with the NCAR through transcontinental phone calls from Rhode Island, Maclntyre decided to rewrite the programs to run on his PC.

He has adapted the programs to let him examine how different wavelengths of light interact with the bubbles in different ways, depending on the size of the bubble and the angle at which an observer looks at the reflection (see photo 1). The problem is solved by computing the amount of scattering separately for horizontally and vertically polarized light. Each function, in turn, is a seemingly infinite sum of series approximations made up of two terms: an

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Photo 1: Two plots showing the scattering of unpolarized light by an 18-micrometer bubble as a function of the wavelength (x-axis) and the viewing angle (y-axis). Photo la is a quick-and-dirty plot that represents intensity as a given color. Photo lb, which takes longer to plot, produces a true three-dimensional contour plot.

angular dependence term that equals the sum or the difference of the derivatives of Legendre polynomials, involving trigonometic functions and complex fractions; and the sum or difference of two Bessel functions, each of which is a series with 20 or 30 terms that include factorials. Because the second term does not

converge properly (that is, it "blows up" to infinity once the series goes beyond a certain number), Maclntyre solves it by backward recursion—checking the size of the final function against the differences between successive terms in the function. Checking the scattering of 20 different wavelengths of light at

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

20 different angles for a bubble requires calculating 5000 terms—each of which is a complex fraction.

Maclntyre can perform those calculations with the software he wrote to run on his PC in MMSFORTH. He explains: "I keep hearing that FORTH is a lovely language for simple-minded work and that it's no good to do complex arithmetic. But it allows double precision, complex numbers, and large arrays. It's also 20 to 50 times faster than BASIC. FORTRAN is clumsy on micros, and I just won't use a language like Pascal that requires me to write '==;'; I just won't!"

FORTH had another allure for Maclntyre. He is friendly with a FORTH vendor. "I went to MIT with Dick Miller of Miller Microcomputer Service [which supplied MMSFORTH]. It's like having my own contract software shop. I call him up and say, 'You know, it would be great if we could do this,' and a couple of weeks later, we can."

Maclntyre has experienced one problem with FORTH, though. It is set up for four-digit hexadecimal addresses, but he needed to access more memory, so the software was modified to put his large arrays at the top of 64K. (His PC has 128K bytes, two single-sided floppy-disk drives, and two monitors—one color and the other monochrome. MMSFORTH is its own operating system and formats

the floppies for about 195K bytes each instead of the "standard" 160K bytes.)

What the Cray had accomplished in well under a second, it took the PC 9% hours to do—until Maclntyre installed an 8087 coprocessor chip last April. "Although the 8087 arrived with no software documentation and only enough hardware documentation to tell me how to stick it into the board, it took only two days to make the conversion," he said. One reason that conversion went well is that FORTH allows slow-running sections of code to be lifted out and replaced with machine-language instructions without disturbing the rest of the program.

"When I got the chip, I ran some simple benchmarks and wasn't too excited," Maclntyre said. "Addition speed was only doubled, calculations of logarithms went just 30 times faster. My real program, however, is computation-bound. By reducing memory seeks and other loop overheads, I got a 115-fold speedup." Routine computation time on the PC is now five minutes, seven seconds— a quite respectable 1000 times slower than the speedy Cray-1.

And what does Maclntyre get after five minutes? Easily interpreted color diagrams displayed on the color monitor. He has also learned that existing optical counting methods miss the small bubbles and thus ac-

count for much of the difference between optical and acoustical accounting.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Maclntyre isn't the only one substituting BASIC with another language for use on a microcomputer. Bill Noel of Physicians Practice Management in Indianapolis says that firm has developed software compiled on COBOL for medical practices. Designed to run on an IBM PC with a minimum of 128K bytes and a 10- or 20-megabyte hard disk, the package handles billing, accounts receivable, patient records, and clinical data. Through a 1200-bps (bits per second) modem, it will even dial a central computer to transmit insurance claims automatically. Noel uses the Microsoft version of COBOL, packaged for the IBM PC and running on MS-DOS.

"We've been a timesharing vendor since 1978, but we saw our market in danger of disappearing, so we got onto the micro bandwagon," Noel said. "The PC does everything our Data General C350 does, but only for one user at a time." The firm assembled the C350 system over several years, at a cost of roughly $150,000.

Why COBOL? "When we got into the timesharing business originally, we bought a standard package written in BASIC for the mini," said Noel. "It was a nightmare. After a while, it

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BYTE November 1983 81

Photo 2: Two actors p/m/ f/ie ro/es of interviewer and interviewee for an instructional videotape on presenting oneself at an interview. Professor Adkins plans to transfer such videotapes to a videodisc, which will then be controlled by an IBM PC and related software.

was completely unmaintainable. Programmers get carried away with the things they can do in BASIC, while COBOL leads them down a more structured path."

COBOL also handles large files more easily than most BASICs would. "We can search easily by fields, rather than with the hashing routines developed for floppy-disk-based systems/' Noel said. "A two- or three-person practice has 10,000 or 12,000 charts a year. To be useful, the files all have to be in the same place."

And, of course, COBOL allows code that is wordy enough to be almost self-documenting. It's common to find statements using full-length data names (e.g., "Patient Name-PATIENT NAME") instead of assigning string variables with symbolic designations.

"The only problems came up when we looked for off-the-shelf packages because there are so few for COBOL on a micro," said Noel. "For example, we couldn't talk directly to the asynch port directly out of COBOL. So we got someone to write an interface in assembler for a few hundred dollars."

The firm is making the software package (actually 120 separate, linked COBOL programs totaling more than 5 megabytes) available to doctors this

fall through General Electric Information Services at a cost of $5500. A properly equipped PC with a modem, a 200-cps (characters per second) printer, a hard-disk drive, and a backup tape drive costs about $15,000.

"In Indiana, we cut the turnaround time on Medicare claims from six weeks to six days," said Noel. "Internal-medicine practices or cardiopulmonary teams, which do a lot of business with Medicare, can accelerate their cash flow enough to pay for the whole thing in two or three weeks."

An Electronic Therapist?

Sam just can't control himself in an argument. Even a minor disagreement with his wife, for instance, quickly escalates into an all-out shouting match where reasoning is impossible.

Fortunately, Professor Win Adkins, founder of the Institute for Life Coping Skills at Columbia University's Teachers College in New York, has developed multimedia learning materials that can help Sam and other "underdeveloped" adults handle the stresses of everyday situations (see photo 2).

About 500,000 people in 30 states

have participated in groups that view Adkins-inspired videocassettes dealing with such matters as quick tempers and overcoming the fear of changing jobs. Unlike conventional on-the-couch therapy, these materials are not meant to delve into a person's overall environment—family background, education, finances, and so forth. Instead, they emphasize changing a person's outlook and timing. The aim is to promote an alternative, a more responsible reaction to a given kind of stress.

The sessions are now offered by 300 nonprofit organizations, including community hospitals, women's counseling centers, and adult-education centers. These organizations typically commit $10,000 for the equipment and training needed to run the institute's courses. Staff salaries are extra.

"Our goal now is to use the computer to make the process more interactive, more flexible," says Adkins. "The people would see dramatic vignettes depicting some aspect of the problem they are seeking help with."

Adkins plans to link the PC to a videodisc player, so that people like Sam can view a dramatic scene, such as the beginning of a family fight. They then choose which course of action they would take under the same situation. The videodisc will immediately show the consequences in a new scene. Each choice will lead irrevocably down a path to the next choice, then the next and the next, in almost endless variety.

"I like the computer because it lets people rate their performance, too," says Adkins. "They could rate their actions against a norm and not simply an abstraction or a personal feeling. After all, what is normal? And we can arrange for the computer to provide many possible outcomes for a given behavior pattern, depending on the circumstances. That's just like real life. It's acceptable to people in the program because there can be more than one model of effective behavior in any situation."

Because his program lets users observe many models, it should, he says, "allay fears that technology will limit the soaring human spirit." In-

82 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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stead, the opposite is true, he says— the computer allows lessons to mimic the rich variety of everyday human experience. Furthermore, Adkins says, "We can greatly improve the efficiency of learning in this soft field of 'coping/ and, by automating the delivery, we can lower costs and improve availability."

At first, Adkins said, adults will use their computer/therapists in the home or at the sponsoring institution, while occasionally getting together in groups to explore the norms. Eventually, the machines will be sufficiently inexpensive so that the institution will have to supply only the software—most adults will already own the hardware.

"There's a big 'if' in all this, though," Adkins says. "It all has to be designed right. Human experience is complex."

Adkins doesn't expect to have a complete system up and running for another two years or so. But his successful pioneering work with videotape suggests that he will succeed with computer-accessed videodiscs as well.

Why did Adkins choose the PC? "Simple. I knew I had to get educated about computers, the same way I taught myself how to produce slides and videotape vignettes. So I went out and bought the best."

As for me, I never did find a bakery using a PC. I'm sure there's at least one, though. Bakeries, with their perishable products and their high energy consumption, have long been leaders in computerization for inventory control and energy conservation.

In fact, the very first commercial computer in Great Britain was the Leo I, designed and built by a London-area baked-goods distributor, the Lyons Organization, in the late 1940s for near-real-time daily inventory control. Leo I handled data for more than 200 bake shops yet had only a fraction of the power of an IBM PC.B

Steve Ross, a New York-based writer and consultant living temporarily in Honolulu, holds degrees in physics and journalism. He first learned to program on an IBM 1620 twenty years ago. His mailing address is 120 Irving St., Leonia, NJ 07605.

84 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 376 on inquiry card.

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IBM's Estridge

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talks about standards, the PCs

simplicity, and a desire not to be different

by Lawrence J. Curran and Richard S. Shuford

The desire to offer a system that would appeal to experimenters who would be able to add value easily was one of the motivations that guided designers at In-ternational Business Machines (IBM) Corporation when it undertook develop-ment of the IBM Personal Computer (PC) in 1980. Philip D. Estridge, president of the IBM Entry Systems Division in Boca Raton, Florida, explained that desire to develop what is called an "open system" to BYTE editors in a recent interview.

IBM wanted to provide a simple system that offered customers the ability to experiment with very little effort, Estridge says. He adds that the idea for a system that customers could easily apply as they saw fit had been implemented by other personal computer manufacturers.

Simplicity was a key consideration in the IBM PC design, but counterbalancing simplicity was the need for a product that had durability as well as enough capacity and power to grow. The latter con-

siderations immediately led to the selection of a 16-bit processor, says Estridge, who notes that the Intel 8088 was a particularly fortuitous choice: "It happened to be there when we needed it to introduce the power of a 16-bit computer and keep the affordability of the 8-bit I/O [input/output] architecture" Estridge explains that the 8-bit I/O architecture makes it simple for users to add equipment to the IBM PC "without doing a lot of work or spending a lot of money" because the 8-bit interfaces are easy for hobbyists and third-party add-on manufacturers to understand.

Estridge would not discuss unit shipments or dollar sales of the IBM PC, and he would not talk about future IBM product plans or competitive products when he spoke with Richard S. Shuford, BYTE's special projects editor, and Lawrence J. Curran, editor in chief. BYTE's questions are in boldface and Estridge's answers are in lightface.

Did you consider what impact the IBM PC would make in terms of establishing standards?

When we first conceived the idea for the personal computer in 1980, we talked about IBM being in a special position to establish standards, but we decided that we didn't want to introduce standards. We tried to do everything we could to understand the existing infrastructure and propensities [in personal computers] across the board—in marketing, distribution techniques, pricing, customer alternatives, software suppliers, hardware add-on suppliers, and peripheral manufacturers. We tried to fit into what has become a very exciting, well-structured, and well-working business. We firmly believed that being different was the most incorrect thing we could do. We reached that conclusion because we thought personal computer usage would grow far beyond any bounds anybody could see back in 1980. Our judgment was that no single software supplier or single hardware add-on manufacturer could provide the totality of function that customers would want. We didn't think we were introducing standards. We were trying to discover what was there and then build a machine, a marketing strategy, and distribution plan that fit what had been pioneered and established by others in machines, software, and marketing channels. There is a 3.9-inch disk drive in the IBM family that is not the same size as some of the more popular drives that are becoming de facto standards; is that of concern to IBM? I can only tell you what we're doing in the personal computer group. There are many activities within IBM. Each has its own goals, and I wouldn't comment on what they're doing. But when we were developing the product in 1980 and 1981, alternative disk sizes were emerging—3 V2-inch, 3.9-inch, and5V4-inch. But then you look at the tremendous number of people who manufacture the 5 ¥4-inch media, the number who have equipment that produces the reproduced programs, and the number of customers who have the media, and you have to conclude that

88 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Estridge: an eye toward experimenters.

you don't need to take on the extra burden of introducing a disruptive medium, no matter how good it is. None of the disk alternatives offered enough of an advantage to warrant that kind of disruption. [IBM withdrew this drive from the market in September.]

What were the software considerations that resulted from your desire to "fit in" with the PC?

Let's take BASIC as an example. IBM has an excellent BASIC—it's well received, runs fast on mainframe computers, and it's a lot more functional than microcomputer BASlCs were in 1980. But the number of users was infinitesimal compared to the number of Microsoft BASIC users. Microsoft BASIC had hundreds of thousands of users around the world. How are you going to argue

with that? Many who wrote about the IBM PC at the beginning said that there was nothing technologically new in this machine. That was the best news we could have had; we actually had done what we had set out to do.

Did you try to discipline yourselves not to stretch the state of the art with the PC?

Yes. For example, you can handle a higher-performance I/O device with a 16-bit I/O channel than you can with an 8-bit I/O channel. Having an 8-bit I/O channel inherently limits the performance of the main processor because you have to move twice as many bits per operation. But that was a trade-off we chose to make to fit into what was already there. It wasn't too difficult a trade-off to make because there were no programs— and there are still few—that demand a higher performance processor than most that are out there. Do you have a profile of your typical customer or user? I don't think we have a typical user because the machine is so communal that typical doesn't have meaning, except for the fact that more and more people are discovering that they have needs that can be answered rather nicely by a personal computer. And they are in all walks of life—all the way from very young children to very elderly people—in every profession. Is there a typical minimum configuration emerging? I don't know. We've forced that answer somewhat because we build the machines that are most frequently ordered. We build four or five configured systems to make it easy for the dealer to put the systems together so that the work is done partly by us and partly by the dealer. We know that there are a lot of people building complete machines starting with a very rudimentary form of our product.

You say that you don't have a typical user, but is there a set of typical user characteristics that you have to deal with? For instance, do you find people who don't want to type on the machine because of the keyboard? Yes, we find those reactions, but not quite the way you said it.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Human Factors in the IBM PC

The placement of certain keys in the keyboard of the IBM PC has been widely criticized, but Philip D. Estridge cites prior IBM experience in building typewriters as being helpful in designing the PC keyboard. He points out further that various human-factors considerations are reflected in the overall PC design that he says make the machine comfortable to use.

The keyboard can be tilted, for example, to assume a flat-surface angle or a tilted-up angle. Estridge says both are standard angles that make users feel comfortable. "We don't know why people feel comfortable with one of those two angles," Estridge says, "but we've learned from building typewriters that these are the two popular angles for wrists."

He also cites studies of eye-pupil dilation that influenced the PC's design. He says these studies have shown that there's a direct relationship between pupil dilation and fatigue; the more a user's pupil dilates,

the more fatigued he may become.

"If you can cut down on contrast changes as people use the equipment, you reduce the likelihood of frequent pupil dilation."

How has that principle been applied to the IBM PC? Estridge explains it this way: "Imagine that the center of the machine is a high-contrast area and the outside of the machine—the background—is a low-contrast area. The machine has grades of contrast as you move from the screen outward. Its highest contrast is on the display tube. Immediately around the tube is a lower-contrast border, and then the cabinet curls round to form an even lower-contrast frame.

"The eye then progresses from seeing dark gray to light gray to medium white, and, beyond that, essentially a noise background. As the eye moves across those boundaries, it doesn't experience much contrast change, and the viewer doesn't get tired"

Some people are upset about the placement of the left-hand Shift key and the Return key.

I wasn't thrilled with the placement of those keys, either. But every place you pick to put them is not a good place for somebody, and it's a large enough group of somebodies so that there's no consensus. The left-hand Shift key is located where it is because we wanted to have the character-typing keys inside the control keys. That means that the arrangement with the one extra key instead of being the Shift key with the character on the outside, is just the reverse. I have since gone back and looked at a lot of keyboards and found that a lot of them are just like ours—with one more key on the bottom. They may not have the same character in that position, but there is one more key along the bottom. It's not much of a problem in the long run. Fortunately, people adjust; in fact, if we were to change it now we would be in hot water. Why are the function keys in two rows on the left rather than across

the top?

We didn't want to put them across the top because we wanted to have a template there in case some applications needed a template across the top of the keyboard. That's the reason for that little ridge—to keep the template from falling down on the keys. The ridge is also there to use as a book prop.

Did you look at the international keyboard standards? That's what's on the board; that's why there are symbols on the keys. Is there anything different that you would do to the keyboard now that it's been out a while? No. I'm not saying we would never come out with another keyboard that's different, but I don't have any regrets about the keyboard. Are you familiar with the mice that are creeping around in the world? Yes. That's a perfect example of the kind of experimentation that you would expect to go on. Have you ever used a mouse? Yes. Do you like it?

It was just another way to do things. It didn't strike me one way or another.

Are you comfortable with the keyboard?

Yes. More than two million personal computers [from all suppliers] were shipped in the United States last year. Predictions for the future are more grandiose. They must not be very hard to use. When you look at the age levels of people using the machine—both the very young and the very old— and when you look at the backgrounds of the individuals, you have to conclude that the computers must be pretty darn easy to use, or else you would never have gotten that far.

Can we talk about specific software? Sure, as long as it's ours. The biggest software change that's happening is the upgrade to the 2.0 version of DOS; are there delays in shipment of the product? Initially, yes. Why is there a delay? We guessed wrong on how many people would order the PC from day one. We thought there would be less demand than there is, so we had to catch up, and we passed that point. Some people are complaining that there are problems with the 2.0 version and incompatibilities with the previous 1.1 version. Do you see that as a major problem? There are some differences in the products, most notably in memory utilization. The 2.0 product is larger. If you had a program that barely fit in 64K bytes with version 1.1, it's almost certain that it doesn't fit if you move the program to 2.0. We haven't heard any significant unhappiness with customers or with the software suppliers, and that level of incompatibility is one that's understandable as you enrich your product, Will IBM sell 1.1 indefinitely? I won't speculate about our plans, but it's not a good idea to mistreat customers. We will do what our customers need us to do. If that means keeping 1.1, we will do it. If all the customers move to 2.0, it will be uneconomical to keep 1.1, but I don't know which way it will go. We understand that Microsoft had

90 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

This One Decision

Saved oar Business and Grossed

over $ 1,000,000. in Sales

In 1979, our recreational manufacturing business was booming. And we had developed a new product that looked like a real winner. The new product was extremely important, in that it appeared to be the answer to a seasonality problem associated with our other product lines.

By early summer, our order book was bulging. It really looked as if our off-season sales and production problems were over. Then just as quickly the roof fell in. Gas shortages devastated the recreational vehicle market overnight. And our order book for over two million dollars worth of the new product disintegrated.

Faced with a fall and winter of virtually no sales, many thousands of dollars of unneeded parts and excess production staff, I had no choice but to shut down the production lines. And if a solution to our problem couldn t be found, the business itself was in jeopardy.

A life saving decision

I spent many sleepless nights

trying to come up with a solution to

this nightmarish situation. Then I

remembered a course I had taken

in decision analysis. I spent the rest

of that night reviewing course

material and other books I had

bought on the subject. The next

day, I called an emergency meeting.

Using the decision making

techniques I had learned, we spent

the rest of the week searching for

and analysing potential solutions.

The net result was that not only was

the company pulled back from the

brink of destruction, but we added

over$l,(X)0,000.00in gross sales during that off-season.

A way of life

From that point on, almost every critical decision (and there were many) regarding new products, marketing channels, pricing, advertising, production equipment, engineering projects, received this same type of analysis.

Although the process was very time consuming and clumsy, because it had to be done by hand, our decisions were much improved. And there were some real benefits that we had not anticipated.

1. Our understanding of each problem was greatly increased.

2. We uncovered opportunities that we would not have thought of in any other way.

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The birth of Decision—Analyst™

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BYTE November 1983

developed something called the user shell interface for MS-DOS 2.0, and we don't seem to have that in IBM's 2.0. We have a command-prompt line that is much the same as it was. PC-DOS and MS-DOS are two different products; you can buy either one.

Is IBM happy using the command-line scheme of having people type things in?

Microsoft has helped us enormously with PC-DOS, but it's our product. Microsoft has its own product. Although they are very similar—and I'm not trying to telegraph anything—I don't know how they're going to be in the future. All I can tell you is that our product works, it's fairly simple, and we're happy with it.

Are you satisfied with the language compilers and interpreters that are available for the IBM PC? If you're talking about the ones under the IBM logo, we've had very good response, and we're pleased with everything except the FORTRAN compiler. The performance of the FORTRAN compiler is not what we think it ought to be. We've told our customers that we're trying to work on the problems. Whether or not we can do anything about them remains to be learned, although there are a tremendous number of satisfied FORTRAN compiler users. As greater amounts of memory become more common, do you foresee that another version of a BASIC interpreter will allow easier use of all that memory than the current BASIC interpreter does? I don't know whether we'll do that or not. It was obvious from day one that the machine had more memory than the Microsoft BASIC interpreter could use. We decided not to change the interpreter right from the beginning. I think it's been a good decision. The BASIC interpreter is essentially bug-free. To go back in and make it handle bigger address spaces would essentially mean a rewrite that would expose us to introducing error into the code. That flies in the face of the novice user's learning the BASIC language for something very simple. We traded quality for the additional

capacity of the interpreter. I would make that same choice today. I think of the BASIC interpreter as an answer to a lot of things except big, complicated programs. If you need a lot of address space to solve the application, you should use languages that are designed for those kinds of problems. It doesn't bother me that BASIC handles programs that fit into only 64K bytes. We have moved the code—service routines and operating systems—out of the 64K-byte user-program space into the other address spaces so that the use of 64K is more efficient.

Are there any gaps in the lineup of software that IBM offers for the machine that make you uncomfortable?

No, because we went into this with the idea that we can't do everything. We tried to create a machine, some software offerings, and a set of business practices that made it easy for others to participate. Are you happy with Easywriter 1.1? Yes, I like it. People seem to like it. Have you used it yourself? Yes. I also tried to use Easywriter 1.0 and had the same experience everybody else had. There is almost no product [that runs] on the machine that we have produced that I haven't used.

Have you backed up the contents of a hard-disk drive? Are you satisfied with that procedure? Let's go back to the 5V4-inch disk discussion. You can put only so many bytes on a 5V4-inch disk, and that introduces some disk handling. I don't have any other way to do it. Do you think the industry will eventually solve the problem? I don't know that it's a problem. When the machine first came out, people asked, "Aren't you upset that there is more memory than there is disk capacity on the machine so you can't dump your memory to disk?" The answer is no. It has never been a problem. It's a theoretical problem. If you insist that you must read the entire contents of your file when you do a backup, there will be a delay in handling disks, but people are smarter than that. They don't dump the entire contents of their file; they

only dump the stuff they're really concerned about. Most applications build transaction files; they have to dump only transactions. If they take the time to recreate the file, they'd have a problem.

It's my understanding that the PC and the PC XT have recently been introduced in Europe and elsewhere overseas. Do you think that IBM will be coming out with some software packages that will be specifically for the international market? I don't want to speculate on that. Why did it take so long to bring out the Intel 8087 coprocessor? We wanted it to work. Are you saying there were troubles with it? Sure.

Is that why you now get a matched set of an 8088 and an 8087? The newer 8088s have slightly different characteristics that result in better performance of the 8087 coprocessor. By shipping both processors we know the customer will get the best possible performance from the 8087.

Do you foresee the extra power that you now get with the 8087 being an extra selling point, or do you think that the casual user won't care? I think for the casual user to feel the effects of the power of that device, some support and programming would be required to be available on the machine that are not there today. The people who are going to get it and benefit from it are the people who will write programs with the device in mind, and there are a lot of people like that, but I don't think it's the general population. So you see that as being kind of an extra turbocharger that the drag-racing set will like?

Yes, the ones who'll need it will love it.

Sometimes IBM makes product changes that some people can't see the reasons for. Why has IBM stopped doing knock-out panels in the back of the machine? Because they produced quality problems, and we wanted to produce a machine with no defects. They fell out during shipping and handling. So it was a shipping annoyance?

92 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

FOX & GELLER

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A defect is a defect—it doesn't matter if it's a corner crushing on the cardboard box you ship it in or the machine not functioning at all. If s exactly the same for all defects. And when you start out with that mentality if you have a defect, you ask not only how to fix it but also what is the source of this problem, and how do we eliminate the source? In that particular situation we eliminated it by not having it. We couldn't sense that there were a lot of people who needed it.

Back to the design of the case. Did you consider trying to go for a smaller footprint for the machine, possibly by trying things like stacking the motherboard on top of the disk drive?

It was the smallest footprint we could figure out. We wanted to have the machine work in a wide range of environments: heat, temperature, humidity, and electrical interference. When you start considering all this, you can't make it as small as you would physically make it because of

the electrical characteristics. We have what we think is a balance. The more closely you put it together, the more difficult it is for somebody to add something to it; you get hard-to-manage mechanical assemblies. That makes putting it together and taking it apart hard and error-prone, or you create fittings that are not generally available, so other people can't get the equipment they need to build an add-on piece of hardware. You've talked a lot about designing the machine to make it easy for people to use—to experiment with the machine, to add to it. Were you thinking more of dealers than experimenters or hobbyists? First, we knew that dealers would have to provide warranty service. We tried to design the machine mechanically and electrically so that it was simple to understand and work with. We chose electronic components so that there would be commonly available parts, with the serviceman at the bench in the store in mind. Our goal was to make the machine as easy for

him to use as for a customer, because he's a customer too. If we burden him with high-technology complexities-tools and equipment that are unfamiliar, hard to get, or expensive, parts that are in limited supply or available only from IBM—these things would make the machine difficult to service.

The new IBM color monitor is certainly appreciated, but are you satisfied with the display quality you get with the color display adapter? Yes. I think it's a good balance between price and function. Did you consider making a special color monitor that used higher frequencies?

Yes, but then you have to buy more memory that fits on the color adapter card. It raises the price. We think the granularity, number of colors, and number of memory bits on the card strike a good balance between definition, function, and price. Do you think we will be seeing more applications that use graphics—that graphics will be a dominant segment

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Theft is a threat to software development.

of the market?

Yes. I think the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is true.

Do you see color as a practical tool now in business graphics, or simply a nice feature to have? I think that color is going to change over the next short period—maybe a couple of years— from being something we think about as an interesting curiosity to something we won't know how to get along without. It will be that dramatic a change. Look at color TV. You're using more senses, and it's probably well proven that the more senses you involve, the more likely you'll get the message through. If you don't think color is important, turn it off the next time you watch a football game and see how you like it. It's a feature that is going to quickly find use in all applications, not just in business.

Were you disappointed that so many users were not getting the color display adapter for a while? I wouldn't say that so many were not getting it.

There was a study that said 90 percent of the people were using just the monochrome display. I'm not going to comment on somebody else's study. I know how many are buying it.

Most IBM software seems to allow users to make a limited number of copies. Do you have any thoughts about copy protection?

Do I ever. It's wrong to copy-protect programs. The only reason anybody does it is because there are thieves who steal your product. That's wrong, too. There ought to be some way to stop that without creating products that are unusable. What do you think of having serial numbers in the hardware match to the software?

None of those techniques work. There is no one who has a technique for protecting against copying code that works in all environments—hard disks, communications, local-area networks, single-user, easy-to-use, or hard-to-use. I guarantee that whatever scheme you come up with will take less time to break than to think of it. I think theft is also a threat to software development. It's going to dry up the software. It's incredibly difficult to write software, and people are going to stop doing it if they can't get a legitimate return for their efforts.

Are you satisfied with the market success of operating systems other than PC-DOS—CP/M-86 and the UCSD Pascal p-System? We came out with three operating

systems because we couldn't figure out where the propensity would be; we wanted customers to decide that. Why were CP/M-86 and UCSD Pascal so much more expensive than PC-DOS?

You'd have to talk to Softech Microsystems, which did the research. Was the price determined by Softech Microsystems' licensing agreements with you? Yes.

What do you think about Digital Research's recent moves to cut the price?

You'd have to talk to them. Have you looked at any of the up-and-coming languages, such as Logo?

We've announced Logo for our machine, to be available in the fourth quarter.

Do you think that's a good package? I think it's terrific. What we have on our machine is really dazzling. It's been a lot of fun to experiment while we were developing it. I don't know how to project its popularity, but I've had a lot of fun with it. Why did you decide to put Logo on the machine?

Because people in the education industry said they needed it. Have you used it yourself? I use everything we're producing. Do you have a machine in your office and at home? Yes, to both. I prepare letters at home. I have some bookkeeping information. We have a few investments that I like to pretend I can manage. I play games. I use it as a way to see every package we're developing and planning to introduce. Do you use non-IBM software? All the time.

Do you care to say which? No, but I get my hands on as much of it as I can and see what it looks like.

Do you think other people are developing good software? Absolutely. They sure are. Are you pleased that a certain subculture is growing up around your machine?

I love it. I think we're in an era in which the public has adopted personal computing in the same way it

96 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

adopted the automobile. People want to know everything they can about it. That era will probably pass, but that curiosity is almost sensational right now, and I think it's good. Can we expect to see the same kind of shakeout that happened in automobiles?

Logic tells you that it has to happen. But logic also predicted the industry wouldn't sell one and a half million personal computers until 1985, and the industry surpassed that last year. So who knows what's going to happen?

Has IBM been surprised at the success of the PC?

I think the world's been surprised by the success, but not just about the IBM machine; I'm talking about personal computing as a phenomenon. All the industry reports you could find in 1980 projected one and a half million in unit sales [of personal computers] in 1985. You could have called Future Computing or Dataquest or anyone else and they would have told you much the same thing. We don't have a crystal ball that is better calibrated than anybody else's. It seems that you have the same problem—forecasting—that most people have in this explosive market; it's an imprecise art. It's not that you can't predict what will happen in those areas that you understand. The problem lies in the very thing that makes this product family popular—its application to completely unknown uses. That's exciting, but it's also the very thing that makes the business totally unpredictable. [See "The Perils of Forecasting."]

Are customers for larger IBM computers moving to buy PCs as well? They're doing it in great numbers. Will that fundamentally change anything in your relationship with those customers?

I think we're providing them with the solution that they want, and that's what they expect of IBM, so I don't think that's a fundamental change. Is the existence of so many distributed personal computers going to change data processing as we know it? No, but I think it will involve a lot of

The Perils of Forecasting

IBM's Estridge explains how his division's forecasting procedure works in the following manner.

Each quarter, IBM asks everyone who is selling the PC, including IBM's direct sales force and dealers, for a projection of purchases for two periods: the next quarter and the three quarters following it. In October 1982, for example, the division asked customers how many systems they expected to buy for the period from January through March, 1983. ''We're kind of asking for a commitment," Estridge says of the process, "although no contractual penalty is attached to it."

Then IBM asked these customers what they expect to buy for March through December, 1983. "We do that every single quarter by product. It's pretty boring, but we do it with all the people who sell our products," Estridge says.

When customers returned in January of this year, ostensibly to talk about their

people who aren't now involved. Can you characterize sales of the personal computer through different distribution channels?

I could, but I don't want to. That information is important to us in running our business, but not important to anyone else.

We have heard that some IBM direct-sales people inadvertently have undercut a dealer's price. I think you could hear the other side just as easily For every story you can tell me about a dealer feeling that he lost a sale to an IBM direct salesman, I can tell you about a salesman who thinks he lost a sale to a dealer, so we probably have it about right. I think there's another phenomenon that's new in this equation, and it may be particularly unique to IBM personal computers. Every other IBM product prior to the personal computer was available only through IBM salesmen. IBM customers were never faced with the question of support versus product because they both came via the same organization. Now the customer can distinguish support of the product. That's an adjustment that all of the distribution channels are going through. The customer

system needs for April 1983 and beyond, they wanted to talk about January through March all over again. They doubled their orders for that first quarter. "They told us that they'd given us the wrong numbers, and the numbers were low by a factor of two since October 1982," Estridge says. "Then the same darn thing happened again in March, when we were supposed to be talking about July through September. We can only handle so many factors of two" Estridge says. "We've upped our production rate three times this year; production is very high. We're extremely pleased that we can build a quality product at that rate, but it's not enough. The demand is increasing at a very fast rate, and we're doing everything we can to stay with that demand. But if the demand keeps on going at these rates," Estridge warns, "at some point there won't be any more parts. We're not there yet, but we can see where it is from here."

now has to participate in a two-step decision: determining what product he wants and from whom to buy it. We wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't ask about a "Peanut" machine or any extension to this product line. Call the Wall Street Journal. They're the only ones I know of who have written about the Peanut. How about "Popcorn?" They've written about that, too. I think it's fascinating that they decided to get into product design. Did they seem well informed? I have no idea. Well, we had to try.

Estridge finally alluded to the inevitability of follow-up products in summing up his thoughts about the IBM PC. He characterizes the PC as having enough horsepower and capacity to have a long life cycle: "It's an affordable product, there's a lot of software for it, it's easy to use, and it can be extended. I'm comfortable that it will be around for a long time, and it will probably be extended. It would be silly not to follow it up. More important, I think customers expect IBM to fdllow it up."m

Lawrence J. Curran is BYTE's editor in chief. Richard S. Shuford is special projects editor.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 97

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Enhancing Screen Displays for the IBM PC

This program takes full advantage of the PCs color and

monochrome monitors

You can purchase the IBM Personal Computer (PC) with either a monochrome or a color display, or you can use both monitors on one system. This article briefly compares the features of both displays and demonstrates how you can use a program called Screen to take full advantage of both monitors' capabilities and simultaneously adapt them to your own needs. This set of easy-to-use enhancements is implemented as a short resident routine that is transparent to applications programs and the DOS (disk operating system).

The two displays offered with the IBM PC and the new PC XT can be used in any of three configurations. A system can, for example, be outfitted with the IBM monochrome monitor that provides green characters on a black background with excellent resolution. Or you can choose the IBM color monitor adapter that provides color and graphics capabilities; its characters, however, aren't as well defined as those on the monochrome display. The most advantageous configuration, though, is to set up both monitors on one system, making each available for a wide range of needs. Regardless of which arrangement you choose, comfort should be a major factor in your decision because prolonged use of a difficult-to-read display can cause such problems as eyestrain and irritability.

Both displays are limited in terms of user friendliness. Systems set up

by Tim Field

with the color monitor would be more useful if operators could easily change the foreground and background colors for text display. The inability to change colors limits the user to black-and-white text combinations or the whim of the programmers who designed a particular applications program. The ability to change colors, on the other hand, provides welcome variety and can relieve the eyestrain that often results from extended use.

Such flexibility would also enable you to adjust the color scheme to the display's environment. A soft

Using the monochrome

monitor for reference,

you can create graphics

on the color display.

scheme, such as yellow on black, would be easy to read at night, whereas a bright setup, such as white on blue, would be pleasant for a sunlit room. Changing the screen's colors also makes it possible to enjoy a three-color display for applications programs that take advantage of the PC's highlighting capabilities.

A choice of display schemes for the monochrome display—the standard video combination of green characters on a black background and reverse video, black characters on green, affords the same advantages as those offered by the color monitor—reduced eyestrain, the ability to

match the display to the operating environment, and the opportunity to work with personal preferences.

A system that incorporates both color and monochrome monitors could allow you to alternate between two display types, thus doubling the flexibility you have using individual monitors. For example, you could edit a program using the monochrome display and then switch to the color display for graphics output. Or you could take advantage of a type of dual-windowing capability, setting up one screen to display text or graphics and switching to the other to perform another task, referring to the contents of the first screen for guidance.

The Screen program presented here makes the PC's displays easier to use for both textual and graphics applications by supplying these enhanced capabilities. Indeed, PC-DOS 2.0 does provide limited capability to switch from a monochrome to a color monitor using the MODE command; however, it requires that the computer be under direct DOS control to make the switch. This means any applications program you might be running must be terminated to take advantage of this capability. Using Screen, however, you can switch monitors at almost any time, even while the PC is running an applications program. Another advantage is that it's easy to use—you don't need technical expertise to enhance the displays' operations.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

FUNCTIONS

INCREMENT FOREGROUND COLOR*. (ALTERNATE BETWEEN STANDARD AND REVERSE VIDEO ON MONOCHROME MONITOR.)

INCREMENT BACKGROUND COLOR*. (ALTERNATE BETWEEN STANDARD AND REVERSE VIDEO ON MONOCHROME MONITOR. J

ALTERNATE BETWEEN 40 - AND 60-COLUMN MODE. (VALID FOR COLOR ADAPTER ONLY,)

SWITCH BETWEEN COLOR AND MONOCHROME MONITORS.

REPAINT THE SCREEN WITH CURRENT ATTRIBUTES.

KEYS

Listing 1: A screen-enhancement program for the IBM PC.

PAGE 64,132

TITLE SCREEN - IBM Display Enhancement. Copyright 1983 Tii Field

.RADIX 10

Jff>t««tMfH4t»««f«*t*ft»f«»**ft»«ft#H*tH«t*t*tttfftttttttlfHH»tt«

;

; Define interrupt vectors for both keyboard interrupt 16H and

! screen interrupt 10H. Both in segient 0.

!

;HHHHH*HIHHHU.HmtmHtHHm**mMHtmH»HHHHH

KEYVECT SE6HENT AT 0 ; Define KEYBOARD interrupt vector

ORG 16Ht4 KEYINT LABEL DWORD KEYVECT ENDS

; Define SCREEN interrupt vector

SCRVECT SEGMENT AT 0 ORG 10H*4 SCRINT LABEL DWORD SCRVECT ENDS

;»ftUf»ttt»Mt<4tUtM*t*«t*t**t+*frt*««M4tf*«4<t«ttt*t<ttt»t»ttt*tt

5

J Define constants J

;*t»fHft*Mff**Mftf«f**ftt***MtfrM*fMt»M**tt**»4ftt**tt4«Ht*t»t<t

NOTE: THE COLOR SEQUENCE IS AS FOLLOWS: BLACK, BLUE. GREEN. CYAN, RED, MAGENTA. YELLOW, WHITE, BLACK,ETC,

Figure 1: Implement one of Screen's five functions by pressing the Alt key and the key assigned to the display change you want to make.

■ mi

■ 0410 = 000F = 0007 = 0003

BN_VAL EQU 07h ; Standard BttN attribute sent to ■onitor

EflUIP.FLAG EQU 410h ; Area in RAN that contains EQUIPMENT status

CHK_HDDE EQU 15 ; Screen interrupt function to check tode

HQNQJIQDE EOU 7 J Screen eode of 7 indicates •onochroie

COLOR JDPT EQU 3 ; Nodes froi 0 to 3 are non-graphics color

i

; Start code area

Design Goals

My initial design goals for Screen included specific criteria. First, the program must be easy to use, providing its functions at virtually any time, without requiring the user to load and run a special program to execute every function. Second, the enhancements must not interfere with the normal workings of the PC; that is, Screen should not obstruct the computer's operation.

The program provided in listing 1 attains these goals. When you first run Screen, it sets itself up to work as though it were an internal part of the DOS. It works automatically with most applications programs that use standard DOS and BIOS (basic input/output system) screen and keyboard device handlers.

You initiate the program by merely running it once after you power up the PC or execute a system reset. (You can also set up an AUTOEXEC.BAT file to automatically invoke Screen on system start-up. Consult the section on batch files in the DOS manual.) When first executed, Screen initial-Text continued on page 110

0000 0000

0002 0000

0004 0000

0006 0000

0008

;f«ttftf*tt«*»«»«tt»t4t«tt#f»ttff*»«§tft«»tttft«t«*«ttfftttftff«t»t«tf

CODE SEGMENT PARA ASSUME CSICODE

ORG 1Mb ; Start code at offset 100h froi starting segtent. ; (This leaves rooa for DOS's nork area

KEY PROC FAR

START:

; Initialization code...used only once, on systei startup

JHP INIT.CODE ; Call initialization routine

EVEN

VAUDCHK DB TCP!' j used by INSTALL to check for valid SCREEN pgi

; Define storage areas and data structures

J

;t«»ffff»ff«t«*Mttft*«tftH*«n*ttt**Mt»*u**ttftt*«tftftft>tt««tttff

; Define keystroke scan codes for the five SCREEN functions

FORE. INC DN 6800h BACK.INC DN 6A0flh C80_40 DN 6C00h COL_HON DN 6E00h REPAINT DN 7000h

i Foreground increment

; Background increment

I 80x25 to 40x25 flip-flop key

I COLOft/KONO flip-flop key

i Repaint screen using current lode

CUR_NODE DN COL80.AREA MONO SET DM MONO AREA ; COLOR SET DN COL80 AREA

Initialize starting lode Pointer to aonochroae area Pointer to 'active' color area

SCRN_ATTR DB 70h SCRN NODE DB 255

; Current screen attribute J Saves current screen tode

; Define structure used to contain inforaation about 40 and ; colum color nodes as well as lonochroie eode.

S STRUG

CORNER DN 0

BF DN 0

EQUIP DN 0

MODE DN 0

S ENDS

» Defines COL/RON count of characters for ionitor

; Colors of FORE and BACK

; Equipment setting

i AX value for setting tode of ionitor

Listing 1 continued on page 102

100 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983

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WORD PROCESSING

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Select/Superspell $496 &$

Write On $115 feJ[

Spellguard $189 Rf

Spellbinder $349 »»'$

Final Word $264 J^

Wordex $159

Edix $159 P

Volkswriter $179 »»*

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Crosstalk $139 PI

Move-it $129 J&i

BSTAMorBSTMS $149 K

Pascal MT+ Compiler (only) $496 \ y) )

CBasic 86 $294 >$j)

XLT86 $135 *JL

MBasic (MSDOS) $265 I ' ; *

MBasic Compiler (MSDOS) $299 ».»|

Listing 1 continued:

m

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Cobol (MSDOS) $599

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Joystick $49 ?- 3

64 K Memory Card $339

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SuperCalc II $265 h

VisiCalc , $219 W

Visitrend/Plot $259 £%|

Visidex $219 hf{

Easyfiler $359 W

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Market Analyst $445 £%%

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Complete Software Buyer's Guide

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BT1183

Please add $3.50 Postage and Handling for each item, Cal residents add 6.5% Sales Tax. UPS Blue Label is an additional $3.50 per item. C.O.D. $3.00 extra. Call for overnight delivery. Prices subject to change without notice. All terms subject to availability. Outside Continental U.S. Add $10.00 plus Air Parcel Post.

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SOFTWARE |

I11A 5019

•11C lf#7

*i ie 0020

0i2< mz

0122 2819

8124 $117

mt 0010

#128 m\

»m 5*19

012c mi

012E m§

0130 0017

0132 0132 0133

0138 0I3B 013D 013E 013F 1140 0141 0142 0143 0145

0147

0147 0143 014B 0140 0151 0155

0175 0175

EA

5 Now, set up three screen structures with default conditions CDL80_AREA S <5019h,0107h,20h,3> ; 80x25, White FORE, Blue BACK

COL40_AREA S <2B19h,0107h,10h,l> J 40x25, Broun FORE, Black BACK

MONO.AREA S <5019h,0007h,30h,7> ; Monochroie, reverse video

\ NOTE: The standard BIOS ROM KEYBOARD interrupt routine is

; executed as a subroutine (using CALL DWORD PTR) if

! the interrupt was invoked to return a keystroke. Any

j other execution Df KEYBOARD JO can be called as a

i siiple inline FAR JHP instruction. NOTE: The CALL

J instruction (see just after INT_L00P label below) uses

! the address stored here at KEY CALL to KEYBOARD 10. KEY.CALL : DB 0EAH DM 0,0

; Far JHP address to KEYBOARD interrupt

Procedure KEY_RTNE - Intercepts keyboard interrupt and determines if the keystroke is one of the five SCREEN ones.

M*mt*ttt*«»tM**M*mm*mtm«ftt*#ft*»*tt»tt#**f*«ttt*#tt*tt

$137

0137 FB

80 FC 00

75 F5

IE

53

51

52

06

57

BC CB

8E DB

9C

BB 0133 R

FF IF

8B IE 0112 R

3B 06 010E R

75 25

0157 3B IE 0114 R

015B 74 0D

015D B3 3E 0114 R 00

#162 74 14

0164 SB IE 0114 R

0168 EB 0B

016A

016A 83 3E 0116 R 00

016F 74 07

0171 8B IE 0116 R

E8 0201 R

0178

0178 B4 00

017A EB CB

017C

017C 50

017D 53

017E B4 0F

0180 CD 10

0182 56

0183 3C 03

Listing 1 continued on page 104

102 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

A Little Bug Can Do A Lot Of Damage.

It looks so little, but it eats so much —just like the contamination on your computer's disk drive head, Itmay not seem like much, but alt it takes is a micro-sized particle of dirt to wipe out a lot of data, and once it's gone, it's gone forever.

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'83

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0201

IHtfHHtHltHtmiHMHHHttlHtHHMUHttHUHtHHHult.lHtUH*

5

» SCREEN JHG - Changes current iomtor screen iode

!

I Inputs: BX points to current ionitor structure

!

;tMtMftMMMt*MMM*tMtMittt+Mt*tfrt»»tt«tM«4ft4*f+*tfrttttttMttt»ttt

SCREEN CHS PROC NEAR

Listing 1 continued on page 106

104 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

IBMput everything intheXT...except backup

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0232

0232 0235 0236

Get segient address to EQUIPJLAG

in RAH leiory Bet set of EQUIP flags Set rid of current ionitor flag Set up new ionitor flag Save back in RAfl Indicate new aode

E8 0236 R

C3

0236

HOV AX,0

HOV ES P AX

HOV AX,ES:EQUIPJLA6

AND AL,0CFh

OR AUBU.EQUIP

HOV ES:EQUIP.FLAG,AX

HOV CUR_HODE,BX

\ Now, set up attribute for foreground and background

HOV DXJBXLBF ; Get both FORE and BACK in DX

MOV CL,4 | Shift count

SHL DH.CL ; Shift BACK into upper nibble

OR DH.DL ; love FORE into lower nibble

HOV SCRN„ATTR,DH j Save results

J See if He need to reset ionitor (snitching to new ionitor?)

MOV AX,[BXLHODE ; Set iode

CHP AL,SCRN_HQDE J Coipare with current iode

JE SET_ATTR J Skip if saie

MOV SCRN_MQDE,AL ; Otherwise, save current iode

INT 10h ; And reset to net* ionitor

SET.ATTR:

J Change attributes of current screen

CALL CH ATTR ; Changes attributes

RET

SCREEN.CH6 ENDP

;tftftttHt#ttttftf#tmH*t*tmm**»MM**t«t*mm«ttt**t*t*t**tttt*t«t

I

\ CH_ATTR - Repains active screen so that every character on

current screen is displayed with the ne* attributes

Inputs : BX points to current ionitor structure

CHJTTR PROC NEAR

; See if we need to draw in border for color iode

Listing 1 continued on page 108

106 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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108 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

?

j SCR_RTNE - Replaces SCREEN interrupt so that it can intercept ; BM character writes and change attributes

i

;ff#ff*fmt**ttt»*tHi«t**tHtft»t«*#«# #tH«Hmt«tt#»#wtttfttt#m«MM

; Save Data Segient register

; Move CS segient into DS

i

; Spot SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOtfN calls

For scrolling, update attribute No*, execute scroll

; Check for 'WRITE ATTRIBUTE/CHAR' cad

; Send out any other coaiand as norial

J Get attribute in BL

; Update attribute for conand

j Hove attribute back to BH for ctd

! Restore DS segient register

NOTE: He are now ready to invoke the BIOS screen interrupt.

Since the ROH code includes an IRET interrupt return call, all we need to do is to juap to the start of the ROH code and all will be well. Since the initialization code set up the address to the screen interrupt code below, we can set up a forced juip to that address.

Address to SCREEN interrupt

Force a FAR JHP but do not set up destination address at asseibly tiie. UNIT routine will set this address)

;f»tffmH»tffi*fmHmftt*fftft*«mt*fHttmt*fmtmfttH«t*mtmt«4

»

; 6ET_CH - Subroutine replaces BfcM character with current replacement ; attributes and allows for Intensity bit setting

; INPUTS : BH contains attribute to be eodified

!

;ttttMtfttftftM»«tfft«tf**«**tH##Mttt*tU#*tt«m«ftmH*#tmtmffHtfrfU

02CF

LASTONE:

All cade after this label is freed to DOS use after initialization of the prograt.

INIT.CODE - Code to load and initialize the SCREEN prograe...

sets up DOS to keep all code before 'LASTONE 1 label safe froi overlaying during systew operation.

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Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. VisiCalc is a registered trademark of VisiCorp, Inc. CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc. VC-EXPAND software is written by Micro Solutions, Inc. Neptune and PSEUDO-DISK are trademarks of Titan Technologies, Inc.

110 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Text continued from page 100

izes the system display(s) according to the system's preset state.

Screen then uses DOS to become resident in the system. When you subsequently execute other programs and DOS functions, Screen is not disturbed. It remains in the PC's RAM (random-access read/write memory), waiting for you to request one of its functions.

Screen Functions

You invoke each Screen function via one combined-keystroke entry. Figure 1 illustrates the use of the five functions.

You enter the keystrokes by holding

down the Alt key and simultaneously pressing the specified function key. As soon as Screen detects these keystrokes, it implements the function requested.

The first two functions that are listed, <AltFl> and < Alt F3>, increment or change the color of the foreground and background on a color monitor's screen. Eight colors are available for either area: black, blue, green, cyan, red, magenta, yellow, and white. When you invoke either of these two functions, the foreground or background changes from its present color to the next one in this list. The list wraps around so that

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the color choice after white goes back to black. The foreground or background of the display is actually "repainted" with whatever color is requested.

If you could choose the same colors for the foreground and background, the text display would be invisible. Thus, Screen does not fulfill such a request. Consequently 56 color combinations are available for the foreground/background scheme of the PC color display. If you are using the monochrome monitor and invoke either of these functions, the display merely flips from reverse to normal video, or vice versa.

The <Alt F7> keystroke permits you to alternate between the color and monochome monitors, making either one active. For example, if all text and output is going to the color monitor, pressing <Alt F7> leaves that monitor unchanged and clears the monochrome monitor, making it active. Subsequent output then goes to the monochrome screen. Pressing <AltF7> again reverses the process, reactivating the color monitor.

The <Alt F9> keystroke causes the active screen to be repainted with the currently specified attributes. This feature is needed after running certain DOS commands or applications programs that reset the screen to black and white. The DOS MODE command is an example.

Screen's Operation

The Screen program found in listing 1 is a 600-byte assembly-lan-

Screen consists of three

functional blocks:

program initialization,

screen interception,

and keyboard

interception.

guage program designed to take advantage of the PC's flexible-interrupt structure. It consists of three functional blocks: program initialization, screen interception, and keyboard interception. The program's initialization portion is found in the

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112 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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INIT CODE subroutine. This routine serves three purposes: initiating execution of both the screen- and keyboard-intercept code, setting up the system display(s) in the default mode, and telling DOS that Screen is to remain resident in RAM.

The two interception blocks perform the operations the program supports. The screen-interception segments actually intercept text characters as they are sent to either the color or monochrome screen and make the necessary alterations on their "attributes." (A character attribute specifies things about that character, such as color, and whether it is to be blinking or underlined.) Likewise, the keyboard-interception feature intercepts keystrokes received from the keyboard, watching for and executing Screen's five function keystrokes. The keyboard- and screen-intercept blocks are independent processes that share data structures and variables. The structures define the current state of the display.

The screen-intercept block consists of the SCR_RTNE and GET_CH subroutines in listing 1. This code intercepts any screen interrupts meant for the IBM BIOS screen handler (see "The IBM PC Screen Interrupt" on page 196) and checks to see whether text is being sent to one of the screens.

If text is being sent, SCR_RTNE examines the text-character attribute to see if it specifies a black-and-white character. If so, the attribute is replaced with the current Screen attribute for that display. For example, if Screen is currently displaying text with a white character on a blue background, any black-and-white text attribute is replaced with the white-on-blue attribute. The text character is then sent on to the BIOS screen driver for printing on the display.

The keyboard-intercept code includes the listing 1 subroutines KEY_RTNE, SCREEN_CHG, and CH A1TK. The purpose of the functional block of code made up of these subroutines is to intercept any ROM (read-only memory) BIOS keyboard interrupts (see "The IBM PC Keyboard Interrupt" on page 114).

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The IBM PC Screen Interrupt

The IBM PC uses a memory-mapped approach to support adapters for the monochrome and color/graphics monitors, reserving two separate chunks of its 1-mega-byte memory for the adapters. In text mode, the contents of each byte in those memory areas specify one character displayed on the screen. The monochrome adapter contains 4K bytes of RAM and begins at address BOOQO hexadecimal (All addresses to follow are hexadecimal) The color/graphics card contains 16K bytes of RAM, beginning at B8000.

The obvious method of writing text to either monitor is by merely writing the appropriate ASCII (American National Standard Code for Information Interchange) values in one monitor's memory space. For example, if you move the value 65 to memory location B800:000Q, the character "A' appears on the upper-left corner of the screen. This method of writing text can be extremely efficient, especially given the ability of the 8088 processor to do block moves, allowing you to write character strings to one of the displays using a single machine instruction.

If the PC's designers had simply left to each applications program the job of using this memory-mapped structure for accessing the displays, a number of problems would have occurred. For example, how does a program know which of the two monitors to write to? For that matter, how can the program determine whether the system has both monitors? (While this is easily determined, do we really want every program to have to embed the code needed to find out?) And what about the graphics capabilities of the color adapter; must each program check whether the display is in text mode or graphics mode?

This memory-mapped approach to writing text requires a hardware-specific solution. All programs written for the PC using this technique require that the mem-

ory-map space of both adapters remains unchanged. Furthermore, the specific hardware of the adapters must not change so that current display modes and other vital information can be determined from the display chips themselves.

Fortunately, the PC provides an alternative for interfacing to the display screens. The ROM BIOS code contains an interrupt handler called VIDEO^JO (INT 10), which performs a number of screen tasks for DOS and other application programs.

This interrupt handler provides an interface between programs and both displays, and the interface knows of only one active display at any given time. If the color monitor is currently active, then all output sent to VIDEO^JO is sent on the color screen; likewise, if the monochrome monitor is active, all output is sent there. If the system has only one display that one is always active.

The VIDEO^JO interrupt handler provides numerous screen-oriented functions, including:

• selecting the active monitor

• setting the mode of the color monitor (i.e., 40 by 25 characters vs. 80 by 25 characters and color vs. black and white)

• setting and reading the cursor position of the active monitor

• reading the light-pen position of the color monitor

• selecting the active display page of the color monitor

•scrolling the active page up or down

• reading/writing a character and attribute (the attribute of a character describes such features as color, underlining, etc.) •performing simple graphics operations on the color monitor (for example, setting a color palette, read/write dot, etc.) •checking the current mode of the active display

Using the VIDECLJO Interrupt

Screen intercepts any interrupt meant for VIDEO lO, In other words, when a process executes the INT 10 instruction, SCR_^RTNE gets control of the PC. SCR^KFNE checks to see whether the

operation being requested of VIDEO lO

is a text-character write operation. If it's not, SCR_JRTNE immediately executes VIDEO_JO. The result is that SCR—RTNE does not affect the PCs operation (except for the slight time delay required to determine what SCR—RTNE should do).

If, however, the operation requested is a text-character write operation, SCR—RTNE must act. It tests the attribute of the character being written, and if it determines that the attribute indicates a black-and-white character is being sent to VIDEO^JO, then SCR^JCTNE simply replaces the black-and-white attribute with the attribute that is currently active in BASIC (white on blue, for example).

The character with the new attribute is

then sent on to VIDEO 10, and the

result is a screen display of a different color. SCR RTNE is careful not to change

any other parts of the character attribute. For example, if the attribute signifies that the character is to be highlighted, this highlighting is not changed; the displayed character is highlighted in color.

Note what happens if you run Screen and then execute a program that uses the memory-mapped text output. Because text output does not come through

VIDEO 10, Screen never intercepts the

characters. As a result, Screen has no effect on programs that use this technique for screen display.

KEY__RTNE, upon intercepting an interrupt, uses the BIOS keyboard handler to fetch the next keystroke, which is examined to see if it is one of the five keystrokes that invoke a Screen function.

If it is indeed a Screen function call, KEY_RTNE handles the request. The keystroke is then discarded, and

the BIOS keyboard handler is used to fetch the next keystroke.

KEY_RTNE changes the data that the keyboard- and screen-intercept blocks share to reflect any change in state. When you invoke one of the Screen functions (by entering the appropriate keystroke), KEY RTNE

changes the visible current state of

the display(s) and then reflects the new state in the shared data.

SCR_RTNE changes only the attributes of text characters being sent to the display. The shared data specifies which attributes are to be used as well as the monitor to which text is to be sent.

The data structures and variables

114 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

shared by the subroutines KEY_RTNE and SCR_RTNE are defined in listing 1. The basic structure is "S STRUC" and specifies the current state of each monitor. This structure is used three times—to define the states of the monochrome monitor (MONO_AREA), the 80-column color monitor (COL80_AREA), and the 40-column color monitor (COL40_AREA).

Program Flexibility

Note in listing 1 the five variables FORE_INC, BACICJNC, C80_40, COL_MON, and REPAINT These variables contain the character codes for the keystrokes <Alt Fl> to <Alt F9>, which are assigned to the five Screen functions.

By making these character-code variables, Screen makes it easy to

Screen's start-up state is a white-on-blue

scheme in an 80-column mode.

reassign the functions to any keystrokes you want to use. For example, if one of your applications programs requires the use of the <Alt Fl> keystroke, you can reassign the INCREMENT FOREGROUND operation to another key by replacing the <Alt Fl > character code in FORE_INC

Another feature that provides flexibility is the default or start-up state; as set up in listing 1, Screen initially uses a white-on-blue scheme with the color monitor in 80-column mode. You can change the default state by altering the appropriate variable at the front of the program listing.

Changes in Screen can be made by using either the DOS Debug utility or a program specifically designed for this purpose. For example, I use a menu-driven program called Install that allows safe and simple modification of Screen's keystrokes and default conditions.

Intercepting Interrupts

The initialization of Screen by INIT CODE must perform two vital

The IBM PC Keyboard Interrupt

The IBM PC actually uses two keyboard interrupts and associated ROM BIOS handlers. The first is KB^JNT (INT 9). This routine communicates with the keyboard's 8048 processor to convert scan codes received from the keyboard into character codes. These character codes are then placed in a keystroke buffer.

The transformation from scan to character code is quite complex. The state of such keys as the shift, Caps Lock, Alt, or Ctrl keys affects the resulting character code. In addition, KB__JINT checks for special key combinations, such as the Ctrl-Alt-Del system-reset key combination and the status of the Print Screen functions and responds to them appropriately. (See "Using IBM's Marvelous Keyboard," May 1983 BYTE, page 402, for more information.)

The second keyboard interrupt, KEY-BOARD^JO, is INT 16 hexadecimal. Its main function is to check the keystroke buffer (being filled by KB INT) and wait until a key is pressed. The next keystroke is returned to the process invoking this interrupt. (KEYBOARD^IO can also be used to check the status of the keystroke buffer and return notice if some character is available.)

The general flow of operations is as follows: the 8048 processor on the keyboard notices when a key is pressed and sends an appropriate scan code to the computer.

KB_INT receives this scan code and converts it to the appropriate character code, which it places in the keystroke buffer.

Subsequently, when a process (such as DOS or BASIC or some applications program) wants to fetch a keystroke, it executes an INT 16, invoking KEYBOARD_JO. KEYBOARD^JO checks the keystroke buffer until it finds a character code. The code is removed from the buffer and sent to the calling process.

Screen's keyboard intercept routine KEY^RTNE uses the KEYBOARD^JO

interrupt handler. KEY RTNE is set up

to receive control any time a process requests an INT 16, thus intercepting the keyboard interrupt.

When it receives control, KEY RTNE

immediately executes KEYBOARD 10 as

a subroutine, regaining control when KEYBOARD^JO returns with a keystroke. KEY RTNE then compares the

keystroke returned with those that are assigned to the five Screen functions.

If a match is not found, KEY^RTNE returns from the interrupt, sending the keystroke it received from KEYBOARD JO back to the originating process. However, if KEY RTNE finds a

match, the appropriate Screen function is executed, the matching keystroke is discarded, and KEY RTNE again calls KEYBOARD lO to fetch another keystroke

from the keyboard.

tasks. First, it must set up KEY^RTNE and SCR_RTNE to intercept the appropriate keyboard and screen interrupts. Second, it must supply those two subroutines with the addresses of the ROM interrupt handlers they replace so that Screen can use the ROM code.

The PC's interrupt structure makes it fairly simple to replace an interrupt-handler routine with one of your own design. (See "A Peek into the IBM PC," March 1983 BYTE, page 331, for a general discussion of this interrupt structure.)

INIT_CODE gets the addresses to the ROM interrupt handlers by looking into the appropriate slots in the

interrupt vector table. These addresses are saved in storage areas in

Screen for later use by KEY RTNF

and SCR^RTNE. INIT_CODE then moves the addresses of KEY RTNE and SCR_J*TNE into the interrupt vector table so they can intercept the appropriate interrupts.

It is interesting to look at how KEY_RTNE and SCR_RTNE use the saved addresses of the BIOS ROM keyboard- and screen-interrupt handlers. Two techniques are used to interface with the ROM code. The first technique executes the ROM code as a subroutine, allowing the caller to regain control after the ROM code has been completed. The sec-

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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ond technique simply "jumps" to the ROM code as if it were in-line code, permitting the ROM code to return directly to the interrupts origin.

For KEY_RTNE to examine the keystroke returned by the ROM keyboard interrupt handler, it must regain control when the ROM code is finished. It takes control by executing the ROM keyboard interrupt handler as a subroutine, using the standard CALL instruction.

When invoked as a subroutine, the interrupt handler executes and, when finished, returns via an IRET (interrupt return) instruction. KEY_RTNE must therefore perform m^mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

The keyboard- and

screen-intercept blocks

share data structures

and variables.

a PUSHF (push flags) operation immediately prior to the FAR CALL subroutine call in order to account for the automatic POPF (pop flags) that the IRET does.

SCR_RTNE completes its function of mapping a black-and-white text character into the appropriate character attribute before it executes the ROM screen-interrupt handler. Because SCR_RTNE need not regain control after the ROM code is finished, it can execute the ROM code as if it is in-line code, using a FAR JMP instruction. The IRET operation in the ROM code then returns directly to the origin of the interrupts

The Screen program discussed in this article is available assembled and ready to run on a standard IBM single-sided floppy disk, using PC-DOS 10, lift or 2.0. Also included is the Install program referred to in this article and a nontechnical users guide. For pricing information, contact Field Computer Products, 909 North San Antonio M. t Los Altos, CA 94022. Or phone (415) 949-3457.

Tim Field (Field Computer Products, 909 N. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos, CA 94022) is a software engineer and technical writer. He is the coauthor of Your IBM PC & XT from Osborne/McGraw-Hill, due to be published this month.

116 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983

TKISolver does for equations what word processing did for words. The first thing you should know about the TKISolver™ program is that it is not a spreadsheet. Instead, it does something completely unheard of (until now) —it turns your personal computer into a voracious equation processor.

The next thing you should know is that if the TKISolver program can't make life with your personal computer easier (and pay for itself], even if you use it only 15 minutes a week, you are a very rare person.

And finally, you should know exactly what equation processing is, and how it works, If you keep reading this, you will.

Equation processing with TKISolver, or problem solving made easy. The best way to understand what the TKISolver program is, is to understand what it does. The following simple example is designed to do just that. If you're still a little in the dark after reading it, stop in at your local computer store for a very enlightening hands-on demonstration.

Begin by setting up your problem. The TKISolver program lets you do it quickly, easily, and naturally. For example, a car costs $9785. What would be the monthly payment on a three-year loan if the down payment is 25% and the interest rate is 15%? STEP 1 . Formulate the necessary equations to solve your problem and enter them on the "Rule Sheet" simply

lrJ Rule: "CAR LOAN

,_ = = = - = VARIABLE SHEET = = =

Name Output Unit

price dollars

down 2446.25 dollars

loan 7338.75 dollars dp percent

payment 254.46618 dollars i percent

term years

:,==:=== RULE SHEET =======

price down;loan

doun/pr ice=dp

payment=loan*(i/(l-(1+i) A -term))

by typing them in (as in the screen

photo). For example: "price-down =

loan."

STEP 2. Enter your known values the

same way on the "Variable Sheet." For

example: "9785" for price. You may

also enter units and comments, if you

want*

STEP 3. Type the action command

("!" on your keyboard) to solve the

problem.

STEP 4. TKISolver displays the an-

swer: the monthly payment is $254.40.

Backsolving, the heart of

TKISolver. Now that you've defined

price of car

down payment

bank loan

down payment percentage

monthly payment

interest rate

term of loan

the problem and solved it, TKISolver's unique backsolving ability also lets you think "backwards" to solve for any variable, regardless of its position in the equation. For example, if you can only afford a monthly payment of $200, you can re-solve the problem in terms of that constraint. The TKISolver program will solve the problem, displaying your choice of a higher down payment, a longer loan term, or a lesser interest rate. This unique back-solving capability forms the basis of TKISolver's remarkably flexible problem-solving ability

118 BYTE November 1983

Also, as you can see from the example on the screen, TKISolver deals not only with single variables, but with entire equations and sets of simultaneous equations. It also deals with much more complicated problems than this one. How complicated? That's up to you. What kinds of problems? That's up to you, too, but popular applications include finance, engineering, science, design, and education.

Other extremely useful and interesting things TKISolver does. Aside from its basic problem-solving abilities, the TKISolver program performs a number of pretty fancy tricks. Like: Iterative Solving; in which TKISolver performs successive approximations of an answer when confronted with equations that cannot be solved directly! like exp (x) = 2 - x • y and sin (x • y)= 3 - x - y). Like: List Solving; in which TKISolver attacks complete lists of input values and solves them all, allowing you to examine numerous alternative solutions, and pick the one you like best. Like: Tables and Graphs; using the values you produced with the List Solver, the TKISolver program will automatically produce tables and graphs of your data. You can look at your formatted output on the screen or send it to your printer with a single keystroke. And like: Automatic

Unit Conversion; in which TKISolver lets you formulate problems in one unit of measurement, and display answers in another. Very convenient what with all this talk about going metric.

The TKISolver program also provides a wide variety of specialized business and mathematical functions like trig and log and net present value.

Then, there's TKISolver's on-screen Help facility that provides information on commands and features any time you want it. Just type "?" and a topic name.

And of course the TKISolver program combines all these features in one integrated program. TKISolverPacks make problem-solving a picnic. TKISolverPack™ application packages are specially developed by experts in specific fields. Each package contains a diskette with about a dozen models that include the necessary equations, values, and tables for solving a particular problem. The models are usable as-is or you can easily modify them.

TKISolverPack application packages available from Software Arts include Financial Management, Mechanical Engineering, Building Design and Construction, and Introductory Science. Additional TKISolverPacks are on the way from Software

Arts, McGraw-Hill, and others. We know you're out there. No

matter who you are, or what you do, if it involves using equations, the TKISolver program is an indispensable tool for you.

So, visit your local computer store today, and see TKISolver in action. You'll be amazed at how much faster and more effectively you'll be able to work when you discover the power of equation processing with the TKISolver program.

Software Arts"

The inventors of VisiCalc*

27 Mica Lane, Wellesley, Massachusetts 02181 617/237-4000

*You can easily define appropriate unit conversions on the unit sheet.

TK, TK!, TKISolver, TKISolverPack, The Problem Cruncher, the stylized ! and the slogan "NOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO THINK LIKE A COMPUTER TO USE ONE!"

are trademarks or registered trademarks of Software Arts, Inc. SATN, TKISATN and DIP are trademarks or registered trademarks of Software Arts Products Corp.

Software Arts is a trademark of Software Arts, Inc. and Software Arts Products Corp. The TKISolver program and the TKISolverPack applications packages are

products of Software Arts, Inc. which is solely responsible for their contents. VisiCalc is a registered trademark of VisiCorp.

Copyright © 1983 Software Arts, Inc. All rights reserved p/n 100-092 P 8/83

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BYTE November 1983

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Circle 69 on inquiry card.

POKEing Around in the

IBM PC

Part 1: Accessing System and Hardware

Facilities

This two-part series demonstrates how you can use BASIC'S PEEK and POKE commands to realize the speed and flexibility of machine-language code without sacrificing the convenience of a high-level language. Several short, general-purpose machine-language subroutines that allow BASIC programs access to the IBM Personal Computer's (PC's) system and hardware facilities illustrate the techniques involved- To lay the groundwork for the more detailed programming examples to be presented in Part 2 (next month), we will take a look now, in Part 1, at the PC's BIOS (basic input/output system) and registers in the PC's central processor.

The PEEK and POKE Commands

BASIC'S PEEK and POKE functions form the magic window that gives us access to the PC's main memory. It's well worth investigating these functions in order to take advantage of the PC's modular systems software and

by Hugh R. Howson

to access some of the 8088 processor's powerful commands.

The PEEK and POKE commands operate as follows: the statement

X = PEEK(n)

assigns to the variable X the value stored in memory location n; similarly, the statement

POKE n,m

places the m into main memory at the location specified by n.

This description requires one minor clarification because of the method the 8088 uses to determine the absolute, or effective, memory address. The absolute address on which an instruction operates actually consists of two components: a segment address and an offset address, each 2 bytes (or 16 bits) long. The n is the offset address, used in the PEEK and POKE instructions; the DEF SEG statement can be used to

Segment Address Bits Offset Address Bits Absolute Memory Address

1000100010001000

1000100010001000 10010001000100001000

Table 1: The relationship between segment and offset address bits. The segment address bits are shifted left four bits relative to the offset address bits; then the segment and offset addresses are added to yield the absolute memory address. This technique permits an absolute address space of more than one million locations.

define the segment address. If no segment address is defined, then that of the BASIC program is assumed. Table 1 illustrates how an absolute memory address is formed from the segment and offset addresses. The segment address bits are shifted left 4 bit positions (equivalent to multiplying by 16) relative to the offset address bits. And then the two address components are added to yield the 20-bit absolute address, a format that permits an absolute address space of more than one million locations. Note that each segment address defines a 64K-byte address space, but one segment's address space may overlap another's, so segment addresses can assume any value that can be represented by the 16 bits of the segment address register.

Manipulating Data on Screen

These PEEK, POKE, and address concepts can be illustrated by a short program that scrolls up all data on a PC video display. Assuming use of the 80-column monochrome display adapter, all data displayed on the screen is stored in memory starting at segment address hexadecimal B000, offset address 0000 (all addresses to follow are hexadecimal). Each displayed character is represented by 2 single-byte memory locations: one location contains the byte specifying the characters and the second location stores the character's at-

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Listing 1: A BASIC program that shifts the PCs screen up one line at a time.

10 DEF SEG = &HB000

20 FOR ROW = 0 TO 23

30 CURRENTROWFIRSTBYTE = ROW

* 160 40 ROWBELOWFIRSTBYTE =

CURRENTROWFIRSTBYTE + 160 50 FOR BYTE - 0 TO 159 60 BYTEBELOW =

PEEK(ROWBELOWFIRSTBYTE + BYTE) 70 POKE (CURRENTROWFIRSTBYTE

+ BYTE), BYTEBELOW 80 NEXT BYTE 90 NEXT ROW

tribute byte (which indicates such conditions as a flashing character, reverse video, etc.). Therefore, a total of 160 bytes of memory are used for each 80-column line.

To move all text up one line, a program must move the 80-character per-row, 2-byte-per-character display a single byte at a time. For example, to move the left-hand character of the second row up to the first row, a program can use PEEK at the second-row, left-hand-character byte and then use POKE to move its value into the location corresponding to the left-hand character of the first row. The program in listing 1 accomplishes this task for the top 23 lines of the screen display, leaving the last line unchanged.

Listing 1 illustrates the convenience with which the segment address, B000, can be used to define the segment of memory dedicated to the screen, and it demonstrates how you can easily manipulate screen data using a BASIC program. However, if you actually run this program, you'll find that it's quite slow. That's one reason for investigating the BIOS, which can accomplish the same task with much greater speed and less effort.

Basic Input/Output System

The PC's BIOS is a set of subroutines stored in ROM that provides a standard interface between the user and all of the different input/output devices that may be attached to the system, including the screen, keyboard, printer, disk drives, and communications adapter. Each BIOS subroutine can be activated by a user in-

terrupt. Each subroutine can perform several operations, which are selected by placing appropriate values in the 8088's registers before the interrupt occurs. The PC's documentation includes a complete listing of the BIOS subroutines. You do not need to be an assembly-language programmer to learn how to use them; each one is well documented. The comments at the beginning of each subroutine describe all actions that the subroutine performs and explain what values must be transferred between the user's program and the BIOS subroutine through the 8088's registers.

As a typical example, the comments at the beginning of the BIOS's video-I/O subroutine (included in Appendix A of the PC's Technical Reference manual) indicate that this subroutine can scroll any section of the screen up or down a certain number of lines. In addition, the comments indicate that it can perform such functions as placing the character at a specific location on the screen, determining the location of the cursor, and moving the cursor. The comments further indicate the parameters that the user must specify to select a desired action.

Table 2 summarizes the PC's BIOS functions and parameters; this table should prove more useful after you read the 8088's register descriptions later in this article.

The advantage of using the BIOS subroutines is that they include the logic to identify the physical characteristics of an active device. For example, the screen-manipulation (video-I/O) BIOS subroutine determines whether the screen is in text or graphics mode and whether the screen width is 40 or 80 characters, thus removing the burden of passing a lot of redundant information to the system. All of the subroutines have a similar structure, so if you learn how to use one, you can apply the same approach to others.

How can we use a BASIC program to access the BIOS video-I/O subroutine for our screen-scrolling task? Let's say that we would like to scroll a window on the screen up five lines and that the window starts at row 0,

column 0 and ends at row 15, column 30. To pass these parameters to the BIOS, they must be placed in the appropriate registers defined in table 2. All of these registers are discussed later in this article, but for this screen-scrolling task we are concerned only with the four accumulator, or general, registers, AX, BX, CX, and DX.

Each of these registers consists of two bytes. When both bytes are taken together as one 16-bit word, then the X suffix in AX, BX, etc., is used. Each byte may also be treated separately, in which case the bytes are referred to as low byte or high byte, or more simply as AL and AH, BL and BH, and so on. Figure 1 illustrates this register configuration and the other 8088 registers discussed later in this article.

Now, to specify the screen-scrolling task, the table 2 entries shown in bold type indicate that we must load parameter values into these registers as follows:

AH (scroll direction: 6 = up,

7 = down) =06

AL (number of lines) =05

BH (blank-line attribute,

normal = 7) =07

BL (not used for this task) CH (starting row) =00

CL (starting column) =00

DH (ending row, 15

decimal=OF) (hexadecimal) = OF DL (ending column, 30

decimal=IE) (hexadecimal) = IE

These values can be loaded into the registers by a short subroutine written in machine language, which can be called when required from a BASIC program. The subroutine then initiates the necessary interrupt to activate the video-I/O BIOS, which completes the defined task.

A Screen-Scrolling Program

The following four machine-language instructions can move values into the AX, BX, CX, and DX registers:

B8, law byte, high byte (AX register) BB, law byte, high byte (BX register) B9, law byte, high byte (CX register) BA, low byte, high byte (DX register)

122 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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124 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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an instruction plus two data bytes. Each instruction—B8, BB, B9, and BA—is a "load immediate data" instruction, meaning that the two bytes immediately following it are treated as data to be moved into the appropriate register. For example, the instruction B8 takes the two bytes immediately following it in memory and moves them directly into the AX register. Note that the first data byte is loaded into the low part of the AX register, AL, and that the second byte is loaded in the high part of the register, AH. The other three instructions operate in exactly the same way but apply to other registers.

We can thus use these four instructions to load the specific values required for our screen-scrolling example into the 8088's registers. The following statement, for example, loads the desired values into the AX register:

B8,05,06

This statement places the number of lines to scroll, 5, in AL, and the direction code, 6 for up, in AH. The remaining registers are loaded with the

BB,00,07 (for BX) B9,00,00 (for CX) BA,1E,0F (for DX)

Once we have loaded the values into the registers, we need to initiate an interrupt, advising the system to transfer control to the appropriate BIOS subroutine. This step requires the 2-byte machine instruction

CD,10

The first byte, CD, is the interrupt instruction that instructs the 8088 to look up a table of interrupt addresses to find the address of its next instruction. The second byte, 10, points to the entry in the interrupt table where the address is to be found. The value 10 refers to the video-I/O subroutine of the BIOS, as table 2 shows in the first bold subheading.

After the BIOS has completed the task specified by the values placed in the registers, it returns control to the machine-language subroutine that initiated the interrupt. That subroutine, in turn, requires a final instruction to return control to the BASIC

tion is the single byte CB, which completes the machine-language subroutine. So we can now turn our attention to loading and calling the subroutine from a BASIC program.

Using the Machine-Language Subroutine

We will use the approach discussed in Appendix C, "Machine Language Subroutines," of the IBM BASIC manual for loading and calling the subroutine. First, we must make space available for our machine-language program in memory, to ensure that it does not become embedded in the BASIC program. Normally, when the BASIC interpreter is being used, it is spread over all of the available memory space not used for systems programs, as illustrated in figure 2a, allowing no secure location in which to place the machine-language subroutine. To overcome this problem we can use the BASIC statement

CLEAR , &H8000

as the first statement of the BASIC program. This command instructs the interpreter to confine the amount

126 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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GENERAL REGISTERS

(2a)

STACK POINTER

BASE POINTER

SOURCE INDEX

DESTINATION INDEX

SEGMENT REGISTERS

PROGRAM COUNTER

STATUS FLAGS

CODE SEGMENT

DATA SEGMENT

STACK SEGMENT

EXTRA SEGMENT ES

Figure 1: The 8088 processor's registers.

of memory space used for the BASIC program to 8000 (or 32K decimal) contiguous bytes of memory. The result of the &H8000 command is illustrated in figure 2b. The space available for the BASIC program is squeezed down to 32K bytes after the system programs, which require approximately 28K bytes, using a total of about 60K bytes of memory. The remaining 4K bytes at the top of memory are free for any other use and thus can hold our machine-language subroutine. (While this 4K-byte section is far more space than we require, it keeps the mathematics simple.) This free memory space can be addressed most easily by using the segment address 0F00, so that the addresses seem to start at 0000.

Once the memory space is allocated, loading the machine-language routine from BASIC is straightforward. As listing 2a illustrates, a loop can be used to read in each byte of the subroutine from a data statement. POKE places it directly into memory. Loading the machine-language subroutine is performed once, at the start of the program. Also, the subroutine must be given a variable

(2b)

(a) NORMAL SPACE ALLOCATION

{b) EFFECT OF CLEAR.8 H8000

Figure 2: Memory space allocation, showing the normal allocation (a) and the effect of the CLEAR, &H8000 (hexadecimal), statement (b).

name, so we have chosen SCREEN-SUB. It is assigned the value 0. This value represents the offset address within the segment of free memory where the first instruction of the subroutine is located. To initiate action of the subroutine, and through it the BIOS, the following two statements are required:

DEF SEG-&H0F00 CALL SCREENSUB

The action taken by the BIOS can be controlled by inserting different values for subroutine parameters, using a POKE, before calling the subroutine. To make this task easier, and to lessen the burden of remembering the technical details of the subroutine, variables can be defined and assigned the appropriate offset addresses or action codes as illustrated in listing 2b. Revised values can then be entered prior to calling the subroutine, as the following example illustrates:

DEFSEG = &H0F00

POKE SCREENACTIONCODE,

SCROLLDOWN POKE SCREENLINECODE, 8 CALL SCREENSUB

Debugging the Program

After the BASIC code that inserts the machine-language subroutine into memory has been written, it is a wise precaution to examine the subroutine to ensure that it does, in fact, represent the desired machine in-

structions. PC-DOS provides a debugging program, which is an excellent tool for both examining the subroutine and observing its operation, instruction by instruction. This may be done as follows:

1. Boot the PC-DOS and invoke the DEBUG facility with the following response to the system prompt:

A > DEBUG BASICA.COM

This statement invokes the DEBUG facility and instructs debug to load the BASIC interpreter as the program to be debugged.

2. Respond to the DEBUG prompt with:

-G

This character instructs DEBUG to "go" and run the BASIC interpreter.

3. Load your program as usual with BASIC and edit the program to insert a STOP statement after the machine language is poked into memory. Then run your program so that it places the subroutine into memory and then stops.

4. Terminate BASIC by entering:

SYSTEM

This command returns control back to DEBUG.

5. Ask DEBUG to give a listing of the

128 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

StandardPascal for Your IBM PC, MS-DOS, CP/M 86, and CP/M 80 Computers

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Listing 2a: Loading the subroutine into memory.

900 DEF SEG = &H0F00

902 FOR I = 0 TO 14

904 READ J

906 POKE I,J

908 NEXT I

910 DATA &HBB,&H05,&H06

912 DATA &HBB,&H00,&H07

914 DATA &HB9,&H00,&H00

916 DATA &HBA,&H1E,&H0F

918 DATA &HCD,&H10

920 DATA &HCB

922 SCREENSUB = 0

Listing 2b: Declaring constant values.

930 DIRECTION 2

932 NUMBEROFLINES = 1

934 BLANKATTRIBUTE = 5

936 STARTROW m 8

938 STARTCOL = 7

940 ENDROW 11

942 ENDCOL = 10

944 SCROLLUP = 6

946 SCROLLDOWN m 7

Listing 3: "Unassembled" listing of the machine-language subroutine loaded by the listing 2 BASIC statements.

—u OFOO:0000 0F00:0000 B80506 0F0O:O003 BB0000 0F00:0006 B90000 OFO0:OO09 BA1EOF 0F00:000C CD10 0F00.-000E CB

MOV AX,0605

MOV BX,0007

MOV CX,0000

MOV DX,0F1E

INT 10

RET L

machine-language program with the command:

-U 0F00:0000

This statement is the request to "unassemble" the machine-language instructions starting at memory segment 0F00, offset 0000, where the machine-language instructions have been placed.

The resulting listing gives the machine instructions and the equivalent assembly-language statements. Even if you are not an experienced assembly-language programmer, you should be able to examine this listing and to check that the subroutine is correctly represented. The subroutine developed above is illustrated in listing 3.

You can also use DEBUG to observe (or trace) the step-by-step ex-

ecution of a machine-language subroutine, examining each transfer of values into and out of registers. As before, start with DOS to debug the program BASICA.COM. This time, to start BASIC use the command G followed by the memory address of the first machine-language instruction:

-G 0F00:0000

The effect of this command is that the DEBUG program inserts an interrupt instruction, CC, referred to as a breakpoint, at memory location OFOO:0000. When this instruction is then encountered during program execution, control is transferred back to debug by the interrupt. DEBUG then displays the register contents at the time of the interrupt and permits you to then trace the execution, instruction by instruction, from that point forward through the subroutine. This breakpoint function (a special debugging pseudoinstruction that stops execution), however, does not quite work when we use the POKE command in a machine-language program, as is the case with our screen-scrolling program.

The reason the breakpoint function doesn't work in this case is obvious (with a little reflection). After DEBUG places the CC instruction in memory and starts execution of BASIC and then your own program, your program will use POKE to substitute the first machine instruction in place of the breakpoint instruction. So the breakpoint disappears! This problem can easily be solved, fortunately, by including as the first instruction of your machine-language program the breakpoint command CC to trigger the DEBUG interrupt. Then, after you are satisfied that the subroutine works correctly, you can remove this instruction for normal operation.

This completes the introduction of the PC's BIOS and the development of a machine-language-interface subroutine to access the BIOS—specifically, the BIOS video-I/O functions— from a BASIC program. While it's not essential that you involve yourself in all of the technical details of debugging and tracing the operation of the subroutine, these details do provide

a useful way of becoming familiar with the operation of the PC. In Part 2 we will extend the preceding program to provide a general interface with the BIOS so that you will be able to control all the I/O devices. First, however, let's review all of the BIOS subroutines and all of the 8088's registers to provide the necessary technical background.

Summary of BIOS Functions

The BIOS functions and the parameters for each function are summarized in table 2. These functions provide interfaces to the following devices: the communication port, the keyboard, the disk drives, the printer, video devices (both text and graphics), and the cassette.

Each of these subroutines is activated by an interrupt with an interrupt number (shown in table 2 beside the function name) to identify the routine desired. Each subroutine can perform several different operations, such as read a disk, write data to the disk, format a track, etc., selected by parameter values contained in the 8088's registers. Results from the operations, such as device status or data values, are returned through the same registers. Therefore, an interface subroutine that transfers values between a BASIC program and all of the registers can serve as a general-purpose access to the BIOS.

8088 Registers

Before developing our program, let's examine all of the 8088's registers, illustrated in figure 1. There are three groups of four registers, as illustrated. The four general registers, AX, BX, CX, and DX, which we've already considered, may be used to store or manipulate data or addresses. The four index registers normally contain offset addresses to point to memory locations of data to be acted on. The four segment registers contain segment addresses that are used in conjunction with the offset addresses to define the absolute memory address.

There are two additional registers. The program counter contains the offset address of the next instruction to be executed. The status, or flags,

130 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

THE BUFFER DID IT.

Who Stole The 1500 Letters From The Computer?

Let's just say you've got to send a letter to 1500 different people. Would you like to spend 22.5 hours* or 60 seconds of

It

**-

has

9 P

M$

Iff

<^°

•

computer time?

With \ a garden-1 variety buffer, the computer has to mix, merge and send 1500

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you're talking 22.5 hours. In the case of our new (not to mention amazing)

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•* o,.~ just give

ShuffleBuffer one form letter and your address list, and it takes care of the mixing, the merging, and the printing. But that's not all ShuffleBuffer's stolen from the computer. Oh, no.

Who Changed and Rearranged The Facts?

Again, ShuffleBuffer's the culprit. You want to move paragraph #1 down

where .* #3 is? >*JL Want m0& to add a chart or picture? No

problem. No mystery, either. Any buffer can give you FIFO, basic first-in, first-out printing. And some

&

v tf*

\\**>

buffers offer By-Pass; the ability to interrupt long jobs for short ones. But only ShuffleBuffer has what we call Random Access Printing — the brains to move stored information around on its way to the printer. Something only a computer could do before. Comes in especially handy if you do lots of printing. Or lengthy manuscripts Or voluminous green and white spread sheets. And by the way, ShuffleBuffer does store up to 128K of information and gives you a By-Pass mode, too.

And Who Spilled The Beans 239 Times?

Most buffers can't tell the printer to duplicate. If they can, they only offer a start/stop switch, which means you're the one who has to count to 239. Turn your back on your buffer, and your printer might shoot out a room full of copies. ShuffleBuffer, however, does control quantity. Tell it the amount, and it counts the copies. By itself.

So, What's The Catch?

There isn't any Sleuth around. You won't find another buffer that's as slick a character as this one. You also won't find one that's friendly with any parallel or serial computer/printer combination. This is the world's only universal buffer. With a brain.

Who Wants You To Catch A ShuffleBuffer In Action?

You guessed it. We do. Just go to your local computer dealer and ask him to show you a ShuffleBuffer at , work. Or, you can call us

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f\ShuffleBuffer

The Buffer with a Brain

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BYTE November 1983

s

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o

register indicates the system status (as described under the R (register) command in the DEBUG section of the PC-DOS manual).

The determination of absolute addresses is based on a standard relationship between the segment registers and the other registers, although this relationship can be overridden at any time by a program. The code-segment register (CS), in conjunction with the program counter (PC), defines the program-instruction area of memory. The data-segment register (DS) is used to define the segment of memory where data values are stored and is typically used with any of the accumulators, if they contain offset address values, or with the source index register (SI). The stack-segment register (SS) is used to define a segment in which to maintain a stack (which may contain return addresses for subroutines, iteration loops, etc.), and the top of the stack is pointed to by the stack pointer register (SP). The base pointer register (BP) is typically used to point to a specific entry in the stack also using the stack-segment register.

Finally, the extra-segment (ES) register is used in conjunction with the destination-index register (DI) to point to the destination addresses for moving data from any location in memory. The powerful MOV (move) instruction uses this destination address in conjunction with a source address provided by the data-segment register and the source index. MOV also enables bytes to be moved between any two locations in the main memory space. We will be using this instruction for a subroutine presented in Part 2.

While the machine instructions for these registers are for the most part straightforward, note that it is not possible to move data values directly into the segment registers. Instead, one approach, which we will use next month in Part 2, is to first move data into the AX register and then move the data from there to the segment register. ■

Hugh R. Howson, PhD, CA is on the faculty of Management at McGill University (1001 Sherbrooke St. W, Montreal PQ, Canada H3A 1G5).

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Quadboard comes with a parallel port designed to operate most parallel printers and other parallel devices. A fully-programmable serial port for all your data communications needs, and a battery-powered chronograph (a realtime clock/calendar to keep your systems clock always up-to-date).

Plus there's QuadMaster Software, too. With QuadRAM Drive. The program that lets you use part of system memory as multiple RAM drives. Solid-state drives that let you store and retrieve important information fast.

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Could 1,000,000 IBM PC Users

Be Wrong?

IBM, the PC, and the Future

by Frank Gens and Chris Christiansen

In the early 1900s, IBM, then called the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), leaped from obscurity by automating the US census with a device known as the Tabulating Machine. In 1983, IBM appears poised to make another quantum leap by automating everyone from Fortune 500 executives to grade-school children. The vehicle for this revolution? The great-great-grandchild of the original CTR Tabulating Machine—the IBM Personal Computer.

Should IBM begin shipments of the Peanut this fall, the company will have shipped nearly 1 million of its Personal Computers (PCs) to large corporations, small businesses, professional offices, schools, and home users by the end of 1983. This is an impressive feat for a company that was not present in the personal computer market until a little over two years ago.

In this article we'll look at why the PC enjoys such wide market acceptance, the PC's profound effect on both "Big Blue" itself and the personal computer market as a whole, and the directions in which IBM will push its fastest growing product.

The PC's Impact on IBM

IBM's view of the PC has gone through a number of changes over the past three years. The PC was

probably originally developed as a defensive product meant to keep other microcomputer suppliers from infiltrating IBM's large accounts. And, of course, it was intended as an experimental vehicle into new markets.

As the PC actually began to make a substantial contribution to the company's bottom line, the corporate office began to take notice. The potential strategic utility of the PC was studied, and IBM concluded that by encouraging proliferation of the PC in large corporate accounts, it could stimulate a grass-roots demand for its large computer systems through increased demands for communications networking, database access, and the necessary support. IBM decided to bring the PC into the mainstream of its product lines as the foundation upon which to build its advanced workstations/terminals.

On August 1, 1983, IBM formed a new manufacturing and development division—the Entry Systems Division (ESD), headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The division is responsible for a number of workstation products, including the PC and the PC XT.

Perhaps the most significant thing about IBM's formation of ESD is that it indicates just how pivotal a product IBM now considers the PC. ESD, essentially run by former PC product-

management personnel, has responsibility for products formerly in IBM's Systems Products and Communications Products divisions. This makes it clear that the PC is assuming a position of importance in the corporation that may soon be second only to IBM's mainframe line.

Because the success of the PC thus far has been mainly a result of user enthusiasm, the formation of ESD raises an important question: how much more dominating a product in the personal computer market will the PC be with top-to-bottom corporate muscle behind it?

What's So Great About the PC?

For the past two years an ongoing debate has been taking place among personal computer users, vendors, industry analysts, and myriad others over the technical merits of the PC. These debates usually revolve around such issues as performance of the 8088 versus other microprocessors such as the Motorola 68000 or Intel's own 8086; the merits of MS-DOS versus CP/M-86, the UCSD p-System, Unix, C, and others; and the extent of special capabilities such as high-resolution color graphics.

The controversy surrounding these issues grows larger with the seemingly daily entry of new microcomputer vendors into the market with machines and operating systems that

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

NORTH AMERICAN DESKTOP COMPUTER SHIPMENTS BY SELECTED VENDORS

Figure 1: This figure depicts the North American shipments of business-oriented desktop systems costing between $1000 and $10,000. While Tandy (Radio Shack) was an early leader in the personal computer market, it was eclipsed by Apple, whose market position is now threatened by IBM.

reportedly take greater advantage of recent technological advances than the PC.

The Real Battle: Market Acceptance

The great irony, however, is that as the debate raged on through 1983, IBM quietly but surely began taking its position as the second leading vendor, number one being Apple Computer, in the over-$100Q market and is poised to take the leading spot in the home-oriented under-$1000 market, (See figure 1.)

In spite of the debate about the PC's technical merits, there can be no doubt that its market accomplishments are nothing short of spectacular. Since its introduction in September 1981, the PC has:

• taken IBM from a 0 percent share to number three in the market with an 18.8 percent share of 1982 shipments; by this year's end, it is expected that IBM will have attained the number two position with a 26 percent share

• established MS-DOS as the leading operating system for 16-bit personal computers

• established the Intel 8088/8086 microprocessor family as a personal computer industry standard

• garnered almost unparalleled support from third-party software and hardware vendors

• stimulated tremendous growth in the personal computer market—the corporate personal computer market has grown threefold from 1981 through 1983

• prodded other minicomputer and mainframe vendors—including Digital Equipment Corporation, Data General, Wang, Burroughs, and other companies—to enter the market

• revolutionized IBM's—and the industry's—view of personal computers; personal computers have taken on strategic importance for IBM and other large information system vendors

• changed many users' views of personal computers from novelties/toys to integral pieces in the corporate information system.

Technological Elegance: An Apparent Irrelevance

The PC's track record provides a dramatic demonstration that technological elegance and a leading price/ performance position is almost irrelevant to market success. Indeed, our research indicates that the most important factors in the acceptance of any personal computer by end users are vendor recognition, applications software availability (vendor and third-party), a reputation for product reliability and support, moderately competitive pricing, and an assurance that the vendor won't disappear in the impending personal computer market shakeout.

For the novice personal computer buyer who craves a security blanket, vendor recognition, reputation, and stability are the most critical factors. For the experienced personal computer buyer, software and third-party hardware support are major purchase incentives. Moveover, these factors are also major selection criteria for personal computer retailers, who account for roughly two-thirds of all PC sales. With well over 150 personal computer manufacturers currently in the market and retailers providing shelf space for an average of only five or six products, satisfying retailers' selection criteria becomes at least as important as satisfying end users.

Our research indicates that with retailers, as with end users, technical characteristics play a relatively minor role in personal computer selection. Key selection criteria for retailers include support (documentation, training, service), margins and quantity discount schedules, and end-user preferences.

The PC as a Market Standard

IBM's success in the volatile personal computer market clearly shows that "me-too" technology is not a detriment to market acceptance and may in fact aid in market acceptance. The reason? Standards.

The PC has provided third-party vendors with stable, de facto standards upon which to design applications software and hardware enhancements, and the activity that the

136 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Welcome,

IBM, to

personal

computing

With the announcement of the IBM 5100 system in a puss release dated Sept. 9 t I9 7 5, per son a t c< > r n pu 1 i fig gains an entry from the i ndust i y "s product ion and service giant, IBM. fhe IBM 5100 is being marketed primarily as a problem solver for industrial, commercial and professional people with the result that it is a very professional package at a premium price. But yon wit! get a lot of function when you buy one of these c (> r n p u tef S a rvd y o u *ll be able to call upon IBM's longstanding reputation for good service dnd customer h a n d holding ,' the points which have led to the commendable success of IBM a s a compu t e r c om pa ny,

What IBM engineers have done is to design a SO I b - p a t k a ge of interactive personal computing which includes the following major features as standard Hems:

• System sol tware is built-in, with access to BASIC and/or API. depending upon options purchased, These languages aimI the necessary monitor programs are hardwired into .:. a nwd only memory.

• A video screen is built-in, with up to 1024 characters displayed in a 16-1 inc. by 64*character format.

m

• An interactive keyboard is $ t a n d a r d., including the usual text entry section as-well as a separate calculator style keypad, fhe keyboard has special function coding for .ill the API Ami BASH syntax elements.

• User memory starts at I {>K by tes in the m t n i muns configut at.ion and can be expanded to 64 K bytes (65,536),

• A magnetic tape tart ridge storage device is standard. This »s built into the unit, a n d be c o m e s the prim a t y method of storing user data and programs. It is also used to load IBM supphed programming packages. The cartridges for this device hold up to 204,000 characters of information.

You get all this function and professionalism from IBM by paying a high price. I his machine is not intended to be a toy, although it would make m\ excellent one. It is intended as a production tool for people who presently use tune sharing terminals, programmable calculators or othet personal computers in daily work, Prices mentioned in the press release ate:

• IBM 5100. processor . . .

$8973 to $19,975, d e pending u pon user memory (I6K, 32K, 4SK or 04 K bytes) and language (API or BASIC or both) options.

• IBM $103 printer ... . $3,675 purchases dn 80 cps

132-column dot matrix line printer.

• IBM 5106 Auxiliary t,\nv unit - . . $2,300 purchases ,m additional tape cartridge dr ive to augment the functions of the built-in df ive,

• "Problem Solver Library*' software is available lor a one tune tvniuf ol $500 Including a wide range of utility and applications software with interactive user sequences,

M isceI!anei >u s f eat ui es a \ so available tor the machine include a TV monitor output, the external I/O adaptor used with the 5103 mti 5106 devices, a communications adaptor which makes the $100 emulate an IBM 2741 c o m m u n i e a t ions ter m tnal, mil a carrying case.

As an IBM engineered product, you can expect a solidly built computer, H you are a business or professional person needing a high quality c a I c u I a t i o n a. I a n d programming tool, then you should investigate the 5100 as an item o.f capital equipment

which you can incidentally use to program numerous BASIC games when youVe not using it for business, But if your sole inter est in the machine is as a luxury toy, you have to be moderately Well off to purchase- the IBM SI00 at Os present pri< < ■

And we were there: BYTE's first mention of an IBM personal computer appeared in the December 1975 issue.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 137

PC has stimulated in the third-party world has been spectacular. For example, we estimate that approximately 10 new PC products from both IBM and third-party vendors are announced daily. IBM estimated that, as of mid-1983, at least 3000 hardware and software products from 2500 vendors were available for the PC, compared with 1250 products in mid-1982. And this number is expected to grow to more than 6000 by the end of 1984.

We've also estimated that approximately 2000 applications packages run under the IBM operating system, PC-DOS, which is actually Microsoft's MS-DOS in disguise. When compared to an estimated 3000 Apple, 3000 Tandy, 5000 CP/M, and 2000 other applications running under various other operating systems, the MS-DOS application library is small. But it is important to note that MS-DOS has been in common use for only two years, and software "hits" such as Lotus Development Corporations^ 1-2-3 are developed primarily for MS-DOS environments. (These figures are for nongame applications.)

In other words, MS-DOS is currently the fastest growing of the leading operating systems. We expect that by late 1984 or early 1985, MS-DOS will have the largest library of applications.

Helping or Hindering?

How does the PC affect the personal computer industry? IBM's stimulation of third-party hardware and software development exerts a stabilizing influence on the personal computer market. But is this stabilization good or bad for the industry at large? Will de facto standardization around the PC architecture limit the development of new alternative designs? In five years, will the personal computer market be saddled with an aging and nearly obsolete standard architecture, much as the mainframe market is tied to IBM's S/370 architecture?

Clearly, the PC stimulated software development for the MS-DOS operating system. Moreover, IBM's de facto standards provided the stable

(2a)

15 14 13 12 11 to 10

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< 9

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2 8 » 7

K

5 6

§ 5 A

3 2

1

1983 MARKETS FOR IBM PC FAMILY

\

IBM "PEANUT"

■ &

IBM

DISPLAY-WRITER FOR HIGH-END WORD-PROCESSING

IBM "PEANUT" SYSTEMS AS A LOW-END WORD-PROCESSING SYSTEM

IBM

DATAMASTER

S/23

IBM PC XT

IBM PC SYSTEMS

BASE CONFIGURATION

J"-

#

IBM

PC

XT

IBM PC SYSTEMS

w-

IBM PC XT

IBM PC SYSTEMS

Figure 2: Markets for the IBM PC and family in (a) 1983 and (b) 1986. Based on the IBM PC, this broad line of products will not be limited to the 8088/8086 chips from Intel but could include microprocessors from Motorola, National Semiconductor, and Harris.

environment necessary for the costly development of products such as 1-2-3, Visicorp's Visi On, and Quarterdeck's DesQ, along with many other unannounced products. On the other hand, many software developers decided against working with operating systems such as the UCSD p-System, Pick, Oasis, TurboDOS, Unix, and others. In some cases, these operating systems offer features superior to MS-DOS, but they are not blessed with IBM's sanction and/or a competitive pricing structure.

IBM's effect in other personal computer marketplaces is also ambivalent. The evolution of a de facto standard based on Intel's 8088 microprocessor and Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system created an all-new generation of plug-compatible machines/manufacturers. Companies such as Compaq, Columbia, Corona, Eagle, Gavilan, Texas Instruments, Tandy, and reportedly even Apple have products or will focus products on these standards to take advantage of IBM's constrained production and deficiencies in the PC's hardware (such as a lack of monochrome graphics and the PC's awkward keyboard).

However, while IBM created a new

IBM-compatible market for many small personal computer vendors, it also destroyed the market for some older machines. Traditional vendors such as North Star, Cromemco, Vector Graphic, and others are seeing their customers lured away by IBM and the IBM compatibles. While many of these vendors offer 8088- or even 68000-based machines, they are having a rough time competing for shelf space and users' attention in the face of advertising blitzes from IBM and its growing legions of compatible vendors.

Even third-party hardware vendors such as Tecmar and AST—which exist primarily to supply peripherals and enhancements for the PC—find IBM's presence in the personal computer market a mixed blessing. While IBM takes its time providing enhancements such as expansion slots, hard disks, and the like, third-party vendors thrive by filling the gaps in IBM's products. However, history shows that once third-party vendors pioneer and successfully market a new product or enhancement, IBM eventually—and inevitably—offers similar products. Memory boards, communication devices, color monitors, and hard disks are all good

138 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

(2b)

1986 MARKETS FOR THE IBM PC FAMILY

15

10

(E 5

IBM "PEANUT"

IBM PC IN A

DISPLAYWR1TER CONFIGURATION

IBM "PEANUT" AS A LOW-END WORD-PROCESSING SYSTEM

IBM PC XTH MULTIUSER VERSION (S23 REPLACEMENT WITH MC68000)

IBM PC XT SINGLE USER VERSION

IBM PC

FULLY CONFIGURED

SYSTEM

BASE SYSTEM

A-

IBM PC XTII (MC68000-BASED PC CAPABLE OF RUNNING MAINFRAME SOFTWARE)

TRANSPORTABLE IBM PC "POPCORN"

NOTEBOOK-SIZED IBM PC (HARRIS CMOS 8086)

.*:;*

2W*

"INTELLIGENT" IBM PC xth (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOFTWARE)

IBM PC-BASED "SMART" TERMINAL PHONE

LOW-END 4300 WORK STATION ($10K-$30K)

"MODULAR" IBM PC XT II CAPABLE OF ACCEPTING MC68020 NS16032 INTEL432 INTEL386

V

examples of this strategy.

The key to surviving as a third-party hardware supplier for the PC is continually keeping one step ahead of IBM. For example, a vendor producing hard disks or color monitors for the PC must continue to anticipate (or, better, stimulate) demand for other new hardware enhancements once IBM decides to offer those products itself. Such areas currently include mouse cursor controls, monochrome graphics boards, and high-resolution color graphics boards.

Future Directions for the PC

IBM has stated that the PC's modular architecture is designed to last five years—the standard depreciation period for office-automation equipment. This means several things:

First, IBM will stick with the PC's

present 8088/8086-based architecture until at least 1986. For low-end products, the Intel 8088 will remain the processor of choice, but high-end models will offer Intel's 80186 and 80286 along with optional boards based on Motorola's 68000 and possibly National Semiconductor's NS16032. Figure 2 shows how the PC markets are expected to develop.

IBM will incorporate new technological developments through the modular addition of hardware, primarily through the use of coprocessors. For example, IBM will probably offer Intel's 80370 chip to enhance text processing by displaying 66 lines on a standard monitor. IBM has also mentioned Intel's 80270 chip to upgrade the PC's graphics capability. (You should remember that while the graphics chips from Texas Instruments and NEC may offer superior features, IBM owns a reported 13

percent share of Intel.) Because IBM does not intend to offer a full-page display or very high-resolution graphics, these areas represent real opportunities for third-party vendors.

The recent announcement of a math coprocessor, Intel's 8087, is the first implementation of IBM's strategy to use the PC as a "chassis" for multiple microprocessors/coprocessors. Still other chips such as Intel's 8089 (which fits into the same slot as the 8087) will increase the PC's speed by handling I/O (input/output) processing. The most exciting development, however, will come when a 68000 board from IBM is announced for the PC and the PC XT.

While that seems a contradiction of previous statements concerning IBM's commitment to Intel and the 8088/8086 architecture, it isn't really. IBM already sells a 68000-based prod-

uet, the CS 9000. Developed by the IBM Laboratory Instruments division, the 9000 was recently offered to qualified value-added remarketers (VARs) and Hamilton-Avnet, an industrial distributor. In addition to high-level graphics anfl many other advanced features, this machine runs under a proprietary multiuser operating system similar to Bell Laboratories' Unix. Through VARs, this machine will be adapted to run Unix Version V and will be sold through retailers and systems houses (with IBM's blessing) as an alternative to Fortune Systems' 32:16, Digital Equipment Corporation's Professional Series and the Micro PDP-11,

Data General's recently announced Desktop Generation Series, and Honeywell's Microsystem 6/10.

IBM took a beating in the minicomputer market several years ago, and revenge may be on its mind in the "super" microcomputer market. IBM's tacit endorsement of Unix further opens up this market to software developers, especially with the probable emphasis on Unix Version V and the agreement among Bell Laboratories and three prominent chip vendors—Intel, Motorola, and National Semiconductor. We believe that IBM may eventually offer an MC-68000-based board for the PC and future high-end PC models.

Much like other personal computers that feature two or more different microprocessors (such as the Radio Shack Model 16 with a Z80 and an MC-68000), the PC will be able to run 8088/8086 or MC-68000 modes.

Furthermore, we believe that IBM will eventually offer an S/370 board that will run IBM mainframe software, most likely under the VM operating system. In fact, IBM already has implemented portions of the S/370 instruction set on MC-68000s.

New Models

Within the next six months, we expect IBM to introduce several new members of the PC family. By the

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graphic artist or dedicated graphics processor to create impressive word charts, both time-consuming and more costly options; Now, with Sign-Master's amazing flexibility, you can produce presentation-quality word

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time you read this, IBM finally should have plunged into the home personal computer market with the long-awaited "Peanut." The Peanut will cost $600 to $700 (base price), be transportable (weigh in the 10-pound range), and offer some compatibility with the PC and the PC XT.

This winter, IBM will introduce a high-end member of the PC family— the PC-3. The PC-3 will be priced between $7000 and $9000, be based on an Intel 8086-class chip (perhaps the 80286), and will functionally displace the IBM Datamaster. We expect that by the end of 1983, IBM will introduce a $2000 to $3000 portable personal computer.

Beyond these near-term product announcements, you can make a fairly good guess at what other personal computer products IBM is planning to introduce over the next 12 to 18 months by looking at the recent organizational changes within the company. In addition to the PC, the other products assigned to the new Entry Systems Division read like a list of products ripe for replacement by the PC or PC family members. These products include the Displaywriter, the Datamaster, and the 5280 Data Entry System. Each of these will be functionally replaced by PC follow-ons that are 8086-based and offer greater flexibility, particularly in

regard to keyboard selection.

Another product included in the new division is the 5520, essentially a shared-logic word processor. The 5520 (or its successor) will play a key role as a cluster controller for IBM's PC products, especially in office environments^

Frank Gens and Chris Christiansen are senior analysts for the Boston-based Yankee Group (89 Broad St., 14th Floor, Boston, MA 02110), a market-research and consulting firm specializing in information processing and telecommunications. Mr. Gens is editor of Impact: IBM, the in-house IBM-watch publication. Mr. Christiansen specializes in desktop hardware and software for the Yankee Communicator.

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highlight your data, ideas and conclusions, our Chart-Master™ graphics software is available to do the job.)

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nouncements and direct mail pieces that demand attention. To generate real impact, Sign-Master word charts can be as colorful as you like, depending on the plotter you use. And you can be as creative as you like by capital-

izing or italicizing a single character, a single word, or an entire line at the touch of a button. In addition, margins can be justified left, right or centered.

Best of all, Sign-Master's online instructions, power and variety of options make you a "Sign Master" without specialtraining.

Sign-Master — the first software program that brings word charts to life.

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So whether you need a draft-quality printer, a letter-quality printer or both, see your nearest authorized TI dealer. Or write Texas Instruments Inc., P. O. Box 402430, Dept. DPF-072BY, Dallas, TX 75240. Or call toll-free: 1-800-527-3500. '

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291429

BYTE November 1983 143

BIG BLUE

GOES JAPANESE

by Richard Willis

Visitors to this year's National Computer Conference (NCC) in Anaheim were met with a kaleidoscope of new products out to exploit the microcomputer boom from every conceivable angle. But one product bound to have an enormous impact in its marketplace, a product with the IBM label, was tucked in a small niche of the Microsoft booth. A number of fiberglass pavilions were added in the Convention Center parking lot to accommodate all the NCC exhibitors, and an unusual May heat wave turned the unventilated shells into high-tech saunas. One sales rep

144 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

cut the legs off his wool suit slacks, and many of the electronic marvels fizzled out in the heat. But IBM Japan's new 5550 Multistation was plugging along, quietly displaying a Japanese-language version of Multi-plan developed by Microsoft for the machine. Although the system had been announced in Japan in mid-March, this was the first opportunity to get a good look at the hardware. And a pretty impressive look it was. The 5550 system is not available in the US as of this writing. Little about it has been published in English. But if IBM Japan's extraordinarily broad

plans for marketing the machine in Japan are any clue, we may soon see a similar machine here in America. The original IBM PC was released into a somewhat vaguely defined market, somewhere between hobbyists and small businessmen. Online communications capability was not a major selling point in early product literature. After 18 months and delivery of 300,000 units, there is no longer any doubt about who buys PCs and why Small businesses do their bookkeeping and correspondence with PCs, and Merrill Lynch has ordered one for every broker

(Illustration © 1983 by Michael Nakayama.)

(12,000) in the company. IBM has legitimized the personal computer for business applications and catalyzed a multibillion-dollar market.

The real question now is where IBM goes from here. There is considerable speculation about the company's downscale plans, its move into the true home-computer market with the machine code-named "Peanut." But there is also a considerable gulf above the PC. The company's recently announced small business computer, the System/36, is priced in the $25,000-to-over-$100,000 range, with a per-user cost for a small

system (say, four user terminals) of over $10,000 (the per-user cost drops with larger systems). And there is currently a strong demand from customers to put a reasonable amount of computing power at each workstation rather than running terminals (even intelligent terminals) from an expensive central processor. The company's Datamaster and Display-writer systems are not designed for low-level networking (i.e., networking without a large central mainframe) or distributed database systems. And IBM does not support these capabilities in its PC.

The 5550 is just the product to meet these demands. Many desktop computer makers have taken to calling their products "workstations," but the 5550 is a true workstation. It is designed from the ground up to provide an easily accessible software environment for three major business applications: word processing; computation (spreadsheet, accounting, and the like); and online terminal communications. The machine packs a significant amount of computing power for the price: an 8086 microprocessor running at 8 MHz; 256 to 512K bytes of main RAM (random-

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 145

access read/write memory); up to three 640K-byte floppy-disk drives, or one floppy disk and an 8.1-megabyte hard disk; 1024 by 768 dot graphics (with the large-format monochrome display); and fully supported communications interfaces. And the price: complete systems with software range from $5200 for a minimum configuration (256K-byte RAM, low-resolution character generation, two floppy disks, DOS, BASIC, word-processing software) to $10,000 for a top-of-the-line model (512K-byte RAM, hard and floppy disks, communications interface, software). Although these numbers are enhanced somewhat by the current overvaluation of the dollar with

respect to the yen, they are clearly in the right ballpark for distributed office automation systems. The System/ 36 may be able to compete cost-wise in large network applications, but the 5550's powerful stand-alone capabilities make it an almost unbeatable bargain. The 5550 may well be the harbinger of workstations to come in the American market. Of course, this is mostly conjecture; IBM keeps its plans guarded in deafening silence. The most distinctive features of the 5550 Multistation will most certainly not show up in the US; this machine offers unprecedented power in handling the Japanese language, including its thousands of pictographic kanji characters. Japanese computers have

long been limited to using kana, the Japanese phonetic alphabet (see the text box on the kana keyboard on page 150), which is seriously handicapped in ordinary textual applications. The 5550, however, actually analyzes the semantics of a sentence and decides which kanji to insert for each word typed in kana. The operator merely supervises the process and clarifies any misunderstood words. In the past year or two, some Japanese stand-alone word processors and small computers have offered similar semiautomatic kana-to-kanji conversion. But the capability of this machine to provide high-performance word processing, as well as communications and personal com-

IBM Japan: A Chronicle of Shifting PC Strategy

The following is a translation by Richard Willis of an article thai appeared in Nikkei Computer, May 30, 1983, pages 54-55.

IBM Japan's personal computer activities can be traced back seven years to the announcement of the IBM 5100 system in May 1976. The 5100 was a complete, integrated desktop system and included a 5-inch black-and-white display, a 3M-type cartridge-tape drive, and an APL keyboard. With this machine, IBM was aiming at the scientific and technical computation market, as well as small-scale mea-surement-and-control systems. An IEEE-488 parallel interface and an RS-232C serial interface were included.

The 5100 was also intended to function as an APL or BASIC language terminal with IBM's larger mainframes. Therefore, an APL interpreter and a BASIC interpreter were chosen as the system's resident languages. For generating graphs and diagrams, a library of APL graphics routines was included in the 5100's software library, with a wire dot-matrix printer performing the function of a printer/plotter.

In reexamining the 5100 in light of the current state of the art, several weaknesses stand out. The screen was quite small, there was no capability to use floppy disks, and the price was quite high, nearly 3 million yen [Translator's note: about $10,000 at 1976

exchange rates]. Having pointed out these shortcomings, we nonetheless can see many similarities between the 5100 and current PCs. Although the 5100 was not necessarily a commercial success, it should be said that it was a remarkable technological feat for an APL interpreter running on such a small machine to perform with sufficient speed to be of practical use.

In January of 1978, IBM announced the 5100's successor, the 5110. Its main differences from the 5100 were that it supported floppy-disk drives and used BASIC as its standard language, with APL as an option. Apart from these and a few other details, the fundamental configuration was the same as the 5100. Since that time, IBM has upgraded the machine's capabilities by selling a simple program-generator language called BRADS.

By this time, IBM had reached a turning point in its PC strategy. It had been expected that the APL capabilities of IBM's PC would be a major selling point, but instead, IBM began to modify its product line so that it would appear directly competitive, function for function, with American Hewlett-Packard's series of personal computers, which supported BASIC. This transformation should probably be viewed as a response to demands from the marketplace as well. Prior to this time, IBM's PC strategy seemed to be linked to their strategy of vigorously promoting the dissemination of APL.

However, since the introduction of the 5100, the number of APL users had not grown to the extent forecast by IBM. The principal reason for this is generally felt to be the difficulty posed by APL's complex syntax. It is probably accurate to say that, faced with the strong demand for the BASIC language in the PC market at that time, IBM had no choice but to change its course.

IBM 5550: A Significant Departure from Past Practice

After the 5110, the complexion of IBM's PC changed, with subsequent machines displaying less of an orientation toward engineering applications and more toward business. The 5110's successor, the 5120, announced in February of 1980, was tailored almost entirely to business applications. Among other things, the IEEE-488 interface was dropped, and ISAM (indexed sequential-access method) file support was implemented. Before long, hardly anyone considered using the 5120 or its successor, the System/23, for engineering applications. The System/23 was given the model designation 5322, indicating that it was not considered to be a part of the 5100 product line. In looking at all this, one can see IBM's original PC strategy fading from the market, along with the 5110, and disappearing altogether with the introduction of the 5120. The 5120 was given a larger

146 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

puting functions, in an under-$10,000 package will make it a formidable competitor in the red-hot Japanese market.

Not surprisingly, the other players in that market have started taking their shots at the giant. The 5550 system is not without its flaws. The word-processing software and the conventional computational software run under two different, incompatible operating systems. Even the character codes used by these two operating systems are different—one is based on EBCDIC (extended binary-coded-decimal interchange code), the other is the Japanese standard code—thus file sharing is currently not possible. The color display offers

9-inch screen, and its overall configuration resembled the System/23 rather than the 5110.

There would seem to be little or no relation between the recently announced IBM 5550 and the 5100 or System/23 product lines. [Translator's note: the model number of the American PC is 5150.] The 5100's distinguishing feature was its APL orientation, while the System/23 was an office computer. With the 5550, though, IBM is aiming at the so-called workstation concept. The user need not have any special programming skill in order to tap the capabilities built into the machine; the three software Junctions provided by IBM (as touted in the company's "one machine, three roles" slogan) can be mastered with little difficulty.

IBM's main operating system for this machine is Japanese Language DOS, developed by the American company Microsoft. Since IBM's expertise in software has been a major selling point of its computers, it is quite a departure for it to have relied on an outside company in this case. However, even IBM Japan now admits quite frankly that it is changing course. "The era of relying solely on in-house software development has ended." It should probably be noted that this comment was limited to the world of general-purpose, microprocessor-based personal computers. In the PC field, even mighty IBM is subject to this handicap.

very good resolution (360 horizontal by 512 vertical addressable pixels), but only four colors are available in graphics mode (eight in character mode). These and other shortcomings are not escaping the notice of other Japanese computer manufacturers, who are working with altruistic fervor to inform the public.

But no one is betting heavily against the 5550's success. After less than six months on the market, it has already begun to spawn the same sort of mini-industry that has grown up around the American PC. A couple of independent magazines about the 5550 have premiered, and independent sales organizations are lining up to offer systems integration and programming support for the new machine. Several Japanese manufacturers will benefit as well. With the PC, IBM broke with tradition by procuring a number of major components from outside sources-chips from Intel, the system board assembled by SCI Systems Inc., drives from Tandon and MPI, and printers from Epson. IBM Japan is following suit. The 5550's system unit, including disk drives, is built by Matsushita Electric (makers of Panasonic equipment), the printer by Oki Electric (Okidata), and the keyboard by Alps (a major manufacturer of electromechanical devices). The current production rate of 2000/month is still fairly low, but that will undoubtedly change as the machine starts getting out into public view. There is much to be impressed with in the 5550 Multistation. Let's start with a fairly detailed look at the hardware.

Dissecting the Hardware

The physical configuration of the 5550 reflects the current emphasis on ergonomic design for workstations (see photo 1). The main system box is proportioned to fit to one side of the operator, thus enabling the display screen to be mounted in a lower, more comfortable position. The keyboard profile is the same as the original PC's, but the detached unit was made somewhat wider to accommodate 50 percent more keys. IBM also offers an adjustable, split-

level desk and a tilt/swivel display mount to allow the user to set up the workstation to his or her own liking. This is all in marked contrast to the PC, which does not exactly blend in with a working desktop environment.

Examining the main system unit (model number 5551), the first thing that strikes someone with an electronics background is the quality and density of the packaging. The original PC, even with disk and display controllers and the inevitable multifunction expansion board, is wide open by comparison. Three densely packed circuit boards, a switching-mode power supply, up to three 5V4-inch floppy-disk drives (or one floppy disk and an 8.1-megabyte hard disk), and a five-slot expansion cage are mounted within the system unit case (slightly over 10 inches wide by 12 inches high by 16 inches deep). In overall construction, the inside looks more like a high-quality test instrument than a PC.

The system processing functions are spread over three 9- by 12-inch circuit boards: a microprocessor/ memory board, a disk controller/ clock board, and a video RAM board. There are two buses in the system unit, a main system bus (120 pins, .1-inch pitch), and a disk control bus (86 pins, .1-inch pitch). All three boards plug into the system bus, but only the disk controller board picks up the disk bus. The system bus is extended into the expansion cage by means of a full-width flex-circuit jumper cable, which has to perform some minor gymnastics to mate the horizontally mounted main motherboard to the vertically mounted expansion cage backplane. The disk control bus and the power harness are also carried on flex-circuits; with the exception of the two leads from the lithium battery that sustains the real-time clock, there is not a wire to be seen in the package.

The microprocessor/memory board is a multilayer board of extremely high density containing an Intel i8086-2 16-bit microprocessor running at 8 MHz. Though both the i8088 used in IBM's American PC and the 8086 used here are 16-bit processors

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Photo 1: The IBM 5550 Multistation. (Photo courtesy of IBM.)

(i.e., their internal registers and arithmetic/logic units operate on 16-bit words), the 8088 has only an 8-bit system bus and must perform memory and I/O (input/output) operations a half-word at a time. The 8086 has a full 16-bit system bus that allows a substantial increase in speed, especially with programs that involve frequent branching or I/O operations. This is even more important in the case of Japanese-character I/O because 2 bytes of data are required to represent each kanji character in the standard Japanese digital code (see the text box "The Japanese Answer to ASCII" on page 156). The full-width system bus plus the higher clock rate (8 MHz versus 4.77 MHz for the PC's 8088) give the 5550 as much as two or three times the processor instruction rate of the PC, depending on the instruction being executed. Of course, your mileage may differ; overall system performance also depends on the amount of system overhead the processor has to perform and the efficiency of the software. The Japanese computer magazine Oh!55 ran benchmark programs on the 5550, the PC, and several competing Japanese models. For a 3000-sample Simpson's rule integration of y = sin(x), the 5550 running its BASIC interpreter under

Japanese Language DOS was about 1.75 times faster than the PC running BASIC under MS-DOS 1.1. A 50-ele-ment bubble sort ran over twice as fast on the 5550 (and, not surprisingly, 36 times as fast with 5550 compiled Pascal). Some other results of these benchmark tests will be quoted later on.

The 5550, like the PC, has an empty position designated for an i8087 numeric data coprocessor. There's no socket installed, so presumably the upgrade is intended to be done at the factory or service center. IBM Japan makes no mention of the 8087 in its literature; again like the PC, any IBM support of the 8087 is "somewhere downstream, maybe." However, several Japanese computer magazines have reported the existence of the empty chip position, so there will undoubtedly be a number of independent houses offering upgrade packages.

The 8086 is supported by 16K bytes of bootstrap and self-diagnostic routines in ROM (read-only memory). Unlike the PC, which uses 8K bytes of ROM BIOS (basic I/O system) and 32K bytes of ROM BASIC, the 5550's BIOS and BASIC must be loaded from disk. The BIOS handles the interfaces with keyboard, display controller, (including character-font

cache management), disk controller, and printer.

Other inhabitants of the microprocessor/memory board include an i8237 DMA (direct-memory access) controller, an i8253 programmable timer, an i8259 interrupt controller, and an i8284 clock generator, the same complement of support chips used in the PC. Memory consists of thirty-six 4164-type 64K-bit dynamic RAMS, providing a total of 256K bytes of on-board memory plus parity. As if all that weren't enough, the board is encrusted with 102 (yes, 102!) small- and medium-scale Schottky TTL (transistor-transistor logic) chips (TI's), for a total chip count of 146, not including resistor networks, caps, crystal, printer and keyboard connectors, test panel, and so forth. This is one packed board.

By comparison, the PC has slightly fewer than 100 chips installed on roughly the same amount of real estate, and that's with a full bank of 16K-bit RAMs. It appears, among other things, that the I/O functions handled in the PC by the i8255 programmable peripheral interface have here been executed in random logic. There are no custom arrays in evidence. It will be interesting to see what kind of field failure rate IBM experiences on such a complex board. However, because the microprocessor/memory function is contained on a pluggable unit instead of on a motherboard, maintenance and upgrading should be relatively easy.

The second of the big boards in the 5550 is the disk controller card. The first version of this board is somewhat less congested, with "only" three LSI (large-scale integration), 51 support Schottky chips, and one hybrid (vs. one LSI, 25 TTL, and 4 hybrids on the PC's disk-controller card). The controller chip used is the NEC /*PD765, and a Hitachi HA-16632 VFO chip handles data separation. IBM has begun to supply the 5550 with a universal disk-controller card that includes a Winchester interface, even if no hard disk is ordered. With this board installed, the system's disk complement can be upgraded at any time.

The unit can accommodate one,

148 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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two, or three of the narrow-profile double-sided double-density, 80-track floppies, although the heavy-dependence of the system on font libraries severely limits the capabilities of a single disk system. The use of high-density 5V4-inch floppy disks instead of 8-inch disks is somewhat surprising given the strong business orientation of the system. The IBM 8-inch format is still the most widely accepted standard among current Japanese business computers. By going with the smaller floppy disks, IBM may have been aiming to reach more of the individual personal-computer enthusiasts, while at the

same time not putting too much pressure on its own System/34 and System/36 small-business computers; the new machine gives these more expensive systems a run for their money. In fact, IBM Japan has taken to using the term "Very Small Business Computer" (VSBC) to characterize the new product line.

The system can also be configured with one hard disk and one floppy disk, but IBM is not scheduled to start shipping hard disks until December. The disks simply plug in from the front of the cabinet; there are no harnesses to wrestle with (see figure 1). Thus, there should be quite

a bit of competition, both in capacity and in price, with IBM's 10-megabyte (8.1 megabytes "available to user") unit, which adds about $2200 to the system price.

The video RAM board, another tightly packed module, includes a 6845-type video controller, a pair of 6116-type 2K by 8-bit CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) RAM buffers used by the controller, up to 256K bytes of video RAM in the form of 4164-type dynamic RAMS, a hybrid clock generator, and 110 TTL support chips— again, a total of 146 chips. The function of this module will be described

The Japanese Kana Keyboard

The Japanese are fortunate to have a phonetic alphabet, or syllabary, in which to write their language; they are not limited, as the Chinese are, to a purely pictographic writing system. This Japanese alphabet is called the kana syllabary. There are 46 different kana characters, each expressing a simple sound such as "oh" or "ku" or "shi." You can immediately see that a word like Yokohama would be written with four kana, yo-ko-ha-ma. With the addition of diacritical marks (used like the tilde in Spanish) and subscripted characters, slightly more than a hundred different kana forms, one for each possible syllable in the Japanese language, can be constructed.

You might ask why the Japanese continue to struggle with thousands of kanji (pictographic) characters when they have the phonetic writing system available. The answer lies in the scarcity of syllables in Japanese. A hundred-odd syllables isn't much to work with in building an entire vocabulary. Of course, if you are willing to accept very long words, there are plenty of unambiguous combinations that can be created. But the Japanese already have the problem of long verb conjugation endings; they prefer to keep the roots of nouns and verbs fairly short, usually about two syllables. The result is that there are thousands of synonyms in Japanese; almost any

word you name has at least one or two synonyms, and some have a dozen. Not surprisingly, this can cause all sorts of problems in communication. The native listener can usually tell from the context which meaning is intended, but it is very common for a speaker to have to go back and clarify certain words in a conversation. This situation would not be acceptable in written communication; in print you must be able to convey information clearly and unambiguously. Thus, the Japanese must continue to use the kanji, each of which carries a specific root meaning, to put their language on paper. There is no reason, however, why

The traditional arrangement of Japanese kana (in this case the hiragana set) into a matrix of vowel and consonant sounds.

150 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

in detail later.

The switching-mode power supply, also a pluggable module, slides into the base of the cabinet and mates with the flex circuit power harness through a beefy connector. The fact that the boards, drives, and power supply are all replaceable modules shows the strong emphasis IBM put on reliability and maintainability in designing the system. Actually, the best feature of the power supply is that the switch is mounted to be accessible at the front of the system unit. Total power dissipation in the package is rated at approximately 230 watts, so the logic and drives prob-

ably use about 140 to 180 watts. A fan in the power-supply module cools the entire chassis.

An optional five-slot expansion cage holds the optional memory and interface boards. The cage's backplane board plugs into a connector bearing the main system bus; the whole cage can be added or replaced in the field. There are four optional boards currently available. Up to two memory-expansion boards of 128K bytes each can be added, for a maximum system memory capacity of 512K bytes. These memory modules go for about $375, which is a bargain compared to IBM's prices for PC ex-

pansion memory. (But then, who buys their PC expansion memory from IBM?) Communications adapters available include an asynchronous serial adapter (RS-232C) and a BSC/SDLC (Binary Synchronous Communication/Synchronous Data Link Control) adapter. Extensive software support is being readied for the latter interface, including a 3270 Kanji Terminal emulator, a package to support the BSC3741 protocols, and another package for the 3770 RJE (remote job entry) terminal protocol. IBM is vigorously promoting its networking and communications capabilities, hoping to convince a

documents cannot be entered into the computer in kana and then be converted to kanji, as long as the author supervises the conversion. So the Japanese have established two standard keyboard arrangements for the kana. The first arrangement, shown at left, is based on the 1000-year-old arrangement of the kana called the go-ju-on-zu, or "50-sound chart." You can see there is a logical pattern to this way of arranging syllables. In fact, the Japanese tend to view their syllabary more as a matrix than as a linear alphabet, so this is the most natural way of arranging the keys.

However, it's very difficult to touch-type on five rows of keys, thus the go-ju-on-zu style of keyboard is only available as an option on a few computers. The Japanese instead have adopted a version of the Western QWERTY keyboard, with the 46 kana plus supplementary marks spread

over all four rows of keys (see below). Although most people don't touch-type the fourth row of the QWERTY keyboard too well, it's still easier to use a four-row keyboard than a five-row. You can observe that there is at least a suggestion of the original matrix of sounds preserved in this standard layout (even the QWERTY arrangement is not totally randomized). A few of the lesser used characters have been relegated to the top row or to the extreme right, but most of the fourth row characters get plenty of use. This is the keyboard you will see most' often in Japan.

You may also have noticed that the Japanese characters in these two examples are not the same. The Japanese actually have two complete sets of kana, the hiragana shown in the first example, and the katakana in the second. These two character sets have much different roles in Japanese writing, but

for all intents and purposes they are precise parallels of each other. The only difference is that a few subscript-able characters have been added to katakana to help approximate some of the foreign words that can't be sounded intelligibly with Japanese syllables. Most Japanese computer keyboards are labeled in katakana; the IBM 5550 offers the QWERTY-style keyboard in either hiragana or katakana, with hiragana being the standard for Japanese-language word processing. This style of Japanese keyboard has at least two shift functions—one to switch to the other kana set, and one to switch to the roman alphabet. The Japanese in their writing make extensive use of Western names, acronyms, numbers, and even slang, so they must be able to access our alphabet as well as their own.

1 (nu)

" 7 2 (fu)

* 7 3

(a) 4

(u)

% X

5 (e)

a $

6 (o)

7(ya)

8 (yu)

) B

9 (yo)

1 0(wa)

(bo)

- 'N

(he)

i —

Q (ta)

T

W(te)

A (chi)

0

(i)

S (to)

V Z(tsu)

R(su)

V

D(shi)

-9-X(sa)

T(ka)

A F(ha)

v C(so)

Y (n)

G (ki)

(hi)

U (na)

H(ku)

zi B(ko)

I (ni)

J (ma)

N(mi)

"7

0 (ra)

K(rc»

IVKmo)

r -fe P(se)

■J (ri)

< * , (ne)

©

j b ; (re)

> )V .(ru)

[

: (ke)

? * /(me)

](mu)

D

\(ro)

J

o

Japanese katakana arranged on a QWERTY-style keyboard. The phonetic reading of each character is included for reference only.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 151

mpu/memory board

video cntl board

disk cntl. board

PLUG-IN 5±' FLOPPY DISK DRIVE

EXPANSION CAGE

POWER SUPPLY

DISK BUS BACKPANEL

Figure 1: Exploded view of the IBM 5550 system unit, Five option boards may be installed in the expansion cage. A hard-disk drive may be substituted for the two right-most floppy-disk drives. (Figure courtesy of IBM.)

number of its major users to install 5550s in place of the 3270 or other networks they now operate. In such applications, IBM Japan seems to hold a clear advantage over its Japanese competitors.

The heavy emphasis on system networking applications is perhaps the clearest hint that we may see a similarly targeted machine for the US market before long. Independent Japanese computer journals and IBM's Japanese publications are reporting an extensive array of system configurations for which IBM is touting the new machine or for which it is preparing support. Although the Japanese still lag behind the US in data networking, at least in terms of installed base, they are putting a much greater national priority on data-communications facilities and will probably lead the world in this pivotal technology within a few years. IBM's Japanese subsidiary clearly intends to play a major role in this development.

The Keyboard Runneth Over

The most vociferously criticized feature of IBM's American PC is its keyboard—with good reason. IBM says its preliminary market studies showed that people encountering computers for the first time tend to be intimidated by large arrays of obscure function keys. So a simple, uncluttered keyboard layout was adopted; unfortunately, this layout manages to intimidate any typist who ever grew up with the Selectric. Even a novice quickly comes to curse the miniscule Shift and Return keys, the unlighted shift locks, and the 2 by 5 vertical array of function keys cleverly prompted by a 1 by 10 horizontal array of screen labels. IBM has shown little sympathy regarding these complaints. In fact, the company now says that the PC-style keyboard will become the standard on new generations of Displaywriter and small office computer products. Pity the poor secretaries.

By contrast, the 5550's keyboard

(designated 5556) is anything but austere, as can be seen in figure 2. If anything, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. With 124 keys, compared to the PC's 83, it weighs in with one of the most complex keyboards of any small computer, Japanese or otherwise. Some of the typing keys represent up to four different characters, and there are additional legends on the front of many keys. Given the multifunction character of the machine, it's hard to see how the keyboard could be significantly simplified. Changeable key overlays seem like an excellent idea, but machines using them haven't been overly successful in the market. And menu-driven software is great for a novice but tends to slow down an experienced operator. Besides, a complex-looking keyboard may not be as much of an impediment in the hard-charging technology culture of Japan.

Many of the typing complaints noted above have in fact been alleviated in this new layout. IBM has followed the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) kana keyboard layout (see the text box on page 150), which has nice large Shift and Return keys and no annoying symbol key intruding between the Z and the Shift. The shift locks aren't lighted, but the software displays the shift status— hiragana, katakana, roman, roman caps lock—on the top or bottom line of the display. The normal space bar has been split into five keys: a space, two kana-to-kanji conversion control keys, and two shifts. This is a little awkward for typing text in roman, but Japanese text does not use spaces between words, thus it is not a significant problem.

To the right of the typing keys is a block of word-processing function keys, quite similar to the Wang format used by many American small computers (except IBM's): cursor control cross, three page-flipping keys, Insert, Delete, Copy, and Move. Farther right is a 10-key pad with Enter and math function keys.

Unfortunately, the organization of the remaining 34 keys is based more on geometrical symmetry than on logical categories. The key block at

152 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Figure 2: The layout of the 5550 system keyboard, with translations of the legends of the function keys. The keys marked in blue are dedicated to word-processing operations.

the left includes system-control functions such as Cntl, Quit, Break, and Cancel, plus some keys to initiate half-size or double-size character entry, a key to flag characters used in proper names (a real problem in Japanese), and some additional kana-to-kanji conversion control keys.

The same mix of functions is evident in the three blocks of control keys arrayed along the top of the keyboard. Format-control keys and other word-processing function keys are color-coded and arrayed in the lower row of 12 keys; communications and other miscellaneous keys reside in the upper row. But there is not the strong logical subgrouping there should be in a keyboard of such complexity. Keyboard designers must learn to make geometry and logic work together, rather than choosing one over the other. Perhaps the best example of a well-balanced keyboard is the HASCI (human applications standard computer interface) keyboard on the Epson QX-10 (see the

October, November, and December 1982 BYTE). However, the IBM keyboard has many more functions to control, and the Epson is highly menu-oriented; the keyboard design challenge is yet to be mastered.

The feel of the 5550 keyboard is quite different from the mechanical break-over of the PC's keyboard. The new key touch is better suited to fast typing. The system speaker, mounted in the keyboard housing, gives an audible click at each key make. The volume of the click is adjustable. This is an excellent approach to keyboard feedback.

Like the PC, the 5550's keyboard connects to the system unit via a coiled cord. An internal microprocessor in the keyboard module scans the keys and sends key make/break information to the main processor in a serial format. The housing is of the same configuration as the PC's but is 3 inches wider.

IBM is offering three keyboard options with the 5550. The standard key

layout is best suited for word-processing and personal-computing functions. One optional layout is available with four key legends altered for use with 3270 emulation software. IBM has shown a third keyboard, one with 125 keys, that is quite different from the standard layout and is designed to look like the keyboard of the 3270 Kanji Terminal.

Of Kanji Fonts and Printer Dots and Pixel RAM and Screens

The system used for handling the display screen and printer is surely the most interesting aspect of this machine. The Japanese kanji characters are much more complex than any Western alphabet and therefore need more pixels to portray them intelligibly The American PC's monochrome display adapter generates roman characters of exceptional quality with a 7- by 11-pixel matrix (in a 9 by 14 space). By comparison, kanji characters displayed in a 16- by 16-pixel matrix are passable at best

154 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

LET THE "ANGEL? DO THE WAITING

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The computer sends data to the "ANGEL" at speeds up to 19.2K baud. The "ANGEL" stores data and sends it to the printer at a speed the printer can handle, and your computer is free to continue working without interruption. A USER WRITES: "1 tried the "ANGEL" with my Altos system connected to an Epson MX-100, both set at 9600 baud. Without the "ANGEL" it takes 30 minutes to print 210 doctors' requisition forms, with the "ANGEL" installed, my computer is free after 90 seconds." With "ANGEL'S" self diagnostics and memory test, the entire system thoroughly checks itself every time you power up. PAGE REPRINT is another unique feature. EXAMPLE: You are printing a 32 page report, and the paper jams at page 11. Reset the printer to the top of the form, press PAGE REPRINT, and resume printing at the top of page 11. Want to restart two pages back? Press PAGE REPRINT twice, and you resume at page 10.

Function keys extend the useful commands to more than 10, including: hex-dump, memory test, remote loading, etc.

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"ANGEL" is compatible with almost alt Micro-Computers, including IBM, Apple, TRS-80, Vector Graphic, NorthStar, Altos, Xerox, Heath, Zenith, NEC, DEC, etc., with RS-232 serial, Hardware Handshaking, or Centronics compatible parallel interface. The manufacturer reserves the right to change the product specification.

...And think of these other possibilities: HEX DUMP. Display or printout every bit of data your computer sends out to the printer in an easy-to-read Hexidecimal and ASCII format. A must for your programmer. Pause and Hold for real time programs. Page skip for selective printing. What a waste to print the entire documentation if you only need part of it. Simple external switch settings, let the "ANGEL" accept either RS-232 serial or Centronics parallel data and can output either/or in any combination, (S-S,S-P,P-S,P-P). The "ANGEL" is compatible with almost all Micro-Computers, and can be installed by anyone in minutes. Switches are clearly marked for ease of operation, and a concise, USER FRIENDLY operator reference card is included with each unit. The "ANGEL" has a full one year limited warranty.

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The Japanese Answer to ASCII

Most Westerners can only be awed at the complexity of written language in the Orient. The pictographic/ideo-graphic writing system that originated in China more than 2500 years ago involves thousands of intricately stroked characters. Although some simplification has been achieved in this century, the system still presents a formidable obstacle to communication, especially in the current electronic age. Most of the difficulties that have arisen in processing these languages by computer involve the entry of text into the machine and the display and printout of results. How do you design a keyboard to handle 2000 to 3000 different characters? What about a Chinese "selectric" typeball?

Fortunately, once the purely mechanical obstacles of input and output have been overcome, data can be dealt with in a routine way. A computer doesn't care what character set its Is and 0s represent as long as all the humans involved agree on a standard code. In Japan, as in America, there are two such standards: IBM's and everyone else's. In the US, IBM's EBCDIC (extended binary-coded-decimal interchange code), which evolved from punch-card formats (remember keypunch?), is used in all IBM computers down to and including the System/34 and Displaywriter. Most computers from other companies, as well as IBM's PC, use ASCII to represent character data. ASCII is also the standard for intercomputer communication. Because there are only 128 (or 256) possible codes involved, it is little trouble for IBM's computers to convert to ASCII when communicating with the outside world; thus the dual standard does not cause any serious problems.

In Japan, though, there are a lot more characters to worry about. The Japan Standards Association, Japan's counterpart to ANSI (American National Standards Institute), has identified 3418 Japanese kanji characters as "primary kanji" and another 3384 as

"secondary kanji!' To put this in perspective, a Japanese student is expected to know 881 kanji by the end of the sixth grade and 2000 by the time he graduates from high school. A fairly literate college graduate is able to read about 3400 characters. By using these characters individually, or by combining two (or occasionally three) different characters, the tens of thousands of Japanese words can be represented. Secondary kanji include obsolete or historical kanji, characters used only in proper names, and so forth.

In addition to the kanji, there are two sets of kana characters (which act as a sort of phonetic "alphabet" for Japanese), plus Arabic numbers, Roman, Greek, and Cyrillic alphabets, and graphics symbols represented in the JIS standard, a total of 453 non-kanji characters. Because the Japanese had to go to 2 bytes per character anyway, they figured they might as well establish a code for every character that might ever be needed. Actually, only 7 bits of each byte are used for coding; the eighth bit is reserved for parity. There are 2 14 or 16,384 possible codes that can be handled by the JIS format; of these, slightly more than half are used for actual characters, and the rest are reserved for control codes. A small segment of the JIS primary kanji code is shown at right.

IBM's kanji code, an "extension" of EBCDIC (like Texas is an extension of El Paso), actually predates the JIS code. IBM made an extensive commitment to the Japanese market in the sixties, back when Japanese electronic producers were still concentrating on stereos and TVs. An enormous amount of effort was expended over the years to develop Japanese-language interfacing capability for IBM's mainframes. Consequently, the IBM 3270 Kanji Terminal is still the standard online terminal in Japan. For more than a decade, IBM's Tokyo Scientific Center has been conducting research into Japanese-language programming

systems for small computers. The 5550's word-processing software, which features semantic-sensitive kana-to-kanji conversion and utilizes EBCDIC-coded kanji characters, is a product of this research.

On the other hand, software developed for the 5550 by outside sources typically uses a variant of the JIS kanji code. This variant code differs from the JIS code only in that characters and control codes have been separated into different sectors. Microsoft's Japanese-language version of Multiplan and other 5550 software use this variant, and it has been adopted by virtually every Japanese microcomputer maker as a standard for personal computers. Thus there are two dissimilar data codes used in 5550 system software, a rather disturbing schizophrenia with symptoms that include the incapability to share data files between personal-computing and word-processing functions. IBM Japan is not currently offering a utility to convert between these two data environments. This incompatibility has been blown into a major issue by IBM's competitors and other critics. Many commentators have expressed serious doubts about the viability of the system on the basis of its disjointed data and file formats. In Japanese business etiquette, saying "I have serious doubts about your approach" is tantamount to saying "You must be out of your mind." IBM Japan will probably have to address this file-conversion problem eventually.

The fact that the characters of the Japanese language need a multibyte code for representation in a computer points up the importance of the 16-bit microprocessor "threshold" to the Japanese. Now that powerful, inexpensive 16-bit systems are entering the market, the Japanese will be afcle, for the first time, to interact with personal computers in their native language. The current small-computer "software gap" between the U S and Japan may get a lot narrower in the near future.

but certainly not as intelligible as even 5- by 7-pixel roman characters. IBM's 5550 offers 16- by 16-pixel kanji with its 12-inch monochrome and 14-inch color displays, and 24- by

24-pixel kanji with its 15-inch monochrome display. The 24 by 24 representation is pretty good; Japanese characters are traditionally produced by strokes of a small brush

pen, so the slight fuzziness in a 24 by 24 digitization gives the characters a somewhat quaint, arguably pleasing appearance. However, even a 16- by 16-pixel

156 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Examples of Japanese digital kanji codes. At left is a chart of the JIS primary kanji code chart. At right is an excerpt from a 475-page code book that IBM provides with the system. Beside each kanji are (from left) a character sequence number, the JIS kanji code, the EBCDIC-based IBM code, and the Japanese microcomputer code convention. Notice that the third kanji listed in the table has a JIS code of 2708. If you look at row 27, column 8 of the chart, you will find that same character. The characters in the chart are arranged phonetically. (Chart courtesy of IBM.)

matrix for the 3418 JIS primary kanji (see "The Japanese Answer to ASCII" on page 156) would take up more than 109K bytes of ROM—that's fourteen 2764s. The 24 by 24 font would

eat up forty-two 2764s. Some Japanese small computers do use ROM font storage, and the Japanese have put a high priority on developing very dense ROMs (a half-megabit

ROM is close to production). However, the 5550 keeps the character fonts on floppy disk and brings whichever fonts are needed into a cache buffer that occupies all or part

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 157

of the video RAM. The same disk-based fonts are used for both the display and the printer. Thus, if you buy the small monochrome or the color display, you must settle for a 16-by 16-dot printout; with the 15-inch monochrome display, you can have 24- by 24-pixel kanji on both the screen and the printer.

The display adapter card provides 256K bytes of video RAM. How this RAM is utilized depends on the operational mode. In character mode, the entire video RAM is used for the kanji font cache. A separate 2K-byte RAM is used as a character buffer,

and another for an attribute buffer. In character mode, the screen can display 25 lines of 40 kanji or full-width kana, or 25 lines of 80 roman characters or condensed kana. (Actually, it's 25 by 41 and 25 by 82 with a dead position at the lower right of the screen, but most operational programs use only 40/80 columns.) Because the kanji are physically twice as wide on the screen as the alphanumeric characters and require a 16-bit instead of an 8-bit code to designate them, there is a rather tricky one-to-one correspondence maintained between the contents of

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the character buffer and the contents of the screen.

When an operating program wants to write a kanji on the screen, the BIOS first checks to see if the necessary font is already contained in the font cache buffer; if not, it is loaded from disk. Then the appropriate location of the character buffer, either 1 or 2 bytes, is loaded with a code that points, via a table of vectors, to the location in the font cache at which the desired font is stored. Any video attributes (such as underline, blink, reverse video, and one of eight colors in the case of a color monitor) are loaded into the corresponding location of the attribute buffer. This novel combination of a character buffer containing references to code font locations (rather than the actual character codes like ASCII) and a large font cache play the same role as a normal character buffer and font ROM would in a conventional video display. The CRT (cathode-ray tube) controller chip accesses the character buffer one position at a time, the font address is referenced, and the pixel pattern is fetched and pipelined for display. The display refresh rate is approximately 72 to 76 interlaced half-frames per second (it varies with display model and mode). This refresh rate corresponds to a pixel rate of about 40 MHz for the 15-inch display.

The juggling of character fonts in the video RAM is also a little tricky but will not normally require a great deal of disk access. Perhaps half of the characters on a typical page of Japanese text will be one of the 100 or so kana, and over three-fourths of the remainder will be from a group of 1000 or so heavily used kanji. Slightly more than 2000 different fonts can be stored in the font cache; if the most common characters are brought in at the beginning, only a handful will need to be added along the way. Of course, because all typing is done initially in kana, the screen responds to the typist's input immediately. Only the kana-to-kanji conversion process may be delayed by disk access.

In graphics mode, the operation is somewhat different. The first third of

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the video RAM is used as a screen bitmap, and the remainder for the font cache. (In character mode, the kanji fonts and surrounding blank spaces (24 by 24 pixels in a 26 by 29 box) are loosely packed into 128 bytes per character. In graphics mode, the fonts are tightly packed into 72 bytes. Thus, even though the bitmap uses the first third of the video RAM in graphics mode, the remainder can still hold more than 2000 character fonts.) The graphics programs perform the normal dot-addressable graphics operations within the bitmap and can fetch character fonts from the cache, alter their size or orientation, and deposit them in the map as desired. For color graphics, the system used is very similar to the original PC's. The horizontal resolution is halved, from 720 by 512 to 360 by 512, and two contiguous bits in the bitmap are used to control each addressable dot, which allows four colors to be displayed. One of these colors is the background, so you actually get only three active colors. However,

you do have a choice of what those colors are.

Although the 5550 strikes an excellent balance among its many capabilities, it is not really a strong graphics machine in comparison to more specialized systems. Though its resolution is very high for monochrome, and above average for color, the use of the 6845 controller chip and processor-controlled bitmap graphics severely limits its speed for certain types of operations. In the previously mentioned benchmark tests, the NEC-9801, another 8086-based personal computer, completed an 1100-line star, programmed in BASIC, in just 6 seconds, compared to almost 2 minutes for the 5550. In most other respects, the 9801 was comparable to the 5550 within a factor of about 1.5 either way. The NEC machine uses that company's /tPD7220 graphics controller chip, one of the hottest on the market; the chip has hardware line generation and other state-of-the-art features. By going with the tried-and-true 6845, the

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same controller used in the American PC, IBM passed up a lot of graphics power it could have tapped for applications such as CAD (computer-aided design), opting instead for better character-handling performance. For the majority of office-oriented graphics applications, however, the system is more than adequate.

The printer used with the 5550 system is a very dense wire dot-matrix type made by Oki Electric. The unit is configured much differently from Okidata's American-market printers. Their top-of-the-line Pacemark 2410 produces some of the best correspondence-quality print of any dot-matrix machine; it uses a nine-magnet print head and generates a 17- by 9-dot matrix by taking two passes at each line, displacing the paper a half dot between passes. By contrast, both the 16- by 16-dot and 24- by 24-dot character matrixes generated by the 5550's printers (designated 5553-A01 and 5553-B01, respectively) are created in a single pass. These printers have full-resolution printheads, using 18 or 24 magnets. The print wires are skewed so that the tiny dots (11 mil and 8 mil, respectively) overlap slightly.

The print pattern is determined by dot information sent to the printer by the system unit. The printed character font is the same as the displayed font; there is no internal character generation in the printer. As a result, the printer can produce an extensive range of styles limited only by the software. The word-processing software, for example, supports half-width, normal, and double-width printing of roman characters and kana and normal and double-width printing of kanji. And because the pixel matrix is square, it is simple to rotate the characters to print Japanese text in the traditional fashion, vertical columns proceeding from right to left. The printer also supports the same dot-addressable graphics utilities used for display-screen graphics. Some examples of the 24- by 24-dot characters display and printout are shown in figure 3. The print speed is 60 kanji characters per second for the 16- by 16-dot printer and 40 kanji per second for the 24- by 24-dot version.

160 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 213 on inquiry card.

ABC MM MP 250 ¥500,000 ¥300,000 10

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Figure 3: Examples of the 5550 system's displays and printouts. At upper left is an example of textual material displayed on a screen by the Japanese-language word-processing function. At upper right is a screen display from Microsoft's Japanese version ofMultiplan. Below are examples of horizontal and vertical printout modes. All examples were produced in the 24- by 24-bit font. (Material courtesy of IBM.)

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 161

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Random House and the House design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc. IBM and IBM Personal Computer are registered trademarks of International Business Machines, Inc. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft, Inc.

162 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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with 16- by 16-dot characters, for color display

5551 System Unit, 256K-byte RAM, one 8.1-megabyte hard disk, one 640K-byte 5 1 /4-inch floppy disk:

with 16- by 16-dot characters, for monochrome display

with 24- by 24-dot characters, for monochrome display

with 16- by 16-dot characters, for color display

System unit options: board cage

128K-byte memory expansion board additional 640K-byte 5 1 /4-inch floppy-disk drive SDLC/BSC communications adapter asynchronous communications adapter magnetic stripe reader adapter

5553 Printer: for 16- by 16-dot characters and dot-addressable graphics for 24- by 24-dot characters and dot-addressable graphics

5557 Printer: heavy-duty printer for multipart forms

5555 Display: 12-inch monochrome for 16- by 16-dot characters 15-inch monochrome for 24- by 24-dot characters 14-inch color for 16- by 16-dot characters

5556 Keyboard (three versions available): Japanese-language word processing and personal computing Japanese-language word processing and 3270 emulation 3270 katakana keyboard format

Japanese-Language Business/Personal Computing Software: Japanese-Language DOS/Basic lnterpreter/Font-16 (16- by

16-dot) (JIS primary kanji) Same as above, with Font-24 (24- by 24-dot) Font-16 for IBM supplementary characters and J IS secondary

kanji Font-24 for IBM supplementary characters and J IS secondary

kanji Macro-Assembler BASIC compiler COBOL compiler FORTRAN compiler Pascal compiler Multiplan Multitool Chart Multitool File Sort/Merge program BSC 3741 communications utility SNA/SDLC 3770 RJE utility

Japanese-Language Word-Processing Software: Document program

Dictionary/Font-16 (extended character set) Dictionary/Font-24 (basic character set) Font-24 (extended character set)

Japanese-Language Online Terminal Software: 3270 kanji emulation/Font-16 (extended character set) 3270 kanji emulation/Font-24 (extended character set)

Table Is A price list The 5550 is not yet available in the US, thus no US prices are quoted by IBM. The numbers listed in this table and quoted in the text are direct conversions from the Japanese price list, using an exchange rate of 240 yen to the dollar. Because it is widely agreed that the yen is currently undervalued with respect to the dollar by about 20 percent, the numbers above should probably be increased somewhat to get an accurate picture of the system's real cost to the potential Japanese customer.

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The Software

The 5550 comes to market with an extensive repertoire of IBM-sponsored software. First and foremost are the packages that support the workstation task environments (word-processing and communications-terminal functions). The powerful word-processing software, developed by IBM, costs $525 to $600 for the Bunsho (Document) program and font libraries and gives the machine capabilities comparable to IBM's American Display writer system. The communications adapter and the three programs to support it (3270 Kanji Terminal emulator, BSC3741 communications utility, and 3770 RJE utility) will be available soon. The word-processing program and the kanji terminal emulator run under a special dedicated operating system developed by IBM and resident on the program disks.

The personal-computing functions, the BSC3741 utility, and the 3770 RJE utility run under Japanese Language

DOS, Microsoft's Japanese version of MS-DOS. Several general applications packages and programming languages developed by Microsoft are available, including Multiplan spreadsheet; Multitool Chart and Multitool File are slated for December. (Interestingly, IBM has priced the Japanese version of Multiplan $100 less than the English version.) Interpreter BASIC, 8086 Macro-Assembler, FORTRAN, and Pascal are available now, and BASIC and COBOL compilers were scheduled for October release. The existing literature does not mention any specific applications software, such as accounting packages, that might be offered by IBM later on. But AshtonTate has developed a version of dBASE II for the 5550, and there is a file communicator called D-COM that enables the 5550 to exchange data with other popular Japanese microcomputers. And if the American PC is any precedent, the market should soon be flooded with 5550 software. ■

Bibliography

1. "IBM 5550 Multistation Design Fundamentals," Access, May/June 1983, pages 1-10. (An IBM Japan publication.)

2. "Opening Up the Business-oriented PC Market?" Nikkei Persona/ Computing, April 5, 1983, pages 108-113.

3. "Sophisticated, Multifunction PCs Appear on the Scene," Nikkei Computer, May 30, 1983, pages 49-65.

4. IBM Business Persona/ Computer. Tokyo: Computer Age Co., 1983.

5. The IBM 5550, A New Analysis. Tokyo: Dempa Publishing Co., 1983.

6. Oh!55. Tokyo: Japan Soft Bank Co., 1983, (All of the above publications are in Japanese.)

Richard Willis (POB F, Goleta, CA 93116) heads a small consulting firm specializing in electronic systems for production test and control applications. He received his MSEE from Caltech in 1973 and has been studying Japanese at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a member of the Computer and Automated Systems Association of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Acknowledgment

The author mould like to thank personnel at Microsoft for their technical assistance in preparation of this article.

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• Two-Year Limited Warranty Password™ is the new USR™ friendly modem, designed for use with any small computer on the market today. We have compressed into its miniature (shown actual size) case every operating feature for unattended high speed telecomputing. With auto dial/answer and auto mode/speed select there is little to do but turn it on. So compact it mounts on the computer with Velcro®; when you carry your computer you can pocket your Password. So brilliantly conceived it achieves all this with just 12 tiny integrated circuits (a presage of long trouble-free service). If your dealer doesn't know the Password yet, write or call for complete specifications.

• Suggested list for Password complete with power, phone, RS232 interface cables. TelpacTM software optional extra,

$79. Password, Telpac, USR logo and the U.S. Robotics corporate name are all trademarks of U.S. Robotics inc.

Rsfl

* U.S. ROBOTICS INC."

1123 WEST WASHINGTON CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60607 (312) 733-0497 Circle 485 on inquiry card.

The Portable Printer with Everything!

VERSATILE - SPRINTER handles all your needs with ease. A built-in EasyLoad front sheet feeder for your letterhead . . . adjustable tractors for your pin fed paper . . . plus a straight through paper path for trouble free paper loading.

FULLY FUNCTIONAL - SPRINTER ... the fastest 160 CPS dot matrix printer on the market today. SPRINTER gives you all the functions and features you need at the office, at home or on the go.

PORTABLE - New mobility for the modern professional. SPRINTER is a rugged and reliable printer that is suitable for traveling without sacrificing quality.

TRAVEL WITH THE BESTI

See the Sprinter at your local

computer store, or call us for the

dealer nearest you*

1 (800)821-8848

Sheet Feed it

DeskTop it.. •

Take it with you

See us at COIIIDEK booth 1336

Micro Peripherals. Inc.

4426 South Century Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84107 * (801) 263-3081

THUD

Circle 320 on inquiry card.

-sfiSf,

■TfesSSK<:

s?MB

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Column Cnr4f> r Apple m

64 £A/A

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166 BYTE November 1983

«*-

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^9.95

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PC

C WARE, INC.

H -.-> >\ "

WARE

TO ORDER

Circle 354 for Apple Products. Circle 355 for IBM Products.

BYTE November 1983 167

Expanding on the PC

A survey of expansion boards for the IBM Personal Computer

Both the IBM Personal Computer and PC compatibles offer many features computer users want, but no one system can please everybody. Rather than try to predict which features most users will want and include those under the basic machine price, the PC and many PC compatibles include expansion slots. The result is a lower price for the basic machine plus greater flexibility for users who want to customize configurations to meet their needs.

Expansion slots, made famous by the Apple II, let you install printed-circuit boards to perform functions not provided by the computer's standard hardware.

Some of the add-on boards—disk-drive controllers, memory-expansion boards, and printer and communications interfaces—appeal to large numbers of computer buyers. Other boards—for prototyping, programming EPROMs (erasable programmable read-only memory chips), or converting analog signals for storage by the computer—target a much smaller percentage of PC and PC-compatible owners. Still, with these machines fast approaching the

by Mark J. Welch

mark of 1 million units sold, a small percentage represents a very large number of users. Obviously, a substantial market for expansion boards, including dozens with distinct functions, exists.

Tables on the following pages provide detailed information about expansion boards produced by 107 different manufacturers. The tables organize the boards by their functions and list entries in alphabetical order by manufacturer within each category. (The exception is table 17, which lists miscellaneous boards alphabetically by function.) A separate listing of manufacturers' addresses begins on page 178.

Some expansion boards defy a simple description or are so unlike other boards that we couldn't include them in our survey listing. For example, Quadram Corp. offers a unique expansion board that enables the IBM Personal Computer to emulate an Apple computer. The $680 Quadlink board includes a 6502 processor and 64K bytes of RAM and can run most Apple II or II Plus software. According to Quadram, users can run programs concurrently in

Apple and IBM modes, switching between the two at any time.

Quadlink won't run software written exclusively for the Apple He or software that uses a "half-track" copy-protect scheme, but it will run most other Apple software, including high-resolution graphics. Quad-link includes a game port that can be used in either IBM or Apple mode and can access other ports and expansion boards in the IBM PC.

The Futurex Encryptor, from Jones Futurex Inc., is a data-encryption board. The board encrypts, or translates, data into special codes that can be translated only by the Encryptor board. Data can thus be hidden from unauthorized users or can be transmitted to another IBM PC equipped with the board without risk of eavesdropping. Five versions of the Encryptor, ranging from $300 to $600, are available for the IBM PC.

Modular Expansion Boards

Two expansion-board suppliers let you choose any combination of features and upgrade already purchased boards by selling modular ex-

168 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

pansion boards. The boards plug into a standard expansion slot, and modules that perform particular functions then plug into the boards. Maynard Electronics' Sandstar Multifunction card, with room for up to six modules, costs $110. The Sand-star Memory card, with room for up to 576K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory) and three modules, sells for $230. The Sandstar Disk Controller Card, for $265, includes either two 5V4-inch and two

8-inch disk-drive controllers or four 5V4-inch controllers, plus room for three modules. A clock/calendar module costs $85 more. Other available modules are a parallel port ($75), a serial port ($105), and a game adapter ($60).

Arby's Combination Board costs $110 and can be expanded with a $90 clock/calendar module, a $105 serial-port module, and a $75 parallel-port module, allowing up to six modules in all.

Take time to consider what you want from your IBM PC, and then carefully research the available products to determine which ones best meet your requirements. The information given here should get you started. With luck, you may find that the PC of your dreams is just an expansion board away.H

Mark J. Welch is a BYTE staff writer. He can be reached at 70 Main St., Peterborough, NH 03458.

A Key to the Tables

Because the tables accompanying this article cover a number of boards and their characteristics, some items are necessarily abbreviated. The following explanations of column headings and comments are therefore provided to help you get the most information from the tables.

A/D Lines: How many analog-to-digital conversion lines are on the board, if any?

Board Name: Some expansion boards may have more than one name, while others may use the same name for several variations of the same board.

Clock: A clock/calendar with battery backup is on the board.

D/A Lines: How many digital-to-analog conversion lines are on the board, if any?

Digital I/O Lines: If the board can be used for special input/output functions, how many single-bit lines can be connected? These I/O lines can be used to

transfer single-bit (on or off) information or to transmit or receive bytes of information in parallel.

E/EPROM Capability: The board can be used to program EPROMs or EEPROMs.

Game Port: A standard game controller port is included.

IEEE-488 Interface Included: A standard IEEE-488 port—also known as a GPIB (general-purpose interface bus) port—is included.

Manufacturer's Name: Addresses are in a separate list beginning on page 178.

Modem Included: A modem is included on the board.

N.A.: Information was not available.

Parallel Ports: How many standard Centronics-type parallel printer ports are there on the board, if any?

Price: Manufacturer's suggested retail price for the board with the options and memory indicated. Although prices are listed for boards with 64K, 128K, 192K,

256K, 512K, and 1024K bytes of memory, some boards are available in other configurations (usually multiples of 64K).

Print Spooler: Software is included permitting part of the memory to be used as a print buffer.

Prototyping: The board can be used to design and revise prototype versions of an expansion board. This is useful for creating boards with features not available from any company or for trying sample layouts of a board you plan to mass-produce and sell.

Prototype Size: The size of the expansion board, usually about 13 by 4 inches. Some boards are smaller to save money or to fit into the PC XT's smaller slots.

RAM Disk: Software is included (at no extra charge) permitting the extra memory to be used as if it were a disk drive.

Serial Ports: How many RS-232C serial interface ports (for printers, modems, and other communications uses) are included on the board?

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 169

170 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Forever amber!

NEC's new amber monitor is so easy on your eyes, you'll feel you could look at it forever.

The JB-1205MA is a professional-quality computer monitor that gives you 80 characters by 25 lines of sharp, clear text. It's ideal for word processing and other work-intensive business applications. And it's amber, the color shown to be easiest on human eyesight.

Designed for use with NEC computers, the JB-1205MA is also easily adaptable for use with Apple,'' Osborne" and most other popular computers. See it at your authorized NEC Home Electronics Dealer.

Compare these specs with your present monitor:

12-inch diagonal screen

80-character, 25-line display

8x8 dots, 8mhz video bandwidth

1.0-watt audio output

Productivity at your fingertips

NEC

Circle 326 on Inquiry card. •

NEC Home Electronics (U.S.A.), Inc. Personal Computer Division

1401 Estes Avenue

Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

(312) 228-5900

NEC Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

Manufacturer Board Name

California Computer Systems Supervision

Conographic Cono Color

Control Systems Artist I

Control Systems Artist II

Memory Parallel (bytes) Ports

NA

128K

Color Price Comments

NA

32K N.A. NA

128K 32K

$800

• $895

• $3195

• $1595

$499

• $244 $395

• $475

• $295

• $1595

• $7000

• $695

• $449

132 by 44 text format on monochrome display

16 colors in 640- by 400-pixel format

1024- by 1024-pixel format

640 by 400 pixels

replaces IBM board; 720 by 348 pixels

requires IBM monochrome card; 720 by 350 pixels

320 by 200 pixels in 16 colors; 640 by 200 pixels in 4 colors

16 colors, 640 by 200 pixels

16 colors, 640 by 480 pixels

overlays; 512 by 512 pixels, 16 colors

up to 720 by 700 pixels

Table 5: Advanced graphics boards allow higher resolution or color graphics for the IBM PC; some boards include special software or allow use of a light pen or other special input devices. Currently, few software programs make use of the high-resolution graphics or color provided by these boards. Until that situation changes, you may have to buy software from the graphics-board vendor or write it yourself

172 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Manufacturer

Apparat Quadram

Tecmar

Board Name

Clock/Calendar Chronograph Time Master

Price

$99 $110 $135

Table 7: Clocks with battery backup. These enable the PC to keep continuous track of the date and time and are helpful for sending electronic mail and for automatically inserting the date in a form letter.

Memory Serial Parallel

(bytes) Clock Ports Ports Price

Table 8: Print-spooler boards combine printer ports and memory to provide a buffer (or spooler) that stores in a section of memory data that is to be printed. This lets the PC continue with other work while the printer is still printing. The boards listed here can only be used as buffers. Boards that include software for print spooling are listed in tables 2, 14, and 15.

Read the fine print.

Improve the output of your present system with a dot-matrix printer from NEC.

For good-looking copy in a hurry, it's hard to beat NEC's hard-working PC-8023A.This is a bi-directional 120 CPS, 80-column printer that can operate in a compressed-print mode to yield 132 columns. Special 2K buffer holds a page of data, so the unit can print while you re typing in something else. Compatible with a wide range of computers, from Apple" to Zenith.*

Compare these features with your present printer:

Tractor and friction feed

Complete ASCII characters plus Greek, math, and graphic characters

Elite, pica, compressed print, proportional spacing, subscript and superscript

Standard parallel Centronics interface, serial optional

Prints clear original and up to three copies simultaneously

*Special cables may be necessary. Contact your local NEC Home Electronics dealer

Productivity at your fingertips

KtFC

Circle 327 on Inquiry card.

NEC Home Electronics (U.S.A.), Inc. Personal Computer Division

1401 Estes Avenue

Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

(312)228-5900

NEC Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

ERG/68000

MINI-SYSTEMS

□ Full IEEE 696/S100 compatibility

HARDWARE OPTIONS

D 8MHz, 10MHz or 12MHz 68000

CPU D Memory Management D Multiple Port Intelligent I/O D 64K or 128K STATIC RAM

(70 nsec) D 266K/512K or 1MB Dynamic

RAM, with full parity (150 nsec)

□ 5V4" - 8" D/D, D/S floppy disk drives

□ 5MB-40MB hard disk drives D Full DMA Disk Interface

□ SMD Disk Interface D V*" tape streamer

□ 10 to 20 slot backplane

D 20 or 30A amp power supply

□ Desk top or Rack mount

cabinets

SOFTWARE OPTIONS

D 68KFORTH 1 systems language with MACRO assembler and META compiler, Multi-user, Multi-Tasking

□ Fast Floating Point package D Motorola's MACSBUG

D IDRIS 5 Operating System with C, PASCAL, FORTRAN 77, 68K-BASIC 1 , CIS COBOL 4 , RDBMS

□ UNIX 2 Sys III C, etc. D CP/M-68K 3 O/S with C,

Assembler, 68K-BASIC 1 , 68KFORTH 1 , Z80 EMULATOR 1 , APL D VED68K 1 Screen Editor

Trademark 1 ERG, Inc.

2 BELL LABS "Digital Research

* Micro Focus Whitesmiths

30 day delivery

with valid Purchase Order

OEM prices available

For CPU, Integrated Card Sets

or Systems.

Empirical Research Group, Inc.

P.O. Box 1176

Milton, WA 98354

206-631-4855

Manufacturer

GM Enterprises Street Electronics Tecmar

Board Name

ParlePC Speech Synthesizer Echo PC Speech Synthesizer Speech Master

Memory (bytes)

N.A. 16K N.A.

Parallel Ports

Price

$199 $225 $395

Digital I/O lines

24

Table 10: Speech synthesizers. If you want your PC to talk back to you, then a speech-synthesizer board is the answer. Some boards include speakers, but some don't.

Manufacturer

Apparat

Super Computer

Tecmar

Board Name Price

PROM Blaster $129

Superblaster $225

E + EEPROM Programmer/Reader $495

Table 11: EPROM and EEPROM programming boards make it easier to program erasable and electrically erasable programmable ROMs.

Manufacturer

AST Research

Advanced Computer Products

Micro Match

Personal Computer Products

Tecmar

Vector Electronic

Board Name

Extender Extender Card MM39-1 Extender Card Extender Extender Card 3690-22 Extender

Price

$55 $40 $35 $50 $80 $22.35

Prototyping

Table 12: Extenders. When testing a homemade expansion board, an extender board is a handy option. It effectively "lifts" a card slot above the PC's case by plugging into an expansion slot and providing an identical connector on top.

Manufacturer

AST Research

Computer Technology Innovations

Control Systems

Control Systems

Datamac Computer Systems

Datamac Computer Systems

IBM

PC2

PC2

Personal Systems Technology Personal Systems Technology Quadram

Zen/Tek Zen/Tek Zobek

Board Name

CC-232 Advanced Communication

ISCDA-0

4 Serial I/O Ports

Hostess Multiuser Host A

DMS-1

DMS-2

Asynchronous Communication Adapter

COMM-1

COMM-1

Asynchronous Communication Ports

Asynchronous Communication Ports

RS-232C Asynchronous Adapter

Dual COM Card

Z-COM Card

2SP

Serial

Ports Price

$295 $125 $395 $795 $139 $199 $120 $85 $115 $165 $125 $110 $120 $100 $165

Table 13: Serial boards. A serial interface permits communication to a modem, a printer, or another computer. Serial ports are also known as RS-232C or asynchronous ports. (For boards offering both serial and parallel ports, see table 4.)

174 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

-®

BASF QUALIMETRIC FLEXYDISK?

BUILT FOR ETERNITY-WARRANTED FOR A LIFETIME.

BASF Qualimetric FlexyDisks® offer you more...an extraordinary new lifetime warranty* The BASF Qualimetric standard is a dramatic new international standard of quality in magnetic media...insurance that your most vital information will be secure for tomorrow when you enter it on BASF FlexyDisks today.

We can offer this warranty with complete confidence because the Qualimetric standard reflects a con-tinuing BASF commitment to perfection...a process which begins with materials selection and inspection, and continues through coating, polishing, lubricating, testing, and 100% error-free certification. Built into our FlexyDisk jacket is a unique two-piece liner. This BASF feature traps damaging debris away from the media surface, and creates extra space in the head access area, insuring optimum media-to-head alignment. The result is a lifetime of outstanding performance.

When your information must be secure for the future, look for the distinctive BASF package with the Qualimetric seal. Call 800-343-4600 for the name of your nearest supplier.

Circle 44 on inquiry card.

Enter tomorrow on basf today

* Contact BASF for warranty detaits © J 982, BASF Sy SI

176 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

64K-byte 128K-byte 192K-byte 256K-byte 384K-byte 512K-byte

Price Price Price Price Price Price Comments

$395 $495 $595 $695

$395 $495 $595 $695 $970 $1090 game, parallel, and extra serial ports $50 each

$395 $495 $595 $695 $895 game port $50 extra

$395 $595

$799 includes monochrome adapter

$325 $415 $505 $595

$369 $439 $509 $579

$445 $495 $545 $595 $795 includes memory battery backup

$495 $585 $675 $750

$265 $355 $445 $520 $550

$385 $580 $736 $892

$595 $795 EPROM capability

$420 $620

$395 $595

$395 $470 $530 $595

$365 $432 $499 $565

$749 $1095

$99 $579

$465 $570 $680 $785

$429 $509 $589 $669

$479 $559 $639 $719

$455 $535 $615 $695

$369 $439 $509 $579

$455 $535 $615 $695

$645 modem included

auto-dial/auto-answer programmable modem

$930 $1100 extra serial port and/or parallel port optional

$895

$899 includes hard-disk interface

includes hard-disk interface

$1336 includes hard-disk interface

$399 $499 $599

$395 $485 $575 $665 $1025 available with extra serial port instead of parallel port

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 177

178 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Cermetek Microelectronics Inc. 1308 Borregas Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94089 (408) 734-8150

Chintronics Co, 19 Longmeadozv Rd. Chelmsford, MA 01824 (617) 256-7862

Chrislin Industries Inc. 31352 Via Colinas Westlake Village, CA 91362 (213) 991-2254

Computer Technology Innovations 965 West Maude Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 245-4256

Conographic Corp. 2268 Golden Circle Newport Beach, CA 92660 (714) 642-6778

Control Systems 2855 Anthony Ln. Minneapolis, MN 55418 (612) 789-2421

Datamac Computer Systems 680 Almanor Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 735-0323

Data Translation 100 Locke Dr. Marlborough, MA 01752 (617) 481-3700

Davong Systems Inc. 217 Humboldt Court Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 734-4900

Daystar Systems Inc. 10511 Church Rd., Suite A Dallas, TX 75238-9990 (214) 341-8136

Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. 5963 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. Norcross, GA 30092 (404) 449-8791

Hercules Computer Technology 2550 Ninth St., Suite 210 Berkeley, CA 94547 (415) 654-2476

IBM Corp. System Products Division

POB 1328

Boca Raton, FL 33432

(800) 447-4700

IDE Associates 7 Oak Park Dr. Bedford, MA 01803 (617) 275-4430

Indigo Data Systems Inc.

100 East Nasa Road One, Suite 107

Webster, TX 77598

(713) 488-8186

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 179

180 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Sleeves of Ty vek

protect your data investment

better than paper.

Here's why:

1. TYVEK* spunbonded olefin has more than twice the strength of good quality paper.

2. TYVEK does not lint.

3. TYVEK is smooth and nonabrasive.

4. TYVEK is chemically clean... has a neutral pH.

5. TYVEK reduces static problems.

6. TYVEK is unaffected by water.

With TYVEK, you don't have to compromise on any important sleeve criteria. You get it all. That's why TYVEK is still the best way to protect your diskettes.

For more information, write: DuPont Company, Room X40133, Wilmington, DE 19898.

1 DuPont registered trademark. DuPont makes TYVEK, not sleeves.

"*G USMTtTM Of*

Circle 160 on inquiry card.

Manufacturers' Addresses continued:

Pacific Coast Peripherals 3480 Granada Ave., Suite 224 Santa Clara, CA 95051 (408) 247-1720

Paso Com

POB 2603

Mission Viejo, CA 92690

(714) 552-0130

PC 2

595 Testoria Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 735-0323

Periphex Inc.

149 Palmer Rd.

Southbury, CT 06488

(800) 221-0732, (203) 264-7937

Personal Computer Products 1400 Coleman Ave., Suite C-18 Santa Clara, CA 95050 (408) 988-0164

Personal Data Systems Inc. 1110 Wrigley Way Milpitas, CA 95035 (408) 262-7880

Personal Systems Technology Inc. 15801 Rockfield, Suite A Irvine, CA 92714

Plantronics Division Frederick Electronics 7630 Hayward Rd. POB 502

Frederick, MD 21701-0502 (301) 662-5901

Professional Data Systems Inc. 2630 Walnut Ave., Suite H Justin, CA 92680 (800) 854-8428, (714) 730-7207

Pure Data Ltd. 950 Denison St., Unit 17 Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 3K5 (416) 498-1616

Quadram Corp. 4355 International Blvd. Norcross, GA 30093 (404) 923-6666

Quality Computer Services

178 Main St.

Metuchen, NJ 08840

(800) 631-5944, (201) 548-2135

Raytronics

4901 Morena Blvd., Bldg. 900

San Diego, CA 92117

(800) 854-1085, (619) 270-4000

RGB Systems 3375 Woodward Ave. Santa Clara, CA 94050 (408) 748-0400

Scion Corp. 12310 Pinecrest Rd. Reston, VA 22091 (703) 476-6100

Seattle Computer

1114 Industry Dr.

Seattle, WA 98188

(800) 426-8936, (206) 575-1830

Semidisk System POB GG

Beaverton, OR 97075 (503) 642-3100

Sigma Designs Inc. 3866 Eastwood Circle POB 3765

Santa Clara, CA 95055 (408) 496-0536

SSM Microcomputer Products Inc. 2190 Paragon Dr. San Jose, CA 95131 (408) 946-7400

Starware

1701 K Street NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 466-7351

STB Systems Inc.

1701 North Greenville, Suite 703

Richardson, TX 75075

(214) 234-8750

Street Electronics Corp. 1140 Mark Ave. Carpinteria, CA 93013 (805) 684-4593

Jack Strick & Associates 949 South Southlake Dr. Hollywood, FL 33019 (305) 925-7004

Super Computer Inc.

1710 East Newport Circle, Suite P

Santa Ana, CA 92705

(714) 540-1880

Symtec

15933 West 8 Mile Detroit, MI 48235 (313) 272-2950

Tall Tree Systems 1036 Los Altos Ave. Los Altos, CA 94022 (415) 941-5500

Tava Corp.

1711 Corinthian Way, Suite 1011 Newport Beach, CA 92660 (714) 261-0200

Tecmar Inc. 6225 Cochran Rd. Cleveland, OH 44139 (216) 349-0600

Universal Micro Inc. 6302 Odana Rd. Madison, WI 53719 (608) 274-6100

USI Computer Products 71 Park Ln. Brisbane, CA 94005 (415) 468-4900

Vector Electronic Co. Inc. 12460 Gladstone Ave. Sylmar, CA 91342 (213) 365-9661

Vista Computer Co. Inc. 1317 East Edinger Santa Clara, CA 92705 (714) 953-0523

VR Data Corp.

777 Henderson Blvd., N-6

Folcraft, PA 19032

(800) 345-8102, (215) 461-5300

Wesper Microsystems 14321 Myford Rd. Tustin, CA 92680

(800) 854-8737, (714) 730-6250

Zen/Tek Corp.

455 Whitepine Dr.

Salt Lake City, UT 84107

(801) 263-3925

Ziatech Corp.

3433 Roberts Ln.

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

(805) 541-0488

Zobek

7343 J. Ronson Rd. San Diego, CA 92111 (714) 571-6971

182 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Look, Ma, no hands!

If you don't type, you've probably longed for the day when you could simply talk to your computer. It's here. Your voice can set you free. With the Voice Input Module from VMC, you can "train" your Apple II, He,® or Franklin® to perform as many as 80 different spoken commands, in unlimited subsets, with near-perfect recognition.

So where you used to type 7P return —"A CO return N39 return" you can just say "print." Command performance. The Voice Input Module works parallel to the keyboard with all existing applications software. So you can type if you need to, or do anything from electronic spread sheets to word processing to games with voice control alone. Either way, you'll

increase your productivity and have fun doing it.

Demand a demonstration.

You won't believe it until you see it. So see the Voice Input Module at your nearby computer store today.

And find out how little you'll miss typing.

Apple II and He are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. ■ Franklin is a registered trademark of Franklin Computer, Inc.

\/ll\/l

YOUR VOICE CAN SET YOU FREE.

VOICE MACHINE COMMUNICATIONS

See us at Comdex booth 4544.

1000 South Grand Avenue ■ Santa Ana, California 92705 ■ Telephone (714) 541-0454 for the dealer nearest you. Circle 499 on inquiry card. BYTE November 1983

Board Type

analog/digital interface

analog/digital interface

BSR X10 interface BSR X10 interface bus analyzer

communications

communications communications coprocessor

controller/sensor

digital/analog interface digital/analog interface

digital I/O emulator

game controller GPIB/IEEE-488 interface hard-disk interface

modular multifunction motor controller

network interface

network interface network interface PAL programmer

speech digitizer

speech recording/playback

Manufacturer

Data Translation

Data Translation

Board Name

DT2801

DT2805

Automated Business Machines BSR-X10 Adapter

Tecmar Device Master

Personal Computer Products Bus Analyzer

Information Technologies Linkup

Personal Data Systems Pack-Comm

Personal Systems Technology DCPI-88 Communications Processor

Tecmar

Tecmar Tecmar

Distance Tender

DADIO Lab Tender

Tecmar Base Board

Personal Systems Technology 3278-Coax

IBM

National Instruments

Tecmar

Arby Tecmar

Davong Systems

Orchid Technology

Tecmar

Force Technology

Mountain Computer Flagstaff Engineering

Game Control Adapter

GPIB-PC

Winchester Share System Adapter

Combination Board Stepper Motor Controller

Multilink Network Card

PC-net Adapter Card Ethernet Link PAL Programmer

Supertalker I! Voice Connection

VCR Controller

Video Van Gogh

Ethernet Companion Voice Recognition

Price

$1195

$1295

$215 $245 $295 $795

$495 $695

$495

$395 $495

$345 $395

$55 $385 $395

$110 $495

$595

$695 $950 $995

$350 $179

$495

$345

$695 $995

Comments

16 A/D.2 D/A, 16 digital I/O lines; clock

16 A/D.2 D/A, 16 digital I/O lines; clock

includes clock

auto-dial/auto-answer (no modem); includes two serial ports

includes 8088, 64K bytes, two serial ports

allows sensors to measure distance

4 D/A, 24 digital I/O lines

32 A/D.16 D/A,24 digital I/O lines

96 digital I/O lines

provides 3278-terminal emulation

includes IEEE-488 interface

allows four PCs to share one hard disk

CY512 interface; includes four serial ports

compatible with ARCNET and Xerox network protocols

requires 128K bytes

programs 20- to 24-pin PAL chips

includes 32K bytes

digitize message, playback, auto-dial/auto-answer

controls videocassette recorder

digitizes video-camera output

software included, 200-word vocabulary; 8K-byte RAM

Table 17: Miscellaneous boards.

184 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

PENMD

around a

TiTiF

mouse.

Ste

llllllllli

Here are just a few ways PENPAD® can be used:

ORDER ENTRY

COMMAND AREA

ORDER ENTRY

INVENTORY QUOTE

CONTROLS AT THE TOUCH OF A PEN

CAPITAL GAINS CHART

J"

SCIENTIFIC EQUATIONS

)978 \<*?9 \9BO \90\ I98Z

INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS GRAPHICS

Only PENPAD® allows you to perform the functions of a keyboard, mouse and graphics tablet with a single, friendly means of input— a pen.

Only PENPAD® has Dynamic Character Recognition which converts your own handwriting into characters and displays them on the screen as if they were typed on a keyboard.

Only PENPAD® lets you compose text and graphics on the screen simultaneously. It combines the freehand capability of a multi-color high resolution graphics tablet with Dynamic Character Recognition and enables you to switch between text and freehand modes instantly.

Only PENPAD® puts the cursor in your hand at the point of your pen. Write anywhere or touch user-programmable function areas on the tablet. You can design function areas in any size or location on the pad and point to objects and icons at the touch of a pen.

Not only can PENPAD® draw circles around a keyboard and a mouse, it also lets you enter text by handprinting, select your own commands, use objects and icons, and sketch out rough ideas...all with one hand tied behind your back.

• PENPAD® works with most popular PC's like IBM, Apple, Wang, DEC, Seiko, and others.

• Software product developers call for special opportunities.

Pencept, Inc. 39 Green Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02154 □ Telephone: (617) 893-6390 $1

Circle 357 on inquiry card.

SAVE THIS AD

IT IS YOUR CATALOG

[AM) CHANGES MONTHLY J

flfcipplc supply center

SOFTWARE

HARDWARE

for Apple 11/11 +/lie

OVERSTOCK SPECIALS

WHILE THEY LAST

DISK DRIVES for APPLE 11+/lie

* CENTBALPT.. Filer. Ulilrly S Apple DOS $ 20 $ 15

APPLE lie 128K, 90 COLUMN

APPLE lie, STARTER SYS. BY APPLE (Sys. A)

64K and 80 column Disk II with controller Apple Monitor III

Monitor Stand $1.65

APPLE lie STARTER SYSTEM BY CONROY-LA POINTE [SYSTEM B] 128K and 80 column 1 Micro-Sci Drive with controller Filer, Utility and DOS 3.3 Diskette Zenith 12" Green Monitor RF Modulator (for color TV) Game Paddles

Game w color graphics and sound 20 Blank Diskettes $1,6!

WARRANTY:

Limited warranty is 100% Parts & Labor for 90 days by us.

RAM EXPANSION

LIST OUR

PRICE PRICE

• ComX, for lie, 80col. 64K Adder Card S 295 $109

• ComX. RAM Card, lYr.Wty. (II + ) 16K $179 $39

• ALS,ADDRam(ll') 16K S 100 $ 59

• Microsoft, RAMCard (II f) 16K S 100 $ 69

• Saturn Systems, RAM Card (II-) 32K S 249 $169

RAMCard(ll-) 64K S 425 $299

RAMCard(II+J12BC S 599 $399

• Axlon RAM Disk System (- or e)320K 51000 $650

BUSINESS

Applied Soft Tech.. VersaForm S 389 $259

Anm Magic Window ii new: $ 150 $ 99

Ashton-Tate, dBase 11 (Req CP M 80} S 700 $395

Financial Planner (Req CPM 80} S 700 $395

Friday (RequiresCPM80) S 295 $199

BPISystems.GLAR.AP.PRorlNV.each S 395 $295

Broderbund. Bank Street Writer S 70 $ 47

Continental, GL, AR. AP or PR ea $ 250 $165

Home Accountant S 75 $ 49

FCM $ 100 $ 68

Dow Jones. Market Analyzer S 350 $275

Market Manager S 300 $235

Fox &Geller.Quickcode (for dBase II) S 295 $185

dGraph (for dBase II) S 295 $185

dUtility (for dBase II) S 99 $ 66

Hayden. Pie Writer (Specify 80 col. board) S 150 $ 99

Howard Soft, Real Estate Analyzer 11 S 195 $129

Tax Preparer $ 225 $149

LJK. Letter Perfect w Mail Merge $150 $99

• Micro Craft, (requires ZBOCP'M-Card)

Verdict or Billkeeper $ 995 $469

Micro Lab. Tax Manager $180 $119 MicroPro, (ail require Z80-CP M Card)

• WordStar w Apphcard & CP M SPECIAL S 495 $325 WordStar' - Training Manual SPECIAL S 495 $239 MailMerge" SPECIAL S 250 $129 SpellStar'" SPECIAL S 250 $129

• WordStar Professional ,4 Pak SPECIAL S 895 $429 , Mull-Plan (CPM or Apple DOS) S 275 $199

Financial, Mulbtool (CPM or DOS) S 100 $ 75

Budget. MuHitooi (CPM or DOS) S 150 $115

Osborne CP. Soft. (Disk and Book) (Stat.. Bus & Math)

SomeComrrcxi Basic Programs{75each) 5 100 $ 49

Practical Basic Programs (40 each) $ 100 $ 49

Peachtree, Requires CP M & MBasic, 40 columns

Senes40GL&AR&AP,all3 $ 595 $365

Series 40 Inv. or Payroll, each S 400 $275

Series 9 Text & Spell & Mail, all 3 S 595 $395

Perfect, Perfect Writer S 495 S149

Perfect Spelter $ 295 $ 99

Perfect Writer Speller 2 Pak $ 695 $199

Perfect Filer S 595 $259

Quark.WordJuggler(lle) S 239 $179

Lexicheck lie (use w Juggler) 5 149 $99

Sensible. Sens. Speller, specify80Col. Brd. S 125 $ 85

Slerra.'On-Line, Screen Writer II $ 130 $ 89

The Dictionary NEW S 100 $ 69

General Manager II NEW S 230 $155

• Silcon Valley. Word Handler S 250 $ 39

• List Handler S 90 $ 35 Sof. Sys. Executive Secretary S 250 $169

Executive Speller S 75 $ 55

on disk for Apple Il/lI +/lie

BUSINESS

Software Publishing. PFS: File S 125 $64

(specify • ore) PFS: Report $125 $84

PFS: Graph $ 125 $ 84

Stoneware, DB Master Version 4 0 S 229 $229

DB Utility I or II $99 $ 69

Videx. App-ewriterII prebootdisk S 20 $ 15

Visicalc 80 col. preboot disk S 50 $ 39

VisiCorp Personal Software.

Visicalc 3.3 S 250 $169

Visicalc Enhanced (He) NEW S 250 $169

ViaFiieorVisiDex. each S 250 $169

UTILITY & SYSTEM

Beagle.unityutty 5 30 $ 22

DOS Boss S 24 $ 18

Apple Mechanic $30 $ 22

Central Point Filer. DOS 3 3 and Utility S 20 $15

• Copy II Plus (bit copier) S 40 $ 35 Einstein. Compiler, for Applesoft BASIC S 129 $ 85 Epson. Graphics Dump $ 15 $ 9 Insoft.GraFORTH by Paul Lulus S 75 $ 59 Microsoft. A IDS S 125 $ 75

CoboiSO $ 750 $559

Fortran 80 S 195 $149 Complete Line in Stock

• Omega Locksmith (bit copier} S 100 $ 75 Penguin Comp Grphcs. Sys NEW 5 70 $ 53

Graphics Magician NEW S 60 $ 41

Phoenix. Zoom Grafix $ 40 $34

Quality Bag of Tricks NEWS 40 $ 29

Saturn Systems VC-Expand S 100 $49

VC-Expand80 S 125 $ 69

Sensible Back it Up. (bit copter I S 60 $49

HOME & EDUCATIONAL

Broderbund Chopufter S 35 $ 26

BudgeCo. Pmball Constr. Sel S 40 $ 27

• Continental. Hone Accountant S 75 $ 49

Datamost Aztec or Zaxxon, each S 40 $27

Edu-Ware (Large Inventory) Call Call

Einstein. Memory Trainer Call Call

Hayden. Sargon II (Chess] S 35 $29

Infocom Zork I. II. or III. or Starcross.each S 40 $ 27

Lightning. Mastertype $ 40 $ 27

Micro Lab. Miner 2049er S 40 $ 27

Sierra On-Line. Ultima II S 60 $ 40

Sir-Tech. Wizardry S 50 S 39

Spinnaker Kindercomp S 30 $20

Sub Logic Flight Simulation S 34 $ 25

Pmball S 35 $ 25

Terrapin. Logo S 150 $99 OTHER BRANDS AND PROGRAMS IN STOCK. CALL.

DISKETTES

CDC, 100each, SS,DO,48T(Apple, IBM) $550 $179

10each.SS,DD.48T (Apple. IBM) $ 55 $ 19

100each,DS.DD.48T.(IBM,HP) $750 $295

10each.DS,DD.48T(IBM,HP) $ 75 $ 35

DYSAN, 10each, (Apple, etc.) $ 69 $ 39

10each.48T(IBM.HP,etc.) $ 89 $ 49

MAXELL, 10 each, MD-1.SS, DO $ 55 $ 29

10each,MD2-D,DSDD $ 75 $ 39

VERBATIM. 10each,Verex,SSSD $ 40 $ 21

10each.MD525-01.SSSD $ 49 $ 25

10each,DD34,DSDD $ 84 $ 45

10 each, Optima, DSDD $ 121 $ 65

GENERIK■ DISKETTES - AS LOW AS $1

100 each SS.SD, 35 Track (Apple, Atari) $ 415 S 130

1000 each SS,SD, 35 Track (Apple, Atari) $4150 $ 995

100 each DS, DD. 40 Track (IBM, H'P) S 626 $ 170

1000 each DS.DD, 40 Track (IBM. HP) $6260 $1400 W jackets, no labels, top quality. 90 day limited warranty by us

GENERIK™ I DISKETTES

SSSD $1.00 Each DSDD $1.40 Each

CDC SSSD $1.79 Each

Minimum order quantities apply. See above. Money _ back guarantee is by COMX Corporation not us.

MONITORS

AND ACCESSORIES

•AMDEK.12"Green.#3Q0G

• 1Z'Amber. #300A

• 12" Amber. 310A for IBM-PC

• 13" Color!, Composite

• 13"Colorll,RGB,HiRes

• 13"Coloril1,RGB,(Ap.l!,lll) DVM, Color II or III to Apple IN/F

NEC.12"Green,ModeUBl201M 12" Color, Composite, JC1215M 12" Color, RGB. IBM ModeUC 1203 PRINCETON, RGB Hi Res. HX-12 •QUADRAM, Ouadchrome 12" RGB Color Quadrscfeen17',968x5l2 SANYO, 9" Green, Model DM5109

12" Green. Model DM8112CX ZENITH, 12" Green, Mode! ZVM121

$ 200 $ 135 $ 210 $ 149

$230 $379

$

$289

$529 $439

$ 479 $ 399

$ 199 $ 175

S 249 $ 159

S795 $539

$ 795 $ 499

$1995 $1595

$200 $ 139

MODEMS

AND

ACCESSORIES

AN£>fOR,SignaimanMKIMcdem(RS232} $ 99 $ 75

HAYES,{BM-PCSmartmodem1200B $599 $439

IBM-PC Smartcom II Software S 119 $ 89

Stack Chronograph (RS-232) S 249 $ 189

Stack Smartmodem 300 (RS-232) S 289 $ 225

Smartmodem 1200 (RS-232) S 699 $535

Micromodem 100(5-100 bus) $399 $275

Micromodem II (for the Applet!) S 379 $ 275

Apple Terminal Program $ 100 $ 65

IBM-PC to Modem Cable S 39 $ 29

NOVATK)N,Appiecatl1Modem,300BAUO $ 389 $ 269

212AppieCat. 1200BAUD $ 725 $ 599

Cat $ 189 $ 139

D-Cat S 199 $ 159

J-Cat $ 149 $ 109

212AutoCat S 695 $ 579

Smart Cat 103/212 $ 595 $ 435

AppJeCatlf 5 389 $ 269

212AppleCat $ 725 $ 595

SSM.TransoendlforAppteliOataComm. $ 89 $ 69

ModemCard for the Apple ii $ 299 $ 259

Transmodem 1200 (1tfl/300/1200) $ 695 $ 559

PRINTERS ACCESSORIES

DOT MATRIX PRINTERS:

EPSON, MXSOFT.&OCPS.wGraftrax $745 $485

FX80.CPS Cat!

MX100FT.80CPS,wGraftrax * $ 995 $ 639

FX100.CPS Call

Apple II Graphics Dump Program S 15 $ 9

GraftraxPlus,MX80orMX100 $ 95 $ 79

LEADING EDGE. Gorilla Banana $ 250 $ 209

OKIDATA,82A,80col„ 120cps,Para. $ 549 $ 448

83A, 132 coL 120 cps. Para. $ 899 $ 699

92.160CPS,80Coi.,Para. $699 $559

93,160CPS, 136Col., Para $1249 $ 969

ORANGE MICRO, Grappler *, for Apple $ 165 $ 119

PRAC..Microbufferin-Line64K,Para. $ 349 $ 259

Microbuffer In-line 64K Serial $ 349 $ 259

•STAR MICRO.. Gemini 10"X,120cps,2.3K $499 $ 289

Gemini 15", 100cps,2.3K $ 649 $ 389

Gemini 15" X,100cps,2.3K Call Call

IBM-PC to Epson or Star Micronics Cable $ 60 $ 35

Apple!FandCableforEpsonorGemini $ 95 t 59

LETTER QUALITY - DAISY WHEEL PRINTERS:

JUKI,6l00,17cps,8QCol.. Parallel $ 700 I 539

NEC.3550IBMParatel,33cps,136Col. $2350 $1995

•TTX, 13 cps, Para. & Ser. Pin & Friction $ 649 $499

SUPPLIES: Tractor Feed Paper, Ribbons, Daisy Wheels.

PLOTTERS

ENTER COMPUTER, Sweet-P $795 $595

AMDEK.DXY-10G.tO"x14 n ,Para $749 $599

Amplot II. 10" x 14", 6 cotor, S-P $1299 $999

CORVfIK 6Me * J2395 $1895

VVraWUO ntfcg $3195 $2595

Without Interface 20 Meg $4195 $3495

IBM-PC Interface Manual* Cable Kit $ 300 $ 239

Mirror built in for easy backup $ 790 $ 595

Apple Interface, Manual& Cable Kit $300 $ 239 Other Interfaces. Omni-Net, Constellation, Mirror. All in Stock

A

ATAR,

for the ATAR}

RANA 1000 Drive, 320K $449 $365 KOALA, Graphics Pad $100 $75

#hM*muia«« iMPAmiiTiAki iiinTi-niip A1! ** p -°- ■* 23068 > Portland, OR 97223, Include telephone number. ORDERING INFORMATION AND TtHWb: All items usually in stock. We immediately honor Cashiers Checks, Money Orders, Fortune 1000 Checks and Government Checks. Personal or Company Checks allow 20 days to clear. No. C.O.D. Prices reflect a 3% cash discount so ADD 3% to above prices for VISA or MC. For U.S. Mainland, add 3% for shipping, insurance and handling (SI&H) by UPS with $5 minimum for SI&H. UPS ground is standard so add 3% more for UPS Blue with $10 minimum for SI&H Add 12% total for SI&H for US Postal, APO or FPO wrrh $15 minimum for SI&H. For Hawaii, Alaska and Canada. UPS is in some areas only, all others are Postal so call, write, or specify Postal. Foreign orders except Canada for SJ&H add 18% or $25 minimum for SI&H except for monitors add 30% or $50 minimum for SI&H. Prices subject to change and typo errors, so call to verify All goods are new include warranty and are guaranteed to work. Due to our low prices, ALL SALES ARE FINAL. Call before returning goods for repair or replacement. Orders received with insufficient SJ&H charges will be refunded ORDER DESK HOURS 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. PST, Monday through Friday and 10 to 4 Saturday. 6 A.M. here is 9 A.M. in New York, OUR REFERENCES.' We have been in computers and electronics stnce 1958. a computer dealer since 1979 and in mail order since 1980 Banks: 1st Interstate Bank, 1503) 643-4678 We belong to the Chamber of Commerce (503) 644-0123, Better Business Bureau (503) 227-0648 and Direct Marketing Association, or call Dunn and Bradstreet if you are a subscriber Fastrak' and Generik '' are trademarks of ComX Corporation. WordStar. MailMerge, Starlndex, InfoStar, are trademarks of MicroPro.

• Means a BEST buy AD #983

CASH a CARRY OUTLETS:

Over-the-counter sales only, Open Monday through Saturday 10:00 until 5:00. PORTLAND, OREGON, 11507-0 S.W. Pacific Hwy, Terrace Shopping Center, Tigard On 99W between 217 and I-5. Call 245-1020.

SEATTLE, WASH., 3540128th Ave, SE, Bellevue, WA 98006, Tele.: 641-4736, between Lochmanhs Plaza and Factona Place, SEof Hwy. 405&90andatSE38th&128it

(or the IBM-PC or XT

HARDWARE

IBM is a trademark of j IBM Corporation

IBM-PC

System Includes

Two 320K Disk Drives by CDC

90 Day Warranty By Us Call For Details And Configurations

LIST PRICE

OUR PRICE

HCRAADV PUID If I TO Addon to your memory cards or mother MCMUnT Unir M I D board 10F. tested With 90 day warranty

* 64KKtt.200NS.9chips.4164 S 150 $ 45 16K Kit. 200NS. 9chips. 4116{tor PC-1 motherboard) $ 30 $ 16

4-IN-1 Multiple Board. Color Graphics, Mono. 128K S 599 S 519

ComboPlus,64KwSer.asyncpara4clockcalendar S 395 $ 2T9

Above Combo Plus. 256K.SPC S 695 $475

MegaPlus II. 64K.2-S PC. and software S 495 $345

256K.2-SPC.andsorlware S 795 $ 495

Expand 256K MegaPlus II to512K Kit $ 395 $ 295

Supervision, monochfomel 32 Col x 44 line video board S 850 $ 680

Z Plus 64, fast Z80B.64K (expand to 192K). para port S 675 $695

• p 0 mV 256K RAM Card with Fastrak ■ RAM disk emulator VJ»-"«V\ and printer spooler software 2 Year Warranty S 695 $ 256

CCS

LIST PRICE S 9G S 50 S 25

^1 IDTIC p C Pedestal "tor Display on PC

Vvn I lO 9 Foot Cab* tor IBM Keyboard lexlends 3 to 9 I Vertical 'System Stand" tor PC CPU

H E R C U L E S Hi Res Graphics Board S 499

Key TrOn JC KBSiW StandardTypewnterkeyboard S 269

IX « -» I -^ Koala Pad "■ Toucfl Tab,et s 1M

I lUdld Programmers Guide $ 15

256KRAMCafd SPECIAL S 875

MIPRQVTT 64K System Card 4 Function S 395

iTiiwnw*?V^i I 256K System Card. 4 Function S 625

ADOUIH PC^" Lccal AreaNWworkjngStartef System. 20 $1490

UnL/lllU MfjnoctTCmeGraprtcsAdapter 720Hx350V.w64K S 499

PLANTRONICS FREDERICKS

CokxPius, 16 color brd w Para Port $ 475

QUADrWl

Quadimk Apple! I Emulator NOW IN STOCK NEW

Quadboard to RAW expandable to 256K. 6 (unction NEW

Quadboard 64K expandable to 256K. 6 function

Quadboard 256K. 6 function

Quadboard II. 64K 6function

Quadboard II 256K 6 function

Quad 512 - 64K plus senal port expandable to 512K. 6function

Quad 512 ■ 256K plus serial port, expandable lo 512K, 6 function

Quad 512' 512Kplus serial port 6 function

Quadcotof I, board 16 colors

Quadcolor 11. board. use with Quadcoior I set 640 x 200

Microlaier. w Copy. Par Par 8K. #MP8 w Power Supply

Microfazer. w Copy Par Par 64K #MP64 w Power Supply

Micfofazer.w Copy. Par Par 128K. #MP128w Power Supply

Microfazer. Snap-on. 8K Par Par. Epson #ME8w Power Supply

Microfazer, Snap-on. 64K Par Par Epson #ME64, w Pwr Suppfy

All Mierofazers are expandabte (w copy to 51 ?K) | Snap-on to 64K |

S 680 S 295 S 395 S 595 S 395 S 595 S 325 S 550 S 895 S 295 S 275 S 189 S 319 S 465 S 179 S 319

Tecmar sMATEBoad <

1 St MATE Board. 256K Graphics Master Board

$ 389 S 589

Call

OUR PRICE $ 65 $ 35 $ 19

$ 199

$ 109 $ 12

$495 $ 295 $ 465

$1190 $ 379

$4*5 $ 215 $ 279 $ 395 $ 285 $ 395 $ 265 $ 420 $ 625 $ 225 $ 209 $ 129 $ 219 $ 295 $ 145 $ 235

$ 295

$439 Cell

TG PRODUCTS j

$40 Ten or more.

64K CHIP KIT

9 Each. 4164.200 ns. MEMORY EXPANSION 90 Day Warranty by us

$256

$239 Two or more.

ComX256K RAM BOARD

Fully Compatible 2 Year Limited Warranty by ComX

With f aslrak RAM Disk Emulator and Spooler Software

Works on DOS 1 1 or 2 0

* Means a BEST buy.

AD #983

BUSINESS

LIST OUR

PRICE PRICE ASHTONTATE

dBasell.req. PC-DOS &128K $ 700 $395

dBase il Users Guide S 30 $ 20

Everyman's DB Primer (Book) S 15 $ 12

The Financial Planner S 700 $449

Friday S 295 $199 :

APPLIED SOFT. TECH., Versaform S 389 $265

CONTINENTAL Home Accountant / S 150 $ 95

FCMiFiting. Cataloging, Mailing) S 125 $ 95

Properly Management $ 495 $329

DATAMOST, Write-On (Word Processor) S 130 $ 89

DOWJONES.MarketAnalyzer S 350 $279

Market Manager S 300 $239

Market Microscope S 700 $525

EAGLE SOFTWARE. Money Decisions S 150 $129

EINSTEIN, Writer S 300 $199

Memory Trainer S 80 $ 55

FOX&GELLER.QuickcodeiMSDOS! S 295 $179

dGraph(MSDOS) S 295 $179

dUtilforlBMPCDOS $ 99 $59

HAYDEN, IBM Pie Writer $ 200 $135

HOWARDSOFT, Real Estate Analyzer It S 250 $169

INFOR. UNLIMITED, EasyWnter II (WP) S 350 S259

EasySpellerll S 225 $149

EasyFilerlaDBMS) $ 400 $299

inventory Control $ 595 $395

*]NSOFT,OataDesJgn(touseDBMS) S 225 $169

Data Base Made Easy (Book) S 17 $ 12

• LOTUS, 1-2-3 S495 $329 MICROCRAFT, Verdict or Billkeeper. each $995 $469 MICRO LAB. Miner 2049 S 40 $ 29 MICROPRO, WordStar* $ 495 $239

Mail Merge 1 " S 250 $129

SpeliStar" $ 250 $129

• WordStar Pro, 4 Pak $ 895 $425 Sfarlndex 1 " $ 195 $109 InfoStar" $ 495 $259 Report Star'" $ 350 $199

.* MICROSOFT. Muitiplan S 275 S175

Word S 375 $275

Word with Mouse S 475 $339

Financial Statement S 100 $ 69

Budget S 150 $109

SOFTWARES

BUSINESS

LIST .

PRICE

NORTH AMERICAN 8US. The Answer S 250

•OSBORNE COMX (Book & Disk Business,

Statistics & Math Programs)

Some Common Base Prog (701 S 100

Practica' Basic Prog (40) S 100

PBL CORPORATION, Personal Investor S 145

PEACHTHEE PeachPak3«3L, AR&AP) S 595

Peach Text 5000 S 395

PERFECT. Perfect Writer* S 389

Perfect Speller" or Perfect Cafe ", each S 295

Perfect Filer $ 595

SOFTWARE ARTS, TK' Solver $ 299

SOFTWARE PUBLISHING. PFS Ftse S 140

PFS Report S 125

PFS Write NEW 1 $ 140

PFS

,raph

NEW' $ 140

S 295

SORCIM SuperCaicll

SuperWnter $ 295

STONWARE DB MasferiaDBMS) $ 490

SYNAPSE. F>le Manager $100

SYNERGISTIC Data Reporter S 250

T MAKER T Maker III $ 275

V1SICORP VisiCalc' $250

VisiDexorVtsiScheduie $ 250

VistFile or Desktop Plan I $300

VistWordw!fh'Vi5iSpeN128K} S 375

OUR PRICE $169

$69 $69 $94 $239 $239 $149 $ 99 $199 $219 $ 94 S 84 $ 95 $95 $195 $199 $329 $67 $169 $169 $179 $189 $239 $269

UTILTY & SYSTEM

HAYES, Smartcomli S 119 $ 89

MiCROCOM.Miaoterminal S 100 $ 65

MICROSOFT. muMath muSimp $300 $225

Business BASIC Compiler 5 600 $450

Pascal Compiler $ 350 $255

C Compiler $500 $369

BASIC Compiler $ 395 $?S5

Fortran Compiler $ 350 $255

COBOL Compiler S 750 $559

BASIC Interpreter 5 350 $255

• NAGY SYSTEMS Copy PC Backup S 35 S 25

NORELLOATA.SystemBackup S 50 $ 39

NORTON. Norton Utilities 14 programs ■. S 80 $.65

UTILITY & SYSTEM

1983 CE SOFTWARE AWARD,

Copy !i PC by Centra: Point Software & the best CE software buy of 1983 If wiH copy more copy protected software and taster than any other backup system Unlike other copiers it makes an exact duplicate of your original and it does f 00'* verification ot copy Documentation is excellent

IfST OUR PRICE PRICE • CENTRAL POINT Copy II PC Backup S 40 $ 35 •COMX Fastrak ' RAM Disk emulator and printer spooler program Works on any PC DOS version or RAM

for the IBM PC O'

Card Menu Drive' DIGITAL RESEARCH Concurrent CP M-86" C8ASC86" CPM86 : Pascal MT ■ (CP M-S6j PascalMT ■ iMSDOSt PL 1 (MSDOSt . Access Manager I MSOGSi Display Manager (MSDOSl Speed Prog, Pkg fCPM-86j

NEW* 5 100 $ 59

$350 S 200 S 60 $ 400 $600 $ 750 ■ $ 400-$ 500 $ 200

$225 $135 $40 $239 $399 $499 $179 $339 $135

HOME & EDUCATIONAL

EPYX Auto, Sim. Temple of Apshai $ 40

■ Oil Barons ■■ . S 100

• ARM0NK Executive Suite . $40 BLUE CHIP Mil waire $60 BPI SYSTEMS Personal Accounting $ 195

•BROOERBUNO. AppePamaColors $ 30

COMPREHENSIVE PC Tutor (DOS Ml $ 60

CONTINENTAL Home Accountanl ■ $150

OATAMOST Pig Pen or Space Stoke, ea $ 30

DAVIDSON. The Speed Reader II $ 75

fNFOCOM Deadline S. 50

ZorklofZorkllorZorklil ea $ 40

• INSOFT.WordTnxQrQuolFix.each NEW $ 35 MICRO LAB. Miner 2049 $ 40 MICROSOFT Flight Simulator $ 50 P8LCORF sJor S 145 SPINNAKER. Snooper Troops dor 2) S 45

Story Machine or Face Maker $ 35

STRATEGIC, the Warp Factor $ 40

SU8LOGI" 'Pmball S 40

$ 29 $75 $ 27 $ 39 $139 $19 $ 40 $95 $ 22 $55 $ 33 $27 $29 $29 $33 $ 99 $ 35 $24 $ 30 $27

DRIVES

@ g) CONTROL D ATA

OR landan

320K 360K DS DD DISK DRIVE

With Detailed Installation Instructions 60 Day Warranty by Factory Authorized Distributor

Same as now installed by IBM

$239

$229 Two or more.

HALF $199 HEIGHT MAYNARD

Floppy Drive Control Brd tor up to 4 drives $195 $165

same with Parallel Port $ 275 $ 205 If IOTA IBM-PC XT 6MB

VIO I A Backup for Hard Disk V1200 $1549 $1049

MUCH MORE IN STOCK $ 700 $ 395

8XP/M-80 SOFTWARE

ASHTONTATE dBase 11

MICROCRAFT. Veidict or Billkeeper, each $995 $469

MICROPRO WordStar' $495 $239

MailMerge " 5 250 $ 129

WordStar Prof ..4 Pak S 895 $ 429

MICROSOFT Muitipian § 275 $ 199

COBOL-80 Compiler SPL S 750 $ 450

THE WORLD'S LARGEST COMPUTER MAIL ORDER FIRM

CONROY-LA POINTE™

gg| Formerly COmpUtOf EXChOfl^e

SHOWROOMS AT:

11507D SW PACIFIC HWY., PORTLAND, OR. OPEN M-SAT 10-5 SEATTLE, WA OPEN M-SAT 10-5

ALL MAIL: P.O. Box 23068. Portland, OR 97223

ORDER DESK I ULL PREt

(800)547-1289

Order Desk Hours: 6AM to 6PM PST

Oregon TOLL FREE

[800] 451 -5151 Portland: 245-6200

Hot Line For Information On Your Order [503)245-1030

Circle 81 for IBM Peripheral, Circle 82 for Apple, and Circle 83 for all others.

c 1983 by Conroy-LaPointe, Inc.

Installable Device Drivers for

PC-DOS 2.0

The latest version of the IBM PC's DOS provides support for device drivers

Support for device drivers is one of the most significant new features provided by Microsoft's PC-DOS 2.0. In addition to other significant improvements over earlier versions, this release incorporates powerful new commands into the DOS as well as BASIC. In this article I'll define a device driver, explain its importance, and show how it works with the IBM PC.

The DOS (disk operating system) enhancements visible to the average user represent only the tip of the iceberg; much of the real power added to PC-DOS can be appreciated only by hardware and software designers. As those designers take advantage of PC-DOS 2.0's flexibility, we can expect to see new products that will work only with this and subsequent versions. These products will provide a major impetus for the average IBM PC user to abandon earlier versions of PC-DOS in favor of the latest release.

Devices and Drivers

A device is merely a piece of equipment that attaches to a computer. Some examples are printers, floppy-and hard-disk drives, monitors, and keyboards. You can even simulate devices; a RAM disk, for instance, appears to the PC as a disk drive, but it is actually a special program running in the computer's RAM (random-access read/write memory) that simulates the operation of a floppy-disk drive.

An interface is used to attach a device to the PC. The interface can be a standard type, such as an RS-232C

188 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

by Tim Field

or parallel port, or you can use one designed to work with a particular device, such as a keyboard. Either type of interface provides the necessary electronics to allow the PC and a device to communicate.

So far, so good. You know you need a device and an interface to plug it into the PC, but that combination is not sufficient. You must also provide the PC with the software required to "talk" with the device; that is, to perform input and output (I/O) operations on it.

Each device requires special signal and timing schemes to allow the PC's processor to communicate with it. Applications programs running on the computer don't provide such software routines, which can sometimes be quite complex; these programs must be able to perform specific tasks, though, such as sending a character to the modem or reading the sector of a particular address on drive A. What is needed, then, is a set of general-purpose software routines that match the high-level needs of applications programs with the low-level requirements of the hardware interfaces. These software interfaces are called device drivers.

It is one of the main tasks of the operating system to provide the support that applications programs need to use the devices attached to the computer system. Thus, the responsibility for supplying and supporting device drivers falls in the realm of DOS functions.

One device driver that comes with the PC is the parallel-printer driver.

That code is stored in the system's ROM (read-only memory) and interfaces system software with the parallel interface port.

A program running on the PC does not get involved with how characters are printed out; it's the printer's responsibility to actually print out text characters. A program requests that a string of characters be printed out, and the printer device driver handles that request, receiving characters from a program and converting them into the Is and 0s that the parallel interface card requires. The interface then takes these binary values and converts them into appropriate electrical signals, which are sent to the printer through cabling. The printer converts these signals back into characters, which are then printed out.

Without the device driver, each software program that required the use of the printer would have to provide the appropriate signals for the parallel adapter. But because most programs require the use of many devices (usually at least a keyboard, monitor, disk drive, and printer), general-purpose device drivers prove most efficient; they supply the highest level of software support possible.

The internal activities of device drivers are invisible to applications programs. Yet when you run an applications program or a DOS command, the device drivers work with that program to accomplish the requested task. The device-driver concept provides an additional benefit:

it helps make programs device-independent. In other words, the driver ensures that the program need not get involved with a particular device's idiosyncrasies; it works directly with the device-driver interface.

For example, the signals and timing schemes required to communicate with a floppy-disk drive differ from those required for a fixed-disk drive. A high-level device interface, however, permits an applications program to read or write to either type of drive identically.

Device Drivers in PC-DOS 2.0

The IBM PC provides two levels of device drivers. At the low end is the BIOS (basic input /output system) ROM (read-only memory) interface, which makes a set of simple device interfaces available to assembly-language programs. The PC-DOS interface, however, provides device drivers of a somewhat higher level. The DOS contains a set of functions that enables a program to access a number of useful operations, including the device operations. The DOS device drivers (or device functions) actually use the BIOS drivers to accomplish portions of their work. The DOS drivers' higher level provides them with greater flexibility than those in BIOS.

Using earlier versions of PC-DOS, applications programmers had to specially rig (or "kludge") device drivers to work with the DOS. This was often accomplished at the BIOS interface level. And although the drivers worked, they were not standard ones, nor were they easy to implement.

PC-DOS 2.0, however, permits programmers to create installable device drivers at the DOS-interface level in a standard way. These new drivers can either define a new device type to be used on the PC or replace an old device driver. For example, a device driver can be added to support an intelligent pen plotter, or the PC's standard keyboard device driver can be replaced by a new driver that looks for input not only from the keyboard but also from a mouse device.

Normally written in assembly Ian-

c

POWER ON

J V s

CTRL-ALT-DEL SYSTEM RESET

EXECUTE DIAGNOSTICS TO TEST PC's HARDWARE

0

DOS "BOOTS" UPLOADS AND EXECUTES IBM BIO, tBMDOS, AND COMMAND SYSTEM FILES

IS THERE A "CONFIGSYS" FILE ON THE SYSTEM DISK

I

J

IS THERE AN

n

EXECUTE SYSTEM CONFIGURATION ROUTINE {SEE FIG, 2)

"AUTOEXEC.BAT | FILE ON THE i SYSTEM DISK

\—

PROMPT USER FOR DATE AND TIME

EXECUTE ALL COMMANDS FOUND IN AUTOEXECBAT

:m

DOS IS RUNNING. DISPLAY SYSTEM PROMPT AND WAIT I ^FOR USER INPUT/

Figure 1: This flowchart outlines the tasks the DOS performs before it issues the system prompt and waits for user input.

guage, an installable device driver is assembled and linked into a .COM file. It makes its corresponding device available to any program using the standard DOS function calls. You install a device driver in PC-DOS by copying the COM file onto the system disk and creating a special file called CONFIG.SYS, which is merely a text file (created using Edlin or a text editor) into which you add the command line:

DEVICE = driver.COM

(where the word "driver" is replaced by the name of the device driver). You must complete this process for each device driver you install.

The installation process is then accomplished at system start-up. When the PC is turned on, or whenever a

system reset is issued (via the Ctrl-Alt-Del key sequence), PC-DOS performs a number of tasks before it issues the system prompt and waits for user input. One of those tasks is to configure the system as instructed through the CONFIG.SYS file, which includes installing any specified device drivers. Figure 1 outlines these activities. For a more detailed discussion of the inner workings of device drivers and their installation process, see "A Peek into PC-DOS Device Drivers" on page 190.

Device Categories

The types of devices that the PC recognizes fall into two categories: character devices and block devices.

A character device performs input and output in a serial manner—character by character. For example, a

A Peek into DOS Device Drivers

Let's take a look at the implementation of device drivers in PC-DOS 2.0. As discussed in the main text, the PC uses two types of devices: character and block. The device-driver format is structured in such a way that the same approach is used for either type of device.

An assembly-language program designed to work as a device driver consists of three

C START\

user-defined parts: a device header, a strategy routine, and an interrupt routine.

The Device Header

The device header is an 18-byte block found at the beginning of a device driver. This header is used by the DOS to install and identify a particular driver. The header is broken into the following five components:

Next Device Header Field (4 bytes): This is a pointer (offset followed by segment) used by the DOS to make a linked list of all of the installed device drivers. Both offset and segment addresses must be

ANY MORE TEXT I LINES IN [

| CONFIGSYS I

FILE

/ READ IN FILE ' SPECIFIED BY "DEVICE="

COMMAND LINE

LINK THE DEVICE HEADER TO THE FRONT OF DOS DEVICE QUEUE

BUILD

REQUEST BLOCK TO "INIT* DEVICE DRIVER

INVOKE DEVICE DRIVER STRATEGY ROUTINE (PASS ADDRESS TO REQUEST BLOCK)

INVOKE

DEVICE DRIVER INTERRUPT ROUTINE (RECEIVE "END-OF-DRIVER"ADDRESS)

MARK

"END-OF-DRIVER" ADDRESS INTERNALLY TO PREVENT OVERLAY

Figure 2: A summary of the steps PC-DOS takes to install device drivers.

set to -1 by the assembler (unless you have more than one device driver in the file, in which case the pointers of each device header in the file should be set up in a linked list at assembly time, and the last driver in the list should be set to -1).

Device Attribute (2 bytes): This group of bits defines the type of device and some special attributes about that device. For example, one bit specifies whether it is a character or block device. Other bits indicate current clock device, current standard input device, and standard output device. (Standard input is generally the keyboard, standard output is the screen display. See the section on redirection of standard input/output in the PC-DOS manual for more information.)

Device Strategy Pointer (2 bytes): This is an offset into the device-driver segment to the strategy routine.

Device Interrupt Pointer (2 bytes): This is an offset into the device-driver segment to the interrupt routine.

Device Name Field (8 bytes): This field contains the device name for a character device. For a block device, the first byte of the field contains a count of the number of devices supported by the driver and the remaining 7 bytes are not used.

The Strategy Routine

When the DOS receives a request for a device operation, it looks through its list of device drivers, searching for the driver specified by the request. When a match is found (i.e., when the device name matches the requested device), the DOS invokes that driver's strategy routine at the address found in the device header.

With PC-DOS 2.0, the strategy routine doesn't play a very important role. It simply queues up a device request and returns to the DOS. In future versions of the DOS, however, it could assist in such operations as priority-queued multitasking or timesharing situations.

Interrupt Routine

Upon receiving control back from the strategy routine, the DOS invokes the driver's interrupt routine. This routine provides all of the functionality for the driver—the code to execute the device-driver operations.

Because there are many different tasks a device driver might perform for a given device, a standard mechanism is needed for the DOS to specify to any device the command to be executed. This mechanism takes the form of a request header.

190 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

POINTER TO NEXT DEVICE HEADER

ATTRIBUTES

CHARACTER DEVICE

POINTER TO DEVICE * STRATEGY ROUTINE

POINTER TO DEVICE INTERRUPT ROUTINE

DEVICE NAME: PRN

\\www^>

DEVICE STRATEGY CODE

DEVICE INTERRUPT CODE

BLOCK DEVICE

DEVICE UNIT FIELD: 1 (SINGLE UNIT)

n\\WWW\\\W^

Figure 3: Examples of several device drivers installed in DOS.

A request header is a block of memory that the DOS sets up. A pointer to this header is passed to the device driver in the ES:BX register pairs during the strategy-routine call. The strategy routine saves this address.

When the interrupt routine receives control, it fetches the saved address to the request header and uses the contents of the header to determine the operation it is to perform. The request header contains the following data:

Request-Header Length (1 byte).

Unit Code (1 byte): This byte specifies the subunit (for block devices only) that the requested operation should use.

Command Code (1 byte): This gives a value specifying the operation to be performed.

Status (2 bytes): This is a word set aside to allow the device driver to return the status of the operation to the DOS. A status word can indicate an "ERROR"

(returning an 8-bit error code with the error indication), "BUSY" (used by an explicit status-function request), or "DONE" (which has no functional use in PC-DOS 2.0 but appears to be set aside for future uses such as multitasking or perhaps even multiprocessing).

DOS Reserved Area (8 bytes).

Data Area (variable length): This segment contains any data appropriate to the operation.

Figure 2 outlines the PC-DOS procedure for installing device drivers. You specify which devices to install by including in the CONFIG.SYS file the command "DEVICE =device.COM" (replacing "device" with the device-driver filename) for each driver. Because CONFIG.SYS can contain other system-configuration commands, figure 2 includes a check for DEVICE= requests.

The DOS loads each device driver from the system disk into memory, adds it to the

-1(LAST DEVICE IN QUEUE)

CHARACTER DEVICE

DEVICE NAME: PLOTTER

front of its list of device drivers, and executes the driver's INIT command. INIT will return to the DOS an end-of-driver address (actually the end of the device-driver code plus 1 byte). The DOS then reserves the area before this address, being careful not to overlay any other programs on the device driver.

Figure 3 shows the structure of multiple device drivers installed in PC-DOS; three drivers are portrayed. The first is a character device named PRN, which acts as the standard printer device. The second is a block device and thus is unnamed. The third is a character device called PLOTTER. Notice that the length of different device drivers can vary.

If the DOS installs yet another device driver in the scheme shown in figure 3, it will be placed in front of PRN. If it, too, is a character device with the name PRN, it effectively replaces the older one. Thus, any characters sent to PRN will use the first driver in the list with that name.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 191

Device Commands

There are 13 specific device operations (see table 1) that may be requested of a device driver in PC-DOS 2.0. Some of these are valid with both block and character devices; some are used only by one or the other.

The DOS requests a particular command by placing the appropriate command code into the request header. It is efficient for a device driver to set up a separate routine for each of the 13 operations using single entry and exit points to the driver. A standard jump table can be used to determine which routine to execute. (A jump table contains the entry addresses for each routine. The command code found in the header is used to index into the table and get the correct address.)

Each command is briefly described below. Refer to chapter 14 of the PC Disk Operating System manual (Boca Raton, FL: IBM Corporation, 1983) for more information on these functions. It is helpful to look over the listing of the RAM drive at the end of chapter 14 to see how such

things as the device header and jump table can be implemented. The device commands are:

INIT— This routine is executed once after system start-up. It allows the device driver to install itself and perform any necessary initialization tasks—including initializing devices, returning the driver's ending address to the DOS (so that the DOS knows where it is safe to load other programs without overwriting the driver), and returning an initial device status in the request header.

MEDIA CHECK (Block devices only): This command checks to see if the media (e.g., disk) has been changed.

BUILD BPB (Block devices only): The BPB (BIOS parameter block) is a 13-byte chunk of memory that describes the block device. It contains device-specific data such as number of bytes per sector and sectors per unit. The BPB is returned to the DOS.

IOCTL INPUT/OUTPUT: IOCTL (input/output control) is a mechanism that lets the DOS determine and change

the status of a device (not the status of the device driver). For example, DOS might use IOCTL INPUT to determine the lines-per-inch setting of an intelligent printer and then change this with an IOCTL OUTPUT command.

INPUT: This command reads the data from the specified device (at a given address for block devices) and returns it to the DOS.

NON DESTRUCTIVE INPUT NO WAIT (Character devices only): This allows the DOS to check for data waiting to be read. For example, the DOS can use the command to check the keyboard buffer to see if any keys have been pressed. If the keyboard buffer is empty, a normal INPUT command to the keyboard will wait until a key is pressed. Sometimes it is desirable for a program to check first and ensure that it will not have to wait.

INPUT/OUTPUT STATUS (Character devices only): This command returns the status of the specified device.

INPUT/OUTPUT FLUSH (Character devices only): This terminates all pending device requests. For example, it might clear the keyboard buffer on an INPUT FLUSH or a printer buffer on an OUTPUT FLUSH.

OUTPUT: This command writes the data to the device (at the given address for block devices).

OUTPUT WITH VERIFY: This writes data to the device and then verifies that the operation has worked correctly.

The device-driver mechanism is a straightforward implementation that is sufficiently general to support a large variety of devices. Several of its features hint at powerful things to come in later versions of PC-DOS. By using such a standard mechanism, the DOS gives users the capability to develop products now that will be easily integrated into future versions.

printer is a character device through which a string of characters is printed out; the printer device driver is called once for each character.

Character devices are given specific names. The standard ones have predefined names, such as CON (the system console, which uses the keyboard for input and the display screen for output), AUX and COM1 (the auxiliary communications port through which you can attach serial printers and modems), and PRN or LPT1 (the parallel-printer port). You

192 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

can assign a new character device to a driver by giving that device the name of the device it is replacing. To attach a new character device to the PC, you give it a unique name.

A special character device, CLOCKS, can be defined to allow integration of a real-time clock into the PC for TIME and DATE operations. CLOCKS provides a standard mechanism for integrating a battery-backup clock chip, contained on many multifunction boards, into the system.

The other type of device, the block device, is a mass-storage unit, such as a floppy, hard, or RAM disk. Instead of accomplishing data I/O one character at a time, a block device passes whole chunks (or blocks) of data in one shot. Usually, each block contains one disk sector (512 bytes) of data.

Unlike character devices, block devices are not specifically named. Instead, they are mapped via the drive letters (A, B, Q etc.) PC-DOS maps a new block device by internal-

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ly assigning it the next available drive letter and automatically maps a block-device operation to the appropriate device driver, which can support multiple devices of the same type.

For example, suppose you have two floppy-disk drives, A and B, and a fixed disk, C, and you want to add two RAM disks. You do so by defining one block-device driver with support for two disks. The DOS will use this device driver to initialize and add two RAM disks, D and E. Then when a program attempts to read or write to either D or E, the DOS will execute the device driver to perform the requested task.

DOS Support for Device Drivers

As mentioned earlier, PC-DOS automatically provides the necessary support for newly installed device drivers. When an applications program requests any DOS operation on a given device via a DOS I/O function call, the DOS determines which device driver is required and invokes it to perform the requested task.

Earlier versions of PC-DOS internal function calls also support 2.0's installable device drivers. An applications program designed with PC-DOS 1.1, for example, uses a function call to the DOS to invoke a disk-read operation. Under PC-DOS 2.0, the disk-read operation supports the device driver. You can thus run the applications program on the PC with a newly installed device without modifying the program. In fact, the program will not sense the change.

To remember all its device drivers, PC-DOS uses a linked list. At system start-up, as the DOS installs a new driver specified in the CONFIG.SYS file, it adds that device to the top of its list. When it later receives a request for a device I/O function, it starts at the head of the device list and searches through it for the device whose name matches the I/O request, then invokes the first device driver that matches the name requested. This technique allows you to replace any existing character devices by giving your device driver the same name as the device to be replaced.

194 Nc*

r 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Two Sample Device Drivers

With the purchase of PC-DOS 2.0, you

receive two device drivers. One is a character-device driver that enhances the capabilities of both your display and keyboard. The other is a block-device driver with a RAM disk for use with the PC. I will briefly describe each of these drivers and then look at the glaring problems each reveals about PC-DOS 2.0.

A New Console Driver

The PC-DOS 2.0 disk includes a file called AN SI.SYS, a character-device driver that replaces the standard console device (CON:) and enhances the capabilities of the display and keyboard. You can set up DOS to use this driver simply by creating a CONFIG.SYS file using Edlin and adding the line DEVICE=AN SI. SYS.

ANSLSYS establishes the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard terminal-control sequences that allow applications to be moved between various terminals and personal computers. Any system using this standard will support the same console-control sequences.

This console device driver provides two basic capabilities. First, it allows you to reassign the meaning of any key on the keyboard, including using a single key to replace a string of keys. Second, it gives you direct cursor and attribute control of your display screen. It permits you, for example, to specify where on the screen the cursor is to move to.

The ANSLSYS control commands are issued via the standard DOS screen and keyboard function calls 1, 2, 6, and 9. Basically, you first send a special sequence of characters to the screen or keyboard functions. These characters are then interpreted

by the ANSLSYS device driver, and the appropriate action is taken.

The IBM RAM Disk

In chapter 14 ("Installable Device Drivers") of the PC-DOS manual, IBM supplies an assembly-language listing of a block-device-driver implementation of a RAM disk. The listing can be typed in, assembled, and used with PC-DOS 2.0 as a single-sided, nine-sector-per-track (180K-byte) simulated disk drive.

IBM's main purpose in including the RAM-disk listing was for demonstration purposes. The code and comments help you to get a better feel for how a device driver is actually implemented. Furthermore, it provides a nice frame for setting up the code for your own drivers.

Note that this RAM driver is not found on the DOS disk. IBM left it up to you to enter and assemble the program. If you do not have an assembler, you can use Debug to set up the file. This task is very tedious at best.

Problems, Problems, Problems

These two device drivers do more than demonstrate the potential of installable device drivers, however. They also display some of the chaos found in PC-DOS 2.0—a most unfortunate and distressing situation. These two programs should be Microsoft's showcase, where it displays how well device drivers work. Instead, the programs spotlight some of the inconsistencies found in the latest version of the DOS.

ANSLSYS pinpoints the most glaring deficiency of the whole device-driver setup on the PC; BASIC apparently does not use the standard DOS character functions and

thus will not work with user-installed character-device drivers. (BASIC does, however, work with user-installed block-device drivers). The character I/O operations of BASIC (the screen, keyboard, printer, auxiliary port, etc.) normally use the lower-level BIOS ROM (read-only memory) device interfaces instead of the DOS function calls, thus nullifying any user-installed character device.

For example, ANSLSYS can be used to replace the standard console device to allow you to assign any keystroke sequence to any key on the PC. The most obvious use of this feature is to assign commonly used strings of keystrokes to the function keys to make it easier to use an applications program. If that program is written in BASIC, however, the DOS console driver is bypassed and ANSLSYS is useless.

The RAM-disk device driver demonstrates a less harmful yet still frustrating problem. At first the program seems to work beautifully. The DOS correctly installs the simulated drive, and you can use DIR to get a directory of the simulated disk. COPY works to move files from a floppy or fixed disk to the RAM drive, and COMP lets you compare them. Even BASIC uses the standard DOS function calls for block device I/O; you can thus use the RAM drive for reading and storing data and programs.

However, for some reason, the DISK-COPY and DISKCOMP commands do not work. Both indicate an "invalid drive" error and then halt. No methods I tried were able to coax the two DOS commands to perform with the RAM disk.

While these problems are not major catastrophes, they do indicate carelessness on the part of IBM and Microsoft for letting them through their quality-control checks. It appears that there will be limitations with user-created device drivers in this version of PC-DOS that may prevent the concept from being exploited to the fullest extent. However, easy fixes to this situation could be quickly forthcoming.

Conclusion

The device-driver capability of PC-DOS 2.0 gives it significantly more power than previous versions. This feature, along with some other special enhancements, should do much to spur the development of more powerful hardware and software options for the IBM PC.

All is not well with PC-DOS, however. As the discussion in the text

box "Two Sample Device Drivers" (above) illustrates, the current implementation is suffering from some nontrivial problems. Note, though, that PC-DOS is in transition, quickly evolving from a system with limited capabilities to one with a flexible and powerful Unix-like structure. Each step forward will likely present a problem here and there, but the power of its enhancements far out-

weighs the troublesome areas. I look forward to the next revision of PC-DOS, fully expecting solutions to current problems, additional goodies, and, undoubtedly, some difficulties with its new features. ■

Tim Field, a software engineer and technical writer, works for Field Computer Products (909 North San Antonio Rd., Los Altos, CA 94022).

196 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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The PC212A eliminates the need for an asynchronous communications adapter card and external modem cable, this alone saves you approximately $190. The PC212A provides an extra 25 pin EIA RS232 interface connector, a telephone jack for alternate voice operation, and a telephone line jack for connection to the dial network. Without question, the PC212A is the most user friendly, most reliable, and best performing modem for your IBM PC. An internal microproces- jm sor allows total control, operation, M and optioning of the PC212A from the keyboard. A user friendly HELP list of all interactive commands is stored in modem memory for instant screen display. Just a few of the internal features are auto/manual dialing from the keyboard, auto dial the next number if the first number is busy and instant redial once or until answered. In the event of power disruption a battery back-up protects all memory in the PC212A. In addition, the PC212A is compatible with all of the communication programs written for the Hayes Smartmodem™**such as CROSSTALK ™+Also available for use with the PC212A is the

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A Communications Package for the IBM PC

With a little help from our friends, the Transend PC software evolved through several iterative design stages

by Richard K. Moore and Michael

In the process of creating a commu- resulted in a powerful product de-

nications software package at Small World Communications Inc., we discovered that a good package was the result of many factors. To us, the most surprising of these factors was the iterative product-development cycle that begins with design, continues with evaluation by users, and starts over again with a redesign based on user feedback. By letting our friends try out each intermediate version that resulted from such a cycle, we pruned those ideas that didn't work and expanded the ones people seemed comfortable with.

The result of our efforts is a product that was not so much designed as it was allowed to evolve. Called Transend PC (published under a licensing agreement by Transend Corporation of San Jose, California), it runs on the IBM Personal Computer (PC), a machine for which powerful, versatile code can be written. Many users would agree that most commercial software falls short of such a high performance level. This article describes the design decisions that

signed with ease of use in mind.

The Choice of Features

Our first step was to discover which communications functions personal computer owners needed most. To get this information, we looked at the products available on

By trying out each

intermediate version,

Transend PC was not

so much designed as it

was allowed to evolve.

the market, but we learned more by asking users what they wanted to do and by looking at the experience of research centers such as Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). There seemed to be three distinct needs:

•the ability to send and receive

short, informal messages (electronic

mail)

•the ability to send and receive disk

files

•the ability to access teleservices

L

Geary

such as The Source or Dialog

But these functional requirements were only the tip of the iceberg. As we examined typical communications scenarios, we found that the actual communications process is the least of the user's worries. For example, with electronic mail, most of the user's time is spent with the local management of messages: creating, reading, editing, printing, filing, and retrieving them. In addition, for each person or service users wish to communicate with, they need to deal with such troublesome details as phone numbers, data rates, log-in codes, protocols, user IDs, and so on.

Our conclusion was that electronic mail should be the central focus in the product design. We wanted managers, secretaries, and clerks to feel comfortable using this communications device, even if they had no other occasion to use a personal computer. Our problem then became one of selecting a metaphor that would express the function of electronic mail.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 199

Open Basket

Label Basket

Print Summary

Print Basket

Exit from Transend

e a Terminal Send/Receive Mail

Transend PC (tm) TEST Version 1.1

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Figure 1: Based on a desktop metaphor, Transend PC includes in, out, and sent baskets; phone numbers and access information reside in the services and address-book baskets. The waste-basket retains a copy of recently discarded messages. The lower 16 baskets serve as a simple filing system for electronic messages, which can be moved between baskets at will; printing and duplicating require only a single keystroke. (Editor's note: The figures accompanying this article are screen dumps from a monochrome display.)

The Choice of Metaphors

In Visicorp's popular Visicalc package, the metaphor is simply a piece of ledger paper. That idea is strong enough to express the program's functionality while at the same time being simple and familiar to the intended audience. We, too, wanted a metaphor appropriate to our focus that was as powerful, yet as simple and familiar.

As did Apple with Lisa and Xerox with Star, we chose the desktop as our central metaphor. On our desktop is a collection of baskets in which the user can place messages and forms (figure 1). The forms describe the communications parameters for the people and services of interest to the user. We found this metaphor extremely powerful: the in-basket, out-basket, and wastebasket are immediately familiar and help establish the reality of the metaphor for the user. We introduced other baskets to provide needed system functions, and a number of nondedicated baskets are available so that users can create their own filing systems for messages.

We made a commitment to ourselves that we would maintain the chosen metaphor with dogged consistency. We wanted our users to believe that they really were working

with paper and baskets and to encourage them to try unfamiliar tasks without fear. We wanted the illusion to be so reliable that users would have a clear expectation of the results of their actions, based on their real-world experience with paper and containers.

Our problem became one of selecting a

metaphor appropriate to electronic mail.

The Choice of Machines

When we began work on this project, the IBM PC had just been introduced and had not much force in the marketplace. We were considering doing communications-package versions for the Apple II or for CP/M, and when we began work on an initial prototype, an IBM PC was loaned to us by a friend. He had an educated hunch that this machine was to have an immense impact on the market and wanted to be sure we were getting on the bandwagon.

We had no way of knowing how correct his prediction would turn out to be, but our experience with the PC was favorable from the start. We found it a superb development vehi-

cle that incorporated several lessons from earlier machines. The large memory capacity, the elaborate keyboard, and the extensive monochrome character set all contributed to an environment in which we had the freedom to effectively communicate our metaphor to the user. Most important, however, was IBM's decision (borrowed from Apple) to offer "open system architecture." Opening up the machine to third-party hardware and software vendors is what made the product an instant hit within the industry and with customers.

Taking Advantage of the PC's Architecture

With so much machine at our disposal, we had to decide which features were appropriate to our needs. We decided early, for example, to ignore the possibilities of color and bitmapped graphics and develop instead the potential of the monochrome graphics set. We chose this route for three reasons: text mode is much faster than graphics mode, the monochrome screen's appearance is more attractive than IBM's graphics display, and a text-mode version can run on all installed machines. We have been very happy with this choice and have found the character graphics capabilities sufficient for our needs.

The PC keyboard is both a blessing and a curse. The large number of keys provides many ways to invoke commands, support scrolling, and permit optimized data-entry—such amplitude is a blessing to the user-interface designer. But the curse is on the first-time user who must navigate the sea of keys: he needs to distinguish among four left-pointing-arrow keys, to remember whether he pressed one of the three Lock keys, and to remember the meaning of the 10 function keys. We set out to simplify the keyboard through appropriate use of graphics on the screen.

In the top region of each of our screens is a control panel (figure 2). The left part of the control panel shows a map of the 10 function keys together with the menu of the cur-

200 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Test Interpreter

Print Message

«- Delete Word

Save Message Restore Original Insert H

Delete Word -»

Transend PC (tm) TEST Uersion l.B

Grey Q deletes errors;

^H scrol 1

Subject:[Word-Processor Design

]

^SIMPLE APPROACH

HThe goal is to be as easy to use as a typewriter. Informal messages don't need multiple columns, footnotes, pagination control or font-change commands, so we don't need lots of comands or control characters.

^SUPPORT FOR LOCK KEiYS

Figure 2: The large rectangle at the top of the screen, bounded above and below by double lines, is the user control panel. The control panel furnishes the tools and information the user needs to manipulate the desktop environment. The control panels top portion maps the 10 function keys onto a menu of available commands; the lower control-panel line suggests actions appropriate to the current state of the desktop.

rently available commands. The function-key map is laid out in two vertical columns, exactly mimicking the keyboard. This layout lets the user tap a key after a quick glance at the control panel, without slowing down to say, "I want option three . . . let's see, where is F3?" The right part of the control panel has space for three rectangles, which can display Shift Lock, Num (Numeric) Lock, and Scroll Lock so that the user always knows the state of those functions. As a final touch, references to keys in our help messages use graphics whenever possible.

After continuous refining, we have perfected these screen aids to the point that first-time users of Transend PC have very little trouble using the keyboard.

Users Know What They Want

Having analyzed the machine and chosen the metaphor, we thought the project would then proceed according to the classic paradigm: analyze the problem, design a solution, and implement the design.

We dutifully proceeded to outline whfch commands would be needed on each screen and what mechanism the user would employ to select operands for the commands. When we had our prototype running, we sat a friend down at the machine and asked her to try to use it. First she

asked, "What do I do now?" We said, "Choose a function key, of course" The pattern continued—at each step her assumptions and interpretations were different than we had planned.

Then we let another friend try the system, hoping that the first person was atypical. No such luck. We learned that each person very quickly creates an idea of what the machine is trying to do. Wherever two interpretations of the screen are possible, the user draws the wrong one (or, more often, invents a third). We wanted the user to adapt to our metaphor, so we had to make the metaphor totally clear and unambiguous at every step.

This goal turned out to be very costly to pursue. At each stage of refinement, the ambiguities uncovered were more subtle—maintaining the user illusion took an ever greater sleight of screen.

How Many Screens?

As the user interface began to take shape, the first issue was how many different screens to have and how much information to put on each one. In many menu-driven software products, the labyrinth of screens is so formidable that "Where am I?" and "How do I get back to where I was?" are the usual questions asked by the inexperienced user. In an attempt to keep the user out of such traps, we

202 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 189 on inquiry card.

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Jeff L.

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From: TRAINING SYNERGV3 From: TRAINING SYNERGY3

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3 messages

Figure 3: This early screen version got the cold shoulder from users. The help line at the top was universally ignored. The open basket at the bottom was not seen as a blow-up of the selected basket, but rather as a different basket. Users never knew what to expect from the scroll keys. The crowded screen also had the effect of limiting the number of baskets and messages that could be displayed.

Show Message

Add a Message

Print Message

Copy Message

Move Message

Show Desktop

Transend PC (tm) TEST Uersion 1.8

Use!

|orQkey to select a message; then press a function key

Figure 4: By devoting an entire screen to the display of a basket's contents, we could show more messages than we could using the figure 3 screen. Moreover, we could simplify scrolling for the user.

packed as much information as possible into our screens.

In figure 3, you can see an early attempt at a main screen. Below the control panel each of the baskets is shown, with an expanded view of the selected basket. The expanded view shows a scrollable list of the messages in that basket. This screen seems to make a lot of sense. Users can look at the contents of one basket without losing the global context. Users, however, were confused by the clutter of images, and they couldn't predict what the effect of

using the scroll arrows would be. Sometimes the arrows would select a basket; at other times they would cause the message list to scroll.

In response to user confusion, we replaced the main screen with the two screens in figures 1 and 4. The two-screen approach did reduce confusion, and users learned their way around each of these screens more quickly. The transition between the screens now became the point of confusion. The OPEN BASKET command would cause the array of baskets to be replaced by a blown-up

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NAME

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STATE

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(5a)

(5b)

Transend PC (tm ) TEST Uersion 1.8

Just a moment please

Figure 5: Simple outline animation provides continuity between the screens in figures 1 and 4. Compare this screen to figure Vs, and note how this kind of animation, captured here successively in parts a and b, makes a basket appear to grow.

view of the selected basket. One of our friends tried this and commented, "Well, what do we have now?" We pointed out that the blown-up basket came from his selected basket, and he said, "Oh, of course." But others who test-drove the system had the same initial confusion when the screen changed. We were in a quandary—the combined screen was too cluttered, and the separate screens seemed unconnected. Could we build a bridge between the two screens?

Animation with Character Graphics

What we wanted was some way to make the screen transition easier for the user to understand. We looked again at our metaphor. In real life, a basket can appear to get bigger (or come closer) only by passing through intermediate sizes (or distances). But

animation, popular on bit-mapped screens, was impractical on a character-oriented screen—or so we had assumed. We experimented a little and found that simple outline animation was both practical and effective. We introduced an animated sequence to show the basket opening out from the desktop array, as shown in figure 5. Not only did this simple animation remove the confusion, but our friends responded with actual pleasure at our fidelity to the metaphor. Could a productivity-oriented software package actually be fun to use? Transend PC seemed to have edged beyond being merely nonhostile into the realm of being truly friendly.

Simple animation was so successful in solving the open-basket problem that we couldn't avoid the implication that this kind of animation should be used wherever a screen transition needed clarification. There

204 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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ITT TELEX 4992217 8868 CLAIREMONT MESA BLVD SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 92123

Transend PC (tm) TEST version 1.8

Usen° r Ot° select a name, then h i t B3BBMJB3 ; L£Q cance Is

From: 1 To: A= Attach: Subject:[

7 entries in Address Book

Name Service

Bill ft Liz Fred Krefetz

Gregg Wi11iams

Jeff Luther

Mike Geary

PCUG Bulletin Board

Richard Moore

Transend PC OnTyme

The Source

OnTyme OnTyme Other host OnTyme

Figure 6: The Transend PC address book contains an entry for each electronic correspondent.

Revise Entry

Print Entry Look Above Look Below

Show Basket Discard Entry

Transend PC (tm) TEST Uersion 1.8

ITBffEl lafiTJ Q Q EFJ33 B5jH scroll text for viewing

ADDRESS BOOK

This form describes a person or computer that you communicate with.

Name: Fred Krefetz (to send messages "To")

Where do ue reach this person or computer:

On an elect ronic mail service:

The Source

Direct dial to:

Another PC using Transend/PC

Another PC using a different communications program

Figure 7: An example of an address-book form.

were many such transitions, and handling each one of them was long and tedious work. Sometimes, waiting for a compilation in the middle of the night, we had to ask ourselves whether we were in charge of the user interface or if it was leading us by the nose. As refinement continued, even slighter user annoyances came to our attention.

Reassuring Sounds

Often, users couldn't tell whether their commands were being processed, if they were supposed to hit another function key, or whether the program had received their most recent request. We found that a few judiciously placed beeps and chirps let users know that the machine was listening and, indeed, was respond-

ing. Our biggest surprise was that we didn't get any feedback from friends after sound was introduced. We thought they would say, "Oh, how neat, you're using sound." But they were so accustomed to sound from computer games that they proceeded merrily along, knowing the computer was following them, not conscious of why they were so sure.

The Help Line

Even though we made each part of the system as easily understandable as we could, we found that a prompt, or help line, was needed on the screen at all times. We put the help line at the most prominent place on the screen—the very top. Unfortunately, users didn't notice it. We had to keep reminding them to look

206 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 296 on inquiry card.

.

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From:

To:

??

Gregg Will iams

Attach: 4= Subject:[

23 DOS files Fi lename.Ext HIDEF .PAS KEYBOARD.PAS LISTIT .BAT L0DEF MACHINE

PAS ASM

on drive B:

Chars Date

2525 lljul83

16144 7jul83

174 18jul83

11474 12jul83

7746 2jul83

Time ie:l?p

8:44p H:i7a

i:23a 18:82p

MACLIB .ASM 2921 19jun83 l:21a

PAS4TH

PASLIB

SCRASM

SCREEN

SETUP

TEST

.ASM .TXT .ASM .PAS .PAS .PAS

4234 20jun83

4739 28may83

2754 30mar83

13474 10jul83

4679 7jul83

727 7jul83

IB:59p

10:04a

1:19 P

10:37p

8:46p

8:46p

Figure 8: When mail is being sent between PCs, disk files can be sent along as attachments.

at the top of the screen. We finally moved the help line to the bottom of the control panel. The user's eye is then forced to cross over the help line when moving from the function-key menu to the main screen.

Transend PC Features

The result of Transend PC's iterative design process is a product that fills a wide range of communications needs. Consider, for example, some of its message-exchange capabilities. Its address book (figure 6) contains an entry for each correspondent. When you're ready to send a message, you simply pick the names you want from a list of entries—Transend PC automatically copies them into its message header. When the message is later transmitted, the full address-book entry is used to route messages to their destination.

The forms within the address book are of variable length, depending on how the correspondent is to be reached (figure 7). For someone who has a mailbox on an electronic-mail service, you need only supply the mailbox name (ID). To dial direct, you must supply the phone number and the characteristics of the modem you are dialing.

When mail is being sent directly between PCs, any disk file can be sent along as an attachment to the message (figure 8). Both the message and the file are sent with a protocol that eliminates data errors. Files are attached to messages via the same

kind of lookup window used for address-book access. In Transend PC, we have tried to minimize the number of user-interface concepts by applying each technique in as many contexts as possible.

A Continuing Process

We expect that the process of extending and refining the product and its user interface will continue even after its initial publication. For example, future plans include porting the product to other popular machines (so that diverse machines can easily communicate with one another) and integrating it with local-area networks and in-house mainframes. And, relative to product refinements, it will be only after groups of people are using Transend PC to communicate with each other daily that the next level of subtle concerns will emerge. Fortunately, our software base is flexible—having bent under the wind of so many changes, it seems to accept new requirements without snapping. ■

Richard K. Moore worked at Xerox PARC and Tymshare and participated in the development of Xerox's Star and Apple's Lisa before cofounding Small World Communications (10311 S. DeAnza Blvd., Suite 4, Cupertino, CA 95014) with Michael Geary.

Michael Geary was an employee and later a consultant to Tymshare before cofounding Small World Communications. He is the principal designer of the Transend PC and is experienced in the use of mini-and microcomputers to access communications and mainframe services.

Befim &ut/ekgcm /$M P&MomtComputet...

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#SANYO

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HP-16C Proa, see sett*, calc 99.95 HP-97 Prog, scien.w/print 595.00 HP-11C ftm. akutotor 1M IS

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HP 17163A VhUo interface KMS HP IL lYrtim on hand

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YOUR COST

1589' 5

COMMODORE 64

with the purchase of 1 1541 Disk Drive 1 1701 14" color monitor ALL FOR

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with the purchase of 1 1541 Disk Drive $299.95

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80 column card For Commodore 64 169.95

40 column cird For VIC-20 99.95

40 column urd w/BK mom built-in for VIC 20 139.95 Vidto Pock 64K For VIC-20 329.95

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$100 worth of software for Apple (retail $)

Sugg, retail:$2895.00 Y/C:$1699.0Q

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w/SCMTPI 2238.00

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SPECIAL OFFER TO ACCREDITED SCH00LS-on Commodore Executive 64, SANYO MBC 550, & Franklin ACE 1000 & 1200-Buy 10 systems-GET 1 FREE! CALL for details & eligibility!

FRANKLIN ACE 1200 with 128K RAM total dual processors-Two computers in one! 64K Apple compatible w/6502 processor 64K CP/M Z80-B processor inc. CP/M 2.2 and other features include: color, serial & parallel IFC'S, upper & lower case, etc.

Package

ACE 1200 dual processor, total 128K

Disk drive w/controller

Disk drive II only

40/80 column card

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Word Star software e..«.« n^a.

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Welcome diskette Y/C:

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to verification; minimum shipping & handling;$5.95. Send for our catalog-$2 domestic, $5.95 foreign. Some of the goods not available all stores-Call first to be sure' vliA ..

Circle 340 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983

Six things you can do with your obsolete floppies.

Floppies were fine in their day But they just don't make sense with the professional desktop computers of today

What's the answer? The DMA 360 removable 5%" Winchester. It's exactly the same size as a 5%" half-height floppy drive- but that's where the similarity stops.

The DMA 360 gives you hard-disk reliability Floppies don't.

The DMA 360 protects your data in a totally sealed cartridge. Floppies don't.

The DMA 360 packs 7.5 megabytes on a single ANSI-standard cartridge. Floppies don't. It takes up to 25 floppy disks to achieve an equal capacity.

The DMA 360 even has a lower cost-per-megabyte than a floppy. But it gives you so much more.

Like an average access time of 98 milliseconds. A transfer rate of 625 kilobytes per second And an error rate that's on par with the most reliable conventional Winchester disk drives.

There's no way you'd get that kind of performance from a floppy!

In fact, anything you can do with a floppy, you can do even better with a DMA 360. That's why we call it the floppy replacement.

For more information on what you can do with your obsolete floppies, write DMA Systems, 601 Pine Avenue, Goleta, CA 93117. Or call us at [805] 683-3811, Telex 658341.

Introducing the floppy replacement: DMA Systems' new half-height removable SW Winchester.

COfflMH/MI '83 DMA

See us at Comdex booth number 166.

TEIV1S The Removable Winchester Company. Circle 157 on inquiry card.

A Graphics Editor for the

IBM PC

Glyphe makes drawing with the PCs graphics characters

productive and enjoyable

One of the most attractive features of the IBM Personal Computer (PC) is its complete graphics character set. The computer's designers made a wise decision in assigning a graphics character to virtually every code not used by the standard set of printing ASCII (American National Standard Code for Information Interchange) characters. Unfortunately, they provided no convenient means of generating these characters from the keyboard or printing them. Glyphe, a graphics editor, simplifies use of the PC's extensive graphics capabilities.

The problem of printing the graphics characters has been addressed by developers of printer-driver replacements for the PC (see Tim Field's article, "A Peek into the IBM PC," March 1983 BYTE, page 331). Generating graphics from the computer's keyboard, however, involves at best hitting the Ctrl key and another key; or at worst, using a four-key combination involving the Alt key and the number pad. This constraint is intolerable if you're in the midst of a creative project and can't remember

by Charles B. Duff

the key combinations you need.

I discovered this drawback when I first tried to use the PC to create flowcharts and diagrams. I hoped to produce an image on the machine, store it on disk, and later build a new image by editing the original rather than starting over. I also wanted to use an existing word processor rather than burden the world (and my brain) with yet another homemade editor. So I fired up Wordstar and entered a sequence that in BASIC would have generated a graphics symbol. Nothing happened. Because Wordstar uses the high-order bits in some characters as an internal formatting flag, it accepts only ASCII codes lower than 128. Most of the PC's graphics, however, occupy the codes from 128 and above and have the high-order bit turned on.

Thus, I was confronted with the prospect of having to write an editor in BASIC before I could use that wonderful graphics set that includes algebraic, foreign-language, and block graphics as well as useful symbols for screen formatting and creat-

ing charts and tables. After a little examination, however, the problem didn't seem too discouraging.

The PC's BASIC environment, which was created by Microsoft, provides the most powerful integral screen-mode editing feature I have ever used. Keys are used to move the cursor to a point in a listing where a change is required, and the change is made over old text. Although many of the keys on the PC's keyboard are intended for use in full-screen editing, they are not fully exploited in the BASIC editor. Cursor-control codes that enable a program to detect the use of cursor keys and update the cursor's position on the display are provided, however, making the task of writing a screen editor for the PC simpler than it would be for other systems.

Glyphe is the result of my attempt to make drawing with the PC's graphics characters fun as well as efficient. The editor has seen plenty of use in a production environment and benefits from an iterative redesign based on user comments. The pro-

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 211

SCN$ (0 ) (1)

(n)

(n+1) (n+2)

(n +23)

SCN$(n+L/NES-1)

START OF VIRTUAL SCREEN CURSOR COLUMN CP^POS(O)

START OF DISPLAYED SCREEN SCNUM = n

CSRUN = 3

ABSOLUTE INDEX INTO SC/V$ :

SC^SCNUM + CSRL IN -1

BOTTOM OF DISPLAYED SCREEN

LINES =88 END OF BUFFER

GLYPHE SCREEN VARIABLES

SCN% VIRTUAL SCREEN BUFFER

LINES MAXIMUM NUMBER OF LINES IN SCN%

SCNUM INDEX OF FIRST DISPLAYED LINE INTO SCN%

SC INDEX OF CURSOR LINE INTO SCN% = CSPL/N+SCNUM '-1

CP CURRENT CURSOR COLUMN = POS(0)

Figure 1: With this screen-handling information, you can always know the location of the cursor in the screen buffer.

gram for this graphics editor is provided in listing 1 on page 220.

I set four goals to guide Glyphe's design:

1. The PC's keyboard must be used as fully and logically as possible to provide maximum function with minimal keystrokes.

2. Use of the editor should be simple enough to learn in an hour or less.

3. The software design should be modular to promote easy modification and adaptation to user needs.

4. Glyphe should be easy and efficient to employ for a variety of graphics tasks including creation of flowcharts, tables, graphs, and use of algebraic symbols.

Functional Design

The following list comprises my set of the minimum functions a useful editor must have.

•four cursor movement keys

•the most useful graphics characters

for a given application available via

one keystroke

• modeless character insert and

delete

212 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

•frame scrolling (16 lines at a time) •line copy and move •a "memory key" that reenters the last character typed •indicators of the line and column of the cursor's location •single-keystroke access to frequently used primitives, such as boxes and diamonds in a flowcharting application

•the capability of saving work to disk

•the capability of abandoning edit (with verification)

• the capability to print during editing

•a "graphics mode" in which all keys produce graphics instead of ASCII characters

•full use of the PC's user function keys

These features would maximize utility while minimizing programming time and complexity. For instance, single-keystroke primitives provide a much higher payoff for the work involved than a block-move function would. Of course, an extensible design would allow such a function to be added later if it proved worthwhile.

File Design and Data Structures

My first step was choosing a file structure that would support permanent disk storage of edit files. Random-access files have certain advantages over those accessed sequentially, but they are somewhat more complex to use. Performance is better using random access, particularly when you want to retrieve a given record, because you can access files without reading through all the previous records. Access by record number would permit an extension of Glyphe to include reading or writing sections of files by line number ranges. I decided to use random-access files with 80-byte records as Glyphe's method of permanent storage. This format provides good results with the DOS TYPE command when you must view an image file without using the editor, for example, setting up a batch file to do printing.

Designing an editor screen buffer can be a complex task if you attempt to optimize use of memory and/or insert time. Optimizing memory generally involves a method of space compression, such as replacing a string of blank spaces with a byte that indicates the number of spaces. An even more efficient method involves text-compression algorithms.

Optimizing line-insert time is best accomplished by minimizing the amount of text that must physically be moved in the buffer. The best way to do this is to store lines in a linked list, which means storing each line in a fixed location in the buffer and keeping its address in another set of variables. When the order of lines changes, the address variables, or pointers, are merely updated to reflect the new order. This procedure is much more efficient than actually moving the text.

Accomplishing either of these techniques for optimizing use of the buffer in BASIC is less than straightforward and hardly necessary if you are dealing with a small number of lines. Because my goal was to make the program as simple as possible, I elected to keep the size of the image file relatively small: graphics applica-

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SPELLING CHECKER

READ

CHECK

WRITE

Figure 2: This diagram is an example of a "source, transform, sink" problem structure. The main module calls the three subordinates in order from left to right, repeating the process until the input is exhausted.

tions aren't likely to require a very large file anyway. The buffer can then be an exact image of the screen as it would appear at any point in the file, which simplifies the entire program. Using the following screen-handling information (detailed in figure 1), you can always determine the cursor's position in the screen buffer:

•the correspondence between the

first line in the screen and the screen

buffer

•the current cursor column (1-80)

•the current cursor line (1-24)

•the maximum number of lines in

the buffer

In addition to the basic screen-handling data structures, I defined string arrays that would hold the graphics primitives that the application required. BOX$, DIAM$, and CRTS define a process box, a decision diamond, and a screen symbol, respectively. A brief subroutine could then be written to appropriately copy each type of primitive to the screen buffer.

Another data structure is the string buffer PIK$. I needed a means of moving and copying lines and developed the functions Pick and Drop. Pick provides a nondestructive copy of the line the cursor is currently on into a buffer. By moving the cursor and hitting the Drop key, you can then drop (insert) the buffer anywhere. It remains intact and can therefore be dropped any number of times. This feature is extremely useful when you're building tables or charts, which tend to involve many similar lines stacked on top of each other. Pick and Drop, together with Line Delete, provide a flexible yet simple function set.

214 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

A Modular Software Design

The purpose of using modular design is to minimize maintenance and extension activities—the most costly portions of a program's life cycle. To the extent that such a design makes a program more comprehensible and error-free, it also reduces the effort required to support these inevitable activities. One of the most significant factors in making a software product comprehensible is the way it is partitioned; that is, how effectively it is divided into less complex parts. Our minds deal with complexity by creating hierarchical structures into which new information can be placed, thus enabling a complex set of facts to be grouped under, and replaced at some level, by a single piece of information. Modular design attempts to exploit this tendency by setting up in a system explicit hierarchies that the mind can assimilate more easily than it can an unstructured list of details.

The goal of such design is to create a set of modules that exhibits four basic characteristics: (1) Each module ideally performs one function appropriate to the level of the decomposition, providing what is known as functional integrity, (2) each module is minimally coupled via external data structures to other modules. Update access to a given datum should therefore be restricted to as few modules as possible. In languages with a local variable concept, such as C or Pascal, this criterion is much easier to enforce than in BASIC because all BASIC variables are global (accessible to any routine by name), (3) the size of a module should be roughly a printed page or less, depending on the program's complexity, and (4) within the module, the

flow of control should be confined to the patterns that comprise a structured-programming approach: sequence, decision, and iteration. Minimizing the number and obscurity of control paths within the module enhances a user's ability to understand the program.

Glyphe's Program Structure

In order to make Glyphe easily extensible, I applied modular-design techniques to its structure. Small modules with high functional integrity prove inherently more adaptable to other uses. In some cases, though, the modules in Glyphe seemed too small; because subroutine linkage slows down the computer, the effort to minimize module size must be balanced by also restricting the number of subroutines. But I planned to compile the code anyway and felt that the calling overhead was justified by the benefits of restricting module size.

Another essential feature of good software design is that the structure of the code should map the structure of the problem it is solving. This does not mean that a program that tracks elephant mating patterns should contain big modules that bump into each other a lot. Rather, this method is based on an abstraction of problems into broad classes amenable to a common method of analysis.

Consider the following situation, which illustrates this structuring technique. You decide to write a program to read documents you have created, check them against a dictionary, and mark misspelled words. This problem (outlined in figure 2) is a repetitive execution of three sequential steps: read the next word, check its spelling, and write an indication of whether it is right or wrong. A system designer might term this a "source, transform, sink" kind of problem, which is a fancy way of saying that this procedure involves taking something in, transforming it into something else, and then placing it somewhere. Most problems lend themselves to this type of treatment.

Consider a very different kind of problem. Suppose you are bored

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GRAMMAR PROCESSOR

READ

DISPATCH

PROCESS A NOUN

PROCESS A VERB

PROCESS

AN

ADJECTIVE

PROCESS AN ADVERB

PROCESS

A

PREPOSITION

Figure 3: An example of transactional processing. The program takes different paths for each type of input data.

GLYPHE

INIT

READ

COORD DISPLAY

GET CHAR

DISPATCH COMMAND

INS/DEL CHAR

INS/DEL

LINE

DISPLAY LINE

DISPLAY CHAR

WRITE FILE

P6 UP PG DN

DISPLAY

CURS DN

PRIMITIVES

DISPLAY SCREEN

CURSOR CONTROL

PRINT BUFFER

DISPLAY CURS DN

Figure 4: The hierarchy of Glyphe modules.

with your spelling checker and want it to act on each word differently, depending on whether the word is a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, or preposition. The spelling program you were using was process-driven: it performed one particular process (checking spelling) for each word. Your new program, however, is data-driven: it bases the type of processing it does on the data it reads. A transactional problem of this sort does not operate sequentially. Instead, it is characterized by a dispatcher that calls one of several service tasks, depending on the transaction indicated by the input data (see figure 3).

An editor typically demonstrates both of these structural patterns. At the highest level, it consists of these sequential modules: read a file, modify the file's information (edit), and write the file. (Although this

outline oversimplifies the actual process of file-handling, it does describe the high-level function of an editor.) Figure 4 illustrates the decomposition of the edit module into subordinates—the first point at which the program structure becomes transactional. The edit module calls a routine to get a character and then must decide whether the input is a printable character (ASCII/graphics) or a command character, such as a function key If the character is a command, it gets passed to a dispatcher that determines its validity, calls the proper subroutines to service it, and then returns to get another character from the keyboard (see figure 5). A few routines are called by more than one command service routine; Display Line is an example. Making these functions modular usually results in a very compact and easily understood service routine and

216 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Why pay more for a 1200 baud, auto-dial, 212A Modem for your IBM PC?

Flip the pages. You see PC modem cards with fewer features advertised for as much as $599. Up until now that's how much it cost to make a modem capable of transmitting at 120 characters per second (1200 baud). It doesn't take a computer to figure out the savings in phone line charges when you communicate four times faster than the 30 character per second modems (300 baud). Now you can have the solution to your communication needs at an unheard of price.

NOW COME THE SMART GUYS

You can imagine how precise the components had to be to convert tones over a phone line into characters. Precision equates to cost. With the advent of the mass market in personal computers the economics of scale drove the costs of manufacture down but did not effect the precision required. The technology used is called "analog filtering". It is the process of sending (modulating) and receiving (demodulating) tones with perfect pitch. A lot of adjusting, noise suppression, and a little magic is required. Real expensive. Some use lots of chips and filters (known as discrete components). The latest rage is LSI (Large Scale Integration) technology. Which is the same old analog stuff condensed onto fewer ohips.

A NEW IDEA

We took a different approach. With the Qubie' PC modem card you can say goodbye to the fellow who delivers your ice because refrigeration has been invented. Through the use of four microprocessors (see picture) the tones are chopped up digitally and measured millions of times per second, eliminating the need for analog circuitry. Two microprocessors do the modulating, two the demodulating. The chips are programmed to emulate the 103 (30 characters per second) or 212 (210 characters per second) standards and determine the correct speed automatically. It's a proven technology that provides outstanding performance. Best of all, it's inexpensive and reliable.

NO CORNERS CUT

We included every feature you would want in a modem card. It plugs into your IBM PCorXTand occupies any one slot since it is just 6/10 of an inch thick. This card comes with its own asynchronous port. If you would like to use the async port for another peripheral when your modem is not in use, we will add a connector for just $20. It's FCC registered for direct connection to your modular phone jack with the cable which is

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LET'S TALK SOFTWARE

Our modem is 100% compatible with the Hayes software commands so you can use any of the popular communications packages like Cross-Talk, Transend, or PC Modem. We go one better than the competition. We include one of these popular programs with your modem, PC-TALK HI. PC WORLD magazine referred to it as "the benchmark that other PC communications packages are measured against." It stores phone numbers, log-on information, handles setting the modems characteristics, saves to disk files, transmits from disk files, even binary files. And to make sure data is sent and received accurately, there is the XMODEM protocol which detects errors caused by poor line quality and retransmits the data.

WHY BUY FROM US

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UNSHIFTED

SHIFTED

CONTROL

r i

i

2 4 6 8

10

11 13 15 17 19

12 14 16 18 20

21 23 25 27 29

22 24 26 28

30

IL DL Drop Pick BOX DIAM SBOX CRT Rep Gmod

INSERT LINE AT CURSOR POSITION

DELETE LINE AT CURSOR POSITION

INSERT THE CONTENTS OF THE PICK BUFFER AT CURSOR

MAKE THE CURRENT LINE THE PICK BUFFER

GENERATE A FLOWCHART PROCESS BOX

GENERATE A FLOWCHART DECISION DIAMOND

GENERATE A SMALL BOX

GENERATE A SCREEN SYMBOL

REPEAT THE LAST CHARACTER ENTERED

TOGGLE GRAPHICS/NORMAL MODE

Pg Up

Pg Dn

Ins

Del

Home

shift PrtSc

Ctrl-PrtSc

arrows

Esc

End

OTHER EDITING KEYS

MOVE 16 LINES TOWARD TOP OF FILE

MOVE 16 LINES TOWARD BOTTOM OF FILE

INSERT A SPACE IN THE CURRENT LINE (NO WRAP)

DELETE A CHARACTER FROM THE CURRENT LINE

MOVE TO UPPER LEFT CORNER OF SCREEN

PRINT THE CURRENT SCREEN

PRINT THE ENTIRE BUFFER

MOVE THE CURSOR

EXITS GLYPHE WITHOUT SAVING WORK

WRITES TO DISK AND LEAVES GLYPHE

Figure 5: An explanation of how function and editing keys are used in Glyphe.

facilitates adding new routines because most of the necessary housekeeping can be done via calls to previously defined modules.

Program Logic

The logic of Glyphe can best be understood by dividing the Glyphe code (listing 1) into the following sections:

1. initialization and file open (lines 2-570)

2. keyboard read and dispatcher (lines 610-1530)

3. file save, exit to DOS (lines 1550-1710)

4. command service subroutines (lines 1730-5070)

5. error handler (lines 0000-20040)

218 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

1 Initialization and file open: The DE-FINT statement in line 10 is used to improve performance and space utilization because Glyphe does not need floating-point variables. Error trapping is set up to avoid dropping into DOS in the event of a printer timeout, and the arrays are defined and initialized. COORD$ is a coordinate line that is always displayed on the 25th line as a reference for the slave cursor, which always indicates the current cursor column. Distinctive graphics mark five- and 10-col-umn intervals as well as screen center. The primitives BOX$, CRT$, and DIAM$ are loaded with the proper graphics characters in lines 170-344, then the screen is cleared and prompts are issued for the input and output files. If an input file is

specified, it is opened as a random file with a record length of 80 bytes. Many editors permit a user to read parts of files for inclusion in another file, write parts of the edited file to other files, and perform these functions at any time in the editing process. I looked at several file-handling schemes in other editors and decided that the most powerful facility they shared was the capability to provide independent input and output file specifications. With this feature, you can either edit an existing file in place or use it as a template for a new file that possesses characteristics of the original one. In a graphics editor, this capability is particularly important. For example, you could create a graphics template for a status report on a project, then use the template

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Circle 334 on inquiry card. BYTE November 1983 219

Circle 513 on inquiry card.

WHERE TO

SELL YOUR

PROGRAMS

Edited by Brad M. McGehee

1984 Programmer's Market is a brand new directory featuring 500 + listings of software and arcade game publishers, plus computer magazines who buy freelance computer programs. Each listing gives contact name; address, submission requirements, pay rates, and tips from the buyers to help you target your efforts.

You'll also find five articles on how to sell your programs-how to:

• prepare a query letter and proposal package for submission

• write user manuals to accompany your software

• document your program

• write user-friendly software

• write game programs that will sell

1984 Programmer's Market gives you complete details-at an affordable price-to sell your computer programs to the right publisher! 300 pages/Si 6.95, paper

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Listing 1: Glyphe, a character graphics editor for the IBM Personal Computer.

3 REM * BLYPHE - a character graphics editor -for the IBM PC

4 REM # Requirements - one disk drive, monochrome or

5 REM * color display. A modified printer driver is

6 REM # needed to print the PC's character graphics.

7 REM * Author - Charles B. Duff 03/06/83

8 REM ============================================

10 DEFINT A-Z:ON ERROR GOTO 20000

30 FOR 1=1 TO 10:KEY I,"":NEXT

50 KEY OFF

70 DIM SCN*(88)

90 PIK*=SPACE*(80> ' pick buffer

100 T0F*=CHR*<12) :LFI8*=CHR*<27)+"0":LPI6*=CHR*(27)+"2" ' codes for MX-80 110 DIM DIAM*(10>,B0X*(5),CRT*C6),SB0X*(4> ' diamond,box and screen figures

150 COQRD*=" 1 2* •••••.*.••3>* i .»••••! "+CHR*(127)+" 5* •

* • «6 7* • . • « • • • t«

s SBOX* < 1) -" , " , "

Turn off function key definitions Erase 25th line key help display

A"

/ \"

/ V

:B0X*<1)=" :BOX*(2)=" :B0X*<3)=" ;B0X*(4)=" :B0X*<5)=" :CRT*<1)=" :CRT*<2)=" :CRT*(3>=" :CRT*(4>="

CRT*<5)="

CRT*(6)=" in editor: 88=

•iSBOX*(2)-" |

':SB0X*<3)-"| •;SB0X*(4)=" i-

1 printed page at 8 lpi

170 DIAM*<1)=

190 DIAM*(2)=

210 DIAM*<3)=

230 DIAM*(4)=" / \"

250 DIAM*(5)="-< y

270 DIAM*(6)=" \

290 DIAM*(7)=" \

310 DIAM*<8)=" \ /"

330 DIAM*<9>=" Y"

340 NU*=CHR*<0):

344

346 LINES=8B ' max lines

350 REM =================:

370 REM # Prompt for files and enter main edit loop 390 REM ==================================*====

400 CLS:PRINT " GLYPHE (c) Copyright 1983, Charles B. Duff"

404 PRINT:PRINT:

410 FILES:PRINT:PRINT:INPUT "Input Image file";IM*

430 INPUT "Output image fi1e";OM*:CLS

440 IF 0M*="" THEN OM*=IM*: IF 0M*="" THEN CLOSEsEND ' output defaults to in

450 IF IM*="" THEN 570 ' if no entry don't open input file

470 OPEN IM* AS #1 LEN=80:IF LOF(1)=0 THEN CL0SE:60T0 570 ' open input

490 FIELD #1,80 AS IL* ' 80-char text field

510 FOR LIN=1 TO LINES ' fill buffer

530 GET #1,LIN:SCN*(LIN>=IL*

550 NEXT LIN

570 6M0DE=FALSE:SCOLD-1:SCNUM=1:GOSUB 1730 ' display the first page

590 LOCATE 1,1,1 ' home and turn on the cursor

610 GOSUB 2270 ' print slave cursor in 25th line

630 A*=INKEY*:IF A*="" THEN 630 ' get a character

650 IF LEN(A*>=2 THEN 710 'if function or special key

660 IF A*=CHR*(27) THEN GOSUB 3690:GOTO 610

670 IF A*=CHR*(13) AND CSRLIN=24 THEN GOSUB 3470:GOTO 610 ' scroll

680 IF A*=CHR*(9) AND POS(0)<72 THEN LOCATE CSRLIN,POS(0)+8:GOTO 610

690 GOSUB 3770:PRINT A*;:OA*=A*:GOTO 610 ' update buffer,display and loop

710 AV=ASC<MID*<A*,2,1>)' ' get ascii value of 2nd char

730 IF AV<71 THEN 1120 ELSE IF (AV>83 AND AV<115> THEN 1320 ' if function key

750 ON AV-70 GOTO 810,830,870,610,930,610,950,610,1550,970,1090,1050,1010

790 GOTO 610

810 LOCATE 1,1:GOTO 610 ' home

830 IF CSRLINM THEN LOCATE CSRLIN-1,POS<0>:GOTO 610 'up arrow

850 GOTO 610

870 SCOLD=SCNUM: IF SCNUMM6 THEN SCNUM=SCNUM-16 ELSE SCNUM=1 ' Pg Up

890 GOSUB 1730:GOTO 610 ' display new page

930 PRINT CHR*<29);:GOTO 610 left arrow

950 PRINT CHR*(28);:GOTO 610 ' right arrow

970 IF CSRLIN<24 THEN LOCATE CSRLIN+l,POS<0>:GOTO 610 ' down arrow

990 GOTO 610

1010 GOSUB 2370:GOSUB 2550 ' delete a character

1030 GOTO 610

1050 GOSUB 2690:GOSUB 2550 ' insert char

1070 GOTO 610

1090 SCOLD=SCNUM:IF SCNUM<LINES-38 THEN SCNUM=SCNUM+16 ELSE SCNUM=LINES-23

1110 GOSUB 1730:GOTO 610 ' Pg Dn - display new page

1112 REM ==================================«=============

1120 IF AV<59 THEN 610 ' this section handles Fl-10

1130 ON AV-58 GOTO 1140,1160,1180,1200,1220,1240,1260,1280,1300,1310

1132 GOTO 610

' FC 1-10 are graphics characters ' for building tables, graphs, etc

1140 A*= ,( r ":GOTO 690

1160 A*="-,":GOTO 690

1180 A*="L» : eoTO 690

1200 A$="J":60T0 690 1220 A*="I'

:GOTO 690

:GOTG 690

:GOTO 690

:GOTO 690

:GOTO 690

:GOTO 690

1240 A*=" 1260 A*=" 1280 A*=" 1300 A*=" 1310 A*=" 1314 REM ===============================================

1320 IF AV>93 THEN 1480 ' this section handles Fll-20

1322 ON AV-83 GOTO 1328,1330,1350,1370,1390,1410,1430,1450,1460,1470

1328 INSLIN=CSRLIN+SCNUM-1:GOSUB 3210:SCN*(INSLIN)=SPACE*(80):GOSUB 3890:GOTO 61

0 ' i nsert 1i ne

1330 GOSUB 3310:GOSUB 3890:GOTO 610 ' delete line

1350 GOSUB 3090:GOTO 610 ' drop

1370 GOSUB 2930:GOTO 610 pick

1390 GOSUB 4010:GOTO 610 ' box

1410 gosub 4210: goto 610 ' diamona Listing 1 continued on page 222

220 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983 221

to create a complete report every week. The approach I used in Glyphe was to prompt at program start-up for input and output files. If the user responds to the input prompt with a carriage return (CR), presumably no input open is needed, and the buffer is initially blank. A response of CR to the output prompt implies that the same file will be used for both purposes, and such a response to both prompts ends the program. After this initial session, no further file specification is permitted. Any SAVE command will result in the current contents of the screen buffer being written to the output file. This arrangement is flexible and simple to implement.

Next, the screen is cleared, and the input file is read. The first 24 lines of the file are displayed with a call to 2270, the screen-display primitive. The cursor is turned on and placed in the upper left-hand corner of the screen with a LOCATE 1,1,1 statement, and the edit session is ready to begin.

2. Keyboard read and dispatcher: Line 630 polls the keyboard with INKEY$ to determine whether a key has been pressed, then loops if it hasn't. Distinguishing printable characters from function keys and special keys is made easier by the way INKEY$ is implemented. All of the keys on the PC with special functions, such as Pg Up, Home, and the function keys, cause INKEY$ to return with a string length of 2. The first character in the string is null, and the second indicates which key was pressed. Line 650 thus determines whether the keyboard input is a printable character; if it is not, the character is sent to line 710 to be processed as a possible command. If the character is printable, two checks must be made before it can be printed: ESC is used as a quit-without-save command; it causes a prompt to this effect to be issued. A carriage return causes a single-line scroll when issued on the 24th line. If these checks fail, the character is printed, the slave cursor is updated, and another character is read.

If the input was a possible command rather than a printable charac-

Listing 1 continued:

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3430

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3490

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3590

3610

3630

3650

save to disk smal1 box

GOSUB 1570:6OTO 610 GOSUB 5200: GOTO 6i^» A*="l" -.GOTO 690 h*= "-(-": GOTO 690

IF AV 103 THEN 1520 ' this section handles F21-30

ON AV-93 GOTO 1490,1500,1510 ' room -for expansion

GOTO 610

GOSUB 4510: GOTO 610 ' crt screen figure

A*=0A*:60T0 650 ' F22 remembers last key pressed

6hODE= NOT 6M0DE:G0T0 610 ' toggle graphics mode

REM ==========================================

IF AV=114 THEN GOSUB 5000:GOTO 610 ' Ctrl-Prt Sc

GOTO 610

GOSUB 1570:COLOR 7,0:CLS:END ' End was pressed - save and ex i t

OPEN On* AS #2 LEN=80 ' write image to disk

FIELD #2,80 AS OL* ' open random output -file recl=80

FOR LIN=1 TO LINES

LSET OL*=SCN*(LIN)

PUT #2,LIN NEXT LIN CLOSE 2:RETURN END

REM *##*******#*#*#**#*****#*#*#*#*##**■* REM # Begin subroutine code

REM * Display screen given by SCNUM

CP=POS(0):CL=CSRLIN pickup cursor column and line CLS:GOSUB 2190 FOR SCL=1 TO 23

LOCATE SCL,1,0:PRINT SCN*(SCNUM+SCL-1); NEXT SCL

LOCATE 24,1:PRINT MID*(SCN*(5CNUM+23),1,79); LOCATE CL,CP,1:RETURN restore cursor and return

REM ==========================================

REM # Print coordinates on the 25th line

REM ==========================================

LOCATE 25,1:PRINT COORD*;

RETURN

REM ===========================================

REM * Print slave cursor at current column, and current line indicator

NCP=POS<0):NL=CSRLIN:LOCATE 25,CP,0:PRINT MID*(COORD*,CR,1); IF NCP<80 THEN LOCATE 25 , NCR , 0: COLOR 8,7: PRINT CHR*(127>; LOCATE 25,1:PRINT USING "##";NL+SCNUM-1;:COLOR 7,0 LOCATE NL,NCR,1:CP=NCP:RETURN

REM # Delete a character -from the current line

REM =====================================

SC=SCNUM+CSRLIN-1:CP=POS(0)

SCN*(SC>=LEFT* <SCN*(SC) ,CP-1 > +R IGHT*(SCN*(SC) ,80-CP)+" "

RETURN

REM * Print the current line from screen buffer

CP=POS(0):CL=CSRLIN

SC=SCNUM+CL-1; IF CL=24 THEN.2670

LOCATE CL,1,0:PRINT SCN*(SC>::LOCATE CL,CP,1:RETURN

LOCATE 24,1,0:PR I NT MID*<SCN*(SC) ,1,79) ; :LOCATE CL,CP,1:RETURN

REM =====================================

REM * Insert a spade in current line

SC=SCNUM+CSRLIN-1:CP=POS(0)

SCN*(SC>=LEFT*<SCN*(SC> ,CP-1>+" "-i-MID* (SCN* < SC ) , CP , 80-CP)

RETURN

REM * Pick a line -from SCN* to the pick buffer REM ======================================

PIK*=SCN*(CSRLIN+SCNUM-1)

RETURN

REM =======================================

REM * Drop a line to the screen < i nsert) REM =======================================

SC=CSRLIN+SCNUM-1: IF SOLINES THEN RETURN

INSLIN=SC:GOSUB 3210

SCN*(SC)=PIK*:GOSUB 3830:RETURN

REM =======================================

REM * Move lines down in sen* for insert REM =======================================

FOR LIN=LINES TO INSLIN+1 STEP -1

SCN*(LIN)=SCN*(LIN-1) NEXT LIN RETURN

REM # Delete a line from the screen

REM =======================================

SC=CSRLIN+SCNUM-1 FOR LIN=SC TO LINES-1

SCN*(LIN)=SCN*(LIN+1> NEXT LIN

SCN*(LINES)=SPACE*(80):RETURN REM =======================================

REM * Handle a scroll from a CR on line 24 REM =======================================

IF SCNUM >LINES-24 THEN LOCATE 24,1,1:RETURN

PRINT A*::LOCATE 24, 1,0:PR I NT MID*(SCN*<SCNUM+24),1,79);

3CNUM=SCNUM+1:GOSUB 2270:LOCATE 24.1,1:RETURN

rem =================================== Listing J continued on page 224

222 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Listing 1 continued:

3670 REM * ESC to quit without save

3690 REM ===================================

3700 CF=POS<0):CL=CSRLIN save cursor position

37 10 LOCATE 25,1:INPUT;"Quit without saving <Y/N>";ANS*

3730 IF ANS*="Y" OR ANS*="v" THEN CLS:END

3750 GOSUB 2170:LOCATE CL,CP:RETURN

3770 REM =====================================

3780 REM * Update buffer with character entered, and

3794 REM * handle a scroll it at 24,80 and not bevond

3786 REM * the end of the screen buffer. Add 127 to code if graphics mode.

3789 AV=ASC (At •< : IF GMODE AND AV<>13 AND AV<>32 AND AV 127 THEN A**CHR# iM'*427

3790 IF At CHR*(13! THEN MID* i SCNf I SCNUM+CSRL IN-1 ) ,POSl0 1 , t)= At 3800 IF CBRLIM :24 OR POSCO? 80 THEN RETURN 3804 IF SCNUM>LINES~24 THEN RETURN 3806 SCNUM=SCNUM+1:RETURN 3810 RETURN

3850 REM * Print screen from current line down

3890 CP=POS<0>:CL=CSRLIN:

3910 FOR LIN=CL TO 23

3930 LOCATE LIN,1:PRINT SCN*CSCNUM+LIN-1):

3950 NEXT LIN

3970 LOCATE 24,1:PRINT MID*(SCN*<SCNUM+23),1,79);

3990 LOCATE CL,CP:RETURN

4010 REM =======================================

4030 REM * Print a box with top center at cursor

4050 REM =======================================

4070 SC=SCNUM+CSRLIN-1:

4090 IF POS(0><(LEN<B0X*<1> >/2>+l THEN RETURN

4110 CF=PO5<0>-(LEN<BOX*<i>)/2)

4130 FOR LIN=1 TO 5s IF SC+LIN-1=LINES+1 THEN 4190

4150 MID*<SCN*<SC+LIN-1>,CP,LEN(BOX*(I)) >=BOX*<LIN>

4170 NEXT LIN

4190 GOSUB 3870:RETURN

4210 REM ========================================

4230 REM # Print a diamond with top at cursor

4250 REM ========================================

4270 SC=SCNUM+CSRLIN-1

4290 IF POS<0XLEN(DIAM*<5) >/2 THEN RETURN

4310 CP=POS(0)-(LEN(DIAM*<5))/2>

4330 FOR LIN=1 TO 9:IF SC+LIN-1=LINES+1 THEN 4390

4350 MID*(SCN*<5C+LIN-1),CP,LEN<DIAM*(5)))=DIAM*(LIN>

4370 NEXT LIN

4390 GOSUB 3870:RETURN

4510 REM =======================================

4530 REM * Print a crt screen with tap center at cursor

4570 SC=SCNUM+CSRLIN-1

4590 IF POS<0)<(LEN<CRT*<1)>/2>+l THEN RETURN

4610 CP=POS(0)~(LEN<CRT*<1>>/2>

4630 FOR LIN=1 TO 6:IF SC+LIN-1=LINES+I THEN 4690

4650 MID*(SCN*(SC+LIN-1),CP,LEN<CRT*<1>))=CRT*(LIN)

4670 NEXT LIN

4690 GOSUB 3870:RETURN

5000 REM ======================================

5010 REM * Print the contents of the screen buffer

5020 REM * on the printer

5030 REM ======================================

5032 LPRINT LPI8*+T0F*; ' (MX> set 8 lpi , top of form

5040 FOR LIN=1 TO LINES

5044 IF INKEY*="" THEN 5050

5046 CP=POS<0):CL=CSRLIN:LOCATE 25,1:INPUT;"Quit printing <Y/N>";ANS*

5048 GOSUB 2170:LOCATE CL,CP:IF ANS*="Y" OR ANS*="y" THEN 5070

5050 LPRINT SCN*(LIN);

5060 NEXT LIN

5070 LPRINT LP 16*; ' RESTORE 6 LPI

5080 RETURN

5200 REM =======================================

5220 REM * Print a small box with top center at cursor 5240 REM =======================================

5280 SC=SCNUM+CSRLIN-1

5300 IF POS(0><(LEN(SBOX*(l))/2>+l THEN RETURN ' check if off screen

5320 CP=POS(0>-(LEN<SBOX*U> )/2> ' center it

5340 FOR LIN=1 TO 4:IF SC+LIN-1=LINES+1 THEN 4690

5360 MID*(SCN*(SC+LIN-1),CP,LEN<SBOX*(1))>=5B0X*<LIN> ' store in sen*

5380 NEXT LIN

5400 GOSUB 3870:RETURN

20000 REM =====================================

20010 REM * Error handler

20020 REM =====================================

20030 IF ERL <> 5050 THEN 20200

20040 CP=POS(0):CL=CSRLIN:LOCATE 25,1:INPUT;"Printer error - quit printing CY/N

)"sANS*

20050 GOSUB 2170:LOCATE CL,CP:IF ANS*="Y" OR ANS*="y" THEN RESUME 5080

20060 RESUME 5050

20200 IF ERLO470 THEN 20400 ' input open errors

20220 CP=POS(0>:CL=CSRLIN:LOCATE 25,1:INPUT;"Input open error - abort <Y/N>" ;AN

S*

20230 GOSUB 2170:LOCATE CL,CP:IF ANS*= M Y" OR ANS*="y" THEN RESUME 570

20240 RESUME 470

20400 IF ERLO530 THEN 20600 ' input read errors

20420 CP=POS(0):CL=CSRLIN:LOCATE 25,1:INPUT;"Input read error - abort (Y/N)";AN

S*

20430 GOSUB 2170:LOCATE CL,CP:IF ANS*="Y" OR ANS*="y" THEN RESUME 570

Listing 1 continued on page 226

224 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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20440 20600

20620

NS*

20630

20640 20800 20820

20830 20840 20900

RESUME 530 IF ERLO1570 THEN 20800 CF-PDS(0):CL-CSRLIN:LOCATE 25

output open errors 1:INPUT;"Output open error

abort <Y/N)";A

GOSUB 2170:LOCATE CL,CF:IF ANS*="Y" OR ANS*=

THEN RESUME 1690

RESUME 1570 IF ERLO1650 THEN 20900 ' output write errors

CF-POSC0):CL=CSRLIN;LOCATE 25,1:INPUT;"Write error - abort <Y/N3";ANS*

GOSUB 2170:LOCATE CL,CP:IF ANS*="Y" OR ANS*="y" THEN RESUME 1690

RESUME 1650 ON ERROR GOTO 0

ter, lines 710-750 decide whether the key was a function key or a special-purpose key which is done because these groups are each assigned contiguous ranges and can be dispatched most easily with independent computed GOTOs. Line 750 handles the range from 71 through 83 (for special-purpose keys), and function keys are sent to line 1130. Most processing for the various special-purpose keys, such as Ins and Del, is accomplished with subroutine calls rather than inline code in order to keep the dispatcher as small and simple as possible (a further encouragement to extensibility). Pg Up and Pg Dn scroll the screen 16 lines unless it's near the top or bottom of the buffer. The cur-

sor control keys, which come in as two-character INKEY$ sequences, cause Glyphe to generate one of four codes that produce cursor control when sent to the display These codes cause the cursor to wrap around when it's near the vertical screen borders; Glyphe simply sends the code and then finds out with CSRLIN and POS where the cursor ended up. Why, you might ask, don't the cursor keys just generate these codes directly? They were probably given two-character sequences because not every application will use them for cursor control, and this method makes them easily distinguishable as special-function keys. Or, perhaps, someone was just lazy

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Function keys 1-10 display the graphics characters that form lines and boxes. I tried using the KEY statement to directly assign graphics to these keys, but a bug in the PC monitor code turns off the eighth bit on strings assigned to function keys, which makes the graphics come out as ASCII characters. The four box corners are arranged logically as the top four keys. Function keys 11-20 perform most of the remaining edit functions, such as insert and delete line, drop and pick, and save to disk. The box and diamond primitives are also in this group. Incidentally, the characters used in the diamond primitive are translated by my printer driver to graphics that differ from those displayed on the PC's screen because the PC has no characters appropriate for a diamond figure. PR256 provides the ability to define custom characters for Epson's MX/FX Series printers.

Only three keys in the F21-30 group are used. The screen primitive is assigned to F21, and F22 is a "memory key" that always repeats the last character entered. This setup can be useful if you discover a graphics character you want to use again yet can't remember how you originally produced it. Also, if you have just entered one of the clumsy Alt sequences, this key can repeat the sequence with one stroke. F23 toggles the graphics mode, in which all the normal keys produce graphics symbols. This is done by simply adding 127 to the normal ASCII value of the key, putting that key into the graphics set. The resulting arrangement of symbols is less than optimal but easy to implement. The four combinations of mode keys that produce keyboard graphics are shown in figure 6.

3. File save, exit to DOS: Lines 1570-1690 save the buffer contents to the disk file previously specified as the output file. This procedure can be performed at any time with F17 (Shift F7). The normal exit is at line 1520, in response to the End key. The Buffer Write routine is called, the screen color is set back to normal, and the screen is cleared before the program ends.

4. Command service subroutines: The

226 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 51 on inquiry card.

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BYTE November 1983 227

Circle 274 on inquiry card.

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subroutine library that does most of the work in Glyphe starts with line 1712. Several routines are used by the others as utilities: Display Screen displays the 24-line section of the buffer starting with SCNUM for Pg Up and Pg Dn. Print Coordinates refreshes the 25th line after a clear-screen operation. Print Slave Cursor updates the 25th-line information by

providing current cursor position. Print Current Line refreshes the cursor's line from the buffer, and Print Screen from Current Line refreshes the display after a line insert or delete operation (because lines above the cursor do not change).

The Update Buffer routine is called whenever a printable character is entered, placing the character in the

TAB

11000.1000000

12345 6 7890 =

00000Q0000Q0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . aVoVoVo 0 K 0 L 0 0 H [

GRAPHICS MODE - UNSHIFTED

00000000000001 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

B QWERTY UIOPlD

000000000000

0 0 0°0 oVb'bVo 0 H

GRAPHICS MODE- SHIFTED

TAB QWE RTYUI0PL1

000000000000

ASDFGHJKL-,

000000000000

Z X C V

GRAPHICS MODE- CONTROL

ASDFGHJKL

\ZXCVBNM

NORMAL MODE - CONTROL

0

Figure 6: Graphics can be generated in four different Glyphe keyboard modes.

Prt

OOOOOO00OO00H

1234 567 890 =

000 0 0 00000000

hf Prt

00000000000000

1.2 345 67890 =

0O000OO00ODDD0

TAB OWE RTYU I 0PC 1

000000000000

D0000H0000O0001

228 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Circle 1 on inquiry card.

METHOD FOR EVALUATING

/

l n sin" x (dx)

Figure 7: This flowchart was prepared using Glyphe.

buffer before it is displayed. Thus, the screen and the buffer are always current. This routine also acts as a filter during graphics mode, mapping each alphanumeric character to a graphics character.

One final routine that deserves mention is the Print Buffer subroutine at line 5000, called whenever Ctrl-PrtSc is hit. A formfeed character (TOF$) is sent to the printer, followed by a sequence that sets the printer at 8 lines per inch (LPI8$). The printer is set at this format because those graphics symbols that span the full width or length of the character and connect on the display will not connect on a printer set at 6 lines per inch. The parameters in Glyphe are set up to work with Epson printers; if you have a different type of printer or don't want form ejection, you can change them accordingly. Printing can be interrupted at any time by hitting a key; the routine polls INKEY$ after printing each line. The Esc key can be used to exit Glyphe without saving to disk and is protected by a prompt to avoid catastrophe.

5. Error handler: Printer and disk errors are possible during execution of Glyphe. When either occurs, the user

230 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

is prompted to abort or retry the operation.

Enhancing Glyphe

No two users of Glyphe will have the same expectations of what it should do for them (figure 7 provides one example). To adapt it to your special needs, you'll have to be creative. I did the groundwork, which I hope will encourage you to modify the program for your applications.

Here are some suggestions. You might want to set up a key to generate a string of keystrokes while editing. This capability could be added to Glyphe, or you could purchase a package that would do it (for example, Keynote, from Advanced Software Interface, 2655 Campus Dr., Suite 260, San Mateo, CA 94403. It costs $99.95). This feature would add incredible power and flexibility to Glyphe and allow dynamic definition of primitives and macro-like sequences. Another nice feature would be column-insert and -delete commands, which are a real lifesaver for work with tables. You can easily expand the buffer capacity of Glyphe by changing the LINES variable and

the DIM SCN$ statement in line 70; this modification would probably be limited only by memory size. With a large buffer, a GOTO PAGE n command would be another asset.

Any number of other editing features, such as erase line, search for string, and set table tabs, could be easily added. And adding primitives and functions only requires placing new entries in the computed GOTO lists that point to the new routines, then returning to line 610 (690 if A$ must be printed). My only caveat: before you dive in, consider what changes provide the greatest capability for the least effort, and make sure your modifications support the clean, modular structure of the program so that you can easily add new features when your needs change. Have funlB

Charles B. Duff manages a line of educational and recreational software for Kriya Systems Inc.

An extended version of Glyphe is available from the author on a PC-DOS disk for $25. It includes a small character font editor for defining custom characters on Epson printers. Address orders and inquiries to Charles B. Duff in care of Kriya Systems Inc., 505 North Lakeshore Dr., Suite 5510, Chicago, IL 60611.

THIS IS ALL IT TAKES TO RUN OUR HARD DISK.

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When you use a multifunction RAM Card, such as the Apparat Combo II (with up to 512K of RAM, RS232, parallel printer, clock calendar, and game adapter) along with the HIM, floppy disk controller and CRT monitor adapter cards in your PC, you still have one slot available for future expansion.

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Comparing the IBM PC and the TI PC

Although the two computers look similar, each has its own special features

by Bobbi Bullard

I I I - I " I L-J '" ' ' " * "'■ '

EE

PRNTS

mm

^.

it 11 rirtrir ii i-1 it

a■ it iiiiiiniin] in!

\i 'S " • - * " * | - if ; 1 :

Photo 1: The TI PC (top) and IBM PC (bottom) keyboards. Notice the larger number of keys on the TI PC keyboard (photo by Randy Bullard),

232 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

A year and a half after the introduction of the IBM Personal Computer (PC), Texas Instruments entered the market with the TI Professional Computer. Obviously designed to compete with IBM's machine, the Professional Computer resembles the IBM PC in many ways and even provides some useful features that the IBM PC doesn't offer. However, because IBM's Personal Computer is firmly entrenched as the 16-bit microcomputer standard, computers that are not compatible with it, including the TI PC, will face a struggle in the marketplace.

Physical Appearance

Based on its physical characteristics, TI's computer appears to be another in a line of IBM clones. The IBM PC and the TI PC both measure about 6 inches high and a little less than 20 inches wide. Each has two disk drives inset in the front of its cabinet on the right and vents on the left. Detachable keyboards connect to the main unit via coiled cords, and both units sport separate cathode-ray tubes. Green screens and color monitors are available for both. Aside from the TI PC's color, which is slightly pinker than the IBM PC's beige, and TI's enlarged keyboard, the computers are strikingly similar.

The keyboards are their greatest physical difference. TI's keyboard is considerably larger, supporting more keys than does IBM's keyboard (see photo 1). The IBM PC uses the same keyboard IBM has used for years with various older and larger computers. The IBM keyboard, however, is far from perfect. For example, numeric-keypad keys double as cursor keys, which complicates any function that requires movement around the screen and numeric input. Placement of the return key has been criticized by users; the key is on the far side of the seldom-used squig-gle key known as a tilde, instead of next to the quotation mark, where it is most easily reached. Anyone who learned to type on anything besides the IBM PC will find that the tilde is unnecessary and out of place. Moreover, because no lights indicate when the Num Lock and Caps Lock keys

have been pressed, problems may arise. For example, a user can press an arrow key to move a cursor and instead produce numbers on the screen. The Caps Lock key causes similar headaches.

The people at TI, however, didn't make these errors when designing their keyboard. The typewriter section of the Professional Computer's keyboard follows the configuration of an IBM Selectric's keyboard (didn't the designers at IBM have access to this keyboard?). TTs key arrangement is also comfortable to use: cursor keys are separate from the numeric keypad, which provides numerous amenities. The numeric keypad has its own Enter key (which works the way the return key does), a tab and a space key, and keys for the numeric operands *, +, and =. The TI PC supports 12 function keys, as opposed to the IBM's 10. The extra function keys are seldom supported with software, though, because most of the programs provided were converted from software for the IBM PC. But it's nice to know they're available should you need them.

The feel of the two keyboards is

A Typical Slot Configuration for the TI PC

1 192K-byte memory board and asynchronous/synchronous card

2 video-controller card (graphics board can clip on)

3 4 5

Disk controller is built in and parallel printer is attached to built-in parallel port

A Typical Slot

Configuration for the IBM PC

1 Disk-controller board

2 Monochrome adapter and parallel-printer port

3 Asynchronous/synchronous card 4

5

IBM PC with Green Screen and Color Monitor

1 Disk-controller board

2 Monochrome adapter and parallel-printer port

3 Asynchronous/synchronous card

4 Color-graphics adapter 5

Table 1: The IBM PC and the TI PC differ in the way their expansion slots are used.

also different. TI's uses a tactile-feedback system that feels light to the fingertips. It offers no resistance until the finger is halfway down, then the key lightly engages. Ergonomic research has shown that typing speed can be improved as much as 3 or 4 percent on this type of keyboard. The IBM keys, on the other hand, have a definite spring and click and produce a fair amount of noise. Users who are dedicated to the IBM computer are convinced that TI's keys are too light to the touch. But most people with access to both machines prefer the touch on the TI keyboard, and certainly no one has criticized TI's placement of keys.

Hardware

TI had the advantage of seeing IBM's design and the opportunity to improve on it before going into production, and in many respects it did just that. However, in setting up the motherboard, TI failed to match IBM. IBM's newest release uses 4164 chips, providing 256K bytes of memory on the motherboard alone. TI, which has access to a wide array of chips from its own manufacturing facilities, instead incorporates 4116 chips in the Professional Computer, limiting motherboard memory to 64K bytes,

However, TI made more economical use of expansion slots than IBM did, as illustrated in table 1. IBM's slot design is not highly functional. In its aim to cater to all potential buyers, from the home user to the business professional, IBM included nothing in the basic computer configuration— everything must be added on. Although this configuration allows versatility, it also causes the expansion slots to fill up quickly. Using only IBM equipment (as opposed to third-party manufacturer's products), the slots are soon filled. One of the five slots is used for a disk-controller board, one for a green-screen/ parallel-interface board, and one for the video controller. If additional memory is needed (more than the 256K bytes that can plug into the motherboard), another slot accommodates a memory board. And still another slot is for asynchronous/ serial communications. However,

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 233

Photo 2: Compare the TI and IBM video displays. Although the TI display is easier to read, it looks faded when compared to the IBM display. The contrast and brightness controls were adjusted on both screens to give the best picture (photo by Randy Bullard).

third-party boards are available from other manufacturers that combine ports, memory, and other functions. In 1981, Seattle offered a memory/ asynchronous board and Quadram introduced the first four-function board—with memory, a clock, a parallel port, and a serial port. These boards can help overcome the congestion problem in the IBM expansion slots.

The XT, IBM's newest offering on the PC market, is configured differently It has an internal 10-mega-byte hard-disk drive and comes with a serial port. Inside, it sports eight slots that are narrower than the slots on the IBM PC. This difference has limited manufacturers of peripherals somewhat but provides the XT with versatility the IBM PC lacks. The XT's slots, however, like the IBM PC's, are not economically arranged. One slot goes to a video board, one is for the hard-disk controller, and another handles the serial-port board. The slot for the serial-port board has different pinouts then do the other slots, so the serial board cannot be removed and replaced with a third-party manufacturer's multifunction board, thus limiting users options. If a color monitor for creating graphics and a green screen for producing text are added, two more expansion slots

are filled; a video-controller board is required for each monitor.

For use of expansion slots, TI walks away with the honors. By labeling its computer a professional computer instead of a personal computer, TI made certain assumptions. For example, the company expects users to employ disk drives with its PC instead of cassette tapes. For this reason, TI included a disk drive and disk controller in the computer and thus freed an expansion slot from use. A built-in parallel port makes it unnecessary to use a slot for a parallel printer. Moreover, TI's green screen and color monitor run off the same board. And because the graphics board clips onto the video board, the two can share a slot. This makes it harder for third-party hardware manufacturers to make competitive color boards. (TI's color board is exceptional.)

Though the TI PC is advertised as providing five expansion slots, it actually has six; one of the slots has two plugs. Two small boards can be attached to it, one at each end. This configuration provides one of the boards access to a port at the back of the computer. The other board would have to be one that doesn't need an outlet—for example, a memory-expansion board.

Hard-Disk Drives

Both TI and IBM offer internal hard-disk drives. You can purchase the TI computer with one or two floppy disks and decide later to upgrade to a hard disk. But you must decide when you buy an IBM PC whether you require hard-disk storage; you cannot add hard-disk capability later. You could use another manufacturer's equipment on the IBM PC; however, you might encounter memory-address problems. Only the XT version comes with a hard disk.

The original TI hard disk stored only 5 megabytes. In an age when microcomputers are carrying a greater amount of the computer work load, 5 megabytes falls short. The IBM XT, however, has a 10-megabyte hard-disk drive and can connect to an expansion chassis to provide additional hard-disk storage. TI now has a 10-megabyte hard disk, but no DOS 2.0 is available for it, and DOS 1.1 cannot sector the hard disk or create directory volumes, making this disk's directory unwieldy.

The TI and the IBM units both come in a variety of configurations. TI, however, makes more peripherals than IBM does. The Dallas-based firm, for example, offers an internal modem with rates of 300 or 300/1200

234 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983 235

bits per second (bps); IBM has left the task of making peripherals to other manufacturers.

Screens

In its most obvious departure from the IBM design, TI chose not to support separate green-screen and color-screen boards. IBM offers a slow green-phosphor screen on a green monitor board; TI provides a green screen that runs off the same board as the color screen. TI's color board has higher resolution, a higher horizontal-scan rate, and less scatter than the IBM's color board and screen do. When a green screen is plugged into the IBM's color-monitor board, TFs screen is much clearer and easier to read. However, when TI's screen is placed beside an IBM green screen plugged into its own board, TI's screen looks faded (see photo 2). TI's screen appears to shimmer if it's placed within a few feet of an IBM screen, yet it doesn't shimmer around other computers and other computers don't experience this problem around the IBM PC. The cause of the shimmer is not apparent—it could be inadequate shielding on IBM's computer, inadequate shielding on TI's unit, or just poor grounding on the TI PC.

TI's bright color screen is clear and easy to read. It provides very high resolution—720 x 300 pixels (picture

236 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

elements)—and its eight colors are vivid and distinct. Indeed, this screen has been compared favorably to CAD (computer-aided design) computers costing tens of thousands of dollars more than the TI PC. By comparison, the IBM PC has a resolution limit of 640 x 200 pixels and supports only four colors in this mode.

TI's color screen provides a superior scan rate. While the IBM PC's horizontal scan rate is around 15.4 kHz, TI's is 19.2 kHz. Although it provides better resolution and clarity, TI's board, though RGB (red-green-blue), does not have a standard output, and versatility is limited because large projection screens require alteration before they can be used.

TFs Voice-Recognition Interface

TI has touted its voice-recognition interface, and although this option may at first seem to be just a publicity gimmick, it does have some usable features. The interface has two characteristics. The first is that it permits the computer to recognize words. This feature attacks one intimidating aspect of computer use: dependence on the keyboard. Instead, a user speaks into a microphone that plugs into the RS-232C port. The computer recognizes about 100 words, even if they are embedded in sentences. It

analyzes the voice of a user who speaks the requested words into the microphone four times and uses an average to produce a voice template. The other advantage of the voice-recognition interface is that it permits the computer to store sound on disk, making the machine an intelligent telephone-answering device that can play different messages at different times.

Software Comparisons

It's unfortunate for software programmers and users that the TI and IBM machines are not compatible; software for the IBM PC (except for some BASIC programs) will not run on the TI PC, even though the two share the same type of microprocessor (the 8088). The reason? Their addresses and methods of numbering DOS BIOS (basic input/output system) calls are different (see table 2). The DOS BIOS calls perform the same functions on the two computers. For instance, "Print Screen" is a 5 on the IBM and 5E on the TI. This difference could be handled by assigning the DOS BIOS call numbers to a variable. Each PC would then require an initialization module that assigned correct numbers to the variable names.

Screen-handling techniques for the two computers also differ. For example, the IBM PC includes an attribute byte (display attributes include such characteristics as reverse video and blinking characters) that directly follows each character byte in the display buffer. With the TI PC, however, attributes are set via a separate latch, located at a different address in memory and not directly adjoining the character byte.

The green screen's video buffer on the IBM starts at the address B000 hexadecimal, and the color screen's video buffer begins at 8000 hexadecimal. TI's video buffer begins at DEOOO hexadecimal, and the attribute latch is at DF800 hexadecimal.

Both computers set aside memory for the screen, yet the addresses for each are different. The IBM PC has an address of B000 hexadecimal or 8000 hexadecimal with 16K bytes of dynamic RAM. The last bytes are not

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BYTE November 1983

actually used on the screen but are set aside for the screen as a hidden buffer. The TI computer, on the other hand, has the same amount of memory set aside, but as it places a character on the screen, it fills the memory buffer, and after the bottom of the screen is reached, text appears at the top, overwriting what was there. TI says this feature is meant to help scrolling, but software developers who have used these addresses as a hidden buffer say it forces them to rewrite code when transferring software from the IBM to the TI PC.

Compatibility in BASIC

Because both the TI and the IBM use MBASIC, many people expected that the two computers would be compatible. In fact, when BASIC programs written on the IBM were tried on the TI PC, many ran straight from one to the other. But, in some cases, odd things happened to the cursor; for instance, sometimes it disappeared. When cursor keys were needed, though, the TI PC's Fll and F12 keys could be used to control the

horizontal motion of the cursor.

Most scan codes are the same for TFs MBASIC and IBM's version, PC BASIC, and the codes for the cursor key immediately follow the code for function keys on both computers, but because the TI PC has two extra function keys, its cursor-key scan codes begin two numbers higher.

The disappearing cursor on the TI is a result of the ineffective LOCATE command in TI's BASIC. The two computers' operating manuals say that their LOCATE commands should work the same way— "LOCATE x,y" should place a cursor at point x,y on the screen. However, on the TI PC, LOCATE used in conjunction with an INKEY statement causes the cursor to disappear. A PRINT statement immediately following LOCATE brings the cursor up at point x,y + l. And if you need a cursor on a screen full of text, TFs BASIC requires that you reprint what is already on the screen. One software developer solved this problem by printing a line under the location where the user is being directed. Pro-

A WHIZ of a

RS-232 Transfer Switch lets you switch your computer between printers, modems, terminals, any RS-232 peripherals. No plugging and unplugging cables. Like having extra ports. Choice of 8 models.

Switch

Pictured:

MFJ-1240 1 in-2 out 7x2x6 in.

Exclusive features: LEDs monitors data lines • Data lines spike/surge protected • Switch reverses transmit-receive lines

These multi-function RS-232 transfer switches

let you switch between peripherals, test for data and line failure, protect data lines and use as null modem for less cost than a switch alone.

Switches 10 lines (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 15, 17, 20). LED data/line indicators monitor lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 20. Metal oxide varistors protect data lines 2,3,7 from voltage spikes and surges. Push button reverses transmit-receive lines. PC board eliminates wiring, crosstalk, line interference. CHOOSE FROM 8 MODELS

• MFJ-1240, $79.95,1 input - 2 outputs.

• MFJ-1241, $99.95, 2 inputs - 2 outputs.

• MFJ-1242, $119.95, 2 inputs - 3 outputs.

• MFJ-1243, $119.95,1 input - 4 outputs.

• MFJ-1244, $139.95, 3 inputs - 3 outputs.

• MFJ-1245, $169.95, 3 inputs - 5 outputs.

• MFJ-1246, $199.95, 5 inputs - 5 outputs.

• MFJ-1247, $99.95,1 in-2 out (switches 20 lines) Order from MFJ and try it. If not delighted,

return within 30 days for refund (less shipping).

One year conditional guarantee.

Order yours today. Call toll free 800-647-1800. Charge VISA, MC or mail check, money order for amount indicated plus $4.00 each shipping

CALL TOLL FREE ... 800-647 1800

Call 601-323-5869 in Miss., outside continental USA, tech/repair info. Teiex 53-4590 MFJ STKV .

Write or Call for FREE Catalog

ENTERPRISES INCORPORATED

921 Louisville Rd., Starkvllle, MS 39759

ducing such a character (which actually has to be printed in two pieces, with a left and a right underline) is certainly more involved than using a functioning LOCATE command.

The only other differences between TFs MBASIC and the IBM PC BASIC involve their color statements. The IBM PC has three parameters on the color statement that control foreground, background, and border colors. Each available color has an assigned number (which is documented in the BASIC manual). To control the blinking attribute, the number 16 must be added to the number for the chosen color. The color statement on the TI computer has four parameters. The fourth is an attribute code.

The IBM PC includes 48K bytes of ROM (read-only memory), which contains much of its BASIC. To provide similar capability, the TI PC employs extra code in RAM. TFs MBASIC thus needs a minimum of 128K bytes of memory to run, while the IBM 1.1 BASIC requires only 48K bytes. Once running, however, the two versions are similar. Many IBM BASIC programs will run on the TI with no alterations.

Programmers working in BASIC can easily convert their IBM programs for use on the TI PC using one of two methods. They can write a simple conversion program that will seek all LOCATE commands, and COLOR and INKEY statements, or they can use a text editor with a Search and Replace function.

Peachtree Software has taken advantage of the compatibility of the disk formats for the IBM PC, the TI PC, and two other computers by manufacturing one disk to run on all four computers. The programs, Peachtree 5000 and the Series 8 Accounting programs, are sold with a configurator disk that sets up a screen interpreter for each computer. Because of the video buffers in the TI and IBM PCs, the interpreter does not have to be called upon often, so the screen handling doesn't take much time. The attribute latch, or the second 8 bits of the character in the video buffer, must also be set up, and the configurator must address a few

238 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 293 on inquiry card.

Its graphic system makes brilliant color more affordable.

Company-

Now everyone can have the advantage of a full-color graphics system at a very affordable price.

The Canon AS-100 microcomputer gives you a choice of 27 high resolution colors. Plus, its quiet color ink jet printer generates clean, crisp, impressive copies.

And it isn't just the AS-100's vivid color that dazzles. It has a powerful, fast 16-bit microprocessor with standard 128K RAM.

A choice of storage capacity that includes S^-inch mini or 8-inch floppy disks, with hard disk drive also available.

Operating systems CP/M-86* or MS-DOS + that accept a wide range of software programs, including WordStar** (word processing), CalcStar** (spreadsheet) and InfoStar** (data base management).

Even a choice of color or monochrome green display unit.

All of which make it the perfect tool for business and professional needs.

The new Canon AS-100. It's so smart, it makes life simple. I

*CP/M-86 is a trademark of Digital Research. + MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft. ** WordStar, CalcStar and InfoStar are trademarks of MicroPro.

Circle 64 on inquiry card.

Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Systems Division

One Canon Plaza, Lake Success, NY 11042

Please send me more information about the Canon AS-100 Microcomputer.

Name-Title—

(Please print)

(State) (Zip)

Phone( U

Canon

So smart, it makes life simple.

BYTE November 1983

THE SUPERB QUALITY

OF THIS PRIZE

CHARDONNAY IS

ANOTHER MILESTONE

While the grapes struggled to grow and mature, the vintners were

struggling with a problem of their own.

The problem was When? When to pick. When to crush, | When to test. When to taste. When to bottle. When to age. When to ship. And when to wait. And each variable affected the cost and release date of | what promised to be their prize Chardonnay

Fortunately they used j Milestone Project Management Software.

Milestone told them when. I And helped the vintners manage the project right down to the day I when they savored their first glass.

You can savor the rewards I of Milestone whatever field you're in—banking, building, retailing, | manufacturing.

Milestone plans the lifetime 1 of your project, and streamlines its schedule, by analyzing its "critical path!' Milestone finds j which activities are crucial prepares cost estimates, keeps track of progress, makes trade-offs, and recomputes the project schedule I when anything changes.

Milestone's price? Just $295. About what you'd expect to pay for a few bottles of Chardonnay. Prize Chardonnay that is.

For more information about Milestone, call

TOLL-FREE 800-826-2222.

Or write to: Digital Marketing Corporation 2363 Boulevard Circle, Walnut Creek, CA 94595 (415) 947-1000/Telex 17-1852

Milestone requires 56K RAM and CP/M," CP/M-86" or TiCSD-P" system. CP/M-86 version requires 128K RAM.

• DHJITAL MARKETING

other differences, but in general, the programs require little alteration to run on both the IBM and TI machines.

Benchmark Tests

Run-time speed is an important consideration when comparing computers, and matching the IBM PC against the TI PC produced interesting results. Tests conducted in the past used disks formatted for the IBM PC. Although the TI and the IBM can read each other's formats, their formats are different, and a program on an IBM-formatted disk runs more slowly on the TI PC than the same program on a Tl-formatted disk. Consequently, these test results showed the TI to be considerably slower than the IBM. In our testing, however, we used only disks formatted for each respective machine.

To compare run times, we used a program called Cope from Antech of Roswell, Georgia. Cope is an electronic-spreadsheet program with trend analysis and goal seeking (which involves circular or reiterative references) built in. Each sheet constructs a BASIC program to solve the problems created on the spreadsheet. The program is available in a compiled version for the IBM PC, but Antech developers are waiting for Microsoft to fix the bugs in the TI's BASIC compiler before it compiles a version for the TI PC. The testing done on interpretive BASIC programs produces results in measurable numbers rather than milliseconds.

The first test used a program that read a screen full of information from disk in a disk-seek action and displayed it on the screen in a formatted fashion. The average time on the IBM PC was 21 and 30/100 seconds. The TI PC took an average of 19 and 26/100 seconds—demonstrating a 10 percent edge over the IBM machine.

The second test used a cost-justification model that reads data off a disk, performs calculations with the four major math functions, and writes results back to disk. The results showed dramatic differences, giving the TI PC a 30 percent advantage. The average time on the TI was

Circle 147 on inquiry card.

DISKS

THE HARDPART IS MAKING SURE THEYSIAYTHATWAY.

A disk is built with certain safeguards. That's why most disk makers offer guarantees that the product you receive comes to you error free. We at Memtek Products are concerned that the minidisk remains error free. Every time you use it, After exposure to dust, cigarette smoke, fingerprints, even wear caused by your computer. And so, we have built safeguards around the disk, as well.

Memtek Products' latest innovation ... acknowledgment of a real world beyond the laboratory.

The hub ring. Designed to prevent our minidisks from jamming in your machine. Rigid. Durable. Reinforced. The coating* A critically-controlled coating of high-energy magnetic oxide particles that covers the disk's surface, which is then micro-polished to improve head to disk contact, preventing dropouts, lowering head abrasion.

The lubrication system. A constant lubricant protects both the disk surface and the drive head from wear The sleeve. Gomes with a soft liner that protects the disk while gently cleaning the surface, i

The guarantee.

Well replace, free, any minidisk if it fails to accurately store and retrieve data due to a defect in materials or workmanship for up to 5 years from date of purchase/Simply mail the disk back.

The Memtek lineup. Premium, double and quad density minidisks as well as 10-and 15-minute computer cassettes and a 5W disk drive head cleaner.

MGMTEK

Ml^yW"^VrfffTfffffiTr(rfrfTT^7lVlflM ; :

WEPLAY FORKEEPS

2 minutes, 21 seconds; the average time for the IBM was 3 minutes, 26 seconds.

In formatting, however, the TI computer didn't fare as well. The TI format operation took an average of 1 minute, 10 seconds, while the IBM PC finished in only 39 seconds.

Available Software

For the prospective purchaser, software as well as speed is an important consideration. Regardless of its hardware features, a computer is only as good as the software that runs on it.

Because TI made its computer available to major software producers, the TI PC runs many of the best-selling programs. When it was introduced, the TI PC could run programs such as dBASE II, Wordstar, Supercalc, Multiplan, and Easywriter II. Some were sold under TTs name

242 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

brand, some through independent publishers. TI made only a limited number of computers available for software-development, and only large-scale software companies were provided with a free computer.

Although converting IBM PC software for use on the TI PC is not difficult, it is time consuming. Most independent software authors with limited funds are waiting to see if the TI PC will take a large share of the market before purchasing or borrowing a computer to produce programs for it. Currently, more software is available for the IBM than there is for the TI PC.

Prices

TI competes with IBM by offering the Professional Computer at a lower price than IBM charges for its PC. For comparably equipped models

(stocked with only their respective manufacturers' equipment), a TI PC costs almost a thousand dollars less than an IBM machine. Shortly after TI introduced its PC with a price lower than that of the IBM, IBM reduced its price. TI countered with an offer of free memory and later dropped its price again. However, TI does not as yet offer the option of buying third-party hardware, which can reduce the cost of a complete system. TTs options, such as extra memory, are as overpriced as the ones offered by IBM. Table 3 shows prices for comparably equipped models.

Summary

Deciding whether to buy the TI PC or the IBM PC boils down to use. If you know your needs and can meet them with existing software, and if you don't need a hard-disk drive immediately, you will do well to choose the TI PC. It is reasonably priced, runs commonly used software programs, and has a superior keyboard. It also runs faster than the IBM PC and can be upgraded for a hard-disk drive. By the time you need a hard-disk drive, the TI PC's 10-megabyte drive will probably have been released and DOS 2.0 will be available for hard disks.

On the other hand, you should choose the IBM PC if you currently need a hard-disk drive, if you need one of the thousands of programs available for the IBM but not for the TI PC, or if you don't know what your future needs will be and you want to leave yourself open for the newest, most innovative software and hardware.

There is no guarantee that IBM's software or hardware will be usable with TI PCs. Although the Professional Computer is a serviceable, nicely designed machine, whether TI can gain a market share, considering IBM's position in the market, remains to be seen.M

Bohbi Bullard currently writes a column for Computer Retails and is manager of Computer Head-Quarters, 333 Peters St., Atlanta, GA 30313.

Editor's Note:

The December 1983 BYTE will contain a formal System Review of the Texas Instruments Professional Computer

Before You Read Another Mail-Order Ad, Take Five

IGet Service Before You Buy, We tried a little experiment once. You should too. Call all the mail order houses. Ask about one product (we used the Pro Writer), and see what happens. We found that 80% of the time you'll get price, delivery date and then a pregnant pause awaiting your order. That's it.

On THE BOTTOM LINE's Technical Line you'll get answers. We've put together a technical sales staff second to none, a staff with the experience and knowledge you need to help select computer hardware. You'll get straight talk, because we don't have commissioned salespeople who must sell. And we know our products. We don't advertise half of the products available to us because we don't know them well enough. Which means you'll know even less about them before you buy.

2 Stop Paying Extra. Try as you might, you'll be hard-pressed to find a mail order company that doesn't tack on 1-4% for credit cards, an additional 2% for shipping or some fee somewhere on top of their "cash prices." We think that's lousy. Period.

When you see a price in our ad, or if you call our Toil-Free Order Line, you'll get one price. No 2% for shipping. No 3% for MasterCharge (4% for American Express!). We accept all major credit cards with a smile. And we never take the privilege of charging your account until your purchase has been shipped from our warehouse.

3 We're Authorized Meaning we've been approved by the manufacturers to sell their products. If you don't think that makes a difference, try getting some warranty work done once you've bought from an unauthorized dealer. You're stuck in a Catch-22. "Take it to your dealer," says the factory, but the "dealer" washed his hands of you the day that box was shipped. "It's got the manufacturer's warranty," he'll tell you, "so you deal with them."

It's called the Grey Market. And if you fall victim, you've only yourself to blame.

4 Let's Get Technical Nothing's perfect, and we both know you may need service. So we've sent our technicians to school. They've been trained to do factory-authorized warranty and post-warranty repairs on C. Itoh, Epson, Okidata, Smith-Corona and Star-Micronics printers and the Franklin Ace 1000. And they've got the diplomas to prove it.

But school's not out yet. We're expanding our technical department even further, to include all the printers, modems and monitors we sell. If your purchase does have to go to the factory, we watch over it (we've dropped two product lines because the factory repairs took two months). At 1HE BOTTOM LINE we honor all the warranties, and even offer extended warranties on our own, so no matter what you buy, you're covered.

5 Professional Mail-Order The Direct Marketing Association is a professional organization that rides herd on the business practices of mail-order marketers. THE BOTTOM LINE is proud to be a member. We subscribe to the DMA's guidelines for responsible advertising, billing, customer service and after-sale support. We urge you to look for the DMA symbol whenever you shop by mail, and use their Action Line (212-689-4977) should you encounter any trouble with a mail-order marketer, computer or otherwise. We think this organization deserves both business and consumer support.

Take five again, and turn the page for a

listing of our products, and if you don't

see what you want, give us a call...

we can probably get it for you

Technical Sales Desk:

(603) 881-9855 Toll-Free Order Desk

(800) 343-0726

ALS • AMDEK • ANADEX • AST • C ITOH • COMREX • COLUMBIA DATA • DIABLO • DC HAYES » EAGLE COMPUTER• EPSON• FRANKLIN COMPUTER

IDS• INTERACTIVE STRUCTURES• KENSINGTON* MANNESMAN TALLY• MAYNARD ELECTRONICS• MICROSOFT* MICROTEK

MOUNTAIN COMPUTER • NEC • OKIDATA • OTRONA • PRINCETON GRAPHICS• QUADRAM • QUME • QCS • RANA SYSTEMS• SATURN/TITAN

STAR MICRONICS • TANDON • TECMAR• TOSHIBA • USI • US ROBOTICS

HIGH TECHNOLOGY AT AFFORDABLE PRICES

THE BOTTOM LINE

IMILFORD, NH 03055-0423 □ TELEPHONE (603) 881-98551

BYTE November 1983 243

Plain talk about printers...

Dot Matrix Printers

There've been some big changes in IBM PC printer compatability. Okidata's new Plug-n-Play ROMs (see below) make a Microline 92 or 93 fully compatible with PC screen graphics. We expect that other printer manufacturers will offer similar upgrades shortly.

EPSON

FX, RX & MX

The FX-80 (160 cps) has a correspondence font, 10, 12 & 17 cpi, italics, double-strike/width/ emphasis & dot graphics, plus a 2K buffer. Friction & pin feed is standard; the adjustable tractor is optional & cost extra. The FX-100 is the 136 column version & includes the adjustable tractor.

The RX-80 & RX-80 F/T (100 cps) are upgraded versions of the MX Series.

RX-80 $389.88

RX-80 F/T $499.88

MX-1 00 $669.88

FX-80 $569.88

FX-80 Tractor $39.88

FX-100. $749.88

C. ITOH

Prowriter

C. Itoh's Prowriter has speed (120 cps), a buffer (1.5K), 10, 12, & 16 cpi (plus a proportional font with correspondance quality) and dot graphics (t 60x144 dpi). One of our biggest sellers. The Prowriter 2 has the same specs, but in a 136 column format.

Prowriter $399.88

Prowriter 2 $719.88

STAR MICRONIC8

Gemini 10X/15 Delta 10/15

The dentin! 10X (120 cps) features 10,12,17 cpi, italics, a correspondance font, 120 x 144 dpi graphics matrix & a 1K buffer. The Gemini 10X comes with friction/ tractor feed & uses plain spool ribbons. The Gemini 15 is the 132

column version, & it has a proportional font.

Star's Delta 10 features both parallel and serial interfaces, 160 cps print speed, an 8K buffer, plus the standard fonts (10, 12 & 17 cpi), dot graphics, friction/tractor feed and spool ribbons. The Delta 15 is a 136 column version.

Gemini 10X $309.88

Gemini 15 $459.88

Delta 10 $529.88

Delta 15 $CALL

OKI DATA

Microline Series

The Microline 92 (80 col) & 93 (132 col) are ideal for word processing. They offer a 160 cps draft mode, a 40 cps correspondance mode, 10, 12 & 17 cpi (w/double-width), pin/friction feed {tractor is optional on the 92) & dot-addressable graphics (120 x 144). Centronics parallel interface is standard; the serial (RS-232C) interface is optional.

A new PROM called PC Plug-n-Play turns a 92 or a 93 into an IBM printer, with full screen dump capabilities. You will sacrafice a few features {like 12 cpi) but the PROMs are worth it if total compatibility is your goal.

The Microline 82A (80 col) & 83A (132 col) are data crunchers, period. They print 120 cps, at 10 & 16 cpi (5/ 8 double-width). Dot-addressable graphics are optional.

The Microline 84 (132 col) is the Step 2 version, featuring 200 cps at 10,12, & 17 cpi (w/double-width), all with a correspondance mode & dot addressable graphics. Parallel or serial (RS-232C) interfaces available.

Microline 82A $389.88

82A/92 Tractor $59.88

Roll Paper Holder $49.88

Microline 83A $599.88

82A/83A Okigraph 1

Graphics ROM $49.88

Microline 92 $459.88

Microline 93 $759.88

92/93 IBM-PC Plug-n-Play

Graphics ROM $49.88

92/93 RS-232C interface... $99.88

Microline 84 $1024.88

W/RS-232C Interface .... $1139.88

DIABLO

Series 32

Diablo has now entered the dot matrix printer market, and their new Series 32 (150 cps) looks very promising. It features 132 column, with 10 or 16 cpi, plus a near-letter quality font. It has all the sub/super-scripting features you'd expect, plus both dot & block graphics. We can't tell from the spec sheet, but we assume the Series 32 is Diablo compatible. Series 32 $CALL

MANNESMAN!! TALLY

IMT-160 L MT-180 L Spirit

The MT-160 L (160 cps) is a sharp printer. The 10, 12, 17 & 20 cpi, plus correspondance font, makes the MT-160 L very versatile. It has both parallel & serial (RS-232C) interfaces, and the menu-driven installation from the control panel ts easy to use. Friction and adjustable tractor feed are standard issue. The MT-180 Lis the 136 column version.

The Spirit (80 cps) is Tally's new, low cost draft printer. It has 10, 12 & 17 cpi fonts, friction & adjustable tractor feed, and a unique square-wire printhead that makes even draft printing a pleasure.

MT-160 L $879.88

MT-180 L $849.88

MT-Spirit $329.88

Other Dot Matrix Printers,

Anadex

DP-9501 $1439.88

DP-9620 $1539.88

DP-9625 $1689.88

WP-6000 $2279.88

IDS

Prism 80 $1079.88

w/4-color $1439.88

Prism 132 $1239.88

w/4-color $1669.88

MicroPrism $569.88

Inforunner

Riteman. $349.88

Letter-Quality Printers

The new, low-speed letter-quality printers are making quality afforable. And the high-speed models are coming down in price too. Still, get a dot matrix printer for drafts & as a backup.

C. ITOH

StarWriter PrintMaster

The C. Itoh StarWriter (40 cps) offers top speed at a good price. It uses Diablo code, wheels & ribbons, 10 or 12 pitch, 6, 8 & 1 /48" line space, plus 1 /120" horizontal spacing—ideal for proportional modes. We've found the Star-Writer exceptionally reliable.

The Printmaster has the same specifications, but prints at 55 cps.

Starwriter Parallel $1219.88

Printmaster Parallel $1569.88

SILVER REED

EXP-550/500

The Silver Reed EXP-550 (17 cps) is a 132 column letter-quality printer with 10, 12 or 15 pitch, sub/superscript, underlining and true Diablo 1610 emulation making it compatible with most word processing software. It's friction fed, and it features a page injector; an optional tractor is also available.

The EXP-500 (12 cps) is a 100 column letter-quality printer with the same specs as the EXP-550, but slower and without page inject or a tractor. EXP-550 (Parallel)......... $699.88

EXP-550 Tractor $139.88

EXP-500 (Parallel) $469.88

NEC

Spinwriters

The new 2000 Series are slower (20 cps), but they've retained all the qaulity of the 3500/7700 Series. Uses the same thimbles & ribbons.

2010/2030 $1 049.88

2050 ....$1199.88

3530 $1759.88

3550 $2009.88

7710/7730 $2289.88

SMITH-CORONA

TP-1 Messenger

The Memory Correct III Messenger (the full name) is ideal for the home or small office. It combines the features of an electric typewriter and a letter-quality printer. It features 12 cps, 3 pitches (10, 12 & 15), variable line spacing, 10.5" writing line, backspacing & auto-correction. It comes complete with parallel/serial interface.

The TP-1 has fixed pitch (10 or 12 cpi) & underlining, but cannot sub/ suprscript. The tractor feed is optional. {Specify 10 or 12 cpi when you order.) Memory Correct III

Messenger— $629.88

TP-1 $459.88

TP Tractor $139.88

Other Letter Quality Printers,

Com rex

CR-1 $849.88

CR-2.... $509.88

Diablo

620 (RS-232C) $999.88

630 (PC) $1979.88

Qume

Sprint 11+ $1539.88

244 BYTE November 1983

Circle 55 on inquiry card.

Monitors

U»l

Pi Monitors

The Pi-3's 20MHz bandwidth and sharp, clear phosphor make it our favorite. Comes in 9 or 12", & in green.

Pi-3 (12" amber). $189.88

Pi-4 {9" amber) $150.88

NEC

JB1205M

A close second to the USI Pi Series. 18-20Mhz bandwidth and a crisp, clear amber display (or green). JB1205M-A (1 2" amber)... $179.88 JB1201 M (12" green) $179.88

PRINCETON GRAPHIC*

HX-12

The HX-12 is one of the highest resolution RGBs available. 16 colors (using NEC's tube), 690 dots by 240 lines (480 non-interlaced) & 15MHz bandwidth. The case is identical to IBM's, & it comes with its own cable. PGS HX-12 $499.88

QUADRAM

QuadChrome

The QuadChrom* has the same spec's as the HX-12. Same price too. QuadChrome $809.88

QUADRAM

QuadColor

Supports RGB or composite display, up to 480 non-interlaced RGB output. QuadColor 8CALL

MultiDisplay

Supports 32 K graphics, with composite, RGB, PC monochrome display mnd a parallel port MultiDisplay $399.88

Graphics Master

192K for RGB or composite display, supporting 480 non-interlaced RGB output. Graphics Master $979.88

COLUMBIA

DATA PRODUCTS, INC.

COI11PUTER

We are now offering both the Columbia MPC and the Eagle PC-2 to our customers. These machines are IBM-PC compatible, with 128K RAM on board, two 320K disk drives, one parallel port, two RS-232C ports and bundled software Dackaoes

The Eagle PC-2inciudes MS-DOS, CP/M 86, plus Eagle-Writer and EagleCalc. The Eagle PC-2 also includes a monochrome monitor, with a resolution equal to the PC monitor. The PC-2's ideal for first-time users. It's easy to learn & easy to use.

The Columbia MPC includes MS-DOS, CP/M 86, BASICA, Perfect Writer/Speller/Calc/Filer, Home Accountant Plus, Fast Graphs, Asynch Communications, a Macro Assembler, plus numerous utilities. This system is for more sophisticated users who have a PC at work and want a system at home or in a remote location.

Please call (603) 881 -9855 for further specifications, price and delivery.

Modems

DC HAYES

Smartmodems

The Smartmodems are originate/ answer, auto dial/answer, full/half duplex modems. There are two external modems {300 & 300/1200 baud) & the 1200B (300/1200 internal for the PC). Modular phone cable & power supply included. (RS-232C cable is optional). "Stack" Smartmodems

300 baud $219.88

300/1200 baud $539.88

1200B w/Softcom II $459.88

US ROBOTICS

Password

The Password is an originate/ answer type modem. 0-300 & 1200 baud capability with auto dial/ answer, auto mode/ speed select, full/half duplex (local echo),audio phone line monitor. Comes with an RS-232C cable (specify male or female DB-25), power supply & modular telephone cable. Password $379.88

STANDARD MICROSYSTEMS

M-Term.. $79.88

Peripherals

AST RESEARCH

MegaPlus II

The MegaPlus has one RS-232C port, a parallel port, a clock & up to 256K RAM. An optional game and second serial port are also available. Comes with SuperDrive/Spooler software.

The MegaPak is a 1 28K or 256K piggy-back card that attaches to the MegaPlus & gives you additional memory to 256K.

64K MegaPlus $309.88

256K MegaPlus $509.88

128K MegaPak $329.88

256K MegaPak $329.88

RS-232C Port $49.88

Game Port $49.88

AST RESEARCH

SixPak Plus

The Sixpak holds up to 384K on the board. Added to a 256K motherboard, you've got 640K, the maximum addressable memory. Sixpak has an RS-232C port, parallel port, clock & SuperD rive/ Spooler software. An optional game port is also available.

64K Sixpak $289.88

256K SixPak $469.88

384K SixPak $659.88

Game Port $49.88

AST I/O Plus II The I/O Plus II has one parallel port, one RS-232C port, one game port & a clock. A second RS-232C

port is optional.

I/O+ $199.88

ConnectAII SCALL

RS-232C Port $49.88

QUADRAM

Quadboards

The Quadboard has an RS-232C port, a parallel port, a clock & memory up to 256K (you can also get your Quadboard "naked," with no memory installed). QuadSpool/ Drive software is included with every Quadboard, along with a one-year warranty.

Quadboard OK $219.88

Quadboard 64K $279.88

Quadboard 256K $429.88

QUAD 512+

Quad 512+s have a single RS-232C port on them, and sockets for up to 512K RAM. QuadSpool/Drive software is included.

Quad 512+ (64K) $239.88

Quad 512+ (256K) $439.88

Quad 51 2+ (51 2K) $679.88

Single Function Cards

Parallel Card w/cable $89.88

RS-232C Card $89.88

Clock/Calendar Card $89.88

QuadLink

QuadLink lets you run Apple II/II+ software on the PC. It's like an Apple computer on one board, with 64K. You can use all PC l/O's and color/ graphics video. There's no disk conversion, no reformatting, and no fuss. QuadLink takes up only one slot. Specify IBM PC, Columbia MPC or Compaq computers when you order. QuadLink $499.88

Disk Drives

TANDON

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Tandon's TM-1 00-2 at 320K

storage, is still holding its own. We've used them exclusively for a year now and will continue to do so. Double-sided $239.88

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12Mb Hard Disk $2099.88

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All our equipment is shipped with all manufacturer's warranty. We are an authorized dealer for all products we sell to insure full warranty support, & we're authorized for warranty work on a number of printers. We also offer extended warranty plans for most printers.

Sorry, we cannot accept open POs or extend credit/terms at these prices. APO and foreign orders are not accepted. We prepared this ad in September & prices do change, so call to verify them.

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Now your computer can say anything and say it well. Introducing the Votrax Personal Speech System.

Quite articulate.

Friendly to humans.

The unlimited vocabulary Votrax Personal Speech System is the most sophisticated, low cost voice synthesizer available today. Its highly articulate text-to-speech translator lets your computer properly pronounce conversational words at least 95% of the time.

For all those unusual words and proper names, you can define an exception word table and store your own translations. And remember, the entirely self-contained Votrax PS System gets your computer talking without using any valuable computer memory

44

Designed to look like a printer to your computer, the Votrax PS System is extremely easy to use. It can be used in tandem with your printer without an additional interface card. Both serial and parallel ports come standard, allowing you to connect the Votrax PS System to virtually any computer. Speech, music and sound effects are

only a PRINT statement away.

Built-in versatility.

Much more than just a voice output device, the Votrax PS System lets you mix either speech and sound effects or speech and music. A programmable master clock and 255 programmable frequencies give you unmatched control of speech and sound effects.

The Votrax PS System offers user expandable ROM for custom applications, user downloadable software capability and sound effects subroutines for easy user programming. Its programmable speech rate provides more natural rhythm, while 16 programmable amplitude levels give you greater control of word emphasis.

Actual size: 12.2" x 4.5" x 2.6"

What to say after "Hello".

Businesses will appreciate spoken data transmission, narration of graphic displays and unmanned, oral product demonstrations. Spoken verification of data input will make computers much easier for the blind to use. School children can receive comprehensive

The Votrax Personal Speech System

is covered by a limited warranty.

Write Votrax for a free copy.

500 Stephenson Highway, Troy, MI 48084

computer instruction with voice textbooks as well as spoken drills and testing. And then, late at night, you can make those adventure games explode.

A quick list.

□ Highly articulate Votrax text-to-speech translator.

0 255 programmable frequencies for speech/sound effects.

□ 16 amplitude levels.

□ Simultaneous speech and sound effects or speech and music.

□ 8 octave, 3 note music synthesis. □ Serial and parallel interface standard.

□ User programmable master clock.

□ User defined exception word table.

□ User programmable speech rate, amplitude and inflection.

□ User expandable ROM for custom applications.

□ User downloadable software capability.

□ 3,500 character input buffer: subdivisible for a printer buffer.

□ Internal speaker and external speaker jack.

□ Real time clock and 8 user defined alarms.

□ Oral power up and error prompting.

□ X-on/X-off and RTS-CTS handshaking.

□ Programmable Baud settings (75-9600).

□ Interrupt driven Z-80 microprocessor.

□ Parallel/Serial interconnect modes.

□ Proper number string translation: the number " 1 54" is pronounced "one hundred fifty four".

To order, see your local computer retailer or call toll-free

1-800-521-1350

Michigan residents, please call (313) 588-0341. MasterCard, VISA or personal check accepted. The price is $395 plus $4 for delivery. Educational discount available. Add sales tax in Michigan and California.

©VOTRAX 1982

mt m

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Circle 500 on inquiry card.

Technical Aspects of IBM PC Compatibility

It takes more than an 8088 board to create a plug-compatible

machine

by Charlie Montague, Dave Howse, Bob Mikkelsen, Don

In late 1981, IBM unveiled the IBM Personal Computer (PC), which included features that encouraged third-party software and hardware vendors to design compatible products. Unlike IBM's previous computers, the PC offers an open architecture and system software produced by Microsoft. Additionally, the company published technical specifications for the PC's hardware and software interfaces in its Technical Reference Manual.

Almost immediately following the introduction of the PC, it became obvious that the economic success of the machine, the promise of a large applications-software base, and the inclusion of the features noted above would combine to make the PC an industry standard. The opportunity for a PC-compatible computer was here.

To produce a compatible computer requires addressing a variety of issues that generally fall into two major categories: hardware compatibility and software compatibility. If both hardware and software products designed for the PC can run without modification on your new machine, you have a PC-compatible computer.

Hardware Aspects

Hardware compatibility divides into the areas of system architecture

and physical interface. The architecture, or central processor and its I/O (input/output) and memory maps, obviously is of primary importance to the hardware/software interface.

The architecture of a compatible system must be either equivalent to, or a superset of, the IBM PC. Plug-compatible hardware achieves compatibility when the differences in implementation techniques remain

With the introduction

of the PC, it became

obvious that IBM had

established a new

microcomputer industry

standard.

transparent to installed hardware and software modules.

The first step is selection of a microprocessor compatible with the 8088. While Intel produces a family of microprocessors that are compatible with the 8088 at a machine-code level, important architectural differences affect compatibility at the system level. Specifically, these differences include variations in the data-bus structure, the hardware-interrupt interface, and the ability to

Rein, and Dick Mathews

interface to the 8087 numeric-data processor. System timing is also an important design consideration because many factors affect processor throughput, and changes to these factors often produce unpredictable effects. The processor reference-clock frequency affects the execution speed of the 8088 microprocessor. While changing the clock frequency yields predictable results with external events, a change in the data-bus width results in unpredictable changes in throughput. Obviously, the most compatible microprocessor is the 8088. (See the text box "Levels of PC Compatibility" on page 248 for a detailed description of the architectural differences and their effects on compatibility.)

Input and Output

Software modules must interface with hardware input and output registers. Because IBM released the internal register descriptions of the PC's I/O system to independent programmers, most applications software makes use of them. When you design a compatible machine, you can include any type of I/O devices provided that the command, status, and data registers appear exactly the same to the software. The processor makes decisions based on the status registers; a processor will make cor-

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 247

rect decisions if the status registers respond correctly to output commands. All register and bit addresses for both the status and command information must therefore correspond exactly with those used by the IBM PC.

Higher-level communication or data-transfer protocols depend on the hardware/software interface, thus requiring physical compatibility with the IBM PC I/O system. Any differences in the I/O devices must be transparent to both the software modules and to the user. For example, if a software module writes data to video memory, its location on the display device and its content must replicate what would appear on the PC.

Another essential area of compatibility, the floppy-disk drive and controller, becomes relatively easy to implement. Generally, the disk format must be compatible with the PC's, which requires a controller compatible with the NEC 765 or Intel 8272.

The keyboard may be the most maligned component of the IBM PC, but it is still important for compatibility. Obviously, the software and hardware interfaces to the keyboard must be compatible, but even adherence to the layout and appearance of the PC's keyboard becomes important because many applications programs refer to pictures of the IBM keyboard in their documentation. Fortunately, a number of suppliers of PC-compatible keyboards exist.

The final hardware-compatibility consideration takes into account the variety of expansion boards available for the PC. These add-on peripheral boards plug into a 62-pin expansion slot and the 8288 bus controller determines the electrical characteristics of the data transfer in response to status information from the 8088. The data transfer occurs in 8-bit bytes upon requests from the 8088 processor and the 8237 DMA (direct memory access) controller. Bus signals allow synchronization of the transfers by either the system-processor board or the expansion board. Other inputs to the bus connector allow the board to

248 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Levels of PC Compatibility by Ronnie Ward

(Editor's note: Future Computing has done a large amount of research on the effect of the IBM PC on the microcomputer marketplace. One of its reports, released in the May 31, 1983, issue of the company's newsletter, Future Views, analyzes the field of IBM PC-compatible computers. The following information, excerpted from this issue, discusses various levels of PC compatibility as it is achieved by these machines. . . . G.W.)

Future Computing divides machines into four compatible categories:

1. Operationally compatible. These computers should be able to run the top-selling software intended for the IBM PC. Their degree of software compatibility can be determined by the number of the three interface areas implemented (display, keyboard, and sound) and the correctness of the implementation. They should be able to use add-on boards designed for the IBM PC and read and write IBM PC disks (single- and double-sided). They provide the same user interface for software documentation compatibility and usefulness. The machines typically offer complementary features to the IBM PC. These features (which may include portability, monochrome display graphics, or a low price) attract buyers. Retail stores carry the products initially if the IBM PC is unavailable. These products are carried even if the

IBM PC is sold in the same store. They sell well with the IBM PC because of their complementary features. They also serve as a backup to the store should something happen to hinder availability of the IBM PC. As shown in table I, Future Computing Inc. categorizes several machines as operationally compatible.

2. Functionally compatible. These computers cannot run software intended for the IBM PC because of significant variations in their implementation of the three interface areas. Instead, the manufacturer or software publisher separately packages a different version of the top-selling IBM PC programs. This means that they can read/write and process information for IBM disks. The machines cannot use IBM add-on boards. Due to design differences in the three interface areas, they cannot move to become operationally compatible with the IBM PC. Moreover, the manufacturers of these machines do not want to become operationally compatible with the IBM PC. These products are positioned to sell against the IBM PC. The machines are priced competitively and offer functional advantages. The functions attract buyers. Retail stores carry these products instead of the IBM PC, or in addition to the IBM PC. Currently, only one machine, the Texas Instruments Professional, is considered by Future Computing Inc. to have the software base to be categorized as functionally compatible.

3. Data compatible. These machines do not run the top-selling softzvare intended

request service either by interrupt or DMA. Obviously, a compatible system must provide a PC-compatible bus interface to allow users access to the myriad of peripheral boards on the market. (See "Expanding on the IBM PC," page 168.)

Software Compatibility

To establish software compatibility, three major areas were explored: ROM (read-only memory) compatibility, MS-DOS compatibility, and BASIC compatibility. You must start with the firmware located in ROM, sometimes referred to as the ROM BIOS (basic input/output system) or Bootstrap ROM. This software performs the system checkout and test-

ing; the initialization of the memory, interrupt vectors, I/O, scratchpad, and flag values; the BIOS level interface via interrupt vectors for I/O manipulation; and the operating system bootstrap.

The first function, system checkout and testing, is normally not critical to any off-the-shelf software. Therefore, the degree of compatibility must assure only that the components and functional elements that are similar to the PC's are indeed present and tested. The more critical compatibility requirements occur with the initialization of the memory, interrupt vectors, I/O, scratchpad, and flags. IBM uses both a format and location criteria for the scratchpad and a flag

for the IBM PC, nor has the manufacturer separately packaged its own version of the top IBM PC software. Add-on boards designed for the IBM PC cannot be used. These machines can read or write IBM disks (sometimes), but in most cases, nothing can be done with the data transferred. They can move to become functionally compatible by releasing their own versions of the top-selling IBM programs. This would require significant effort on the manufacturer's part and close cooperation with software vendors. The most likely candidate machines to move in the next year are the NCR Decision Mate, the Wang PC, and the Zenith Z-100. Manufacturers of data-compatible machines do not necessarily want to become functionally compatible with the IBM PC. These machines are sold either in markets where they do not compete with the IBM PC, or they are positioned to coexist with the IBM PC in organizations with multiple personal computers.

4. Incompatible. These machines cannot exchange data disks with the IBM PC. Even if they could, they do not run the top-selling software available on the IBM PC. These machines use Intel 16-bit microprocessors, and some have implemented MS-DOS. The manufacturers of these machines have chosen not to be compatible at any level with the IBM PC. They are positioned to be sold in completely different markets and are included in Future Computing's non-IBM compatible forecast, which, by the way, is a very large market.

region that begins at <Seg> 0040 hexadecimal : < Offset > 0000 hexadecimal. The ROM BIOS interrupt vectors (INT 0 through INT 1FH) must be initialized to point to functions identical to the PC's.

The ROM BIOS also maintains control of the standard low-level hardware and peripheral interfacing required for I/O manipulation and parameter passing. The BIOS is essentially a collection of routines and tables accessible through the software-interrupt feature of the 8088. In designing a compatible machine, you must derive the functional definition of each BIOS entry point by studying the PC standard and performing exhaustive testing. IBM documents

the input and output parameters of each function but no existing documentation specifies the resulting system behavior.

The last major function of the ROM BIOS is bootstrapping the operating system. Compatible bootstrapping requires reading sector #1 (512 bytes) on track #0 of head #0 into RAM memory at location <Seg> 0 : < Offset > 7C00 hexadecimal using ROM BIOS INT 13 hexadecimal. When this boot sector is in memory control transfers to the boot address (0000:7C00).

MS-DOS and PC-DOS

Because PC-DOS and MS-DOS share the same origins, the quest for

a compatible operating system isn't formidable. To successfully emulate PC-DOS, we at Columbia Data Products (CDP) provided a second BIOS and modified the MS-DOS source code. MS-DOS requires its own BIOS to provide a well-defined interface between the operating system and the hardware and peripherals. On the PC or a compatible, however, the PC/MS-DOS BIOS uses the ROM BIOS and its existing low-level drivers. Therefore, the machine-independent part of MS-DOS resides in RAM with the tailored MS-DOS BIOS. The resulting operating system behaves like PC-DOS. Because the same level of documentation is not made available for the PC-DOS BIOS

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

as is for the ROM BIOS, you must resort to information from Microsoft's documentation and exhaustive testing for defining the tailored MS-DOS BIOS. The BIOS and the DOS reside in the memory area from < Seg > 0: < Offset > 600 hexadecimal to <Offset > 2E00 hexadecimal.

Even the size of MS-DOS becomes an important compatibility consideration. Most applications-software packages provide instructions for the initial program setup. Often, the setup procedure requires that you copy the operating system to the system-tracks portion of the program disk to make it bootable. If a compatible DOS is larger than PC-DOS, this procedure would overwrite data on the program disk. Therefore, the maximum disk BIOS size is 2K bytes.

In general, the Columbia Data Products implementation of MS-DOS 1.25 supports all PC-DOS function calls and performs all required actions. Furthermore, we incorporated software handshaking on Serial Communications Device #0 via <XON - XOFF >. Other extra func-

tions include the redirection of parallel-printer data (nongraphics) to Serial Communications Device #0 and the inclusion of RAM-disk capability.

A BASIC interpreter (GW BASIC) from Microsoft, renamed BASICA for compatibility reasons, is compatible with IBM's Advanced-Disk BASIC. In IBM's implementation of BASIC, part of the interpreter resides in ROM, always available. Because of the high cost of fixing ROM bugs as well as the degree of difficulty in making GW BASIC compatible with BASICA, CDP chose to implement BASIC entirely in RAM.

Tailoring GW BASIC for compatibility involves purchasing and modifying Microsoft's sources as well as implementing a third BIOS. This task poses particularly difficult problems because most details of IBM's implementation can be determined only through testing. Most of the compatibility problems caused by having RAM-based BASICA instead of ROM-based BASICA can be overcome by simulating the IBM PC's environment. You accomplish this by

loading different parts of the BASIC in different locations in RAM. A problem occurs, however, in that GW BASIC requires larger disk space than IBM's BASICA because part of IBM's BASIC already resides in ROM. When a software vendor's installation instructions include copying BASICA to the program disk, a RAM-based BASICA may not fit. Another related problem involves direct calls to the IBM BASIC ROM. Some software developers use routines and entry points located in IBM's BASIC ROM interpreter, making direct calls functional parts of software. These programs, needless to say, will not run on our (or any other) PC-compatible machine.

Testing for Compatibility

While product testing plays an important part in any product development program, it takes on new dimensions and increased importance when compatibility is involved. Besides assuring product quality and design feasibility, testing provides a yardstick for measuring the level of

UNIQUE: The I/O Processor

The I/O PROCESSOR is an advanced multifunction board for your IBM PC XT* and compatible systems, The I/O PROCESSOR is like no other. The I/O PROCESSOR includes its own on-board "computer" — a Z-80 microprocessor. This computing capability offers a versatile selection of features, expandability and time-saving speed.

The I/O PROCESSOR includes two parallel ports, one RS-232 serial port, 64K RAM printer buffer and a Real Time Chronograph with reliable battery back up.

The I/O PROCESSOR'S printer buffer saves you from many wasted hours of waiting to use your computer while the printer is printing. The printer buffer takes data from your computer, stores it, then sends it to your printer Your computer is free for you to use! The I/O PROCESSOR'S one-touch copy button allows you to make numerous copies of important information — quickly and easily.

The I/O PROCESSOR offers unmatched versatility. The I/O PROCESSOR allows you to reproduce pictures, charts and graphs from the screen directly to any of the popular dot matrix printers. Now your valued information and designs won't be lost — simply print them.

The I/O PROCESSOR is expandable to meet your growing needs. Expandable features include downloading programs, color plotter controls and more These features can be added with the simple installation of optional PROMs.

The I/O PROCESSOR is built to exceed the highest industry standards and is backed with a two year replacement warranty. Available from your local dealer from $249.

For more information on the I/O PROCESSOR and other fine products for your IBM and Apple computers, please call or write us. Dealer inquiries invited

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250 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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252 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc

compatibility with the IBM PC. The result to someone who buys our computer is that the software and hardware solutions offered for the IBM PC can be used on ours as welt The goal for this compatibility testing is simple—test everything. When priorities must be set, the hottest-selling products are tested first. However, all commercially available products must eventually be tested.

Additions and Enhancements

If features are going to be added to a configuration, they must not affect compatibility. New features must not interfere in any way with existing or optional system components. Additional expansion slots, an external reset switch, a combination monochrome/color graphics board, a faster power-on sequence, and a ROM monitor with diagnostics and debugger cannot affect compatibility. In addition, compatibility cannot be sacri-fied when software is bundled with the system. Nor can it be sacrified when features that are optional on the IBM PC are made standard on the compatible computer.

Summary

Many important issues confront any manufacturer of a PC-compatible product. Even though IBM published the hardware and software interfaces for the PC, it is not a trivial task to build a compatible computer. Not only must all the hardware issues be addressed (IBM's Technical Reference Manual is neither complete nor totally accurate), but also all software issues, including DOS, DOS utilities, BASIC, and ROM-based software, must be addressed. In addition, with the introduction of the XT, IBM provides another subtly different standard to emulate. As IBM extends its PC product line, it will undoubtedly set new standards that all manufacturers of IBM-compatible products will be forced to emulate. ■

This article was written by staffers at Columbia Data Products Inc. (9150 Rumsey Rd., Columbia, MD21045) : Charlie Mon tague, director of tech \xkal services; Dave Howse, hardware design manager; Bob Mikkelsen, program office manager; Don Rein, software engineering manager; and Dick Mathews, vice-president of planning and development.

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The Making of the IBM PC

IBM sat back and watched the microcomputer market develop before

jumping in and dominating the race

Back in 1914, a banker persuaded three companies to combine and form the Computer-Tabulating-Recording Corporation. Thomas Watson Sr. was hired as the general manager; he renamed the company International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924, after starting a successful branch in Canada.

The world's number-one computer company now owns 11,000 patents and spent $3 billion on research and development last year. But IBM's 70-year success story can be explained in one word: marketing. Nobody does it better. This fascinating company is an example of institutionalized excellence. It has never had a layoff (even during the Great Depression), never failed to make a profit and grow internally, and, in its domestic operations, has never been unionized.

If you are one of the few who have been around computers from their beginnings, you may have found IBM's jump into the personal computer world something of a deja-vu. Many people think that IBM was the first producer of commercial computers; however, a company called Remington Rand introduced the

by Brian Camenker

UNIVAC in 1951. IBM entered the market a full year later with a less advanced model, but within five years Big Blue's market share was 85 percent. For one reason or another, when

During a year of six-arid seven-day work weeks, one IBM tradition after another was broken.

the minicomputer market appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, IBM failed to move into it, leaving the gap open for upstarts like Digital Equipment Corporation and Data General to make it big. Therefore, in the late 1970s, people were wondering if IBM would jump into microcomputers or let this open market slip by, too.

However, a company of 365,000 people as heavily layered in bureaucracy as IBM does not normally sprint along with the changing events. But when Apple Computer and Radio Shack proved the existence of this lucrative new market,

IBM executives took notice. Time was of the essence, though, and IBM wondered, says retired chairman Frank T. Carey, "How do you make an elephant tap dance?"

Current Chairman John Opel elaborated on the problem, saying, "You have to have people free to act, or they become dependent. They don't have to be told; they have to be allowed." To remedy that, Opel has established separate entities—within IBM but emancipated from the bureaucracy—called Independent Business Units (IBUs). IBM acts as the venture capitalist, if you will, to these companies-within-the-com-pany. Fortune magazine called it "How to start your own company without leaving IBM," and others have recognized it as a low-risk way to enter new markets. In the past four years 14 IBUs have been chartered. Some have prospered, but by far the most successful is the Entry Systems (Personal Computer) unit.

In July 1980, Philip D. Estridge, a division vice-president, was placed in charge of a 12-member team and given 12 months to create a competitive personal computer (see "IBM's Estridge," page 88). The team

254 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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looked and listened to what was happening in the microcomputer market at that time and speculated on what future users' needs might be. During a year of six- and seven-day work weeks, the planners broke many IBM traditions—acts that are in many cases keys to the PCs present success.

The PC is built around Intel's 16-bit 8088 microprocessor. Although 8-bit computers were the fashion at the time, the design team wanted a computer that was powerful enough to "be used without too many changes for the next decade or so." Because the 8088 is cheaper to use than its older brother, the 8086, cost has been kept down.

The PCs open architecture philosophy was quite a contrast to the tight world of mainframes. IBM made all the technical specifications available to outside companies, opening a fountain of compatible software and hardware peripherals for the PC. In the microcomputer world, this serves to strengthen a company's market position. Even the operating system,

PC-DOS (IBM's name for MS-DOS), is licensed from Microsoft.

But being in the IBM-peripheral business isn't as easy as it would seem. When the new version of the PC, the XT, came out in March 1983, the expansion slots were narrower.

Many of IBM's peripherals for the PC are bought outright from peripheral suppliers and simply given the IBM tag and sold through IBM's distribution channels with a hefty markup. Many customers have found that they can save hundreds of dollars by buying disk drives and memory chips directly from the manufacturer. Sometimes even computer stores stock items labeled both ways.

Independent Retailing Allowed

IBM has broken a tradition in marketing by letting independent retailers sell PCs. Again, direct selling is de rigueur in the mainframe realm, but it wouldn't really get the PC out to the general public. IBM studied Apple's successful methods of setting up networks with franchises such as Computerland and independents,

emphasizing dealer support and customer education. This allows for broad-based distribution to the public. IBM also has its own product centers that handle PCs. In practice, the retailers sometimes find themselves competing with Big Blue for corporate customers. In addition, IBM's sales reps have a tendency to try to persuade customers to buy the higher-priced Displaywriter instead of PCs, once they're interested.

We can certainly speculate on where the PC may go from here. The PC-to-mainframe connection seems obvious. And earlier this year IBM bought 15 percent of Rolm Corporation, a manufacturer of telephone-switching networks. Recent investments such as this may be seen as part of IBM's long-awaited local-network scheme. ■

Brian Camenker (133 Waban St., Newton, MA 02158) is a microcomputer consultant specializing in the IBM PC. He is a member of the Boston Computer Society and has done software reviews for its IBM PC magazine, PC REPORT. Recently, he and friends have formed a software company.

16 Co orful reasons to get doublestuff

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256 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Concurrent CP/M

By permitting a 16-bit microcomputer to execute several processes

that seem to occur simultaneously, this operating system

efficiently uses computer and operator resources

by Joe Guzaitis

A growing sentiment at Digital Research can be expressed as

CCP/M : 16 :: CP/M : 8

that is, Concurrent CP/M is to 16-bit microcomputers as CP/M is to 8-bit machines. Bold stuff. But not really, when you consider that CP/M (control program for microcomputers) has come to dominate the 8-bit market.

But what exactly is concurrency, the major enhancement of this operating system? Concurrency does not allow two processes to occur at the same time in the same place, but it does permit many processes to occur sequentially in round-robin fashion in infinitesimal time slices, so that they seem to occur simultaneously in the same place. Therefore, although most systems spend a lot of time waiting for input from a person or process, Concurrent CP/M permits a computer to perform a task while waiting for input from another process.

Multitasking, multiprogramming, and concurrency allow as much of a system's resources as possible to perform useful work for as much of its operating time as possible. Concurrency increases throughput, which in turn results in increased efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

16-bit Advantages

Concurrent CP/M has the potential of stimulating the 16-bit microcomputer market the way Visicalc stimulated the early 8-bit field—by giving the world a powerful example of a microcomputer's capabilities.

Let's face it: 16-bit computers are not inherently faster or more versatile than 8-bit machines. In fact, an 8-bit computer can often run rings around a 16-bit machine. In addition, a wider variety of applications software is available for 8-bit computers than for 16-bit machines. Why spend the extra money for this new technology?

There are two good reasons. The first is memory. Getting an OUT OF MEMORY message in the middle of a program is a frustrating experience that nearly every computer user will encounter eventually. But this problem isn't insurmountable; there is usually a way to work around memory limitations.

A better reason to choose a 16-bit machine is concurrency. Its large memory requirements make its use within an 8-bit architecture impractical. Concurrent CP/M takes up as much as 90K bytes; 256K bytes are actually needed to make it useful.

How Concurrency Works

To understand how concurrency is possible, we can look at our work habits, which resemble a type of concurrent processing. For example, as I sit here at my word processor typing away, I break momentarily to jot down an appointment on my calendar, go back to typing, break away again to use my calculator, return to the keyboard, stop to look up a word in the dictionary, then go back to typing, all the while waiting for a phone call.

Breaks can be self-generated, such as those made to check a word in the

dictionary, or they can be imposed from the outside. We work in an interrupt-driven manner, allowing phone calls, messages, or fellow workers' inquiries to tear us from the task at hand. Many users of Concurrent CP/M say that the operating system seems like a natural extension of the way they work because it enables them to switch among tasks without losing the thread of any of them.

Because it provides the capability for processes to seemingly execute simultaneously, Concurrent CP/M increases processing efficiency much the way online processing proved more efficient than batch processing. In batch processing, similar types of data are accumulated over a period of time and processed in one run. Online processing, on the other hand, allows a computer to appear to handle many sources of input simultaneously, then usually returns to the task's origin. Batch processing works serially; online processing allows another task to begin before the first is completed, and it appears to handle both processes at the same time.

Similarly, single-tasking operating systems must process sequentially, and multitasking systems such as Concurrent CP/M rapidly go from one process to another, appearing to perform many tasks at once. And, whereas single-tasking systems left the operator idle much of the time, waiting for a process to be completed, Concurrent CP/M has the machine waiting for the operator, ready to do more work. Concurrent processing involves one user at a

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 257

time, who feeds various types of input into the processor via several virtual consoles, whereas online processing provides for many users at many consoles, all feeding into a central computer.

How Concurrency Looks to the User

The concept of virtual consoles helps some users understand concurrent processing but confuses others. The computer can be thought of as having only one actual console (the terminal) but several virtual consoles—equivalent consoles that can also interact with the central processor. The terminal can monitor one process at a time. A concurrent operating system allows a user to go from one process to another, switching to various virtual consoles to monitor different processes (see figure 1).

This procedure is analogous to the way a television user can switch from one channel to another, sequentially viewing several programs. Both the television and Concurrent CP/M permit screen switching. Use of a computer differs from that of a television, though, because a computer allows a user to interact with its programs, whereas a television does not (we will ignore those few cable-TV experiments that permit user participation).

Another way to think of concurrency is to picture a computer operator sitting among several computers, each running a different applications program. By swiveling around, the operator can interact with each application—use the output from one process to inform another, print one letter while writing another, and compile one program while editing another and debugging a third. With Concurrent CP/M, swiveling is replaced by a keystroke, which summons the program you want to monitor to the terminal screen.

Processes and

Data Modes in CP/M

In Concurrent CP/M, we talk of processes more than programs. In this environment, a program is a static piece of code, and a process is what is executed. Whenever a pro-

258 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

gram is loaded into memory, a process is created that involves code from the program, the operating system, and housekeeping data that indicates, for example, which virtual console to use. The operating system monitors the process, not the program.

There are two modes in which console output generated by a process can be handled: dynamic and buffered. Whatever task you have selected to be in the foreground directs its output to the console screen, and you monitor the virtual console assigned to that selected process on the terminal. You must set each virtual console to either dynamic or buffered mode so that the system knows how to handle console output in your absence.

However, a process not being monitored on the screen is considered to be in the background, and its output is not monitored. In dynamic mode, when you select a virtual console, you do not see the procedure as it happened; instead, you see the net results. For instance, if your word processor was performing a search-and-replace procedure in a lengthy file, you would return to see the strings replaced but would have missed the replacements as they occurred.

Output is handled differently in buffered mode. To return to our TV analogy, buffered mode works as though you had a videotape recorder connected to a channel you're not viewing, recording everything that was going on in your absence. When you return to that virtual console, it replays all the updates that happened on that console while you were away in the sequence and context in which they occurred.

Depending on the implementation, information on which mode you're in is usually available on the status line at the bottom of the screen. The status line also typically tells which virtual console is being displayed and the name of the process running and may also include information such as time of day, printer assigned to that console, and disk drive in use. As you switch screens, the status line changes, providing information for

the next virtual console you want to monitor.

Shared Files

Another feature that Concurrent CP/M provides is a shared-file structure. By using BDOS calls programs can open files in one of three modes: locked, read only, and unlocked. Two or more concurrent processes can access the same file; that access is controlled by the file-access mode.

The locked mode is the default one. In that mode, a file can be opened only if no other process has that file open already. Once opened in locked mode, the file must be closed before any other process can open, access, or delete it. (An extended lock feature allows a process to keep the file locked after it's closed.)

If a file was opened in read-only mode, no process can write to it, but any process can read from it. But if a file was opened in unlocked mode, it can be read from or written to by any process.

For a process to access either a read-only or unlocked file, it must open the file in that mode. Record locks are also available in unlocked file mode to deny access to individual records within an otherwise unlocked file.

Advanced Features

As more software vendors realize the power of concurrency, applications programs will share common data structures that allow the packages to work interactively. Shared files give us a hint of what's possible. Other features that lend themselves to the interactive environment Concurrent CP/M affords are queue management and priority setting.

A queue, a line of items waiting for the processor's attention, is a way for one concurrent application to communicate with another. In other words, a process on one virtual console can be made to share data with a process on a different virtual console. Because queues operate entirely in RAM (random-access read/write memory), they work quickly and efficiently. Queues can be created,

When critics rate you tops, what do you do for an encore?

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"We consider this terminal to be one of today's best products in price/ performance, its incorporation of economically designed features and its broad range of functionality. "**

* MICROSYSTEMS—March 1983

*THE ERGONOMICS NEWSLETTER-August 1982

Meet the VISUAL 55

The VISUAL 50, widely acclaimed as the best performing low cost terminal in the industry, is a tough act to follow. But the new VISUAL 55 extends its predecessor's performance even further by adding 12 user-programmable nonvolatile function keys, extended editing features and selectable scrolling regions ("split screen").

Both the VISUAL 50 and VISUAL 55 offer features you expect only from the high priced units. For example, the enclosure is economically designed and can be easily swiveled and tilted for maximum operator comfort. A detached keyboard, smooth scroll, large 7x9 dot matrix characters and non-glare screen are only a few of the many human engineering features.

Another distinctive feature of the VISUAL 50 and VISUAL 55 is their

emulation capability Both terminals are code-for-code compatible with the Hazeltine Espirit," ADDS Viewpoint,* Lear Siegler ADM3A and DEC VT52f In addition, the VISUAL 55 offers emulations of the Hazeltine 1500/1510 and VISUAL 200/210. Menu-driven set-up modes in non-volatile memory allow easy selection of terminal parameters. And you're not limited to mere emulation. Unbiased experts rate the combination of features offered by the VISUAL 50/55 fam ily significantly more attractive than competitive terminals.

Both VISUAL terminals are UL and CSA listed and exceed FCC Class A requirements and U.S. Government standards for X-ray emissions.

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4

MODEM

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opened, closed, and deleted just as disk files can, and you can read or write to them on a conditional or unconditional basis. The data structures of the programs must be compatible, however, to allow for queue management.

Another advanced feature that concurrency permits is priority setting. Specifically, it allows you to set a priority level on each process so that important processes are not hindered by lesser ones. Because a system's processes all share the same central processor, they affect each other's operation. For instance, if your modem is attached to one console and is receiving data, you want to ensure that the data is not slowed down by work you're performing on another console. Moreover, because data integrity and telephone charges are involved, the task receiving the data demands top priority. Less important tasks can run more slowly.

To ensure that the more crucial task gets preferential handling, you need not use such tactics as postponing "saves" as you work in your word processor or stopping the compiler while data is being sent or received. The priority-setting capability lets you assign the reception of data

260 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

priority over other processes. If the modem is using bits-per-second (bps) rates above 1200, other processes may slow down when the modem is receiving or sending data. A lower bps rate, however, should cause no problem.

Priority setting will probably be a standard feature of applications packages designed to run under Concurrent CP/M. Until those packages are available, however, it must be accomplished via a system-function call.

Another advanced capability that is also implemented through a system-function call is process detachment, which allows certain processes that need not be monitored, such as print spooling, to be detached from a virtual console and run unattended, thus freeing a virtual console for other tasks. Concurrent CP/M also provides the program logic for other features that do not actually reside in the operating system. Until they are made available in software packages, though, the only way to get them is to program them yourself. Those packages should also encourage software designers to standardize user interfaces because when users can rapidly switch back and forth among programs, the differences between

software packages can affect operator efficiency.

Additional Benefits

Because printing can take a great deal of time and use little of the processor's power, many people invest in a hardware or software spooler, which allows printing to operate as a background task while another task is carried out in the foreground.

With concurrency, a spooler is unnecessary, because the operating system allows you to print a file from one virtual console while working on several others. Moreover, each virtual console can be assigned to a different printer, so you can print several files, each from a different console, on the same or different printers, while working with other programs. If two files are trying to print a file on the same printer, the first to begin printing "owns" the printer, and the other one must wait until the first is finished. During that time, all activity on the waiting console is suspended.

Communication is another task for which concurrency will prove useful. Linking many microcomputers in your organization can increase the efficiency of each operator because it makes available such features as

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C

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REQUESTOR NODE

DOT-MATRIX PRINTER

CONCURRENT ICROCOMPUTE R

REQUESTOR NODE

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Figure 2: CP/Net supports concurrent computers connected in a network as well as other CP/M-compatible machines.

shared files, shared resources, and electronic mail. Figure 2 shows how CP/Net and Concurrent CP/M permit each computer to share files and other resources (such as printers and disk drives) with other computers in the network.

The next level of utility is having several virtual consoles running the same or different programs at the same time. Running the same programs can be of help to writers or reporters, for instance, who may be working on several articles or stories at the same time. As an idea strikes you for story two while you are in the middle of story one, merely hit a key and type some notes in that story file. To nonwriters, this feature may seem unnecessary, but I assure you it is an efficient way to work. Flashes of inspiration are best recorded quickly.

This feature would also be helpful to a financial analyst who might have several spreadsheets running side by side in different currencies and who might want to use the same base-line data and generate figures in pound, franc, mark, and yen denominations. By switching screens and entering common base-line data, the appropriate currency spreads can be generated instantly.

Theoretical and Realistic Limits

The number of virtual consoles that may someday be supported by a system depends ultimately on the memory available. Let's imagine we manufacture computers. Knowing that 8086/8088 systems provide as much as 1 megabyte of memory and that Concurrent CP/M can use as much as 90K bytes (supporting four virtual consoles with full-screen buffers), we have about 900K bytes to work with. By dividing that value by the number of applications programs that are to run concurrently, we can determine how much memory we can use for each application program.

Taking another approach, we could divide 900K bytes by an estimated average of how much memory each application (including files) will require to see how many virtual consoles we could expect to have in our system. This result is still only a rough estimate because the operating system must grow when the number of virtual consoles increases beyond four if additional screen buffers are added.

Sixteen-bit microprocessors other than the 8086/8088 have even more memory. Motorola's 68000 provides up to 16 megabytes of RAM, and the

262 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

USER NUMBERS

USER NUMBERS

Figure 3: Under Concurrent CP/M, each disk drive supports as many as 16 user areas, which are numbered 0 through 15. Any virtual console can log on to any disk drive to access programs or files.

80286 from Intel furnishes much more than that. Clearly, with such abundant memory, tomorrow's machines will be able to handle many consoles, as well as highly sophisticated integrated applications packages.

Two to eight virtual consoles will probably be offered in the first wave of Concurrent CP/M implementations. Four will probably be the average number. After the first wave, manufacturers may find themselves in a race to add consoles to get the attention of increasingly adept users.

Concurrent CP/M supports up to 16 logical disk drives—separate floppy drives or several virtual drives on a hard disk or combinations of the two. Any virtual console can log on to any disk drive to access programs or files.

And as do other Digital Research operating systems, each disk drive supports as many as 16 user numbers (areas), numbered 0 through 15 (see figure 3). These areas are partitions within the file system's environment for grouping files. Files that are to be accessed by any or all user numbers on the drive are placed in user number 0 and given the system attribute. Otherwise, you must be working in the user number to access files within it.

Concurrent CP/M does have some limitations. Because disks are frequently shared by processes on different virtual consoles, you must be careful not to have an open file on a disk you're removing. In many implementations, you will be able to tell this from the status line.

Occasionally you will come across a program that requires a lot of memory. Certain spreadsheets, debuggers, and assemblers fit into this category. If they are loaded first, they could use all available memory and prevent you from loading other programs. It is wise, therefore, to load these last, so that they can use only what memory is left.

Certain applications programs create temporary files during their operation that never appear in the directory. For that reason, if you load several programs from the same drive, they should be loaded in different user numbers to prevent the process on one console from overwriting the temporary file of a process on another.

Concurrency on the IBM PC

The most popular implementation of Concurrent CP/M thus far is on the IBM Personal Computer. The PC is designed to support four virtual consoles with a minimum 256K bytes.

Because the PC version of the operating system requires 90K bytes (with all four screen buffers used), you really would not want to run the system with less than 256K bytes.

A PC running Concurrent CP/M requires at least two disk drives. To load the system, the boot disk must be placed in drive A and a system disk in drive B. When the system is running, the boot disk is removed and applications programs are loaded from drive A. On the XT hard-disk version of the PC, the system can be automatically booted from hard disk when the power is turned on.

The system supports both serial and parallel printers, the number of which is determined by the number of printer cards installed, either in the main motherboard or in an expansion interface. Both color and monochrome monitors can also be used with Concurrent CP/M.

Other Machines That Can Run Concurrent CP/M

The list of OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) signed up for Concurrent CP/M is a lengthy one and is growing longer every day. It includes Digital Equipment Corp., Texas Instruments, National Cash Register, Fujitsu, Nippon Electric, Olympia, Eagle, Corona, Commodore, MADD, Vector Graphic, and Toshiba.

Computer systems using Concurrent CP/M may differ; they will probably boot differently, support different subsets of the CCP/M utility superset, or have a different status line. Most of the initial hardware implementations will support two to eight virtual consoles, and some OEMs will also provide unique hardware enhancements that will later build upon the operating system's inherent power.

Popular Application Combinations

One of the beauties of concurrency is that it becomes more useful as the operator becomes more adept. It is also immediately useful, even to the novice. A typical novice might, for example, run only one applications

264 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983 265

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266 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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program and use another console to run system utilities. It is helpful to a beginner to be able to have the disk directory on one virtual console and the HELP utility on another, so that while he learns how to use the system, useful reference tools are always on line, only a keystroke away.

For those who make intense use of a particular applications program, it can be useful to have several versions of that program on the computer at one time. Such a setup would permit you to jump from one process to another without having to save, unload, and load another file. Managers can thus have several department's budgets on line on different virtual consoles, for instance, to permit quick comparisons of the impact of a percentage change on each.

More popular applications configurations will combine programs that will be more powerful to a user when run concurrently rather than serially Consider the programmer who can simultaneously run a debugger, an editor, and a compiler or assembler. As the debugger turns up bugs on one virtual console, the programmer can switch to another console and begin editing the program immediately, while on a third console the compiler works on a program that had been debugged earlier that day After each edit, the programmer can then switch back to the first console, find the next bug, switch back to the editor, and continue in that manner until all the required tasks are completed. What used to be a long tedious linear process thus becomes an interactive one, eliminating much idle time.

Similarly, consider the busy project manager, who may have a word processor on one virtual console, a spreadsheet on another, a database-management program on a third, and the fourth connected to a modem awaiting a call. When the data is phoned in, it is stored in a file that can be shared by any of the other processes. It can be entered into the database or used by the spreadsheet as input for other projections, which may then be entered into the report being written on the word processor.

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Photo 1: Tzw examples of dynamic windows, which allow a user to work and monitor several other consoles at the same time.

Moreover, the data can be made available to different processes in a fraction of the time and by fewer people than it would have taken otherwise. Consider the secretary who is connected to a network and has a word processor on one virtual console, a critical-path schedule on another, and an appointment calendar on a third. That secretary can receive input and transmit output to a large number of sources efficiently and, more important, be more up to date each time information is sent out than was ever possible before.

The Future of Concurrency

Concurrent CP/M is having an impact on software developers. Integrated software packages represent the first step in the development cycle of a new generation of software, and other enhancements are appearing. For example, it has already become possible to interact with processes on several virtual consoles by means of dynamic windowing (see photo 1). As you work on one console you can use one or more windows, of whatever size you specify, to show you what is going on in real time in other consoles. Furthermore, you can log on to any console being monitored and send input to it. A programmer can thus see which bugs are turning up on the debugger without ever having to leave the editor and simultaneously see how the compiler is running without having to log on to its virtual console.

Similarly, a project manager can use dynamic windowing to monitor

268 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

data being received by a modem through a window in his word processor without having to switch screens. Furthermore, the manager can also work on those consoles because they are dynamic (i.e., it is possible to interact with them). In other words, if he presses the function key to log on to console 3 and has customized the window so that he can see enough output, the manager can work right there without switching screens, while also monitoring several other consoles. It may take some effort to customize each window to be able to see the crucial screen output needed, but the results can be impressive. Going back to the TV analogy, it's like having a small window in the corner of your TV screen showing you what's happening on the news while you're watching MASH. When a commercial comes up during MASH, you can always switch the big screen to the news and put the MASH channel in the window to wait for that commercial to end.

The hardware implications of concurrent processing are not as easy to speculate about. Because many machines handle concurrency well, it may be some time before we see hardware designed around concurrent processing. However, features that are desirable for this environment include the hard disk, which can alleviate file-storage problems; multiple floppy drives, for those who want to eliminate shared drives; and larger monitor screens to allow additional and bigger windows.

Conclusion

Three concepts can be used to summarize the effects of concurrency: synergy, holism, and heuristics. Synergy is the total effect of separate processes working together. It describes the cooperative action that single-user Concurrent CP/M permits.

Holism is the tendency in nature to produce larger organisms from ordered groupings of smaller organisms. It is exemplified by people exploring the manifold possibilities that 16-bit computing technology represents and applying it to their needs.

Finally, heuristics, the principle of discovery as it applies to learning, will be practiced as computer users and designers discover the capabilities of concurrency. Concurrent processing will exert a powerful influence on the development of hardware and software and the user in-! terfaces to both.

Computer users have become more aware of how human thinking differs from the way a computer "thinks" and are not as easily impressed by computers as they once were. Users now want enhancements that are extensions of the way they work; they don't want to be forced to adjust to the way a computer works. Concurrency is such an enhancement. It's an idea whose time has come.l

Joe Guzaitis is currently a senior technical writer at Digital Research Inc., 160 Central Ave., Pacific Grove, CA 93950. Prior to joining Digital Research he was an editor for CTB/McGraw-Hill in Monterey, California and before that a project director with SRA/IBM in Chicago.

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All of the features you want and need.

•LSI smart modem, 300 or 1200 baud, full duplex, uses just one slot on all models.

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Access 1-2-3 and PC120CB arc Trademarks of Novation, Inc. C TOSStalk XVI is ;i trademark of Microstuf Inc.

The IBM PC Meets Ethernet

Adoption of Ethernet technology enables IBM PCs to share

peripherals and information

by Larry Birenbaum

Photo 1: 3Com's Etherlink, consisting of a plug-in board and disk-based software.

272 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Local networking, the interconnection of computers located within a building, provides a unique computing synergy whose effectiveness is most dramatic in the case of personal computers.

The technology involved in local networking of personal computers (LNPC) combines the friendliness, accessibility, and large software base of personal computers with the extensibility and cost savings of local networking. This article reviews how one popular local network, Ethernet, was applied to the IBM Personal Computer (PC).

Local Networking of PCs

Local networking of personal computers provides three major benefits: peripheral sharing, information access, and personal communication. The most obvious benefit is perhaps peripheral sharing, which, for example, enables networked PCs to share printers and high-performance disks. Another important example of peripheral sharing is extra-network access in the form of shared mainframe gateways, such as IBM's 3270 and modems.

The principal motivation for peripheral sharing is to distribute the cost of expensive or seldom-used peripherals among the entire PC community. Less recognized, but equally important, are ergonomic improvements—sharing of centralized disks and printers that make for smaller and quieter workstations.

The second benefit, information access, enables several networked PCs to share common information. Information sharing has a significant impact on personal productivity not only because of the ease and speed of access, but also because the information is more timely and up to date. And data resident in one place, multiply accessed, isn't prone to errors of transcription and media conversion.

The most underrated benefit of LNPC is personal communication, as epitomized by electronic mail. To be cost-effective, electronic mail must be actively and widely used. Such wide use is often difficult to document in advance, therefore preventing the

cost justification needed to get approval for electronic mail's implementation. Nevertheless, any experienced electronic-mail user can attest to the very real productivity improvements that electronic mail provides: it permits the managing of communication at the user's convenience, eliminates "telephone tag," and it allows the dispensing of information directly, quickly, and reliably.

Ethernet

A technology capable of implementing these three benefits—peripheral sharing, information access, and personal communication—on personal computers, Ethernet is a high-performance, bus-oriented local-networking system initially designed by Xerox Corporation in the early 1970s. It was later promulgated as a standard by Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel Corporation, and

Ethernet is a hardware

standard that defines

connecting equipment.

Xerox and has since been adopted by numerous other companies, including Apple, Hewlett-Packard, NCR, Data General, ICL Ltd., and Fujitsu. Equally significant is the adoption of Ethernet by local-networking standards bodies, such as the IEEE.

Ethernet is a hardware standard; it solves fundamental problems of equipment interconnection. It does not, however, address all the higher-level (software) protocols. Nevertheless, as a standard, Ethernet does pave the way for efficient communication among a wide variety of computer equipment, from mainframes, through minicomputers, to personal computers. On the 3Com in-house network, for example, about 50 computers from DEC, Apple, IBM, Altos, and other manufacturers all communicate with one another at various levels.

As a consequence of this standardization, Ethernet hardware conforms to a standard architecture whose components are interchangeable re-

How Ethernet Works

Obviously, some cunning scheme must be employed to enable several PCs to share the same piece of wire. In the case of Ethernet, it's a packet-switching access method, formally known as carrier-sense, multiple-access with collision detection (CSMA/ CD). Like many technical terms, it sounds more formidable than the concept it represents.

Every station has a unique address. Data to be transmitted is first divided into "packets/' each one bearing the address of the destination station. To send a packet, the sending station first listens to the cable to see if it's busy; when the cable is quiet, the sending station transmits the packet. The packet, heard by all stations, is captured by the one with the matching address.

An interesting situation arises when two stations hear a quiet cable and apply their packets simultaneously, which, not surprisingly, results in garbled data. It is important that such "collisions" are detected by the stations, whereupon they each wait a random amount of time and simply retransmit.

At 10 Mbps, Ethernet is an efficient system in practice. In one large, heavily loaded Ethernet implementation, it was found that average utilization was less than 3.6 percent during the busiest hour of the day. Also, collisions are rare events, with servers involved in one per hour on the average (two per day for user stations) on this network.

gardless of manufacturer. The bus part of Ethernet is a coaxial cable (figure 1). Stations can be attached to this cable anywhere by way of an Ethernet transceiver and a multiwire drop cable. The drop cable, in turn, attaches to an Ethernet controller, which plugs into the computer. Seven companies have announced commitments to supply Ethernet controller ICs (integrated circuits), an important impetus to Ethernet's success.

The coaxial cable can be strung around a building according to communication needs. Each coaxial segment is limited to a length of 500 meters; the use of repeaters allows stations to be up to 2.5 kilometers apart. The number of stations is limited to 100 per segment and to 1000 per network.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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-COMPUTER

Figure 1: A typical Ethernet connection.

A notable feature of Ethernet is its transmission speed of 10 Mbps (megabits per second). In addition to facilitating high-performance communication applications such as disk sharing, this speed makes networks with very large numbers of stations viable.

Network Architecture Defined

In early 1982, 3Com began investigating the application of Ethernet technology to the world of personal computers. Many would have considered this mission misbegotten, claiming that Ethernet couldn't, wouldn't, and shouldn't be used with personal computers. It had a reputation for being too complex, too expensive, and even too fast for hum-ble little microcomputers. Undaunted, 3Com proceeded to define a network architecture suitable for personal computers, called Ether-series, initially focusing on the IBM PC.

Clearly, the main peripherals to be

shared by PCs were printers anc disks. Printing, dubbed Etherprint in Etherseries terminology, was to be spooled to improve performance and enable concurrency. Disk sharing, called Ethershare, had to be implemented in such a way as to permit data sharing while realizing price-performance benefits. Etherprint and Ethershare are now the fundamental services; other 3Com-supported applications include functions such as electronic mail (Ethermail).

The architecture for realizing these services is based on user PCs and servers, as shown in figure 2. User PCs are the workstations of individuals; servers are computers atn tached to the high-performance disks, printers, and other shared resources, such as electronic-mail "post offices."

Three server types are available: PC, AP, and VAX. At the low end, the PC Network Server consists of a standard IBM PC, IBM PC XT, or IBM PC look-alike, with a 3Com Ethernet interface and appropriate software. A hard disk is required to support Ethershare service but is optional for Etherprinting. A medium-range system, the AP Network Server is a separate 3Com box containing a high-performance processor and a 30-megabyte disk, with an optional printer, disk, and tape add-ons. The high-end server is a standard DEC VAX computer running the Unix operating system, combined with a 3Com Ethernet interface and software. In this VAX-based system, the server code coexists with the customer's normal VAX/Unix operations.

All three servers provide virtually identical services and are in fact indistinguishable to user PCs. In order to achieve multivendor support, they were carefully developed to have no specific PC dependencies. Ethershare, Etherprint, and other network services are each composed of two parts operating in concert, one in the user PC and the other in the server, communicating over the "ether," in this case, coaxial cable. To maximize overall performance, the two-part partitioning shifts responsibilities from the servers to the user PCs whenever possible. Moreover, servers

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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GATEWAY

PRINTER

SERVER

USER PC

USER/SERVER TRANSACTIONS

DISKING PRINTING MAIL 3270

Figure 2: The Etherseries networking environment.

implement extensive caching and buffering.

A critical objective was to realize one of LNPC's major advantages: modular extensibility. A local network permits smooth growth in computing resources; servers can be added as existing servers become overloaded or as the cost of special peripherals, such as laser printers, becomes justifiable. (A network's degree of standardization becomes very important in these situations.)

Relative to the Etherseries architecture, extensibility requirements dictate that multiple servers operate in a fully integrated fashion, almost as if they are one. This integration is achieved by enforcing unique user names across the entire network. That a particular user is actually assigned to a particular server becomes a condition that's transparent to users. For example, a user can log in or send a mail message without regard to the specific servers involved. Another powerful example of this integration is the ability to access another user's data by simply specifying that user's name, regardless of where the data actually resides. However, a unique server name can be invoked—if, for example, a user wants to produce a hard-copy output on a particular network printer.

276 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

An Interface for the IBM PC

All this elegance would have been for naught without a viable Ethernet connection for PCs. Three technical obstacles—space, power, and cost-faced the 3Com hardware designer. Before the IBM PC interface, the smallest complete Ethernet connection measured 100 square inches, drew 30 watts, and cost about $1800 for the controller, transceiver, and drop cable. The IBM PC restricts the connection to 52 square inches and about 5 watts. 3Com knew the cost had to be kept under $1000,

The space and power solution was based on VLSI (very large-scale integration). 3Com collaborated with Seeq Technology in the development of what turned out to be the first commercialized Ethernet chip, the Ethernet Data Link Controller, which handles the entire Ethernet algorithm. This controller is the functional equivalent of about 50 standard ICs and consumes one-fifth their power.

Although VLSI promised drastic cost reductions, additional economizing was needed to meet the price goal. The breakthrough was to implement the transceiver on the same printed-circuit board as the controller, thus saving the cost of an outboard package and drop cable. A radical

SERVER

PRINTER

new transceiver design, smaller and less power-hungry, was concocted, and the result was a fully compatible Ethernet interface that plugs into one slot of the IBM PC (photo 1).

Recalling the Ethernet hardware architecture (figure 1), using an onboard transceiver means that the coaxial cable can be connected to the PC itself. Standard Ethernet coaxial cable is relatively expensive and inflexible and thus not suitable for this application. Instead, 3Com promoted the use of Thin Ethernet, which is nothing more than standard 50-ohm RG-58 coaxial cable, a TV-like cable that is less expensive, more flexible, more readily available, and easier to install than the standard cable. The only drawback of Thin Ethernet is that the cable has greater electrical attenuation, reducing the single-coaxial-segment limit from 500 meters to 300 meters.

Emulating a Real Disk Driver

With the feasibility of a low-cost compatible personal computer Ethernet interface proven, the challenge fell to the software designers to provide an effective software complement. Not surprisingly, the software took about four times the effort that the hardware did. (Etherseries is comprised of about 85,000 lines of

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APPLICATION

FILE/RECORD

NETWORKING APPLICATIONS

LOGICAL SECTOR NUMBER

VIRTUAL DRIVE

MO

REAL DRIVE ID

IBM PC DISK

DRIVER

(BIOS)

ETHERSHARE DRIVER

HEAD/TRACK/ SECTOR

DISK CONTROLLER

Figure 3: Anatomy of a disk request.

code.)

The primary objective was clear: to introduce Ethernet software into the IBM PC in such a fashion that networking would be implicitly affected without any applications program being aware of it. This transparency was the foundation on which 3Com intended to support every existing MS-DOS program. That philosophy is shared by several other networking vendors, but its attainment can be measured only by degree.

3Com had several secondary objectives relating to transparency. One was to make the networking facilities available not only to application programs, but also to all MS-DOS commands and to MS-DOS itself. For example, standard commands such as DIR, COPY, PRINT (the print-spooling command), and even CHKDSK, plus built-in operations such as Shift-PrtSc and Control-PrtSc, were to operate without change as they would

PRINT REQUESTS (VIA MS-DOS)

r~i—*

J ETHERPRINT I *" | DRIVER I

ETHERNET DRIVER

normally. For reliability and support reasons, another important objective was to avoid operating-system modifications, thus promising easier upgrades to new versions of MS-DOS.

The addition of a special network driver to MS-DOS was the natural approach, but this had to be considered in light of the transparency objective. While the integration of custom device drivers is a fully supported facility in MS-DOS, how would standard programs avail themselves of the network services without explicitly invoking the network driver?

The answer was to have Ethernet software emulate a real disk driver. (For the purposes of this discussion, we will focus on the shared-disk facility; the spooled-printing development followed similar trade-offs and implementation.) The idea was to have any program, command, or function that normally uses a disk automatically wind up using the

analogous network service, Ether-share.

The user's selection of a real disk or a network disk is accomplished simply by the MS-DOS drive ID specifier. The network driver appropriates its own specifiers; for instance, D: through G:, distinct from the real-disk specifiers, say A:, B:, and C:. The network specifiers are called virtual drives, and referencing them causes disk requests to access virtual disks, or volumes, that actually reside on a server. In all other respects, the virtual disks appear identical to real disks—those within a user PC.

Let's examine >.~\n MS-DOS disk request (figure 3). The application makes an initial call in the form of file/record to the operating system. MS-DOS references privileged disk and file tables to locate the record on the disk, treating the disk as a linear space. It converts the request to a logical sector number. Normally this number would be passed on to the disk driver, which then would convert the request to head/track/sector information and would access the disk controller directly But in the case of a virtual-disk request, MS-DOS, directed by drive ID, passes the request on to the Ethershare "disk" driver. This driver passes a logical sector number on to the server, which accesses the appropriate volume.

The communication protocol employed is the nonproprietary Xerox Network Systems (XNS) protocol. For this service, the Packet Exchange Protocol option was used to send a disk read or write request to the server and receive the data (read) or acknowledgment (write). In the rare cases when nothing is returned, the request is simply retransmitted.

Managing Network Data

A problem related to disk requests centers on how servers' virtual volumes get assigned to users' virtual drives. This assignment is achieved through the use of supplementary commands supplied with the Ether-series software.

Every user is assigned to a specific server. There, each user owns a set

278 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 248 on inquiry card.

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280 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

of named volumes, each of which can be dynamically associated with any virtual drive. The first step in accessing this data is to use LOGIN. This step serves three purposes: it automatically locates the particular server to which a user is assigned; it establishes the user's private volume domain; and it identifies the user for other purposes, such as Etherprint printout banners and Ethermail delivery. User IDs can be protected by a password for LOGIN.

The next step is to join a volume, by name, to a local virtual drive using the LINK command. (This step is analogous to inserting a disk.) Once connected by a LINK command, the drive is accessed normally. This framework provides a convenient mechanism for data sharing, which is achieved by using LINK to associate other users' volumes to your drives as governed by a concurrency and security system. There are three

Supplementary

commands assign

servers' virtual volumes

to users' virtual drives.

types of volumes: Private volumes provide read/write access to one user at a time; public volumes provide single-writer, multiple readers access; and shared volumes provide read-write access to any number of users. Appropriate defaults coupled with volume passwords determine who can access what. Any volume on the network can be so linked, regardless of what server it's on.

To realize the full potential of data sharing in LNPCs, a small but vital additional capability is required: concurrent file update. While networking systems can control concurrency at the volume (or even the file) level, no workable system has been developed to automatically (i.e., without program change) interlock record requests because systems software cannot accurately foresee when a program has finished with a record. To address this problem, Etherseries and other systems provide sema-

phores or abstract flags that enable programmers to synchronize their own accesses from multiple PCs. Semaphores are managed by a common server and can be tested, locked, and unlocked.

An Assessment

How well has the Etherseries networking approach satisfied its objectives? Use of the Ethernet hardware standard and the public XNS protocols have addressed the compatibility objective, although complete communications compatibility awaits standardization of the uppermost protocol layers, such as those governing electronic mail. The Thin Ethernet concept has garnered interest from standards bodies (such as the IEEE), who are now investigating its implementation as a standardized communications network. Hardware cost objectives were met by incorporating VLSI and an on-board transceiver, overcoming the claims of critics that Ethernet would remain too costly for microcomputer applications.

The principal Etherseries software objective was ease of use, a feature addressed by, for example, patterning the basic command style after that of MS-DOS and supporting the intrinsic MS-DOS functions (such as the COPY and PRINT commands).

Finally, success in meeting the objective of transparent peripheral sharing is evidenced by the fact that an overwhelming majority of MS-DOS applications programs run on an Etherseries system without modification. Those that do not run on Etherseries provide their own disk drivers, require insertion of specific floppy disks during operation, or are not relocatable. ■

Author's note:

Thanks are due to the people who brought this technology to life: Mike Bonnain, Ron Crane, Pitts Jarvis, Jeff Mason, Ken Powell, Greg Shaw, and Lynn Welge.

Larry Birenbaum is vice-president of engineering at 3Com Corp. (1390 Shorebird Way, Mountain View, CA 94043).

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MS-DOS 2.0: An Enhanced 16-Bit Operating System

Features such as installable device drivers and Xenix compatibility have improved this popular operating system

MS-DOS 2.0 is the most recent version of Microsoft's popular 16-bit, single-user operating system. In this article we'll take a look at its most significant new features and how they benefit users.

PC-DOS 2.0 (IBM's version of MS-DOS 2.0) is the operating system used on the IBM Personal Computer (PC), a machine that represents what Microsoft refers to as the third generation of microcomputers. The first generation encompassed such 8-bit machines as the MITS Altair 8800 and other S-100 computers, which were marketed mostly to hobbyists. Stand-alone 8-bit computers, such as those from Apple, Radio Shack, and Commodore, with Microsoft BASIC built into ROM (read-only memory), made up the second generation. With those machines, software productivity tools, such as Visicalc pff, started to appear.

Third-generation microcomputers provide additional power with an Intel 8086 (or its sibling, the 8088), a 16-bit microprocessor that enables you to do more than you could at the 8-bit level, where you were con-

by Chris Larson

strained by the lack of space and speed. Typically, 16-bit systems have 128K bytes of memory, even though their minimum configurations may have much less memory. A variety of high-level languages can be run on these machines, and end-user tools are becoming easier to use as the larger addressing space of the 16-bit microprocessor permits the im-

The new MS-DOS 2.0

represents a significant

advance in personal

computer operating

systems.

plementation of more sophisticated user interfaces.

The new MS-DOS 2.0 represents a significant advance in personal computer operating systems—especially compared with 8-bit operating systems.

Installable Device Drivers

A significant new feature of MS-DOS 2.0 is installable device drivers,

the software routines used to control such hardware as the keyboard and monitor, which are attached to the machine. Device drivers work differently with systems from different manufacturers.

Specifically, this feature allows the end user, at initialization time, to load any device driver into memory—for block as well as serial devices. A block device transfers more than one byte of data (i.e., a fixed-length block) at a time; a disk, for example, is a block device. A serial device passes bytes one at a time in a stream, which is of variable length. Printers, keyboards, and display screens are serial devices.

In the past, it was the responsibility of the computer-hardware vendor to provide the BIOS (basic input /output system) to permit the operating system to run that company's particular hardware configuration. Independent hardware manufacturers who wanted to sell their equipment for use on another company's computer thus ran into problems. For example, firms marketing hard disks for use on the IBM PC cannot legally

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

distribute IBM's BIOS to their end users because IBM owns its BIOS. Consequently, those manufacturers have two courses of action available to them. They can completely rewrite the BIOS code for the PC, incorporating the hard-disk code, then market that package. Or they can write a rather complicated utility that will read the end user's legitimate copy of the BIOS, alter it, adding in the code required to run the independent firm's device, and finally come up with a working BIOS for the PC. Not surprisingly, this approach hasn't worked out too well. Both of these techniques result in a nonstandard software environment. Each time a revision of the BIOS comes out, independent manufacturers must go through the difficult process of rewriting their code.

MS-DOS 2.0 makes life easier for these independent manufacturers by implementing installable device drivers. Indeed, it also simplifies the work of the computer manufacturer by making it necessary to supply a hard-disk device driver only to those users who actually purchase hard disks. Device drivers thus benefit the manufacturer of the machine as well as third-party vendors.

Previously, some operating systems had a configurable BIOS—the manufacturer included code for every conceivable device and let the end user choose from the list, matching the code with his particular equipment. That approach works well if the manufacturer is supplying all the peripherals; however, users often want to buy peripherals from other manufacturers, so it's important to give the independent manufacturer the capability of installing its hardware in the MS-DOS environment.

The capability of installing device drivers also enables MS-DOS 2.0 to support foreign keyboards. A user can reconfigure his machine by installing, for instance, a French keyboard driver. And although the user will continue to type on an English keyboard, it will behave as though it were designed for use in French applications. The installable-device-driver capability provides the gateway to a sophisticated networking

286 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

system. Networking drivers can be installed in the same way.

Moreover, MS-DOS 2.0 eases installation and removal of serial-stream processing. Cursor positioning and graphics, for example, can be added to or removed from the console driver. Thus, if a user wants to switch from DEC VT-52-type to ANSI (American National Standards Institute) cursor positioning, he merely installs the appropriate device driver. Then if he wants to add a Virtual Device Interface (VDI) graphic serial-stream interpreter later, he can do that as well.

Microsoft is committed to promoting several serial-stream-processing standards and is trying to make it easy for manufacturers to adopt those standards. The firm has chosen the ANSI terminal-driver standard

Installable device

drivers control the

peripherals users attach

to their machines.

for cursor positioning, for example, which is used on such systems as the DEC VT-100 series and enjoys wide acceptance. It also is the most versatile of the available standards.

The VDI graphics system provides the programmer with a standard set of primitive vector operations that work the same way on many different graphics output devices. [Editor's Note: For more information on the Virtual Device Interface, see "Realizing Graphics Standards for Microcomputers" by Fred E. Langhorst and Thomas B, Clarkson III, February 1983 BYTE, page 256.]

In addition to VDI, Microsoft will provide system-level support for a set of raster primitives to allow programmers to make use of BASIC'S graphics capabilities from other languages. This set of primitives will also allow programs in BASIC to redirect output to graphics devices other than the video-display screen.

For each of these standards, Microsoft will provide skeletal drivers, the code to interpret specific serial-stream sequences. Manufacturers

will have to implement the skeletal drivers in their specific hardware environment.

Xenix Compatibility

The second most important feature of MS-DOS 2.0 is Xenix compatibility, which is divided into several areas. First are the file primitives, which provide a very efficient way of invoking the operating system to perform a file-management function. The parsing of filenames, for instance, is handled in a more sophisticated way, and the operating system takes care of all the file characteristics, so you are not left with file-control blocks (FCBs) floating around in your memory space. MS-DOS 2.0 also provides a more powerful and efficient way to develop software.

The latest release of MS-DOS also includes Xenix executive-mode system calls, which allow it to deal with a hierarchy of tasks set up in the operating system. With previous versions, only one program could run at a time, and when it ended, computer control was returned to the operating system and the user would see the operating-system prompt on the screen. MS-DOS 2.0, however, provides the capability for one process to invoke another, then either to invoke yet another one or return to the parent process when it is finished.

Suppose, for example, you are within the operating-system shell and then execute an application program such as Multiplan. You can re-invoke the shell at the next level deeper, then go back into Multiplan, and, when you are done, return to the original copy in the shell. This powerful feature thus enables you to be in a context-switching environment.

MS-DOS 2.0 also makes it possible to create programs that can run in either a Xenix or an MS-DOS environment. By avoiding earlier types of system calls and restricting program design to version 2.0's file-system primitives and executive-mode system calls, a software developer can write a piece of source code that can run and be compiled down into either environment with no modifications. Microsoft provides a set of

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rules that strictly define the realm of functions within which the software developer must remain to ensure that the program created is transportable between the two operating systems; that is, to provide source-code compatibility but not direct binary compatibility for the end user.

An Improved File Directory

Another example of MS-DOS 2.0's compatibility with Xenix is its enhanced directory system. Logically consistent with the Xenix file structure and physically consistent with the existing MS-DOS file structure, it is a hierarchical system that permits the logical organization of user files. It would allow you, for example, to partition a hard disk shared by five office workers into several areas. One directory might contain all accounts payable, for instance, and another might hold data on accounts receivable, while a third could have programs that all five employees use. Another could contain separate subdirectories labeled Fred, Joe, and Mary—set aside for individuals who would store their own programs there. Those users could each then subdivide their subdirectories into such categories as work and personal files.

This hierarchical structure eases storage and retrieval of files. The last thing anyone wants to do when running a machine with a hard disk is to type a directory command and see 8000 files go zinging by on the screen; most of them won't be of interest. A hierarchical structure eliminates that problem. A well-organized directory not only simplifies the task of finding a file, it also allows you to keep your files together, not intermixed with someone else's. This capability can save time and effort in situations where several users share one machine.

Input/Output Enhancements

In addition to modifying the file structure of MS-DOS, Microsoft has added the capability to redirect input and output. (The company received some criticism for not including this feature in earlier releases because it was possible to accomplish this to

some extent in other operating systems.) MS-DOS 2.0's method of redirecting I/O involves an advanced, user-friendly procedure. Logically consistent with Xenix, it uses characters in the same fashion. Output from standard devices, such as a keyboard, display, and communications port, can be redirected to either files or other devices. The redirection can be either a dynamic one, where it is performed on the command line, or one that invokes a utility to redirect output permanently. One type of redirection, for instance, would be to send output from the screen to the printer.

For use in international

environments, MS-DOS

provides features that

are not offered by

other operating

systems.

The capability of redirecting input and output is closely coupled to the concept of device drivers. When you use a new serial device, you can give it any name you like, as long as you accurately define it in your device driver. The same name can then be used in the redirection of I/O.

MS-DOS 2.0 also provides a limited form of piping, a means of interprocess communication available in Xenix. This type of piping permits you to take the output of one process and have the operating system automatically feed it to another process as input. Suppose, for example, that you wanted to sort a directory. Under MS-DOS 2.0, you could issue the directory command and pipe the output into a utility that would sort it. The operating system could automatically handle this procedure.

The SORT utility, a type of filter, is a standard utility that is very helpful for this kind of piping. Other utilities include a simple one called MORE, which suspends output on the screen every 24 or 25 lines so that the user doesn't see all his output go by without being able to read it. Another utility, called FIND, helps locate a given string of characters within a file.

An International Flavor

In addition to the features men tioned thus far, MS-DOS 2.0 contains certain capabilities that are tailored to the operating system's use in various countries. As manufacturers of large computers, long involved in worldwide sales, such as IBM, Wang, and Digital Equipment Corporation, enter the personal computer arena, they are making their products adaptable to various countries. For use in international environments, version 2.0 provides features that are not offered by other operating systems. Many of these features, however, may not be noticed by an end user in the U.S., as the first distribution of MS-DOS was designed around the requirements of the U.S. market.

For example, 8-bit character storage, important for the support of international character sets, has always been used internally in the DOS. In addition, a system call in MS-DOS 2.0 provides important information about the national environment. For a specific country (including the default country for which the system has been configured), the operating system supplies such information about how numeric data is formatted: what character is used for a decimal point (a comma or period), what character is used to separate thousands (a comma, period, or space), what symbol is used to represent currency, and whether that symbol precedes or follows the printed number. Information on the number of decimal places used when the currency symbol is invoked is also provided (for instance, in systems configured for the United States, two decimal places are used, but in Japan the default is zero; the Japanese write about quantities of yen without stating any fractional amounts). Lowercase to uppercase character-conversion information is used in filenames, and the SORT collating sequence is adaptable to different character sets.

The hardware manufacturer supplying MS-DOS 2.0 with its products can customize error messages to suit different languages. The package shipped to manufacturers is a relocatable binary version of the operating system plus source code for the

288 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Like television and stereo, computers can be used by many different people, in offices and business, in schools and at home ...the interest in programs is the difference.

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messages, which the manufacturer can link together. Microsoft provides samples of error messages for major European languages and Japanese. Because manufacturers provide various character sets to support use of their products in Europe, they must adapt the error messages to each type of set.

Other Microsoft products are suited to use in international settings. Therefore, if a user ran Microsoft's Multiplan under MS-DOS with the French default parameters set, he would see numbers using a comma

to indicate decimal points, incorporating the symbol for the French franc. MS-DOS would also express the date and time in the appropriate format.

By having this functionality incorporated into language processors, although a user might be running an application program that was not designed to run in an international environment, the operating system will automatically incorporate the appropriate changes. Of course, the best programs will be customized for each environment, but for programs that

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are not, the user won't have to inform the application program that he is tailoring it to a foreign environment. Error messages and menus are also suitable for use in particular places. In addition, the operator using an application program—a French version of Peachtree's accounting package, for instance—can tell the operating system to pretend that, instead of France, he is in Great Britain; subsequently, the numbers he uses will be printed in a British format. Eventually, all of Microsoft's products will take advantage of this feature.

Background Tasking

In addition to providing the ability to adapt to a variety of international formats, MS-DOS 2.0 makes it possible to process interrupts in real time through the use of background tasks. MS-DOS 2.0 is not a reentrant operating system and does not support true multitasking. It is thus limited to background processing in interrupt time—the background task can only make use of the operating system as a resource if the foreground task is not interrupted in the middle of an operating-system call.

The operating system still considers only one task at a time, although you can fool it and work on rather intelligent tasks in the background. By following some specific rules, you can also let the computer perform concurrent processing. A print spooler, provided as part of MS-DOS 2.0 (activated by PRINT.COM), makes extensive use of this capability. Potential uses made possible by background tasking include background communications such as receiving electronic mail.

The power of 16-bit microprocessors has provided the foundation for more sophisticated personal computer applications. MS-DOS 2.0 demonstrates the significance of a step in this direction by incorporating many new features. As memory prices continue to drop, users can expect more power and capability in future versions of MS-DOS.■

Chris Larson is a marketing manager at Microsoft Corporation (10700 Northup Way, Bellevue, WA 98004).

290 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983 291

The Corona PCs, desktop and portable, give you everything youve ever wanted in an IBM-compatible PC and more. For a great deal less.

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The Corona PC is a 16-bit microcomputer based on the 8088 microprocessor, just like the IBM PC. And like the IBM PC, it runs any software that conforms to the IBM standard.

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System Review

The IBM PC XT and DOS 2.00

DOS 2.00 has changed more radically relative to its predecessor than the XT has compared to the PC

by Rowland Archer Jr.

Speculation about the IBM Personal Computer XT reached a feverish pitch a few days before IBM unveiled the new machine. Industry pundits had IBM announcing a new PC with everything from 256K-bit memory chips to an Intel 80186 processor running multiple users under the Unix operating system. If you too were looking for an announcement as dramatic as this, you were probably disappointed by the XX which didn't even replace the PC's 8088 microprocessor with its compatible big brother, the 8086. IBM chose instead to take a conservative, evolutionary step in the development of its highly successful Personal Computer, Perhaps by the time you read this IBM will have announced its "super system." Meanwhile, based on the order backlog at area computer stores, IBM is selling all the XTs it can build.

The PC XT looks just like a PC except for the XT on the name plate and the replacement of the right-hand floppy-disk drive by a 10-megabyte Winchester hard disk (see photo 1). Inside, the XT has eight expansion slots, correcting the frequent complaint that the PC had too few slots—five. Up to 256K bytes of memory can be plugged into the motherboard, which now uses 64K-bit dynamic RAM (random-access read/write memory) chips instead of the earlier 16K-bit chips. The XT comes with 128K bytes of RAM as standard equipment. Also standard is an asynchronous-communications board, providing one RS-232C serial port with modem controls. The cassette port is gone, but it never really caught on anyway. In fact, IBM's latest Hardware Fact Sheet brochure fails to mention its presence on the PC at all.

Concurrent with the announcement of the PC XT, IBM introduced new versions of its PC-DOS and BASIC, both revisions 2.00. PC-DOS 2.00, or DOS 2.00, was supplied to IBM by Microsoft and is compatible with the generic MS-DOS 2.00. DOS 2.00 provides many of the features found in Microsoft's Xenix operating system (a licensed version of Unix), including hierarchical directories, pipes, and filters. BASIC 2.00 contains a number of powerful new features, including support for hierarchical directories, double-precision trigonometric functions, extensions to BASIC 1.10's graphics and music statements, and more.

Hardware Overview

The first thing you are likely to notice when you turn on the XT is the sound of its fan. Combined with the whirring of the hard disk, this noise makes the XT a much more obtrusive workmate than the floppy-disk-only PC. On the positive side, the sound of the hard disk in action, evidenced by flashes of its front-mounted LED (light-emitting diode), is only a faint pinging; the familiar groans that accompany floppy-disk-drive head movement are notably absent.

When the XT is powered on, it spends about 30 seconds running through a number of self-test diagnostics, including a memory check. Satisfied that it is in working order, it attempts to boot from the floppy-disk drive. If the drive door is left open, the XT will then try to boot from the hard disk. This two-step process lets you boot floppy disks with ease, a necessity to run some

294 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

protected software such as Microsoft's Flight Simulator. On the other hand, it also lets you boot directly off the hard disk without having to start from the floppy disk, as some systems require.

The hard disk's speed is impressive if you are used to floppy-disk-based systems. BASIC A loads in under 1 second, compared to about 4 seconds from a floppy disk. You hardly notice the pause while Wordstar disk overlays are loaded. In addition to its greater transfer speed (5 million bits per second compared to 250 thousand bits per second for the floppy-disk drives), there is no start-up time associated with a hard-disk access; by comparison, floppy-disk drives take % second to come up to speed if their motors are off when they are accessed.

The hard disk contains two platters, for a total of four writable surfaces. Each surface contains 306 tracks; each track has seventeen 512-byte sectors, for a total storage capacity of 10,653,696 bytes. Although this is a lot of storage compared to most floppy-disk-based systems, I was surprised at how fast I filled up half the disk.

The XT I reviewed came with a Seagate Winchester disk that developed an intermittent howling noise sifter a couple of days. I never lost any data, but the noise was unnerving, and I returned the system for repair under warranty. The dealer swapped in a new hard disk, manufactured by Miniscribe. I haven't had any trouble

since then. The disk does its job quickly and reliably; if the fan were quieter, I would have no complaints at all.

Color Display

With the announcement of the XT, IBM concurrently unveiled its first RGB (red-green-blue) color monitor for both the PC and the XT. After using it for several months I must say it has the best colors I have seen on an under-$1000 unit. Resolution is very good, although characters are not quite as readable as on the standard IBM monochrome unit. I have used it alongside the new Quad-chrome monitor from Quadram; the Quadchrome has slightly better resolution, but the IBM has truer colors. The IBM also has a nearly black background that gives displayed characters plenty of contrast for improved readability. The color display does have one annoying characteristic. This problem is actually related to the color-graphics card and the software using it, not to the RGB monitor. Machine-language software is supposed to restrict itself to writing only during display-retrace time; some software, notably MS-DOS itself, ignores this rule. As a result, the entire display blinks whenever it scrolls. This problem does not occur in BASIC, which follows the rules for display generation.

Expansion Slots

The first reviews of the IBM PC complained that it

Photo 1: The XT looks like a PC until you examine the right-hand disk drive closely.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 295

Photo 2: The XT has eight expansion slots to rectify the common complaint against the PC—that it has only five slots.

didn't take long to fill the PC's five expansion slots. You need at least one slot for a display card; the second slot is for a disk controller; and a color graphics card fills slot number three. Because the 8088 processor can address a megabyte of memory, you'll want more than the 64K bytes that fit on the motherboard. Add a memory card to the fourth slot, and all the other options must compete for the one remaining slot.

Seemingly hundreds of vendors jumped at this marketing opportunity, offering multifunction cards that provide memory expansion, serial and parallel ports, and extras like clock calendars with battery backup, all in a single slot.

The XT, with its eight expansion slots, should cause these vendors to rethink their strategy. A serial port is standard equipment on the XT. Below the expansion slots are four banks of nine chips (see photo 2). Each chip is a 64K-bit part, giving each bank a capacity of 64K bytes, including a parity bit. The standard XT comes with two banks populated, for a total of 128K bytes. Each of the other banks can be filled separately, up to a maximum of 256K bytes on board, using no expansion slots. You can add memory cards to bring the XT up to a maximum memory configuration of 640K bytes.

Photo 3 shows the system unit from the top, with five of its slots loaded. The slot on the far left is empty; the next slot holds the optional color-graphics card. Skipping a slot, we come to the optional monochrome-display/parallel-printer-port card. Next is the Winchester disk controller card. It boasts automatic error detection and correction, onboard memory to buffer a sector, and use of the system's DMA (direct memory access) feature. The next slot contains the floppy-disk controller card, which is unchanged from that of the IBM PC. The slot to the right of the floppy-disk controller is empty in the photograph, and the slot on the far right holds the standard asynchronous-communications card (RS-232C serial port, 50 to 9600 bits per second).

Not all of the slots are equal. Two of the eight are

behind the floppy-disk drive and have only enough space for short cards; one of them comes loaded with the asynchronous-communications card. The other holds cards such as the parallel port or game paddle I/O (input/output) card.

The six full-sized slots are packed into the same space as the five slots in the PC. If you purchase add-on cards for an XT from a non-IBM source, verify that the card will fit in the narrower space of an XT, especially with cards that use piggyback arrangements to package extra boards in a single slot.

The XT comes with a beefed-up power supply to support the extra expansion slots and the hard disk (see the right-hand rear corner of the cabinet in photo 3, behind the Winchester drive). Rated at 130 watts (W), it puts out more than twice the PC's 63.5 W.

Sorry, We Can't Sell You That . . .

I discovered an oddity in the XT's configuration when I tried to design a system with two floppy-disk drives. It seems that the only "legal" way to get an XT with two floppy-disk drives is to buy two 10-megabyte hard-disk drives, too! I wanted two floppy-disk drives so it would be easy to make backups of a floppy disk and so I could run CP/M-86 floppy-disk-based software that required two disk drives (CP/M-86 from IBM does not support the hard disk). The floppy-disk controller in the XT is the same as that used in the PC, and there is even a spare connector on the internal cable, ready to be plugged into a floppy-disk drive. If IBM sold a half-height floppy-disk drive, you could fit two where the left-hand floppy-disk drive now sits, and the problem would be solved. To stay within the official guidelines, however, you must buy an expansion chassis that includes another hard-disk drive; you then move the hard disk out of your XT and into the expansion chassis and put the second floppy disk in the space vacated by the hard disk in the central processor chassis. If you are willing to buy a PC instead of an XT, you can get one with two floppy-disk drives and add the hard disk via the expansion chassis.

DOS 2.00

Although it was overshadowed by the announcement of the XT hardware, DOS 2.00 actually contains far more radical changes relative to its predecessor (DOS 1.10) than the XT does compared to the PC. Microsoft says that DOS 2.00 is a complete rewrite; it incorporates many of the features found in that firm's more expensive Xenix operating system.

I have used DOS 2.00 for several months now, and although it is not without its faults and bugs, it does contain a lot of useful features, and it's fast. I am not easy on software products—I have abandoned many of them as unusable. DOS 2.00 and I have had some quarrels, but I would not want to give it up, either.

Compatibility

DOS 2.00 is a superset of its predecessor, DOS 1.10. Although many of the new commands are related to sup-

296 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

port for the hard disk, DOS 2.00 will also run on a floppy-disk-only PC system. Not all programs written to run under 1.10 will run under 2.00, but many will. The IBM DOS 2.00 manual contains an appendix explaining how to use programs that will run under 2.00 and listing some programs that won't run under it. It's a safe bet that most software vendors will be providing versions of their products for DOS 2.00 in the months ahead.

DOS 2.00 takes up more memory than 1.10, and many programs that ran in 64K bytes under 1.10 require 96K bytes or even 128K bytes in their 2.00 incarnations. This requirement alone is enough to keep DOS 1.10 alive for a while because lots of 64K-byte PC's are still in use.

File System Changes

Many of the most obvious changes in DOS 2.00 relate to the support for a "hierarchical, tree-structured" file system. This complex-sounding concept can be explained simply Under DOS 1.10, each floppy disk had a single directory, and that directory could contain one or more files. Under 2.00, a directory can hold files as before, but it can also hold other directories, which in turn can hold more files and directories, and so on.

DOS maintains the concept of a "current" directory, usually referred to as the directory you are "in," You can move freely from one directory to another, but you only have one current directory. You can access files in the current directory by simply specifying their names, and you can access files in other directories by giving their "pathnames."

A pathname is a list of directory names ending in a filename. The master or "root" directory is created when you format a disk. It is prenamed " \ " (backslash). Let's say that two users, Phil and George, share an XT's single hard disk. They create directories called "PHIL" and "GEORGE" in the root directory and store all their files in their own directories. When Phil uses the machine, he enters the command "CHDIR \PHIL," which changes his current directory to " \ PHIL." If this directory contains a file named "TEXT," he can list it with the command "TYPE TEXT." Suppose George has a file named "TEXT" too, in his own directory " \ GEORGE." Phil could list it with the command "TYPE \ GEORGE \ TEXT." Note that DOS contains no security features; there is nothing to keep Phil from reading any of George's files on the hard disk they share.

This same concept extends to as many directory names as you can fit in a maximum pathname of 63 characters. For example, George may create a directory called "ACCOUNTS" in " \ GEORGE," and the pathname of a file named "BILLS" in that directory would be " \ GEORGE \ ACCOUNTS \ BILLS."

The motivation behind this directory hierarchy can be traced to the need to support large mass-storage devices such as the XT's 10-megabyte Winchester. DOS 1.10 and most other floppy-disk-based operating systems keep all the files in a single directory. This is simple and works well if the number of files is small. On a hard disk with

Photo 3: The XT system unit with five expansion slots filled—see text for description.

hundreds or thousands of files, this structure is inadequate. Just think of the time it would take to find a file if you had to search through a DIR command listing of a thousand filenames.

There have been several approaches taken in the past to solve this problem, the most common of which has been to "partition" the hard disk into multiple "logical disks," each one of which appears to the user as if it were a separate floppy-disk drive. Most such arrangements require the user to establish the partitions in advance, when the disk is formatted. When this choice is made, it is assumed you already know the number of partitions you will need. The disk usually cannot hold a single file larger than the largest partition, so you are also setting a ceiling on file size when you determine partition size.

The MS-DOS 2.00 solution is a far more flexible one. It has most of the advantages of the fixed-partition scheme but lets you add new directories dynamically Furthermore, each file and directory can grow to take up any available space on the Winchester, as it is needed.

DOS 2.00 supports a form of disk partitioning in addition to the hierarchical directory scheme. You can partition the disk when you format it, and each partition can belong to a different operating system. This is IBM's way of letting you share a single hard disk among multiple operating systems. You can make any of these partitions the "boot" partition, and it will get control when the system is started up.

Application Woes

Although hierarchical directories are basically a great convenience, the applications-software world has some catching up to do before we can take full advantage of these directories. For example, I wanted to keep all my commonly used tools, such as BASCOM (the BASIC Compiler) and Wordstar, in a single directory and use them from any directory on the disk. DOS has a PATH command that should be just the ticket—it takes a list

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 297

of directories as its arguments, and it sets those directories up as places that DOS will look for command files. Using the directory structure discussed earlier, I could load Wordstar and its supporting files into the root directory " \," issue the command "PATH \ ," and then be able to invoke Wordstar to edit the file "TEXT" while in the directory " \ GEORGE." Unfortunately, this doesn't work. Wordstar gets invoked correctly, but it then

At a Glance

Name

The IBM Personal Computer XT

Manufacturer

International Business Machines Corporation

POB 1328

Boca Raton, FL 33432

Dimensions

System unit: 20 by 16 by 6 inches, 32 pounds Keyboard: 20 by 8 by 2 inches, 6 pounds

Processor

Intel 8088

Memory

I28K bytes of RAM [random-access read/write memory) standard, expandable to 256K bytes on board; to 640K bytes through expansion cards; 40K bytes of ROM (read-only memory) holding BASIC interpreter and DOS I/O (input/output) software

Data Storage

10 megabytes on Winchester hard-disk drive; 360K bytes on double-sided, double-density floppy-disk drive; can add one more of each through purchase of optional expansion unit

Keyboard

Detached with 6-foot coil cord connecting to system unit, 83 keys including 10 function keys, 10 keys for numeric entry and cursor control, automatic repeat on all keys

Standard Features

Eight expansion slots for additional memory, display cards, printer connection, game-control adapter; speaker for sound or music, 50 to 9600 bits-per-second RS-232C asynchronous communications adapter

Software

Runs PC-DOS 1,10, 2.00 (both extra cost); DOS 2.00 required for hard-disk support; most but not all programs that run under DOS 1.10 will run under 2.00; programs that require DOS 1.10 and two floppy-disk drives will require purchase of the optional expansion unit to obtain a second floppy-disk drive

Documentation

Guide to Operations: Personal Computer XT: installation, problem determination, operating procedures, step-by-step instructions with illustrations, 170 5/2- by 8/2-inch pages, loose-leaf binder

Price

System unit, 128K bytes of RAM, keyboard, asynchronous communications card, 10-megabyte hard-disk drive, 360K-byte floppy-disk drive: S4995. Requires DOS 2.00 ($60) and either monochrome-display adapter ($335) and monochrome display ($345) or color-graphics display adapter ($244) and color display ($680) to have a usable system.

Audience

Computer buyers looking for an expandable system with 10 megabytes of hard-disk storage, capable of running most IBM Personal Computer software

looks for its overlay file in the current directory (" \ GEORGE") and bombs out when it doesn't find it there. For now, you must copy Wordstar's supporting files into the directory containing the files to be edited. Programs compiled with BASCOM have a similar problem; the BASRUN.EXE file must be in the current directory, or the compiled program will not execute. All this is not to say that hierarchical directories are poorly implemented; it is just a warning that you will have to work around some problems like these until the applications-software developers catch up with DOS 2.00.

Winchester Backup

One of the industry's least favorite topics is discussing how to back up your 10-megabyte Winchester disk. The mainframe and minicomputer world solve this problem with high-speed, large-capacity, high-cost tape

At a Glance

Name

The IBM Personal Computer Disk Operating System version 2.00 including BASIC version 2.00

Type

Microsoft MS-DOS 2.00 Disk Operating System and Microsoft BASIC version 2.00 for the IBM Personal Computer

Author

Microsoft Corporation 10700 Northrup Way Bellevue, WA 98004

Distributor

International Business Machines Corporation

POB 1328

Boca Raton, FL 33432

Software

Complete disk operating system and BASIC for the IBM Personal Computer and Personal Computer XT. Includes support for the PC XT Winchester disk drive, tree-structured directories, pipes and filters, a line editor, assembly-language program debugger, and linker for Microsoft standard relocatable object programs. BASIC 2.00 includes advanced support for graphics, music, and communications.

Format

Supplied on two double-density, single-sided 40-track floppy disks, formatted with nine 512-byte sectors per track for I80K bytes of storage per disk (360K bytes on double-sided drives)

Computer

IBM Personal Computer with at least 64K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory) and one floppy-disk drive; IBM Personal Computer XT with at least 128K bytes of RAM

Documentation

Disk Operating System version 2,00: complete guide with everything from an introduction for the first-time user, to advanced material for the assembly-language programmer, 794 5'/2- by 8/2-inch pages, loose-leaf binder

Price

$60 for DOS 2.00 and BASIC 2.00

Audience

IBM Personal Computer and Personal Computer XT users in need of a disk operating system and BASIC language for their systems

298 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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A typical use of ASCOM is to access a data base to retrieve data for storage and analysis on your microcomputer. It can also be used to transmit program files to another machine running ASCOM or MODEM 7. This can be done locally through direct connection,

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ASCOM works on IBM PC, MS-DOS, CP/M-86, CP/M-80, and TURBODOS compatible micros.

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drives. Because these drives typically cost more than an entire microcomputer system, they are not cost-effective for backup in the microcomputer world. The XX like most of its competitors, uses the built-in floppy-disk unit for backup.

Given the restrictions in the hardware, DOS 2.00 has introduced several features to help with this problem. Not the least of these is a change in floppy-disk format from 8 sectors per track to 9 sectors. This gives double-sided floppies a capacity of 360K bytes, 40K bytes more than DOS 1.10's 320K-byte size. This change benefits floppy-disk-only users as well as XT users. Furthermore, DOS 2.00 does a super job of automatically recognizing both single- and double-sided disks, with either 8 or 9 sectors per track. The FORMAT and DISKCOPY commands can read and write disks with any of these formats.

DOS 2.00 adds some new features

to make batch-file processing even

more flexible.

Unfortunately for XT owners, however, even this increased floppy-disk capacity works out to about 30 floppy disks needed to back up the entire hard disk; if you can afford two hard disks, you'll need 60 floppy disks.

To try to cut the backup task down to size, a new command called BACKUP is provided with DOS 2.00. It supports the dumping of files from a hard disk to multiple floppy disks. Although you should periodically make a complete backup of your hard disk, you can also give backup some parameters to restrict the files that get backed up in a given operation. For example, you can supply a filename template, and only those files matching the template will be backed up. One restriction is that you can only give BACKUP a single template; if you wanted to back up all files matching the templates "*.DAT" and "*.COM," you would have to perform two different BACKUP commands. BACKUP allows switches that specify:

•BACKUP-only files modified since they were last

BACKed up

•BACKUP-only files modified since a given DATE

BACKUP will write its output to multiple disks, but they must be preformatted. Thus, you must anticipate the number of floppy disks you will need before you begin the operation. Once you have executed BACKUP and created a set of backup disks, you can load them back onto the hard disk with the RESTORE command.

Filters and Pipes

DOS 2.00 inherits some of the most popular features of Xenix, based on the concept of a "standard input" and "standard output" file. These files are by default mapped

300 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

to the keyboard and CRT, respectively. Programs that read the standard input and write to the standard output are called "filters." DOS 2.00 includes several filter programs:

• SORT sorts input lines and writes the result to the standard output.

•MORE copies standard input to standard output a screenful at a time, then prints MORE and waits for you to press a key.

•FIND reads standard input and passes lines that contain a specified string to the standard output.

Programs, including DOS commands, that read the standard input or write to the standard output can have their input or output streams redirected when they are invoked. For example, the command "DIR > NAMES" puts a directory listing in the file called "NAMES." The command "MORE < NAMES" will type the filenames on the screen, pausing for you to hit a key after every screenful of data.

"Pipes" are DOS 2.00 constructs that allow you to specify multiple filter programs to be run in a single command line, with the output of each one automatically connected by DOS as the input of the next one. For example, DIR | MORE writes a listing of all the files in the current directory to the standard output, which is redirected to the input of MORE; the filename listing will be printed a screenful at a time by the MORE filter.

DOS 2.00 does not actually run pipelined programs simultaneously as Unix does; they are run sequentially, and the output of all but the last is written to a temporary file, which serves as the input to the next program. The temporary file is deleted when the last program finishes. A pipelined command can fail if you run out of disk space while it is executing.

New Batch Commands

One of the powerful features of DOS is the ability to create a file of commands, called a "batch file," that can be executed without user intervention. DOS 2.00 adds some new features to make batch-file processing even more flexible:

•ECHO can write messages to the screen during batch-file processing. Provision is also made to turn off the echoing of commands to the screen as they are executed. There is no way to not echo the ECHO OFF command. •FOR lets you execute a single DOS command multiple times, giving it new parameters with each invocation. •IF executes a command conditionally, based on an error code set by a previous command or on the existence of a file. The only commands that currently set an error code are BACKUP and RESTORE. More powerful selection criteria would be useful here.

• GOTO alters the flow of execution in a batch file based on the results of an IF test.

• SHIFT can be used in conjunction with FOR to step through a list of command arguments.

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As a performance enhancement, you can specify the number of file buffers that DOS allocates when it comes up. Data read from files is kept in these buffers until they are used up; they are "recycled" each time a new buffer is needed. If your program requests data that is in one of these buffers, a disk I/O operation may be avoided.

VERIFY forces DOS to perform reads after each disk write, to ensure that the intended data has made it out to the disk.

BASIC 2.00

The new version of BASICA contains many new features, primarily in the screen and music I/O areas. If you are willing to dig in and learn the peculiar syntax of the graphics and music-generating commands, you will have a powerful programming capability at your disposal.

Some of the changes in BASIC 2.00 are in the file area. BASIC statements and commands dealing with filenames have been expanded to accept pathnames. The EOF (end-of-file) function handles redirected standard input files. The LOF (last-of-file) function gives the number of bytes allocated to a file. GET and PUT can handle record numbers up to 16,777,215.

The graphics commands have lots of new features. PAINT takes a parameter that allows you to "tile" an area; that is, to fill it with a pattern instead of a solid color. LINE has an enhancement similar to the tile feature of PAINT; you can specify a line "style" and draw lines composed of patterns of dots and dashes. DRAW supports a command to turn by a given angle, and to issue a PAINT command (no tiling) from within a DRAW command. WINDOW lets you treat the screen as having an arbitrary coordinate system. You must establish the x and y coordinates of the corners of the screen, and then everything you draw using the CIRCLE, LINE, PAINT, POINT, PSET, and PRESET statements gets scaled to the coordinates established by WINDOW. Any points outside the WINDOW are not plotted—this is called "clipping." VIEW defines a portion of the screen as a "viewport," and all output goes only to this portion of the screen until a new viewport supersedes it. By defining multiple viewports on the screen at once, you can experiment with the currently in vogue "multiple-window" techniques used by Visicorp's Visi On and Apple's Lisa.

Odds and Ends

The PLAY statement now recognizes a symbol that raises or lowers the octave of succeeding notes. An ON PLAY statement has been added to play continuous music concurrently with the execution of a program. Whenever there are a given number of notes left in the "music queue," control is transferred to a subroutine in your program that can fill the queue with more notes.

Double-precision support is now available for the ATN, COS, EXP, LOG, SIN, SQR, and IAN functions. RANDOMIZE also supports double-precision seeds for the random-number generation routine.

The "ON TIMER" statement allows you to set up a single-count-down timer; after the specified number of

304 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

seconds has elapsed, control is transferred via GOSUB to a statement in your program.

You can now specify that all output to the screen should also be sent to your printer. This option was formerly available from DOS, but was disabled when you entered BASIC. It is still turned off when you enter BASIC, but you can now turn it back on.

Documentation

Although still among the better manuals in the microcomputer industry, the DOS and BASIC manuals took a beating when being upgraded to version 2.00. The DOS manual is now bursting at the seams, and it is just a matter of time before pages start falling out. Its formidable size will keep many people from even trying to learn more than "How do I load Visicalc?" It appears to have been rushed out, with a number of typographical errors, some rather glaring (the table of contents lists nine entries for Appendix K, then starts all over again). Considering the volume of information it presents, it is usable, and thoughtfully includes an index as well as a master table of contents and a mini table of contents for each chapter.

The BASIC manual is a "do-it-yourself" kit containing a 1.10 manual and a fat packet of pages to insert. The first manual I received omitted the 2.00 upgrade pages; the second one contained the pages, but repeated a subset of them and left out the VIEW and WINDOW commands.

The examples in both manuals are acceptable, although many are so vague they give the impression the writer did not understand the purpose of the command. The examples also show evidence of hurried preparation and minimal proofreading. It is evident that even IBM, with its enormous pool of resources, must cut corners to get timely updates out in the breakneck-paced world of microcomputer software.

Conclusions

The PC XT is a solidly engineered, although technically modest, encore to the IBM Personal Computer. It is competitively priced, which indicates that not only is IBM in this game to stay, it wants to build its market share.

DOS 2.00 has the right features to support the XT's expanded capabilities and brings many features formerly found only in high-priced microcomputers down to the mid-price range. BASIC 2.00 builds on Microsoft's reputation for innovative features in microcomputer BASICs; its powerful graphics features make it worthy of its generic name GW BASIC (Gee Whiz BASIC).

Now that we know what the XT is all about, we can start speculating on the PC II again; I think it will be multiuser, with an 80186 running Xenix and MS-DOS, and . . .■

Rowland Archer Jr. (5420 Loyal P/., Durham, NC 27713) is a manager of software development at a Fortune 500 corporation. He holds an MS in computer science from MIT.

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One serious limitation of batch-file processing still persists; there is no way to carry on an interactive dialogue with a user during batch-file execution (ask questions and execute commands conditionally based on the user's response).

Miscellaneous Enhancements

One of the problems you will frequently encounter when trying to run software written for DOS 1.10 is the "hard-coding" of drive designators in the program itself. For example, the program may try to open a file named "B:PROGRAM.DAT;" but there is no drive "B:" on most XTs. The DOS 2.00 ASSIGN command can redirect all references to the "B:" drive to a different drive, say "A:" (the floppy-disk drive) or "C:" (the hard-disk drive).

DOS 2.00 makes the installation of assembly-language code designed to support peripherals (device-driver code) much easier than before. A section in the manual describes the format of a device-driver program (even advanced programmers will pull some hairs figuring this out). A file named CONFIG.SYS, containing the name of your device driver, must be created in the root directory. All device drivers located in this file will be installed when DOS comes up. This procedure will help peripheral manufacturers to add driver support to DOS 2.00 without having to resort to patching the operating system.

Another nice feature is a built-in print "spooler." This feature lets you queue up to 10 files to be printed in a "spool queue," then go on and use the machine to do something else. The files will be printed, somewhat spasmodically, whenever the computer is idle. The design of the SPOOL queue servicing code can be questioned, because it appears to give the spooler the lowest priority—printout halts whenever you are typing at the keyboard, or when a program does disk I/O. It appears that a design giving highest priority to the spooler was

attempted but took too great a performance toll on interactive-user-response time. Nonetheless, it is a strange feeling to have the printer start up when I stop typing, and stop when I hit a key; it disturbs my concentration. Note also the difference between this print spooler and the usual implementation: this prints files that already exist on disk, whereas most print spoolers sold in the microcomputer market buffer all program output destined for the printer. If, for example, you have a BASIC program that uses LPRINT statements to write to the printer, you cannot take direct advantage of this spooler. You must redirect your print output to a file, then print the file after your BASIC program finishes executing.

Another much-requested feature in DOS 2.00 is the ability to dump a screen containing graphics output on the system printer. Medium- and high-resolution graphics are both supported, and color is represented by gray scales.

DOS 2.00 provides several ways to recover lost files. The CHKDSK command checks the directory and finds files that are allocated on the disk but have no directory entries. New entries are created for such files, and it is up to you to examine the file and determine if it contains valuable information or not. The RECOVER command can recover files that have become partially unreadable due to bad media. A new directory entry is created for such files, skipping over the bad sectors. Although neither of these recovery techniques is perfect, they may be preferable to trying to reconstruct a file from scratch.

The DOS 2.00 disk format command lets you name a disk with a "volume ID." Unfortunately, you cannot change the ID without reformatting the disk.

DEBUG has been enhanced to allow direct entry of assembly-language statements into memory.

The EDLIN line editor has new commands to read in the contents of a file, move, and copy lines of text.

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302 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Congratulations. We published your program.

The envelope, please. There's an acceptance letter inside. And a check that could have your name on it. (If we select your program, that is.) But remember. We pick our winners carefully.

Because the software we publish for the IBM Personal Computer has to be good enough to complement IBM Personal Computer hardware. (See the box at right.)

Like our hardware, this software should be simple to use. Friendly. Fast. And written to help satisfy the needs of the individual.

Our Personal Editor is a perfect example. A versatile text file editor, it not only helps the user save time, but lets him easily self-tailor a task with definable function keys. And it sets a standard of excellence.

Of course, every person will use the IBM Personal Computer differently. That's why we plan on publishing many different programs.

Entertainment programs. And educational programs. And business programs. And personal productivity

/

programs. And graphics. And games.

And more.

We'll also consider software written by programmers for programmers. For example, the BASIC Program Development System, Professional Editor and Diskette Librarian

IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER SPECIFICATIONS

User Memory

64K-640K byte* Microprocessor

16-bit, 8088 Auxiliary Memory

2 optional internal diskette drives, 5Vk" 160KB/180KB or 320KB/360KH per diskette

Keyboard

83 keys, 6 ft. cord attaches to system unit

10 function keys

10-key numeric pad

Diagnostics

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Parity checking

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High-resolution

80 characters x 25 lines

Upper and lower case

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are high-quality, full-function tools that were submitted by authors like you and subsequently published by us.

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For information on how to submit your program, if completed and running, write: IBM Personal Computer External Submissions, Dept. 765 PC, Armonk, New York 10504. .«> =.

The IBM Personal Computer A tool for modern times

Circle 218 on inquiry card.

For more information on where to buy the IBM Personal Computer, call 800-447-4700. In Alaska or Hawaii, 800-447-0890.

System Review

The Corona PC

An IBM PC-compatible desktop machine that features a high-quality display and the Multimate word-processing program

ana

by Rich Malloy

308 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

One thing that continues to amaze me in this industry is the number and variety of microcomputers claiming compatibility with the IBM Personal Computer (PC). Like siblings, these machines share a common theme yet retain an individual character and personality.

The Columbia MPC (Multipersonal Computer) could be the older brother, content to copy his father exactly. The Compaq becomes the proper and dependable sister with a weakness for travel. And, of course, the Eagle PC is the younger brother who has a penchant for tidiness-he keeps the keyboard under his bed.

Then comes Corona (photo 1): the younger sister who reveals tremendous artistic ability and perfect penmanship. While family members settle for simple stick-figure drawings, she spends hours producing intricate and precise drawings. And her free spirit makes her more at home in Fortune 1000 companies than in the Fortune 100, although she would be useful in any office.

The Corona PC is a cream-colored desktop personal computer that is about 90 percent compatible with the IBM PC. In fact, its major incompatibility is also one of its best features—a high-density, high-contrast graphics screen. Its other departure from the IBM PC is its price, $2995 for a system with two floppy-disk drives (320K bytes each), 128K bytes of memory, serial and parallel interfaces, and a medium-size software bundle (MS-DOS, a BASIC interpreter, PC-Tutor, and a word processor). (See At a Glance box for more information.) The equivalent configuration from IBM costs about $1000 more.

The Corona should work fairly well in any office where an IBM PC might be found, especially for word-processing applications. When new applications software takes advantage of the Corona's high-quality graphics, this

machine's capabilities will really stand out. Like any new computer, it has a few knots and rough edges, but nothing the experienced computer user cannot adjust to.

Hardware

Physically, the Corona resembles the IBM PC. It takes up about the same space on your desk and is just as heavy when you try moving it to another office. Its disk drives remain true to IBM's, horizontal and on the right side of the unit.

One obvious difference is the position of the Corona's on/off switch. Corona subscribes to a common yet curious school of thought that holds that this important switch should be in the most inaccessible place possible—the back panel. Thus, turning the Corona on requires a prerequisite minute or so while your fingers fumble around for the switch.

While fumbling, however, you discover something handy—a reset switch. The IBM PC and most of its clones use a combination of the Alternate, Control, and Delete keys to trigger a reset that can be deactivated by software. The result is that when certain software packages "hang up," you have to turn the machine off, wait 10 seconds, turn it on, and wait a minute while the computer checks its memory On the Corona, you simply hit the Reset button on the back panel. This button is not easy to find, and it has a light touch. I usually just flap my fingers around the back for a second or so until I hear the disk drives start up.

The Display

The Corona's major attraction is its display. This display has good resolution (640 by 325 pixels) and extremely good contrast: it reminds me of the Victor 9000. (By the way, the display arrived here in a box from the

At a Glance

Name

Corona PC

Manufacturer

Corona Data Systems 31324 Via Colinas, Suite 110 Westlake Village, CA 91362

Components

Size: 19 by 17 by 18 inches (including monitorj. Processor: 8088, 16 bit, 5 MHz. Memory: 128K bytes (expandable to 512K bytes). Display: green-phosphor, 80 by 25 characters, IBM PC-style character set. Characters can be underlined, reverse video, high intensity, or blinking. Graphics format: 640 by 325 pixels, two colors (black and greenj. Keyboard; 83 keys, modified IBM PC-style key layout, 10 function keys, numeric keypad. Mass storage: one 320K-byte floppy-disk drive. Optional second floppy-disk drive or 10-megabyte hard-disk drive. Interfaces: parallel-printer port and RS-232C serial port. Expansion: four IBM PC-style expansion slots.

Software

MS-DOS version 1.25 operating system, GW BASIC interpreter, Multimate word-processing program, PC-Tutor

Options

Second floppy-disk drive: S450; extra memory modules, 128K bytes each: S295; 10-megabyte hard-disk drive: S2295

Documentation

Four loose-leaf binders, approximately 150 pages each, 5/2- by 8/2-inch pages

Price

With one floppy-disk drive: With two floppy-disk drives: With one floppy-disk drive and one 10-megabyte hard-disk drive:

S2595 $2995

$4495

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 309

Photo 2: The display screen of the Corona (left) compared with that of the IBM PC (right). Both photos were taken under the same conditions. Note the Corona's increased contrast and the IBM's well-formed characters.

Amdek company.) Photo 2 compares the display with that of the IBM PC.

The people at Corona claim that the true resolution of their display is a whopping 1280 by 325 pixels (picture elements). You can't access these 1280 pixels directly (i.e., through BASIC), but the Corona's character generator seems to use them, with the result that the Corona's character set is smooth and practically free of "jaggies."

In character mode, the Corona PC varies in only one way from the IBM PC. It features the same 80-line by 25-character layout, the same attributes for each character (reverse video, underline, high intensity), and the same variety of characters (see photo 3). The one exception involves formation of the individual characters. Each character occupies a matrix that is 16 pixels wide by 13 pixels high. Yes, that's 16 pixels wide. At first I thought this was inaccurate, but I took out my magnifying loupe, which I use for software warranties and license agreements, and sure enough they were right. Each pixel is about half as wide as it is high. The lowercase "y" is made up of at least 11 pixels from left to right (see photo 4). Add some pixels for the spaces between characters and you get 16.

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Photo 3: The character set of the Corona PC. The Corona has the same variety of characters as the IBM PC.

You might think that with that many pixels to play with, the Corona would have a superb design for each character. But the Corona's characters do not seem to take full advantage of their high-density pixel grid. I think that the character font used by the IBM PC monochrome monitor is more readable than the one Corona uses. The Corona font looks like the IBM font would look after being on a diet for a few weeks.

One of the nice things about the IBM font is that it is richly decorated with serifs, little pen marks that have been helping us distinguish characters for hundreds of years. Corona probably chose to use a thin, sans-serif style to be modern, and I can live with it if I have to. On the Corona's high-contrast screen, any font is OK. But if the company ever came out with a plug-in chip that would generate a font similar to the IBM's, I'd be first An line to buy it.

While the character mode of the Corona's display is functionally (if not visually) compatible with the IBM, in graphics mode the display takes a sharply divergent path. The IBM Color Graphics Adapter card gives the IBM PC three graphics modes; the highest resolution is 640 by 200. The Corona, however, offers only one graphics mode, in black and white, with about 50 percent more

Photo 4: A close-up view of the characters on the Corona's display Note the large number of pixels that form each letter.

310 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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* TRS-80 is a trademark of the Radio Shack Division of Tandy Corp. - *APPLE is a trademark of Apple Corp. - *IBM is a trademark of IBM Corp. - *OSBORNE is a trademark of Osborne Corp.

•CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research ■ *XEROX is a trademark of Xerox Corp.

Photo 5: An example of the graphics capabilities of the Corona, this picture was produced by a BASIC program called Etch. The resolution of the screen here is 640 by 325 pixels.

pixels (640 by 325) than the IBM has (see photo 5). The Corona has better resolution, but it pays for this by not being compatible with the graphics software for the IBM.

Fortunately, this incompatibility problem with IBM's graphics can be solved in any of three ways. First, you can install an IBM Color Graphics Adapter card into the Corona (just as you would have to with the IBM PC) and purchase a color monitor, and your machine will be completely compatible with any graphics program for the IBM. Second, you can wait until the popular software houses modify their programs so that they can run directly on the Corona. Or third, you can wait until the GSX graphics interpreter for the CP/M-86 operating systems becomes readily available. This interpreter is intended to eliminate all graphics incompatibility from one computer to another or from one peripheral to another. Admittedly, the last two alternatives are a bit chancy. The important thing to remember is that if there is any problem, you can install the IBM graphics board.

I should note that on the Corona's display, graphics and characters can by intermixed anywhere on the screen. Also, graphics information can be stored in several places in memory. An advanced programmer can quickly switch from place to place in memory and set up some fast-moving images.

In BASIC, you can individually address any pixel in a 640 by 325 pixel grid, but only two colors are supported: black and white (actually green). As mentioned

previously, the real resolution of the screen is 1280 by 325, so each addressable pixel is actually made up of two smaller pixels. Advanced programmers may be able to individually address each of the these smaller pixels.

The Keyboard

The Corona, like many of the IBM compatibles, uses a keyboard produced by Key Tronic in Washington. Visually, it is almost an exact duplicate of the IBM keyboard (see photo 6). It has the same 83 keys, including 10 function keys, a combination cursor-control/numeric keypad, and keys such as Num Lock, Scroll Lock, and PrtSc. Functionally, it has a similar keyboard processor and type-ahead buffer, but it is lighter, quieter, and has its own indicator lights for the Caps Lock and Num Lock keys.

Key Tronic offers two key layouts for this keyboard. One is an exact duplicate of the controversial key layout used by the IBM PC. The other is a more traditional (i.e., sensible) layout with the left Shift key and the Return key in their usual positions. Corona was originally going to use the exact IBM key layout, but it received so many requests for the traditional layout that it has now switched to that keyboard.

In "The Corona Portable PC" (September 1983 BYTE, page 226), I mentioned that the keyboard on the Corona Portable was one of the best I had seen. It was. But that keyboard had the Shift keys and Return keys in the

312 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 153 on inquiry card. •

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right places. Unfortunately, the keyboard we received with the desktop Corona had the exact IBM key layout, and it was a bit harder to use. Not only were the keys in nonstandard places, but some of the keys had very light touches. For example, I must have a tendency to rest my index finger on the J key because "j" kept appearing in strange places.

No doubt you can grow accustomed to this keyboard, but after three weeks of heavy use, my error rate was still about twice what it was with my old IBM Selectric.

Of course, it's difficult to be objective about keyboards. Everyone has preferences. In fact, some people really like the IBM PC key layout. I prefer the Corona with the more traditional keyboard. And I'd prefer a slightly heavier touch.

The Processor

Like the IBM PC, the Corona is built around the 16-bit 8088 microprocessor with a clock speed of 5 MHz. Having this processor, of course, doesn't guarantee compatibility with the IBM PC, but it's a good start. Also, the slightly higher clock speed of this processor means that the Corona will be about 5 percent faster than the IBM PC.

Memory

The most significant thing about the Corona's memory is that you can put up to 512K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory) chips directly on the main board; you don't need to tie up any of the expansion slots. Also, the Corona comes with software that enables you to partition part of this memory as a RAM disk.

The standard Corona comes with 128K bytes of memory, a reasonable amount. The unit I used had 256K bytes with 128K bytes of this configured as a RAM disk. I didn't run out of memory, but I didn't run any huge spreadsheets, either.

One nice thing about the Corona is that it doesn't spend a minute checking all of the memory each time you turn on the machine. This should save about 10 hours of time over the life of the machine. The rationale for this is that even if the machine were to find a bad memory chip, it is better to have a machine that works partially than a machine that won't let you work at all! Just in case, Corona provides a nice memory-test program that graphically tells you which chip is bad.

Power Supply

The Corona power supply provides 110 watts (W) compared to the 64 W supplied by the IBM PC. The additional supply in the Corona enables you to add internal peripherals such as a hard disk without fear of overloading the machine.

Floppy-Disk Drives

The standard unit comes with one 320K-byte floppy-disk drive. There is room for another floppy or for a hard disk. The floppy disks use a standard configuration for double-sided double-density disks under MS-DOS ver-

314 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 65 on inquiry card.

Circle 41 on inquiry card.

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Photo 6: The Corona's keyboard, which was produced by Key Tronic, Again, note the similarity to that of the IBM. Also note that future editions of the Corona will have some keys repositioned, specifically the left Shift key and the Return key.

sion 1.25. When MS-DOS 2.00 becomes available for the Corona, you should be able to put 360K bytes on each disk.

The only difference I've noticed between the Corona floppy-disk drives and those of the IBM is that the Corona drives are quieter, though not as quiet as those of the Compaq.

Interfaces

It's been about a year since I've heard of a new computer that does not come standard with both a Cen-

tronics parallel-printer port and a serial RS-232C port. Progressive thinking such as this is much welcomed.

The Corona is no exception to this forward trend. Tlie circuitry for both of these interfaces is right on the main circuit board. The connectors for these interfaces are on the back panel (see photo 7). I've used the parallel port with an Epson MX-80 printer and had no problem with it. The serial RS-232C port, however, is more difficult.

Part of the problem is that the RS-232C standard is itself difficult. According to the standard, the whole world is divided into two parts: data-terminal equipment (DTE) and data-communications equipment (DCE). The important thing to remember is that DTEs can talk only with DCEs, and vice versa. Almost all modems are naturally configured as DCEs, and most microcomputers are configured as terminals or DTEs. Serial printers, however, can't seem to make up their minds. Some are DTEs, some are DCEs.

The Corona is one of the few computers that enable you to configure it as either a DTE or a DCE. Theoretically, you could set up the machine as a DTE to have an easy connection with a modem (DCE), or you could set it up as a DCE to connect with any other computer (DTE), or as either of the above to connect with a serial printer (DTE or DCE). The problem in doing this is that to change the configuration you must remove the top cover of the system unit, pull out a jumper (which looks like a memory chip and is very hard to reach), and insert it into another socket.

With this jumper in the modem socket, I could easily connect a Hayes Smartmodem to the Corona. And with

Photo 7: The back panel of the Corona. Note the Reset switch on the left, the parallel-printer port, the serial port, the video-display port, and the openings for the expansion cards.

316 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 105 on inquiry card.

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the jumper in the printer socket, I could easily connect a Diablo 1640 daisy-wheel printer.

But while these hardware connections were satisfactory, the software for them seemed a bit hard to use. For example, I had a hard time trying to access the modem port from BASIC. A popular communications program in BASIC called PC-Talk also had trouble using the modem port. When I connected a serial printer, I was able to access it through BASIC, but I had a little trouble using it with a word processor. These seem to be minor bugs, which I hope will be fixed soon.

Peripherals

The unit we received from Corona included a pleasant surprise: a 10-megabyte hard-disk drive. This disk drive, which up until recently was Corona's major product, is impressive. Its list price is $2295, and I've seen ads offering the drive at a much lower price.

The hard disk can be subdivided into one, two, three, or four parts. You can easily designate the size of each part. The instructions for formatting and loading the disk, however, are a bit less than ideal; you have to execute a series of four programs. (A simple batch file that would execute these four programs automatically would have been helpful.) But once you have the procedure ironed out, it is fairly straightforward. The actual formatting of the disk takes only about 6 minutes.

Overall, the hard disk was a pleasure to use. Disk-access times for the hard disk were usually fairly fast (although some individual accesses can be as slow as that of a floppy disk), and the storage capacity is huge. In fact, a few weeks with a hard disk can spoil you for systems that have only floppy disks. But the hard disk's seemingly bottomless pit of storage capacity has a price. You must be sure that everything on that disk is backed up on floppy disks. Hard-disk errors are not rare. And a 10-megabyte hard-disk drive will require at least 30 floppy disks to back it up.

Expansion Slots

The Corona comes with four expansion slots that should accommodate any board built for the IBM (see photo 8). The IBM Color Graphics Adapter board works fine, but I had some trouble with QuadRAM's Quad-board because it is incompatible with the Corona's hard disk.

Note that the IBM PC with capabilities similar to that of the standard Corona may have only one slot left open.

Software

Some personal computers, such as the Columbia MPC, come with a complete assortment of software. Some, such as the IBM PC itself, come with the bare minimum—a BASIC interpreter. The Corona lies somewhere in the middle.

Like the IBM, the Corona has a BASIC interpreter (GW BASIC from Microsoft). It also features the MS-DOS operating system (version 1.25), a word-processing program patterned after Wang's dedicated word processors,

318 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Photo 8: Inside the Corona. A Seagate hard-disk drive is on the lower right and the expansion slots are on the left. One of the slots is taken up by the hard-disk controller. The power supply is on the upper right.

and a teaching program to guide you through the intricacies of MS-DOS.

MS-DOS

Despite assertions to the contrary, PC-DOS and MS-DOS are not the same thing, although they are extremely close. Moreover, MS-DOS seems to vary from machine to machine. It is true that all MS-DOS machines can read each other's disks, and they can use most of the same MS-DOS utility programs. But there are some differences.

For example, in PC-DOS you can create batch files by using the COPY command to "copy" a file from the keyboard (which is referred to as "CON;") to a batch file. On the Corona, you call the keyboard "CON," without the color.

As I mentioned before, the Corona's version of MS-DOS also seems to have trouble handling the serial port with the Mode utility program. But perhaps this will be only a temporary problem.

Multimate

This relatively new word processor from Softword Systems of East Hartford, Connecticut, was designed as a "professional" word processor for the IBM PC. The word "professional" here means that it is supposed to be similiar to the Wang word processors. When, I wonder, will things come full circle and someone design a word-processing program for the IBM PC based on the IBM Displaywriter?

Multimate for the Corona does not seem to be too different from Multimate for any other MS-DOS machine. But because some impressive claims have been made for it and it is a rather impressive package, I will take some time to describe it here.

Multimate is a fairly powerful and fast system. Among its noteworthy features are the abilities to merge letter files with address files, to spool your printing jobs into a queue that can be printed in the background, to do decimal tabs, to perform column arithmetic, and to move columns. In addition, you can save your preferred tab

320 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983 321

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BASIC Benchmark

5000 loops

5000 divisions

5000 GOSUBs

5000 MID$s

Sieve program (1 iteration)

Disk write (64K bytes)

Floppy

Winchester Disk read (64K bytes)

Floppy

Winchester

Time (seconds) Corona IBM PC IBM XT

6

19

11

23

185

30

14

22

7

7

24

13

24

192

31

22

7

24

13

24

192

29 8

23 8

Table 1: A comparison of the Corona PC with the IBM PC and PC XT using BASIC. Note the slight advantage of the Corona, but the relatively slow speed of its Winchester disk-write routine. The Corona used GW BASIC running under MS-DOS version 1.25 on a 5-MHz 8088 microprocessor. The IBM PC used BASICA (version 1.1) under PC-DOS version 1.1 on a standard 4.77-MHz processor. The IBM PC XT was running under PC-DOS version 2.00. For a listing of the programs, see January 1982 BYTE, page 54.

stops, right margin, and printer instructions in default files, which will automatically be inserted into all of your subsequent documents. i

Multimate is also fairly easy to use, but it does have some problems. It has so many capabilities that you may have a hard time remembering which keys do what. Some keys have four separate functions. You have to keep a key chart handy at all times.

Also, the program has some minor inconsistencies. In some parts of the program you execute a task by pressing the Return key; in others you must press the F10 key (which attempts to act as Wang's Execute key). In some parts you can delete a character by pressing the Delete key or the Minus key; in others you have to press the Backspace key. And though you can delete characters to the right, you can't delete characters to the left.

A problem that is not minor is a utility program called Fileconv. This is supposed to convert Multimate text files to regular ASCII (American National Standard Code for Information Interchange) format and vice versa. It's necessary because Multimate uses some non-ASCII characters (i.e., characters with codes greater than the decimal number 127; see photo 9). Multimate also requires space for a screen of file information (e.g., author, title, comments, and date created) and format lines, which indicate tab stops and right margins. This conversion program, however, works only 50 percent of the time. The rest of the time it crashes the system.

Here at BYTE, with our mosaic of computer and typesetting systems, such a program is very important. A given document may pass through three different computers. If a document cannot be reliably passed to or retrieved from a given word processor, then that word processor has limited use. Multimate's Fileconv program as it now stands seems to have been an afterthought. I hope Soft word will have a better program out soon.

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Photo 9: An example of a document being edited by the Multimate word processor. Note the format line at the top of the screen and the non-ASCII characters to indicate tab stops, carriage returns, and indents. Also note the highlighted area that is to be deleted.

GW BASIC

The Corona's BASIC interpreter is similar to that of the IBM PC. The major difference is the graphics commands, which are geared to the Corona's unique graphics format.

Almost all of the features I tried worked satisfactorily, but I did find two problems. First, when I was editing a BASIC program using the full-screen editor, the system would on occasion mysteriously hang up.

Second, as mentioned earlier, I had trouble getting the BASIC interpreter to access the serial port. In the GW BASIC manual, Corona supplies a 50-line BASIC program to allow you to use the Corona as a communications terminal. This program looks good, except that it contains a few mistakes. And even when the mistakes are corrected, the program does not work. A mysterious "Device I/O Error" message occurs at certain places. The only way to get the program to work was to trap these errors with an ON ERROR ... RESUME sequence.

As for performance, some standard BYTE benchmarks (see table 1) indicated that the Corona was slightly faster than the IBM PC and XT, faster in fact than the difference in processor speeds might suggest.

PC-TUTOR

This program is designed to lead you through MS-DOS in a painless but tedious manner. This is an interesting program, but beware: you may learn more than you ever wanted to know about things like MS-DO S's "kludgey" line editor called Edlin.

Compatibility

I ran a number of IBM PC programs on the Corona. Almost all of them (including Visicalc, Wordstar, and 1-2-3 from Lotus Development Corporation) worked without any problems. The only one that didn't was a telecommunications program (PC/Intercom) that ac-

cessed the IBM PCs monochrome display memory directly. If the IBM Color Graphics Adapter had been installed, even this program would probably have worked.

Of course, if your application depends on a specific IBM software package, be sure to test it on the Corona before you buy either.

Documentation

Once again, Corona emulates the IBM. Four books, with pages approximately the same size as those in IBM manuals, are included: one for GW BASIC, one for MS-DOS, one for Multimate, and one for operating instructions.

The documentation is fairly comprehensive, but it has a few minor errors. It is, however, undergoing continuous evolution.

The Multimate manual and the operating instructions are fairly straightforward. The manuals for GW BASIC and MS-DOS are more difficult. I wouldn't hand these to a new user.

The Manufacturer

Corona was founded approximately two years ago by Robert Harp, who was one of the founders of Vector Graphic, an early microcomputer manufacturer. Vector Graphic historically has leaned toward larger personal computers, and Corona, with its emphasis on hard disks and husky power supplies, seems to follow that trend.

Corona has just recently begun shipping its portable computer, which is almost identical to its PC (see "The Corona Portable PC," September BYTE, page 226). Release of this machine was held up because of problems with its plastic case.

Corona has told us that in the near future it will offer a "professional" computer with a bit more power than the PC. Corona will also be offering another graphics format, 640 by 400 pixels, which will be compatible with the IBM's format of 640 by 200 pixels.

Summary

The Corona PC is a good, reasonably priced IBM PC-compatible computer. As a new machine from a relatively new company, it has a number of inevitable bugs and inconsistencies. If you have the expertise to iron out these bugs or the patience to wait for fixes to come out, then the Corona may be a good way to save some money. For offices that already have an IBM PC, the Corona represents a good way to add extra computing power at a minimal cost. Also, if a high-contrast, high-resolution display screen is important to you, then give the Corona some thought—but wait until some good software for this display arrives. Fortunately, this machine's graphics are so good that it should readily attract graphics programmers. The wait should not be too long at alii

Rich Malloy is a senior technical editor at BYTE. He can be reached at FOB 372, Hancock, NH 03449.

324 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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... because multi-user is better than multiple single users.

Once you grow beyond your own personal computing needs for business, it no longer makes sense to buy a single user computer.

The cost alone—aside from the inefficiency of not being able to share data and to compute interdependent^ in an office environment—makes this option obsolete.

The Zejus 4 allows up to eight users to work from one system at the same time. Each can have his own terminal, CPU, and active memory. Each shares ample file storage including floppy backup. And each has a second port for his own printer or telephone modem.

... because multi-processor is better than single processor.

With the Ze/iS 4 multiprocessor there is no loss in power or speed of operation when several users compute

at the same time. Single processors bog down with simultaneous use. Plus, the Ze/LiS 4 gives you total flexibility in computing with true sharing of data (not just passing from one to the next) in a complete multi-user environment The operating features

and speed of the Ze/is 4 leave single-processor units in the dust (We have documented benchmark data to support this—write us and well send it to you.)

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Circle 345 on inquiry card.

available to Ze/zs 4 users. Write us for a free software directory

... because you can buy the Zeps 4 for less than $1,300 per user including Winchester.

When you think of what you'd have to put out for eight personal computers, the Zejus 4 Computer looks pretty good. Even when you add the cost of terminals and other peripherals, you can't

m beat the Ze/Lts 4's cost effectiveness. Plus ifyourZe/is4ever needs maintenance, OSM covers you on its Limited Warranty and Replacement Plan through nearly 200 nationwide locations of RCA Service Corporation. If these reasons

FJ sound compelling to you, act now to see a ZejLts 4 in action at your local OSM dealer. To find the dealer nearest you please call 1-800-538-5120 or in California, 415-961-8680. Or write to OSM at the address below. We want you to learn more about Zejus 4. Because. asm Your power to expand.

OSM Computer Corp., 665 Clyde Ave, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA

Zefxs4 is a trademark of OSM Computer Corporation, CP. M is a registered trademark and MP/M is a trademark of Digital Research, Incorporated. © 1983 OSM Computer Corp.S&H

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Data management software jakes off

It's not just a data base, 's data management. Jt's a big idea, and once you see how powerful it 'can make your personal computer you 'II know why Condor Data Management software is the right idea at the right time.

Condor Data Management software. Ail the power and flexibility of a fully relational database, plus a Report Writer to generate reports. At no extra charge.

And it's simple to use. You can set up data fields quickly without the need for a programmer, or programming

326 BYTE November 1983

)o extra

experience. Because Condor I and Condor 3 were written for business people with business needs.

Begin with Condor I, the advanced file manager And upgrade later as your business and your data grows to Condor 3, the fully relational data management system, it's the same system that major hardware manufacturers like DEC, Sony Zenith, and Hewlett-Packard have selected to market with their personal computers.

To find out how-Condor Data Management software can make your business take off, see your personal computer dealer, or call 1-800-854-7100x165 (in California, 1-800-422-4241 xl65) for the dealer nearest you.

Because, while others are experimenting, we're quietly proving our point. That Condor is the data management software that's powerful enough to be useful to business, yet simple enough for business to use.

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Circle 113 on inquiry card.

Photo 1: The HP Series 200 Model 16, or, as it is sometimes called, the HP 9816.

Photo 2: The rear panel of the Model 16. Note the HP-IB connector

at the center of the bottom part of the panel and the serial connector in the lower-left corner.

Photo 3: The Model 16, shown here with a dual 3V2-inch floppy-disk drive, takes up a small amount of desk space. Note the "knob," a one-dimensional track ball, on the upper-left corner of the keyboard.

328 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

A Look at the

This 68000-based microcomputer offers quite a bit of power in a small package

by Berry Kercheval

After reading an article in the June BYTE about Hewlett-Packard's new 16-bit computer, I'll admit I was a bit skeptical about some of the claims made (see reference 4). After all, the article was written by an HP designer. However, I was recently given the chance to test this machine myself in my office at Zehntel Inc.

The Hewlett-Packard Series 200 Model 16, or the HP 9816, is one of three versions of Hewlett-Packard Series 200 computers (see photo 1). These computers have a common feature, the powerful 16-bit 68000 microprocessor chip. The other two members of this group, the 9826 and the 9836, are aimed at HFs traditional market— the technical laboratory. The desktop size of the Model 16 seems to indicate that this model is geared for the business or engineering office.

The Model 16 costs $3985 and consists of only a keyboard and a monitor. The unit that I tested was also equipped with an HP 9121 dual-disk drive (3¥2-inch Sony format, $1775), an HP 2672G thermal printer ($1240), an HP 7470A plotter ($1575), a BASIC interpreter (Pro-BASIC, $355), and a Pascal program-development system (HP Standard Pascal, $1515). As you can see, HP is not a discount house.

Because I picked this system up at BYTE's San Francisco office, I don't know how it was originally packed, but, as products I've ordered from HP in the past have always been efficiently and carefully wrapped, I assume the Model 16 was given HP's traditional care.

Setting up the system was easy. Interconnection of the various units—a difficult task on many systems—was facilitated by the use of the Hewlett-Packard interface bus (HP-IB), also known as the IEEE-488 bus (see photo 2). All of the system's components have identical stacking connectors and can be connected in any configuration (usually a star or daisy-chain layout is used).

After everything was connected and plugged in, I turned the power on and the system came up without a problem. Since then, I have moved the hardware between my office and home several times, and the equipment has survived with very few problems.

The Computer

The Model 16's main box is only 1-foot square and contains the monitor, 512K bytes of memory, an HP-IB interface and an RS-232C interface, and a 68000 microprocessor.

HP Series 200 Model 16

The detachable keyboard has its own microprocessor (an 8041) to scan keys, set timers, and beep.

A round "knob" on the keyboard is a one-dimensional track ball (see photo 3). As it rotates, it generates pulses that are detected by the keyboard microprocessor. This feature can be used to scroll text in both the Pascal and BASIC editors or it can adjust the parameters of, for instance, instruments attached to the interface bus.

I found nothing especially offensive about the Model 16's keyboard layout. However, much of the software supplied by HP was designed for the 9826, which has a different keyboard. Several keys on the 9826's keyboard are not on the Model 16's,

Absent, for instance, are the Alpha and Graphics keys, which toggle the display of the alphanumeric and graphics memory. On the 9826, these keys suppress the display of graphics while commands are being typed. On the Model 16, BASIC commands can be typed in to execute the same functions, but this is not as convenient as using a single keystroke. When using the Pascal system, several keys are mapped by the software to perform these functions, but they only work at the command-line level. It took me four days to find this out because the information was buried in the documentation. Systems that run

Pascal now come with a keyboard sticker to indicate which keys have been mapped for Alpha and Graphics functions. Unfortunately, the sticker doesn't fit where the manufacturer tells you to put it.

Absence of a keyboard tilde (~) is also frustrating. Tildes are used in many of the Unix programs, including the C-shell and Berkeley Mail. In my opinion, the lack of this key seriously compromises the system's ability to act as a remote terminal.

The keyboard also has a beeper with software-controlled pitch and duration. The pitch is 81.36 times the value stored in a 6-bit latch set by the keyboard microprocessor. It would have been nice if the designers had taken the time to make the pitches form an equal-tempered musical scale so that tunes could be played on it (as in the HP-85).

The Model 16's main box has two card slots in the back. In my machine one of these slots held a memory card. The no-frills version of the system comes with 256K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory) on its main board; 256K bytes of additional RAM cost $1060. In this configuration, however, the system cannot boot the RAM BASIC, and an attempt to do so results in the message "not enough memory." The limitation of two expansion

Photo 4: The HP 7470A two-pen plotter. This plotter comes with either an HP-IB connector for use with the Series 200 Model 16, or an RS-232C connector. It uses 8V2- by 11-inch paper, and more than two colors can be plotted by manually changing the pens. The list price for this plotter has been recently reduced to $1095.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

At a Glance

Name

The HP Series 200 Model 16, or HP 9816

Manufacturer

Hewlett-Packard 1820 Embarcadero Rd. Palo Alto, CA 94303 [800) 367-4772

Components

Size: 12.4 by 19.2 by 11.1 inches

Processor. 16-bit Motorola 68000, 8 megahertz

Memory: RAM—128K bytes to 256K bytes on main board, 256K

bytes additional on optional board (S1060); ROM—I6K bytes or

48K bytes of bootstrap code Display: 9-inch white phosphor (P4), 80 characters by 25 lines,

400 by 300 graphics format (25 pixels per centimeter) Keyboard: detachable typewriter-style keyboard, 10 function keys

plus a "knob" (one-dimensional track ball) Mass Storage: variety of floppy- and hard-disk drives available;

most compatible with the HP 9121D dual 3/2-inch floppy-disk

drive ($1775) Expansion: HP-IB and RS-232C interfaces; two expansion slots for

extra memory and interfaces

Options (partial list)

Hardware: HP 9121D dual 3/2-inch floppy-disk drive ($1775), HP 82901M dual 5J4-inch floppy-disk drive {$2230), HP 9134A 4.6-megabyte Winchester drive ($3500), HP 2671G serial-thermal graphics printer ($1540), HP 7470A two-pen plotter ($1095)

Software: Pro-BASIC ($355), HP Standard Pascal program-development system ($1515), HPL (APL) ($355), Context MBA ($795)

Documentation

Hardware; operating manual, 150 pages, 8/2- by 9-inch; BASIC: four volumes; Pascal: two volumes

Price

With 128K bytes of RAM, less disk drives and software: $3985; with 256K bytes, less disk drives and software: $4450; with 512K bytes plus Pro-BASIC: $5550; with 256K bytes, Pro-BASIC, and dual 3/2-floppy disks: $6580

cards thus restricts some applications. Although an expansion chassis is available, this solution sacrifices many of the advantages gained from the Model 16's compactness.

The Disk Drive

The HP 9121 floppy-disk drive is a real gem. Built by Sony, these drives use 3V2-inch hard-shell floppy disks, or "stiff ies" as one of my coworkers christened them. Each disk holds about 270K bytes of usable data, under the formatting scheme used by HP. The hard case provides better protection from damage than ordinary floppy-disk casings. Additional protection is afforded by a metal flap covering the access hole in the case and a metal bushing reinforcing the center hole.

The disk spins at a high rate (for a floppy), enabling high data-transfer rates. The built-in controller performs bad-block substitution, making these disks reliable. I used more than 20 disks and experienced no trouble.

330 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

The Printer and Plotter

The 2671G printer that comes with the system prints on special thermal paper and has graphics capabilities. (The G in 2671G indicates that the printer has these capabilities.) The first, printer I tried mysteriously expired soon after I got it to my office, but Hewlett-Packard replaced it with little delay.

The printer was designed to sit on top of a 9826, but it does not fit on the Model 16. Because some Pascal utilities require an online printer, the advantages of the Model 16's small size are lost here.

The replacement printer worked well. Its only disadvantage is that it requires expensive thermal paper. Special holes in the paper enable the printer to detect the end of a page. (Use of paper other than that supplied by HP voids the warranty.)

The plotter was the system's star attraction when I set up the unit at my office (see photo 4). A novel mechanism pinches the paper between a wheel coated with a fine grit and a polyurethane pinch roller to provide the plotter's x-axis motion. This motion moves only the paper back and forth, greatly reducing the mass that must be accelerated. This means smaller motors can be used, lowering the manufacturing costs.

Sliding the pen-holder along a precision stainless-steel rod enables the y-axis motion. Twin pen stalls at either end of the rod can be used to make multicolored plots.

Clever engineering of the DC servo motors and optical encoders used for position feedback also help keep the unit's cost down. At $1095 (list price) this plotter is a real bargain.

Figure 1 shows the first six of a set of recursive figures known as Sierpinski curves (see reference 5) and provides an example of the plotter's resolution and accuracy.

System Software

Even the greatest computer hardware is useless with outdated software; the quality of the software is critical to the computer's utility.

The first piece of software a user encounters with the Model 16 is the code in the boot ROMs. Version 3.0, which is installed in the computer, initializes everything it can find, tests memory, polls the interface cards to see what is attached to them, and searches all online mass storage to find bootable programs. If it finds more than one, the user is offered a choice of which to load.

HP BASIC

The manufacturer provides two varieties of HP BASIC with the Model 16: RAM-based and ROM-based. The RAM-based BASIC is loaded by the boot ROMs off a disk, while the ROM-based software resides in a set of ROMs on a plug-in card. This card takes up one of the two card slots on the main box.

The BASIC is good, for BASIC. (I should mention here that BASIC is not my favorite language, however, this BASIC system is almost pleasant to use.) The manual is clear and complete, and the language includes constructs to make structured programming (and even recur-

Which is a better buy, a shovel or a bulldozer?

IMZ

Circle 268 on inquiry card.

Obviously, the answer depends on what you want to build. The same principle applies to the purchase of computers. For some users and for some applications so-called "home" or "personal" computers are efficient. But before you decide whether an 8- or 16-bit single-user system is right for you, be sure to consider the MegaMicro—the 32-bit multi-user virtual memory microcomputer made by LMC. The MegaMicro is a "big" computer in a small box. It

allows one or up to 32 users to run big applications programs [ones so big they can't even be compiled by smaller 8- or 16-bit machines} simultaneously Because the MegaMicro is a multi-user system, it allows easy sharing of data bases and peripherals—obstacles that soon haunt business and scientific users of "personals" who find a need to "network" or to add devices such as laser-printers, multi-color plotters and the like.

LMC's MegaMicro is built around the newest state-of-the-art VLSI logic—the 16000 family developed by National Semiconductor. Each MegaMicro is supplied with UNITY-HCR'sfull Bell-licensed UNIX operating system —as well as FORTRAN and C. Also standard are hardware virtual memory and hardware floating point, a half Meg. of RAM and a very fast 20 Meg. Winchester hard disk. The result is a computer with the performance of a large mini, at a "micro" price. For example, the MegaMicro does 161,000 double-precision (64-bit] floating point multiplications per second. All this costs

$15,000, and even less with OEM and quantity discounts [about the same as a single IBM XT or Apple LISA]. The result is a cost per "work-station" far lower than similarly configured (and less powerful] "personals."

Because the MegaMicro is powerful, inexpensive and designed around the Multibus (IEE 796] (which means it has a completely "open" architecture], it is an ideal choice for the OEM wishing to supply powerful applications software solutions on a microcomputer.

So which do you want, the shovel or the bulldozer?

,TM

LMC MegaMicros The Logical Alternative

The Logical Microcomputer Company

140 South Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60603, (312) 580.0250, Telex 270384

BYTE November 1983 331

The Professional Small Business Computer

MMffff

The Persona is a professional business computer at an affordable price. This versatile computer possesses all the features of more expensive personal computers but at a significantly lower price. Handsomely designed and easily expanded, the Persona offers a broad range of capabilities to meet today's business, education and entertainment requirements.

Standard Hardware

•Z80A Processor "Printer Interface

•64K Ram Memory (Parallel)

•2-180K Disk Drives •Serial Communications

•12 Inch Green Interface

Monitor *4 Expansion Slots

Optional Hardware

•360K Disk Drives •10MB Winchester •8086 (IBM Compatible) Processorwith MS/DOS

•Additional 64K or

128K Ram •High Resolution/

Colour Graphics

Standard Software

•CP/M Operating "CalcStar Electronic

System Spreadsheet

•WordStar Word 'Persona Communications

Processing Package

Optional Software

•MBAS1C Programming

Language •InfoStar - Data Base

Management •MailMerge - Creates

Mailing Labels

•SpellStar - English Spelling Checker

•Persona Professional Accounting

•Many More

Manufacturer's Suggested List Price - Only $2,195.00

Sold At Participating

Stores

OEM And Dealer Enquiries Welcome

For Further Information Contact: Mr. Ken Thomas,

FROM: vp ' Marketin s

NELMA DATA CORPORATION

5170A Timberlea Blvd. Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L4W 2S5 Teh (416) 624-0334 Telex: 06-960121

See us at COMDEX '83 Booth #7052.

CP M - is a registered trademark of Digital Research Inc

WordStar/CalcStar/InfoStar SpellStar MailMerge are registered trademarks of MicroPro Corp

MBASIC - is a registered trademark of Microsoft Inc

332 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 328 on inquiry card.

Figure 1: The Sierpinski curves illustrate the 7470A plotter's resolution and accuracy.

sion) easy. This machine was designed to run this BASIC and it runs it fairly well, but a bit slowly.

The famous Eratosthenes Sieve prime-number benchmark (see reference 3) ran in HP BASIC in 265 seconds. In comparison, Apple Integer BASIC ran the program in 1850 seconds, and a DEC VAX-11/780 ran the equivalent C program in 1.42 seconds. The Model 16 demonstrates respectable capabilities for a desktop computer.

A rather primitive game I wrote in BASIC (see listing 1) slowed markedly on the Model 16 whenever several objects had to be moved at once. Unfortunately time constraints and an omission in the Pascal system routine to access the knob prevented me from coding the game in Pascal for comparison. A Centipede-like game ran well on the system in Pascal, but the BASIC version was sluggish.

An optional set of extensions to the RAM BASIC enhances program entry, editing, and debugging and adds string utilities, real-time features, I/O enhancements, and other features. However, the Model 16 has insufficient memory to run the prime-number benchmark program with extensions.

HP Pascal

A license to use HP's version of Pascal, which began as a version of UCSD Pascal, costs $250. Its implementers chose to compile to 68000 machine code instead of p-codes, which accounts for its impressive benchmark performance. Overall, the Pascal system looks much like the UCSD p-System. The filer, editor, linker, and compiler have substantially the same user interface that the UCSD system does. Details of operation are different, however.

For instance, the file system has been changed from that used with the UCSD system. HP uses its proprietary

Text continued on page 340

The almost perfect stocking sniffer.

It may not fit perfectly into a stocking, but it's perfect for everyone who has, or is about to get, a computer.

It's the Datalife^ Holiday Pack: ten Datalife 5 l k" minidisks in a plastic storage case and a/ree Head Cleaning Kit, too.

High-quality Datalife Disks are certified 100% error-free and warranteed 5 years. The free Head Cleaning Kit

also ensures trouble-free computing by keeping disk drive heads free from dirt anodebris.

For the name of your nearest Verbatim retailer, call toll-free _^» 800-538-1793.

While it may not fit a stocking perfectly, the Datalife Holiday Pack will ensure years of perfect computing for every computer person on your list.

The Datalife

Holiday Pack:

10 minidisks and a free

Head Cleaning Kit.

Circle 494 on inquiry card.

© 1983 Verbatim Corp.

Listing 1: A simple game, written in HP BASIC, was played on the Model 16. It slowed considerably when several objects had to be moved simultaneously.

ALPHA OFF

10 UEG

20 K1Us = 0

30 Prob=.08

40 Ss1ze=l0

^0 DIM S<10) ! dimension must match Ssize

60 DIM D1r(l0> !here too

70 FOK 1 = 1 TO Ssize

80 Stl)=0

9U NEXT I

10 0 Tsize=10

110 DIM Tx(lO)tTyClO) tTdirClO)

120 FOK 1=1 TO Tsize

130 TxCI)=Q

140 NEXT I

150 DIM Sin(360)

160 DIM COSC360)

170 FOR 1=0 TO 360

180 S1n<I)=SINCI>

190 Cos(I>=COS< I)

200 NEXT I

210 RANDOMIZE

220 Score=0

270 LORG 5

280 Len=150

290 WINDOW -250,250,-200,200

300 X = 90

310 MOVE 0,0

320 !ON KBD GOSUB Keyaction

330 ON KNOB •! GOSUB Knob_action

340 ON KEY 5 LABEL "Fire!" GOSUB Keyaction

350 ON KEY 6 LABEL "score" GOSUB Key_score

360 ON KEY 7 LABEL "bogles" GOSUB Key_bcg1es

361 ON KEY 8 LABEL "Destruct" GOSUB Key_destruct 370 Loop: !

380 PEN 1

390 MOVE 0,0

400 PLOT 0,0

410 PLOT Len*Sin<X) ,Len*Cos(X)

420 FOR 1=1 TO Ssize

430 Stmp=S<I>

440 IF StapOO THEN

450 Sindi r=Stmp*Sin<Dir<I))

46 0 Cosdi r = Stmp*Cos (Di rCI))

470 DISABLE

480 MOVE Sindi r, Cosdir

490 PEN -1

500 LABEL "O"

510 Stmp=Stmp+5

52 0 Sindi r = Stmp*Sin i D1r(I))

530 Cosdi r=Stmp*Cos<D1r(I>>

54 0 PEN 1

550 MOVE Slndir, Cosdi r

560 LABEL "O"

570 ENABLE

580 FOR J=l TO Tsize

590 IF (Tx(J)OO) THEN

600 IF <ASS<Tx(J> -Sindi r))<5 THEN

610 IF CABSt Ty< J>-Cosdi r> )<5 THEN !colL1sion!

620 Stmp=0

630 SCI)=0

640 DISABLE

650 MOVE Sindi r, Cosdi r

660 PEN -1

670 LABEL "0"

Listing 1 continued on page 336

334 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Instant one-button color printing.

Press here.

It's just that easy! Any time you want to print what's on your Apple's screen just hit the copy button on your Transtar 315 color printer with our PICS card installed, and it's done! No special programming, no lengthy code sequences, no need to exit your program! Just press the button and it prints!

By adding the optional PICS card to your $599 Transtar 315 color printer, you've opened up a whole new world of easy color printing. For the first time ever, our PICS parallel interface card enables you to screendump virtually any program - graphics, charts, games - even copy-protected software! Specially designed only for the Apple II, II+, lie, and Franklin computers, the Transtar 315 PICS card does the work of a parallel card and a lot more and costs only $119.95.

At the push of a button, Transtar's innovative new 4-color diagonal ribbon will print up to 7 colors and more than 30 shades in a single pass.

The 315 is precision-built to exacting standards by Seikosha, the most experienced company of the famous Seiko group-recognized worldwide for quality and dependability. In fact, one of the nicest things about Transtar's 6-month warranty on parts and labor is that you'll probably never use it!

Innovative, inexpensive, dependable, easy: the Transtar 315. Color printing has never looked so good!

Only $599.

"PICS cards are currently available for Apples and Franklins. PICS cards for other computers will be available in the future.

Circle 481 on inquiry card.

Transtar

A Vivitan Computer Product

P.O. Box C-96975, Bellevue, WA 98009

BYTE November 1983

63 0

69 0

70 0 710 720 730 740 750 76 0 770 771 780 79 0 800 810 82 0 830 840 850 860 870

88 0

89 0 900 910

92 0

93 0 940 95 0 960 970 98 0 990 1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090 1091 1100 1110 1120 1130 1160 1170 1180 119 0 1200 1210 1211 1213 1220 1221 1222 1223 1224 1?25 1227 1228 1230 1240 1250

MOVE TxCJltTyCJ)

LABEL "X" PEN 1

MOVE Tx(J) f Ty(J) LABEL "* n ENABLE BEEP 80,.1 Score=Score+l 0 KULs=K1L ls+1 Prob=Prob+.02 DISP Tx<J> = 0 GOTO 840 END IF END IF END IF NEXT U

IF Stmp>Len THEN ! bullet at max range. destroy It !MOVE OtO •PEN -1 •PLOT 0,0

!PLOT Len*S1ndir»Len*Cosdir PEN -1

MOVE Sindlr^Cosdi r LABEL w O»

s<n = o

ELSE

S(I)=Stmp END IF PEN 1 END IF NEXT I

IF RND<«01 THEN ! Create new target FOR J=l TO Tslze IF Tx(J) = 0" THEN Tx< J)=100*RNU-50 TyC J>=100*RND-50 Tdi rC J)=RND*360 DISABLE

MOVE Tx(J> fTy (J) PEN 1 LABEL "X" ENABLE DISP BEEP

GOTO 1170 END IF NEXT J END IF

FOR 1=1 TO Tslze ! Move IF TxCDOO THEN

IF ABS(Tx(I> )>2b0 THEN Tx( I>=0 BEEP 800t.l Escapes=Escaoes*l GOTO 1370 END IF

IF ABSCTyC I) >>200 THEN Tx( 11 = 0 BEEP 800t.l Escapes=Escapes*l Prob=Prob*.02 GOTO 137 0 END IF DISABLE

MOVE Tx(I),Ty<I) PEN -1

targets

336 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Listing 1 continued on page 338 Circle 473 on inquiry card. >

1260 LABEL "X"

1270 ENABLE

1280 Tx< I)=TxCI>*2*S1n(Tdir(I> >

12 9 0 Tyci>=Tyci)+2*CosCTdlr(i>>

1300 DISABLE

1310 MOVE Tx(I),Ty(I)

1320 PEN 1

1330 LABEL B x"

1340 ENABLE

1350 IF RNDC.05 THEN Td1r<I> =360 * RNO 'change course to make It Interesting

1360 END IF

1370 NEXT I

1371 IF EscapesMQ THEN

1372 GOSUB Key.score

1373 GRAPHICS OFF

1375 STOP

1376 END IF 1380 GOTO Loop 1390 !

1400 I Knob Interupt handler

1410 !

1420 Knob_action: !

1430 PEN~-1

1440 Dx=KN03X

1450 MOVE 0t0

1460 PLOT OtO

1470 PLOT Len*Sin<X> f Len*Cos(X)

1480 MOVE OtO

1490 X=X+Dx

1500 IF X<0 THEN X=X*360

1510 IF X>360 THEN X=X-360

1520 SDISP SINCX) » COS <X>,X t Sin(X) »Cos< X)

1530 PEN 1

1540 RETURN

1550 !

1560 ! Keyboard interrupt handler

1570 !

1580 Keyactlon: !

1590 FOR K=l TO Ssize

1600 IF SiK)=0 THEN

1610 S(K>=1

1620 D1r(K)=X

1630 Scored core-1

1640 GOTO 1670

1650 END IF

1660 NEXT K

1670 RETURN

1680 !

1690 Key_score: !

1700 DISP "Your score Is M tScore « "You have " • K11 L St '• lei I Is and " »E scapes « "esca pes

1710 RETURN

1720 !

1730 Key_bogies: !

1740 Blcnt=0

1750 FOR B_lp=l TO Tslze

1760 IF Tx(B_lp)O0 THEN

1770 B_cnt = 8_cnt«-1

1780 END"lF

1790 NEXT B_lp

1800 DISP "There are w §B_cnt? M Bogies out"

1810 RETURN

1811 I

1812 !

1814 Key_destruct : !

1815 FOR D_lp=l TO Ssize

1816 IF S(D^Lp)<>0 THEN

181 1 MOVE S<D_lp>*5in<0ir<D_lp)>f$CD_lp)*Cos(Dir<D_lp)> Listing 1 continued on page 340

338 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR STOCK MARKET INVESTORS AND TRADERS

Predicting the winds of Wall Street can be an emotionally charged gamble, or a coldly calculated science. Whether you play it by the seat of your pants, on the advice of experts, or like a mathematician, success in the stock market depends on decisions — YOUR DECISIONS.

No one can guarantee you success on Wall Street. WINNING ON WALL STREET can, however, give you powerful tools to help you beat the odds.

WINNING ON WALL STREET is a decision support software system for the Apple II, II + and He. This easy to use, fully integrated three module system delivers sophisticated data management, technical analysis, forecasting, and portfolio management capabilities.

If you are serious about investing or trading, WINNING ON WALL STREET could be the most profitable buying decision you make.

Module 1: Trader's Data Manager™

Investor's data base. Manual data entry or automatic download. Displays. Reports. Interactive Graphics.

Module 2: Trader's Forecaster™ (requires Trader's Data Manager)

Comprehensive tech. analysis/forecasting toolkit. Classical + proprietary methods. Point/figure charting. Interactive graphs.

Module 3: Trader's Accountant™

Sophisticated Portfolio Management. P&L, tax, cash mgmt., splits, margins, interest, more. "Simulations." Download current quotes.

WINNING ON WALL STREET™ The Complete System

Contains Modules 1,2, & 3. Completely integrated. Most powerful system available.

See your local dealer or: For more information contact:

WINNING ON WALL STREET™

SUMMA SOFTWARE CORPORATION P.O.Box 2046 Beaverton, Oregon 97075 (503)644-3212

^Ljnmix

Software

Circle 444 on inquiry card.

•Sumrna Software,™ Winning on Wall Street,™ Trader's Data Manager,™Trader's Forecaster,™ Trader's Accountant™ are trademarks of Surnma Software Corporation. Apple® is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Copyright © 1983, Summa Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

1818 PEN -1

1819 LABEL "0"

1820 SCD Lp)=0

1821 END IF

1822 NEXT D_lp

1823 Score=Score-5 1324 RETURN

1825 END

Text continued from page 332:

LIF (Logical Interchange Format) directory structure on its disks, so users can move files between BASIC and Pascal systems.

Memory is managed as a large "heap" into which programs are loaded and executed. Commonly used programs can be permanently loaded or "p-loaded" into memory to avoid delay caused by loading them from a floppy disk. Since the compiler uses more than 200K bytes, this feature can save a lot of time. Unfortunately, the implementation of the heap prevents programs from being un-p-loaded except by rebooting. This is frustrating when you are waiting for your latest program to compile only to be told there's not enough memory.

HP Pascal supports separate compilation with what the company calls modules. The user can specify exactly which variables and procedures are to be visible to another module. A generous set of system-level modules is supplied with Pascal.

Unfortunately HP did not adhere to a consistent nam ing scheme for the various procedures in the modules. If, for example, you wish to use the keyboard beeper, you must import the module KBD. It would be natural to then name a procedure to do the beeping "beep," but it is the system-level routine that actually commands the keyboard microprocessor to beep, and this routine is called "beep." It would have been more logical for HP to have given system-level procedures names that start with "sys" or "HP." Then users would be relatively safe from confusion.

Both BASIC and Pascal can produce beeps. The BASIC BEEP statement has optional parameters to specify the beep's frequency in hertz and duration in seconds. Pascal has the beep procedure mentioned previously, but its parameters fall between 0 and 63. That value goes into the hardware latch on the keyboard, producing a frequency 81.36 times the value stored in the latch. The procedure is declared to accept a parameter of type "byte." Byte is declared in IO_DECLARATIONS (another module that you have to include) to be an integer subrange from 0 to 255. Declaring a similar subrange is not sufficient; beep must have a byte, and the user must include IO_DECLARATIONS as well as KBD; consequently, the system will link in all sorts of modules the user may not want. The duration must be specified in tens of milliseconds.

Also unlike BASIC, where

re

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In this era of "user-friendly" computers and

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340 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 74 on inquiry card.

[^7®@^

Remoteliitelligence hikes your computer from the screen

out to the scene.

Who can blame you if you've only been using your computer as an efficient filing system. Up to now, getting it to physically do things for you, like regulate equipment or even just open the garage door, has been complex, troublesome and expensive.

Rydex has the intelligent solution!

The Rydex IC (Intelligent Controller) series transforms your PC into a powerful monitor and control tool, with capabilities ranging from relay activation to temperature monitoring, motor control and security/alarm system regulation. Control can be through

digital or analog channels, connected directly or by modem, with hundreds of IC units to a single

For more information on how Rydex ICs can put YOUR computer to work, call or fill in and mail coupon below to:

Rydex Industries Corporation, 200/4040 No. 3 Road, Richmond, B.C. V6X 2C2 (604) 27&-6T72.

COMPANY NAME

ADDRESS

ZIP/POSTAL

RS 232 serial port. Modular design means you can expand easily to virtually limitless remote control capacity.

Rydex ICs require no special computer knowledge or special software to use. All commands are accessible through Basic. IC systems are not difficult to install. Complete instructions come with the unit. Or if you have an especially complex application, our technical staff will be glad to assist.

And here's the final word on Rydex ICs. Affordability. Most systems can be installed for less than $1,000.

Circle 398 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983 341

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10 BEEP 400,0.5 20 BEEP 800,0.5

produces two V2-second tones of different pitches, the Pascal statements

beep(400, 50); beep(800, 50);

(which would seem to do the same thing) produce only the latter tone. Beep sets up a tone and a timer and returns immediately. It does not check to detect a tone-in-progress when next called.

The beep procedure is documented in neither the Pascal Language Reference Manual or the Pascal Procedure Library User's Manual. I had to disassemble the interface text of the KBD module to figure out how the procedure works.

The Pascal system is riddled with similar inconsistencies. When Zehntel decided to replace the HP Command Interpreter with its own software so that Zehntel's customers would only have to learn to use one kind of software, problems arose. The Pascal Language Reference Manual clearly states that a user can write a command interpreter to replace the one that comes with the system.

It's not that simple. The new command interpreter must be fully linked.

Normally, the Pascal system resolves calls to system procedures at load time, but because a new command interpreter is loaded before the loader is, this procedure won't work.

Moreover, a command interpreter must call the undocumented procedure CISWITCH early in its initialization code, so that it uses the kernel stack instead of the user stack. If the procedure is not labeled CISWITCH, strange things happen when the command interpreter tries to run another program. We found this out when Zehntel was a beta test site for the Pascal system, and we badgered HP's development staff for a copy of the system designers guide and a system source listing. (Incidentally, the Pascal system won't compile with the HP-Pascal compiler, but that's another story,)

An average user faced with these problems would probably give up in disgust.

There are other problems. The Pascal Language Reference Manual says that certain characters: #,[,], $, and the comma (,), etc. are not permitted in filenames. The filer, though, blithely allows a user to create files named #$%[@. When using the filer's make-a-file feature, you can specify the file's size in blocks by placing the desired size in square brackets after the filename. Unfortunately, size must be stated in 512K-byte blocks, while the filer displays the count of 256K-byte blocks when a directory listing is requested. If the trailing square bracket is left off (i.e., the user requests a file named FOO[20), then the filer interprets the [20 and creates the file 20 (512K-byte) blocks long, naming it FOO[20.

342 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 230 on inquiry card.

The IBM Personal ComputerW>rk Station. It's optional. (But essential.)

Now, we could hard-sell you on its features. Or we could soft-sell you on its virtues. Instead, we're going to level with you.

You don't have to buy it.

But we have a hunch that the more you know about the IBM Synergetix® PC Work Station the more you'll wonder how your business ever managed without it.

Necessity was surely the mother of this invention.

For as more and morel

businesses come to rely on the personal computer, new and extraordinary demands are being placed on the work environment itself.

The IBM PC Work Station was specifically developed to meet the challenges of today's technology. And scientifically designed to satisfy the various needs of the people who use it.

It's not just another pretty desk.

First and foremost, the IBM PC Work Station provides a convenient and compact work space that instantly opens up to expand your work area.

In addition, the IBM PC Work Station offers added mobility for your personal computer. So you get more mileage out of your investment as it moves from office to office, person to person, solving problem after problem.

And since your personal computers are as vulnerable as they are valuable, the IBM PC Work Station also functions as a security device.

It deters pilferage by providing a self-contained lockable storage compartment for your CPU, software, key board, printer, program books and diskettes

It also protects valuable information, prohibiting unauthorized access to confidential computer data by keeping it all secure under lock and key.

Circle 219 on inquiry card.

Last but not least, the IBM PC Work Station is human-factor engineered to meet IBM's strict ergonomic standards for

operator

comfort.

For as you

know, the

more comfortable

people are, the more productive they can be. There's one more important feature to our PC

Work Station. It comes equipped with the added

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If all this hasn't convinced you that our PC

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M

You can order from IBM Product Centers and ComputerLand® stores. Or call IBM Direct toll free at 1800IBM-2468Ext. 40.

New model available for larger printers.

PATENT PENDING

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For more information, mail to:

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One Culver Road, Dayton, New Jersey 08810

40

NAME.

-TITLE.

COMPANY.

.TELEPHONE.

ADDRESS-

CITY_

_STATE.

.ZIP-

BYTE November 1983

(2b)

A Title

Foo

Figure 2: Two pie charts; (a) is a representation of the one produced on the system's 2671G printer, and (b) was produced on the 7470A plotter.

The output of the linker's disassemble option can be redirected into a file but is then incorrectly formatted for use with the system's assembler.

The Sieve benchmark, by the way, showed a 31-fold gain in performance in Pascal over its run in BASIC. For production of graphics, however, which requires much code in the boot ROMs, the gain was significantly less-only 2.5-fold. Figure 1 was plotted on the cathode-ray

tube in 39.6 seconds by a Pascal program and in 97.5 seconds by a similar BASIC program. When the plotter was used, the differences were less striking: plotting times for Pascal and BASIC were 448 and 523 seconds, respectively.

An Electronic Spreadsheet

The Context MBA-integrated spreadsheet package I re-

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would like to go to work for you.

Fujitsu Japans largest computer company, sends you their best. The new Micro 16s personal business computer. A combination of thoughtful planning, innovative thinking and quality craftsmanship Just what youd expect from a Japanese company that s been making computers for three decades.

The Micro 16s is a complete computer system. The options of other computers are our standards. For example, its price includes the CiyM-86 @ operating system, SuperCalc 2 ™ electronic spreadsheet, WordStar®word processing, a high resolution color graphics monitor, and two microprocessors, the Z8(fA 8-bit and 808616-bit.

The Micro 16s will run any of the more than 3,000 CP/M @ software programs on the market today. Optional operating systems for the Micro 16s include MS-DOS and the

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The Micro 16s also comes with a detachable keyboard, dual built-in 5J4" floppy disk drives, 128 kilobytes of internal memory expandable to over one megabyte, and expansion slots for future growth.

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Put a Japanese leader to work for you. Fujitsu's Micro 16s. For more information or the name of your nearest dealer call toll free 1-800-MICRO16. Or write Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc., Professional Microsystems HBBHHBi Division, 3320 Scott Blvd., FUJITSU Santa Clara, CA 95051.

Fujitsu's Micro 16s:

SuperCalc 2 ™ is a trademark of Sorcim Corp. WordStar* is a trademark of MicroPro International. CP/M-86* and Concurrent CP/M-86 "are trademarks of Digital Research. Inc. MS™ is a trademark of Microsoft'' Z8CT is a trademark of Zilog, Inc

(3a)

(3b)

Figure 3: A representation of a line graph done on a printer (a) and the same graph produced on a plotter (b).

ceived with the Model 16 is useful and deserves a review of its own. Not just another Visicalc clone, it includes a database-management system, a word processor, and presentation graphics. It was fairly simple to use, and, with its help, I managed to do my federal income-tax return. An outstanding feature of the spreadsheet package is

its ability to produce various types of graphs directly from data in the spreadsheet cells. For an example of a pie chart done on the 2671G printer and the 7470A plotter, see figure 2. Figure 3 shows a line graph done on the same printer and plotter.

A minor flaw in the MBA package is a bug in the shading subroutine that draws graphs. If the region to be

Graphics Plus

GRAPHICS-PLUS is a field installable enhancement board for the popular Zenith 1 Z19 video terminal adding many powerful features found only on terminals costing much more. GRAPHICS-PLUS provides Tektronix 2 4010 compatible vector ^rawing graphics, VT100 3 compatible 80 and 132 column display formats, off-screen scrolling memory, programmable function keys, "Plain English" menu-driven Set-up mode, and a host of other enhancements. Installation can be accomplished within 15 minutes using only a screwdriver,

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346 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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shaded is to be dark with light crosshatches, the program first completely colors the region and then draws the white lines hatching the region. This works fine on the cathode-ray tube, but on the plotter it tries to draw the white lines with the null pen. (In figure 3, for example, the DOODA region was intended to be hatched this way.)

Originally written for the IBM PC, the MBA package has been successfully moved to the Model 16 by Context Management Systems. The accompanying manual is not perfect, but a little digging always turned up the answer to my questions within a short time.

Miscellaneous Software

The Model 16 also runs a great deal of engineering software. HP provides tools for tasks such as electronic and mechanical design, circuit analysis, statistics, circuit-board layout, circuit simulation, and presentation graphics, as well as support for them. A program called HP-Plus makes software written by other firms, including Visicalc, available.

An asynchronous terminal emulator enables the system to act as a terminal when it is connected to a remote computer. Files can then be transferred between the Model 16 and the remote host.

Several games are available for the system. Versions of Startrek, Tailgunner, Pac-Man, and Centipede are some I tried. Most were written in Pascal for speed, and they worked well.

Summary

The Hewlett-Packard Series 200 Model 16 is an excel lent engineering computer with many diverse peripherals available to it. Support of other manufacturers' peripherals, however, either in actual drivers or system-level interface documentation (for those who "roll their own" drivers), is nonexistent. The BASIC system is excellent, but the Pascal system, although fast, has some serious consistency and documentation problems. ■

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of Zehntel Inc.

Special thanks to Dennis Vetter of Hewlett-Packard for his support in the preparation of this article and to Mark Wittenberg and Stephen Lewis of Zehntel for helping me ferret out the dark secrets of the Model 16.

Berry Ketvheval holds a B.S. in applied science from the University of California at Riverside. He can be reached at Zehntel Inc., 2625 Shadelands Dr., Walnut Creek, CA 94598.

References

1. Azmoon, Majid. "Development of a Low-Cost, High-Quality Graphics Plotter." Hewlett-Packard Journal, December 1982.

2. Gitbreath, Jim. "A High-Level Language Benchmark." September 1981 BYTE, page 180.

3. Gilbreath, Jim and Gary. "Eratosthenes Revisited: Once More Through the Sieve." January 1983 BYTE, page 283.

4. Monahan, John. 'Tight Squeeze: The HP Series 200 Model 16." June 1983 BYTE, page 110.

5. Wirth, N. Algorithms + Data = Programs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1976.

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348 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983 349

SIEMENS

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Siemens all new PT-88 matrix printer offers the fast, dependable performance you require...at a very affordable price. Gliding along at 150 cps bi-directionally, the PT-88 provides exceptional print quality in 8 resident user-selectable character sets on low cost, margin -perforated fanfold, single-sheet, or roll paper.

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short, why settle for one of the industry's ilso rans" when you can choose a company that is leading the way. For complete information contact: Siemens Communication Systems, lr~ Anaheim, GA - (714) 991-9700 Boca Raton, FL - (305) 994-8100 Atlanta, GA - (404) 441-0882 Chicago, IL - (312) 671-2810 Boston, MA - (617) 935-2234 Iselin, NJ - (201) 321-3940 New York, NY - (516) 752-1323

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CC/3OSO-022 510829

Software Review

Three Generations of Charts for the IBM PC

Design philosophies and operational reviews of three graphics packages

by Jack Bishop

The three graphics packages for the IBM Personal Computer (PC) reviewed in this article illustrate three phases or philosophies of graphics software design. As I became familiar with the packages, I felt I was seeing three generations of programs, ranging from the utilitarian first generation to the menu-driven, easy-to-use third generation. Side by side, these three packages showed me how quickly a product can be surpassed by a product that's more powerful and easier to use. All three have their advantages and disadvantages, of course, and the best choice is largely a matter of personal taste.

What I expect of a graphics package is the same today as when I first threw away my ruler and charting tapes. The only difference that I recognize is a decline in the "new toy" factor. With the first packages I used, I was so grateful to be rid of the annoying drudgery of charting that I was willing to put up with anything the charting program threw my way. As I have gained more experience, however, I am less tolerant of a program's idiosyncrasies. A program that is promoted for use in business should not flinch when confronted with a normal user, and vice versa.

The goal I set for these packages is that they produce charts that work. If you can understand the economic message of each chart in this article, the chart is a success. The photos that illustrate this article were taken from a screen (IBM Color Monitor, Princeton Graphics Monitor, or Amdek Color I), and the figures were produced on a Hewlett-Packard two-pen plotter and an IBM dot-matrix printer.

First-generation programs, as I define them, provide few if any cosmetics; the information is the focal point. These programs may not work under certain circumstances. Such programs are most appropriate for experienced computer users who might want or need to "go into" the program and customize the code for their par-

ticular needs. The typical user is an engineer or social scientist.

Second-generation programs have been cleaned of the "bugs," have more options, and are powerful and fairly simple to use. In general, they require some computer expertise because the program does its work through commands (EDIT, DRAW BAR, etc.) that require the user to learn a new vocabulary. If you use such programs regularly and memorize the codes, you may not believe that any improvements are either necessary or desirable.

Third-generation graphing programs are characterized by menu operation. Because a menu relieves the user of the burden of remembering another language, these programs are ideal if you have an occasional need to make charts (or if you have limited computer experience, time, and patience). Third-generation programs may also add some cosmetic amenities to make the product more visually pleasing and professional looking.

Graphics Generator

Graphics Generator (GG) from the Robert J. Brady Co. requires that you select the type of chart you want to make before you enter data. This is fine if you know in advance what type of chart you want, but I usually have the data in hand and want to first get it into the program (either from another file or from my tired old fingers). If after seeing the result you decide to try bars in place of lines, go directly to jail.

GG relies on the PCs function keys to develop a chart. Each function key has two uses (or levels): the first level selects the type of chart, and the second level controls the chart parameters and input. At the second level, some function keys have different meanings in different types of charts and thus send the user scurrying to the manual or reference card to ferret out the current meaning of each key. The on-screen menu, which should

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352 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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serve this function, is in many instances too cryptic to be of much use. Graphics Generator gives the illusion, but not the ease, of a menu-driven program.

The process of entering data into the program was an experience. Why wasn't I born knowing that the term "X-calibrations" would mean the number of "tic marks" for the horizontal (x) axis? This illustrates a consistent problem with Graphics Generator: the terms used to describe the program, both in the manual and in prompts on the screen, are potentially confusing to anyone who does not use it often. For example, when prompted for the "length" of a chart, you are expected to respond with the width of the x-axis. Searching the manual and indulging in trial and error, you will eventually create a chart; if you use the program often, you will no doubt become fluent. For the occasional user, however, this can lead to frustration.

Musical accompaniment would help pass the time during the laborious data entry sequence of < function key > < observation number > (that's x-axis, for the uninitiated) < data point >, < enter >, but make the tempo r-e-a-1 s-l-o-w. The entry sequence requires the manual dexterity of a concert pianist.

As each data point is entered, it is immediately plotted on the monitor. Ponder this sentence from the program manual to understand the concept of "user-friendly": "Unfortunately there is no simple way to correct errors in the coordinate system and labels of a chart," In other words, get it right the first time or start over. I have mixed emotions about this kind of message. If the authors

realized what they were doing to us, why didn't they go a step further and fix the thing?

Each axis is labeled at the end, making for short axis labels. The title of the chart appears at the bottom; don't ask me why. I didn't run into any errors or bugs, so either the program was well developed or I simply did not chance upon any problems. The manual, however, has a decidedly "first-generation" cast. The pie chart commands include:

1. Begin. Start a new chart.

2. Alter. Start a new chart. Same as Begin.

How's that again?

I called R.J. Brady, the manufacturer, to find out what sort of support I could expect if I had trouble with the program. The company referred me to the program developer rather than to a customer-service organization.

BPS Business Graphics

Business Graphics from Business and Professional Software Inc. (BPS) is a more free-form package that uses computer commands in a fairly flexible sequence to develop a chart. An extensive index, reference cards, and many examples in the manual provide the help most people need to attack the task of chartmaking. An inexperienced user can choose an example from the text that fits the case at hand and follow the example. Given the small number of standard charts you are likely to use, this is a reasonable approach. If anything, there are too

354 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

YOU'VE GOT TO SEE IT TO BELIEVE

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In addition, SuperVision offers a full 132 column by 44 row screen display, a parallel printer port, and 720 by 348 dot addressable graphics capability.

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Photo 2: Graphics Generator's screen version of a two-segment pie chart.

many examples; finding your case among them can be bewildering.

The BPS package requires you to be familiar with "computerese." You must learn the program's vocabulary and use it properly to get the expected result. You are in charge here—the program sits back to let you work. Such a user base is most represented by engineers and experienced users, but after business people lose their fear of computers, there is no reason for the approach to be so limited.

BPS Business Graphics provides an editor to get the data from a sheet of paper into the program. Each line on the chart is assigned a number. The editor then provides each line number and a question mark as a prompt. The user responds with the x value, a space and the y value, and the editor moves on to the next line. This form of data entry is neither difficult nor particularly helpful. I expected transportation for a cross-state journey and I got a pair of shoes—adequate, but somehow I expected a bit more help.

Because the operation is free-form, data can be added any time in the process without making the program fret. After I have filed away the data, a command like DRAW LINE causes the command screen to be instantly replaced by the chart. After looking over the quality of the chart and determining if I want to make any changes, say to vary the range of the horizontal axis, touching any key brings the command file bouncing back.

The program will save commands for a chart as a "take file," enabling an experienced user to hassle through the charting commands and save them as a file separate from the data. This leaves the simple data entry/updating and chart preparation to someone of a more modest skill level.

My first encounter with BPS Business Graphics consisted of starting the demonstrations. The program blew with a display of random cursor moves and sound effects. The BPS hotline (800-DIAL-BPS) provided a replacement copy, and, because I knew I could call some-

one about problems, a level of comfort. A backup disk is available in exchange for a completed registration agreement and answering the vendor's market research questionnaire.

The BPS documentation is so extensive that crucial parts end up buried or forgotten. For example, the reference card commands assume a default disk drive has been set. As I went "by the numbers" through an example (with the help of an experienced beta-test user), I tried a number of alternative SAVE commands, without success. In retrospect, the error message "File name missing volume name" provided the clue to the problem, but error messages that require retrospect transfer the burden of work from the system designer and manual writer to the users. I finally corrected the error by making a page-by-page search of the manual, a task that should not have been necessary.

Chartmaster

Decision Resources' Chartmaster replaces computerese with "computerease." The menu operation and common-sense way the program is structured make it a cinch for a novice who needs power. A series of menus takes you through the process of creating a graph. The path for the first chart is smooth indeed. The designers of the program assumed several standard charts, then provided the capability to select alternative options. The typical drawback to a menu lurks behind the scenes (if it's not on the menu, you can't do it), but few users will ever need to go beyond the choices provided.

The menu that is standard issue with Chartmaster makes data entry a breeze. If you put numerical data (years, for example) on the horizontal axis, the program assumes the data is in sequence and provides the observation number and x-axis label for each point as the prompt. This makes it much easier to keep track of your place in a list of data points, and the carriage return is the only key outside the number pad that you need to touch. The display would be easier to use if the data were lined up evenly, but compared to other forms of data en-

356 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

try I have used, this display is head and shoulders above the rest.

If you enter too many labels for a plot, Chartmaster warns you (rather than overprinting labels) and gives the option of specifying labels at larger intervals, say every five years. Although the program provides the capability of verifying data, it assumes that all is well and scrolls off into the sunset rather than stopping at the end of a screen.

The test of any program is the way errors are handled. I ran into one with Chartmaster, and the result was charming (see photo 1). I remained unperturbed. I liked the "just keep calm" approach because I have seen too many experienced people react with primordial violence to abusive or uninformative "error messages." I don't want to be told I made a "probable programmer error"—I just want to know how to get the thing to run.

Output

Each of these packages provides screen output and an alternative means of hard-copy output. Graphics Generator's screen output is illustrated in photo 2. A presentation mode provides the capability to run through a set of predeveloped charts just like a slide show.

GG surprised me as I sat dumbfounded while the dump to the dot-matrix printer developed a kindergarten version of a chart (see figure 1). Not only was the quality of the chart abysmal—the process was excruciatingly slow. Imagine, if you will, sitting for 8 minutes and 47 seconds while a chart of this quality is wrung from the system. Few users have the patience for the process, and none should tolerate the result. I did not try the "highspeed print utility," which can be called from DOS (disk operating system), and perhaps the picture would be acceptable from a plotter. But if you expect reasonable

quality graphs from your dot-matrix printer, forget about Graphics Generator.

A useful feature of BPS Business Graphics is its capability to use the regular monochrome IBM-type monitor for commands and a color monitor (TV, regular, or high-resolution red-green-blue) for charts. Seeing the commands and their results side by side is a great advantage.

Chartmaster provides the option of several outputs: high-resolution black and white, medium-resolution green-red-brown, and medium-resolution cyan-magenta-white on the screen, or hard copy can be made on a plotter. The screen color sets can be customized, with a choice of 16 colors. I found the cyan-magenta combination hard to read, but there was no discernible difference in readability between the high-resolution black and white and the medium-resolution green-red-brown. The latter is used to illustrate most of the Chartmaster capabilities in this article.

The operation of the program driving the plotter was smooth and trouble-free. Also, data can be dumped to the printer to provide a hard-copy verification of the numbers, then the resultant chart can be produced on the plotter. Line and bar charts are both enhanced by the capability to plot one set of data against the left axis and another set against the right axis. Another convenient option is the capability to print the y value adjacent to each point. This is useful if only a few data points are present because the numbers get very small as the number of points to be plotted increases.

A final basic charting option that is very welcome is the capability to develop an "area" chart, shading the space between the line and the x-axis (see photo 3).

To create the text of a chart, you can use Chartmaster's 16 sizes of type; six fonts; center, right, or left position-

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Figure 1: This bar chart was produced using Graphics Generator and a dot-matrix printer.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 357

ing; and standard or italic script, with or without underlining. This is more flexibility than most packages for microcomputers can muster,

A second disk provides the Signmaster program, which uses all of Chartmaster's character and size options to develop transparencies or signs. The menu-driven operation makes the development simple. This is a valuable addition; it's probably worth the price of the package if you plan to make many presentations.

Statistics

A danger lurks in the ease with which you can fiddle with a graph using these packages. Even without changing the data, you can change your perspective on the data and create a misleading impression. The ability to develop a chart in less than five minutes can seduce you into pushing and shoving the ends of the chart until the picture looks the way you think the world should be, but isn't. For example, the government-spending chart (photo 4) would show unprecedented increases in the last decade if you chopped off the earlier years (the forties), which do not support that conclusion.

Another possible pitfall lies in the fact that these

Photo 3: This chart of the unemployment rate illustrates the area-shading capability of Chartmaster.

graphics packages can perform certain basic statistical calculations, such as means, variances, standard deviations, and regressions. If the software provides the computational tools but no suggestions as to how they may best be used or when they are appropriate, it is easy to fall into a trap. Worse, the program may provide options that in some combinations make graphs that are visually interesting but statistically meaningless. From both a purist and a practical standpoint, I question the sanity of anyone using simple regressions from these packages. It's almost like getting the keys to a pharmacy and practicing self-medication.

Graphics Generator provides the capability to easily develop basic characteristics of the data, such as mean, regression lines, standard deviation, and variance (photo 5). Niceties for the latter two, such as the distinction between population and sample, are beyond the scope of the manual. Because the program will cheerfully figure a standard deviation or variance to seven decimal places, a user gets an exercise in precision, not accuracy.

GG supports "function graphing," provided you enter the equation in "proper computer syntax." Just what that syntax is, however, is not clearly explained.

BPS Business Graphics measures the characteristics of data by calculating minimum, maximum, sum, mean, variance, and standard deviation. Like Graphics Generator, the BPS system does not confuse you by asking whether the common assumption of a normal distribution is appropriate or whether you are dealing with a population or a sample of a population. For charting stock prices, orders, shipments, or whatever, Business Graphics provides a modestly powerful set of analytical features: smoothing (moving average, one-parameter exponential smoothing) and regression (line, parabola, log, sine).

Chartmaster offers some interesting options. First, regression is available and, like the options in GG and Business Graphics, subject to all of the nasty things I

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Photo 4: Federal spending as a simple bar chart produced by the BPS Photo 5: A bar chart designed using Graphics Generator. Business Graphics package.

358 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

said about the lack of proper background. Regression performed with the log-scale option, for example, creates an incorrect regression line (see photo 6), so don't combine these two options. Let the buyer beware of the need for individual education in the use and misuse of these programs. The plotting of stock prices is enhanced by the capability of a high/low/close option. Similarly, the Chartmaster folks provide the capability to plot floating bars.

Simple Plots: Line and Bar Graphs

The simplest plot of data is a series of points. The points may be connected to form a line graph or may be charted with bars. Fourteen years of the inflation rate in the US provides a satisfactory example of a line graph. Any of the three programs reviewed here would produce a decent line or bar chart without much trouble.

The chart that GG produces on the screen is not too bad. Putting the title at the bottom is odd, and the short axis labels could be inconvenient. Otherwise, there's nothing unusual here.

BPS's package did a good job without frills (see photo 7). The data goes through 1983, but Business Graphics would not allow me to set the horizontal axis any closer than 1985, and the program insists that the years be divisible by 5 when there are too many to be listed individually. (Why shouldn't you be able to specify increments anywhere you like?) This chart can be transformed from a line graph into an area graph by a single command: DRAW AREA instead of DRAW LINE.

With my first stab at a simple bar chart, Business Graphics fell into a common trap and sliced the first bar in half (see photo 8). I usually circumvent this problem by setting the horizontal axis for one extra year at the beginning and end of the series. However, Business Graphics exhibits strong opinions in this regard; the program likes charts to begin and end with numbers divisible by 5 or 10 most of the time. If I thought such pre-

sumption was to my benefit I would be more charitably inclined. I react to the package's semiautomatic scaling in the same way I reacted to my mother's assertion that a hunk of fried liver was good for me.

Now for a more difficult task: a similar bar graph, but with a lot more data. I used federal purchases of goods and services in constant dollars, 1940-1983. Business Graphics took care of the data entry satisfactorily. The resultant chart (photo 4) is utilitarian, but the vertical spaces between the bars would drive a fastidious user nuts.

The default value for the size of the graphs is handy, but there is no simple way to override it. An easier way to specify the size of the type on the main title involves leaving the main title blank and placing a floating legend (the size of which can be specified) in the place of the main title.

Photo 9 illustrates the difference a generation makes. Chartmaster gives outlining and balance, which provides a more appealing product. Data entry with Chartmaster is faster and easier, allowing both the time and the impetus to add some extra touches to the chart. When this kind of a chart can be developed easily to give a decent

INFLATION RATE <vc>

Photo 7: A simple line chart produced by Business Graphics.

Photo 6: Performing regression with Chartmaster's logarithmic scale results in an error in the regression line.

Photo 8: The inflation rate as a Business Graphics bar chart.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 359

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Photo 10: Graphics Generator produced this first-generation bar chart.

result in less than 15 minutes, I am impressed.

Now let's get down to the kind of nit-picking that separates a good chart from a very good one. The easy placement of a footnote is a nice touch, but things can get too crowded at the bottom of the chart. The two-level main title, with type size and font set by the user, adds to the professional character of the chart. However, editing a line of the title to change the font meant I had to retype the title each time. Surely there is a way around this problem. The bars are all designated as open, but many appear closed because of the limits of the resolution of the screen. The legend could be moved to the bottom (so says the manual), and doing so could alleviate crowding problems. Overall, this is a graph I would be pleased to use.

Side-by-Side and Stacking Bar Charts

Let us move to side-by-side charts and add the unemployment rate to the inflation rate.

The chart Graphics Generator produces on the screen (photo 10) is exactly what I expected. Like the line chart, it is simple and unadorned. Nonetheless, it is a first-gen-

eration chart an engineer could love, with minimal cosmetics and plenty of space for data.

Chartmaster produces a chart from the same data in less than half the time GG requires. Photo 11 illustrates the other extreme: many cosmetics and the area devoted to the data is substantially reduced. Although I could use the Chartmaster options to approach the data area provided by GG (in this case by reducing the size of the legend), the converse was not true.

I switched to money-supply growth figures and used the Chartmaster options to play around with labeling (photo 12). I increased the size of the main title, added two lines of subtitles at larger-than-default size, and threw in an italicized fourth line, which is really pushing the capabilities of Chartmaster and is well beyond the capabilities of many packages for mainframes or microcomputers. Long labels and open bars are a real test of the program. The package failed in only that some of the open bars become closed as they get narrower. The monthly labels are very close together, but I managed to get away with 24 of them without triggering Chart-master's "too many labels" message.

Text continued on page 364

Photo 11: A side-by-side bar chart produced with Chartmaster.

Photo 12: This side-by-side bar chart illustrates Chartmaster's titling capabilities.

360 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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362 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Photo 13: A combined bar and line chart produced with the Business Graphics package.

Photo 14: A Chartmaster scatter chart.

Text continued from page 360:

To provide an example of the hard copy available with the Hewlett-Packard two-pen plotter in comparison to the screen image, I took figures from the federal purchases of goods and services in constant dollars (1940-83) and added state and local purchases. A large number of data points is a trial for many packages, but Chart-master handled the assignment well. The data preview scrolled this amount of data off the screen, but otherwise I could find no fault with the program in the development of this chart.

Chartmaster enables changing from side-by-side to stacking bars with a short tour through the menus. I can use the inflation and unemployment levels charted earlier to provide a third piece of information: the sum of two, a "discomfort index." Few packages provide this ease of operation, going from side-by-side bars to stacking bars in less than two minutes.

Bar and Line Charts

A purist will contend that a bar chart should be used to represent discrete events and a line chart should repre-

sent continuous events. A fine esoteric argument can be made for or against such a position. In practice, the selection of the type of chart should be based on whatever will communicate the message most honestly and without distortion. With such a criterion, a combined bar and line chart is acceptable.

BPS Business Graphics provides a reasonable bar and line chart (see photo 13). The 40 or more points of data are too trying for many microcomputer-based products, but the BPS program takes the chart in stride. Much fiddling can create a better chart, but the basic options of Business Graphics develop an acceptable product. There are some flaws: the title runs into the y-axis, and bars have gaps every so often that detract from the quality of the chart. The legends are manually placed using the cursor, a feature that can vary the placement of the main title, subtitle lines, footnotes, and so forth. On the whole, the product is good but not great.

My admiration for Chartmaster comes to a roaring halt at this point. Combining different types of graphs on the same chart is not possible. Combined bar and line charts are outside the bounds of the menu-driven program.

Scatter Plots and Pie Charts

Scatter plots are used mainly by the scientific community. They appear much less frequently in a business context.

Chartmaster enables a user to develop a quick and easy scatter plot (photo 14). Once again the x-axis labels are scrunched together, but the overall chart should prove acceptable to all but the most demanding.

A pie chart is a common way to show the relative composition of something. In this case, I will use the federal purchases of goods and services, split between military and nonmilitary.

The Graphics Generator chart in photo 2 is an accurate reflection of what I consider first-generation graphics: spare and unelegant. The title of the pie chart, like those of the other GG charts, is at the bottom, restricted to about 15 characters. The percentages are calculated automatically and printed as a default. You want a pie chart, you got a pie chart,

BPS Business Graphics took the same data and in less than five minutes produced a more satisfactory second-generation product. The labels for the slices are restricted to 11 characters. If there are so many labels that readability suffers, Business Graphics automatically deletes some of them. This is a nice feature as long as the deleted labels are not the focus of a presentation.

For more flexibility and ease of development, I would choose the Chartmaster version of the same chart (see figure 2). The four-level title, using the "underline," "boldface," and "standard" options, makes a clear presentation. The labels for the slices are put inside the slice whenever possible, with the option of including the percentages and/or cross-hatching, both of which I used here. Menus that simplify the development of a chart are available for all Chartmaster operations, and relieve

364 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983 365

FEDERAL PURCHASES

Goods & Services

Calendar Year

1982

non-Mflltary

Figure 2: A Chartmaster two-segment pie chart, printed on a two-pen plotter.

Photo 15: A Chartmaster seven-segment pie chart.

10«4 PTOFO&eO U.S. BUDGET Reagan Administration

MPotevcftmirr mac

Photo 16: i4n 11-segment pie chart produced using Chartmaster.

366 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

users of the burden of memorizing commands. Looking at the eight options for a Chartmaster pie is like tak ing a quick tour of the possibilities. I then duck back to put the results on the screen and repeat as necessary. The proportional pie selection allows up to four pies per page, each pie proportional to the value of the sum of the elements of the appropriate pie.

Now let's make it harder and use seven slices to illustrate the president's proposed 1984 budget. Once again, Chartmaster provides a good example of the versatility I expect from a third-generation product (photo 15). Each slice has a different cross-hatching, which can be varied by returning to the menu and overriding the default results shown here.

Chartmaster automatically balances the size of the pie with the space required for the labels. Percentages are included and appear either in the slice or next to the label, as space in the slices permits. The largest slice, the military, is exploded for emphasis, and the separation could be extended to any or all slices. The package's flexibility in handling titles permits a clean, accurate presentation.

Because the president was kind enough to provide even more detail, let's push the readability beyond the limits of common sense to develop an U-segment chart. In this case, the readability is reduced by the length of the titles and segment labeling. Chartmaster uses all of the labels and handles the task with better results than I expected (photo 16). I could develop a more acceptable chart from this data by reordering the slices. My concept of the fourth generation features the machine helping me by allowing me to specify the reordering of the segments.

The Fourth Generation

A fourth generation of business graphics packages would begin with the best features of these programs and add enhancements. Such a package might use a mouse, so that a user could make changes simply by pointing to the element on the screen that needs to be modified. Other features might include having the data listing and the chart visible at the same time, either on the same screen or on separate screens. A fourth-generation program should certainly be capable of getting information (such as stock quotes, government economic figures, and company sales reports) directly and easily from outside sources.

If a package is to be used for forecasts, it must include scaling that allows a graph to extend beyond where the data currently exists. A program should also accommodate data that begins in the middle of a scale. Naturally, statistical calculations included in a fourth-generation graphics package should feature some checks to insure that they are used appropriately. ■

Jack Bishop is a management consultant specializing in mergers and acquisitions, planning, and economic issues. He has a BS in chemical engineering and a PhD in business and economics. He can be reached at 916 Maple Ave., Evanston, II 60202.

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BYTE November 1983 369

Photo 1: Superwriter is one of many word-processing programs now available for the IBM Personal Computer and Personal Computer XT. Superwriter provides many functions useful in a business environment. (All photos by Ed Crabtree.)

A Versatile IBM PC Word Tool: Sorcim's Superwriter

This word-processing program combines surprising power with ease of use

by Richard S. Shuford

You've just bought an IBM Personal Computer for your office, and you're looking around for software to do word processing. You especially want a program you can use for writing letters, and you'll sometimes need to write memos and short reports. But you've heard that word-processing programs are hard to use, and you're too busy to spend time reading a fat notebook of documentation. Sorcim Corporation's Superwriter could be the word-processing program you need.

Last spring, just as I was completing my evaluation of four word-processing programs for the IBM Personal Computer (see reference 3), I received a preliminary copy of Superwriter (see photo 1). Although I used Super-writer to write most of that review article, the product had arrived too late and was not mature enough to be included in the project.

Since then I've had several months to use Superwriter, and Sorcim has also had time to revise and improve it.

370 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Superwriter

Minimum practical hardware configuration: 96K bytes of RAM, 80-character display (preferably monochrome display adapter), two 5 1 /4-inch floppy-disk drives

Maximum number of characters directly manipulate: 32,175

Editing universe: window into buffer in RAM

Command structure: program modules invoked through nested menus; in editing, single-control characters (most editing commands also assigned to function keys) augmented by two sets of extended multiple-keystroke commands plus command assignments to IBM PC special keys

Tutorial course for beginners? 16-page booklet 10 Minutes to Super-writer with example requiring user to type a short letter

Online help during editing? full-screen, context-sensitive displays of help information invoked by typing the F1 key

Longest line length that can be set: 250 characters (with automatic horizontal scrolling)

On-screen status information shown during text entry and editing:

file name, current line and column in buffer, insert-mode status, buffer-modification flag, Escape-command and print-control prompting

Screen location of status information: bottom line, inverse dim or colored video

Use of IBM PC function keys: all Fn keys used, with and without Shift key, cursor-pad keys used; some assignments disagree with IBM's recommendations

Action of Del key: deletes character to the left of cursor

Action of backarrow key: nondestructive backspace

Decimal tab stops? implemented through print-time formatting with numbers automatically aligned at decimal point

Column-move capability during editing: no

Possible insertion of nonprinting ASCII control characters: yes, both by embedding in file and through print-time OUT command. Characters with values above decimal ASCI1128 may be inserted with editor, but print and spelling modules cannot handle them.

Formatting scheme: on-screen or with extensive print-time formatting commands embedded in text

Transition time from edit mode to printing start (includes answering queries as fast as reasonably possible): 40 seconds for 26,376-character file

Print while editing? yes, after formatting

Obtain file directory without leaving program? yes, also shows document history if it exists

Table 1: Technical characteristics of the Superwriter word-processing program. This table has been arranged for easy cross-referencing with the comparison table in the article "Word Tools for the IBM Personal Computer" (May 1983 BYTE, page 176), in which Easywriter II, Volkswriter, Wordstar, and The Final Word were compared. See "At a Glance" box on page 376 for additional information.

Can user change default parameters? yes, both editing and printing

Document assembly during editing: can include entire files or marked sections of files

Document assembly during printing: extensive capabilities for document assembly, file access, and interactive input

Accept operator input for immediate inclusion in printed output? yes

Automatic formatting capabilities (other than defaults)? extensive and complex

Default text-justification style: flush-left (can be changed)

Can documents be printed without being saved to disk? no

Difficulty of changing from single spacing to double spacing: easy, with formatting command

Can text be searched for printing attributes? not in all cases

Printers supported: NEC Spinwriter 3510, 3550, 5510, 5520, 5530 (also with Sellum modification); Diablo 630, 1650, 1750; Xerox; Qume Sprint 5, 9, 11; (with proportional spacing—others without full capability)

Special features of disk-file format: program can write files in three different output formats. The normal format uses only Linefeed characters to mark ends of lines within paragraphs, with Return characters at paragraph ends; normal-format files may be saved with or without document history embedded. The other two formats are intended for saving files to be used as input for other programs—the document format is frozen into the screen format existing at the time the document was saved. One format places only Return characters at the ends of all lines, the other puts in Return/Linefeed pairs. Both formats delete document history and special characters

Checking of spelling integrated into program? yes, Super Spellguard is provided and can be called from the main menu

Most annoying characteristics: limited buffer space for editing, inability to search for printing attributes, small size of spelling dictionary

Most pleasing characteristics: ease of use for beginners, including online availability of full-screen help information at every phase of the program's operation; consistency of user menus and command structures; powerful built-in formatting and form-letter capabilities; execute-file batch editing; user setting of most default parameters; provision of Maintain program module to ensure program-code integrity.

Miscellaneous comments: Superwriter can read files created by Wordstar and automatically translate them to its own format. The Supercale spreadsheet program may be called from the Superwriter menu. The program can operate under both versions 1.10 and 2.00 of PC-DOS and on the IBM PC XT Model 5160 as well as the PC (5150).

We'll look at some of the characteristics of this product after we consider some background information.

Broad Categories of Use

Most people who have personal computers use their machines at least part of the time for writing documents to be read by other people. There are as many possible writing tasks as there are people, but most of these tasks fall into one of four broad categories: composing long continuous documents (a novel, for instance), typing short personalized letters for individual recipients, preparing form letters for mass mailings, or merging and formatting text for exact reproduction, possibly including

illustrative materials (as in a newsletter).

Most word-processing programs are suited to one or two of these categories. A newsletter editor trying to wrap a news article around a photograph had best use a program with extensive on-screen formatting capabilities; an author needing to enumerate and delineate the subsections of a complicated long document could most easily do it with a program containing a sophisticated print-time formatter. No single program is best for all four uses.

Coaxing the Timid User

A word-processing program is a tool. So is a hammer. But because most folks have a clearer idea of how to

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

pound nails than how to use a piece of computer software in the process of putting words on paper, it takes time to learn how to use the software.

Because time is money, people naturally want to spend as little of it as possible learning to use a word-processing tool. This creates a problem for the software designer. The tool should be flexible, with enough power for it to tackle whatever writing task its user sets it to. Yet it must not be so complex that it frightens away potential users, leaving its power and flexibility to lie forever undiscovered.

As you might expect, different software designers have offered different solutions to this problem. The author of Lifetree's Volkswriter chose to limit the number of features and flexibility of his program, and he produced a streamlined word processor that is easy to learn for writing uncomplicated documents. The designers of

Wordstar decided to offer the user more of a Swiss-army-knife approach (with some blades optional) and devotee as much as one-third of the video screen to giving the user hints about what command options are available. The designers of The Final Word evidently decided to offer a lot of raw power for a certain set of operations, assuming that some experienced users would need that power and would therefore take time to read the lengthy documentation to learn to use it.

The most striking characteristic of Superwriter is its approach to making a relatively large amount of word-processing power easy to learn and use.

Superwriter will probably find its most favorable reception in business offices. It is particularly suited for secretarial letter and contract writing and for producing form letters. Its context-sensitive online help facility will give aid and comfort to uneasy first-time users of micro-

tia)

f— C character Sp word right

-E entire line

I marked block

— / block markers S spelling markers ESC return to Edit

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marked block write block to new fi ESC return to Edit

-FT

f=

skip ESC quit display

-R replace string—

•§

I upper-case word lower-case word — C capitalize character

l— c

- Program mode -Text mode -Custom options—

-/ insert block marker

- Save document

- Rename and save

- Change Output Form

Word Wrap Visible Returns Visible Blanks Visible Line Breaks Visible Print Controls Visible Hyphens Tabs replace blanks Save history/globals Change Output format

-Z zap: discard workspace — Cr Main Menu

— A auto-insert mode

— I insert mode

— P page insertion

— insert mark-

- P new page -R right justify -U underline -Sp hard space -- hyphen

- < superscript -> subscript

formfeed mark spelling mark block marker control character

- F formfeed mark

- P page marker

- S spelling mark -/ block marker

- A control character

(lb)

- Format and print

- Format on screen -Change format settings -Change control settings

- Print without formatting -Format to disk -Return to System

- ESC return to Edit or Menu

-Review mismatches —

-Quick review —

-M mark

-A add to dictionary

-1 ignore

— R review previous word -S quick review

— E Exit - no further changes

— Mark remaining words

— Add remaining words to dictionary

— Ignore remaining words

— List remaining words

— Return to review

— Return to Edit - no further changes

-Mark all mismatched words

- ESC return to Edit or Menu

- List documents -List specified files

- Show document history {y/n)

- Library file access —

— filename

I— specify file —— next section — restart file 1 — keyed section -filename

-drive

as filename

start

stop

-E

-Document history —

- initial history —

- Operator name

- Modification date -Comment

- Document number

- List words

- Combine dictionaries -Subtract dictionaries -Reorganize dictionary -Copy dictionary

- Delete words

- Create new dictionary

-Authof

— Creation date

— Revision #

Figure 1: These menu maps show how the control functions in Superwriter are nested in several levels of menus. These maps have been reproduced from the documentation, courtesy of Sorcim Corporation.

372 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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fl or Flo CtrM ESC it ESC S or ESC Z

Photo 3: The help display ("Answersereen") for the main editing mode in Superwriter. By pressing the Fl key at any point in the operation of the program, you can call up a help display explaining the exact command options available at that point.

computer word processing; its flexible document-merging, formatting, and data-file capabilities will please experienced users; and its built-in spelling-check function will satisfy both. Certain details of its characteristics are shown in table 1.

Structural Overview

Superwriter's control functions are divided into several groups: editing, printing and formatting, checking spelling, displaying disk directories, and general utility functions, as shown in the "menu maps" from the documentation (reproduced in figure 1). The principal working parts of the program are physically divided into seven

disk files: two for the most-used utility functions and editing routines, one for printing and formatting, one for the text of help-screen displays, and three for the spelling checker and its large dictionary. In addition to these, you can prepare an eighth file containing your own preferred set of default editing and printing parameters that is automatically read by Superwriter when the program is started up.

When you activate the Superwriter program, you are presented with a screen containing the main menu (see photo 2). You select the desired function group by moving the cursor (with the space bar or a cursor key) to the proper item and then hitting the Enter (Return) key. Most of the main-menu selections lead to submenus; some functions are three levels down from the top. But the Escape key will consistently get you out of a lower menu into a higher one, up to the main menu. The menu and function-transition routines were thoughtfully designed to remember the name of the document you are working on, so you never have to type the filename more than once.

At any point during the execution of Superwriter, you can hit the help key, the assignable function key Fl. (Sor-cim calls it the "Answerkey'—for compatibility with non-IBM-PC versions, Control-backslash also works.) Pressing Fl causes the program to search a file on the system disk and display information pin-pointed to help you, no matter what mode or submenu you happen to be in. The help display for the main-editing mode is shown in photo 3.

Editing Functions

When you select the edit mode from the main menu, you are queried for the name of the disk file you wish to edit, and then the program brings up the main editing screen. The bottom line of the display is taken up by some minimal status information. As shown in photo

4, the rest of the screen shows the text being entered or edited in bright characters. Line endings at the ends of paragraphs are termed "hard" Return characters and are indicated by dim house-shaped symbols; lines ending where words have been automatically wrapped to fit the assigned line width are called "soft" Return characters and are shown as dim plus signs.

When execution is begun, Superwriter assumes one of two sets of global display settings deemed suitable for either human-language text or program editing, based on the extension of the filename. If you want to change these settings, you use one of the extended commands. When you hit the Escape key, the bottom-of-screen status line is replaced by a line containing a series of letters that hint at the possible extended command functions now available.

If you hit the G key after Escape, you can see a menu for the global edit settings, such as that shown in photo

5. If you then proceed to hit the help key (Fl), an explanation of the normal global settings of the display will appear: word-wrap on, make hard and soft line endings visible, show soft hyphens, and do not show blanks as

374 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

dim underscores. You can change these settings to suit your task and temperament; an editing display with everything shown (including blanks shown as underscores) appears in photo 6. After you have adjusted the global settings, you hit Escape to jump back to the main editing screen.

Some aspects of Super writer mimic functions found in other programs (see the text box "Historical Roots"). You can move the blinking-block cursor character by character or line by line around the editing screen in three ways: with the special IBM PC cursor-movement keys, with a set of control keys the same as those used by Wordstar (the "magic diamond": Control-S, -E, -D, and -X), and with another set of four keys as used by the old Magic Wand (Control-H, -K, -L, and -J). The cursor can be moved through areas on the screen that contain no text. Wordstar's influence also shows up in the assignment of control characters for deleting the character at the cursor (Control-G), moving of the cursor by word forward and back (Control-A and -F), moving by screen (Control-C and -R), and single-line scrolling (Control-Z and -W).

Many of the other functions appear on the assignable function keys (see table 2). My complaints about the key assignments are that some of them—the Del key, for instance—ignore IBM's recommendations for keyboard use (see pages 3-17 and 2-16 of the IBM PC Technical Reference Manual), and no fewer than four keys or key combinations have the function of moving the cursor one column left.

If you've used other word processors that have onscreen formatting, you'll be surprised to find that Super-writer does not have or need a reform-paragraph command: the Sorcim program automatically reforms each paragraph after text has been entered or changed. The drawback of this feature, however, is that a fast typist can get several words ahead of the screen while the program is trying to figure out where to break the lines. However, I have never lost any characters; they always show up eventually.

You can select from four character-entry modes: type-over, insert, page insert (for long insertions), or auto-insert. This last mode is unusual in its behavior. A combination typeover/insert mode, auto-insert is most beneficial when you want to substitute a longer word for a shorter one: you put the cursor on the first letter of the old shorter word and begin typing the letters of the new longer word. As you type, the new letters replace the old until you reach the space at the end of the old word; then the remaining new characters are inserted in front of the space. These modes are toggled by two-character control sequences, with the active mode shown in the status line.

The Escape-activated extended commands include some versatile options for finding and replacing character strings: some, all, or a specified number of strings may be found or replaced. The search functions can look past soft line endings to match a character string, and you can search for a hard Return character. Letters are

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Photo 4: The main edit screen that you see when you are typing or editing some text in Superwriter, On a monochrome display, the text is shown in bright characters and everything else on the screen is dim. On a color monitor, the text is shown in bright white characters, while formatting or control information is displayed in bright blue and the status line and transient prompting lines are displayed in reverse-video green or brown.

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Visible aetnras: ¥es Visihle Print Controls: fes lisikle Blanks: No Visihle Soft Ifpheas: fes

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Photo 5: By issuing the Escape G extended command, you can get to a menu for changing the global document settings. Two major groups of settings are available, one mode for editing text (used in these examples) and another for editing program code. You can mix

and match the settings to your taste.

always matched exactly (searching for "the" will not find "The"). Spelling-check marker characters, formfeeds, page marks, and block marks may be searched by a command associated with the F3 key.

Searching and replacing print-attribute marker characters (the directives you type to underline a word, for instance) is a difficult puzzle in many word-processing programs. Superwriter is somewhat susceptible to this problem, although not totally. It is not possible to search for or replace the special printing-attribute markers that you embed in the text through the embedded-print-control extended command, but Superwriter allows you to assign seldom-used regular printing characters as

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 375

At a Glance

Name

Superwriter

Type

Word-processing program

Manufacturer

Sorcim Corporation 2310 Lundy Ave. San Jose, CA 95131 (408) 942-1727

Price

$295

Format

Two 5/4-inch single-sided 8-sector floppy disks

Language

Translation from 8080 assembly code supplemented by Pascal/M

Computer

IBM Personal Computer and XT running PC-DOS 1.10 or 2.00 (as tested)

Documentation

Loose-leaf binder, 170 typeset pages, 4-page index; folded pocket reference card; 16-page spiral-bound beginner's booklet; function-key stickers

Audience

Business users of microcomputer word processing

markers for underlining, boldfacing, superscripting, subscripting, soft ("ghost") hyphens, and hard spaces. If you anticipate needing to search for attribute markers, you can use these, which are later interpreted by the printing routine to produce the desired results in the hard copy.

Blocks of characters may be marked for moving, for deletion, or for copying (either within the same document or into a separate disk file). Block markers are special characters inserted using an extended Escape command and symbolized by dim slashes; there is little possibility of confusing them with ordinary slash characters present in the document. A block marker may be placed at any point in the text.

Superwriter has been provided with a versatile "normalize" mode of operation. Invoked by an Escape command, this mode allows you to adjust the capitalization style of words or entire lines. The cursor can be moved in normalize mode, but none of the other usual editing commands work. A similar delete mode allows systematic removal of marked blocks, words or portions of words, lines or portions of lines, block markers, and spelling-check markers.

Sections of external text may be merged with the current document during editing by use of the include command, which is invoked as an extended Escape command.

When you want to stop editing your document, you give the Escape S command to save the contents of the

376 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Historical Roots

Although Micropro's Wordstar has for some time been the most commonly used word-processing program for 8-bit microcomputers, a significant minority of users have found an effective tool in a program that began under the name of Magic Wand but later became known as Peachtext when Peachtree Software bought its rights. When I began to use Superwriter, I was struck by its resemblance to Magic Wand, which I had long used on an 8-bit Z80-based computer running the CP/M operating system. The resemblance is no coincidence, as I later found out.

When the managers of Sorcim Corporation decided to add a word-processing program to the company's line of software, they decided not to build a program from scratch. They looked around for an existing suitable software product, and at length Sorcim struck a deal for a program exchange with Peachtree Software. The code of Supercalc was traded for the code of Peachtext (by the way, now you know why Peachcalc seems similar to Supercalc).

Peachtree eventually made Peachtext available for the IBM Personal Computer, but Sorcim was not content to merely repackage the program. After gathering data on how users responded to the virtues and defects of various existing word-processing packages, Sorcim added the Super Spellguard spelling-checker program (that S.orcim had acquired by buying the company that had invented it, Innovative Software Applications Inc.) and devised a set of menus and command structures to link all the routines together in a consistent way. After these pieces had been adapted to the Intel 8088 processor, Superwriter was sent out to seek its niche in the IBM PC word-processing market.

text buffer into a disk file. You are given a chance to change the name and output format of the file, if needed, but in the normal case, you won't do that. A sign of the thought given to the menu structures of Superwriter is that the most commonly invoked command in the save menu is the one the cursor falls into when the menu

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appears. This easily reached menu item saves the document under its old name while renaming the existing disk file with the extension of .BAK, providing an automatic backup. Then, after the document has been stored, you just have to hit the Enter key twice more, and Super-writer, remembering the filename of the document, reads the disk file and puts you back into the edit mode (although at the top of the text and not exactly at the point where you left off, as The Final Word does).

Superwriter was optimized for use on an IBM PC equipped with the monochrome display adapter. On such a system, the scrolling of text is smooth, and scrolling backward is just as fast as scrolling forward. Using the IBM color/graphics display adapter, however, is not as pleasant. True, on a color monitor the line-ending symbols, print attributes, and other special embedded characters are displayed in an appealing shade of light blue, and the status lines appear in green or brown. But

the scrolling suffers. In both directions, scrolling proceeds from the edge of the screen away from the edge where the fresh text is to appear, so what you just scrolled to see is the last thing on the screen that settles down.

If you don't have a color monitor attached to your color/graphics display adapter, that is, if you are using the color card to drive a non-IBM monochrome composite-video monitor, you need to invoke the program by typing "SW/BW" from the PC-DOS "A > " command prompt. This undocumented option stops the display from trying to produce color. Otherwise, if you invoke Superwriter from the operating system normally, the status line and command prompts become unreadable as the monochrome CRT (cathode-ray tube) tries hopelessly to produce the different colors, and the special characters seem to change shape or disappear.

The size of the editing buffer is the worst deficiency

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p? £lt*etowy tfmtim will r«U every treeifie* Hie Is *n etteapt to fifel Jtfttorv iefometioa is it: tke directory <*ispi*y will she* tke klstery Is? these filet tftft »*w It, *t sIkmk i* pfcoto 12.

Sepemriter coitti** other stllit? fsectloss, inelttiiitj * salewee for cresti»f tui mo&ityliq tke ttortmentiowai locaseitt kistory. Iftes yos iiftUHy create *locestest, the yrofrm swlteke* <#* krief!«( to the loaeMlt-histortf screen for go* to tyye tk« mm of tie ««t*or; ye* ere pet.. itraetly heck into the editor ukee yot hsve coepletai this. The fetes *se tines of 4oc«*wst trestles s»4 moiit tcetioa ere plckai a P frosr PC-MS, * J revitioi i«kn »re aetomstlcsllif sssf sees', Tke sV pert of the file ke* specs reterve* for tee opcreti eocenest seeker *m essifs, tee yoer krief cawit*, est yos keve to to tkrottk the history teheese to ftil in tkeie kleeks.

Tfcere ere e set of likrer*r*ile-eceess faectioes. TW eiselty fctctloa lets yae look it « 4oc*M»t other tkei the oee yoe ere workles. as. Yes ess setete or reeeew *mi «isk file tm lies, ukerees leather cwuM illwt yoe to ekeefo sisfcs stria*

Photo 6: The main editing screen after a global-settings command has been issued to make blank characters be shown as dim (or blue) underscores. This setting is most useful for editing programs.

of Superwiiter. In the final version I tested (version 1.01), the editing buffer is contained entirely in the RAM (random-access read/write memory) of the computer, and there aren't even any commands for explicitly reading and writing parts of the buffer to the active disk file so you could edit a document larger than fits in the buffer. Worse yet, the buffer space still reflects the old memory-address limitations of 8-bit software—my IBM PC has half a megabyte of user memory in it, and still the buffer size is only slightly over 32,000 bytes. (I bumped my head on this buffer size while writing the May article, so I switched to The Final Word.) And as the text grows to nearly fill the buffer, the program's response to keyboard insertions (other than page-mode insertions) becomes sluggish. As we'll see shortly, you can use print commands to splice many short files together into one long printed document, but often it is desirable to keep a document in one contiguous file. A representative of Sorcim told me that the company plans to deal with this restriction eventually, but for now it limits the usefulness of the program.

Execute-File Editing

One unusual feature Sorcim has built into Superwriter (after successfully using a similar idea in Supercalc) is the ability to read editing commands from a disk file, called the execute file, which can contain both printing text characters and control characters. When this feature is being used, Superwriter reads each character of the specified file as if it were being typed at the keyboard. With practice, you can set up an execute file to read in a document, perform editing operations on it, save the document, and print it, all without touching the keyboard during the process.

This essentially batch-oriented process, used in conjunction with Superwriter's print-time document-composer capabilities, has potential for automating many repetitive tasks of document revision that might be required for tasks such as contract drafting.

Photo 7: After the spelling-check routine has searched the document file for words not in its vocabulary, you must review the words it does not know and weed out the ones that are invalid spellings from wrongly flagged mismatches. You need only strike a single key to seal the fate of a word—to ignore it, mark it in the document for correction, or add it to the dictionary file. You can also change your mind about the previous word, give up and go back to the editor, or decide to treat all mismatched words the same.

Spelling Checking

Sorcim has been separately selling the spelling-checker routine used in Superwriter under the name Super Spellguard. The program was previously sold by Innovative Software Applications Inc. and was tested by Phil Lemmons (see reference 2). The functions of this relatively mature product have been integrated into Superwriter in a logical and pleasant way

The words it knows to be correct (its vocabulary) are kept in the "dictionary," a 56,000-byte disk file containing some 20,000 words. The spelling checker does not follow any rules for creating plurals and possessives from word roots, so any word form not in the file is flagged as a possible misspelling. During the first few weeks of use, most people will find many valid words flagged until they have put most of their working vocabulary into the program's dictionary file. However, the flagged-word review routine makes it as painless as possible to add words.

Once the proofreading routine has compiled a suspect-word list, you have three possible courses of action: to mark all mismatched words in the document, to review mismatched words individually, or to "quick-review" all words (treat them all alike, by marking them, ignoring them, adding all of them to the dictionary, or listing them on the screen or printer). The recommended method is individual review, and the program allows you to dispose of each word with a single keystroke—to mark it, add it, or ignore it, or to reconsider the previous word, as shown in photo 7. Once all the words have been marked, you are returned to the editor, where you can use a special search command to locate all the marked words for correction.

380 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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produce easy-to-understand bar charts, pie charts and scatter diagrams quickly and dramatically. Chart-Master makes it easy to customize reports and presentations with six different fonts, label placement, proportional pie charts and more.

Menu-driven Chart-Master allows you to enter data and select a chart format at the press of a button. You then preview your selection on your personal computer screen as it would appear in final form. Or, you can review the various Chart-Master graphic options to make sure you have selected the most effective forMat^When satisfied,

you can transfer your selection to paper or acetate transparencies for a colorful, presentation-quality chart in seconds.

Chart-Master presents a clear picture of the "bottom line," which conveyors of information understand and decision makers appreciate. That's why major corporations like GE, Eastman Kodak, Exxon, Union Carbide, GM, AT&T, DuPont, 3M, Citibank, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, and GTE rely on Chart-Master to translate "volumes of complex data into meaningful information."

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S« f »rt*Ht*r Lit

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List maris is List* all ih» m*4* fa i *ictie**fy or t nm of writ in a

iictioMiu lictiowry.

CcKsiM t»e MUt two sxtctiaf Itctlostrist tofttaw to «*fce a Urger.

lictiMtritts »?« ca»f late iletfeMry.

S*btr«et two teletet tha narta eeaialaml ia om lietioitF? f km a larger

• tctioMHta iietimtry, maltl* tm a mm) lor llctieaartj.

laOTftaisa Sftorfaalita taa liettsurv to m*U a more eoMfact iictioiwry

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■ ictioaaro. ittforoat aaoo.

wta Itetlaaary Creates a am (oa?t«) aictieaar? file

Photo 8: If you need to change the dictionary file (list of known words) used by the spelling-check routine, you can use the utility menu for dictionary maintenance. As for any other menu in Superwriter, if you become confused, you need only hit the Fl key and this display will appear to give details on the action caused by each menu item.

Misspelled words in file: Words found suspect: Words wrongly found suspect: True misspellings found: Misspelled words missed: Time to proofread file: Time until ready to correct file: Time until corrections done:

7

47

40

7

0

0:40

1:25

2:30

Table 3: Results of spelling-checker benchmark, based on checking the spelling of the 400-word document shown in figure 2 by Superwriter 's built-in spelling-check routine. Timings include the user's responding with keyboard input as fast as reasonably possible at the appropriate points. The individual-word-review procedure was used. It would take longer to correct a document if you have to look up the correct spellings of any words. This same test document was used by Phil Lemmons in his article "Five Spelling-Correction Programs for CP/M-Based Systems" (November 1981 BYTE, page 434), and the results are presented in the same format.

But the spelling checker has some limitations and idiosyncrasies. One of these is that hyphenated and otherwise punctuated word compounds are treated as possible misspellings and are flagged for your inspection. (Observe that "All-Mahler" shows up in photo 7.) This is nice if you are trying to produce a fully justified printout with words at line ends divided and hyphenated to maintain good character spacing. However, if you are merely writing a technical document, the constant attention to hyphens is tiring. (Technical documents, especially BYTE articles, are replete with punctuated terms like "random-access read/write memory") You can add words and hyphenated terms to the dictionary file, but it would be nice if you could just tell the spelling checker to ignore certain marks of punctuation. Furthermore, the

I'd had the joint staked out for two years and nine months. I'd been waiting for a break in the investigation all that time. This looked like the break I'd been waltzing for.

The tali stranger walked up to the bar, ears akimbo. I knew ne meant trouble from the moment I saw the insignia on the back of his black leather jacket: "Hell's Twirps." That was tne same gang that peddled into the all-Mahler Philharmonic concert last year and hummed the collected works of John Cage in unison. Not that John Cage has ever been in unison. Quite the canary.

Why was this particular Hell's Twirp Darg-ing into the only Austro-Mongoiian fife and drum factorial east of the Rockies? wny wasn't he riding his unicycle? And what was the meaning of the gold mandalas hanging from the tips of his handlebore mustache? Then I saw his baton. The sight of its sleek crome length turned my bblood to issicles. When I glimpsed the white plastic knobs at the ends of the baton, I saw my whole life rusn oefore my eggs.

.Suaaeniy the Twirp slammed his fist down on the bar. His ears swayed gently in the breeze as he demanded, "Give me four nundred snare drums to go! Give me the five longest fifes in your inventary! Give me the old college try! Give me liberty or &ive me grief!"

I knew better than to let this build to a crisis before interseeding. I swizzled up behind the big Twirp and said, clam and easy like, "Shove off, Twirp. Vamoose. Leave well enougn aloft.

He whirled, ears slashing, baton twirling. I thought of the health-insurance premiums I hadn't paid. I realized how happy I would nave made my dear old father if I'd only gurgitated from college. I thought of the thousand times I'd wanted to be where I wasn't, and knew this was the thousand and first. If I had'nt been in a cunnubial mood, I wouldn't have been able to stand up to the singing shroud, the short shrift and the five and dime. But I had no time for all that now. Before it was too late, I reached into my vest pocket and pulled out my well-thumbed copy of Milton's Areopagitica .

"That'll be seven ninety-eight!" the bartender suddenly screamed.

I'd oeen counting on him.

Figure 2: A 400-word text sample devised to tax the limits of the spelling-check routine and serve as data for a benchmark test.

spelling-check routine cannot tell the difference between a definitely-going-to-be-there hard hyphen and one of the merely-maybe soft hyphens that you can insert with the Superwriter editor for possible line divisions by the print routine.

On the other hand, the attention to punctuation is not all bad. It can keep you from publishing a boner like "had'nt."

One of Superwriter's many submenus is a dictionary-maintenance menu, which gives access to functions for listing the words in the dictionary combining two dictionary files, deleting all the words in one dictionary file from another or deleting individual words, copying and reorganizing dictionary files, or creating empty dictionary files. The help screen for this menu is shown in photo 8. You can use an entry in the default-parameter file (read when Superwriter starts up) to name your own dictionary file (other than the supplied SW.DIC) for normal use.

I tested the spelling checker on a document devised by Phil Lemmons as a difficult test case (see reference 1); the document is shown in figure 2, while the results are shown in table 3.

Print Functions

For experienced users of word-processing software, especially in business applications, the flexibility of

382 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Circle 364 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983

n

n

Text Positioning

IN n PI n PI -n TABn TAB "c" LINE n LINE -SP n SP +n LEFT RIGHT RF

JUST JUSTC CENTER CTR LIT

indent n characters

indent n characters at paragraph beginning

negative indent n characters

move to column n

fill blanks with specified character up to column n

move down to line n on page

move back up to line n

insert n-1 blank lines between printed lines

insert 11-V2 blank lines between lines

print in flush-left format

print in flush-right format

print only current line flush-right

fully justify by inserting blanks between words

fully justify by character-spacing

center all lines on page

center current line only

print line literally as it stands

Margin-Setting Commands

LW n set line width at n characters

LM n set left margin at nth column

PL n set page length at n lines

TM n set top margin at n lines

BM n set bottom margin at n lines

Control Settings

COPY n print n copies of document file

FORM C assume continuous-form paper

FORM S assume single-sheet paper

DISK ON start saving output to disk

DISK OFF stop saving output to disk

DISK "filename" format document into named disk file

PRINT ON begin output to printer (or spool file)

PRINT OFF stop output to printer

Headers and Footers

AP automatically number pages

HEADER start heading specification

HE end heading specification

FOOTER starting footing specification

FE end footing specification

SP 0 output no linefeeds until further notice

%PAGE current page number (also %P)

PG ft set current page number to n

CCH clear current header

CCF clear current footer

HSIZE n reserve n characters in memory for heading

FSIZE n reserve n characters for footing

PH print header on first page

Special-Character Control

CMDc set c as command marker (default is backslash)

UNB use broken underscoring

UNS use solid underscoring

BFn use n overstrikes for boldface intensity

HYc set c as soft (ghost) hyphen character

UNc set c as underscore delimiter (toggle)

BFc set c as boldface delimiter (toggle)

SSAc turn superscripting (negative half linefeed) on at c

or end subscripting SSBc turn subscripting (positive half linefeed) on at c

or end superscripting HSc set c as hard (nonadjustable) space

IGNOREc set c as character to be ignored for formatted

output

Specialty (Letter-Quality) Printer Commands

DRAFT deactivate special print attributes for draft printing

FORMFEED ON turn mechanical formfeed on

FORMFEED OFF turn mechanical formfeed off

OUT m, h, ... send arbitrary decimal ASCII characters to output

CPI n set pitch of n characters per inch

H n use horizontal movement of n increments per

character K n kern (add or subtract n increments to next

character) LPI n print n lines per inch vertically

V n vertical movement: n increments per line

PROP ON turn proportional-spaced printing on

PROP OFF turn proportional spacing off

Bl ON turn bidirectional printing on

Bl OFF turn bidirectional printing off

Print-Time File Merging

INSERT "filename" insert the specified document at this point in text

Variables

war $var #var

&var

-var

%PAGE

%DATE

0/0LINES

%LINE

%COL

0/0PASS

0/0REC

%EOF

print value of variable in character-string format

print value of variable in dollar format

print numeric value of values (from 0 through

32767)

print string length of variable's value (truncated)

print nontruncated variable

contains number of current page

contains current date obtained from system

number of lines on page, including current line

current line number

current column number

number of times document processed this printing

current record number processed

variable equals 1 if end of file reached, 0 if not

Table 4: Formatting and document-content-control commands that can be embedded in text for interpretation by Superwriter's print module. Some formatting results can be achieved only by use of embedded commands, but most types of simple formatting can also be done on the screen using the edit routine.

Superwriter's print formatting will be the program's strongest selling point. Superwriter not only provides straightforward on-screen formatting ideal for whipping out a quick letter, but it also provides, at no extra cost, a set of powerful print commands you can use to manipulate the form and content of a document even as the print head buzzes across the paper.

The on-screen formatting allows you to center and right-justify lines; adjust line widths; create hanging in-

dentations; insert page breaks; mark points where words may be hyphenated; and specify the printing attributes of underlining, boldface, hard (nonadjustable-width) spacing, superscripting, and subscripting. The special command characters for these functions are inserted into the text through an extended-command mode that you invoke by typing Control-P. Left-justification, centering, and right-justification may be mixed on a single line. When you are formatting on the screen, you can set

384 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Variable Commands GET var

GET var =" prompt"

GET var(len) SET var =" string" SET #var=n DECIMAL P DECIMAL C VSIZE n

allow entry of value for variable from keyboard allow appropriate prompting for keyboard value

entry enter value for variable with limit on length set value of variable to character string set numeric value of variable to n use period as radix point (American usage) use comma as radix point (international usage) set n as maximum number of variables

Data Files

FILE T/7, filename DATA v1 v v2, ... FILE Fn, filename DATA v1(n)

prepare to read text file, n elements per record assign successive record elements to variables prepare to read file with fixed-length records assign n characters from record to variable

Conditional Commands

IF beginning keyword of conditional statement

IF NOT complementary conditional keyword

global parameters (margin size, line spacing, line width) from the editing global-settings menu, or you can change them from the print menu (which Sorcim calls the "Document Composer" menu).

On-screen formatting is nice for short letters and memos. But for more complex documents, Superwriter provides more than 80 different commands (not including variants) that can be embedded anywhere in the text and combined into program-like constructions for con-

ditional branching and insertion of text based on string and numeric comparisons. Also, the print routine keeps track of eight numeric variables (such as current page number, line number, and file-record number) that may be accessed by the embedded commands.

The print commands, most of which are identical in form to those used in Peachtext/Magic Wand, fall into 13 groups, as shown in table 4,

You can use the embedded commands to set up the ordinary printing parameters—the margins, line widths, and character attributes—but they are capable of much more: multiple-line headers and footers, inclusion of external boilerplate files into the printout, accepting input from the keyboard during printing, and prompting the computer operator to take needed actions. You can even use the conditional statements and up to 128 of your own variables to literally write printout programs that read external data files and take different actions according to the file contents. (However, you do need a certain level of programming skill to do this.)

These capabilities make Superwriter a powerful tool for writing form letters and generating customized versions of contracts and standard documents. You could set up a contract document file in such a way that it asked you for the exact terms of the agreement and printed out only paragraphs specifically applicable to the agreed conditions.

An example of a form letter is shown in figure 3, while the document source file is shown in figure 4a and a part of the mailing-list data file appears as figure 4b. In this example, the print commands in the document source file are set up to use a mailing list that contains two intermixed kinds of entries (personal friends and business-only contacts). At the beginning of print processing, the commands cause Superwriter to ask for certain information needed in the letters; after this data has been typed in, printing proceeds without intervention until the end of the mailing-list file has been read.

When you select the print routine from the main menu, Superwriter saves the current version of the document (while maintaining the backup file) and loads the program overlay that contains the print routine from the system disk. (This takes a few seconds.) If you have no document in the editing buffer, Superwriter asks you which document to print.

The print menu, shown in photo 9, displays information on the printing status, format and control settings, and a choice of several printing options. You can immediately format and print the document, or you can view the formatting on the display screen first, as shown in photo 10. Other options allow you to change the settings or invoke a secondary print menu; the secondary options include printing without interpreting the embedded commands (they show up in the output) and writing the formatted output to a disk file instead of directly to the printer. This last option allows Superwriter to perform its own print spooling, although the operating-system-level print-spooling programs (such as Quad-ram's QSPOOL) that have become popular among users

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 385

23 October 1983

Brook Stone

3 Vose Farm Rd.

PecerDoroufcn, NH 0345b

Dear Brook,

The ion^-awaited event has come to pass. A baby boy was born to us yesterday at 9:52 a.m. in Monad nock Community Hospital.

His name is Isaac Steven, and he weighs 7 pounds, 5 ounces.

Mother and child are healthy and doing fine.

Sincerely,

Sue and Richard Shuford

Figure 3: An example of a form letter that can be produced by Super-writer's print routine from a letter template, a data file, and print-time user input. The data in the letter is for demonstration only.

Photo 9: The main menw of the print routine. If you have not used embedded commands to override the default page-arrangement settings (margins and such), you can change them using these menu options. However, it is not possible to type in any formatting command other than the ones available as menu choices—for instance, you cannot change from Diablo-printer formatting to draft-printer formatting by an interactive command.

of IBM Personal Computers usually print faster.

The programmers have assumed that most uses of a program that excels in printing letters will require a letter-quality printer, so all of the printers supported by Super-writer at this writing are daisy-wheel units. Less-expensive dot-matrix printers can be used in the program's draft mode, but some of the printing character attributes (such as superscripting) are not available in this mode. Again, assuming the use of a daisy-wheel printer, Superwriter does not explicitly support an italic font. Superwriter does make use of almost any character-sequence-activated printer function in two ways: most ASCII (American National Standard Code for Informa-

tion Interchange) nonprinting control characters (including Escape) can be embedded in the text using the insert-mark function, and the print routine can emit any character value by means of the OUT embedded command. As with other microcomputer word-processing programs, Superwriter is susceptible to printer-interface incompatibilities; see the text box Printers: Word Processing's Chronic Headache" on page 388.

Disk Directories

Sorcim has built into Superwriter a mechanism for finding out what files reside on what disks. In a submenu called from the main menu, there are three fundamental disk-directory functions: list all documents, list specified documents, and toggle on or off the condition of showing the complete document history for each file, if it exists.

These commands are fairly flexible. They default to listing files (giving name, extension, and size) on the disk that contains your current edit file that seem to be of a type that you could edit with Superwriter, as inferred from the file extension (filenames ending in extensions such as .TXT or .LTR). But you can specify any existing disk drive and use either a single- or multiple-character wildcard specification to see the files you want to see. If you give the complete wildcard spec, "* . *", Super-writer will even show you the hidden system files that the PC-DOS directory commands don't reveal (see photo 11).

If you have turned on the mode of showing document history, the directory routine will read every specified file in an attempt to find history information in it; the directory display will show the history for those files that have it, as shown in photo 12.

Other Utilities

Superwriter contains other utility functions, including a submenu for creating and modifying the aforementioned document history. When you initially create a document, the program switches you briefly to the document-history screen for you to type the name of the author; you are put directly back into the editor when you have completed this. The dates and times of document creation and modification are picked up from PC-DOS, and revision numbers are automatically assigned. The document-history part of the file has space reserved for the operator's name, a document number you assign, and your brief comments, but you have to go through the history submenu to fill in these blanks.

There are a set of library-file-access functions. The display function lets you look at a document other than the one you are working on. You can delete or rename any disk file on line, whereas another command allows you to change disks during execution of Superwriter without confusing the directories. Two sub-submenus allow you to include all or portions of another document into the current edit buffer and control the background printing of spooled document files.

You can also begin execution of the Supercalc spread-

386 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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UniCalc is a trademark of Lattice, Inc.

Printers: Word Processing's Chronic Headache

Has your printer given you a headache? The odds are that you've had some kind of printer difficulty, especially if you've tried to run a word-processing program on your computer. According to Mick Vergis, vice-president of marketing for Perfect Software, 60 to 70 percent of the people who call that company's telephone support line complain of trouble in getting a printer to work with the rest of the computer system. It's probably a safe bet that users of other brands of software experience printer problems with similar frequency.

Today's computer printers are electromechanical engineering marvels that put marks on paper in wonderfully complex ways with a level of precision and economy once only dreamed of. But perhaps they are too complex. The multiplication of printer features has also multiplied the number of potential problems.

The first problem that usually arises is connecting the printer to the rest of the computer system. This sort of difficulty can usually be solved by combining some knowledge of the three most common ways of connecting printers (RS-232C serial and IEEE-488 and Centronics-style parallel connections) with a good bit of trial and error in wiring the connection.

It's only after you have successfully solved the hardware connection problems that you discover the more subtle software problems. You may find that your word-processing software has printed the text of your letters over the logotype on your letterhead stationery. You may discover that words you wanted underlined are not, while the underscore characters intended pr that purpose have wandered over into the right margin of the paper. Or you may find completely correct lines of text alternating with lines of gibberish. These are the kinds of problems you get when your software does not know how to properly control your printer. (I've had these problems myself)

Lack of standardization is surely the cause of this headache. There seem to be no uniformly applied protocols used to control the functions of printers, and every manufacturer of printers seems to have unique ideas of how printer features should be used.

Trying to make a given program work with all the various kinds of printers can drive a programmer to distraction. Jason Linhart, president of Mark of the Unicorn Inc., says "It's amazing how different [printers] are. They differ in such fundamental ways there is no way to describe [their functions] without writing code. Each company that invents a new feature invents a new way of specifying it." He notes that supporting a new kind of printer requires his company to modify 35 different program routines in The Final Word.

But what about the so-called "code-compatible" printers announced by some manufacturers? Some new printer models are claimed to respond to the same commands as certain familiar old printers. Here again, Jason Linhart sounds a discouraging note, saying, "No two manufacturers ever make completely compatible printers. Dot-matrix printers are the biggest current problem. Epson-compatibility [has been negated] because Epson keeps changing what its printers do. The FX series differs from the MX series, and the RX series from both, and various versions of Graftrax are also different. Recently, there has been a slight trend in daisy-wheel printers toward Diablo-compatibility, but the fine detail is different, so if you have a program that takes advantage of every feature, it messes up." He adds that sometimes even two units of the same-model printer do not work the same.

Because of these variances in printer behavior, you can avoid headache pains only by taking other pains to make sure that the word-processing package you buy works properly with your printer.

388 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 488 on inquiry card.

The most comprehensive

statistics and graphics

ever developed for

sophisticated database workstation the personal computer.

Years of research, development and field testing have resulted in the most extensive statistics and graphics database program specifically designed for thepersonal computing environment. STATPRO ™ provides the data analysis capabilities and flexibility previously available only on a large computer. Researchers, business professionals, and other data analysts will welcome the breadth yet simplicity of this program! STATPRO requires no previous computer experience, no special command language. Single keystrokes access all of the data manipulation, statistics, and graphics power of STATPRO.

STATPRO allows easy access to its extensive numerical data capabilities.

The strength of STATPRO is found in the functions of its user friendly, menu-driven database. You can easily learn to enter and edit, manipulate, transform, and print out data. STATPRO's searching capabilities allow these functions to be performed on all your data or a user defined subset of your data.

Statistics Modules Menu

A) DESCRIPTION

B) REGRESSION

C) ANOVA

D) TIME SERIES

E) MULTIVAR

(ESC)) Exit to Master Menu Choice ->f 1

Transformations and over 400 conversions are available. You can place the results of these transformations into the same field or any other field in STATPRO's database.

STATPRO offers a comprehensive collection of statistical procedures.

The statistics component of STATPRO contains a multitude of

frocedures, grouped into the fol-jwing modules:

Descriptive: Contingency analysis, cross tabulation, normality tests; descriptive, comparative, range and non-parametric statistics. Regression: Linear, non-linear, stepwise, and multiple regressions; residual analysis and statistical matrices.

Analysis of Variance: Single and nested classifications, two and three way equal and unequal sample size and non-parametric ANOVA.

Time Series: Moving averages, multi-stage least squares, fitted polynomials and trig functions, additive and multiply forecasting.

Multivariate: Principal components, factor, orthogonal factor, oblique factor, pair-weighted cluster, discriminant function, multiple contingency, and canonical correlation analysis.

STATPRO provides graphic representation of your data in minutes.

STATPRO graphics plot all the results of your STATPRO statistical analyses including scatter, triangle regression, and box plots; pie-

charts, histograms, and dendo-grams. Further, with STATPRO you can custom edit with any of four character sets from the keyboard. You can also edit using paddles, joystick or special graphics commands. Mix text with data fields. Place multiple plots on each screen. Define your axis limits.

You can save your graphics on a disk for a multiple color "slide show" presentation, or print them out through a variety of compatible printers.

STATPRO documentation wraps up the package.

Although STATPRO software is essentially self-documenting, complete print documentation is provided. This includes a walk-through Introductory Tutorial, a Menu Chart, and a comprehensive User's Guide for each STATPRO component.

STATPRO currently runs on all versions of the Apple® II personal computers. It will be available for the IBIVP PC in September.

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STATPRO is a trademark of Wadsworth Electronic Publishing Company. Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. IBM is a registered trademark

oflnternational Business Machines, Corp.

Circle 502 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983

\SETUP

UGNORE *

\GET DATE="Toaay's date? "

\GET FILN="Name of address file: "

\GET BABYSEX='»Is it a boy or a girl? ■

\GET BABYNAME="What is the baby's name? "

\GET BABYrtEIGHT="How much does the baby weigh? "

\GET TIM£="What time of day was the child born? "

\FiLE T11,:FILN

\OATA NAME,TITLE,COMPANY,ADDR1,ADDR2,CITY,STATE,ZIP,SALUT,CODE

\TEXT

UF NOT CODE="P",IF NOT CODE="p",SKIP 46

\CLS

\SriOtf "Record Number ",JREC

\SHO* NAME

\IF NOT TITLE="" t SHO* TITLE

\IF NOT COMPANY"", SHOW COMPANY

UF NOT ADDR1="", SHOW ADDR1

\1F NOT ADDR2='»", SHOW ADDR2

\SHOrf CITY," ",STATE," ",ZIP

\RIGHT,:DAT£\ \LEFT

\;NAM£\

\IF NOT TITLE = "'\ :TITLE,NL \IF NOT CGMPANY="",:COMPANY,NL \1F NOT ADDH1="",: ADDR1.NL \IF NOT ADDR2="",:ADDR2,NL \;CiTY\, \:STATE\ \:ZIP\

Dear \:SALUT\,

Tne lon^-awaited event has come to pass. A baby \:BABYSEX\ was born to us yesterday at \:TIME\ in Monadnock Community Hospital.

UF bAB¥SEX = "boy", SKIP 2

Her name is \:BABYNAM£\, and she weighs \ :BABYWEIGHT\.

\SKIP 1

Mis name is \:BABYNAME\, and he weighs \:BABYWEIGHT\.

Mother and child are healthy and doing fine.

Sincerely,

Sue and Richard Shuford

Figure 4a: The form-letter source template interpreted by Supenvriter and merged with address information from the file and with interactive input to produce the finished series of letters.

Joun Jones

Manager

aha electronics,

12j4 Main St.

PeterDoroutjn

tin

U_s4b0

John

Duncan MacKenzie Engineering Consultant Urpnanooe Hops, Inc. Grapnics Department POrs *+&:> PeterDorough

ttti

Duncan

Eric Artnur Biair

1^04 wigan Pier

HancocK

HH

George P

BrooK Stone

3 Vose Farm Kd.

Peteroorouih

HH

UjMbo

BrooK

P

Steven a. Ciarcia Consulting Editor biTE PuDiications

POS !>gif

Glastonuury

CT

uou 33

Steve

Figure 4b: A section of the data file used to produce the form letter.

sheet program from the utilities menu, but that takes you out of Superwriter and therefore out of the scope of this review.

Documentation

Many who learned word processing using Magic Wand have fond memories of acting the part of Abraham Lincoln's private secretary, which the excellent lessons in Magic Wand's user's manual bade you to do. Well, the Superwriter User's Guide and Reference Manual does not contain the Gettysburg Address, but it is nevertheless serviceable, attractively typeset and containing many line drawings that help beginners become oriented to the concepts of word processing. The notebook contains an appendix with elaborations on the meanings of most of the error messages that could possibly occur, another feature likely to be appreciated by inexperienced operators.

Experienced users might wish the manual had a quick-reference section that outlines the precise rules for using the print-formatting commands better than the terse appendix currently charged with that duty. (With all the

390 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

online help available in Superwriter, experienced users may seldom need to read the documentation for anything other than for formatting commands.)

Sorcim also furnishes several auxiliary devices to help you learn the program: a 16-page quick-start booklet called 10 Minutes to Superwriter, a pocket-size reference card (the "Answercard"), and a set of small adhesive labels intended to be placed on the appropriate function keys.

Installation

Appendix 5 of the documentation contains instructions to get Superwriter running from the two single-sided 8-sector distribution disks, including advice on formatting a floppy disk. Even so, if you are a novice to computers, it's risky for you to attempt to install any piece of software.

One of the distribution disks contains an installation program called INSW.COM. Because you need not specify terminal parameters in the IBM PC version of the program, this utility routine is used only to select the variety of printer you will be using for formatted out-

46 first. If I had'nt bete in a connoMal nood, I oooleYt nine

47 been able to stand ap to the sitfiM stood, the start shrift

48 and the five and dine. Bat I had bo tine far all that noe.

49 Before it Mas too late, I reached into ns vest pocket nd palled 58 oat m nell-tknbed copg of Kiltoa's ireopagitica.

"Toafll he seven oioetg-tieW the larteoder saddeoU S3 screamed. 54 55 I'd keen wanting on bin.

'^QdiTTJIHI^a^iHIJttJl

Photo 10: You can preview what the formatted, printed document will look like by issuing a command from the print menu. Each line on the printed page is assigned a number, and sections of the pages are displayed sequentially on the screen. An overprinted line is shown twice. The printed paper may look slightly different from the preview because of the difficulty of reproducing all printer functions on a video screen.

Photo 11: Superwriter provides a function for inspecting the directory of a disk. If you do not elect to view the document history, the files are listed in three columns in alphabetical order by name (in ASCII collating sequence). One surprise is that the hidden operating-system files IBMBIO.COM and IBMD0S.COM show up when you demand to see all files—normally only files that Superwriter can edit are shown.

Photo 12: //you elect to see document history in the disk-directory function, Superwriter reads every disk file in the listing and looks for document history, which is kept at the end of the file after the text. Not every file in this display had such history stored.

put. The disk also contains a utility called MAIN-TAIN.COM, which allows you to verify that each of the program's main code and overlay files are intact and functional and can also allow you to apply any bug fixes supplied by Sorcim.

After you have established your work habits using Superwriter, you may want to set up a personalized parameter-default file on the disk containing the program. Whenever you run Superwriter, it reads the contents of the file SW.DEF (if it exists) to establish initial values for such constants as global text settings, tab settings, the document-storage disk, margins, author's and

operator's names, insert-mode status, and whether continuous-form or single-sheet paper is used in the printer.

Closing Thoughts

Superwriter is a versatile word-processing program with features that make it especially suitable for certain writing tasks common in the business world. Although it has a large amount of editing and processing power, the program contains well-planned command structures and help facilities that will help first-time users adapt to the concepts and procedures of writing with a computer. Its most constrictive limitation is its small editing workspace—it forces you to break up any large writing task into pieces small enough to fit in the buffer.

If you plan to purchase Superwriter, be sure to get version 1.01 or a later revision; the first release, version 1.00, didn't have all the kinks ironed out. (I've had no trouble yet with 1.01.) If you are a registered owner of version 1.00, you should have received a free update from Sorcim. ■

References

Hart, Glenn A. "Magic Wand Word Processor." Creative Computing,

August 1980, page 38.

Lemmons, Phil. "Five Spelling-Correction Programs for CP/M-Based

Systems." November 1981 BYTE, page 434.

Shuford, Richard S. "Word Tools for the IBM Personal Computer," May

1983 BYTE, page 176.

Waite, Mitchell and Julie Area. Word-Processing Primer, Peterborough,

NH: BYTE Books/McGraw-Hill, 1982.

Richard Shuford is special projects editor for BYTE. He can be reached at FOB 372, Hancock, NH 03449.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 391

ADD UP TO 512K RAM, ASYNC AND SYNC COMMUNICATIONS, A CLOCK AND PRINTER SUPPORT-UP TO FOUR I/O PORTS IN JUST ONE SLOT?"

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Circle 362 on inquiry card.

See us at Comdex booth 820 main hall.

Calendar clock. It comes with a five year, rechargeable battery

Connect a modem through a serial communications port and you can link your PC to the world ot telecommunications.

THE TIME SPECTRUM BY PERSYST.

Japan and the Fifth Generation

Japan's efforts to develop artificial intelligence are intended to make computers easy for ordinary people to use

Efforts to develop artificial intelligence in Japan cause some Americans to lose all reason. Consider these two examples: according to Science News (June 18, 1983, page 390), William Shaffer of the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation says that Japan's plans for a "fifth-generation" project "amount to a kind of Mein Kampf in electronics terms—a clear-cut statement of intentions that U.S. companies can only ignore at their peril." Mein Kampf is, of course, a racist, militarist plan written by a madman, and its implementation is the outstanding example of evil in the twentieth century.

Are Japan's research plans really worthy of comparison with Hitler's plans for conquest and persecution? BYTE reprints here Japan's plans for fifth-generation computers, the "Outline of Research and Development Plans for Fifth-Generation Computer Systems," published by the Institute of New Generation Computer Technology (ICOT) in April 1983 (see page 396). In brief, ICOT plans to develop "knowledge information processing based on innovative inference functions and technologies that meet the needs anticipated in the 1990's, including intelligent interaction be-

by Phil Lemmons

tween man and machine and inference using knowledge bases." The implementation of ICOT's plans would seem to pose no threat of military conquest or racial extermination. Indeed, if ICOT's plans are a "Mein Kampf," then the instructions on Burpee's seed envelopes are the "Mein Kampf" of sweet peas and marigolds, and Dr. Benjamin Spock's books on child rearing are the "Mein Kampf" of millions of American parents.

Newsweek's characterization of ICOT rivals Shaffer's in unfairness and bad taste. In its July 4, 1983 issue (page 58), Newsweek wrote, "Even though

Kazuhiro Fuchi.

American universities had produced the basic research the Japanese would rely on, American companies were as serenely unaware of danger as the battleships that swung at anchor in Pearl Harbor more than 40 years ago." This irresponsible use of metaphor defies some obvious differences between ICOT's activities and the attack on Pearl Harbor. For one thing, the Japanese didn't publish their plans for Pearl Harbor before the attack, whereas ICOT has published its plans. For another, the Japanese militarists of 1941 were planning to kill Americans and destroy the Sixth Fleet, whereas the Japanese computer scientists of today are planning to improve man/machine interaction. For a third, the Japanese strike force in 1941 included no Westerners, while five Western researchers worked as visitors at ICOT during 1982, including Dr. D.H.D. Warren of SRI International in Menlo Park, California, and Professor J.A. Robinson of Syracuse University.

I visited Kazuhiro Fuchi, director of the ICOT Research Center in Tokyo, in May 1983. Dr. Fuchi talked quietly about ICOT's plans and then handed me the English translation of the outline reprinted here. Fuchi seemed not the least bit sinister. The research

394 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

center proved to be a large open office, as pictured behind Dr. Fuchi in the photo on page 394, and there was no sign of security measures.

When asked about American reactions to iCOT's plans, Fuchi expressed some amazement. "Our main goal is to have computers that are very easy to use and can handle natural language. It may turn out that the big, powerful computer at the center of a network does not have to have such functions, that the personal computers in the network can perform those functions." Fuchi continued, "We expect that personal computers will benefit from the research that we are doing."

In the first English-language issue of the ICOT Journal (June 1983), Professor Tohru Moto-oka of the electrical engineering department of the University of Tokyo, who is credited with a leading role in the MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) research and studies committee that recommended establishing ICOT, explained the background of ICOT's plans: "As for the society of the 1990s, we envisioned an ideal society. . .Then we discussed what information systems and computers would be required to work toward realizing that ideal society. . .We identified the need to develop computers that could be used in areas of productivity such as agriculture, fishery, and service. And we discussed what contributions computers could make toward solving energy or resource shortages that would be a global problem from now to the twenty-first century.

"We predicted that Japan would be developing high technologies such as those represented by computers and would be contributing to the growth of the world economy by so doing. Foreign people view Japan as a closed society. It is true that the language barrier prevents our thinking from being well understood by other nations. Computers capable of helping to remove the language barrier are necessary.

"In addition, there is the possibility that our society will undergo a substantial change from now to the 1990s. One indication is an abrupt in-

creasing of the aging population, though Japan is not alone in this respect. In this light, some committee members proposed developing computers that would allow the aged to work in society and help the physically handicapped and other people. On these lines, the task force on basic theory pointed out as a very important challenge the need to pursue research and development of artificial intelligence and to develop computers suited for that purpose.

There is no question

that Japan's national

economic plans rely on

progress in computers.

Potential uses and applications include translation and interpretation as a solution to the language barrier and robots as an aid to human activities in an aging society"

There is no question that Japan's national economic plans rely on progress in computers. Osamu Seki, director of the Electronics Policy Division of the Machinery and Information Industries Bureau of MITI, put it this way: "As a resource-poor country, we have no alternative but to base our prosperity on technology as recommended by the council at the MITI. It is our desire to keep the status of an advanced nation."

Japan will compete with the United States and other Western nations in information processing technology over the next decade. As for the prospect of Japan dominating the field based on the $800 million, 10-year ICOT project, that seems unlikely. Several United States projects and firms can bring comparable resources to bear. The Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation, headed by former Admiral Bobby In-man and backed by 12 American corporations (including Control Data, Honeywell, RCA, and Motorola) has an annual budget of $75 million. The Semiconductor Research Corporation has the backing of Control Data, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Motorola and will sponsor $30 million in research at American universities next year.

And according to Newsweek (July 4, 1983), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is ready to spend $1 billion on research into artificial intelligence (AI) and supercomputers. Science News reports that Lynn Conway has left Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) to join DARPA and head a program that DARPA says will "develop computers capable of symbolic reasoning with effective computational speeds 1000 times greater than those used in military systems today." In addition, the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national laboratories will join SRI International in an effort to develop a network of supercomputers. It is also worth remembering that IBM's annual research budget exceeds ICOT's and that IBM's research division has 2000 people (not counting those in product research and development) to ICOT's 40.

While the goal of winning greater private and public funding for AI research in the United States will help in international competition and is commendable, that does not justify sensational journalism that insults an ally. Furthermore, there is little hope that true artificial "intelligence" can be built in the United States or anywhere else on a scaffolding of groundless rhetoric about Pearl Harbor and Mein Kampf. Stupidity breeds stupidity.

The Japanese find themselves in a no-win situation. If they fail to make research breakthroughs, they will have to endure another generation of remarks about their lack of originality. If the Japanese do make research breakthroughs, they will be accused of posing a threat to American national security and therefore risk losing their most important ally. The threat is all the more mysterious because the Japanese would undoubtedly sell 80 percent of their future supercomputers and AI products to the United States. Otherwise, Japan's plan to base its prosperity on high technology would make no sense. ■

Phil Lemmons is BYTE's West Coast Bureau Chief. He can be reached at McGraw-Hill, 425 Battery St., San Francisco, CA 94111.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 395

Outline of Research and Development Plans for Fifth-Generation Computer Systems

1. Background and Introduction

As computerization advances, information technology with computers as its core has been applied to various areas of society and become an indispensable tool in modern society.

To provide for the conditions and information demands of the society in the 1990s, more advanced and higher-level functions and performance will be required of information technology; these include utilization of more varied media, easy-to-use computers, higher software productivity, and application of information technology to those areas in which existing information technology has not been applied.

In order to meet these needs, the design philosophy itself of the current computer technology should be studied and evaluated.

Conventional computers, following the von Neumann computer architecture, are now realized by the simplest hardware because the hardware was expensive and bulky when the first computers were invented. Most of the functions required are then realized by software in order to provide an efficient processing system. Therefore, the conventional computers have become numerical-processing oriented, stored-program sequential processing systems. High speed and large memory capacity have been pursued from the economic standpoint, producing the present enormously big computer systems.

However, the situation has evolved as follows:

(1) VLSIs [very large-scale integrations] have substantially reduced hardware costs, so computer systems can use as much hardware as required.

(2) A new architecture for parallel processing is now required because device speed has approached the limit for sequential processing.

(3) Parallel processing should be realized in order to utilize effective mass production of VLSIs.

(4) The current computer technology lacks the basic functions for non-numeric processing of speech, text, graphics and patterns, and for artificial intelligence fields such as inference, association, and learning.

For these reasons, the Fifth-Generation Computer Systems (FGCS), which

provide knowledge information processing systems, should be developed. FGCS should thus employ the latest research results in VLSI technology, as well as technology of distributed processing, software engineering, knowledge engineering, artificial intelligence, and pattern information processing.

Thus we have concluded that it is meaningful to pursue research and development of the FGCS as innovative information technology. We hope not only to conduct creative research in this field, but also to contribute thereby to the benefit of all humankind.

2. Research and Development Themes

The Fifth-Generation Computer Systems aim at knowledge information processing based on innovative inference functions and technologies that meet the needs anticipated in the 1990s, including intelligent interaction between man and machine and inference using knowledge bases.

The functions required of such a system can be broadly divided into four types:

(1) Problem solving and inference function

This function is intended to enable the system to find solutions to problems by carrying on logical reasoning using data and knowledge stored in the system as well as information given to it from outside. This capability covers deductive inference, inductive inference including guessing based on incomplete knowledge, and cooperative problem solving by mutual complementation of several bodies of knowledge.

(2) Knowledge base function

This function is aimed at providing systematic storage and retrieval of not only so-called data but also reasonable judgments and test results organized into a knowledge. Besides knowledge accumulation, it includes knowledge representation tailored to problem solving, knowledge acquisition and updating, and simultaneous utilization of distributed knowledge sources.

(3) Intelligent interface function

This function is intended to enable computers to handle speech, graphics,

and images so that the computers can interact with humans flexibly and smoothly. It might be regarded as giving computers the equivalents of human eyes, mouth, and ears, but its primary objective is to provide computers with a linguistic ability close to that of man.

(4) Intelligent programming function

This function is intended to enhance the intelligence of computers so that they can take over the burden of programming from humans. While its ultimate goal is to achieve an ability to automatically convert problems into efficient computer programs, it is aimed preliminarily at achieving a modular programming system and a program verification system and at establishing a specification description language.

To achieve these four functions requires the development of innovative technologies encompassing the diverse fields of architecture, hardware, and software. The major research and development themes are listed below.

(1) Hardware architecture and software to achieve inference function. This will include:

1. An inference mechanism based on a distributed control-based architecture which is oriented to parallel processing instead of sequential processing.

2. Basic software to manage and execute parallel inference.

(2) Hardware architecture and software to achieve knowledge base function. This will include:

1. A knowledge base mechanism based on structured memory instead of one-dimensional memory.

2 . Basic software to manage knowledge bases for high-speed retrieval and relational storage of knowledge data.

(3) Hardware architecture and software to achieve intelligent interface function. This will include:

1. An intelligent interface mechanism composed of a voice or signal processor and other devices.

2. Basic software for natural language processing and graphics and image understanding to ensure flexible man-machine interaction.

396 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

(4) Software to achieve intelligent programming. This will include:

1. Basic software for automatic creation of optimum programs.

New Application Fields

The knowledge information processing systems realized by the Fifth-Generation Computers are expected to expand extensively the fields where computers are applied, such as manufacturing, service, engineering, and office and business management.

VLSI CAD, machine translation, and consultation systems are chosen to develop as the model systems to apply the basic Fifth-Generation software to as well as to prove and assess the basic

Initial stage; Development of basic computer technology

1

Modules of individual functional mechanisms for '

parallel inference machine

Parallel-type inference basic mechanism

| Data flow mechanism j Abstract data-type mechanism I

r

Simulators for experimental operation

software system. The development of these application systems is planned in the intermediate and later stages.

3. Research and Development

Plans

3.1 Overall Plans

The research and development goals of the Fifth-Generation Computer Systems are such core functions for the knowledge information processing as problem-solving and inference systems and knowledge base systems, which cannot be handled within the framework of conventional computer systems.

We are obliged to move toward the target systems through a lengthy pro-intermediate stage: Development of subsystems (Experimental small-scale subsystems}

(Inference subsystem)

cess of trial and error, producing many original ideas along the way.

In Japan, little effort has been made in research on the key technologies, particularly software and basic theories. The research in this field should be promoted because it has a great influence on development of hardware technology, including computer architectures and VLSIs.

Since this project aims at computer technology for the 1990s, plans encompass as wide an extension of basic technology as possible. And this project is planned to span about 10 years, divided, as shown in figure 1 [which appears below] into initial, intermediate, and final stages.

Final stage: Development of total system

j 1

I Techniques for integration in VLSIs

Modules for individual functional mechanisms for

<?

knowledge base machine Basic knowledge base mechanism

Parallel-type relational and knowledge operation mechanism

Intelligent interface software

Problem-solving and inference software

Irference mechanism

i

Intelligent programming software

{Relationa l d atabase mechanism | Simulators for experimental operation , Techniques for integration m VLSIs

Basic software system

|Problem-solving and inference software modules]

I .

| [Knowledge base m anagement software modules

I [Intelligent interface software modules I

[intelligent programming software modules |

■ Sequential Inference Machine:

pilot models for software development

Intelligent

interface

hardware

=>

Intelligent interface software

Knowledge base management software

Knowledge base mechanism

Intelligent programming software

f/* Intelligent

i

nterface hardware

(Knowledge t

i subsystem)

| [Software |

Figure 1: The stages of fifth-generation computer research and development.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 397

The emphasis in the research and development of the initial stage is on accumulating the research achievements of the past in the field of knowledge information processing and evaluating and restructuring them. In addition, candidates for each research subject

have to be screened and basic technology is developed for the intermediate stage.

The research and development of the intermediate stage is focused on establishing computation models as the basis for software and hardware as well

Basic application systems

I

Machine translation I

i i

(Expert system)

Consultation system

ii

VLSI CAD

ii

1

3F-J

as algorithms and basic architecture based on the evaluations of the initial stage. Small- to medium-scale subsystems are then built.

The final stage puts an emphasis on appropriate functions of both software and hardware systems, interfaces to maximize these functions, and the architecture for the total system.

Concerning the overall flow of research and development efforts, the initial stage is envisioned that software and hardware modules are built and also some experimental systems configured by integrating these modules. These systems include hardware and software simulators, prototypes for language processing, and experimental natural language processing systems.

The intermediate stage is mainly devoted to improving and extending the results of the initial stage and integrating

Intelligent interface software module Semantic analysis system pilot model Dictionary system pilot model

High-level parsing program

ft

Intelligent programming software module Program verification management program

Modular programming software module

7T

Problem solving and inference software module

Basic software for problem solving

Basic software for

parallel inference

Knowledge base management software module

Knowledge representation system

Large-scale relational database management program software

nrm

Version 1

Kernel language

Version 0

Basic software system

iz

Parallel Inference Machine {PIM)

Modules for individual functional mechanisms for PIM

• Parallel-type inference basic mechanism

• Data flow mechanism

• Abstract data-type mechanism

Simulators for experimental operation Techniques for integration in VLSIs

<JL

Software

E a

o

o E

Knowledge Base Machine (KBM)

Modules for individual functional mechanisms for^M

• Basic knowledge base mechanism

• Parallel-type relation and knowledge operation mechanism

• Relational data base mechanism

Simulators for experimental operation Techniques for integration in VLSIs

Hardware

Figure 2: An overview of research and development in the initial stage.

398 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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them into inference and knowledgebase subsystems.

In the early part of the final stage, the configurations of these software and hardware systems developed in the intermediate stage are reviewed and evaluated. The total system is developed, integrating the subsystems in order to define the ultimate goals clearly.

3.2 Research and Development Plans in the Initial Stage

Research in the initial stage of the

Fifth-Generation Computer Systems Project is based on the new programming language the Version 0 Kernel Language, which is extended on Prolog. The specification of the Version 0 Kernel Language was completed in 1982. The Version 0 serves as the machine language for Sequential Inference Machine, a pilot model for software development, as well as it is tentatively used for program description in software development. While the Version 0 was developed for sequential processing, the Version 1 Kernel Language is

parallel processing oriented. The Version 1 is a logic programming language based on accumulation of experiences on the Version 0 with new functions added.

As shown in figure 2 on page 398, the Parallel Inference Machine (PIM) is a high-level parallel processor to directly execute the Version 1 Kernel Language. The Knowledge Base Machine (KBM) is responsible for high-speed execution of knowledge operations derived from the study on knowledge representation and relational database operations.

Research and Development Theme Details

Parallel Inference Machine (PIM)

Modules for individual functional mechanisms for PIM

Simulators for experimental operation

Techniques for integration in VLSIs

Knowledge Base Machine (KBM)

Modules for individual functional mechanisms for KBM

Simulators for experimental operation

Techniques for integration in VLSIs

The parallel inference machine, together with the knowledge base machine, forms the nucleus of the Fifth-Generation Computer hardware. At the initial stage, an evaluation and study will be made on the basic inference module configuration composed of the following:

(1) A parallel-tyoe inference basic mechanism to manage the parallel execution of inference operations.

(2) A data flow mechanism to execute inference operations and rapidly determine solutions. (3)An abstract data-type mechanism to consolidate detailed inference operations into several groups

and control them by group.

The parallel-type inference basic mechanism, data flow mechanism, and abstract data-type mechanism individually consists of functional sub-modules. Initially, prototypes of these sub-modules will be constructed. Then these prototype sub-modules will be combined to construct a prototype module for each of the three functional mechanisms.

Prototype simulators for experimental operation will be built to simulate module configurations, using different numbers and combination of sub-modules. They will also be used to determine the optimum configuration of the modules for three functional mechanisms and also of the inference basic module which these sub-modules will comprise.

Prototype software will be developed for evaluation and examination of the VLSI convertibility of the circuit composition of each sub-module designed. It will be used to data gathering and evaluation for integration in VLSIs.

The knowledge base machine, together with the parallel inference machine, forms the nucleus of the Fifth-Generation Computer hardware. At the initial stage, an evaluative study will be made on the configuration of the basic knowledge base module composed of the following:

(1) A basic knowledge base mechanism to provide overall management of the execution of basic knowledge base operations.

(2) A parallel-type relation and knowledge operation mechanism to provide speedy knowledge accumulation, retrieval and updating, data conversion, etc.

(3) A relational database mechanism to provide large-capacity knowledge accumulation, storage and management.

The basic knowledge base mechanism, parallel-type relation and knowledge operation mechanism, and relational database mechanism individually consist of functional sub-modules. Prototypes of these sub-modules will be constructed at the initial stage. These prototype sub-modules will be subsequently combined to produce a prototype module for each of the three functional

mechanisms.

Prototype simulators for operation tests will be built to simulate module configuration using different numbers and combinations of sub-modules. They will also be used to determine the optimum configuration of the modules for three functional mechanisms and also of the basic knowledge base modules which these sub-modules will comprise.

Prototype software will be developed for evaluation and examination of the VLSI convertibility of the circuit composition of each sub-module designed. It will be used to data gathering and evaluation for integration in VLSIs.

Table 1: Research and development plans in the initial stage.

400 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

The Fifth-Generation software comprises two software modules: a problem solving and inference software module for the purpose of problem processing and a knowledge base management software module for knowledge accumulation and management. The two software modules have two hierarchical levels. On the lower level are the description or execution supporting systems to provide various functions on the upper level. For the intelligent interface system whose main purpose is to realize natural language processing, and

the intelligent programming system for realizing automatic programming, though, it remains in a preliminary form for the initial stage. These two software modules could be also regarded as having two levels, but rather complementary than hierarchical.

The elementary application systems in the top of the figure are half experimental, half practical systems which are planned to develop in the intermediate stage based on the research results of the basic software systems.

Among these, the consultation system

has rather well established technology. So, it is purposely chosen to prove and assess the basic software system and its preliminary version called Experimental Knowledge-Based System is planned to develop in the initial stage. This development is understood as an additional subject to table 1 on page 400. ■

"Outline of Research and Development Plans for Fifth-Generation Computer Systems/' published by the Institute of New Generation Computer Technology, April, 1983.

Research and Development Theme Details

Basic software system

Problem solving and inference software module

Knowledge base management software module

Intelligent interface software module

Intelligent programming software module

Sequential Inference Machines (SIM) pilot models for software development

The basic software system forms the nucleus of the Fifth-Generation Computer software and is composed of the following four software modules for knowledge information processing: (1) Problem solving and inference software module (2)Knowledge base management software module (3)lntelligent interface software module (4)lntelligent programming software module

An extended Fifth-Generation kernel language needed for the intermediate state will be developed by organizing the knowledge obtained through designing and breadboarding the basic software system.

Furthermore, a prototype software system will be produced to test the correctness of specifications and validate their accuracy.

The problem solving and inference software module has the capabilities of deductive inference, inductive inference including conjecture proposing based on incomplete knowledge, and inference by mutual complementation of knowledge. The development of a prototype of basic software for parallel inference is planned for the initial stage for use in high-speed execution of deductive inference and basic software for problem solving to determine efficient solutions to problems.

The knowledge base management software module has the capabilities of knowledge accumulation, distributed-knowledge source utilization, and knowledge acquisition. The development of a prototype of a knowledge representation system is planned for the initial stage in order to define knowledge data representation methods. A large-scale relational database management program is also planned to accumulate and manage a large volume of data represented as knowledge.

The intelligent interface software module is for flexible interaction between human and computer. The development of a prototype of a high-level parsing program is planned for the initial stage and is aimed at achieving high-speed parsing and simplified algorithms for natural language understanding, which is critical to the man-machine interaction. Basic technologies for semantic analysis and a pilot model of a support dictionary system will also be developed.

The intelligent programming software module has the capability of automatic conversion of an input problem into an efficient computer program (a kernel language level). A program module management system with extraction capability of component modules and verification facility of a program is planned to develop at the initial stage with the objectives to establish modular programming, which is basic to intelligent programming, extraction of the necessary program, and program verification prepared thereby.

A pilot model (a prototype sequential inference machine) for efficient development of software for the Fifth-Generation Computer Systems will be developed. This model will be developed by improving a selected language suitable for inference and by partly modifying the existing von Neumann-type architecture.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 401

Speech Images on the IBM PC

The PC can plot the sounds of vowels with an experimental

speech-input card

Steve Ciarcia described a means of portraying a sound spectrogram in "Use Voiceprints to Analyze Speech/' (Circuit Cellar, March 1982 BYTE, page 50). The approach was described as a tool for exploring some of the factors involved in the design of a speech-recognition system.

I've arrived at a different portrait of speech by pursuing similar interests in my spare time for a number of years. Its purpose is to directly reveal the presence of more meaningful sounds, which are the specific phonemes in an utterance.

Figure 1 is an example of such an image. It was plotted using an IBM Personal Computer (PC) equipped with an experimental speech-input card. Vowel sounds were extracted from three utterances, each of five words. Each point on the plot was generated by software that first isolated the vowel portion of the word, then transformed the data from the card in such a manner as to produce a point within the triangle at a location that can be used to identify the vowel.

If such displays could be made to portray the other phonemes as well,

by A. J. Cote Jr.

they could prove useful as speech training aids for the deaf. Specialized preprocessors exploiting the approach might have applications ranging from auditory prostheses to continuous speech-recognition subsystems for fifth-generation computers. In this article I'll describe the rationale behind the approach I took, explain the display of sounds through such images, and then offer a functional description of the speech-interface card and the acquisition/transformation software. Finally, I'll examine issues for the future.

The Strategy

The triangle in figure 1 demonstrates an attempt at acoustic-phonetic decoding, a task that has been characterized as "one of the major unsolved problems" in the speech-recognition field (reference 4). Some researchers have also argued that it is unrealistic to anticipate very accurate phoneme recognition in the near future because accuracies to date range from 50 to 80 percent (reference 7). Yet human listeners achieve about 90 percent accuracy (reference 5).

They also demonstrate continuous speech-recognition capabilities unmatched by any of today's machines.

It may be appropriate, therefore, to adopt an emulation strategy that speculates on the probable neural processes involved and creates implementations based on those speculations. That is the approach I've taken.

The foundation of my strategy is the contention that the nervous system is a qualitative analog computer. Its decisions are based on the relative strength of transient signals at various points within the system. To describe the events that triggered the signals, it's necessary to consider the strongest signals and where they materialize.

With respect to the phoneme-recognition problem, it becomes pragmatically appropriate to focus on two questions:

•Because relative analyses of competing signals appear to be the central function of neural processes, what sort of instrumentation technique would effectively portray relative relationships? •On the premise that neural pro-

402 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

cesses employed in one sensory channel are likely to be used in others, is it possible that speech signals are perceived in a way analogous to that used to recognize colors?

The remainder of this article describes the application of this strategy.

Cochlea Images

Sound entering the ear is coupled to a long coiled structure called the cochlea. The auditory nerve is linked to this structure and senses the cochlea's internal vibrations. Resulting signals are then routed into the brain, having undergone appropriate processing along the way.

It is convenient to view the array of signals along the cochlea as a time-varying "image" of the incoming sound. Thus, in making an analogy to the operation of the eye, the relative placement and intensity of "features" that are evident across this image should offer a means of identifying the sound responsible for them. To gain insight into the character of such sound images, I created an experimental speech data-acquisition card. It contains filters that serve as a very crude model of the cochlea. The filters extract the sound energy from four broad regions of the speech spectrum. Each region is sampled every millisecond, then data is converted to digital form for acquisition by an IBM PC, which transforms it for display.

The Speech-Interface Card

A block diagram of this speech port is shown in figure 2. Containing 21 integrated-circuit chips mounted on a prototyping board, it performs five major functions: amplification, filtering, rectification, clock generation, and bus interfacing.

A cardioid electret condenser microphone drives a two-stage preamplifier whose high-frequency roll-off starts at about 6 kHz and serves an antialiasing role for the card's switched-capacitor filters.

All filtering is accomplished using EG&G Reticon switched-capacitor filters that are pin- and clock-pro-

WTL = 1.9

WTM = 4.7 WTH =6.3 SMPLS=300 THRSHD=10

Figure 1: A portrait of speech vowels, WTL, WTM, and WTH are the weights applied to the low-, mid-, and high-band data, respectively. SMPLS refers to the number of samples taken within each vowel utterance, and THRSHD represents the voicing-channel threshold.

mike-

DAS CLOCK REFERENCE AND ADDRESS SELECT LOGIC

c

DATA-

ACQUISITION

SYSTEM

COMPUTER

I/O

CHANNEL

Figure 2: An overview of an experimental speech-input card for the IBM PC.

DASHED LINES ARE LOCI FOR EQUAL RANK FOR TWO ELEMENTS

SOLID LINES RANK ONLY TWO ELEMENTS

INTERIOR CONTAINS THREE ELEMENT RANKINGS

CENTRAL INTERSECTION IS EQUAL RANK FOR THREE ELEMENTS

RANKING DIAGRAM

Figure 3: This figure is a ranking diagram, a convenient means of conveying the relative level of three variables. You can thus look at figure 1 and determine that the i vowel has its strongest component in the high band and its weakest in the mid band.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 403

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grammable. Functions (bandpass, lowpass, highpass), Q (a measure of filter sharpness), and frequencies are established by pin connections. The shape filter shapes the overall spectrum presented to the others to create a response similar to that of a more elaborate cochlea model employed in earlier experiments. A lowpass filter with a 235-Hz corner serves as a voicing channel. Three bandpass filters yield low-, mid-, and high-frequency channels whose corners are 235, 940, 1537, and 4108 Hz.

To translate the AC spectral signals to DC levels, the card uses Analog Devices true RMS-to-DC converters. Although not exploited in this design, these chips can be connected to obtain the logarithm of the RMS input, providing a conversion with a useful dynamic range of 60 db (decibels).

Outputs from the four converters are fed to an Analog Devices monolithic 8-bit, 8-channel, memory-buffered data-acquisition system (reference 1). The system sequentially converts each of its eight inputs into a digital byte, storing the results in an 8- by 8-bit dual-port RAM (random-access read/write memory). The scan period of the clock employed here is about 670 microseconds. Data readout from the chip is independent of the scanning/conversion, and interleaving of the memory updates and readout is automatically managed by on-chip logic.

The compiled BASIC software monitors the voicing channel until its level exceeds a threshold. Passing the threshold level signals the presence of speech (reference 8) and initiates acquisition of data on the low, mid, and high channels. The purpose is to capture vowel-sound data; trailing consonants should not be captured unless the buffer is too long. Each set of three-channel data represents the components of a vector in three-dimensional space and only one sample of the cochlea's dynamic image. The collection of samples is combined to create a single vector, which is then transformed for plotting.

Plotting Transformation

This vector reflects the relative level

404 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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of the energy in the three filter channels. Colors are often described with diagrams that result from the relative levels of the underlying components that cause the perception of a particular color sensation. A similar approach is applicable to the characterization of speech in relative terms. Figure 3 illustrates the concept of a ranking diagram, a means of expressing the relative levels of three variables as one point in a planar image. The three variables are normalized with respect to the peak and

treated as the components of a vector extending out from the origin. Given a plane that intercepts the three axes at unity, the vector will pierce the plane at a point that reflects the relative intensities of the variables. The triangle is a view of the plane and its intersections with the planes of the coordinate axes, as seen from a perpendicular to the pierced plane that passes through the origin of the coordinate system. This is the transformation carried out by the software to produce the points in the

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triangle plot of figure 1.

Vowel-Position Variations

Several annotations in figure 1 require explanation. The first three are weights applied to the low-, mid-, and high-band data. Their dominant impact is on the position of the response grouping within the triangle rather than on the separation between the vowel clusters. Item 4 is the number of collected samples of each utterance, and 5 is the voicing-channel threshold.

A couple of different sets of crossover frequencies between the three main bands have also been considered. If a corner coincided with the range of values for either the first or second formant frequencies, you'd expect that the relative strength of the adjacent channels might change significantly with a change of speakers. This is because the formant (a characteristic component of a sound) of a vowel might fall on a different side of the corner for specific speakers.

The results of a few casual multiple-speaker experiments have been mixed. They reveal, however, that the vowel that exhibits the greatest tendency to wander is the i, as in feet, while the most stable seems to be the a in mob.

It should be noted that other vowels will appear in the spaces between those shown in figure 1. Similar vowel loops have been reported in the past (references 6 and 9). In one investigation, frequencies of the first two formants were used as the axes of a two-dimensional coordinate system. Another approach was more akin to the one described here. It was advanced as part of a theory of speech perception motivated by color-perception considerations. Plotting instrumentation based on that approach is described in reference 3.

Other Phonemes

Plotting vowels does not seem difficult to accomplish. Limited vocabularies with insignificant vowel overlap also yield good performance in isolated speech-recognition machines. But discrimination that depends on accurate recognition of

406 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

WTV = 7.0 WTM = 7.0 WTH =4.0 CBUF=75

THRSHD = 10

Figure 4: An example of consonant plots based on the use of voice, mid, and high bands. Sounds were consonant-vowel pairs with a common vowel (the dark cluster at the left). CBUF refers to the number of consonant samples taken within each utterance.

consonants presents a more significant challenge (reference 2).

Figure 4 was obtained using different acquisition software. Data was continually collected in a circular buffer until voicing was detected. That point was marked as the start of the vowel, and a segment ahead of it was considered as the consonant portion. Collection was terminated after some vowel data was gathered. Thus, the software can handle consonant-vowel sequences, treating the two components separately and plotting them with different symbols.

Consonant energy is concentrated in the high band, but for some of these phonemes, voicing is present. Figure 4 was based on the use of the voice, mid, and high channels (with appropriate weight changes). Of course, with that combination, the vowel position also shifted because of the different channels and weights. But a software change would permit acquisition of vowel data from the three original channels and combination of that data with consonant data from these channels. Interpretation of such a display would then be based on symbol differences as well as positions. Color could also be used to distinguish data.

Another way to improve the separation is to split the combined mid and high bands into three subbands, with the plot displayed in a sub-triangle of the original. Experiments conducted earlier using a cochlea model driven by a speech synthesizer

confirmed that tr option.

i, is a feasible

Future Directions

The most effective techniques are likely to be those based on change because response to change is a dominant characteristic of the nervous system, and the consonants are the dynamic segments of the speech sound. Perhaps, instead of plotting the relative energy levels in the band, we should consider the relative changes in level, or even movement among bands. There are many possibilities; unfortunately, none can be readily evaluated with the current card. Therefore, it's back to the drawing board to design a new interface card.B

References

1. Ciarcia, S. 'Analog Interfacing in the Real World." BYTE, January 1982, pages 72-98.

2. Cole, R. A., et al. "Feature-Based Speaker-Independent Recognition of Isolated English Letters." Proc ICASSP 83, IEEE, April 1983, pages 731-733.

3. Ferber, L, A. "Three-Parameter Speech

Display." 1972 Conference on Speech Communications & Processing, IEEE, April 1972.

4. Hayton, J. P "Speech Recognition and Understanding." 6th International Conference on Pattern Recognition, IEEE, October 1982, pages 570-581.

5. Klatt, D. H. "Overview of the ARPA Speech Understanding Project." Trends in Speech Recognition, W. A. Lea, editor. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1980, pages 249-271.

6. Pederson, G. L. and H. L. Barney. "Control Methods Used in the Study of Vowels." Speech Analysis, IEEE Press, 1979, pages 45-54.

7 Schwartz, R. M. 'Acoustic Phonetic Recognition." 6th International Conference on Pattern Recognition, IEEE, October 1982, pages 952-965.

8. Stewart, J. L. and B. C. Stewart. "Principal Cues in Speech." Santa Maria, CA: Covox Company, October 1981.

9. Yilmaz, H. "A Theory of Speech Perception." Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics, vol. 29, 1967, pages 793-825; vol. 30, 1968, pages 455-479.

A. J. Cote Jr (12937 Kentbury Dr., Clarksville, MD 21029) works as an engineer at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. He is interested in the formulation of a biologically inspired approach to pattern analysis and machine-intelligence systems.

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BYTE November 1983 409

Lmodem: A Small Remote Communication Program

A no-frills, smart-terminal program for CP/M systems

written in BDS C

In the past few years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of remote computing facilities available to microcomputer users. These include online databases, large timesharing operations, The Source, CompuServe, computer bulletin boards (CBBs), and C nodes. In order to use such facilities, you need a terminal program. This article describes one such program, Lmodem, a "little modem" program written in BDS C for CP/M-based systems.

The most basic form of telecomputing consists of connecting a local terminal to a remote computer over a telephone line. In its simplest case, a terminal program makes your computer emulate a dumb terminal to the remote system. This arrangement is fine if you don't have to transmit lots of information or don't need to keep a record of responses from the remote system.

The next step up in sophistication is to include text capture capabilities in the terminal-emulator program. Text capture consists of holding text in a buffer for later storage on disk. With this capability, you can obtain a program listing by commanding the remote system to list the program to your terminal. (The program from which Lmodem is derived—Cmodem 13.c—was obtained in just this manner.) Finally, a file-transmission protocol can be added to the program. Several protocols are in common use, but all transmit chunks of data with some type of error checking. By using a file-transfer protocol, you can

by David D. Clark

transmit binary-code files and data files; you are not limited to text files. The Lmodem program employs what is known as the Ward Christen-sen (or XMODEM) protocol for file transfer. (Ward Christensen has written so much good public-domain software that he deserves an award of some kind.) This transfer protocol is used by C nodes. Originally written in assembly language, the algorithm has since been translated into high-level languages like C.

The Program

Lmodem is written in the BDS version of the C programming language. It provides terminal emulation, text capture, and transfer of files using the Ward Christensen protocol. Lmodem is about as simple as such programs come. The hardware-dependent information and operations have been isolated in a small number of functions and constants. The program is modular enough that it can be implemented in simple stages if necessary.

Hardware-dependent Routines: You will need to be familiar with your hardware to implement this part of the program. In the Lmodem program (listing 4), the last eight routines comprise the functions that you may have to change for your computer system. The routines in the listing were written for a Teletek FDC-I single-board computer, using the second serial port as the modem port. I attached a Novation Cat, a

300-bps (bits per second) answer/ originate, acoustic modem.

A brief description of each of these routines follows:

1. initializemodem(): performs any hardware-dependent initialization. The version in the listing simply calls purgelineQ to clear the communications line.

2. purgelineQ: clears the communications line of any characters that may be present.

3. mcharinp(): for modem character input. Reads a single character from the modem port and returns it to the calling function.

4. mcharoutQ: for modem character output. Sends the character passed as an argument out through the modem port.

5. moutrdyQ: for modem output ready. Returns a result of True if the modem can accept a character for transmission; otherwise, False.

6. minprdy(): for modem input ready. Returns a result of True if the modem has a character available to be read; otherwise, False.

7. ctsreadyO: for clear-to-send ready. Clear-to-send (CTS) is an RS-232C interface line. If your modem can detect the state of this interface line, ctsreadyQ should return a result of True while the CTS line is active. In listing 4 this function is set to always return a result of True.

8. hangup(): before the program finishes, this routine should be

410 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

called to perform the termination procedures, if any. In listing 4 this function is set to always return a result of True.

If you have an auto-dial/autoanswer modem, you should expand some of these routines to take advantage of those features. If you have a basic 300-bps modem like mine, simple routines similar to those in listing 4 will be sufficient. For more information on adapting this program to your hardware, see the section on modifications.

The value of SPS, defined near the beginning of the program, is also hardware dependent, but its value is not critical. SPS is explained more fully in the section on file transfer.

Terminal Emulation: The part of the program that makes your computer look like a terminal is contained in a small portion of code making up the main() function. The loop starting with the statement

while (ctsreadyO && (KbData != QUIT))

first looks for input from the keyboard by making a call to the bdos() function with the arguments DIRCTIO (defined to have a value of 6) and INPUT (defined to a value of Oxff). BdosQ is a BDS C library function that calls the CP/M BDOS (basic disk operating system) function with the same number as its first argument and puts the second argument in the DE register pair. Thus, the expression

(KbData = bdos (DIRCTIO, INPUT))

calls the BDOS direct-console I/O (input/output) routine. If a character is available at the console, its value is assigned to the variable KbData. Any character found is checked against various special-command characters, described later. For now, let's just say you type a character you want to be transmitted to the remote system. In this instance, the default section of the switch statement is selected, and the character is sent by means of the mcharoutQ function.

If no character is pending at the keyboard, the entire switch statement

Listing 1: A pseudocode representation of the terminal-emulation algorithm used in Lmodem.

while (the communication line is open) and

(the quit command has not been issued) {

if (there is a character at the keyboard) { get it;

send it out over the modem; }

if (there is a character at the modem) { get it;

display it on the console; } }

Listing 2: The file-transmission process, using Christensen's XMODEM protocol written in pseudocode.

open the file to be sent; initialize the modem;

while (there are still sectors to send) { repeat (

send an SOH;

send the sector number;

send the sector number complemented;

send the data and compute a checksum;

send the checksum;

wait for a response; } until (the response is an ACK); }

send an EOT character; wait for an acknowledgement; close the file;

is skipped. In either case, the modem is then checked for a character awaiting input ( if (minprdyQ)). If so, it is retrieved and printed on the console.

That's all there is to terminal emulation. The logic of the process can be represented more succinctly by the pseudocode fragment in listing 1.

In order to end the program, you type the QUIT command character,

the value of which is declared in a # define statement near the beginning of the program. If you have a sophisticated modem and an appropriate CtsreadyO function, the program can be made to end if the telephone is hung up.

Text Capture: Keeping a record of an entire session with the remote system is not much harder, A few more variables, two commands, and a lit-

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 411

create the new file in the directory; initialize the modem; repeat {

wait for an initial SOH, EOT or TIMEOUT; if (the character is an SOH) {

get the sector number;

get the sector number complemented;

get the data and compute a checksum;

get the checksum;

if (checksum = computed checksum)

send an ACK; else

send an NAK; }

if (the character is an EOT) { close the new file; send an ACK; } } until (the initial character was an EOT);

tie code are all you'll need. The CAPTURE command character toggles the state of the variable BFlag, which is False when the program starts. In the listing, the character for this command is Control-C. If your BIOS (basic input/output system) detects this character and warm-boots CP/M, change the character for the command. When BFlag is True, characters received from the remote system are stored as received in a buffer of BUF-SIZ characters, using the TxtPtr variable as an index to the buffer. By typing the CAPTURE command character during the session, you can save those parts of the session that you want a record of. You can also use the CAPTURE command to keep track of the free space remaining in the capture buffer.

The Lmodem program does not directly save the characters that you type. If you are in full-duplex opera-

412 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

tion, the remote system will echo all the characters that you type, so they will be in the text buffer. If your connection is half-duplex, the characters you type will not be echoed back to your system. In this case, if you want to keep your input, add a statement to the default switch to store those characters in the buffer.

When the session is over or the capture buffer is nearly full, type the KEEP command character to save the contents of the buffer in a disk file. You will be asked to supply a file name. The file will then be created and the buffer contents written to it. After the buffer has been saved, text capture is turned off and the buffer index is reset.

File Transfer: The majority of the Lmodem program consists of code to perform file transfers. Lmodem uses the Ward Christensen file-transfer protocol used by C nodes. Before

delving deeper into the program, see listing 2 for the transmission algorithm in pseudocode.

The SOH (start of header), ACK (acknowledge), and EOT (end of transmission) characters are ASCII (American National Standard Code for Information Interchange) control characters used by the protocol for synchronization and communication between the host and the remote computer. The NAK (negative acknowledge) character is used in place of ACK if an error is detected.

The receiving algorithm is complementary (see listing 3).

The Protocol

The two terminal programs first synchronize with each other. An SOH is transmitted to signify that a sector of data will be transmitted. Next comes the sector number and its one's complement followed by the 128 bytes of data that make up the sector. As the data is transmitted, a checksum is calculated at both ends of the transfer (the checksum is the sum of the numerical value of all the characters sent). After the data has been sent, the checksum is also sent. The receiving program compares the checksum it receives with the one it calculated during transmission.

If the checksums agree, the receiving program returns an ACK character to the sending program to notify it to proceed to the next sector. If the checksums do not match, the receiving program returns a NAK character to the sending program and the sector will be retransmitted. This retransmission can be repeated for a predetermined number of attempts. Upon reaching the end of the file, the sending program transmits an EOT character instead of an SOH. If everything is okay with the receiving program, it returns an ACK character to the sending program and they both close up the files.

Send and Receive

The functions sendfile() and readfile() handle the operations of sending and receiving files by means of the Christensen protocol. If you compare Lmodem's source code (listing 4) with the pseudocode (listings 2 and 3), Text continued on page 424

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BYTE November 1983

433

***********

**********************************************************

Imodem — little modem program

This program implements the Ward Christensen assembly-language program in C. It is closely derived from the cmodeml3.c program by Jack M. Wierda and Roderick W. Hart. The modes available have been greatly reduced. The program provides terminal emulation and text capture as well as file send and receive capabilities.

Hardware-dependent functions have been isolated from the majority of the program. This particular implementation has been set up to run with an interrupt-driven modem input from the second serial port of an FDC-I single-board computer system. The modem used is a very simple Novation Cat.

Compile and link with (BDS-C ver 1.46):

ccl lmodem.c -o -e 2800 12 lmodem

Written by David D. Clark 9-Jan-83

**********************************************************************

**/ / / / / / / / / / / / / 7 / V / 7 / / / / / / / /

•include "bdscio.h"

sector counting dots per line */ loops per second */

number of file sectors to buffer */ large text buffer (32K less i sector) maximum errors before abort */ maximum retrys before abort */ cpm bdos direct-console io command */ direct-console io input */

/************************************************************************/ /* */

/* Special characters used in the file transfer-protocol. */ /* */

/*********************************************************************** */

•define timeout -1

•define S0H 1

•define EOT 4

•define ACK 6

•define NAK 21

/* timeout character */

/* start of sector character */

/* end of transmission character */

/* acknowledge sector transmission */

/* error in transmission detected */

/************************************************************************/

Miscellaneous ASCII characters.

/*********************************************************************** */

•define TAB 9

•define LF 10

•define CR 13

•define CTRLZ 26

/* end of text-file character */

z*****************************************************************^^^^

/* */

/* These ^defines determine which keys will be interpreted as */ /* command characters. */

/* */

/A***********************************************************************>

toggle text capture */

keep text buffer */

send literal character */

quit */

receive file by sectors */

send file by sectors */

view data transferred */

char viewMode, BFlag, KbData, ModData; char AsciiFlg, ShowTrans, ShowRecv, View; char Bufr[BUFSIZ]; char FileName[14]; int Fd; unsigned TxtPtr;

main(argc,argv) int argc; char **argv;

{

AsciiFlg - ShowRecv * ShowTrans = BFlag - View = FALSE;

TxtPtr = 0;

ViewMode • KbData = NULL;

instruct(); initializemodem();

/* the main loop */

while (ctsready() && (KbData != QUIT)) {

if (KbData - bdos(DIRCTIO, INPUT)) /* get any char at kbd */ switch (KbData) {

case CAPTURE:

BFlag = "BFlag; if (BFlag)

printf("Capture initiated");

Listing 4 continued on page 416

Tl 111! Ii

!!!!

nil

C U £- ^r m 5 . >

else

printf ("Capture terminated"); printf(", %u", BUFSIZ - TxtPtr); printf(" bytes free\n"); break;

case KEEP:

if (ITxtPtr)

printf("Nothing to save\n");

case LITERAL:

while ( I(KbData * bdos(DIRCTIO,INPUT)) ) ;

mcharout(KbData); break;

default:

else (

printf("Save as what file? "); scanf("%s" , FileName); Bufr[TxtPtr] - CTRLZ; Fd ■ creat(FileName); if {Fd — ERROR)

printf("Cannot create %s\n", FileName); else {

write(Fd, Bufr,

1 + (TxtPtr/SECSIZ)); close(Fd); BFlag - FALSE; TxtPtr - 0; } ) break;

case RECEIVE:

printf("Receive what file? "); scanf("%s", FileName); readfile(FileName); break;

case SEND:

printf("Send what file? "); scanf("%s", FileName); sendfile<FileName); break;

case QUIT:

hangup( ); break;

case VIEW:

View » "View; if (View) {

printf("view as ascii or hex? "); ViewMode « toupper(getchar()); printf("\ndisplay will be in "); if (ViewMode — *A* )

printf("ascii\n"); else

printf("hex\n"); } else

break;

mcharout(KbData); break;

if (minprdy( )) {

ModData - mcharinp();

if (BFlag && (TxtPtr < BUFSIZ))

Bufr[TxtPtr++] - ModData; else if (BFlag)

printf("Capture Bufr overflow\n"); putchar( ModData); }

instruct( )

{

printf(" lmodem is a small remote communication program.\n"); printf( "When started, it acts simply as a dumb terminal. The\n" imprint f("following commands are available:\nVn" );

show_char(CAPTURE);

printf("\t- Toggles text capture. Initially inactive. When\n");

printf("\t acting as a terminal, all text received will be\n" );

printf("\t saved in a buffer. The buffer may be saved on disk\n");

printf("\t with the 'keep* command below.\n");

show_char(KEEP);

printf(*'\t- Keep. Lets you save captured text in a disk file.Sn");

printf("\t You will be asked to name the file in which the text\n");

printf("\t will be saved. The text buffer will be cleared if the\n");

printf("\t text is saved successfully.\n");

show_char(RECEIVE);

printf("Vt- Receive file in ward Christensen protocol. You will\n M );

printf("\t be asked for the name of the file to write into.Vn");

show_char(SEND);

printf("\t- Send file in Ward Christensen protocol.\n");

show_^char( VIEW) ;

printf("\t- Toggle data viewing. Initially inactive. Data\n");

printf("\t transmitted will be displayed in ASCII or hex.\n");

show_char(LITERAL);

printf("\t- Send literal character. A character typed after this\n");

printf("\t character will be sent as is. In this way, characters\n" );

printf("\t that represent commands may be sent without being\n" );

printf( n \t interpreted as a command.\n");

show_char(QUIT);

printf("\t- Quit, Exit program. \n\n" );

printf( "viewing disabled\n" );

return;

Listing 4 continued on page 418

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BYTE November 1983

g

Listing 4 continued:

show_char( c) char c;

'))

if ((c >- 0) fi& (c <- 31))

printf("ctrl-%c", c + '•'); else if (c ~ • *)

printf("<spc>"); else if ((c >= '6') && (c <*

putchar(c); else if (c — 127)

printf("<del>"); else

printf("%xH", c); return;

readfiie( file) char *file;

int firstchar, sectnum, sectcurr, sectcomp, errors;

int checksum;

int errorflag, Fd;

unsigned j, bufptr;

if (View) {

ShowRecv « TRUE; ShowTrans - FAI»SE;

)

Fd « creat(file);

if (Fd — ERROR) {

printf("Cannot create %s\n", file);

return;

) else

printf("Receiving %s\n\n", file); sectnum ■ errors - bufptr - 0; initializemodem(); sendchar(MAX); do (

errorflag - FALSE;

do /* get synchronization character -*/

firstchar - readchar(5); while ( firstchar I- SOH && firstchar 1- EOT && firstchar I- TIMEOUT);

if (firstchar — TIMEOUT) ( errorflag - TRUE; printf("Timeout errorSn");

}

if ((sectcurr + sectcomp) mm 255) {

if (sectcurr — (sectnum + 1 & Oxff)) { checksum - 0; if (ViewMode -— *A* )

AsciiFlg m TRUE;

for (j - bufptr; j < (bufptr + SECSIZ); j++) { Bufr[j] * readchar(l); checksum « (checksum + Bufr[j]) & Oxff;

}

AsciiFlg - FALSE; if (checksum — readchar(l)) { errors « 0; sectnum++;

bufptr - bufptr + SECSIZ; if ((sectnum % BUFSECS) — 0) { bufptr « 0;

if (write(Fd, Bufr # BUFSECS) — ERROR)( printf("Error writing file\n"); close(Fd); return; }

/*

** If the sender times out while ** we're still writing, it will ** resend the sector. Bang here ** until it's done resending, then ** fall through and acknowledge.

*/

do ; /* nothing */

while (readchar(l) I- TIMEOUT);

)

if (!ShowRecv)

if (((sectnum - 1) % DOTS) — 0)

printf("\n<%4d>.", sectnum); else

printf ( " . "); sendchar( ACK);

else (

}

printf("SnChecksum error, expected "); printf("<%0x>\n", checksum); errorflag - TRUE;

}

else if (sectcurr —= (sectnum & Oxff)) {

printf("\nReceived duplicate sector %d\n"

/* wait for silence on the line */

do ; /* nothing */

while (readchar(l) i- TIMEOUT);

sendchar(ACK);

sectnum);

} else {

printf("\nSynchronization error\n" ); errorflag - TRUE;

else {

if (firstchar — SOH) {

sectcurr - readchar(L); sectcomp - readchar(1);

printf("\nSector number error\n"); errorflag « TRUE;

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I

if (errorflag == TRUE) { errors++;

printf("Error %d\n", errors); while (readchar(1) 1= TIMEOUT); sendchar(NAK) ;

} } while (firstchar 1= EOT && errors 1= ERRORMAX);

if ((firstchar ■* EOT) && (errors < ERRORMAX)) { sendchar(ACK);

write(Fd, Bufr, 1 + (bufptr/SECSIZ)); close(Fd); printf("\n\nTransfer complete\n");

} else

printf( "\n\nAborting\n" ),*

readchar( seconds) unsigned seconds; {

char data;

seconds = seconds*sps;

while (Iminprdy( ) && seconds) /* wait until input ready */

—seconds; if (I seconds)

return TIMEOUT; /* nothing arrived in time */ data = mcharinp(); /* get it */

if (ShowRecv) { /* show it if needed */

if (AsciiFlg)

if (((data >~ ■ •) &fi (data <= DATAMASK))

[| data — LF |j data — CR [| data — TAB) putchar(data); else

print f(-[%0x]", data); else

printf("[%Ox]", data);

}

return data;

sendfile(file) char *file;

{

int sectnum, sectors, attempts; int checksum, Fd; unsigned j, bufptr;

if (View) {

ShowRecv = FALSE; ShowTrans = TRUE;

}

Fd * open(file, 0);

if (Fd — ERROR) {

printf("Cannot open %s\n", file); return;

} else

printf("Sending %s\n\n", file); initializemodem(); attempts « 0; sectnum » 1;

while ((sectors = read(Fd, Bufr, BUFSIZ/SECSIZ)) && (attempts 1= RETRYMAX)) { if (sectors = ERROR) {

printf("\nError reading file\n");

close(Fd);

return;

} else {

bufptr m 0; do {

attempts = 0; do {

if (IShowTrans)

if (((sectnum - 1) % DOTS) *- 0)

printf("Vn<%4d>.", sectnum); else

printf(" ."); sendchar(SOH); sendchar(sectnum); sendchar("sectnum); checksum « 0; if (ViewMode == 'A')

AsciiFlg * TRUE; for (j - bufptr; j < (bufptr + SECSIZ); j++) { sendchar(Bufr[j]); checksum = (checksum + Bufr[j]) & Oxff;

)

AsciiFlg = FALSE;

sendchar(checksum);

purgeline();

attempts++; } while ((readchar(10) l= ACK) && (attempts 1= RETRYMAX)); bufptr += SECSIZ; sectnum++; sectors—; } while (sectors && (attempts != RETRYMAX));

if (attempts «— RETRYMAX)

printf("\nNo acknowledgment of sector, aborting\n"); else {

attempts = 0; do {

sendchar(EOT); purgeline(); attempts++;

Listing 4 continued on page 422

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j5 Listing 4 continued:

f

I

} while ((readchar(10) I- ACK) && (attempts 1= RETRYMAX)); if (attempts — RETRYMAX) {

printf("\nNo acknowledgment of end of file");

printf(", aborting\n");

printf( H \nTransfer complete\n" );

else

close(Fd); return;

while (minprdy())

mcharinp();

mcharinp( ) {

char c;

while (Ipeek(STATE)); c - peek(DATAB); poke(STATB, 0); return c;

/* while there are characters... */ /* gobble them */

/* do nothing until ready */

/* get FDC-I serial B data byte */

/* reset FDC-I serial B status byte */

sendchar(data) char data;

while (!moutrdyf )); mcharout(data);

/* wait until output ready */

/* send it »/

/* show it, if needed */

if (ShowTrans) {

if (AsciiFlg)

if (((data >- ' ■) && (data <- DATAMASK))

{| data — LF || data — CR || data = TAB) putchar(data); else

printf("[%0x]", data); else

printf("[%0x]", data);

} return;

/it***********************************************************************/

/* V

/* The following functions may be hardware dependent. These are */

/* set up to use a Novation Cat modem running through the interrupt- */

/* driven second serial port on an FDC-I board. */

/* V

mcharout(c) char C;

while (Imoutrdy()); OUtp(MDMPORT, C);

/* do nothing unitl ready */

/* send the character to FDC-I serial B */

moutrdy()

(

return ((inp(3) & 4) > 0);

}

minprdy( )

(

return peek(STATB);

}

ctsready()

{

return TRUE;

hangup( ) {

return TRUE;

/* nothing to do */

/* nothing to do */

tdefine MDMPORT 2 /* modem data port (FDC-I serial b) */ tdefine DATAB 0xf7cd /* serial b input data location */ tdefine STATE 0xf7be /* serial b character-ready flag */

initializeraodem() {

purgeline();

/* not a lot to do on Novation */

purgeline() {

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Text continued from page 412: you will see that they are quite similar. The basic algorithm is apparent in the code. The main differences are in the more extensive error-checking code that is present in listing 4. In addition to the checksum, the synchronization, sector numbering, and timing are all monitored for accuracy.

The sectors are not read from and written to disk one at a time. The sendfileQ and readfileQ functions buffer the files being transferred. The same buffer used for text capture is used for file buffering. Any text in the buffer when file transfer begins will be lost. If you use the same value for BUFSECS as that in the listing, you will be able to buffer I6K bytes or 128 sectors at a time. On most CP/M systems this corresponds to one CP/M directory extent. It is possible to buffer additional sectors, but the process of allocating an additional directory extent is usually slow enough that it causes a timeout error in the sending program while the receiving program is writing out the buffer. I rarely need to transfer files larger than 16K bytes, but the routines are constructed so that any size file can be transferred. At 300 bps, the rate of transfer is approximately 15 sectors per minute. I have used the program only at 300 bps, but I believe it is fast enough to keep up with a 1200-bps modem, if you have one.

The byte-by-byte send and receive operations are performed by the complementary routines sendchar() and readchar0. Basically, all these functions do is transfer the character and display it in the appropriate format, if needed. The readchar0 function has one other duty: it is passed an argument that corresponds to the number of seconds it is to wait for a character to be ready at the modem. If nothing has been received within this period of time, readcharQ will return a timeout character as its value. The timing function is based on the value of the constant SPS. It corresponds to the number of loops per second executed by the statement

while (IminprdyO && seconds) —seconds;

424 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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On my computer (the Teletek FDC-I with a 4-MHz Z80A), I set the value of SPS to 9500. You should adjust this constant for your hardware configuration.

The VIEW command allows the transfer to be monitored at the console, and you are given the option of viewing transmitted characters as ASCII characters or as hexadecimal values. If the ASCII mode is selected, unprintable characters will be displayed as hexadecimal numbers. If the hexadecimal option is selected, all

transmitted characters will be displayed as such. If the viewing feature is not active during the transfer, a period (.) will be displayed on the console for each sector sent or received.

Miscellaneous Features: When the program is started, the instructQ function displays the command characters and gives a short description of each.

A LITERAL command is provided that sends the next character typed through the modem without any in-

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terpretation. This is useful in the event that you wish to send a command character to the remote system without it being interpreted as a command by Lmodem.

Running Lmodem

To run the program after it has been compiled and linked, just type lmodem and a <cr>. It prints the command menu and then enters the terminal-emulation mode. From this mode, any of the commands can be invoked at any time.

Next, make the connection with the remote system. If you are using an acoustically coupled modem, set your modem to originate mode with full-duplex, dial the remote system, wait for the tone, and put the handset in the coupler collars on the modem. If nothing happens, try tapping the Return key a couple of times. The remote system should respond with some sort of sign-on message and provide you with further instructions to log onto the system.

Elect to Receive

To receive a file from the remote system, send the appropriate commands to cause the remote system to set up a file for transfer. When the remote system notifies you that the file is ready for transmission, type the RECEIVE command character. After you supply a name for the new file, the transfer should proceed automatically. If everything proceeds normally, a message will be printed at the end of the transfer and you will be back in the terminal-emulation mode. If uncorrectable errors occur, Lmodem will display the error message and the transfer will cease. The procedure for sending a file is completely analogous—type the TRANSMIT command and specify the file name.

A final note on file transfer. The error checking in the program seems to be adequate; however, that aspect has not been thoroughly tested because I cannot seem to generate any errors. In all the time that I have used the program, the only errors I have been able to cause are timeouts—generated while attempting to

426 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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moutrdyO {

return ((inp(MSTAT) & MOMASK) == MAHI); }

minprdy() {

return ((inp(MSTAT) & MIMASK) ■• MAHI); }

moutchar(c) char c; {

while (Imoutrdy());

OUtp(MDATA, C); }

minpchar() {

while (Iminprdy()) ;

return (inp(MDATA));

}

receive a file without being connected to a remote system.

Modifications

The FDC-I has an interrupt-driven serial port; therefore, if the modem receives a character, it generates an interrupt and control is transferred to an interrupt handler in the CP/M BIOS. The interrupt handler gets the character and stores it at memory location DATAB. It then sets a status byte at STATB to 1 and returns from the interrupt condition. Determining whether or not a character is available involves simply examining memory location STATB, which is what the minprdy() function does. Reading a

character consists of waiting until STATB equals 1, retrieving the character from memory location DATAB, and resetting the status byte to 0.

In the more probable event that your modem port is not interrupt driven, you will have to write your own rninprdyO function to read the status port and mask off the appropriate status bits in a manner analogous to the moutrdy() routine. Your mcharinpQ routine will be similar to the mcharoutO routine too: wait for a character to appear, then read the appropriate data port.

If you have BDS C, the standard I/O header file, bdscio.h, defines

several macros that you can set for your modem characteristics. MSTAT and MDATA define the status and data ports respectively. MIMASK and MOMASK define the input data ready and output port ready masks. MAHI should be set to True if the status returns high for ready. If you have these values set up for your hardware, the routines in listing 5 should work for your system.

If you are not sure about your hardware, use my routines for ini-tializemodem(), purgelineQ, ctsreadyQ, and hangup(). Then get some help with minprdy(), moutrdyO, mcharinp(), and mcharoutQ. These routines must work before the rest of the program will operate correctly.

If you want to implement Lmodem in another version of C, some cautions apply. The BDS version does not implement the file I/O functions in the standard C library. The creat() function in BDS C takes only one argument, the filename. No permission-mode argument is expected as in the standard I/O library. The BDS versions of read() and writeQ return the number of sectors read or written, not the number of characters. If you use a version of C in which these routines are implemented in a standard fashion, some modifications in the program will be needed.

Summary

The Lmodem program (listing 4) written in BDS C is a bare-bones communication program that provides terminal emulation, text capture, and file transfer using Ward Christensen's XMODEM protocol. These capabilities are based on a small number of very simple machine-dependent functions and a few more complex portable functions.

Once you have this small base program implemented, it can easily be extended for other file-transfer protocols, automatic log-on sequences, database scanning, and any other functions you want.H

Dr. David D. Clark (246 South Fraser St., #2, State College, PA 16801) is a postdoctoral research scholar in enzymology at Penn State University.

428 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983 429

The Software Tools

Unix Capabilities on Non-Unix Systems

This package includes utility programs, a command interpreter, and a large programming library

by Deborah K. Scherrer, Philip H. Scherrer, Thomas H. Strong, and Samuel J. Penny

The Software Tools package is a set of programs and subroutines that provides the power and elegance of Bell Laboratories' Unix on non-Unix computer systems. The tools offer Unix-like program development features that complement systems ranging from microcomputers to mainframes.

Available in various forms from several sources, the Software Tools package includes more tham 60 utility programs, a command interpreter {shell), and a large programming library.

Code sharing, coupled with early feedback from users, has allowed developers to build on each other's work and has produced a dynamic environment in which new ideas are rapidly tried and proven. The natural selection process that results produces high-quality, useful utilities that have been tried, improved, tested, and accepted by many users with varying needs and a variety of systems.

The Tools

The Software Tools utilities provide a framework for executing most common computing tasks. Each tool is a powerful but general software module designed to do one thing well.

The tools are easy to learn and use. They perform functions such as organizing and manipulating files,

430 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

creating, editing, and rearranging text, examining files, preparing documents, and transforming language and data. Frequently used tools are:

diff determines the differences

between two files Is lists the file names in a

directory ar maintains multiple small

files nested inside a larger

one sort sorts lines of a text file in

several ways find locates text patterns in a

file using a flexible expression syntax field rearranges data columns in

a file sedit performs serial editing

functions on a file format formats a document for

publication or distribution

The complete set of Software Tools provides most of the functional capabilities of the Unix tools. Table 1 is a list of the tools and their Unix equivalents.

The Shell

The Software Tools shell is a command interpreter that reads lines from the user terminal or a file and interprets them as requests to execute programs. The shell includes mechanisms to redirect the input and output of the tools to the user terminal,

files, or other programs. It also enables the user to group commands together to make up new commands. The ease of generating and executing complex user-tailored commands from simple ones distinguishes Unix and the Software Tools from other systems in which utilities are often clumsy. The text box "Software Tools Shell" describes the shell in greater detail.

The Library

The Software Tools library provides a framework for accessing system services by both the tools and user programs. The library includes basic system operations as well as groups of functions satisfying common programming needs. These include:

•Unix-type I/O (input/output)

functions

•file and directory manipulation

•dynamic memory allocation

•string manipulation

•linked-list handling

• symbol-table creation •text-pattern matching

• data-type conversion and manipulation

• date and time formatting •command-line argument handling •process control

Table 2 describes the library functions

in detail.

Text continued on page 436

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 431

Software Tools Shell (Carousel Microtool's CP/M Implementation)

The shell is a command-line interpreter; it reads lines from the terminal or a file and interprets them as requests to execute other programs.

Commands

In its simplest form, a command is the file name of a program to be run, followed by arguments given to the program. The

command name may specify any file in the system. CP/M enables a user number to be part of the command (file) name. The command may be a Software Tool or any other program. The shell searches for the named file in a series of directories specified by the user in an environment file. When the command is located, it is loaded into memory and executed. When the command

is finished, the shell resumes its own execution. For example, giving the command

sort filel file2

causes the shell to locate and execute the command sort. Sort in turn merges and sorts the contents of the two named files and puts the output on the user's terminal.

432 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

I/O Redirection

Software Tools programs have three files automatically available to the user:

standard input

standard output standard error output

All three are assigned to the user's terminal unless specifically redirected to disk files or other devices. Redirection is specified by preceding the desired device or file name with a special character:

< file read standard input from

"file" >file send standard output to

"file" ?file send standard error output

to "file" »file append standard output to

"file" ??file append standard error output

to "file"

In the above example the sorted output could be saved on a file:

sort filel f0e2 > sorted

or sent to the printer:

sort filel file2 >/lst

(/1st is the tools form of the name for the printer).

I/O redirection is actually performed by each tool individually, rather than by the shell.

Pipes

A sequence of commands separated by vertical bars (\) causes the shell to execute each command in sequence and arranges to have the standard output of each command delivered as the standard input to the next command in the sequence. The sequence

sort list | uniq | crt

sorts the contents of file list. The sorted output passes to uniq, which removes extra copies of duplicated lines. This output then goes to crt, which paginates output for viewing on a terminal.

Command Separators

Commands need not be on different lines; instead they may be separated by semicolons:

ar -x program rtn ; e rtn

extracts the member rtn from the archive file program and then enters the editor.

Background Processes

Unix shells enable processes to be started and have control returned immediately to the shell. The new process continues running in the background, sharing resources with the shell process. This mechanism is impossible to implement on single-process systems such as those using CP/M. However, to simulate the mechanism in some reasonable way, the Carousel shell saves any commands indicated as background processes and executes them at the end of the session, when the user logs out of the shell. For example,

format doc >/1st &

formats the file doc and sends it to the printer at the end of the session (the ampersand indicates a background process).

Script Files

The real power of the Unix and Software Tools shells comes from the ability to generate new commands by combining existing commands. This feature is possible because the shell not only executes programs, but also treats script files (text files containing yet more commands) as commands. These scripts may participate in pipelines, have their I/O redirected, and appear in any context that a regular command may. Scripts may be nested by referencing scripts that may, in turn, reference other scripts.

Scripts are useful for creating new commands and for grouping commands together for multiple reexecution. For example, you could create a standard procedure by editing file fix to fill it with the following commands for the shell:

ar -x book chapl e chapl

format chapl | crt ar -u book chapl

Then by typing fix the system would extract chapl from the archived file book; edit chapl; send chapl to the formatter and display it page by page on the terminal; and finally update it in the archive file book.

Arguments can also be passed to script files. Character sequences of the form $n, where n is between 1 and 9, are replaced by the nth argument to the invocation of the script. 7/book has more than one sec-

tion, the script could be written:

ar -x book $1 e$l

format $1 | crt ar -u book $1

Then you could type:

fix chapl or fix chap7 or fix intro

to edit, view, and update the respective sections of book.

Script files can include inline explicit data that the tools can read as their standard input. The special input redirection notation « is used to achieve this effect. For example, the editor takes its commands from standard input, normally the terminal. However, within a shell script, commands may also be embedded this way:

e file «! (editing requests)

(The \ is arbitrary; any character can be used.) The lines between «! and ! are called, in Unix terminology, a "here document"; they are read by the shell and made available to the command as its standard input.

Finally, as an indication of the power of script files, listing 1 shows an example of a script file to show changes that have been made to command files ofdBASE II, a database-management program.

Environments

Like Unix, The Carousel shell maintains an environment file. This file contains information about the user's system and needs, such as the date, tab settings, and the directories in which to search for user programs or tools. The environment file is available to all tools and is modified by a few. In addition, users are free to adjust the information for their own needs.

Control Structures

Constructs of the nature:

if ... then ... else ... while ... do ... for ... in ... do ...

aid in reiteration and conditional execution within scripts. The Software Tools Users Group is currently standardizing the syntax for these shell control structures.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 433

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Listing 1: The alterations to dBASE 11 command files.

# Shell command file to show work done to f dBASE II command files.

# usage: dbdiff dir

# (where dir is a backup directory)

# "dir" should be specified in tools form, | e.g. 72/B"

# dbdiff will print all new dBASE command § files and will print existing dBASE

§ command files with any changes

# marked with a "|" in the right margin.

| Collect names of .cmd files in both | directories. Is .cmd >l.tmp Is $1 .cmd >2.tmp

| Find and print new dBASE commands.

# Here comm reports lines in l.tmp

# which are not present in 2.tmp;

# field changes that report into a series

# of print commands;

# and sh then executes those print | commands.

# The "@" signs suppress the following | newline, effectively continuing the

§ shell command across several lines. comm - 1 l.tmp 2.tmp | @

field "pr >/lst $1" j @

sh

§ Find existing dBASE commands and show | changes.

| Here comm reports files listed in both

| l.tmp and 2.tmp;

# e (the editor) changes each file name

# reported by comm into a series of

# commands to:

§ print the file name;

# print the current date & time;

# print the differences between the

# versions in this directory

# and in the other directory;

# and cat puts a few formatter commands

# into 4.tmp, to be called upon

# by each line of 3.tmp. comm —3 l.tmp 2.tmp >3.tmp e 3.tmp < < !

l,$s~?*~echo & >/lst ; date >/lst ;

diff -r $l/& & | format 4,tmp - >/lst-w

q I

cat >4.tmp < <! .nf .in 5 .rm 70

|

| Finally the shell runs the commands | that e just prepared and

# rm removes all three scratch files, sh 3.tmp $1

rm l.tmp 2.tmp 3.tmp

434 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 363 on inquiry card.

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BYTE November 1983 435

Symbol Definitions (ratdef)

definitions standard RATFOR definitions

File Manipulation

*amove move (rename) a file

*close close (detach) a file

'create rcreate a new file (or overwrite an existing one)

*gettyp get type of file (character or binary)

*isatty determine if a file is a terminal

*mkuniq generate unique file name

"open ...... open an existing file for reading, writing, or both

"remove remove a file from the file system

I/O

fcopy copy one file to another

*flush flush output buffer for file

getc read character from standard input

*getch read character from file

*getlin read next line from file

*note. determine current file position

*prompt prompt user for input

putc write character to standard output

*putch write character to file

putdec write integer in field

putint write integer in field on file

*putlin output a line onto file

putstr write string in field on file

*readf binary read from a file

"remark print single-line message

*seek move read/write pointer

*setmod set character device mode

*writef binary write to a file

Table 2: The functions of the Software Tools library.

Process Control

*endst. . .close all open files and terminate program execution

*exec execute task

*initst initialize all standard files and common variables

Directory Manipulation

*closdr close directory

*cwdir change working directory

*gdraux get auxiliary directory information

*gdrprm get next directory entry

*gwdtr get name of current working directory

*opendr open directory for reading

String Manipulation

addset add character to array if it fits, increment pointer

addstr add string to array if it fits, increment pointer

concat concatenate two strings together

ctoc copy string-to-string

equal compare stri to str2

gettok parse tokens

getwrd get nonblank word from array, increment pointer

index find character in string

length compute length of string

scopy copy string from one array to another

sdrop drop characters from a string

skipbl skip blanks and tabs in array

sktok skip over tokens

slstr slice (take) a substring from a string

stake take characters from a string

stcopy copy string, increment pointer

stncmp compare first n characters of strings

stncpy copy n characters from one array to another

strcmp compare two strings

Text continued from page 430:

The Tools or Unix?

Although the Software Tools provide many of the features of Unix, they are not an exact copy of Unix. They exist alongside the local operating system and provide many of the desirable aspects of Unix in situations where using Unix is impossible or inappropriate. For instance, if you don't want to pay Unix's high price, if you want to use software packages that aren't available in Unix versions, or if a Unix implementation is not available for your hardware, the Software Tools can provide the power and elegance of the Unix interface.

Let's look at the Software tools movement and considerations that have made the tools successful.

The Software Tools Movement

In 1976 Kernighan and Plauger wrote Software Tools (see reference 3). Their goal was to teach good programming style based on their experiences with Unix at Bell Laboratories.

They used pared-down versions of Unix utilities rewritten in RATFOR (Rational FORTRAN), a C-like preprocessor language (see text box, "What Is RATFOR?"). The programs and the RATFOR preprocessor were made available on magnetic tape. The book and tape were the seeds from which the tools movement developed. The movement arose independently at several major research laboratories and universities.

The tools were of immediate interest to researchers and users, and the programs were implemented on numerous computers. As users began to experiment with and enhance the programs, they began to realize that the tools offered more than a useful set of utility programs. Researchers, primarily at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL), expanded the original package to include a powerful subroutine library, a Unixlike shell, and many more of the Unix utilities. By providing all three levels

(shell, utilities, and library) the tools now offered a portable, uniform interface with the functionality of Unix. The package was implemented on the diverse assortment of LBL machines and on many machines to which the researchers had network access. The result was Unix functionality on non-Unix systems and a consistent user interface across many different systems (see reference 1).

One reason the Software Tools have been so widely accepted is their portability. The tools can be implemented on virtually any machine. This portability was achieved by using a programming language that was available on all machines and by isolating system dependencies into "primitive" function calls that must be implemented separately for each different system.

With certain data-type manipulation conventions and other programming details, this portability has enabled the package to be imple-

436 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

strim trim trailing blanks and tabs from a string

type , determine type of character

Character Conversion

clower convert character to lower case

ctoi convert string to integer, increment pointer

ctomn translate ASCII control character to mnemonic

cupper convert character to upper case

esc check for escaped character

fold convert string to lower case

gctoi generalized character-to-integer conversion

gitoc generalized integer-to-character conversion

itoc .convert integer to character string

lower convert string to lower case

mntoc convert ASCII mnemonic to character

upper convert string to upper case

Pattern Matching

amatch look for pattern matching regular expression

getpat encode regular expression for pattern matching

makpat ..... encode regular expression for pattern matching match match pattern anywhere on line

Command Line Handling

*delarg . .delete a command-line argument

*getarg .get command-line arguments

gfnarg get next filename argument

query. print command usage information

Dynamic Storage Allocation

*dsfree free a block of dynamic storage

*dsget obtain a block of dynamic storage

*dsinit. . .initialize dynamic storage

Symbol Table Manipulation

delete remove a symbol from symbol table

enter place symbol in symbol table

lookup. . . .get string associated with symbol from hash table

mktabl make a symbol table

rmtabl remove a symbol table

sctabl scan all symbols in a symbol table

Linked List / Stack Handling

maklst. create and initialize linked list

frelst remove a linked list and free allocated memory

push push an item onto the top of the list/stack

pop pop an item from the top of the list/stack

inject inject a new item into a linked list

xtract read an item from a linked list

prvnod get previous node pointer

nxtnod get next node pointer

remod . remove a node from a linked list

Date Manipulation

atodat convert ASCII characters to integer date

fmtdat convert date to character string

*getnow get current date and time

wkday. . . .get day-of-week corresponding to month-day-year

Error Handling

cant print "name: can't open" and terminate execution

error print single-line message and terminate execution

* indicates that the routine is system dependent and has been implemented by Carousel Microtools for CP/M and MS-DOS.

merited on more than 50 operating systems. Table 3 provides a partial list of manufacturers offering computers on which the tools have been implemented.

Which Language Is Best?

Computer languages are judged on their ability to solve specific problems; therefore, the best language for the Software Tools package was the one that could most adequately fill the following requirements:

•availability—the language had to be available on almost every machine • suitability—the language had to be appropriate for textual (as opposed to numerical) applications; it had to be powerful enough to handle the support libraries that provide the necessary file access, I/O, process control, and other system-support services •quality—the language had to be high-level, easy to read and understand, easy to learn, and powerful

enough to solve applications problems

FORTRAN filled the first requirement, fell down a bit on the second, and provided little of the third. C met the second and third requirements but was not usually available on both microcomputers and larger machines. Pascal met the third requirement but was no more commonly available than C and was not appropriate to the support of large libraries and moderately complex bodies of code (see reference 2). Several other state-of-the-art languages were appealing but not generally available. Thus, no single language met all the requirements, and a compromise was necessary. The RATFOR language preprocessor was chosen because it provided the control structures, readability, and elegance of C and was translatable into FORTRAN (the language available on most systems). A C-like support library was developed

to supplant FORTRAN'S incomplete textual, file manipulation, and I/O capabilities. Even though FORTRAN is used at the RATFOR base level, the user is insulated from FORTRAN just as the user of any high-level language is insulated from the machine language.

The choice of language was not critical to the approach. In fact, for the person using the tools the implementation language is unimportant. Only the tools implementer and people developing new tools with the library ever need to use the language. Had the tools been designed solely for the microcomputer environment, C might have been a more appropriate choice. With the computer industry rapidly developing new machines and more elegant languages, the Software Tools community is now reevaluating the original choice of language and considering mechanisms for making the tools available in other languages as well.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 437

Primitives Isolate Machine Dependencies

In the Software Tools package, system dependencies are isolated in the primitives, a set of routines that make up the tools' interface to the operating system. The primitives provide standardized system services such as file manipulation, I/O, process control, and dynamic memory allocation. The tools and their subroutines access system services through these primitives. Tool source code can be moved from system to system without change. When the tools package is moved to a new system, only the primitives must be changed or rewritten.

The original implementers of the tools issued two prime directives to assure compatibility among a wide variety of operating systems. First,

they decided to use the file types of the operating system. Internal file formats specific to the machine are hidden from the user by the primitive functions, allowing both local utilities and Software Tools programs to read and write the same files and providing a standardized way to access files on all systems. Second, changes to the local system, or interference with it to implement the package, are discouraged. Such changes, combined with the local system's idiosyncrasies, would make the package unstable in new system releases.

The primitives address the issue of machine efficiency; they minimize the demands of the software upon scarce system resources like memory or central processor time. For example, the utilities of the Software Tools package are oriented toward text pro-

cessing and program development (writing source code, documentation, data preparation, etc.). These utilities are characteristically limited by I/O rates. Because the I/O capabilities are isolated in the primitives, the effect of this problem can be reduced through efficient implementation of the I/O primitives. Because all utilities access resources through the primitives, they automatically benefit from such optimization.

The Software Tools Users Group

The need for cooperation among implementers and users of the tools led to the formation of the Software Tools Users Group at Menlo Park, California. It originated at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and was initially funded by the Depart-

438 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 233 on inquiry card.

iuseof '<, <«, >, >=, ==, /=, etc,

for comparison expressions

•string data type

• quoted character strings and character

constants

•define statement pr symbolic constants

•include statement for source-file

inclusion

•macro preprocessor for textual

manipulation

RATFORcode is often easier to read and understand than the corresponding section of code as normally written in C. For example, the two following fragments of code each copy a string from one buffer to another:

iRATFOR version

or (i«l; from(i) != EOS; i=i+l) to(i) * rrom(i) to(i) - EOS

/* C version */

char *t=to, *f=from; while (*t++ - *f++);

One could argue that a good C compiler sometimes produces faster code, but in large programs the readability of the RATFOR style is often an advantage over the more terse C style.

ment of Energy. Since its inception in 1978, the group has become an international body performing the following functions:

•establishing and publishing standards for the primitives and tools and supporting an ongoing standards committee

•collecting and distributing information on current developments to avoid duplication of effort •collecting and evaluating new utilities, extensions, and variants •holding semiannual meetings in conjunction with the Usenix Unix users group

•publishing a newsletter and software catalog

•distributing tapes containing collections of utilities from different organizations

ACOS

Amdahl

Apollo

AN/UYK

Burroughs

CDC

Cray

Data General

DEC

FACOM

GEC

HP

HITAC

Honeywell

IBM

Intel

Interdata

Modcomp

Multics

NCR

Perkin-Elmer

Prime

Rolm

SEL

Tandem

Univac

Wang

Xerox

Machines running CP/M

Machines running MS-DOS

Machines running Unix

Table 3: A partial list of manufacturers on whose machines the Software Tools package has been implemented to varying degrees of sophistication.

Much of the tools' source code is now in the public domain and freely distributed. The primitives, however, are generally developed, licensed, and maintained by vendors.

The standardization procedure used by the tools group is unusual. New utilities are collected and distributed early in their development phase, allowing users to experiment with new ideas and reject those that prove unportable or functionally undesirable. Code sharing also allows users and developers to glean ideas from new offerings and incorporate them into their own developments. As ideas are distilled and utilities enhanced or extended, the utilities are redistributed, and those receiving popular support are eventually returned to the tools group. There they pass to the Implementers Committee,

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which makes final decisions on acceptance and standardization. Thus, standards are always based on ideas or utilities tested and proven by the community rather than on newly designed products or untested ideas. The sharing of code and feedback from users enables developers of new tools to build on each other's work, creating an environment in which new ideas can be quickly and thoroughly tested. The sharing results in natural selection of useful tools that have been tried and accepted by a large number of users with varying needs on many different systems.

The Present and the Future

Development of the Software Tools is proceeding on two fronts: the basic package is being implemented on new systems, and user interfaces are being extended. The original package provided an environment for effective development of programs and manipulation of textual data and materials. However, the tools approach is applicable to most software

projects, including those involving networks, database management, graphics, and word processing. Among the portable packages being developed are experimental shells, statistical analysis systems, electronic-mail systems, screen editors, data-management packages, data-analysis packages, and source-code-maintenance systems. The tools group is actively evaluating suggested enhancements and extending the primitive set to provide as dynamic and creative an environment as possible. Some hardware manufacturers avoid the Software Tools package because easy portability to a competitor's hardware is obviously bad for business. Increasingly, however, independent companies are marketing specific system implementations of the tools. These firms typically implement the primitives and provide maintenance and upgrade support. The high-level source code (utilities and portable sections of the library) is left unlicensed, so the Software Tools Users Group handles variations, extensions, and standards (a

compromise between the need for vendor support and the desire for user control).

The Software Tools package is already running on most minicomputer and mainframe systems, and extensions into the microcomputer world have begun.

Implementing the Tools

Writing programs in a language that is available on many systems is insufficient; you must also define an interface layer that isolates an application program from the details of any particular system. The primitives form the tools' interface layer and are the key to their success. They are the only allowed connection between the tools and the underlying operating system. Porting, or adapting, the tools to a new operating system involves writing the code for the primitives for that new system.

The primitives are more than just a collection of subroutines; they provide a complete environment for the tools. In a sense, they coordinate the "world view" of the tools with the

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HIERARCHY OF PRIMITIVES

SHELL

PORTABLE SOFTWARE TOOLS UTILITY PROGRAMS

T"

PORTABLE UTILITY . LIBRARY I I

PRIMITIVE LIBRARY

N0NT00L

APPLICATION

PROGRAMS

BOOS

BIOS

HARDWARE I/O

Figure 1: The hierarchical dependence of interfaces in the CP/M-80 version of the tools. At the CP/M level only the BIOS (basic input/output system) knows how to do direct hardware input and output, and only the BDOS (basic disk operating system) knows how to talk to the BIOS. These clean divisions were the key to the early success in moving CP/M to many different types of hardware. The Software Tools are built in isolated layers in the same way. Note that only the primitive functions know how to talk to the BDOS. The primitives are the communication channel between the portable tools and a specific operating system, such as CP/M or MS-DOS. The tools themselves can use the primitives or the library of utility routines that are also part of the tools package. The clean boundaries between the various interface layers in a system such as this are very important for maintaining clean portable programs. Any time these separations are violated, the resulting program may prove expensive to maintain and difficult to move to new machines.

world view of the host operating system. The task is simple if the tools and the new system have similar views of the programmer's environment; the task is difficult if the new system has a different view. For example, it took less than a week to write and test the tools' primitives for Unix because Unix's view of the programmer's environment is similar to that of the tools. But implementing the tools' primitives on CP/M and MS-DOS (which are based on very different views) took more than a year.

When implementing the primitives, it is essential to keep in mind the two prime directives: maintain correspondence of file types and

442 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 259 on inquiry card.

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avoid interfering with or changing the host system. An example of the relationship between the tools and the host system is illustrated in the implementation of the Carousel Toolkits on CP/M (see figure 1).

File and Directory Names

The Software Tools view all I/O operations as actions on named files. As in Unix, use of files from within programs must be as device independent as possible because the program does not know whether the I/O is being done with a terminal, file, or another program. The file to be used is specified when the program is run instead of when it is compiled. When the host provides some sort of directory structure, it should appear to the user as the Unix model of a hierarchical directory structure does. These requirements have effects at both the RATFOR library level and at the tools execution level. For example, some allowed file names with the tools on CP/M are:

data the file "data" on the

current directory /b/data the file "data" on drive

B in the current user

area /2/a/data the file "data" in user

area 2 on drive A /tty the programmer's

terminal /nul the "bit bucket," a place

for unwanted output /1st the printer

File names of these forms can be used anywhere a file name is needed. For example, in the tools open primitive, the statement

fd = open

r/O/c/foobar.dat", READWRITE)

results in the file /O/c/foobar.dat being opened in a mode allowing random reads and writes. The command

diff /1/b/prog.bas prog.bas

displays the differences between the version of prog.bas on drive B in user area 1 and the version in the current directory. By putting CP/M's user-

area number at the higher level in the hierarchy, a programmer can operate within a given area on several drives without specifying the user area. In accordance with the prime directive, a CP/M style of directory naming is also recognized (e.g., lb:prog.bas). In addition, the temptation to further follow the Unix style and allow user-named subdirectories, as opposed to the hard-wired CP/M user/disk names, was tempered by the prime directive's requirement that all tools files be available on the host system with recognizably similar names.

Memory Allocation and Disk

The tools package includes primitives to dynamically allocate memory areas for temporary use within a program. This feature has proven easy to provide on single-user systems such as CP/M and MS-DOS, where the programmer has access to all memory not occupied by the program or operating system. However, bulk-storage I/O devices, usually floppy disks, are so slow that it is desirable to use as much high-speed memory as possible for a cache of recently used or soon-to-be-used data. These two requirements force the dynamic-storage primitives for CP/M to share the memory with the I/O primitives. This provides the tools with dynamically available storage while using all remaining memory to speed up disk operations.

The Software Tools package also enables a user to quickly access the large collection of the tools' utilities on a small system. Sixty nontrivial tools could easily occupy a large amount of disk space. Unlike integrated programs in which all functions are available to the user within one large complex program, the tools are a collection of single-purpose programs, each of which must be loaded into memory when needed. To provide both fast program load times and small disk-space usage on CP/M, the tools were stored on disk as overlays of each other. Because they all share the common primitives, the primitives need be loaded into memory only once. When a tool program is run, only the part of the program that is different from one tool to

444 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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another need be loaded. This has proved effective in reducing disk usage and program load time.

Process Control

The most difficult primitives to implement on single-user microcomputer operating systems are for process control. Unix views the world as process-rich—a place in which processes are created for each command. The single-user CP/M system, on the other hand, supports only one process. To provide a Unix-like environment in this case, the primitives must emulate multiple processes. The only practical way to simulate several parallel processes on a small-memory, floppy-disk-based system is by a sequence of programs that are not executed simultaneously.

Unix enables process creation and program execution by the function pair fork and exec (see reference 4), Fork creates a clone process and exec overlays the current process with a new program. The most common sequence in Unix is

fork - wait - continue

(in the parent process) fork - exec - die

(in the child process)

The standard tools package provides a model of this sequence in the spawn primitive. Spawn executes a program by creating a child process and allowing the parent to wait for its completion. Because of the relatively slow, low-capacity disk storage available on the CP/M and MS-DOS systems, the spawn primitive has been simulated with a Unix-like exec. Therefore, the portable shell could not be used, and a new shell was written that uses only exec and creates a chain of programs that always end with a new invocation of itself. This new shell can also be used on other systems where process generation is allowed but is restricted or slow.

The spawn mechanism is different from those used by other command-interpreter replacements for CP/M that always expect to reside in mem-

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ory. The Software Tools utilities are loaded quickly because they use the overlay technique.

Conclusion

The Software Tools package provides the features of Unix when Unix is not desirable, available, or appropriate. The tools incorporate many of the features of Unix: elegance achieved through simplicity of style, consistency of use, modularity, and a common-sense approach to programming tasks. A large and active Software Tools Users Group has brought these tools to most operating systems.

Software Tools packages are available from several sources. A source code for the utilities and specifications for the primitives is available from the Software Tools Users Group for a nominal charge. If you choose to purchase this code, you must write your own primitives, which may be difficult.

You may be able to obtain a complete tools implementation for your system from someone who has already done it for a similar system. The tools group distributes versions for a few minicomputers and mainframe systems. These are provided without support.

You may also purchase specific implementations of the Software Tools from a vendor. If you do so, you should expect a version of the primitives optimized for your system, with continuing support and contact with the Software Tools Users Group. ■

References

1. Hall, Dennis, Deborah Scherrer, and Joe Sventek. "A Virtual Operating System," Communication of the Association of Computing Machinery, volume 23, number 9, pages 495-502.

2. Kernighan, Brian W. "Why Pascal Is Not My Favorite Language," Bell Laboratories Technical Note #100, Murray Hill, NJ.

3. Kernighan, Brian W., and P J. Piauger, Software Tools. North Reading, MA: Addison-Westey, 1976.

4. The Bell System Technical Journal, volume 57, number 6, part 2 (July-August 1978).

Deborah K. Scherrer, Philip H. Scherrer, Thomas H. Strong, and Samuel J. Penny can be reached at Carousel Microtools, Inc., 609 Kearney St., El Cer-rito, CA 94530.

446 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 165 on inquiry card.

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Double the Apple IFs Color Choices

By understanding how the Apple II generates color, you can extend the number of colors available in high- and low-resolution modes

by Robert H. Sturges Jr.

'That's a great Pac-Man program!" Mark said, finally ready to call it quits after his fifth game page, as I sat amazed at the skill he demonstrated using my new joystick. "But it's too bad it doesn't have all the computer's original colors."

"That's true; four colors is all you get in the Apple's hi-res mode" I replied. Then we began musing over how we could solve the problem.

A software "painting" package, we knew, could provide a wide selection of colors but at the expense of resolution. Such a program would alternate the four Apple colors (green, violet, blue, and orange) plus white or black, yet reduce the number of pixels (individual colored dots or picture elements) by a factor of 2, 4, or more. This approach would provide graphics resolution somewhere between Apple's low- and high-resolution modes.

Color selection can also be improved through hardware; peripheral cards provide a wide range of color, graphics, and animation capabilities (see "High-Resolution Sprite-Oriented Color Graphics," by Steve Ciarcia, August 1982 BYTE, page 57). The hardware approach to solving the problem, however, requires machine- or assembly-language programming and does not employ the usual Applesoft BASIC instructions.

"I can see the advantage of all these methods," Mark said, settling back on the couch, "but none of them pro-

vides full high-resolution color or allows me to write HCOLOR = 13 in a BASIC program."

Our discussion led me to think about how the Apple produces color and the way color monitors (or televisions) work. Theories on both have been covered many times (see "More Colors for Your Apple," by Allen Watson III, June 1979 BYTE, page 60), so I'll only mention the key points to understanding how I doubled the size of the Apple palette.

Phase Shift - Position = Color

To understand how the Apple II uses color, consult figure 1, which represents the spectrum of a color monitor. Only the more basic colors (the primaries and a few close derivatives) are shown for several

180

2 70

Figure 1: The Apple IFs color monitor responds to the phase shift of the color subcarrier.

reasons. The saturation of the colors and their intensity is normally determined by a signal not present in the Apple video output: the color sub-carrier. By sending out a string of sharply rising pulses and the 3.58-MHz color references, the monitor reacts as if a constant-amplitude subcarrier were present. Thus, in low-res mode, many colors can be created.

The basic colors themselves, however, are determined in a more subtle way: the relationship between the position of a dot and the 3.58-MHz reference that is a part of every horizontal scan determines the hue. The reference signal can be pictured as a sine wave stretching from the left to the right edge of the usable screen area (see figure 2), with 140 cycles. Each cycle (a peak and a valley) corresponds to 360 degrees of the color wheel, and the tint setting on the monitor controls the wheel's rotation.

To illustrate, let's say that 0 degrees corresponds to violet and 180 degrees to green. If we start from the left edge and place a dot there, that dot would appear violet. If we instead place the dot one-half cycle to the right of that point (at 180 degrees), it would appear green. Similarly, a dot located one-quarter cycle away from the green dot's position would appear blue at 90 degrees and orange at 270 degrees.

Because the saturation or intensity of the color signal in the hi-res mode

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 449

cannot be controlled, only these four colors are usable. White is just a pair of dots side by side that cover half of the 360-degree cycle. Most monitors do not discriminate this signal as any color.

What HCOLOR Does

When Applesoft encounters an HPLOT statement, which places a dot or draws a line of color on the hires graphics screen, it determines which horizontal position should be used based on the current HCOLOR = value. (The HCOLOR statement is used to select a color.) For example, HCOLOR = 1 forces all dots making up a line to go to odd-numbered x-coordinates, and the line appears green. Note that any colored line must alternate on and off dots because adjacent dots appear white. HCOLOR = 2 causes the dots of the same line to plot in even-numbered positions, producing violet. On revision I and more recently released Apple II boards, an additional 90-degree phase shift is possible, corresponding to the HCOLOR = 4 through HCOLOR = 7 values. When these values are encountered, the dot pattern is shifted to the right by half a dot position. This shift is accomplished automatically in hardware whenever the high-order bit of a color byte is set (see figure 3).

As the Apple II Reference Manual (Cupertino, CA: Apple Computer Inc., 1979) explains, each color byte (7 bits in a row) can be either green, violet, orange, or blue, with white or black mixed in. This choice restriction is based on the way color data is converted into a video signal.

From Data to Video Signal

A byte of data from either hi-res screen area appears on the Apple's data bus during the low-transition of the phase-0 clock (see figure 4). During this time, the computer's 6502 microprocessor is performing internal housekeeping chores, and a section of logic is busy refreshing the memory and ensuring that the data appears on the bus at the right time. The data is l atche d by the row address select (RAS) line and loaded into a pair of shift registers at board

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A DOT HERE WOULD APPEAR VIOLET

END OF-

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SCAN

A DOT HERE WOULD APPEAR GREEN

PHASE SHIFT. DEGREES

Figure 2: A representation of the phase relationship of a pixel.

X-VALUE OF "HPLOT" | 0 j 1 | 2 ] 3 ~j 4 j 5 ) 6 ] 7 j 8 [ 9 ~[ COLOR REFERENCE

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HCOLOR = 2

A VIOLET LINE

HCOLOR = 1 A GREEN LINE

HCOLOR =3 2 WHITE DOTS

HCOLOR=3 HPLOT 0.Y TO 7,Y (A WHITE LINE)

HCOLOR= 6

8TH BIT SHIFTS 90°

(A BLUE LINE)

HCOLOR = 5

8TH BIT SHIFTS 90°

AN ORANGE LINE

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Figure 3: The hi-res bit patterns for various HCOLOR= values.

locations B4 and B9. The signal used to load the data byte is labeled LD194; it originates in the timing chain. The data bits are shifted out one by one on every 7-MHz clock pulse into the multiplexer at A9 and finally through the latch at BIO. This latch uses the 14-MHz clock to "trim up" the timing of the data bits. At the base of Q3, the video stream is mixed with a hor-

izontal synchronization pulse and the 3.58-MHz color reference.

The high-order bit of each color byte is treated somewhat differently from the other bits in order to effect the phase shift of the data byte. In hires mode, this bit controls the appearance of data at the output of the multiplexer at A9 and delays the bit stream by one cycle of the 14-MHz

450 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

MICRQPRO'SOFTWARE GUIDE FOR SYSTEM BUILDING

How to teach your business procedures without all the fancy footwork.

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If you're like most people who run offices, you've spent a lot of time developing procedures for routine ; office jobs.

But until now, teaching people to follow those routines meant constant explanations. And re-explanations. Especially for offices with high turn-over.

INTRODUCING STARBURST:

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With StarBurst, you can design your own custom menus that prompt even the most inexperienced staff member through an assigned task. Step by step. In your own words.

So anyone in your department can get to work immediately. And quickly For instance with a single keystroke, data generated in InfoStaf can be incorporated into a letter written in WordStar! All automatically

Which means the people in your office save hours preparing reports, entering data or performing just about any other routine procedure.

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StarBurst is also available in InfoStar+, the data base management system for non-programmers.

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We've made system set-up easy too. Just put together a basic model, then change it easily using StarBurst's 24 menu-prompted action commands.

You can display customized help messages. Repeat sequences as often as necessary. Even set up systems that vary the sequence of what a user should do next.

And StarBurst assists you each step of the way with an onscreen tutorial and companion workbook.

So set an example in productivity for the entire office. Walk on over to your computer dealer, and ask about StarBurst. For the dealer nearest

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For name of the dealer nearest you, phone (800) 443-0100 ext. 948. For more information write MicroPro, 33 San Pablo Avenue, San Rafael, CA 94903. (415) 499-1100.

Circle 202 on inquiry card.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

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EMPLOYMENT

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Section

BYTE will feature a special section for recruitment advertising in all future issues.

BYTE is the perfect place to look for those High Technology professionals you need—over 400,000 paid subscribers.

Or, if you're looking for a new position, this is the place to feature a Position Wanted ad.

The cost for any display ad in this new EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES section is only $356 per inch. For quotes on all EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ads, or any additional information on recruitment advertising, call our special recruitment telephone sales at 212/997-2556.

Or send in your order to:

BYTE

Recruitment Advertising

Center

P.O. Box 900

New York, NY 10020

—H H-70ns

7 MHz

*0

RAS

LD194

-500ns-

500 ns-

n

H—300ns—•■

l

70 ns

MEMORY REFRESH AND VIDEO STORE TIME "WINDOW"

PROCESSOR DATA ON BUS

MICROPROCESSOR ACCESS "WINDOW"

VIDEO DATA ON BUS

VIDEO 0ATA IN SHIFT REGISTERS

Figure 4: Timing signals used by the Apple II to interleave video data and processor data.

RW ANO

ro

3 — 14

# RW DO — —9-

4116* I

(OVER C10)

RW DO

U

4116 (OVER D10)

OPTIONAL FOR HIRES PAGE 2

*ALL CONNECTIONS TO THIS 4116 ARE IN PARALLEL WITH THE EXISTING 4116 AT CIO EXCEPT FOR RW AND DO.

Figure 5: Logic for introducing a programmable 45-degree phase shift.

clock. Thus, a pattern of dots that would ordinarily appear green is shifted 90 degrees (about 70 nanoseconds or ns) and instead appears orange.

Note that all video data is clocked through the latch at BIO: hi~res, low-res, and text-bit streams. Also, in the black-and-white hi-res mode, you can place a single dot in any of 560 horizontal positions by choosing the HCOLOR= that either shifts or passes the byte in which the bit appears.

More Phase Shifts, More Colors

One way to attain the color between green and orange, for example, is to introduce a 45-degree phase shift into the Apple's video circuit and provide a means to store this extra data bit (to shift 45 degrees or not)

with the corresponding hi-res byte. The circuit shown in figure 5 accomplishes this shift and adds four more colors to the hi-res palette: red, yellow, cyan, and indigo. Also, because low-res data passes through the same circuit, 12 distinct new colors are added for use in low-res mode.

Here's how it works: the phase of the 14-MHz clock normally present at pin 3 of the 74LS74 at BIO is now controlled by an exclusive-OR gate. If the clock appears inverted at this point, all signals will be clocked through 35 ns early (45 degrees). Because of variations in the propagation delay of the 74LS194 shift registers, it is necessary to replace the 74LS74 at B10 with the faster 74S74.

The data bits that control the inversion of the 14-MHz clock are stored

452 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Decimal

-16293 -16294 - 16295 -16296

Hexadecimal

C05B C05A

C059 C058

Function

enable phase shifting disable phase shifting disable ninth-bit access enable ninth-bit access

Table 1: The address references used to control the Color II board.

in the 4116 device of figure 5. This 16K- by 1-bit RAM (random-access read/write memory) is wired in parallel with the existing 4116 m location CIO, except for the RW line and the DO line. To the programmer, it appears that a ninth bit has been added to all locations in the lower 16K bytes of the Apple II. The ANO line is used to control access to the bit through the 74LS32. The o utput of the RAM is latched by the RAS line during memory refresh and stored when the data bits of a graphics byte are being shifted out. The storage time is controlled by the LD194 line and can be inhibited by AN1, effectively turning off the phase shift. Because there is no other access to the data bits by the microprocessor, the 4116 is used as a write-only memory.

Extending the circuit of figure 5 to include hi-res page 2 is easy: another

4116 wired in parallel with the existing one at D10 does the trick. The RW and DO lines of both new 4116s are also paralleled; Apple's built-in refresh logic feeds the bit streams to the new phase-shift circuit.

Using the Colors from Applesoft

The screen shown in photo 1 illustrates that all eight colors can be used with no loss of resolution. The tint control is adjusted to put the cyan midway between green and blue. The actual colors that appear depend on your monitor or TV and its brightness and contrast settings.

The four memory locations that refer to the ANO and AN1 switches are shown in table 1. A reference to location -16293 allows the phase shift of the 14-MHz clock to be controlled by data in the added memory. A POKE or PEEK to -16294 restores normal four-color operation,

Photo 1: The Apple Computer Inc. logo displayed with the colors of the expanded hi-res palette.

Circle 341 on inquiry card.

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November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

10 HOME

20 POKE - 16293,0: POKE - 16296,0: HGR : POKE - 16295,0

30 Y = 138:L = 28:H = 20 + Y

40 FOR X = 1 TO L - 2

50 HCOLOR= 3

60 HPLOT X,Y TO X,H

70 POKE - 16296,0

80 HCOLOR= 4

90 HPIOT X + 2 * L,Y TO X + 2 * L,H

100 POKE - 16295,0

110 HOOL0R= 2

120 HPIOT X + 2 * L,Y TO X + 2 * L,H

130 HOOLOfc= 5

140 HPIOT X + 3 * L,Y TO X + 3 * L,H

150 POKE - 16296,0

160 HPLOT X + 4 * L,Y TO X + 4 * L,H

170 HCOIOR= 1

180 HPLOT X + 5 * L,Y TO X + 5 * L,H

190 POKE - 16296,0

200 HCOLOR= 4

210 HPLOT X + 6 * L,Y TO X + 6 * L,H

220 HOOLOR= 1

230 POKE - 16295,0

240 HPLOT X + 6 * L,Y TO X + 6 * L,H

250 HOOLOR= 6

260 HPLOT X + 7 * L,Y TO X + 7 * L,H

270 POKE - 16296,0

280 HPLOT X + 8 * L,Y TO X + 8 * L,H

290 HCOLOR= 2

300 HPLOT X + 9 * L,Y TO X + 9 * L,H

310 POKE - 16295,0

320 NEXT

330 VTAB (21) : PRINT "WHITE RED YELLOW CYAN INDinO"

340 VTAB (22) : PRINT " BLACK ORANGE GREEN BLUE VIOLET"

350 VTAB (1): END

regardless of the data stored in the new ninth-bit locations. Access to the new bit is possible after a reference to -16296: all data written to the eighth bit of a byte will be copied into the ninth bit. If the eighth and ninth bits are to be different, a POKE or PEEK to -16295 is needed to disable access to the new bit. Then

the eighth bit can be set as desired. Listing 1 provides the segment of program used to create the lower half of photo 1. The colors red and cyan require each HPLOT to be executed twice: once to set the ninth bit to 1, and again to set the eighth bit to 0. Table 2 shows a useful set of key colors that, when used in sequence,

create the extended hi-res color set from Applesoft. To plot in a particular color, plot the "enabled" color first, then the "disabled" color in the same location. To prepare a screen image for BSAVE command (saving a binary image on disk), plot all the enabled colors on one hi-res screen and all the "disabled" colors on the other. The screens can then be combined to yield the full-color image through the following procedure:

1. Disable the extended color features with the statements POKE -16294,0 and POKE -16295,0 (which place the value 0 to hexadecimal memory locations C05A and C059, respectively).

2. Plot your data, substituting the enabled colors for the desired colors. Plotting can be done with Applesoft, the Programmer's Aid in Integer BASIC, or any commercial software graphics package.

3. Use the BSAVE command to save the image, calling it IMAGE1.

4. Clear the screen and plot your data again, using the disabled colors in place of the desired colors.

5. Use BSAVE to save this image under another name; for example, IMAGE2.

6. Combine the images by using the statements POKE -16293,0 and POKE -16296,0 and then retrieving IMAGE1 with the BLOAD command. Then use POKE -16295,0 and the BLOAD command to load IMAGE2 into the same space.

Implementing HCOLOR = 13

To make the use of table 2 more transparent and simplify the BSAVE process, a preprocessor can be used to interpret otherwise innocuous Applesoft statements as special functions. Listing 2 was prepared to produce the same results after preprocessing as listing 1 does. When run as is, it causes all the colored squares to appear white. Note that in listing 2 HCOLOR- is spelled differently— HCOLOUR - —except for its first appearance. Applesoft will ignore HCOLOUR = as a keyword and recognize it as the variable HC. The

454 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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preprocessor uses the variable HC to set the HCOLOR= values needed to satisfy table 2's color sequence. All statements involving HPLOX DRAW, and XDRAW are duplicated, POKE statements are added to enable and disable the phase shifts, and the correct HCOLOR= values are inserted. Because these keywords are recognized by the preprocessor anywhere in the source program, conditional plotting in an IF statement is supported, but a remark statement that carries a keyword can produce strange results.

After preprocessing, the new program can be run, listed, and otherwise used as desired. It can even be compiled to improve its running time. For long programs, be careful to avoid overwriting the hi-res memory areas. Listing 3 shows the results of preprocessing the program of listing 2.

Preparing a screen for a BSAVE command is also supported by the preprocessor. To invoke this feature, a digit from 1 to 5 is appended to the name of the source program. The enabled colors are stored in memory according to table 3 and the disabled colors are on the hi-res screen (1 or 2) specified by the source program. After running the preprocessed program and storing the images with BSAVE, the full-color screen can be recreated as outlined in step 6 above.

Listing 2: Listing code ready for preprocessing.

POKE - 16295,0

3W CYAN INDIGO" GREEN BLUE VIOLET"

Listing 3: The results of preprocessing on listing 2.

10 HOME

20 POKE - 16293,0: POKE - 16296,0: HGR : POKE - 16295,0

30 Y = 138:L = 28:H = 20 + Y

40 FOR X = 1 TO L - 2

50 READ HCOLOUR

60 GOSUB 63004

70 FOR K = 2 TO 9

80 READ HCOLOUR

90 GOSUB 63006

100 NEXT

110 RESTORE

120 NEXT

130 VTAB (21) : PRINT "WHITE RED YELLCW CYAN INDIGO"

140 VTAB (22) : PRINT " BLACK ORANGE GREEN BLUE VIOLET"

150 VTAB (1): END

160 DATA 3,10,5,13,1,9,6,14,2

63001 END

63002 POKE - 16296,0: HCOLOR= 4 * (HC > 7): RETURN

63003 POKE - 16295,0: HCOLOR= HC - 8 * (HC > 7): RETURN

63004 GOSUB 63002: HPLOT X,Y TO X,H: GOSUB 63003: HPLOT X,Y TO X,H

63005 RETURN

63006 GOSUB 63002: HPLOT X+K*L,YTOX+K* L,H: GOSUB 63003: HPLOT X + K * L,Y TO X + K * L,H

63007 RETURN

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 Publications Inc

Attn: Circulation Department

70 Main St

Peterborough NH

03458

456 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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CP/M and CP/M-86 are registered trademarks and CP/M-68K, MP/M-86 and FORTRAN 77 are trademarks of Digital Research. Xerox is a registered trademark of the Xerox Corporation. CP/M 8-16 and MP/M 8-16 are compound trademarks of Digital Research and CompuPro. SuperCalc-86 and SuperWriter-86 are trademarks of Sorcim. dBASE II is a trademark of Ashton-Tate. Hyper-Typer is a trademark of Summit Software Corp. Field Companion is a trademark of Gensoft Corp. M-Drtve and M-Drive/H are trademarks of CompuPro.

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Last Character of Name

1 2 3 4 5

Hexadecimal Address of Picture

2000 - 3FFF 4000 - 5FFF 6000 - 7FFF 8000 - 9FFF A000 - BFFF

Table 3: Preprocessor BSAVE locations, (Note: Specify 4 or 5 with caution; this will overwrite the DOS.)

Listing 4: Pass 1 of the preprocesor.

The preprocessor is written in Applesoft and consists of three passes. Listing 4 shows Pass 1, which requests from the user the name of the Applesoft source program, which is then captured in a text file. Pass 1 invokes Pass 2 (listing 5), which creates a modified version of the source program and appends " PP" to the name. Pass 3 is then invoked to delete the temporary files needed for the processing (listing 6). The text screen displays each function of the preprocessor as it occurs. The hi-res pages can be written over during processing, but DOS and memory errors are not trapped. A single disk-drive environment is assumed.

Conclusion

Doubling the available low-res colors, involves the same POKE statements listed in table 1, and the two-step plotting process is similar. To select a new phase-shifted color, use the statement POKE -16296,0 to enable the color hardware, then plot any color from 8 to 15 (high-bit set). Next, disable the color hardware with POKE -16295,0 and plot the color according to table 4. Because the low-res mode treats a single byte as two color nibbles (half-bytes) and only one "extra" bit exists per byte, both nibbles are either shifted or unshifted in color. Photo 2 shows the 32 addressable low-res colors.

Another use for hi-res phase shifting is to double the number of horizontal dot locations in black-and-white plots. A total of 1120 horizontal positions become addressable, subject to the restriction that any phase shift applies to a full byte. The left half of photo 3 was plotted by invok-

Text continued on page 463

COLOR " + CHR$ (93) + CHR$ (91) + " PRE-PROCESS

10 REM PASS1

20 D$ = CHR$ (4)

30 HOME : INVERSE : PRINT

OR READY

40 NOFMAL

50 INPUT "PLEASE ENTER PROGRAM NAME ";A$

60 VTAB (2): PRINT "CAPTURING FILE ";A$; SPC( 25)

70 PRINT : PRINT : POKE 34,3

80 REM CREATE A TEXT FILE (PASSl.EXEC) WHICH WILL CAPTURE THE

90 REM NAMED FILE FROM BASIC INTO A TEXT FILE

100 PRINT D$"OPEN PASSl.EXEC"

110 PRINT D$"WRITE PASSl.EXEC"

120 PRINT "LOAD "A$: REM GET IT INTO MEMORY

130 PRINT "LIST": REM PUT IT ON THE SCREEN

140 REM ADD THE ' CAPTURING f STATEMENTS

150 PRINT "1 PRINT CHR$(4)" + CHR$ (34) + "OPEN" +

160 PRINT "2 PRINT CHR$(4)" + CHR$ (34) + "DELETE"

A$ + ".TEXT" + CHR$ (34) + A$ + ".TEXT" + CHR$ (34)

170 180 190 200 210

220 230 240 250 260 270 280

PRINT "3 PRINT CHR$(4)" + PRINT "4 PRINT CHR$(4)" + PRINT "5 POKE33,30" PRINT !, 6 LIST 10," PRINT "7 PRINT CHR$(4)" +

CHR$ (34) + "OPEN" + A$ + ".TEXT" + CHR$ (34) CHR$ (34) + "WRITE" + A$ + ".TEXT" + CHR$ (34)

CHR$ (34) + "CLOSE" + A$ + ".TEXT" + CHR$ (34)

PRINT "8 POKE 33,39:END"

PRINT "63999 REM LAST STATEMENT": REM JUST IN CASE IT WASN'T INCLUDED

PRINT "RUN": REM START THE CAPTURING PROCESS

PRINT "PUN PASS2" : REM LINK TO THE NEXT PASS

PRINT A$: REM PASS THE PROGRAM NAME

PRINT D$"CLOSE PASSl.EXEC"

PRINT D$"EXEC PASSl.EXEC": REM NCW GO DO IT, ALREADY

Listing 5: Pass 2 of the preprocessor.

'HPLOT' STATEMENTS

10 REM PASS2 - PRE-PROCESSOR

20 DIM ST$(100) : REM ALLOW UP TO 100

30 01$ = "GOSUB63002: ,,

40 02$ = ":GOSUB63003:"

50 D$ = CHR$ (4):T$ = CHR$ (1):EN$ = "63999":R$ = CHR$ (13):RT$ = "iRETURN"

60 INPUT "LOAD FILE ";A$: REM MAGIC TRICK - PASS1 EXEC SUPPLIES THIS DATA

70 REM CHECK FOR BSAVE PAGE#

80 SW$ = RIGHT$ (A$,l) : REM GET LAST CHAR OF NAME

90 SW = 0: REM RESET THE SWITCH

100 IF SW$ > "0" AND SW$ < "6" THEN SW = 1: REM SET THE SWITCH

110 POKE 34,0: VTAB (2): PRINT "SCANNING FILE ";A$; ".TEXT"

120 PRINT : PRINT : POKE 34,3

130 PRINT D$"OPEN"A$".TEXT"

140 PRINT D$ ,, READ"A$".TEXT"

150 S$ = "": REM START OF GET-LOOP

160 GET B$: IF B$ < > R$ THEN S$ = S$ + B$: GOTO 160

170 PRINT T$S$: IF LEN (S$) = 0 THEN 150

180 IF LEFT$ (S$,5) * EN$ THEN 320: REM ALL DONE WITH INPUT

190 REM SCAN FOR "H" - A PRELIMINARY LOOK

200 LN = LEN (S$) - 5:1 * 2: REM MAX SCAN RANGE

210 MS$ = MID$ (S$,I,1)

220 IF MS$ = "H" OR MS$ m "X" OR MS$ = "D" THEN 250

230 I = I + 1: IF I = LN THEN 150

240 GOTO 210

250 REM GOT ONE; IS IT "HPLOT"

260 MS$ ■ MID$ (S$,I,5)

270 IF MS$ = "HPLOT" OR MS$ = "XDRAW" OR MS$ = "DRAW " THEN 290

280 GOTO 150

290 REM. ves, IT'S AN HPLOT

300 K = K + 1:ST$(K) = S$

310 IF K < 100 THEN 150

320 PRINT D$"CLOSE"A$".TEXT"

330 POKE 34,0: VTAB (2): PRINT "ANALYZING FILE "?A$;".TEXT

340 PRINT : PRINT : POKE 34,3

350 REM CREATE THE PRE-PROCESSED PROGRAM IN A TEXT FILE

360 PRINT D$"OPEN OUT.TEXT"

370 PRINT D$"WRITE OUT. TEXT"

380 PRINT : PRINT "LOAD" + A$

390 KMAX = K:K = 0:GSN = 3003

400 REM 'GSN' IS A GENERATED STATEMENT NUMBER

410 PRINT "63001 END": REM JUST TO BE SURE

412 PRINT "63002 POKE-16296,0:HCOLOR=4* (H07) :RETURN"

414 PRINT "63003 POKE - 16295,0: HCOLOR= HC - 8 * (HC > 7): RETURN"

420 K = K + 1: IF K > KMAX THEN 650

430 S$ = ST$(K):I = 2:LS = LEN (S$)

440 I = I + 1: IF I > LS THEN PRINT S$: GOTO 420: REM

DONE WITH THIS STATEMENT Listing 5 continued on page 460

458 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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2 Pick up the phone and call THE • SOURCE, on their toll-free number;

1-800-336-3366.

Tell THE SOURCE representative that you are participating in the special Hayes promotion, give the serial number of your Miaomodem He (on the modem), and your credit card number (VISA, MasterCard, or American Express), f You will get your password to THE SOURCE, right on the spot!

Worth every cent of the $19.95 this hard-

bound book sells for And yours absolutely free! If you act now! See your dealer soon. Buy Miaomodem He with Smartcom I, and get the best telecomputing system for your Apple. Plus a $140 value FREE. Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. 5923 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Norcross, Georgia 30092.404/449-8791.

3 Within a week you will receive an * agreement from THE SOURCE, along with your New Member Kit. Sign the agreement, and return it within 10 days to THE SOURCE, along with your sales receipt for Micromodem Ile/Smartcom I, and Hayes registration card. Remember, send no money Your membership is free!

4 That's all it takes! Look for your User's * Manual and free communications book within two weeks of receipt of the agreement, sales receipt and registration card.

fTHE SOURCE requires a major credit card for billing of hourly connect time to individual members. Corporate members may apply for direct billing.

'Suggested retail price. * *60 minutes or more connect time, depending on the day and hour.

©1983 Hayes Microcomputer Products. Inc. Micromodem He and Smartcom I are trademarks of Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. THE SOURCE and AMERICA'S INFORMATION UTILITY are service marks of Source Telecomputing Corporation, a subsidiary of The Reader's Digest Association. Inc. Apple Computer is a registered trademark of Apple Computer. Inc.

Circle 210 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983

OR nS$ = "D" THEN 480

Listing 5 continued:

450 MS$ a MID$ (S$,I,1)

460 IF MS$ ■ "H" OR MS$ = "X"

470 GOTO 440

480 RS$ = rtCD$ (S$,I,5)

490 IF MS$ * ''HPLOT" OR IE? = "XDRAW" OR MS$ = "DRAW " THEN 510

500 GOTO 440

510 REM GOT IT, NOW SCAN FOR ":" OR END

520 J = I + 5:GSN = GSN + 1

530 J = J + 1: IF J > IS THEN 550

540 IF MID$ (S$,J,1) < > ":" THEN 530

550 LH = J - I:H$ = MID$ (S$,I,IH) : REM H$=THE HPLOT SEGMENT

560 TAIL$ = *'": IF J < t& THEN T£TL$ = MID$ (S$ f J)

570 S$ = LEFT$ (S$,I - 1) + "GOSUB6" + STR$ (GSN) + TAIL$:LS = LEN (S$)

580LT=LH+LH+74: REM. LENGTH OF THE NEW STRING

590 IF LT < 239 THEN OUT$ = "6" + STR$ (GSN) + 01$ + H$ + 02$ + H$: PRINT OUT$

: GOTO 620

600 REM IF H$ IS TOO BIG TIE WILL NEED MORE THAN ONE LINE

610 IF LT > 238 THEN OUT$ = "6" + STR$ (GSN) + 01$ + H$: PRINT OUT$:GSN - GSN

+ 1:0UT$ = "6" + STR$ (GSN) + 02$ + H$: PPTNT OUT$

620 IF SV 7 = 0 THEN GSN = GSN + l:OUT$ = "6" + STR$ (GSN) + "RETURN": PRINT OUT

$:I = I + 10: GOTO 440

630 REM EXERCISE BSAVE OPTION

640 GSN = GSN + l:OUT$ = "6" + STR$ (GSN) + "POKE 8,PEEK(230):POKE 230," + STR

$ (32 * VAL (SW$)) + ":HCOLOR=4*(HC>7) :" + H$ + " :POKE230,PEEK(8) " + RT$: PRINT

OUT$:I =1+10: GOTO 440

650 REM NORMAL EXIT

PRINT "LIST"

PRINT "SAVE" + A$ + ".PP"

PRINT "DELETE" + A$ + ".TEXT"

PRINT "RUN PASS3": REM LINK TO LAST PASS

PRINT D$"CLOSE OUT.TEXT"

POKE 34,0: VTAB (2): PRINT "CREATING FILE

PRINT : PRINT : POKE 34,3

REM THERE'S A HIDDEN CNTRL-D IN THE NEXT STATEMENT

PRINT "EXEC OUT.TEXT"

660 670 680 690 700 710 720 730 740

+ A$ +

.PP

Listing 6: Pass 3 of the preprocessor.

10 REM PASS3 - CLEAN UP UNNEEDED FILES

20 D$ = QIR$ (4)

30 PRINT D$"DELETE OUT.TEXT"

40 PRINT D$"DELETE PASS1.EXEC"

50 POKE 34,0: HOME

60 PRINT "PROCESSING COMPLETE"

70 PRINT D$"CATALOG n

80 NEW

460 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

To find out where we're showing off the P1350 printer, call one of these Toshiba distributors:

COMPUSHOP 1355 Gienville Drive Richardson, TX 75081 (214)783-1252

CYPRESS DISTRIBUTING CO., INC. 1266 Lincoln Avenue Suite 109

San Jose, CA 95125 (408) 297-9800 DIGITAL ENTRY SYSTEMS 27 Spruce Street Waltham,MA02154 (617)899-6111 GENERAL BUSINESS COMPUTERS, INC. 2 North Olney Avenue Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 (609)424-6500 GENERAL MICROCOMPUTER Georgetown Center 52303 Emmons Road #26 South Bend, IN 46637 (219)277-4972 INTECH GROUP Royal Commerce Center 2025 Royal Lane Dallas, TX 75229 (214)241-1717

KALTRONICS DISTRIBUTORS, INC. 702LandwehrRd. Northbrook, IL 60062 (312)291-1220 MICRO DISTRIBUTORS 11794 Parklawn Drive Rockville, MD 20852 (301)468-6450 or (800)636-6621

MICROAMERICA DISTRIBUTING CO. 17103 Kingsview Avenue Carson, CA 90746 (213)327-6030 1050 Remington Road Schaumburg, IL 60195 (312)882-0095 366 Washington Street Wellesley, MA 02181 (617)431-7660 1461 Exchange Drive Richardson, TX 75081 (214)235-3616

MICROWARE DISTRIBUTORS, INC. 20415 S.W. Blanton Avenue Aloha, OR 97007 (503)642-7679 MIDTEC ASSOCIATES 8363 Guivira Road Lenexa.KN 66215 (913)541-1711 MONROE DISTRIBUTING CO. 2999 Payne Avenue Cleveland, OH 44114 (216)781-4600 PARAGON SALES, INC. 780 Charcot Avenue San Jose, CA 95131 (406)263-7955

PREMIER SOURCE DISTRIBUTING 1882 McGaw Avenue Irvine, CA 92714 (714)261-2011 STAR DATA, INC 4021 N. 30th Street, Suite 4 Phoenix, AZ 85016 (602)955-9233 SYSPRINT, INC.

7777 S. Central Expressway, Suite 2A Richardson, TX 75080 (214)669-3666

TRANSALASKA DATA SYSTEMS, INC. 200 Center Court Anchorage, AK 99502 (907)561-1776 ...Or these Toshiba Regional Offices:

TOSHIBA AMERICA, INC.

177 Madison Avenue

Post Office Box 2331R

Mornstown, NJ 07960

(201)326-9777

TOSHIBA AMERICA, INC.

662 Office Parkway

The Colonnade Building

St. Louis, MO 63141

(314)991-0751

TOSHIBA AMERICA, Inc.

2555 Cumberland Parkway. Suite 285

Atlanta, GA 30339

(404)434-3891

TOSHIBA AMERICA, INC.

18017 Sky Park Circle

Suites P and Q

Irvine, CA 92714

(714)250-0151

In Touch with Tomorrow

TOSHIBA

Circle 477 on inquiry card.

Nothing shows off

your IBM PC likeToshiba's P1350

printer.

Now there's one three-way printer that fully equals the word processing, data and graphics capacity of your IBM PC: Toshiba's P1350.

But the P1350 is more than compatible with PC hardware. It will print programs like Lotus 1-2-3 data processing and graphics output with remarkable character definition*

For even more flexibility, the Toshiba P1350 with Qume SPRINT 5 emulation handles all popular word processing programs. Under software command, the P1350 will print highspeed drafts or switch to letter-quality text and graphics.

The innovation behind this three-in-one flexibility is Toshiba's print head. Pin diameter has been reduced to just eight mils. And the number of

See us at Comdex booth 5153.

Circle 478 on inquiry card.

pins in the print head has been increased to 24.

The result is a superior 360 by 180 dot-per-inch density pattern in the text mode. Instead of spinning your wheels at 40 cps, the P1350 produces letter-quality printing at 100 cps. In its draft mode, Toshiba's P1350 can accelerate up to 192 cps.

When it comes to graphics, the P1350 really shows its stuff Whatever your computer displays, Toshiba's P1350 prints. With astonishingly clear definition. And extra-fine reproduction that can only come from a print head capable of 200 million impressions and exclusive 180 by 180 dot-per-inch graphics density pattern.

In Touch with Tomorrow

TOSHIBA

Information Systems Division, TOSHIBA AMERICA, INC.

Then, if that's not enough to pique your interest, the P1350 also features three different fonts. Variable pitch. Subscripts, superscripts and underlining without the need of a second pass. A super-reliable, optional sheet feeder. And more.

So show offyour IBM. OR ANY OTHER PERSONAL COMPUTER. With the superior quality and flexibility of Toshiba's spectacular P1350 printer.

Distributors on the adjacent list make it easy to find the P1350. Or get more information by calling, toll-free, 1-800-457-7777.

■IBM PC to P1350 graphics utilizes PaperScreen and color/ graphics adapter. IBM PC is a Trademark oflnternational Busi ness Machines. Lotus and 1-2-3 are Trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. ©1983 Toshiba America. Inc.

It's an executive's dream. From a lifeless heap of charts, tables, diagrams and data comes a full color, comprehensive, three-dimensional slide presentation in one working day.

The most impactful, pertinent, and concise analysis of your complex data — on-screen computer-generated color graphics — is translated for presentation to 35mm color slide film and ready for processing the same day

The VX Series from Vectrix, seen here tailored specifically for the IBM PC* can create high resolution, superior quality presentation graphics for thousands and thousands of dollars less than ever before possible. No other color graphics machine near this price offers 512 colors per pixel from a palette of over 16 million. The VX Series from Vectrix has a versatile paint program, allowing color images to be

programmed on-screen much as an c paints on canvas. And, for the first time, automatic reproduction of 35mm slides is possible with breathtaking accuracy

The VX Series, functioning as a co-processor to virtually any host computer, delivers the first truly affordable in-house color graphics presentation capabilities to the business world. With on-board software, hardware line and arc generation, built-in command set an<' character generation from a user-friendly format — Vectrix can color every business presentation a success for less money than you ever imagined. For specifications and technical data on the VX Series, and additional features and options, call toll free= 1-800-334-8181. Vectrix Corporation, 1416 Boston Road, Greensboro, North Carolina 27407

*IBM PC is a trademark of International Business Machines

< 1983 Vectrix Corporation

IBM PC courtesy of Entre Computer Center, Greensboro, NC

Discover the first affordable high-resolution color graphics workstation that delivers 35mm slide film the same day

VECTRIX OVERSEAS DISTRIBUTORS

Lucas Ahlstrom Progress Data AB Sundbyberg, Sweden Telex: 20006

Cliff Cawood Systems Link Pty., Ltd. Johannesburg, South Africa Telex, 82574

Pierre-Alain Cotte Multisoft Paris, France Telephone: 783-8837

Terry Gray Microprocessor

Applications Pty, Ltd. Victoria, Australia Telex: 31187

David Moseley Sintrom Electronics, Ltd. Berks, England Telex: 847395

Alan Rosenthal Megatronix, Inc. Ontario, Canada Telex; 266104926150

Vectrix Corporation 1416 Boston Road Greensboro North Carolina 27407

1-800-334-8181

Circle 492 on inquiry card.

Photo 2: The 32 addressable low-res colors.

Photo 3; A black-and-white example, created using phase-shifted plotting. The left side was

drawn using selected HCOLOUR= values- the right half was plotted with the standard

HCOLOR=3 (white).

Text continued from page 458

ing the appropriate colors to smooth

out the lines; the right half was

plotted using the usual HCOLOR = 3

(white).

Writing a Pac-Man game in all the original colors is now a little closer to reality; but it will have to wait. What we really need is an eight-color hi-res screen dump for one of those new color printers. . . ■

Robert H. Sturges Jr. (134 Markham Dr., Mt. Lebanon, PA 15228) is a senior engineer at Westinghouse Electric Corp.

To receive a 5V4-inch disk with the source code for the preprocessor described in this article and 12 demonstration programs, send $14.95 to Robert H. Sturges Jr., POB 83, Oakdate, PA 15071.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 463

a After CBTsful stxidv

we standardized on the IBM-PC. ^d the IDE line

was the only choice for our add-ons.

- Randall B. Grossman.Management Analysis Center, Cambridge, MA

When Fortune 500 companies hire you to plan and implement top management strategies.you just don't have room for error. So when Management Analysis Center decided to standardize on add-ons for their IBM PCs, they wanted the most reliable, most integrated line of products they could find. Their choice? Significantly, IDE.

"We quickly learned that we wanted an IDE expansion board in every PC" MAC began by trying several other brands of add-ons- but things didn't always go as they were supposed to. All that changed when they discovered the IDEAplus Combination Card from IDE. Before long they were trying other IDE products. And soon after that, they were using all of our products simultaneously. With beautiful, trouble-free results.

"Now when we install an IDE board, I almost don't bother to test it." Of course, one reason people may feel they don't have to test our products is because we test them. Not just as components, but as integrated units - and for 100%

•See all of IDE's products at COMDEX: Shown above, our IDEAboard Memory Card, IDEAplus Combination Card, IDEAComm 1200 Integral Modem, and IDEAdisk Winchester Disk Drive (available in 5MB-40MB capacities); plus our IDEAshare and IDEAnet disk-sharing and networking products,

See us at

COfltDf H/Fali '83

November 28-December Z 1983 Booth Number W948 West Exhibit Hall

Circle 220 on inquiry card.

of their functions. But product performance is only one side of our reliability...

"Their service is just superb. And we can count on it in all our offices nationwide!' Support- that's the other side of our reliability. And you'll find plenty of it at IDE. Across the country, and internationally. It's the kind of support that will be there in the future, too, as our line expands.*

"When itcomestoadd-onsforthelBMPC, itjustisntworth going anywhere else! 1 If reliability across a broad product line sounds like something you can use,give us a call at 1-800-257-5027 (in Massachusetts, call 617-275-4430). Or visit us at COMDEX November 28 to December 2. Either way, we'll get the word out to you on IDE.

Associates

Better ideas for personal computers.

IDEAssociates, Inc., 7 Oak Park Drive, Bedford, MA 01730

IDEAComm 3278 Mainframe Communications Card, IDEAmini I/O Card, and IDEAgraph family of graphics products.

TKTOC WE'VE GOT THE CLOCK

Enhance the performance of your IBM® PC or XT with RAM+ 3, a new multifunction board from Seattle Computer. It combines the most needed functions for your PC on a single card. This leaves the PC's other expansion slots open for your future needs. Here's what you get:

Lithium Powered Clock The RAM + 3 clock/calendar eliminates the need to manually input the date and time each time you power up. And the inexpensive lithium battery ensures that the clock keeps accurate time even when the power is off. RS-232 Serial Port It's an easy way to connect letter quality

■ printers, modems and other peripherals to your IBM. It's

compatible with IBM's Asynchronous Communications Adapter and can be selected as either COM1 or COM2. No translation software is required. Parallel Printer Port Designed to operate most parallel printers, it is functionally identical to and ^^^ mmmm _.-^7\* completely compatible with the IBM Printer j " te " Adapter.

Memory Options To increase the memory capacity of your IBM, there are five RAM+ 3 memory options: Ok, 64k, 128k 192k, and 256k. The memory expansion boards are socketed and expandable in 64k increments to 256k. For users who do not need to increase the memory of their PC but want the clock and added port capabilities, a no memory, unsocketed RAM+ 3 is also available.

FLASH DISK™ and FLASH PRINT™ To dramatically improve your PC's throughput, FLASH DISK lets you designate as much as 576k of RAM as a disk drive. And with FLASH PRINT, you can compute and print simultaneously. FLASH PRINT is a user definable buffer that lets you select, in Ik increments, as much as 63k of memory as a buffer. Your printer can run at its maximum speed while you continue to compute. RAM + 3 is Available and Affordable Seattle Computer RAM + 3 boards are available through a nationwide network of retail outlets including ComputerLand stores. For the location of the outlet nearest you call toll free:

1-800-426-8936. RAM+3 prices start at $210.00*

*(Unsocketed, no memory version; $395 for the expandable 64k version)

®IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 466 BYTE November 1983

i

TER

Seattle Computer Products, Inc., 1114 Industry Drive, Seattle, WA 98188 Circle 411 on inquiry card.

A Character Editor for the

IBM PC

The Font program replaces part of the IBM PC's character set with user-defined symbols

Designed to display musical notation on the IBM Personal Computer's screen, a BASIC program called Font lets you substitute custom symbols for a portion of the computer's standard character set. And even if you're not interested in character-set design and manipulation, you might still find this article of interest—Font makes heavy use of softkeys (assignable keys) and softkey trapping, thus demonstrating techniques you can use in a wide variety of programming chores.

Hardware Requirements

Font is designed to run on an IBM Personal Computer (PC) with 64K bytes of RAM (random-access read/ write memory), an 80-character by 25-line high-resolution monitor, a color-graphics-monitor adapter, a 5 % -inch disk-drive adapter, and BASICA (the advanced BASIC interpreter); you can, however, modify it to run with less equipment.

Before considering Font's operation in detail, consider how the IBM PC handles character display during normal operation. It features a standard font consisting of 256 characters

by Raymond A. Diedrichs

(listed in reference 1, appendix G), each of which is assigned a code ranging from 0 to 255. The decimal code 65, for example, signifies the capital letter A. The computer displays each character within an 8-by 8-dot box on its screen, and displaying A, for instance, is merely a matter of illuminating specific dots within the box. An integrated circuit called a character generator stores the

The IBM Personal

Computer displays 256

standard characters

using an on-board

character generator.

box patterns for all 256 characters; to display a character, the computer's display electronics looks up that character's code in the character generator and illuminates the corresponding dots on the screen.

The computer isn't limited to displaying the patterns stored in the character generator, however. It has two graphics modes—Screen Modes 1 and 2—that allow substitution of

custom patterns for the upper 128 standard patterns (the ones above hexadecimal 80). Reference 2 (pages 3 through 6) provides a terse discussion of the substitution mechanics.

Essentially, to substitute your own patterns when the computer is in Screen Mode 1 or 2, you need only write the starting memory location of your custom set of box patterns into the 8088 microprocessor's interrupt vector IF hexadecimal, located at memory location 125 (decimal). You can think of this vector as a flag variable that the computer tests when it's in a graphics mode and commanded to print a character whose code is greater than 127. If the variable is not 0, the computer assumes that the value is a pointer to the custom pattern table, and it displays the custom pattern rather than the standard one.

In summary, then, redefining characters when using the PC requires placing the computer in a graphics mode, storing the address of a replacement pattern table in interrupt vector IF hexadecimal, and generating and loading the pattern table that reflects your custom character set.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 467

PREVENT THE DISASTER

OF HEAD CRASH AND

DROPOUT.

The war against dust and dirt never ends. So before you boot up your equipment, and everytime you replace a cassette, disk or drive filter, be sure to use Dust-Off II; it counteracts dust, grit and lint. Otherwise you're flirting with costly dropouts, head crashes and downtime.

Dust-Off II is most effective when used with Stat-Off II. Stat-Off II neutralizes dust-holding static electricity while Dust-Off II blasts loose dust away. There's also the Dual Extender and Mini-Vac for vacuuming dust out of hard-to-reach places.

Photographic professionals have used Dust-Off brand products consistently on their delicate lenses and expensive cameras for over ten years. They know it's the safe, dry efficient way to contaminant-free cleaning.

S^temll

Cleaning not provided by liquid cleaners.

Dust-Off II 's remarkable pinpoint accuracy zeros in on the precise area being dusted. And you have total control—everything from a gentle breeze for

J Stat-Off II neutralizes dust-holding : static electricity from media and machines.

delicate computer mechanisms to a heavy blast for grimy dirt. Don' t let contamination disrupt your computer operation. Stock up on Dust-Off II—the advanced dry cleaning system, at your local computer or office supply dealer.

Or send $1.00 (for postage and handling) for a 3 oz. trial size and literature today.

Dust-OfFH

The safe dry cleaning system

Falcon Safety Products, Inc., 106b Bristol Road, Mountainside, NJ 07092

Font Generation Using Softkeys

When you design a character set, the effort divides into three parts: character design, experimentation with designed characters, and design refinement.

Reflecting this division of effort, Font offers the following functions:

•character editing •experimental use of characters •experiment saving •experiment loading •character-pattern saving •character-pattern loading

The first two functions further divide into subfunctions. The character-editing function, for example, includes four subf unctions:

• defining a character as edited •copying a pattern from some other character

•erasing a character pattern

• aborting the current edited version of a character

The PC's softkeys make programs divided into functions and subfunc-tions easy to implement and use. The Font user is guided from function to subfunction by means of the softkeys and the softkey menu displayed on the bottom (twenty-fifth) screen line, or menu line. Also, the softkey technique prevents confused users from trying to use features of one function after invoking another function. Only those operations displayed on line 23 can be selected; the computer thus ensures that only appropriate features can be chosen.

Font uses softkeys (both function and cursor) in the trap mode, as opposed to the generate-character-string mode. In the trap mode, each enabled softkey is assigned both a trap subroutine and a menu phrase that's displayed on the screen's menu line. When an enabled softkey is pressed, the assigned subroutine is executed regardless of any other program line that is executing. No INPUT statements are required here, thus eliminating the insatiable prompting "?" and "Redo from start" command.

468 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 186 on inquiry card.

INTRODUCING THE TWO-PRINTER

MKROBUFFERII+

Like all Microbuffer models, the Microbuffer 11+ eliminates waiting for your printer to finish before you can use your computer again. It allows you to print and process simultaneously.

But the Microbuffer 11+ has one unique quality not found in any other Microbuffer: it can be used with virtually any printer—serial or parallel, or both at once!

If you have an Apple II, 11+, Il/e and more than one printer, Microbuffer 11+ can eliminate a tremendous bottleneck.

While your parallel printer is going at full speed, your serial printer can be printing the same file or a different file right along with it. And you can be using the Apple to do something else at the same time.

The Microbuffer 11+ printer interface will fully support the Apple He 80-column format. And it allows an 80-column screen dump from the Videx 80-column board in your Apple II or 11+.

Perhaps, best of all, Microbuffer 11+ is versatile and smart. It supports over 30 commands for text formatting, sending printer controls, printing screen dumps and setting up the MII+ itself. AND it includes graphics print routines for nine popular printers as well as 8 additional graphics printing commands. Whether you have 1 printer or 2, Microbuffer gives you the maximum amount of printing flexibility in the minimum amount of time.

The new Microbuffer 11+ is available now in 16K, 32K, and 64K models. Ask your dealer for a demonstration, or for further information.

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?.

Another fine ^== " '

product from S=RRAGTICAL

mPERIPHERALS

31245 La Baya Drive, Westlake Village, CA 91362

(213) 991-8200 . TWX 910-336-5431

See us at Comdex corner of 156 & 257.

Circle 367 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983 469

Softkeys in Use

Let's see how Font manipulates softkeys. The program is given in listing 1, and Font's road map is shown in table 1. The table indicates that Font's module MAIN starts at line 9000 of listing 1.

MAIN executes an infinite loop:

DO FOREVER IF SUBROUTINE_HAS_RUN IS TRUE PERFORM MAIN SOFTKEY INITIALIZATION SHOW SCREEN PROMPTS ENDIF ENDDO

The SUBROUTINE_HAS_RUN flag (variable FSUBR) is set true during initialization and by any function module that is executed. MAIN loops patiently and does very little work. So what happens when a softkey is pressed? To answer that, first look at the subroutine MAIN uses to set up the softkeys for its functions. Listing 2 is a simplified version of this subroutine, showing only the setup for the Fl key. Softkey Fl is assigned the word "STOP" and a trap subroutine starting at line 1040. When MAIN is executing and you select the STOP function by hitting Fl, the PC's BASIC interpreter instantly ceases to execute MAIN'S program statements (it remembers where it left off, however) and begins executing Fl's trap-routine statements beginning at line 1040. If you glance at line 1055 in listing 1, you'll see that this is in fact the driver for the STOP function—it closes all files and executes a STOP

Text continued on page 476

470 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

090 REM DISPLAY PSEUD0 CURSOR AT (ERfEC) UNTIL USER DATA ENTRY OCCURS 095 X=CEC+C0FF)*8I Y=< ER+ROFF )*3: GET ( Xi Y )-( X+7f Y+7 )»CURI R*=""

UHILE R$="" ANB F3UBR=0 AND FABQRT=0 AND FDEFINE=0 AND FREPEAT=0

AND FC0PY=0 ANB FERA3E=0 AND FBUMP=0 PUT (XfY>f CURSOR fPSET: R$=INKEY$I PUT (X»Y)*CURyPSET X=C EC+C0FF >*S: Y=< ER+RQFF >*8! GET (XrY ) ■■■< X*7»Y47 >#CUR

UEND

RETURN REM NULL ALL SOFTKEYS

FOR 1 = 1 TO 101 KEY I f*" I KEYCI ) OFF: NEXT I

FOR 1=11 TO 1^: KEYC I) OFF: NEXT I

RETURN REM MAIN MODE SOFT KEY SETUP

GOSUB 1125

KEY lr"STOP": KEY 2* ,, CLGAD": KEY 3,"CSAVE"

KEY 5f"CUSE": KEY 6»"ELGAD": KEY 7f"ESAVE"

ON KEY(l) GOSUB 1055: ON KEYC 2) GOSUB 4015

ON KEYC4) GOSUB 5010: ON KEYC5 ) GOSUB 6010: ON KEYC 6 > GOSUB

ON KEYC 7) GOSUB 7070

FOR 1 = 1 TO 7X KEYCI ) ON: NEXT It BEF 3EG: POKE 104*0

100

105 110

115

120

12!

130

135

140

145

150

155

160

165

170

175

1Q0

185 RETURN

190 REM CEBIT MAIN SOFKEY SETUP

195 GOSUB 1125

200 KEY If"RETURN"

205 ON KEYC1 ) GOSUB 1060

210 KEY (1> ON

215 RETURN

220 REM CEDIT CHARACTER SOFTKEY SETUP

KEY 4?*CEBIT"

ON KEYC 3) GOSUB 4055 005

225 230 235

240

245

250

255

260

265

270

275

280

235

290

295

300

305

310

315

320

325

330

335

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

2025

2030

2035

2040

2045

2050

2055

2060

2065

2070

-1 q ~? =j

2030 2035 2090

1 REPEAT' 7 ON KEYC 2 ) GOSUB 1035

: ON KEYC13) GOSUB 1035 KEYC 11 ) ON: KEYC 12) ON

ON KEYC14) GOSUB 1045 KEYC 13) ON: KEYC 14 ) ON

GOSUB 1125

KEY 2f M C0PY": KEY 3# w EfcASE M : KEY 4»"BEFINE": KEY 5»"ABQRT" ON KEYC2) GOSUB 1075: ON KEYC3) GOSUB 1030: ON KEYC4 ) GOSUB 1070 ON KEYC5) GOSUB 1065: ON KEYC 11) GOSUB 1015: ON KEYC12 ) GOSUB 102 ON KEYC13) GOSUB 1035J ON KEYC14) GOSUB 1045 KEYC 2 ) ON: KEYC 3 ) ON: KEYC 4 ) ON: KEYC 5 ) ON KEYC 11) ONI KEYC 12) QUI KEYC 13 ) ONI KEYC 14 ) ON DEF SEG: POKE 106*0

ER=0: EC=0: FCHNG=0: FREPEAT=0: FCOPY=0: FERA3E=0 MINR=0: MAXR=7: ROFF=CEDROW+l MINC=0: MAXC=7: COFF=CEDC0L+30 RETURN REM CUSE SOFKEY SETUP KEY If 1 'RE TURN": KEY 2,

on keyc1 ) gosub 1060?

on keyc 11 ) gosub 1015

on keyc12) gosub 1025:

keyc 1) on: keyc 2) on

def seg: poke 106*0

er=0: ec=0t fchng=0: ffrepeat=0: fcopy-oi ferase=0

minr=0: maxr=exprow:

minc=o: maxc=expcol:

RETURN REM

REM CHARACTER EBIT UTILITIES REM REM REMEMBER CHARACTER BATA

DEF SEG= 0

FOR 1=0 TO 7 OLBC I )=PEEKC TABLEABBR+C CHAR-123 )*8f I ;

NEXT I

RETURN REM RESTORE OLD CHARACTER DATA

BEF SEG= 0

FOR 1=0 TO 7 POKE C TABLEADBR+C CHAR-12S )*3H >?QLfcC I )

NEXT I

RETURN REM DISPLAY A CHARACTER AND ITS DATA

DEF SEG= 0: GOSUB 2215

FOR 1=0 TO 7 VALUE=PEEKC TABLEABBRK CHAR-128 >«SfX')

R0FF=CU3R0U

C0FF=CUSC0L

Listing 1 continued on page 472

THE PRICE OF FAST WAS JUST SHATTERED!

256Kbyte SemiDisk" 5995

For more than a year, we've been making the most advanced disk emulator available for microcomputers. The one that's taken the "waiting" out of computing. Now, we have some more news that'll set the world on fire: A price cut! The NEW 256Kbyte board is only $995. And the 512Kbyte SemiDisks for the S-100 and TRS-80 Model II are $1495. (1Mbyte unit is $2350.) So, what are you waiting for?

The SemiDisk is the ORIGINAL single-board microcomputer disk emulator. It has a greater storage density than any other: 1 Mbyte per board! And we've been shipping them for over a year! We didn't do this with 'me too' engineering. Our products are true innovations, based on reliable technology and proven designs, without the need for custom components.

Floppies are ok for data transfer or long-term storage. But they fall far short as online storage. If you are using high level languages, spelling checkers, word processors, databases and other disk-intensive software, you know the price you are paying: time. Your productivity is going down the drain. The SemiDisk disk emulator will save time and increase your productivity.

Even better, Release 5,0 of the SemiDisk CP/M-80 installation software contains SemiSpool, an automatic printer buffer. No extra hardware is required; it's all in the software. Up to 8 Mbytes of buffer space! It's a better solution than a $350 64Kbyte printer buffer that wastes space on your desk. Send documents of almost any length to the printer at a very high speed, then continue using the computer immediately. No Waiting!

SemiDisk

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Call 503-646-5510 for CBBS /NW, a Semi Disk-equipped computer bulletin board.

SemiDisk trademark of SemiDisk Systems, Inc. Copyright 1983 SemiDisk Systems, Inc. Circle 415 on inquiry card.

Circle 216 on inquiry card.

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An expansion chassis is a must for anyone who needs to go behind the PC's minimum configuration. Simply plug the I-Bus Six-Pac Expansion Chassis into one slot of your PC—and you've doubled your expansion slots from five to a total of ten. There's no special addressing or software required. Cards plugged into the Six-Pac perform exactly as if they were in the main system unit.

And there's plenty of power, too, because chances are your PC will run out of power before it runs out of slots. The Six-Pac's 40W supply quietly powers its own slots, with negligible power drawn from the PC.

It's only $695, including 18" shielded interface cable (or $755 with a four-foot cable). Call us today for all the details.

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in California call (619) 569-0646

The l-Bus Six-Pac Expansion Chassis

8863 Balboa Avenue San Diego, CA 92123

SYSTEMS

Listing 1 continued:

"Oil

ii-JO,

2095 GOSUB 2115

2100 NEXT I

2105 LOCATE CEDROWfl1 1 CELCOLP 31 1 PRINT

2110 RETURN

2115 REM DISPLAY PIXELS IN A CHARACTER ROW

2120 R0W*= u "

2125 CHAR5H=VALUE

2130 FOR J=i TO 8

2135 IF < CHARSH MOD 2 >*1 THEN PIXEL* = ' : -' : ELSE PIXEL**" ,;

2140 R0W*=PIXEL*fR0U*

2145 CHARSH=INT< CHARSH/2 )

2150 NEXT J

2155 LOCATE CEBR0U + 2H *CEBCGL+27J PRINT I i ,: 'JROU*

2160 RETURN

2165 REM PUT EDIT PATTERN IN THE CHARACTER TABLE

2170 VALUE=0

2175 ABDR=TABLEABBR+INT< CHAR-123 >*3FCR0W

2130 IF ADI:R>ADBRMAX THEN RETURN

2185 DEF SEG =0:

2190 VALUE=PEEK<ADBR)J UALUE^VALUE OR 2t< 7-EC )

2195 IF R*=EDCHAR* THEN VALUE=VALUE OR 2K7.-EC)

ELSE VALUE=VALUE AND K0T<2t<7-EC)) 2200 POKE ABBRfVALUE

2205 I=ERt LOCATE CEBROUrC£BC0Lf35S PRINT CHR*iCHAR>t C03UB 2115 2210 RETURN

2215 REM DISPLAY A CHARACTER 2220 LOCATE CEBRQWfCEBC0L+34I PRINT 2225 LOCATE CEBROUvCEBC0L+34J PRINT 2230 RETURN

2235 REM COPY A CHARACTER 2240 FC0PY=0

BCASK*=SPACE*< 1? >+CHR*< 13 )-f SPACE** 16> I F CURSOR^0

ASK**"COPY FROM CHARACTER"+CHR*<13>+' CODE i 0-126 )"

ENPR0U-14J ENR0U=15: ENC0L=14t GOSUB 3015

LOCATE ENPROWrll PRINT BCA3N*

IF ENTRY*="" THEN RETURN

FR0t1%=VAL< ENTRY*): IF FR0H%C0 OR FRQM%>127 THEN 2255

DEF SEG= 0

FOR 1=0 TO 7 VALUEX=PEEK< TABLEADBR+< FRGKX )*8t-I ) PONE ( TABLEADDRK CHAR-123 >*3fl >* VALUE/.

NEXT I

3PACE*<25)

; J :: ?CHR*< CHAR >* l! L ,J rCHAR-128$

2245 2250 2255 2260 2265 2270 2275 2280 2285 2290 2295 2300 2305

GOSUB 2075

RETURN

2310 REM ERASE A CHARACTER 2315 FERASE=0 2320 DEF SEG= 0 2325 FOR 1=0 TO 7

2330 PONE « TABLEADDR-K CHAR-123 >*8H >*0 2335 NEXT I 2340 GOSUB 2075 2345 RETURN 2350 REM CHANGE ONE DISPLAYED CHARACTER CODE

2360 IF CHAR>247 THEN R=8 ELSE IF CHAR>207 THEN R==6 ELSE IF CHAR > 167 THEN R44

2365 C=((CHAR-12S) ttOS 40 )*2 + 1

2370 LOCATE R*CJ PRINT CHR*<CHAR)*: RETURN

3000 REM

3005 REM GENERAL UTILITIES

3010 REM

3015 REM POSITION CURSOR AND INPUT ENTRY*

3020 ENTRY$="": R*=""

LOCATE ENPROUflt PRINT

WHILE R*OCHR*< 13) ANi IF FCURSQR=1 THEN IF R*>= M 0 U AND R*

3025 3030 3035 3040 3045 3050 3055 3060 3065

asn*;locate enrgw*encols print space*<4> f3u£r=0 and frepeat=0 and fduhp-0

GQSUh 1090 ELSE R*-INKEY* s="? :; THEN ENTKY*=ENTRY*fR* ELSE G03U& 3065

locate enrqw>encol; print ENTRY*

IF LEN(ENTRY* )>3 THEN LOCATE ENROW WEND RETURN REM DELETE LAST CHAR FROM ENTRY*

>ENCC

PRINT 3PACE*C 4 )IENTRY*=

3070 3075 3080 3085 3090 3095

IF LEN( R* )=2 THEN IF A3C< RIGHTS R* * 1 ) )<>33 THEN RETURN

IF LEN<R*)=1 THEN IP ASC( R* K>3 THEN RETURN

IF LEN( ENTRY* )=0 OR LEW R* >=0 THEN RE1 URN

ENTRY*=LEFT*<ENTRY*.LEN(ENTRY* >-I )

LOCATE ENROUfENCOL: PRINT 3PACE$<4>

RETURN

3100 REM DISPLAY CURRENT EXPERIMENT 3125 FOR 1=0 TO EXPROW

3130 LOCATE CUSROW+I+1rCUSCCL-i I PRINT I 3135 LOCATE CU3R0W+I41 1 CU3CQLS PRINT !: ! ,: i 3140 REM LOCATE CUSROW+IFl*CUSCOLfl 3145 FOR 0=0 TO EXPCOL 3150 PRINT CHR*<EXPERIMENTC1 1 J ) > J 3155 NEXT J 3160 PRINT li,! 3165 NEXT I 3170 RETURN

317 5 REM DISPLAY ALL CHARACTER CODES

3180 LOCATE BISPROUrlt PRINT SPACE*(80)t LOCATE DISPROWrl 3185 PRINT ROULABEL*?" " J ROULABEL* t" " 5 ROWLABEL* * ,: ' JROULADEL* 3190 FOR 1=0 TO 2 3195 FOR J=0 TO 39

3200 PRINT CHR*( 40*1 f Jf 123 )? i! ,: S

3205 NEXT J .

3^10 PRINT "" Listing 1 continued on page 474

472 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

SAGE™ TECHNICAL BRIEFING DISK INTERFACING SAGE MICROS

The Faster The Computer, The Faster The Floppy.

Floppies Think They're Winchesters.

People get awfully impatient with slow drives. But the awful truth is, most micros are slower than the slowest drives.

When a processor is unable to keep up with a drive, it simply slams the door shut after reading only part of a track. The diskette continues speeding along under the head, but no data is being transferred. After a sector of dead time, the read resumes again where it left off.

Not so in a Sage™ micro.

It can read an entire track in one revolution, step to the next cylinder and read another entire tract during the second revolution. Time-wasting with interleaving and skewing never occur.

The lightning fast disk interfacing and 68000 processor actually let the floppy drives on a Sage micro meet the theoretical transfer rate for standard 5/4 inch floppy disk drives.

How fast is that? Fast enough to load a 20K program in about a second.

Our Winchesters Think Big.

There is only so much area on a 514 inch hard disk. So how come we can give you an extra l.SMybytes on a iOMybyte Winchester?

Remember, it's the computer, not the drive, that makes the difference.

The Sage IV micro features full track buffering instead of one or two sector buffering. This means that the disk area that usually must be reserved for

header information, synchronizing gaps and trailer gaps can now be used for storage.

Be A Sage Thinker.

No other computer gives you so much disk performance and capacity forsolittle.

So whether you'd be satisfied with one or two floppies that think they're Winchesters, or if you need big Win-

chester capacity up to 200 megabytes; think Sage micros.

Call today for full details and the name of your nearest dealer.

Sage Computer Technology Corporate Office, 4905 Energy Way Reno, Nevada 89502. Phone (702J 322-6868. TWX: 910-395-6073/SAGE RNO

Eastern United States

Sage Computer Technology, 15 New England Executive Park Suite 120, Burlington, MA 01803 (617)229-6868

In UK TDI LTD, 29 Alma Vale Road,

Clifton, Bristol BS8-2HL lek (0272) 742796 Tx: 444 653 Advice

In Germany MM Computer, Gmb! HallwangerStr. 59 8210 Prten Tel: 08051/3074 Tx: 525 400 mmco-d

© 1983 Sage Computer Technology all rights reserved Sage & Sage IV are trademarks of Sage Computer Technology

G

The computer you don't wait fori

THIS MAY BE THE SAVINGS ON

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State/Zip

NEXT i: PRINT

LABEL* n ASK*,: INPUT RESPONSE*

A3K*="ENTER FILENAME"

CURRENT FILENAME^ 1 +CFILE*

Listing 1 continued:

32:1.5 NEXT I

3220 FOR 1 = 120 TO 1271 PRINT CHR*<1 + 128 )i'

3225 RETURN

3230 REM OBTAIN FILENAME FROM USER

3235 GOSUB 11251 FSUBR-i: CLS

3240 LOCATE FILEPROMPTROUt 1: PRINT

3245 LOCATE FILEPROMPTRQU+2, 1: PRIf,

3250 RETURN

4000 REM

4005 REM CHARACTER FILE LOAD/SAVE

4010 REM

4015 REM CHARACTER FILE LOAD

4020 LABEL$="LOAD A CHARACTER FILE"

4025 GOSUB 3230

4030 IF RESPONSE**"" THEN CLS; RETURN

4035 DEF SEG=0

4040 BLOAD RESPONSE* t TABLEADDR

4045 CFILE*=RESPONSE$

4050 CLSt RETURN

4055 REM CHARACTER FILE SAVE

4060 LABEL*="SAVE THE CHARACTER FILE

4065 ASK*="ENTER FILENAME"

4070 GOSUB 3230

4075 IF RESPONSE** MB THEN CLSJ RETURN

4030 CFILE*=RESPGNSE*; BEF SEG=0

4035 BSAVE RESPONSE*rTABLEADDRf1024

4090 CLS: RETURN

5000 REM

5005 REM CHARACTER EDIT

5010 REM

5015 CLSt GOSUB 1125; GOSUB 31751 CR0«*OS FREPEAT=0! FCURSGR=0

5020 BASK*=SPACE*< 15 )+CHR*< 13 >+SPACE*<21 )

5025 WHILE FSUBR=0

5030 GOSUB 11?0; FAB0RT=O: FDEFINE=0

5035 ASK*="ENTER CHARACTER"+CHR*<13)+" CODE C0-126) "

5040 WHILE ENTRY**""

5045 ENPR0U=16: ENRQU=17I ENC0L=15t GOSUB 3015

5050 LOCATE ENPROUii: PRINT BASK*

5055 IF FSUBR=1 THEN GOTO 5125

5060 CHAR=VAL( ENTRY*)! IP CHAR<0 OR CHAR>127 THEN ENTRY*=""

5065 WEND

5070 CHAR=CHAR+12S

5075 GOSUB 20151 GOSUB 1125: GOSUB 20751 GOSUB 1220

5030 WHILE FAB0RT=0 AND FDEFINED

5035 GOSUB 1090

5090 IF R$=EBCHAR* OR R*=EDCHAR* THEN CR0U=ER; GOSUB 2165

5095 IF FCOPY=l THEN GOSUB 1125: GOSUB 22351 GOSUB 1220

5100 IF FERASE=1 THEN GOSUB 1125: GOSUB 2310! GOSUB 1220

5105 WEND

5110 IF FABORT=l THEN GOSUB 2045

5115 IF FDEFINE=1 THEN GOSUB 2350

5120 ENTRY*=""

5125 WEND

5130 CLSt RETURN

6000 REM

6005 REM CHARACTER PATTERN USE

6010 REM

6015 CLSJ GOSUB 1125; GOSUB 3175 J GOSUB 3100 J GOSUB 1285: RC0BE=0: CGDE=0

6020 ASK*="ENTER CHARACTER"+CHR*( 13 ) + "C0DE ( 0-126 )"J FCURSQR=1

6025 ENPR0W=18: ENR0W=19: ENC0L=14

6030 WHILE F3UBR=0

6035 GOSUB 3015: IF FSUBR=1 THEN 6050

6040 IF FREPEAT=1 THEN LOCATE CU3RQW+8*CU3COL-7J PRINT RCODE; FREPEAT=0

ELSE RCGDE=VAL<ENTRY*)! LOCATE CUSROU+OrCUSCOL-7 1 PRINT " 6045 IF RCDDE>=0 AND RC0DE< = 127 THEN LOCATE ER+CUSRGW+1*EC+CUSCOL+1* 15

PRINT CHR$( RCQDE + 123 )t :EXPERIMENT ERfEC >=RC0DE+128 6050 WEND 6055 CLS: RETURN 7000 REM

7005 REM EXPERIMENT LOAD/SAVE 7010 REM

7015 REM EXPERIMENT LOAD

7020 LABEL*="LOAD AN EXPERIMENT ' t ASK* = " ENTER FILENAME "

THEN CLS; RETURN

CURRENT EXP1 I NT IS "+EFILE*

THEN CLS

RETURN

*Plus shipping/handling. Subject to change without notice. 474 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Listing 1 continued on page 476

Circle 318 on inquiry card.

I

R O W

There's a certain kind of person who buys a Morrow business computer.

The kind of person who doesn't follow the crowd. In business. Or away from it. Youve succeeded by making your own decisions.

And when it comes to a decision on computers, you know that you dont have to pay a lot of money to get a lot of computer. Morrow knows that too.

That s why we make a complete line of systems, including software, from $1599 to $2745. Plus letter-quality printers starting at $595. All, with performance so reliable you'll probably never need the nationwide service we offer from Xerox.

But maybe you don t know this: We ve just introduced a hard-disk system with more performance at a lower price than anything else on the market. Anything.

The new MD11 includes an 11MB hard disk; 400K of floppy memory; 128K RAM; 8K ROM; 2 serial, 1 parallel and a main frame communications port. Add the legendary speed of the Morrow controller, a complete package of software, plus a full-size terminal, and you may not be ready for the price: ^r—

$2745, complete.

Morrow has never built computers to please everybody. We build them for people who demand value.

It's simple. Those who know buy Morrow.

The computer for independent people. %

Morrow, 600 MeCormiek Street, San Leandfo, CA 95477 .^ * ^

For I he Morrow Dealer nearest vou, calk <H0()» 521-3493

<4IM 430-1970 In California |£

New 11MB MD11 for$274f

Text continued from page 470: statement.

Pattern editing demonstrates a more complicated (and powerful) use of a softkey. MAIN uses F4 as the CHARACTER PATTERN EDIT (CEDIT) function; the subroutine starting at line 5000 of listing 1 is the trap routine for this key. But this routine is actually the entire character-edit module, and it acts like a "mini-MAIN" routine—the module sets up the softkeys for its own sub-functions, obtains your input, and lets you push a cursor around a character's dot pattern. When you signal "no more" by replying with a carriage return to an input prompt, CEDIT sets the flag variable FSUBR true and executes a RETURN statement.

Where does the computer's BASIC interpreter return to? Back to MAIN, picking up execution exactly where it left off. MAIN detects that the flag variable FSUBR is true (meaning that some function has executed), and MAIN therefore sets up the softkeys and screen to restore its function offering.

When softkeys are used in this manner, you quickly become used to pressing certain keys to obtain certain functions. For this reason, it's a good idea to retain certain softkeys for the same general use. Key Fl, for example, is always used within Font to return to the next highest function level.

It also pays to consider the layout of the softkeys; placing a Kill All soft-key next to a Save File key that is heavily used is an invitation to disaster.

Font softkey manipulation routines always call a central module that flushes all old softkey definitions before any manipulation routine proceeds to set up for new definitions. Experience shows that this approach is the safest and most reliable way to ensure that only currently meaningful softkeys are enabled. Control of the keys is simplified by this technique; if all keys are flushed before setup, then only those keys to be used need further attention.

A Font Work Session

Let's walk through a Font work session so that you get the idea. You've

Listing 1 continued:

8010 REM

80 3.5 CLEAR * 28804

8020 DEFINT CfEfFfIrJfM* Qt PiRrV*X*Y

8025 PR0MPTR0W=10: PRQMPTC0L=S0J CEDR0U-i0; CEDC0L=1J EXPRQW=14: EXPC0L=55 8030 DISPR0W=li CUSR0U=8J CUSC0L=22! FILEPR0KPTR0U=1

CLSt LOCATE PRCffiPTRQU* PR0KPTC0L I PRINT "FONT EDITOR VJ..0" I PRDfti PRINT SPACE$( 31>?"INITIALIZING

DIM EXPERIMENT* EXPROWrEXPCGL>*CUR* 5 >f CURSOR* 5>»PREV< 7 )

CFILE$="": EFILE$="" ; ROWLABEL*-"0 12345673 ? u 8050 EBCHAR*=" "I EDCHAR*="D"

8055 FOR 1=2 TO 5? CURSOR* I ) = -11 NEXT It CURSOR* 0)=8: CURSOR* 1 )=8 8060 SCREEN 21 KEY OFF

8065 ADDRMAX = 65535!: TABLEADDR=ADDRftAX~lQ24 8070 DEF SEG= 0t POKE 125*(TABLEADDR/256 ) 8075 FOR 1=0 TO 1023: POKE TABLEA&OR+If0t NEXT I 9000 REH 9005 REM MAIN 9010 REM

9015 CLS: FSUBR*! 9020 WHILE 1 = 1

IF FSUBR=1 THEN FSUBR=0: G03UB 1145: KEY ON:

LOCATE PR0HPTR0U,PR0MPTC0L: PRINT "FONT EDITOR VI.0" X PRINT;

PRINT SPACE$(27 >?" SELECT A HQDE" DUr1KY$=INKEYtt DEF SEC: POKE 106y0

WEND

8035

8040 8045

902^

9030 9035

Listing 2: A simplified version (showing only the setup for the Fl function key) of the figure 1 subroutine that sets up softkeys.

1130 REM MAIN MODE SOFT KEY SETUP

1140 KEY If" STOP"

1150 ON KEY* 1 ) GOSUB 1040

1165 KEY*1 ) ON

1170 RETURN

'DEFINE 25TH LINE MENU PHRASE 'ASSIGN TRAP SUBROUTINE 'ENABLE THE KEY FOR TRAPPING

Listing 3: A program segment that installs a designed and tested character set.

100 REM INSTALL A CHARACTER PATTERN TABLE

110 CLEAR f28804

120 SCREEN 2

125 SADDR = 64512!

130 BLOAD "filename"*SADDR!

'RESERVE 128 8 BY 8 TABLE ENTRIES 'DECLARE HIGH RES GRAPHICS MODE 'DEFINE PATTERN TABLE START ADDRESS 'LOAD THE PATTERNS INTO THE TABLE

140 DEF SEG= 01 POKE 125*SADDR/256 'DEFINE TABLE ADDRESS IN INT 1FH

keyed Font into your PC and now you boot BASICA from DOS (disk operating system). When you load and run Font, you see the initialization announcement appear. The pattern table is now blanked and characters can be user-defined. You next see "SELECT A MODE/' and the functions available appear on the bottom line—at this point, you are observing Font's module MAIN as it executes. MAIN offers you the following functions:

Fl — STOP (terminate Font) F2 — CLOAD (load a character

pattern set from disk) F3 — CSAVE (save a character pattern set on disk)

F4

F5

CEDIT (edit a character

pattern) CUSE (use a pattern set experimentally) F6 — ELOAD (load an experiment) F7 — ESAVE (save an experiment)

During your first session you have no patterns to load. You therefore hit F4 to choose the CEDIT function. The screen clears, and CEDIT displays a new screen; it shows a reference ruler and all 128 characters in five rows (because you haven't defined any yet, they are all still blank). CEDIT then prompts you to input the numeric code of the character you want to edit. It asks for a code between 0 and 127, rather than 128 and 255, because

476 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Thirsty for 384k for Your IBM PC? Try a SixPakPlus'

the froi

Since the introduction of DOS 2.0, the capabilities of the PC have been increased with the ability to address up to 640k of memory. With the current PC having 256k available on the computer motherboard, you need another 384k to reach 640k. Great you say. but multi-function boards only have room for 256k on them. Well look again, because nowyoucanget the new SixPakPlus™ with up to 384k of memory, clock/calendar, asynchronous (RS232C serial) port, printer port, SuperDnve rM electronic disk emulation, and SuperSpooler™ printer spooling. There is even an optional game port. And if you already have enough memory for your present needs, you can still get on the bandwagon by buying it without any memory. When your needs for memory grow, the sockets are ready for you to install six banks of 64k parity checked memory.

With the SixPakPlus™ from AST Research you get the most advanced multifunction board available from the industry leader in IBM PC enhancements.

You get a clock/calendar powered by a clip-on battery which does not require factory service to replace, ft automatically loads the correct time and date when you turn on your computer. The serial port can be configured as COM1 or COM2, and has jumpers for simplifying wiring of cables. The printer port uses all the same signals as IBM's — you can even use the IBM diagnostics on it. The optional game port uses any IBM compatible joystick.

The board is backed up with a one-year warranty on parts and labor and the Qubie' satisfaction guarantee. If for any reason you are not satisfied with the performance of your board within 30 days of purchase, you may return it for a full refund, including the postage to return it. And if your board should need warranty service we do the repairs in 48 hours or we replace your board with a new one. That's the level of service that has made us the largest dealer in the world for AST Research products.

MegaPlus II & l/O-Plus II The Ultimate Expansion for IBM PC or XT

The AST Research MegaPlus II™ has three functions standard. Parity checked and fully socketed memory up to 256k in 64k increments, clock/ calendar with battery back-up for automatic loading of time and date when the computer is turned on; and asynchronous communication port (RS232C serial) which can be used as COMI or COM2, (DTE for a printer, or DCE for a modem). Also included is SuperDnve™ "electronic disk" software. This program builds "disk drives" in memory which access your programs at the speed of RAM. You get SuperSpooler™, print spooling software. It operates your printer while you continue to work with your computer. Options include a 100% IBM compatible parallel printer port (can be configured as LPT1, or LPT2), and a second RS232C asynchronous port (COMI or COM2). Three MegaPak™ options can plug onto your MegaPlus II "piggyback" style to give you an additional 128k or 256k of memory, ord game port.

l/O-Plus II™, is the answer for those who don't need additional memory but would like all those other multi-function board features. The l/O-Plus II™ comes standard with a clip-on battery powered clock/calendar, an asynchronous communication port (RS232C serial), SuperDnve™ electronic disk, and SuperSpooler™ print spooling software.

Optional is a second asynchronous port (DTE. or DCE), a parallel printer adapter, and the best game paddle adapter on the market. It is an IBM standard game port, but it can also use Apple compatible paddles and joysticks. Options are all socketed so they may be added later should the need arise

Both boards come with a one year factory warranty and the Qubie' satisfaction guarantee. If for any reason you are not satisified with the performance of your board within thirty days of purchase, you may return it for a full refund, including the postage to return it.

TO ORDER BY MAIL INCLUDE:

—complete description of products requested —daytime phone number —California residents add 6% sales tax —check or credit card number with

expiration date (personal checks take

18 days to clear)

TO ORDER BY PHONE;

In California (805) 482-9829

Outside California TOLL FREE (800) 821-4479

PRICES:

l/O-Plus 2™ with Clock/calendar, serial (asynchronous) port, SuperDrive™ and SuperSpool™

$129

MegaPlus II™ no memory, with clock, serial, and software - $229

SixPakPlus™ no memory, with clock, serial port, printer port, and software $229

Each 64k of memory installed and tested on

MegaPlus, SixPakPlus or alone S50

Parallel Printer Port $35

Second Asynchronous Port S35

Game Adapter (I/O or SixPakPlus) S35

: MegaPak™ with 256k of Memory S299

!28k of Memory $199

GamePak for MegaPlusll $40

ConnectAII Cable Bracket $19

r Cable to Parallel Printer S35

Cable to Modem or Serial Printer $25

Diagnostics Program S10

SUPERWRITER by Sorcim $179

SUPERCALC by Sorcim $159

dBASE II by Ashton-Tate $409

Word Processing Keyboard $229

Keyboard/Superwriter Package $399

SHIPMENT

jjfc Normal shipment is day after receipt of order.

We pay UPS surface charges on all items except

. keyboards. For keyboards add $5 for surface, $10

for 2 day air. All COD shipments add $3

I handling.

QUANTITY PURCHASES?

' If your corporation, institution, or users group has needs for quantities of boards, calf us for I details on our quantity purchase program.

QUBIE' DISTRIBUTING

4809 Cafle Alto, Gamari Ho, CA 93010

Tempo House

IS Falcon Road, London, SW11, UK

Circle 382 on inquiry card.

it is easier to deal with numbers that start from 0 (quick, what's the fifty-third character above 128?). The characters are still handled everywhere else in Font in their proper order, from 128 to 255.

You enter a character code, and CEDIT sets up to edit that character. First, the input prompt is erased. Then the current character definition is displayed in actual size in the middle of the screen, and a magnified definition is displayed below. Also, a new set of subfunction softkeys appears:

F2 - COPY A PATTERN FROM

SOME CHARACTER INTO THIS CHARACTER F3 - ERASE THIS CHARACTER F4 - DEFINE THIS CHARACTER F5 - ABORT EDIT OF THIS CHARACTER

The magnified pattern box has 8 rows of 8 columns and a blinking cursor that can be moved to any of the 64 positions in the box. Each position in the magnified box corresponds to a matching dot in the actual-size character. By typing a "D" (for dot) in any position in the magnified box, you turn on the corresponding dot in the actual character; by typing a blank, you turn off a dot. You use the four cursor keys to move the cursor around the pattern, placing dots where you wish.

When you've formed the character to your satisfaction, you hit F4 to select the DEFINE function, and your character now exists in the pattern table. It is displayed in its proper place in the upper part of the screen.

On the other hand, perhaps you don't like what you've done; if so, hit F3 to erase your pattern and begin anew or hit F5 to abort the edit of this character altogether and choose a new character code. If you are working with many similar characters, you can use F2 to copy from another pattern into the one you are editing.

You form characters in this mode, and at some point you've formed as many as you want. The next time you are prompted to "INPUT CHARACTER CODE," use the Fl RETURN function and CEDIT will return you

to MAIN. You can now save on disk the patterns you have created by selecting F3 for CHARACTER SAVE. Having done that, you can move to the CHARACTER USE function (CUSE) by means of the F5 softkey and experiment with your new characters.

Experimenting with characters is useful when symbols are to be made up of multiple characters. In a Dungeons and Dragons monster, for example, CUSE lets you combine characters and test alignment, suitability, and visual effectiveness, CUSE displays all 128 character codes in the upper area of the screen and defines a 14-row by 55-column work area in the middle of the screen. You can push a blinking cursor around this area and insert any characters you wish—defined or as yet undefined. You are asked to input the

The CHARACTER USE

function combines

characters and lets you

test visual

effectiveness,

character code you want to place at the current cursor position, and you enter a code between 0 and 127. The actual-size character is placed there, and you can use the four cursor keys to move to other printing positions in the work area and to place other characters there.

Having supplied a character code, you can also use the F2 REPEAT function to continue inserting the same code as you move the cursor around; this is handy for repetitive functions such as placing the character that forms the stave for musical notation. You leave CUSE submode by means of Fl RETURN.

Your designed and tested character set is now ready for use. Your applications program—a fast-paced video game, perhaps, or a choral-music copier—must now install your custom characters. Listing 3 is a program snippet that performs the installation. When your program has incorporated these program statements, it prints to the screen using your own characters in all their glory.

Enhancements, Modifications, and Bugs

A secondary but elegant feature of a softkey-based program is the ease of installing new features. No "path" needs to be established for a new feature; rather, another softkey is allocated in the properly set-up module, and the new feature is thereby made available.

A screen-dump-to-printer function could be added in this manner. Because a file of character patterns could be manipulated in a sense similar to a file of text, it would also be elegant to work with patterns across a file boundary: append, delete n characters, block move, and other text-processing features would be offered in an advanced character editor for which Font is the basis.

For machines that don't have an 80-character by 25-line high-resolution monitor, Font can still be installed. Within the initialization, all screen coordinates are expressed as variables; change all 80-character sizing to 40-character sizing, and Font adjusts accordingly.

If you have at least 48K bytes of memory, Font still fits in, although you must forgo all comments and tighten up the line structure. Reserve 1024 decimal bytes of storage using the CLEAR statement, and redefine the end of memory-address variable ADDRMAX to the end of a 48K-byte machine (49151 decimal).

In closing, it is only fair to mention a bug in Font: it does not edit or use character code 255. I believe that the BASIC interpreter handles character code 255 in some "special" way that precludes redefinition. Perhaps an alert reader can discover the root of this bug.B

References

1. IBM BASIC Manual. First edition (August 1981), IBM part number 6025013.

2. IBM Technical Reference Manual. First edition (August 1981), IBM part number 6025008.

Raymond A. Diedrichs (300 Livingston Court, North Wales, PA 19454) is a real-time process-control programmer and has been involved in personal computing since 1976.

478 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Programming Quickie

How to Pass and Scan a CP/M Command Line

by Daniel S. Hunt

Few compiler languages running under CP/M have the built-in capability to get arguments from a system command and pass them to the program. This feature enables you to type things like SORT SOURCE.DAT DESTDAT and have the called program busy itself with a sort program between a source and destination file, with no further communication from the user.

Listing 1, a file-to-file line-sort program written in BASIC-80, illustrates the two short routines that make this useful feature possible.

How It Works

When you type a command for CP/M, it automatically transfers anything following the first word to the 128-byte I/O (input/output) buffer at location 80 hexadecimal. You may use the information in the buffer as long as you haven't read or written the disk since you called your program. The first byte in the buffer contains the length of the argument transferred. The subroutine get cp/m cmd (line 4000) looks at this length byte to find how much of the buffer must be transferred to the command string, a$. The buffer pointer, p, is incremented and each location is peeked and its character added to a$, until a$ contains the full length of the command line.

At this point, a second routine, gnt (for get next token), is needed to break up a$ into separate words. You may give this routine any set of rules you like for scanning a$. The rules in listing 1 require that command arguments be separated by commas, tabs, or spaces. The program skips past these separators until it finds alphanumeric characters, then builds a word, token$, character by character until the next separator is found. The gnt routine keeps track of where it is in the command line with the variable psn, so that when it is called by the main program a second time it can start where it left off.

The token$ in this program is simply the name of source and destination files used to load and unload the

sort routine. The sorting routine in line 2010 is an almost literal Pascal-to-BASIC translation of the nonrecursive quicksort from Niklaus Wirth's fine book, Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs (Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Prentice-Hall, 1976). ■

Listing 1: This sort program illustrates the routines used to pass (i.e., merge) and scan a command line. In this example, the command arguments (token$) are the names for the source and destination files.

rem Command line demo for BASIC-80 compiler /c option rem by Daniel S. Hunt '82

defint i-s

true% = -1

dim ln$(700)

dim stackl(700),stackr(700)

rem begin main

:'loop control

:'max -' lines in sort

:'quicksort stacks

gosub 4000 :'get cp/m cmd(a$)

psn = 1 : token$ ■ "" : gosub 5000 :'gnt(tokenS;aS,psn)

flS = tokenS

tokenS = "" : gosub 5000 :'gnt(tokenS,aS,psn)

f2$ * tokenS

on error goto 99

open "I",l,fl$

on error goto 0

rem read unsorted data into strings i - 1 while true%

line input #1, ln$(i)

print lnS(i)

if eof(l) then 1220

i = i + 1

wend

1220 close

n m i

gosub 2010:'qsort(n,lnSC) )

on error goto 99 open "o", 1 ,f2$ on error goto 0

Listing 1 continued on page 483

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 481

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Programming Quickies.

Listing 1 continued:

for i = 1 to n

print #1 ,lnS(i) next

print /M.,chr$(26) close end :' main

2010 rem non-recursive quicksort(var ln$(1..n),n;integer)

s = 1 : stackl(l) = 1 : stackr(l) = n

while s > 0

1 = stackl(s) : r ■ stackr(s) : s=s-l

while 1 < r

i = 1 : j - r : x$ = ln$( (l+r)\2) while i <= j

while ln$(i) < x$ : i= i+1 : wend while x$ < ln$(j) : j= j-1 : wend if i <= j then

swap ln$(i),ln$(j) : i = i + 1 : j = j - 1 wend if i < r then

s ■ s + 1:

stackl(s) = i: stackr(s) = r r = j wend wend return

5000 rem gnt(var a$,token$; var psn : integer);

rem scan through delimiters until 1st token char found

ch$ ■ midSfaS.psn,!)

while (ch$ = M " or ch$ = chr$(9) or ch$ = ",'')

chS = mid$(a$,psn,1) psn = psn 4- 1 wend

rem unget last character if psn > 1 then psn = psn

1

rem beginning at 1st char of symbol, scan to next delimiter while true%

ch$ = mid$(a$,psn,1)

if ch$ = " " or chS = chr$(9) or ch$ = "," then return

tokenS ■ tokenS 4 ch$

psn = psn 4 1

rem at end of string, nul it and set to position 1 if psn > len(a$) then

psn = 1: a$ = "":

return wend return

4000 rem get cp/m command line(var a$);

rem set pointer to cp/m default io buffer p = &h80

rem get length of command line at first byte la = peek(p)

rem advance pointer and transfer command to a$

p = p 4 1

a$ = "" : nc = 0

while nc < la

eh$ = chr$(peek(p))

a$ = a$ 4 ch$

p=p4l : nc = nc + 1

wend return

rem error exit for bad file name

99 resume 100

100 print "Bad file name(s)": close : end

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CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc. TRS-80 is a registered trademark of Tandy Corp. Apple II is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Osborne is a registered trademark of Osborne Computer Corp. Xerox 820 is a trademark of Xerox Corp Kaypro is a trademark of Non-linear Sys Heath/Zenith is a trademark of Heath Corp. IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines, Corp Nevada COBOL, Nevada FORTRAN, Nevada PILOT, Nevata EDIT and Ellis Computing are trademarks of Ellis Computing, Inc. © 1983 Ellis Computing, Inc.

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Technical Forum

Make Fast and Simple Contour Plots on a Microcomputer

Condot employs an algorithm that simplifies creation of plots without requiring complicated code

by Sedgwick L. Simons Jr.

Contour-plotting programs for desktop microcomputers are scarce indeed. And programmers who approach too lightly the task of creating one are naive. At last, however, a real solution has been found. The program outlined in this article eases the task of generating contour plots; in spite of or more likely because of the lack of intelligence of the algorithm involved, the program seems foolproof.

Ostensibly, contour plotting is not complicated. You need only find and follow all the contour lines through a data array. Certainly the program will have to handle occasional saddle points, situations of low data surrounded by high data, or a few missing values. And, of course, you must avoid tracing the same contour twice or taking a shortcut across a different contour. Suddenly, the magnitude of this programming task is evident— this traditional approach to contour plotting takes an awfully intelligent program. And you know what intelligent means: lots of complicated code and lots of run time. And that means bad news for microcomputer users.

Some clever shortcuts to the traditional approach do exist. But some highly mathematical algorithms would require a couple of hundred FORTRAN cards.

There is a solution. I offer figure 1 as evidence of an easy, though devious, way to do top-quality contouring on a microcomputer. The algorithm discussed in this article makes no attempt to solve the intricate problems

of traditional contour plotting. Instead of finding and following contour lines, it just looks through the data array and draws dots whenever it crosses a contour line (hence the name Condot). With sufficiently fine interpolation, the dots run together and voila— contour lines.

1 r

MODEL FLUX AE = 50

3/24/83

12

20 24 4

MAGNETIC LOCAL TIME

CONTOURS AT: 0.25 0.50 1.00 2.00 4.00

Figure 1: This contour plot, based on an array of 960 observations (24 by 40), was made using Condot. The program was run on a Tektronix 4052, and the output was sent to a Tektronix 4662 pen plotter. It took about 10 minutes to generate the plot.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 487

(2o)

(2b)

(1 + 1. J + l)

(I. J + l)

(1 + 1. J + l)

(i.J)

(I. J + l)

Figure 2: Parts (a) and (b) represent two different interpolations through one cell of data. The cell is defined by the four adjacent observations XI, X2, X3, and X4, and the relative values of the I and J subscripts. The asterisks represent the dots that are plotted to produce a contour line. Each cell requires interpolation through the I dimension (a) and the } dimension (b). Note that the leftmost part of the contour line in (a) falls between interpolation steps and was not plotted until the second dimension (b) was addressed.

One fully loaded Condot program in use at Rice University has routines for smoothing data, recovering data from tape, interactive polling values on a finished plot, and zooming to plot a selected part of a data array.

Even in BASIC, Condot is not unacceptably slow. It took me about 10 minutes to plot figure 1 with a Tektronix 4052 computer driving a Tektronix 4662 plotter. The same plot can be done on a CRT (cathode-ray tube) in about half that time. The data used for figure 1 was in an array of 960 points, 24 across by 40 high. The run time is not extremely sensitive to the size of the array because large arrays decrease the amount of interpolation that the program must perform. (Note that the 4052 is a fairly fast 16-bit machine using 6800s for bit-slice processing and a high-resolution storage tube for display)

If you are really short of memory, you can nevertheless use this program. The Condot algorithm does not require that all the data be in memory at once. With some simple tricks, even a very modest home computer can be programmed to contour an array of 10,000 or more data points.

Algorithm and Program

A stripped-down version of Condot is provided in listing 1. You should be able to build your own custom contour plotter around this core. You'll need to provide the core with an ordered array of observations, F(A2,A1), and a vector, C(C1), of the contour values in increasing order. Set CO equal to C(l), the lowest contour value, and M0 equal to some constant that represents missing values in the data array F(A2,A1). The ordering of F(A2,A1) is such that F(l,l) will be plotted at the lower left, and F(1,A1) will be plotted at the lower right.

The actual mechanics of the Condot algorithm are illustrated in figure 2. Don't worry about part b of the figure yet. I use four adjacent points from data array F to define a data cell. The subscripts of F define the

relative values of the two independent variables (X and Y or I and J). The actual values in array F are observation data and define the "height" (Z value) at each corner of the data cell. This is the information to be contoured. Now, try to read this explanation with one eye on figure 2a and the other on the program listing.

Condot starts at the lower left corner of the data (F(l,l)) and works out along a pair of rows (J direction) before moving up to the next row. Each pair of rows defines Al -1 different cells. Therefore, the array of Al points across by A2 points high defines (Al-1) x (A2-1) different cells to be contoured. Statements 100 and 110 start the cell-plotting loops. All the contours in one cell are plotted before Condot goes on to the next cell.

For convenience, the data points at the four corners of the cell under consideration are set equal to XI, X2, X3, and X4 in statements 140 to 170. Next, a check is made to see if all the corners are below the lowest contour value (CO), or if any of the corners contain the missing value flag MO. In either of these cases, because there is no need to do anything more with this cell, the loops are incremented and the next cell is considered.

Unless you have really boring data, the program will soon find a cell with one or more contours through it. Becajuse most users of Condot will have better plotter resolution than data resolution, a systematic interpolation is begun across the cell so that the dots plotted fall close enough to each other to look like lines. First, calculate pairs of points along the lines from XI to X3 and from X2 to X4, as in figure 2a, and look for contours between each pair of points. Later, follow the same procedure through the other dimension, as in figure 2b.

Statement 250 starts the interpolation loop corresponding to figure 2a. The step size, S2, should be between 0 and 1 and can be computed from the ratio of data resolution to plotter (or CRT) resolution in the I dimension. In other words, S2 relates to the width of a dot on the

490 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983

plotter. As the interpolation loop steps from XI toward X3 and from X2 toward X4, calculate Zl and Z2 (the end points defining the line segment on which contour crossings will be plotted).

F Condot uses a short subroutine, starting at line 650, to find all of the contour crossings on the Zl to Z2 segment. The subroutine returns two numbers, C3 and C4, which are the lower and upper subscript values of the contours crossing the line segment. If no crossings are found, C4 ends up being less than C3, and statement 310 moves the program along to the next interpolation. If contour crossings are found between Zl and Z2, lines 320 to 350 compute the parameters defining the line segment from Zl to Z2. Then, the loop starting at 370 draws dots at the points where contours C(C3) through C(C4) cross the Zl to Z2 line segment.

In case you haven't seen MOVE and DRAW commands, here's an explanation of how they work. Each command takes two arguments, the X and Y locations of a point on the screen or plotter. MOVE causes the pen to come up (if it is down) and move to the specified coordinate. DRAW lowers the pen (if it is up) and draws a line to the specified coordinates. Statement 560 first moves the pen, without drawing anything, to the coordinate Rl, R2. Statement 570 lowers the pen and orders a line drawn to Rl, R2. But because the pen is already at Rl, R2, the result is simply a dot.

By now you probably have a good idea of how Con-dot works but might not see the reason for the two parts of figure 2. Suppose you had part 2a (interpolation through the I dimension) only. A contour line parallel to the J axis could fall between interpolation steps and never be found. To be sure no contour lines escape, you must interpolate through both the I dimension (2a) and the J dimension (2b) for every data cell.

Enhancements

You should be sure to build into your driver routine an input for the interpolation steps S2 and S3 in lines 250 and 440. Knowing your array dimensions and screen (or plotter) resolution, you can calculate the largest steps that will cause the dots to merge together. Being able to

run Condot with interpolation steps of four to six times these values is a useful option. The larger steps give a preview of the final plot by making dotted instead of solid lines. Best of all, this preview runs in a fraction of the time the normal plot takes.

As mentioned earlier, Condot does not need an entire data array in memory at any one time. If you've got a whopping big array of data, or an 8K-byte computer, your best bet may be to work with only two rows of data in memory at a time. Specifically, read the first row of data into memory before reaching statement 100. Then, at statement 105, read row I + 1. At 605, after plotting the cells defined by this pair of rows, set the first row equal to row I + 1. In this way, you'll first use rows 1 and 2 to define the data cells, then use 2 and 3, 3 and 4, and so on.

Users of this routine should be aware of two things. First, you may have noticed that the interpolations in different dimensions in figures 2a and 2b actually define two slightly different surfaces through the data points that define the four corners of the cell. The only time you will notice this difference is when you try to plot a very small (for example, a 4 by 6) array of data. The second potential problem applies to users who employ conventional pen plotters for output. Because this algorithm draws dots, it generates a lot of PEN UP and PEN DOWN commands, which means wear and tear on the pen tip; also, some users may find their ears and sanity adversely affected. If a hard copy from your display is acceptable, you would probably be better off with it. Otherwise, just pretend the plotter is your mother's old sewing machine. ■

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Dr. P. H. Reiff, G. F. Boudreau, Dr. R. Spiro, and Dr. ]. Schroeter, all of Rice University, for their insight and inspiration. Work on this contour-plotting algorithm was supported by NASA grant NGR 44-006-137.

Dr. Sedgwick L. Simons is an assistant professor of physics at University of Houston Downtown College (Dept. of Natural Science, 1 Main St., Houston, TX 77002). He received his doctorate degree in space physics from Rice University and developed Condot while working as a research associate there.

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492 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983

Technical Forum

Address Calculation

The Forgotten Sort

Sorting speed is directly proportional to the number of elements

by Douglas Davidson

Most amateur programmers know a few sorting algorithms—bubble sort certainly, probably the maximum-minimum methods; and, on a slightly more advanced level, the shell sort. Some know the more efficient sorts, such as shuttle or tree sorts. The best of these sorting algorithms require time proportional to the number of elements to sort (n*logn). What is not so well known is a sorting algorithm—and not a terribly complex one, either—that finishes in a time proportional to n (the number of elements to be sorted). Therefore, for some values of n, this sort must be faster than any of the other types. It generally goes by the name of "address calculation."

To be fair, some good reasons account for its lack of popularity. First, this method takes more than the minimum necessary amount of memory space to sort any given list; it requires additional storage proportional to n. However, in most microcomputer BASIC operations, storage requirements are not excessive, and the time savings may outweigh storage considerations. The second and more fundamental objection is that an address-calculation sort depends on the nature of the sorting keys. Most sorts use the key values only for comparison, simply checking whether one key is greater than another. This sort uses the actual value of the key.

For example, the address-calculation sort operates by first reserving a large range of memory for storage. It goes through its input list in order and, for each ele-

ment, uses the key value to calculate an address within the reserved range. This mapping of keys to addresses is crucial. The operation is most efficient when the mapping is one-to-one (one element to one address), but practically it will be many-to-one. The only absolute restriction on the mapping is that it be nondecreasing, but it is important to the sort's efficiency that the greatest possible dispersion of the list elements into the range be achieved, or at least that the fewest possible collisions (mappings of two list elements onto one address) occur. These considerations require knowledge of the range and distribution of the keys. Because commercial programmers must make sorts as general as possible, address calculation is neglected. If the key distribution differs substantially from the rectilinear (from an even distribution, such as might be obtained from random generation), then the function to map keys onto addresses must become much more complex. But for microcomputer programming, often the key distribution is close to random, making the address-calculation sort a good choice.

With the appropriate address calculated, that location is checked to determine its status. If it is empty, the current list element is placed there, and the algorithm continues. If it is already occupied, then the element must be inserted in such a manner as to maintain proper order. When all list elements have been placed in the range, the program simply reads them off in order, ig-

494 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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TSK Electronics Corporation

18005 Cortncy Court

City of Industry, CA 91748

(213) 810-1291

No more trial-and-error circuit design

MICRO-CAP

Analog Circuit Design Software

By Andrew Thompson, Spectrum Software

Called "a godsend" for the busy engineer by Softdlk, this amazing software package takes the trial-and-error out of designing electronic circuits. It makes your design work faster... more accurate... and far easier than ever before. With it, you use your Apple II Plus or IBM PC to draw an analog circuit, then run simulations of its performance under varying conditions. It's like building a breadboard and hooking up signal sources and instruments to see what happens — but much faster and with far less effort. You actually analyze and debug your circuit designs before you build them!

FREQUENCY IN HZ

With MICRO-CAP you can easily perform an AC or a DC analysis.

And it's all so simple - no computer expertise is required. For instance, you draw the circuit by just moving a cursor on the CRT screen, and selecting and entering the components (op amps, transistors, capacitors, diodes, etc.) at whatever location you want them placed. When the drawing is finished, the program sets up the equations for the simulation. And completed diagrams can be saved in a diskette file.

You can power your circuit with AC or DC voltages of various values and apply different input signals... run a time-domain simulation of the circuit in operation... perform analyses that show output voltage vs. input voltage and gain and phase shift vs. frequency... and more.

To order — or to get a demo disk — fill in and mail the coupon below.

Machine Specifications: Apple II Plus, 64K, or IBM PC, 128K, and two disk drives

■l E.T Matthews, 26th Floor — » '-■■

I McGraw-Hill Book Company 1221 Avenue of the Americas

■ New York, NY 10020

■ D I'm sold! I want to purchase the MICRO-CAP Software

I Package. Send me an invoice and licensing agreement; I'll then remit the full $475.00 price, plus local tax. I want the package I for (check one): □ Apple II Plus □ IBM PC ID I'm interested, but need more information. Send me a demonstration disk, plus detailed spec sheets on MICRO-CAP I'm enclosing my check for $19.95 plus local tax for the demo disk - with the understanding that, if I later decide to purchase . the complete MICRO-CAP package, this $19.95 will be cred-I ited toward the total $475.00 package price. I want the demo . disk for (check one): | □ Apple II Plus □ IBM PC

m

i

i

Name-

Address _

. Apt..

City_

State _

Offer good only in USA.

.Ztp_

23-D 224-4440-3

Listing 1: The address-calculation sort program. Written for the Apple II computer, the program will generate a list of random numbers, sort the list, and print the sorted list.

noring unused elements of the range, and places them in the output list.

Test Program

Listing 1 is a formatted listing of an Applesoft version of a test model address-calculation sort. The loop in lines 40 through 80 generates n random integer variables (-32767 to +32767) and prints them out. The variable I represents the number of locations allocated to the

Address calculation is one of a

type of sorts whose operation

depends on the nature of the

sorting keys.

range (more about the 2.36 later). The address-mapping function is a simple linear one; keys are multiplied by a constant BP to linearly map them onto the range 0 to I. A sort of string variables would compute a numerical value from the first so many characters, weighting them by position. Significantly, the actual list elements are not placed in the array A%; rather, indexes representing their location in the input list N% are used. A considerable space saving for lists in which the key is not the whole record results from this approach. A% is dimensioned at I + N (see line 110) to ensure that no element, in the course of being inserted into A%, gets bumped off the upper end. While this wastes space, it could be avoided with extra programming; however, that would obscure the primary ideas in this example. The main loop goes through the list in order, computing the address V from the key. If the location is vacant, line 150 places the index there. Otherwise, lines 160 and 170 insert the index in a higher location. The process produces a ''ripple" up the line, exchanging smaller

496 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

TVue or False:

You Can Now Run Apple

Software in Your IBM PC.

revolu-

lent board M Persona]

Dmputer into •mpatible sys -

few keys, and

package availab

Quadlink greatly enhances your PC's capabilities.

With Quadlink, there's no diskette reformatting needed.

And every Quadlink comes with that traditional Quadram Quality built right in.

lJ True again. With Quadlink 9 l "•

you'll never have to worry J

about "compatibility." Just

put your Apple diskette in Quadlink is available only

the PC drive and watch it go. at authorized full-service

It's that easy. Like having an Quadram dealers.

your IBIv

jaonnk in

'•;...-- ■■,'; — --■ -..

ibrarv e

ten. Bi

lent packages. Software for ny professional or home use.

QUADLINK BY QUADRAM

ineering and depen

do mop

AVAILABLE AT AUTHORIZED FULL SERVICE QUADRAM DEALERS WORLDWIDE

* Copyright 1983 Quadram Corporat All rights reserved

[apple

QUADRAM,

Apple and the Apple logo are registered trademarks of Apple'Computer, Inc.

IBM and the IBM logo are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.

Circle 378 on inquiry can

I m,:,m., mm mm mm m mm t m

;,, m m m m m m m m m m atf m mmm

' ■:• -, ,

ADDRESS CALCULATION

100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Figure 1: The Address Calculation Response Chart. The amount of time required to sort a list is directly proportional to the number in) of elements in the list.

elements into place so that the highest element encountered gets placed in the next vacant location by line 150. Once all the indexes are in place, lines 200 through 230 print the results. You could just as easily place them in another array. The counter C saves time by halting the printout upon locating all the elements.

Efficiency vs. Speed

I still have not justified my grandiose claims for the sort's speed. While the full mathematical treatment is unnecessary, some discussion is in order. Note first that the time used by the printout loop remains proportional to the value of I (the number of locations assigned to the range). This provides a motive for keeping I as small as possible, and if I is made proportional to n, then the time taken by this loop will also be proportional to n.

The time taken by the main loop would be proportional to n if there were no collisions (that is, if lines 160 and 170 went unused). The number of collisions decreases as I increases, providing a reason for wanting I to be as large as possible. Counterbalancing the two considerations shows that the optimum value for I will be proportional to n; the time taken in the main loop then also turns out to be proportional to n. The actual constants of proportionality depend on the implementation. These arguments are validated experimentally by figure 1, based on numerous timings of a stripped-down version of listing 1 run on an Apple II Plus. The diagram consists of a line plotted on top of points representing averages of several runs at near-optimum I. The optimum time turned out to be slightly greater than 9 seconds per 100 n. The optimum value for I was calculated to be about that used in listing 1; namely 2.36*N. Regardless of the implementation, the optimum ratio of I to n should be about 2.5 ± .5, with little variation of time within that range.

Summary

The address-calculation sorting algorithm provides a fast, not terribly complicated sort for lists the nature of whose keys and distribution is generally known. For special purposes, it can provide the most efficient sorting available. ■

Bibliography

1. Flores, Ivan. Computer Sorting. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hail, 1969.

2. Lorin, Harold. Sorting and Sort Systems. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1975.

Douglas Davidson (1505 Mintwood Dr., McLean, VA 22101) is a high-school senior. His hobbies include computers and astronomy.

PortaPac™

You'll Never Have To Leave Home Without Your Data Again!!

PortaPac™ is a revolutionary new product that allows the transport and transfer of information without regards to software protocols nor disk formats. PortaPac™ is small enough to fit inside a suit pocket, yet large enough in capacity to store up to 64,000 bytes of data (future versions up to 192K bytes). PortaPac™ is light-weight, versatile, totally portable, and can retain 1 its content for up to 1 full year without ever changing batteries! Key features:

• Industry standard RS232C interface with RTS/CTS handshake

• Full-duplex with baud rate from 50-19,200 switch-selectable

• Word length, parity, start/stop bits switch-selectable

• Transparent in-line or stand-alone host/terminal mode

• Totally portable • Can be used as a printer buffer

• Virtually maintenance free

498 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Typical Uses:

Transport of information - courier data pack • Exchange of information • Backup /copy • Demo of software

programs/hardware devices • Printer buffer • External storage for portable computers • Data aquisition for sales people/sales demo • Diagnostic program pack for field service technicians • and more 16K, 32K, 64K versions available. 16K version $345.00, 64K version $695.00. Ordering Information: Send order and check, COD, VISA, MASTERCARD to

—p ^ 1

Cryptronics, Inc.

11711 Coley River Cir, Suite 7 Fountain Valley, CA 92078

Add $8.00 for freight and handling. California residents add 6Vi% sales tax. Allow 2-4 weeks for delivery.

A\

Cryptronics, Inc.

PortaPac T "is a trademark of Cryptronics, Inc. Disclaimer: Cryptronics, Inc. shall not be responsible for the use of its product for illicit purposes.

Circle 538 on inquiry card.

outside CA inside CA

(800)222-8811 (800)631-4400

Over the phone r^f \ Face to face

ei

ither

v/ay

LOCATIONS:

Palo Alto, CA 94301 (415) 324-1099

1370 E. Walnut Street Pasadena, CA 91106 (213) 304-916*

16168 8each Blvd.

Suite 151-S

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

(714) 641-5555

New Jersey

Two Executive Drive Fort Lee. NJ 07024 (201) 585-9184

1930 E. Marlton Pike Cherry Hill, NJ 08003

Circle 373 on inquiry card.

your best choice

opening ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^i^Mi^i^HMi^^^Mi^^^^^HB^BHMH

Chicago, It Pittsburgh, PA

c S£s H dBASE II $389

Kansas City, MO St. Louis, MO

Houst a cn T Tx Smarfmodem 1200B $439

New Hampshire

3H Taggart Dr. (off Daniel Webster Hwy) " UICICCOCI© •••••••••«•••• yl95

Nashua, NH 03060 (603) 888-0231

Maryland MultlpIO!! $198

Montrose Professional Park

6204 Montrose Rd. | **Ammm 19 1 tfeUKA

Rockviile MD 20852 byHI5 m m ^ m ^3 eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 3007

(301) 770-1082

Store Hours:

10-7 Monday thru Friday ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ m

10-5 Saturday

BYTE November 1983 499

Programming International

outside CA i inside CA

(800)222-8811 (800) 631-4400

IBM PC SOFTWARE (PC/MS DOS)

Business

LIST SALE

Power for PC DOS 75 56

Ashton-Ute

Financial Planner 700 489

Friday 295 202

Aspen Software

Grammatik 75 56

Proofreader 32K 50 38

Proofreader 50K 50 38

Proofreader 80K 50 38

Best Products

Personal Financial Pom ... 95 66

Comprehensive Sottwan Support

PC Tutor 80 60

Continental Sottwm

FCM (First Class Mail) 125 79

Home Accountant Plus ... 150 99

Eagle Software Publishing

Money Pack Vol. 1 &2... 400 299

Emerging Technology

Edix 195 149

Wordix 195 149

Edix + Wordix 390 279

Edix/Wordix/Spelltx ....[5] 325

Howard Software

Real Estate Analyzer 250 185

Information Unlimited Sottwan

Easy Planner 250 188

Easy Speller 2 225 135

Easy Writer II 350 229

Lexlsoft

Spellbinder 495 259

Ufotree

Volkswriter 195 129

International Volkswriter .. 205 139

Mark of the Unicorn

The Final Word... 300 223

Mince 175 139

Motasoft

Benchmark Mail List 250 184

Benchmark

Word Processor 500 367

Mailmerge 250 165

Spellstar 250 165

Word/Mail [5] 695 426

Word/Spell [5] 695 426

Word/Spell/Mail [51 845 558

Wordstar [5] 495 327

Microsoft f

Multiplan™ 275 169

MultJtool Budget 109

Multitool Financial....... 69

Oasis

Punctuation & Style 125 109

The Word Plus 150 112

PBL Corporation

Personal Investor 145 98

Poachtree

SERIES 4 PAK

(GL.AR.AP) [5] 595 349

Select Inwrmation Systems

Select Word Processor ... 595 339 Software Arts

TKISolver 299 224

Supercalc 195 129

Supercalc 2 295 185

Visicorp

Visicalc 250 169

Visispell 225 183

Visiword 375 298

Database

Alpha Software LIST SALE

Mail List 95 67

Applied Software Technology

Versaform ..; 389 259

Ashton-Tate

dBASEII [5] 700 389

dBASE II w/user's guide [5] 729 409 Conceptual instruments

Desk Organizer 245

Condor Computer Corporation

Condor 3 650 398

Fox i Getter

Quickcode 295 185

dGRAPH 295 195

dUTIL 99 59

FYI, Inc.

Superfile 195 129

Information Unlimited Software

Easy Filer 400 279

Innovative Sottwan

TIM III 495 279

Link Systems

Data Fax 299 224

MDBS

Knowledge Man 500 327

Infostar (51 495 327

North American Business Systems

<<Answer>> 250 159

Software Publishers

PFS: File 140 105

PFS: Report 125 94

Supemfl

Personal Data Base 125 93

Visicorp

Visifile 300 219

Home/Education/Games

Automated Simulations/

Epyx LIST SALE

Curse of Ra 20 15

Temple of Apshai 40 30

Upper Reaches

of Apshai 20 15

Avaion Hill Computer

Stocks & Bonds 25 19

Midway Campaign 21 16

Bible Research

THE WORD Processor ... 146

Blue Chip Millionaire 100 75

Bndtfbond Software Apple Panic 30 22

tntocom

Deadline 50 37

Starcross 40 30

Suspended 50 38

Zork I 40 30

muLisp/MuStar 250 188

Ryan-McFarland

RM/Cobol

Full Dev System 950 713

RM/Cobol Runtime Only .. 250 188

Utility/Comm/Graphics

Alpha Software LIST SALE

Apple-IBM Connection... 195 135

Typefaces 125 87

Byrom Software

BSTAM 200 149

BSTMS 200 149

Central Point

Copy II PC 40 35

Smartcom 2 119 90

Move It 150 99

IBM PC HARDWARE

Corvus

PC Interface, Cable,

Man 300 239

Hayes Microcomputer Products

Smartmodem 1200B [5] 599 439 Hercules

Graphics Card 499 359

Kraft

Joystick 70 52

Mouse™ 195 149

Programming International

PC-Hayes Cable 35 29

QCS

Big Blue 595 449

Quadrum

256K 0UADB0ARD 595 435

64K Quadboard 395 289

TG Products

Joystick 65 49

•mMm

TM100-2 Drive

(5V«"DS) [5] 650 249

ISM

Mathemagic 90 65

Lightning

Master Type 50 38

Microsoft'

Flight Simulator 50 38

Sierra On Una

Crossfire 30 22

Frogger 35 26

Strategic Simulations

Warp Factor 40 30

Language

Microsoft® LIST SALE

C Compiler 500 349

Mumath/Musimp™ 300 225

Innovative Software

Fast Graphs 295 159

tnsoft

Data Design 225 169

ISM

Graphmagic 90 65

Graphmagic Combo 150 119

Microstuf

Crosstalk/

Smartmodem 195 135

Peter Norton

Utilities 80 60

Versa Computing

Versawriter Graphics

Tabl 299 249

Visicorp

Visitrend/Plot 300 215

@

TELEPHONE ORDERS

Inside CA f 800) 631-4400 Outside CA (800) 222-8811

Local (415) 324-3730

Order lines are manned 6:30—6 Monday thru Friday and 9— 5 Saturday. Other lines are open 9—5 Monday thru Friday.

Technical Support Order Status Sales Manager

(415)324-0311 (415)324-0306 (415)324-0305

orders must be PAID by November 20

to qualify for these special prices

PROGRAMMING INTERNATIONAL

505 Hamilton Avenue ■ Suite 301 Palo Alto, California 94301

More CP/M®, Apple®, IBM PC®, UNIX® software, hardware etc

available; call for quote All sales are final.

TERMS: All prices subject to change without notice and availability. Cashier's eheck/MO/bank transfer. Allow time for company or personal checks to clear. Prices reflect cash prepaid discount. VISA/MASTERCARD/COD/PO's + 3%. CA residents add sales tax. All sates final for games & special orders.

SHIPPING: $3 per item for UPS surface ($6 for Blue Label) within Continental USA, except where shipping cost is specified in square brackets. UPSdoes not go to Canada, Alaska, APO's, FPO's; call for ship charge or add 15%—we will refund/credit difference.

RETURNS: All returns subject to managers approval, must have authorization number, obtained at 415-324-0305. Unauthorized returns will be refused; damaged goods will be refused. All returns subject to 15% restocking fee. No return after 30 days.

HARDWARE, NOT MACHINE SPECIFIC

Amdek LIST SALE

Color II (RGB) [10] 899 645

Hayes Microcomputer Products

Chronograph (5] 249 199

Smartmodem 1200 (5] 699 509

Smartmodem 300 (5] 279 209

NEC

Monitor 12" Green

Hi-Res [10| 285 167

J Cat 149 119

Smart Cat 103 |4] 259 207

Smart Cat 103/212 . ..[4] 595 476

PC SOFTWARE ~

CP/M-86

Ashton-Tate LIST SALE

dBASEII... |5J 700 398

Fox & Goiter

Quickcode 295 195

dGRAPH 295 195

dUTIL 99 59

Digital Research

C8ASIC 86 200 150

CP/M-86 60 45

Pascal MT+86

With SPP-86 600 450

Wool!

Move It 150 99

■ = Manufacturer's trademark

• = Indicates a manufacturer's

registered trademark

500 BYTE November 1983

APPLE II/II- DOS ®

Business

Arise! LIST SALE

Magic Mailer 70 49

Magic Window II 150 109

Magic Words 70 49

Broderbund

General Ledger w/AP 495 305

Continental

CPA #1,23,4 (ALL 4) |5) 1000 609

CPA #1-GL 250 159

CPA #2-AR 250 159

CPA #3-AP 250 159

CPA 14-PAYROLL 250 159

CPA #5-Property

Management 495 352

FCM (First Class Mail).... 100 75

Home Accountant 75 52

Decision Support Accountant With

DBCALC 149 112

Accountant 129 97

Piew liter/

Multi 80 Column 150 108

Highlands

E2 Ledger..... 60 37

Kensington

Format II 150 113

UK

Lettr Perct

W/Mail Merge 150 112

Micro Lab

WallStreeter 300 216

Microsoft*

Multiplan- 275 198

m$»

Supertext Home Office 125 94

Supertext Professional 99 74

PBL

Personal Investor 145 99

Sensible

Sensible Speller 125 94

Siena On Line

Dictionary 100 70

Screenwriter II 130 85

Screenwriter

Professional 200 149

Silicon Valley

Word Handler 199 145

Sot/Sys. Executive Speller 75 56

Software Dimensions

Accounting + tl GR 395 289

Accounting + II AR 395 289

Accounting + II AP 395 289

Accounting + II

Inventory 395 289

Accounting + II

Payroll 395 289

Accounting + II SOE .. 395 289 Accounting + II POE .... 395 289 Accounting + II POS .... 395 289

Synergistic Global Program Line Editor 65 49

Vistcorp Business Forecasting

Model 100 78

Desktop Plan 250 184

Visicalc 250 169

Visiplot 200 156

Database

AST LIST SALE

Versaform 389 269

Broderbund

Bank Street Writer 70 53

Micro Lab

Data Factory 300 216

Muse

Address Book 50 36

Silicon Volley

List Handler 90 68

M/iiwaia ruoitsners

PFS: File 125 94

PFS: Graph 125 94

PFS: Report 125 94

DBMaster 229 148

OBMaster/Hard Disk 499 359

Utility Pak 1 129 99

Utility Pak 2 129 99

Synergistic

Modifiable Database 80 59

Vistcorp

Visifile 250 169

Home/Education/Games

Beagle Brothers LIST SALE

Alpha Plot 40 28

Eduwara

Algebra 1 40 30

Algebra 2 40 30

Algebra 3 40 30

Compu-Math/

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Compu-Read 30 22

Decimals 49 37

Fractions 49 37

PSAT Word Attack 49 37

SAT Word Attack 49 37

Spell Bee

W/Read. Primer 40 30

Statistics 30 22

Lightning Software

Master Type 40 30

Him Lob

English SAT #1 30 22

Learning System 150 108

US Constitution Tutor ... 30 22

Microsoft*

Typing Tutor II" 25 19

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Speed Read Plus 60 43

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Stargazer's Guide 30 23

Dataplot 60 43

Omega Microwave

Inspector 60 49

Locksmith 100 75

Penguin Comp Graphics/

Apple Tablet 120 86

Complete Graphics

System 70 50

Graphics Magician 60 45

Special Effects 40 30

Special Effects

Apple Tablet 70 50

Phoenii Zoom Graphics 50 38

Sensible

DOS Plus 25 19

Disk Organizer 30 23

Disk Recovery 30 23

Image Printer II 50 35

Multi Disk Catalog 25 19

Super Disk Copy 35 26

Sirius

Pascal Graphics Editor ... 100 75

Southeastern Data Capture Videx 90 65

Southwestern Data ASCII Express

Professional 130 89

Printographer 50 38

Stoneware Graphics Proc. Sys.

(standard) 69 52

Graphics Proc. Sys.

(professional) 179 129

Videx Videoterm Utilities Disk... 37 28

Vkleorp

Visiterm 100 79

Visitrend/Plot 300 234

inside CA (800} 631-4400 outside CA (800} 222-0011

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Applesoft Compiler

(TASC)" 175 119

Mumath/Musimp

(ADIOS)™ 250 194

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Beagle Brothers

Apple Mechanic 30 22

Beagle Bag 30 23

DOS Boss 24 17

Double Take 35 27

Pronto DOS 30 23

Utility City 30 22

Crone

Menu Generator 40 29

Hayes

Terminal Program 100 75

Electric Duet 30 23

Graforth II 75 56

Link Systems

Link Index 195 149

Link Video 55 42

Lotus

Executive Briefing

System 199 149

APPLE III™

LIST SALE Business Forecasting

Model 100 78

Desktop Plan 300 234

Visicalc Advanced 400 312

Link System

Data Fax 249 187

175 129 175 129 125 94

PFS: PFS: PFS:

Rle.... Graph.. Report .

APPLE He™

Most Apple II products also run on the lie (call for details). Products below are specially designed tor the lie.

Siena On Line LIST SALE

Screenwriter II 130 90

Software Publishers

PFS: File 125 94

PFS: Graph 125 94

PFS: Report 125 94

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Visicalc 250 189

APPLE HARDWARE™

Hardware

Eaststde LIST SALE

Wildcard (for lie only).... 130 109

Micromodem II 379 259

Kensington

System Saver Fan 90 69

UK

Lower Case Char Gen 25 19

Microsoft®

16K RAM Card 1 " 100 69

Premium System" [5] 695 489

Softcard* 345 219

New Premium Card™ 495 369

7E

Joystick 60 45

Videx

Enhancer II 149 119

Videoterm with

Softswitch 375 239

CP/M-80

(8" Standard SSSD)

Other formats are available as special orders thru Software to go.

Business

ATI UST SALE

Power for CP/M 75 54

Artificial Intelligence

Medical (PAS-3) 995 749

Ashkm-late

Bottom Line Strategist.... 400 279 Aspen

Grammatik 75 56

Proofreader (32K or 80K) 50 38

Palantir 425 319

Dictronics

Random House

Thesaurus 150 319

Digital Research

Display Manager 400 295

Epic

Supervyz 150 94

Mark of the Unicom

The Final Word 300 223

Mince 175 139

Calcstar 145 96

Mailmerge 250 165

Spellstar 250 165

Starindex 195 150

Word/Mail |S] 695 426

Word/Spell (5] 695 426

Wordstar Prof.

(Word/Spell/Mail) [5] 845 558

WordStar [5J 495 327

Microsoft ■

Multiplan 1 " 275 198

Oasis

The Word Plus 150 112

Select

Select Word Processor ... 595 356

Sorclm

Supercalc 195 129

SupercaJc 2 285 179

Superspellguard 195 129

Superwriter 295 185

®

TELEPHONE ORDERS

Inside CA (800) 631-4400 Outside CA (800} 222-8811

Local (415) 324-3730

Order lines are manned 6:30—6 Monday thru Friday and 9— 5 Saturday. Other lines are open 9—5 Monday thru Friday

Technical Support Order Status Sales Manager

(415)324-0311 (415)324-0306 (415)324-0305

orders must be PAID by November 20

to qualify for these special prices

505 Hamilton Avenue • Suite 301 Palo Alto, California 94301

More CP/M®, Apple*, IBM PC®, UNIX® software hardware etc available; call for quote All sales are final.

TERMS: All prices subject to change without notice and availability. Cashier's check/MO/bank transfer. Allow time for company or personal checks to clear. Prices reflect cash prepaid discount. VISA/MASTERCARD/COD/PO's + 3%. CA residents add sales tax. All sales final for games & special orders.

SHIPPING: $3 per item for UPS surface ($6 for Blue label) within Continental USA, except when} shipping cost is specified in square brackets. UPS does not go to Canada, Alaska, APO's, FPO's; call for ship charge or add 15%—we will refund/credit difference.

RETURNS: All returns subject to managers approval, must have authorization number, obtained al 415-324-0305. Unauthorized returns will be refused; damaged goods will be refused. All returns subject to 15% restocking fee. No return after 30 days.

Database

Anderson-Bell UST SALE

Abstat 395 359

Ashton-Ttte

dBASE II 700 389

d BASE II

w/user's guide 729 409

Coxlon

Cardbox 245 177

Condor

Condor 3 650 398

M

FMS 80 395 275

Digital Research

Access Manager 300 225

FYl

Superfile 195 129

FoxSGeller

Quickcode 295 195

Quickscreen/dBASE II 149 125

dGRAPH 295 195

dUTIL 99 59

Human Soft

DBPIus 125 95

Micro Pro

Infostar 495 327

Microsoft ®

Sorting Facility

(MS0RT)™ 195 151

Optimal

Accelerator™ 195

dCLONE™ 295

Pearl Soft

Personal Pearl 295 229

T/MakarCo,

T/Maker III 275 215

Home/Education/Games

Infocom UST SALE

Deadline 60 43

Starcross 50 38

Zork I 50 38

Zork II 50 38

Zork III 50 38

Supersoft

Dungeon Master 40 30

Nemesis 45 34

Language

Digital Research UST SALE

CB80 500 395

CBAStC 150 94

Programmer's Utility 200 159

PL/180 500 375

Pascal MT+ 350 262

Pascal MT+ with SPP . .. 500 395

SID 75 63

ZSID 100 88

Microsoft •

Basic 80 Interpreter 350 252

Basic Compiler 395 296

CobOlBO 750 562

Fortran 80 500 360

MACRO 80 200 150

nLisp/*Star 200 156

ADA Compiler 300 225

C Compiler 250 188

Utiliry/Comm/Graphlcs

Byrom UST SALE

BASTAM 200 149

Digital Research

Despool 50 38

Microatut

Crosstalk/ Smartmodem .. 195 135

Disk Doctor 100 75

10//

Move It 125 83

HARDWARE, NOT MACHINE SPECIFIC

Amdek UST SALE

Color II (RGB) 899 645

Hayes Microcomputer Products

Chronograph 249 199

Smartmodem 1200 699 499

Smartmodem 300 279 209

NEC Monitor 12" Green

Hi-Res 285 167

J Cat 149 119

Smart Cat 103 259 207

Smart Cat 103/212 595 476

Circle 374 on inquiry card.

Programming Quickies

Fast Loading with Apple DOS 3.3

by John

Apple DOS 3.3 normally takes considerable time to load a large file. You can improve the DOS (disk operating system) file-loading operation, however, by using a program called Loader that increases by as much as five times the speeds of the LOAD and BLOAD (used for binary files) procedures. Loader also quickens RUN and BRUN operations, which execute the program in memory. (DOS's file-saving operation is also slow; that rate is less crucial, however, because most files are saved only once but might be loaded many times.)

DOS modified by the Loader program works with any standard 16-sector disk and stores files on a disk the way standard DOS does. With this enhanced system, files can be read from disks written with regular DOS or from commercial disks that use the standard DOS format.

Tracks and Sectors

Before I describe how Loader works, let's consider the operation of standard DOS. DOS stores data on disks that contain 35 concentric tracks; each track includes 16 sectors. A sector contains 256 bytes of code (or data). The DOS routine RWTS (read or write track and sector) can be used to read or write any complete sector but cannot read a partially filled sector.

When a sector is to be read or written, RWTS starts up the disk drive, moves the disk-drive head to the appropriate track, and waits for the sector to arrive at the disk-drive head. If the disk is already running and the head is on the appropriate track, there's just a short delay while the head waits for the sector.

DOS writes a file to disk filling one track at a time, using sector 15 first, sector 14 next, and so on down to sector 0. If a sector is already filled, DOS skips it and fills the next one.

At first, such a scheme appears inefficient; if you want sector 15 read first and sector 14 read next, you'll have to wait 14/16 of a disk revolution for that sector to come around. To speed the process, the designers of DOS arranged RWTS so it does not handle the disk sectors in the ordinary numerical sequence.

Instead, RWTS uses a look-up table to translate the sector number it receives into a number that indicates that sector's actual position on the disk. Table 1 illustrates how the sector and position numbers correspond. (Position 0 immediately follows position 15.) Thus, the sectors in a normal DOS file are arranged such that there is always a spare sector position between one file sector and the next, which gives the RWTS routine sufficient time to read a file sector, process it (while the 256 bytes

Williams

in the next position pass unread under the disk head), and return just in time to catch the next file sector. Consequently, RWTS can read a complete track in slightly more than two disk revolutions, starting at position 15 and ending at position 0. At this rate, in fact, the routine can read an entire file at three revolutions per track: two revolutions to read and less than one revolution to move the head to the next track.

DOS Files

Because the RWTS routine determines the position of each sector in a track, you might reasonably expect that DOS file operations are carried out as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, a snag delays the procedure. Although RWTS reads sectors efficiently, it reads only complete sectors: that is, sectors containing 256 bytes. Most files, however, do not completely fill all sectors allocated to them; the last sector of each file probably includes some unused bytes. Moreover, the first few bytes of such files contain control information, which should be intercepted and not transferred to user memory.

Programs, therefore, often use DOS to read files one line or one record at a time, which results in proper handling of control information without cluttering user memory. Furthermore, this capability to read one line or record at a time can prevent transfer of unused bytes to user memory at the end of a file's final sector.

To provide such capability, however, DOS gives up some of the efficiency of RWTS. For example, to read the first record of a file, DOS must transfer (using RWTS) the complete first sector of the file into a DOS buffer area and copy the record to the user-program buffer. Then, to read the next record, DOS simply copies subsequent bytes from the DOS buffer to the user-program buffer. When the DOS buffer is empty, DOS goes to the next sector. The process continues until the entire file is read. Because DOS copies from a buffer, only the exact amount of data needed is written to the chosen locations in user memory; the areas adjacent to those locations are not disturbed.

The procedure I've just described solves the problem of t reading less than a complete sector; however, it is time-consuming. Because copying each file in and out of the fixed DOS buffer slows the reading process, DOS gets back to RWTS too late to catch the next sector; RWTS must wait nearly an entire disk revolution for the sector to come around again. Consequently, instead of requiring three disk revolutions to read a file, DOS 3.3 needs 18 revolutions (i.e., it's six times slower).

502 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Fast DOS

LOAD and BLOAD use such a procedure in DOS to transfer from disk to memory the body of a file as well as the first and final sectors. By placing a jump command in the proper place, however, you can bypass this procedure and substitute the Loader routine, which affects only LOAD, BLOAD, RUN, and BRUN.

With Loader implemented, these commands start as

they usually would: DOS performs all of the normal syntax checks, reads the first sector of a file into the DOS buffer, and sorts out the file address and length. Loader then takes over, copying bytes from the DOS buffer containing the first sector of the file. If the file is sufficiently short to be contained in that one sector, the job is done; Loader returns to DOS, which furnishes a prompt or runs the file. However, a file usually fills additional sectors.

As long as there are 256 bytes or more to be read in the file, Loader calls RWTS, which in turn transfers the next sector directly to memory, repeating this process until fewer than 256 bytes remain. Because Loader places the sectors directly in memory, it need not do any copying and can get back to RWTS in time for RWTS to catch the next file sector. As a result, RWTS does not have to wait one disk revolution, and Loader reads the bulk of the file at full speed.

At the end of the file, there usually remains a partially filled sector (of 255 bytes or less) to be read. Loader uses RWTS to read such a sector to the DOS buffer area and then copies the correct number of bytes into the appropriate place in memory Therefore, as with normal DOS, only the exact memory area involved in the LOAD or BLOAD operation is disturbed.

The Loader program itself is small, containing about 250 bytes. It uses the same locations in page-zero that

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Listing 1: A numeric listing for the Loader program, which speeds loading times under Apple DOS 33. The program is for use on the 48K-byte version of the Apple II.

C9 B5 8D 6C BF 8D 75 BF AD

BF AD CB B5 8D F'Q BE AD CC

38 AD C5 B5 ED BD B5 85 42

AC BD B5 AE 01 B5 8A DO 08

iS CA B q QO 96 91 42 C8 &<J

A9 OE 8D C6 B5 E6 43 AE C2

B5 A5 43 8D CO B5 20 49 BF

F5 AD CO B5 85 43 AD CB 85

CO B5 AE CI B5 FO oA 20 49

A5 4C EA A2 AC C6 B3 DO OD

01 20 65 BF AO OC AD BF B5

8D FO B7 8E Fl 87 B9 00 97

00 97 EiD ED B7 C8 8C C6 B5 BO 08 60 20 EA A2 A2 05 DO 68 68 66 8A 4C D2 A8

CA B5

AD AD

EE SD. BF

AD AE

normal DOS routines use. But where is the best place to keep these 256 bytes so they won't affect user programs?

Loader fits in the area usually taken up by the disk formatter. The DOS formatting routines that make up the formatter are used to initialize a disk, and you don't really need a copy of them on every program disk.

The DOS modified to contain Loader cannot format an unused disk, but the IMT command works if the disk being written has already been initialized. INIT clears the catalog on the disk, then writes onto the disk a copy of DOS that includes Loader. The modified DOS cannot change the disk's volume number, however, so you must maintain the same volume number, set with the V option. Otherwise, DOS signals a VOLUME MISMATCH error.

You can modify DOS in memory by entering the Apple Monitor and typing in the code provided in listing 1. (The code was written for a 48K-byte Apple II.) When you have finished typing, reenter DOS using Ctrl-C, set up a Hello program, insert a previously initialized disk, and type INIT HELLO, followed by the disk's volume number (e.g., V254). This procedure stores a copy of the modified DOS on the disk. After you have one copy on disk, you can either read it in and initialize other disks in the same way or use a disk-copying utility. Make sure you have an initialized disk that you are prepared to reinitialize with the modified DOS before you complete all the necessary typing. ■

John Williams spent many years working for British computer companies. He now works for Bell Northern Research in Ottawa, Canada. He can be reached at 18 Banting Crescent, Kanata, Ontario, Canada K2K 1P4.

504 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Technical Forum

A Simplified Algorithmic Approach

to Decision Tables

Decision tables can yield structured programs suitable for use on personal computers

by Joe

Decision tables—a system-analysis technique whose time has come and gone and come back again—are graphic representations of logic problems.

They take the form of a table or array and are made up of lists of conditions and lists of possible actions. A proper action is selected by reading the decision table to see which conditions control that action. When the set of conditions meets the requirements for an action, then that action is taken.

Decision-table techniques were developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s to solve manufacturing problems. By 1961 and 1962, computer programs could operate on decision tables, but by the middle 1960s interest died out.

Decision-table techniques fell out of use because flowcharts became popular, and the amount of computer resources required to handle small decision tables for individual programmers was not worth the cost in terms of storage and execution time. Applications for the really huge decision tables were not found all that often, either.

The main reason for the renewed interest in decision tables is that they are a good tool to use with structured programs. They can represent the complex logical expressions that can appear in structured programs in a compact space and in a form that can be manipulated to produce optimized, structured code using CASE or nested IF. . .THEN. . .ELSE statements. Computer time and storage are now much cheaper, and I recommend that any professional programmer have a decision-table package for his or her personal computer.

The method presented here is a shortened and simplified form of other techniques. Although no programs are given here, the method is designed with ease of programming implementation in mind. The use of +1 and

Celko

-1 makes it easy to perform the operations of decision tables discussed here.

The Decision-Table Format

A decision table is made up of three areas: conditions, which are labels on the rows; actions, which are labels on the columns; and rules. A rule is the collection of conditions for one action or, put another way, the vertical grouping of values in the array formed by rows and columns.

The conditions are Boolean expressions that can be true or false. They should be independent of each other and as simple as possible. Conditions such as "sex is male" and "sex is female" should not both appear because one is simply the negative of the other. On the other hand, a compound condition such as "(A>1) AND (A<5)" might be better written as the two simple conditions "(A>1)" and "(A<5)."

The actions can be procedure calls, code modules, pseudocode, or some other action to be taken by the program being designed. The actions do not have to be unique. In fact, it is quite likely that an action can be triggered by several sets of conditions in a complex pro-

Figure 1: A decision table for a set of traffic directions: "Drive straight ahead until you come to an intersection with a traffic light but no tree, then turn left. When you come to an intersection with a tree and no light, turn right/'

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

gramming problem. Decision-table programs should include an action that reports errors; that is, condition sets that aren't expected to occur but that might appear during decision-table manipulation because of programming mistakes or other such problems. The action "do nothing" could be another possible outcome in any decision table. Just be aware that to perform the "do nothing" action is to do something, as far as a program is concerned.

The decision-table rules have one of three symbols in them; +1 means "yes" or true, -1 means "no" or false; and 0 means "don't care." The use of the numbers 1 and 0 instead of letters like Y and N or T and F makes the table operations easy to program.

Figure 1 is a decision table for a set of traffic directions: "Keep driving straight ahead until you come to an intersection with a traffic light but no tree, then turn left. When you come to an intersection with a tree and no light, turn right."

Transformations for Decision Tables

Some obvious transformations can be performed on decision tables to keep them simple. The conditions for these transformations do not often appear explicitly but show up after an expansion is performed on the decision table. The transformations are:

1. Remove any duplicate columns. Such duplicates have the same rules and actions as another column in the decision table. In practice, this condition does not occur very often.

2. Remove any duplicate rows. In practice, this condition does not happen very often, either.

3. Remove any condition with all 0 rules. Because such conditions indicate a "don't care" state, they can't influence whether an action is performed.

4. Remove any action with all 0 rules. Such an action is always to be performed; thus, you need not make a decision regarding it in the first place.

Note that if two different actions have the same rules, then they are in contradiction. Figure 2 shows a decision table that has some contradictions in it.

For example, the condition Cl=+1, C2=-l, and C3=+l, written as the vector ( + 1, -1, +1), satisfies the left-hand-column requirements for Al as well as the right-hand-column requirements for A2. Representing the rules as vectors in the form (CI, C2, C3), the two actions Al and A2 can both be triggered by inputs of ( + 1, -1, +1), (-1, + 1, -1), (-1, +1, +1), and( + l,

+ 1, +1).

Such errors most likely show up when a decision table is expanded (a transformation that I'll discuss in the next section). Contradictions are often introduced when a system is used by two or more groups of people. Having no overall picture of the system, each group makes different assumptions, and contradictions result. The decision table is a good tool for detecting such problems and explaining them to users.

Expansion and Contraction Transformation

Two important transformations can be performed on a decision table: expansion and contraction. The other transformations discussed so far were really just housekeeping. These two major transformations allow us to test a decision table for correctness and to rewrite it in the best possible form.

The expansion transformation can be defined as follows:

1. Replace every column having a 0-valued rule with two columns. For a column having more than one 0, pick one particular 0 in that column with which to work. The two resulting columns are identical to the old except that one has a +1 in the position where the 0 was and the other has a -1 in the position where the 0 was. The action stays the same.

2. Repeat step 1 until the decision table has no 0 rules left.

3. If all possible values of true and false are not represented, add to the decision table new columns that have the missing combinations and an error (or undefined) action.

The purpose of expansion is to see that there are no contradictions in the decision table and to show programmers any rules they may have overlooked.

The contraction transformation is just the opposite of expansion, and it can be defined as follows:

1. If two columns are identical except that one has a +1 in one and only one position and the other has a -1 in that same position, then replace both of them with a single column that has a 0 in the position.

2. Repeat step 1 as often as is possible.

Figure 2: A decision table with four hidden contradictions. A contradiction occurs when one set of conditions satisfies the rules for two different actions. When the rules are represented as a vector of the form (CI, C2, C3), the contradictions in this table are (+1, -I, +2), (-1 +2, -1), (-1 +2, +1), and (+2, +2, +2). Note that the 0s in the decision table represent ''don't care" conditions. Thus, for example, the first contradiction (+2, -2, +2) satisfies the left-hand-column rules for Al (the first +2 satisfying the upper left-hand-corner entry and the -1 and second +1 satisfying the left-hand column's 0 entries) and the right-hand-column rules for A2 (the second +2 satisfying the bottom right-hand-comer entry, and the first +1 and the -1 satisfying the right-hand column's 0 entries).

508 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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(3a)

(4a)

(3b)

(4b)

Figure 3: A decision table (3a) and its expanded form (3b). Note that none of the five error columns is duplicated elsewhere in the table; the condition combinations represented by these error columns should not occur in the real-world situation modeled by the decision table.

The purpose of contraction is to reduce the physical size of the decision table. This serves two purposes. First, a person can handle a smaller table more easily than a large one. Second, it simplifies the application of algorithms to generate programs from the decision table. Very often, columns can be contracted in several ways. This is especially true for the error conditions, but if too many error conditions can be reduced, then the conditions might have been less independent than possible.

Figure 3 serves as an example. First, it is expanded and then inspected. Rules 1 and 6 are contradictory, as are rules 4 and 5. Rules 1 and 6 both expand to include the rule ( + 1, +1, -1, +1). Rules 4 and 5 both expand to include the rule (-1, +1, +1, +1).

Furthermore, there are five missing rules that have to be assigned error actions. These are shown as extra columns on the right-hand edge of the expanded decision table.

Rules 1 and 5 have redundancies, as do rules 2 and 3. Rules 1 and 5 both lead to action Al for rules ( + 1, + 1, +1, +l)and( + l, +1, +1, -1). Rules 2 and 3 both lead to action A2 for rule ( + 1, -1, +1, +1).

Redundancy can be handled by ignoring it because it is harmless or by carefully replacing a 0 value in one of the rules with a +1 or -1. For example, if we decide to leave rule 1 alone, we can replace the present rule 5, which is (0, +1, +1, 0), with (-1, +1, +1, 0). It's

(4c)

Figure 4: Because of the arrangement of its zero entries, the decision table in figure 4a can be split into subtables (4b) to yield two independent decision tables (4c).

wise to remove the extra rules because they make the decision table bigger than it needs to be.

Independent Subtables

Many times a decision table really is a collection of several separate decision tables with no logical relationship among all the conditions. Combining several independent decision tables into one is not a good way to draw a decision table, but it often happens in the real world because of the way people specify program requirements. Conditions are often considered to be related because they occur in the same place and at the same time. This means that two sets of actions and two sets of conditions have "don't care" values in the rules where they overlap. A sample decision table is shown in figure 4.

510 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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THEN

(6a)

ROW TALLY

-LOWEST

IF CI

THEN IF C3 THEN

(6b)

ELSE IF C2 THEN

(6c)

ROW TALLY

ELSE

COLUMN TALLY

LOW

ROW

TALLY

ELSE

ELSE

ROW TALLY

LOW AND BALANCED

COLUMN TALLY

ROW TALLY

Figure 6: Program development for the figure 5 decision table. To start, select the row with the lowest row tally (the CI row in figure 5) and construct a new decision table out of the figure 5 table entries for which CI is true (see figure 6a). Note that if CI is true, then Al or A2 must be performed; A3 and A4 are eliminated. Then, construct a new table out of the figure 5 table entries for which CI is not true (which dictates A3 or A4, eliminating Al and A2). Similarly, construct new tables from each resulting table until each action is specified. Figure 6b shows the transformation of the first subtable and 6c shows the transformation of the second subtable.

A subtable with all Os can be replaced immediately with a call to its action procedure. A subtable with only one condition can be translated immediately into an IF. . .THEN. . .ELSE statement; just remember that any rule not explicitly given is an error.

Figure 6 works out a table into code, showing the sub-tables as part of the code. Note that the branches of the different IF. . .THEN. . .ELSE statements do not both pick the same condition for the next application of the algorithm. Many people tend to write code that uses the same condition for the next level at each branch just because it looks symmetrical.

This procedure can be modified to take care of situations in which the programmer has special knowledge of the data. This is done by adding weights to the tallies. For example, imagine a decision table with only three conditions, CI, C2, and C3. If CI requires 10 units of computer time, C2 requires 5 units, and C3 requires 1 unit, then C3 should be the highest control expression of the IF. . .THEN. . .ELSE statement. It's easy to see why with a little thought. If we have to test all three conditions, then it is going to cost 16 units of computer time no matter what we do. However, if we can arrive

at an action by testing just C3, then we have spent only 1 unit. If we can arrive at an action by testing just C2 and C3, then we have spent only 6 units. By arranging the statement carefully, we can save a lot of computer time.

Hints for Program Design

The use of -1, 0, and +1 in this article was planned to allow reduction operations to be performed by simple arithmetic.

Clearly the rules can be represented as an array in a program. The columns can be expanded, then sorted. Once sorted, the contradictions and redundancies will show up. Finally, the array can be compared to all possible rules, generated by nested loops.

In real applications, a program that can handle a dozen conditions is probably quite large enough. This would require only a little over 4K bytes to store, which is no trouble for a small computer.■

]oe Celko (POB 10558, Atlanta, GA 30310) is a research scientist at the US Army Institute for Research in Management, Information, and Computer Science. Educated at Georgia Tech, he is a science-fiction fan and a computer columnist.

514 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Start ahead. Stay ahead

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Programming Quickies

Subscripts and Superscripts for the Atari

You can use ANTIC 3 mode to create specialized character sets

by Tim Kilby

The Atari computers give you tremendous flexibility in defining your own character sets and providing a practical mode in which to use them. One special mode, ANTIC 3, allows for characters with true descenders, superscripts, and subscripts. This means that you can create a specialized character set for many applications, including chemical and mathematical formulas (see listing 1).

Starting from GRAPHICS 0

ANTIC 3 cannot be addressed directly; you must modify a GRAPHICS 0 display list to use this mode. A simple routine to do that is shown in listing 2. Run this routine and you will see that you now have 19 lines of text, each line capable of holding 40 characters. The format looks like a GRAPHICS 0 display, just spaced farther apart.

If you try displaying lowercase letters on the screen, you'll see something definitely different about this mode. In ANTIC 3, the first 2 bytes of character data are read last. (Remember, there are 8 bytes of shape data per character.)

That's right. The computer reads the third shape byte first, then the fourth, fifth, and so on. After the eighth byte, it reads the first and second bytes. This only happens for the 32 lowercase characters and symbols, characters 96 through 127.

Why, you are probably asking, this strange way to read character data? Each mode line in ANTIC 3 is actually 10 scan lines tall, unlike the 8 lines in GRAPHICS 0 mode. For all characters, except the last 32 in the set, the system prints the character using the top 8 scan lines in the stack of 10. ANTIC 3 was designed to display lowercase descenders, the tails on ys, gs, etc. So for those last 32 characters, each is printed in the unusual sequence

Listing 1: This output from the ANTIC 3 Demonstration Program displays the use of lowercase descenders, superscripts, and subscripts.

AgM0 3 + K6r -> AgBr^ *

KHO-

tx 2 + yt 2>2-4Cx 3

P 2 3

READY

Listing 2:The GRAPHICS 0 Display List Modification Routine.

10 GRAPHICS 0

20 DL=FEEK<560)+256*FEEK<561>

30 POKE DL+3,67

40 FOR 1=0 to lTIPOKE DL+I+6,3:MEXT I

50 POKE DL+24,65IPOKE DL+25,FEEK(560)J

POKE DL+26,FEEK(561>

of bytes illustrated in figure 1. Not all the lowercase internal characters will work. With specially designed lowercase letters, however, descenders really look descended.

The quick and easy way to redesign this last quarter of the character set is to use one of the several published or commercially available character-set editors. Characters that are so tall as to have dots in the second byte, the second row from the top, will have to be lowered. The b, I, t, i, and h characters are examples. I suggest lowering all lowercase characters by using the shift-down option of your editor. If your editor doesn't have that option, you will have to do the shifting manually. Shift all lowercase characters down 1 byte.

For true descenders, redesign characters that have descenders so that the last 2 bytes to be displayed ap-

sis November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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See what you're creating, instantly.

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DR Graph works with today's leading microcomputers, as well as with a wide range of printers and plotters. All you need is Digital Research's GSX™ graphics enhancement for your computer's operating system. Contact your computer manufacturer, or stop by the CP/M Library™ at your computer shop for an eye-opening demonstration. Call 800-227-1617, ext. 400 (in California 800-772-3545, ext. 400) for a free, full-color brochure.

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VisiCalc is a registered trademark of VisiCorp. SuperCalc is a trademark of SORCIM Corporation. The logo, tagline, DR Graph, GSX and CP/M Library are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Digital Research Inc. ©1983 Digital Research Inc.

Circle 149 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983 519

■m

Figure 1: Some standard characters as displayed in the ANTIC 3

mode. Note that the uppercase character is unaffected while the lowercase characters are distorted.

Figure 2: Redefined characters for use with the ANTIC 3 mode. The lowercase g (2a) will have a descending tail, and the 3 (2b) can be used as a subscript character.

pear as the first 2 bytes. It will look crazy, but that's what is necessary for ANTIC 3. Figure 2a shows the g character redesigned to be used for this mode.

Subscripts and Superscripts

The real power with ANTIC 3, however, is in the ability to display superscripts and subscripts. Just imagine printing chemical or mathematical equations on screen with the superscripts or subscripts just where they should be. For subscripts, simply replace the lowercase characters with numerals or other characters using your editor's copy option, or design your own special symbols. Then shift those characters 3 bytes lower for maximum descent. The number 3 would appear as it does in figure 2b for use as a subscript.

Listing 3: The ANTIC 3 Demonstration Program incorporates the routine in listing 2 to produce the output shown in listing 1.

REM ANTIC 3 De*o F^oqraM

REM

REEM First relocate all 128

characters to a RAM location X

GOSUB 10 00

REM Modify the display list:

GRAPHICS 0

DD=:PEEKC56Q )*256*PE:e:K <561)

POKE DL+3, 67

FOR I«fl TO l/tPOKE [)L+I+6,3SNEXT I

POKE DL+2 / U65JP0KE DL+25 ,PEEK ('560 ) J POKE DL+26,PEEK(561) 50 REM

59 REM Change character set pointer to the RAM location of Modified set*

60 POKE 756 t CADE/236 60 REM

o

6 7

8

9

10

20

30

40

50

69 REM Print equations in ANTIC 3 Mode using new characters*

70 PRINT J PRINT "AgNOa * KBr c AgB rb + KNOa"

8 0 PRINT : PRINT " <5<*+y* )*«4<x* -y* > " 90 END

1000 POKE 1 06, PEEK (106) -5 I GRAPHICS 0 SPRINT "Transferring characters frow ROM

to RAM ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦" 1010 CADR=256*(PEEK(10 6 > + 1) 1020 FOR I«0 TO 1023:POKE CADR+I,PEEK< 57344+1) X NEXT I 1030 ? J? "Redefining 8 characters ♦ ♦

1038 REM

1039 REM Rep - a* b,

1040 FOR 3>0

r+i,x:next I

1050 DATA 10 1060 DATA 60 1070 DATA 24 1080 FOR 1>0

+i»x:next I

1090 DATA 10 1100 FOR 1>0 +I,XJNEXT I 1110 DATA 0, 1120 FOR 3>=0

r+i,x:next I

1130 DATA 0, 1140 DATA 10 1150 FOR 3>0

i,x:next I

1160 DATA 60 1170 RETURN

lace data for 8 characters c, g# r f x, y, and * - ♦ TO 23JREAD X JPOKE 776+CAD

2,60,0,0,126,12,24,12 ,24,24,24,24,24,219,126 ,0,24,12,6,255,6,12 TO 7% READ X JPOKE 824+CADR

2,60,0,62,102,102,62,6

to 7:read x:poke 912+cadr

0,0,124,102,96,96,96 TO 15:READ X:P0KE 960+CAD

0,0,102,60,24,60,102 8,56,0,102,102,102,62,12 TO 7:READ X:POKE 32+CADR+

,102,12,56,126,0,0,0

Superscripts are handled differently. Replace the lowercase letters with uppercase letters, shifting them down 3 bytes also. Replace rarely used letters and the three symbols with numerals, if you wish. (Do not edit the three screen-editing symbols. Trying to print them would still cause the function to be performed.) Now the lowercase letters become the standard alphabet and all other characters will appear as superscripts.

For those of you without a character editor, the ANTIC 3 Demonstration Program in listing 3 will transfer the internal character set from ROM (read-only memory) to RAM (random-access read/write memory) and redefine several characters for a demonstration of this outstanding mode. Try it!a

Editor's Note: For more information on using Atari graphics, please consult the following articles: "An Introduction to Atari Graphics" by Chris Crawford and Lane Winner (fanuary 1982 BYTE, page 18), 'The Atari Tutorial, Part 2: Graphics Indirection" by Chris Crawford (October 1981 BYTE, page 70), and "Character Editor for the Atari" by Tim Kilby (December 1982 BYTE, page 167).

Tim Kilby (RR 2, Box 288-B, Sperryville, VA 22740), a former college professor, is now an independent microcomputer consultant.

520 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Programming Quickies

A Date/Time Stamp for Disks

These date/time programs aid disk organization by keeping a record

of when each disk was last used

by William Murray

The problem with organizing any set of programs and disks is determining which ones you use most frequently. It is difficult to keep track of how often a utility or data file is used. Your programming could become substantially easier if you could put on one disk the programs you use repeatedly. There is a solution to the problem of disk organization.

The date/time programs described in this article aid disk organization by stamping each disk with the date and time it was last used. Then each time you run the disk you know the elapsed time between uses because both the previous and the current date and time are listed.

These programs, written on an Apple II computer with 48K bytes of memory, use the California Computer System (CCS) clock/calendar card to provide the date and time information. Although this software is system dependent, adapting these programs to other systems with available clock/calendar cards should not prove difficult.

The CCS card uses a 5832 microprocessor real-time clock/calendar, which is crystal controlled at 32.768 kHz to maintain information from seconds to years. The data is stored in binary-coded decimal form in the selected memory locations. Battery backup keeps the card running when the Apple is off or during a power failure.

The only necessary modifications for the clock/calendar board are: the installation of two 2112 RAM (random-access read/write memory) chips in the provided sockets; the installation of the RAM jumper; and the setting of the interrupt request to a 1-second interval. These modifications are covered in the documentation for the board. The clock/calendar board must reside in slot #4 because the machine-language program is slot dependent.

The three-part software includes the TIME/DATE.BAS program entered when you initialize the disk (see listing 1), the TIME/DATE .OBJ machine-language program that requests and stores the date from the clock/calendar card (see listing 2), and a very short machine-language program to store the date and time on the disk. The storage program is created initially by typing

BSAVE TIME/DATE,A$3B8,L$19 Normally you enter the TIME/DATE.BAS program

524 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

when initializing a disk. Another technique is used for disks that are already in use. Simply load the program and save it under the name of the initialization file (typically HELLO for loyal Apple users). TIME/ DATE.BAS calls up the TIME/DATE,OBJ and storage programs, samples the date, stores it and displays it, then turns over the control of the Apple to you. Information on the old date and time is stored in locations 3B8 to 3CA hexadecimal. The clock/calendar card, meanwhile, stores the current date and time in locations 2F5 to 300 hexadecimal. This information is finally formed as the string A$- You can enter a message in lines 110 and 120 in TIME/DATE.BAS that will be displayed when the disk is called up.

The first machine-language program requests information from the clock/calendar card by addressing the proper memory address (see line 19 in DATE/TIME.OBJ for an example). After getting the information, the program stores it at a memory location in RAM (see line 22). This process continues byte by byte until all date and time data is collected. The information is refreshed once a second with every interrupt request. Notice that this program is stored, starting at RAM location C400 hexadecimal, making the clock/calendar card slot dependent.

The second machine-language program stores the data, written by the Apple, when it becomes necessary to transfer the data from the "current date/time" to the "past date/time." You create the file by typing

BSAVE DATE/TIME,$A3B8,L$19

before running the TIME/DATE.BAS program.

After you enter all of the software, simply insert the disk into the drive and turn on the Apple. You must do this twice the first time the disk is run because the old date and time don't exist in the beginning.

By keeping track of those dates and times, you should find disk and program organization to be much easier. ■

The clock/calendar card for Apple computers is available for $120 from California Computer Systems, 250 Carribean Dr., Sunnyvale, CA 94086.

Dr. William Murray is a professor of Computer Science at Broome Community College, Binghamton, NY 13902.

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Listing 1: The TIME/DATE.BAS program.

to text : home: :d*> ■ chr* (4)

20 REM t LOAD CLOCK/CALENDAR CON

VERSION ROUTINE 30 PRINT D*; M BLOAD DATE/TIME.OBJ

0" 40 REM t START CLOCK/CALENDAR RO

UTINE 50 CALL $9368 60 REM : LOAD PREVIOUS DATE/TIME

70 F$ :: = "DATE/TIME"

BO 90

PRINT H$?"NOM0N Cf 1* »0"

PRINT D* f "BLOAD " f r"$S" » A*3B8'

100 REM : DISKETTE INITIALIZA7IQ

N MESSAGE 110 VTAB II PRINT "BOS 3*3 WORK I

NG DISKETTE" 120 VTAB 2% PRINT "BY WILLIAM MU

RRAY 3/1/81"

130 vtab 5s print "last hate/tim

e run:" 140 vtab 7% htab i 150 rem t get and print old date

/time on screen 160 for i - 952 to 9701 print chr*

( peek <i>>$: next i 170 vtab 11 % htab is print "curr

ent date/time:" 180 rem : get and print new date

/time on screen 190 ta * peek < 768) stb * peek (

767 ktc ■ peek (766ktd * peek

(765kte ■ peek <764>uf *

PEEK (763)

200 TK * PEEK <762) STL - PEEK <

761>STG ■ PEEK (760)STH = PEEK <759)STI * PEEK <738KT.J * PEEK (757)

210 REM t CHECK FOR A COMPLETE C ONVERSION

220 IF (TF + TE 4 T8 + TC ) > 36 THEN 190

230 REM : DATE STRING

240 C* ■ STR* (TH) + STftt < TG > f "/" + STR* <TL ) + STR* <TK > 4 *■/* + STR* CTJ) f STR*

til >

250 REM J TIME STRING

260 B* • STR* < TF) f STR* < TE ) * " :" + STR* < TD ) + STR* C TC ) f ": M * STR* ( TB) + STR* ( TA )

270 REM : SPACE STRING

280 E* » "

290 REM t TOTAL DATE/TIME STRING

300 A* * Cf + E* + B*

310 VTAB 13! HTAB It PRINT A*

320 REM :PLACE CURRENT BATE/TIME

IN F* 330 FOR I = 1 TO 19t POKE 931 *

ly ASC < MID* (AfflfO) f 12

8: NEXT I 340 PR INT D* v"BSAVE ■IF*I" p A*3BB

yL*19 350 VTAB 23t HTAB 1 360 END

Listing 2: The TIME/DATE.OB] program.

C400J 1

C400tAS 45 2

0402:20 4A FF 3

0405 JBA 4

C406IBD 00 01 5

C409J0A 6

LOAD AT SLOT 4 SAVE REGISTERS

ORG *C400

LBA *45

JSR *FF4A

TSX

LDA *0100»X

ASL A MULT BY 2

Listing 2 continued on page 528

526 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 348 on inquiry card.

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528 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983 531

Book Reviews

Programming the IBM Personal Computer: BASIC

Neill Graham Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York: 1982 287 pages, hardcover, $17.95

Reviewed by Stan Franklin

I teach BASIC to beginning programming students. As a result, publishing companies send me examination copies of BASIC texts, hoping they'll be adopted for classroom use. (A quick count revealed 15 of them decorating my shelves.)

Recently, Programming the IBM Personal Computer: BASIC, by Neill Graham, arrived from Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Because I have one IBM PC as my constant office companion and another for leisure hours, I felt a mild stirring of interest.

Graham covers the usual topics: data types, operations, variables, assignment, input, loops, decisions, functions, and subroutines. One chapter is devoted to program design, debugging, and user errors. Others concentrate on formatting output, arrays, strings, and sequential and random files. There's an eye-catching chapter entitled "Event Trapping and Music." Finally, the author presents an "Introduction to Color and Graphics." That covers a lot of ground, I thought, and wondered if Graham could fulfill his promise.

Two hours and 100 pages later, I was hooked. Over the course of the next several days, I gobbled up the whole book (almost 300 pages), reading with some care and experimenting on both PCs. It was like eating peanuts; I

didn't want to stop. When there was nothing left but the glossary and index, I still wanted more. The only thing left to do was to share my good fortune with other PC users.

Since you've already glimpsed the book's contents, let me describe Graham's presentation. As its title implies, the book is aimed directly at users of the IBM PC. Graham asks the reader repeatedly to use the machine in direct mode (i.e., instructions typed without line numbers are executed as soon as they are entered) to illustrate the features he describes. Here's an example of Graham's hands-on approach from the text:

In general, the IF statement takes any value other than zero to represent true:

IF 25 THEN PRINT "TRUE" ELSE PRINT "FALSE"

TRUE

Ok

Chapter 11, "Sequential Files," offers another good example of Graham's approach:

We can easily demonstrate the operation of PRINT # and PRINT # USING by using these statements to write to the screen. Execute the following OPEN statement in the direct mode:

OPEN "SCRN:" FOR OUTPUT AS #1

Ok The screen has now been opened as file number 1; PRINT #1 and PRINT #2 USING will send their output to the screen. Experimentation quickly reveals that PRINT #2 now behaves like PRINT and that PRINT #1 USING behaves exactly like PRINT USING:

PRINT #1, 25, -10, -30 25 -10 -30 Ok PRINT #1, USING

"$$,###.## "; 24.93,

7039.10 $24.39 $7,039.10 Ok

This hands-on presentation leaves an active reader with a feeling of familiarity with BASIC statements on the PC.

From the beginning of the book, I was struck by the nontraditional order in which Graham covers various topics. AUTO, RENUM, and the uses of the Alternate and function keys were explained in the first chapter. As I read further, I realized that Graham's sequence had been carefully thought out. Features are introduced in the order in which a new user will need or wonder about them. This order of presentation appeals to the mathematician in me.

As each new command or statement appears, the reader is already familiar with the concepts he needs to understand it. There's no need to go thumbing back through the book to review a forgotten command.

New commands are introduced first in their more common forms and later in more complex guises, as needed. SAVE first appears on page 17. SAVE ,A (save a program in text format rather than coded) is explained on page 223 as a prelude to the MERGE command that requires it.

Graham presents his ideas in sentences that are short and to the point. Yet he restates ideas often enough to ensure that descriptions are clear and precise. For instance,

A number is printed with a space following the last digit. A positive number is printed with a space preceding the first digit; and for a negative number, the preceding space is replaced by a minus sign:

PRINT 100

100 Ok

PRINT -100 -100 Ok PRINT "XXXX"; 100;

"XXXX"; -100; "XXXX" XXXX 100 XXXX-100

XXXX Ok

In the output from the first PRINT statement, 100 is preceded by one space. In the output from the second PRINT statement, the preceding space is replaced by a minus sign. In the third PRINT statement, the semicolons, as usual, do not introduce any additional spaces. However, 100 is printed with a space preceding it and a space following it, and -100 is printed with a space following.

Every few pages, the author provides pertinent words of caution. A few examples follow:

Type declaration statements should be used with caution. It is easy to forget what letters of the alphabet correspond to what types, and thus have the computer assume that a variable is of a different type than the one you intended. This can lead to hard-to-find errors, such as a result being computed with insufficient precision.

Incidentally, when data is being stored on cassette tape, the computer has no way of knowing whether the cassette recorder is operating properly and the data is actually being stored. A common error is forgetting to put the recorder in the record mode, so that the recorder is playing data back while the computer is sending it data to be recorded. Because you won't be warned of recording problems, it's a good idea to record each cassette file at least twice.

It is especially important that

532 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983 533

Book Reviews.

we close a file that has been written to. Otherwise, (a) some of the data written to the file might not actually be transferred from main memory to the file, and (b) in the case of a diskette file, the file might not be entered properly in the directory on the diskette.

Don't confuse the null character with the null string. The null character is the character whose ASCII code is zero. The null string contains no characters, null or otherwise.

As you might have guessed by now, I'm sorely tempted to go on quoting these warnings. If only I had had this kind of help when I first began programming in BASIC; I'm sure I made each and every error Graham cautions against.

Between the descriptions and warnings is a wealth of explanations. Topics discussed include control structures, modularity, top-down design, testing, debugging, error trapping, sorting, and garbage collection. An example gives a flavor of Graham's explanations:

INKEY$ is particularly useful for video-game programs, which are constantly busy moving objects around on the screen but which must also check the keyboard periodically to see if the user has entered a command, such as to fire a missile.

Some beginning BASIC

texts offer the student relatively trivial program listings as models, but not so with this one. Versions of an information-retrieval program illustrate the use of arrays and sequential files. A text editor exercises BASIC'S athletic string-manipulation capabilities. A simple game program affords practice with event trapping. Every module in each of these programs is explained individually. The student is led to a detailed understanding of how modules work independently and together. These programs are worthy of study, both for how-to techniques and as a model of structured-programming style.

Each chapter ends with a short list of suggested exercises. These range from "Modify program such-and-such to do so-and-so," to substantial extensions of example programs, to "Try programming the computer to play some of your favorite songs." (Exercise 4 from the first chapter deserves special notice. You are asked to "Write a program that self destructs.") When you've successfully negotiated each exercise in this text, you can be sure you're off to a fast start as a BASIC programmer on the IBM PC.

Hard as it is to find anything to be negative about, 111 try. The last chapter, entitled

"Introduction to Color and Graphics," is the least complete. Additional features available with the Color/ Graphics Monitor Adapter are presented in the same lucid manner the reader has, by now, come to expect. But the chapter ends with neither example programs nor exercises. For the monochrome user, this is not a problem, but the user of a color system will want to augment the text at this point.

Perhaps a table of contents for example programs would have been of use. A greater variety of exercise programs, which would give instructors more choice for assignments, would also be welcome for a text being considered for classroom use.

For readers who already know one dialect of BASIC, Graham's book offers an efficient means of learning the idiosyncrasies and features of the IBM PC version. Microsoft has produced a powerful, yet remarkably easy-to-use, implementation of the BASIC language for IBM. The addition of a WHILE statement facilitates a more structured approach. The full screen BASIC editor, together with the function keys and use of the Alternate key, make programming the PC in BASIC a breeze compared to other systems I know. Graham's text allows efficient and pleasant mastery of

these tools.

While the experienced BASIC programmer can skim the chapters, pausing only to become familiar with those features peculiar to this system, the approach of the novice programmer must, of course, be different. The text starts almost gently, leading the student through the mysteries of BASIC. In later chapters the pace quickens. Programming the IBM Personal Computer: BASIC is a must for anyone (whether experienced or a novice) who intends to program the IBM PC in BASIC. ■

Stan Franklin is professor of mathematical sciences at Memphis State University (Memphis, TN 38152). A mathematician by training, he has become addicted to personal computing both at home and at work.

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The Groton, Connecticut, library has a packet of information on a one-hour computer course. Volunteers use this course to teach the public how to operate the library's Apple lies. The packet has a manual, software list, operating tips, hardware diagram, instructions on using disk drives, a glossary, a user's responsibility agreement, and rules and regulations. It costs $6, postage paid, from the Groton Public Library, Rt. 117, Groton, CT 06340. ■

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534 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Book Reviews

Experiments in Artificial Intelligence for Small Computers

John Krutch

Howard W. Sams and

Co., Indianapolis, IN:

1981

112 pages,

softcover, $9.95

Reviewed by John Figueras

Several years ago, I asked a computerist at Stanford University why artificial-intelligence (AI) programs were written in LISR He replied that you could do things in LISP that you couldn't do in other languages. I didn't believe him then, and, with the appearance of Krutch's book, I believe him even less now.

Krutch has carried over into BASIC programs the kinds of problems and solutions that are considered the showpieces of AI. Each of the seven chapters in this treatise is devoted to a special province of AI. The first three chapters cover the Kingmove program (elementary chess moves), Checkers, the alpha-beta algorithm, and Problem Solving—TF, a pattern-matching program that tries to predict your behavior during entry of random strings composed of symbols "T" and "F." Chapter 4 covers Fetch, a semantic information-retrieval program that deduces logical consequences from declarative input statements, including a language parser. The fifth chapter explores Haiku, a program that composes verse. Autowriter is a program covered in Chapter

6 that writes computer-generated text such as stories, and the last chapter is devoted to Joseph Weizen-baum's Doctor program of natural-language processing. Krutch presents programs in Level II BASIC for the Radio Shack TRS-80, but an appendix enables users of other versions of BASIC to adapt the programs to other machines. Apple users should watch out for the random-number function RND (N) in Level II BASIC, which returns a random number between 1 and N and must be replaced in Applesoft by the expression INT (N * RND(l)) + 1. One subtlety that gave me about an hour's worth of trouble is that apparently the STR$ function in Level II BASIC returns a string padded on the left with a leading blank,

which the Applesoft STR$ function does not do. The pattern-matching program in Level II BASIC, TF, removes this blank space with the MID$(A$, 2) function. You're in trouble if you use the Applesoft equivalent to remove the nonexistent blank. By paying careful attention to the author's appendix and scrutinizing the program, you should be able to make a relatively painless translation for your computer. I tried the Haiku program, which generates four types of this terse form of Japanese poetry. The results were quite delightful:

Sun under the glade: A dawn firefly on a lake Crimson haze

Of course, most of the time, the poetry is exactly what

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Book Reviews —

you might expect from a random-number generator. The program is based on Krutch's own analysis of the forms and vocabulary that actually appear in English versions of haiku. The vocabulary of nouns, verbs, prepositions, and articles is contained in a group of clearly identified DATA statements that you can change to suit your own taste in haiku.

The other program that I played with, TF, asks the user to key in random sequences of the symbols T and F. It detects patterns of entry (some of which you may not even be aware) and predicts every fifth symbol that you enter. It is interesting to watch the program become "trained" as you continue to enter symbols. Its recognition rate is about 70 percent, which is significantly better than guessing,

Krutch must have done

quite a bit of digging and incisive reading to penetrate AI methodology and translate it into relatively simple BASIC programs. I am afraid, however, that he has brought home the fact—pointed out by others—that the past successes claimed for AI were based on tricks that produce impressive demonstrations but that rely more on the intelligence of programmers than on the intelligence of programs and computers.

Krutch's book offers insight into early techniques, and any home computerist skilled in BASIC can have lots of fun with his programs. They are models of clarity and good form and are worth the attention of anyone who might like to learn how a pro styles his programs. ■

John Figueras (65 Steele Rd., Victor, NY 14564) has a doctorate in organic chemistry.

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BYTE November 1983 543

Book Reviews

The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, Volume 3

Paul R. Cohen and

Edward A. Feigenbaum,

eds.

William Kaufman Inc.

Los Altos, CA: 1982

639 pages, $45

Reviewed by Henry W, Davis and James E. Brandeberry

The Handbook of Artificial In-telligence is a comprehensive three-volume survey of artificial intelligence (AI) that presents basic concepts so as to be understandable to the novice and useful to the expert. Each of the 15 chapters covers a subspecialty of AL Because the volumes have a hierarchical structure, readers can cover the chapters in sequence or go directly to a particular area of interest. The survey articles that appear at the beginning of each chapter are substantive 10-page summaries of the history and direction of various AI fields. Copious references point readers to related material both within and outside of the three-volume set.

Volumes 1 and 2 were reviewed in the July and September 1983 issues of BYTE. Volume 3 covers planning, learning, automatic deduction, machine vision, and cognitive science (the overlap area between AI and psychology). The chapters on machine vision and learning are especially comprehensive; each contains almost 200 pages. The Handbook has no chapter on robotics; the AI aspects of robotics are covered in the material on planning and vision.

Planning

A plan is a list of opera-

tions or actions designed to achieve a goal. Normally the list is at least partially ordered. For example, a plan to paint a ceiling might include these actions: get the paint and brush, get the ladder, set up the ladder, prepare the ceiling, and put on the paint. In automatic planning, a program takes a general goal (such as painting a ceiling) and produces an ordered list of basic operations that will achieve the goal when performed in sequence. The program must know ahead of time those basic operations from which it is to build the plan, as well as their prerequisites, to properly sequence them.

The problem in generating even simple plans is that the computer gets bogged down by possible plan sequences, most of which won't work. That's because many parts of the plan interact with one another. In the previous example, we have to get the ladder before we prepare the ceiling due to the interaction of two basic operations. If our goal is to paint both the ceiling and the ladder, then we must paint the ladder last. In this case, two subgoals of our goal have interacted. Failure of a program to deal adequately with such interaction in generating even a 10-ele-ment plan could cause it to consider and reject over 3.6 million (10 factorial) alternatives.

Three approaches to planning that several successful programs have used are non-hierarchical, hierarchical, and skeletal refinement. The difference between hierarchical and nonhierarchical planners is that the former represent the goal through several layers of abstraction. A plan is sketched for each layer and then refined in the layer below. This enables the hierarchical planner to deal with

interacting subgoals before it is committed to a lot of processing that must be undone later. It also enables the planner to expand those parts of the potential plan that are crucial to its success before it worries about inessential details. Nonhierarchical planners cannot tell inessential details (such as paint stirring) from crucial ones (such as getting the paint). While clever ways of handling the interaction of subgoals have been devised for nonhierarchical planners, they appear inadequate for complex plans. In the skeletal-refinement approach, the planner maintains a library of rough-plan outlines for dealing with various subgoals. Several outlines are fleshed out and combined to generate a plan. These plan outlines are very similar to scripts, data structures used in natural-language processing and discussed in Volume 1 of the Handbook (see July 1983 BYTE, page 450).

Five articles describe programs using these techniques for planning in domains that are as varied as toy-block manipulation, engine repair, and molecular-genetics-experiment design. An article on the process of human planning appears in the chapter on cognition and describes a model developed by Barbara and Frederick Hayes-Roth of the Rand Corporation. They propose that humans plan using a process that combines hierarchical and opportunistic approaches. A key role in their model is played by a data structure called the blackboard, which has been used successfully in speech-understanding systems and is described in Volume 1 of the Handbook. We do not doubt that the Hayes-Roth model will be explored by future artificial-intelligence programs.

Learning

Learning is the process through which people and computer programs increase their knowledge and improve their skills. AI research in learning is motivated by the need for more capable, flexible programs and the desire to understand the nature of learning itself.

Several different types of learning have been studied in AI. The Handbook focuses on inductive inference, or learning from examples. That is, the program is given samples of how it should behave and, from them, seeks higher-level rules or concepts to enable it to perform as desired. For example, a poker program might be given several positive and negative samples of a flush and, from this, must build concepts enabling it to recognize a flush in the future. In another example, a program that does symbolic integration, as in a freshman calculus class, begins by blindly applying all the integration techniques it knows to a given problem. By observing what works and what fails, it builds rules about which techniques work best in various situations. The program has thus become skilled through working examples and no longer needs to search blindly.

A type of induction for which well-understood AI techniques exist occurs when a single concept is to be learned from the samples. This is illustrated by the flush poker example. Multiple-concept learning problems, in which many possibly overlapping concepts must be learned from a single-sample set, are considerably harder and not yet well understood. For example, Meta-DEN-DRAL, a program from Stanford University, learns multi-

544 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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BYTE November 1983

Book Reviews.

pie concepts. From descriptions of molecules in some family, along with their mass spectrums, the program can determine several molecular-decomposition rules that will explain the spectral data.

An even more difficult form of induction is learning to perform multiple-step tasks. The symbolic-integration example illustrates this type of learning because such problems usually involve several steps. One of the difficulties with multistep tasks is the credit assignment problem: once a task is completed, whether successful or not, the program must then assign credit or blame appropriately to each intermediate step. Only then can it begin to affect its own performance rules.

The techniques and directions of this fascinating process are very well explained in the Handbook. One of

seven articles on learning programs is Samuel's checker-playing program that improves its skill with play and, although 20 years old, is still a delight to read about. Another is Lenat's AM, which discovers "interesting" concepts in mathematics. The symbolic-integration learning, discussed above, is performed by Thomas Mitchell's LEX.

Cognition

In AI, intelligent programs can employ mechanisms beyond those used by humans. Nevertheless, psychology and AI have had a mutually helpful relationship: knowledge about human intelligence suggests extensions to the theory of machine intelligence, and vice versa. A historic overview explains how AI relates to cognitive science, the branch of psychology that uses computer

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programs to simulate theories of human cognition. Eight articles describe many of the foundation programs in cognitive science, some of which were seminal in AI.

A program of great importance to both AI and cognitive science is General Problem Solver (GPS), developed in 1956 by Allen Newell, Herbert Simon, and their colleagues at Carnegie-Mellon University. The program, which worked on problems from a variety of such areas as logic, symbolic integration, and puzzles, is described in Volume 1 of the Handbook and reexamined from a cognitive-science perspective in Volume 3. GPS was designed in an effort to model a certain human problem-solving mechanism (now called means-ends analysis) in a domain-independent way. Elaborate empirical tests indicate that people do use this technique; it is now a stock tool in AI.

Five articles describe models of human memory. For example, an early 1960's program by Edward Feigen-baum simulates the way humans memorize sequences of paired nonsense syllables. Its behavior is strikingly like that of people's and suggests possible mechanisms in human memory. In 1968 Ross Quillian developed a semantic net formalism that enabled his program to recognize word meanings in sophisticated contexts. His basic knowledge-representation scheme, discussed in Volume 1 of the Handbook, has since become a standard programming tool in AI. Empirical evidence suggests that parts of his model may be used by humans. Several psychologists have extended Quillian's ideas to obtain programs that simulate aspects of human cognition. For example, John Anderson's ACT system has a long-term memory, a short-term memory,

546 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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and a programmable production system that effects changes in these memories. Intended to be a general model of human cognition, it makes reasonable predictions about human behavior in experimental situations. By changing the production system, one can test different psychological theories.

Automatic Deduction

The section on deduction contains six articles on the history and major themes of automatic deduction. Readers who find this section difficult to read, as I did, may want to review the material on predicate calculus in Volume 1 of the Handbook.

A program is doing automatic deduction (also called mechanical theorem-proving) when it uses deductive inference to draw conclusions from information in its database. In AI, such programs are being developed to perform commonsense reasoning as well as to prove sophisticated mathematical theorems. It is not always possible with a computer tc store all the little facts nc essary to answer comir questions. Instead, we 5 general information ar the program draw infei For example, "John < pet bird" and "All bii leads to the conclusi "John's pet flies." Ins storing "fly" separateb with all the things that pet can do, we let thi gram draw inferences general information.

An early and very in tant development in i matic programming w ( technique called resolu pioneered by J. A. Robin; Ironically, it looked too p~ ising in the 1960s. D pointment with the ear fectiveness of resolutic to condemnation of ar of deduction in problen ing. But this attitud passed; today's view i

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Book Reviews.

resolution is practical but must be enhanced with problem-specific information and be used with other tools.

Although it is a powerful method, a problem with resolution is that it is not attuned to the way humans think. In response to this, an approach called natural deduction has been developed. Natural-deduction systems are more complex but easier for people to interact with. The Handbook describes a system, developed by R.S. Boyer and J.S. Moore, that has done such diverse tasks as proving the unique factorization theorem and verifying the equivalence of interpreted and compiled code.

An interesting article on nonmonotonic logic describes an effort to formalize for the computer the human experience of getting new information that partially contradicts previous premises. Using the bird example, if we later discover that John's pet is an ostrich, and that ostriches don't fly, then we must change the whole pattern of inferences we have drawn. Efficient and general ways of handling this problem with computers have not yet been worked out.

Vision

Computer vision activities fall into several categories. Signal processing is concerned with transforming one image into another with more desirable properties. Classification is concerned with techniques for classifying images into predetermined categories. The Handbook focuses on the image-understanding problem; that is, the problem of building a description not only of the image itself but also of the scene it represents. It is the image-understanding problem that connects computer vision to AI.

Pioneering work was done in 1965 by L.G. Roberts when he noted that describing solid

objects in a picture requires a different approach from that of processing two-dimensional forms such as printed characters. His approach involved describing the three-dimensional scene that generated the picture rather than describing the picture. To make the problem more tractable, he restricted his three-dimensional scenes to the blocks-world; that is, scenes that contain only cubes, rectangular solids, wedges, and hexagonal prisms. In this limited world, Roberts was able to calculate precise orientation, position, and relative dimensions of objects. Work by Roberts and others during the early 1970s led to techniques for finding lines or edges in pictures where visual noise and lighting make their presence obscure.

Later work expanded on the blocks-world characterization of scenes to provide techniques for representing real-world scenes. The key factor was to learn how orientation of surfaces, distance to camera, reflectance, and amount of illumination can be computed using laws of physics and basic rules of continuity of shape and motion. These properties are then used as clues to aid in describing the scene by means of certain primitives used for shape description.

A number of interesting algorithmic methods have been developed to help understand a scene. Pyramids and quad trees are hierarchical image representations that enable the computer to work with multiple levels of resolution of the image and to concentrate on areas of high-information content. These characteristics seem to be present in human perception. Relaxation methods are a powerful technique for reducing scene ambiguities (such as incomplete or missing edges) by using local con-

straints in an iterative procedure. Linguistic methods are a promising technique, similar to compilers for computer languages. A compiler recognizes strings of language primitives as belonging to the language or as errors (not belonging to the language) and then associates meaning to the strings of primitives. That is the goal of linguistic methods for computer vision. However, a problem lies in defining an appropriate set of primitives and finding processes or mechanisms for detecting these primitives.

The Handbook describes several successful vision systems. These include two in robotics, a transistor wire-bonding system and GM's CONSIGHT-I, a system for transferring parts from conveyor belts. Another system, Stanford's ACRONYM, attempts to identify and classify instances of modeled objects; that is, objects for which the user has provided a stylized prototype description. It extracts three-dimensional information concerning shape, structure, loca-

tion, and orientation. The principal domains it has been applied to are aerial-photograph interpretations of airport scenes and low-angle views or industrial parts at an automatic workstation.

Conclusion

The Handbook is comprehensive, clear, and has an excellent bibliography. There are a few unclear passages and difficult articles, but, given the scope of the work, these are trivial objections. The reader will not be able to implement the Handbook's ideas directly The problems and current approaches are explained on a conceptual level and references tell where the technical details can be found. The three volumes are, in our opinion, the best general text on AI currently in print.■

Henry W. Davis is a professor of computer science at Wright State University. James E. Brandeberry uses computer vision in robotics research and is an associate professor of computer science at Wright State University (Dayton, OH 45435).

BYTE's Bits

Call for Papers

The Association for Computing Machinery has scheduled a symposium on communication architectures and protocols to be held in Montreal from June 6 through June 8, 1984. A call has been issued for papers focusing on state-of-the-art networks, algorithms, and protocols for data communications. Papers concerned

with both theory and practice based on software design for specific applications or technologies are being solicited.

The deadline for submitting papers is November 1, 1983. For additional information, contact Michael J. Fegurson, INRS-Telecom-munications, 3 Place du Commerce, Verdun, Quebec H3E 1H6, Canada, (514) 761-5831. ■

548 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Programming

Array Capabilities for dBASE II

by Charles O. Hartman

Suppose you've used Ashton-Tate's dBASE II program to create a dictionary database. For a text-processing application, you divide an input line whose length is not known ahead of time into individual words that can be looked up in the dictionary. The good substring-handling capabilities of dBASE II make it easy to locate the spaces that define the words. But because dBASE II has no array variables, how can you store each word for separate processing? First, you'll need some dBASE II background.

In advertisements and in the company's manual, AshtonTate claims that its database program is a true programming language. For the most part, this claim is justified. The program includes provision for "command" files, whose lines are executed sequentially, and it even includes an adequate line editor to help in debugging these files. Like BASIC, dBASE II operates in either immediate or program mode and, as in BASIC, the immediate mode simplifies the debugging of processes meant to run in program mode. Also offered by dBASE II is a full repertoire of input and output formats (four different classes of input commands, three of output). As a high-level language, dBASE II renders complex file handling more or less transparent.

However, dBASE II is lacking in two important ways. First, it is poor in program control. Though it has IF, THEN, ELSE, and a somewhat awkward form of a CASE instruction, it lacks many control structures on which BASIC or Pascal programmers have learned to depend. Its only looping command is DO WHILE, whereas both BASIC and Pascal allow simple FOR loops and Pascal adds REPEAT. . .UNTIL to delay testing until the end of the loop. Though DO WHILE is logically sufficient, in many situations it multiplies the amount of code required for a given task, wasting both disk space and time—resources already limited by a very high-level language and by the large files a database program naturally entails.

Second, dBASE II lacks structured memory variables. The records that make up database files are structured,

of course, but the program variables can take only three simple types: character, numerical, or logical. The absence of array capabilities creates particular difficulties; for example, arrays of two dimensions provide the easiest and most usual solution for the problem of storing each word for separate processing.

Typically, an array wide enough for each word and long enough to hold all entries is established with the DIM statement in BASIC or a type declaration in Pascal. The array can then be accessed by subscripts, each of which can be a variable. For example, here is one way the process of establishing such an array could be coded in BASIC:

10 J m 1 : K - 0

100 FOR I = 1 TO LEN(LINE$)

110 If MID$(LINE$,I,1) <> " " GOTO 140

120 J = J + 1 'NEXT ROW OF ARRAY

130 K = 0

140 K = K + 1 'NEW ROW STARTS IN COLUMN 1

150 ARRAY$(J,K) - MID$(LINE$,I,1)

160 NEXT I

After this, ARRAY$(n) refers conveniently and concisely to the nth word in the line.

An even simpler solution uses an array of strings, each of which can be accessed as WORD$(X). Yet, conceptually, a BASIC string is an array of characters; therefore an array of strings is actually a two-dimensional array, and this solution is a subset of the one just given.

Without arrays, you can do all necessary processing on each word only within the DO WHILE loop that divides the line into separate words. But if a choice among later processing paths depends on earlier results, or if the processing for each word is very time-consuming or involves disk access, this quickly becomes impractical. A second alternative is to write a separate routine for each word, to associate it with a separate variable name (Wordl, Word2, etc.). But the maximum number of words possible must be assumed because the

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number of words is not known ahead of time. And the code for each routine is identical, except that Word2 replaces Wordl, Word3 replaces Word2, and so on. Th$ waste of time and space can be enormous.

But take heart! There is a way around this difficulty. It depends on an undocumented use of the macro function of dBASE II. The macro sign, "&" (as in some assembler languages), substitutes the current value of the variable for the variable's name. (In linguistic terms, it distinguishes the use of a variable from the mention of the variable.) The normal purpose of the "&" function, as anticipated in the dBASE II manual, is to substitute an interactively input value in a command:

INPUT "Name, in quotes?" TO Name FIND &Name

These macro substitutions are necessary because some commands (such as FIND) use the content of a variable and some (such as INPUT) use its name. This is ultimately a result of the weak variable typing that makes dBASE II so casual and convenient in other ways.

To create a dBASE II pseudoarray, append a macro variable to the name of a base variable. The sequence Wordl, Word2, and so on, becomes the single variable name Word&Counter, and the value of Counter can be incremented like that of J in the BASIC example given earlier (when Counter « 1, Word&Counter = Word(l), and so on). Macros also can be nested, so arrays of more than two dimensions are possible.

There is a minor complication to this simple solution, however: the macro-function works only on character (i.e., string) variables. For example, this sequence will not work:

STORE 1 TO Counter

INPUT "Next word?" TO Word&Counter

STORE Counter+1 TO Counter

Instead, the first line would have to be

STORE T TO Counter

which defines Counter as a character variable. But this change requires another because you cannot directly increment a character variable, only its value. As with BASIC and most implementations of Pascal, dBASE II has a VAL function for this kind of type-conversion. The conversion has to be performed twice: after being incremented, the numeric value must be turned back into a string. A STR function is provided by dBASE II for this purpose. With this in mind, you might change the third line in the preceding fragment to

STORE STR(VAL(Counter) + l) TO Counter

We're almost finished, but one final quirk requires a change. The STR function demands a second parameter after the name of the character variable, an integer to

554 November 1983 ® BYTE Publications Inc.

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Listing 1: An example of a dBASE II program (a .CMD file) to get a line from the keyboard, divide it into words, and look them up in an alphabetically-indexed dictionary database, DICT.DBE

* get a. line from the keyboard: ERASE

STORE " [blanks to width of screen] " TO Inputline 3 8 ? @ SAY "Type in a 1 ine" 3 10,8 GET Inputl i ne READ

* strip trailing blanks, add one back as last end-of-word flaq STORE TRIMCInputl i ne>+' ' to Inputline

#d i y i de the line into words: STORE 1 TO Wordbegi n STORE 1 TO Pointer STORE '1 ' TO Counter DO WHILE Pointer <= LEN<Inputline> IF * (Inputl ine,Po inter, 1) = ■"

STORE *< Inputl ine,Wordbegin,Pointer-Wordbeqin) TO Word&Counter IF UAL(Counter) < 9

STORE STRCUAL<Counter)*1,1) TO Counter ELSE

STORE STR(UAL(Counter)+l,2) TO Counter END IF

STORE Pointer TO UJordbeqin END IF

STORE Pointer+1 TO Pointer END DO

* 1 ook up words in DICT.DBF

USE Diet INDEX Alphix

STORE MAL<Counter) TO Word total

STORE '1' TO Counter

DO WHILE MAL<Counter) <= Wordtotal

FIND &Word&Counter ENDDO USE RETURN

determine the length of the string. If the array is to have fewer than 10 elements, the necessary change is trivial:

STORE STR(VAL(Counter) + l,l) TO Counter

If this limit cannot be assumed, the length parameter must be increased. But "STORE STR(VAL(Counter) +1,2) TO Counter" cannot be used alone because it would insert an illegal blank space in the variable names for values of 9 or less. Therefore, a branch must be provided:

IF VAL(Counter)<9

STORE STR(VAL(Counter) + l,l) TO Counter ELSE

STORE STR(VAL(Counter) + l,2) TO Counter ENDIF

556 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

The transformation is now complete.

Listing 1 shows a routine based on this principle, to divide a line into words and look them up. To illustrate the principle, the routine is somewhat stripped down in that it contains no error-trapping for extra blanks between words or for words not found in the dictionary, and no provision to strip punctuation marks from the end of a word before looking it up in the dictionary. None of these additions, however, presents any real difficulty. ■

Charles O. Hartman has published poetry in The New Yorker and other magazines. He teaches English at the University of Washington in Seattle. On leave (74 Briggs Terrace, Brookline, MA 02146), he is masquerading as a technical writer and working on an article describing a program that scans iambic pentameter.

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Statistical Programs for Microcomputers

Choose a statistics package that is easy to use, and then test its accuracy with the tools described here

by Peter A. Lachenbruch

Numerical accuracy is crucial to any statistical program. Many statistical packages designed for use on microcomputers, however, haven't yet benefited from the lessons in numerical accuracy learned by programmers of mainframe statistical packages. For example, many of the microcomputer programs cannot accurately compute the standard deviation for all values of input variables that you're likely to encounter in practical situations. This article describes how to test the accuracy of statistical microcomputer software and provides simple test data you can use to determine a program's limits.

Several programs available for the Apple II are used as examples; the problems pointed out are not unique to these programs, however, nor are they peculiar to the Apple II. Keep in mind, too, that the tests outlined check how the programs behave in difficult cases; during normal use, major problems won't occur. For example, you may never have to deal with a regression that has highly correlated x variables.

When comparing statistical software packages, therefore, your main consideration should be ease of use, a major benefit of most microcomputer programs. (Mainframe pro-

grams could benefit greatly by incorporating such ease-of-use features as those found in microcomputer packages.) Then use the tests this article describes to determine when a package's limits of numerical accuracy are reached.

Even a perfectly

accurate statistical

program would not

guarantee accurate

results.

Remember that even a perfectly accurate statistical program, if such a thing could exist, would not guarantee accurate results. Another important consideration is the statistical accuracy of your input data. James Frane (in "Methods in BMDP for Dealing with Ill-Conditioned Data—Multicollinearity and

Multivariate Outliers, a paper presented at the 1974 American Statistical Association meetings) notes that data can be measured in such a way as to preclude more than one or two accurate digits in a regression result. He points out that the numerical accuracy of the programs often far exceeds the data's statistical

accuracy. This is especially true when the independent (x) variables are measured with some uncertainty.

Programs Compared

The statistical accuracy of four programs is compared here. First, Daisy version 1.2.2 from Rainbow Computing Inc. (19517 Business Center Dr., Northridge, CA 91324) is a versatile program with a data-entry procedure similar to that of Visicalc, which makes it easy to use. Rank tests, analysis of variance, and regression are available. While in the process of writing this article, I received version 2.0; I'll briefly discuss that version also.

HSD Anova and HSD Regress are part of a three-package system— the third is called HSD Stats—from Human System Dynamics (9249 Reseda Blvd., Suite 107, Northridge, CA 91324). Data entry with these programs is simple, although a separate file is created for each variable or each case (as you choose). These programs offer some error-checking capability; during my work, for example, one program detected a problem with the regression and appropriately would not calculate the coefficients. I've been informed that a new regression program will be issued shortly; it will

560 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

compute the coefficients even though it detects a problem, but it will issue an appropriate warning.

A-Stat 79.6 from Rosen Grandon Associates (7807 Whittier St., Tampa, FL 33617) is based on a subset of P-Stat, a mainframe package. It was created for use on the Apple and is not a translation of the mainframe code. It produces many useful statistics but provides only three or four digits of output. I received output from A-Stat 83.1, a new version, while writing this article. Although the results are generally much better with the new version, the limited number of output digits remains a problem.

Aida, a general-purpose program offered by Action-Research North West (11442 Marine View Dr. SW, Seattle, WA 98146), permits easy data entry (although you'll have to specify decimal places). It stores numbers in integer form and converts them for manipulation, placing a limit of 32,767 as the largest number than can

be saved. This limit can be "swindled" by using the E05 scientific-notation suffix to indicate a larger number.

Computing Means

and Standard Deviations

The formula for the mean is

x = £ xjn

(the mean equals the sum of the xs divided by the number of observations). A potential problem occurs if there are many observations and if each observation yields a large value for x or if the xs for each observation differ only in the seventh or eighth significant digit. Such conditions rarely occur in microcomputer applications, however, and thus won't be covered here.

Where problems can and do occur, however, is in microcomputer calculations of standard deviation:

which is algebraically equivalent to

s = VE(* ~ *) 2 l(n - 1) ,

(1)

s = VOEx 2 , - nx 2 )i(n - 1) . (2)

The latter formula is easier to use than the former one, and it works well on a mechanical calculator (although accuracy might dictate that you recode the data by subtracting a number near the mean from the x values corresponding to each observation). Once data is entered, a computer can use the formula to grind out an answer, which we would normally accept without question because, after all, a machine produced it.

If we aren't alert, however, machines can fool us. They can lose precision when calculating the standard deviation of a small set of large numbers.

Consider, for example, the standard-deviation calculations shown in table 1. For each program discussed in this article, the table shows the calculated means and standard devia-

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 561

nA + (£x 1( -)B, + (Ex 2 ,)B 2 + (Ex 3i )B 3 = Ei/, (Lx u )A + (Lx^B, + (Lx u x 2i )B 2 + {Zx u x^)B, - Ex„y, (Lx 2i )A + (Ex.^B, + (Xx 2 2i )B 2 + (Lx 2i x 3i )B 3 - Lx 2i y i (Lx 3i )A + (Lx li x 3i )B 1 + (Lx 2i x 3i )B 2 + (Zx 2 3i )B 3 = Lx^.

Figure 1: The normal equations for three predictors.

tions for five groups of nine integers: 1 through 9,1001 through 1009,10,001 through 10,009, 100,001 through 100,009 and 1,000,001 through 1,000,009. For all five groups the standard deviation should equal 2.7386127, but, as table 1 shows, the programs lose accuracy when dealing with the larger numbers. What happened? In calculating x 2 when x is large, the computer truncates the least significant digits; thus, for example, although 100,001 2 actually equals 10,000,200,001, a computer might calculate this value to be 1.00002 x 10 10 , losing the important information stored in the least significant bit of 10,000,200,001.

There are at least two ways of compensating for this problem. The first one involves incorporating an updating algorithm in the programs. This algorithm calculates a new, updated mean m, as well as an updated variance s? (the standard deviation squared) after entry of the data value Xi of each observation. For subsequent data-point entries, the updated mean and variance become:

m I+1 = (fm,+x, + i)/(i+l)

(3)

sL = [(/- l)s 2 + (x i+l -m t )Hi{i+ 1)]IL (4)

(Note here that the initial conditions are m 0 = 0 and s 2 , = 0.)

To understand the benefits of the updating formula, consider using a computer that truncates data at six significant digits to calculate the standard deviation of the integers 100,001 through 100,009, first using equation 2 and then using the updating algorithm. Using equation 2, the evaluation proceeds as follows:

s 2 - (Lx 2 - 9x 2 )/8

= (9.00090 x 10 10 - 9.00090 x 10 10 )/8

= 0.

Note that because the least significant digits of the squared terms are lost (maintaining them would require storage of 11 significant digits), the term within parentheses here is incorrectly evaluated as zero, yielding an incorrect variance of zero.

Now, consider what happens when the same six-significant-digit computer uses the updating formula to calculate the variance. Table 2 shows the updated mean and var-

iance values resulting from the calculations (based on equations 3 and 4) that follow each data entry. Taking the square root of the final variance value (calculated after entry of the ninth data point) yields:

s 9 = V^ = -J75 = 2.738613,

the correct answer.

Unfortunately, using the updating formula is a long-range solution that is feasible only if you are patient enough to wait for a revised package from the program manufacturer or can modify the program yourself. A second solution is to be aware of the limitations of your package and to subtract the mean (or some convenient value close to the mean) from the observations and recalculate the standard deviations. If the standard deviations are the same with both raw data and the data with the mean subtracted, there is no problem. If the standard deviations differ, however, the standard deviation calculated using the raw data is incorrect. Such a check should also be done in computing sums of squares and cross-products for correlation and regression problems. With some poor methods, you can get a correlation greater than 1 or less than -1.

Subtracting the mean works well for data that are all about the same magnitude. If you have some data values that are less than 100 and some that are around 1,000,000, though, there is very little you can do other than use an updating algorithm to correctly calculate the result.

Such problems would be exacerbated for calculations of higher-order moments, which may be done via an updating algorithm or a two-pass procedure in which the mean is calculated in one pass and the higher-order moments are computed in a second pass. For large data sets and mainframe computing, this two-pass procedure is expensive and inefficient; analyzing data in two passes on a microcomputer, however, is much less costly. Similar problems arise for data in which the observation values are not large, but in which all of the variation occurs in the seventh or eighth significant digit.

562 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Regression Analysis

Another type of statistical analysis often performed on computers is multiple linear regression, which attempts to predict a response (y variable or dependent variable) from a set of predictor variables (the x variables). The prediction equation is straightforward:

y - A + B 1 x 1 + B 2 x 2 + ... + B k x k .

All we have to do is estimate the coefficients A, B u ..., B k , which in many cases is fairly easy However, if the independent variables are highly correlated, that is, closely related to one another, computing estimates of these coefficients can be very difficult. The estimates are found as a solution to a set of k + 1 equations in k + 1 unknowns. These equations are called the normal equations. For example, for three predictors the normal equations are those shown in figure 1.

When the x variables are closely related the problem that arises in solving these equations is that a quantity close to zero is used as a divisor. If the computer is not extremely accurate, the entire solution can thus be thrown far off. A second problem arises if the xs have many significant digits. Then you can have difficulty accurately calculating the sums of squares and cross-products (the coefficients of A, B lf B 2 and B 3 in the example).

I'll give examples with two sets of data for the regression programs I'm using for demonstration. (I also ran these regressions on a mainframe computer to compare accuracy. The point here is not that the microcomputer programs are not accurate, but

that an indication of accuracy can tell that you should check your answers on a larger machine.) The first data set, called the Longley data after its

The Longley data

values are known to be

highly correlated.

originator, has been reproduced in many statistics texts. I have used the scaled version of the data given in Chambers's text (see reference 1). The results were calculated by hand to 15 digits of accuracy; Chambers's version is shown in table 3. These data are known for being

highly correlated, and the goal of using them is to form a prediction equation of employment (variable EMP) from a set of six independent variables: Gross National Product Deflator (GNPDEF), Gross National Product (GNP), Unemployment (UNEMP), Size of Armed Forces (ARFC), Total Population (POPN) and Year (YEAR). The data are for the United States from 1947 to 1962. The correlations, which are given in table 4, are extremely high. Any one of four variables can be used to predict the employment variable quite accurately They are also highly interrelated—these variables are really carrying the same information. The regression results calculated by the Text continued on page 567

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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Daisy 1.2.2

Dependent Variable

GNPDEF

GNP

UNEMP

ARFC

POPN

YEAR

Constant

EMP .014765

EMP + 2 x YEAR .014060

EMP + GNPDEF 1.014406

(1.014765)

EMP + GNP .014877

EMP + POPN

.014875

- .035631 -.034611

- .035062

.964200

(.964369)

-.035818

-.020176 -.020023

-.020091

- .020201

- .020204

-.010325 -.010281

-.010300

-.010333

-.010333

-.052007 -.055533

-.053900

-.051450

.948622 (.947993)

1.82688 3.81006 (3.826828) 1.817287

1.829662

1.829966

-3477.66461 -3444.86125

-3459.01282

-3483.20553

-3483.79906

Table 6: Regression results obtained by altering a dependent variable. Here, the dependent variable EMP has been modified four ways: first by adding to it the independent variable YEAR multiplied by the constant d = 2 and then by adding to it the independent variables GNPDEF, GNP, and POPN, respectively, each multiplied by the constant d = 1. The resulting regression coefficients should remain

566 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Text continued from page 563:

programs are given in table 5. The two mainframe packages are Sas (run on an IBM 370/168) from the Sas Institute in Cary, North Carolina, and Glim (run on a Prime 750) from the Numerical Algorithms Group in Oxford, England.

The equations given by Sas and Glim are accurate to five or six digits in each regression coefficient when compared to Longley's results. In Daisy 2.0, the accuracy problems of version 1.2.2 have been corrected, and version 2.0 warns you if the correlation between the dependent variable and a predictor is greater than 0.95. It also warns if the sum of residuals resulting from the regression calculations is "not zero." When using this data, I got the warning, and the sum was -7.6 x 10~\ Daisy 1.2.2, A-Stat 79.6, and Aida average about two digits of agreement. HSD Regress simply refuses to calculate the regression coefficients and indicates that the data do not permit it to compute the coefficients accurately. A-Stat prints the determinant (a quantity used to solve the equations); for these data it is 1.57031956 x 10~ 8 . If the coefficients in the normal equations are not small, then a small determinant such as the one A-Stat calculated for these data indicates serious problems in solving the normal equations. (Readers who have

some background in matrix algebra might note that the accuracy of the solution depends on the condition number of the matrix of the normal equations. This condition number is the ratio of the largest to the smallest nonzero eigenvalue.)

Thus, A-Stat 79.6 and HSD Regress indicate when they are in distress. A-Stat only gives regression coefficients to three decimal places, so the results given can have at most three digits of accuracy if the coefficients are less than 1. In fact, when the first digit after the decimal is a 0, at most two digits can be in agreement with the Longley results. The ratio of the Longley coefficients to the coefficients computed by the programs is also given in table 5. For Sas, Glim, and Daisy 2.0, this ratio is never greater than 1.0001 (0.1 percent accuracy). For Daisy 1.2.2, A-Stat, and Aida, the ratio may be as high as 1.04 (4 percent accuracy). For A-Stat one coefficient is almost 8 percent low. The ratios are generally greater than 1, so the resulting prediction will be systematically low, possibly by a substantial amount. This low prediction may not be the case for other problems.

Another check that is helpful is referred to by Kennedy and Gentle on page 329 of Statistical Computing (see reference 3). The procedure is as follows:

1. Perform the usual regression.

2. Multiply one of the independent variables by a nonzero constant (d), add it to the dependent variable, and calculate a regression on this new dependent variable.

3. The regression coefficients should be the same except for the one used to change the dependent variable. This one should be d units greater (if d > 0). The residuals should be the same.

This procedure (with d = 2 multiplying the independent variable YEAR and d = 1 multiplying the other independent variables) was used with Daisy 1.2.2 and Aida; results are in tables 6 and 7.

The constant term varies about 1 percent in magnitude. The GNPDEF coefficient changes by 7 percent in the worst case examined, that of GNP by 3 percent, UNEMP by less than 1 percent, ARFC by less than 1 percent, POPN by 7 percent, YEAR by about 1 percent. The variables that are most perturbed are those that are highly correlated with EMP. Sas, Glim, and Daisy 2.0 all give satisfactory results with this test (data not shown). Sas is accurate to six digits and Glim is accurate to five.

Kennedy and Gentle's procedure,

which is available with a little effort

on any package, gives a simple

Text continued on page 570

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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means of checking on the stability of the regression.

The second data set I used to test the statistical programs is a regression analysis of an experiment conducted on rats to determine the percent absorption of a drug as a function of body weight, liver weight, and relative dose. The relative dose was based on body weight, so there was a high correlation between body weight and relative dose. The data are given in table 8 and the correlations are given in table 9.

I did not run the data on Sas, nor are "true" results of 15 digits of ac-

570 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

curacy available for this rat data as they are for the Longley data. The comparisons here are with the results of Glim. Again, HSD Regress detected a problem with the data and refused to compute the equation based on three variables. It would give results based on two variables as long as relative dose and body weight were not those two—the high correlation with those variables was too much for it to bear. The number of digits of consistency of A-Stat 79.6 and Aida was again low compared to Glim, being about two digits. Daisy 2.0 and 1.2.2 and Glim agreed to five digits. The ratios of the coefficients

were all close to 1. The worst was about 3 percent too high, as shown in table 10.

Moral of the Story

What can be learned from all this? Always check your input data. In the process of doing this study, I discovered two errors. On the rat data I had erred when entering one data point on Glim, which made all programs disagree with Glim on the rat data. Thus, always check your data, then do it again.

Don't completely trust a statistical-analysis program. Check it out with some simple tests such as those suggested in this article. If the program has a facility to give you some diagnostic information, such as the determinant, check it on every problem. The more useful test is the one based on adding an independent variable to the dependent variable. If the data are really important to you and you suspect them in any way, rerun the data on a mainframe using standard software. Suggestive signs are high correlations in the independent variables, a small determinant, instability in the coefficients, or a diagnostic indication from the program. ■

References

1. Chambers, J. Computational Methods for Data Analysis. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1977. Assuming a familiarity with basic statistical techniques, this book covers many computing methods.

2. Cooke Q, A. H. Craven, and G. M. Clarke, Basic Statistical Computing. London: Edward Arnold Publishing Co., 1982. A nice elementary text with many BASIC programs, this text examines accuracy and speed considerations. Its programs are concerned with elementary statistical analysis. I highly recommend this one.

3. Kennedy, W J., and J. E. Gentle, Statistical Computing. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc., 1980. Providing a wealth of information on problems in statistical computing, this book is easier to read than Chambers's (ref. 1).

4. Weisberg, S. Applied Linear Regression. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1980. This book is a useful treatment of many regression topics, including diagnostic procedures.

Peter A. Lachenbruch earned a PhD in bio-statisties at the University of California at Los Angeles. He is a professor of preventive medicine with the University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City f I A 52242.

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The lew other computers offering such "simplicity" cost $5,000 to $15,000 more. And most other computers can't offer it at any price. Which makes one wonder exactly what they do offer, in terms of either simplicity, or performance.

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572 BYTE November 1983

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BYTE November 1983 573

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User to User

Conducted by Jerry Pournelle

Computing In Singapore

Dear Jerry,

Come, come, now, Jerry, I'm sure that you have very good reasons to dislike the "European standard," as you call it ("Terminals, Keyboards, and How Software Piracy Will Bring Profits to Its Victims," November 1982, page 394), but you really needn't act so heavy-handed. If IBM and DEC (and Olivetti, for that matter) want to "wreck" their keyboards, so what? You are not compelled to buy their machines.

(1 may as well point out that I have been a touch typist for only about five months, and I have hardly used the Selectric layout you rave about. So if there is something better, I have never experienced it. Although the M20 has incorporated the "European standard," an Olivetti typewriter I also have seems to have the Selectric layout: the shift keys are large, and the single- and double-quote marks are to the right of your right pinky. I say "seems" because I haven't the faintest idea whether this is the Selectric layout.)

Your points in the following paragraphs are good, though. The stupid thing we are talking about is indeed only a keyboard and should accommodate the user, not the other way around. The M20's keyboard is completely reprogrammable under PCOS (Olivetti's custom Professional Computer Operating System), and I can make it do anything I want. It really escapes me why all the other computer companies of note like Apple, Tandy, IBM, etc., opted not to have easily reprogrammable keyboards.

One thing disturbs me: disk formats. CP/M is supposed to provide some kind of standard. But if I go to a computer store, it has disks "for CP/M" in "the Apple/Softcard format," "the Northstar format," "the NEC format," and "the 8-inch single-sided single-density format." A standard? It seems to me that if I want to run CP/M programs on my machine, I need to purchase 8-inch drives (not offered by Olivetti or by any other company for the M20) and transfer programs to 5V4-inch floppies. Seems like a lot of trouble.

I've noticed that most computer aficionados like myself are male. There seems to be some kind of cultural conditioning that we give our females: "No, Nancy, you can't use papa's computer.

That is for boys. Go play house." Sigh.

I'm looking for more pen pals my age (I'm 15) in the United States. Since you profess to have a cloud of kids causing chaos in Chaos Manor, perhaps you could recommend one (preferably female, because I already have a male pen pal in California). I'm interested in computers of all kinds, but my greatest interest is in microcomputers (I don't have constant access to minis, let alone mainframes). I have used, for varying periods of time, ZX-81s, TRS-80s, Apples, Sords, and Picos (a learning machine made here in Singapore) as well as the Olivetti M20, which I have had for almost seven months.

My latest computer-related interest is graphically presented perspective, i.e., when a computer creates pictures, using high-resolution graphics on the screen as the eye would see if an object were just behind the screen (see November 1982 BYTE, page 474). The mechanics of drawing such a picture can become somewhat complex: you have to define the pitch, bank, and heading of the observer, you have to define the distance of the object, and you have to create "perspective plane" (usually the screen) in which to picture the projectors (imaginary lines leading from the object to the observer). Unfortunately, my microcomputer does not run fast enough to give it lifelike animation. How I would like to have an HP9000, which has a full 32-bit architecture, that can. It is a bit out of my reach, though, at S $120 000 (US $60,000).

How I thought that a 16-bit computer was enough! After all, it can receive text much faster than I can type it, it can move convoluted blocks of text at blinding speeds, it can, with the appropriate software, relate cells to other cells (like Visicalc and Multiplan), and it can utilize the microprocessor's block-move capabilities to move pictures, albeit in two dimensions, around the screen faster than my eye can follow. But it cannot perform three-dimensional rotation fast enough to take advantage of the eye's visual persistence, even without hidden-line removal. Picture refresh in three dimensions takes an agonizing 2 seconds for a simple wire-frame house.

Sometimes I feel very, very old, even though I am only 15. Due to a very pressure-oriented school system, where

one must give more than a casual attention to school work, I cannot spend as much time as I'd like using computer systems. So I fall behind. And whiz kids like Eugene what's-his-name of Hewlett-Packard fly far ahead, unencumbered by having to go to school or any of those mundane things like a mere mortal like myself has to do.

Recently, I went to Computa '83, a somewhat large computer exhibiton here in Singapore (it was supposed to be the largest in Asia). I went there confident in my higher-than-average knowledge of microcomputer systems. Boom.

Mainframes. Minis. And I didn't know the first thing about them. Do you know the Tata Elexi 6400, being a "full" 64-bit machine, can store 193 megabytes of memory? With 4 gigabytes on line?

Oh, of course, there were those small machines like the Apple, the NEC, and the current crop of Japanese computers (strangely, many S-100 systems and the Olivetti M20 were not exhibited). But those were holdovers from the last show. Nothing new.

The most common microcomputers here in Singapore are imitation Apple ITs, I am sad to report. Software as well as hardware piracy here is rife. Programs can be bought for only a few dollars above the price of a disk and photocopying the manual. There are shops in Singapore, run by otherwise honest people, that specialize in program copies. I was in one recently (no, not to buy anything, as I have an often troublesome set of scruples), and a man wanted to buy a copy of Sorcim's Supercalc. The vendor offered it to him for about S $20, and he complained that that was too high! They proceeded to haggle over the price, with the happy customer eventually walking out with the program and photocopied manual for S $15, no doubt to go home and try it out on a fake Apple II. People do not think twice before making and distributing copies to friends. It sometimes makes me sick. What's it like in America? Victor Chua 1 Sunset Ave. Raffles Park Singapore 1128 Republic of Singapore

Great heavens, if you're typical of 15-year-

' Circle 338 on inquiry card.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 575

User to User.

old students in Singapore, we should stop worrying about competition from japan and turn our attention farther west!

I wish I had time to conduct a long correspondence with you, particularly on what it's like in America; I wouldn't mind knowing what it's like in modern Singapore (when I was last there the British hadn't pulled back west of Suez, and there was insurgency in the Malay States).

Regarding disk formats, 1 have my own complaints about that; fortunately, Lobo and Kaypro have come up with programs that read a number of different formats, and Tony Pietsch has written one we can use with the Compupro. There will undoubtedly be other translator programs. It takes a bit of time, but, after all, the micro industry is still quite young. . . . Jerry

In Praise of APL

Dear Jerry,

Let me make a user's comment on APL, a language you recently said you propose to learn in the coming year ("The Debate Goes On. . . " August, page 312).

I am not a computer buff and not in your class as a language analyst. But I do use a computer at home (in BASIC and FORTRAN on celestial mechanics and correspondence) and at work (in APL on engineering, financial analysis, and reports) for several hours every day of the week and have done so for years. The focus is on the problem and the results.

For complicated one-shot problems of the kind that arise in my work, APL is in a class by itself, in my opinion. The reason is that practically all of the functions and operations on scalars, vectors, and matrixes that arise, in any number of dimensions, are optimized APL functions callable with just 1, 2, or 3 keystrokes. For example, I recently did a modest optical analysis that took around 900 lines of BASIC. For comparison, the same job in APL is 45 lines. The convenience of APL is high for the working engineer who is not just cranking out numbers or text from canned routines but who is constantly addressing new situations and writing new software. This is not to say that APL is weak for other uses, but those lie outside my immediate experience. The language is completely interactive and can be checked out line by line as it is written.

Your remark that APL is interpreted (and hence, by implication, is slow) is somewhat wrong on two counts: first, the

576 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

multitude of APL functions are precompiled in efficient machine language, and the names are the addresses of these functions. Thus, the execution is quite fast. Second, if the analysis of some piece of a problem takes a week or more (typical) and the programming an afternoon (FORTRAN) or half an hour (APL), a few seconds' difference in run time is irrelevant. Norm Peterson Santa Monica, CA

Thank you for the clarification; I was a bit unclear in the article and should have mentioned that one ofAPL's major advantages is that it's very fast.

APL enthusiasts tend to be enthusiastic about their favorite language, and many report that they can solve problems while other programmers are still thinking about an approach. In other words, APL is a hacker's delight, if by hacker we mean someone more concerned with getting the answer faster than with writing elegant programs. (That's one definition; there are others, and I don't care to get into a debate on what the word hacker means. As Humpty Dumpty said of words, the important question is who shall be master.). . . Jerry

Don't Knock C

Dear Jerry,

In response to your article "The Debate Goes On. . ." (August, page 312), I agree with much of what you wrote. However, I feel you were unreasonably harsh on C.

You state that C produces overly large object modules because it was originally designed for use with Unix and lots of extra code has to be linked into the programs to let them run on microcomputers. This is misleading. Your sample program,

/* simplex */

/* A very simple program */

main( )

{

}

printf ('This is a very simple program. \ n");

calls a very complicated subroutine, printf. Even on the VAX 11/750 system I use (running Unix), this program compiles to code over 4000 bytes long.

By making two changes, we can dramatically reduce the space needed. First,

get rid of printf. On Unix you can replace it by the low-level system call write.

The second change is a little hairier, On Unix, the program simplex will compile to a loadable object file simple.o, which is then linked by the loader with a "startup" file, /lib/crtO.o, and the library /lib/libc.a. The code in crtO.o calls the routine exit, which eventually calls all sorts of routines to close files, print error messages, etc. The library libc.a also contains the routine exit, which does a

quick and dirty exit. Putting it all together, we get:

/* simple2.c */

/* A (somewhat less) simple program */

main ( )

{

/"Meaning of arguments: 1 m standard output file descriptor ". . ." = string to be output 31 = number of characters to output.

n

write (1, "This is a very simple program. \n", 31);

}

exit( )

{

}

_exit( );

The start-up code will now call the user's exit ( ), so the library exit ( ) is not loaded. The resulting executable code is 164 bytes long. An even shorter alternative would be to rewrite the start-up code to

call exit or to do an exit system call in

line.

We can simplify the program by creating a library routine for printing strings:

/* Quick and dirty string printing */

prints(s)

char *s;

while (*s ! = ' \ 0') write(l,s + + ,l);

or

/* A faster version */

prints(s)

char *s;

char *p;

/* Make p point at the ' \ 0' at the end of the string. */

User to User.

}

for (p = s; *p! = ' \ 0'; p + + ); /* So, p-s is the length of the

string*/ write(l,s,p-s);

Here are some simple rules for getting compact object code for C:

1. Be very careful with library routines. Calling printf will probably mean loading the entire standard I/O library. If space is critical, load or write a less general special-purpose routine.

2. Use a peephole optimizer. The Unix C compiler has a very useful optional phase that makes local ("peephole") optimizations in the output code. It usually makes for substantial savings in both space and time. In my opinion, all compilers should have such a phase.

3. Use register variables. The code will be more compact and much faster. Compilers without register variables are cripples.

4. Exploit the features of the language. Writing FORTRAN- or Pascal-style

code with arrays instead of using Cs pointer arithmetic will increase code size and running time. In fact, try not to use arrays at all.

It is not difficult to get compact code from C. Remember that the Unix (versions <6) operating system on the PDP-11 was written almost entirely in C and had to fit into a 64K-byte instruction space.

The utility of C depends as much on the compiler as on the language. C is a systems programming language, a high-level universal assembler, if you will. If your C compiler produces voluminous or inefficient code, you might as well use Pascal.

I don't understand your comment about readability. I find well-written C easy to read. It isn't self-documenting, but no language is. Your problems are probably caused by a lack of familiarity with the notation rather than any inherent obscurity in the language. Paul F. Dietz Canoga Park, CA

Thank you for the explanation. My point was that the C language requires a bit more work than, say, Pascal or CB-80, a point which I think you've illustrated very well.

Those who use C a lot may not have problems recalling the notation and understanding what they've done, but I know a number of good programmers who don't work with C weekly and who have great difficulty in understanding what they did when it comes time to modify it. . . . Jerry

Ada's Shortcomings

Dear Jerry

I want to voice disagreement with the assumption that Ada will become a major programming language.

It is commonly believed that the Department of Defense (DOD) will require Ada for all its programming. The June 30, 1983, Electronics (page 54) gives the actual requirements—it will be used for all "critical systems" entering advanced development after January 1, 1984. A critical system would be something like an ICBM targeting program; payrolls, personnel record keeping, and test-data

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November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 579

User to User,

number crunching are not critical systems. Obviously, the bulk of DOD programming is noncritical and won't be required to use Ada. Another item on the same page said that the first Ada compiler has passed certification (Rolm and Data General, for the Eclipse MV and a Rolm supermini). I hear, unofficially, that this compiler is the slowest measured entity since I tried out for my high school track team. The July 14 issue of the same publication (page 49) announces another

compiler due for certification in 1984. It compiles for several 16- and 32-bit CPUs and is claimed to be acceptably fast.

In short, we're dealing with a major language for which only one compiler exists, with few on the horizon. Since DOD won't allow subsets or extensions, we can expect this situation to continue for a while. Of course, there are some 'Ada" compilers that aren't mil-spec, to allow practice for real Ada, but these give up one of the language's few endearing

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qualities (portability), and you're practicing to use a language that barely exists in the real world. I'm not even sure what portability means when an update to an operating system may render your standard Ada compiler nonstandard, but let that go.

The big advantage to Ada, by most writers, is DOD support. As previously mentioned, this support is not as great as is typically claimed. I won't embarrass anyone by naming the Air Force Base in whose computer labs I worked this summer, but they don't plan to do any Ada programming. Ever. Part of it is laziness. COBOL and FORTRAN work, and they know those already. Another part of it is the fact that Ada is so powerful, so big, with so many bells and whistles, that they're afraid that they'll shoot themselves in the foot with it. The language offers plenty of opportunities for odd data combinations (one example) to send the program into unpredictable activity and very little to stop you from writing that sort of program. C.A.R. Hoare's comments in the February 1981 Communications of the ACM on this difficulty are more than I can improve upon.

It would help if Ada had a semiofficial subset that would be small enough to allow it to be thoroughly learned and still big enough to be useful. This would require a DOD policy reversal (unlikely) or action by IBM or Japan's MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry). No one else is big enough to set a standard. It's probably too late to get that done before word gets around that Ada is an overgrown specialty language or before Congress finds out that the Pentagon has been throwing money at this project for years without a line of usable code to show for it. To put it in one sentence, I can't see anybody using Ada unless he's being forced to use it, and there won't be many people in that situation. Philip R. McLean University, AL

Today's mail brings both your letter and a brochure from Telesoft, which claims to have Ada compilers for the IBM PC and the 68000 chip. Many other Ada compilers are appearing, according to my friends on the computer networks.

Certainly it has taken longer than anyone expected to get good Ada compilers, and I gather the first ones—even for very large

580 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 181 on inquiry card.

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BYTE November 1983

581

User to User.

machines—were very slow indeed, but that situation is rapidly changing. Whether that will cause military programmers to rewrite "nonurgent" programs into Ada is another matter, of course.

It's the urgent ones that concern me. I had in mind the Hoare comment when I mentioned the difficulties of verifying Ada.

You certainly raise some interesting points, and Yd be pleased to hear from other readers who have ideas on the subject. . . . Jerry

Pro Power

Dear Jerry,

With respect to the quality of software documentation, I recommend Power to your attention. I find it very easy to use by (1) skimming through the manual once to find out what kind of things it will do for me, (2) referring to the index or the enclosed reference card for a specific ap-

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plication, and (3) checking the detailed explanation of the particular command for how to use it.

The main reason I got Power was to try to rescue the information on a couple of disks (I bought a couple boxes of cheap disks before I learned better) with damaged directories. I was delighted with the results: it turned out that the glitches in both disks were in an unused part of the directory track, and with Power it is possible to read and transfer anything on the disk except the 128-byte sector where the damage is. It is also possible to alter, byte by byte, anything anywhere on a disk, again excepting any damaged sectors. I have used this feature to get rid of a pestiferous and unnecessary warning message in Wordstar. There are a number of other very convenient utility programs.

On to another subject. I much dislike the amber-trace CRTs that are being pushed on computer users now and much prefer the traditional green. It is true that yellow is the most easily identified color (hue), but it also remains true that the spectral sensitivity of the human eye is highest in the green, and I maintain that, for a monochrome display, sensitivity is more important than color discrimination. I have a friend who uses an IBM PC at his work, and he recently replaced a green monitor with an amber one because it was easier for him to read. It turns out that his problem is that he is at the age where he is still trying to fight off the effects of presbyopia, and he won't get glasses yet. I use trifocals myself and have found it very desirable to get a pair of glasses with single lenses, focused for the distance at which my keyboard, monitor, and printed information all lie. H. Orlo Hoadley 18 Kingsberry Dr. Rochester, NY 14626

I reviewed an early version of Power over a year ago. Perhaps it's time to look at an updated version. Thanks.

As to amber screens, de gustibus non est disputandem— it's a matter of taste. Some love them. . . . Jerry

Duplicating the Original

Dear Jerry,

I have been trying to find out about the differences between machines built around a chip and machines built to take

582 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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European Headquarters: Data Translation, Ltd., 430 Bath Rd., Slough, Berkshire SLI 68B England (06286) 3412 Tlx 849-862.

IBM PC is a registered trademark of IBM. Apple II is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Corp. Tl Professional is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments, Inc.

DEC Rainbow is a registered trademark of Digital Equipment Corp. COM PAQ is a registered trademark of COM PAQ Computer Corp.

Circle 130 on inquiry card.

User to User.

any chips. For instance, if I bought a Compupro and put an 8088 card in it, would I then be able to run anything written for a PC? Besides just running, would it run as fast or as efficiently? It seems clear that any sort of simulation can never perfectly duplicate the original, so software written for that original can never be entirely functional. And if I plug a 68000 card in there, can I go and buy anybody's Unix, or do I have to wait for Compupro to set it up? I am a fairly clever lad with a ham

radio license (expired), a smattering of physics, and a lot of curiosity. I would love to get a machine that would let me play with all of the newest chips, but more important is to be able to play with all of the new software, which nowadays seems to come out on Apple and PC before anything else.

After-market hardware seems to follow the same trend: I can get voice-recognition equipment for under $1000, but only if I have an Apple or a PC. I guess what

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584 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

it works down to is whether to just get a PC for the software support and competitive pricing. What is the difference, really, between a PC and a Compupro from the inside out? You were the first person I came across who actually seemed to have owned and used a lot of this stuff.

Charles L. Convis Jr. Mcloud Biosystems 314 Rigg St. Santa Cruz, CA 95060

S-100 systems can in theory emulate other systems, but there are problems. The graphics are different, and the ROM software in the PC is different. The answer to your question is, alas, sometimes, and it depends on the software. I wish I didn't have to be so ambiguous. Jerry

Pro p-System

i * ---• Dear Jerry, "'

While I admire your science fiction and your amazing capacity for work, your recent user's column about the Sage Computer and the p-System ("Sage in Bloom, Zeke II, CBIOS Traps, Language Debate Continues," March 1982, page 218) calls for some criticism. Your view of the p-System as a bug was completely negated a few lines down by stating that it was the fastest system you had benchmarked. You later mention that the p-System points one back to the editor during a syntax error, one of many good features that have been in the system for several years. Otherwise, you have nothing good to say about the system. In comparison to your favorite CP/M, one should fairly point out that the integrated system of languages, operating environment, editor, and utilities is quite powerful and allows one to keep automatic libraries of compiled program segments, automatically date files, and maintain volume names for disks that ensure that the proper disks are being used. Many other features, such as I/O redirection, the monitor function, chaining, and concurrent processes make the system a joy to use. You might have pointed out that the p-System was first developed as a student operating system and is thus a lot "friendlier" than CP/M or Unix in the humble opinion of this user. If you don't like Pascal, you might have pointed out that one can use the p-System with BASIC, FORTRAN, Lisp, or

Circle 484 on inquiry card.

Modula-2, the latter being mentioned in your flash as being available without mentioning that it is the p-System that supports the version you acquired.

Finally, the reason the p-System on the Sage is not a bug for me is that if I bought one, having chosen the p-System two years ago for its excellent features, I could take my entire environment of programs, printer controllers, my nifty banking program, and the procedure that signs my name, and install them painlessly on the new system. No new versions of BASIC to learn, no new software to buy, just a continuation of the growth and power of my computing environment. That is worth a lot. Joseph A. Gear Vernon, Ontario Canada

I confess some unfamiliarity with the p-System, and thus have little right to strong opinions; certainly there area number of Sage users who consider the p-System a definite plus. However, do recall that my son Alex and his young lady friend are both students at the University where UCSD Pascal was developed, so I have the benefit of advice from people pretty thoroughly familiar with it.

I don't myself care for the general philosophy of the UCSD operating system; but again, that may be prejudice due to unfamiliarity. There certainly are a number of satisfied p-System users: after all, Carl Helmers, former editorial director of BYTE, is so enamoured that his license plates read P-CODE! .... Jerry

Naming Names

Dear Jerry,

For "pseudo disk," how about "virtual disk," and for the "box that contains. . . bus and power supply," "crux." M. Gary Cohen Searsport, ME

/ like "virtual disk." "Crux" though, eludes my affection. Thanks. . . . Jerry

Logo: No Go

Dear Jerry,

While reading my kids a story, it occurred to me that somebody should vocalize the analogy of 'The Emperor Has No Clothes" to "Logo Is a Fraud." The en-

tire Logo mystique (even the normally sensible BYTE devoted an entire issue to its perpetuation) is supported only by a bunch of "educators" and several thousand defrauded kids. I say defrauded kids because they could have learned all that Logo has to teach by playing any of several games (e.g., Face Maker, Deedle Drawing, and Kids' Programming Language). Had they been taught BASIC, they could have had the rudiments of a useful language. My own experience with

my kids and others says that any kid who can understand Logo can do similar tricks with print statements on any computer with graphics. (Yes, I am saying a ZX-81 could replace all of Logo.)

I just hate to see the entire computer community acting as if Logo were something useful when common sense says it is baloney. Try to purchase a useful program in Logo! Pat O'Neil Tempe, AZ

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November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

User to User.

I have no real experience with Logo. What I've heard is good, but it does seem strange that we don't have it running on more machines.

I must say I've not heard others express your particular view, but, then, I've not heard many views at all. . . . Jerry

r

On Heath Kits

Dear Jerry,

I recently purchased the Z-100 and find it to be versatile, powerful, and feature-packed. Heath/Zenith has done a good job (I built mine). I have an additional complaint about the system that you didn't mention in the review—the fan noise. I have the Z-100 in my office at home and find the fan noise quite objectionable. I also quite agree with your criticism about the keyboard. It was a design error not to have built the Z with a removable keyboard. I hope to have mine removed in the near future. Wayne Hatter 709 Wakefield Rd. Neptune, NJ 07753

We are still pleased with the Z-100, despite the noise. If you manage to detach the Z-100 keyboard, let me know how! . . . Jerry

Dear Jerry,

Although I have been involved with programming since junior high school on everything from HP and IBM mainframes to calculators, I have recently been bitten by the personal computer bug. I am considering starting with a Heath kit such as the H-100 but have never seen one (or any Heath product, for that matter). What is your opinion of the products from Heath/ Zenith? Also, I have not noticed a vast amount of compatible software. Do you know if it is available but just not listed in favor of the more popular computers?

I am also a little confused when it comes to CP/M. What's the difference between CP/M-86 and CP/M 2.2, etc., and will any CP/M software run on any CP/M-compatible computer? ILt. James Blue 583rd Ordnance Co. APO NY 09078

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J like the Z-100 but cannot comment on the kit version because I have never built one.

CP/M-86 is 16-bit for an 8086 or 8088 CPU; CP/M 2.2 is for an 8080, 8085, orZ80. Jerry

Using RAM Disks

Dear Jerry,

When a "RAM disk" is used as a substitute for one of the disk drives in such a system, does one load the program or the data disk in the RAM disk for best efficiency? James M. Baehr Lake Bluff, IL

The RAM disk allows very quick disk access. Since most programs only load once and have done with it, it's usually better to put the data, particularly files, on the RAM disk if you're short of space.

Try it, you'll like it! . . . Jerry ■

Jerry Pournelle welcomes readers' comments and opinions. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Jerry Pournelle, c/o 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.

BYTE is looking for articles for upcoming issues on topics that include the following:

•Professional Computing

•Computers in Education

•Modula-2

•Computer Graphics

•Mass Storage

•New Chips

• Communications

Anyone interested in writing on any of these subjects should send an outline of the proposed article to

Article Proposals BYTE Magazine POB 372 Hancock, NH 03449

Please include a telephone number at which you can be reached during the day.

586 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

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008 SIGCOMM (Data Communication) 15.00 10.00

010 SIGCPR (Computer Personnel Research) 8.00 4.00

011 SIGCSE (Computer Science Education) 11.00 5.00

012 SIGCUE (Computer Uses in Education) 10.00 7.00

013 SIGDA (Design Automation) 3.00 3.00

033 SIGOOC (Documentation) 12.00 2.00

015 SIGGRAPH (Computer Graphics) 10.00 5.00

016 SIGIR (Information Retrieval) 6.00 3.00

018 SIGMAP(Mathemattcal Programming) 10.00 7.50

019 SIGMETRICS (Measurement & Evaluation) 9.00 3.00

020 SIGMICRO (Microprogramming) 10.00 6.00

014 SIGMOD (Management of Data) 3.00 3.00

021 SIGNUM (Numerical Mathematics) 11.00 5.50

027 SIGOA (Office Automation) 7.50 3.00

022 SIGOPS (Operating Systems) 8.00 4.00

035 SIGPC (Personal Computing) 7.00 5.00

023 SIGPLAN (Programming Languages) 22.00 11.00

037 SIGPLAN-AdaTEC (SIGPLAN Tech. Comm. on Ada) ... 15.00 10.00

038 SIGPLAN-FORTREC (SIGPLAN Tech. Comm.

onFortran).. 6.00 3.00

036 SIGSAC (Security, Audit and Control) 12.00 4.00

024 SIGSAM (Symbolic & Algebraic Manipulation) 7.50 3.00

025 SIGSIM (Simulation) 5.00 2.00

031 SIGSMALL (Small Computing Systems and

Applications) 9.00 4.00

034 SIGSOFT (Software Engineering) 6.00 4.00

018 SIGUCCS (University and College

Computing Services) 10.00 5.00

Circle appropriate rate(s)

Computing Surveys (quarterly) 103 $10.00

Journal of the ACM (quarterly) 102. 12.00

Computing Reviews (monthly) 104 19.00

Collected Algorithms, Initial Vols. I, II, III & 1 yr's quarterly

updating supplements 105 75.00

Transactions on: (all quarterlies)

Mathematical Software/TOMS 108 18.00

Database Systems TODS 109 18.00

Programming Languages and Systems/TOP LAS 110 18.00

Graphics TOG 112 24.00

Office Information Systems/T0015113 20.00

Computer Systems, T0CS 114 20.00

Payment must accompany application. Please make checks payable to ACM Inc., and mail this application to: ACM, P.O. Box 12114, Church Street Station, New York, NY 10249.

Total

Or you may pay by Mastercard or Visa.

Credit card no

Expiration date

Member No.

ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTING MACHINERY

P.O. Box 12114 Church Street Station New York, N.Y. 10249

590 BYTE November 1983

Circle 7 on inquiry card.

Clubs and Newsletters

Take a Survey

Survey, an engineering newsletter for engineers and programmers who work with microprocessors and personal computers, contains abstracts of timely magazine articles categorized for easy access and reference. Headings include personal computers, engineering, hardware, and programming. Article inquiries require a $1 response fee. Survey is produced six times a year by KVA Associates for $37 a year, $43 in Canada and Mexico, and $50 abroad. For details, contact KVA Associates, 2821 Camino del Mar, Del Mar, CA 92014.

CCC of Middlefown

The Connecticut Computer Club meets at the Kent Memorial Library in Suffield, Connecticut at 7:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. Anyone interested in hardware or software for any make of computer can join for a $6 annual fee. For details, write to Bill Curlew, Connecticut Computer Club, 92 Plaza Dr., Middletown, CT 06457

Every Which Way

PC Report is the monthly newsletter of the IBM PC Users Group, an affiliate of the Boston Computer Society (BCS), that contains notes from meetings, ads, special-interest-group news, software-exchange news, abstracts of software reviews, tutorials, special reprints, and announcements of new products, publications, and services. Back issues are available while they last ($1.50). Address all correspondence to BCS/IBM PC

Users Group, POB 307, Wellesley Hills, MA 02181.

Exchange HX-20 News

The HX-20 Users Group of London, England, welcomes information from all users about their occupations and applications of the Epson HX-20. A newsletter is produced that contains documentation, how-to articles, programs, and coming events. Contributions to the newsletter are welcome. Contact the HX-20 Users Group at 25 Sawyers Lawn, Drayton Bridge Rd., Ealing, London W13, England.

Users in Ohio, North and Central

The Akron/Canton PC Users Group is for users of the IBM PC as well as anyone else interested in small computers. Meetings are held on the first Monday of each month from 7 to 9 p.m. in Akron and Canton, Ohio, alternately. Dues are $10 per year and a newsletter is produced. For further details, contact James Finucane, 10690 Clapsaddle Ave., Alliance, OH 44601, or call (216) 935-0252.

Free Ads For Members

The Greater South Bay IBM PC Users Group meets every month and produces a newsletter, GSBUG, that contains news, announcements, and minutes of meetings. The group contains special-interest groups for communications, beginners, and investors. Membership dues are $25 annually, family dues are $30, youths are $10, and the newsletter is available without membership for $10. Members receive free adver-

tising for up to three lines. For further information, contact the Greater South Bay IBM PC Users Group, POB 665, Lomita, CA 90717.

Try Tristate OSI

The Tristate OSI Users Group provides a forum for reference to OSI users in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and other areas. This is an informal association of people who share advice about systems, interests, and problems. Inquiries can be sent to Ted Morris, Tristate OSI Users Group, 6306 Kincaid Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45213.

International ZX Users Group

The ZX Users Group of New York is for users of Timex/Sinclair computers. A newsletter, the ZX World News Bulletin, is produced every other month and contains news for special-interest divisions such as telecommunications, small business, medical and research, corporate and business, hardware and software, home computing, education, graphics, word processing, and more. For details, write to the ZX Users Group of New York, Box 560, Wall St., New York, NY 10005.

South Florida Enjoys Apples

The Apple Computer Enjoyment Society meets regularly at the North East High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Separate meetings are held for beginners and advanced users. Additional information is available from the Apple Computer Enjoyment Society, POB 9222, Coral Springs, FL 33065.

Morrow Users Form Group

A national users group of owners of the Morrow Micro Decision and Decision I computers has plans to publish a newsletter and provide purchasing discounts and other benefits for members. A title for the group has not yet been chosen. Anyone interested in participating should contact Users Group, POB 14241, Arlington, TX 76094.

60-Mlnute Atari Newsletter

Bits, Bytes, and Pieces is a club for users of Atari computers. Meetings are held on the first Saturday of each month at 1:30 p.m. in A Building/Recreation room at Orchard Estates in Williamson, New York. A 60-minute newsletter is produced on cassette that records discussions about hardware and software, music, programs, science fact and fiction, and a general exchange of ideas between members. Annual membership is $36, which includes the cassette and access to a disk library maintained by the club. Interested parties can obtain a sample cassette for $3, which will be credited toward the membership fee. For information, write to Bill Wheat, 1103 Ar-rowbend Dr., Williamson, NY 14589.

Members' Disk Needs Met

The Morrow Users Group (MUG.l) meets regularly and produces a newsletter that contains minutes of the meeting, answers to questions submitted to the newsletter, reports, and reviews. A software library is maintained and aims to accommo-

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Clubs and Newsletters -

date members' needs. Membership is $15 a year. For details, write the Morrow Users Group, c/o S. S. White, Suite 126, 9001 East Bloom-ington Freeway, Blooming-ton, MN 55420, or call Will Thorp at (612) 571-4318.

Oregonians Meet

The Jackson Amateur Computer Society meets about four times a year in southwestern Oregon. Meetings include speakers and presentations, and a newsletter is produced. Membership dues are $5 a year. An electronic bulletin board called the Medford FORUM-80, (503) 535-6883 is open 24 hours a day. For further details, contact the Jackson Amateur Computer Society, c/o C. B. C. Inc., 2355 Camp Baker Rd., Medford, OR 97501.

Join a Society

Triangle Sinclair Users Group (TSUG) meets every month in North Carolina to discuss new products and bugs. Meetings include presentations, a software exchange, and programs for sale. A $10 annual membership includes the newsletter that announces software discounts, club news, and reviews. For details, contact TSUG, 206 James St., Carr-boro, NC 27510.

Houston Club Forming

The Savid Computer Club has formed. To receive a membership application send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Savid Computer Club, 312 West Alabama #2, Houston, TX 77006.

De Smet C

PCDOS - CP/M-86 - MPM-86 - CCP/M-86

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135 bytes compiled — 6144 bytes linked

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To order specify OS & DISK SIZE/FORMA T. Calif, residents add 6 7 A% sales tax.

CWARE

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(408) 736-6905 PCDOS Trademark IBM - CP/M Trademark Digital Research

Changes and Updates

The IBM Personal Computer users group that is active in Cincinnati, Ohio, is now called ACORN. The nonprofit club maintains a public-domain disk library, for which there is a minimal charge to copy disks. Contact the group by writing ACORN: Greater Cincinnati Users Group, POB 3097, Cincinnati, OH 45201.

The Personal Computer Club of Toronto, formerly the IBM PC Users Group of Toronto (November 1982 BYTE, page 539), welcomes even those interested in the IBM PC who are outside of the Toronto, Canada, area. Meetings are planned for the third Tuesday of each month, a software library has formed, and an electronic bulletin board is in the works. The club contains about 10 special interest groups in communications, education, C and assembly languages, spreadsheets, speakers, color graphics, and more. The monthly newsletter is free to all members and includes ads, updates, and features. Membership is $30 a year. To contact the club write to the Personal Computer Club of Toronto, POB 266, Station A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1B2, Canada.

The Boston Computer Society, representing at least 19 user/interest groups, produces and mails a Calendar each month as a monthly guide to meetings and events. It is suitable for posting. For information, write to the Boston Computer Society, Three Center Plaza, Boston, MA 02108, or call (617) 367-8080 (April 1983 BYTE, page 461).

A Commodore VIC-20 users group has formed under the auspices of the New York Amateur Computer Club Inc. (NYACC). Meetings will be held in New York City, but members from

around the country are welcome to join on a correspondence basis. Interested Victims should write to Mike Brown, New York Amateur Computer Club, POB 106, Church St. Station, New York, NY 10008 (November 1982 BYTE, page 539).

No Need to Shuffle

The Buffalo IBM Users Group (BIBMUG) serves users in the western part of New York state. It provides a forum for the exchange of information and experiences, a software exchange, a monthly newsletter, and other members' services such as volunteers who help newcomers get acquainted with their computers and an electronic bulletin board. Membership is $20 a year, $10 for students and senior citizens. For details, write to BIBMUG, POB 1487, Buffalo, NY 14221. ■

BYTE's Bits

Quick Switch

Two photos were inadvertently transposed in the "What's New?" section in the August 1983 BYTE. On page 511, the top photo depicts a 40-column thermal printer with added interface modules from Alphacom of Campbell, California. The bottom photo shows the letter-quality daisy-wheel printers from Morrow of San Leandro, California.

We apologize to the manufacturers, Alphacom and Morrow, and to our readers for this error. ■

592 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Our new multimode:

Correspondence quality. High-speed drafts.

Graphics. Attractive pricing.

And up to 500 cps.

Anadex rapidly moves a head.

High quality correspondence. High-speed drafts. High-resolution graphics.

Whatever your application, they're all built into the exciting new multi-mode printer: Rapid/Scribe™ Model DP-6500 from Anadex. But the built-in feature that's got everybody talking is Rapid/Scribe's speed ... 500 characters per second at 10 Pitch in the high speed draft mode; and 110 cps in the proportionally spaced, Dual Pass Correspondence Mode.

The accompanying chart summarizes the speeds. (Notice that at 10 Pitch and 80 Columns, Speed is 275 Lines per Minute).

Equally exciting are the impressive array of features that have

become the Anadex hallmarks...friction and tractor feed,

Printing speeds (cps) sophisticated communications capability, emulation packages,

|9 p! tC u qAn CpS character font downloading, alternate character fonts, bar

„ ]1Pltc y 540 cps codes, and of course, a reputation for reliability.

Enhanced _ , . _ . ' . ,,_ ., . . * _ ,, .

Proportional 275 cps Couple those features with Rapid/Scribe s interfaces - Parallel,

10 Pitch ...//........... 250 cps Centronics compatible and RS-232-C Serial - and you have a

12 Pitch 300 cps solid, high-speed printer that fits virtually any computer and

Condensed computer application... including yours.

15 Pitch 375 cps See us at booth 1130.

Du^pts^ Correspondence Quality ^ @ COfllDCH/MI '83

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1 2 Pitch ' zo c p s #A\ In California Call (800) 792-9992 I [j^Jk

10 Pitch Printing Speed (lines/minute) fill %t*J"m

40 Columns 430 1pm MM Wm. **^ —* —**—**—* ^ ~ fortheworld

SOColumns 275 1pm f fMl Hi M ^j l l^S JC

132 Columns 180 1pm MMflHriL """ "^"*^^^^^^

©Copyright 1983, Anadex. Inc.

ANADEX, INC. • 9825 De Soto Avenue • Chatsworth, California 91311, U.S.A. • Telephone: (213) 998-8010 • TWX 910-494-2761 U.S.Sales Offices: San Jose, CA(408)247-3933* Irvine, CA(714)557-0457 • Schiller Park,IL(312)671-1717 • Wakefield, MA(617)245-9160 Hauppauge, New York, Phone: (516) 435-0222 • Atlanta, Georgia, Phone: (404) 255-8006 • Austin, Texas, Phone: (512) 327-5250 ANADEX, LTD. • Weaver House, Station Road • Hook, Basingstoke, Hants RG27 9JY, England • Tel: Hook (025672) 3401 • Telex: 858762 ANADEX G ANADEX GmbH • Behringstrasse 5 • 8752 Mainaschaff • Frankfurt, W. Germany • Tel: 011-49-06021-7225 • Telex: 4188347

Circle 26 on inquiry card. byte November 1983 593

The best way to im

is to build

% ■

-*••--.•

An idea whose time has come. And gone.

It should come as no shock that your mail is being handled by a postal system that's 208 years old.

Of course, they've made improvements along the way. Like adhesive stamps, mailboxes and zip codes. But the basic idea of carrying mail hasn't changed since the days of Benjamin Franklin.

When you think of how much the world has changed since then, you start to realize that the post office hasn't exactly kept up with the times.

The nation's new postal system.

The nation needs a whole new way to deliver mail. One that's faster, cheaper and more convenient. It's called MCI Mail.

MCI Mail is an electronic way to send mail from your office or home to anyone, anywhere. Regardless of the kind of equipment they have. Or whether they have any equipment at all. Just type in a name and street address and we'll get it there.

Instead of using a mailbox and a stamp, you use practically any electronic typewriter, home computer, word processor, data terminal or telex.

We've broken the language barrier.

Until now, different communicating machines spoke different languages. For instance, a Wang couldn't get along with an Apple? They were incompatible.

But with MCI Mail, most kinds of communicating machines can communicate with each other. Instantly.

My grandma doesn't have a Wang.

Not every person in the world has a sophisticated piece of equipment around the place. But that doesn't stop MCI Mail

You can reach these people in a matter of hours. Or overnight. What they get is a

prove the post office

a new one.

!ilM S; !i'i

Mr. C. Cofsky Cofsky and Cofsky! Inc. 2077 Lower Lane Delia, Pa. 0H78

Dear Hr. Cofskys

This letter confiris our conversation with reference to jots *52077. He are agreement with your proposal, except details.

To begin with, we feel that a tore c analysis is in order, with a view ta i»f>leienting additional cost reducti the price, we feel, would be in full the larket research and well within guidelines for profitability.

this lQTTUTYq,

in total

li turn m. « S—

our corporate

pr *henstve

*■ Loitering cc ordance m

high-quality copy, which can be sent on your letterhead, with your signature. All right, already. What's the price? You'd expect to pay more for all this speed and convenience. But what's really amazing is that it costs less than any other fast delivery. In fact, it can cost up to 90% less than overnight mail. Speaking about cost, this is one of the few times you can save money without spending money. If your equipment is hooked up to a phone, you don't have to buy i

a thing. All you're doing is making better use of the equipment you already have.

Besides that, there are no monthly service charges, no subscription fees, and no connect charges to pay. The only time you do pay is when you send out mail.

We've even made it absolutely painless to sign up. Just call 80OMCI-4244 today and you can use MCI Mail in a few days.

The post office is an idea that worked for 208 years. But MCI Mail is the way mail should work today.

r ~~ _ ' ' 1

For g free brochure with details and more information (like how MCI Mail can bring you Dow Jones® financial news), fill in the coupon. Mail it to: MCI Mail, Customer Support, Box 1001, 1900 M St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. BW-I

Na me

Title

Company-Address

City

. Phone

Type of Equipment. With

_Zi P _

. Without Communications

MCI Mail The nation's new postal system.

Circle 288 on inquiry card.

Ask BYTE

Conducted by Steve Ciarcia

Number Crunchers Take Note

Dear Steve,

My interests fall in the area of what might be termed "high-capacity" microcomputers. I would appreciate your advice on a couple of matters. First, which systems do you feel are the most powerful for number-crunching applications? Perhaps one of the 8086/8087/80286- or 68000-based systems? Second, do you know of any products that interface 9-track tape drives to the S-100 or other buses? Thank you for your assistance. David Lavers Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Electrovalue Industrial Inc. advertises 9-track tape drives and controllers for the Apple II computer. They may have controllers for others. Write or call them at Electrovalue Industrial Inc., POB 376-1, Morris Plains, NJ 07950, (201) 267-1117.

I am going to pass on the question as to which 16-bit system is the most powerful for number-crunching applications and, instead, reference an article that compares many of them. "An Architectural Comparison of Contemporary 16-Bit Microprocessors" by Hoo-min D. Toong and Amar Gupta, published in the May 1981 issue of IEEE Micro, does an excellent job of comparing the various 16-bit processors and should answer your questions. . . .Steve

Good-bye Howard Cosell

Dear Steve,

For some time I have won-

dered how much is involved in the process of overlaying video images, i.e., having a game or text generated by a personal computer displayed over either a broadcast video signal or one produced by a videotape or videodisc system.

Think of the fun you could have if a system like this existed—you could blast the bad guys on network television shows from your easy chair with a joystick! Or perhaps computer-generated messages could be displayed on-screen over the show you are watching, telling you that your dinner is ready, someone is at the door, or the dog wants in. You could even program while watching the news.

I know that television stations have the complex video equipment that does this because we see it all the time. Why can't some simplified system be devised that will allow a person to modulate a signal on the same frequency or channel as that being used by local stations and give the computer-generated image priority so that the broadcast image will in effect become the background or playfield area?

I realize that things that sound simple are often the hardest of all to implement; there may even be legal barriers involved in producing signals of the same frequency as those assigned to licensed broadcast stations. I just wanted to see what your feedback on the subject might be.

Doug Arnold Cullman, AL

An article in the September 1982 issue of Micro, "Superimposing TV Pictures on PET Video" by Peter D. Hiscocks,

describes a method of overlaying a TV camera signal on a microcomputer. The combined output can be fed to a separate monitor or VCR. While a TV camera is shown, the concept can be applied to a TV receiver. The key requirement is to synchronize the microcomputer display to that of the TV receiver. There should be no legal problems because you can work with video signals and not worry about transmitting radio-frequency signals on TV-channel frequencies.

As you mentioned, while the concept is straightforward, this is not a beginner's project. A means to isolate the TV from the computer should be employed to prevent unwanted ground loops; synchronizing the sweep rates also requires a knowledge of TV operation. . . .Steve

VCR Storage and Retrieval

Dear Steve,

I really enjoy your articles. The laser-optical videodisc interface was especially good.

Is it possible to address VCRs for video and/or data storage and retrieval? Michael Daugherty Kapaa, HI

It is not only possible to interface a VCR for video and data storage and retrieval, it has been done! An article in the July 1980 issue of BYTE, "Interactive Control of a Videocassette Recorder with a Personal Computer" by Dr. Richard C. Hallgren (page 116), describes the interfacing of a Sony Betamax VCR to a Radio Shack TRS-80 and an Apple II. . . .Steve

Sound-Generator Interface

Dear Steve,

I like the sound-generating circuit in figure 2 of your article, "Add Programmable Sound Effects to Your Computer," in the July 1982 BYTE (page 60). Can you show me how to interface this to an Apple He and an IBM PC? Thank you. Wayne Straub Santa Cruz, CA

The programmable sound generator can easily be interfaced to a Centronics parallel port (or any parallel port, for that matter). If you have a parallel printer port on your computer, this is all that is required: connect the eight DATA lines to the eight DATA lines on the port. Connect the STROBE line to the strobe output (the jumper on the sound generator will have to be set, depending on the polarity of the strobe). Finally, connect the READY line to the ready or busy input of the port.

Sending data to the card is the same as sending data to a printer. In BASIC, just use a POKE command to send the data to the address of the port. . . .Steve

Apples and Cats

Dear Steve,

I have an Apple II and a Novation Cat direct-connect modem. I'd like to find a commercially available RS-232C interface card for the Apple II with appropriate software and documentation so that I can use the modem to communicate with family and friends in the U.S. Can you recommend such an in-

596 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

step into the future...

COHERENT™ is the most powerful UNIX™-compatible operating system available for the IBM PC™ , IBM XT™ and compatibles.

Now you can have the multi-user, multitasking programming capability of a mainframe on a microcomputer. The UNIX-like environment of COHERENT lets you take C code developed using UNIX V7 system utilities and compile and run it on the IBM PC. Through COHERENT'S highly-optimized kernel you can access over 145 different commands including a C-compiler, a text-formatter and LEX and YACC.

Hard disk support presently includes the IBM XT, Genie (removable cartridge), Corona, Davong,

Corvus and Tecmar. Memory cards supported include the AST Megaplus (with or without clock), the Tecmar multifunction board and Tall Tree Systems (512K byte) JRAM cards. Support for more devices and more IBM PC compatibles will be available by the time this ad appears.

The cost of all this — far less than the cost of similar UNIX-based operating systems. Remember, when you buy COHERENT from NCI you receive all the documentation and technical support you need to operate it.

For more information call or write:

Network Consulting Inc. Discovery Park, 3700 Gilmore Way, Suite 110, Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5G 4M1 (604) 430-3466

COHERENT is a trade mark of Mark Williams Co. UNIX is a trade mark of Bell Laboratories. IBM PC and IBM XT are trade marks of International Business Machines Corporation.

BYTE November 1983 597

Choosing software?

Go with the "pros"... use software selection guides from

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And that's why you'll welcome these guides from DATAPRO (a division of McGraw-Hill) — the world's leading supplier of independent reports on data processing and computer products.

Now for the first time the DATAPRO research team throws the spotlight on microcomputer software, and makes available the most authoritative, comprehensive, and up-to-date software guides you can buy.

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Each guide (see listing to the right) contains a directory of all known software for that

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Clearly #1 in the field. Datapro Research Corporation is the world's largest supplier of updating services, seminars, and reports for the data processing, telecommunications, office automation, and microcomputer industries.

It covers these huge, fast-changing fields thoroughly. Gathers and verifies data on new products. Organizes information from many sources, Analyzes trends and new developments. And issues 17 highly regarded monthly looseleaf services - from the famous 'EDP Buyers Bible" to the new "Datapro Directory of On-line Services and Databases'* -plus special reports and guides — to more than 100,000 customers around the world.

Also from Datapro...

Who's Who in Microcomputing

1983

Essential information on the more than 2.000 companies offering microcomputer products and services — including both hardware and software suppliers. Detailed information is provided for each supplier- name, address, telephone number, people to contact, applications emphasis, size, sales revenue, types of customers, products and services offered, and more. 530 pp.. illus.. 8V2 x 11, softcover, $39.95

598 BYTE November 1983

specific microcomputer — organized and indexed for fast, easy access. Product descriptions include product name • vendor • functional description • machine(s) supported • OS and memory requirements • pricing • documentation • and more. Useful vendor profiles and a handy glossary of terms are also presented in each guide.

These timely guides — completely updated every 18 months — provide the up-to-the-minute information you need to evaluate today's software. And every word is objective — an invaluable counterbalance to the untested claims of salespeople and vendors.

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GUIDE TO APPLE SOFTWARE

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Data pro/McGraw-Hill GUIDE TO IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER SOFTWARE

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Covers all known software for CP/M-based systems. 256 pp., illus.. 8 1 /?x 11. \m\W # ifB !~Kfcfc: softcover, $19.95 ^ mm

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Name

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Offer good only in US.

Order subject to acceptance by McGraw-Hill

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23-D220-4440-3

terface card? Thank you. Frank Bason Silkeborg, Denmark

One of the more popular serial interface cards for the Apple II is the California Computer Systems (CCS) Model 7710. It features full handshaking and data rates up to 19,200 bps. Most software packages provide support for this board, and I've seen prices in BYTE as low as $126.

Many software packages are available for use with your modem. Transend by SSM Microcomputer Products is a very versatile package that comes in three versions, the least expensive of which is $89. . . .Steve

Terminology

Dear Steve,

Would you please answer a couple of questions for me. They involve terminology and, although I see these terms often, I do not feel that I know exactly what they mean.

First, what are static RAM and dynamic RAM? What is the difference?

Similarly, what are memory-mapped and bitmapped, and what, if anything, is the difference? Whenever I see these terms, they always seem to be used with reference to a CRT or video display. Are they used in any other sense? Donald W. Kearney Martinsburg, WV

Static and dynamic RAM are two methods of obtaining random-access memory (also known as read/write memory). A static RAM chip can be thought of as a flip-flop device. When a data bit is written into an addressed cell, it flips the state of the cell to a 1 or 0 and remains in that state (hence, static) until

changed. A dynamic RAM chip can be likened to a capacitor. When a data bit is written into an addressed cell, it charges up a capacitor and uses the charge, or lack of charge, to indicate the state. The problem is that this charge gradually leaks away due to internal resistance and must be recharged (refreshed) periodically in order to retain the memory bit. These chips are known as dynamic RAMs.

A memory-mapped video display is one that displays the contents of an area of memory. The display can be bit-mapped or byte-mapped. In a bit-mapped display, each video memory location written into will display up to eight dots on the screen. As an example, the hexadecimal word FF will display eight dots (one dot for each 1), and the hexadecimal word 00 will display no dots. This effect can be used to create a high-resolution display on the screen. Although all computers do not handle bit-mapping in the same way, the idea is similar.

Byte-mapping is a more coarse version of bit-mapping. Instead of single-dot resolution, only block resolution is available. As an example, the Radio Shack Models I and III utilize a block graphics approach, creating shapes by combining various block combinations. . . .Steve

Color Computer Items

Dear Steve,

In response to Mr. Duff Kennedy (Ask BYTE, May 1983, page 516), there is a BASIC compiler currently available for the Color Computer from Aardvark Technical Services, 2352 South Commerce, Walled Lake, MI 48088. Written in BASIC, it can handle only a small

EXPOTEK

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QUADRAMCARDS . . . .CALL 16K RAM CHIPS

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64K MEM/UPGRADE .... $80 SOFTWARE CALL

ALTOS

580 10 $4199

586-10 $5498

586-14 $7680

8600 12 $8399

ATARI

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NORTHSTAR

ADVANTAGE $2150

W/15MB $4310

TELEVIDEO

802 $2515

802H $4449

803 $1845

1603 CALL

TERMINALS

ADDS

VIEWPOINT A1 $485

VIEWPOINT A2 $550

HAZELTINE

ESPRIT I $498

ESPRIT II $540

TELEVIDEO

910 $555

925 $699

950 $865

970 $1015

FOR APPLE

MICOR SCI A2 $255

RANA ELITE I $260

RANA ELITE III $540

FOR ATARI

RANA 1000 ........ $375

DISKDRIVES

PRINTERS

CITOH

F1040 $1090

F1055 $1499

1550P $599

8510P $345

SILVEREED SAVE $ CALL

DATASOUTH

DS120 $595

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DIABLO

620 $895

630RO $1710

NEC

3510 $1365

3550 $1705

7710 $1900

8023 $399

OKIDATA SAVE $ CALL

MONITORS

AMDEK

300 GREEN $129

300 AMBER $145

310 AMBER (IBM) .... $199

COLOR I $275

BMC

GREEN $88

COLOR $299

16K RAM . $69

Z80 $235

VIDEX 80 COLUMN . . . $227

VIEWMAX80 $175

MICROSOFTPREM. PK . $465

DISKETTES

ELEPHANT SS/SD . $18.00 BX

SCOTCH SS/DD . . . $22.00 BX

DYSAN SS/SD .... $33.00 BX

(100MIN.ON DISKS)

ALL PRICES SUJBECT TO CHANGE CUSTOMER SERVICE (602)863 0759

Circle 182 on inquiry card.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Have a merry

puteranda

DISKETTES

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S.S.D.DEN 40 TRK, 10, 16 SECTORS.! 23.50

D.S.D.DEN 40 TRK, 10, 16 SECTORS 36.50

8" DISKS IN STOCK CALL

VERBATIM DATALIFE

MD 525-01. 10, 16 $ 26.50

MD 550-01. 10. 16 44.50

MD 557-01, 10, 16 45.60

MD 577-01, 10, 16 34.80

DISKETTE STORAGE

5V*" BIB CLEANER 8.95

51ft " PLASTIC LIBRARY CASE $ 2.50

PLASTIC STORAGE BINDER w/ Inserts....9.95 PROTECTOR 5 V (50 Disk Capacity)....21.95 DISK BANK 5V 5.95

ATARI

See Apple & Atari Software.

BANK STREET WRITER $ 49.98

EPSON CABLE TO 850 INT 20.00

HOME ACCOUNTANT 59.00

SIGNALMAN MODEM 85.00

TAX ADVANTAGE 38.97

WICO TRACKBALL 59.00

PRINTERS

STAR MICRONICS GEMINI 10 X $ CALL

STAR MICRONICS GEMINI 15 CALL

SOUNDTRAP tor 80 column printers 99.00

SWEET-P PLOTTER 639.00

RIBBONS FOR MX-80 8.95

RIBBONS FOR MX-100 24.00

C-ITOH F-10 40 CPS PARALLEL 1250.00

C-ITOH F-10 40 CPS SERIAL 1250.00

C-ITOH F-10 55 CPS PARALLEL 1639.00

C-ITOH F-10 55 CPS SERIAL 1639.00

C-ITOH PROWRITER PARALLEL 399.00

C-ITOH PROWRITER SERIAL 550.00

C-ITOH PROWRITER II PARALLEL 699.00

C-ITOH PROWRITER II SERIAL 767.00

EPSON GRAFTRAX PLUS 60.00

EPSON RX-80 CALL

COMREX CR-1 SERIAL 829.00

COMREX TRACTOR FEED 109.00

IDS 480 MICROPRISM 489.00

NEC 8023A 425.00

NEC SPINWRITER 3530 P. RO 1739.00

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OKIDATA 92 CALL

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OKIGRAPH 82 49.95

OKIGRAPH 83 49.95

MICROBUFFER IN-LINE 32K ..299.00

MICROBUFFER IN-LINE 64K 349,00

MICROBUFFER 64K EXPANSION MOD.179.00

BOOKS

IBM

GRAPHICS PROGRAMS 14.00

100 READY-TO-RUN PROGRAMS 14.95

33 GAMES OF SKILL & CHANCE 12.50

APPLE

APPLE ]( BASIC 12.50

PROGRAMMING FOR APPLE 9.50

TRS-80

HOW TO DO IT ON THE TRS-80 22.95

MICROSOFT BASIC DECODED 22.95

TRS dos. 2.3 DECODED 19.95

BASIC DISK I/O FASTER & BETTER 22,95

GENERAL

101 PROJECTS FOR THE Z-80 15.95

1001 THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR

PERSONAL COMPUTER 9.50

THE GIANT BOOK OF SOFTWARE 13.50

30 PROGRAMS FOR THE HOMEOWNER...9.50

APPLE ll/lle HARDWARE

ABT APPLE KEYPAD $119.00

ALS Z-CARD .142.50

MICROSOFT PREMIUM PAK 485.00

MICROSOFT Z-80 SOFTCARD 249.00

M & R SUPERTERM 80x24 VIDEO BD 315.00

M & R COOLING FAN 39,95

M & R UNIVERSAL MOO 54.95

PROMETHEUS VERSACARO 165.00

SUPER CLOCK II 129.00

SUPER FIVE HALF HEIGHT DRIVE 279.00

T/G JOYSTICK 44.95

T/G PADDLE 29.95

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THE MILL-PASCAL SPEED UP 270.00

THE VOICE BOX 145.50

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VERSA WRITER DIGITIZER 259.00

VIDEX ULTRATERM 293,00

VIDEX 80x24 VIDEO CARD 260.00

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VIDEX FUNCTION STRIP 71.50

KRAFT JOYSTICK 48.00

MICROBUFFER II* 16K W/GRAPHICS 199.00

MICROBUFFER lit 32K W/GRAPHICS 219.00

SUPERFAN II 62.00

SUPERFAN II W/ZENER 84.50

RANA CONTROLLER 104.00

SNAPSHOT 119.00

GRAPPLER+ 132,00

7710A ASYNCHRON. SER. INTERFACE 135.00

7712A SYNCHRON. SER. INTERFACE 159.00

7742A CALENDAR CLOCK 99.00

7728A CENTRONICS INTERFACE 105.00

VISTA VISION 80-80 COL CARD 259.00

VISTA 8" DISK DRIVE CONTROLLER 549.00

MONITORS

AMDEK COLOR I $350.00

AMDEK RGB COLOR II 480.00

AMDEK RGB INTERFACE 169.00

AMDEK 310A IBM AMBER 179.00

BMC GREEN MONITOR 92.00

NEC 12" GREEN MONITOR 159.00

TAXAN 12" AMBER..... 145.00

TAXAN RGB I 359.00

USl AMBER 9" 145.00

USI AMBER 12" 160.00

ZENITH GREEN 119.00

ZENITH AMBER 129 00

MOUNTAIN HARDWARE

CPS MULTIFUNCTION BOARD 145.00

MUSIC SYSTEM 369.00

RAMPLUS 32K 160.00

ROMPLUS W/ KEYBOARD FILTER 165.00

ROMPLUS W/0 KEYBOARD FILTER 125.00

ROMWRITER 149.00

MODEMS

New! Hayes IBM Internal 300/1200 baud Direct Connect Modem w/soft..S489.00

HAYES MICROMODEM II 279.00

MICROMODEM W/ TERMINAL PKG 299.00

HAYES CHRONOGRAPH 199.00

HAYES SMART MODEM (300 Baud)....208.50 HAYES SMART MODEM (1200 Baud)...528.00

IBM SIGNALMAN 229.00

NOVATION J-CAT 125.00

NOVATION SMARTCAT 212 499 00

NOVATION SMARTCAT 209.00

NOVATION AUTO-CAT (1200 Baud) 619.00

NOVATION APPLE-CAT (300 Baud) 310.00

NOVATION APPLE-CAT (1200 Baud) 605.00

SIGNALMAN MODEM W/RS-232C 85.00

TRS-80 MOD I HARDWARE

LNW 5/8 DOUBLER W/DOSPLUS 3.4.$181.00

LNW EXPANSION INTERFACE 345.00

LNW 80 MOD II W/CP/M CALL

PERCOM DATA SEPARATOR 27.00

TANDON 40 TRK DISK DRIVE W/P.S...181.00 4 DRIVE CONTROLLER P/S 259.00

IBM HARDWARE

HERCULES GRAPHICS CARO 405.00

KRAFT JOYSTICK 48.00

MICROSOFT 64K 278.00

PLANTRONICS COLORPLUS GRAPHICS BOARD

w/ DRAFTSMAN 475.00

QUADBOARD 64K 308.00

T/G JOYSTICK 47.95

T/G TRACKBALL 47.95

64K MEMORY UPGRADE 80.00

ALPHA BYTE IBM MEMORY EXPANSION BOARDS

256K W /RS-232C 349.00

512K W /RS-232C. 579.00

IBM DISK DRIVES

Alpha Byte's add-on drive kits for the IBM-PC — each kit includes installation instructions. Tandon TM100-1 Single head 40 trk..$195.00 Tandon TM 100-2 Double head 40 trk...249.00 TEAC HALF HEIGHT D.S. Disk Drives...279.00

BRACKETS & CABLE; for half height drive 25.95

PANASONIC '/2-HEIGHT DISK DRIVES .249.00

ISOLATORS

ISO-2 6-SOCKET $49.95

BARE DRIVES

TANDON 5V4 INCH

100-1 SINGLE HEAD 40 TRK $195.00

100-2 DUAL HEAD 40 TRK 249.50

100-3 SINGLE HEAD 80 TRK 250.00

100-4 DUAL HEAD 80 TRK 369.00

IBM SOFTWARE

CP/M 86 DIGITAL RESEARCH 54,00

d BASE II 429.00

EASYWRITER II 247.00

EASY SPELLER 149.00

EASY FILE 285.00

FIRST CLASS MAIL. 85.00

GRAPHICS HARD COPY SYSTEM 19.50

HOME ACCOUNTANT-*- 105.00

INFOSTAR 297.50

JFORMAT 39.00

LOTUS 1,2,3 380.00

MAILMERGE 174.00

MOVE IT 109.00

PFS: FILE 97.50

PFS: GRAPH 97.50

PFS: REPORT 97.50

PIE WRITER WOROPROCESSOR 145.00

SPELLSTAR 174,00

SUPERCALC 2 168.00

THE WORD PLUS 117.00

T.I.M. Ill 379.00

TYPEFACES FONT CREATOR 92.75

VERSA WRITER GRAPHICS TABLETS... 270.00

VISICALC / 256K 189.00

VISITREND / VISIPLOT 235.00

VISIDEX 192.00

VISIFILE 249.00

VISISCHEOULE 229.00

VOLKSWRITER V 1.2 132.50

WORDSTAR 297.50

WRITE ON 90.00

Call for additional IBM software prices.

CP/M is a reg. trademark of Digital Research. 'Requires Z-80 Softcard. fReg. trademark of Micro Pro International Corp. ^Trademark of Practical Peripherals, Inc. MICROSOFT is reg. trademark. ^Trademark of Microsoft Corp.

•Trademark of Software Dimensions, Inc.

IBM GAME SOFTWARE

APPLE PANIC $ 23.61

CONQUEST 23.36

CROSSFIRE 24.95

DEADLINE 35.00

EXECUTIVE SUITE 31.50

GALAXY ..19.50

LOST COLONY 23.36

MIDWAY CAMPAIGN 1700

MILLIONAIRE 48.50

STARCROSS 28.00

THE WARP FACTOR 31.16

WITNESS 35.00

20RK I. II. Ill 28.00

If you don't see the software you want. call. Our software stock is constantly expanding.

MICRO PRO

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WORDSTAR 3.3*t $297.00

MAILMERGE'f ....174.50

SPELLSTAR't 174.50

WORDSTAR PROFESSIONAL*! 495.00

WORDSTAR W/ CP/M CARD 395.00

INFOSTAR 297.50

DATASTAR 204.50

MICROSOFT®

APPLE

ALDSft 95.00

BASIC COMPILER* 285.00

COBOL* 514.00

FORTRAN* 150.00

OLYMPIC DECATHLON 24.95

TASC APPLESOFT COMPILER 125.00

TYPING TUTOR II 16.50

Z-80 SOFTCARO 249.00

APPLE SOFTWARE

APPLE MECHANIC $ 23.00

APPLESOFT WORKSHOP 37.45

ASCII EXPRESS PRO 98.00

BANK STREET WRITER 49.98

BEAGLE BAG 23.00

BEAGLE BROTHERS UTILITY CITY 23.00

DATA CAPTURE 4.0/80 COLUMN 59.95

DB MASTER VERS 4.0 239.00

DB MASTER UTILITY PAC t OR II 89.00

DICTIONARY 79.00

DOSS BOSS 18.72

DOUBLE TAKE 27.68

EASY MAILER-PRO 117.00

EASY WRITER-PRO 136.00

FORMATT II ENHANCED 132.50

HOW TO PROGRAM IN APPESOFT BASIC38.45

LISA 2.5 59.95

MAGIC MAILER 59.00

MAGIC WINDOW II 117.00

MAGIC WINDOW 79.00

MAGIC WORDS 59.00

MASTER DIAGNOSTICS APPLE ][ ...45.95

MICROTYPING II, Hayden 24,35

MULTIPLAN 199.00

MULTITOOL BUDGET 111.50

MULTITOOL FINANCE 74.25

PFS: GRAPH 89.95

PFS: (NEW) PERSONAL FILING SYSTEM.85.00

PFS: REPORT 79.00

SCREENWRITER II 99.00

SUPER TEXT PRO 97.50

TIP DESK #1 15.95

TRANSCEND II 115.00

TYPEFACES FONT CREATOR 92.75

2-TERM* 89.95

Z-TERM PRO* 129.95

CONTINENTAL SOFTWARE

F.C.M. W/FORM LETTER $ 71.50

G/L,A/R,A/P,PAYROLL Each 148.50

PROPERTY MGMT 325,00

THE HOME ACCOUNTANT 59.95

VISICORP

VISICALC 189.00

VISIDEX 189.00

VISIFILES 189.00

VISIPLOT 158.00

VISISCHEDULE 229.00

VISITERM ....79.00

VISITREND/VISIPLOT 229.00

CP/M® SOFTWARE

We carry CP/M* software in all popular disk formats — Norttistar. Televideo. and Heath/Zenith formatted programs in stock! Call for availability and price. Most software also available on IBM.

d BASE II $429.00

DUTIL 91.00

PASCAL/M Z-80 OR 8080 295.00

TRS-80 SOFTWARE

LAZY WRITER MOD I.II $135,00

NEWD0S/80 2.0 MOD I.Ill 122.50

OMNITERM SMART TERM.MOD I.Ill 89.95

PROSOFT NEWSCRIPT MOD l.lll w/labels 109.00

SPECIAL DELIVERY MOD l.lll 119.00

TRACKCESS MOD 1 24.95

X-TRA SPECIAL DELIVERY MOD I.III.... 179.00

This Month's Specials:

CHRISTMAS STOCKING STUFFERS!!!

EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE FOR THE KIDS:

SPINNAKER: Snoopertroops I or II $34.95

In Search Of The Most Amazing Thing 31.16

Story Machine 27.26

KinderComp 23.36

Pacemaker 27 26

Delta Drawing 38.96

ALL SPINNAKER PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR IBM PC & PC XT. Also Apple & Atari.

PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT!

SWITCHED SIX SOCKET VOLTAGE SPIKE PROTECTION. SGL-115S ONLY $30.50

APPLE

ALS 6 MHZ CP/M CARD WITH 64K, CP/M 3.0 & C-BASIC $ 319 00

QUENTIN RESEARCH APPLEMATE 40 TRACK DRIVE 243.00

APPLE lie

MICROSOFT CP/M. 80 COLUMN, 64K RAM $342 50

PFS: FILE. REPORT, GRAPH each , 97.50

APPLE II +

MICROSOFT PREMIUM PAK. CP/M, 16K RAM.

VIDEX 80 CLM WITH SOFTSWITCH $485.00

APPLE II + AND lie COMPATIBLE

MULTIPLAN 40 & 80 COLUMN OR CP/M $199 00

MICROSOFT MULTITOOLS FOR MULTIPLAN CALL

IBM

CONCURRENT CP/M 86 for multitasking your PC $ 315 00

CP/M 86 DIGITAL RESEARCH 54 00

LOTUS 1,2,3 DATABASE, W/GRAPHICS & SPREADSHEET, Dos 1.1 or 2,0 380 00

HAYES 1200 B INTERNAL 1200 & 300 BAUD MODEM W/ SMARTCOM SOFTWARE 489.00

LATTICE C-COMPILER W/ FLOATING POINT (F.P.) 369 00

MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 38 95

MONTE CARLO MULTIFUNCTION CARD 64K 345 00

MULTIPLAN MS DOS 199 00

PLANTRONICS COLOR PLUS W/DRAFTSMAN 475 00

QUADRAM QUADLINK CALL

WIZARDRY ,47.76

STB SYSTEMS

"SUPER RIO" 2-RS-232, Parallel, Game I/O, Clock-Calendar & 64K $364.80

"SUPER I/O" RS-232, Parallel, Games I/O, Clock-Calendar, fits in small slot on PC XT. 193.75

MISC.

FINGERPRINT FONT CONTROL FOR EPSON MX 80 SERIES PRINTERS ......55.00

'EACH MONTH WE WILL OFFER SPECIALS

PLEASE WATCH THIS BOX FOR NEW & EXCITING PRODUCTS

PASCAL Z 349.00

P & T CP/M® MOD 2 & 16 TRS-80 193.50

QICKCODE 230.00

SPELLGUARD 230,00

SUPERCALC 2 217.00

THE WORD PLUS 117.00

DIGITAL RESEARCH

C BASIC $109.00

MAC 82.00

PASCAL MT+ W/ SSP 429.00

PL/ 1-80 439.00

ZSID 92.00

SUPERSOFT

CCOMPILER $187.50

DIAGNOSTIC II 92.00

DISK DOCTOR 78.00

FORTRAN 355.00

RATFOR 89.00

TINY PASCAL 80.00

MICROPRO

DATASTAR.. 204.50

INFOSTAR 297.50

MAILMERGE 174.50

SPELLSTAR 174.50

WORDSTAR 3.3 297.50

WORDSTAR PROFESSIONAL 495,00

MICROSOFT®

BASIC COMPILER $299.00

BASIC 80 249.00

COBOL 80 550,00

FORTRAN 80 359,00

MACRO 80 156.00

mu MATH/mu SIMP 200.00

mu LISP/mu STAR 165.00

MULTIPLANft 199.00

APPLE & ATARI GAMES

A.E $ 23 72

ARCADE MACHINE 44 38

CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN 23.50

SEA FOX 24.00

ZAXXON 31.16

BRODERBUND

APPLE PANIC $ 23.61

CHOPLIFTER 27.20

MIDNIGHT MAGIC 27.26

AUTOMATED SIMULATIONS

CRUSH, CRUMBLE AND CHOMP $ 24.95

HELLFIRE WARRIOR 31.35

INVASION ORION 20.95

RESCUE AT RIGEL 23.36

STAR WARRIOR 31.35

TEMPLE OF APSHAI 31.35

ON-LINE SYSTEMS

FROGGER ...$ 24.50

JAW BREAKER .23.36

ULYSSES & GOLDEN FLEECE 25.95

ULTIMA II 42.00

WIZARD AND PRINCESS 27.26

INFOCOM

DEADLINE $ 35,00

STARCROSS .28.00

SUSPENDED 35.00

WITNESS .35.00

ZORK I,II,III 28.00

EDU-WARE

COMPU-MATH DECIMALS $ 34.95

COMPU-MATH FRACTIONS 34.95

COMPU-READ 24.95

MORE GREAT APPLE GAMES

BUDGECO PINBALL CONST. SET $ 31.61

COMPUTER QUARTERBACK 31.16

CRISIS MOUNTAIN 26.32

DARK CRYSTAL 31.61

EVOLUTION 33.80

FLIGHT SIMULATOR 26.61

INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIX 25.95

MASK OF THE SUN 31.16

NIGHT OF DIAMONDS 27.26

PINBALL SUBLOGIC. 24.50

POOL 1.5 27.26

RASTER BLASTER 23.36

SNACK ATTACK 2336

THE SHATTERED ALLIANCE 49.95

THE SPACE VIKINGS 38.50

THE WARP FACTOR 31.16

THIEF 24.95

TUBEWAY 27.26

TUES. MORNING QUARTERBACK 25.95

ULTIMA 31.16

WIZARDRY 37.95

SIRIUS SOFTWARE

GORGON $ 31.16

PHANTOMS FIVE 22 00

SNEAKERS 23.36

SPACE EGGS 23.36

EDU-WARE

COMPU-MATH: ARITHMETIC $ 39.95

COMPU-SPELL (REQ. DATA DISK) 24.95

COMPU-SPELL DATA DISKS 4-8. ea 17,95

PERCEPTION PKG 19.95

RENDEZVOUS ....28.50

ON-LINE SYSTEMS

CANNON BALL BLITZ $ 25.95

CRANSTON MANOR 25.95

TIME ZONE 77.96

MUSE SOFTWARE

A.B.M $ 19.46

ROBOT WARS 32.95

THREE MILE ISLAND 31.61

lb order or for information call

In Los Angeles:

(213)706-0333 By Modem:

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'For all your computer product needs, come visit us at our new California store.

1 Assurance —■ Your satisfaction is assured by our 30 day moneyback guarantee on all hardware products we sell. No refunds after 30 days. All manufacturers' warranties are honored by manufacturers. Defective software will be replaced free during the first 30 days, however, no refunds or exchanges on software. Proof of purchase required. All returns must be authorized in advance. How To Order — All orders must be paid prior to shipment. Order by phone or by mail. Use Visa, M/C, check or COD. COD limit $300. Shipping charges: Visa, M/C orders = actual shipping costs. Prepaid orders add $3 (under 25lbs.) or $6 (over 25lbs.) COD'S use prepaid rates and add $4 surcharge. Foreign, FPO and APO orders add 15% of order total. Calif, orders add 6% sales tax. LA. County add 6V?% sales tax. Prices quoted are subject to product availability and may change without notice.

Circle 17 on inquiry card.

Circle 224 on inquiry card.

MOD£MS/CRTS/PRINTERS/SWITCHE/ SWITCHES/MICRO COMPUTERS/CABLES

MRS/OS Source Code

. Runs CP/M 2.2" and CD0S" application programs

Contains 55 OS function calls Direct and Standard console 1/0 Standard console I/O includes numerical formatting and I/O steering User defined CNTRL C" function Sequential and Random disk file access

Provides Standard file management functions plus Direct Disk Access 12 system utility functions include PATCH. DUMP, and MERGE

Supports Batch Mode Operations

I h h I

Directory utility provides directory error checking, statistics, and alphanumeric ordering

"HELP"' menus throughout

FULLY

COMMENTED SOURCE CODE and 100 page manual provided

• Source code provided on hard copy and 8" SSSD diskette

. Requires 32K Z-80 computer with editor and assembler

$5 99s

ONLY

COMPLETE

(includes shipping & handling) Mass. orders include 5% sales tax

16 Bowman Lane Westboro. MA 01581 . (617)366-8969 Phone orders welcome

Ask BYTE.

subset of the BASIC language, but it is easy to use and is great for short machine-language subroutines within a BASIC program. The price is a modest $24.95. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to speed up slow BASIC programs. Aardvark also sells versions for the VIC-20 and Ohio Scientific computers.

I also have a question regarding the Color Computer. I am interested in building many peripheral devices interfaced through the joystick port of the computer but have not been able to find the 240-degree, 5-pin DIN (Deutsche Industrie Norm) plug to fit the port. Radio Shack doesn't sell it, and I have combed the ads in BYTE and many other magazines fruitlessly. Could you please tell me where I can find such a plug? Thank you very much.

Greg Robinson Cleveland Heights, OH

Thanks for the information regarding the BASIC compiler for the Radio Shack Color Computer.

In regard to your question, Switchcraft Inc. carries a complete line of 5-pin DIN plugs with a 240-degree contact spread. The straight-handle male plug is part number ST-304 and should be available at your local electronics supply company. (A right-angle male connector is also available, part number RA-354.) If not, write or call Switchcraft for the name of your nearest distributor. Its address is Switchcraft Inc., 5555 North Elston Ave., Chicago, IL 60630, (312) 792-2700. . . .Steve

EPROM Programmers

Dear Steve,

I'm working on an IMSAI system and need a homebrew kit for stand-alone EPROM programming. Because I want to use the chips for bootstrap start-up and data input, I need (1) a programmer for 2708 and 2716 chips, something that can be fabricated from scratch with little cost, and (2) an S-100 board with the appropriate architecture for the chips. Can you direct me to books, schematics, kits, or other resources? Thanks for your help. Romolo Toigo Chatham, NY

Many articles have been published in recent years on the subject of EPROM programmers. One article, "Program Those 2708s!" by Robert Glaser, which appeared in the April 1980 BYTE (page 198), describes the hardware and machine-language software for an S-100 system that is capable of programming either 2708 or 2716 EPROMs. Hope that will get you started. . . .Steve

Calculating

Bandwldths

Revisited

Dear Steve,

I have read several- letters in Ask BYTE addressing the confusion of pixels, resolution, and bandwidth when referring to video monitors. The letter from J. T. Miller (Ask BYTE, January 1983, page 484) asked how to calculate bandwidths needed for 80-column lines. Although your response uses good logic, one important consideration has been neglected from your calculations. You said bandwidths "can be calculated by dividing the active trace time by the number of horizontal dots." But this results in bandwidths exactly twice that of what is needed.

602 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 336 on inquiry card.

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FINANCIAL PLANNING GUIDE

Find out how to sort through all the things you could be doing with your money...and come to the decisions that are right for you.

Its hard to know what to do with your money these days. You certainly want it to grow. And you want it available for immediate needs and future goals. But does that mean stocks. 7 Or bonds? Or money funds? Or CDs? Or IRAs? Or...what?

To help you answer this important question, we have prepared a 24-page guide to financial planning. It is yours for the asking—with no obligation whatsoever.

Your FREE Guide can help you...

• Get a better picture of your financial situation using simple, fill~in-the-blank help-sheets.

• Choose financial strategies that best meet your needs and goals—whether you're just starting out...have a family with children...or are looking forward to retirement.

• Learn the language of finance with a Glossary of Terms explaining everything from Amortization and Equity to Tax-Exempt Bonds and Yield.

• See how financial planning can help you accumulate more money for the present and the future —while minimizing your tax bite—so your current needs and future dreams can be fulfilled. Financial security doesn't just happen. It takes knowledge, foresight and planning—all of which begin with an understanding of your finances and effective money-management strategies. So before you put your money anywhere, find out where it can do the most good.

Send for your FREE guide today!

IDS)

i^f\

IDEAS

TO HELP YOU MANAGE MONEY

YES, please see that I receive my FREE Guide to Personal Financial Planning, which will help me make the right money decisions for my particular situation. 1 understand there is no obligation whatsoever.

Name

Address. City

State.

-Zi P _

Telephone ( )

Mail to: IDS, Dept. 583>, IDS Tower, Minneapolis, MN 55402. Or call toll-free I-800-IDS-IDEA, that's 1-800-437-4332.

e.0-52-382-231-001

Circle 129 on inquiry card.

\&2£8&*

I* 5 * ^S^' 1 any P"**"

nee' S9 ? JSonev <***£, *#*?»■%*#*** v tf\0 "n NAass^ e ^ ot . s accep^^ ( fRtt \ w ^ ^ frlV

'M*V J V$EP ID 721L H&W&& 5£iM mrm-terms thas TeLUN&THe-jT&m/

The business correspondence package with over 250 letters you can use as is, expand, modify, or even rewrite to exactly fit your needs. Ask your dealer or call

1-800-972-5600 or 603-431-4800

L

TM

$ 99

If you're not using LetterBANK you're not really C.O.D., VISA,

using your personal computer. Mastercard accepted

125 Mirona Road. Portsmouth. NH 03801

Ask BYTE.

Regardless of how many dots may occur during the active trace time, the maximum frequency that can be produced is when every other dot is on, giving an on-off-on-off pattern. Any other combination results in a lower frequency. Because the cycle time of the frequency created by this pattern is the time of two dots, you must divide the total number of dots by two. Using 640 dots (as in your example), the formula becomes

42/320 = 131 nanoseconds (ns) per cycle, or 7.62 MHz

It should be noted that these formulas can be used to determine the bandwidth requirements of any computer character or graphics generator display. You must be able to determine the total number of displayable pixels in addition to the active horizontal trace time (the sweep time that may contain pixels).

Further confusion is often introduced when the relationships between horizontal resolution and bandwidths are explained. Horizontal resolution is the method most video monitor manufacturers use to rate their ability to reproduce fine detail. When using the conventions of a 4:3 aspect ratio, with approximately 60-Hz vertical and 15,750-Hz horizontal sweep frequencies (as is necessary for any graphics system compatible with standard televisions or monitors), the complex relationship can be reduced to a constant formula: Lines of Resolution X 12,727.27 = Bandwidth. In order to fully explain this relationship, we must first know exactly what horizontal resolution is.

The methods for determining the number of lines of resolution are carry-overs from optical-resolution methods. It is actually the number of individual lines that can be resolved per unit

area in the medium concerned. To measure vertical resolution, horizontal lines are used. Horizontal resolution uses fine vertical lines. The limit is said to be when the lines are at the spacing that just reaches the point where you can no longer distinguish the individual lines. (Reducing the spacing further would make the lines appear as a uniform gray area.)

Once this cutoff point has been determined, the next step is to determine how many lines of resolution this is. Usually, this is done by reading the number corresponding to this point from the scale on the resolution chart. But this number does not represent how many lines would be made if this spacing were extended to the full width of the screen. The scale represents the number of individual black and white lines that would cover a width equal to the picture's height. This is to ensure that equal spacing can be applied to horizontal or vertical resolution scales, despite nonsquare aspect ratios.

To determine the time required for the sweep width that is equal to the picture's height, you must multiply the active horizontal picture area by 0.75 (because of the 3:4 aspect ratio). The active picture area can be found by subtracting the total horizontal blanking time from the total time for one horizontal line. The times used in the National Television System Committee (NTSC) standard, as is the standard broadcast practice in the United States, are approximately 11.1 microseconds (jis) for blanking and 63.5 /as total horizontal time. This gives

63.5 - 11.1 = 52.4 pis (active picture area)

To get the time of the sweep equal to picture height, we have

604 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 514 on inquiry card.

Buy one of Inmac's great newmodems andwell include a valuable subsci m to ThE Source — at no extra charge!

iii

te

*8®

>^S^r w,th an Inmac modem and a subscription to The Source, sm America's Information Utility, remarkable things happen.

You can instantly access business news and financial reports that bear on your own business and finances. Speed important messages to important people in far-away places via electronic mail. Get current stock listings, travel guides, catalog shopping and more - right on your CRT anytime you want.

7h£ Source sm is a major timesharing network of information services and programs, and normally you'd pay a registration fee to subscribe.

But order one of the modems presented in this ad by December 1, 1983, and we' II give you a subscription to The Source sm - and as an added bonus, one free hour of standard daytime access time (a $20.75 credit) - for the price of the modem alone.

Which for our top-of-the-line Model 212A is $595. And for our full-featured Small Talk modem,only $149.

New 300/1200-baud Model 212A.

Increases access efficiency, Hayes Smartmodem compatible.

The Model 212Adials l answers, and disconnects calls for you automatically - right through the computer.

That's certainly more efficient than having to monitor and complete each call yourself.

Plus the Model 212A is compatible with all software developed for "smart" modems, giving it much greater versatility. And it can be switched between full and half duplex modes for access to virtually any public data base.

With the 212A, you'll even cut your telephone bills dramatically because it automatically keeps the length and cost of each call to the absolute minimum.

The 212A transmits data at the lightning fast rate of 1200 bits per second.

Circle 226 on inquiry card.

So a 10 minute call with a standard modem would shrink to about 2 1 /2 minutes with the 212A.

The Model 212A is easy to use. It connects directly to any modular-jacked telephone and to the serial port of your computer through an El A RS232 cable. And it's capable of both pulse and touch tone dialing.

Only $595.

New 300 baud Small Talk modem.

Small in size and price,

not performance.

Although Small Talk doesn't cost much, its fea ^|

fures put it right up there with the best.

Features like automatic search, which replaces user-operated originate and answer controls by automatically selecting the correct operational mode. Plus automatic answer, self-test diagnostics, and a unique interface that lets you quickly determine dial tones, and busy and ringback signals.

All of which are packed into a frame that's 1/5th the size of a normal modem and can be mounted directly to the telephone for the fastest, easiest access possible.

For transmitting at 300 baud, you can't buy a better modem than Small Talk - at any price.

Choose either the Small Talk modem or the 212A Smart modem - get a subscription to THE SOURCESM withoutpay-inga registration fee.

It's simple to install and use. It's compatible with Bell 103 modems. And it operates in both answer and originate modes.

Only $149.

Mail your order today! Or call

toll free 1(800) 547-5444.

1 (800) 547-5447 in California.

Remember: To qualify for the subscription to The Source sm - and the free hour of standard daytime access time, you must order your modem from Inmac by December 1,1983. And you must use a major credit card (Visa, MasterCard or American Express).

Once you Ve placed your order, you'II receive a complete subscription package for The Source sm - including an informative booklet that describes the various programs and services, and contains instructions on how to access this valuable information.

This lnmae/SouRCE SM offer is good only in the Continental U. S. and available only through Inmac.

Your one-stop source for computer supplies, accessories and data communication products.

Buy a modem - get The Source 3

Mail to: Inmac, Dept. SS0,2465 Augustine Drive, Santa Clara,CA 95051 This offer is too good lo pass up. Heres my order.

Order No./Description 8071 - Model 212A 300/1200 baud modem $595

8063 - Small Talk 300 baud modem $149

Subtotal

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Zip

Ask BYTE.

52.4 X 0.75 = 39.3 fis (measured picture area)

To get the frequency equal to the resolution limit, we must divide the lines of resolution by two. This is required because it is the total of black and white lines, each of which individually represents one-half cycle of the frequency. It takes one black and one white line to equal one complete cycle of the cutoff frequency. When the measured picture area is divided by this number, you get the time of one cycle of the cutoff frequency. The frequency is simply the inverse of this time, or 1/time.

If we use the typical broadcasting limit of 330 lines of resolution, we get

330 lines of resolution/2 =

165 cycles

39.3 jts measured picture area

/165 cycles = 238 ns 1/238 ns = 4.2 MHz (which is the specified upper bandwidth limit for NTSC)

Applying the previously mentioned constant in place of the complex calculations, we have

330 X 12,727 = 4,200,000

(4.2 MHz)

These formulas can be helpful when translating from "com-puterese" to "videoese" because of the different methods and terms used to describe the detail characteristics of the picture. Some caution is advised, however, because even though the calculations from lines of horizontal resolution to bandwidth are quite standardized, the calculations from pixels to bandwidth vary because of different ac-

tive picture times from system to system. David K. Broberg Indianapolis, IN

Thank you very much for your letter. You are indeed correct in dividing the total number of dots by two. The maximum frequency does occur with alternating black and white dots and was overlooked in my example.

There is much confusion on the subject of resolution, especially when manufacturers of monitors do not always publish consistent sets of specifications. Ratings are in terms of bandwidth, lines of resolution, pixels, etc. It becomes difficult to compare unless the relationships and definitions are known. Your letter will do much to clarify this issue. . . .Steve ■

In "Ask BYTE/' Steve Ciarcia answers

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

c/o Steve Ciarcia

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 choice is yours — and you can get your first issue free if you subscribe now

If you want to make the most of your new Dragon computer, then you need Dragon User. This independent, international magazine for all Dragon owners is packed with software and hardware advice. Regular features:

• Pages of program listings

• Chance to win $300 prizes

• Advice on which software to buy

• In-depth hardware evaluations

• Technical advisory service

• All the latest news

If you've ever been killed by the evil goblin, flamed by a dragon or turned to stone by a wizard, then you need Micro Adventurer — the new magazine devoted to all microcomputer adventures, war games and simulations. Each issue features:

• Helpline and Contact columns

• Reviews of the latest adventures

• Competitions with exciting prizes

• Adventures to type in and play

• Advice on how to write your own adventures

• Profiles of famous adventurers

Subscription form

Fill in this form and send it to the appropriate magazine's subscription department, c/o Business Press International, 205 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.

Please send me 13 issues of □ Micro Adventurer

at US$33.95 D Dragon User

at US$29.95

This is the usual rate for a year's subscription (12issues)

Name

Address

Signature. Date

Please start my subscription from the following issue

This form should be accompanied by a check made payable to the magazine to which you are subscribing.

I

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i I

606 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 530 on inquiry card.

NEW FOR APPLE II AND lie

•

W mi m

MAKES BACK-UP COPIES OF PROTECTED SOFTWARE QUICKLY, EASILY, WITH JUST A PUSH OF A BUTTON.

New software locking schemes have rendered even the latest generation of copy programs virtually unusable. Locksmith™, Nibbles Away™ and other "Nibble copiers" require complicated parameter settings, much patience and great effort to use. More often than not, the results are disappointing. WILDCARD is different. Rather than copying disks track by track, WILDCARD ignores the disk and any copy protection encrypted on it. Instead, WILDCARD r —■—,. takes a snapshot of memory in your Apple® II.

'^^^^^^ Now you can make back-up copies

of protected software with the push of a button.

FEATURES

□ Hardware copying device... push button operation.

□ Copies 48K memory resident software, most 64K software.

n No programming experience or parameters necessary.

□ Backs up DOS 3.2 and DOS 3.3 disks.

□ Creates DOS 3.3 unprotected and autobooting disks.

d WILDCARD lives in any slot. Undetectable by software.

□ Produces autobooting disk in 2 minutes.

□ Copies are DOS 3.3 compatible.

□ Copies become accessible for alterations.

□ Simple^ easy-to-use software included.

Software is not copy protected. System requirements: Apple It Plus with 64K and DOS 3.3 or Apple He. Franklin Ace also supported.

*Wildcard does not operate with CP/M" or other microprocessor based software.

Circle 166 on inquiry card.

WILDCARD

$139.95

Order direct from East Side Software Co., 344 E. 63 St., Suite 14-A, New York City 10021,212-355-2860. Please include $3.00 for shipping and handling. Orders outside continental U.S. please add $10.00 for shipping and handling. Mail and phone orders may be charged to MasterCard and VISA. N.Y. State residents add sales tax. Dealer inquiries welcome.

WILDCARD Utility Disk 1 also included, featuring: o Automatic program compression and BRUN file maker.

□ Multiple programs can be placed on the same disk.

□ Recreates basic files to load and save.

n Files can be placed on a hard disk...and more.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The WILDCARD is offered for the purpose of enabling you to make archival copies only. Under the Copyright Law you, as the owner of a copy of a computer program, are entitled to make a new copy for archival purposes only and the WILDCARD will enable you to do so. The WILDCARD is offered for no other purpose and you are not permitted to utilize it for any other use, other tnan that specified.

Apple and the Apple logo are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.—CP/M— trademark of Digital Research, Inc. Locksmith— trademark of Omega Microwave, Inc. Nibbles Away—trademark of Computer: applications.

WHY YOU SHOULD

RECOMMEND

A KAYPRO EVEN

IF YOU DIDN'T

BUY ONE YOURSELE

If you're happy with the computer you now own, we re happy for you. Because we both know what you went through to buy it.

More than likely, it was a long year s education that sent you into a complex maze of trial and error You spent a lot of time asking questions in computer stores. More time hunting for answers in computer books. Even more time inves-1 tigating all the hardware, let alone software options you had to consider.

It was a hard way to get what you needed. A year that earned you an honorary degree in computer engineering and the status of a computer buff.

But just between us buffs, would you recommend a year like that to a friend?

FOR THE FIRST-TIME

BUYER, KAYPRO IS A

GODSEND.

We think the 'hard way' is the wrong way to have to buy a computer. After all, a business person shouldn't be required to make de-

Registered Trademarks: Apple — Apple Computer, Inc., IBM — IBM Corp., CP/M - Digital Research, Inc., Z-80 - Zilog, M-Basic - Microsoft. Inc., Tandy, TRS-80 —Tandy Corporation, Osborne — Osborne Computer Corporation, Xerox — Xerox Corporation. Prices based on published information as of July 15, 1985. © 1983 Kaypro Corporation.

cisions better left to an engineer

Trying to find compatible interfaces and software packages alone would drive most people up the wall (remember?).

So, we've taken a different

approach to making and selling our Kaypro II. Rather than a starter system, with options you buy piece for piece, its designed with all the integrated hardware and software it needs to be fully functional.

Off the shelf, Kaypro II is completely ready for business. We think that's what the first-time buyer really needs.

ITS A COMPLETELY INTEGRATED SYSTEM

Since we don't consider a monitor, disk drives, interfaces or

other hardware as optional extras, all Kaypro s hardware comes complete in an integrated system. Except, of course, for a printer. As you know, some people don't need one. And those who do must decide whether they need

dot matrix or letter quality , printing.

What's complete on a ■Kaypro II?

64K RAM, Z-80 microprocessor A 9f green screen monitor. Dual disk drives, the same used by IBM. A detachable keyboard that's more complete than you'll find on the latest Apple. Built-in interfaces for both a printer and communications.

In other words, all the hardware you'd recommend to a first-time buyer. In one complete package.

IT COMES COMPLETE WITH SOFTWARE.

While businesses can be very different, the fact is that 95% of all business needs can be fulfilled by a series of three business applications programs. Word Processing/Spelling, Data Base Management and Financial Spreadsheeting.

It's the software that's optional with other computers.

But it too comes complete with a Kaypro.

And with its CP/M operating system, Kaypro II is capable of running thousands of other business programs, to fill more specialized needs.

IT SELLS FOR $1595, COMPLETE.

People are bound to ask you how much they should spena on a computer. There is, of course, an obvious answer: as little as possible and still get a serious business system, complete with all the functions they need.

At $1595, Kaypro II is the least expensive serious business system we know of on the market today.

There are basic starter systems advertised for less. But their optional hardware and software can double or triple their basic price. So they can end up costing $2000-$3000 more than a Kaypro.

A good example is an Apple lie. With a hardware configuration comparable to Kaypro lis, complete with comparable software, it lists for an average price of $4400. $2805 more than a Kaypro.

IT OFFERS

MORE MEMORY FOR

THE MONEY

Since disk drive memory capacity is always a concern, once again the idea is to get the most for the money. With two disk drives, Kaypro II gives you 400K for $1595. With equivalent hardware, an IBM gives you 320K for about $2800. And Apple He gives you 286K for about $2400.

So once again, Kaypro II delivers.

IT HAS POWER

TO SPARE FOR WHAT

MOST BUSINESSES

NEED.

The more you love computers, the more tempting it is to recommend a 16-bit vs. 8-bit

machine. You know that 16-bit systems are a little faster and have more power to run longer programs.

However, 16-bitters are far more expensive than the 8-bit variety. And, unfortunately have only a handful of business applications software packages that really take advantage of them.

Considering the real needs and budget limitations of most small businesses, why suggest a company limo when a good company car will do?

Since 75% of all micros sold today are 8-bit systems, its indicative of their capacity to take care of business. Wed stick with a Kaypro II.

ITCANPAYFOR ITSELF FASTER THAN MORE EXPENSIVE COMPUTERS.

Every business person wants a computer to pay for itself in increased productivity.

And the faster the better Perhaps on this count alone, Kaypro II is worth recommending.

As a fully functional business system for $1595, Kaypro can win the payout race hanas down.

ITS BECOME A LEADING SELLER

THANKS TO

COMPUTER BUFFS,

LIKE YOU

In fact, Kaypro II is one of the best sellers in the $1000-$5000 price range. And it got there largely because of the enthusiastic word of mouth, and word of press, of computer enthusiasts. Many of whom, after building their own systems, bought a Kaypro II as their second computer.

So you certainly won t be alone if you recommend Kaypro II to anyone shopping for a first computer

Or look at it this way. Once you tell people about the complete business computer for $1595, they'll probably stop bugging you with a lot of questions.

They may even forget to ask why you didn't buy a Kaypro II for yourself.

Just between us buffs, we can t recommend a good answer for that.

CALL 800-447-4700 FOR THE DEALER NEAREST YOU

Circle 251 on inquiry card.

Software Received

Apple

Circascript Word Processor, a

word processor that lets you use your personal computer to reduce the repetitive aspects of writing. This menu-driven program provides movement, organization, and storage of 40-col-umn text in a wrap-around format. Features including tabbing, underlining, global search and replace, and more. For II, II Plus, and lie; floppy disk, $39.95. Orcadian Software Inc., POB 1208, Melbourne, FL 32901.

Diet, a nutrition-planning program. Count calories, decide your ideal weight, learn the effect of exercise on weight loss, and keep weight charts for several people with this program. Based on 1980

recommendations of the Food and Nutrition Board. For II Plus and He; floppy disk, $15.95. Hallie Software, POB 4383, Auburn Heights, MI 48057.

I.Q. Baseball, a baseball-quiz game. One or two players can test their knowledge with 300 questions about 27 major- and minor-league baseball teams. Answer correctly and advance for a single, double, triple, or home run around a baseball field with all the sounds of a big-league ball park. Whoever is ahead after five innings wins the game. For II Plus and He; floppy disk, $24.95. Davka Corp., Suite 843, 845 North Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60611.

Lancaster, a colorful gravity-simulation game. Brightly

colored bubbles reveal larvae within that hatch to become deadly insects. If you get hit in one of six levels you will be blowing bubbles forever. For the II; floppy disk, $29.95. Silicon Valley Systems Inc., 1625 El Camino Real, Belmont, CA 94002.

Lode Runner, a fast-action arcade-type game that takes place in the Bungeling Empire, a kingdom where power-hungry leaders have stolen gold from the people. You must recover every piece of gold from hidden chambers while designing your own escape routes. For II, II Plus, and He; floppy disk, $34.95. Broderbund Software Inc., 1938 Fourth St. San Rafael, CA 94901.

Magazine Catalog, a reference-organizing program

that lets you catalog magazine articles by subject matter, magazine title, date, and first page. You can add or change data, search for a list of magazines containing desired subject matter, and print the entire file or just the newly added data. For the II Plus; floppy disk, $12. RMH Software, POB 41, Wilsall, MT 59086.

Multi-View Drawing, the

first module in a series of four computer-aided drafting instruction programs that helps beginning drafting students visualize and draw multiview drawings. It contains a drawing quiz, projections, and two drawing completions. An Epson printer is optional. For II or He; floppy disk, $250. St. Louis Design Service, 4144 Cypress Rd., Saint Ann, MO 63074.

St arLogic Announces Savings on IBM PC Compatible Disk Drives

Under 2.0 DOS

Internal 5 1 /T Floppy Drives

Standard-sized drive, plug compatible with IBM PC and IBM PC XT

Tandon single-sided drive-180K bytes $165

Tandon double-sided drive-360K bytes $235

Internal Half-Height 5W Floppy Drives

Single drive configuration

double-sided drive 360K bytes $225

Dual drive configuration two double-sided

drive 720K bytes $460

5VV' Winchester DiskSystems From Interface Inc For Your IBM PC

Includes Winchester drive, cabinet, power supply, cable, controller, I/O adapter and device driver. Compatible with 2.0 DOS.

10 Megabyte formatted DiskSystem $1375

15 Megabyte formatted DiskSystem $1775

25 Megabyte formatted DiskSystem $2175

BW Winchester Backup or Additional Storage For Your IBM PC XT or IBM PC DiskSystem.

Slave compatible with 2.0 DOS

10 Megabyte formatted storage $1225

15 Megabyte formatted storage $1425

25 Megabyte formatted storage $1925

Telephone Orders Only MasterCard, VISA or Cashier's Check COD

(213) 883-0587

StarLogic

20932 Cantara Street ^-^

IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation DiskSystems is copyrighted by Interface inc Prices are subject to change without notice

Canoga Park, CA 91301

610 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 438 on inquiry card.

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Amazing! This was Printed on an Epson

by The 3wivcaj 3 f &ni System from 8>tfftfflraft

Letter Quality

Say good-bye to correspondence quality and hello to $t*m*Aj iWs high-resolution, proportionally spaced, letter quality. 3*a#*# %*U provides fonts in sizes from 8 to 40 points; styles include Roman, Bold, Italic, Script, Old English, and more (see samples below). All this on low-cost Epson MX and FX printers.

Create Your Own Characters

You can use over 30 font sets in the #***# S^nl package and furthermore, can create any new characters or logos you like, up to 1 inch by 1 inch. A database of over 1500 characters is included in the package.

Font Style and Size Samples

(actual size) 8 point Roman 10 point Roman 12 point Roman

18 point Bold 18 pt. Sans Serif 18 pt Itahc 20 hi. tforifd

20 point OMfc Sngltslf

Easy-to-Use

$<*#*# 3*&ni is a software package for CP/M and IBM PC compatible systems; no special hardware or installation is required. With Jiomoy %*d you use your favorite editor or word processing package to create a file to be printed. Include as few or as many formatting directives as you desire. Then use jfiomcy $*>rd to print your file.

Numerous Applications

Jomcy 9**U customers are constantly discovering new applications. For example;

• Business and personal letters

• Custom forms, invoices, labels, signs

• Foreign Languages

• Mathematical Notation, Greek

• Super- and Sub-scripts

• View Graphs

• Custom Letterheads

• Resumes

• Articles for publication

• Entire newsletters, brochures

• Complete manuals, cover-to-cover

• Advertisements, including this one

• Invitations, place cards

mi

SoftCraft, Inc 8/26 S Sepulveda Bl Suite 1641 LA, CA 90045 (213) 821-8476

El CP/ M order "now 12131821-8476 ~M/C, Visa welcome. |

InfoWorld

Software Report Card

Fancy Font

i* 11

I £ J *

Performance D □ □ 0

Documentation D D Q 0

EafteofUse D D 0 □

Error Handling D Q D 0

L&s QAM/TV

Copyright 1983 by Popular Computing, Inc, % subsidiary of CW commumc»tionB, [nc Reprinted from InfoWorld NOT PRINTED BY FANCY PONT

InfoWorld 5/2/83

Now available for Gemini 10 and 15

printers.

(SoftCraft 8726 S Sepulveda Suite 1641 LA, GA 90045 (Epson or IBM printer with Graftrai required)

| Fancy Font System $18000

| Fancy Font Demo Diskette $ 1000 l

California Residents add 6 5% sales tax

| Outside US add $10 ($2 demo) postage

| Mail check or money order to SoftCraft

| Diskette Format

| n 8" CP/M □ QX10 D Osborne D KayPro

I U IBM MSDOS 2 D Victor 9000 2 D Apple CP/M S

I $7 50 applicable towards purchase of Fancy Font

| MSDOS requires I26K memory

THIS ENTIRE AD WAS PRINTED ON AN EPSON MX80 PRINTER AT THE ACTUAL SIZE SHOWN

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Circle 423 on inquiry card.

Software Received.

Planetmaster, a unique ecological-simulation game in which you command a terra-formed space-sanctuary satellite with multiple climates and seasons, unpredictable weather, varying geography, and hybrid vegetation. Select endangered alien species, transport them to your planet, and keep them alive. For II Plus and He; floppy disk, $24.95. Magnetic Harvest, POB 255, Hopkins, SC 29061.

Practical Accountant, a user-friendly, single-entry, small-business accounting program that can balance your checkbook as well as provide cashflow, profitability, and forecasting information. Key features include easy data entry, automated reports, flexible charts, easy access, and check-printing capabilities. For the II, II Plus, and He; floppy disk, $149.95. Softlink

Corp., 3255-2 Scott Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95051.

Sign-up, a sign-generating program. Produce signs and banners to display in grocery, hardware, or stereo stores. You can print up to eight justified or centered lines with up to 8-inch letters. Good for nonprogrammers due to menu-driven commands and arrow keys. Requires Epson printer. For II and He; floppy disk, $69. Frost Byte, POB 616, Walker, MN 56484.

Statpro, an integrated software program to handle complex data storage and management, statistical and graphical analyses, and report generation formerly limited to larger computers. Database allows quick access to extensive numerical data capabilities. Statistics contains a comprehensive collection of statistical procedures

such as descriptive, regression, analysis of variance, time series, and multivariate. Graphics plots the results of all Statpro statistical analyses. For II, II Plus, and lie; floppy disk, $1995. Wadsworth Electronic Publishing Co., Statler Office Building, 20 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116.

CP/M

Josef, a programming language that lets you develop programs from a vocabulary of commands. Newly created programs can be entered into the vocabulary to create more complicated programs. Includes a tutorial and built-in vocabulary of commands. Floppy disk, $35. Modular Systems 82, POB 1456, Wolf-ville, Nova Scotia BOP 1X0, Canada.

Mini-Ledger, a single-entry accounting program developed for small businesses with less than 25 employees. It is designed to ease business decision making by keeping track of monthly expenses and income. Floppy disk, $150. Paradigm Consultants, Suite 203, 39812 Mission Blvd., Fremont, CA 94539.

Commodore

Busicalc, an electronic-spreadsheet program that can balance household budgets, prepare cash-flow forecasts for businesses, and redo year-end accounts. This program lets you set up rows, columns, and headings. For the 64; cassette, $69. Skyles Electric Works, 231E South Whisman Rd., Mountain View, CA 94041.

SEI, Inc.

mmzrm

i t I t I t t t t t t i i | rtffffftttii J I it ft i i i

"CAT-100 COMPUTER"

The C AT-100 Computer. Some say it's ahead of its time 1 , we say it's just in time, with its dual onboard processor Z80/6502, the CAT-100is t apable of running both Apple II and CPM software. System monitor ROM inc hides only boot program. Base pric e inc hides fi4K memory, one disk drive and four Apple' compatible expansion slots. The CAT-100 has optional dual slim-line disk drives, made by quality famous ALPS of Japan. The detachable full ASCII keyboard has standard upper/lower case, auto

separate c ursor c ontrol keys and a nun display has composite color or B/W 01 (280 • W2 line or 280 * 1f>0 with 4 lex built-in speaker are standard, not optio tor a broc hure. You won't be too late

capabilities. Standard on the keyboard are

vith six ( olor graphic display ). Game I/O connector and when you read this ad < all us II be just in time.

$ 850<

Disk Drives

Half-high, contemporary slim line styling, quick disconnect cable, whisper quiet operation, fast 12 mS step rate. Apple & Franklin compatible.

Drive w/cable & documentation Disk Controller Card

$ 224 95 $59 95

)

I Orange/

| Amber Monitor

A 18 MHZ bandwidth monitor, ideal for high resolution graphics. The orange/amber color is extremely easy on the eyes for extended use. A composite video I/O monitor, 75 OHM input, 110 VAC.

Monl $ 119 95

For your Apple Computer

Cooling System Power Monitor

Fits computer or monitor stand, 2 surge suppressed grounded power outlets & single illuminated switch control of system.

Cooling system/ power monitor

$59

95

| Apple Peripheral Cards

80 column card *1 09"

16K RAM card »44«

Z80 CPM card *59"

Disk controller card *59 9s

Eprom programmer card ... . *84 95 R.F. Modulator $ 24"

Store Hours

Mon-Fri 9-5 Saturday 10-3

SEI, lnC. f 641 Academy Drive, North brook, IL 60062 To order: 1-800-323-1327

For information & Illinois orders call: 1-312-564-0104 VISA & MasterCard acceptable — Add 5% for shipping and handling

612 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 401 on inquiry card.

<$>:

APPLE lie 64K RAM CARD

80 column x 24 lines 64K RAM

Compatible with Apple lie Software

149

00

PARALLEL INTERFACE

EPSON TO APPLE

New From

COEX

$4Q95 CABLE

INCLUDED

SW Floppy

DISKETTES

All Certified-100% Guaranteed

BOXoMOO...M49°° Above with *,„„„«

Hub Rings $169.00

BMC 12 $ Green Monitor

DOT MATRIX

COEX 80-FT "SMS

• 9x7 Dot Matrix, 80 CPS, Bi-Directional Printing

• 2K Buffered Memory

• 80, 96, 132 Columns, Graphics and Block Printing

• Selectable Char Pitch, Line Spacing and Feed PARALLEL

COEX Interface Card to Apple . $49.95

Commodore Interface Card to

VIC, 64, PET $79.95

for APPLE

16K RAM CARD

Language Transparent COEX FACTORY $ 71095 WARRANTY -#■"--■

f 49 !

EXTENDER CARDS

for APPLE... $16.95 forl.B.M $19.95

FLOPPY DISK DRIVE

Apple He Compatible

with •Track Zero Micro Switch

• DOS 3.2.1 & DOS 3.3

• CP/M and PASCAL

DESIGNED ^^^_ M

FOR YOUR SOQC00

APPLE™....... 4-U\J

Controller Card ^__ A _ for above $75.00

95

00

DO YOU HAVE A COMMODORE?

NEW ROM for COEX 80 & DP8480

Allows Full Graphics Compatibility $0 *% 95 with All Commodore Computers 29

Now You Can Afford Another 64K...

Specifications:

Fully Static Operation

Supports S^lOO IEEE-696 Standards

Uses Popular 2716 Pinout Type

Static RAM's

Board Access Time Under 200nS

150nS RAMS Standard

No Wait States Needed at 6.000MHz

High Quality FR-4 Type PC Board

Switch Selectable Phantom Line

All Data Status and Address Lines

Fully Buffered

Gold Plated Contact Fingers for Low

Contact Resistance and Long Life

Switch Selectable Extended Address

lines For Up To 16 M-bytes

Extreme Low Power Dissapation

(< 500mA Typical

Top 8K May Be Switched Disabled

and/or Interchangeable with 2716

Type EPROM's

Especially when its less than a half cent per bit!

COEX 64KS-100 CMOS STATIC RAM BOARD

$29900

only

Assembled & Tested

"Have You Kissed Your Computer Lately"

Components Express,Inc.

1380 E. Edinger • Santa Ana, Calif. 92705 • 714/558-3972

TWX 910-595-1565 • ADVACON SNA • International Orders Welcome Terms of Sale: Cash, Checks, Credit Cards, M.O., C.O.D. Calif, residents add 6% sales tax.

614 BYTE November 1983

Circle 85 on inquiry card.

Fundamentals of Mathematics, an educational system for grades 3 to 12 that contains almost 90 lessons, programs, tutorials, and drills. The teacher is given an assortment of sample-problem, pretest, and posttest worksheets. For the 64; floppy-disk preview, $9.95. Sterling Swift Publishing Co., 7901 South IH-35, Austin, TX 78744.

IBM

Personal Computer

Big Top, an arcade-type game in which you maneuver an acrobat through a multiring circus. Climb ladders, jump over beach balls, duck cannon balls and knives, and avoid obstacles while trying to collect all the ringmaster's hats. Floppy disk, $39.95. Funtastic Inc., 5-12 Wilde Ave., Drexel Hill, PA 19026.

Buy or Lease, a financial decision-making tool. This program provides up-to-date coverage that reflects current economic trends. Includes first-year expensing, investment and energy credit, accelerated cost recovery, current interest rates, and all tax rates. No prior programming experience needed. Floppy disk, $125. John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10158.

Compac, a file-reduction system. Any file—ASCII text or binary—can be reduced by 10 to 40 percent. Two independent programs, Compac and Decompac, compress and restore your files, respectively. Floppy disk, $49. Sextant Systems, POB 251, Holmdel, NJ 07733.

Creative Graphics, a general-purpose drawing program that enables the nonpro-

grammer to create, modify, and store color graphics designs. It also provides a slide-show generator and hard-copy output to present black-and-white and color designs. Floppy disk, $139.95. Accu-pipe Corp., 222 West Lancaster Ave., Paoli, PA 19301.

Decision, a program that compares up to 21 multiple complex alternatives to improve decision making. This program will organize, quantify and sum evaluations, and develop values. Features include easy data entry and revision, automatic file management, and error handling. Floppy disk, $20. Once Begun Computations, Sears-port, ME 04974.

The Draftsman, a business-presentation package for producing charts, graphs, and simple illustrations. Generate two-dimensional

graphs with minimal input or combine multiple graphs on one screen. Requires a color card. Floppy disk, $200. Starware, Suite 450, 2000 K St. NW, Washington, DC 20006.

File Command, a utility program that combines a file directory with a multiline command area to provide a fast, easy way to issue DOS commands and manage files. The directory can be stored by file size, by the dates that files were created or last saved, alphabetically by filename or extension, or by drive and directory path. Floppy disk, $35. IBM Corp., Personal Computer, POB 1328-C, Boca Raton, FL 33432.

Gradebook 3.0, a utility package that lets teachers store, retrieve, print, calculate, and correct up to 200

PRICE SERVICE INTEGRITY YOU owe it to yourself to call uss ioXersSJlyi (800)392-7081

■ »*V/t.| k/kllll\^l.^ ■■ ^ ■ *-VJ.*B ■ ■ •*• (Hours. Monday-Friday 8:3(tom-4:30pm Pacific Tim.) Calif., Alaska, Hawaii 8. all info Call (213) 725-308<

'"A

FX-80, 160 CPS, 80 Col., friction &

tractor feed, parallel Call

FX-100, 160 CPS, 132 Col., friction

& tractor feed, parallel Call

MX-8Q, MX-8Q F/T, MX 100.., Call

EBEEiSn

Gemini-1QX, 120 CPS, 80 Col., friction & tractor feed, (parallel) SCall Gemini.15, above w/15" platen,Call

8023A, 100 CPS, 80 col., par. $385 3550 Spinwriter, 30 CPS, 203 Col., letter quality, (Parallel . . . $1,815 Tractor for NEC 3550 $245

8510AP Prowriter, 120 CPS, 80 col.,

graphics,(Parallel) SCall

1550 Prowriter-ll,120CPS,136col,,

2K buffer, graphics,(parallel) .$Call

120 CPS, 9x9 matrix, tractor/friction feed, compact size: only 2-7/8" ht. Fits in briefcase, (parallel) ,*~

(OS Prism 80C, 200 CPS, 80 col., 4-color, graphics, friction/tractor feed, sheet feeder, (parallel) . , . $1,259 IDS Prism 132C, above but 132 col. Para, !e^^^^. $1,495

[EBnisfli P1350

Super dot-matrix printer wv/24-pin hi-resolution head. 192 CPS draft, 100 CPS letter-quality (parpMel)Scall

Letter quality daisy wheel printer 16 CPS, bi-directional, friction feed, parallel interface. Super value $695

Serial interface $749

Tractor $119

■.HlViMl:IL]d:imi

The intelligent letter-quality printer w/48K built-in buffer memory, 17 CPS, bi-directional, auto margin justification, universal interfaces $1,195 Tractor, $119

13 CPS daisywheel printer, 2-cotor printing, 3K buffer, (parallel) .SCall Sheet feeder$249 Keyboard - $195 Tractor - - $119 Ribbons$49/doz.

nnaEEEi

18 CPS daisywheel, 13" platen, 2K buffer, 3-pitch, (pa rallel). . . .$Call

40 CPS daisywheel (parallel) $1,089 55 CPS daisywheel (parallel)$1,349 Tractor for F 10 .$225

ML-82A, 120 CPS, 80 col, pin & friction feed, serial & parallel .$379 ML B3A, 120 CPS, 1 36 col., tractor & friction feed, parallel/serial .$629 ML-84P, 200 CPS, 136 col., friction & tractor feed, (parallel) . . . .$989 ML-84S. above but serial. . $1,059 ML-92P, 160 CPS, 80 col., friction & tractor feed, (parallel) . . . .$499 ML-92S, above but serial. . . .$599 ML-93P, 160 CPS, 136 col., tractor Si friction feed, (parallel). . . .$849 ML-93S, above but serial. . . .$969 2410P, 350 CPS, 136 col, friction & tractor, 2-color, (parallel) , $2,295

ITTX-1040

NEW! 12 CPS daisywheel printer W/ built-in tractor adjustable 2%-14Vi". Parallel & serial interfaces, Wordstar compatible. Programmable pitch & line spacing. Compact size $625

TTX-3000 Smart Terminal

Built-in text edit & graphic capability Design for upgrad "ng to stand-alone "^computer, word processing & telecom sys-. 80x25 line swivel screen,10 function keys & numeric keypad. , $549 Complete w/1014 printer , . . $1,099

Multi- Function

Cards for IBM PC and XT

New Low Prices! (Each card now comes w/ Super Drive & SuperSpool)

Amount of memory installed on board 64K I28K 192K 256K

with all options (serial, par allel ports & clock) -- $27 7 $327 $377 $427

EB233E33S31

Six-function card with 64K-384K RAM memory. Parallel port. Serial port. Optional Game port. Clock-Calendar, SuperDrive & SuperSpool Software.

Memory installed on card 64K 128K 192K 256K 320K 384K

w/Parallel, Serial ports & clock--$288 $338 $388 $438 $488 $538 Optional Game port — .~~^^~^^^^^^^ a( jd $35

Amount of memory installed on board -— -64K 128K 192K 256K

w/standard features of serial port No. 1 & clock-5279 $329 $379 $429 w/ either parallel or additional serial port No. 2 -$314 $364 $414 S464 w/ both parallel and additional serial port No. 2 $34g $399 $449 $499 MegaPak - expends a fully populated MegaPlus ca rd to 512K .... S299

Standard card w/one serial port (SI) and clock/calendar. Additional Parallel (P), Game (G), or Serial 2 (S2) port ■

. . . - $129 . add $35 ea.

mEjffli !

QUADBOARD - Multi-Function board for

IBM-PC. Full parity checkings memory selec-

»addressing. w/QSpool & QDrive software.

Amount of memory installed on card 64K 728K 192K 2S6K

with parallel, serial ports, clock/calendar $295 $345 $395 $445

Add Multi-Tasking to your IBM-PC and XT now!

Add Multi-Tasking to y

J software with AddRam Elite or AddRam Plus

Ultimate Multi-Function Boards *TASCMASTER software converts PC-DOS to concurrent PC-DOS to run up to 9 programs simutaneously. *64-512K on a single board. * Real time clock/calendar w/NiCad battery that recharges itself. * RamSpool is hard disk supported under DOS 2.0 *RamDisk creates up to 2 electronic disks. AddRam Elite (parallel & serial ports) AddRam Plus (Two serial ports) Memory installed 64K 128K 192K 256K 32QK 384K 448K 512K

11:11 t» rim

BMC BM-AU9191MU, 13" RGB

color, 640-dot, 16 color . .. $449

Princeton HX-12, 12" RGB color,

690-dot hi resolution. Sale $485

Amdek RGB Color II Plus, 640-dot,

16 colors - $485

Quadchrome, 12" RGB Color, 690-dot $489

Zenith ZVM 134 RGB Color ,$399

■ ■■■j-mii^—i

DynaxGM-120, 12" green, 600 line.

20 MHz. List $200.. ! . . .$129

USI PI-2, 12" green, 1,000 line, 20

MHz $159.00

Taxan KG-12N, 12" green 800-dot,

List $199.00 $149.99

Dynax AM121, 12" umber, 600 dot 20 MHz. List $250 $149

Taxan KA12N, 12" amber, 800-dot, List $205.00 $150.00

USI PI-3, 12" amber, 1,000 line, 20 MHz $179.00

Gorilla Green Monitor $109

HALF HEIGHT DISK DRIVES

for Apple II and Franklin Ace Super 5 (ALPS) 40- track, SS , $239 Super 5 (Teac) 40 track, SS . . .$269 Super 5 (Teacl double sided . . .$365

Control card for SS drive $59

Control card for PS drive

B EASTERN ENTERPRISES, INC. , . SJL^'iJ Mass Merchandising Since 1969 2937 S. VAIL AVE,, LOS ANGELES, CALIF. 90040 ' ' ZZ'ZZ',

PC &

IBM PC & XT COMPUTERS

Call for price & availability

ESOHlEllEa

WordStar $495 $279

MailMerge $250 $149

SpellStar $250 $149

Wordstar & Mailmerge $399

Wordstar& Spellstar $419

Wordstar Professional $489

Infostar $299

1-2-3 (Req. OS drive). $495 CALL

dBASE II $700 $419

Financial Planner $509

Friday $225

Bottom Line Strategist $325

Home Accountant Plus. $150 $109

TKISolver $299 .$249

Multiplan $275 $199

PFS: File $99

PFS: Report $99

Versaform $389 $249

PeachPak (GL/AR/AP). $395 $237 The Tax Manager . . . .$250 $179

VisiCalc/256K $250 $179

Real Estate Analyzer . .$250 $189

SuperCalc I $295 $139

SuperCalc II $295 $199

Spell Guard $195 $159

Super Writer $295 $229

5%" DISK DRIVES

Tandon TM-100-1 SSDD 160K .$195 Tandon TM-100-2, DSDD 320K $245

Tandon TM100 4 DSQD S335

Control Dataf ull ht.DSDD 320K $259 QUME half height DSDD 320K $249 Panasonic half ht. DSDD 320K .$249

Prices & availability subject to i

Circle 167 on inquiry card.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Software Received.

students' scores and grades. As many as 60 scores may be recorded per pupil in such categories as daily quiz, test, exam, and project. Floppy disk, $36.95. DEC Computing, 609 Oakleaf Dr., Garrett, IN 46738.

Learning DOS 2,00, a utility package that teaches you how to use the disk operating system. This package includes on-screen practice and instructions, graphics for computer terms, and explanations of batch files and fixed disks. Floppy disk, $30. IBM Corp. (see address above).

Learning to Program in BASIC, a technical private-tutor course that teaches programming systematically so as to reduce the programming required to accomplish a specific task. Floppy disk, $35. IBM Corp. (see address

above).

PFS:File, an information-management package that works like a conventional paper-filing system except that you can record, retrieve, and review information in a fraction of the time. It lets you design your own basic form, fill in the blanks, and change the data. Floppy disk, $140. Software Publishing Corp., 1901 Landings Dr., Mountain View, CA 94043.

PFS: Graph, a graphics program that produces bar, line, or pie charts of presentation quality in minutes. It also produces picture or dot-image files that can be used with PFS:Write documents. Floppy disk, $140. Software Publishing Corp. (see address above).

PFS:Report, a utility package that enables you to produce

tabular reports from files created by PFS:File. Each of the multiple columns corresponds to an item from the form of your data file. Data can be sorted alphabetically or numerically, and numeric calculations can be performed. Floppy disk, $125. Software Publishing Corp. (see address above).

The Mail Manager, a mailing-list system that helps you prepare, maintain, and print your mailing lists. Print on standard-sized labels and prepare up to 1000 label-file listings. The program features user-definable sorting and selection of records based on field value or record number. Floppy disk, $39. Starware (see address above).

Master Miner, an arcade-type game. Mine the riches of an asteroid belt in the year

2184. Don't let claim jumpers steal your gems before you can deposit them into your starbase. Requires color-graphics adapter. Floppy disk, $39.95. Funtastic Inc. (see address above).

Medicomp Personal Medical Records Program, a personal medical history. Each individual can maintain a personal medical history as well as keep track of such peripheral information as appointment dates, names of doctors, insurance policies, and more. Transferable to a doctor's compatible program. Floppy disk, $89. Medicomp of Va. Inc., 9526-A Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22031.

Microsoft Flight Simulator,

a flight-simulation of a single-engine aircraft. Its working instruments, panoramic graphic views, and real-time flight conditions provide full

CompuPro

8 and/or 16 Bits.

At CompuPro, we know it isn't enough to make the best computer system around — expert planning, custom configuration, tailored software and swift service are just as vital to our customers. That's why we carefully select and train each of our Full Service CompuPro System Centers to provide a complete solutions package for your high-performance computing needs. So for your business, scientific and industrial applications, turn to the professionals listed below. Think of them as your computer consultants—not just retailers.

ARIZONA

Scottsdale

S-100

(800)528-3138

CALIFORNIA Bakersfield

Creative Computing Services

(805) 325-9877

Berkeley

American Computers & Engineers

(415)849-0177

Track Computer Center

(415)845-6366

Burlingame

Mentzer Computer Systems

(415)340-9363

Canyon Country

Creative Computing Services

(805) 251-9877

Carmichael

Logic Systems

(916)971-3133

Chatsworth

Priority One Electronics

(213)709-5464

Hayward

Best Computers Hayward

(415)886-4732

Irvine

Priority One Electronics

(714)660-1411

Los Angeles

American Computers & Engineers

(213)477-6751

Gifford Computer Systems

(213)477-3921

Mountain View

ACC

(415)969-4969

Oakland

Track Computer Center

(415)444-8725

Pacific Palisades

System Interface Consultants

(213)454-2100

Pasadena

Omni Unlimited

(213)795-6664

Petaiuma

Advanced information Mgmt.

(707) 763-7283

Pleasanton

Best Computers Stoneridge

(415)463-2233

San Francisco

Gifford Computer Systems

(415)391-4570

(c 1983 COMPUPRO

616 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

use of flight controls accurate enough to meet FAA regulations for day or night and visual- or instrument-flight conditions. Floppy disk, $49.95. Microsoft Corp., 10700 Northup Way, Bellevue, WA 98004.

Money Matters, a personal-finance program to help maintain your checkbook, reconcile your bank statement, plan and review a budget, and keep records of money-saving tax deductions for personal, family, or small-business use. This menu-driven program features extensive help screens and error checking. Floppy disk, $99. Starware (see address above).

Multi-job, a PC-DOS-enhancement program that can run existing programs written in BASIC, Pascal, assembly language, or any other

language for the PC. You can shift from one job to another using a single-function key. You can use the printer, sort, capture data, download, and plot simultaneously. Floppy disk, $159. Starware (see address above).

One Hundred and One Monochrome Mazes, an

arcade-type game for the whole family. Complete 101 mazes by going through trap doors, invisible walls, and deep black pools. Some are easy and others are not. If you can solve the last maze (#101), you become a master. Floppy disk, $35. IBM Corp., POB 1328-C, Boca Raton, FL 33432.

PC Parrot, a speech-synthesis program. Without interfacing extra hardware you can add audible speech and other sound effects to any BASIC program. Floppy disk,

$39.95. Dragon Data Systems, Suite 110, 1068 Homer St., Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 4W9, Canada.

Private Tutor, an interactive learning program. This self-study system is easy to use in the home, school, or office. It provides lessons and drills for home users; can design special-education requirements; and handles business, finance, manufacturing, or personnel services. Floppy disk, $50. IBM Corp. (see address above).

Report Manager, a three-dimensional application generator and spreadsheet that gives computer users in business the power of a programmable, multidimensional system for financial planning, forecasting, and statistical analyses. Floppy disk, $399. Datamension Corp., 615 Academy Dr., North-

brook, IL 60062.

Trickers, a strategy game for up to three players. Similar to chess and checkers, you move your colored circles to their crown edge by jumping and removing opponents whenever possible. Crowns are indicated by triangles. Floppy disk, $12.95. Trickers, POB 239, Barrington, IL 60010.

Versaform, a business-form processing package. Using the familiarity and structure of existing paper forms, this program accelerates both the speed and accuracy of processing information. It merges customer information, financial data and costed line items, and simplifies the error-free processing of most business forms. Floppy disk, $389. Applied Software Technology, 170 Knowles Dr., Los Gatos, CA

Spoken Here...

San Leandro

Gifford Computer Systems

(415)895-0798

San Rafael

Computer House

(415)453-0865

Santa Barbara

Data Bank

(805) 962-8489

Santa Maria

Data Bank

(805)922-1333

Santa Rosa

Matrix Computers

(707) 542-0571

Sunnyvale

Pragmatic Designs Inc.

(408) 736-8670

COLORADO

Rocky Mountain Microsystems, Inc, (303) 232-4545

FLORIDA

Brandon/Tampa

Micro Computer Technology (813)685-7659

& 1983 COMPUPRO

Satellite Beach

Binary Magic, Inc.

(305) 777-7080

HAWAII

Kahului Maui

Capacity Plus Computers (808) 877-3496

ILLINOIS

Athens

Computers Plus (217)636-8491 La Grange Park

Small Business Systems Inc.

(312)579-3311

Skokie

Lillipute Computer Mart Inc.

(312)674-1383

INDIANA

Terre Haute

General Software Inc.

(812)234-9421

MARYLAND

Bethesda

JR Systems

(30V 657-3598

MASSACHUSETTS

Boston

New England Electronic Exch.

(617)491-3000

Chestnut Hill

Key Micro Systems (617)738-7306

NEW YORK

Amherst

Gifford Computer Systems (716) 833-4758 Deer Park

Datapro Systems Inc.

(516)595-1311

(Please turn the page)

Com pu Pro

A GODBOUT COMPANY

3506 Breakwater Court, Hayward, CA 94545

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Software Received'

95030.

Word Proof, a word-working program. Improve your writing with this program that checks your spelling and finds synonyms and anagrams. It also has a fullscreen editor to write, format, modify, and print what you write. Up to 22 lines of text can be displayed at one time. Floppy disk, $60. IBM Corp. (see address above).

Mattel Intellivision

Dracula, an arcade-type game for one or two players. As Count Dracula in a human form, you must run from constables who patrol the streets, fly away from vultures attacking you as a vampire, and return to your coffin before sunrise. Cartridge, $39.95. Imagic, 981 University Ave., Los Gatos, CA 95030.

Ice Trek, an adventure game for one player. To prevent the advance of a devastating Ice Age, you must guide Vali through herds of caribou and over an arctic river to unlock the Aurora Borealis. Cartridge, $39.95. Imagic (see address above).

Nova Blast, an arcade-type game. To protect the underwater city from flying fighters and water walkers, you pilot a skysweeper equipped with radar. Avoid collisions and shots from the enemy. Cartridge, $39.95. Imagic (see address above).

Safecracker, an adventure game. Your job as a super spy is to steal top-secret documents from various embassies. If you can't crack the safe, you can blow it open with dynamite. Avoid police and traffic accidents as you careen through the town.

Cartridge, $39.95. Imagic (see address above).

Tropical Trouble, an arcade-type game. A pleasant shipwreck on a South Sea island turns to danger when Doris is captured. Help Clarence rescue her while fighting off boulders, coconuts, clams, and ferns. Cartridge, $39.95. Imagic (see address above).

Truckin, a highway-trucking simulation game. As a trucker, you race against time to any city in North America. Watch out for Smokies, sharp turns, and other trucks. Earn as much as you can hauling loads, watch your gas gauge, and radio ahead to synchronize pick-up and delivery. Cartridge, $39.95. Imagic (see address above). ■

BYTE Publications during the past month. The list is correct to the best of our knowledge, but it is not meant to be a full description of the product or the forms in which the product is available. In particular, some packages may be sold for several

uct listed here is the version received by BYTE Publications. This is an all-inclusive list that makes no comment on the quality or usefulness of the software listed. We regret that we cannot review every software package we receive. Instead, this list is meant to be a monthly acknowledgment of these packages and the companies that sent them. All software received is considered to be on loan to BYTE and is returned to the manufacturer after a set period of time. Companies send-

of the packages and (where appropriate) the alternate forms in which they are available.

And Here.

Staten Island

John D. Owens Assoc. (212)448-6283

NORTH CAROLINA

Greensboro

General Semantics Inc.

(919)288-1117

OREGON

Portland

Microwest Computer Products (503) 238-6274

RHODE ISLAND

Coventry

Key Micro Systems

(401)828-7270

TEXAS

Austin

CPA Systems Inc.

(512)458-9281

Dallas

Dator Systems

(214)521-0915

Houston

Gifford Computer Systems

(713)877-1212

: 1983 COMPUPRO

Seguin

CPA Systems, Inc. (512)379-0660

WISCONSIN

Greenfield

Byte Shop of Milwaukee

(414)281-7004

Madison

Beam Internationa!

(608) 255-2325

CANADA

Vancouver, B.C.

Dynacomp Business Computers Ltd.

(604) 872-7737

Coquitiam. B.C.

CSC System Center Ltd.

(604)941-0622

THE PHILIPPINES

Quezon City

Corona International Inc.

78-34-71

UNITED KINGDOM

Swansea

Comcen Technology Ltd. (0792)796000

(om pu Pro

A GODBOUT COMPANY

3506 Breakwater Court, Hayward, CA 94545

618 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

THE COMPUTER TANDY SHOULD HAVE BUILT.

Software-selectable screen formats let you run either 24 x 80 CP/M or 16 x 32 and 16 x 64 LDOS programs.

Monitor comes in your

choice of green or amber

phosphor display.

With our built-in disk interfaces, you can simply plug in any combination of peripherals.

Standard Centronics-type

parallel port accommodates

a wide variety of printers.

\Q^

■1 '; ;'"

Our 5MHz Z-80B processor

runs your programs 25% faster

than TRS-80 Model 4.

Rugged construction includes heavy

duty case and full-stroke

sculptured keyboard.

Available storage includes Lobo's

5-1/4" floppy, 8" floppy and

Winchester hard disks.

All Lobo hardware products carry a limited one-year parts and labor warranty

AT THE PRICE TANDY SHOULD HAVE CHARGED.

The bottom line is this. For far less than the price of a TRS-80* Mod 4, you can own a lot more computer.

A computer that's 25% faster.

That supports both the CP/M* Plus and LDOS™ operating systems.

A computer that features a price tag of only $945 for the MAX-80* processor. And that expands with your needs without breaking your budget.

A FLEXIBLE SYSTEM AT A FLEXIBLE PRICE

When you put it all together — an entire system, including a dual 5-1/4" floppy drive subsystem (320 Kb of disk storage), monitor, CP/M and LDOS

-totals up to just $1599.

Totally remarkable, But that's not all. Because this basic MAX-80 system is incredibly flexible. Its dual operating systems run far more software than any other computer (Including our specially-discounted Perfect-Calc™ and Perfect-Writer™ software packages.)

And since our MAX-80 features two RS-232C serial ports, you can easily add both printer and modem without switching back and forth.

SUPPORTS A WIDE VARIETY OF PERIPHERALS

What's more, Lobo offers almost any peripheral you

might want to add to your MAX-80. At very special prices.

Like $995 for a 5Mb Winchester hard disk, the ultimate in fast, accurate data storage.

Or a whole line of affordable dot matrix and letter-quality printers. Or an 8" floppy drive. Or even a MAX-80 local area network.

EVERY PIECE OF HARDWARE BACKED BY OUR UNBEATABLE WARRANTY

Because every part of the

MAX-80 system is so rugged and reliable, we go beyond industry-standard 90 day warranties. We back every piece of Lobo hardware with a full year warranty. So now, you can run virtually

all your TRS-80 programs faster and cheaper.

Just give us your Visa or Master Card number, Well rush you the MAX-80. Try it out. Then, if for any reason you change your mind, return it within 30 days. We'll return all your money.

So call us. Because owning a MAX-80 costs you $945. But finding out about it costs you nothing.

1-800-235-1245

(1-800-322-6103 in California)

LOBO SYSTEMS, INC.

358 South Fairview Avenue, Goleta, California 93117

TRS-80 is a registered trademark of Tandy Corp CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research Corp LDOS is a trademark of Logical Systems Inc Perfect-Calc and Perfect-Writer are trademarks of Perfect Software, lnc 0 1983 Lobo Systems, Inc.

Circle 303 on inquiry card.

PAL® PROGRAMMING FOR S100 SYSTEMS

Complete Development System Includes:

SOFTWARE

• PALASM (PAL Assembler and Simulator)

• PAL Programming and Verification Module (Software supplied on CP/M SD 8" Diskette)

HARDWARE

• PAL Programming and Duplicating Board Programs Series 20 and 24 PALS

• Circuitry for Opening Security Fuses

• Standard S-100 (IEEE 696) PCB

• 24 Pin ZIF Socket for easy Operation

DOCUMENTATION

• PAL Design Specification

• Users Guide

Complete System $495.00

Software $ 75.00

Documentation on 8" SD Diskette $ 1 5.00

MICROPRECISION

1189 CRANFORD, CLEVELAND, OH 44107

216/221-1632

®PAL is a registered trademark of Monolithic Memories, Inc.

MAGIC COMPUTER "INPUT/OUTPUT" MUG

Let the world know when you're on a coffee break. When hot liquid is poured in, one message disappears and another takes its place on the computer screen. Fascinating to watch. Big 10 oz. size. Fine quality white English porcelain. 10 day money-back guarantee if not completely satisfied. s 8 95 Toll-Free Mon.-Fri. 9am-6 pm 1-800-B-E-S-W-E-E-T In Fla. (305) 687-9338

BY113

s weet g um i

15490 NW 7th Ave., N. Miami, FL 33169

Please send me the Magic "Input/Output" Mug.

Quant. (<i $8.95 Add $2 each for shipping & hand.

Fla. residents add 5% sales tax. Total $

End. is Check Q MO □ Charge my MasterCard fj

Visa G Credit Card #

Exp. Date

• O Just send me your free COMPUTERMAN1A Catalog for now. *

Signature

Name

Address

City

State

_Ztp_

Event Queue

November 1983

November

Computer Showcase Expos, various sites throughout the U.S. This popular show will bring together hardware and software manufacturers, dealers, and consumers of small computer systems. For further details, contact the Interface Group, 160 Speen St., POB 927, Framingham, MA 01701, (800) 225-4620; in Massachusetts, (617) 879-4502.

November-December

Courses from the Continuing Education Institute, various sites throughout the U.S. Among the courses offered are "Man-Machine Interface," "Applied Interactive Computer Graphics," and "High-Performance Computer Architecture." For more information, contact the Continuing Education Institute, Olivers Carriage House, 5410 Leaf Treader Way, Columbia, MD 21044, (301) 596-0111; in California, (213) 824-9545.

November-December The IBM System/36 Seminar, various sites throughout the U.S. This seminar provides a discussion on the capabilities and performance of the IBM System/36. For registration and details, contact DGC Inc., 1450 Preston Forest Square, Dallas, TX 75230, (214) 991-4044.

November-December

Intensive Seminars for Professionals, various sites throughout the U.S. Electronics magazine, a McGraw-Hill publication, offers seminars in management and such technical areas as speech recognition and synthesis, controlling electromagnetic interference, fundamentals of computer graphics, and microprocessor interfacing. In-house presentations can be

arranged. For a catalog outlining seminars, locations, and fees, contact Irene Parker, McGraw-Hill Seminar Center, Suite 603, 331 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017, (212) 687-0243.

November-December James Martin Seminars and Seminars of Excellence, various sites throughout the U.S. and Canada. For a brochure describing these data-processing and computer-related seminars, contact Technology Transfer Institute, 741 10th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402, (213) 394-8305.

November-December

Seminars for Professional Development, various sites throughout the U.S. Datapro Research Corporation offers more than 35 professional development seminars in such areas as personal computers, data communications, systems and software, and office automation. Complete outlines and schedules are available from Datapro Research Corp., 1805 Underwood Blvd., Delran, NJ 08075, (800) 257-9406; in New Jersey, (609) 764-0100.

November-December

Software Workshops in MMSFORTH, Boston metropolitan area. These workshops are public versions of the professional training Miller Microcomputer Services (MMS) offers to client companies in support of the MMSFORTH product line. A variety of topics and skill levels are covered. Full details are available from Miller Microcomputer Services, 61 Lake Shore Rd., Natick, MA 01760, (617) 653-6136.

November-January 1984 Courses from Integrated Computer Systems, various sites throughout the U.S. A

622 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 451 on inquiry card.

THE FORTH SOURCE

TM

MVP-FORTH

Stable - Transportable - Public Domain - Tools You need two primary features in a software development package a stable operating system and the ability to move programs easily and quickly to a variety of computers. MVP-FORTH gives you both these features and many extras. This public domain product includes an editor, FORTH assembler, tools, utilities and the vocabulary for the best selling book "Starting FORTH". The Programmer's Kit provides a complete FORTH for a number of computers. Other MVP-FORTH products will simplify the development of your applications.

MVP Books - A Series

□ Volume 1, All about FORTH by Haydon. MVP-FORTH glossary with cross references to fig-FORTH, Starting FORTH and FORTH-79 Standard. 2 nd Ed. $25

D Volume 2, MVP-FORTH Assembly Source Code. Includes CP/M* , IBM-PC® , and APPLE® listing for kernel $20

MVP-FORTH Software - A Transportable FORTH

□ MVP-FORTH Programmer's Kit including disk, documentation, Volumes 1 & 2 of MVP-FORTH Series (All About FORTH, 2 nd Ed. & Assembly Source Code), and Starting FORTH. Specify □ CP/M, □ CP/M 86, LJ3 CP/M + , EI APPLE,

± D IBM PC, □ MS-DOS, □ Osborne, □ Kaypro, 0 H89/Z89, p D Z100, □ TI-PC, □ MicroDecisions, □ Northstar,

□ Compupro, □ Cromemco $150

□ MVP-FORTH Cross Compiler for CP/M Programmer's Kit. Can also generate headerless code for ROM or target

CPU $300

□ MVP-FORTH Meta Compiler for CP/M Programmer's kit. Use for applicatons on CP/M based computer. Includes public domain source $150

□ MVP-FORTH Fast Floating Point for APPLE Programmer's

Kit. Includes 9511 math chip on board with disk and documentation. $400

; I MVP-FORTH Programming Aids for CP/M, IBM or APPLE Programmer's Kit. Extremely useful tool for decompiling, callfinding, and translating. $150

□ MVP-FORTH by ECS Software for IBM-PC or ATARI® 400/800. Standalone with screen editor. License required. Upgradeable $100

□ MVP-FORTH by ECS Software for IBM-PC or ATARI 400/800.

Enhanced with color animation, multitasking sound, utilities, and unlimited run time license. $175

□ MVP-FORTH Professional Application Development System (PADS) for CP/M, IBM-PC, or APPLE. A three level integrated system with complete documentation. Complete system $400

□ MVP-FORTH PADS

□ MVP-FORTH PADS

□ MVP-FORTH PADS

Enhanced virtual system $150

Programming Aids $150

Meta Compiler $150

• •• MVP-FORTH operates under a variety of CPU's, computers, and operating systems. CP/M® disks can be supplied 8", SS/SD, 3740 format or 5 1 A for Osborne® Northstar® Micro Decisions® Kaypro® or H89/Z89® Specify your computer and operating system. * • •

FORTH DISKS

FORTH with editor, assembler, and manual.

FORTH MANUALS, GUIDES & DOCUMENTS

APPLE by MM APPLE by Kuntze ATARI® val FORTH CP/NT by MM HP-85 by Lange HP-75 by Cassady

$100 $90 $60

$100 $90 150

IBM-PC* by LM $100

NOVA by CCI 8" DS/DD$150 280 by LM $50

8086/88 by LM $100

VIC FORTH byHES. VIC20 cartridge $50

□ ALL ABOUT FORTH by

Haydon. See above. $25

□ FORTH Encyclopedia by

Derick & Baker.

Programmer's manual to fig-FORTH with FORTH-79 references. Flow charted, 2 nd Ed, $25

□ 1980 FORMLProc. $25 D 1981 FORML Proc 2 Vol $40 D 1982 FORML Proc. $25 P 1981 Rochester FORTH

Proc.

□ 1982 Rochester FORTH Proc.

$25

Enhanced FORTH with: F-Floating Point, G-Graphics, T-Tutorial, S-Stand Alone, M-Math Chip Support, MT-Multi-Tasking, X-Other Extras, 79-FORTH-79.

□ APPLE by MM, F, G.&79 $140

D ATARI by PNS, F,G, & X. $90

□ CP/M by MM, F & 79 $140 D Apple, GraFORTH by I $75 D Multi-Tasking FORTH by SL,

CP/M, X & 79 $395

□ TRS-80/1 or III by M MS F, X,&79 $130

U Timex by FD, tape G.X, & . 79 $45

□ TUTORIAL by LH, includes Starting FORTH $95

□ fig-FORTH Programming Aids for decompiling, callfinding,

and translating. CP/M, IBM-PC, Z80, or Apple $150

CROSS COMPILERS Allow extending, modifying and compiling for speed and memory savings, can also produce ROMable code. •Requires FORTH disk.

[ i CP/M $300 :: IBM $300

P 8086 $300 □ Z80 $300

□ Northstar $300 D Apple II/II+ $300

EM. 0>^O a

# U Understanding FORTH by W D If 83 Rochester FORTH

$25

E3 Extensions for LM Specify IBM. Z80, or 8086

D Software Floating

Point $100

D 8087 Support

(IBM-PC or 8086} $100

□ 9511 Support

(Z80 or 8086) $100

□ Color Graphics JIBM-PC) $100 ! I Data Base

Management $200

Requires LM FORTH disk. . [ Victor 9000 by DE, G.X ^

$17

$7

Reymann $3

J^ G FORTH Fundamentals, Vol

I by McCabe $16 j^ □ FORTH Fundamentals, Vol

II by McCabe $13 d* D Beginning FORTH by

Chirlian

□ FORTH Encyclopedia Pocket Guide

□ And So FORTH by Huang. A college level text. $25

□ FORTH Programming by Scanlon $17

□ FORTH on the ATARI by E Floegel $8

D Starting FORTH by Brodie. Best instructional manual available, (soft cover) $19 (hard cover) $23

□

Proc. $25

A FORTH Primer $25

Threaded Interpretive Languages $23

METAFORTH by Cassady $30

Systems Guide to fig-FORTH $25

□ Invitation to FORTH $20

□ PDP-11 User Man. $20 ^D FORTH-83 Standard $15

□ FORTH-79 Standard $15

□ FORTH-79 Standard Conversion $10

D NOVA fig-FORTH by CCI Source Listing $15

□ NOVA by CCI User's Manual includes editor, assembler, and utilities $25

□ FORTH Computer - Jupiter Ace

D 16K RAM Pack

□ 48K RAM Pack jj*

□ Par/Sec Interface *

$150

$50

$125

$100

Key to vendors:

CCI Capstone Computing Inc.

DE Dai-E Systems

FD Forth Dimension

I Insoft

LH Laxen and Harris

LM Laboratory Microsystems

MM MicroMotion

MMS Miller Microcomputer Services

NS Nautilus Systems

PNS Pink Noise Studio

SL Shaw Labs

D Installation Manual for fig-FORTH $15

Source Listings of fig-FORTH, for specific CPU's and computers. The Installation Manual is required for implementation. Each $15

□ 1802 D 6502 O 6800 ti AlphaMicro Q 8080 D 8086/88 □ 9900 □ APPLE II

□ PACE □ 6809 □ NOVA D PDP-11/LSI-11

□ 68000 □ Eclipse □ VAX □ Z80

Ordering Information: Check, Money Order (payable to MOUNTAIN VIEW PRESS. INC.). VISA. MasterCard GOD'S $5 extra. No billing or unpaid PO's. California residents add sales tax. Shipping costs in US included in price. Foreign orders, pay in US funds on US bank, include for handling and shipping by Air: $5 for each item under $25. $10 for each item between $25 and $99 and $20 for each item over $100. Minimum order $1 5, All prices and products subject to change or withdrawal without notice. Smg!e system and/or single user license agreement required on some products. DEALER & AUTHOR INQUIRIES INVITED

MOUNTAIN VIEW PRESS, INC.

PO BOX 4656

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94040

(415)961-4103

Circle 319 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983 623

Circle 169 on inquiry card.

Eco-C

TM

Compiler

Since November of last year, we've been testing our new Eco-C Compiler and now it's ready for your Z80™CP/M™ system. Some of the features include:

• All data types, including float, double and long.

• Fast, efficient code. For example: Our versions of "seive" in January, 1983, BYTE; 15.8 seconds (standard) and 11.7 seconds (optimized).

• Uses Microsoft's MACRO 80™ for REL file output.

• Standard (K&R) fife I/O and library (most in source) included.

• Easy assembly language interface.

• No royalty fees on generated code.

The price for Eco-C is $350.00 and includes MACRO 80 (a $200.00 value by itself). We'll also include a free copy of C Programming Guide while supplies last.

For further information, call or write:

WETZM

P.O. Box 68602

Indianapolis, IN 46268

(317) 255-6476

Registered trademarks are: Zilog (Z80), Digital Research (CP/M), Microsoft (MACRO 80) and Ecosoft (Eco-C).

And then there

were none.

The list of already extinct animals grows . . . the great auk, the Texas gray wolf, the Badlands bighorn,the sea mink, the passenger pigeon . . .

What happens if civilization continues to slowly choke out wildlife species by species?

Man cannot live on a planet unfit for animals.

Join an organization that's doing something about preserving our endangered species. Get involved. Write the National Wildlife Federation, Department 105, 1412 16th Street, NW. Washington, DC 20036.

It's not too late.

Event Queue.

few of the course titles include "Digital Image Processing/' "Digital Signal Processing/' "Computer Graphics/' and "State-of-the-art Robot Systems." The fees for these courses range from $695 to $895. For information, contact Ruth Dordick, Integrated Computer Systems, 6305 Arizona Place, Los Angeles, CA 90045, (213) 450-2060.

November-January 1984

Courses from Q. E. D. Information Sciences, various sites throughout the U.S. Scheduled courses include "Systems Analysis Workshop," Database Design," and "Project Management and Control." Address inquiries to Q. E. D. Information Sciences Inc., Q. E. D. Plaza, POB 181, Wellesley, MA 02181, (800) 343-4848; in Massachusetts, (617) 237-5656.

November-January 1984

Technology Opportunity

Conference, various sites throughout the U.S. This conference series focuses on the convergence of optical-storage, videodisc, and computer technologies. For full details, contact Technology Opportunity Conference, POB 14817, San Francisco, CA 94114, (415) 626-1133.

November-August 1984

Conferences and Expositions from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, various sites throughout the U.S. and around the world. More than 25 conferences and expositions are scheduled. For a calendar, contact the Public Relations Department, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, One SME Dr., POB 930, Dearborn, MI 48121, (313) 271-0777.

November 8-11

Wescon/83 and Mini/Micro West-83, San Francisco, CA. A conference and exposition,

Wescon covers a broad range of topics, including artificial intelligence, computer peripherals and simulation, and robotics. Mini/Micro serves the original equipment manufacturer community by exploring peripherals, processors, data communications, and software. Contact Electronic Conventions Inc., 8110 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045, (213) 772-2965.

November 9-10

Business-Expo, Philadelphia, PA. This exposition serves as a showcase for office equipment ranging from computers to coffee machines. More than 20 seminars are planned. Address inquiries to Business-Expo, 702 East Northland Towers, 15565 Northland Dr., Southfield, MI 48075, (313) 569-8280.

November 9-11

Cryptography and Data Security, Washington, DC. For details, contact Hellman Associates Inc., Suite 300, 299 California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (415) 328-4091.

November 9-15

Interkama 83, Diisseldorf, West Germany. This exhibition is designed for the instrumentation and automation industries. It's expected to attract more than 1000 exhibitors from over 25 countries. For complete details, contact Diisseldorf Trade Shows, 500 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10110, (212) 840-7744.

November 11-13

The Austin Computer Fair Xmas Show, Palmer Municipal Auditorium, Austin, TX. More than 100 exhibits and seminars will serve to acquaint the public and business community with the computer industry. Contact David Orshalick, Austin Seminars Inc., POB 4531, Austin, TX 7S765, (512) 835-8796.

624 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

WHO'D in

A2&YEMMHD WORKWITH1HE

WORLDS MOST SOPHISnCATED LASER SYSTEM?

Or evaluate primary sensor performances of multimillion dollar satellites?

Or manage millions of dollars a year in defense contracts?

The Air Force, that's who.

If you're a talented, motivated electrical engineer or plan to be, you don't have to wait to work with the newest, most sophisticated technology around.

You can do it now, as an Air Force officer working as an electrical engineer.

Don't get us wrong. We don't hand it to you on a silver platter. You have to work for it. Hard.

But if you do, we'll give you all the responsibility you can handle. And reward you well for taking it.

You'll get housing, medical and dental care — and excellent pay that increases as you rise in rank.

Plus there are opportunities to attend graduate

Circle 486 on inquiry card.

school. If you're qualified and selected, we'll pay 75% of your tuition. Those with special qualifications can even study full time, at no cost.

So plug into the Air Force. Because when it comes to technology, the Air Force can help you achieve great sophistication at a very tender age.

For more information mail in the card, or call our toll-free Engineer Hotline 1-800-531-5826 (in Texas 1-800-292-5366). Better yet, send your resume to HRS/RSAANE, Randolph AFB, TX 78150. There's no obligation.

AIM HIGH AIR FORCE

A great place for engineers

BYTE November 1983 625

TIMES

FASTER THAN

dBASE II

TM

If you bought your computer to save time, then you need SUPER, the most powerful database system you can use. Power is a combination of speed, ease of use and versatility. SUPER has them all.

FAST - To demonstrate SUPER'S speed, ISA retained a professional dBASE programmer to benchmark SUPER vs. the acknowledged leader. A simple mailing list application was chosen to minimize dBASE programming cost. The results:

Notice that SUPER was faster at every task where your time is involved—and saving your time is probably the whole reason you bought a computer.

EASY TO USE - SUPER won because of its ease of use. Since it is menu-driven, office personnel can easily learn to use SUPER to set up their own applications, speeding and simplifying dozens of tasks without the need of programmer support.

VERSATILE - SUPER, unlike other business programs, doesn't dictate how to run your business. With SUPER the computer does what you want, when you want, the way you want it. SUPER may be the only business program you'll ever need. It can handle customer files, payables, receivables, depreciation, appointments, cost accounting, time charges, commissions, inventory, manufacturing control, and even matrix accounting systems!

SUPER PERFORMANCE AT A SUPER PRICE -

That SUPER beats the $700 dBASE program may surprise you, but in terms of price vs. performance SUPER has no competitors. Among its features are: production input, data compression, multiple databases on line, transaction posting, file reformating, stored arithmetic files, flexible report formats, hierarchical sort and multi-disk files for up to 131, 068 records. It can select by ranges, sub-strings, and field comparisons. It interfaces to word processors such as WordStar™, SuperSCRIPTSIT™, Model 11/16 SCRIPTSIT™, and NEWSCRIPT™. In fact SUPER has so many features that

it takes a six-page product description to cover them all. Write or call and we'll send you one.

SUPER is available for TRS-80™ Models I & III under NEWDOS™, LDOS™, and DOSPLUS; for TRS-80 Models II, III and 16 under TRSDOS™; and CP/M™ systems.

NOW $199.00*

Manual (Price applicable to purchase)

Now available for the IBM PC

MasterCard and VISA accepted.

$ 25.00

NEW SUPER/XT for IBM

10 Times Faster operation than 64K SUPER. 60 fields, relational structure, 32K maximum record length, 10 indexes, table look-up on data entry for verification or insertion, upward compatibility with SUPER data files, multiple screens, etc. $2gg Q0

Write for Catalogue

Institute For Scientific Analysis, Inc.

SOFTWARE FOR HARD USE T

Dept B-5 Institute for Scientific Analysis, Inc. P.O. Box 7186 Wilmington, DE 19803 (215)566-0801

ORDERS ONLY 800-441-7680 EXT. 501

Trade mark owners: dBASEII-Ashton-Tate, SCRIPTSIT. SuperSCRIPTSIT, TRSDOS. and TRS-80-Tandy Corp NEWDOS/80-Apparat, Inc. WordStar-MicroPro Intl. Corp. NEWSCRIPT-PROSOFT. LDOS-Logical Systems, inc. CP/M-Digital Research

•Plus $15.00 formatting charge for non-standard CP/M version.

626 BYTE November 1983

Circle 228 on inquiry card.

Circle 15 on inquiry card.

Event Queue.

November 11-13

Hometech '83, Exhibition Centre, Bristol, England. Personal computers and related equipment will be displayed. Contact Tomorrow's World Exhibitions Ltd., 9 Park Place, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1JP, England; tel: (0272) 292156.

November 13-16

HE Fall Conference, Sheraton Centre Hotel, Toronto, Canada. Sponsored by the Institute of Industrial Engineers (HE), this event will include speakers, educational sessions, plant tours, workshops, preconference seminars, and leisure activities. For registration and details, contact HE Conference Department, 25 Technology Park/Atlanta, Norcross, GA 30092, (404) 449-0460.

November 14-16

VLSI Design, Los Angeles, CA. For details, contact Hell-man Associates Inc., Suite 300, 299 California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (415) 328-4091.

November 14-17

AUTOFACT 5 Conference and Exposition, Cobo Hall, Detroit, MI. The focus of this event will be on CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/ manufacturing) and the expanding technologies of computer-integrated manufacturing and the automated factory. More than 90 companies will exhibit CAD/CAM systems, computer graphics, software, industrial robots, and computer-based test and measurement systems. Concurrent technical sessions and tutorials will be held. Contact Gregg Balko, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, One SME Dr., POB 930, Dearborn, MI 48121, (313) 271-1080.

November 14-17

Canadian Computer Show & Conference, International Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Further information is available from Industrial Trade Shows of Canada, 20 Butterick Rd., Toronto, Ontario M8W 3Z8, Canada, (416) 252-7791.

November 15-17

SNA Architecture and Implementation, Sheraton Rolling Green Inn and Conference Center, Boston, MA. This seminar provides the working knowledge needed to design SNA (system-network architecture) networks and evaluate SNA-compatible products. Examples of how various protocols are used to control communications will be provided. Other topics include SNA functional layering and network elements. The fee is $650. Full details are available from Communications Solutions Inc., 992 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd., San Jose, CA 95129, (408) 725-1568.

November 15-17

The Technical Manager in an Engineering Environment,

University of California, Berkeley. This course will deal with practical techniques for efficient management. It will include workshop sessions and clinics focusing on specific problems. The fee is $645. Further details are available from Continuing Education in Engineering, Department 670N, University of California Extension, 2223 Fulton St., Berkeley, CA 94720, (415) 642-4151.

November 15-18

Understanding Microprocessor-based Equipment and Troubleshooting, Ramada Airport Inn, Rochester, NY. This course is designed to provide technicians and engineers with a background in microprocessor fundamentals and troubleshooting tech-

:i quality and dot matrix printers on the same port without changing

- ■ ware' Share your printers, plotters or modems

&utanv*ti«:ai!y'

t

We have par aflet switches designed especially for your PC

CaH ASCI Today

Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc.

435 N, Lake Avenue, Dept. II

Pasadena, Ca 91 101

(800) 824-7080

m California (2 1 3) 793-89 7 1 Telex 7012 15

Circle 489 on inquiry card.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 627

Circle 237 on inquiry card.

A NEW STANDARD

IN PROFESSIONAL VOICE QUALITY

The new INTEX-TALKER features professional voice quality, unlimited vocabulary and automatic inflection control. The built-in text-to-phoneme algorithm is highly accurate. INTEX-TALKER can speak or spell any ASCII text - including punctuation. 8 K bytes of user programmable memory are included. A 2.7 K character buffer is available for text storage or downloading user pragrams. Other features include:

• 64 inflection levels (automatic or manual control)

• RS232C and Parallel connectors

• Spelling and phoneme access modes

• Adjustable baud rates (75-9600)

• 5 octaves of music

• 6502 Microprocessor

• Completely self-contained (requires no overhead)

• Built in speaker option

• Available at board level in OEM quantities

For More Information

Write or call us at (313) 540-7601 to order or request our product brochure. Visa/Master Charge accepted. $345.00 (plus shipping).

Intex Micro Systems Corporation

725 S. Adams Rd. - Suite L-8 Birmingham, Michigan 48011

MOVE-IT

makes

communication

simple

■^

FOR PC DOS, CPM-86 and CPM Systems.

• SIMPLE TO INSTALL MOVE-IT can be installed in under 5 minutes by answering simple questions at the console. Included is the set-up information for over 100 micros and 10 I/O boards.

• SIMPLE TO USE PROGRAM. MOVE-ITS 20 commands allow you to auto-dial and access remote information utilities, and bulletin boards, including upload and download. Transfer files error free between PC and other micros when both run MOVE-IT. Display both local and remote directories ... and a whole list of other features.

• SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND MANUAL. Complete 80 page manual is included. Over 8000 programs now in use. "One of the few packages that actually works as advertised," says Interface Age.

MOVE-IT program and manual suggested retail $150. For CPM systems $125. Specify disk format and operating sysem when ordering.

WOOLF SOFTWARE SYSTEMS INC.

6754 ETON AVE. CANOGA PK. ( CA 91303 (213) 703-8112

w

Event Queue-

niques. Equipment familiarization and hands-on experimentation are emphasized. The registration fee is $595; multiple discounts are offered. Contact Micro Systems Institute, Garnett, KS 66032, (913) 898-6152.

November 17-18

Voice-Data Integration and the Digital PBX, Washington, DC. This symposium features presentations on major voice-data PBX systems and on such related equipment as integrated workstations, voice-store-and-forward equipment, and more. For information, contact Diane Pon-tisso, Phillips Publishing Inc., Suite 1200N, 7315 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) $86-0666.

November 17-19

Ed-Com/FaU '83, Los Angeles, CA. This conference and exposition offers demonstrations, seminars, hands-on sessions, panels, and micro courses that address, evaluate, and analyze the development of computers in education. Hardware, software, and publishing companies will display items of interest. Contact Carol Houts, Judco Computer Expos Inc., Suite 201, 2629 North Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85257, (800) 528-2355; in Arizona, (602) 990-1715.

November 17-19

The Fifth Annual Northeast Computer Show and Software Exposition, Hynes Auditorium, Boston, MA. This end-user computer show offers nearly 500 displays of computers, peripherals, accessories, and software. More information is available from Northeast Expositions, 822 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill, MA 02167, (800) 841-7000; in Massachusetts, (617) 739-2000.

November 19

TC/TC: A Teachers College Conference on Teaching with Computers, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY. As many as 60 teachers will present computer-based lessons that they have developed. Lessons include reading, music, art, mathematics, French, composition, and poetry for kindergarten through 12th grade. Workshops will also be featured. Contact the Office of Continuing Education, Box 132, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, (212) 678-3065.

November 20-22

The Third Annual Purdue On-Farm Computer Use Conference and Trade Show,

Purdue University Armory, West Lafayette, IN. Exhibits and demonstrations will be featured. Contact Stephen J. Resch, Continuing Education Administration, Stewart Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, (317) 494-2755.

November 20-24

The Third Gulf Computer Exhibition and the Gulf Office Exhibition, International Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. These concurrent exhibitions are designed to promote all aspects of computer technology and computer-related office equipment. Information is available from Mid-Asia/Africa Business Co. Inc., Suite 308, 739 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116, (617) 536-3442.

November 28-December 2 Welcome to the World of Personal Computing, Fort Lauderdale, FL. This is a comprehensive introduction on how to use microcomputer technology in business, industry, and government. The workshop agenda offers six modules ranging from user productivity to software

628 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 440 on inquiry card.

• :.;:■

(sytji

»HBtig£

The best

career move you can make

is to the keyboard of your personal computer.

Ifs free. It's confidential.

Today's technical career market changes fast.

But now there's a way to keep up with it. This new key to career opportunity is your personal computer. And the cost is nothing but a phone call.

Just call CLEO. That stands for Computer Listings of Employment Opportunities.

CLEO responds to your commands. You specify what job categories, companies, or geographic locations interest you. CLEO calls up the appropriate ads right on your screen. At every step, you're guided by explicit online instructions.

Daily updates keep CLEO job listings current. You can even apply for positions right from your

Circle 73 on inquiry card.

own terminal. For a detailed job search, or just an idea of what's available, CLEO is waiting for your call today. With today's opportunities.

CLEO access: (415) 482-1550 • (408) 294-2000 • (213) 618-8800 • (714) 476-8800 • (619) 224-8800

300 BAUD, full duplex, standard ASCII code. Access assistance: (213) 618-1525

^"^% Recruitment advertisers — I call (213) 618-0200 collect ■BP to find out how you can

Computer Ustingsof Employment Opportunities place your ad On CLEO.

An electronic publishing activity of The Copley Press, Inc.

BYTE November 1983 629

In Less Than 3 Minutes

Your IBM Model 50, 60, 65, 75, or 85

Electronic Typewriter

can be an RS232C PRINTER or TERMINAL

CALIFORNIA MICRO COMPUTER Models 5060 and 5061 can be installed easily and require NO modifications to the typewriter.

For additional information contact:

CALIFORNIA MICRO COMPUTER 17791 Jamestown Lane Huntington Beach, CA 92647 (714) 848-3947

COMPETITIVE EDGE

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Order Line 800-336-1410 — Local & Info 313-451-0665

Announcing Our Super Reliable Budget Systems!!

That's right, now COMPUPRO® CSC circuit boards in our budget systems at no increase in price over the old A&T systems. And a new 48-hour loaner floppy policy for only $25 additional that gives you 48-hour warranty on boards and floppys in the Competitive Edge Budget System. SYSTEM LIST SALE

CPU Z 6MHz, 64K, 1/0 I, CP/M® 2.2 .. $4495 $2995

CPU 85/88, 64K, 1/0 I, CP/M 2.2 4595 3095

10 MHz 8086, 128k, I/O I, CPM86™ 6025 3895

10 MHZ 68000, RAM 21, I/O I CPM68K™ 6025 3895

MP/M8-16 [M , 85/88, SS1, i/0 4, 256K 7765 4995

10MHz 8086 MPM 86, SSI, I/O 4, 256K 8090 5245

FOR LOANER FLOPPY POLICY ON ABOVE + 25

FOR MINI PRONTO 10 SLOT C.V.T. ADD 400

FOR 20 SLOT PRONTO R0LL-A-R0UND ADD 600

FOR ENCLOSURE 2 & PARA DYN DR CAB + 600

NEW LOWER PRICES ON COMPUPRO BOARDS! DISK 1 A&T 327 DISK 2 A&T 459

CPU 68K A&T 459

CPUZ6MHZA&T 215

CPU 8086 10MHZ 561

RAM22 256KA&T 1155

INTERFACER4A&T 297

CPU68K10MHZ 561

CPU 8086 A&T 495

RAM 21 128KA&T.... 723

RAM17A&T64K 329

INTERFACER3-8A&T 461

L0MAS S-100 PC LIST $2999 SALE $2495

L0MASCPU286 1116

L0MAS10MHZ8086 520

L0MASRAM67128K 875

CP/M86F0RL0MAS 195

L0MAS 256K DRAM 636

LOMAS8MHZ8086 420

L0MAS HAZITALL 275

L0MASLDP72 220

MSDOSFORLOMAS 225

L0MAS128KDRAM 396

TELTEK SYSTEMASTER, (2)8"SSDD DRS 10 SLT 1895

Above includes CP/M 2.2 & SPELLBINDER

TETETEK HD/CTC 556 SYSTEMASTER Z80 627

SEATTLE GAZELLE 4695 SEATTLE 8086 SET 595

QUMEQT102TERM 539 EPSON FX80 499

CPM, MPM, CPM68K are registered trademarks or trademarks of digital research. COMPUPRO is a Godbout Company, Systemaster is a registered TM of Teletek.

Event Queue

reliability. For details, contact Keston Associates, 11317 Old Club Rd., Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 881-7666.

November 29-December 2

Understanding Microprocessor-based Equipment and Troubleshooting, Sheraton Greenway Inn, Phoenix, AZ. For details, see November 15-18.

December 1983

December

Courses in Continuing Engineering Education, Washington, DC, and San Diego, CA. Two titles of the five available courses are 'Intelligent Robots: The Integration of Microcomputer and Robotic Technology" and "Programming in the C and Unix Environment." Course fees range from $695 to $875. For information on dates, locations, and fees, contact George Harrison, George Washington University, Continuing Engineering Education, Washington, DC 20052, (800) 424-9773; in the District of Columbia, (202) 676-6106.

December 6-8

Personal Computers and Information Networks in a Wired Society, San Francisco, CA. The topics for this executive seminar include personal computers and telecommunications for computerized commerce, inter-enterprise-communication links, fifth-generation and Japanese technologies, bypass and integrated links, and field trips. The registration fee is $795. For details, contact Stanford Business Research Foundation, 825 San Antonio Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94303, (415) 856-0711.

December 6-8

The Seventh International

Online Information Meeting,

Cunard Hotel, London, England. This conference offers presentations that address current problems and opportunities facing those who provide information in business, industry, government, and education. Topics on the agenda include networks, costs of online and videotex systems, software, and user information. Products, services, systems, and publications will all be on display. Further details are available from the Organizing Secretary, International Online Information Meeting, Learned Information Ltd., Bessel-sleigh Rd., Abingdon, Oxford OX13 6LG, England; tel: (0865) 730275; Telex- 837704 INFORM G.

December 6-8

Business-Expo, Dallas, TX. For details, see November 9-10.

December 6-8

The Software Maintenance Workshop, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. Topics of interest include definitions of software maintenance, tools for software and database maintenance, and program evolution. Contact the IEEE Computer Society, Suite 300, 1109 Spring St., Silver Spring, MD 20910, (301) 589-8142.

December 6-9

Understanding Microprocessor-based Equipment and Troubleshooting, Capitol Plaza Holiday Inn, Sacramento, CA. For details, see November 15-18.

December 7-9

The 1983 ACM Conference on Personal and Small Computers, San Diego, CA. This event, sponsored by the Association for Computing

630 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 84 on inquiry card.

MEMORY PLUS MORE

LSI 11 MEMORY

512 SINGLE BOARD

W/RS232-C PORT

MEMORY FOR IBM PC, XT

• On board parity with interrupt on parity error.

• Addressable as a contiguous block in 64KB increments thru 1 megabyte.

SINGLE QTY. PRICE: 512KB $545.00

FREE with purchase of memory.

MEMDISK 1 Allows memory to emulate disks.

MULTIBUS MEMORY

llillililiiilliiiiiiai RiiiiUtftftliiiiiisiiii illliiiliiHiiiiiiiiiil fclftftiiiiifeiitlMlgftlfti

ifiiiiiiiiiiHlinfiliMiiinnTiTliiiiln^^^

256KB TO 1 MB SINGLE BOARD LSI 11 MEMORY

• Control Status Register (CSR).

• On board parity generator checker.

• Battery back-up mode.

SINGLE QTY. PRICE: 256KB $595.00

1MB $3995.00

512KB TO 2MB EDC

SINGLE BOARD MULTIBUS MEMORY

• Pin to Pin MULTIBUS compatibility for both 8 bit and 16 bit systems.

• Addressable up to 16 megabytes.

• On board parity with selectable interrupt on parity ERROR.

on

• Error Detecting and Correcting (EDC).

SINGLE QTY. PRICE: Without EDC W/EDC 512KB $895.00 $1495.00 2MB $5995.00 $6495.00

MEMORY PLUS MORE from Chrislin means your getting the best in performance and pricing in the market today. Incorporating the 256K RAM technology into the LSI and Multibus memories offers you the most recent technology available. Act now while quantities still last.

140MB WINCHESTER DISK SYSTEM FOR LSI BASED SYSTEMS

CI-1340-WF: 140MB formatted Winchester (8") disk system w/controller and 2MB floppy (8") backup w/controller.

PRICE: $9995.00

"OFFERING QUAUTY WITH AFFORDABLE PRICING"

tf 1 Chrislin Industries, Inc.

^B*y 31352 Via Colinas • Westlake Village, CA 91362

IBM is a Trademark of International Business Machines. Multibus is a Trademark of Intel Corporation. LSI is a Trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation.

Circle 71 on inquiry card. BYTE November 1983 631

Circle 390 on inquiry card,

THE

GIFT

Thumb indexed $14.95 Deluxe edition $15.95 Plain edge $13.95

Now at your bookstore (MP RANDOM HOUSE

Publishers of The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged Edition

Event Queue.

Machinery (ACM), includes sessions on distributed systems, graphics, languages, distributed operating systems, algorithms, operating systems, human interfaces, local-area networks, and database systems. Contact Anne-Marie Claybrook, The Mitre Corp., POB 208, Bedford, MA 01730.

December 7-9

Teaching Math with Microcomputers, Dunfey Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, GA. This seminar, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), is designed to inform educators in elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools about using microcomputers effectively in mathematics education. For details, contact NCTM Seminar Series, 1906 Association Dr., Reston, VA 22091, (703) 620-9840.

December 8-11

Southeast Computer Show and Office Equipment Exposition, Atlanta, GA. Contact Dee Harris, Computer Expositions Inc., POB 3315, Annapolis, MD 21403, (800) 368-2066; in Maryland, (800) 492-0192.

December 9-15

Educatec 83, Porte de Versailles, Paris, France. This is the first French exhibition of computerized teaching and training equipment, materials, and techniques. Meetings, symposiums, and debates on educational technologies and professional training will be held. For details, contact Edit Expo International, 4 rue de Cheroy, 75017 Paris, France; tel: (1) 294 05 60; Telex: 641284 F EDIXPO.

December 12-14

An Introduction to Small Computers for Business Applications, Hamilton Hotel, Schaumberg, IL. This conference and hardware demon-

stration will provide a current introduction and review of small computers and microprocessors with an emphasis on what they are, what their terminology is, and what is available. Program materials are included in the $350 fee. For details, contact Bob Mattis, Information Systems Division, EECI Inc., POB 241, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137, (312) 790-0010; in California, (415) 763-2371.

December 12-15

Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems — CHI '83, Boston, MA. Papers, sessions, and tutorials will focus on system usability. Additional information is available from Raoul N. Smith, GTE Laboratories, 40 Sylvan Rd., Waltham, MA 02254, (617) 466-4044.

December 13-15

Automatic Testing and Test Instrumentation '83, Metro-pole Hotel, Brighton, England. This is an exhibition and conference covering all aspects of test systems. For details, contact Network Events Limited, Printers Mews, Market Hill, Buckingham, MK18 1JX, England; tel: (028 0) 815226; Telex: 83111.

December 14-15

Hi Tech Update '83, Delta Ottawa Hotel, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. An annual update on state-of-the-art high technologies. Contact Marg Coll, 1138 Sherman Dr., Ottawa, Ontario K2C 2M4, Canada, (613) 225-4229.

December 15-16

Personal Computer Local Networks, San Francisco, CA. This is the final program in the four-part Architecture Technology Corporation 1983 Forum Series. This program will bring together manufacturers and users of local network schemes to ex-

632 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 424 on inquiry card.

Only the PC Saver Line Cord

protects your computer two ways!

Surges, spikes and line noise cause computer errors.

The circuitry inside your personal computer and peripherals depend upon a clean supply of AC line voltage. Computers and peripherals are very susceptible to surges, spikes and line noise. These voltage anomalies are caused by ordinary activities such as the start and stop of elevators, operating home appliances, even switching lights on and off.

You may already be familiar with the results. Crashed software. Garbled files. Memory losses. Even damage to your computers sensitive circuits. Unique 2 step protection.

First, it filters the current from the wall outlet. Designed to IEEI Cord quickly clips sun,.

volts RMS/175 volts DC level and filters transverse and common mode noise with an 1' type filter.

Second, the PC Saver Line Cord filters noise generated by peripherals within your system. For example,a printer and computer are connected to an outlet strip. Operating the printer generates noise which feeds back through the outlet strip into the computer causing software errors and possible hardware damage. With its protective circuitry the PC Saver Line Cord eliminates this problem. Fits most personal computers.

The PC Saver Line Cord fits almost every make of personal computer, such as the IBM PC™ and - ■ as instruments,™ DEC™ -■■'-'-■■■ ipaq,™ Victor,™ Kaypro,™ Osborne™

and many more. Simply replace your factory sup-.-■■* cord with the PC Saver and your system" is asst i : : aximum protection-PC Saver Line Cord: outstanding value.

At only $49,95, the PC Saver Line Cord gives you b performance than products at twice the

price. Available at computer stores everywhere or direct from Kensington Microware Ltd. 919 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022, (212) 486-7707, Tlx: 236200 KEN (JR. For phone or mail orders please include $2,50 shipping and handling. New York State residents add applicable sales tax. Visa and Mastercard accepted.

mm KENSINGTON itim MICROWARE

PC Saver was tested to the Institute of Electrical and .Electronics Engineers .{IE E£) specification 507 1980, Category A. Also available in 220/240 Volt model.

Circle 254 on inquiry card.

PC Saver—trademark of Kensington Microware Ltd. & 1983 Kensington Microware Ltd.

Event Queue >

change information in an informal setting. The format includes presentations, panel discussions, and a technological summary. The fee is $395. For further information, contact the Architecture Technology Corp., POB 24344, Minneapolis, MN 55424, (612) 935-2035.

December 27-30

Modern Language Association Convention, Sheraton Centre, New York, NY. Among the highlights of this convention is a large technology exhibit. Full details are available from the Modern Language Association of America, 62 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011, (212) 741-5587.

January 1984

January 4-6

Seventeenth Hawaii International Conference on System

Sciences, Honolulu, HI. This conference is devoted to advances in information and system sciences with emphasis on medical-information processing, decision-support systems, and office automation. For information, contact Emily Yano Jorgensen, Center for Executive Development, College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii, 2404 Maile Way C-202, Honolulu, HI 96822, (808) 948-7396.

January 8-11

Retail Directions '84, New York Hilton and Sheraton Centre Hotels, New York, NY. The 73rd annual convention and exposition sponsored by the National Retail Merchants Association (NRMA) will feature new developments in retail store technology, business systems, marketing techniques, and sales-promotion tools.

Admission is free to bona fide members of the retail industry. For details, contact Dan Soskin, NRMA- Enterprises, 100 West 31st St., New York, NY 10001.

January 8-14

CADRE '84 Conference and Teachers Institute, San Jose, CA. Computers in Art and Design, Research and Education (CADRE) is a forum that comprises leaders, thinkers, and computerists from such fields as art, research, industry, education, and the public sector to explore the impact of computers on the arts. The teachers institute begins on January 11, 1984, and the fee is $100. Early registration for the conference is $150; $200 if postmarked after November 1, 1983; and $250 on site. For further details, contact CADRE '84 Conference, Department of Art, San Jose State University, Washington

Square, San Jose, CA 95192, (408) 277-2555.

•

January 16-17

Interface Circuit Design, San Francisco Airport Hilton Hotel, San Francisco, CA. This short course will cover MOS analog/digital interface circuit design for VLSI digital systems. Course notes are included in the $450 fee. For a brochure, contact Continuing Education in Engineering, University of California Extension, 2223 Fulton St., Berkeley, CA 94720, (415) 642-4151.

January 16-20

UNIFORUM, Washington-Hilton, Washington, DC. This conference and exposition is designed for and by users of Unix-based systems. For details, contact Mark Weber, Professional Exposition Management Co. Inc., Suite 205, 2400 East Devon

IBMPC-8087SUPPORTFROMMICROWARE

87FORTRAN/RTOS T,, isafuiiANsi-

77 subset with 8087 extensions It generates in line 8087 code allowing use of all 8087 data types, including 32, 64 and 80 bit reals and 64 bit integers The complete subset I/O is supported including Internal and External Files and List Directed I/O. Extensions include recursive subroutines, interrupt handlers and the generation of software interrupts 87FORTRAN/RTOS uses the Intel large memory model, allowing data/code structures which utilize the full megabyte. The compiler provides direct access to 8088 ports and supports logical operations on 8 and 16 bit operands normally treated in assembly language 87FORTRAN/RTOS is ideal for applications which are number intensive or control hardware. 95% of all "main frame" size programs compile and run without extensive editing. The price includes support for one year and RTOS $1350

87PASCALyRTOS™ is the most

powerful compiler available to PC users at this time It is an ISO-Standard Pascal, with 8087-8088 exceptions. These make it possible to use all the 8087 data types directly, while generating modules in one of the three Intel Memory Models Modules produced using different memory models can be interfaced and linked This gives the user complete control of the memory model/speed trade off characteristic of iAPX cpus All exceptions to the ISO definition are clearly marked with a grey background in a manual which is a standard of the industry, and more readable than many tutorials. The compiler makes it possible to cause or handle interrupts It also reads ports and performs all the tasks necessary to control iAPX-86 hardware Use of 87PASCAL guarantees you upward compatibility with future Intel processors and languages Includes RTOS $1350

RTOS™ — Real Time Operating System

RTOS is a MicroWare configured version of iRMX-86, Intel's legendary real time operating system. This DOS is entirely re-entrant and provides many features found only on mainframes It includes the Intel Assembler, ASM-86, which supports the 8086, 8087, 8088 and 80186. All modules produced by the compilers or ASM-86 are combined, loaded and managed with the Utilities LINK-86, LOC-86 and LIB-86. These products make it possible to load modules anywhere in RAM, and resolve external references between runtime modules Overlays with a single root job are supported by the linker. Binding of modules is accomplished at link or load time. RTOS/ASM-86/LINK-86/LOC-86/LIB-86 $600

Micro

lAlare

P.O. Box 79 Kingston. MA

02364

(617) 746-7341

You Can TalkTbUs!

MicroWare 8087Products

8087-3 CHIP-in stock. $223

87 MACRO™ - our development package for the IBM Assembler includes a Preprocessor which translates 8087 opcodes source for a library of code macros and a COMPLETE function library with trigonometries transcendentals encoder/ decoder and conversions $1 50

87 BASIC™ - includes patches for BASCOM.COM, BASCOM.LIB and BASRUN.EXE and the MicroWare 8087 runtime routines $150

MATRIXPAK™ - assembly language matrix routines callable from any 8087 compatible IBM compiler. Allows user-specified very large matrices Size is limited by available ram . $1 50

STFASTPAK™ - includes one Micro-Ware runtime library, the 87/88 Guide, an 8087, and installation instructions $375

87/88GUIDE - an excellent tutorial on writing 8087 code and interfacing it with compilers Full of code that runs! $30

Microsoft Fortran 3.1 289

Microsoft Pascal 3.1 289

Microsoft Business Basic Compiler 495

Microsoft C Compiler with Librarian 450

Computer Innovations CI/C86 345

Supersoft Fortran 340

Energraphics 235

Abstat 345

64K RAM Upgrade Kit 64

Hayes Smartmodem 1200B 499

Sandstar Modular Expansion Boards..... call Epson FX-100 or C. Itoh Printers call

634 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 315 on inquiry card.

LOWEST PRICES

SMITH CORONA LETTER QUALITY PRINTERS

SMITH CORONA TP1 $ 482

STOCK SALE ONLY 9 LEFT 417

TELETEX TTX-1014 S & P 506

STARWRITER 40 cps S or P 1112

PRINTMASTER 55 cps S or P 1436

NEC 3510 33 cps SERIAL 1400

DOT MATRIX PRINTERS

GORILLA BANANA Graphics 221

PANASONIC KX-P1090 FrS.Tr

Emulates FX-80 334

STAR MICRONICS GEMINI

10X 120cps dot graphics 307

15 160 cps like FX-100 442

OKIDATA

82A Serial & Parallel 120cps 410

84 Parallel 15" Fr&Tr 200cps 960

92 Parallel 10"Fr&Pin 160cps 513

C. ITOH

PROWRITER 8510 10"Par 120cps 404

8600 Near Letter Quality Par 1031

IDS PRISM 80 756

MANNESMANN TALLY 180-L 827

SUPERBRAIN

SUPERBRAIN II

DOUBLE DENSITY $1970

QUAD DENSITY 2376

SUPER DENSITY 2684

COMPUSTARS FOR NETWORKING CALL Prices too low to advertise

SYSTEMS GROUP Multi-User

SYSTEM 2966 w/17Mb Tape Backup 8"Floppy+19Mb Hard Disk $7434

RADIO SHACK "W" ««

insured Shipping at Low Rates.

ADVANCED DIGITAL

ADVANCED DIGITAL 6MHz COMPUTER SINGLE BOARD Z80B RS232 S-100 128K with DISK CONTROLLER for 5"or8" SUPER SIX (Includes PSNET/I) $ 555 SUPER SLAVE=Z80B+PSNET/I+128K 437 SUPER STAR has 5Mb removableHD 4352 CPM 3 350

TURBODOS MULTI USER 356

ALTOS COMPUTERS

ALTOS S-100 COMPUTERS

5-15D 3-User 2 5 1/4" $2002

580-10 3-User Hard Disk 4379

8000-10 with 208K RAM 5467

8000-14 with 208K RAM 8008

586-10 16-bit 12Mb Hard Disk 5830

8600-12 16-bit 20Mb Hard Disk 9104

TRAXX 5 1/4" ADD ON DRIVES

TRAXX 5 1/4" ADD ON DRIVES Bare drive SSDD Quantity 2 Ea $ 215 SSDD w/cabinet & power supply 312

TELEVIDEO

TERMINALS

TELEVIDEO 910 Emulates $ 419

TELEVIDEO 910+ Smart 538

TELEVIDEO 914 NEW Detach Kbd 506 TELEVIDEO 924 NEW Non-volatile 614

TELEVIDEO 925 Detach keybrd 674

TELEVIDEO 950 Prog funct keys 863 TELEVIDEO 970/50 VT-100 compat 935

ADDS Viewpoint 3A+ Emulates 458

ADDS Viewpoint G Graphics 1371

ADDS Viewpoint 60G Graphics 1511

ADDS Color Terminal NEW! 998

Zenith Z-29 Z19&VT100 compat 655

Zenith ZT-1 Terminal*modem 460

Vi sua1 50 Ergonomic 653

Visual 55 New! Enhanced #50 734

Visual 102 80/132 columns 890

V102 Graphics option for 102 653

Visual 300 ANSI6.VT100 compat. 842

Visual 330 VT52&Hazl500 comp. 842

Visual 500 Graphics 14"screen 1970 Visual 550 Graphics,Buffered , _2l"*n

GRAPHICS & COLOR GRAPHICS

VECTRIX

VX 128 8 colors 322x560 Pix. VX 384 16.8 million colors VXM Hi Res. 13" RGB Monitor

MICROANGELO

MA 512 512x480 Monochrome $ 674 MA 520 512x480 + Screen Pak2 890

COMPUTERS COMPUPRO

Compupro computers come as mainframe, boards, and drives, and you must set the switches.

816A Computer 8085/8088 128K $3964

816B Computer 8085/8088 256K 5038

816C 8085/8088 384K 3 users 6470

816D 10 MHz 8086 512K 10052

816-08 CPUZ 208K Oasis 6471

816-016 10 MHz 8086 512K 10052

816-68K 8 MHz 68000 256K 6471

SEATTLE Pure 16 bit computer is the fastest microcomputer by actual test!

S-100, 128K Static Ram, 8 MHz

8086 18-slot Mainframe, 3 serial & 1 parallel ports.

Gazelle II Avail. Nov/Dec CALL

Hard Disk Gazelle II CALL

TARBELLwith 2-8" disk drives

TARBELL REBEL S-100 64K Z80B 6Mhz

REBEL 2 2 5 1/4" Flpy=800K $2479

REBEL 5 1/4" Floppy + 5Mb HD 3009

REBEL 5 1/4" Floppy +10Mb HD 3139

REBEL 5 1/4" Floppy +16Mb HD 3268

TARBELL EMPIRE S-100 64K 2 8"Drvs

EMPIRE I Single sided $3304

EMPIRE II Double sided 3775

MEDICAL SOFTWARE

MICROMED or MICR0DENT $1656

STARDOC for OASIS SYSTEMS 350

2210-01 ONLY 4 LEFT IN STOCK 684

Micro Decision II MICRO DECISION

"A DEAL YOU CAN'T REFUSE"

64K RAM Z80 4MHz 2 serial ports 1 parallel port 2 5 1/4" drives. Free Software; CPM 2.2, Microsoft Basic, BaZic, WordStar, LogiCalc spreadsheet, Correct-it spelling checker, Personal Pearl data base

ONLY MD2 2 Single sided drives $ 828 MD2 + MDT50 Terminal 1272

MD2 + MDT50 + MP100 Printer 1768

MD3 Business Computeri Featuring Free Software above + Free QUEST BOOKKEEPER SYSTEM FANTASTIC BUY! MD3 2 Double sided drives $1055 MD3-+ MDT50 Terminal 1499

MD3 + MDT50 + MP100 Printer 1924

MD11 has 10Mb HARD DISK+1DSDD flpy MD11 with MDT50 Terminal $2139

ABOVE PACKAGES INCLUDE ALL CABLES

DECISION I

SingleUser=FREE CPM,MicrosoftBasic. S-100, IEEE 696, 14-slot, 4 MHz Z80 Realtime clock,Interrupts, 3 Serial fi.1 parallel port,64K RAM expandable to 1 Megabyte

D100 $1712

D120 = D100 + DSDD 5 1/4" + 10Mb HD +Wordstar, Correct-It, LogiCalc, BaZic, Personal Pearl, and Quest Bookkeeper Software 3538

Multiuser = Hardware & Software as D120 w/256K RAM & Memory Protect + Micronix Operating System runs 16 programs simultaneously! D200 w/10 Mb DMA Hard Disk 3120

D210 w/16 Mb DMA Hard Disk 4240

D220 ■ D210 W/512K RAM & 6 Serial & 2 Parallel ports. A 6-user system, can be upgraded for 15 users. 5293

APPLE, IBM OR MORROW, WHICH IS BEST? FREE BROCHURE!

Call «or totert prtcw * ******

AMERICAN

Factory Guarantees

We Beat Prices

J SQUARE.

919-889-4577

Circle 24 on inquiry card.

4167KivettDr

COMPUTERS

Jamestown N.C. 27282

919-883-1105

Event Queue.

Ave., Des Plaines, IL 60018, (800) 323-5155; in Illinois, (312) 299-3131.

January 17-19

Mini /Micro-Southeast and Southcon/84 High Technology Electronics Exhibition and Convention, Orange County Convention/Civic Center, Orlando, FL. Mini/Micro is designed for the original equipment manufacturing community to explore peripherals, processors, data communications, and software. A few of the topics Southcon/84 will address are artificial intel-ligence, computer-aided design, and factory automation. For details on these concurrent events, contact Electronic Conventions Inc., 8110 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045, (213) 772-2965.

January 23-25

Teaching Math with Microcomputers, Hacienda Resort Hotel, Las Vegas, NV. For details, see December 7-9.

January 24-26

Advanced Semiconductor Equipment Exposition (ASEE) and Technical Conference, San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, CA. Five sessions designed as a broad-based program focus on the manufacturing aspect of the semiconductor industry. For details, contact Joyce Estill, Cartlidge & Associates Inc., Suite 205, 4030 Moorpark Ave., San Jose, CA 95117, (408) 554-6644.

January 24-26

Specialized Tubing in the Aircraft Industry, Disneyland Hotel/Convention Center, Anaheim, CA. This clinic, sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), will focus on state-of-the-art technological advances in specialized aircraft tubing. Topics include automated computerized bending, computerized support systems, production tube bending, tube

cut-off, tool design, and end finishing. The fee is $420 for SME and affiliate members; $480 for nonmembers. To register, contact Leonard B. Antosiak, Special Programs Department, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, One SME Dr., POB 930, Dearborn, MI 48121, (313) 271-1500 ext. 384.

January 25-27

The Business Telecommunications Exposition, Giants Stadium, Stadium Club, East Rutherford, NJ. This exposition is for managers of telecommunications in such fields as facsimile, communications (voice, video, and data), office automation, word processing, and purchasing. Registration is required for admittance to the exposition. Contact Michael Houston, The Exposition Group Inc., 9128 Columbia Ave., North Bergen, NJ 07047, (201) 662-1318.

January 27-29

Computer /Electronics High Tech Show, Cincinnati Gardens Exhibition Center, Cincinnati, OH. Wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers, and individuals will display hardware and software. For information, call the High Tech Show, (513) 351-9112. ■

In order to gain optimal coverage of your organization s computer conferences, seminars, workshops, courses, etc., notice should reach our office at least three months in advance of the date of the event. Entries should be sent to: Event Queue, BYTE Publications, POB 372, Hancock, l\IH 03449. Each month we publish the current contents of the queue for the month of the cover date and the two following calendar months. Thus a given event may appear as many as three times in this section if it is sent to us far enough in advance.

Low-cost Interface DiskSystems for IBM PC-2.0 DOS

■ 10,15, 25 megabyte models available now!

DiskSystem includes Winchester disk drive, cabinet,

power supply, cable, controller, I/O adapter and

device driver ■ Fully compatible with 2.0 DOS

(unmodified) ■ Exclusive double shock isolation

system ■ Standard warranty includes 90 days

parts and labor 10 megabytes formatted storage $ 1695 15 megabytes formatted storage $2295 25 megabytes formatted storage $2995

IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation DiskSystems is a copyright of Interface Inc

636 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

iJSeeusat

Las Vegas Convention Center Booths 2290 and 2288

Circle 234 for dealer inquiries. Circle 235 for end-user inquiries.

GOmPUTER WAREHOUSE

CALL TOLL FREE

PRINTERS

C-ltoh

F-10-Parallel or Serial $1 079

55 CPS Serial or Parallel $1555

8510 Parallel (Prowriter) $339

Computer International

Daisy writer 2000 W/48K $999

Comrex

CR-2 , $449

Datasouth

DS180 $1155

Diablo

620 RO $850

630 RO $1699

DTC

380Z ...$1080

IDS

Microprism 480 $480

Prism 80 $1160

Prism 80 Color $1345

Prism 132 $1310

Prism 132 Color $1500

Juki

6ioo Call

Epson

All models Call

NEC

PC-8023A $385

PC-8025 $669

3510 $1365

3550 $1710

7710 $1900

2010 $785

2015 $785

2050 $910

Okidata

82A $355

83A $550

84P $975

84S $1060

92 $420

93 $700

2350P $2020

2410P $2299

Olivetti

PRAXIS 41 (w/interface) $539

2300 INK JET $31 9

Qume

1140 w/interface $1369

Silver Reed

EXP550P $579

EXP550S Call

expsoo. $389

Star Micronics

Gemint-10X Call

Gemini-15X Call

Delta 10 Call

Tally

MT 160L w/Tractors Call

MT 180L w/Tractors Call

Spirit 80 Call

Toshiba

P1350 $1 445

Transtar

120P $449

120s $429

130P . $669

130S $709

140S $1179

T315 $449

DISK DRIVES

Rana

Elite 1 $245

Elite2 $380

Elite 3 $490

Controller (w/Drive only) $75

1000 (For Atari) $269

TRAK

pm $199

ATD-2 $375

1-800-528-1054

SPECIAL OF THE MONTH

$1375

UNBELIEVABLE SYSTEM! UNBELIEVABLE PRICE!

PIED PIPER • GEMINI 10X TAXAN 12" AMBER MONITOR 5 SOFTWARE PACKAGES

System includes: Pied Piper Portable (features below) • Gemini 10X

• Taxan KG-12N • CPM • Perfect Writer • Perfect Speller • Perfect Calc

• Perfect Filer • All necessary cabling.

VIDEO TERMINALS

ADDS

A-1 Green

A-2 Green

Viewpoint 60

Hazeltine

Esprit I

Esprit II

Esprit III

Qume

QVT 102 Green ..

QVT 102 Amber

QVT 103 Green

QVT 103 Amber ,.

Televideo

910+ ,

925

950

970

Wyse

WyselOO

Wyse 300

Visual

Visual 50 Green

Visual 55 Green

Zenith

Z-29

$480 $490 $619

$485 $540 $735

$535 $550 $840 $850

$549

$699 $899 $975

$230 $200 $155

$1949

$3525

Call

Call

$680 $1020

$599 $720

$635

MONITORS

Amdek

Video 300 $1 30

^

GOmPUTERB WAR£H0US£ _

DISKETTES

Maxell

MD-1 (Qty. 100)

Scotch

744-0 (Qty. 100}

Elephant

S/SS/D(Qty. 100)

COMPUTERS

Altos

Series 5-80-2

5-80-10W/MPM

5-86-10

Smart II

Atari

600XL $149

800XL $248

Columbia Call

Corona Call

Hyperion

Single Drive System $2325

Dual Drive System $2665

Northstar

Advantage $2160

Advantage w/5MB $3345

Advantage w/15MB $4315

Pied Piper

Communicator I Portable, Z-80, 64K Ram, Full sized keyboard, Slimline 5% Disk Drive with 1M Byte of storage, Monitor output, Perfect Word, Perfect Calc, Perfect Speller, Perfect Filer, CPM, 90-day nationwide warranty $965

Sanyo

MBC-550 $749

MBC-555 $1059

Televideo Systems

802 H $4210

803 $1815

1603 $2150

806/20 $4775

800 A (user station) $ 999

Teleport Call

MODEMS

Hayes

Smartmodem $1 99

Smartmodem 1200 $485

Smartmodem 1200B $430

Micromodem II $265

Above w/terminal program $299

Novation

J-CAT $90

2222 E. Indian School Rd. - Phoenix. Arizona 85016

Order Line: 1-800-528-1054 Other Information: 602-954-6109 Order Line Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10-5 MST Saturday 9-1 MST

Prices reflect 3% to 5% cash discount. Product shipped in factory cartons with manufacturer's warranty. Please add $8.00 per order for shipping. Prices & availability subject to change without notice. Send cashier's check or money order..all other checks will delay shipping two weeks. 12/83

ORYX SYSTEMS*

QUALITY DISCOUNTS

PEACHTREE (CP/M) Peachpak 40 G/L + A/R

+ A/P(Special) . . .$259 Series 40

G/L, A/R. A/Pea. ... 195

Inventory 225

Series 9

Peachcalc 279

Telecommunications . 279

PENGUIN SOFTWARE

Complete Graphics ..$53 Graphics Magician ... 45 Complete Graphics/

Apple Tablet 86

Special Effects 50

SOFTECH

Basic Compilers'

Runtime $169

Softeach 94

UCSD p-system set . . 469 Xenofile 39

SOFTWARE PUBLISHING

PFS: File $ 94

Graph 94

Report 94

SUPERSOFT

Basic Tutor $ 79

Fortran 325

LOGO CORNER

Krell Logo $ 75

Abel son Book 15

Terrapin Logo w/full documentation 115

HAYDEN

Piewriter $108

HOWARD SOFTWARE

Real Estate Analyzer. . $ 175

LINK SYSTEMS

Datafax $Call

Datalink . 79

MICROPRO

Wordstar (Special) . . .$375

(w/CP/M Card, 70 col.

&64K Infostar (Includes

CP-M/70 col/64K) . . 375 Pro Pak

(WS/MM/SS/index) . 499

MICRO LAB

Asset Manager $ 144

Invoice Factory 144

Payroll Manager .... 216

Tax Manager 129

Wall Streeter 216

MICROSOFT

Cobol-80 $499

Fortran-80 . 145

TASC Compiler 125

A.LD.S 99

Multiplan (DOS) 175

OMEGA

Locksmith ........$ 69

Inspector 47

Watson 44

638 BYTE November 1983

SYSTEMS PLUS (Z80 req.) Landlord 375

VISICORP Visicatc (II or HE) ... .$179 Visischedule 225

CPM SOFTWARE

BYROM SOFTWARE

*BSTAM $149

*BSTMS 149

COMPUVIEW

*V-Edit8080Z80, IBM PC$ 130 "V-EditCP/M86. 160

DIGITAL RESEARCH

* Pascal Mt + W/SP . - .$389

MAC 85

SID (8080 Debugger) . . 68

ZSID(280Debugger). . 90

CP/M 2.2 140

C Basic 2 110

PL/1-80 375

INFOCOM

•Deadline $ 49

'Starcross ........ 39

'Suspended 39

'Zorkl.llJIMeach). ... 39

LEXISOFT

'Spellbinder ...... .$275

MARK OF UNICORN

'Final Word $239

MICROPRO

'WordStar SCall

•InfoStar 275

'Pro-Pack (WS/MM/SS

Index) . SCall

MICROSOFT

Basic 80 $ 249

Basic Compiler 289

Fortran 80 330

Cobol80 499

Macro 80 150

MuMath/MuSimp.... 194

MuLisp/MuStar 156

•Multiplan 175

ORGANIC SOFTWARE •Datebook 229

'Milestone . 229

PICKLES & TROUT

CP/M for TRS $180

PRO/TEM SOFTWARE

•Footnote $105

REVASCO

Z80 Disassembler ... $ 85

SORCIM

'Supercalcll $199

Superwriter (W/Speller & Mailer) . 179

PEACHTREE CORNER

••PeachPak4(GL,AP,AR) . $ 259

• General Ledger / Accounts Payable / Accounts

Receivable / Sales Invoicing / Inventory Control /

PeachPay Payroll Each 399

• Peachtext 16O

• Peachtext w/Random House Thesaurus 195

• Spelling Proofreader. 95

• PeachCalc 90

• Job Cost System 399

• Client Posting & Accounting 399

'•Graphics Language 275

*• Business Grahic System 199

MICROSTUF

'Crosstalk $ 135

NORTHWEST ANALYTICAL 'Statpak $379

OASIS

'The Word Plus $120

* Punctuation and Style . 99

SELECT

Select Word Processor $ 356

STAR COMPUTER SYSTEM

G/L, A/R, A/P or Pay . .$350 * Legal Time, Billing . . . 845 Property Management. 845

Formats Available*

8" std, Attos Apple ll/lll, Cromenco, CP/M 86, Dec VT-80, Eagle, Heath/Zenith, Hewlett Packard 125, Micropo I is/Vector Graphic, Northstar, Osborne, Otrona, Superbraln, Televideo, Xerox 820. 'Some Format Subject to "Download" fee

SUPERSOFT

•Diagnostic II. ......$ 90

Disk Doctor 75

•Fortran 4 305

Basic-8086 225

Lisp 120

Z8000Assembler. ... 400

C Cross Assembler .'. 400

•Scratchpad 219

IBM/PC

Please see CP/M listing. All products with a "*" in front will also run on PCDOSand are priced the same.

ALPHA SOFTWARE

Data Base Manager II .$195

Mailing List 72

Executive Package . . . 105

Type Faces 99

Question 35

Apple — IBM

Connection 130

CENTRAL POINT Copy II PC $ 34

CONDOR III $450

CONTINENTAL Home Accountant . . . $ 99

DIGITAL RESEARCH Concurrent CP/M 86 . .$225 CP/M-86 ......... 50

Cobol 86 499

Pascal MT + 86 w/SPP 375

SPP86 150

SID 86 .... 113

C Basic 86 135

DOW JONES

Market Analyzer .... $ 245 Market Manager .... 219

ECO-SOFT Microstat . $ 230

FINANCIER

Personal $ 119

Tax Series 105

GRAPHIC SOFTWARE

Super Chartman II . . .$299 Super Chartman IV . . . 199

Both 350

LEXISOFT Spellbinder $259

LIFETREE

Volkswriter $ 135

LOTUS 123 SCall

PEACHTREE

Please see listing under CP/M.

Peachtext 5000 (Word processor, dictionary, spelling proofreader, PeachCalc electronic spreadsheet, list manager). FREE box of 5V4 " diskettes and $10 coupon for Access Pak (retail $525). All of the above $247

SCIENTIFIC MKT.

Market Fax SCall

SUPERSOFT

CCompiler-8086 . . . . $ 350

Star Edit 180

Disk Edit 80

Basic Compiler 225

Fortran IV PC/DOS

or 8086 299

8087 Support 40

Diagnostics II 89

Optimizer 149

Personal Data Base . . 99

Investment Tax Pac .. 160

Scratch Pad 219

SYSTEMS PLUS

Landlord {prop, mgmt.) $ 375 Runtime Basic

(req'd for above) ... 45 . , . and many more!

APPLE/

FRANKLIN

BOARDS

ALS CP/M Card $299

ALSSmarterm ..... 249

ALSZ-Cardl! 142

ABT Keypad 99

Axlon Ramdisk 128K. . 299

Bit 3DuaiComm-plus . 209

CCS 7710 Asynch Serial 119 Central Point Alaska

Card 105

East Side Wild Card . . 110 M& R Sup'r terminal

80col 249

Microsoft 16K Ramcard 72

Microsoft Softcard . . . 245

Microsoft Softcard + . 429 Microsoft Premium

Softcard (lie) 397

Microtek Printer l/F . . 75

Microtek Dumpling-16 . 195

Microtek Dumpling-GX 119

Mountain AD/DA ... 279 Mountain Music

System w/Software . 299 PCP 4 MHZ Appli-Card

+ 88 Card 599

PCP 88 Card 16 Bit +

64K 475

Prometheus Versacard 159 Prometheus Graphitti

Card 99

SSM ASIO Serial l/F

w/cable 129

SSM AIO-2 4 Serial/

Parallel 179

Street Echo II Speech

Synth 129

Tymac Parallel l/F

w/cable 79

Videx Display Enhancer 109 Videx Display

Enhancer II 129

Videx Function Strip . . 69

Videx Videoterm VT-600 235

Videx Ultraterm 299

Wesper16K Ram Card 69

IBM/PC BOARDS

AST RESEARCH

ComboPlus64K Clock/Calendar, Serial & Parallel. l/F, Expandable

to256K . . $287

MegaPlus 64K, Clock/ Calendar, Serial Port, Expandable to 512K

w/Megapak 287

Extra ports available for Megaplus and I/O Plus II includes Game, Parallel

& Serial 40

Megapak 256K upgrade

for Megaplus . . . . $Call t/O Plus II Clock/Calendar and Serial Port. . 118

BYAD DS-II

(64K, Z80, CP/M) . . . $599

MAYNARD ELECTRONICS

Floppy Drive Controller $185 Floppy Drive Controller

w/Parallel or Serial

Port 249

Sandstar Memory Card

— 3 modules cap. . 194 Sandstar Multifunction

Card — 6 modules

cap. 93

Sandstar Modules . . . $Cail QUADRAM Quadboard 64K. Clock/

Calendar, Serial &

Parallel Ports,

Software $296

Microfazer Stack Printer Buffer (expandable to 512K)

• Parallel/Parallel 8K ... 145

• Parallel/Parallel 64K . . 188

• Serial/Parallel 8K .... 170

• Serial/Serial 8K ..... 189 Quadlink 64K Memory. Game port allows Apple Software to run

on IBM/PC $Cal!

TECMAR Products S Call

XEDEX/MICROLOG

Baby Blue $475

TALL TREE 512K JRAM Mem.

Board $699

MONITORS

Amdek Video 300A

Amber $180

425 187 199

Amdek RGB

NEC 12" Hi-Res Green. Sanyo 12" Hi-Res Green USIHiRes 12" Amber . NEC JB 1260 Green . .

119

PGS RGB Color $ Call

NECJC-1203RGB . . . Quadram Quadchrome Taxan 12" Amber

Monitor

Taxan 12" Green .... Taxan 12" Medium RGB Taxan 12" High RGB . . Taxan RGB Cable

for PC

MODEMS

560 $ Call

149 136 323 512

Davong DSI-512 Hard . $ Call Davong DSI-519 Hard . $ Call Corona 5 MG Hard Disk 1,560 Corona 10 MG Hard .. 1,995

CDC 1800 270

Corvus $ Call

Tall Grass $ Call

Vista Solo 143K $ 259

Vista Solo & Cntrlr ... 329 Want Slim Line & Cntrlr 299 Want Dual Slim Line &

Cntrlr 529

TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORNER

•"SPECIAL*"

Hayes Smartmodem 1200/Hayes Smartcom II Software

AST I/O Plus II Clock Calendar and Serial Port $695

Above w/Smart modem 300 415

Hayes Smartmodem 1200 & Smartcom II Software 579

Hayes Chronograph . . 189 Novation 212 Auto-Cat. 585 US Robotics Auto Dial

(full auto 300/1200). . 459 US Robotics Auto-Link

(auto answer

300/1200) 379

US Robotics Password 395

DISK DRIVES

Tandon TM-55-2 $275

TandonTM-100-2 .... 240 Davong DSI-501 Hard . $ Call

Star Micronics

Gemini 15 489

GE Printers ...,...$ Call Epson FX-80 ....... 599

TranstarT-130-P TranstarT-315P Color Mannesman Tally

MT160I

MT160L

. .. and much more

DISKETTES

725 519

475 585

DISPLAY CARDS CORNER

Hercules Graphics Board $369

Orchid Monochrome Graphic Adapter 432

Plantronics Colorplus 389

US! Display Card (color/monochrome) $ Call

Amdek MAI Card $ Call

Tecmar Graphic Master $ Call

We offer the following complete systems w/full support on our technical line ...

•Franklin 1000 & 1200

• Corona

• NEC APC & 8800

• Columbia

• Televideo

... please call.

PLOTTERS

Enter P100 Sweet P

Apple/Franklin,

IBM/PC ..,.....$ 599 Strobe M100 Plotter

w/l/F Apple/Franklin. 499 Strobe M100 Plotter

(RS232) 539

Panasonic Digital

Plotter $ Call

Miscellaneous

Koala Technologies

Graphic Tablet

w/Software,

Apple, IBM/PC .... $ 99 Symtec Light Pen

IBM/PC $ 140

Symtec High Pen

Apple/Franklin 200

TG Joystick Apple/

Franklin 46

TG Joystick IBM/PC . . 49 Versa VersaWriter

Tablet IBM/PC,

Apple/Franklin .... 259 Mouse Systems PC

Mouse 229

Wico Analog Joystick . 59 Wico Apple Adapter . . 18 Wico IBM/PC l/F Card . 52 Keytronic Keyboard

IBM/PC 209

Keytronic Keyboard

Apple/Franklin .... 249 Curtis PC Products ... $ Call Electronic Protection

Series $ Call

CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research. IBM and the IBM logo are registered trademarks of International Business Machines. Apple and the Apple logo are registered trademarks of the Apple Computer Company. Franklin and the Franklin logo are trademarks of the Franklin Computer Company.

Please:

• Wisconsin residents — add 5% for sales tax.

• Add $3.50 tor shipping per software and light items. For multiple and other items, call.

• Foreign — add 15% handling & shipping for prepayment (Int'l money order)

• Prices subject to change without notice.

• All items subject to availability.

- (Add 4%)

Store prices are strictly retail.

ORYX SYSTEMS, INC.

205 Scott St. • P.O. Box 1961 Wausau, Wl 54401

— Int'l. Telex

260181 ORYX SYS WAU

We welcome:

• Visa. Mastercharge & American Express

• Checks (Allow 1-2 weeks for clearing)

• COD (Add $2.00 per shipment — Cash or certified check required)

Working Hours: Mon,- Th. 8:30 - 5:30 • Fri. 8:30 • 6:30 Sat. 10:00 - 2:00 • Central Time

For technical information & in Wisconsin: 715-848-2322

b*

0^-

o£

3S

Circle 343 on inquiry card.

Books Received

The Art of Computer Programming, Donald William Drury. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1983; 311 pages, 13 by 21 cm, soft-cover, ISBN 0-8306-1455-9, $10.95.

Automation of Reasoning

1, Classical Papers on Computational Logic, 1957-1966, Jorg Siekmann and Graham Wrightson, eds. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1983; 544 pages, 17 by 25 cm, hardcover, ISBN 0-387-12043-2, $35.

Automation of Reasoning

2, Classical Papers on Computational Logic, 1967-1970, Jorg Siekmann and Graham Wrightson, eds. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1983; 656 pages, 17 by 25 cm, hardcover, ISBN 0-387-12044-0, $39.

BASIC for Microcomputers: Apple, TRS-80, PET, Roger W. Haigh and Loren E. Radford. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983; 352 pages, 20 by 24 cm, hardcover, ISBN 0-442-27843-8, $22.45.

Beginner's Guide to Reading Schematics, Robert ]. Traister. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1983; 140 pages, 13 by 21 cm, soft-cover, ISBN 0-8306-1536-9, $8.95.

Beginning Programming with Ada, James A. Saxon and Robert E. Fritz. Engle-wood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983; 240 pages, 27.8 by 21.5 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-13-071688-X, $16.95.

CP/M Simplified, 1st ed,, Jeffrey R. Weber. Cleveland, OH: Weber Systems Inc., 1982; 318 pages, 21.5 by 13.8 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-938862-05-9, $13.95.

Clean Slate Word Processing for the TRS-80, Henry Melton. Indianapolis, IN: Howard W. Sams & Co., 1983; 384 pages, 15 by 23 cm, spiral-bound, ISBN 0-672-22005-9, $17.95.

The Complete Guide to Video, Martin Clifford. Indianapolis, IN: Howard W. Sams & Co., 1983; 344 pages, 13.5 by 21.5 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-672-21912-3, $15.95.

Computer-Based Training, A Guide to Selection and Implementation, Greg Kearsley. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1983; 216 -pages, 17 by 24.5 cm, hardcover, ISBN 0-201-10333-8, $29.95.

Computer Basics, Hal Hellman. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983; 48 pages, 18.5 by 24 cm, hardcover, ISBN 0-13-164574-9, $8.95.

Computer Communication Techniques, E. G. Brooner and Phil Wells. Indianapolis, IN: Howard W. Sams & Co., 1983; 144 pages, 15 by 23 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-672-21998-0, $15.95

The Computer Primer, A Complete Guide for Gifted Beginners, Ann Cavanaugh. New York: Trillium Press, 1983; 496 pages, 20 by 27 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-89824-046-8, $12.95.

From Baker Street to Binary, Henry Ledgard, E. Patrick McQuaid, and Andrew Singer. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983; 288 pages, 15 by 22.5 cm, soft-cover, ISBN 0-07-036983-6, $10.95.

A Guide to Programming in Level II BASIC, Bruce Presley. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982; 266 pages, 22 by 28 cm, soft-cover, ISBN 0-442-25892-5, $12.95.

The Handbook of Microcomputer Interfacing, Steve Leibson. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1983; 261 pages, 19.5 by 23.5 cm, soft-cover, ISBN 0-8306-1501-6, $14.95.

The Home Video Handbook, 3rd ed., Charles Ben-singer. Indianapolis, IN: Howard W. Sams & Co.,

1982; 394 pages, 13 by 20.5 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-672-22052-0, $13.95.

How to Make Your Small Computer Pay Off, Gary Gagliardi. Belmont, CA: Lifetime Learning Publications, 1983; 304 pages, 16.5 by 23.5 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-534-97926-2, $15.95.

Integrated Circuits Applications Handbook, Arthur H. Seidman. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1983; 704 pages, 17 by 24 cm, hardcover, ISBN (M71-07765-8, $39.95.

Introducing the Unix System, Henry McGilton and Rachel Morgan. New York: BYTE Books/McGraw-Hill, 1983; 576 pages, 15 by 23 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-07-045001-3, $18.95.

Introduction to Satellite TV, Chris Bowick and Tim Kearney. Indianapolis, IN: Howard W. Sams & Co., 1983; 144 pages, 13.5 by 21.5 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-672-21978-6, $9.95.

Learning with Logo, Daniel Watt. New York: BYTE Books/McGraw-Hill, 1983; 384 pages, 21 by 28 cm, spiral-bound, ISBN 0-07-068570-3, $19.95.

Measurement and Tuning of Computer Systems, Domenico Ferrari, Giuseppe Serazzi, and Alessandro Zeigner. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983; 544 pages, 18.5 by 24.5 cm, hardcover, ISBN 0-13-568519-2, $35.

Microcomputer Programs in Print, Owen C. Schultz, ed. Roanoke, VA: Postroad Press, 1983; 208 pages, 21.5 by 28 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-912691-01-8, $19.95.

Microcomputers Can Be Kidstuff, Anna Mae Walsh Burke. Rochelle Park, NJ: Hayden Book Co., 1983; 192 pages, 17 by 24.5 cm, soft-cover, ISBN 0-8104-5202-2, $8.95.

Numerical Methods for the Personal Computer, Terry E.

Shoup. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983; 254 pages, 15 by 22.5 cm, soft-cover, ISBN 0-13-627208-8, $18.95.

Programming in Ada, Richard Wiener and Richard Sincovec. New York: John WUey & Sons, 1983; 368 pages, 16.5 by 24.5 cm, hardcover, ISBN 0-471-87089-7, $22.95.

Secrets of Better BASIC, Ernest E. Mau. Rochelle Park, NJ: Hayden Book Co., 1983; 320 pages, 17.5 by 24.5 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-8104-6254-0, $14.95.

TRS-80 for Kids from 8 to 80, vol. 1, Michael P. Zabin-ski. Indianapolis, IN: Howard W. Sams & Co., 1982; 144 pages, 21 by 28 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-672-22046-6, $9.95.

Third Caltech Conference on Very Large Scale Integration, Randal Bryant, ed. Rockville, MD: Computer Science Press, 1983; 444 pages, 16 by 23.5 cm, hardcover, ISBN 0-914894-86-2, $36.95.

The UNIX* Operating System, Kaare Christian. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1983; 336 pages, 17 by 24.5 cm, hardcover, ISBN 0471-87542-2, $24.95.

Using Micro-Computers in Business, 2nd ed., Stanley S. Veit. Rochelle Park, NJ: Hayden Book Co., 1983; 192 pages, 15 by 23 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-8104-6257-8, $12.95.

The Video Production Guide, Lon McQuillin. Indianapolis, IN: Howard W. Sams & Co., 1983; 384 pages, 21.5 by 28 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-672-22053-9, $28.95.

Video War, Stephen Manes. New York: Avon Books, 1983; 256 pages, 17.5 by 10.5 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-380-83303-4, $2.25.

The VisiCalc Program Made Easy, David M. Castle-witz. Berkeley, CA: Osborne/ McGraw-Hill, 1983; 224 pages, 18.5 by 23 cm, soft-

640 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Lyco Computer Marketing & Consultants

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POLICY

In-stock items shipped within 24 hours of order. Personal checks require four weeks clearance before shipping. No deposit on C.O.D. orders. Free shipping on prepaid cash orders within the continental U.S. PA residents add sales tax. All products subject to availability and price change. Advertised prices show 4% discount offered for cash, add 4% for Master Card or Visa. DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED.

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-* 0 * &< e r» et S» 1 *»' lev*

2>"

22«a!

56

features of-'tire CLEO-3270 Software packaged allows your microprocessor to emulate a cluster of IBM terminal devices. The CLEO software provides the cluster emulation and makes the ASCII devices look like an IBM 3278 CRT and 3287 printer.

If your IBM mainframe doesn't support remote 3270 clusters, you need remote batch communications. CLEO-3780 Software is your answer.

For full details contact Phone 1, Inc., 461 North Mulford Road, Rockford, 1L 61107; phone (815) 397-8110.

CLECS-

Books Received,

cover, ISBN 0-931988-89-6, $12.95.

The Word Processing Book, Peter A. McWilliams. Los Angeles, CA: Prelude Press, 1983; 320 pages, 14.5 by 23 cm, softcover, ISBN 345-31105-1, $9.95.

Writing BASIC Adventure Programs for the TRS-80, Frank Dacosta. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1982; 228 pages, 13 by 21 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-8306-1422-2, $9.95.

Your First Business Computer, Peter Luedtke and Rainer Luedtke. Bedford, MA: Digital Press, 1983; 224

pages, 20.5 by 22.5 cm, soft-cover, ISBN 932376-27-4, $15. Your IBM PC, Lyle J. Graham. Berkeley, CA: Os-borne/McGraw-Hill, 1983; 592 pages, 16 by 23.5 cm, softcover, ISBN 0-931988-85-3, $16.95. ■

In the August 1983 issue under Books Received, the correct page count for Introductory Reading in Expert Systems by Donald Michie should be 251 pages. We regret any misunderstanding this error may have caused.

This is a list of books received at BYTE Publications during this past month. Although the list is not meant to be exhaustive, its purpose is to acquaint BYTE readers with recently published titles in computer science and related fields. We regret that we cannot review or comment on all the books we receive; instead, this list is meant to be a monthly acknowledgment of these books and the publishers who sent them.

BYTE's Bugs

Bugs and Pointers

Two sharp-eyed readers spied a pair of bugs snugly hidden in Rinaldo F. Prisco's article "The Bazeries Cylinder: A Cryptographic Challenge" (June 1983 BYTE, page 352). Both Bradley R. Mortensen and Bruno Tilg-ner noticed that there are two Vs and no Bs in DATA statements 1830 and 1870 (listing 1). The second V in each statement should be changed to a B.

Tilgner, who translated the program into Hewlett-Packard BASIC, also offered a few pointers for using the program with those BASICs where the loop variable is tested on entry into the loop. Currently, the first cylinder will always be in the first position. To change this, line 1210 should read

FORJ = LEN(K$)-lTO 1 STEP -1

If the keyboard contains more than one blank space, line 1750 will most likely result in an error. Tilgner suggests adding GOTO 1730. LEN (S$) will then be set to its new value. Finally, K$, S$, and T$ must be allocated sufficient space at the beginning of the program when used with those BASICs in which a string variable beyond a set limit needs explicit dimensioning.

Dedicated to Righting Wrongs

Jerry Pournelle accidentally misinformed his readers as to where to obtain the DEDICATE/32 encryption program. (See "Interstellar Drives, Osborne Accessories, DEDICATE/32, and Death Valley," July 1983 BYTE, page 323.) The program publisher and exclusive supplier is Merritt Software Inc., POB 1504, Fayetteville, AR 72702, (501) 442-0914. ■

642 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Circle 365 on inquiry card.

WORLD CLASS PRINTER.

The Silver-Reed EXP 550.

Breaking the tape is this fully electronic daisy wheel printer from a world leader in the manufacture of typewriters and computer peripherals. Designed to offer the user precise control, the EXP 550 features carrier feed in units of 1/120 inch and forward/reverse paper feed in units of 1/48 inch. You run superb letter quality hard copy quietly at 20 cps printing speed. Bi-directional printing can include bold face, superscript and subscript. Most important, your Silver-Reed EXP 550 is totally computer compatible. Interfaced with an appropriate host computer, it can print from sophisticated word-processing software like WORDSTAR* at a surprisingly affordable price.

• Letter Quality • Bold Face/Superscript/Subscript

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• Quiet Operation • Emulates the Diablo 1610**

For more information, call 800/421-4191. In California, 800/252-7760. Ask for the Printer Sales Division.

mSee us at booth 4961-5064.

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'WORDSTAR is a trademark of MICROPRO International Corporation "Diablo is a trademark of XEROX Corporation

Circle 421 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983 643

BYTE November 1983 645

What's New?

PRODUCTS FOR THE IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER

Double Capacity Quietly

The P.C. Horizons bus-expansion chassis, the PC-XTRA, can double the capacity of the option-adapter board in the IBM Personal Computer (PC).

The PC-XTRA increases the IBM PC's capacity to ten option slots with its six expansion slots, power supply, direct extension, and without extra noise.

The addition of all

special options is possible without filling the plug-in and back-panel spaces and without hardware or software modifications.

The retail price of PC-XTRA is $680. It is available from P.C. Horizons, Inc., 200 North Tustin Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92705, (714) 953-5396. Circle 650 on inquiry card.

Communications

The Ideacomm 1200, a plug-in card offering fast, reliable communications for the IBM PC, is offered by IDE Associates. A 300/] 200 bits-per-second integral modem, it has an RS-232C interface that can be used as a serial port.

Card to Plug-In

The speed is automatically selected by the card, which costs $545. Contact IDE Associates Inc., 7 Oak Park Dr., Bedford, MA 01730, (617) 275-4430. Circle 661 on inquiry card.

Videotex Decoder

A software product for the IBM PC and compatible computers acts as a videotex decoder enabling microcomputers to access videotex and Telidon services. It costs $280; in Canada It is $350. For an extra $50 Microstar will update the software to reflect changes In videotex-protocol standards. Contact Microstar Software Inc., 687 Mansfield Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K2A 2T5, Canada, (613) 722-7426. Circle 744 on inquiry card.

Lease Software Annually

Plan Trac is a time-, resource-, and cost-analysis software system for strategy planning that provides critical path method (CPM) scheduling. It is user controlled, menu driven, and can na ndle systems of up to 12,500 flodes. It provides the project manager with CPM-network planning, analysis (time, resource, and cost), progress reporting, network drawing, and interfacing.

Plan Trac is not sold; it is offered on an annual renewable-license basis. It runs on IBM PC-DOS, Radio Shack TRSDOS, and CP/M-based systems. For details, contact Com-puterline Ltd., 95 Merry-mount Rd., Quincy, MA 02169, (617) 773-0001. Circle 651 on inquiry card.

Manage Projected Costs

The PC/MIS (Project Cost/Management Information System) provides the project manager with project-planning, scheduling, budgeting, and performance-monitoring capabilities. It runs on the IBM PC and other computers using PC-DOS, MS-DOS operating systems, and CP/M-based systems. The user can test and evaluate cost implications of alternative labor combinations and can track cost-plus-fixed fee, unit-rate, and lump-sum contracts. It also features built-in audit routines that check time-sheet and direct-expense data entries for consistency regarding project budgets. A demonstration package Is available for $95, which can be applied to a total cost of $895. Contact Davis and Associates Inc., 1655 Peachtree Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, (404) 875-0793. Circle 660 on inquiry card.

Colorful Printing

Color-printing software tools from Application Techniques' Rainbow Writer family make it easy for IBM PC owners who have a color printer to produce color output using their existing application software.

The Rainbow Writer Color Screen Grabber ($99) lets you capture,

646 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Announcing

The best 6502 Assembler in the World

ORCA/M

Now. The kind of high-level support you'd only expect to find on a main frame.

ORCA/M (Hayden's Object Relocatable Code Assembler for Micros) lets you develop sophisticated applications with the speed and ease of a high-level language, yet retain the control and efficiency that only assembly language can give.

Here's what ORCA/M gives you: The Assembler

Macro language features:

o Conditional assembly of source and macro files

o Separate source and macro files

o Nestable macros

o Parameter mid-string and string search functions

o Symbolic parameter assignment

o Numeric, string, and boolean type parameters

o Parameter subscripting

o Global communication between macros

o Macro expansion loop control

o Count, length and type parameter-attribute functions

Extensive Macro Libraries

Memory Constant Declarations:

o Integer o Character o Four-byte Integer o Hexadecimal o Floatingpoint

Relocatable object module generation

Fast assembly directly to disk

Program segmentation:

o Selectively assembly individual

subroutines o Global and local scope of symbols

The Linker

Produce executable binary files from relocatable object modules

Link routines from library files

Link subroutine re-assemblies

Define a new origin for previously assembled code

Invoke at assembly time or by command

Subroutine libraries:

o Floating point and

double-precision routines o Transcendental functions o Hi-and lo-res graphics o Multiple-precision integer math o Input and output

The Editor

Co-resident screen editor:

o Global search and replace

o Block move

o Entry of non-keyboard characters

Supports lower case adapters and

shift-key modification

80-column: horizontal scrolling with 40-column displays

The System

Monitor: transparent control of system from one command level

Extended Disk Commands:

o File copy o File undelete o Catalog sort o Wildcard filenames

Disk ZAP: Built-in disk sector editor

Optimized DOS 3.3 compatible operating system

Operating system interface:

Supports a variety of configurations User-modifiable to allow linkage of custom drivers for peripherals

64k RAM supported, 48k required

This unique array of features and functions speaks for itself: the power of ORCA is unsurpassed.

All features are documented clearly and extensively. Source listings for the subroutine and macro libraries, as well as the operating system, are included.

ORCA. If you're serious about developing 6502 software, it's the one to have.

Available from your local dealer, or

call:

800-343-1218

(In MA call 617-937-0200)

ORCA/M: 21609

Apple II or He disk, 48k, DOS 3.3

Two drives and 64k recommended

Introductory

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After September 30,1983

ORCA/M is now also the best 65C02 assembler, supporting all 27 new opcodes. New hardware support includes the He 80 column board and disk emulators for the Legend™ 128K card and He extended memory card.

Circle 208 on inquiry card.

HATDEN SOFTWARE

BYTE November 1983 647

What's New?

edit, save, recall, rotate, and print color-graphic images produced on the IBM PC adapter. It supports the Integral Data Systems' Prism Printer, the Transtar 315 color printer, the IBM Graphics Printer, Epson Graftrax printers, and Okidata printers.

The Rainbow Writer Color Text Formatter

($149) enhances existing word processors to support color text, inter-character proportional spacing, and merged color graphics for Prism printers. For details,contact Application Techniques Inc., 80 Townsend St., Pepperell, MA 01463, (617) 433-5201. Circle 664 on inquiry card.

Interactive-Control Workstation

A general-purpose interface bus (GPIB) for the IBM PC, the GPIB-PC is unique due to its small size (a half-size slot in the IBM PC-XT), its high speed (300K bits per second), an NEC 7210 controller chip, and software.

The new IEEE-488 interface converts the IBM PC into an instrumentation workstation complete with software. The interactive-control program is used to program GPIB devices to measure system performance, debug ap-

plication programs, and locate malfunctioning devices on the GPIB. The transfer of large data files is possible with an IBM PC DMA controller. The circuit card can perform high-speed transfers of 300K bits per second between the GPIB and the IBM PC memory. Complete with documentation, the unit costs $385. Contact National Instruments, 12109 Technology Blvd., Austin, TX 78759. Circle 652 on inquiry card.

IBM

inn '

The Color Biz PC Saver

Protect your IBM PC disk drives from environmental contaminants such as smoke, dust, and liquids with this rectangular card that covers the floppy-disk openings. A full-color command summary

is printed on the PC Saver. It retails for $9.95 and is available from the Color Corp., 208 North Berkshire, Bloomfield Hills, Ml 48013, {800} 521-0793. Circle 659 on inquiry card.

A Data-Acquisition Family for the PC

TheDT2801 Series from Data Translation provides a full line of plug-in data-acquisition and control boards for the IBM PC, including upgraded highspeed, high-resolution, 16-bit, and analog-to-digital versions. A high-speed version of the DT280 1, the DT2801A, offers 12-bit throughput rates of up to 27,500 samples per second. The DT2805/57I6 (low-level input) and the DT2801/5716 (high-level input) provide full 16-bit analog-input resolution based on eight differential input channels with software-programmable gain. TheDT2801 is S 1345. The

16-bit boards are $2170 fortheDT280I/5716, and $2270 is the price for the DT2805/5716. For information, contact Data Translation, 100 Locke Dr., Marlboro, MA 01752, (617) 481-3700. Circle 655 on inquiry card.

648 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Maxell Floppy Disks

The Mini-Disks with maximum quality.

Dealer inquiries invited CO.D's accepted. Call FREE (800) 235-4137.

PACIFIC EXCHANGES

100 Foothill Blvd.. San Luis San Luis Obispo. CA 93401. In Cal. call (800) 592-5935 or

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• Prices are the lowest available.

Model Qtv. 1 Qtv. 2-10

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Shugart-Compatible Drives

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• All warranty work is accomplished at the manufacturer's factory authorized service center.

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Circle 205 on inquiry card.

Apple II + Paper Tape I/O Is This Easy

10101011010001010:.:.:.:.::.::.:.:.::. 01010101010010100.:.:.:.:.::.:..:.::. One minute you're without, the next you're up and running! Just plug into your APPLE II PLUS. A neat and complete package.

• Model 600-1 Punch — 50cps, rugged

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• Parallel Interface Board/Cable

• Data Handling Program Code conversion available. TRS-80 package soon. ADDMASTER CORP. 416 Juni-pero Serra Dr., San Gabriel, CA 91776 213/285-1121.

Printer Cables

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Prices start at $500 for Assembler only.

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REFERENCE—REPAIR

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For the Technician: Theory of operation, complete schematics (all revisions) scope & test point documentation with scope photos & i.C. logic guide.

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The first complete reference and repair guide for the Apple II" or Apple II Plus* Computers with the Disk II Drive & controller.

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Circle 455 on inquiry card.

Circle 142 on inquiry card.

Circle 332 on inquiry card.

What's New?

Ariel Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer

The RTA 331 is a '/ 3 -octave real-time audio-frequency spectrum analyzer for the IBM PC that plugs into a single expansion slot. By dividing the audio spectrum into 31 third-octave bands for 20 Hz to 20 kHz, it interactively displays the relative amplitudes of each frequency band. More than 20 seconds of audio can be stored in 512K bytes of memory. Assembly-lan-

guage subroutines handle high-speed operations and are accessed from BASIC. Other features include an on-board pink-noise generator, digitally controlled gain, user-defined weighting, and more. The RTA 331 sells for S649.95 from the Ariel Corp., Suite 84, 600 West I 16th St., New York, NY 10027, (212) 662-7324. Circle 657 on inquiry card.

Display Waveforms on Your Monitor

Wave Display is a software package for the IBM PC that can display multiple waveforms captured by a data-acquisition system. The acquired data can be hexadecimal, octal, or decimal and is immediately stored on the disk drive. The data stream displayed on the screen can be 512 through 4K bits in the horizontal resolution with a maximum of 12 bits vertically. It provides automatic readouts

of frequency and voltage levels, signal averaging, and supports hard copy to dot-matrix printers. Wave shapes can also be created by using any text editor or word-processing software or by programming BASIC. The package costs $99.95 and is available from Epic Instruments Inc., 551-G Foster City Blvd., Foster City, CA 94404, (415) 574-9081. Circle 658 on inquiry card.

PC-Path, CPM for the PC

PC-Path is a critical path method (CPM) scheduling program for the IBM PC that can handle up to 500 activities per network. Node numbering is fully random. The reports that are available include data edit, calendar, summary, schedule, and bar chart. PC-Path is designed to work with any project manager who needs to control small to medium projects using CPM scheduling capabilities. It costs $500 and is available from Viplan, 823 Bradwell, Houston, TX 77062, (713) 486-4718. Circle 665 on inquiry card.

Three in One For the IBM PC

CP + combines three products in one software package. Features include a computer-aided instruction tutorial on the basic operations of a personal computer, an English-language front-end interface suitable for new users, and a package of file-management utilities. It includes a menu-building facility called START+.

It is available for the IBM PC and other selected MS-DOS-based systems including the Victor 9000 and the Tl Professional. The retail price of the 16-bit version is $200. Contact Taurus Software Corp., 3685 Mt. Diablo

Blvd., Lafayette, CA 94549, (415) 283-7222. Circle 663 on inquiry card.

IBM Mass Storage

Three formatted configurations of 5-, 10-, and 20-megabyte hard-disk subsystems are available for the IBM PC and the DEC Rainbow 100.

Mass storage is over 5 times the speed and up to, 135 times the capacity of a floppy disk. A hard disk, controller card, host-interface card, power supply, external enclosure, and cabling comprise the hardware included with the system. Each system is equipped with software support for PC-DOS 2.0 or CP/M 80-86 and a utilities package that includes MEMDISK 2.0.

The 5-megabyte hard-disk subsystem is $1595, the 10-megabyte is S1795, and the 20-megabyte is $ 1995. Contact Chrislin Industries Inc., Computer Products Division, 31352 V\a Colinas #\02, West-lake Village, CA 91361, (213) 991-2254. Circle 654 on inquiry card.

Fast Backup for the IBM PC-XT

The backup subsystem for the hard-disk version of the IBM PC, Sysgen Image includes a controller, drive electronics, and a cassette-tape drive. It is software-compatible with either PC-DOS or

650 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

We've sot A.C Nielsen's number

DHL # 1 Worldwide Courier Express now makes time-critical deliveries overnight throughout the U.S.

While other companies were still hand-counting bags of mail, A.C. Nielsen Jr. was finding new ways to gather vital marketing information for America's business via computer.

And today Nielsen can depend on DHL to help stay ahead of competition.

"For overnight deliveries of time-critical data anywhere in the U.S., I can count on DHL-their figures speak for themselves," says Nielsen,

More on-time deliveries to more places around the world than any other express courier.

Service to 97% of the "Fortune 500"

30,000 locations.

Like Nielsen, DHL has spent millions on state-of-the-art equipment

and technology to stay ahead.

DHL uses 727s, Learjets, helicopters and its large fleet of trucks to speed urgent documents and packages on their way —all across America.

Service this fast and reliable makes businessmen like Nielsen feel, "DHL is the next best thing to taking it there yourself."

In today's business world, anything less than the best isn't good enough.

That's why Nielsen says, "DHL rates with me" For information, call your local office

of DHL Worldwide Courier Express.

NEXT BEST TH/NG TO TAKING/T THERE >VURSELF

© 1983 DHL Airways Inc.

Circle 139 on inquiry card.

What's New?

CP/M-86. It performs complete archival backup of information on the PC-XT's hard disk at the rate of 2.5 megabytes per minute. Storage capacity is 20 megabytes. Two backup modes are Preserve, which backs up data from an individual disk volume and restores the data on an individual disk volume in an image fashion, and File-save, which allows individual files or groups of files to be saved from the hard disk to the streaming tape and vice versa. The price is $995. Contact Sysgen Inc., 47853 Warm Springs Blvd., Fremont, CA 94539, (415)490-6770. Circle 656 on inquiry card.

Relay Can Send, Receive, and Print

Relay is a communications-software package that can simultaneously send and receive messages or files between IBM PCs while printing locally. It can also communicate with mainframe hosts and operate as an APL terminal. In addition to inter-PC communications. Relay enables access to com-

puter-service bureaus such as Dow Jones, CompuServe, and the Source, other mainframes, and other PCs. It retails for S149 and is available from VM Personal Computing Inc., 60 East 42nd St., New York, NY 10165, (212) 697-4747. Circle 662 on inquiry card.

PRINTERS

Electronic Catalog Full of PC Supplies

One 5/4-inch, single-sided disk provides instant access to menu-driven information about a wide range of IBM PC-compatible products such as peripherals, software (home, business, education, and entertainment), books, supplies, and accessories. IBM guarantees quality and satisfaction.

The Electronic Catalog for IBM Personal Computer Owners is S3 and is available from International Business Machines Corp., POB 3148, Wall-Inqford, CT 06494, (800) IBM-2468; in Alaska and Hawaii, {800) 526-2484. Circle 653 on inquiry card.

652 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Extended Character Set Printer

The Compucorp 32/40 ECS (Extended Character Set) is a daisy-wheel printer that can accommodate scientific- and technical-typing applications as well as word processing without changing printwheels. Other printwheels offered by Compucorp contain up

to 192 characters and will accept additional user-constructed characters. The 32/40 ECS sells for $3295 and is available from Compucorp, 22 11 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404, (213) 829-7453. Circle 678 on inquiry card.

Matrix Printers Built for Heavy Duty

The PLP-8 series of 80-and 132-column matrix printers is designed for listing, invoicing, labeling, and letter printing. Both printers incorporate a

heavy-duty 9-needle head to print 1- to 6-part forms at speeds as high as 270 cps. Head travel is 27 inches per second, and the tractor-feed line advance requires 35 milliseconds. Standard equipment includes a parallel interface and adjustable tractor feeds. Sixteen form lengths are front-panel selectable with 32 positions of vertical and horizontal tabs. Perforation-skip is switch-selectable. Print features include 9 by 7 characters with true ascenders and descenders as well as underlining. Character generation is EPROM-based.

A serial interface that accepts data rates ranging from 110 to 9600 bps, current loop, Xon/Xoff, and DTR data restraint is available. The 80-column PLP-8 costs $675, and the 132-column version is $895. Quantity and OEM discounts are offered. Contact Practical Automation Inc., Trap Falls Rdl Shelton, CT 06484, {203) 929-5381. Circle 677 on inquiry card.

Letter-Quality Printer for the PC

The Model 2050 is a new member of the Spin-writer family that is fully compatible with the IBM PC and its application soft-

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DELTA 10 (10 Inch Carriage, 160cps) Friction and Tractor $CALL

STAR Printers can be interfaced with most computers on the market today, such as: Apple II.lie.Ill / IBM PC / Osborne / Heath Kit H89 / TRS-80 Model I II III.4.12 16 100

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Model 12 and Model 16 Accessories

128K memory board (256K Max \

128K extra memory chips (RS)

128K extra memory chips (TCS)

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DT/1 Video Terminal

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MODEL IV

MODEL IV, 16K Cassette $825

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Fully assembled and tested systems that are software compatible and functionally identical to Radio Shack units sold at computer stores for $hundreds more

* CONTROLLER BOARDS are high quality double sided epoxy boards with gold plated contacts.

* POWER SUPPLY is the finest switching type available

* MOUNTING HARDWARE includes power and data cables

* DISK DRIVES are Tandon, the same ones used by Radio Shack

40 track, double density, with a 5 millisecond stepping rate.

TCS MODEL III DISK EXPANSION KITS

1 Controller, Power Supply, Mounting Hardware & Instructions $249

2 Controller, Power Supply, Hardware & one 40 track Tandon Drive $429

3 Controller Power Supply, Hardware, two 40 track Tandon Drives $598

3a Kit 3 but with two 80 track drives (dual sided 40s) $791

3b Kit three but with two 160 track drives (dual sided 80s) $989

TCS MODEL IV DISK EXPANSION KITS

11 Controller, Power Supply, Mounting Hardware, one 40 Track Tandon Drive $479

12 Controller. Power Supply, Mounting Hardware, two 40 Track Tandon Drives $649

12A Kit 12 but with two 80 Track Tandon Drives $629

12B Kit 12 but with two 160 Track Tandon Drives $849

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Networking systems for multiuser hard disks Tape and cartridge back up systems are also available for IBM PC, APPLE II. and APPLE III

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What's New?

ware. It attaches to the IBM parallel printer port and prints normal text at a speed of 20 characters per second. Forms up to 16 inches wide can be accommodated. Print thimbles can hold up to 128 characters and can print two typefaces or a full-character alphabet plus

numbers, sub- and super-scripting, and special symbols that include international and graphics character sets. The unit sells for $ 1250 and is available from NEC Information Systems Inc., 5 Militia Dr., Lexington, MA 02173, (617) 862-3120. Circle 676 on inquiry card.

PERIPHERALS

Protect

The Wire Tree from Net-worx is a four-outlet filtered power source to protect personal-computer circuitry and memory from voltage spikes, surges, and radio-frequency interference. It also permits control of total-system power

Circuitry

from a single, illuminated on/off switch. The price of the Wire Tree is $69.95, and it is available from Networx, 203 Harrison Place, Brooklyn, NY 11237, (212) 821-7555. Circle 669 on inquiry card.

Cut Interference

A surge suppressor/ noise filter protects sensitive computer equipment by isolating it from equipment interaction and from damaging high-voltage spikes and AC-line noise and hash. It can handle up to 2000-amp spikes and a

maximum load of 1875 watts. It comes with three, four, or eight outlets and can plug into any 125-V AC, 15-amp outlet. Contact Indus-Tool, 325 West Huron St., Chicago, IL 60610. Circle 675 on inquiry card.

T-Swftches, Two In One

A Mini-T-Switch from In-mac enables users to configure computer systems in a limitless number of ways while reducing by half the number of modems and printers required. For example, one switch allows two microcomputers alternate access to a common printer. The rack-mount-able module combines two T-switches that en-

able two peripherals to share a common I/O (input/output) port. The Mini-T-Switch is guaranteed for one year. Price is $ 125 to $230 depending on configuration. Contact Inmac, Department 127, 2465 Augustine Dr., Santa Clara, CA 95051, (800) 547-5444; In California, [800) 547-5447. Circle 671 on inquiry card.

654 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Last year our fire protection systems kept the heat off a lot of business owners.

All- THdrr/H0N0T \ CM A F&HWAl- 4

eWA$C&Z> OF A F\£& IN A

A$& FPAC-VCAIM NIU

© F/e/d Enterprises, Inc., 1983

It's sheer wizardry the way Fenwal's suppression systems spot fire and snuff it out instantly. Our systems use the fastest way known of stopping fire, Halon 1301. It's perfectly clean and people-safe. That keeps downtime to an absolute minimum.

We've been building and perfecting our systems for more than 20 years. There are thousands installed around the world. Because Fenwal manufactures all its own major system components, you get a system with components built to work together and backed by single source responsibility.

Plus the attention of a local factory trained wizard who's knowledgeable in cost efficient system configuration.

Whatever you want to protect—valuable documents, computer rooms, communication centers, control rooms, switching rooms, anything at all that you can't afford to be without—we can do the job.

For the name of your local Fenwal wizard, look in the Yellow Pages under "Fire Protection," or

contact the Castle at (617) 881-2000. ® Fenwal Incorporated, Ashland, MA 01721. A Division of Kidde, Inc.

Circle 187 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983 655

What's New?

Dual Video,

ID Systems Corporation has introduced the \D-200, a family of very high-resolution graphics terminals that offer dual-display architecture, Infinite color-graphics patterns, NTSC compatibility, zoom, pan, and other features. The ID-200 Series has a 1280 by 480 pixel resolution with a display-writing rate of up to 1.25 million pixels per second. Eight windows can be displayed at once. The terminal's dual-video generator permits

Dual Display

split images to be displayed on separate monitors. The ID-200 has 128 downloadable fonts that allow user-created characters and 16 levels of zoom. It also has a palette of 8 or 16 fundamental colors with \0 77 user-selectable graphics-pattern elements. The price is $4000. Contact ID Systems Corp., 4089 Leap Rd., Hilliard, OH 43026, (614) 876-1595. Circle 668 on inquiry card.

Master

PC Master, a multifunction I/O (input/output) card from the Vista Computer Company, provides a host of features for the IBM PC, PC XT, and compatibles. Included are one parallel printer port, two asynchronous serial ports, real-time clock/calendar with nickel-cadmium battery, joystick A/D (analog to digital) input port, and Votrax speech synthesizer

Your PC

with amplifier and pitch and volume controls, all on a single card. Software support includes a RAM disk emulator, print spooler, Votrax subroutines, and real-time clock utilities. Contact Vista Computer Co. Inc., 1317 East Edinger Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92705, (714) 953-0523. Circle 745 on inquiry card.

Reduce Costs of Development

Solarcom Technology has introduced an 8085A microcomputer board that is STD bus-compatible and designed to reduce product- and system-development costs. The SCMT-85 includes an 8155-type 2048-bit static MOS RAM with I/O (input/output) ports and a timer. This single chip contains a 256-word by 8-bit RAM, two programmable 8-bit ports, a programmable 6-bit I/O port, and a 14-bit binary -programmable counter/timer. The SCMT-85 also includes an ADC0809 analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The SCMT-85 sells for $194. Contact Solarcom Technology Inc., POB 4715, Hayward, CA 94544, (415) 489-3141. Circle 673 on inquiry card.

Color the Commodore 64

Bytes & Pieces has developed a Color Sharpener that solves the color-resolution and intensity problems of the Commodore 64. The electronic unit does not require soldering, wiring, or opening of the computer because it plugs into the 64. The price is $18.95 and it is available from Bytes & Pieces, 550 North 68th St., Wauwatosa, WJ 53213. Circle 674 on inquiry card.

Infrared Touch Terminal

For its touch capability, the Touch Information Display (TID) uses arrays of infrared iight-emitting diodes (LED) and photo-transistor detectors around the periphery of the

screen. Outputs result when criss-crossing beams of infrared light are interrupted. Because no screen overlay or mechanical switches are involved, the optical approach is said to

656 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

AP-PEFX©

Price »40. 00

U.S.

NEW CONTROL FOR YOU APPLE 2 + * AP-PEEL - Reprograms the reset key to give you complete control over operation. AP-PEEL

- Protects disks from possible damage on start-up.

- Reset allows choice of entry to one of 5 modes of operation.

- Exit 'locked-in' programs to view any memory on screen.

- 'Page' through memory to look for key words in games.

- Make changes in memory at any time.

- Eliminates use of power switch to re-boot on 'locked-in' programs.

- Installed or removed in seconds.

A MUST FOR APPLE 2 + * OWNERS MG J Co. Check or Money Order

88 Wellington Ave. Allow 30 day delivery

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GET CASH FOR USED HARDWARE

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Fee to seller is $10.00 plus 2% of total equipment value. No fee to buyers!

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l-(206)-232-7709 I

Circle 294 on inquiry card.

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SMITH-CORONA

Memory Correct III Messenger

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• RS232 Serial Or Centronics Parallel

• Multiple Pitch 10,12,15

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FOR YOUR APPLE, RADIO SHACK, IBM PC, OSBORNE ETC.

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Circle 434 on inquiry card.

Circle 89 on inquiry card.

Circle 291 on inquiry card.

What's New?

be more reliable than techniques that rely on capaci-tive or membrane screens.

The Tib's 12-inch diag-onal amber-phosphor screen displays 24 lines of 80 characters each. Up to 648 active touch areas can be of any size or shape and are set up using a menu-driven routine stored in ROM.

An Intel 8085 microprocessor and associated memory handle both terminal and touch-panel functions in the TID. It functions as a standard ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) terminal that emulates the cursor-addressing functions of the ADM-3A from Lear-Siegler. The TID is $1400 and is available from Electro Mechanical Systems Inc., 801 West Bradley Ave., Champaign, IL 61820, (217) 359-7125. Circle 670 on inquiry card.

Ready to Run

A robotics-development subsystem for the Apple II and He consists of a plug-in interface board, a dual-axis driver board, and two size 23 (50 oz.-in.j stepper motors. The A6 T/D interface board plugs into the Apple If/He expansion slot and generates software-controlled pulses that drive stepper-motor translators. The board can receive input pulses from rotary encoders or similar position-measuring devices. Positioning software enables users to run and develop a

two-axis motion-control system. The price is $365. Contact Rogers Labs, 2710 South Croddy Way, Santa Ana f CA 92704, (714) 751-0442. Circle 672 on inquiry card.

SOFTWARE

Larger Documents Can Join the Race

A text processor, Sprinter-2, is designed to meet the demands of producing books, reports, manuals, and other large documents.

Built-in text-formatting commands include automatic footnote placement and numbering, multi-column formats, and header- and footer-line capabilities. The processor also includes automatic numbering of chapters, sections, and pages. You can define one-word instructions and carry out any sequence of the commands. A text file can be printed without modification on any of the supported printers in any type style; the optional spelling checker ($125) is an expandable 40,000-word dictionary, and all popular daisy wheels are supported (Diablo 630 and 1600, NEC, Qume, and more). Sprinter-2 is written in Pascal and is available for any computer using the Softech Micro-system p-System. Sprinter-2 costs S350 and includes a users manual. Contact Scenic Computer Systems Inc., 14852 Northeast 31st Circle, Redmond, WA 98052, (206) 885-5550. Circle 688 on inquiry card.

Access to Oow Jones

Teleminder is said to provide complete, automatic, and efficient access to the Dow Jones News/Retrieval database. With Tele-minder, database users can retrieve news and quotes on up to 360 companies with a single keystroke.

Teleminder is available for 64K-byte Apple II and lie, 128K-byte Apple Ills, and IBM PCs. Teleminder connects to Dow Jones, recalls when you last got news, scans and retrieves news updates since that session, loads the information onto a disk, and disconnects. News and stock quotes can be printed for review. For the Apple III and IBM PC, it's $325. Contact Teleware Inc., POB 729, Pine Brook, NJ 07058, [800) 225-0076; in New Jersey, (201) 882-0466. Circle 776 on inquiry card.

Collector Picks Up Loose Strings

The Collector removes unused strings from Radio Shack TRS-80 Model l/lll BASIC programs. Produced by Modular Software Associates, the Collector takes the place of the TRS-80's ROM garbage-collection routine, which sometimes causes the keyboard to lock. The Collector is said to reduce these delays by as much as 95 percent.

The Collector requires 500 bytes of memory and 2 bytes for each active string. It is supplied on a 35-track single-density Model I formatted disk. It costs $24.95, plus $2.50 shipping, and comes with a manual and demonstration program. Order it directly from Modular Software Associates, 209 18th St., Huntington Beach, CA 92648, (714) 960-6668. Circle 777 on inquiry card.

A Big Splash

Frogger, the popular arcade game, can now be played by one or two players on Atari A00/800 and 1200XL computers, in this fast-action game frogs must hop across a busy

highway and over a raging river before they are safely home. Details are available from Parker Brothers, 50 Dunham Rd., Beverly, MA 01915. Circle 701 on inquiry card.

IBM PC Matrix Manipulation

Matrixpak is a set of matrix-manipulation routines for use on an IBM PC equipped with the Intel 8087 math coprocessor. Supporting seven data types (word, short, long, and binary-coded decimal

integers; short, long, and temporary real numbers), the package can use all available memory to operate on large matrices.

Written in assembly lan-guage, the package modules are designed to

658 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

"WHY PAY MORE" COMPARE THESE PRICES

MC-P APPLICATIONS

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SOFTWARE

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VersaForm .... $389 $252

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Financial Planner 700 452

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Real Estate Analyzer II 195 135

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Word Star w/Applicard 495 349

MICROSOFT

Flight Simulator (IBM) 50 35

Flight Simulator (Apple) .... 29

PBL CORPORATION

Personal Investor 145 98

PEACHTREE

Peach Pack (AR, AP, GL).. 595 325

SATELLITE SOFTWARE

Word Perfect 495 325

SOFTWARE PUBLISHING

Pfs: File

Apple 125 85

IBM 140 95

Pfs: Report 125 85

SOFTWORD SYSTEM

Multimate 495 315

SORCIM SuperCalc II 295 185

SYNPSE File Manager 150 97

WOLF Move-It 199 125

VISICORP

Visicalc 250 169

Visifile (Apple) 250 187

Visifile (IBM).... 300 225

VisiScheduie.. 300 225

VisaWord w/free VisiSpelL 375 285

LOTUS 1-2-3 $32900

WORD STAR PRO $44900

DBASE II $41500

EDIX/WORDIX

$129 00

MULTIPLAN

$180 00

HOME ACCOUNTANT

$ 52 00 o

BANK STREET WRITER $ 4900

TANDON T100-2 $23900

OKIDATA 92

$53500

AMDEX COLOR II

HI RES RGB $45500

AST MEGA PLUS 64K

$ 315 00

NOVATION J-CAT $11500

EPSON FX 100 $74500

HERCULES GRAPHICS CD.

*375 00

KOALA TOUCH PAD

$ 95 00

HARDWARE

LIST OUR HAYES MICROCOMPUTER PRODUCTS

Hayes Stack Chronograph

(RS-232) $249 185

Hayes Stack Smart Modem

(RS-232) 289 219

Smart Modem 1200

(RS-232) 699 511

ADVANCED LOGIC SYSTEM (Apple II)

Z-Card 169 115

Printer Mate (Parallel) 99 55

CP/M Card (W/ CP/M 3.0) 399 315

MICROSOFT

Softcard (Apple) 345 259

Ram Card (Apple) 100 75

64K Ram Card (IBM) 350 249

MPC PERIPHERALS (Apple) Parallel Interface Card

(w/Cable) 90 68

NOVATION

Apple - Cat II 389 275

212 Auto Cat 695 595

Smart-Cat 103/121 595 445

Smart-Cat 103 249 187

PERSONAL COMPUTER PRODUCTS

Applicard 6 Mhz... 375 280

KRAFT & TG Joystick

IBM 70 49

Apple 65 45

CDC DISK DRIVE 265

VERBATIM DISC

S/S D/D 10 Pk 49 28

AMDEK MAI BOARD 599 495

ELECTRONICS PROTECTION DEVICES

Lime 90 63

Peach . 98 69

QUADRAM

Quadboard 64K 395 295

Quadltnk 680 525

MEMORY CHIP SET

(64K/9 chips) 95 65

PRINTERS

Mennesman Tally MT 160L 798 669

NEC 7730 RO Parallel 2595 2295

MONITORS

Amdek 12" 310A 230 189

Quadchrome 17" 695 525

Princeton Graphics 795 519

CALL FOR OTHER SOFTWARE & HARDWARE PRICES

"International Dealer Enquiries Welcomed"

MC-P APPLICATIONS

111 W. St. John St., Suite 307

San Jose, CA 95113 Phone (408) 293-3360

Telex: 294207 MCPA UR

HOURS: 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. — Mon. - Sat.

(Phone Orders Only on Sat)

TERMS: Att prices subject to change. Cashier's check/MO/ Bank Transfer. Allow time for company or personal checks to clear. Prices reflect cash prepaid discount. VISA /MASTER CARD/COD/POs =3%. California residents add sales tax. SHIPPING: $4 per item for UPS surface ($8 for Blue Label); Monitors $20, Printers $25, within continental USA.

What's New?

be called as subroutines from a user program; the routines can be linked into code generated by call-by-reference BASIC, Pascal, and FORTRAN compilers, such as Micro Ware's RTOS-based compilers, as well as other assembly-language programs, Contact Micro Ware, FOB 79, Kingston, MA 02364, (617) 746-7341. Circle 679 on inquiry card.

Highly Integratable Software

A Total Management Planning (TMP) package includes five integrated programs with an unstructured database capability, a menu-driven fully structured database manager, and single-command transfer.

The TMP Freeform ($225) stores and retrieves information using up to 9 electronic index cards, a built-in screen editor, and search keys.

The TMP Manager ($595) is a structured database manager using random file structures with multiple index files for fast information access. You can define, maintain, and manipulate databases using select, sort, and merge on fields and subfields, and print horizontal- and vertical-oriented reports and mailing and price lists.

The TMP Calc ($295) has an update mode that provides the correct results regardless of the data's location on the spreadsheet. Printer output is for-

matted to avoid wraparound, and 13-digit precision is supported.

The TMP Writer (price not set) is a full-featured word processor supporting fixed, proportional, and smart word-processing printers. It provides full control of headers, footers, pagination, and viewing for easy proofing. It also has a document file/ retrieve system with cross-indexing usually found in dedicated word processors.

The TMP Front End (price not set) provides you with the power to integrate any or a\\ of the TMP packages into a common operating environment. For details, contact the United Software Co., Suite 232, 9726 East 42nd St., Tulsa, OK 74145, (918) 622-4800. Circle 681 on inquiry card.

Streamline Medical Office Procedures

The McGraw-Hill Medical Accounting System (MMAS) is a full-function accounting, billing, and information-management package for any healthcare facility.

Functions include accounts payable and receivable, payroll, and general ledger. All modules are fully integrated, menu-driven, and feature error trapping. Changes are easy to make as the database Is updated in real time. Users can redefine their own data screens, adapt to changing report-

ing and billing-form requirements without repro-gramming, and set up routines to reconfigure the system to fit new provider environments.

MMAS is implemented In Pascal so it is transferable and timely. It also supports remote data-entry stations that can operate autonomously or online. For information, contact Systemetrics Inc., 104 West Anapamu, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, (805) 963-1268. Circle 680 on inquiry card.

Handle 1500 Projects

Pertmaster lets users manage up to 1500 activities with 29 resources per activity using the Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) or the critical path analysis (CPA) method. You can produce bar charts and histograms on standard character printers with a line capacity of at least 132 characters. Pertmaster is compatible with most CP/M, MP/M, PC-DOS, or MS-DOS 64K-byte operating systems with hard or floppy dual-disk drives. Analysis is high speed; a full network can be updated in less than 10 seconds. The menu-driven package with 9 selection operations costs $695 and is available from Westminster Software Inc., Building 4, Suite 245, 3000 Sand Hill Rd., Menlo Park, CA 94025, (415) 854-1400. Circle 683 on inquiry card.

THE NEW STEP BVSTEP

W

Learn BASIC Alone

The New Step by Step package for Apple \\ computers provides 20 hours of instruction using voice, animation, and graphics. Teach yourself BASIC instructions, library functions, subroutines, screen formatting, program logic, floating-point notation, and one-dimensional arrays. Each lesson is followed by a summary, exercises, quizzes, and final tests. Two disks, two backup disks, four cassettes, and a workbook are included for $89.95. Contact Program Design Inc., 95 East Putnam Ave., Greenwich, CT 06830, (203) 661-8799. Circle 684 on inquiry card.

Game from Chris Crawford et a I

Excalibur is a complex, multiple-screen simulation game of the kingdom of Camelot. In this one-player game, you must learn to rule wisely using economics, diplomacy, magic, military strategy, and the loyalty of friends and enemies to reach your goals. Use a joystick to

660 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

■ HiL'JJIk

Special of the Month!

IBM PC- COMPLETE LINE

IBM

PC System includes 64K IBM-PC with two 320KB Floppy Disk Drives, Controller, Color Graphics Card, Monitor All for

only $2599.00

LOTUS 1-2-3 SOFTWARE $459

EAGLE II

Computer System $1795

TAVA PC

Desk Top, IBM PC Compatible Computer, runs DOS 2.0, DOS 1.1, and CP/M 86® . . . $995

AST RESEARCH

IO Plus-Parallel & Serial Port, Clock Calendar W/Bat. back-up. Superdrive.

Superspool $ 199.00

Combo Plus—256K, Parallel & Serial Port, Clock Calendar W/Bat. back-up. Superdrive.

Superspool $499.00

Mega Plus—512K, Parallel & Serial Port, Clock

Calendar W/Bat. back-up $999.00

QUADRAM

Quad Board - 256K, Parallel Port, Serial I/O Clock Calendar with battery backup

$599.00

512K Ram with Serial I/O $799.00

HERCULES GRAPHICS CARD This card gives you 720x350

graphics $499.00

BIG BLUE $479.00

MAYNARD SANDSTAR SERIES Multifunction Card $95.00

Floppy Disk Controller $225.00

Memory Card $189.00

Add-On Memory Module $99.00

Parallel Port Module $75.00

Serial Port Module $95.00

Clock Calendar Module $75.00

Games Adapter Module $59.00

HARD DISK SYSTEMS FOR IBM AND APPLE

HARD DISK SYSTEM FOR IBM PC

256K IBM PC, 360KB Disk Drive, FDC, 10 MB Hard Disk w/controller, Cabinet controller & software, Color Card, Monitor $3999.00

MONITORS

AMDEK

300A $199.00 I $349.00

300G $169.00 II $699.00

310A .... $199.00 III $399.00

IV $1199.00

NEC

JB I20IM $169.00 JC 1203 . $755.00

JC 1212M $335.00 JB 1260 . .$139.00

PRINCETON GRAPHICS SYSTEMS

High Res, Color CALL

PRICES AND AVAILABILITY SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE ALL RETURNED MERCHANDISE SUBJECT TO A 20% RESTOCKING FEE.

ADD 10% FOR NET TERMS

PRICES GOOD IN U.S. ONLY.

PRICES REFLECTED IN THIS

SECTION ARE LOWER THAN FRANCHISE STORES.

IDS PRISM

Prism 132 (B & W) $1395.00

Color . CALL

brother biothet

HR-1 A parallel $769.00

HR-1 A serial $869.00

DX-15 $599.00

Tractor feed option $135.00

SILVER REED

Printer $699.00

APPLE lie

Computer System Controller, Two Disk Drives, Monitor $1699

OTHER PRODUCTS

FOR APPLE

Special of the Month!

$199

TAVA CORP. DATA DRIVE

100% Compatible Disk drive for APPLE 11+ and APPLE lie. Runs DOS, CPM®. Pascal software. SLIMLINE DRIVE $269.00

TAVA PRODUCTS FOR APPLE

Cooling System and

Power Monitor $59

Joystick $49

80 Column Card $149

HAYES MICROCOMPUTER PRODUCTS

Micromodem II 300 baud $299.95

Smartmodem 1200 baud $529.95

PERSONAL ACCOUNTANT

Software for your Apple lie and Apple 11+ $199.00

EPD PRODUCTS

Lemon Surge Protector $49.95

Lime Surge Protector $79.95

Peach Surge Protector $89.95

Orange Surge Protector $129.95

Plum Surge Protector $48.95

COMPUSHACK FRANCHISES AVAILABLE

WHERE ELSE CAN YOU FIND

PRIVATE LABEL PRODUCTS

NO ROYALTIES

DISCOUNT PRICES

FULL SERVICE & SUPPORT?

ONLY AT COMPUSHACK S NEW FRANCHISEI

Circle 101 on inquiry card.

(7141 261-1000

FRANCHISE INQUIRIES WELCOME

16861 ARMSTRONG, IRVINE, CA 9271*

HEADQUARTERS/TELEX: 181667—ANSWER BACK: COMPDSHACK IRIN

*IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation

*APPLE is a registered trademark of Apple Computers. Inc

*CP/M and CP/M86 are registered trademarks of Digital Research, inc

PRODUCTS AND PRICES NOT AVAILABLE AT ALL STORES

ALL FLOPPIES REPAIRED QUICKLY AT LOW COST

CALL FOR STORE LOCATION

What's New?

move around the Round Table room, the treasury, and to Merlin's lair. With Merlin's help you can see into locked treasuries as well as the minds of foes. A floppy-disk version for the Atari 400/800 and 1200 costs $29.95. Contact Atari Program Exchange, 1265 Borregas Ave., POB 427, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. Circle 682 on inquiry card.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Software

Parents can provide their children with basic vocabulary, reading, and word-processing skills with 12 programs designed for Apple computers from the Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corporation. The learning spectrum ranges from first words to mastering words. SAT-preparation exercises are included. A manual accompanies the set, which costs $24.95 to $49.95 when purchased individually and ranges from $43 to $ 115 when purchased in combinations. Contact Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 425 North Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Circle 699 on inquiry card.

More Graphics for the TRS-80

A high-resolution graphics package for Pascal 80 lets you use Pascal with high-resolution

graphics in TRS-80 Model \\\ and Model 4.

Simple graphics routines, Pascal turtle graphics, a character-generator printer, and demonstration programs are included. Features include set, reset, and point commands for 640 by 240 pixels (picture elements), line draw and erase commands, and graphic and test commands to switch between high- and low-resolution screens.

The package requires Pascal 80 and the Radio Shack high-resolution graphics board. It sells for $39.95 and is available from New Classics Software, 239 Fox Hill Rd., Denville, NJ 07834, (201) 625-8838. Circle 685 on inquiry card.

A More Compatible Kaypro II

Uniform is a set of two programs produced by Micro Solutions that allows the user to read, write, and format disks for other CP/M-based computers, thus increasing the Kaypro N's compatibility to include 15 other machines.

The first program, INIT-DISK, allows formatting and the second, SETDISK, selects the desired format for drive B on the Kaypro l\. One copy is $49.95 and is available from Micro Solutions Inc., Software Products Division, 125 South Fourth St., DeKalb, IL 60115, (815) 756-3421. Circle 689 on inquiry card.

Connect Tl To Smart CRT

Octacomm/PC is a smart teletype-emulator program that permits the Texas Instruments Professional Computer to connect to a smart CRT terminal and interactively execute programs on another computer. It uses the standard asynchronous interface board and an RS-232C serial interface. Octacomm/PC allows the remote computer to clear the screen, position the cursor, and use line-drawing graphics. The $125 unit requires 128K bytes of memory and a Tl synchronous/asynchronous board. For information, contact Houston Computer Services Inc., Suite 512, 6001 Savoy, Houston, TX 77036, (713) 972-1006. Circle 700 on inquiry card.

Learn Morse Code

Owners of the TRS-80 Color Computer and TDP-100 can learn the international Morse Code with a package called the Morse Code Teacher. The first in a series, it is designed for the beginner and features three practice routines to familiarize and increase copying or auditory-recognition speed up to five words per minute. It requires 16K bytes of RAM and Extended Color BASIC. It is available on cassette from Cynwyn, Suite 2F, 4791 Broadway, New York, NY \0034 f [2\2] 567-8493. Circle 690 on inquiry card.

More for Less

A new line of affordable programs (at less than $20) for CP/M operating systems is available for entertainment, educational, statistical, communication, computer language, and utility purposes. Many disk formats are supported. For a catalog, contact Quest Software, Suite 100, 9 North Main, Lombard, IL 60148, [3\2] 953-2099. Circle 702 on inquiry card.

Accounts Payable for the Tl PC

An accounting package for the small-business or professional person, BPI Accounts Payable, lets you choose between two accounting methods, cash or accrual.

Two open fiscal periods can be maintained for the accrual method and three options are available for paying checks you can also print. Double-entry accounting automatically reports debits and credits to the proper accounts without reentering; genera I-ledger-account prompts appear on the screen as you enter data.

Accounts Payable from BPI can stand alone or can interface with BPI General Accounting, Job Cost, and Inventory Control systems. It requires a Tl Professional Computer and two floppy-disk drives or one floppy-disk drive and a Winchester hard-disk drive. Versions are available for the Apple II, Commodore 8032, and Digital Equipment DECmate 11

662 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

What's New?

computers. The price is $395. Contact BPI Systems, 3423 Guadalupe, Austin, TX 78705, (512) 454-2801. Circle 686 on inquiry card.

Construction Aided by Software

Running on any Unix-based operating system, the Micos I Software Series for Construction Cost Management assists the manager in controlling and managing all construction costs. It features a composite database of over )5 t 000 construction items that shows both current and historical costs for labor, material, and equipment. The databases can be automatically updated to reflect the local economy through trade/ commodity factors. Micos I information is available from Constech Inc., 8615 Freeport Parkway, POB 610663, DFW Airport, TX 75261, (214) 257-1186. Circle 687 on inquiry card.

Under the Bubble

The PC-DOS Bubble is a product that integrates microcomputers and host computers into a data-processing network. The Bubble from Data lex enables applications software written in the p-System to run in a PC-DOS operating system as if it were native to that environment. One can initiate from and ter-

minate to, PC-DOS without requiring a separate bootstrap operation, enabling access and read or write in both p-system and PC-DOS files from within the p-System. The Datalex Bubble is available from the Datalex Company, Suite 406, 650 Fifth St., San Francisco, CA 94107, (415) 541-0780. Circle 697 on inquiry card.

Micromentor Helps

The Micromentor Learning System adapts to any student's individual learning rate while it teaches a variety of subject databases such as language arts for the middle grades and SATplus, French, Spanish, Hebrew, and biology for older students. The system uses adaptive-reinforcement techniques to enhance and evaluate students' progress. It requires the Apple II and one or two disk drives. The program is $125, and the subject databases range from $30 to $50. For details, contact Cardinal Software Inc., 96 Blueberry Lane, South Hamilton, MA 01982, (617) 468-4702. Circle 695 on inquiry card.

Recover Erasures

Unera recovers erased files in CP/M-based computers and is available in disk formats that include Osborne, North Star, Heath/Zenith, Kaypro, Televideo, and more.

File recovery is guaranteed if Unera is used

promptly after erasure; yet even if other data has been written to the disks, Unera will recover what it can by recognizing wildcard characters. It supports recovery of multiple files in a single operation, allows disk changing, and can be used in both single- and multidrive systems. The technical accuracy of this program is enhanced because it recovers only the required directory contents, thus maintaining the integrity of the disk.

The package sells for $29 and includes documentation. Contact Compu-draw Software House, 1227 Goler House, Rochester, NY 14620, (716) 454-3188. Circle 691 on inquiry card.

Read Like the Wind

Super Speed Reading is a program for the Apple II, II Plus, and He that teaches you to read as many as 3000 words per minute or more, increasing your reading rate up to 10 times.

This program contains graphics and uppercase and lowercase in regular, medium, and boldface. It keeps user records automatically, displays individual progress reports, and provides comprehension exercises. The $149 price includes two disks and a 130-page manual. For details, contact Magnum Software, 21115 Devonshire St., Suite 337, Chatsworth, CA 91311, (213) 700-0510. Circle 693 on inquiry card.

Enhance CP/M-based Word Processors

Magicbind can do more than boldface, underline, accent, and super- or subscript. It provides over 60 print-formatting functions, text-editing, and file-processing capabilities. It spaces proportionately, automatically footnotes and numbers chapters, paragraphs, and articles, automatically handles short lines, prints multi-columns, and formats flexible page headings and footings. You can preview text on a video screen to check page breaks and format errors before printing. Magicbind can produce clean copy for mailings, customized wills, contracts, and other legal documents. With documentation, the price is $250. Contact Computer Editype Systems, 509 Cathedral Parkway 10A, New York, NY 10025 (2\2) 222-8148. Circle 703 on inquiry card.

Print Color From the Apple

The Color Printer provides an easy, low-cost method of producing full-color printouts using an Epson MX-80 printer with Graftrax and an Apple-compatible computer. Color Printer allows the user to print any image from Apple's high-resolution screen. The package includes an unprotected DOS 3.3 disk, four colored Epson ribbon cartridges, and full documentation. It

COStS $69.95 and iS avail-

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 663

What's New?

able from Enhanced Software Products Inc., POB 178, Wantagh, NY 1J793, (516) 799-2679. Circle 696 on inquiry card.

Manage Inventory with Any Report

An inventory-management system, Infotory, from SSR Corporation is available for the Victor 9000 on both floppy- and hard-disk drive systems, its capacity is up to 50,000 inventory items with 36 fields of information each. It features a built-in data management/report writer called Anyreport, giving the user unlimited flexibility in designing and saving custom reports to fit specific requirements. Infotory costs $425 for a floppy-disk format and $575 for a hard-disk format. For details, contact SSR Corp., 1600 Lyell Ave., Rochester, NY 14606, (716) 254-3200. Circle 692 on inquiry card.

Financial Modeling On the Move

A financial-modeling program for professionals and managers called Su-percomp-Twenty is transportable across the Digital family from PDP-1 Is to VAXes.

Available for the Digital Professional 300 Series, Supercomp-Twenty features a Help key, a tutorial, and formatting flexibility with column width, labeling, and a user-defined display. Program functions

include financial, mathematical, conditional, and statistical abilities. Two data-access modes link Supercomp-Twenty to many database and graphics programs.

It requires a Professional 300 Series with P/OS-disk or hard-disk operating systems and sells for $395. Contact Access Technology Inc., 6 Pleasant St., South Natick, MA 01760, (617) 655-9191. Circle 694 on inquiry card.

MASS STORAGE

TC 1000 Drlvette

A double-sided microfloppy-disk drive provides one megabyte of storage capacity on a 3'/4-inch microfloppy disk. Although it is one-fourth the size of 5/4-inch disk drives and one-half the weight, it offers 60 percent of the power consumption. The TC \000 gives users twice the capacity of a 500-kilo-byte drive at about a 30 percent increase \n cost. The TC \000 is plug- and data-compatible with standard double-sided \&0 tracks per side), double-density, 96-track-per-inch, 5 ¥4 -inch drives. Plug and data compatibility allows users to download double-sided, 5 l A -inch software packages to the unit's 314-inch disks without modification. The TC 1000 is available for $295 in evaluation quantities. For details, contact Tabor Corp., Lyberty Way, West-ford, MA 01886, (617) 692-2535. Circle 706 on inquiry card.

Color-Coded Disks

The jackets of double-density floppy disks in both 5/4- and 8-inch formats are available from Professional Publications in five prime and five pastel colors. Use the colors to identify different jobs, days of the week, typists, or any relevant category. Disks carry a 15-day trial money-back guarantee as well as a lifetime-replacement policy. Contact Professional Publications, POB 199, San Carlos, CA 94070, (415) 593-9119. Circle 705 on inquiry card.

Seagate's ST425

A 3-platter, 25.52-megabyte, 514-inch Winchester hard-disk drive uses a temperature-com-

pensation servo for increased track densities along with a conventional stepper motor for read/ write head positioning. The drive operates at an average access time of 60 milliseconds (msec) and track-to-track access time of 16.5 msec. Track density is increased from 345 to 480 tracks per inch, yielding a capacity of 4.25 megabytes on each of the six data surfaces. It is compatible with industry-standard ST506 controllers. The ST425 media is oxide-coated, and the transfer rate is 5 megabits per second. In quantities of 500, the ST425 is $1090. Contact Seagate Technology, 920 Disc Dr., Scotts Valley, CA 95066, (408) 438-6550. Circle 707 on inquiry card.

COMMUNICATIONS

And the Password Is:

The Password is a lightweight, 300-/1200-bps modem with auto dial and answer. It is compact enough to be mounted on the back of a computer using Velcro. The circuitry uses only 12 integrated circuits. At 1200 bps, three

or four typewritten pages per minute can be processed. The Password sells for $449. For information, contact U.S. Robotics Inc., 1123 West Washington Blvd., Chicago, IL 60607, (312) 733-0497. Circle 726 on inquiry card.

664 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

What's New?

Interface with Apple

The Interfacer by Data-Cue provides Apple II owners with a serial-communications port. The port supports synchronous/ asynchronous communications and the RS-232C and RS-422 electrical standards. The Interfacer also has two complete parallel-printer ports. It comes with software drivers for printers as well as a terminal emulator for communications with remote computers. It costs $95. For details, contact Data-Cue, 5696 Hwy 431 S, Browns-boro, AL 35741, (205) 883-2933. Circle 724 on inquiry card.

Pronet Networks Three Units

A multitasking network system for the Apple 11 called Pronet has been introduced by SWI International Systems. Many people can use the network that runs under the AROS operating system (compatible with Apple DOS 3.3) and the p-Sys-tem UCSD version 4.1. TurboDOS should be available soon for either the PCPI or Microsoft Z80 cards. A starter system for networking three computers costs $656. SWI plans to offer an IBM PC network with the p-Sys-tem followed by MS-DOS and TurboDOS. For details, contact SWI International Systems, 7741 East Gray Rd., Suite 2, Scotts-dale, AZ 85260, (602) 998-3986. Circle 728 on inquiry card.

Infonet for All

The Infonet network, which works in more than 150 national metropolitan areas and almost 50 cities around the world, has entered the communications market. Formerly confined to customers of Computer Sciences Corporation's remote-computing service, now anyone can transmit information between desktop computers and remote terminals in branch facilities. More than 150 nodes are interconnected over ] 30,000 miles of leased terrestrial circuits as well as satellite links. Connect-time fees are $4 per hour for speeds up to 1 200 bps; data-volume charges are 4 cents per 1000 characters for up to 1 200 bps. Contact Computer Sciences Corp., 650 North Sepui-veda Blvd., EI Segundo, CA 90245, (213) 615-031 I. Circle 729 on inquiry card.

Small Modem Can Transmit

The Small Wonder is an SR 120 Async Line Driver modem from Data-Control Systems. The SR 120 measures 85 by 133 by 45 millimeters and can transmit one mile over unloaded metallic circuits at 19.2 kbps. Longer distances are possible at lower data rates. The SR \20 conforms to Bell Publications #43401 and m\028. The price is $165. Contact Data-Control Systems, 1455 Research Blvd., Rockville, MD 20850, (301) 279-8700. Circle 727 on inquiry card.

Modem Adapts, Stores, and Dials

Cermetek Microelectronics has introduced In-fomate 212A, a microprocessor-based Bell 212A-type modem that fits on a standard telephone. It automatically adapts to the host's communication parameters and minimizes system-integration problems. Features include automatic dial, answer, speed select, and parity select, and automatic or manual selection of pulse or tone dialing. Its non-

volatile memory can store up to fifty-two 32-digit telephone numbers or logon messages for database access. Advanced dialing commands such as dial last number and dial until answered are provided. The Infomate 212A costs $595. For details, contact Cermetek Microelectronics Inc., 1308 Borregas Ave., POB 3565, Sunnyvale, CA 94089, (408) 734-8150. Circle 723 on inquiry card.

Compress Data Twice as Fast

The Scotsman III compresses data at a two-to-one ratio, doubling the capacity of existing phone lines and allowing communication links to operate at twice the normal speed. Because it doubles the throughput of a highspeed data link, it allows a 19.2 kbps (thousand bits per second) data stream to be transmitted using a con-ventional 9600-bps modem. It contains a built-in four-channel multiplexer and is compatible with most asynchronous, bisyn-

chronous, X.25, SDLC, and HDLC protocols. The units are fully compatible with the standard RS-232C serial and V. 24 interfaces. A cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is used to detect errors between data-compression units. Extensive diagnostics are built in, and statistical data can be used for network optimization. The price of the unit is $5000. Contact Racal-Vadic, 1525 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas, CA 95035, (408) 946-2227. Circle 719 on inquiry card.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 665

What's New?

The Short-Range Modern Family

RAD Computers has introduced a new family of short-range modems that are packaged in a plastic connector cover and do not need an AC power supply. The three models available are the SRM 6D, a 19.2-kbps asynchronous modem with a range of up to 35 km (9 km at 9600 bps with 24-gauge wire); the SRM 6A, which is transformer-Isolated from the line and 19.2-kbps asynchronous with a range of up to 20 km (6 km at 9600 bps); and the

SRM 6S, which has line-transformer isolation, data rates from 1.2- to 19.2-kbps synchronous with a range of up to 28 km (8 km at 9600 bps). Jo install, plug the modem into the computer or terminal connector. The unit prices are $60 for the SRM 6D, $95 for the SRM 6A, and $130 for the SRM 6S. For details, contact RAD Computers Ltd., FOB 13161, Tel Aviv 61131, Israel; Tel: {03} 49451 1; Telex: 35517. Circle 721 on inquiry card.

Reach Out and Transfer

The Reach 2.0 Modem and File Transfer program from the Software Toolworks is capable of automatic programmed interactions with remote host systems. Reach 2.0 lets you dial a remote system using an auto-dial modem such as the Hayes Smart-modem, log in automatically, read mail, send mes-

sages, and log off, all without operator intervention. It runs on the Heath/ Zenith H-89/Z-89/Z-90 computers and sells for $19.95. Contact The Software Toolworks, Suite 1118, 15233 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403, (213) 986-4885. Circle 716 on inquiry card.

Link Ranges 20 Miles

An RS-232C link, the Radiomodem is a low-cost, wireless, hand-held transceiver that operates on professional FM-radio communications channels. It can exchange data at up to 600 bps full- or half-duplex to provide medium-distance data links. It comes with a standard DB-25 connector and operates from either 110 V AC or 12 V DC. Typical Jink ranges of 15 to 20 miles can be extended to 25 miles over level terrain. Voice communications can also be conducted over the same link. Contact Ritron Inc., 148 West Carmel Dr., POB 1998, Carmel, IN 46032, (317) 846-1201. Circle 720 on inquiry card.

NEC Offers Two Modules

NEC Information Systems has introduced two modules for the NEC Advanced Personal Computer (APC). Coaxxsys-86/3270 and the SNA/ SDLC-86/3270 (Systems Network Architecture/Synchronous Data Link Control) allow the APC to connect to an IBM mainframe. Both run on the CP/M-86 operating system and use a standard serial port.

The Coaxxsys-86/3270 combines a printed-circuit board that plugs in to the APC bus with a software program running on CP/M-86. The hardware connects to the same coaxial cable that connects

an IBM 3278 terminal to either an IBM 3274 or 3276 controller.

The SNA/SDLC board and 3270 SNA software allow the APC to emulate an IBM 3276 Remote Control/Unit Display Station where, using a synchronous modem, the user can connect the APC via telephone lines to the IBM host computer. Both will be available soon: the SNA/SDLC-86/3270 for less than $500 and the Coaxxsys-86/3270 for less than S1000. For further details, contact NEC Information Systems Inc., 5 Militia Dr., Lexington, MA 02173, (617) 862-3120. Circle 717 on inquiry card.

Link Up the Easy Way

Advanced Micro Techniques has made CP/M-based computer link-up more accessible with Telex, TWX, telegram, cablegram, mailgram, In-focom, and Easy Link, Western Union's store-and-forward message service with a communications-software package called Micro ez LNK. Because it automatically formats and addresses Telex messages, you won't need to type complex sign-on messages or addresses on-line. Micro ez LNK can empty your electronic mailbox by receiving and storing messages on disk without attention from office personnel. It supports many terminals, 8-bit CP/M-based compu-

666 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

What's New?

ters, and common modems. Soon it will support the IBM PC, the DEC Rainbow, and other 16-bit machines. The price is SI50. Contact Advanced Micro

Techniques, 1291 East Hillsdale Blvd., Suite 209, Foster City, CA 94404, (415) 349-9336. Circle 725 on inquiry card.

Modem for Radio-downloading

A receive-only modem, the AM FM Loader, designed for reception of computer data from commercial radio stations, is compatible with Bell 103 (300-bps) signals and will also operate at speeds of up to 4800 bps. Computer programs are downloaded only when the listenership is low, to comply with licensing requirements of radio stations and cable

operations around the country. To install, plug in one cable to the radio's audio-output jack; another cable, terminated in a DB-25 connector, plugs into the serial port. For further details, contact the Microperipheral Corp., 2565 152nd Ave. NE, Redmond, WA 98052, (206) 881-7544. Circle 718 on inquiry card.

Osborne First, Then the Others

Two advanced communications-software packages, Cycom I and 2, are available from Cypher Communications Technology. Versions are available now for the Osborne I and will soon be available

for the TRS-80, Apple II, IBM, and DEC personal computers.

Both packages feature automatic access and file transfer. The Cycom 1 manages electronic mail, file transfer, conversation,

and dumb-terminal emulation. The Cycom 2 converts an Osborne 1 into a secure, encrypted communications terminal when used in conjunction with the Cypher Communications National Bureau of Standards Data Encryption

Standard encryption chip. Cycom 1 costs $ 1 20; Cycom 2 costs $450. Contact Cypher Communications Technology Inc., 1600 Research Blvd., Suite 105, Rockville, MD 20850. Circle 730 on inquiry card.

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Microprocessor-based Videotex

The Sceptre Videotex Terminal from American Bell combines with a color-TV set and a telephone with modular wiring to form a system for accessing and interacting with a videotex database. Advanced videotex features and a self-contained, highspeed communications link join the separate control unit with a wireless keypad to create a complete system. The encryption/security feature is useful for banking at home or private transactions. The QWERTY layout contains 42 alphanumeric keys, 10 control keys, 8

programmable-function keys, and a wireless infrared beam that links it to the control unit. For communications, a 212A-type originate-only synchronous/asynchronous modem is used at a data rate of 1200 bps. The NAPLPS (North American Presentation-Level Protocol Standard) protocol is supported in 7- and 8-bit versions. The unit sells for S900. Contact American Bell Consumer Products, 3 Park Ave., 31st Floor, New York, NY 10016, (212) 689-2612. Circle 715 on inquiry card.

User-oriented Test Set on Site or Away

The Phoenix Model 1500 Comit is a light-

weight, portable communications-interface test set.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

What's New?

The Comit tests modems, multiplexers, printers, and terminals, and it incorporates a 28-key keyboard and an 80-character liquid crystal display with all functions selected via single keystrokes or a menu of options. Synchronous and asynchronous modes operate for all standard bit rates through 19,2 kbps (thousand bits per second) with synchronous rates extended to 72 kbps. The format of an asynchro-

nous data stream can be evaluated for bit rate, character size, parity, and number of stop bits. The Model 1500 can be driven by a modem that allows for distance gauging and unattended real-time remote testing and control of all functions. The Comit lists for $2145. Contact Phoenix Microsystems Inc., POB 4206, Hunts-ville, AL 35802, (205) 881-2173. Circle 722 on inquiry card.

SYSTEMS

Two In One and a Language

A 64K-byte personal computer, the Orange + Two uses dual Z80A and 6502 microprocessors and the company's EuroROM feature to read, write, and work with Apple software as well as CP/M-based programs. CP/M 3.0 and Orangeforth-83, a derivative of the FigFORTH language, are both resident in the ROM and available on disk. The built-in disk-drive controller directs two Apple-type drives. Also included are a cassette interface, joystick port, color

graphics, and ASCII keyboard with a numeric keypad. The Orange + Two retails for $1095. Contact Orange Plus Computer Systems, 23801 Calabasas Rd., Suite 2050, Calabasas, CA 91302, (213) 999-5210. Circle 738 on inquiry card.

Serif Type from Wordtronix

The Serif Word Processing Machines are intended to appeal to first-time users

because typing functions are the same as typewriter operations. The Serif line uses a Z80A-based processor operating at 4 MHz with 64K bytes of RAM. An additional 16K bytes of RAM are used for screen refresh, and 4K bytes of ROM are used as a bootstrap loader. The adjustable, high-resolution 15-inch screen provides a 57-line by 85-column display. Operator text uses 45 of the 57 lines; 3 lines are for system/operator dialogue; and 9 lines are for menu and help messages. Up to 100 pages of on-line text can be stored with 5/4-inch floppy disks. The slim keyboard is de-

tachable. The Serif 1 comes with one disk drive; two drives are available with the Serif 2. The Type-righter 20 is a typewriter-quality daisy-wheel printer that operates at 200 words per minute or 20 characters per second (cps); the Typerighter 35 operates at 35 cps. Type-right I is accompanying software that provides standard letter-oriented typing features, and Type-right II offers enhanced features for document-oriented word processing. For details, contact Wordtronix, 9950 West 74th St., Minneapolis, MN 55344, (612) 941-0400. Circle 736 on inquiry card.

Toshiba's 16-bit High-Res Computer

Toshiba America Inc. has introduced a 16-bit IBM-compatible computer called the T300 Personal/ Business Computer. The 12-inch green monitor and the 14-inch 8-color monitor both display 80 characters by 25 lines with a resolution of 650 by 500 addressable dots. Color graphics, a detachable keyboard with 30 user-defined keys, an Intel 8088 microprocessor, 192K bytes of RAM, and 640K-byte disk drives are a few

of the features that provide versatility. The standard operating system is MS-DOS with T-BASICI6; the optional operating systems include CP/M-86 with CBASIC-86. Two models are available that house single- or double-disk drives, but both contain integrated Centronics and RS-232C serial-communications ports and seven expansion slots. For details, contact Toshiba America Inc., Information Systems Division, 2441 Michelle Dr., Tustin, CA 92680, (714) 730-5000. Circle 740 on inquiry card.

PUBLICATIONS

Books for the IBM PC

Several books designed for owners of the IBM PC have been published by John Wiley & Sons. Two

668 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

What's New?

of the titles include PC DOS: Using the IBM PC Operating System and CP/M for the IBM. Both books are written by Ruth Ashley and Judi N. Fernandez and each one costs SI4.95. Leroy Finkel and Jerald Brown's book IBM PC: Data File Programming sells for $14.95, and Richard Conklin's book PC Graphics: Charts, Graphs, Games and Art sells for $15.95. Contact John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10158. Circle 750 on inquiry card.

A Personal Guide

Osborne/McGraw-Hill announces a book by Lyle Graham called Your IBM PC: A Guide to the IBM Personal Computer. It is written for both beginning and experienced computer users. A functional overview of hardware and software, step-by-step operating instructions, and an introduction to IBM BASIC programming are a few of the main attractions for the novice. For more experienced users, Graham covers PC-DOS,

CP/M-86, advanced IBM BASIC programming, color graphics, and sound. Chapters include troubleshooting, appendixes, and problem-definition procedures. The 400-page book costs $16.95. Contact Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 2600 Tenth St., Berkeley, CA 94710, (415) 548-2805. Circle 751 on inquiry card.

Fundamentals of the IBM PC

Inside the IBM PC-Access to Advanced Features and Programming Techniques by Peter Norton covers the fundamentals behind the brains of the PC, how PC-DOS works, the service routines provided by ROM, a glossary, and an introduction to Pascal. The 288-page softcover book costs $19.95. The book/disk combination costs $79.95, and the disk alone is $65. All are available from Robert J. Brady Co., Bowie, MD 20715, (301) 262-6300. Circle 752 on inquiry card.

Computer Literacy A Must

As a key issue to successful office-automation planningjhe Directory of Office Information Systems stresses the benefits of training employees to develop computer awareness for personal as well as corporate goals.

The 300-page reference and buyer's guide also supplies the reader with information on practical reference tools needed for selecting the appropriate equipment, software, and services for specific office situations. Quick-glance comparison charts, personal-business computers, word-processing software, and typesetting/interface systems are discussed. A few of the chapters cover office systems, personal computers, software, system I/O, communications, and service bureaus, and an index organizes it all. The book costs $34.95 and quantity discounts are offered. Contact Information Clearing House Inc., Department OIS, 500 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10110, (212) 354-2424. Circle 753 on inquiry card.

TLC for Educators

TLC, or Teaching, Learning, Computing, Is a magazine-style educator's guide to personal computing. It focuses on people whose contributions to computing have been integral to its success. Topics covered are special education, an administrator's planner, and essays as well as book reviews, a calendar, and answers to computer queries. Subscriptions are $24 a year. Contact TLC, Data Learning Tower, POB 9159, Brea, CA 92621. Circle 754 on inquiry card.

Tesla's Inventions

An autobiography that reveals Nikola Tesla's struggle to harness power and perfect the electric motor using Niagara Falls has been rereleased. My Inventions is available in paperback with a new introduction by Ben Johnston, Tesla's biographer. Copies are $7.95. Contact Hart Brothers Publishing, Department N, POB 205, Williston, VT 05495, (802) 879-4670. Circle 755 on inquiry card.

Announcing a new videotapeashort course

UNIX

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A First for Unix Users

A short course on Unix from Colorado State University covers more than 60 kjf the most frequently used Unix commands in 10 half-hour videotaped lectures. It teaches viewers how to build their own commands and provides a working knowledge of the versatility of the Unix operating system. For details, contact W. L. Somervell Jr., Engineering Renewal and Growth Program, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, (800) 525-4950. Circle 757 on inquiry card.

November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc. 669

What's New?

Trlannual Medical Software Directory

Medical Software Information Service (formerly Medisoft) produces a Medical Software Directory that contains programs written by physicians and Information on publications and services related to computers in the practice of medicine. Some of the programs included are for practice management, intensive-care units, education in the hospital, pathology, psychiatry, ultrasound in obstetrics, and nuclear and emergency medicine. Subscriptions are $80 a year for three issues. Contact Medical Software Information Service, Route 3, Box 6744, Twin Falls, ID 83301. Circle 756 on inquiry card.

Self-paced Tutor/ Training Course

Computer Tutor Corporation offers a self-paced, self-teaching guide that combines a book with a disk for the IBM PC and the Apple II Plus and lie computers. Courses include Multiplan, Wordstar, Visicalc, Supercalc, and two parts of Lotus's 1-2-3. Course data is loaded and saved on formatted disks. Each training course costs $39.95. Contact Computer Tutor Corp., 23 Central St., Wellesley, MA 021 8). Circle 768 on inquiry card.

The Latest Functions For New Buyers

Microprocessor-Microcomputer Technology is a

book written by Frederick F. Driscoll that provides readers with a working knowledge of microcomputer functions by focusing on the 8080A, the 6800, and the 6502 microprocessors. For each processor, there is a ready-to-use instruction set, programs with explanations, ^nd a description of basic operations and functions. The author shows how to use the microprocessors in conjunction with the 8255A peripheral interface and the 6821 peripheral-interface adapter. Other detailed instructions explain how to design, load, test, debug, and document programs, and how to use flowcharts, subroutines, and machine, assembly, and high-level languages. The book also discusses microprocessor architecture, BASIC instruction sets, addressing modes, and semiconductor memories. It costs S29.95. Contact Van Nos-trand Reinhold, 135 West 50th St., New York, NY \O020. (212) 265-8700. Circle 760 on inquiry card.

Visicalc for Students or Engineers

Visicalc for Science and Engineering describes how to use the "what-if" spreadsheet program for technical applications that include mechanics, optics, mathematics, statistics, electronics, civil engineering, systems control, and communications. Written by Stanley Trost and Charles Pomernacki, the

book includes more than 50 ready-to-run scientific and engineering programs for Visicalc allowing a reader with only a slight familiarity with Visicalc to solve technical problems. The illustrated book costs $13.95. Contact Sybex Inc., 2344 Sixth St., Berkeley, CA 947 \0, (415) 848-8233. Circle 761 on inquiry card.

Computers Serve Businesses

The Critic's Guide to Microcomputer Software

by Phillip Good, editor of the CPA Micro Report, provides accountants with separate versions for the IBM PC, CP/M-based computers, or Apple computers. Reviews in all the volumes are based on the hands-on appraisals of the author and his staff and contain recommendations for spreadsheets, word processors, database managers, productivity analyzers, tax packages, and legal-billing software. Each book costs $12.95. Contact the Chilton Book Co., Radnor, PA 19089, (800) 345-1214. Circle 763 on inquiry card.

How to Sell Your Software

A free booklet advises how to successfully sell the software you create on your personal computer. The eight-page booklet explains how to obtain national directory listings, how to price a new software product, locate an advertiser, write a user's manual, and operate a successful mail-order fulfillment service. Contact ATC Software, Route 2, Box 448, Estill Springs, TN 37330. Circle 773 on inquiry card.

Learn by Using Fig FORTH on Atari

Forth on the Atari— Learning By Using is a

book devoted to Fig-FORTH applications on Atari computers. It includes graphics and sound using the game ports for control applications and I/O programming in FORTH, and a mailing list in FORTH using virtual memory techniques. The I 16-page book costs $7.95. Contact Elcomp Publishing Inc., 53 Red-rock Lane, Pomona, CA 91766, (714) 623-8314. Circle 775 on inquiry card.

Where Do Mew Products Items Come From? The information printed in the new products pages of BYTE is obtained from new product or press release copy sent by the promoters of new products. If in our judgment the information might be of interest to the personal computing experimenters and homebrewers who read BYTE, we print it in some form. \X/e openly solicit releases and photos from manufacturers and suppliers to this marketplace. The information is printed more or less as a first-in first-out gueue, sufcject to occasional priority modifications. While we would not knowingly print untrue or inaccurate data, or data from unreliable companies, our capacity to evaluate the products and companies appearing in the "What's New?" feature is necessarily limited. We therefore cannot be responsible for product guality or company performance.

670 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

Apple Country Ltd. has your Number for

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AMDEK COLOR I PLUS 299.95

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BMC AU9191U 13" COLOR 299.95

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COMMODORE COLOR MONITOR 269.95

COMREX 13" COLOR W/SOUND 294.95

COMREX 12" HI-RES AMBER 149.95

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JUKI 6100 PRINTER (P) 549.95

MANNESMANN TALLY MT160L 779.95

MANNESMANN TALLY MT1602 1289.95

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PANASONIC KX-P1090

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C ITOH 8600BP

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SMITH CORONA TP-1

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XEROX 820-11 $2899

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FRANKLIN ACE 1000 W/COLOR LOW1! FRANKLIN ACE 1200 SYSTEM LOW!! ROMAR II (APPLE CLONE) 549.95

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ELEPHANT DISKETTES SS/SD 16.95 ELEPHANT DISKETTES SS/DD 19.95 ELEPHANT DISKETTES DS/DD 25.95

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4TH DIMENSION DRIVE+CTRL 4TH DIMENSION DRIVE-ONLY HAYES MICROMODEM II KENSINGTON SYSTEM SAVER RANA ELITE I W/CTRL-CARD RANA ELITE II W/CTRL RANA ELITE III W/CTRL SOFTCARD (Z-80 CARD) MICRO-SCI A2 W/CTRL-CARD ASCII EXPRESS PRO BPI GENERAL ACCOUNTING DATASTAR (REQ Z-80) dBASE II (REQ. Z-80) INFOSTAR (REQ Z-80) REPORTSTAR (REQ Z-80) SENSIBLE SPELLER SPELLSTAR (REQ Z-80) SUPERCALC (REQ Z-80) SUPER-TEXT PRO 40/80 VISICALC 3.3 WORDSTAR W/APPLICARD

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We mill try to meet or beat any advertised price! CALL US... WE CAN HELP! 1-800-222-2602

For technical assistance, order status and California calls (619) 765-0239

Apple Country, Ltd., P.O. Box 1099, 2602 Washington St., Julian, Calif. 92036 ^

Terms: We accept American Express. No extra charge for Visa /Ma persona! check {allow 2 weeks to clear) Shipping & Handling: 5% Hawaii & Monitors 5% ($10 min.) Foreign orders 15% ($15'min.)-manufacturer's warranty. Prices are subject to availability & chang* must include check. California residents add 6% sales tax. Send s new fall catalog.

terCard, Cashier's Cheek/ $5 min.); APO FPO Alaska

Apple Country, Ltd. is a DISCOUNT MAIL ORDER HOUSE for the micro computer industry

and is a California corporation not affiliated with Apple Computer Inc. Apple is a trademark of Apple Computer Inc.

Circle 31 on inquiry card.

WW fNMJT

tm.

Circle 78 on inquiry card,

MAJOR EXPANSION AT MINOR EXPENSE

Why pay more for top quality peripherals and accessories when our prices are consistently among the lowest anywhere? Expand your system and shrink your cost. We invite you to compare prices, then call us.

MICROSOFT For IBM PC

9913 64K card

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For APPLE II, 11 + , He

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PS-000 paral, ser. I/O card

SALE PRICE

. . . $273.92 ... 201.64 ... 224.55 ... 230.55 ... 201.64 ... 223.32 ... 230.55 ... 13.73 ... 165.50

MODEMS

01 HAYES ...

02 HAYES ...

03 HAYES...

04 NOVATION.

05 NOVATION.

06 NOVATION.

07 NOVATION.

08 NOVATION.

09 NOVATION

stack chronograph. . stack smartmodem. smartmodem 1200..

cat

dcat

autocat

jcat

smartcat 103/213... smartcat 103.

SALE PRICE

...$194.77 ... 225.40 ... 551.25 ... 159.25 ... 175.17 ,. 638.22 ... 118.64 ... 473.76 ... 198.30

DYSAN DISKETTES

10411 5.25".ss.sd... ...

104(10 5.25".ss.dd

104I2D 5.25".ds.dd

374011 8".ss.sd

3740/1D 8".ss.dd

374012 8'\ds.sd

3740120 8".ds.dd

boxes of 10 each.

SALE PRICE ...$ 31.85 ... 33.68 ... 39.81 ... 33.07 ... 41.03 ... 41.03 . .. 47.77

MISC. ITEMS

644 0100 .... lemon surge protector..

644-0110 .... orange surge protector.

644-0120 .... lime surge protector...

7654 system saver (APPLE).

SALE PRICE ...$ 45.33 ... 111.42 . . . 71.27 . . . 66.15

ORDERS ONLY

IN CAL. 800-821-6662

800-858-4810

COMMERCIAL BUSINESS SUPPLY

2858 S. ROBERTSON BLVD. LOS ANGELES, CA 90034

INFORM A TION

(213) 559-0596

Phone orders accepted on Visa and Mastercard only. Add 3% for credit card use. California residents add 6.5% sales tax. No C.O.D. Actual shipping and handling charge added to all orders. Prepaid orders as follows: Money orders or cashier's check —merchandise shipped upon receipt. Personal checks must clear before shipping. 20% restocking fee. Prices and availability subject to change.

BUTE

-back issues for sale

Circle and send requests with payment to: BYTE Back Issues P.O. Box 328 Hancock, NH 03449

Please allow 4 weeks for domestic delivery and 8 weeks for foreign delivery.

name

address

city

state zip

The above prices include postage in the US. Please add $.50 per copy for Canada and Mexico; and S2.00 per copy to foreign countries. □ Check enclosed

Payments from foreign countries must be made in US funds payable at a US bank.

□ VISA Card # _

□ MasterCard _ Exp.

Signature

672 BYTE November 1983

DETACHABLE INSERT

Satisfying Your Personal And Professional Computer Needs Since 1975

TT §H

It £

OR YOUR MONEY BACKl

Inside:

pa®

SIEMENS FDD 100-8 Single sided, double density

MSF-201120 $179.00 ea 2 for $175.00 ea

SHUGART SA 801R Single sided, double density

MSF-10801R $355.00 ea 2 for $349.00 ea

SHUGART SA- 851R Double sided, double density

MSF-10851R $459.00 ea 2 for $455.00 ea

QUME DT-8 Double sided, double density

MSF-750080 $479.00 ea 2 for $459.00 ea

TANDON TM 848-1 SS DD thin-line

MSF-558481 _______ $369.00 ea 2 for $359.00 ea

TANDON TM 848-2 DS DD thin-line

MSF-558482 $439.00 ea 2 for $435.00 ea

NEC FD1165 DS DD thin-line

MSF-851165 $450.00 ea 2 for $440.00 ea

NEC FD1164 SS DD thin-line

MSF-851164 r $360.00 ea 2 for $350.00 ea

5'/ 4 inch DISK DRIVES

TANDON TM 100-1 MSM-551001

SS DD48TPI

$225.00 ea 2 for $195.00 ea

SHUGART SA 400L SS DD 40 track

MSM-104000 $209.00 ea 2 for $199.95 ea

TANDON TM 100-2 DS DD 48 TPI

MSM-551002 $229.00 ea 2 for $225.00 ea

MPI B52 DS DD 48 TPI can be substituted for CDC

MSM-155200 $275.00 ea 2 for $270.00 ea

MPI B51 SS DD 48 TPI

MSM-155100 $209.00 ea 2 for $199.00 ea

MPI B91 Single sided, Quad Density 96 TPI

MSM-155300 $285.00 ea 2 for $275.00 ea

MPI B92 Double sided Quad density 96 TPI MSM-155400 $400.00 ea 2 for $390.00 ea

5y 4 " CABINETS/POWER SUPPLY

END-000216 Single cab w/power supply $69.95

END-000226 Dual cab wlpower supply $85.00

S-100 CPU SPECIAL!

SSM CB-2, 2/4MHz Z-80A CPU, 2 EPROM sockets, extended address lines, all lines buffered, use with or without front panel. HURRY! limited quantity.

CPU-30300K Kit (List Price 299.95) . CPU-30300A A & T (List Price)

. $159.95 . $199.95

DUAL SLIMLINE SUB-SYSTEMS

From JADE. Handsome vertical cabinet with scratch resistant baked enamel finish, proportionally balanced air flow system, quiet cooling fan, rugged dual drive power supply, power cables, power switch, line cord, fuse holder, cooling fan, all necessary hardware to mount two 8-inch slimline disk drives. Does not include signal cable Dual 8-Inch Slimline Cabinet END-000820 Bare cabinet $59.95

END-000822 A _ T w/o drives .

. $164.95

Dual 8-Inch Slimline Sub-systems END-000843 Kit w/2 SS DD drives ___ END-000844 A & T w/2 SS DD drives . END-000845 Kit w/2 DS DD drives

__ $869.00 _ $879.00 .$1060.00 END-000846 A & T w/2 DS DD drives $1099.00

DISK SUB-SYSTEMS JADE

Handsome metal cabinet with proportionally balanced air flow system, rugged dual drive power cable kit, power switch, line cord, fuse hoider, cooling fan, nevermar rubber feet, all necessary hardware to mount two 8-inch disk drives, power supply, and fan, does not include signal cable Dual 8" Sub-Assembly Cabinet

END-000420 Bare cabinet $49.95

END-000421 Cabinet kit $199.95

END-000431 A _ T $249.95

8" Sub-Systems—Singat Sided, Double Density END-000423 Kit w/2 Siemens FD100-8DS _ $579.00 END-000423 A& T w/2 Siemens FDWO-SDs $595.00

END-000433 Kit w/2 Shugart SA-801 Rs $939.00

END-000434 A & T w/2 Shugart SA-801P.S $969.00

8" Sub-Systems—Double Sided, Double Density

END-000426 Kit w/2 Qume DT-8s $1229.00

END-000427 A & T w/2 Qume DT-8s $1249.00

END-000436 Kit w/2 Shugart SA-851 Rs _ $1199.00 END-000434 A & T w/2 Shugart SA-851 Rs $1219.00

DISK DRIVE POWER SUPPLY

Sufficient current to power up to three 8-inch disk

drives

PSD-206A List price $149.00 $89.95

RAM BOARDS ON SALE!

64K EXPANDORAM II

Our ail time best selling RAM board!

MEM-64633A A & T List Price 799.95 _____ $295.00

ONLY $250.00 each For 4 or more

64K DYNAMIC RAM BARE BOARD

Design your own S-100 64K RAM board using inexpensive 4116 chips and TTL chips. Includes iow-noise, four layer PC board and assembly manual with theory of operation. HURRY! limited quantity and at this price we can not support or guarantee these boards

MEM-99730B Bare board ' $24.95

ONLY $15.00 each for 4 or more

THE BUS PROBE

Best selling inexpensive S-100 diagnostic analyzer

TSX-200B Bare board $59.95

TSX-200K Kit $179 95

TSX-200A A & T $199 95

I/0-4 SSM MICROCOMPUTER

Two serial I/O ports plus two parallel I/O ports IOI-1010A A & T $245.00

I/0-5 SSM MICROCOMPUTER

Two serial and three parallel ports, 110-19.2K baud IOI-1015A A & T $289.00

INTERFACER 4 COMPUPRO

Three serial, one parallel, one Centronics parallel

IOM840A A & T $389.95

IOI-1830C CSC $495.00

I/0-8 SD SYSTEMS

Full compliance with IEEE 696 standards, operates as a Bus Slave. Available with 8 Async parts of 4 Async and 4 Async ports, up to 1 Megabit/sec in synchronous mode. Real time clock with battery backup. One year factory warranty

IOI-1510A 8 Async ports $589.95

IOI-1520A 4 Sync/4 Async $669.95

ULTRA-VIOLET EPROM ERASERS

Inexpensive erasers for industry or home

XME-3100 Spectronics w/o timer $69.50

XME-3101 Spectronics with timer _________ $94.95

XME-3200 Logical Devices $49.95

PB-1 SSM MICROCOMPUTER

2708, 2716 EPROM board with on-board programmer MEM-99510A A & T w/manual $219.00

PROM-100 SD SYSTEMS

2708, 2716, 2732 EPROM programmer with software MEM-99520 A A & T with software $219.95

DISKETTE STORAGE BOXES

Clear plexiglass storage boxes for up to 75 diskettes

MMA-505 Holds 75 5%" diskettes $19.95

MMA-508 Holds 50 8" diskettes $29.95

SINGLE BOARD COMPUTER

NEW! ADC SUPER SIX

First 6 MHz S-100 single board computer to support banked CP/M 3.0 featuring 128K RAM, 6 MHz Z-80B, DMA cont, DART. PIO, CTC, double-density disk controller, up to 4K of Eprom, IEEE 696 compatible, 6 MHz super slave boards also available for networks

CPC-30860A 64K super six $749.95

CPC-30862A 128K super six $799.95

SFC-52502OOOF CP/M 3.0 for super six $349.95

SFC-55622000F Turbo-DOS single user __ $249.95

SEE PAGE 8 FOR ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS

PLACE ORDERS TOLL FREE!

Continental USA Inside California Los Angeles Area

(800) 421-5500 (800) 262-1710 (213) 973-7707 ow.«•-**,.__

JADE Computer Products 4901 West Rosecrans Avenue, Hawthorne, California 90250

THE BIG Z—JADE

2 or 4 MHz switchable Z-80 CPU board with serial I/O accommodates 2708, 2716, or 2732 EPROM, baud rates from 75 to 9600

CPU-30200B Bare board w/manual $35.00

CPU-30201K Kit w/manual $179.95

CPU-302Q1A A & T $199.00

SBC-200 SD SYSTEMS

4 MHz Z-80A CPU with serial and parallel I/O, 1K RAM 8K ROM space, monitor PROM included CPC-30200A A & T $298.95

SBC 300 SD SYSTEMS

Self-contained S-100 Z80 microcomputer, 4/6 MHz, 64K RAM with parity; 2 to 16K of PROM, 24 bit addressing, fully complies with IEEE 696 standards. It can function as a permanent Bus Master orasSlave. Two fully programmable serial channels with handshaking; full SASI port. One year factory warranty

CPC-30304A SBC 300, 4 MHz, A& T _____ $619.95 CPC-30306A SBC 300, 6 MHz, A& T _____ $689.95

CPU-Z COMPUPRO

2 or 4 MHz Z80A CPU, 24 bit addressing

CPU-30500A 2/4 MHz A & T $279.95

CPU-30500C 3/6 MHz CSC $374.95

8085/8088 COMPUPRO

Both 8 and 16 bit CPUs standard 8 bit S-100 bus, up to 8 MHz, accesses 16 MegaBytes of memory

CPU-20510A 6 MHz A & T __ $389.95

CPU-20510C 6/8 MHz CSC $497.95

ISO BUS—JADE COMPUTER

Silent, simple and on SALE! A better motherboard 19 MHz 6 Slot f$%* x 8%")

MBS-061B Bare board $22.95

MBS-061K Kit $39.95

MBS-061A A & T $49.95

10 MHz 12 Slot (9W x 8%")

MBS-121B Bare board $34.95

MBS-121K Kit $69.95

MBS-121A A & T $89.95

6MHz 18 Slot (14y 2 " x 8%"}

MBS-181B Bare board __ $54.95

MBS-181K Kit $99.95

MBS-181A A & T $139.95

BEST S-100 MODEM BOARD!

Auto-dial, auto-answer designed specifically for use with S100 systems. 300 or 1200 baud. Full of half duplex, with auto mode and auto speed select; direct connect

IOM-6000A 7200 baud modem

. $399.00

DOUBLE D—JADE COMPUTER

High reliability, double density disk controller with on-board Z-80A, auxiliary printer port, IEEE S-100 can function in multi-user interrupt driven bus

IOD-1200B Bare board & hdwr man $59.95

IOD-1200K Kit w/hdwr & sftwr man $299.95

IOD-1200A A & T w/hdwr & sftwr man $325.00

SFC-59002001F CP/M 2.2 with Double D ___ $99.95

2422 DISK CONTROLLER—CCS

5 1 / 4 " or 8" double density disk controller with on-board boot loader ROM, FREE! CP/M 2.2 and manual set IOD-1300A A & T with CP/M 2.2 $338.00

VERSAFLOPPY II—SD SYSTEMS

Double density disk controller for any combination of 5y 4 " and 8" single or double sided, analog phase-locked loop data seperator, vectored interrupts. CP/M 2.2 & Oasis compatible control/diagnostic software PROM included

IOD-1160A A & T with PROM ___ $344.95

SFC-5509047F CP/M 3.0 with VF-II __ $80.00

VERSAFLOPPY II/696

Fully compatible with IEEE 696 standards, phase-locked toop data seperator, CRC error checking. Reads/writes IBM 3740 and system 34 formats, concurrent support of any combination of 4 5 1 / 4 " or 8" drives. Single or double sided drives supported single or double density. One year factory warranty

IOD-1170A Versafloppy 11/696 A & T $349.95

SFC-55009157F 8" banked CP/M 3.0* **$75.Q0

SFC-55009157M 5%" banked CP/M 3.0* _ **$75.00 SFC-55009159F 8" unbanked CP/M 3.0* _ **$75.00 SFC-55009159M 5%" unbanked CP/M 3.0* **$75.00 'configured for Versafloppy II/696 & SBC 300 "price $75.00 if ordered with Versafloppy II, price if ordered separtely is $199.95

VERSAFLOPPY III—SD SYSTEMS

Winchester and floppy controller in a single board! Full compliance with IEEE 696 standards, controls up to three floppy drives and three 5 1 / 4 " Winchester drives. Data may be trahsfered under DMA or programmed I/O control. One year factory warranty

$759.95 $129.00 $129.00 $129.00 $129.00

1OD-1180A Versafloppy III A & T ___

SFC-55009257F 8" banked CP/M 3.0* _ SFC-55009257M 5%" banked CP/M 3.0* SFC-55009259F 8" unbanked CP/M 3.0* SFC-55009259M 5 1 / 4 " unbanked CP/M 3.0* •configured for Versafloppy III & SBC 300 "price $129.00 if ordered with Versafloppy III price if ordered separately $199.95

HIGH SPEED S-100 VIDEO SPECIAL!

Memory mapped S-100 video board with graphics, 64K x 16 high speed screen update, full upper/lower ASCII character set, selectable video attributes. HURRY! quantity limited IOV-1051A List Price 299.95 $99.95

Circle 525 on inquiry card.

THE ULTIMATE IN

s-ioo «_22I

RAM BOARDS! m *"^ JADE'S NEW

256K STATIC PERMA-RAM SEE PAGE 8 FOR DETAILS!

64 STATIC RAM JADE COMPUTER

Uses new 2K x 8 static RAMs. fully supports IEEE 696 24 bit extended addressing,200nsRAMs, lower 32K or entire board phantomable. 2716 EPROMs may be subbed for RAMs, any 2K segment of upper 8K may be disabled, low power typically less than 500ma

MEM-99152B Bare board $49.95

MEM-99152K Kit less RAM $89.95

MEM-32152K 32 K kit $169.00

MEM-56152K 56K kit $225.00

MEM-64152K 64 K kit __________ $265.00

Assembled & Tested add $30.00

EXPANDORAM III

SD Sysyems ExpandoRAM III is a high density S-100 memory board utilizing the new 64K x 1 dynamic RAM chips. It allows memory sizes of 64K, 128K or 256K all on a single S-100 board

MEM-65064A 64K ____ $398.95

MEM-65128A 128K .$464.95

MEM-65192A 192K $524.95

MEM-65256A 256K ____ $589.95

EXPANDORAM IV—SD SYSTEMS

State-of-the-art; full compliance with IEEE 696, 256K using 64K dynamic RAM chips. Up to 1024K using 256K dynamic RAM chips, parity check, error detection and correction optional. Supports both 8 and 16 bit data transfers. One year factory warranty

MEM-66256 ExpandoRAM IV w/parity $975.95

MEM-67256 ExpandoRAM IV w/EDC $1675.95

X

ISOBAR

The ISOBAR looks like a standard multi-outlet power strip, but contains surge suppression circuitry and built-in noise filters, plus a 15 amp circuit breaker

EME-115105 4 receptacle $59.95

EME-115100 8 recptacle $69.95

PLACE ORDERS TOLL FREE! SEE PAGE 8 FOR ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS

Continental USA Inside California Los Angeles Area

(800) 421-5500 (800) 262 1710 (213) 262-1710

JADE Computer Products 4901 West Rosecrans Avenue, Hawthorne, California 90250

FAST SERVICE, FULL SUPPORT, AND LOW LOW PRICES SINCE 1975 SATISFACTION GUARANTEED—OR YOUR MONEY BACK!

RX-80

AUTHORIZED

EPSON

DEALER!

WE'VE GOT THE BEST PRICES

ON THE WORLD'S BEST SELLING PRINTERS

CALL US!

*15Q

OFF

FX-80

«150

OFF

ALSO IN STOCK! MX-80FT RX-80 FT MX-100

FX-100

PRICES TOO LOW

TO PUBLISH

CALL US TOLL FREE!

Sale Price Based on Epson List Prices of 9/20/83.

NEW! 256K STATIC RAM BOARD With Battery Back-up!

PERMA-RAM

New! from Jade Computer

• Up to 256K of low-power CMOS STATIC RAM (using 8K x 8 RAM chips)

• Up to 64K of low-power CMOS staic RAM (using 2K x 8 RAM chips)

• 8 or 16 bit data transfers

• Optional on-board battery back-up circuit

• Meets of exceeds all real IEEE 696-1983 specifications

• Operates in standard 16 bit address bus using on-board bank-select feature

• Operates in extended24 bit address bus as a 64K or 256K block

• On-board "crowbar" overvoltage protection circuit guards memory chips against damage

• Highest quality four layer PC board with ground and power planes, allows high-speed, low noise operation

• One year warranty on assembled and tested boards

The PermaRanv* is the first of a new generation of products designed by JADE specifically for the new IEEE 696 S-100 bus standards. It's versatile design allows it to be used with two different types of static RAM chips, for memory configurations up to 256K. With the optional on-board battery back-up circuit, data in the PermaRam+ can be retained for years with the computer powered down (or even with the board removed from the computer).

For further versatility, the board can transfer data in 8 or 16 bit formats, and is compatible with both 16 bit standard and 24 bit extended addressing schemes. For added security, the board is protected from overvoltage damage caused by short circuits orfailure of voltage regulation components. The PermaRam™ is built around a high quality four-layer printed circuit board incorporating power and ground plane construction, assuring high speed and low noise operation, and all PermaRam™ boards purchased from JADE as assembled and tested units carry a one year warranty

Orders are being accepted for priority delivery in January 1984

MEM-90000K Kit w/no RAM ^^_____ $199.95

MEM-90640A 64K A & T, SP' $395.00

MEM-90641A 64K A & T, LP' $595.00

MEM-91064A 64K/256 A& T, LP' $695.00

MEM-91128A 128K/256 A & T, LP' $962.00

MEM-91192A 192K/256 A & T. LP' $1228.00

MEM-91256A 256 K (256 A & 7, LP* $1495.00

MEM-91900K Battery option. Add-on $89.95

MEM-91900A Baffe/y option, installed $89.95

MEM-90000D Manual only _„_ „_^_ $19.95

*SP denotes standard-power RAM chips; on board battery back up is not appropriate for these chips-consult JADE for optional off board battery back up schemes.

LP denotes ultra low power RAM chips which can be backed up by on board battery for up to 10 years

We accept cash, checks, credit cards, or purchase orders from qualified firms and institutions. Minimum prepaid order $15.00 California residents add 6 1 / 2 % tax. Export customers outside the US or Canada please add 10% to all prices. Prices and availibility subject to change without notice. Shipping and handling charges via UPS Ground 50C/lb. UPS Air $1.00/lb. minimum charge $3.00

4901 West Rosecrans Ave., Hawthorne, California 90250 circle 526 on inquiry card.

IZ5 Hand well

corp

4962 EL CAMINO REAL. SUITE 119 • LOS ALTOS. CA 94022

(415) 962-9265 • TLX 171947 HANDWELL LTOS»1-(800) 821-3628.

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DIP SWITCHES

4 Position

5 Posit ion

of'n'.itn >n 7 Position 8Position

90 90 90

SOUND CHIPS

764 77

76489

AY3-8910

AY3-8912

MC3340

2.95 8 95 9.95 12.95 1 49

MOS PROMS

2708

2758

2716

2716-1

TMS2516

TMS2716

TMS2532

2732

2732-250

2732-200

2764

2764-250

2764-200

TMS2564

MC68764

27128

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8 95 11.95

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Tel: 1-(800)-821-3628

Z80 SERIES

8000 SERIES

8200 SERIES

6800 SERIES

CALL FOR PRICE

S-RAM

2101

5101

2111

2112

2114

2114-25

2114L-4

2114L-3

2114L-2

2147

HM6116-4

HM6116-3

HM6116-2

HM6116LP-4

HM6116LP-3

HM6116LP-2

1 95

3 95

2 49 299

8 9 95 8 10 95 8 12.95 8 13 45 8 13.95 495 475

4 95 8 95

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10.95

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74S112

74S113

74S114

74S124

74S133

74S134

74S135

74S136

74S138

74S139

74S139

74S140

74S151

74S153

74S157

74S158

74S160

74S174

74S175

74S188

74S194

74S195

74S196

74S240

74S241

74S242

74S243

74S244

74S251

74S253

74S257

74S258

74S260

74S280

74S287

74S288

74S373

74S374

74S387

74S471

74S472

74S473

74S474

74S475

74S570

74S571

74S572

74S573

74S940

74S941

74S132

74S161

74S163

74S181

74S189

74S225

74S283

74S289

39

43

45

52

.52

49

49

42

42

.42

42

42

42

49

1.19

49

.42

46

46

69

72

72

.72

72

369

54

66

1 15

1 69

1 29

1 29

1 29

73

1 29

1 29

1 29

1 29

2.79

1 49

1 49

2 69 1 89 1.89

1 89

2 75 2 75 2 99 299 2 99 1 35 1 35 1.29

1 29 75

2 79 2 99

2 55

3 10 3 10 2 75 795 7 95 7.95 9 95 9.95 5.75 575 8.95 895 2.90 2.90 215 295 3.15 2.15 2.95 7.75 4.15 3.95

Miscellaneous

6502

68000

8748

8255-5

82S123

82S129

82S131

93422

93L422

93425

93427

D2125AL-2

D2104

AY5-3600

6810

8304

4.95

49,95 24.95 5.95 2.55 2.99 3.99 8.95 9.95 3.95 8.95 3.95 1.95 1295 3.95 3.95

DRAM

LINEAR

LM301CN

LM304H

LM305H

LM306H

LM307CN

LM308CN

LM309K

LM310CN

LM311D/CN

LM312H

LM317T

LM318CN

LM319N/H

LM320K-XX"

LM320T-XX*

LM320H-XX'

LM323K

LM324N

LM337K

LM338K

LM339N

LM340K-XX"

LM340T-XX"

LM340H-XX"

LM344H

LM348N

LM350K

LM358CN

LM360N

LM372N

LM376N

LM377N

LM380CN/N

LM381N

LM383T

LM386N

LM387N

.35 1,98 1,89 3.25

.29

.98 1.49 1,25

.89 1.75 1.70 1 49 1,25 1.35 1 39 1.25 4.95

.95 5.95 695

.95 1 75 1 25 1.25 1.95 1.20 5.60 98 1.49 1.95 3.75 2.75 1.25 1.79 1 95 1.25 1.40

IN-LINE PRINTER BUFFER

FOR ANY COMPUTER

ANY PRINTER *64K Byte 'Parallel to Parallel •Parallel to Serial 'Serial to Parallel 'Serial to Serial

Model BF64S $ 225. 00 I

For single computer

single printer

Model BF64M S 395. 00

For multi-computer

single printer Allow up to four computers

Share one printer

16 RAM CARD

Compatiblewilh. DOS33.CP M, SOO

Visicalc PASCAL OJ7.

1YR WARRANTY

MULTIFUNCTION BOARD

WITH MEMORY, I/O

CLOCK

FOR IBM P/C CALL FOR LOWEST PRICE

SPEEDY EPROM

PROGRAMMER

FOR APPLE II

PROGRAMMING

2716, 2732, 2764, 27128.* 2532, 2564 IN 30 SECONDS $ 99. 00

Applell/lle

Compatible $ 175. 00 Disk Drive

CONTROLLER CARD $44.°

SUPER COOLING

FANS FOR APPLE

WITH SURG

LOGIC PROBE

WITH MEMORY FUNCTION

TMS4027

UPD411

MM 5280

MK4108

MM 5298

4116-300

4116-250

4116-200

4116-150

4116-120

2118

4164-200

4164-150

1 99

300

. 3 00

1 95 1 85 8 11.75 8 11.95 8 1295 8 14.95 8 2995

4 95

5 95

6 95

IBM MEMORY EXPANSION KIT

IBM 64K $52.95 (9Pcs64KRAM)

High Quality Diskettes

5V." SS/SO 15/Box 5'/4" SS/DD 17/Box 5%" DS/DD 27/Box

80 Column Dot Matrix Printer

CP-80byC.T.I. 80cps parallel interface graphics printing compatible with EPSON MX80FT

SALE PRICE s 299. 00

TERMS: For shipping include $2 for UPS Ground or $3 for UPS Blue Label Air. Items over 5 pounds require additional shipping charges. $10 minimum order.

-(800)821-3628

12 Hand well

4962 EL CAMINO REAL, SUITE 119 • LOS ALTOS, < |

1(415) 962-9265* TLX: 171947 HANDWELL LTOS i

corp

Circle 207 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983

Circle 448 on inquiry card.

CHECK SUNTRONICS NEW LOW PRICES

Apple Compatible Products General Products General Products- cont.

195

AFDC-1 Floppy Disk Drive $7Q!

Controller / 5J*

Runs DOS 3.3 with any standard Shugart compatible 5W disk drive. {2 drives each card)

II

ASCII KEYBOARD A&T 79

Plug in compatible with Apple II, has shift-lock, underscore, [ ] and back slash characters.

BMC DISK DRIVE and CONTROLLER for APPLE II BAL500 Disk Drive SW SS/DD

100% Apple II compatible 269.00

Controller for above 79.00

APPLE Connector 50 pin 3.50

Apple Prototype Board.

Double Sided glass with gold plated Apple and General Purpose terminals. Contains matrix of 17 x 63 solder plated donuts on .15" x .1" spacing. Great for 14,16, and 24 pin I C's. SUN-722 7.95

Apprate PROM Blaster 119.00

"ALS" 80 Column Card 159.00

"ALS" Z-CARD (Z80 CPU) 149.00

API Apple Parallel Printer Interface card. Centronics Compatible .. $45.00

Mitsubishi Disk Drives, 5W and 8 Slim

5Va" Thin DSDD 40 Track 310.00

8" Thin DSDD 80 Track 450.00

DISKETTE SALE

lW Diskettes

SS/DD (100% certified)

DS/DD (100% certified)

10 up 100 up 1.75 1.55

2.50 2.30

Video Monitors

SAMWOO GREEN 9" 18MHz $115.00

SAMWOO AMBER 9" 18MHz 119.00

SAMWOO GREEN 12" 18MH* 124.00

SAMWOO AMBER 12" 18MHz 127.00

Composite video I/O. 750 lines resolution. 75/10K ohm impedance.

BMC 13" COLOR monitor for your home computer/video game display. Offers 350 x 350 resolution with 400 dots at the center. 9191U 13" Color 249.00

BMC 13" RGB COLOR monitor offers state of the art RGB for the IBM PC with 690 x 240 resolution and latest in TTL level technology.

9191MU 13" RGB Color 445.00

Note: Please add $10.00 shipping and hand-ting for the video monitors.

BMC PRINTERS

ii§§ SUNTRONICS CO., inc.

^^ 12621 Crenshaw Blvd., Hawthorne, CA 90250

BX-80 dot matrix printer with 80 cps, 9x7 print head. Quiet, reliable and priced for entry level $OCQ00

end-user £Uv

PB401 16 cps letter quality bi-directional daisy wheel printer. 132 cpl with cassette type ribbon 731.00

BMC PB101 16 cps letter quality bidirectional daisy wheel printer. 132 characters per line with cassette type ribbon. 2K buffer and opt tractor feed. Available in serial and parallel 718.00

EPROM & RAM SUPER SALE

P N Description 8-24 25up

2716 (450nS) 3.95 3.95

2732 (450nS) 4.40 4.40

2532 (450nS) 4.40 4.10

2764 (28 pin) 5.95 5.95

2114L-2 (200nS) 1.62 1.62

4164 (in stock) Call Call

611 6P-3 (150nS) 6.10 5.75

Mother Boards & Card Cages

SLOTS Bare Bd KIT A&T w/CAGE

6 $12.00 $37.00 $5200 $77.00 8 16.00 48.00 73.00 108.00

12 22.00 68.00 103.00 143.00

10MHz, No termination. Includes power indicator and wiring for muffin fan. Uses OK connector for solderless installation and removal of power & reset lines.

STORE HOURS: MON Ff

v 1-800-421-5775

3 rs an<\ all Info Call 2 13-644-1 149

S-100 Products

64KSM A&T without RAM ... 1 55 64KSM A&T w/64k RAM (32-6116's). 339.00 S-100 Board Uses 6MHz 6116's. ViA max. power. Bank Select plus Extended Addressing allow for multi-memory board set-up. 4 independant 16K Blocks make easy use with multi-user systems. Any 2K RAM may be replaced by 2716 EPROM.

SBC-880 Z80A CPU, A&T $169.00

SBC-880 Z80A CPU, Kit 149.00

4M H2 Z80A CPU boards with Serial/Parallel Po rts.

UFDC-1 Floppy Controller, A&T 245.00

UFDC-1 Floppy Controller, Kit 225.00

The UFDC-1 Floppy Controller uses the

WD1795 chip which runs either

and/or 8'75V4" Disk Drives.

CLOCK CALENDAR A&T 115.00

CLOCK CALENDAR Kit 95.00

This S-100 Clock Calendar Board has

4 interrupts, Time, Day of Week and Battery Backup.

S-100 Edge Connector 100 pin 395

S-100 Prototype Board

Double Sided glass with gold plated, numbered S-100 terminals. Matrix of 25 x 78 solder plated donuts on .15" x .1" spacing. Locations for headers and regulators. Great for 14,16, and 24 pin IC's.

SATURDAY 10:00am to 5:00pm

SUNNY LOW LOW COST

POWER SUPPLIES

(LINEAR & SWITCHING) FOR S-100, DISK DRIVES

S-100 & DISK POWER SUPPLIES:

ITEM +5V OVP

Si

5A

NO. 806 & No. 516 Mainframes Kit 1, 2 & 3 for S-100 F^.ltyor 2 Drives (Floppy & Hard)

OPEN FRAME, ASSY. & TESTED, 6 OUTPUTS, ADJU. & FUSES PROTECT.

-5V +24V(OR + 12V) +8V ± 16V SIZE W x D x H PRICE

1A

5-7A PEAK

13A

3A

10" x 6" x 5"

105.95

> 3 12 SLOT & 2 FLOPPY

(1 Floppy & 1 Hard Disk) S4 6 SLOT & 2 FLOPPY 4A 1A 4-5A PEAK 8A 3A 8%" x 5" x 4%" 95.95

DISK POWER SUPPLIES: open frame, assy. & tested, regulated, adjustable & fuses protect.

ITEM IDEAL FOR +5V OVP -5V +24V(or+12V) +8V Unreg. + 12V SIZEWxDxH PRICE

R 0 2 x 8" SLIMLINE 2.5A 2.5A - 5A Peak

R t 2 x 8" or 2 x SW DISK 4A 1A 3A - 5A Peak 2A

R 2 [3x8" (or SMT) FLOPPY] 6A 1A 6A-8APeak

R 3 [or 1x Floppy & 1x Hard] 6A 1A 6A - 8A Peak 1A

AC & DC POWER CABLES WITH CONNECTOR FOR 2 DRIVES 8.00

S-100 POWER SUPPLY KITS (open frame with base plate, 3 hrs. assy, time)

ITEM (IDEAL FOR) +8V -8V +16V -16V +28V SIZE: WxDxH PRICE

5"x4"x4"

8" x 4" x 3%"

10" x 47/a" x 3%"

9" x SVa" x 4%"

51.95 56.95 71.95 65.95

S3 t S4fbrS-100&2Drives

SHIPPING FOR EA. PWR SUPPLY: $5.50 IN CALIF.; $8.00 IN OTHER STATES;$18.00 IN CANADA. FOR EA. TRANSFORMER: $5.00 IN ALL STATES;

1A 3A 3A 5A

6 SLOT MAINFRAME assy & tested only $399.95

$12.00 IN CANADA. CALIF.

DEALER | INQUIRIES INVITED

RESIDENTS ADD 6.5% SALES TAX.

+ SHIPPING $18.00

EACH MAINFRAME (ITEM NO. 806 OR 516) CONTAINS: EMI FILTER • FUSE HOLDER • AC POWER CORD • POWER SWITCH & INDICATOR • RESET SWrrCH • 4V2" COOLING FAN • S-100 BUS 6 SLOT CARD CAGE • (110/220 VAC. 50/60 HZ.) POWER SUPPLY FOR DISK DRIVES & S-100 SLOTS • 2 EA. DC POWER CABLES WITH CONNECTOR AND MOUNTING HARDWARE FOR DISK DRIVES • 9 EA. CUT-OUTS; 7 FOR DB25 CONNECTOR, 1 FOR 50 PIN CONNECTOR & 1 FOR CENTRONICS • CUSTOM FINISH & LOGO-LESS • COMPACT SIZE • LIGHTWEIGHT, 28 LBS. ITEM #806 FOR 2 EA. 8" THtNLINE FLOPPY (TANDON TM848-1 & 848-2 OR EQUIV.), OR ONE HARD DISK, POWER SUPPLY:+8V/8A, ±16V/3A, + 5V/5AOVP. -5V/1A & 24V/5A. SIZE: 12'(W) x 19.5"(D) x 9.8 "(H).

ITEM #516 FOR 2 EA. SVV FLOPPY (TANDON TM-100

(TANDON TM 600-2, 3 OR EQUIV), POWER SUPPLY: +8V/8A, ± 16V/3A OVP,

1, 2, 3, 4 OR EQUIV), OR ONE 5 1 /4" FLOPPY & ONE §W WINCHESTER HARD DISK -* 5V/6A OVP r + 12V/6A, 8A PEAK. SIZE: 13.75"(W) x 19.5"(D) x 7"(H).

No. No.

806 &

516 Mainframes

MAILING ADDRESS: i] P.O. BOX 4296

TORRANCE, CA 90510

SUNNY INTERNATIONAL

(TRANSFORMERS MANUFACTURER)

(213) 328-2425 MON-SAT 9-6

SHIPPING ADDRESS: 22129V 2 S. VERMONT AVE TORRANCE. CA 90502

674 BYTE November 1983

Circle 446 on inquiry card.

Do You Run Your Business or Does It Run You?

The biggest headache you may be facing these days is getting better control of your business. Tracking unpaid bills, sending out second billings, monitoring which salesman sold how much and to whom, keeping track of inventories, and on and on.

There's a remedy. It's called VersaForm... the business database.

VersaForm is a powerful database designed specifically for business, but based on the simplicity and convenience of your • familiar business forms.

If you can fill out a business form, you can create a database.

VersaForm starts with your existing forms and procedures. As you copy your forms onto the screen, VersaForm automatically

creates a database for you. It records and saves information from Purchase Orders, Invoices, Job Estimates, Disbursement Ledgers... maybe even a few things you're not recording that you should be.

VersaForm is an electronic file cabinet that will store all this information, yet have it at your fingertips when you need it! It's designed with a non-technical user in mind, so you can concentrate on streamlining your business with none of the usual database headaches.

Adapts to your business.. .your way.

With VersaForm you don't have to completely re-orient your staff. It fits right into the way you're doing business now. Only now your operations will be completed more efficiently and with electronic speed.

• A doctor in Moulton, Texas, posts his patient billing and completes his medical insurance forms with VersaForm.

• A small college in Wheaton, Maryland, uses VersaForm to create tuition invoices, class lists, accounts

receivable, and accounts payable. ' A computer supplies company in Mountain View, California, writes payables checks and does expense distribution with VersaForm.

* A roofing company in Green Bay, Wisconsin, computes job estimates, contracts, invoicing, and tracks actual costs with VersaForm.

1 A manufacturer in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, uses VersaForm to build his company's parts records, and generates "where-used"lists.

VersaForm has the power to do these jobs and more because it's designed especially for business. It can also calculate taxes and prices, and can look up discounts, so you don't have to. VersaForm will even print on your own pre-printed forms.

Pull information

together fast.

Pulling information together from paper files can be time-consuming and frustrating. Why make it tough? VersaForm puts vital reports like sales analyses, overdue payables, open purchase orders, and alphabetical employee lists at your fingertips. Minimum effort, maximum results.

All in one easy-to-use, integrated package.

VersaForm provides a screen formatter, a data entry program, a database, a report generator and a forms printer. And you can purchase predesigned Templates for standard jobs like Purchasing, Invoicing, and Expense Journals. VersaForm is the all-in-one business productivity tool. Ask for a demonstration at your computer dealer. Or contact us directly.

If you want to know more, send in this coupon. We've got a lot to tell you about.

Name

Company

Address

State

Zip

TVpe of Business

Mail to: Applied Software Technology 170 Knowles Drive Los Gatos, California 95030 (408)370-2662

For use with the Apple II, He and III, and the IBM PC and compatibles.

Circle 474 on inquiry card.

Serial 4 ■■■»»■■ <► Parallel

PRINTERS! PLOTTERS! PUNCHES! ROBOTS!

Convert What You Have To What You Want I

' RS232 Serial

* 8 Baud Rates

* Latched Outputs

* Centronics Parallel

* Handshake Signals

* Compact 3% x 4% x 1)4

No longer will your peripheral choices be limited by the type of 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!

___ onl,*89. W

Buffer Products "^^tt^^T^TTT^'

Coming Soon! ^^^ ****** rjwmj^Opitoo WOOD

CALL (805) 487-1665 or 487-1666 For FAST Delivery

SEND FOR OUR FREE

1983 PARTS CATALOG

THOUSANDS OF SURPLUS

ELECTRONIC PARTS, SUPPLIES AND DEVICES.

ALL CLCCTROniCS CORP.

905 S. Vermont Ave.

P.O. Box 20406

Los Angeles, Cal. 90006

in* iii* 4m\\ mw

Circle 179 on inquiry card.

Circle 70 on inquiry card.

Circle 16 on inquiry card.

THE CLONER EPROM DUPLICATOR

195

2716 2732A 2732

COPY SIMPLE STAND ALONE OPERATION 2716 BUILT IN POWER SUPPLY ONTO DOUBLE PROGRAM CYCLE 2732 DIP SWITCH PERSONALITY NO MOOULES TO BUV RUN & RESET BUTTONS ,

SCREEN PROMPTS STORES BASIC OR MACHINE PROGRAMS

BOARD-CONTROLLER DOCUMENTATION $24.95

ftAIOVEftTHE PHONE OR LOCAL

5 OR MORE $19.95 ee

REUSABLE CARTRIDGES

CARTRIDGE PROGRAMMER

*79. 95 USEJR f mmi

VIC TO VIC OR C64

NO CONNECT CHARGES

WORKS WITH 'TflOG AID & V-MON

NO MEMORY EXPANSION REQUIRED

$49 95 MIGHTY 5

7TH FLEET *29J5

SEND MESSAGES SINK ENEMY SHIPS

■'.'SPY'MODE ■':■: SET MINES

5 FULL SERVICE EXPANSION CONNECTORS

SOFTWARE CONTROL OF BLOCK ENABLE LINES

DUAL RESET SWITCHES: RESET VIC OR MIGHTY 5

GOLD CONNECTORS) USES SEVERAL GAMES OH RAM CARDS AT ONCE

LOW

COST

These and o ther fine products a vaifabte from:

QUEUE PRODUCTS

BOX 1655 f DEARBORN, Ml 48121

- DEALER INQUIRY REQUES TED - #2B

C LANGUAGE PROGRAMMERS

c-systems C COMPILER c-window™

The complete c language source level

program testing and debugging tool.

• Single step by c source line.

• Set breakpoints at line numbers.

• Display and alter variables by symbol name, using c expression syntax.

• No more printf or assembler level debugging!

c-window M is a support package for the c-eystem* C COMPILER for

8086/8088 based systems.

Contact

P.O. Box 3253

TM c-systems

FUterton.CA 92634 714-637-5362

ANALOG <P* DIGITAL DIGITALS* ANALOG

CONVERSION MODULES

SOFTWARE GAIN CONTROL

For additional details about the ad-100-4 and other fine California Data corporation 100% individually tested, high reliability products, circle the reader service card number below or for faster response write or call us.

CALIFORNIA DATA CORPORATION

3475 Old Conejo Road, Suite C-10 Newbury Park, CA 91320

(805) 498-3651

Circle 59 on Inquiry card.

Circle 63 on inquiry card.

Electronic

Circuit

Analysis

• AC and DC analysis

• Very fast, optimized machine language

• Worst case, sensitivity analysis

• Sweep component values

• 64 Nodes

• Compare circuits

• Log or linear sweep

• Full file handling

• Full editing, error trapping

» Frequency response, magnitude and phase

• Complete manual with examples

• Transmission lines

• Complex y parameters

• Available for CP/M, MSDOS, TRSDOS

• Price - $150.00

Tatum Labs

P.O. Box 698

Sandy Hook, CT 06482

(203) 426-2184

Scotch Diskettes

Rely on Scotch* diskettes to keep your valuable data safe. Dependable Scotch diskettes are tested and guaranteed error-free. The low abrasivity saves your read/write heads. They're compatible with most diskette drives.

(800)2354137

Dealer Inquiries invited

PACIFIC EXCHANGES

KXI Fmithtll Bfvd San Luii (Xiiipo CA 9340 S In C«i oall

IBM PC, APPLE, etc. .

SHARING AND SWITCHING PROBLEMS? GILTRONIX HAS THE SOLUTION!

Hi Any CPU

Q Q ^^

Printer 1 Printer 2 Modem or

Dot Matrix Letter Quality Other Peripheral

MANUAL UNITS AUTOMATIC UNITS

2-6 Ports OR 2-7 Ports

Selecto-Switch Auto-Switch

Serial (RS 232)/Paratlel (Centronics)

LOW COST ADD-ONS FROM THE MAIN (\S% MANUFACTURER

C^Giltronix

t^Vl 3780 Fabian Way. Palo Alto. CA 94303 (415) 493-1300

Circle 459 on inquiry card.

Circle 347 on inquiry card.

Circle 201 on inquiry card.

"THE ORIGINAL BIG BOARD" OEM - INDUSTRIAL - BUSINESS - SCIENTIFIC

SINGLE BOARD COMPUTER KIT!

Z-80 CPU! 64K RAM!

(DO NOT CONFUSE WITH ANY OF OUR FLATTERING IMITATORS!)

<fc

%

-> = </>«~

oc 11 -

<

Q.

THE BIG BOARD PROJECT: With thousands sold worldwide and over two years of field experience, the Big Board may just be one of the most reliable single board computers available today. This is the same design that was licensed by Xerox Corp. as the basis for their 820 computer.

The Big Board gives you the right mix of most needed computing features all on one board. The Big Board was designed from scratch to run the latest version of CP/M*. Just imagine ail the off-the-shelf software that can be run on the Big Board without any modifications needed.

*279

QO (64KKIT jujf BASIC I/O)

FULLY SOCKETED!

FEATURES: (Remember, all this on one board!)

SIZE: 872 x 13% IN. SAME AS AN 8 IN. DRIVE. REQUIRES: +5V @ 3 AMPS

+ - 12V @ .5 AMPS.

64K RAM

Uses Industry standard 4116 RAM's. All 64K is available to the user, our VIDEO and EPROM sections do not make holes in system RAM. Also, very special care was taken in the RAM array PC layout to eliminate potential noise and glitches.

24 x 80 CHARACTER VIDEO

With a crisp, flicker-free display that looks extremely sharp even on small monitors. Hardware scroll and full cursor control. Composite video or split video and sync. Character set is supplied on a 2716 style ROM, making customized fonts easy. Sync pulses can be any desired length or polarity. Video may be inverted or true. 5x7 Matrix - Upper & Lower Case.

SERIAL I/O (OPTIONAL)

Full 2 channels using the Z80 SIO and the SMC 8116 Baud Rate Generator. FULL RS232! For synchronous or asynchronous communication. In synchronous mode, the clocks can be transmitted or received by a modem. Both channels can be set up tor either data-communication or data-terminals. Supports mode 2 Int. Price for all parts and connectors: $39.95

FLOPPY DISC CONTROLLER

Uses WD1771 controller chip with a TTL Data Separator for enhanced reliability. IBM 3740 compatible. Supports up to four 8 inch disc drives. Directly compatible with standard Shugart drives such as the SA800 or SA801. Drives can be configured for remote AC off-on. Runs CP/M* 2.2.

BASIC I/O

Consists of separate parallel port (Z80 PIO) for use with an ASCII encoded keyboard for input. Output would be on the 80 x 24 Video Display.

TWO PORT PARALLEL I/O (OPTIONAL)

Uses Z-80 PIO. Full 16 bits, fully buffered, bi-directional. Uses selectable hand shake polarity. Set of all parts and connectors for parallel I/O: $19.95

BLANK PC BOARD — $99.95 The blank Big Board PC Board comes complete with full documentation (including schematics), the character ROM, the PFM 3.3 MONITOR ROM, and a diskette with the source of our BIOS, BOOT, and PFM 3.3 MONITOR.

REAL TIME CLOCK (OPTIONAL)

Uses Z-80 CTC. Can be configured as a Counter on Real Time Clock. Set of all parts: $9.95

CP/M* 2.2 FOR BIG BOARD

The popular CP/M* D.Q.S. to run on Big Board is available for $139.00.

DOUBLE DENSITY ADAPTER BOARD — $149.95 (A&T)

Requires no cuts or MODS to an existing Big Board. Gives up to 670K storage on a single sided 8 in. diskette. With software to patch your CP/M* 2.2.

PFM 3.3 2K SYSTEM MONITOR

The real power of the Big Board lies in its PFM 3.3 on board monitor. PFM commands include: Dump Memory, Boot CP/M*, Copy, Examine, Fill Memory, Test Memory, Go To, Read and Write I/O Ports, Disc Read (Drive, Track, Sector), and Search PFM occupies one of the four 2716 EPROM locations provided. Z-80 Is a Trademark of Zllog.

Digital Research Computers

** (OF TEXAS) ■

P.O. BOX 461565 • GARLAND, TEXAS 75046 • (214)271-3538

TERMS: Shipments will be made approximately 3 to 6 weeks after we

receive your order. VISA, MC, cash accepted. We will accept COD's (for the

Big Board only) with a $75 deposit. Balance UPS COD. Add $4.00 shipping.

USA AND CANADA ONLY

'TRADEMARK OF DIGITAL RESEARCH. NOT ASSOCIATED WITH DIGITAL RESEARCH OF CALIFORNIA, THE ORIGINATORS OF CPM SOFTWARE

•*1 TO 4 PIECE DOMESTIC USA PRICE.

BYTE November 1983 677

64k Static RAM for S-100 (IEEE-696) Systems

The fully static design makes it easy to interface Seattle Computer's 64k Static RAM board with a variety of CPU and DMA devices in IEEE-696 systems. High-speed (85 ns) RAM chips enable operation to 10 MHz with no wait states. Board can be used as either 8- or 16-bit wide memory. 48k, 32k, and 16k OEM versions are available. Single Qty: $495.00 Call: 1-800-426-8936 Dealer and OEM inquiries are invited. Seattle Computer Products, Inc. 1114 Industry Drive, Seattle, WA 98033

S-100 COLOR GRAPHICS:

THE ORIGINAL TMS9918A GRAPHICS BOARD

• Field-proven board meets IEEE-696 standard: fully socketed with solder masks stlkscreen and gold contact fingers.

• Prioritized display with backdrop and pattern planes plus 32 sprite planes: each pixel in a plane can be colored or transparent

• Three graphics and one text display mode: maximum graphics resolution is 256H x 192V in 16 colors

• Composite video output

• On-board 16K RAM is separate Irom system memory

• Vertical retrace interrupt for real time clock capability

• 0-4 wait states for use with fast MRUs

• All board options are DIP switch selectable

• Professional quality documentation with BASIC demonstration programs and Tfs TMS9918A manual

• Exclusive Graphics Editor available on 8" SSSD

CP/M-compatible diskette $"\ 89.95*

Mt<roD|jnomlci

Corporation

6363 Poplar Ave • Suite 105 Memphis TN 38119

(AST)

ORDER DESK 1-800 237 8400 ext 440

Technical Inquiries (9011-682-4054

*Price includes MICROSPRITE with documentation Graphics Editor diskette-$9 95 Manual™$19 95 Bare board-$59 95 UPS ground-$2 00 UPS atr-$4 00. C0D-$1 50. Foreign add $15 00. VISA & MC welcome TN add 6%

DEALER AND OEM INQUIRIES INVITED

Circle 412 on inquiry card.

Circle 171 on inquiry card.

Circle 305 on inquiry card.

LOOK!

WOO HOBBIE LANE, SANTA ROSA, CA 95407

WC3

Prices Subject To Change Without

(707)544-5304

VISA* MASTERCARD

PDP-11 Microcomputer for under $ 475.

Digital's Til Evaluation Module. The ideal, low-cost microcomputer.

Send for a free brochure: Digital Equipment Corporation, 77 Reed Road, HL2-1/E10, Hudson, MA 01749. Or call 800-225-9222. In AK, HI, and Canada, 617-568-5707.

©Digital Equipment Corporation 1983

BflSflDSfl

has you covered

- PC SPECIAL ■ CUSTOM CRAFTED COVERS

Set of covers for PC or XT with Monitor, Keyboard, and Printer. Regular $53.90, Byte PC Special until 30 Nov., $45.95 plusS2.50 shipping & handling. State color: Lt. blue or tan. Covers for most computing

equipment. Ca<l or write for

free brochure with

many other designs.

Miami V*ll«y

Technical Services Corp

'EC*

P.O. Box24449 Oept.B • Dayton,0hio45424

S3 (513)236-9923

S-^^L Dealer Inquiries Invited

Circle 504 on inquiry card.

Circle 145 on inquiry card.

Circle 138 on inquiry card.

SMAL/80

New! Z-80 version (runs on 8080's): $175. 8080 version only: $150. Macro-processor only: $75. Available on CP/M disks. Add $4 for shipping. Complete tutorial text: "Structured Microprocessor Programming" (Publ; Yourdon Press) $20 plus $2 shipping. Send for your free button and literature or try the Ultimate Demo: SMAL/80 is Guaranteed!

Chromod Associates,

1030 Park Ave., Hoboken, N. J. 07030 Telephone: (201) 653-7615

CoverCom p

Computer Covers

Tailored to protect your investment

For IBM-PC, APPLE II, APPLE II Keyboard and Monitor, Commodore 64, Apple Disk Drives, and Epson Printers. Available in Nylon (tan) and some in genuine leather (tan).

Computer Covers. $23,95 up D«sk On w. Covers $ 16 9b up Prints Co\ '.96 up

Dealer inquiries invited.

Write for free Brochure and Price List.

Oxford Intl.. Inc. 6829 Convoy Court San Diego, CA 92111 619-573-0112

SAVE 501

on BASF

fqualimetrici

LIFETIME GUARANTEE DISKETTES

Dealer Inquiries invited

SVk" Soft Sector Box/10

54974 1 side/dbl dens $22.50

54980 2 sides/dbl dens $5080

54986 1 side/quad 96 tpi $29.40

54992 2 sides/quad 96 tpi $57.80

811 Soft Sector

54998 1 side/sgl dens $25.20

54021 1 side/dbl dens $26.60

54061 2 sides/dbl dens $54.50

Checks-viSA-MC-C.O.D./Add S2 Shipping

Call or write for our discount catalog.

LYBEN COMPUTER SYSTEMS

27204 Harper Ave., St. Clair Shores, Ml 48041 Phone:(313)777-7780

Authorized Rese

ation Processing Media

BASF

Circle 72 on inquiry card.

Circle 346 on inquiry card.

Circle 271 on inquiry card.

MICROSOFT

Novation

QUADRANT

apple

Mm

icroPro

POTPOURRI

man-

USI

SORCIM

ACCELERATOR 499.99

NEPTUNE (80 COL + RAM) 499.99 SATURN 128K (APPLE) 399.99 TITAN 64K(IBM) 529.99 |

j KENSINGTON H MICROWARE

PRINTERS

SYSTEM SAVER

• Surge Suppression

• Dual Outlet

• U.L Listed

• Fits Apple Stand

$65

I BROTHER HR1 I EPSON (ALL MODELS) I GEMINI 10X I GEMINI 15 |OKtDATA82A OAS

byy.yy SCall 299.99 429.99 379.99 529.99

EDUCATIONAL

ISJlflS

380 Z

48K BUFFER; 32 CPS; GRAPHICS, DAISY WHEEL Tractor

1099.99

No Charge For Credit Cards Prices Subject To Change Software Sales Are Final Min. $4.00 Shipping Charge Purchase Orders Call First

J?*y7 : m : ^ r '

COMPUTER

DISCOUNT

PRODUCTS

MAIL ORDERS & RETAIL STORE

860 S. Winchester Blvd.

San Jose, CA 95128

(408) 985-0400 Orders Only

(408) 985-0401 Sales & Tech. Asst.

Circle 96 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983

Apple ll/lle®

Industrial Control Plug-In Boards

(SOFTWARE INCLUDED)

Opto-lsolated 16/32 I/O Board

• Individually Configurable fflOflt

• Compatible with SSR Modules Jk/iljl

• Opto-lsolated Interrupt Inputs V*a-vV

2 Axis Stepper Motor Interface

$195

Positioning Control Pulse Counting/Timing Frequency Measurements

ROGERS LABS (714)751-0442

271 OS. Croddy Way, Santa Ana, CA 92704

oCOtCfl

DISKETTES

Call Toil-Free 1-800-328-DISC for prices and information. Dealer inquiries invited. C.O.D. and charge cards accepted. All orders shipped from stock, within 24 hours. Call toll FREE

North Hills Corporation

3564 Rolling View Dr.

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

1-8O0-328-DISC

MNCall Collect 1-612-770-0485

c

APPLEWARE, INC

The Apple Users Group

Software Library Bonanza

At truly affordable prices!

For the first time enjoy your

Apple to its fullest capacity,

using specially packed disks

with over 60 outstanding

programs each.

[not available from any other source]

Each packed disk includes an extensive variety of

interesting, useful and entertaining programs

indispensable to all campulensts! Each mixed category

packed disk includes

BUSINESS • EDUCATIONAL • DATA BASE • GAMES

UTILITIES • SCIENCE • MUSIC • GRAPHICS • FINANCE

Library Disks I, II and III are mixed categories Dedicated

disks are:

• GAMES • UTILITIES • GRAPHICS * INTEGER •

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. Each packed disk is

available for only $59.95 each.

WHY PAY MORE?

Order direct from this ad and Save up to SI 50. Buy

Library Disks I, II and III and get a special bonus disk FREE over 2BD programs for 51 79 95 + $3 shipping For the best value, receive all 9 disks featuring over 600 of our best programs for only 65 C each

for a package price of only $389 Postage Paid! NEW Business • Professorial • Executive Package [enabling you to bring your business to its highest level of efficiency] also available, circle Readers Service Card for our complete catalog

For Orders Only Call now ^^^^ ■■■■■

TOLL FREE: 1 800-327-8664 -MR VISA Florida: 1-305-987-8665 ***W, BjaBBflM

Compatible with li. IU . He. Ill Emu! , and Franklin Ace [For 3 3 DOS)

Circle 396 on inquiry card.

Circle 32 on inquiry card,

The Statistician

NEW GENERATION OF

INTELLIGENT PAL/EPROM

PROGRAMMERS-FOR THE

NEW BREED OF ENGINEERS

• SO AMD 24 PIN PALs • 27 AND 25 EPROMs • ROM EMULATION

DIGITAL MEDIA

3178 GIBRALTAR AVENUE

COSTA MESA, CA S2626

[7141 751-1373

MEMOREX

FLEXIBLE DISCS

WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD!! Call Free (800)235-4137

for prices and information. Dealer inquiries invited and CO.D.'s accepted

PACIFIC EXCHANGES

100 Foothill Blvd. San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. InCal. call (800)592-5935 or (805)543-1037

Circle 379 on inquiry card.

Circle 148 on inquiry card,

Circle 347 on inquiry card.

1

APPLE II COMPATIBLE DISK DRIVES

Mitac AD-1 only $189.00

ControllerCard $ 68.00

Just Plug in and Run

VERBATIM

5V4 " DUkettes SS DD Soft

per box of 10 $ 2X88

HARD DISKS FOR APPLE and IBM

Mitac AD-100 20 MB only. .$1398.00

TELEVIDEO

910 $429.00

925 $689.00

950 $859.00

MONITORS

Mitac 12" 20 MHZ

Green $118.00

Amber $118.00

IBM PC COMPATIBLE DISK DRIVES

National JA-551-2 V2HT $205.00

OZtech. Inc. V1SA/MC Accepted

1400 Coleman Ave. Suite E-25

Santa Clara, CA 95050

(800) 222-6677

in Calif. (408) 980-9987

0 TeleVideo DEALERS

• Fast Dump/Restore

over 600k per disk ,.., $60

• Type Ahead with Print Screen

64 Character Type Ahead Buffer $60

• 3270 & 2780/3780 Bisync Communications

from Phone 1 & Batech $700 & 1300

• TurooDOS for TeleVideo Start at $225

• BIOS & Formatting for 802H

use all 20 MB $150

• 8" Disk Drive for 802 Computer

Drive & Software $1,100

• RM Cobol™ for TurboOOS

Full System. $525

Run Time $175

• Standby Power System

200VA-400VA-800VA As low as $303

RM/COBOL is a registered trademark of

RyarvMcFerland Corp.

CP/M® is registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc.

TureoOOS Is a registered trademark ot Soft ware 2000, Inc.

PLUS OTHER GOOD TELEVIDEO STUFF!

COGITATE, Inc.

SPECIALISTS IN UNIQUE TELEVIDEO SOFTWARE

24000 Telegraph Road, Southfield, Ml 48034 (313)352-2345

VISA/MASTER CARD Accepted

FAST

Factory Floppy Disc Drive Repair

Specialists in the repair of:

Shugart Tandon PerSci

:i. Inc.

12624 Daphne Avenue Hawthorne, CA 90250

(213) 777-7536 TWX 910-321-4448

Circle 23 on inquiry card.

Circle 75 on inquiry card.

Circle 358 on inquiry card.

Hewlett Packard

Write or call lor prices

ca

Anchor Automation Signalman Modems

FREE SOURCE MEMBERSHIP WITH SIGNALMAN

All Signalman Modems are Direct Connect, and include cables to connect to your computer and to the telephone. Signalman Modems provide the best price-performance values.

Dealer ind OEM inquiries invited Volksmodem (79) 59

RS232 or Atari Cable for Volksmodem 9

Mark I RS232 (99) 59

Mark VI for IBM Personal Computer (279) 179

Mark VII Auto Dial/Auto Answer {159) 89

Mark XII Smart Model 1200/300 (399) 295

DC HAYES Smartmodem

DC Hayes Smartmodem 1200/300

219

529

PROM QUEEN for VIC 170

Apple Emulator for Commodore 64 Call

STAT Statistics Package for C64 95

Solid Oak 2 Level Stand for C64 or VIC 29

C64/VIC Switch (networking) 125

BACKUP VI.0 tape copier for C64 or VIC 20

CARDBOARD/6 Motherboard - VIC 64

CARDBOARD/5 Motherboard - C64 56

CARD PRINT G Printer Int. with Graphics 72

CARD PRINT B Printer Interface—C64/VIC 40

CARDB0ARD/3s Motherboard - VIC 32

CARDCO C64/VIC Calculator Keypad 32

CARDRAM/16 RAM Expansion - VIC 50 Complete CARDCO Line in stock CIE and VIE IEEE Interlaces in stock

MAE Assembler for C64 4- CBM 89

APPLE—FRANKLIN ITEMS

KRAFT Apple Joystick

Kraft Apple Paddle Pair

SPINNAKER Software in stock

Broderound Saftware in stock

16K RAM Card for Apple

Muitipfan— Microsoft

Solid Oak 2 Level Stand for Apple

Serial Card for Apple

MCP RAM/80 column cant for He (AP/TXT)

Z80 Sottcard and CP/M (Microsoft)

RANA Elite I with Controller

Parallel Printer Interface/Cable

Microtek Interfaces in stock

Apple Dumpling with 16K Buffer

Grappler + Interface

Kraft Products for Apple in stock

DC Hayes Micromodem II

PFS: File

PFS: Report

Videx 80 Column Card

Hayden Software for Apple 20% OFF

Apple Blue Book

215-822-7727

252 Bethlehem Pike Colmar, PA 18915

40

30

59

185

29

99 139

235

389

79

160

129

299 95

95

209

19

H commodore

See us for Personal, Business, and Educational requirements. Educational Discounts available.

PEfSCANi $245 base price

Allows you to connect up to 30 CBM/PET Computers to shared disk drives and printers. Completely transparent to the user. Perfect for schools or multiple word processing configurations. Base configuration supports 2 computers. Additional computer hookups $100 each.

COMPACK/STCP

$115

Intelligent Terminal Package for PET, CBM, C64

Includes AC IA Hardware / STCP Software

WEOEHHAWCERffrCaaniioreM """ 6*9"

Realize video quality equal or better than composite monitor using standard color TV.

SCREENMAKER 80 Column Adapter for C64 145

Provides big screen capability for business applications.

GENESIS Computer Corp

VIController (for C64 as well) 50

combine with BSR modules for home or business control COMSENSE Remote Sensing Adapter for C64 or VIC 35 COM VOICE Synthesizer for C64 or VIC 139

includes software for test to speech, pitch, etc. COM CLOCK Real Time Clock with battery backup 45 VIC 20 Products and Software in stock Thorn EMI Software UMI Software

ABACUS Software HES Software

16K RAM for VIC 64 Vanilla Pilot

VICTORY Software for VIC and C64 Street Sweepers (VIC) 12 Kongo Kong (VIC)

Night Rider (VIC) Annihilator Adventure Pack II Educational Pack I Strategy Pack I

11 16 16 11 16

Cosmic Debris (VIC)

Adventure Pack I

Metamorphosis

Trek

Grave Robbers

27

16 12 16 11 12 12

PAPER CLIP Word Processor 109

ORACLE Data Base from Batteries Included 125

Super BusCard from Batteries Included 1 79

Commodore 64 Programmers Reference Guide 16

MicroChess for C64—8 levels of play 19

excellent graphics and color SPINNAKER Software C64, Apple, IBM, Atari

Computers First Book of PET/CBM 11

C64 or VIC SWITCH 125

POWER ROM Utilities for PET/CBM 78

Word Pro 3 +/6 4 with Spellmaster 85

WordPro 4+ - 8032, disk, printer 295 SPELLMASTER spelling checker for WordPro

VISICALC for PET, ATARI, or Apple 189

PET-TRAX PET to Epson Graphics Software 40

SM-KIT enhanced PET/CBM ROM Utilities 40

Programmers Toolkit - PET ROM Utilities 35

EASY CALC for C64 65

PET Spacemaker II ROM Switch 36

COPYWRITER Word Processor for C64 69

2 Meter PET to IEEE or IEEE to IEEE Cable 40

Dust Cover for PET, CBM, 4040, or 8050 8 CmC Interlaces (ADA 1800, ADA1450. SADI in stock)

Programming the PET/CBM (Compute!} — R. West 20

Compute! First Book of VIC 11

OMNICALC(HES) 79

HES MODEM with Software 65 HES Software and Hardware in stock UMI products in stock

FtexRto for PET/CBM/ C64 $Tib

Database, Report Writer with calculations, Mailing Lists.

FORTH for PET/C64 full FIG model — Cargill/Riley $50 Metacompiler for FORTH for independent object code 30

KM"MM PASCAL Ml YoTpET/CM""" 95

EARNor PET/CBM Disk-based ASSEMBLER 65

Super Graphics — BASIC Language Extensions 45

Fast machine language graphics routines for PET/CBM

RAM/ROM for PET/CBM

4K$75

Commodore Public Domain Software for C64

DISK SPECIALS

Scotch (3M) 5" ss/dd Scotch (3M) 5" ds/dd Scotch (3M) 8" ss/sd Scotch (3M) 8" ss/dd

10/2.20 50/2.00 100/1.95

10/3.05 50/2.80 100/2.75

10/2.30 50/2.10 100/2.06

10/2.85 50/2.70 100/2.65

We stock VERBATIM DISKS

Write for Dealer and OEM prices.

Sentinal 5" ss/dd 10/1.90 50/1.85 100/1.80

Sentinal 5" ds/dd 10/2.55 50/2.50 100/2.45

We stock Dysan disks

Wabash 5" ss/sd 10/1.60 50/1.55 100/1.45

Wabash 5" ss/dd 10/1.90 50/1.85 100/1.75

Wabash 8" ss/sd 10/2.00 50/1.95 100/1.85

We stock MAXELL DISKS

Write for dealer and OEM prices.

Disk Storage Pages 10 for $5 Hub Rings 50 for $6 Disk Library Cases 8"—3.00 5"—2.25 Head Cleaning Kits 11

CASSETTE TAPES—AGFA PE-611 PREMIUM

C-10 10/.61 50/.58 100/50

C-30 10/.85 50/.82 100/70

DATASHIELD BACKUP POWER SOURCE 265

Battery back up Uninterruptible Power Supply with surge and noise filtering. The answer to your power problems.

Zenith ZVM-121 Green Phosphor Monitor 95

Zenith new color and monochrome monitors in stock

MuttiPlan—IBM or Apple 185

Quad board for IBM available

Peachtext 5000 Software Package 219

PFS Software for IBM and Apple in stock

VOTRAX Personal Speech System 280

BMf"91 Color Monitor 199

BrVL .M 12" Green Monitor 85

Dynax (Brother) DX-15 Oaisy Wheel Printer 469

Itoh Prowriter Parallel Printer 379

Panasonic 1090 Printer with Correspondence Mode 279

USI CompuMOO 4 R F Modulator 39

Daisywriter 2000 with 48K buffer 1050

Many printers available (Gemini-Star, Brother, OKI, etc.)

We Stock AMDEK Monitors

Amdek DXY-100 Plotter 590

A P Products 15% OFF

Watanabe Intelligent Plotter 990 6-pen 1290

BROOKS 6 Outlet Surge Suppressor/Noise Filter 54

We stock Electrohome Monitors

Synertek SYM-1 Microcomputer 189

ALL BOOK and SOFTWARE PRICES DISCOUNTED

Panasonic 12" Monitor (20 MHz) with audio Panasonic CT-160 Dual Mode Color Monitor

129 245

USI Video Monitors—Green or AMBER 20 MHz hhres. Dealer and OEM inquiries invited

YfN/rH I data

I systems

HERO ! Robot (factory assembled) 2145

Z29 Terminal (DEC and ADM compatible) 680

ZT-10 InteL Terminal with Serial Port 340

Z100 16-bii/8-bit Systems in stock CALL

We stock entire Zenith line.

ATARI"

SPECIALS

WE STOCK ENTIRE LINE—write for prices. SPINNAKER and Brodeitund Software in S

A B Computers

WRITE FOR CATALOG. Add

We pay balance of UPS surface shipping {add extra for mail. APO/FPO, air) P Regular prices slightly higher. Prices su

Circle 5 on inquiry card.

i all prepaid on

BYTE November 1983

PC-LINK

DEC VT1 00® TERMINAL EMULATOR

• A full featured DEC VT100® terminal emulator on IBM PC/XT.

• Transfer text files between host and IBM PC/XT.

• Very easy to use. Complete user documentation.

• To use PC-LINK program, the PC needs to have at least one disk drive, IBM DOS IBM monochrome or color display, a RS232 port, telephone modem or direct connect.

• Support baud rate up to 1200 baud.

• $60.00 +$5.00 for shipping & handling.

SCREENWARE CORPORATION

P.O. BOX 3662

NASHUA, NH 03061-3662

Tel. 603-888-4074

Dysan

Solve your dfac problem buy 100% wrfacc tested Dy«n dfekflttea AD ocdam «Mpped from «tock, wfchki 24 hour* Call tofl FREE (800) 235-4137 for price* and hi fa ui M rtfcm.

VW* and Matter Card accepted

PACIFIC EXCHANGES

100 Foothill Blvd. San Luis Obispo. CA 93401. (InCal. call (805)543*1037.)

T L

$ISO

Relocatable

Threaded

Language

RTL is a new language which retains the speed and extensibility of Forth but adds many additional advantages as a result of its more structured dictionary. Names, code, and variables are all stored in separate areas for easy generation of headerless, romable code. All code is relocatable. RTL supports local variables, multitasking, redirected I/O, and even allows definitions to be changed retroactively. All source code is included. Versions are currently available or under development for 68000, 6809, 8080, 280, 8086, 8088, and 6502.

RTL Programming Aids

10844 DeerwoodSE Lowell, Ml 493J t (616)897-5672

Circle 410 on inquiry card.

Circle 347 on inquiry card.

Circle 397 on inquiry card.

rMmmssnr

cmtsmtsmem

Wr

#ippta;

iOECEMBEP ' 5. 1S83

GARDEN OF EDEN

COMPUTERS

714-841-4994

HAYES1200BD

SMARTMODEM .. .469.00

OKIDATA92P 449.95

WORD HANDLER 44.95

GEMINI 10X 279.95

fc»

DELTA 10 499.95

Y.Y.7M

■ ■ ■ • l ■■■

• « a a ■■■

infoPROBE

a powerful data base program for scientific and commercial research

• no programming required

• menu driven completely interactive

• selected lists, summaries, statistics, bar

charts and scattergrams

• powerful selection facilities to extract

pertinent information

• publication quality graphs on HIPLOT plotters

• up to 300 items/record with 32767 records

PRICE: $445

30-day satisfaction guarantee Demo diskette and user's manual: $35

(credited toward purchase)

FORHBMpc, CP/M, RT-11. TSX

Centre Computer Consultants, P.O. Box 739 State College, PA 16801, (814) 237-4535

DISKETTES

3M Scotch' BRAND

AT SUPER LOW PRICES

WE WILL SHIP YOUR ORDER

WITHIN 24 HOURS AND WE PAY

THE SHIPPING CHARGES

9f

-* ^^ COD ACCEPTED

DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED

CALL TOLL FREE 800 922-8193

IN CALIFORNIA 800 468-1068

Tayco Business Forms Computer Supplies

Post Office Box 605 Newbury Park, CA 91320

Circle 196 on inquiry card.

Circle 289 on inquiry card.

Circle 462 on inquiry card.

PROMPT DELIVERY! and

TRY TO BEAT THESE IC PRICES:

MasterCard VISA or UPS CASH COD

Factory New, Prime Parts

3 MICROPROCESSORS UNLIMITED

S 24.000 South Peona Ave «llfi\ 9«7-AQfi1

f BEGGS OK 74421 ^p^ 1 '

Prices subject to change Please expect higher prices on some parts due tc world wide shortages Call for volume prices Subject to available quantities Shipping & Insurance extra Cash discount prices shown Federal Express («

fSBSfc

of looking for reliable Source of Supply?

EBMMmW

from Looking???

about QUALITY??

DISKETTES

ACCESSORIES

Call Bob Kelly Now. . . Kelly Computer Supplies

1811 Carl St. • St. Paul, MN 55113

Toll Free ... 800 - 447 - 2929

MN Res. Call Collect, . .612/644-9030

3M SCOTCH DISKETTES

When it comes to quality software for microsystems, DYNACOMP delivers:

STOCK MASTER (APPLE): $59.95

The Systems ... Apple Atari Canon Commodore Compustar CP/M Franklin H/Z-10O IBM PC Kaypro Morrow NEC North Star Osborne SuperBrain Timex TRS-80

The Software ...

CARD GAMES EDUCATION

HOME FINANCE INVESTING TAX PLANNING UTILITIES

Nam* brand diskettes: $19.95/10 (SS, SD w/hub ring). includes FREE plastic storage box. Add $2.00 shipping.

ADVENTURE BUSINESS

ENGINEERING GAMES LANGUAGES SCIENCE

CALL OR WRITE FOR A FREE CATALOG

DYNACOMP, INC.

1427 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, N.Y. 14618

Telephone: (716) 442-8960

Circle 309 on inquiry card.

Circle 253 on inquiry card.

Circle 162 on inquiry card.

IBM PC 256K

2X 3 20 KB DS/DD DISK DRIVES

FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER

COLOR CARD

ALL FOR $2599

IBM PC256K COLOR GRAPHICS BOARD FLOPPY DRIVE CONTROLLER

WITH PARALLEL PORT 360KB DS/DD DISK DRIVE, PRINTER, CABLE

DOS 2.0, IOMB HARD DISK SUBSYSTEM INCLUDES CABLE,

CONTROLLER, POWER SUPPLY, CABINET, SOFTWARE

DISK DRIVES FOR IBM PC

Double Sided/Double Density 320KB $225 HARD DISK FOR IBM PC 5MB $1399 10MB $1599 15MB $2199 MEMORY BOARDS

AST MULTIFUNCTION $299

AST I/O PLUS $199

QUADRAM 256K MULTIFUNCTION . . . $399

HERCULES CARD $499

QCS BIG BLUE CARD $479

HAYES

SMARTMODEM 300 BAUD $239

SMARTMODEM 1200 BAUD $559

MONITORS

PGS COLOR MONITOR HX-12 $499

AMDEK, NEC MONITORS AVAILABLE . CALL

APPLE He STARTER SYSTEM $1599

DISK DRIVE FOR APPLE II & He ... $219

PRINTERS

BROTHER HR-1 $750 OKIDATA 82A. $499

84A $999

GEMINI 10 . . . $359 NEC 3510 . . $1499

7710

EPSON RX80 . $379

MX80 $449

HAYES SMARTMODEM HAYES SMARTMODEM

VISICALC $199

LOTUS 1-2-3. . $359 SUPER CALC II $199 WORD PERFECT $349

HR-15 $499

83A ........ $699

93A $959

15 $529

3550 $1899

$2075

FX80 $599

MX100

300 BAUD . .

1200 BAUD . MULTIPLAN . WORDSTAR . MAILMERGE . EASY WRITER

$649 $239 $559 $199 $329 $179 $129

TAVA PC

Desk Top, IBM PC Compatible Computer, Runs DOS 1.1, 2.0, CP/M86 $1025

COMPUTER POST INC.

22102 CLARENDON ST. STE. #1 WOODLAND HILLS, CA 91367 (213) 999-1041

DELIVERIES TWO TO FOUR WEEKS AVERAGE ALL SHIPMENTS ARE CASHIERS CHECK ONLY. PRICES SUBJECT TO CHAQE WITHOUT NOTICE. SHIPPING AND HANDLING EXTRA

Circle 102 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983 683

Heath Users

Double Your 5%" disk storage capacity without adding a drive.

Get twice as much from your H88 or H89 microcomputer. Our FDC-880H floppy disk controller, in conjunction with your 5%" drives, for example, expands memory capacity from 256 bytes to 512 bytes per sector.

And it handles single and double-sided, single and double-density, 8" and h 1 /" drives — simultaneously.

Ot

C.D.R, Systems Inc. Controlled Data Recording Systems Inc. 7210 Clairmont Mesa Blvd., San Diego, CA 92111 (619) 560-1272

tM&©te™ and

your

HAVE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS-

DataStar's powerful data input, sorting, and editing, and your Fortran programs to perform sophisticated data processing. With DSUBS, simple" subroutine calls are all that are needed to read, write, and update DataStar data and index files.

SUPER DEAL: UTILITY package that includes numerous string processing, terminal control, CP/M BDOS and BIOS calls, character and number I/O, etc., and the DSUBS package, along with programming examples and thorough documentation, all for $gg_

Random Access, Inc.

wmmm p.o. box 2094

MM' Bloomington, IN 47402 (812)339-5854

DataStar is a trademark ot MicroPro Int. CP/M is a trademark ot Digital Research.

Circle 67 on inquiry card.

Circle 389 on inquiry card.

Circle 161 on inquiry card.

CONVERSE IT COMPUTER

Created at MIT in 1966, ELIZA has become the world's most celebrated artificial intelligence demonstration program EUZA is a non-directive psychotherapist who analyzes each statement as you type it in and then responds with her own comment or question —and her remarks are often amazingly appropriate'

Designed to run on a large mainframe, ELIZA has never before been available to personal computer users except in greatly stripped down versions lacking the sophistication which made the original program so fascinating.

Now. our new microcomputer version possessing the FULL power and range of expression of the original is being offered at the introductory price of on!y $25 And if you want to find out how she does it (or teach her to do more), we will include the complete SOURCE PROGRAM for only $20 additional

Order your copy of ELIZA today and you II never again wonder how to respond when you hear someone say. "Okay, let s see what this computer of yours can actually do!"

ELIZA IS AVAILABLE IN THE FOLLOWING FORMATS:

4 Standard a inch single density disk for all CP/M based computers

$25 for ELIZA.COM-$45 with Microsoft BASIC-80 Source 5, 5% inch disk for most CP/M based computers (specify computer) $25 for ELIZA.COM-$45 with Microsoft BASIC-80 Source Please add $2.00 shipping and handling to all orders (California residents ptease add 6% sales tax)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH GROUP

r^^^^B 921 North La Jolla Avenue, Dept. B ■-

^^J^^ l ns Anofiles CA 90046 A

Los Angeles, CA 90046

(213)656-7368 (213)654-2214

MC. VISA and checks accepted

HEXADECIMAL DESK CLOCK

Solid mahogany timepiece represents the time in base sixteen. Features include: handrubbed finish, gold tone characters and hands, and a quartz movement accurate to within 10 seconds per month. Clock measures 4 1 /2 in. square, can be hung (bracket included), and runs for over 1 year on a standard AA battery. An attractive addition to the work area of any computer professional or hobbyist. Only $18.95 plus $1.50 shipping & handling.

PA residents add 6% sales tax. Please allow 3-5 weeks for delivery. Send check or money order to:

aXGXTXME

P.O. Box 403, Ambler, PA 19002

2532-450 $ 4" ^

320 399 7 ib 479 450

2716-450

2732-450

2764-250

4164-150P

4164-200.

6116-P3 430

6116-LP-3 4«o

Add S2.95 shipping to oil orders. 2.6% for credit card orders

OEM • Quantity discounts available • RQs on approval • C.O.D. OK • Credit cards • FL residents add 5% tax • All new, no surplus, no seconds

(.Prices subject to change.)

4920 Cypress St., Suite 100, Tampa, FL 33607 In FL, and for info., call 813-875-0299 FOR ORDERS ONLY, 800-237-8910

SH — 8AM-5PMEDT

Circle 34 on inquiry card.

Circle 150 on inquiry card.

Circle 184 on" inquiry card.

«&&&

■&* *>•*

COMPUTER P TECHNOLOGY

SAGE IV computers use the 68000 CPU, come with UCSD p-System, PASCAL, Macro Assembler, Multi-user system, Word processor. Spreadsheet, 1 year warranty. Available SAGE configurations include:

1 640K floppy & 256K RAM $3120

2 640K floppies & 256K RAM $3760 1 floppy, 256K RAM, 6mb Hard disk $5840 1 floppy, 1mb RAM, 18mb Hard disk $8000 As software developers and authorized SAGE dealers we offer customer support.

rviARITirVIE SOFTWARE

(503) 929-2552

6660 Reservoir Road Corvallis, OR 97333

&TDK

flexible disks

Call Free (800)235-4137

for prices and information. Dealer inquiries invited. CO.D. and charge cards accepted.

VISA'

PACIFIC EXCHANGES

100 Foothill Blvd San Luis Obispo. CA 93401 (In Cat call (805) 543-1037)

Circle 282 on inquiry card.

Circle 347 on Inquiry card.

Circle 510 on inquiry card.

IBM PC-COMPLETE SYSTEM VERY SPECIAL PRICE

PC System includes 64K IBM PC with two Disk Drives, Controller, Color Graphics Card, Monitor. ... $2590

SPECIAL Or THE MONTH!!

IBM PC W/64K, 360KB Disk Drive, FDC, Color Graphics Card, Monitor, 10MB Hard Disk W/Controller, Cable, Software, Matrix printer, Cable, all for only .. $3990

TAVA PC

Desk Top, IBM PC Bus compatible, runs DOS 1.1, 2.0, CP/M86® $990

EAGLE II

Computer System

DISK DRIVES FOR IBM PC

Tandon 100-2

Slimline DS/DD 320KB

$1770

$240

$250

MONITORS AMDEK

300A

300G

310A

IV

$190.00 $160.00 $190.00

// . III.

$160.00 JC 1203

$330.00 JB 1260

GRAPHICS SYSTEMS

$340.00 . $690.00 . $390.00 $1190.00

$750.00 .. $130.00

$490

NEC

JB 1201M

JC 1212M ..... PRINCETON

Hi-Res Color. ..

PRINTERS

C-ITOH

GX-100 $240 1550 $690

8510 $460 F-10 $1290

F-10 $1690

DAISYWRITER 2000 CALL

OKIDATA

$975 $575 $970

GALL

$750 $570

$690

SMITH CORONA

TP-1

$520

STAR MICRONICS

Gemini 10

Gemini 15

NEC SPINWRITER

7710-1. 7715-1 . 7720-1. 7725-1. 7730-1.

$2050 $2200 $2500 $2500 $2050

3510

3515

3530 .... 3550 .... PC8023A

CALL CALL

$1450 $1450 $1650 $1950 $550

HARD DISKS FOR APPLE AND IBM

CALL

MEMORY BOARDS

MONTE CARLO CALL

TECMAR CALL

AST

IO Plus. Five function Card $199

Combo Plus. 4 function card. Fully pop. 256K . $490 Mega Plus. Fully pop. 512K $990

AST SIXPAK 384K .CALL

QUADRAM

Quad Card. Fully pop. 256K

QUADLINK

$500 CALL

BIG BLUE $470

BERCVLES Graphics Card $490

MAVNARD SANDSTAR SERIES

FDC 5 1/4 & 8" $220

Multifunction Card $90

Memory Card $180

DISK DRIVE FOR APPLE

Slimline, or Standard

$190

PERSONAL ACCOUNTANT

Apple He and Apple II+.

Software for your $90

APPLE He

Computer System, Controller, Two Disk Drives, Monitor $1590

631 E. First St., Tustin, CA 92680

PRICES AND AVAILABILITY SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE

1714) 838-9100

APPLE is a trademark of Apple Computers, Inc.

IBM is a trademark of IBM Corp.

CP/M86 is a trademark of Digital Research, Inc.

Circle 531 on inquiry card.

r

PERIPHERALS FOR APPLE AND IBM(PC)

ONE YEAR WARRANTY ON ALL ITEMS ALL PRODUCTS BUILT IN U.S.A.

JACH P.C.B. APPLE/SHUGART DRIVE |5'A") $199

DISK CONTROLLER (DOS 3.2-3.3) SS $ 19

80 COLUMN CARD 139 29

(VIDEX EQUIVALENT) 132 COLUMN CARD (11+ OR He) 269 59

{ULTRATERM EQUIVALENT) 80 COLUMN WITH 64K RAM 129 28

{FOR lie ONLY) PRINTER INTERFACE WITH 16K 169 29

TO 64K BUFFER AND GRAPHICS

(APPLE DUMPLING EQUIVALENT) MULTI-FUNCTION CARD 149 32

(PARALLEL SERIAL BSa CLOCK)

(PRINTER GRAPHICS ROM!!!) 29

Z80 SQFTCARD (11+ AND lis) 99 29

(MICROSOFT EQUIVALENT) IBMfPC) BARE P.C.B. - 175

5V4*' FLOPPY DRIVE ENCLOSURE 17

COLORADO COMPUTER PERIPHERALS THE P.C.8. COMPANY

R.R6, B0X7-D GOLDEN, CO 80401

(303)278-7172

$9.95

FOR USE WITH MOST MICRO COMPUTERS

APPLE ATARI COMMAOOPtE TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TBS 80 ...

H PAYMENT ENCLOSED $ * Add

$1 00 per order for postage and handling Out side USA add $2.50 per unit ordered, send US funds only □ Visa Q MasterCard

P.O. BOX 7008 ROSEVILLE. Ml 48305 1-800-732-0614

ft

PENGUIN

PROOM1S

Michigan Residents Add 4%

Daisy Wheel Printer

Letter Quality MP-100

• 12/14 CPS

• 10.,12,,15., Pitch

• 96 Characters Printer Wheel

• Bi-directional Printing ^

• Standard Parallel \QIJEZ Interface \j) J JfJ

• Dynax DX-15 Daisy Wheel 13 cps ... $CALL

• Silver Reed EXP 550 Daisy Wheel $595

• Brother HR-1 Daisy Wheel 16 cps $695

• Daisywriter 2000 w/48K $1095

• C. Itoh F-10 40cps $1195

• Qume Sprint 11 Daisy Wheel 40 cps .. $1395

MICRO MART

8764 Complex Dr., San Diego, CA 92123 (619) 268-0169 jg

Circle 76 on inquiry card.

Circfe 300 on inquiry card.

MEMOREX

SAVE 50%

ON DATA REUABLE DISCS

Dealer Inquiries invited ei/ „ specify soft 9rm i0ori6Sector Box/10

3481 1 side/dbl dens $22.30

3491 2 sides/dbl dens $30.70

3504 1 side/quad 96 tpi $30.00

3501 2 sides/quad 96 tpi $39.30

8 Specify Soft or 32 Sector

3062 1 side/sgl dens $22.10

3090 1 side/dbl dens ......$28.90

3102 2 sides/dbl dens $33.80

Checks-vlSA-MC-C.O.D./Add $2 Shipping Call or write for our discount catalog.

LYBEN COMPUTER SYSTEMS

27204 Harper Ave., St. Clair Shores, Ml 48041

Phone:(313)777-7780

CERTIFIED 100% ERROR-FREE

Circle 272 on inquiry card.

IOGK at these prices!

HAYES Smartmodm,. 300-5209; 1200-S489 HAYES 1200B$455*, Smartcom II .... 90*

AMDEK Color I-S289; Color II 425*

AMDEK310A12" Amber 185*

AMDISK Disk Drive M DSYzHl 250*

EASTSIDE Wildcard Copy Device 105

MAXELL MD 1 (100s) $255; MD 2 379*

MICROSOFT Word & Mouse 399*

MONTE CARLO GT $345*; Quatro 320*

NEC Printer 7710-S1925; 3550 1705*

SATURN Titan Combo Card 64K 540*

*For IBM PC

Payment: Money Order, Cashier's Check, Bank Wire; Personal Checks—Allow 2 weeks clearance. COD's: Cash Certified Checks only. N.Y Res.: Add 8V4% S.T

Add $4. shipping charge on all orders. Please include phone number

MICRO MVSTIQU6

73-20 183rd St., Flushing, N.Y 11366

(212)454-6190

Call or write for additional specials, for

Apple, from Videx, Microsoft, Saturn, etc.

Circfe 498 on inquiry card.

Circle 302 on inquiry card.

RAM DISK

that

REMEMBERS

for IBM PC, XT and PC Compatibles

Introducing the Solid Disc card with memory that remembers— even when power to your computer goes off.

On-board battery backup keeps the 128KB CMOS RAM (expandable up to 256KB) alive for over a month.

ThoughtWare Corporation

Five Research Drive

Ann Arbor, MI 48103

(313) 761-9347

MULTIBUS, NETWORK and REAL TIME SYSTEM USERS

Turn the IBM PC into a real time system and MULTIBUS look alike with cost effective interface adapters from T1AC

MEMORY /TBX ADAPTER

Adapter holds three Intel SBX modules and up to 256k of EPROM Eight memory sockets are configurable for 2764, 27128 or 27256 FPROMs andone2kx8 EAROM

TBX 355

Dual channel asynchronous RS-232 SBX module Uses one SBX slot Interrupt driven software drivers avatlabte for DOS and RMX

tan

ARCNET/MEMORY ADAPTER

Token passing Local Area Network interface fully compatible with DATAPOINTS ARCNET at the link layer Nonvolatile memory expansion up to 224k provided by seven 28 pin sockets

■>. ABOUl i)UR OTHl K t'k'lSIM fS FOR REAL TIME APPLICATION'.

TIAC MANUFACTURING, INC.

70 Williams Street. Port Moody, B. C , Canada V3H 2R5 (604) 461-1626

SAVE MORE

THAN EVER ON

3M Scotch

DISKETTES!

Circle 470 on inquiry card.

Circle 472 on inquiry card.

tfr^tgnr

|Qty 20 (745)— ^^ Qty 20

5'/4" SSQD—96TPI (746) $2.89 ea.

Stir DSQD—96TP1 (747) $3.95 ea.

(Specify soft, 10 or 16 sector.)

8" SSSD (740) $2.07 ea.

8" SSDD (741) $2.54 ea.

8" DSDD (743) $3.30 ea.

(Specify soft or 32 sector.) Lifetime Warranty!

3M HEAD CLEANING KITS $23.00

Save even more on quantity orders!

Minimum Order: 20 diskettes. Add $3.00 shipping

per 200 diskettes. C.O.D. charge $1.65 additional.

Visa • Mastercard • Checks

For fast service, call

DISK WORLD!

Nationwide: 1-800-621-6827 In Illinois: 312-944-2788

Suite 4806 • 30 E. Huron Street * Chicago, Illinois 60611

Circle 154 on inquiry card.

HARDWARE

I AST Meoaplus'*

P/NMG064 (64K, S, C)

' Card Uet ACP 395 $279

_ P/N MC-064SPC {64K, S, P, C) 395 279

|«PC i/O Plus II" Card

P/N I/O fC. S) 165 115

I •"SIX PACK"

P/N SP064SPC (64K, S. P. C) J

| COCX Extender Card 40 29

Prototype Card 69 35

| HERCULES

Hercules Graphic Card 359

I MOUSE SYSTEMS Mouse for IBM 269

I MICROSOFT

. Mouse plus Multitool Word Call

| ORCHID

Hi-Res Graphics Adaptor 395 339

I PERSYST Spectrum (64-256K)

I P/N SP64. (64K. Clk, S, P) 319

I PLANTRONICS Color plus" Card 399

I OUADRAM Ouadboard (64-256K)

P/N 064, 64K w/4 functions 395 279

QuadLink Apple Card 680 599

Ouadboard 64K 279

Microfazer Print Buffer MP-64 190

I Quadchrome (Hires RGB) 488

I QuadLink [IBM to Apple) 525

| RtXON PC212A Modem I/O 596 449

I Transmodem 1200 479

I USJ Muttidisplay Card 299

I VISTA "Multlcard " " (exp. 64-256K)

1 P/N V-064 (64K, Clk, S. P) 395 229

P/N V-256 (256K, Clk, S, P) 695 399

I •"Maxleard '"" (up to 576K)

P/N V-576-64K 249

P/N V-576-576K 729

|*"PC Master" (10 I/O) 495 329

I •"PC Extender" (up to 10 I/O) 249 199 299 199

" Thlnllne Dual Floppy Call

I *V1200 6.2 Cartridge Drive 999

MONITORS

| AMDEK CORP

300 Green 12" 310 Amber 12" Color I Composite/Hitachi Color It RGB Hi-Res IMC 12" Green | PRINCETON GRAPHICS RGB IBM Lookalike

$199 $155

210 175

399 3

699 695

129 700

89

545

SOFTWARE

dBASE II

*399 00

Condor

*389 00

SuperCalc

$99 00

SuperCalc 2

*179 00

Multiplan

$189 00

Wordstar

*299 00

Lotus 1-2-3

Call!

T. K. Solver!

Call!

Flight Simulator

$4500

Context MBA

Call!

Computer

Inovations

C86C Compiler

*369 00

Copy II Plus

$ 32 00

Visiword $23900

If You're Thinking IBM PC",

READ THIS!

COEX Combocard II

* 64K to 256K RAM

* ASYNC Serial Port

* Clock/Calendar w/Nicad Backup

* Parallel Printer Port

* RAM Disk Software

* Spooler Software

00

TIME SHARE SERVICES

COMPUSERVE Subscription SOURCE Subscription

$40 I

75 I

Digital Research

Pascal MT + 86 $295.00

Concurrent CP/M 86 260.00

CBASIC86 149.00

Plus More Great

Software Values

In Our

1983 Catalog!

Send For

Your Copy NOW.

64K „, $ 229

256K i, $ 399 00

Zero "K" Version Available Only $199.00

PLUS! .. .with Purchase of either Memory card above

SUPERCALC " only $89.00 (195.00 value)

Disk Emulator FREE

Print Spooler FREE

ACP PC "FEATURE OF THE MONTH"

1. DISKMASTER". Disk Controller for IBM PC or XT adds both 5V«" and 8"

floppy drives. Complete with Software. Same card can also handle List ACP the Amlyn 6,2 Mb Cartridge Add-on Subsystem $299 $199

2. VISTA 1200 with DISKMASTER" , $999

3. M&R "SUP'R EXTENDER'"". IBM PC & XT Expansion Chassis with (6) Slots, Power

Supply and Fan. Your price!!! only $439.00. You cannot afford to live without one.

DSK DR VES

TANDON 100-2

PC Compatible * Double Sided

$23900

QUME 142 y 2 High

PC Compatible • Double Sided

$24900

MO Cashiers Check Bank Wire. Personal checks allow 2 weeks for processing Include Drivers License and credit card #s Visa. AMEX CB add 3% service charge. Add 3% shipping & handling or $2 50, whichever is greater. Add 10% for foreign orders or US Parcel Post. Include Telephone number. NO CODs Prices subject to change without notice Some items subject to prior sale. We reserve the right to substitute manufacturer. Retail prices may vary. We are not an authorized IBM dealer. IBM'

I: P.O. Box 17329 Irvine, CA 92713

1:1310 E. Edinger, Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 558-8813

542 W. Trimble, San Jose, CA 95131 (408) 946-7010

TOLL FREE

800-854-8230

910-595-1565

64KMEMORY

12 on inquiry card.

P.S.C. $249.00

300 BAUD

1200 BAUD

MODEMS

SIGNALMAN, . . Free hour on 'SOURCE'

300 BAUD direct connect $ 69

300 BAUD AUTO DIAL/ANS $119

300/1200 AUTO DIAL/ANS $319

US ROBOTICS. . . 300/1200.. MODEMS 'Hayes Compatible' Password' with cables, spkr $339

'Auto 212' dlxe $419

MATRIX PRINTERS quaTjt?

GEMINI lOx 120 cps graphics $289

PROWRITER 120 cps hi density $319

JUKI daisy wheel 18 cps $565

DAISYWRITER c/o 40 cps $999

cpm COMPUTERS km

Eagle II HARD DISKS Columbia P.C.

10 MB. . $1295 23 MB. . $1995 40 MB. . $2495 Televideo $CALL$ Eagle P.C.

IMAGE COMPUTERS

P.O. Box 1164, Cardiff, CA 92007 CALL TO ORDER: __ ^^_ 619 436-7669 mfa yg« VISA/MC

619 436-8317 <1^K HP ADD3%

Smith-Corona TP-I Daisy Wheel Printer

d&

$439 00

UNBELIEVABLE!

• fully-Formed characters • serial or parallel interface

• compatible with most • choice of 10 or 12 CPI microcomputers

Also for your TP-1 letter quality printer — the Smith-Corona Tractor Feed

• Ad|ustab)e tractor widths

C ad ^M A 95 * For continuous forms

I l9*9 _ • Quick, easy removal

Oil Collect

(214) 826-6521

FIGURE-LOGIC BUSINESS EQUIPMENT, INC.

6406 Gaston Avenue / Dallas, Texas 75214

APPLE COMPATIBLE

Disk Drive $150.00 ea.

Controller Card $35.00 ea.

Computer Case $55.00 ea.

Keyboard $70.00 ea.

Switching Power Supply . $49.50 ea. Joystick $15.00 ea.

Prices for dealers in quantities of 25 or more. End User Inquiries welcomes.

ELECTRADE CO.

(408) 946-2541

780 Trimble Rd. Suite 605

San Jose, CA95131

Circle 222 on inquiry card.

Circle 188 on inquiry card.

Circle 540 on inquiry card.

$300.00

8/16 Bit Fast Static Ram

5R-64K RAM MODULE. 24 bit oddre js.ng, SI00/ IEEE 696 compatible. {64K x 8) / (32K x 16). JO MHz no wait states, Phantom option, upper 16K bytes deselectable in 2K byte blocks, I yeor warranty,

TERMS: We accept checks or money orders. Allow 3 weeks for personal checks to clear. Delivery is from stock to 6 weeks. Add $5.00 per a board for shipping. MA residents add 5% soles tax.

LEXICOMP DATA SYSTEMS

P.O. BOX 222 LEXINGTON, MA 02173 TEL. (617) 862-30B8

******************************

APPLE HARDWARE

Wholesale

STOCK RETAIL SALE MIN.

NUMBER PRICE PRICE ORDER

AP101 16K RAM CARD $149 $39 10

AP102 80 COLUMN CARD 295 89 10

AP104 CLOCK/CALENDAR CARD . . .. 195 79 10

AP105 DISK-II DRIVE WO/CTRL CARD 498 199 10

AP106 D1SK-II CONTROLLER 150 45 10

API 07 JOY-STICK DELUX 49 19 10

AP109 LOWER CASE 45 19 10

API 10 PRINTER CARD (PARALLEL) 150 45 10

API 11 RS-232 CARD (SERIAL) 195 79 10

API 12 SUP-R-MOD 39 19 10

API 14 Z-80 CARD 298 99 10

API 16 INTEGER CARD 150 49 10

AP117 EPROM WRITER CARD 279 119 10

API 18 128K RAM CARD (PSEUDO-DISK) 498 269 10 NEW

AP119 FORTH CARD 298 89 10 NEW

AP201 APPLE-II + COMPAT. 48K KIT. 599 229 10

AP202 HARDCASE FOR AP201 (PLASTIC) 175 89 10

AP203 KEYBOARD FOR AP201 139 69 10

AP204 POWER SUPPLY FOR AP201 120 68 10

AP205 APPLE 11+COMPAT. 48K A fcT 599 349 10

AP206 APPLE II + COMPAT. 64K AfcT 699 399 10 NEW

AP207 KEYBOARD FOR APPLE-1I (DELUX) 169 89 10 NEW

AP208 POWER SUPPLY (DELUX) 139 79 10 NEW

AP301 TANDON TM-50-1 DISK DRIVE

(MEGHAN.) 249 119 10 NEW

AP401 IBM PC COMPUTER 64K W/2

DRIVE 3550 2195 5

******************************

MltCES WILL K IOWH TOR LAKGIF QUANTITY OHD« All PKICCS SUBUCT TO CHANCt WITHOUT NOTiCE

# K & R COMPUTER CO., LTD. # " 1440 PACIHC COAST HWY., #104. J HARBOR CITY, C A 90710

(213) 530-2577

■ SEE OUR CATALOG FOR f" DISKETTES

SAVE UP TO 50% 5% DISKETTES

SPECIFY SOFT. 10 or 16 SECTORS

• wabash _

SSDD(M13A411X) DSDD(M14A411X) DSOD-96TPI (M16A411X)

control data

S/10 $/50 VJW

2100 102 50 199.00

2900 142 60 27900

43 00 209 00 410 00

SSDD (CDC 1242-00) DSDD(CDC1244-00)

• 3M scotch

SSDO <3M 744O-0) DSDD (3M 745-0) DSDD-96TPI (3M-747-0)

• verbatim

2200 10900 21300 31 00 15000 29500 45 00 21200 39900

SSDO(MAX-MD-IM) DSDD(MAX-MD2-DM> DSDO-96TPI (MD2-DDM)

dysan

SSDD (DYS 104-10) DSDD(DYS104-2D) DSDO-96TPI (DYS 204-2D)

2650 13000 25500 38.00 185.00 360.00 43.00 210.00 410.00

35.00 172.00 34000 4100 20000 395.00 48.50 240.00 47500

CALL TOLL FREE 800-824-7888

(VISA, M.C., COD. ORDERS ONLY) OPERATOR 906

GsSBtkUU Unlimited '"""■*

1741 SARATOGA AVE, *£01

I DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED

Circle 262 on inquiry card.

Circle 249 on inquiry card.

Circle 119 on inquiry card.

wabash

When it comes to

Flexible Disks, nobody

does it better than

Wabash.

MasterCard, Visa Accepted. Call Free: (800)235-4137

PACIFIC EXCHANGES

100 Foothill Blvd San Luis Obispo. CA 93401 {In Cal call (805)543-1037)

THE BURNER I/O

S100/IEEE 696

Has a complete EPROM programmer, two serial ports, one parallel I/O port with handshaking and memory management

Programmer features: • Programs 2704. 2708. 2508. 2758. 2716. 2516. TMS2716, 2732, 2732A. 2764 • CP/M compatible software supplied in EPROM that can be easily written on a diskette EPROM selection is done with software Does not use programming modules • Programmer is totally I/O mapped • Programming socket is zero insertion force type • Programming voltages generated on board.

I/O Features: • 2 fully independent RS-232 serial ports • Baud rate Generators are independently programmablefrom50to 19200baud • Independents bit output, mputandstatusflags • 4 direct sense lines Memory management features: • Controls address lines A16-A23 • Is disabled with standard ADSB" signal.

Options: • Complete board with programmer, I/O and memory management, $354.95 • Programmer only, $219.95 • I/O only, (2S + P) $219 95 • Prog and I/O. $329 95 • Memory management only $109 95 Memory management may be added to programmer or I/O for $25.00. All combinations are assembled and tested, Delivery Stock Shipping: UPS surface $3.00, UPS air $5 00

EXTENDED PROCESSING

3861 Woodcreek Lane. San Jose, Ca 95117 (408)249-8248

DO YOU WANT

HIGH-QUALITY

OR LOW COST

DISKETTES?

at MY Supplier, Inc. we offer you

both, with 3M Scotch Brand

Diskettes PLUS: Shipping within

24 hours and we pay the shipping.

MASTERCARD VISA C.O.D

We also carry: Ribbons, Labels, Binders, Diskette Storage Equipment and more at savings to you. CALL TOLL FREE 800-448-4016 IN CA 800-556-6786

MY Supplier, Inc.

COMPUTER AND WORD PROCESSING SUPPLIES

348 No. Moorpark Road Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

Circle 347 on inquiry card.

Circle 183 on inquiry card.

Circle 323 on inquiry card.

S^Jb. FORMULA INTERNATIONAL INC. « £j ^

ii^ Z^ttk 12603 Crenshaw Blvd., Dept. B, Hawthorne, CA 90250 ""^J

For information (213) 973-1921 • Orders Only (outside Calif.) (800) 672-8758

—s—~ A A — - Pioneer of Low Cost pinecom Apple* Compatible Computer

Compare These Features with Our Competitors:

• Powerful Utility Program

• 68-Key Upper & Lower Case Keyboard with Numeric Keypad

• 25 Pre-programmed Function Keys

• 2 Speed Auto Repeat Funtion

• 64K User Memory—expandable to 192K

• 5A Switching Power Supply (110/220VAC)

• All ICs Are Socketed for Easy Service

• Nation-wide Dealer Network for Convenient Technical Support

And best of all, the price Assembled and Tested is just

Now

with New

Improved

Keyboard!

545

00

SAVE MORE! BUV THE WHOLE SVSTEM

STARTER SYSTEM

Pinecom Computer A&T I 5VV Disk Drive w/Controller 12" Green Monitor

795

00

INTERMEDIATE SYSTEM

Pinecom Computer A&T

2 ea 5 1 A" Disk Dr w/Contr. $Q£*f|00

12" Amber/Green Monitor 5# WW

BUSINESS SYSTEM

Pinecom Computer A&T

2 ea Slim-line Disk Drives with Controller

80-Column Printer with Interface

12" Amber/Green Monitor

1269

ADVANCED SYSTEM

Pinecom Computer A&T 2 ea Slim-line DD w/Contr. 16KRAM,Z80CP/Mand

80-Column Cards 80-Column Printer with

Interface & 16K Buffer 12" Amber or Green $

Hi-Res Monitor

1400

AM COMPUTER A&T

Apple Look Alike

48K User Memory

Supports Upper & Lower Case

100% Apple li* Compatible

$ 475

00

AP-II Computer Case Made with High Impact Plastic. Color and Shape Apple* Compatible. Keyboard not incl uded. $79.95 ea.

MICRO-II COMPUTER A&T

100% Apple II + * Compatible

48K User Memory

Upper & Lower case Keyboard

With Numeric Keypad

'499

00

Micro-M Case Upgrade your Apple* with this new Case! Comes w/Keyboard that supports Upper & Lower Case plus numeric keypad. $179.95 ea.

AP-II MOTHBffiOARD

Apple II + * Compatible

48K Memory Space

8 Expansion Slots

Bare Board $69.95 ea.

Assembled & Tested ... .$295.00 ea.

Apple II Plus* Compatible Keyboard

HEAVY DUTY SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY

Output Voltages + 5V at S.OAmp +12V at 2.5Amp - 5V at 0.5Amp -12V at O.SAmp

$9995

Direct Replacement of Apple Keyboard

LSI Encoded Technology

Supports Upper & Lower Case

LB-3600N $79.95

Keyboard Case

Make your Apple* more flexible with a detachable keyboard by using this Case and our LB-3600 Keyboard ... $35.00 ea.

A Complete Line of Peripherals for Pinecom, Micro-ll, AP-II & Apple II*

Only .

ea.

PRINTS* by BMC

Parallel Interface (Centronics

Compatible) Standard Microprocessor Electronics 80cps Bidirectional with Logic Seeking 96 Character ASCII Adjustable Sprocket and Friction Feed

$265 00

Inside California

Outside Calif- (irtcl. Mexico & Canada)

Overseas

Model BX-80....

Shipping & Handling Charges

Under $50.oo Over S50.00

Purchase Purchase

10% 5%

1 5% 10%

25% 20°/o

Autoterm 80-Col. w/Softswitch

80-Column Card

80-Column for Apple lie*

Z80 CP/M Card (no software)

16K RAM Card

Parallel Printer Interface—

Buffer for Printer Interface (16-64K).

Serial Printer interface Card w/Adj. Baud . 85.00

Disk Controller , 65.00

Disk Controller DOS 3.2/3.3 Auto Select.. 75.00 EPROM Writer Card (2716/2732/2764),.. 75.00

$99.95 99.95 49.95 99.95 49.95 85.00 85.00

Minimum Order $10.00/Calif. Residents add 6.5% Sales Tax. Phone Orders Accepted on VISA or MC ONLY. NO C.O.D.s. Prices subject to change without notice.

Monitors! Monitors! Monitors!

BMC 12" Green (40/80 Col.). $ 85.00

BMC 12" Green Hi-Res 110.00

Zenith 12" Green Hi-Res 110.00

BMC 12" Amber (40/80 Col.)., 95.00

BMC 12" Amber Hi-Res 130.00

Zenith 12" Amber 125.00

BMC 13" Color 235.00

STORE HOURS

MON-FRI-10-7

SAT—10-6

'Apple and Apple II are the trademark of APPLE COMPUTERS, INC.

Circle #191 for dealers. Circle #192 for all others.

\ferbatim

flexible disks

Call Free (800) 235-4137 for

prices and information. Dealer inquiries invited. C.O.D. and charge cards accepted.

VISA'

PACIFIC EXCHANGES

100 Foothill Blvd. San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. In Cal. call (800) 592-5935 or (805) 543-1037.

FREE

SUBSCRIPTION

To our mail order computer catalog, and bargain bulletin.

PLEASE CHECK READER SERVICE NUMBER SHOWN BELOW.

World's lowest mail order prices.

H.L. Whitaker Co. Inc. 7603 Firestone Blvd. Downey, CA 90241 213-566-3556

©

PROTECT YOUR SYSTEM

from POWER DAMAGE

&*

• Metal Oxide Varistor short circuits transient high voltage "spikes" before damage occurs

• Continuous ± 5 nanosecond response protection

• Handles common and differential mode surges

• Prevents software "glitches" and memory loss

• Reduces solid state equipment damage

• EMI and RFI noise suppression filters

• For 110 volt, 15 amp, 60 hz circuits

• Limited 5-year replacement warranty

Send check or money order for Solid State Protectors @ 9.50 each plus .50 each for postage and handling. (Ml residents add 4°/o sales tax.):

Gates Marketing Co. P.O. Box 2661

Ann Arbor, Ml 48106

PROTECTS STEREOS, TVS — ALL SOLID STATE APPLIANCES!!

Circle 347 on Inquiry card.

Circle 90 on inquiry card.

Circle 131 on inquiry card.

Best Prices On TRS-80 Computers

Our 6th year of discounts

Ed or Joe McManus

Fgt. Prepaid. Save Tax.

Toll Free 800-231-3680

Mary mac Industries, Inc.

22511 Katy'Fwy., Katy

(Houston) Tx 77450

I-7I1-392-0747

Telex 774132

See us in the Wall Street Journal every Tues., Wed., Thurs.

Circle 283 on inquiry card.

maxell

DISKETTES

The Diskettes With The Lifetime Guarantee

516-543-6100 212-843-5775

(COLLECT CALLS ACCEPTED)

For every five boxes of Diskettes ordered, receive one FREE| Diskette Head Cleaning Kit. A $30.00 Value

IDAILY

IBUSINESS PRODUCTS INC. 1110 Parkway Dr. S.

lHouppauge, N.Y. 111787

VISA, MasterCard

C.O.D. Accepted

OEM & Dealer

Inquiries Invited

EPROM PROGRAMMER

*193

• Allows read, copy, verify

• Personality by jumpering

H=H

COMPUPRO SYSTEMS

CENTER

Sales and Service

We sell to sophisticated users only, and support at that level. If you are knowledgeable, we want your business. Our own factory-authorized, or Xerox" third-party warranty and post-warranty service.

C^^ Wide choice of lease/purchase plans ompuPro

MORROW OE5IGN5

DECISION 1

PRINTERS, TERMINALS. SOFTWARE—WITH SYSTEMS We cater to professionals, gov't agencies, and corp. customers.

CostPlus

COMPUTERS

TERMS: Cash with order You pay all freight. Add 5%

'c--; , lO NP130MA1 or Fed /State P.O 2%lmo carrying ctig.

D<v. ot CPC Computers. inc

CALLUS 10AM to9PM

r h ? l?^ 7 ^ R0 ' Bw 6114'BirTningham, AL3525M114

C3II J3CK LOng Our bank is 1 st National of Birmingham, (205) 326-5120

Circle 118 on inquiry card,

Attn: IBM P.C. USERS!

PeachText 5000"

PeachText 5000 has arrived. A complete personal productivity system for word processing, financial modeling and simple data-management. All at one price.

PeachText 5000 is available for a select list of microcomputers: The IBM Personal Computer™, the COMPAQ Portable Computer™, the Texas Instruments Professional Computer™, and the Zenith Z-100™ Free 90 support from Peachtree S/W. only $299.95 Plus 10 FREE Diskettes

• Terms - Visa, M.C. or C.O.D.

• Dealer Inquiries Invited

COMPUMEDIA SOFTWARE, INC.

159 Main St. S.I.N.Y. 10307

sNI

AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR

CALL TOLL FREE 1 800 248 2418

in N.Y. Stats 212 967 1700

Circle 123 on inquiry card.

Circle 103 on inquiry card.

Circle 511 on inquiry card.

TOLL-FREE

ORDERING:

800-222-8686

FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT/

SERVICE / IN ARIZONA:

602-282-6299

CCT

CUSTOM COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

1 CRAFTSMAN COURT - BOX 4160 - SEDONA, ARIZONA 86340

Purchase your Hardware and Software directly from an OEM/Systems Integrator. Take advantage of our buying power! We stock a full 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 Nations's Custom Systems House for Business, Education and Science. Call for a system quote.

FOREMOST QUALITY • ADVANCED SUPPORT • REASONABLE COST

OF PRIME INTEREST

Our prime interest at CCT is service and support. We build and sell hundreds of systems per year to the serious computer market. We rigidly adhere to our strict policy of reliable machines, and reliable people behind them. We feel the Com-puPro product line to be the state-of-the-art of the computer industry.

THE CCT EXCLUSIVE WARRANTY

With any system we build, we provide, in writing, an unconditional 12 month direct warranty on the entire system, including mainframe, boards, drives, power supplies, cabling and peripherals! We offer guaranteed 24 hour in-house repair and/or replacement with just a toll-free phone call. We can offer this, since we are so sure of our level of quality and reliability. It's great to know that in the event of a problem, you're not out of business waiting on service turnaround. We deliver!

Our various OEM contracts with all the manufacturers of the components we integrate, allow us this unprecedented flexibility. No factory O.K.'s necessary — just get it running — NOWI

Wyse 100 termi nal -14'' G reen ..

WS Prom Option - Installed $50

Mitsubishi 8" DSDD drives, full or half height. Set-up FREE OF CHARGE .. $449

Okidata82 $389/83 $619

84 . $1029/92 $469/93 $779 AshtonTatedBASEII8"orMD ...$299 Supercalc86-forCP/M86&MP/M .$99

Visual Terminals in stock Call

LearSieglerADM20 $499

Freedom 50 $499/100-$549

HaysModem-$259 • Diablo 620-51029 We carry a full line of software in all available formats at discount prices.

TECH TIP CORNER

dBASE II USERS - CUSTOM TERMINAL KEYS! Implement your arrow keys; emulate Wordstar edit commands - send an SASE with $2. 00 - (ATTN: TTC). Tell us your arrow key codes. We'll return easy, detailed instructions to change almost anything. It's beautiful —Pat...

PROFESSIONAL LEVEL BUSINESS SYSTEMS

STATE-OF-THE-ART QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, RELIABILITY

PPT AMRini IMPCC- 0UR 0WN in-house engineered I/O I HIMIMUUIMUCO. custom compupro systems

CCT-1 - ENTRY LEVEL S-100 BUSINESS SYSTEM

• Enclosure 2-Desk-20 Slot Mainframe • CPU 8085/88 - 6Mhz 8085/8Mhz 8088 «

• Disk 1 - DMA Floppy Disk Controller •

• RAM 16 - 64K Static RAM -12 Mhz •

• Interfacer 4 - 3 Serial/2 Parallel I/O •

• CCT 2.4 Dual 8" Mitsubishi DSDD Drive System - 2.4 Megabytes •

• CP/M 80 - 2.2 LD/M - CCT Modified • • All Cabling, Complete CCT Assembly,

Testing, and Minimum 20 Hour Burn-in «

INTRODUCTORY PRICE:

$3,399

RUNS ALL STANDARD 8" CP/M SOFTWARE - INCLUDES OUR EXCLUSIVE 12 MONTH DIRECT WARRANTY

CP/M MP/ M NOTE: Each copy we furnish is CCT modified for the target system. M-Drive/ H and hard disk drivers are furnished, and the BIOS optimized for the fastest disk step rate, as well as terminal and printer compatibility.

• • CCT-2-THE FASTEST*MICROCOMPUTER IN THE WORLD!! * *

Enclosure 2-Desk • 90K Baud Parallel Terminal Board • 78 Key Professional Ergonomic Keyboard CPU8086-10Mhz • Disk 1 • 512KM-Drive/H • High Resolution Amber Monitor. INTRODUCTORY PRICE: 128K-16 Bit Memory • CP/M 86 - CCT Modified • CCT 2.4 Dual DSDD Drive System Interfacer 3-8 • SS1 • All Cabling, Complete CCT Assembly, Testing, & Minimum 20 Hour Burn-in

RUNS ALL CP/M 86 SOFTWARE - ULTRA FAST - INCLUDES 12 MONTH DIRECT WARRANTY • • CCT-3- WMhz68K System similar to above, with 128KRAM $6,699 * *

iinuuuuutirrnibt

$6,799

We are the largest in the custom configuration of complete state-of-the-art S-100 systems, at package pricing, with integration, burn-in and programming. We custom build CompuPro systems / hard disk systems for business applications. Call for Com-puPro literature, CCT system configuration data and technical information. We can save you money!

• SUPER PRICES * COMPUPRO COMPONENTS * IN STOCK *

SYSTEM SPECIALS - ALL CCT A&T, BURNED IN: 816A-$4299 816B-$4999 816C-S6499

M-DriveCP/M-Blowout-$39 • Disk 1w/CP/M-$449 • M-Drive/H-512K-$1149

CPU8085/88-S319 • CPU8086/87-$579/10Mhz-$659 • CPU68K-$519/10Mhz-$S39 • CPU-Z-$249

CPU236-$1249/10Mhz-$1359 • Disk1-$369 ♦ Disk 2-$599 • Disk 3-$599

RAM17(12Mhz)-$329 • RAM 16(12Mhz)-$359 • RAM 21 (128K)-$779 • RAM 22(256K)-$1399

Interfacer 1- $229 • Interfacer 2-$249 • lnterfacer3-5-$399/3-8-$459 • Interfacer 4-$349

System Support 1-$299 • Enclosure 2-Desk-$599/ Rack-$649 • 20 Slot Motherboard-$210

CP/M80-$99 • CP/M86-$150 • MP/M8-16-$699 • CP/M68K-$279 • UNIX-SOON

86 Upgrade Kit: Consists of CP/ M 86,64K Ram, System Support 1, Cable - $749 Call for CSC Boards — New Releases—Operating System Mods/Updates

* PRICE BREAKTHROUGH * Hard Disk Subsystems

CCT/Fujitsu 5Y4" subsystem, includes Disk 3, custom enclosure & power supply, all cabling, A&T, formated, burned-in. Ready for any CompuPro or similar S-100 system: CCT-5 (5.5 Meg)-$1599

CCT-10 (11 Meg)-$1899 / CCT-20 (22 Meg -$2299

? ? HARD DISK DECISIONS ? ? *

Hard/ R oppy Combinations

An exclusive CCT innovation. CCT/Fujitsu/Mitsubishi ultra-system: 5 V hard disk next to a 1.2 Meg. DSDD 8" floppy. Includes Disk 3, custom horizontal enclosure and power supply, all cabling, A&T, formatted, burned-in. Will stand alone in any CompuPro system: CCT«5/1-$2099 CCT-1071-S2399 CCT-207142799

NEW DISK 3/5V«"HD SYSTEMS * 2.4 Megabyte Floppy Systems

CCT/Mitsubishi 2.4 Megabyte Dual DSDD 8" system. Includes custom horizontal enclosure, all cabling, A&T, burned-in. This is the fastest system available: $1149 With stacked half-height drives: $1175

All Systems Carry Our Exclusive 12 Month Warranty.

Prices & availability subject to change. All products new, and carry full manufacturer's warranties. Call for catalog. Free ware for your system. Rug-in and go. Arizona Residents add sales tax. CompuPro* Trademark — W. J. God bout

technical help to anyone. We can configure boards & soft-; CP/M* MP/M* Trademarks — Digital Research

Circle 122 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983 691J

OFF UST

1.

COMPUTER THANKSGIVING

I

SPECIALS OF THE MONTH

Okidata ML 92A

•I60cps

• Parallel (Centronics interface)

$439.00

Franklin OMS 1200 System

• Ace 1200 w/2 Drives Wordstar & Ace Calc Parallel & Serial Ports

$1795

Franklin Ace 1000 Starter System

• Ace 1000 cpu 1 Disk Drive w/controller > Green Screen Monitor

$1199

Printer Paper

500 Sheets

18 #Bond

$9.95

Princton Graphic Monitor

PCS

IBM Copy

HX-12

Color Graphic Monitor

Tandon

TM 848 2

•8 "Disk Drive

• Slimline

• Dbl Side/Dbl Density

1 for $350 2 for $325 ea.

New 90 Day warranty

Micro Sci

• A-2 Disk Drive -> Fully Apple Compatible

$209

Color Card for IBM

64K of Display Memory • Monochrome Display & Color Display Parallel Printer Port

interface Light pen, Joystick or Mouse

$395

$479

Hayes 1200

1200 Baud RS232 interface

$499

Gemini 15

15" Carriage • 100 cps Friction & Tractor Feed

$339

IBM PC

•64K

• 1 Disk Drive

• Color interface Board

$2395

Call for other Configurations

Color-Composite Monitor

• BMC 9191 Amdek Color Compatible • Composite Video

$219

Software Publishing

$109

Printer Cables

IBM & Kaypro

$29 ea.

viewMax 80 E

80 col Card for Apple II E • N/64K of memory • Expandable to 128K • Fully compatible

$129

■

we accept all p.o.s from Universities

CALL 800-847-1718

[ we Offer More Than flow Prices?!?

COMPONENTS UNLIMITED

SPECIALS CALL 800-847-1718

PERSONAL / PORTABLE SYSTEMS

Franklin

AcelOOOw/Color Call

Acel200w/Drive Call

Apple

HE $ 990

HE Starter System 1495

IBM IBMPC64K Keyboard, 1 Drive $1995

IBMPCXT 4595

Call for all Configurations

Kaypro

Kayproll $1450

Kaypro4 1850

KayprolO 2595

Columbia

1600-1 2 320K Drives $2395

Eagle

Eagle il $1895

APPLE, FRANKLIN

Accessories

Advanced Logic Systems

Cprn3.0Card $ 299

ZCardCPMCard 139

Attar

RFModulator $ 18

Gibson

Light pen for Apple ll &HE $ 249

Kensington

System Saver/Fan & Surge. $ 69

Micro Max

Viewmax80Ew/64KofRamExp.to128K ..$ 129

Micro Soft Products

Softcardw/cpm $ 239

i6KCard 65

Premium Pack 469

Micro Tele

Raml6l6Kcard $ 49

Call for Other Microtek pricing

Kraft

Joystick $ 42

Joystick (IBM) 45

videx

videoterm ,. $ 209

ccs

Serial interface $ 119

TC Products

Joystick $ 39

Paddles 28

Selecta Port 38

LOW PRICED

Hi Quality diskettes

5V4" Disks

Sgl Side/Dbl Density $l7abox

DblSide/Dbi Density 27 a box

8 Disks

Sgl Side/Dbl Density $28 a box

Dbl Side /Dbl Density 34a box

All Disks come w/Reinforced Hub, 5 yr warranty and not bulk packed.

Micro western

Smoked Plexiglass Diskette Tub Holds 80 ...$ 19 8"Version 26

IBM PC ACCESSORIES

& 8 DISK DRIVES

MODEMS

Hayes Micro computer

300 Baud Smart Modem $ 209

1200 Baud Smart Modem 499

Micro Modem ll 259

Micro Modem ll w/Terminal Package 279

Novation

j-Cat300Baud $ 119

AppleCatll 269

Ast Research

IO+ Serial port & Clock Calender $ 119

Combo + 64KSerial,Parralel&c/c 269

Mega + 64K Serial c/c 269

Six Pack + 299

Maynard

fdc Disk Controller .$ 155

FDC/PPDiskControllerw/par. port 205

FDC /SP Disk Controller w/ser. port 225

Quadrant

Quad Link $ 495

Color CraphicsCard 245

Tandon

TM100-2 (320K Drive) $ 225

1 /2 Disk Drive

Slimline Disk Drive $ 205

Expansion Ram

4164,200NS 6ea.9for$ 50

USI

Multi Display Card S 340

Siemans

FDD100-8D8"Sgl/DblDen $ 169

Mitsubishi

2894-63Dbl/DblDen $ 389

Shugart

SA801RSgl/DblDen .$ 355

SA851RDbl/DblDen 469

Tandon

TM100-1160K $ 160

TM100-2320K 225

tm 101-4 quad Density 339

TM848-1 Sgl/DblDen 359

TM 848-2 Dbl/Dbl Den 435

Super 5

Sup-5 $ 209

Controller 69

Rana Systems

Elitel $249

Elitell 399

Elite III 499

•Add $89 for controller

Micro Sci

A-2 $ 209

•Add $70 for Controller

Quentin Research

AppleMate $ 219

Controller 60

5 Va Cabinets

SglCabinetw/pwr.supply $ 55

Dual Cabinets w/pwr supply 85

8" Cabinets

SglCabinetsw/fan&pwr. supply 209

Dual Cabinets w/fan &pwr. supply 259

DISK DRIVES FOR APPLE & FRANKLIN

DISK DRIVE CABINETS

800-847-1718

CALIFORNIA

NEW RETAIL STORE:

11976 Aviation Blvd. inglewood, CA 90304

MAIL ORDER:

PRINTER ACCESSORIES

PRINTERS

C. ITOH

Gorilla-Banana, SOcps $ 194

Prowriter8510,120cps 349

Prowriter I11550(15") 649

Prowriter I Serial 499

Prowriter ll Serial 695

starwriterF-lO,40pu *1129

8600BP, 180CPS 999

PrintmasterF-10-55 1405

Epson

RX-80(12QCpS) call

MX-80FT(80cpS) Call

FX-80(160cps) Call

FX-100(15" Carriage* Call

NEC

PC8023A(100CPS) $ 399

PC8025<15" Carriage) 699

Okidata

Microline92P(160cps) $ 439

Microline92S(160cps) 599

Microline93P(160cps,15") 779

Microline93Sd60cps,15"> 899

Microline 82A (Par. & Serial) 379

Microline83A (15" Carriage) 599

Microline84P(200cps) 949

Microline84S(200cps) 999

Star Micronics

Gemini lOX(i20eps) $ 294

Gemini 15(100 cps) 339

Gemini 15X 489

Delta 10 449

Orange Micro

Grappler + .$ 119

Grappler + 16K Buffer Exp. to 64K 179

Buffer Board, works w/Grappler + 119

Fourth Dimension

Parallel Card & Cable interface for Apple... $ 49

Microtek

Dumpling GX Graphic Printer Interface ...$ 89 DumplingGX16interfaceW/16KofBuf ... 149 Additional Buffering 16K. 15

Cables

iBMtoPrinter $ 29

Kaypro to Printer 29

Osborne to Printer 29

USI

pi 1 (9"AmberHiRes) $ 130

PI 2 (9"GreenHiRes) 120

PI 3 d2"AmberHiRes) 139

PI 4 (12"GreenHiRes) 130

BMC

12 au (12" Green) $ 79

9191 ColorComposite 249

EUN(20MHZ) 134

zenith

ZVM123 (12"Green) (New) $ 105

Amdek

300A $ 149

310A 169

Color 1 Composite 289

Color II RGB 429

Princton Graphics

PGSHx12w/JBMCable $ 475

Taxan

12 "Amber $ 139

Circle 80 on inquiry card.

No Surcharge for Credit Cards

VIDEO DISPLAY MONITORS

This Ad Supersedes All Others (213)643-5188

Mon.—Fri. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat. & Sun. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

MICROPROCESSOR COMPONENTS W\ Digitaiker

CPU .

MPUw/Clock

MPUw/Clock at 3MHz

MPU w/Clock and HAM

MPU-8-bii(6MHz) .

■ . -a. H ■< ■ ' ., ,

CPU (256 bytes RAM)

CPU (64 bytes RAM)

CPU w/Basic Micro Interpreter - .

4U CPU

40 CPU 16-bit 5MHz

40 CPU■ 8/16-bit

40 HMOS RAM I/O Pod-Timer .

40 HMDS EPROM MPU

Z80, Z80A, ZBOB, Z8000 SERIES"

40 rr i i , 2MHz

28 Counter Timer Circuit

40 Dual Asynchronous Rec./Trans

40 Direct Memory Access Circuit

40 Parallel I/O Interface Controller ..

40 Serial I/O (TxCB arid RxCB Bonded) = i

40 Serial I/O (Lacks SYNCB)

40 Serial I/O

40 CPU(MK3880N-4)(7B0C-1)4MHz

28 Counter Timer Circuit

40 Dual Asynchronous Rec./Trans

40 Direct Memory Access Circuit

40 Parallel i/O Interface Controller. ..

40 Serial I/O (TxCB and RxCB bonded)

40 Serial I/O (Lacks DTRB)

40 Serial I/O'

40 Serial I/O

40 CPU(MK3880N-6)6MHz

ZB Counter Timer Circuit

40 Parallel I/O Interface Controller .

48 CPU Segmented

40 CPU Non-Segmented

40 Serial Comm. Controller

40 Counter/Timer & Parallel I/O Unit..

6800/68000 SERIES

40 MPU

40 MPU with clock and RAM

40 CPU (1MHz) External (Locking)

40 Peripheral Inter Adapt (MC6B20)

24 Priority Interrupt Controller

24 1024x8-bitR0M(MC68A30-8). .

24 Asynchronous Comm Adapter

24 Synchronous Senai Data Adapter

24 O-fiOObps Digital MODEM

24 2400bps Modulator

16 Quad 3-stale bus trans (MC8T26)

MC68000L8 64 MPU 16-Bit (8MHz)

MC68488P 40 General Purpose Int. Adapter . .

40 Multi. Protocol Comm Controller ..

ZB Enhanced Prog. Comm. Int

24 64K EPROM (450ns)

40 Peripheral Inter Adapter

SERIES

40 CPU

40 Synchronous Data Interface (SIRC).

40 128 Byte PAv

20 Octal D Flip Flop Tri-State(74C374)

24 8-bil Input/Output (74S412) . . .

24 Priority Interrupt Control

16 Bi-Directional Bus Driver

16 Clock Generator /Driver

16 Bus Driver

28 System Cont. / Bus Driver (74S4 28)

28 System Controller (74S438)

24 i/O Expander tor 48 Series . .

IB 16-Key Keyboard Encoder (74C922) • I n.nder(74C923)

28 Display Controller (74C911)

2B Display Controller (74C912)

40 Asyn.Comm Element

28 Prog. Comm. IZO(USART)

24 Prog. Interval Timer

40 Prog. Periph- U

40 Prog. DMA Control ,

28 Prog. Interrupt Control

40 Prog. CRT Controller

40 Prog. Keyboard/Display Interface

20 8-Bit Tri-State Si-Directional Trans

20 8-bit Bi-Di rf.

SB 8-bit Bi-Directional Receiver

ZO 8-bit Bi-Directional Receiver

ZO Octal Latched Peripheral Driver .

20 Octal Latched Peripheral Driver

DISK CONTROLLERS

Single Density

Price $2.95

i Single/Dual Density (inv ) . .

i Single/Double Density (True) . ..

i Dual Density/Side Select I Inv )

i Dual Density/ Side Select True

SPECIAL FUNCTION

DS0O25CN S Dual MOS Clock Driver (5MZ) I

OS0026CN B Dual MOS Clock Driver (5MZ)

INS2651 28 Communication Chip f

MM58167AN 24 Microprocessor Real Time Clock I

n 'i COP402N 40 Microcontroller w/64-digit RAM . ! and Direct LED Drive

40 Microprocessor w/64-digit RAM I

& Direct LED Drive w/N Buss Int. 20 32-seg VAC Fluor. Drvr (20-pin pkg.) .;

28 Microprocessor Sequencer )

8 Prog. Oscillator/Divider (100Hz) '

DYNAMIC RAMS

Part Nil. "Ptni Pries

1103 18 1024x1 (300ns) 99

4027 16 4096x1 <250ns) 2.48

4116N-2 16 16,384x1 (150ns) 1.89-8/14.95

4116M-3 16 16.384x1 (200ns) 1.69-8/12.95

4116N-4 16 16.384x1 (250ns) 149-8/10.95

4164N-1SQ 16 65.536x1 (150ns) 6.95-8/49 95

4164N-200 16 65.536x1 (200ns) 5 95-8/44.95

MM5261 18 1024x1 (300ns) 49 - B/1.95

MM 5262 22 2048x1 (365ns) 49-0/1.95

MM5270 18 4096x1 (250ns) MK4096 4.95

MM5280 22 4096x1 (2O0ns)2107 3.95

MM5290-2 16 16.384x1 (150ns) 1.89-8/14.95

MM5290-3 16 16 3M.

MM5290-4 16 16.384x1 (250ns) 149-8/10.95

MM5298-3 16 8192x1 (200ns) 1.69

STATIC RAMS

1101 16 256x1 (650ns) 1.49

2101 22 256x4 (450ns) 8101. 2.49

2102 16 1024x1 (350ns) 89

21L02 16 1024x1 (450ns) LP 1.49

2111 18 256x4 (450ns) 8111 2.95

2112 16 256x4 (450ns) MOS 195

2114 18 1024x4 (450ns) . ... 1.49 - 8/9 95

2114L IB 1024x4 (450ns) LP. ..195-8/13.95

2114-2 13 1024x4 (200ns) 1.75-8/11.95

2114L-2 18 1024x4 (200ns) LP .2.25-8/14.95

2147 18 4096x1 (70ns) 4.95

2148 18 1024x4 (70ns) 4.95

TMS4045 18 1024x4 (450ns) ..... .3 95

5101 22 256x4 (450ns) CMOS 2.95

MM5257 18 4096x1 (450ns) 4044 4.95

HM6116P-3 24 2048x8 (150ns) CMOS . . . 5 95

HM6116-4 24 2048x8 (200ns) CMOS 4.95

HM6116LP-4 Z4 2048x8 (200ns) L.P CMOS 5 49

HM6264P-15 28 8192x8 (150ns) CMOS 39.95

7489 16 16x4 (50ns) 3101 2.25

74C920 22 256x4 (250ns) 3.95

74C921 18 256x4 (250ns) CMOS 3.95

74C929 16 1024x1 (250ns) CMOS (6501) .3.95

74C930 18 1024x1 (250ns) CMOS (6518) ..3.95

74S189 16 16x4 (35ns) 93405 1.95

74S200 16 256x1 (80ns)93410 3.95

74S206 16 256x1 (60ns}93411 3 95

74S289 16 16x4 (35ns) 3101 2.25

82S10 16 1024x1 i'r i . 1 93415) .. .3.95 82S25 16 16x4 (50ns) 0 C (74S289) 2.25

PROMS/EPROMS

1702A 24 256x8 (1us) 4.95

2708 Z4 1024x8 (450ns) 3.95

2708-5 24 1024x8 (550ns) SM00246. . .2.95

TMS2516 24 2048x8 (450ns) 2716 5.95

TMS2532 24 4096x8 (450ns) NMC2532 .6.95

TMS2564 28 8192x8 (450ns) 14.95

TMS2716 24 2048x8 (450ns) 3 voltage 9 95

2716 24 2048x8 (450ns) 4.95

2716-1 24 2048x8 (350ns) 5.95

27160-5 24 2048x8 (bSOns) 4.49

2732 24 4096x8 (450ns) 6.95

2732A-3 24 4096x8 (300ns) 21V 7.95

2732A-4 24 4096x8 (450ns) 21V 6.95

27320-4 24 4096x8 (550ns) 25V 5.95

27580-A Z4 1024x8 (450ns) 2.95

2764-4 ZB 8192x8 (450ns) 9.95

2764-3 2B 8192x8 (300ns) 14,95

MCM68764 24 8192x8 (450ns) 24.95

27128 ZB 16,384x8 (450ns) 128K EPROM 59.95

74S188 16 32x8 PROM O.C. (6330-1) . 1.49

745287 16 256x4 PROM T.S (6301-1) 1.95

745288 16 32x8 PROM T.S. (6331-1) . 1.95

745471 20 256x8 PROM T.S (6309-1). 5.95

745472 ZO 512x8 PROM T.S (6349-1) .4.95

745473 20 512x8 PROM O.C. (6348) . 4.95

745474 24 512x8 PROM T.S (DMB7S296N) 4.95

745570 16 512x4 PROM O.C (6305) . 2 95

745571 16 512x4 PROMT J r?v.

745572 18 1024x4 PROM O.C. (6352) 4.95

745573 18 1024x4 PROM T S (8251371 . 4 95 82S23 16 32x8 PROM O.C (27S18) , ... 2.95

82S115 24 512x8 PROM T.S, (27S15) 9.95

82S123 16 32x8 PROM T.S. (27S19) . .2.95

82S126 16 256x4 PROM 0 C. (27S20) .2 95

825129 16 256x4 PROM T.S. I27S21) . 2 95

825130 16 512x4 PROM O.C. (27S12) 3.95 82S185 18 2048x4 PROM T S. (T8P24S81) 9 95 DM87S180N 24 1024x8 PROM O.C. (82S180) . .9.95

DM87S1S1N 24 1024x8 PROM T S. (82S181) 9.95

DM87S184N 18 2048x4 PROM O.C. (82S184) . . .9.95

DM87S185N 18 2048x4 PROM T.S. (82S185) 9.95

DMB/S190N 24 2048x4 PROM O.C. (82S190) . . .14.95

QM87S191M 24 2048x8 PROM T.S. (82S191) . .14.95

DATA ACQUISITION

DC 10 Mostek DC/DC Convert. +5Vto-9V.. .2.95

MC3470P 18 Floppy Disk Read AMP System 4.95

MC1408L7 16 7-bit D/A Converter (DAC0807LCN) .... 1.49

MC1408L8 18 8-bit D/A Converter (DAC0808LCN) ... 2.25

ADC0803LCN20 8-bit A/D Converter (± 1 /2LSB) 4.95

AOC0804 20 8- bit A/D Converter (USUi '•]

DACO806 16 8-bit D/A Converter (0 78% Lin.) 1.95

ADC0809 28 8-bit A/D Converter (8-Ch .Multi.) .4.49

ADC0817 40 8-bit A/D Converter (16-Ch Multi.) . . 9.95

DAC1000 Z4 10-bit D/AConv Micro Comp. (0 05%) 7.95

DAC1008 ZO 10-bitD/AConv Micro. Comp (0 20%) 6.95

DAC102O 16 10-bil D/ACanv. (0 05% Lin.) 7.95

DAC1022 16 10-bit D/A Conv. (0.20% Lin.) . . . .5.95

DAC1222 IB 12 tail D A ^i n i Lm.) 6.95

LM334Z Constant Current Source 1.19

LM3352 Temperature Transducer 1.40

LM399H Temp Comp Prec Pel ( 5ppm/C e ) . 5.00

AY-5-1C13A 40 30K Baud Uart (TH16Q2) 3.95

QUALITY COMPONENTS AT AFFORDABLE PRICES!

LOW PROFILE (TIN) SOCKETS

1-9 10-99 100-up

SOLDERTAIL (GOLD) STANDARD

HP

WWrr

SOLDERTAIL STANDARD (TIN)

19 10-99 100-up

14 pin ST

n ST

18 pin ST 20 pin ST 24 pin ST ZB pin ST 40 pin ST

WIRE WRAP SOCKETS (GOLD) LEVEL #3

1-9 10-99 100-up

1.05 1.19 1.23 1.50 1.75

$10.00 Minimum Order — U.S. Funds Only California Residents Add 6 V? % Sales Tax Shipping — Add 5% plus $1.50 Insurance Send S.A.S.B. for Monthly Sales Flyer!

Spec Sheets — 30c each Send $1.00 Postage for your FREE 1984 JAMECO CATALOG Prices Subject to Change

VISA"

1355 SHOREWAY ROAD, BELMONT, CA 94002 11/83 PHONE ORDERS WELCOME — (415) 592-8097 Telex: 176043

DT1050 — Applications: Teaching aids, appliances, clocks, automotive, telecommunications, language translations, etc.

The DT1060 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 mate voice. Female and children's voices can be synthesized. The vocabulary is chosen so that it is applicable to many products and markets.

The DT1050 consists ol a Speech Professor Chip, MM54104 (40-pin) and two (2) Speech ROMs MM52164SSR1 and MM52164SSR2 (24-pin) along with a Master Word list and a recommended schematic diagram on the application sheet.

DT1050 Digitaiker™ $34.95 ea.

DT1057 — Expands the DT1050 vocabulary from 137 to over 260 words. Incl. 2 ROMs and specs. DT1057 $24.95©a.

MIIi^flL

^9

7045IPI 28 CMOS Precision Timer 14.95

7045EV/Kit* ZB Stopwatch Chip, XTL 19.95

7106CPL 40 3 V! Digit A/D (LCD Drive) 9 95

FE02030 3% Digit LCD Display for 7106 & 7116 19.95

7106EV/Kfl* 40 IC, Circuit Board, Display 34.95

7107CPL 40 3Vj Digit A/0 (LED Drive) 11.95

7107EV/W1* 40 IC, Circuit Board, Display 29.95

7116CPL 40 3V? Digit A/0 LCD Dis HLD 16.95

72011 US Low Battery Volt Indicator 2.25

7205IPG 24 CMOS LED Stopwatch/Timer 12.95

7205EV/Kit* 24 Stopwatch Chip, XTL 14.95

7206CJPE 16 Tone Generator . 4.95

7206CEV/KI1* 16 Tone Generator Chip, XTL 7.95

7207AIPD 14 Oscillator Controller 5.95

?207AEV/Kit* 14 Freq. Counter Chip, XTL 7.95

7215IPG 24 4 func CMOS Stopwatch CKT 13.95

7215EV/Kit* 24 4 Func Stopwatch Chip. XTL 14.95

7216AUI 28 8 Digit Univ. Counter C A 29.95

7216CUI ZB 8 Digit Freq. Counter CA 24.95

7216DIPI 28 8 Digit Freq. Counter C.C.. 19.95

7217IJI 28 4 Digit LED Up/Down Counter C. A 10.95

7217AIPI 28 4 Digit LED Up/Down Counter CC 11.95

7224IPL 40 LCD 4 V? Digit Up Counter OR I 10.95

7226AIJL 40 8 Digit Univ. Counter 29.95

7226AEV/Kir 40 5 Function Counter Chip. XTL 74.95

130009 1983 INTERSIL Data Book (135~

74HC High Speed CMOS

^Programmable Array Logic (PALS)

PAL10H8 PAL12H6 PAL14H4 PAL10L8 PAL12L6 PAL14L4 PAL16L8 PAL16R8 PAL16R6 PAL16R4

Octal 10-lnpul AND-OR Gate Array (High Output) $3.9:

Hex 12-lnput AfJD-OR Gate Array (High Output) 3.9:

Quad 14-lnput AND-OR Gate Array (High Output) 3.9

Octal 10-Input AND-OR-Invert Gate Array (Low Output)... 3.9:

Hex 12-lnput AND-OR-lnvert Gate Array (Low Output) . 3.9

Quad !4-lnpu! AND-QR-lnvert Gate Array (Low Output) , 3.9

OctaM6-lnpu1 ANO-OR-lnvert Gate Array 9.9:

Octal 16-lnput Register AND-OR Gate Array 7.9:

Hex 16-input Register AND-OR Gate Array ... 7.9:

Quad 16-lnpui Register AND-OR Gale Array

j 30012 1982 NATIONAL PAL Data B

74C00 14 .35 Ult'l'sfJ^siFTj

74C02 14

74C04 14

74C08 14

74C10 14

74C14 14

74C20 14

74C30 14

74C32 14

74C42 16

74C48 16

74C73 14

74C74 14

74C85 16

74C86 14

74C89 16

74C90 14

74C93 14

K(l76p.)

.$5.95 I

74C95 74C107 74C151 74C154 74C157 74C160 74C161 74C162 74C163 74C164 74C173 74C174 74C175 74C192 74C193 74C195

74C221 74C240 74C244 74C373 74C374 74C901 74C903 74C906 74C911 74C912 74C915 74C917 74C922 74C923 74C925 74C926 S0C9S

4.95 5.95 5.95

LM723N 14

LM733N 14

LM739N 14

LM741CM 8

LM747N 14

LM748N 8

LM131QM 14

LM1458CN B

LM1488N 14

LM1489N 14

LM1496N 14

LM1B00N 16

LM1871IV IB

LM1872N 18

LM1896N 14 2.95

LM2002T 195

LM3189N IS 1.59

LM39O0N 14 .59

LM3905CN B 1.19

LM3909N 8 .99

LM3914N 18 2.95

LM3915N IB 2.95

LM3916N 18 2.95

RC4136N 14 1.2S

RC4151NB B 1.95

RC4194TK 4 49

NE5532 8 2.49

NE5534 8 1.69

ICL8038B 14 3.95

LM13080N 8 1.19

LM13600N 16 1 19 MORE AVAILABLE

30003 1982 Nat. Linear Data Book (1952 pgs) $11.95

694 BYTE November 1983

Circle 244 on inquiry card.

• f

COMPUTER-PERIPHERAL SWITCHERS

Conner any number el peripheral* la 1 single I/O port - uta 1 Single printer toiup-port several microcomputers - (ill two or more printers lo support t single microcomputer - access a madam from my af several microcomputers - Ideal far demonslratino, or comparlnfl equipment. The Selecto-Switches are designed lo eliminate the unnecessary plugging & unplugging of cables which connect printers, terminals, or modems to various computers By using a Selecto-Switch, you achieve more efficient system operation, better utilization ot peripherals & computer ports, eliminate redundant hardware & reduce service calls 5 yr limited warranty on all Selecto-Switches No power required Size (inches) 10L « 7W * 3H. 2ft lbs.

RS232 SERIAL SELECTOSWITCH

• Switches all lines of asynchronous data • Easy expansion of serial ports • Connectors are female DB25 type

PART NO DESCRIPTION PRICE

GRS232-AB 2-Way Switch .77 $139.95

GRS232 ABC 3-Way Switch $179.95

DB25 PARALLEL SELECTOSWITCH

• TRS-80, Apple, and IBM compatible • Switches 24 lines (line 1 is ground) • Connectors are female DB25 type

tm NO DESC RIPTION PJMCE

GP24-AB 2-Way Switch $139.95

GP24-ABC 3-Way Switch $179.95

CENTRONICS-STYLE SELECTOSWITCH

• Switches all 36 lines • Connectors are female Centronics

PAHTNO DESCRIPTION PHICE

GCENT-AB 2-Way Switch $199.95

GCENT-ABC 3-Way Switch $229.95

Micro-Logic Corp. * s p MICRO-CHARTS *SJtsl

• Fully decoded data • instant access • 2-sided, totally comprehensive • Compact SVi x11 In. durable credit card plastic • Perfect for programmers & engineers

• Clear & concise tables for. full instruction set. disassembly. ASCII, base conversion, effect ol Hags, compare vs. jump, interrupt slruciure. pinout. cycle times, diagrams, bug notes, & much more

MJtT HO REFERENCE PRICE

ML-Z80 Z80 CPU $5.95

ML-8080A 8080A/8085A $5.95

ML-6502 6502 (65XX) $5.95

ML-8048 8048, Relatives $5.95

ML-7400 5400/7400 TTL Pin-Outs $5.95

BOOKS

30001 National CMOS Data Book (19811 $6.05

(640 pages) 74C. cd*000, and A/D Converters

30003 National Linear Data Book (1982) $11.9$

(1376 pages) LM, LF, ADC, DAC, LH Series

30008 National Memory Data Book (1980) $6.95

(464 pages) RAMs. ROMs, PROMs, EPROMs Series

30009 Intersil Data Book (19831 $9.95

(1356 pages) Complete line.

30010 National AudiorRadio Handbook (1980) $5.95

(240 pages) Pre-Amps, AM. FM & FM Stereo, Power Amps

30012 National PAL Data Book (1982) $5.95

(176 pages) Application Notes, Linear Briefs, etc.

30013 Zilog Data Book (1963) $7.95

(641 pages) Microprocessors and Support Chips

210830 Intel Memory Components Handbook (1983) $14.95

(798 pages) Contains all Application Notes, Article Reprints, Data Sheets, and other design information on Intel's RAMs, EPROMs. E ! PROMs 4 Bubble Memories.

210644 Intel Microprocessor* Peripheral Handbook(1983) $14.95

(1027 pages) Contains Data Sheets on all ol Intel's Microprocessors and Peripherals.

ATARI — COMMODORE

ATARI PADDLE

JSP $2.49/pair

COMMODORE PADDLE

CSP VIC20-C64 $3.95/pair

TV GAME SWITCH

Used on Atari. Cosmet-c ically blemished. 100% functional.

TGS-1 ...$1.95ea.

J amSSo Digital Thermometer Kit ■ WHBW,1WI Dual sensors _ switch

conlrols for indoor/outdoor or dual monitoring — can be extended to 500 feet. Continuous LED .8" ht. display Range: 40T to 199°F, -40'C to tOXTC. Accuracy ±1° nominal. Calibrate for Fahrenheit /Celsius. -e^- * ~~ ~ w m '* Simulated walnut case. AC

I conn **Jf» fie wa " ada f >ler included. Size:

JCOUU $Oy.yO 6VLx3*A"Hx1VD.

Universal ^Computer Keyboard Enclosures

"DTE" Blank Desk-Top Enclosures

are designed for easy modilica-

lion High strength epoxy molded

end pieces in mocha brown finish

Sliding rea r / botl om pa nel lor service /

* component access'Top/bolt panels 080"

' thick alum alodine type 1200 finish (gold lint

color) for best painl adhesion after modification

Vented lop & bottom panels for cooling efficiency

Rigid construction provides unlimited applications

-».ae— —/ Assembly instructions included

DTE-8 Panel Width 7.5" $24.95

DTE-11 Panel Width 10.13' $27,95

DTE-14 Panel Width 13.5" $29.95

DTE-20 Panel Width 19.25" S34.95

DTE-22 Panel Width 21.375" $39.95

. ung SpeciiI tunc! ions incluilB Home. Clear. Q«»i to End ol Screen. Scroll Up Soon Down T«e Delete Left. RiflM. UP »nfl Down E»cn iiey n»s »uto-fepe»i JE614 Assembled and Tested $89.95

Switching Power Supply forAPPLfll, II + and He*

Extended 80 Column/64K RAM Card for APPLE He*

JEB64

you c»n oouble tiu memotv !y loimat lor your APPLE m ■

»racteis per line- Perfect It

>PLE and expand

ro APPLE Me computers

Hign Resoli

JE864

large programj » Ultra

$149.95

Cooling Fan for APPLE II, II + and He*

5Va" half-height disk drives

FIT TWO DRIVES IN THE SAME SPACE AS ONE CONVENTIONAL W-* DRIVE

TEAC FD55A

SINGLE-SIDEO:

•48 tpi

• 40 Tracks

• 250Kbytes single-sided

• Single/ double density

• Brushless DC direct-drive motor

• Low 5W power consumption

• Power req.: + 12VDC 9 -3A + 5VDC r$ .55A

• 6 msec, track to track

• One year warranty

• Size; 5%'W x 1%"H x 8"D

• Weight: 3 lbs. 5 02.

FD55A $249.95

COMPATIBLE WITH TRS-80

IBM-PC

SHUGART SA455

DOUBLE-SIDED:

• 40 Tracks

• SOOKbytes double-sided

• Single/ double density

• Brushless DC direct-drive motor

• Power req.:

+ 12VDC ® -75A + 5VDC @ ,7A

• 6 msec, track to track

• Compatible with SA400/450

• One year warranty

• Size: 5.75"W x 1.63'H :

• Weight: 3,3 lbs.

SA455... $259.95

Keytronics 90-Key Keyboard

WITH SECURITY KEYLOCK SWITCH

• Cursor controls

• 8-bit Parallel

• Solid state switches •10 user-programmable keys

• Positive TTL Logic

• Slze:17"L x B'/.'W x 2»A*H

Made tor Visual Technology, this keyboard features: a security keylock (includes two keys} to guard against unauthorized use; an 11-key numeric keypad; cursor controls; and 10 user-programmable keys. Electrical requirements: + SVDC. Color (case): White, Color (keycaps): Black. Complete with case, keyboard assembly, 40-inch interface cable, and schematics. Weight: 7 lbs.

Part No. KB270 $79.95 each

23 ,, Lx5V4"Wn1-3(8"H

3"Lx 3"W » 1Vi"H

HI,

u

MICRO SWITCH 85-KEY KEYBOARD

Word Processing Keyboard 26 Pin Edge Card Connection Supply Voltage +5VDC Main Keyboard is QWERTY. Additional Key Pads lor Cursor and word processing functions.

Part No. 85SD18-1 $29.95 each

HI-TEK 14-KEY NUMERIC KEYPAD

SPST switching Charcoal orey keycaps. Mounted on printed circuit board.

Part No. K-14

JE664 EPROM PROGRAMMER

8K TO 64K EPROMS - 24 AND 28 PIN PACKAGES

■ Programs. validate*, and checks for properly erased EPROMs ■ Emulates PROMs or EPROMs • RS232C Computer Interface lor edllino/program loading . Loads data into RAM by keyboard • Changes data in RAM by keyboard • Loads "*"

Copies EPROMs • Poor In-

power consumption • Enclosure Color-coordinated.

" - Size: 15-5/8-L x BVO x

nsumptlon • E n end pieces ■

put: 115VAC, 60Hz.

light tan pa

3Vt"H • Wl

JE664-A EPROM Programmer $995.00

Assembled & Tested (Includes JM16A Mod ule) __

JE66S — RS232C INTERFACE OPTION — n»JEM5ftS232C interface Option imptemei : ! 3 the J£664 s RAM Sample soltware written in

BASIC provided tor TRS-80" Model I. Level II Computer Baud rate 96O0 Word Ijjlh. 8 bits - odd parity Stop bits: 2. Option may be adapted to other computers The JE665 can be interfaced In i .ir.. ii's *iln -m RS232 port. Information is also provided lor interfacing lo any CP/M system with an RS232 port

JE664-ARS EPROM Programmer «/JE665 Option $1195.00 Assembled and Tested I Includes JM16A Module]

EPROM JUMPER MODULES - The je664's jumper module (Personality

Module) ts a plug-m Module mat pre-sels JE664 lor proper programming pulses to the EPROM & configures EPROM socket connections for ihat particular EPROM.

JM08A JM16A JM16B JM32A JM32B JM32C JM64A

JM64B JM64C JM64D

EPROM

2708

2716.TMS2516

TMS2716

TMS2532

2732

2732A(21V)

MCM68764.

MCM68L764

2764

TMS2564

HN48Z764G-4

EPROM MA NUFACTU RE R

AMD. Motorola.National, Intel.Tl (26V) . !ntel. Motorola, National. NEC.TI. (25V) Motorola. Tl( +5. -5. +12) Motorola. Tl (25V)

AMO.Fuiitsu.NEC.Hitachi. Intel (25V) Fu|itsu. Intel (21V)

Motorola(21V) .

Intel (21V)

Tl (25V) Hitachi(21V)

PRICE S1495

114.95 $14.95 Sit 95 114.95 514.95

$14.95

$14.95 S14.95 $14.95

UV-EPROM Eraser

8 Chips — 51 Minutes

I 1 Chip — 37 Minutes |

Erases 2708, 2716, 2732, 2764. 2516, 2532, 2564. Erases gp to 8 chips within 51 minutes (1 chip in 37 minutes). Maintains constant exposure distance of one inch. Special conductive foam liner eliminates static build-up. Built-in safety lock to prevent UV exposure. Compact — only 9.00" x 3.70" x 2.60". Complete with holding tray for 8 chips.

s 79.95

....$16.95

S9.95 each

POWER SUPPLY +5VDC @ 1 AMP REGULATED Trarwaclion Tech

Output +5VDC a 1A (also +30VDC) rag. Input 115VAC 6QHz. 2-tone (black/beiao) salf-anclosed case 6 ft., 3 cond black power cord §V'W x 7"D t ZV."H. Wt. 3 lbs. Data sheet incl.

Part No. PS51194S $14.95 each

POWER SUPPLY +5VDC @ 3 AMP REGULATED Deftron

Input: 115VAC. 47-440HI. Output: 5VBC Adiustabla fl 3 amp, 6VDC j§ 2.5 amp. Adjustable current limit. Ripple & Noise: 1MV rms. 5MV p-p - 2 mounting surfaces. UL recognized. Size: 4"W i 4Vi"L i 2-7/16"H - wt. 2 lbs. Data sheet included.

Part No. QPS-1 S29.95each

POWER SUPPLY +5VDC @ 7.5 AMP, 12VDC @ 1.5 AMP SWITCHING

Input: 115VAC, 50-60H2 ® 3 amp/230VAC ches (115/230VAC). Output: 5V0C @ 7 6 a 13%"D x3%"H. wt. 6 lbs.

Part No. PS94V0S $39.95 each

POWER SUPPLY 4-Channal Switching - Apple Compatible

FOR USE AS AN EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLY FOR APPLE Microprocessor, mini-computer, terminal, medical equipment and process conti put 90-130VAC 47-440H; Output: +5VDC (ft 5A. -5VDC # 1A; +12VDC @ tA. -12V0C @ 1A. Une rea.: ±0.2%. Ripple: 30mV p-p. Load rag.: ±1%. Overcurrent protection. Adj: 5V main output* 10% 6-3/B"L i 1-7/8"W i 4-1S/t6"H. Wt. IVi lbs.

Part No. FCS-604A $69.95 each

$10.00 Minimum Order — U.S. Funds Only California Residents Add 6Vz% Sales Tax Shipping — Add 5% plus $1.50 Insurance Send S.A.S.E. for Monthly Sales Flyer!

Spec Sheets — 30c each Send $1.00 Postage for your FREE 1984 JAMECO CATALOG Prices Subject to Change

! MasterCard j

1355 SHOREWAY ROAD, BELMONT, CA 94002 ambz PHONE ORDERS WELCOME — (415) 592-8097 Telex: 176043

DE-4 UV-EPROM Eraser .. UVS-11EL Replacement Bulb

IBM MEMORY EXPANSION KIT

SAVE HUNDREDS OF $$$ BY UPGRADING MEMORY BOARDS YOURSELF!

Most of the popular memory boards allow you to add an additional 64K, 12BK, 192K, or 256K The IBM64K Kit will populate these boards In 64K byte Increments. The kit Is simple to install — just insert the nine 64K RAM chips in the provided sockets and set the two groups of switches. Directions are Included.

IBM64K (Nine 200ns 64K RAMs) $49.95

EXPAND YOUR MEMORY

TRS-80 to 16K, 32K, or 48K

"Model 1 = From 4K to 16K Requires (1) One Kit Model 3 = From 4K to 48K Requires (3) Three Kits Color = From 4K to 16K Requires (1) One Kit

"Model 1 equipped with Expansion Beard up to 4BK Two Kite Required - One Kit Required lor each 16K ol Expansion -

TRS-16K3 *200ns for Color & Model III $12.95

TRS-16K4 *250ns for Model I $10.95

TKS-80 Color 32K or 64K Conversion Kit

Easy to install kit comes complete with 8 ea. 41642 (200ns) 64K dynamic RAMs & conversion documentation. Converts TRS-80 color computers with E circuit boards, & all new color computers to 32K. Minor modifications of 32K memory will allow the use of all the64K of the dynamic RAM providing you have a FLEX DOS operating system.

TRS-64K2 $44.95

5V«" Mini-Floppy Disk Drive

FOR TRS«80 MODEL I • COLOR COMPUTER

Features single or double density. Recording mode FM single MFM double density Seek time 2&msec track to track Power: +12VDC (±0 6V) 1.6A max. +5VDC (±0 25V) 0.8A max Unit as pc. al right does rtrt incl case, power supply, cables) 30 pg data book incl Wl 37; lbs. Sire: S*"W x 8"D x 3V«"H Part No. Limited Quantity! Price

FD200 $179.95

Single-sided, 40 tracks, 250K bytes capacity

FD250 $199.95

Double-sided, 35 tracks, 43SK bytes capacity

8" FLOPPY DISK DRIVE

• Shugart 801R compatible

• Single-Sided

• 77 Tracks

• 400/BOOK Bytes Capacity

• Industry Standard

The FOD100-8 8" Floppy Disk Drive (Industry Standard) features single or double density. Recording mode: FM single, MFM double density. Transfer rate: 250K bits/sec. single density; 500K bits/sec. double density. The F=DD100-8 is designed to work with the single-sided soft sectored IBM Diskette I, or eq. disk cartridge. Power: 115VAC ® 50-SOHz, +24VDC @ 1.7 amps max.. +5VDC @ 1.2 amps max. Unit as pictured above (does not include case, power supply, or cables). Size: 8.55"W x 14*L x 4.5"H. Weighs 12 lbs. Incl. 96-pg. manual. Part No. Price

FDD100-8.. $169.95 ea.J

Circle 244 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983

DoKo

COMPUTER PRODUCTS, Inc.

ORDER TOLL FREE

(800) 538-8800

(CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS)

(800) 848-8008

MasterCard

TERMS: For shipping include $2.00 for UPS Ground or $3.00 for UPS Blue Air. $10.00 minimum order Bay Area and Los Angeles Counties add 6 1 /2% Sales Tax, other California residents add 6% Sales Tax. We reserve the right to limit quantities and substitute manufacturer. Prices subject to change without notice.

VISIT OUR RETAIL STORE

2100 De La Cruz Blvd.

Santa Clara, CA 95050

(408) 988-0697

DoKcx

6500

6502 4.90

6504 6.90

6505 8.90

6507 9.90

6520 4.30

6522 .. 7.90

6532 9.90

6545 21.50

6551 10.85

2 MHZ

6502A 6.90

6522A 9.90

6532A 10.95

6545A 26.95

6551A 10.95

3 MHZ

6502B 13.95

6800

68000 58.95

6800 3.90

6802 7.90

6808 12.90

6809E 18.95

6809 10.95

6810 2.90

6820 4.30

6821 3.20

6828 13.95

6840 11.95

6843 33.95

6844 24.95

6845 13.95

6847 10.95

6850 3.20

6852 15.70

6860 9.90

6862 10.95

6875 6.90

6880 2.20

6883 21.95

68047 23.95

68488 18.95

6800 1MHZ

68B00 9.95

68B02 21.25

68B09E 28.95

68B09 28.95

68B10 6.90

68B21 6.90

68B45 ... 18.95

68B50 5.90

8000

8035 5.90

8039 6.90

INS-8060 16.95

INS-8073 23.95

8080 3.90

8085 5.90

8085A-2 10.95

8086 26.95

8087 CALL

8088 38.95

8089 88.95

8155 6.90

8155-2 7.90

8156 6.90

8185 28.95

8185-2 38.95

8741 38.95

8748 23.95

8755 23.95

696 BYTE November 1983

8202 23.95

8203 38.95

8205 3.45

8212 1.75

8214 3.80

8216 1.70

8224 2.20

8226 1-75

8228 3.45

8237 18.95

8237-5 20.95

8238 4.45

8243 4.40

8250 9.95

8251 4.45

8253 6.90

8253-5 7.90

8255 4.45

8255-5 5.20

8257 7.90

8257-5 8.90

8259 6.85

8259-5 7.45

8271 38.95

8272 38.95

8275 28.95

8279 8.90

8279-5 9.00

8272 6.45

8263 6.45

8284 5.45

8286 6.45

8287 6.45

8288 24.00

8289 48.95

Z-80

2.5 Mhz

Z80-CPU 3.90

Z80-CTC 4.45

Z80-OART 9.95

Z80-DMA 13.95

Z80-PIO 4.45

Z80-SIO/0 15.95

Z80-SIO/1 15.95

Z80-SIO/2 15.95

Z80-SIO/9 15.95

4.0 Mhz

Z80A-CPU 4.90

Z80A-CTC - 4.90

Z80A-OART 10.95

Z80A-DMA 15.95

Z80A-PIO 4.90

Z80A-SIO/0 15.95

Z80A-SIO/1 15.95

Z80A-SIO/2 15.95

Z80A-SIO/9 - 15.95

6,0 Mhz

Z80B-CPU 12.95

Z80B-CTC 12.95

Z80B-PIO 12.95

Z80B-DART 18.95

ZILOG

Z6132 33.95

Z8671 38.95

DISC CONTROLLERS

1771 15.95

1791 23.95

1793 25.95

1795 48,95

1797 48.95

2791 53.95

2793 53.95

2795 58.95

2797 58.95

6843 33.95

8272 38.95

UPD765 38.95

MB8876 28.95

MB8877 33.95

1691 16.95

2143 17.95

UARTS

AY3-1014 6.90

AY5-1013 3.90

AY3-1015 6.90

PT-1472 9.90

TR1602 3.90

2350 9.90

2651 8.90

TMS8011 ... 5.90

1M6402 7.90

IM6403 8.90

INS8250 9.95

INTERFACE

8T26 1.54

8T28 1.84

8T95 88

8T96 88

8T97 88

8T98 88

DM8131 2.90

DP8304 2.24

OS8835 1.94

DS8836 98

Circle 158 on in

VOLTAGE REGULATORS

DIP SWITCHES

4 POSITION 84

5 POSITION 89

6 POSITION 89

7 POSITION 94

8 POSITION 94

IC SOCKETS

1-99 100_

6 pin ST .12 .10

14 pin ST .14 .11

16 pin ST .16 .12

18 pin ST .19 .17

20 pin ST .28 .26

22 pin ST .29 .26

24 pin ST .29 .26

28 pin ST .39 .31

40 pin ST .48 .38

64 pin ST 4.20 call

ST = SOLDERTAIL

8 pin WW .58 .48

14 pin WW .68 .51

16 pin WW .68 .57

18 pin WW .98 .89

20 pin WW 1.04 .97

22 pin WW 1.34 1.23

24 pin WW 1.44 1.30

26 pin WW 1.64 1.44

40 pin WW 1.94 1.75

WW - WIREWRAP

16plnZIF 6.70 call

24 pin ZIF 9.90 call

28 pin ZIF 9.95 call

ZIF * TEXTOOL (Zero Insertion Force)

CRYSTALS

32.768khz 1.90

1.0 mhz 4.90

1.8432 4.90

2.0 3.90

2.097152 3.90

2.4576 3.90

3.2768 3.90

3.579535 3.90

4.0 3-90

5.0 3.90

5.0688 3.90

5.185 3.90

5.7143 3.90

6.0 3-90

6.144 3.90

6.5536 3.90

8.0 3.90

10.0 3.90

10.738635 3.90

14.31818 3.90

15.0 3.90

16.0 3.90

17.430 • 3.90

18.0 3.90

18.432 3.90

20.0 3.90

22.1184 3.90

32.0 - 3.90

RESISTORS

'/< WATTS* CARBON FILM ALL STANDARD VALUES FROM 1 OHM TO 10 MEG OHM

50 PCS 1.25

100 PCS 2.00

1000 PCS 15.00

APPLE ACCESSORIES

80 Column Card 129.95

16 K Card 42.50

Fan 38.95

Power Supply 84.95

RF Mod 24.95

Joy Stick (Apple II) 29.95

Paddles Apple 9.95

Z80 Card 129.95

SCRG Switch-A-Slot 19.95

Paddle Adapple. 24.95

Extend-A Slot 19.95

Disk Drive 224.95

Controller Card 69.95

5V4" DISKETTES ATHANA OR NASHUA

SSSD 18.95

SSDO 22.95

DSDD 27.95

PERISOFT

ACCESSORIES FOR APPLE II & lie ALL WITH 1 YEAR WARRANTY BY

PRINTERLINK

CENTRONICS

PARALLEL INTERFACE

• Simple to use — No configuring required

• Use with any Centronics printer — EPSON,

OKIDATA, etc.

• Includes Cable & Manual

$58°° MESSENGER

SERIAL INTERFACE

• Connects to any RS-232 serial device

• 8 switch selectable drivers for printers,

terminals and modems

• Includes Cable & Manual

$98°° T1MELINK

REAL TIME CLOCK

• Applications in file management, word

processing, communications, etc. • Exclusive Alarm Clock feature • Battery recharges automatically

$83°°

NEW BUFFERLINK ADD-ON PRINTER BUFFER

• No more waiting for printed output

• Connects easily to any parallel interface

• Expandable from 16K to 64K

$138°° (16K)

The Rip Sort™

The new Flip Sort™ has all the fine qualities of the original Flip Sort™, with some added benefits. Along with a new design, capacity has increased 50%, to hold 75 diskettes and the price is more reasonable than ever. $19.95 ea.

The Flip Sort Plus™

The Flip Sort Plus™ adds new dimensions to storage. Designed with similar elegant lines as the original Flip Sort™, in a transparent smoked acrylic. The Flip Sort Plus™ has a storage capacity of over 100 diskettes and has ail the outstanding features you have come to expect from the flip sort Family. 24.95 each

DoKa

2100 De La Cruz Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95050

BYTE November 1983 697

« ff £& MICRO . SALES

• MADE IN USA • BUY FACTORY DIRECT •

DISK DRIVE SPECIALS We've Lowered Our Prices

Offering A Complete Selection And. . . THE LOWEST PRICES IN BYTE!

8" Shugart 801R SS/DD - The Industry Standard $355.00

8" Shugart 851R Double Sided 1.2 Meg - The Old Reliable 457,00

8" Qume Datatrak-8 DS/DO "THE BEST" of the floppys 479.00

8" Mitsubishi Full Height Double Sided 1 Year Parts + Labor ,445.00

8" Mitsubishi Thinline DS/DD 1 Year P+L Direct Drive 465.00

8" Tandon 848-1 Slimline SS/DD 600K BYTES DC, Motor 355.00

8" Tandon 848-2 Slimline Double Sided 1.2 Meg. D.C. Motor 475.00

8 ■ Siemens 100-8 SS/DD ON SALE NOW!!! But How Long? 5V<" Mitsubishi Full height 96T.P.I DS/DD 750K M4852 5 V Mistubishi Slimline 96T.P.I. DS/DD 750K M4853 574" Tandon TM-100-1 SS/DD 48T.P.I 168K Apple Apple. . 5 V Tandon TM-100-2 I.8.M. PC Add-on' DS/DD 48 T.P.I.

169.00 295.00 315.00 199 00 259.00 5Vi" Tandon TM 100-4 DS/DD 96T.P.I 750K... .369.00

* WINCHESTER HARD DISKS •

5V«" Miniscribe 5 Meg* Hard Disk - Affordable . $695.00

bV Miniscribe 10 Meg* Hard Disk - Twice the Space 850.00

5 : /4" Miniscribe 16 Meg* Hard Disk - Best Buy 995.00

bVi" Miniscribe 10 Meg* Thinline only 1'/? inches wide! 795.00 8" Quantum 20* Megabyte Winchester - Two Platters . 1895.00 8" Quantum 40* Meg Four Platter - Most Popular..... 2395.00 8" Quantum 85* Megabyte - Special Order on this Monster 1 2895.00 8" IOMEGA 10- Meg* Removable Disk Drive with SCSI Controlled Interface Board. Runs up to four drives 1895.00

8" IOMEGA 10 Meg* Cartridge Drive - No Control Interface .. 895.00 8" 10 Meg* Removeable Cartridge Media #M-2000-51 50.00

• LAST MINUTE SPECIAL" 1 Buy any Winchester hard disk drive above and gel a Western Digital hard disk interface board AT COST' ONLY 295.00!

* Total storage space after formatting.

California Computer Systems

YEAR END CLEARANCE SALE

SAVE $61.00 New CCS2066 64K Dynamic Memory

• 65,536 bytes of Dynamic RAM • Z-80/8080. S-100 compatible • Port bank/16 levels of 64K ■ system memory of 1024K • Independently addressed in 16K blocks * 200ns access and data lines • Hysteresis drivers and receivers for high noise immunity and minimal bus loading effects. Part #8-5000-50 ONLY 5299.00

YEAR END SYSTEM SALE

• 2300A Mainframe • 2422 Disk Controller

• 2066 64K Memory • CP/M Operating System

• 2810 Z-80A CPU • 2719 2-Port RS-232 Serial

• All AC/DC & Data Cables • 8-bit Parallel I/O

A powerful package at ONLY $1495.00

CCS CALSTAR SYSTEM

Now available and with FREE SOFTWARE: • Perfect Writer • Perfect Calc • Perfect Speller and • Perfect Filer.

This powerful single box system includes: • Z-80 with 128K of RAM expandable to 256K • A networking interface * An SASl hard disk interface to add-on a Winchester

• CP/M 3.0 operating system • One parallel and two serial ports • Reads and writes the IBM 3740 format (compatible with XOR) AND • Two double-sided double-density 8" floppy drives for 2.4 Megabytes of formatted storage AND • Will run two or more 8" or 5'/4" floppys. Part #5-1500-05

ON SALE NOW

Regular S3205.00 — Our Price Only $2695.00

FANTASTIC SAVINGS!

*395

HELD OVER ON THE ORIGINAL S-100 MOD

For engineers, hobbiests. and anyone who wants to save a bundle, the S1-M0D is the answer. Fufi regulated power to run up to four floppy disks coupled with a mamoth S-100 power supply and 12 slot bus, makes the S1-M0D an exceptional computer oase. Single board design means no wiring from the power suppply to the motherboard, This eliminates ail ground loop problems associated with other brands of mainframes who are forced to use termination. The S1-M0D is being offered this month with a matching S-100-12 cabinet. Fan cooled, fused, with reset and keylock the cabinet is also enamel painted and silk screened. Four A.C. outlets are provided for peripheral hookup and plenty of cutouts available for RS-232. Centronics + others. Our regular S225.00 price for the S1-M00 and 250.00 price for our 12 slot cabinet is being SLASHED' SPECIFICATIONS: Regulated Unregulated + 5V@5A +8V@30A + 24V@3A +16V@6A -5V@1A -16V @6A Don't settle for those cheap 6 slot immitations you've seen elsewhere in this mag. OWN THE BEST! XOR S-1 MOD and S-100-12 Cabinet 5395.00!

8* POWER

For Two 8" Floppys

+ 5V0C @4 Amps + 24VDC # 3 Amps

-5VDC@ 1 Amp

ONLY 59.95

S-100 POWER

For 6 to 22 Slots

+8VDC @ 30 Amps + 16VDC @ 6 Amps -16VDC @ 6 Amps

ONLY 89.50

*UNIVERSAL POWER SUPPLY . . . .69.95

DUAL DRIVE SUBSYSTEMS

• • • Last Minute Specials* • *

• Pack of 10 SS/DD Diskettes $ 26.50

• Pack of 10 DS/DD Diskettes 36.50

• S-100 Card Extender (Kit Only) 12.50

• MACRO Assembler from Digital Research 80.00

• C-ITOH Starwriter F-10 Parallel 1195.00

• BusinessMaster 8-ModuIe

Business Accounting Package 495.00

• NEW * WordStar 3.3 w/New Manuals . 349.00

• 10 Foot RS-232 Serial Cable 29.00

• Set (8) 4116 16K x 1 Bit Memory Chips 14.95

HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL

Fully Assembled and Tested Units

ONE YEAR P + L WARRANTY

On Shugart and Mitsubishi Subsystems

w/two Misubishi DS/DD Assem. + Tested 2.4 Meg $1170.00

w/two Shugart 801R SS/DD Assem, + Tested 1.2 Meg 975.00

w/two Shugart 851R DS/DD Assem. + Tested 2.4 Meg 1225.00

w/two Siemans 120-8 SS/DD Assem. + Tested 1.2 Meg 675.00

w/two Qume DT-8 DS/DD Assem. + Tested 2.4 Meg 1250.00

Cabinet Assem. & Tested w/Power Supply and Aces 235.00

Cabinet Top and Bottom with Mounting Hardware Only 69.50

All cabinets A & T and subsystems include all AC/DC wiring and 50 pin data cable except the horizontal model which includes the internal 50 pin cable and requires an external 50 pin cable part #C-6000-0l $ 25.00

5VT Subsystems - Cabinet - Power Supply - Drives - Cables

w/two 48TPI SS/DD includes all cables Assem. + Tested 495.00

w/two 48TPI DS/DD includes all cables Assem. + Tested 595.00

w/two 96TPI DS/DD includes all cables Assem. + Tested . .. .595.00

CUSTOMER SERVICE HOTLINE 1 - (714) 898-5525

QUALITY IN A SYSTEM PACKAGE

Word Processing — Text Editing — Programming — Education

The Reason: An industry standard S-100 bus to assure proven design and reliability, and will provide years of "upgradeability" with NO tear of obsolescence. Our Z-80A CPU is used more by OEMs for computers than any other CPU in the world. The CP/M operathg system is also the most popular operating system around. These, coupled with the 8" IBM 3740 format, another industry norm, opens the door to thousands of available applications software packages as well as being compatbte with dozens of OEM systems.

The Computer: An 8" Micro Manager {see opposite page) has 2.4 Megabytes (2.4 Mbytes = 14 Apple drives or 7 IBM PC drives — we use TWO) of formatted storage, double-sided, doubleoensrty. Small in size, only 9" x 18V?", but powerful in features: # Two RS-232 serial ports • Centronics parallel port * 2Kbyte PROM monitor. Z-8GA @ 4MHz, 64Kbytes memory bank selecteble, software and a disk controller to provide formats in any byte/size sector — 128 to 1024 — single- or doubte-sided - single- or double-density — 8" or 5Va". That's right 1 Hook-up a pair of 5V*" drives any time. The software and hardware comes with the system. More features include: * Two separate power supplies • 4-stt S-100 mother-board • Hard-disk options * DC brushtess drect drives • Fan-cooled chassis • ONE YEAR parts and labor warranty..

The Printer: The Okidata 82A data processing printer has become a proven standard of reliability among aH printers in it's dass. And this is why: • RS-232 serial and Centronics parallel interface * 120 cps print speed • Bi-directional 9 x 9 dot matrix print head * 80 column to 132 cdumn (condensed print) • 64 block graphic shapes * Self-test • Double-width and bold print. The list goes on and on and so does this heavy duty printer which can run all day with no duty cycle limitations and features a long-life print-head that's warranteed for one full year parts and tabor. A tractor feed is available for the 82A at an additional $85.00

The Terminal: The XOR-500 terminal might be confused with the Lear-SJegter ADM 3A/5 or the ADDS Regent 25 or the Tetevideo 910 or even the HazeWne 1420 but only because the X0R-5O0 emulates all of them with a flick of three switches or programmed by the keyboard. The speed is awesome at 19.2 Kilobaud when hooked up to an XOR Micro Manager. How fast 7 let's compare with an IBM PC. which is a 16-bit machine and theoretically runs twice as fast as an 8-bit XOR system.

Total time from system turn-on to a user prompt from the oeprating system (start-up & cold-boot) XOR = 31 seconds - IBM PC = 27.9 seconds, For additional features on the XOR-500 see the ad at right.

The Software: WxdStar version 3.3 from MicroPro International is a word processing and text editing package that currently ranks as the #1 selling applications software package in the world. Write letters, manuals and books, create forms, documents, flyers and yes, even used WordStar as a screen editor. Macro Assembler from Digital Research is relucted too. so you can edit and re-assemble your BIOS, equate tables, etc.. and really mess up your diskettes. The CP/M operating system is also included and two disks full of software utilities such as fast copy routines, memory test, diagnostics tests, formats, auto printer drivers, heip files, and more! All software is accompanied by manuals.

The Warranty: ONE YEAR parts and labor on the Micro Manager including the drives. Six months P & L on the terminal. One year P & L on the Okidata print head and 90 days on the rest.

The above system package also includes eleven manuals, all necessary AC and DC cables, harnesses. RS-232 serial cables and data cabtes.

IN STXK NOW. Ail orders phones in by 1 :OOpm have GUARANTEED same day shipment.

Order Pat #S-150CK)4 $3295.00

SPECIALS

XOR 500

TERMINAL

SALE!

$ 495**

XOR 500: A new video display terminal featuring * Screen tilt • Detached keyboard • 9 cursor control keys • 5 function keys • 7 screen attributes • 25th status line • 50-19.2K baud • Column + filed tab • and more • All these features with a full 6 month warranty make this terminal the best buy on the market, RS-232 cable not included. XOR 500 #T-1000-15 $495.00

5Va" MITSUBISHI

5%" Half Height Floppys. 48 or 96 T.P.I. These double sided, double density drives wilt hold .5 and 1 megabytes unformatted — full one year parts and labor warranty The 48 T.P.I, drives are perfect for I.B.M. P.C. add-ons!

#0-1000-34 DS/DD 48 T P I Thinline $295.00 #0-1000-32 DS/DD 96 T.P.I. Thinline $315.00

698 BYTE November 1983

Circle 487 on inquiry card

ORDER TOLL FREE

ft EAST ft ft WEST ft

800-435-9357 800-854-8174

In III. (815) 485-4002

In Calif. (714) 898-1492

TERMS: We accept VISA/MC, prepay, check of money order; Please allow personal checks two weeks to clear before -shipment. : $5.00 handling charge on all orders under $50.00. 15% restocKi. *.: via UPS unless om

Ail UPS C O.D. orders over $100.00 require a Cashiers Check Oar products ca r.v excluding

drives, printers and terminals which carry the tulL.OEM factory warranty. PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

Vi w 8GS? MICRO

. SALES

• MADE IN USA • BUY FACTORY DIRECT *

* EAST • 11 Edison Drive, New Lenox, Illinois 60451

• WEST * 15392 Assembly Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92649

CUSTOM COMPUTER SYSTEMS by XOR

Why do companies like I.B.M. Corp. Atari Corp., Mattel Elec, Kennedy Space Center, Edwards A.F.B., Motorola Corp., Raytheon, and Pacific Technology buy product by mail from us? Maybe it's our full 1 year parts and labor warranty on all XOR O.E.M. products. It could be our state of the art technology, or even the factory direct sates and service. We think it's our custom computer systems with over 1000 possible configurations. If you don't see it advertised, call us today, chances are we CAN custom build the system YOU need.

• MICRO MANAGERS: POWERFUL, PORTABLE, AND AFFORDABLE *

Don't be fooled by the system's small portable size. A lull 64K of memory with an industry standard S-100 bus. Includes CP/M 2.2 and many utilities on two disks. Add on a hard disk when you need more storage. "The software and hardware that comes with each 5 1 /4" system, is ready to run a pair of 8" single or double sided floppies, just plug in the 50 pin data cable to the system — many other configurations are available."

514 * Z-80A 64K CP/M System

Dual Floppy 375K SS/DD 40 Track #S-1000-86 . .. $1445.00

Dual Floppy 750K DS/DD 40 Track #S-1000-87 $1595.00

Dual Floppy 1.5 Meg DS/DD 80 Track #5-1000-88 . . $1645.00 System Chassis {Mo boards, drives. CP/M) #5-1000-84 $ 425.00

Inexpensive but powerful, small enough for portability, these mini hard disk systems have a special XOR interface to the S-100 bus that leaves an S-100 slot open for expandability. Choose from 5, 10. and 16 megabyte sizes (6.5. 12. + 20 megabyte unformatted.) Includes CP/M operating system. One year parts and labor warranty, includes software and controller for 8" floppys.

5V*" Hard Disk with % Height Floppys

* 5 Meg Hard Disk w/375 Floppy #S-1000-81 . . $2195.00

* 5 Meg Hard Disk w/750K Floppy #S-1000-90 $2345.00

• 10 Meg Hard Disk w/2 1.5M Floppy #S-1000-92 . $2795.00

• 16 Meg Hard Disk w/2 1.5M Floppy #S-1000-93 . . . . $2895.00

Our most popular computer features a 4 slot S-100 bus and 8" industry standard format. Reads and writes the IBM 3740 format as well as any byte size sector Expandable 7 Yes, add a hard disk or cartridge subsystem when your data base grows. You've probably seen some "look-a-like" S-100 4-slot systems lately, but they just don't measure up the XOR 8" Micro Manager

2.4 Meg DS/DD 8" CP/M System

System w/Dual SS/DD 1.2 Meg #S-100Q-40 . . $1795.00

System w/Dual DS/DD 2 4 Meg #5-1000-39 $1995.00

System w/NO Drives (Includes CP/M) #S-1000-71 $1195.00

System Chassis (No boards, drives. CP/M) #5-1000-70 $ 395,00

• THE BASIC PROFESSIONAL FLOPPY, HARD DISK AND TAPE BACKUP •

20 Meg Winchester w/2.4 Meg Floppys

For the serious professional mis system features the famous S-100-12 cabinet with XOR's S1-M0D 12-slot motherboard The Quantum hard bisk has two 10 Meg platters (A' and 8:) One platter can be "backed-up" on another. 2/DS/DD 1 2 floppys are used for software entry, copies, and back-up. One year parts and labor. #S-1000-63 $5275.00

2.4 Mea DS/DD 64K Z-80A CP/M System

This ■ Industry Standard" computer features a 12 slot motherboard. 30 amp power supply. 2 serial RS-232 ports. Centronics parallel port and CP/M software. The XOR disk control let included, will read and write the IBM. 3740 format (8" CP/M standard) as well as R/W single on double sided, single or double density and any byte/size sector. One year parts and labor on the complete system. #S-1000-36 $2345.00

20M H.D. with 17M Tape and 1.2M Floppy

SacKup your priceless data on this full 17 megabyte tape drive and oe able to pip files between any of the three peripherals f o< lota .< ■ i< i< T too! ' ! M from Ward disk or floppy change tapes for archival storage. Reads and writes the IBM 3740 Format 18" CPM standard) #5-1000-69 $6390.00.

Above system 40 megabyte hard disk #S-1000-82 $7240.00^

CP/M 3.0

U.S. MICRO SALES SOFTWARE GIVEAWAY!

CP/M 3.0

FREE

Order any system below and get all of the following software and manuals absolutely FREE! CP/M Operating System, Perfect Writer, Perfect Speller, Perfect Mailer, Perfect Calc, AND an eight module business accounting package by BUSINESSMASTER INCLUDING: A/R order entry, A/P purchase orders, G/L, Payroll, Mailing List, Fixed Asset Accounting, Inventory (RAW), and inventory regular goods. AND multi-user systems also include Digital Research's MP/M and Link-80 software $1685.00 value.

FREE

• THE OFFICE MASTERS! REMOVABLE CARTRIDGE DISK SYSTEMS •

10 Meg Cartridge Disk And 1.2 Meg Floppy

An office system at an almost unbelievable price when you consider the bundle of applications software *hat comes with ihe system Ten megabytes of formatted storage on a removable cartridge disk allows unlimited storage space with extra 10 Meg cartridges available at $50.00 each. With the speed and reliability of a hard disk and rmovStMi ■? a floppv this office master is the choice #S-1000-74 $3695.00

TWO 10 Meg Removable and DS/DD Floppy

Destined to be our #1 seller and no one else makes anything like it A true state-of-the-art system with virtually no-limit to storage capacities in 10 Meg removable cartridges Backup problems 7 Get nigh speed backup from cartridge to cartridge, ten megabytes worth, in 6 minutes 1 HINT. We don't use PIP " Future technology here today #S-iOQ-76 $4595.00

***!.

4 User Cartridge Disk System

Four users and two 10 megabyte removable cartridge disks may be just what you want to automate your office or small business, with all the software packages you'll ever need. A multi-user version of the system at left, these users can be up to 100 feet away from each other. Most any terminal will work with the user ports. #5-1000-80 $5825.00

• THE BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS: HARD DISK MULTI-USER SYSTEMS *

2 User Hard Disk System

A twenty meg hard disk (2 platter) with a DS/DD 1 2 Meg floppy disk makes this a perfect system for a small business, Two user allows dual access to the system files with each station up to 100 feet apart' includes above software. Full one year parts and labor. #5-1000-61 . $5495.00

40 Meg Hard Disk 4 User System

A must fa a growing business' Two DS/DD floppys (2 4 Meg] for data backup and copy with a 4 platter 40 Meg hard disk four user capability to automate the whole front office. You can even designate a 10 Meg platter to each user 1 Same warranty as all our products - (configurable from 2 to 7 users) #5-1000-60 $7295

7 User 85 Meg w/17 Meg Backup

Now it's available, the automated business system to run even those large companies! 7 separate users tied into one professional host system. If 85 Meg isn't

enough, we can put together as much as three hundred and forty megabytes' Full 17 Meg tape backup insures archival storage of valuable data #S-1000-98 $9595.00

Circle 487 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983 699

CaMFornja DiqiTAl

Post Office Box 3097 B • Torrance, California 90503

FREE*

Plastic library case supplied with all | diskettes purchased from Cal ifornia D igital

*19. 9S

stem

Shugart 410

Manufactured for Californi

of the most respected producers of ma

netic media. Each diskettes is double de

sity at 40 tracks. To insure extended mec

life all diskettes are manufactured with

reinforced hub.

Each box of diskettes is supplied with

free plastic library case.

Soft sector CAL-501; Ten sector CAL-51

Also Available Double sided soft se

tor diskettes for use with the IBM/PC

CAL-551 S24.95

the

5%" DISKETTES

WITH LIBRARY CASE

$

26. 50

Your Choice

SCOTCH

MEMOREX

VERBATIM

Single Side Double Density Soft Sector 10 Sector 16 Sector

SCOTCH

MEMOREX

VERBATIM

MAXELL

DYSAN

7440-0

3481

52501

MD1

104/10

7440-10

3483

525-10

MH1-10

107/10

7440-16

3485

NA

MM-16

MA

26.50

26.50 26.50

26.50

45.00

Double Side Double Density

23"

ICOMPOSITE MONITOR

*159

Ideal monitor

for classroom

I demonstrations.

I Ever try gathering a classroom of students around a 12 monitor? Here is your opportunity to I purchase a 23 High resolution monitor at a reasonable price.

I ,» units accept slandardcomposil video signals generated by mostp* wnputora including.

I the Apple and IBM Attach il you computer and in second you are shooting down Klmgons m wide

e enclosed Wood grained

VISA

These disk drives are single sided 80 track(96 TPI)

suitable for use with the Radio Shack Model 1 and Model 3. Or any other

application that can support an 80 track second dove such as the IBM/PC. The

410 is fuii height and functionally the same as the Tandon TM 100-3. Complete

with power connector and installation manual.

When these Shugart 410 s are liquidated the pnce will revert to our regular

price of S249. SHU-SA410 ,

MEMORY

16K DYNAMIC

2.95

4116 150ns.

64K DYNAMIC

5.95

4164 150ns.

4.95 vp*

450ns.

16K STATIC

4.95

6116 200ns.

BLOWOUT

SALE

*169

2764 EPROM

SALE*5.95

:• :., .nuns 16K

Jlf-,4 "bOr.s 64 K iL'SrHrr;

41256 150ns 256K

21L0£200ns. 1K static 21LQ2 450ns IK sialic 2112 450ns 2K static 2114 300ns 1Kx4

4044 IMS 450ns. 4K x 1 . 3 257 300ns. 4K X 1 6116 P4 2O0ns 2Kx8 6116 P3 150ns 2Kx 8 6167.2167 100ns 16Kx

DYNAMIC MEMORY

ICM-4027250 ICM-4116150 1CM-4116200 1CM-4164150 ICM-41256150

STATIC MEMORY

ICM-21102200 ICM-21L02450 ICM-2112450 ICM-2114300 ICM-4044450 ICM-5257300 ICM-6116200 1CM-6116150 ICW-6167100

325 2.25 4.75

4.75

ICE-2708 ICE-2716 ICE-2716TMS

CONNECTORS

DB25P

S-100Gold

■t

GOLD S-100 EDGE CARD CONNECTORS catalog each 10-99 100 +

Imsais/t 250 CNE-IMS 2 95 2.50 2.19 Stj'in.Hh Hel. CNE-H100 4 19 3.85 3.47 S-1O0WireW. CNE-W10 3 95 3.50 3.19 Aitair .140 s/t CNE-100A 4 95 4 50 4.19

. 156" CENTER EDGE CARD CONNECTORS

22/44 Eyelet CNE-44E 2.S0 2 15 195

43 .'2Moto s 1 CNE-72S f 60 6.15 5 75

36,72 D/Gs/t. CNE-72S 5 95 5 SO 5 19

Other connectors available upon requesi

RIBBON CONNECTORS

D825Pmale CND-r25P 5 65 5.25 4.15

male CUD r25S 5.95 5 59 4.50

57-30360 male CNC-r36P 7 95 6 75 5 90

57-30360) male CNCr36S 7 95 6.75 5.90

20 pin edge CNI-DE20 4 35 3.30 2 50

20 pin socket CMIDS20 2 75 185 160

26 pin edge CNI-DE26 4 95 3 50 2 70

26pinsocket CN1-DS26 3 50 2 40 2.15 34 pin edge CNI-DE34 34 pin socket CNIDS34 50 pin edge CNI-DE50 50 pin socket CNI-DS50

4.50 3.95 3.15 5 95 5.60 4 90

4 95 4.60 3.80

■ 0"TYPE

DE9P malt; DE9S rem ale DE hood DAI 5P male DA15S tern ale DA 15 hood DB25P male DB25S female DB25 hood DC37P male DC37S female DC37 hood DD50P male DD50 hood

each 10-99 100 +

CND-9P CND-9S CND-9H CND-15P CNL 'S3 CNl) 'h CND-25P

ni .■> CND25H CND-37P CND-37S

gnd ;i.-H

CND-50P

;%!.'.■ v«

CND-2HS

1.35 1.15 77

420 395 3.65

5.95 5 75 5 50

2 25 1.95 1.65

5 50 5 10 4 75

2 60 2 40 2 10

.99 69 42

AMPHENOL / CENTRONICS TYPE

57-30360 36/ a CNC-36P 7.95 6 35 4 90

IEEE488. CdorCND-24P 7.95 6 35 5 35

DISK DRIVE POWER CONNECTORS

8 6 pin DC CNP-6DC 1.95' t 29 89 "" 3 AC Sgl S CNP-3SS

A AC D6i S CNP-3DS '., 4 pin DC CNP-4DC p,r: 1)IN .'(•;• pt CM' D.'i-P

1 69 t 09 69

1 79 1 19 99

2 59 1 99 1 59

California Digital has recently participated in-1

the purchase of several thousand Siemens!

FDD 100-8 floppy disk drives. These units are electronically 3hd physically si mi liar to that of the Shugart 801R. All units are new and shipped in factory sealed boxes. Manual and power connectors supplied tree upon request. Your choice 115 Volt. 60 Hz. or 230 Volt. 50Hz.

n I i i'Is!f.:'' <t"!ij.-i'iC) I.'^SO.'! JJi'. i'lf! ! -vli;l ■ '. \\X.'--V.'--

REMEX B X E *2i9

California Digital has lust purchased a large quantity of Remex RFD-4000 Eight inch double sided disk drives. Remex is the only double sided disk drive that has an double gimbal mounted head assembly that guaranties lower head tracking This drive is mechanically solid. Remex has always been known for producing premiere products for the floppy disk market. The Remex company is a subsidiary of the Ex-cell-o Corporation, a Fortune 500 Company.

Eight Inch Single Sided Drives

SHUGART801R SHUGART 810 Half Height SIEMENS FDD 100-8 TANDON 848E-1 Half Height

One Two Ten

385 375 365

385 375 365

169 169 159

369 359 349

Eight Inch Double Sided Drives

SHUGART SA851R SHUGART 860 Half Height QUME842"QUMETRACK8" TANDON 848E-2 Half Height REMEX RFD-4000 MITSUBISHI M2894-63 MITSUBISHI M2896-63 Half Ht.

495 485 475

495 485 475

459 459 449

485 475 465

219 219 209

379 375 369

459 449 409

Five Inch Single Sided Drives

SHUGART SA400L SHUGART SA410 96TPI/80 Trk. SHUGART SA200 2 /3 Height TANDON TM100-1 TANDON TM50-1 Half Height TEACFD-55A Half Height

Five Inch Double Sided SHUGARTSA450 SHUGART SA455 Half Height SHUGART SA465 Half Ht. 96TPI TANDON TM50-2 Half Height TANDON TM55-4 half Ht. 96TPI TANDON 100-2

TANDON 101-4 96TPI 80 Track MITSUBISHI 4851 Half Height MITSUBISHI 4853 Vi Ht. 96TPI MITSUBISHI 4854 VzHt, 8" elec. QUME 142 Half Height TEACFD-55B Half Height

235 229 225

129 119 call

169 159 149

189 179 175

465 450 439

465 459 445

Drives 319 259 289 215 329 279 369 259 339 465 239 329

309 299

249 239

279 269

209 199

319 309

269 259

355 350

249 245

329 319

449 439

229 219

319 299

Five Inch Winchester Hard Disks Drives SHUGART 612 13 M/Bytes 895 865 825

SHUGART 706 6M/Byte, Half Ht 795 775 755 SHUGART712 13M/Byte, VzHt. 895 865 825 SEAGATE 506 6 M/Byte 555 495 475

TANDON 503 12 M/Byte 895 875 855

Upon request, all drives are supplied with power connectors and manual

ENCLOSURES

California Digital manufactures an asortment of stock and custom disk drive enclosures. It the volume is justified we will custom design an enclosure for your application The following stock disk drive enclosures are available All include power supplies the 8 enclosures are supplied with exhaust fans.

Horizontal mount two 8 full height drives. S279.00

Vertical mount two full height 8 disk drives. S299.00

Hori2ontal mount one full height or two half height 8 disk drives. S239.00

Vertical mount two full height 5' 4 disk drives $139 00

TOLL FREE ORDER LINE

(800) 421-5041

TECHNICAL & CALIFORNIA

(213) 643-9001

CaUFornIa DiqiTAl

Post Office Box 3097 B • Torrance, California 90503

OCR READER

R EC OGNITION EQUIPMENT

f 295

ASCII OUTPUT OCR "A" ABOVE.

One ol our best selling liquidations is again available This OCR readers was manufactured by Recognition Equipment Incorporated for the TRW Corporation. Used in their point of sale cash reqtster systems currently in use at the Sears Roebuck and J.C. Penney retail stores.

These OCR readers are suitable for inputing data for inventory control, point of sale or any application where accuracy and speed are essential Units should easily interlace to most microcomputer such as Apple and S-100 systems Interfaces eight bit ASCII parallel with handshaking . Controller has 11 user accesable registers that are software controllable, minimizing double entry of data. The OCR wand reads a subset of OCR A" as fast as 10 characters per second. Print wheels are available for most daisy wheel printers as well as electric typewntters.

Documentation and application notes are included. Each reader is brand new in factory sealed boxes Original acquisition is aprox. S2.500. OCR-720 15 lbs

LIBERTY £

IFREEOOM 50

475

PRINTERS '299

Star GmM

MATRIX PRINTERS

Star Gemini-10X 120 char; sec 4K butler.

Slar Gsmini-15 100 char sec IS paper.

Star Coex 80FT friction & tractor

Toshiba P1350. 192 char/sec letter quality

i> i.i dt , ,'VA '.it hI K, parallel 9 1 2 paper

( t.KKlhi 'X'A parallel interface. 160char/sec.

Okidata 83A & parallel 15 ' paper

Okioaia B4A & parallel 15 paper

Okidata 2350 (new) 350 char/sec

l p.wn FXBO ' 0 iwichar set., with grapHtrax

E;:l-:...i. Mx i W ■ v.nr graphtrax, 15' paper

Nt I :«■:'.•:■■ >>A :;a:al:ol 9' /' paper, graphics

Anadex 9501A fiqli :-p (-:■!■:: -v=lt-i graphics

'.; ■!!■■■,. :■■■ .'-./- . ■:■■:-■■ -,- -,(!■ ■ -:■ «. ■■■■::'■.<•

;.-■,,:,r-.). .<>■ ■(: ■ ■!■:!■ ....-■o<1 'oO ■::[:■:• ' >

Quantex 7090 on ispondincfl quality iB0char/s<

Prow ': - 'v.-.-is.t a:''-.'papor Prownter I!, uaiaiicl i5 pa.pt". graphics

PrmtronixP' j> ,n- n > 'i > n-s per minult

'1 nlionn Pi.niiiilli ihql - - 1 " J > '■

Mannesman n Tally 1 B0L sen ai & pari. 160 char/sec.

WORD PROCESSING PRINTERS

NEC7710 55 char/second, serial interface NEC-7710

NEC7730 55 char/sec. par I interface. NEC-7730

Silver ReedEXPSOO. 14char,'sec. par I interface SRD-EXP500

Silver Reed EXP550 17 Char/sec par I interface SRD-EXP550

Diablo 630 40 char/sec serial DBL-630

. ir.i.i-,'i [., ipi.,'i. .: picing. horz.A vert. tab. 20cps DBL-620

" IS m- sec graphic mode. i^"L 1 5? 0

BrolherHRi A daisy wheel paralielmtertacmg B H-HR F

. .,-. h,,,-, BTH-HR1S

Starwrner Fio serial. 40char/sec. PRO-F10S

StarwrilerFtO parallel. 40 char/sec PRO-F10P

STR-G10X

STR-G15

VST-CB0FT

TOS-1350

OKI-82A

OKI-92A

OKI-83A

OKI-84A

OKI-2350

EPS FX8Q

EPS-MX100

NEC-8023A

ADX-9501A

ADX-9620A

DSI-180

QTX-7030

PRO-7S00

PRO-8510P

PRO-8510S

PHO-2P

FTX-P300

PTX-P600

MAN-160L

299 00

399.00 2^9 00

1499 00 419.00 499 00 62900 969 00

1995.00 575 00

Ii9r ; 00 395 00 1119 00 1229 00 1295 00 1595.00 209.00 49b 00 63900 750 00 4500 00 6150 00 69500

1995 00

'svj-j ;;o

595 00 75900

- .. ' 879 or-. ■,_,.,. 779.00 839 00 1475.00

14?; 00

EPSON MX80 RIBBONS *6.95

MONITORS

BMC 1 2A green phosphci' •■; UH/ compos-l video BMC-12A

BMC 12 high resolution. 20MHz. BMC-12EN

/(.■nil- /VM'l:' : 1 i.i.-ee.-i phcifiphor f 2 40/80column switch. 2TH-Z121

NECJB1201 green phosphor 18 MHz. composit video NEC-JB1201

NEC JB1260 coiii'T-. f .| ( .,ai q<ade composit. NEC-JB1260

US I Amber screen 12" composit monitor USM2A

Moio-oia 23' open frame blk/white composit video. MOT-BW23

Motorola 12 open Irame requires no-i' hv-ik a'id power. MOT-BW12

Conrac 9 open trame requires horz sync & I2v supply CON-8W9

COLOR

BMC AU9191U Color composil video witti sound BMC-9191

HMC 11 91 M Hi",i.i ..ii-SiO! -Lid 'or use with the IBM computer. BMC-9191M

Ml„r...,(--.?0.-.I.>M hi,p. ::.-.i i: .r--,oi:i:::i NEC-1203

NEC JC1201 color composit NEC-JC1201

Zenith 2VM134 RGB color suitable lor IBM PC ZTH-2134

Comrex color composit with sound COM-6500

Amdek Color 1. composit video AMK-100

! JO ;■>; 109.00

169 00 129.00

'■69.00 159 00 -i!i 00 ■>9 00

-?S ;.;o 329 0O

DIRECT CONNECT $75.00

:i .-- V. :■ ■■ ■■■■:

Hayes 1 200B lor use wilh the IBM'PC 1200 baud

Hayes Smanmcdem. 300 baud only, autoanswer, autodial

Hay Mi .modem II 103 Apple direct connect

Hayes Micromodem 100. S-100 auto answer, auto dial.

Hayes Chronograph, time & dale

U 5. Robotics 2i2A 300/1200 baud, aulodial/answer

Penril 300.' 1200 aulo dial.autolog

Universal Da!a 103 LP hoe power, answer & originate

Universal Data 103LPJ. Auto answer

ersal Data 202. 1200 baud, hall duplex only

ersal Data212LP. full 1200 baud duplex, line power

Novation J Cat. direct connect, auto answer k Novation Cat. acoustic connect

NovationSmanCat 103. aulo answer, autodial Novation SmartCar '03 212. 1200baud autodial Signalman Mark 1. direct connect with terminal cable.

a. The Liberty Freedom 50 terminal features detach- able keyboard with 93 keys including 10 (unction

i keys, 15 graphic symbols, and DIP switch selectable J character se! for 7 foreign languages. The 12 inch i etched non-glare green phosphor screen displays . by 80 char t *! !i ., ■' 7x9 matrix with true ! descenders Sell test and 25th daia display row also ,ihciuded. Switch selectable baud rales from 110-fisplay memory, allowing operator tSej characters. Emulates 5 popular CRT terminals for easy software configuration Switch selectable

t ir-< a f-, 1 11 \o r- a»e never seen a terminal with al -r-esir 'ea!ures -or me mcred biy

low price of only S475 LIB-F50 40 lbs.

jli wXVQQ^ Qw llll

DIABLO

Word Processing Printer _,J

'879

Now from the originator ol the daisy wheel printer, the Diablo 620 Print speeds to 2- chsi eec user selectable bi-directional printing, superscripts, subscripts, graphics and more. Plus standard RS-232 interfacing Communication speeds 10 1200 baud with a 1500 character print butfer Software programable absolute horizontal tabs make^ repc-i rorm-siung -Mi-y C'-ei 20 different print wheels are currently available The 620 automatically selects the prim spacing lor 10. 12.15 char/inch print wheels. On site service available worldwide DBL-620 50 lbs

Your Choice SECOND DRIVE GREEN MONITOR

IBM COMPATIBLE

Sanyo Electronics has just released the long awaited IBM/PC look-alike, the MBC-55Q. This is a complete microcomputer that includes a 5V4" 160K/Byte disk drive, 128K/Byte of memory, color graphics interface, low profile keyboard, and parallel printer port. Also includes extensive software such as Sanyo Basic, disk utilities. Wordstar, and Visacaic. MS-DOS is supplied with the Sanyo computer allowing most programs written for the IBM/PC to operate on the MBO550. Along with all this California Digital offers "FREE" your choice of either a second disk drive or a high resolution green phosphor monitor. All at the super low price of only S995.00. We expect to see a initial shortage of this item. MBC-550's will be shipped on a first ordered basis Please place your order early.

VISA

TERMINALS

The Wyse 100 features die cast aluminum case, 102 key keyboard | and non-glare 26 line green phos- | phor video display. Split screen I both horizontal an vertical makes I the WY-100 unusally user friendly. [ This unique terminal is perfect to I enhance any business system.

Wyse

'795

m

, : ,. • ;...:■ ..-.iv-.■■,:>.:<■*. ::■=■.:. in. si .•;■..■•.•

- i - ' ' „ii ,j .'" 1"' '■■ ' i - '1 "1- 'in- xf-'i'^

Ampex Dialouge 125 a mbi ■.>'.!!>;■ i ■ :wnp,.jtjo (unc keys

' . .ir. L , :■ i 'i I

ioo. r

!:.plav

?etaiei

1. , • Ml 1 _ , h k modi

1 !■ i_ ■" 1 '. i i cum ,ii ^ ' ir, in r- n- ,

Televideo 9bC (irapi--it ■:!; v split screen. 22 func.

, . ■:(■:■ :i :. '■! , ' 'i • ' ' i Urn. I

., inr-ip detachable keyboi ADD-. Vipwpoml A' : ;t; latch able keyboard

LIB-F50 VSL-50 VSL-50G VSL-330G

apx r '.-,-,

WYS-50 WYS-lOO WYS-300 TV1-910P

■i*:> oo

■■-,' III-

APPLE

'1595

Apple tl/E Starter System includes CPU, Apple brand green disk drive, 80 column care'

Advanced Busness Tech. 13 Key Pad Calif. Computer 7710A Async. Serial interface Calif. Computer 771 OB same but for modem Calif. Computer 7114A 12K PROM module Calif Computer 7720A parallel interface Calif. Computer 7724ACalandar/clock modual Cahf. Computer 7729A Centronics interface Calif. Computer 7740A programmable timer California Qigital l6Kcard for standard Apple II Hayes Micromodem II for Apple I! Kensington Micro, System saver fan Kraft Corp. Apple Joystick Microsoft Softcard with CP/M; Z-80 Mountain Computer The Clock' Mountain Computer Super talker SD200 Mountain Computer AD/DA 16 input, 8 bit Mountain Computer ROM Plus with keybb. filter Mountain Computer ROM writer/socket Orange Micro "GRAPPLER parallel intedace Sorrento Valley 8' controller double side D/D. TEAC 5V disk drive for Apple II Vista Vision 80; 80 column card for std.Apple II Vista 8" disk controller double side D/D.

ABT-13B

CCS-7710

CCS-7710B

CCS-7114

CCS-7720

CCS-7724

CCS-7729

CCS-7740

CAL-A16

HYS-MM2

KEN-SF1

KFT-JY2

MSF-SFTCD

MTN-TCLK

MTN-STLK

MTN-ADDA

MTN-RMF

MTN-ROMW

OMS-G2

SVA223

TEA-A2

VSA-VIS80

VSA-A800

XEROX is*

WORD PROCESSING ~WVm

CEYBOARD %9T

i jlar -in -,r ^i in , processing Keyboard.

77 key keyboard manufactured by Micro switch for the Xerox Corpora-'kv- Halt effect keys for the utmost reliability

This keyboard outputs a seven bit ASCII code along w>th an eighth bit that allows most kevs to shift and double function as special char acters. Extra large 1 ab and Return keys similiar in layout to the IBM Selectnc

17 keys are illuminated for special word processing functions. Two BCD thumbwheel switches are also featured. M1C-77X 6 lbs. Cus-

Shipping. Firsl five pounds S3. 00, each ;

lions and companies with

5V4" WINCHESTER CONTROLLER

DUAL PROCESSOR CPU BOARD

octagon

8/16 CPU cuts the price of a dual processor system m half A smqie board now contains an 8 MHz 8088.4 MHz 280, 2 serial ports, .nterupt controller, and dual density floppy disk

controller CP/M 2 2, CP/M 86. MS/DOS, PC/DOS, as well as UNIX is available.

The serial ports are fully software programmable with baud rates up to 19.200. The 8088 CPU can

be [umpered for either 8 or 5 MHz operation, A socket is provided for the 8087 math processor chip.

Intel 8272 disk controller is incorporated, controlling both 8" and 5 V floppy disks simultaniously.

The interupt controller is an 8259 that can accept mterupts from on board as well as from the

VI0-VI7 lines on the buss. $795.00

Octagon Hard Disk Controller Board features the new Western Digital Error Correcting' Winchester Controller chip set. This optimized chip set and a data separator, designed exclusively for Octagon, assures you extremely high data integrity.

The Octagon Hard Disk Controller can control up to four 5V Winchester drives simultaniously. The Board also includes an 8 bit Centronics printer port, and two fully programmable serial ports with baud rates to 19.200. S475.00

S-lOO BOARDS

16 BIT MICROPROCESSORS

Octagon dual CPU 8088/Z80. & controller OCT-B8Z80 /95.00 Gotfbout8086/8087 microcomp i6oit GLil-8687 495 00

SINGLE BOARD COMPUTERS

'lSigmFG ■: 2oh •■-■> ■vilMOO INS t'QJ 595 GD

Aiivdiii.f.r ;■■-.■■ ,, , ■. ■■■'■<■ : '--^ m ■':>() in!

'■ :■■:- :■■, ,;:..- . ■■ ■ .. ; .:■;', hi', T^.-jM' i'h Uli

■ ■ :;,h ;-■:..,:' : -vc. tbh.u.-v i'iL li)i,l ; :,''> i'I'i

8 BIT MICROPROCESSORS

Godbout Z80 ?4 bit extended add GBT-Z80 250 00

~:S-2810

■ i /*.: ■,

TAB-Z80

(39

FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLERS

Soafeoul Hiik I rwutile density GBT-DSK1 395.00

Caufo'rii.1 Comoutf r ?-l??A with CPM CCS-2422 339 DO

M 'i.-. 1 !-,. -..-, .',.!' r\\;>? VijS ■'.;,:/ 350 00

Morrow Disk Jockey I *;:• : ■- ;.1 225.00

Tarbell Electronics double density TAR-DDC 419 00

■ n ■,. !■:-■;■ .!-, ■■ :■ :■:-■, '■■■- i: ."'.''■ .:

Fulcrum DMA OmnsDiSK h0 to hard disk FCM-001 389 00

CPM OPERATING SYSTEM

Digital Research CP/M 3 0. 3 sgl. den 0«C-CpM30 249 0(

.. ,il ::FM 2 L^.jr D:.k i ■:\ : -.: :■ ■i - n ' ,i i-rY L

■ : FpM22 159.C. GBT-CpM6'. ; --.:. :■: IAR-CpM22 159 00

HARD DISK CONTROLLERS

Mor-ow Designs controller tor 5 : i Win MDS-W Western dgita- -iea WO- '001 (ft I s-iOOl WDI-1C

EPROM BOARDS

Inner Access EPHOM Bfl proqians 27128 IAC-PK ; ■ . -:- ..H.in;h PROM board 32K OGR-P;

STATIC MEMORY BOARDS

Godbout Ram 16. 64K 16 bit data trans G8T-R16

Godbout Ram 17 64K 8 bit 24 biiaddress GST-Ri 7

Godbout Ram 21. 128K byte 8 16 t^nster GBI-R21

F.ilcrum (ImnsRam 3-H5 Oansler bank FCM-R8I6

Caiifcimr.-i CriiniulHf 2116. Sbitonly CCS-2116

459 00

359 00 859 00 395 00 249 00 |

DYNAMIC MEMORY BOARDS

lama Digital 256K oxojni! in 1 Mey CALU256 495 00 . . B.I >■. ::.-in* select CCS-2066 295 00 |

INTERFACE BOAROS

Morro

;signs Multiboan

M J&*Ktni

SPECIAL FUNCTION BOARDS

HayesS-100 Micromodem 300baud HYS-M100 325

'11 i m.intp' '.ilk , i'HiV tid'tfV QTC-CC100 139

Godbout System support b::;iid JKEPHUVGBT-SYSl 350

Godbout System support board. 9511 mattiG8T-S95l t 539

>,■■,',! tui ii- 'JbitL'A -ii. D5C-A0M1? '■■'■:)

Dual System K i . Iji . n AD DSC-AIM12 629

m.i ; Gpto-lsolalw. controts 8 cti MUt.-iCBio 179

'■,1. ; |.ir:, e*tB1tlei ft^rd wifil logic & probe MUL-TB4 79

i U lecnuology wire wrap prototype I0T-W100 49

Artec Electronics wire wrap prototype ART-WW100 25

Artec Electronics general purpose solder ART-GP100 25.00 |

MAINFRAMES & MOTHER BOARDS

Lchpsf i.it.i rainless 22 slot EDP-100 695 00 |

■ : nciosure?. 20 Slots GBT-MF2D 67

a.ilil"r-na Computet 2200. 12 slot CCS-2200 47

ill iid Digit I i' t- ' ire LAL-M8IB 3:

G;;i:tji),ii ::■. '■.'■.■:.,■ ■-..:■-iDlec! G8T-MB1? 14

CP/M SOFTWARE

AdaSoftCP/M

D-Basell

Wordstar

Mailmerge

Spetlstar

Multiplan

Macro 80

ADA-445C 395.00 ASH-015C 429.00 MPR-187C 309.00 MPR-392C 169.00 MPR-429C 169.00 MSF-483C 189.00 MSF-187C 139.00

Supersoft MAC CP/M 3.0 Despool Pascal Plus CP/M 86 MP/MII

MPR-309C 149.00 DGR-401C 85.00 DGR-410C 249.00 DGR-367C 45.00 DGR-004C 429.00 DGR-186C 239.00 DGR-208C 379.00

Additional Software available for Apple, IBM/PC and Atari. Please telephone for price and availability.

TOLL FREE ORDER LINE

(800) 421-5041

TECHNICAL & CALIFORNIA

(213) 643-9001

WE TRY HARDER

MINIMUM SHIPPING $3.00 - NO SURCHARGE ON VISA/MASTERCARD

TOLL FREE 1-800-545-2633-Continental U.S.

DISK DRIVES

DISK DRIVE CABINETS DISK SUB ASSEMBLY

SHUGART

5V-" SA400 (35 TR) 160K 150.00

5 Va " SA400L (40 TR) 190 K 175.00

5 V4" SA455L {40 TR) 320 K V 2 HGT . . 235.00

8" SA801R(SS/DD)600 K 359.00

8" SA851R(DS/DD) 1.2 MG 479.00

QUME

5V«" 142(40TR)320 K V 2 HGT 249.00

8" DT8(842) 490.00

MITSUBISHI 5V4" M-4853 Vz size 410.00

96 TPI same as TM 100-4

M-2894-63<SS/DD) 220V 449.00

8" M-2896-63 399.00

Thinline 8" DS/DD 1.2 MG

8" M-2894-63(110V) 389.00

STD 8" DS/DD 1.2 MG

DISKETTE STORAGE

ADVANCE ACCESS

AA-5V4 (Holds 82 Disks) 17.00

AA-8 (Holds 82 Disks) 26.00

Smoked Plexiglass Disk Tubs LIBRARY CASES CAS-5 V* "Colors Available; color burst asst, 2.50

CAS-8" beige, black, blue, red, gray 3.00

Color Burst (Pack of 5) 12.00

FLIP "N" FILE

Flip "N" File 25-5 V«" (holds 25) w/lock . 21.00

50-5 V* (holds 50) w/lock 27.95

Flip M N" File "Original-5" (holds 50). . . 21.00

Flip "N" File "Original 8" (holds 50). . . 29.95

DATA CABLES

8"DSC 88-2SKT-for 2-8" drvs

w/skt. conn 20.00

5V4"DSC55-2SKT-for1-5V4"

dvs w/skt. conn 20.00

RS232MM-5' (male to male) 19.00

IBM to PAR 32.00

Osborne to PAR 32.00

Kaypro to PAR 32.00

OKI-Data Serial , 24.00

QUV-T8/1H (hobby) 49.95

QUV-T8/2I (Industrial version) 68.95

QUV-T8/2P (w/timer & safety switch) 97.50

E-PROM ERASERS

CDC

5 1 /4"9409-DS/DD(ForCompaque). . . 279.00 TANDON

5V4*'TM100-1 SS/DD 160K 150.00

5 V." TM100-2A FOR IBM-PC . . . 225.00 DS/DD (320 K)

TM101-4(96TPI Quad Den) 339.00

8" TM848-2 (DS/DD) 1.2 MG 400.00

PERTEC

5 1 /r FD200-5 (160 K SS/DD 40TR) . . . 139.00

5V4*' FD250-5 (320 K DS/DD 40TR) . . . 195.00

SIEMAN'S

8" FD10O6 (SS/DD) 11OV/801 R) \169.00

8" FD100-8 (SS/DD) 220V\Compatible/ 199.00

MPI 5V-T B-51 40TH SS/DD 180 K 145.00

RS232 Connectors

SOLDER TYPE

DB25P 2.50

DB25S 3.00

DB25 Hood 1.00

S-100 Connectors 10 for 25.00

DE9P 2.00

FLAT RIBBON TYPE

IDC25P 6.25

IDC25S 6.60

IDC25Hood 1.60

SOCKET Qty. 100

IDC10SKT 1.90 1.00

IDC16SKT 2.50 1.20

IDC20SKT 2.75 1.30

IDC26SKT 3.50 1.60

IDC34SKT 4.50 2.20

IDC50SKT 6.50 3.20

CARD EDGE Qty. 100

CEC26 5.00 2.70

CEC34 6.00 3.50

CEC50 7.25 4.90

MODEMS

*Hayes Smart 300 199.00

*Hayes Smart 1200 499.00

Multi-Tech MT 212 AD (1200/300) .... 499.00

Novation J-Cat 300 119.00

Novation Apple Cat 269.00

SSM AMC -300 (For Apple)

Auto Dial 259.00

U.S. Robotics 212A Auto Dial 469.00

it U.S. Robotics Password 399.00

8" CABINETS

8" DDC88V28 w/PS vertical

for 2-8" drives 269.00

8" DDC88T-1 w/PS vertical-for 2

or 4-8" thinline drives ....... 269.00

8" DDC88T-2 w/PS vertical for 2

8" thinline drives 200.00

8" DDC8H w/PS horizontal for

1 ea. 8" drive 249.00

8" DDC8V w/PS vertical for 1

8" drive 249.00

8" DDC88H w/PS horizontal

for 2-8" drives 269.00

5 1 /4" CABINETS

5 1 /4 M DDC5H w/PS horizontal-for 1-5V4" drive 55.00

5 1 /4" DDC5V w/PS vertical-for 1 ea. 5 1 /4" drive 65.00

5 1 /4" DDC55V w/PS vertical-for 2-5V« drives 85.00

OUR BEST BUY'S

8" SUB ASSEMBLY

DDS +0 2EA SS/DD Siemens FD100-8

Drives w/Cabinet 595.00

DDS +2 2EA DS/DD Mitsubishi

M2894-63 w/cabinet 1,075.00

DDS +4 2EA DS/DD 8" Thinline

Drives w/Cabinet 1,150.00

Specify—Vertical or Horizontal Cabinet

5V<" SUB ASSEMBLY

DDS + 5 1 EA SS/DD Disk Drive 200.00

DDS + 6 2EA SS/DD Disk Drive 369.00

Z80A(4MHZ) 5.00 TMS2716(5 & 12V) 5.00

TR1602BWD 2.00 4164-200NS.. .. . 6.00

2114L2(200NS) . . 1.50 4164-150NS..... 7.00

TMS2532 6.95 93421PC ....... 3.00

2716 (5V) 5.00 LM340T12 1.00

MANY LS IN STOCK

KAYPRO II — IV VIDEO DISPLAY MONITORS

Sprinter K (5MHZ Speed-up) 99.00 K-Clock (Batt Backup

Clk/Cal) 99.50

Video Output BD-(allows use of

video monitor) 125.00

Kaypro II Upgrade Disk Drives

(DS/DD) 239.00

(Trade-in Allowance $75 for SS/DD Drive)

DISKETTES

Diskettes are 3m media packaged and certified by CENTECH. Lifetime warranty — 5 colors in each pkg. (Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Brown)

514" Sgl side/dbl den 22.00/10

5V4" Dbl side/dbl den 29.00/10

5V*" 10sector 24.00/10

5V4" 16 sector 24.00/10

8" Sgl side/dbl den 30.00/10

8" Dbl side/dbl den 40.00/10

AMBER

Dynax AM 121 (20 MHZ) Hi-Res/80 Col/12" 139.00

USI PI-4{20 MHZ) Hi-Res/80 Col/9" 139.00

USI PI-3(20MHZ) Hi-Res/80 Col/12" 149.00

Tfr Zenith ZM122 (18 MHZ) Hi-Res/80 Col/12" . 119.00

COLOR

Amdek 1-12" Composite (For Apple) 260.00

Amdek ll-12"-RGB (For IBM-PC) w/audio. . 469.00

Amdek I + Composite w/audio 289.00

BMC 9191-12" Composite (For Apple) 255.00

Princeton HX-12-RGB (For IBM-PC) 489.00

SakataSC-100-13" Composite (For All). . . 260.00 SakataSC-200-RGB(ForAII) 489.00

GREEN

BMC 12AU (15 MHZ) 80 Col/12" 80.00

Dynax GM 120 (20 MHZ) Hi-Res/80

Col/12" 129.00

Sanyo DM 2112 (15 MHZ) 64 Col/12" 80.00

SakataSC-1000 (18 MHZ) 80 Col/12" 119.00

USI PI-1 (20 MHZ) Hi-Res/9" 129.00

USI PI-2 (20 MHZ) Hi-Res/12" 139.00

S-100 PRODUCTS

CARD CAGES/MOTHER BOARDS

'IEEE-696-No termination required

w/card bare card Slots Bare Bd A + T cage cage

MAINFRAMES

CLOCK/CALENDAR

S-100 Clock/Calendar by QT/ Computime CCS-BB Bare Bd. or manual 45.00

CCS-A Assembled and

Tested $95.00

For 2 Standard 8" Drives

MF + DD6 (6 slot M/B) 575.00

MF + DD8 (8 slot M/B) 625.00

MF+DD12(12 slot M/B) 675.00

=*= T

IMF + DD6F 350.00

For 2-5 % " Disk Drives MF + MD12 (12 slot M/B) 560.00

Standard Plain Front

MF+12(12 slot M/B) 499.00

MF + 22 (22 slot M/B) 550.00

All mainframes except IMF + DD6F have EMI filter, 2 AC outlets, 15 ea. DB25, 2 ea. 50 pin, 2 ea. 34 pin, 1 ea. Centronic cutouts, power supply for 8" MF (- 5V1A/ + 5V6A/ + 8V16A7 ± 16V3A/ + 24V6A)

CPU/MEM/I/O

QTC-SBC 2/4BB 1 ser 1 par

CPU $50.00

QTC-SBC 2/4AA + T $265.00

QTCZ + 80 BB 1 serial $28.00

QTC-EXP+III Bare Bd.

(dynamic) $75.00

QTC-EXP+III64K A + T

(64K/256K or 1 MEG) $450.00

I/O Tech I/O + 2 Ser 3 Par Bare

Bd 75.00

I/O Tech I/O + 2 Ser 3 Par

A&T 300.00

I/O Tech ADA Converter Bd . 400.00 I/O Tech Dual GP1B Interface

Bd 695.00

I/O Tech S-Ram 128K Static 16

bit 795.00

SEE AD IN BYTE

COMPUPRO

S-100-all assembled and tested

System 816A 4,000.00

System 816C 6,795.00

20 Slot MB 220.00

CPU 8085/88 389.00

Disk I w/CPM 399.00

Disk II 610.00

Ram17-64K 410.00

Ram21-128K 900.00

Ram 16 400.00

System Support 1 350.00

lnterface/R4 350.00

CPU 8086/8087 599.00

Active Terminator ........ 55.00

Enclosure 2 (desk) 695.00

CALL FOR OTHERS

SIERRA DATA

COMPUTIME/QT BARE BOARD SET

Best Bare Board Set Available

SBC 2/4 CPU (1 SER 1-PAR)

EXP + III 256 K Memory Bd. Exp. to 1 MEG

FDC 5/8 Floppy disk controller (5 V* or 8")

Bare Board Set $150.00

1) Includes manuals & assembly instructions

2) Parts available

3) Monitor & B10S available. Add $30.00.

SDS-SBC-100-Z80(4mhz) master 2 serial 2 par/floppy control ler/64k ram $675.00

SDS-SBC-100S-4mhz slave/2 serial 2 par/64k ram $625.00

SDS-ZSIO/4-4 serial port l/Obd $250.00

SDS-MUX-RS232 multiplexer

bd $235.00

SDS-HDI-M-Hard disk bd

formicropolis $129.00

SDS-CPM/B105-cp/m for SBC

100w/BIOS $150-00

SDS-Turbodos-Multi-user for

master & slaves $645.00

CUSTOMER SERVICE JOHN PIZZELLO

1-801-363-3317

Circle 203 on inquiry card.

7£v

The Great Salt Lake

Computer Company, Inc.

1-801-363-3314

Retail Sales

123 East 200 South

Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

Retail Hours

Monday-Friday 10 AM to 6 PM Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM

TO SERVE YOU!!

CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS SAVE 6% SALES TAX

8YEARS(1976)EXPERIENCE IN COMPUTER MAIL ORDER BUSINESS

PRINTERS

ALPHACOM

• 40 OR 80 COL •80CPS

• FULL CHARACTER SETS

• GRAPHICS

• LiGHT WT, 4 TO 6 LBS.

• FRICTION FEED

ALPHACOM 42 (40 col) $101.00 ALPHACOM 81 (80 col) $149.00 INTERFACE for ATARI, COMMODORE Tl or APPLE $39.00 40 COL PAPER (per roll) $2.80 80 COL PAPER (per roll) $4.50

BMC

PB101 16CPS, 2K Buffer, Par . .. / 649.00

PB104 Silver Reed Look-Alike 599.00

COM REX

CR-2 12 CPS, 5K Buffer 499.00

DAISYWRITER

i( Daisy writer 2000-48K Buffer/20T040CPS LTR/Par .. 1,050.00 Daisywriter Cable 40.00

DIABLO

620 (25CPS/Serial) 920.00

630{40CPS/Multi-IF) 1,790.00

DYNAX

Dynax-15 Par-13CPS Daisy Wheel

2 color PTG-3K buff 475.00

Dyanx 15 Serial-13CPS Daisy Wheel 525.00

C, ITOH

Gorilla (Par 50 CPS) 199.00

*fc Pro-writer I {8510A) Par 120 CPS 350.00

Pro-writer I (8510A) Serial 120 CPS 529.00

Pro-writer II Parallel-15" 669.00

8600 (180CPS) Par or Serial 18 PIN 90 CPS LTR . . . . 1,099.00

F-10 40CPS/Diablo/Par or Serial . 1,149.00

F-10 55CPS/Diablo/Par or Serial 1,425.00

EPSON

FX80 (160 CPS-Par 10") CALL

FX100(160CPS-PaM5") CALL

JUKI

6100-18CPS/Diablo Compatible Par/Daisy Wheel 569.00

MANNESMAN-TALLY

160L{160CPC-40CPSLTR 10") 569.00

180L(160CPS-40CPS LTR 15") 829.00

MPI

MPI-99G (9") Par 499.00

MP1150 Bl {15") Par 2K Buff w/Graphics 675.00

MP1150 Al (15") Par4K Buff w/Graphics 799.00

MPI 150 Al (15") Par 16K Buff w/Graphics 699.00

NEC

NEC3550 (For IBM PC) 1,850.00

NEC7715(w/Diablo Emulation) 1,995.00

NEC8023A(100CPS-Par-Graphics) 389.00

Serial Card 139.00

NEC8025A (100CPS-Par-Graphics) 699.00

OKI-DATA

Microline82A(SER & PAR-120CPS 10") 379.00

Microline 83A (SER & PAR-120CPS 15") 629.00

*$C Microline 92 (PAR-160CPS-LTR-10") 489.00

Microline 93 (PA R-160CPS-LTR-15") 799.00

Microline 84P(PAR-200CPS-LTR-15") 969.00

Microline 84S(SER-200CPS-LTR-15") 1,059.00

STAR MICRONICS

^T Gemini 10X NEW VERSION (PAR-120CPS-10") CALL

Gemini 15X(PAR-120CPS-15") CALL

•Jf Gemini 15-(PAR-100CPS-15") 399.00

Gemini Delta 10(Par-160CPS-10" 8K buffer serial) CALL

SILVER REED

EXP550P-17CPS Daisy Wheel-PAR 670.00

EXP550S-17CPS Daisy Wheel-Serial 690.00

TOSHIBA

«fc P-1350(192CPS-120CPSLTR PAR or Serial) 1,499.00

TRANSTAR

120 P 499.00

315 Color Printer 499.00

IBM ACCESSORIES

AST

6 Pak Plus (SPC 64K) 299.00

Combo Plus (SPC 64K) 285.00

Mega Plus (SC, 64K) 305.00

I/O Plus Serial/Par Port 149.00

D.C. HAYES

Smartmodem 1200B 429.00

MAYNARD

Floppy Controller 160.00

Floppy Controller (Serial) 235.00

Floppy Controller (PAR) 215.00

Sandstar MOD-FDC

MODULAR (for5Vi"or8"drives) .200.00

ADD-ONS FOR Pararrel MOD 60.00

SANDSTAR Serial-MOD 79.00

MOD-FDC Clock Calendar MOD ...69.00

Game Adapter MOD .... 49.00

Sandstar Multi-Function BD (Holds up to

6 modular add-ons 82.00

QUADRAM

Quad board 64K/256K 289.00/459.00

Quadboard II 64K/256K 289.00/459.00

Quad Link (Allows IBM PC to use Apple II

Software) 589.00

Microfazer(BK) 119.00

KEYTRONICS

Enhance your PC-with a superior keyboard 199.00

64K UPGRADE KIT — $50.00 Includes 9 ea. 4164 (200NS)

SYSTEMS

^TApple II E Starter 1,525.00

Columbia PC 2,625.00

Compupro System 816A (S-100) 4,000.00

Eagle PC-2 (16BIT) 2 ea. 320 K FD/64K RAM 2,650.00

Eagle 1620 3,400.00

Eagle PC-XL 3,500.00

Franklin 1000 895.00

Franklin 1200 Starter 1,625.00

Kaypro II (w/$2400 software) 1,495.00

PC-8801A w/software 949.00

NEC PC-8831A (5VO drives 899.00

NEC PC-8881A (8") drives 1,525.00

Pied Piper — 1 ea. 256 K FD/64K 1,139.00

Sanyo MBC 1000 (1 ea. 320K FD/64K) 12" Mon.

w/$2000 software 1,495.00

Sanyo MBC 1000A (2 ea. 320K Vz HGT FD/64K)

12" Mon. w/$2000 software 1,750.00

Televideo TS-803 1,900.00

TelevideoTS-1603 2,475.00

Teletote I (new) w/software 1,695.00

TRY US FOR OTHERS

DISKETTES

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER SPECIAL

5 V« " Soft Sector SS/DD 18.00/10

FOR APPLE, ETC.

5V« " Soft Sector DS/DD 24.00/10

FOR IBM PC & PARTNERS FOR QTY OF 100 (15% DISCOUNT)

AC SURGE ELIMINATORS

Grizzly (200W) uninterruptible

power system + surge protection 750.00

Grizzly (500W) uninterruptible

power system + surge protection 1,602.00

Hawk AC power monitor w/surge protection 160.41

Lemon (6AC outlets-3 prong) 44.00

Lime (5'-3 prong pwr cord w/on-off switch 69.00

Orange-AC surge + EMI filter (6 outlets) 95.00

Peach (3 outlets) 69.00

VECTREX

Complete w/9" monitor and 128K Memory $109.00 LIGHTPEN AVAILABLE OCTOBER - CALL

yXv

APPLE/FRANKLIN ACCESSORIES

ALS

CPM 3.0 Card 319.00

ASTAR

RF Modulator 19.00

GENERIC

Disk Controller for II E 60.00

80 Column Video (Videx Compatible) 99.00

HAYES

Micro-Modem II 259.00

Micro-Model II w/terminal package 279.00

Smart Com II 89.00

KENSINGTON

System Saver/Fan & Surge Pro 75.00

KRAFT

Joystick for II E 47.50

MICRO-MAX

View Max 80 (80 Col for II +) 139.00

•View Max 80E (80 Col W/64K Memory Exp to 128K). . . 129.00

MICROTEK

Dumpling 64K/lnterface and Graphics 64K Buffer ... 235.00

Dumpling GX-P/Par Interface Card and Cable 99.00

Parallel Interface Board (RV611C) 61.00

EV16 (16K Add-on Memory) 45.00

ORANGE MICRO

Grappler & Graphics Interface 121.00

Grappler + 16K Buffer Exp 179.00

TG PRODUCTS

Joy Stick-For Apple II + 38.00

Paddles 29.00

Selecta Port 38.00

VISTA

A800 Floppy Controller for 8" Drives 300.00

A-800-1 Cable 27.00

ALL DRIVES 1 YR. WARRANTY

Vista Solo (35TR) 199.00

Micro-Sci A-2 (35TR) 225.00

Micro-Sci A-40 (40TR) 269.00

Micro-Sci A-70 (Quad) 329.00

Micro-Sci Controller 70.00

Rana Elite I 249.00

Rana Elite II 399.00

Rana Elite III . . 509v00

Rana Controller 85.00

Super 5 "THINLINE" % size 163K 40TR 209.00

TERMINALS

I/O PORT CONVERTER

SPC-Serial Computer to Parallel Converter 99.00

'Allows the use of any port

*Baud to 19.2K * Handshake Signals

PSC-Parallel Computer to Serial 99.00

ADDS

Viewpoint-A1 (White) 509.00

Viewpoint-A2 (Green) 539.00

Viewpoints + (Green) 509.00

Viewpoint 60-Same as Televideo 925 715.00

Viewpoint 90-Same as Televideo 950 (132 Col) . . . 925.00 Viewpoint Color 995.00

QUME

QVT-102 80 Col. Green 550.00

QVT-102 80 Col. Amber 560.00

QVT-103 80/132 Col. Green 765.00

TELEVIDEO

TV910 529.00

TV910 + 565.00

TV925 715.00

TV950 925.00

TV970 1,095.00

RG1000/TV60G»aphics Upgrade for 925/950 ... 1,100.00

WYSE

WYSE-100 725.00

WYSE-300 (Color) 1,125.00

TOLL FREE

1-800-545-2633

CONTINENTAL U.S.

Circle 203 on inquiry card.

The Great Salt Lake

Computer Company, Inc.

1-801-363-3314

Mail Orders r

P.O. Box 3150

Salt Lake City, Utah 84110

Mail Orders

Monday-Friday 8 AM to 6 PM (sometimes much later) Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM

VIDEO DISPLAYS

PERIPHERALS FOR THE IBM PC

look for low cost-high quality video displays

VIDEO TERMINAL

BOARD. This is a complete stand alone Video Terminal board. All that Is needed besides this board is a parallel ASCII keyboard, standard NTSC monitor, and a power supply. It displays 80 columns by 25 lines of UPPER and lower case characters. Data is transfered by RS232 at rates of 110 to 9600 baud —switch selectable. Complete source listing is included in the documentation. Both the CRT program and the character generator are in 2716 EPROMS to allow easy modification to your needs. This board uses a 6502 microprocessor and a 6845 crt controller. The serial input port is interrupt driven. Assembled and tested part number 82-018A $199.95. The bare board with the crystal and EPROMS, part number 82-018B $89.95

MINI VIDEO. This board can be used to add a video display to your aim or other computer. It can also, with the addition of a parallel keyboard, 5V power supply, and video monitor, run Tom Pittman's Tiny Basic. The display format is 40 columns by 24 lines. This board has two parallel ports (6522), a 6502 MPU 4K RAM, 2 or 4K EPROM. The assembled video board without EPROMS, part number 82-140A $149.95. The Tiny Basic EPROM $39.95. The character generator EPROM $19.95. The parallel input EPROM $19.95.

To order: Send check or money order. Add 6.5% tax in California. Add 5% shipping for orders less than $100 or 3% for orders over $100 or 10% outside U.S.A. Phone orders: We accept Visa or MO Add $2.00 for C.O.D. Will Call Hours 9am to 4pm.

look for low cost-high quality interfaces for the IBM PC

UNIVERSAL I/O. The Universal I/O board has 16 eight bit analog inputs with a voltage range of 0 to 5 volts. It also has 9 eight bit parallel I/O ports. It has interrupt circuitry, Timer clock 32768 Hz. to 512 sec, prototyping area, and LED for power. Part number 83-064A $299.95

120 VAC CONTROL. This board has eight optically isolated triac switches. Each switch can control 200 watts. It connects via a 16 pin ribbon cable to a parallel output port. Screw terminals are provided for 120 vac connection. Part number 82-332. $119.95.

INPUT PROTECTOR. This board protects the inputs of the ANALOG input or PARALLEL input ports. There are 4.7K pullups, diodes and caps for each line. It connects via a 16 pin ribbon cable. Screw terminals are provided for connection. Part number 82-334. $89.95.

To order: Send check or money order. Add 6.5% tax in California. Add 5% shipping for orders less than $100 or 3% for orders over $100 or 10% outside U.S.A. Phone orders: We accept Visa or MC. Add $2.00 for C.O.D. Will Call Hours 9am to 4pm.

«Johiv Bell I John Bell

Engineering. Inc.

Engineering, Inc.

1014 CENTER ST. SAN CARLOS, CA. 94070 (415) 592-8411

1014 CENTER ST. SAN CARLOS, CA. 94070 (415) 592-8411

704 BYTE November 1983

Circle 46 on inquiry card.

Circle 47 on inquiry card.

PERIPHERALS FOR THE APPLE

INDUSTRIAL CONTROL PRODUCTS

look for low cost-high quality interfaces ton tho APPLE II

6522 APPLE II INTERFACE. This interface plugs directly into slot 1 through 7 in the APPLE II or the APPLE lie. It provides four 8 bit bi-directional I/O ports, four 16 bit timer/counters, and handshaking. Four 16 pin dip sockets provide easy connections to peripheral devices. This board is also used to run the J BE EPROM Programmer. Order part # 79 295A assm. $69.95 or # 79-295B bare board $29.95

EPROM PROGRAMMER.

Programs 5 volt 2716's, 2516's, and

2532's. It interfaces to the 6522

interface with 4 ribbon cables. A

Textool zero insertion force socket

is used for the EPROM. Complete

documentation for reading and

writing. Cables available

separately. Order part # 80-244A assm. $49.95 or # 80-244B bare

board 29.95 and set of 4 cables 2 ft. long $17.00

W* AD CONVERTER. 16

k Channel A-D plugs into your | APPLE II or APPLE lie. The 16 inputs are high impedance, 0 to 5 volt range, 8 bit resolution. Conversion time is less than 100 us per channel. Two 16 pin dip sockets are used for input. Order part # 81-132A assm. $89.95 or # S1-132B bare board $29.95

SPEECH SYNTHESIZER.

This board uses the VOTRAX SC-01 Phoneme Synthesizer chip. The on board audio amp connects directly to an 8 ohm speaker. A disk with a text to speech program is included. Order part #81-088 $129.95

To order: Send check or money order. Add 6.5% tax in California. Add 5% shipping for orders less than $100 or 3% for orders over $100 or 10% outside U.S.A. Phone orders: We accept Visa or MC. Add $2.00 for C.O.D. Will Call Hours 9am to 4pm.

look for low cost-high quality industrial computers

SLIM MICROCOMPUTER. This 6502 based 4.5" x 6.5" computer has the same 44 pin bus as the AIM computer. It has 2K RAM, 2K or 4K EPROM, and four 8 bit parallel I/O ports (two 6522's). The clock is 1 MHz crystal controlled and has power on reset. This board was designed for control and is ideal for personal and OEM use. This computer can be expanded with the peripherals listed below. Order part # 81-260A assm. $199.95 or #81-260B bare board $39.95

SIX SLOT MOTHER BOARD. This board has 6 44 pin edge connectors

connected in parallel. The card spacing is .750". It will mount in VECTOR card cages. Order part # 81-320A assm. $99.95 or # 81-320B bare board $49.95.

12 PORT PARALLEL I/O.

This board has six 6522 VIA's. This is a total of 96 I/O lines. Each of the 12 8 bit ports also has 2 handshake lines. Order part # 82-036A assm. $169.95 or # 82-036B bare board $49.95

RAM EPROM MEMORY(32K).

This board has 16 24 pin sockets

that will accept 2716 EPROM's or

6116 RAM's to total 32K bytes. The

memory «s mapped from 0 to 7FFF.

The first 2K (0-7FF) can be

disabled with a jumper to allow for

the 2K of RAM on the SLIM

computer. Order part # 81-330A

assm. w/o memory $99.95 or # 81-330B bare board $49.95

ANALOG I/O INTERFACE. This board has 16 analog inputs and 2 analog outputs. The inputs are 8 bit (256 steps), 0-5 volt, high impedance with a conversion time of 200us per channel. The outputs are R-2R ladders (R = 15K) driven between 0 and 5 volts and are 8 bit (256 steps) also. Order part # 81-292A assm. $199.95 or #81-292B bare board $49.95

To order: Send check or money order. Add 6.5% tax in California. Add 5% shipping for orders less than $100 or 3% for orders over $100 or 10% outside U.S.A. Phone orders: We accept Visa or MC. I Hours 9am to 4pm.

tJoHiv Bell I John Bell

Engineering, Inc.

1014 CENTER ST. SAN CARLOS, CA. 94070 (415) 592-8411

Engineering, Inc.

1014 CENTER ST. SAN CARLOS, CA. 94070 (415) 592-8411

Circle 48 on inquiry card.

Circle 49 on inquiry card.

BYTE November 1983

Cables

EIA RS 232-C

Circle 467 on inquiry card.

Specify: Male or female connectors, length of cable and pins to be connected. OEM & quantity discounts available to qualified customers. On prepaid orders add $5.00 for shipping/handling. We also supply connector parts, bulk cable, IBM, DEC Compatible ACentronic cables.

Communication Cable Company

319 Louella Ave. Wayne, PA 19087 215-964-9404

Circle 79 on inquiry card.

Like-new products

For free catalog,

phone toll-free (800) 225-1008

In Massachusetts (617) 938-0900

Genstar REI Sales Company

6307 DeSoto Ave.. Ste J / Woodland Hills, CA 91367

Circle 198 on inquiry card.

HDBBV RDBDtX^

PUT YOUR COMPUTER TO WORK

VISION SYSTEMS—VISION 1; 2D; CL, 0

Vision Kits let your computer see. They are simple but excellent for experiments with VIC-20 and Basic, or other computers. Vision I has a panoramic scan; 2D adds tilt for a TV image; CL close up lens; 0 fixed, or proximity sensor. Experiments with image processing, motion detection, pattern recognition and tracking. Usable with IR light. Interface kits available for several computers.

VISION I KIT.. $ 100 VISION 0 KIT. . $ 40

VISION I STEREO/TWIN $150

VISION 2D KIT $135

See October Byte ad for Robot Arms.

Spectron Instrument

1342 W. Cedar Ave. Denver, CO 80223 CS Tel. (303) 744-7088 S

Circle 437 on inquiry card.

FREE SOFTWARE

RENT THE PUBLIC DOMAIN! It's not copyrighted, so no fees to pay! 1 000's of CPM software programs in source code to copy yourself! 8" SSSD format.

CPM USERS GROUP LIBRARY

Volumes 1-91, 46 disks rental—$45

SIG/M USERS GROUP LIBRARY

Volumes 1-126, 63 disks rental- $55

IBM PC-SIG

Volumes 1-58

5%" IBM-PC disks-$99.50

8" "Flippy" disks-$3.00 ea.

(copy on both sides)

Shipping, insurance and handling,

$10.00 per library.

No deposit—7 days rental

3 days grace to return.

Directory programs, $9.95

Call (61 9) 727-101 5 anytime

Have credit card ready!

P.J.S. Co.

993 S. Same Fe "C" Vista. CA. 92083

ATTENTION BIG BOARD USERS! WHY USE OUTDATED TECHNOLOGY?

INSIGHT ENTERPRISES

IS NOW DELIVERING A NEW

STATE-OF-THE-ART CP/M Z80-A

SINGLE BOARD COMPUTER

On board video «)28K of DynomicftAM and4K of STATIC (video memory) • DMA • SASl (hard disk interface) • Floppy disk controller (4 drives piy combination of 5-1/4" or 8") • 4 seriol ports • Full Centronics p,inter port • Expansion bus • Wide line and thin line graphics • Extended track buffer • Printer buffer • Fully interrupt driven • Parallel or Serial keyboard • Compact Size • (8x14 inches)

9 /OUpUU single quantity OEM pricing 2-4 weeks flelivery $10 00 shiopini

Circle 227 on inquiry card.

maxell

Floppy Discs

CALL NOW-TOLL FREE

1-800-328-DISC

Dealer inquiries invited. C.O.D.'s and charge cards accepted. All orders shipped from stock, within 24 hours. Call toll FREE.

m

Ak\

North Hills Corporation

3564 Rolling View Dr.

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

1-800-328-DISC

MN Call Collect 1-612-770-0485

$$ Printers $$

$$ WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD $$ EPSON

RX 80, MX 80FT, MX 100FT, FX 80 & newest FX 100 "lowest prices In the USA"

Gemini 10X 8329

Gemini 15 494

Prowriter 8510 {P) 385

All other printers discounted

Miscellaneous Hardware

Microsoft Premium Pack 478

Microsoft Softcard 238

Microsoft Softcard Plus 489

(Includes videx 80 Col.)

Smartterm 80 Col 145

Wizard 80 Col , 179

Videx 80 Col. Combo 257

Printer Cards

Parallel 69

Wizard Buffered BPO 149

Grappler + 125

Buffered Grappier + 209

A COMPUTER SHOP

3941-BS. Bristol Street

Dept 345

Santa Ana, CA 92704

714-261-1383

ORDERS ONLY: (800) 824-2227

Circle 104 on inquiry card.

DISKETTES

Top Quality Diskettes Guaranteed and Tested Error Free. Rely on 3M

516-543-6100 212-843-5775

(COLLECT CALLS ACCEPTED)

For every box of quality 3M Diskettes ordered I receive one FREE| plastic case

DAILY

BUSINESS PRODUCTS INC.

11 0 Parkway Dr. S. Hauppauge, NY. 11767 VISA. MasterCard C.O.D. Accepted Dealer & OEM Inquiries Invited

Circle 124 on inquiry card.

PRIORITY ONE ELECTRONICS

E^ HewLETT

Packard CALCULATORS AND HANDHELD COMPUTERS

NEW!

HP-41CX

10 Times the Memory!

• 3105 bytes of user memory

• 443 data registers

• Built-in time/calendar alarm/ stop-watch module

• Built-in extended functions module

• Buift-in text editor

• Still retains the 4 external I/O connections

LIST PRICE: $325.00

$269.00

BHHF41CX(Sh. Wt. 3 lbs)

HP-41C/CW HANDHELD COMPUTER SYSTEM

Description

List Price Our Price

BV HP41C Handheld computer

BVHP-41CV Handheld computer

w/5x the memory

BVHP82104A Card reader

BV HPB2153A Optical Wand

BV HP82161A Cassette drive

BV HP82162A Thermal Printer

BV HP82163A Video Interface

S1 95 00 $159.00 $275.00 $219.00

$195.00 $1 59.OO $125.00 5 99.00 $450 00 $349.00 $450.00 $349.00 $225.00 $179.00

(Shipping Weight' on above ttems: 5 lbs. each)

ENHANCEMENT MODULES:

BVHP82180A HP-1L module $125.00 $95.00

BV HP82170A Quad RAM module $ 75.00 $59.00

BV HP82180A Extended functions/ $ 75.00 $59.00

memory module

BV HPB2181A Ext. memory module $ 75.00 $59.00

BV HP821B2A Time module $ 75.00 $59.00 (Shipping Weights on above items: 1 lb. each)

We now carry the complete line of series 40 Application Pacs and Solution Books

HP-75C Computer & Software

BV HP-75C Portable Computer (9 lbs.)

BV HP00075-15014 BV HP00075-15019 BV HPOO075 15015 BV HP00075-15D12 BV HPQ0075-15035

VisiCalc® Text Formatter Math Pac Surveying Pac

$995.00$ 749. OO $195.00 $95.00 $145.00 $295.00

DataCommunications Pac

HP-IL PERIPHERALS

ForHP-41CV&HP-75C

$145.00

BVHP82160A HP-IL Interface

included in HP-75C BV HP821B1A Digital Cassette Drive BV HPB2176A Digital Cassettes (10 pack) BV HP821B2A Thermal Printer/Plotter BV HPB2125A Thermal Printer Paper (6 rolls) BVHPS21B3A Video Interface BV HP821B4A RS-232 Serial Interface BVHPB2165A GP10 Interface

$125.00 $ 99.00

$450.00

$450.00

$225.00 $295.00 $295.00

$349.00 $ 95.00 $349.00 $ 10.00 $179.00 $249.00 $249.00

SERIES 10 PROGRAMMABLE CALCULATORS

BVHP-10C Scientific $ 70.00 $59.00

BV HP-11C Adv. scientific $ 90.00 $79.00

BV HP-12C Adv. financial $120.00 $99.00

BV HP-ISC Adv. sci. w/matrix $120.00 $99.00

BV HR-16C Digital & Computer science $120.00 $99.00 (Shipping Weights on above calculators: 3 lbs. each)

AC SURGE PROTECTORS FOR YOUR COMPUTER

THE LEMON M SOURS SURGES

Part Nv. Description

BWEPDLEM0N 6 outlet wall mou

BWEPDLIME 6 outlet 4 1 /2 J cort

w/power switch

List Price Our Price

$59,95 $44.95 89.50 $69.95

EMI-RF1 FILTERED AC SURGE PROTECTOR

BWEPD0RAN6E6 outlet 4 1 / 2 ' cord $139.95 $104.95

BWEPD0RAN6E6 outlet 4 Vi' cor

w/power switch

BWEPDPEACH 6 outlet wall moi

$97.50$ 74.95

AC POWER LINE MONITOR / SUR6E PROTECTOR BWEPDHAWK (Sh. Wt. 6 lbs.) $195.00 $149.00

SPECIAL PURCHASE

&TPK

8" DISKETTES Double-Density

BWTDKF1S

SINGLE SIDED

BWTDKF2D

DOUBLE SIDED

$19.95 $39.95

20-5 1 /i" DISKETTES

40 Track Single Sided Double Density With Hub Reinforcing Rings

$32.00

1 Part Number: BW5 (Sh. Wt. 1 lb.)

T r- - APPLE II & lie Uiii 5W DISK DRIVES

FULLY

APPLE II

COMPATIBLE

mm

APPLE ADD-ON DISK DRIVE

BWVIS3101 List Price: $299.9^ / Catalog Price $249 00

ON SALE NOW FOR ONLY$225.00

BWVISAFDC Apple II Drive Controller BUY IT NOW FOR ONLY $59 /.'

S^SSierraein/Power Systems

S-100 OPEN FRAME LINEAR SUPPLIES

+ 8V § 8A + 8V Co) 20A ±16V i 2A ±16V @ 4A

BWSPUDS100 (9 lbs) List $85 00 BWSPLZFSIOO (14 lbs) List $140 00

ml $78.00 ?Sce $129.00

SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY FOR APPLE bv ASTEC

&

-5V » 25A

+ 12V p 2.5 A

$39.95 each - 3/$99.00

BWS9PSPS (2 lbs each)

1200 BAUD MODEM SALE!

u.s.

ROBOTICS PASSWORD 1200 BADD Auto Originate/ Auto Answer

I ROBOTICS «*e

Part

Description

$379.00

List Price Our Price

BWPOBPASSTELB Password Modem w/Com- $528.00$379.00

munication Software 8" CP/M® BWP0BPASSTEL5 Password Modem w/Com- $528.00 $379.00

munication Software 5%* Apple BWPDBADIALTEL8 Auto Dial 212A Modem $678 00$495,00

w/Com munication software 8" CP/M® BWPQBABIALTEL5 Auto Dial 212A Modem $678.00 $495.00

w/Communication software 5 V' Apple

S-100 MODEM CARD 0-300, 1200 BAUD

Auto Answer, Auto Dial • 8ell212A • Full or Halt uuplex • NO RS-232 REQUIRED • Audible Phone Line Signal Monitoring System • Telpak Operating Software Available on 8" CP/M® Diskette

BWUSRS100 Regular Price: $425.00

SALE PRICE

BWUSRTELPAK8 On 8" Diskette

$379.00

$79.00

RIXON

1200 BAUD AUTO DIAL

DIRECT CONNECT MODEMS WITH 10 NUMBER MEMORY

Part Number Description List Price Our Price

BWRIXR2I2A 1200 Baud Stand Alone unit $495.00 $475.00

BWRIXPC212A 1200 IBM PC"" modem (2 lbs.) $495.00 §475.00

BWRIXPCCOM! IBM PC" Modem Software (1 lb.) S 89.00

BWPDBRIXIBM IBM Modem & Software Together (3 lbs.) $53100

D.C HAYES

BW0CH0400P BWDCH0200P BW0CH0300P BWDCHOIOOP BWDCH0000P

1200 Baud Smartmodem 300 Baud Smartmodem Chronograph MicroModem 100 MicroModem II

$695.00 $514.95

$279.00 $249.00 $399.00 $379.00

$229.00 $199.00 $349.00 $299.00

MURA 300 BAUD DIRECT CONNECT

RS232 C Interface

Full Duplex

Bell 103 compatible

$79.00

List Price 00R PRICE

BWM0RMM100 0-300 baud modem (2 lbs.) BWCN0RS2328F RS232 Cable

$99.55. $79.00 $19.95

PRIORITY

ELECTRONICS

9161 Deenng Ave.. ChatswortrxCA 91311 ORDER TOLL FREE (600) 423-5922 - CA, AK. HI CALL (213) 709-5111

Terms: U.S. VISA. MC, BAG, Check, Money Order, U.S. Funds Only. CA residents add 6M»% Sales Tax. MINIMUM PREPAID ODER $1§A*0. Include MINIMUM SHIPPING & HANDLING of $3.00 for the first 3 lbs. plus 40£ for each additional pound Orders over 50 lbs sent freight collect. Just in case, please include phone number. Prices subject to change without notice. We will do our best to maintain prices through November. 1983. Many quantities are limited. Sorry, no rainchecks, no refunds or exchanges on sale merchandise Credit Card orders will be charqed appronate freight Sale prices for prepaid orders only. We are not responsible for typographical errors.

RETAIL STORE PHONE NUMDERS: (Cholsworfh:) (213) 709-5464 - (Irvine:) (714) 660-1411

PRIORITY ONE ELECTRONICS

WORLD'S LARGEST SUPPLIER

ISDSystemsI

SDC 000

Z-80 Single Board Computer

Part No.

Description

List Price Our Price

BWSDS38095 Z80A 4MHz A&T $741.00

BWSDS38092 Z80B 6MHz A&T $825.00

BWPGC269240S 2' Internal Serial I/O cable BWPGC50M12S 12" 50 pin internal disk cable

$699.00 $779.00 $ 14.65 $ 23 60

VERSAFLOPPY III

Floppy and Hard Disk Controller

BWSBS38099 VFW-3 Disk Controller (A&T) $ 895.00 BWPDBW399145*w/5V 4 " unbanked CP/!T 3,0 $1083.00 BWP0BYF339146*w/8 unbanked CP/M® 3.0 $1083.00 BWPBBVF339147*w/5V4" banked CP/M* 3.0 $1083.00 BWP0B¥F339148*w/8 banked CP/M® 3.0 $1083 00

*CP/M® 3.0 is configured for the SDS SBC300 board

VERSAFLOPPY 11/696

Floppy Disk Controller

Versafloppy 11/696 (A&T) BWPBBVF239141*With 5'A" unbanked CP/M® BWPBBVF239142*With 8" unbanked CP/M® BWPDBYF239143*With 5W' banked CP/M® BWPDBVF239144*Wtth 8" banked CP/M® *CP/M® 3.0 configured for the SDS SBC300.

SOFTWARE-CP/M PLUS ™ 0.0

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND OS INFORMATION:

CP/M® 3.0 requires a minimum of 112K bytes of system RAM partitioned into two banks (64 K each)* for operation. Memory size parameters are communicated to the OS by menu selections in GENCPM. The OS is divided into two modules, the resident portion that resides in the common memory, and the banked portion that occupies the upper area of BANK 0 (just below the common area). The common area must be from 4 K to 16 K to be compatible with the distribution configuration.

BWS0S39144 CP/M 3.0 8" banked for SDSSBC300 BWSDS39142 CP/M 3.0 8" unbanked for SDSSBC300 BWSDS39143 CP/M 3.0 S'A" banked for SDSSBC300 $315.00 BWSDS39141 CP/M 3.0 5 1 A" unbanked for SDSSBC300 $315.00

l/O-O

8 fort Seriol I/O

BWSDS38093 8 Async serial (A&T) S695 00 $594.00

BWS0S3B094 8 Sync serial (A&T) $795.00 $675.00

Cables: Each port has its own 26 pin header. Order on 1/0 cable for each port used. BWPGC26S24DS 26 pin SKT connector to DB255 24" $ 14.65 BWPGC26S60DP 26 pin SKT connector to DB25P 5' S 15.70 BWPGC26S60DS 26 pin SKT connector to DB255 5' $ 16.55

PROM 100

Eprom burner

BWSDS38076 PROM-100 w/software(A&T) $285.00 $249.89

Z60 STARTER! SYSTEM

A COMPLETE MICROCOMPUTER ON A D0ARD

• Z80 • PROM Program • Cassette Interface • TwoS-100 Expansion Ports (Connectors not included) • 2K ZBUG Monitor • 1K RAM

(Expandable to 2K) • 2 Parallel Ports » 1 Year Warranty

BWS0S38007 Z80 Starter System (A&T) $450.00 $382.00 (Shipping Weight 4 lbs.)

ExpandoRAM IV

256K Dynamic RAM w/Portfy Check and Optional Error Detection and Correction

BWSDS3808B ExpandoRAM IV 256K (A&T)$1145.00 $ 980.00 BWSDS38089 ExpandoRAM IV 256K $1990.00 $1780.00 w/EDC (A&T)

ExpondoRAM III

256 K Rondom Access Memory Doord

BWSDS38097 256K ExpandoRAM III /696 $825.00 $598.89

(A&T)

ROM DISC 126

Program Accelerator

List Price Our Price

$350 00 $329.00 $ 10.00

RAMDISK-256

Program Accelerator

ROM DISC 128K w/o EPR0MS (A&T) BWSDS61103 ROM DISC Manual BWPGC26S240S 2' Internal Serial 1/0 cable

Ram Disk 256K (A&T) 102 Manual

5875.00 $795.0 $ 10.0

DUAL.

NON VOLATILE CMOS RAMS

8, 16, or 32 K. 8 or 16 Bit Data. Battery Backup On Board 6MHz. Bank Selectable

BW00LCMEM8 8K A&T $495.00 $450.00

BWD0LCMEM16 16KA&T $595 00 $550.00

BW0ULCMEM32 32K A&T $69500 $650.00

256K DYNAMIC MEMORY

256K, 230 ns access time, 2 x 128K organization, 24 bit addressing, parity error detection

BWDUL0MEM256K Assembled & Tested $1295.00 $1195.00

02/64K EPROM BOARD

8 or 16 bit data holds 2716s (32K), or 2732s (64 K)

BWD0UPBQM32 Eor 2716s A&T $295.00 $275.00

BWBULEPR0M64 For 2732s A&T $295 00 $275.00

A/D CONVERTER

12 Bit Resolution 16 or 32 Channel Input

BWDULAIM12 Assembled & Tested $695.00 $625.00

BWDULAIM12B Without instru. Amp $645.00 $598.00

D/A CONVERTER

4 Channel, 12 Bit, 3 Output Modes

Assembled & Tested

$695.00 $618.95

SIERRA DMA SCIENCES

S-100 SDC BOARD

Z80A 4MHz, 2 Serial RS232 interfaces, 1 parallel interface, 64K RAM, Floppy Disk Controller, provisions for one 2732 EPROM —

ALL ON THIS ONE BOARD!!

BWSDCCBCCM Z80 SBC for CP/M™ (A&T) $895.00 $655.00

BWSBCSBCT Z80 SBC for TurboDos'" (A&T) $895.00 $

BWSDCCPM15 CP/M' M for use w/Micropolis bard disk

BWSDCCPM16 CP/M™ operating system

BWS0CTUR8BS Single User TurboDos™ on 8" disk

BWS0CTUR80M Multi-User TurboDos™ on 8" disk

BWMCP12231 36 MByte Hard Disk(45lbs) $3695.00 $3250.00

S-100 Z60A SLAVE SDC

Z80A 4 MHz, 2 RS232 Serial ports. 4 parallel ports, 64K RAM, EPROM

Programmer. Used in multi-user comp uter system with SDSSBC. BWSDSSBCSE Slave Z80 SBC A&T

$825.00 $565.00

California Comouter Systems

ZflO CPU 2 or 4MHz

On board RS232 Serial port, On board 2K Monitor, ROM, Power on jump to any location in 64K, LED status indicators for ROM select,

halfstate and interrupts. BWCCS2810A Z80A4MHzCPU A&T $325.00 $258.95

CCS271901

BWCCS271901 2 Serial, 2 Parallel, A&T $360.00 $288.95 CCS27201

BWCCS272001 4 Port Parallel, A&T $275.00 $218.95

CCS2710CM

BWCCS271001 4 Port Serial, A&T $325.00 $278.95

CCS2600

BWCCS283001 6 port serial, A&T $550.00 $428.95

CCS2 06601

64K Dynamic S-100 RAM. Cromemco CR0MIX™ Compatible.

BWCCS206601 Assembled & Tested $450.00 $425.00

CCS2422A

Floppy disk controller w/CP/M 2.2®

BWCCS2422A Assembled & Tested $475.00 $337.95

Intercontinental Micro Systems

FREE Z60A SLAVE PROCESSOR!*

*When You Purchase This System

Price 1 BWICMCPZ48000 SBC Board $895.00

1 BWICMCPS4A 4 MHz Slave $439.00

1 BWICMCPS4A 4 MHz Slave $439.00*

1BWICMTD0SMU Multiuser TurboDos'" $775.00

IF PURCHASED SEPARATELY: (2546.00

■Mimwi:

...PDBICMSBCTS For 51

BWP0BICMSBCT8 For i

NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO BUY A MULTI-USER SUB-SYSTEM AT A FRACTION OF THE COST!

SAVE $439.00!!!

Z60 A DMA SDC

• Z80A™ 4MHz Operation

• Floppy disk controller (FDC) with onboard data separator. Single or double sided. Single or double density. 8" or %W. The choice is yours.

• Two synchronous or asynchronous serial I/O channels (SIO). One channel can be programmed in direct memory access (DMA), interrupt, or programmable I/O mode

• Two parallel 1/0 channels (PIO). One channel is programmable in DMA

interrupt or programmable 1/0 mode.

• Four channel DMA controller

• 64 K on board RAM. Bank selection puts4K- 64 K under software control

• Eight vectored priority interrupts are chained with serial and parallel I/O interrupts for use with Z-80 A mode 2 interrupts

• Provisions for 2 K or 4 K onboard EPROM. A boot up function and monitor

in a 2K EPROM is supplied

• Turbo-Disk™ implementation included

Each CPZ-48000 comes with an RS232 personality module and your choice of an 8" or 5'A" floppy disk personality module

Part

Description

Uit Price Our Price

BWICMCPZ480005SBC for 5VV (2 ibs.) BWICMCPZ480008SBC for 8" (Wt. 2 lbs) BW1CMCPZ48000M Manual only BWICMT00SMU5 Multi-user TurboDos - 5 V BWICMTB0SMU8 Multi-user TurboDos - 8"

$995.00 $995.00

Z80 SLAVES 4 & 6MHz

Z-80B™ 6MHz operation

• Two synchronous or asynchronous serial 1/0 ports

• Master confiscation of slave memory for diagnostic purposes.

• Two parallel I/O ports

• 64 Kbytes of onboard dynamic RAM

• Master/slave memory-to-memory transfers under DMA control @ 571

Kbyte/sec transfer rate when used with CPZ-48000 SBCP

• Usable as an intelligent I/O processor in single user systems

• Includes on RS232 personality board

Part Number Description

Ust Price Our Price:

BWICMCPS4A 4 M Hz / asynch. port $475.00 $439.00

BWICMCPS4S 4 MHz/ asynch. port $485.00 $445.00

BWICMCP26A 6MHz / asynch. port $550.00 $489.00

BWICMCPS6S 6MHz / asynch. port $560.00 $499.00

BWICMCPSM Manual only $ 15.00 (Shipping weights: 2 Ibs. each)

SDC PERSONALITY MODULES

BWICMRPB100 RS232 personality module BWICMFPB10011 8" Floppy disk module BWICMFPB10022 5 1/2"Floppy disk module

BWIC AMPB100 Modem interface module

BWIC I1C PI 100 Centronics printer interface

BWIC fllOSlOO Long distance serial (2000ft)

BW1CMFFT100 RS422 serial interface module

BWICIRCCB100 Clock Calendar module

BWIC *KHO 100 Konan David Jr. disk module

BWIC ItPRIlOO Priam hard disk module

BWIC ASAS100 SASI hard disk interface

The atiove personality modules include an internal data cable

to the S100 board.

$25.00 $36.00 $33.00 $28.00 $28.00 $65.00 $26.00 $58.00 $32.00 $36.00 $55.00 for connection

ORDER TOLL FREE ( 600) 420-5922 - CA, AK, HI CALL (210) 709-5111

PRIORITY ONE ELECTRONICS

OF S-100 IEEE/696 BOARDS

ompuPro

CPU BOARDS

66K- 68000 16 DIT CPU

16 bit 8 or 10 MHz on-board sockets for 2716, 2732, or 2764 EPROMs for up to 8K x 16 of memory

Part t

Description

List Price Our Price

BWGBT184A

BW8BTI84C

A&T 8MHz CSC 10MHz

$695.00 $512.95 $850.00 $765.00

CP/M® 68K NOW AVAILADLE!! FORTH OPERATING SYSTEM INCLUDED!

Mow CompuPro and Digital Research bring you CP/M for the 68000. Also included is the FORTH Operating System which requires a DISK 1,64 K of Compupro memory and an INTER FACER 3 or 4.

BWGBTCPM86K 6800 CP/M & FORTH 0/S

$350.00

CO-PROCESSOR 6066/6087

16 bit 8 or 10 MHz 8086 CPU with sockets for 8087 and 80136 BW6BT186A A&T 8MHz 8086 only $~~75000 $494.95'

BW6BT186C CSC 10MHz 8086 only $850.00 $764.89

BW6BT186A87 A&T with 8087 option $1050.00 $939.00

BWGBT186G87 CSC with 8087 option* $1150.00 $1065.00

•8087 Limits clock speed to 5MHz

DUAL PROCESSOR 6065-6086

6 or 8 MHz provides true 16 Bit Power with a standard 8 bit S-100 bus.

BWGBT1612A A&T 6 MHz BW6BT1612C CSC 6/8 MHz

$49500 §318.97 $595.00 $497.87

CPUZ - Z60D CPU NOW 6MHzi

3/6 MHz Z80B CPU with 24 Bit Addressing.

BW6BT160A 3/6 MHz A&T BWGBT160C 3/6 MHz CSC

$325.00 $228.95 $425.00 $374.87

DISK CONTROLLERS

DISK 1 DMA FLOPPY CONTROLLER

Fast DMA, Soft Sector, Controls Up to Four 8" or 5W Single or Double Density Drives!

BSPDBI7IACPM A&T w/CPM 2.2"' & BIOS $670.00

When purchased w/two 8" disk drives only

BWPDB17ICCPM CSC w/CP/M 2.2* & BIOS $770.00

$489.00 $450.00 $595.00 $368.95 $550.00 $148.95

BWGBT171A Dtsk 1 Controller A&T $495.00

BWGBTU1C Disk 1 Controller CSC $595.00

BWGBTGPM80 CP/M 2.2* for Z80/8085 w/manual &

BIOS 8" S/D disk BW6BTCPM86 CP/M 2.2* for 8086 w/manuals & BIOS $258.95 8" S/D disk DISK 2/SELECTOR CHANNEL HARD DISK CONTROLLER Fast DMA 2 board set controls 4 Shugart 4000 series or Fujitsu 2300 type drives. Includes CP/M 2.2®.

BWGBT177A Assembled & Tested BW6BT177C CSC

$79500 $568.95

$895.00 $850.00

M-DWVE/H PROGRAM ACCELLERATOR

Interfaces through two I/O ports, and runs at 10 MHz IEEE 696 compatible.

Requires any CompuPro CPU and a DISK 1. Each board contains 512 K of

fast, low power (900mA) RAM, with parity checking.

BWGBT197A

BWGBT197C

M-DRIVE/H w/software, A&T $1895.00 $1249.00

M-DRIVE/Hw/software,CSC $2095.00 $1495.00

STATIC RAM

RAM 16 - 02K x 16 DIT CMOS STATIC RAM

8 and/or 16 Bit 12MHz, RAM 16, 32Kx 16 or 64 K x 8 IEEE/696 16 Bit 2 Watt, 24 Bit Addressing, 12MHz

BWGBT180A 64KA&T12MHZ 8WGBT180C 64K CSC 12MHz

$550.00 $510.00

$650 00 $610.00

RAM 21 - 128K STATIC RAM

816 RAM 21 14MHz, 128K x 8 or 64K x 16 IEEE/696 8 or 16 Bit, 1.2 Amps, 24 Bit Addressing, 14MHz

$1095.00 $858.95

$1245.00 $1125.00

BWGBT190A 128KA&T BWGBT190C 128KCSC

ompuPro

I/O BOARDS

SYSTEM SUPPORT 1 MULTIFUNCTION BOARD

Serial port (software prog, baud), 4K RAM included, 15 levels of interrupt, real time clock, optional math processor.

Part No.

Description

List Price Our Price

BWGBT162A

BW6BT162C

BWGBT8231

BWGBTB232

BWGBT162AM1

BWGBT162CM1

BWGBTT62AM2

BWGBT162CM2

Assembled & Tested

CSC

Math Chip

Math Chip

A&T w/8231 Math Chip

CSC w/8231 Math Chip

A&T w/8232 Math Chip

CSC w/8232 Math Chip

$450.00 $308.55

$550.00 $495.00

$195.00

$195.00

$645.00 $538.95

$745.00 $670.00

$64500 $538.95

$745.00 $670.89

INTERFACE* 3

Eight-channel multi-user serial 1/0 board

BWGBT1748A 8 Port, Assembled & Tested $699.00 $518.95 BWGBT1748C CSC 200 hr. 8 port $849 00 $748.89

INTERFACE* 4

Trree Serial, 1 Parallel, 1 Centronics Parallel BWGBT187A Assembled & Tested $45000 $314.87

BWGBT167C CSC $540 00 $414.87

MPX CHANNEL HOARDS

I/O Multiplexer, using 8085A-2 CPU on board w/16K RAM

BWGBT166A16 Assembled & Tested $649.00 §584.89

BWGJT166C16 CSC $749.00 $674.89

Industrial Computer Designs

inrifwmwmmmnrui-n-r

S-100 TO "REAL WORLD-INTERFACE PRODUCTS

64 IHPUTI BIT A/D 0/A CONVERTERS

t Number Description

Price

BWIC0AD64100 64 input 8 bit S-100 A/D board BWICD0A64100 64 output 8 bit S-100 D/A board

$295,00 $395.00

REMOTE SENSORS, ALARMS. VALVES, AND

CONTROLLERS FOR USE WITH ABOVE A/D D/A

CONVERTER BOARDS

BWICDRTSt remote temperature sensor (1 lb.) $ 29.95

BWICDRLS1 remote light sensor (1 lb.) $ 29.95

8WICBBMS1 remote moisture sensor (1 lb.) $ 59.95

BWICDRSBA1 rewmote smoke detector alarm (2 lbs.) $129.00

BWIC0DNVAC1 in-line remote air-conditioner & heating $ 94.95

controller (1 lb.)

BWICDADV07 7" diameter valve (4 lbs.) $ 74.95

BWICDA0V08 8" diameter valve (4 lbs.) $ 75.95

BWICDA0VQ9 9" diameter valve (5 lbs.) $ 76.95

BWICDADV10 10" diameter valve (5 lbs.) $ 79.95

BWICDADV11 11" diameter valve (6 lbs.) $ 81.95

BWIC0ADV12 12" diameter valve (6 lbs.) $ 83.95

BWICBA0V13 13" diameter valve (6 lbs.) $ 84.95

BWICDA0V14 14" diameter valve (6 lbs.) $ 85.95

64 PIN CABLE ASS EM DUES

BWICD464PCA 64 pin single ended 4' long (2 lbs.) $ 59.25

BW1CD1064PCA 64 pin single ended 10' long (3 lbs.) $ 89.95

BWICD2064PCA 64 pin single ended 20' long (6 lbs.) $145.00

"HOW TO" APPLICATION NOTES

If you would like to learn more about the ICO Designer Control Series of peripherals, ICO offers a complete collection of "How To" applications notes. See how your computer can control your home or office, or be used as part of an industrial control system. BWICDAPN Application notes (1 lb.) $ 15.00

S-100 CLOCK/CALENDAR DOARDS

BWIC0ACA100 With alarm circuit $226.00

BWICDCT100 With timer down to .01 second $345.00

BWICDCTS Software for ICDCT100 board $ 34.95 on 8" CP/M format

=Sal

105

2 Serial, 3 Parallel S-100 Interface

Part No.

Description

List Price Our Price

BWSSMI05A Assembled & Tested

lOo

$329.00 $268.95

8 Port Serial I/O S-100 Board

BWSSMI08A

Assembled & Tested

$550.00 $450.00

KM

2 Serial, 2 Parallel I/O S-100 Board

BWSSMI04A Assembled & Tested $290.00 $245.00

2708/2716 EPROM PROGRAMMER & EPROM DOARO

Programs 2708 and 2716 EPROMs. Holds 4 2708s (4K) or4 2716s (8K)

Assembled & Tested

$265.00 $219.87

Manufactured by Vector Electronics under license from CompuPro

INTERFACED 1

Two Serial I/O

BWVCT8800GFB Assembled & Tested BWVCT8800GFCB CSC

$295.00 $198.95 $370.00 $329.00

INTERFACE* 2

Three parallel, one serial 1/0 board

BWVCT8800GF2B Assembled & Tested BWVCT8800GF2CB CSC

$325,00 $249.00 $399.00 $359.00

RAM 17 - 64K CMOS STATIC RAM

12 MHz, RAM 17, 2 Watt, DMA Compatible 24 Bit Addressing BWVCT8600GR178 64K A&T 12MHz S450 00$399.00

BWVCT8600GR17CB 64K CSC 12MHz $550.00)510.00

I C omouPro I

STATIC RAM SALE!

12MHz256KRAM22

> Fully static • IEEE 696 • 24 bit extended addressing • 8 or 16 bit data • 5V only Assembled and Tested BWGBT198A

$1595.00 each

$1500.00

EACH. WHEN YOU BUY TWO OR MORE!!

12MHz 128KRAM21

> Fully Static • IEEE 696 • 24 bit extendi

addressing • 8 or 16 bit data • DMA compatible '

Assembled and Tested

BW6BTRAM2I

$695.00 eoch

6f»cn fill EACH WHE N YOU BUY ODUU.UU TWO OR MORE!!

List Price $1295 00

PRIORITY ConeDELECTRONICS

9161 Deenng Ave..Chatsworth.CA 91311 ORDER TOLL FREE (600) 523-5922 - CA, AK, HI CALL f210) 709-5111

Terms. U.S. VISA, MC, BAG, Check, Money Order, U.S. Rinds Only CA residents add 6 Wc Sales Tax. MINIMUM PREPAID ORDER $15^00. Include MINIMUM SHIPPING & HANDLING ot $3.00 for the first 3 lbs ptus40t for each additional pound. Orders over 50 lbs. sent freight collect. Just incase, include yourp hone number. Prices subject to change without notice. We will do our best to maintain prices through November 1983 Many quantities are limited. Sorry, no rainchecks, no refunds or exchang-es on sale merchandise. Credit card orders will be charged appropriate freight. Sale prices for prepaid orders only. We are not responsible for typographical errors.

RETAIL STORE PHONE NUMBERS: (Chofsworth:) (210) 709-5464 - (Irvine:) (714) 660-1411

PRIORITY ONE ELECTRONICS

SIEMENS FDD100-6

8" FLOPPY DISK DRIVE

SINGLE SIDED, DODDLE DENSITY SHUGART 801R COMPATIBLE

$175.00 each

$169.00 ea.2

10+ CALL

OEM INQUIRIES INVITED BWSIEFDD1008 (Include $7 00 per drive for shipping)

BUY DRIVE & CABINET TOGETHER AND SAVE!!

DUAL 8" SIEMENS FDD1008

DUAL 8" CABINET POWER SUPPLY

AND INTERNAL POWER CABLES

DISK DRIVES

MICROPOLIS 5Va" HARP P1SK

DWMCP1302 20 4/25.9 Mb Winchester $1465.00

BWMCP1303 33.9/43.2 Mb Winchester $1875.00

BWMGP1304 40 8/51.9 Mb Winchester $2195.00

(Shipping Weight: 12 lbs. each)

TANDON 5V4" HARD DISK

BWTNDTM501 1 platter 6 Mbyte (Sh. Wt. 9 lbs.) $749.00

BWTNDTM502 2 platter 12 Mbyte (Sh Wt. 9 lbs.) $895.00

BWTNDTM503 3 platter 19 Mbyte (Sh Wt. 9 lbs.) $1049.00

DUAL HARD DISK ENCLOSURE

BWIIIHD5002 For above drives $395.00

TANDON 5V4"

BWTNDTM1001 1 Sided48TPf $225.00 2 F0R$195.00 each BWTNDTM1002 2Sided48TPi $260.00 2 FOR$235.00 each BWTNDTM1003 1 Sided96TPl $275.00 2 FOR$250.00 each BWTN0TM1004 2Sided96TPI $390.00 2 FOR $365.00 each

(Shipping Weights on above items; 5 lbs. each)

MPI 5V4" FULL HE IGHT

BWMPI51* 1 Sided 48 TPI

BWMPI52* 2 Sided 48 TPI

BWMP19I* 1 Sided 96 TPI

BWMPI92* 2 Sided 96 TPI

•Replace with an ■ bezel

$200.00 $270.00 $275.00 $400,00

" for the MPI style bezel, or with an S tor Shugart style (Shipping Weight 5 lbs i

MPI 5V4 HALF HEIGHT

$260.00 $300.00 $300.00 $355.00

5 1 /4" DRIVE CADINETS

BWJMR1C5 Single 5v." Cabinet (5 lbs.) $69.00

BWJMR2C5 Dual 5 V Cabinet (9 lbs.) $89.00

BWJMR2CSC JMR2C5 w/intemal data cable (9 lbs) $99.00

SHUGART 8" FULL HEIGHT

1 Sided 48 TPI (Sh. Wt 4 lbs.)

2 Sided 48 TPI (Sh. Wt. 4 lbs.) 8WMPI901 1 Sided 96 TPI (Sh. Wt 4 lbs) BWMPI902 2 Sided 96 TPI (Sh Wt. 4 !bs.)

IF BOUGHT SEPARATELY: SB90.00 SPECIAL SALE PRICE:

$625.00

de $30.00 for shipp

$295.00

OUR FINEST DUAL 8 DISK DRIVE CABINET!

m

International

Instrumentation

Incorporated

• Positive pressure forced air cooling for reliable disk drive operation

• AC input EMI filtered to six amps to help prevent disk crashes due to power spikes and line noise

Part No. BWIIIUDE004

(Sh. Wt. 40 lbs.)

Integral power supply with 5V 9 6A/-5V 9 1A/24V 0 6A Each DC supply and AC separately fused

UK Price SALE "ICE $495.00 $349.0 0

With augmented power supply to handle Tandon Slimline, or Winchester disk drives. Includes the disk environment monitor.

B WHIUDE004AUB (Sh Wt 40 lbs) $733.00 $625.00

BWIIIUDE004EM (Sh Wt 40 lbs) $584,95 $395.00

DDAL 5%" HARD DISK ENCLOSURE

The MH05002 enclosure provides all of the necessary power for two TANDON TM500 series or equivalent hard disk drives, and Xebec Controller Forced air cooling is provided by a 33 cfm fan, and is filtered to keep your equipment running at its best'

BWSHU801R 1 sided (IP lbs) $369.00

QUME 6" FULL HEIGHT

BWQMEDT8 2 sided (18 lbs) $480.00

2 FOR $460.00 each

MITSUBISHI 6" FULL HEIGHT

BWMITM2894S3B 2 sided (18 lbs.)

MPI 8" FULL HEIGHT

BWMPI4IS 1 sided (11 lbs.) BWMPI42S 2 sided (11 lbs)

MPI 8" DUAL HALF HEIGHT

(SAME SIZE AS ONE FULL HEIGHT)

BWMPI41D 1 sided (22 lbs.) BWMPI42D 2 sided (22 lbs.)

TANDON 8" HALF HEIGHT

BWTNDTM8481 1 sided (9 lbs.) $395.00

2 FOR $375.00 each

BWTNDTM8482 2 sided (9 lbs) $495.00

2 FOR 475.00 each MPI 8 HALF HEIGHT

BWMPW1M 1 sided (11 lbs.) $380.00

BWMPI42M 2 sided (11 lbs) $460.00

DUAL 6" HALF HEIGHT FLOPPY CABINET

TERMINALS

VISUAL 330

P «*&*>

s e

&

41 lbs.)

SPECIFICATIONS

VISUAL 330

TeleVirJeo 950

24 V & 4 A. 5 V 8 3 A -5V ® 800ma Fan cooled

SorKeted power connections All supplies regulated

Ust Price Our Price

BWIHDTL002 Dual Thin Line Cabinet (12 lbs) $225 00 $165.00

DUY THE CABINET & DRIVES AND SAVE! With 2 Tandon Thinlines

BWPDBIIITND1 Cabinet w/2 TNDTM8481 -1 sided(30 lbs.) S 8B5.00 BWP0BIIITND2 Cabinet W/2TNDTM8482 -2sided(30 lbs.) $1115.00

With 2 MPI Slimiines

Part Number

SALE PRICE

BWIHHB5002 Dual hard disk enclosure 5425.00 (Shipping Weight: 20 lbs.)

$375.00

BWPDBIIIMPI1 Cabinet w/2 MPI41M BWP0BIIIMPI2 Cabinet w/2 MPI42M

1 sided (30 lbs) S 920.0

2 sided (30 lbs.) $1080.«

Options .

BWIUDTLMPIKIT MPI drive adaptor mounting kit (2 lr>..) $24,95

BWIIIDCCSHU Shugart / AC/DC power connector kit (2 lbs.) $14.95

(For full size single SA801 or compatible drives)

ANSI X3 64 Specified NO STD

Programmable Non-Volatile STD STD

Function Keys Video Attributes Require No STD STD

Display Space Smooth Scroll. Slow Scroti and STD STD

Jump Scroll Non-Volatile Set-up Modes STD STD

"Menu" st.'le Programmable Non-Volatile STD STD

Columnar Tabbing N-Key Rollover STD STD

CR New Line Mode STD STD

Tilt and Swivel STD STD

User Programmable Non- STD STD

Volatile Answerback, 32 Codes X0N/X0FF Flow Control Split tor STD STD

Xmitter & Receiver

NO NO

NO NO

NO NO

Part No.

Description

List P

SALE

BWVSL300BN ANSI X3.64. 12" Green BWVSL3306N Green 12" CRT (Sh. Wt. 41 lbs.) BWVSL330l46NGreen14"CRT(Sh.WT411bs.)

SI 095.00 $995.00 $1200.00 $895.00 $1250.00 $949,00

VISUAL 50

The VISUAL 50 represents a new approach in tow cost terminals. Although it costs drastically less, it offers the features you expect from the high priced units. For example, the VISUAL 50 enclosure is economically designed in tight-weight plastic and can easily be swiveled and tilted for maximum operator comfort. A detached keyboard, smooth scroll, large 7 x 9 dot matrix characters and non-glare screen are a few of the many human engineering features normally offered only on much higher priced parameters. Another distinctive feature of the VISUAL 50 is its emulation capability. VISUAL 50 is code-for-code compatible with the Hazeltine Esprit™. ADDS Viewpoint' -. LearSiegler ADM-3A ,M . and DEC VT-52. Menu driven set-up modes in non-volatile memory allow easy selection of terminal parameters . $695.00 $6S5.Q0 $770.00 $855.00

LIBERTY ELECTRONICS

BWLIBF50 Freedom 50 (Sh Wt. 30 lbs) $599.00 $474.0

ADDS

BWADDVWPR Viewpoint 3A+ (30 lbs.

$69500 $575.00

QUME

BWQME102 80 Column Green (Sh Wt. 30 lbs.) $550.00

BWQME102AM 80 Column Amber (Sh. Wt. 30 lbs) $505.00

BWQME103 80/132 Column Green (Sh. Wt. 30 lbs.) $785.00

BWQME108 22 function key, 80 col. Green (30 lbs.) $749.00

BWQME108AM 22 function key, 80 col. Amber (30 lbs.) $785.00

Circle 370 on inquiry card.

ORDER TOLL FREE ( 600) 420-5922 - CA, AK, HI CALL (210) 709-5111

PRIORITY ONE ELECTRONICS

*™&™ w & MICROPOLIS

Z80A- CP/WT BASED COMPUTER

SUB-SYSTEM WITH 30M BYTES

OF BISK STORAGE!!

For Only:

$0995.00

BWPOBSDSMCP

And Here Is What You Get:

BWSDCSBCCM Z80A SBC w/64K RAM. ? RS-232

WHAT YOU WOULD PAY IF YOU

WHAI TUU WUULU THT lr TUU *COjIA Aft

BOUGHT EVERYTHING SEPARATELY: 9D/4U.UU

YOU SAVE $2245.00

MACROTECH International Corp.

$-100 IEEE/696 DYNAMIC RAM MACROTECH MAX

UP TO 1 MEGABYTE!!

See Page 134 For More Details

Features:

• S-100/IEEE-696 full compatibility

• Various configurations — field upgradeable. 256 K - 384 K - 512 K - and

t Megabyte'

• High speed — 6M Hz in 8 bit environments and 8 M Hz in 16 bit environments .-.ith no wait states

• Under CP/M 2.2*. CP/M 3.0" CP/M 86' or MP/M IP, all or part of the memory may be devtded between system memory and virtual disk

• M3 Memory mapping option for 8-bit environments (Translated 16-bit logical address to 24-bit physical address) Gives Z-80, 8080. or 8085 16 MEG iddress space

• DMA fully supported in accordance with IEEE/696

• Low power consumption 4 0 Amps (1 MEG), 3.0 Amps (256K)

• 6 Layer HOST and 4 layer "piggy-back" card for noise-free operation

• Fully socketed — Augat HOUITE'" zero profile sockets on all ICs ORDERING INFORMATION: The 256K and 384K versions include the fully socketed Host card The 512K and larger versions also inchide the fully socketed "piggy-back" card To order the M3 Memory Mapping Option, add M3 to the end of th? part number and add $90.00 to the price

MACROTECH UPGRADE KITS

Each MAX board is upgradeable in 128K increments. Each upgrade includes the RAMs and the proprietary PALs (Programmable Array Logic) required to change the board addressing. Call or write for upgrade kits not listed

BWMACMKT23 Upgrade from 256 K to 384 K $ 265.00

BWMACMKT2M Upgrade from 256K to 1 MEGABYTE $1747.00

BWMACMKT3M Upgrade from 384 K to 1 MEGABYTE $1500.00

BWMACMKT5M Upgrade from 512K to 1 MEGABYTE $1005.00

IBM-PC M COMPATIBLE COMPUTER SYSTEM!

•sanvo MDC-555

Call For Special Package Price

fp SANYO

13" RGB MONITOR

IDEAL FOR IBM, SANYO, EAGLE, AND MANY OTHER COMPUTER SYSTEMS

Regular Price: $795.00

SALE

PRICE

BWSYODWffilU (Sh. Wt 35 lbs.) RWSY0VMC6013 Composite (Wt 35 lbs) $449.00

12" GREEN SCREEN VIOEO MONITOR

64 Column Display Regular Price: $119.00

SALE PRICE

BWSY0DM2112(Sh, Wt. 16 lbs.) 80 Column Display Regular Price: $199.00

$75.00

SALE PRICE:

$159.00

BWSY0DM8112CXiSh Wt 24 lbs)

ST&XAIM

Part Number Description

List Price Our Price

BWTAXRGB1 Medium Resolution/310 lines $39900 $379.00

BWTAXRBB3 Super High Res/630 lines S699.00 $659.00

(Shipping Weight: 30 lbs each)

INTERFACE BOARDS AND CABLES

BWTAXAPPLE2R6B RGB interface for Aple II $149.00 $139.00

BWTAX410-80 RGB 80 col. int. for Apple He $199.00 $165.00

BWTAXIBMRGB RGB cable for IBM PC" $ 19.00

BWTAXRGBAPL HGB cable for Apple Me and III $ 19.00

(Shipping Weight: 1 lb. on each)

PRINTERS

$199.00

OUR LOWEST PRICED PRINTER!

BWAXMGP100A 30 cps; 80 col. dot matrix (11 lbs.) $199.00

Printers for Atari or Commodore

JUST PLDG AND RUN! Complete With BuiIMn Interface Cables!

BWAXMAT100A for ATARI BWAXMCD100A for Commodore

$229.0 $229.0

MORROW

LETTER QUALITY PRINTERS

Part Number Description

List price Our Price

BWMDSMP200 200 cps W/RS232 serial interface $950.00 $795.00

(Shipping weight: 35 lbs.) BWMDSMPT50TK MP200 tractor feed $125.00

12 cps friction/pin feed $595.00 $495.00

w/parallel interface

PRINT WHEEL

BWSRPC00RIER10 Courier 10 pica

BWSRPC0URIER12 Courier 12. elite

BWSRPM0DERN Proportional type

BWSRPSCRIPT Script elite

$16.95 $16.95 $16.95 $16.95

COEX 80F/T

Friction and Pin Feed Standard

BWC0X80FT Parallel Interface; 80 cps

BWC0X80FTSER Serial Interface; 80 cps

$249.00 $249.00

GEMINI 10X& 15

BWGEM10X 120 cps Parallel Int. 80 col. (20 lbs.) $319.00

BWGEM15 100 cps Parallel Int. 132 col. (26 lbs.) $459.00

BWGEMSERINT Serial interface card for GEM15 (1 lb.) $85.00

BWGEMSERINTX Serial interface for GEM10X (1 lb) $ 59.00

BWGEMSERINTX4K Serial interfaces 4 K buffer for GEM 10X $119.00

OKI DATA

BW0KIDAT82AT TRACTOR INCLUDED (25 lbs.) $449.00

BW0KIDAT83AT TRACTOR INCLUDED (35 lbs.) $729.00

BW0K1DAT92AP 0KIDATA 92A Parallel (25 lbs.) $480.00

BW0KIDAT92AS 0KIDATA92A Serial (25 lbs.) $569.00

BW0KIDAT92AT 0KIDATA92A Tractor (2 lbs.) $ 79.95

BW0KIDAT93AP OKIDATA93A parallel (35 lbs.) $830.00

BW0KIDAT93AS OKIDATA93A Serial (35 lbs.) $995.00

MANNESMANN TALLY

LETTER QUALITY DOT MATRIX PRINTER

160 cps

• 40 cps (Letter quality)

• Serial & Parallel Interface

• Double wide characters BWTALMT160L 160 cps 80 col (21 lbs.) BWTALMT180L 160 cps 132 col. (28 lbs.)

Tractor and friction feed "Bullet-Proof cast frame with metal cabinet

$569.00 $784.00

QUME LETTER QUALITY

RW0MES945 45 cps Sprint 9 serial (49 lbs.) $1789.00

BWQMES955 55 cps Sprint 9 serial (49 lbs.) $2195.00

BWQMES1140 40 cps Sprint 11 (45 lbs.) $1389.00

BWQMES11RS232 RS232 Module for Sprint 11 (3 lbs.) $ 99.00

BWQMES11CENT Centronics parallel for Sprint 11 (3 lbs.) $ 99.00

BWQME$11IEEE488 IEEE488 Module for Sprint 11 (3 lbs.) $ 99.00

BWQMES11IBM IBM module for Sprint 11 (3 lbs.) $ 99.00

BWQMEBDT Bi-Directional Tractor (9 lbs.) $ 349.00

HWQMEWB Wire basket (2 lbs.) $ 85.00

BWQMECSF Cut Sheet Feeder (20 lbs.) $ 84900

PRIORITY ONE ELECTRONICS

9161 Deenog Ave.. Chatsworth CA 9131! ORDER TOLL FREE (OOO) 520-5922 - CA, AK, HI CALL (210) 709-5111

Terms US VISA. MC. BAG. Check. Money Order. U S Funds Only C A residents add6V?% Sales Tax. MINIMUM PREPAID ORDER $15.00 Include MINIMUM SHIPPING & HANDLING of $3 00 for the first 3 lbs p!us40<C for each additional pound Orders over 50 lbs. sent freight collect. Just mease, include your phone number. Prices subier to change without no'ice We will do our best to maintain prices through November, 1983 Many quantities are limited Sorry, noramchecks. no refunds or exchanges on sale merchandise Credit Card orders will be charged appropriate freight Sale prices for prepaid orders only We are not responsible for typographical errors

RETAIL STORE PHONE NUMBERS: (Chotsworth:) (210) 709-5464 - (Irvine:) (714) 660-1411

Circle 370 on inquiry card.

64K DYNAMIC 200 NS

2KX8 STATIC 200 NS

74LS00

74LS01

74LS02

74LS03

74LS04

74LS05

74LS08

74LS09

74LS10

74LS11

74LS12

74LS13

74LS14

74LS15

74LS20

74LS21

74LS22

74LS26

74LS27

74LS28

74LS30

74LS32

74LS33

74LS37

74LS38

74LS40

74LS42

74LS47

74LS48

74LS49

74LS51

74LS54

74LS55

74LS63

74LS73

74LS74

74LS75

74LS76

74LS78

74LS83

74LS85

74LS86

74LS90

74LS91

74LS92

74LS93

74LS95

74LS96

74LS107

74LS109

74LS112

74LS113

74LS114

74LS122

74LS123

74LS124

74LS125

74LS126

74LS132

74LS133

74LS136

74LS137

74LS138

74LS139

74LS145

74LS147

74LS148

74LS151

74LS153

74LS154

74LS155

74LS156

74LS157

74LS158

, 74LS160 74LS161 74LS162 74LS163 74LS164 74LS165 74LS166 74LS168 74LS169

.74LS170

74LS00

.24 .25 .25 .25 .24 .25 .26 .29 .25 .35 .35 .45 .59 .35 .25 .29 .25 .29 .29 .35 .25 .29 .55 .35 .35 .25 .49 .75 .75 .75 .25 .29 .29 1.25 ,39 .35 .39 .39 .49 .60 .69 .39 .55 .89 .55 .55 .75 .89 .39 .39 .39 .39 .39 .45 .79 2.90 .49 .49 .59 .59 .39 .99 .55 .55 1.20 2.49 1.35 .55 .55 1.90 .69 .69 .65 .59 .69 .65 .69 .65 .69 .95 1.95 1.75 1.75 1.49

74LS173

74LS174

74LS175

74LS181

74LS189

74LS190

74LS191

74LS192

74LS193

74LS194

74LS195

74LS196

74LS197

74LS221

74LS240

74LS241

74LS242

74LS243

74LS244

74LS245

74LS247

74LS248

74LS249

74LS251

74LS253

74LS257

74LS258

74LS259

74LS260

74LS266

74LS273

74LS275

74LS279

74LS280

74LS283

74LS290

74LS293

74LS295

74LS298

74LS299

74LS323

74LS324

74LS352

74LS353

74LS363

74LS364

74LS365

74LS366

74LS367

74LS368

74LS373

74LS374

74LS375

74LS377

74LS378

74LS379

74LS385

74LS386

74LS390

74LS393

74LS395

74LS399

74LS424

74LS447

74LS490

74LS624

74LS640

74LS645

74LS668

74LS669

74LS670

74LS674

74LS682

74LS683

74LS684

74L5685

74LS688

74LS689

81LS95

81LS96

81LS97

81LS98

25LS2521

25LS2569

.69

.55

.55

2.15

8.95

.89

.89

.79

.79

.69

.69

.79

.79

.89

.95

.99

.99

.99

1.29

1.49

.75

.99

.99

.59

.59

.59

.59

2.75

.59

.55

1.49

3.35

.49

1.98

.69

.89

.89

.99

.89

1.75

3.50

1.75

1.29

1.29

1.35

1.95

.49

.49

.45

.45

1.39

1.39

.95

1.39

1.18

1.35

3.90

.45

1.19

1.19

1.19

1.49

2.95

.95

1.95

3.99

2.20

2.20

1.69

1.89

1.49

14.95

3.20

3.20

3.20

3.20

2.40

3.20

1.49

1.49

1.49

1.49

2.80

4.25

JDR Microdevices

1224 S. Bascom Ave. • San Jose, CA 95128 (408) 995-5430 • Telex 171-110

VISIT OUR RETAIL STORE

HOURS: M-W-F, 9-5 T-Th., 9-9 Sat

TERMS: Minimum order $10. For shipping and handling Include $2.50 lor UPS Ground and $3.50 for UPS Air. Order* over 1 lb. and foreign order* may require additional shipping charges — please contact our sales department for the amount. CA residents must include 6% sales tax. Bay Area and LA resident* include 6'. v Prices subject to change without notice. We are not responsible lor typographical errors. We reserve the right to limit quantities and to substitute manufacturer. Ail merchandise subject to prior sale.

712 BYTE November 1983

Circle 245 on inquiry card.

2114,so NS 8/*995 2114,so N s8/*10«5

7400

7401

7402

7403

7404

7405

7406

7407

7408

7409

7410

7411

7412

7413

7414

7416

7417

7420

7421

7422

7423

7425

7426

7427

7428

7430

7432

7433

7437

7438

7440

7442

7443

7444

7445

7446

7447

7448

7450

7451

7453

7454

7460

7470

7472

7473

7474

7475

7476

7480

7481

7482

7483

7485

7486

7489

7490

7491

7492

7493

7494

7495

7496

7497

74100

74107

74109

74110

74111

74116

74120

74121

74122

74123

74125

74126

74128

7400

19 19 .19 ,19 19 25 29 29 24 19 19 25 30 35 49 25 25 19 35 35 29 .29 29 29 .45 19 .29 .45 29 .29 .19 .49 .65 .69 69 .69 .69 .69 19 .23 23 .23 .23 .35 29 34 33 .45 .35 59 1.10 .95 .50 ,59 .35 2.15 35 .40 .50 35 .65 .55 .70 2.75 1.75 .30 .45 .45 .55 1.55 1.20 29 .45 .49 .45 45 .55

74132

74136 74141 74142 74143 74145 74147 74148 74150 74151 74152 74153 74154 74155 74156 74157 74159 74160 74161 74162 74163 74164 74165 74166 74167 74170 74172 74173 74174 74175 74176 74177 74178 74179 74180 74181 74182 74184 74185 74190 74191 74192 74193 74194 74195 74196 74197 74198 74199 74221 74246 74247 74248 74249 74251 74259 74265 74273 74276 74279 74283 74284 74285 74290 74293 74298 74351 74365 74366 74367 74368 74376 74390 74393 74425 74426 74490

CLOCK CIRCUITS

MM5314 MM5369 MM5375 MM58167 , MM58174 LMSM5832

4.95 3.95 4.95 12.95 11.95 3.95J

45

50

65

2 95

2 95 60

1 75

1 20

1 35

55

65

55

1.25

75

.65

.55

1 65

85

69

85

69

85

.85

1.00

2.95

1.65

5 95

75

.89

89

89

,75

1.15

1 75

.75

2.25

.75

2.00

2.00

1.15

1.15

.79

79

85

85

.79

.75

1.35

1.35

1.35

1.35

1.25

1.85

1.95

75

225

1.35

1.95

1.25

.75

2.00

3 75 3.75

.95

75

85

2.25

.65

.65

65

.65

2.20

1.75

1 35 3.15

.85

2 55

LINEAR

RCA

LM301

LM301H

LM307

LM308

LM308H

LM309H

LM309K

LM310

LM311

LM311H

LM312H

LM317K

LM317T

LM318

LM318H

LM319H

LM319

LM320(s*

LM322

LM323K

LM324

LM329

LM331

LM334

LM335

LM336

LM337K

LM337T

LM338K

LM339

.34

.79

.45

.69

1.15

1.95

1.25

1.75

.64

.89

1.75

3.95

1.19

1.49

1.59

1.90

1.25

7900)

1.65

4.95

.59

.65

3.95

1.19

1.40

1.75

3.95

1.95

6.95

LM340 (se<

LM348

LM350K

LM350T

LM358

LM359

LM376

LM377

LM378

LM380

LM360N-G

LM381

LM382

LM383

LM384

LM386

LM387

LM389

LM390

LM392

LM393

LM394H

LM399H

NE531

NE555

NE556

NE558

NE561

NE564

LM565

7800)

.99 4.95 4.60

.69 1.79 3.75 1.95 2.50

.89 1.10 1.60 1.60 1.95 1.95

.89 1.40 1.35 1.95

.69 1.29 4.60 5.00 2.95

.34

.65

1.50

24.95

2.95

.99

H = TO-5 CAN

74S00

, 74S00

1 74S02 74S03

I 74S04

I 74S05 74S08 74S09 74S10 74S11 74S15 74S20 74S22 74S30 74S32 74S37

I 74S38 74S40

i 74S51 74S64 74S65 74S74 74S85

| 74S86 74S112 74S113 74S114 74S124 74S132 74S133

! 74S134 74S135 74S138 74S139 74S140 74S151 74S153

| 74S157 74S158

I 74S161 74S162

I74S163

.32 .35 .35 .35 .35 .35 .40 .35 .35 .35 .35 .35 .35 .40 .88 .85 .35 .35 .40 .40 .50 1.99 .50 .50 .50 .55 2.75 1.24 .45 .50 .89 .85 .85 .55 .95 .95 .95 .95 1.95 1.95 1.95

74S168 74S169 74S174 74S175 74S181 74S182 74S188 74S189 74S194

745195

745196 74S197 74S201 74S225 74S240 74S241 74S244 74S251 74S253 74S257 74S258 74S260 74S273 74S274 74S275 74S280 74S287 748268 74S289 74S301 74S373 74S374 74S381 74S387 74S412 74S471 74S472 74S474 74S482 74S570 74S571

3.95

3.95

.95

.95

3.95

2.95

1.95

6.95

1.49

1.49

1.49

1.49

6.95

7.95

2.20

2.20

2.20

.95

.95

.95

.95

.79

2.45

19.95

19.95

1.95

1.90

1.90

6.89

6.95

2.45

2.45

7.95

1.95

2.98

4.95

4.95

4.95

15.25

2.95

2.95

INTERSIL

ICL7106 I ICL7107 ICL7660 1CL8038 ICM7207A MCM7208

9.95 12.95 2.95 3.95 5.59 15.95

LM566

LM567

NE570

NE571

NE590

NE592

LM709

LM710

LM711

LM723

LM723H

LM733

LM741

LM741N-"

LM741H

LM747

LM748

LM1014

LM1303

LM1310

MC1330

MC1349

MC1350

MC1358

MC1372

LM1414

LM1458

LM1488

LM1489

LM1496

1.49

.89

3.95

2.95

2.50

2.75

.59

.75

.79

.49

.55

.98

.35

I .35

.40

.69

.59

1.19

1.95

1.49

1.69

1.89

1.19

1.69

6.95

1.59

.59

.69

.69

.85

LM1558H

LM1800

LM1812

LM1830

LM1871

LM1872

LM1877

LM1889

LM1896

ULN2003

LM2877

LM2878

LM2900

LM2901

LM3900

LM3905

LM3909

LM3911

LM3914

LM3915

LM3916

MC4024

MC4044

RC4136

RC4151

LM4250

LM4500

RC4558

LM13080

LM13600

LM13700

3.10 2.37 8.25 3.50 5.49 5.49 3.25 1.95 1.75 2.49 2.05 225

.85 1.00

.59 1.25

.98 2.25 3.95 3.95 3.95 3.95 4.50 1.25 3.95 1.75 3.25

.69 1.29 1.49 1.49

CA3082 CA 3083 CA 3066 CA 3089 CA 3096 CA 3130 CA3140 CA3146 1.19

Tl

75365 75450 75451 75452 75453 75454 75491 75492 75493

TL084 LF347 LF351 LF353 LF355 LF356 1.40

1,65 1.55 .80 2.99 3.49 1.30 1.15 1.85

1.95 .59 .39 .39 .39 .39 .79 .79

2.19

2.19 .60 1.00 1.10 1.10

T = TO-220

8T26

8T28

8T95

8T96

8T97

8T98

DM6131

DP8304

DS8833

DS8835

DS8836

DS8837

DS8838

MISC.

TMS99532

ULN2003

3242

3341

MC3470

MC3480

11C90

95H90

2513-001 UP

2513-002 LOW 9.95 1

1.59

1.89

.89

.89

.89

.89

2.95

2.29

2.25

1.99

.99

1.65

1.30

29.95 2.49 7.95 4.95 4.95 9.00

13.95 7.95 9.95

IF VOU CAN FIN0 A PRICE LOWER ELSEWHERE. LET US KNOW AND WE WILL R1EET OR OEAT THEIR

PRICE! (SEE TERMS BELOW)

• Computer managed inventory — virtually no bach orders!

• very competitive onces!

• Friendly staff!

• Fast service - most orders shipped within 24 hours!

EXAR

XR 2206 XR 2207 XR 2208 XR 2211 XR 2240

3.75 3.75 3.75 5.25 3.25 J

DATA ACQUISITION

adcosoo 1555

ADC0804 349

ADC0809 4.49

ADC0817 995

DAC0800 4.95

DAC0808

DAC1020

DAC1022

MC1408L6

MC1408L8

295 8,25 595

1 95

2 95,

CMOS

4000

4001

4002

4006

4007

4006

4009

4010

4011

4012

4013

4014

4015

4016

4017

4018

4019

4020

4021

4022

4023

4024

4025

4026

4027

4028

4029

4030

4034

4035

4040

4041

'042

4043

4044

4046

4047

4049

4050

4051

4053

4060

4066

4068

4069

4070

4071

4072

4073

4075

4076

4078

4081

4082

4085

4086

4093

4098

4099

14409

14410

14411

14412

14419

4502

4503

4508

4510

4511

4512

4514

4515

4516

4518

4519

4520

4522

4526

4527

.29

.25

.25

.89

.29

.95

.39

.45

.25

.25

.38

.79

.39

.39

.69

.79

39

.75

.79

.79

.29

.65

.29

1.65

.45

.69

.79

.39

1.95

.85

.75

.75

.69

.85

.79

.85

.95

.35

.35

.79

.79

.89

.39

.39

.29

.35

.29

.29

.29

.29

.79

.29

.29

.29

.95

.95

.49

2.49

1.95

12.95

12.95

11.95

12.95

7.95

.95

.65

1.95

.85

.85

.85

1.25

1.79

1.55

.89

.39

.79

1.25

1.25

1.95

4528 4531 4532

4538

4539

4541

4543

4553

4555

4556

4581

4582

4584

4585

4702

74C0O

74C02

74C04

74C08

74C10

74C14

74C20

74C30

74C32

74C42

74C48

74C73

74C74

74C76

74C83

74C85

74C86

74C89

74C90

74C93

74C95

74C107

74C150

74C151

74C154

74C157

74C160

74C161

74C162

74C163

74C164

74C165

74C173

74C174

74C175

74C192

74C193

74C195

74C200

74C221

74C244

74C373

74C374

74C901

74C902

74C903

74C905

74C906

74C907

74C908

74C909

74C910

74C911

74C912

74C914

74C915

74C918

74C920

74C921

74C922

74C923

74C925

74C926

74C928

74C929

1.19 .95 1.95 1.95 1.95 2.64 1.19 5.79 .95 .95 1 95 1.95 .75 .75 12.95 35 .35 .35 35 I 35 I 59 .35 [ 35 I 39 1.29 I 1.99 .65 I .65 80 I 1.95 I 1.95 39

4 50 I 1.19 I 1.75

99 I .89 1

5 75 I 2.25

3 25 I 1.75 I 1.19 I 1.19 1.19 l 1.19 I 1.39 2.00

.79

1.19

1.19

1.49

1.49

1.39

5.75

175

2.25

2.45

2.45

.39

.85

.85

10.95

.95

1.00

2.00

2.75

9.95

8.95

8.95

1.95

1.19 |

2.75 [

17.95

15.95

4.49

4 95 5.95 7 95 7.95

19.95J

SOUND CHIPS

I 76477 3.95 I

76489 8.95

AY3-8910 12.95

AY3-8912 12.95

LMC3340 1.49 i

ORDER TOLL FREE 800-538-5000 000-662-6279

ALL MERCHANDISE f~-"<l r~-. (CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS)

100% GUARANTEED M F^ CALL US FOR VOLUME QUOTES

Copyright 1963 JDR Mlcrodevices

Circle 245 on inquiry card.

Reader Service.

Inquiry No.

Page No.

361 PERSOFT 104

362 PERSONAL SYS. TECHN. 392, 393

363 PETRO-LEWIS FUNDS INC. 434 518 P-H ASSOC. 318

364 PHASER 383

365 PHONE I, INC. 642

* PJS 706

366 PRACTICAL PERI PH. 24

367 PRACTICAL PERIPH. 469

368 PRINCETON GRAPHIC SYS. 521

369 PRINTER STORE, THE 194

370 PRIORITY ONE 707, 708, 709, 710, 711

371 PROGRAMMERS SOFTWARE EX. 318

372 PROGRAMMING INTL. 235

373 PROGRAMMING INT'L 499

374 PROGRAMMING INT'L. 500, 501

375 PROMETHEUS PRODUCTS 163

376 PURCHASING AGENT, THE 84

377 QUADRAM CORP. 133

378 QUADRAM CORP. 497

379 QUANT SYSTEMS 680

380 QUARK INCORPORATED 18, 19

381 QUBIE DISTRIBUTING 217

382 QUBIE DISTRIBUTING 477 545 QUCES448

* QUEUE LIMITED 676

385 R.R. SOFTWARE 265

386 RADIO SHACK CIV

* RANA SYSTEMS 29

388 RANA SYSTEMS 31

389 RANDOM ACCESS INC. 684

390 RANDOM HOUSE 632

391 RAP ELECTRONICS 649

392 RELMS274

529 RHINO ROBOTS 579

393 RING KING VISIBLES, INC. 582

394 RIXON 198

* ROCKY MOUNTAIN MICRO INC. 107

396 ROGERS LABS 680

397 RTL PROGRAMMING AIDS 682

398 RYDEX INDUSTRIES CORP. 341

Inquiry No.

Page No.

399 S C DIGITAL 528

400 S-100 DIV. 696 CORP. 30

401 S.E.I. INC. 612

402 SAFEWARE424

403 SAFT PORTABLE BATTERY 305

404 SAGE COMP. TECH. 473 406 SATELLITE SOFTWARE 153 408 SCION CORP. 6

* SCOTTSDALE SYSTEMS 127

410 SCREENWARE 682

543 SEATTLE COMP. PRODS. 378

411 SEATTLE COMP. PRODS. 466

412 SEATTLE COMP. PRODS. 678

413 SEEQUA COMP. CORP. 282, 283

414 SEKON COMPUTER 434

415 SEMI DISK SYSTEM 471

416 SHARP ELECTRONICS 373

417 SHERATON HOTELS WORLDWIDE 569

418 SIEMENS C0MM. SYS. INC. 350, 351

419 SIERRA DATA SCIENCES 32

420 SIERRA DATA SCIENCES 33

* SILICON SPECIALTIES 344

421 SILVER-REED AMERICA, INC. 643

422 SLICER COMPUTERS 585

423 SOFTCRAFT611

424 SOFTCRAFT INC. 632

425 SOFTLINE CORP. 95

426 SOFTQUEST540

427 SOFTWARE ARTS 118, 119

429 SOFTWARE AUTOMATION 205

430 SOFTWARE BANC 368

431 SOFTWARE BANC SEMINARS 369

432 SOFTWARE BANC DEALER SERV. 513

433 SOFTWARE DEV. CORP. 256

* SOFTWARE GUILD 644, 645

* SOFTWARE OF THE MONTH CLUB 474

434 SOFTWARE SERVICES 657

436 SOLUTIONWARE CORP. 649

* SORCIM 564, 565

535 SOUTHERN COMPUTER SYS. 504

437 SPECTRON INSTRUMENTS 706

438 STAR LOGIC 610

Inquiry No.

Page No.

439 STAR MICRONICS 511

441 STM CORP. 425

442 STRATEGIC SYSTEMS CORP. 71

443 STRUCTURED DESIGN 12

444 SUMMA SOFTWARE 339

445 SUNDEX113

446 SUNNY INT'L. 674

447 SUNOL SYSTEMS 227 530 SUNSHINE PUB. 606

448 SUNTRONICS 674

449 SUPERSOFT491

450 SUPERSOFT493

451 SWEET GUM, INC. 622

452 SWI INT'L. 415

454 SYSTEM VISION CORP. 60

455 SYSTEMS PROD. EXCHANGE 649

456 TAB BOOKS 321

457 TALLGRASS TECH. 25

458 TARBELL ELECTR. 528

459 TATUM LABS 676

461 TAURUS COMP. PROD. INC. 73

462 TAYCO BUSINESS FORMS 682

463 TDK ELECTRONICS 225 " TEKTRONIX INC. 86, 87

464 TEKTRONIX Y3-312 303

465 TELETEK ENTERPRISES, INC. 51

466 TELETEX COMMUNICATION CORP. 284

467 TERMINAL DATA SYS. 706

468 TERRAPIN INC. 406

469 TEXAS COMP. SYS. 653

* TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 142, 143

* TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 530, 531 129 TEXPRINT604

470 THOUGHTWARE INC. 686

471 THREE M COMPANY 539 2 THREE MrTRENDCOM 445

472 TIAC MFG. INC. 686

473 TIMEX COMPUTER 337

475 TITAN TECHNOLOGIES 108

476 TITAN TECHNOLOGIES 110

477 TOSHIBA AMERICA INC. 460

Inquiry No.

Page No.

478 TOSHIBA AMERICA INC. 461

479 TRADE BROKER, THE 657

480 TRANSACTION STORAGE SYS. 479

481 TRANSTAR 335

482 TRANSTAR 427 528 TRISTAR DATA 586

483 TSK ELECTR. CORP. 495

484 TSL584

486 U.S. AIR FORCE 625

487 U.S. MICRO SALES 698, 699

485 U.S. ROBOTICS 164

488 UNIPRESS SOFTWARE INC. 388

489 UNIVAIR INC. 627

491 VAN DATA 404

492 VECTRIX 462, 463

494 VERBATIM CORP. 333

495 VIDEX 15

496 VISUAL TECH, INC. 34, 35

497 VISUAL TECH, INC. 259

498 VLM COMPUTER ELECTR. 686

499 VOICE MACHINE COMMUN. 183

500 VOTRAX 246

501 VR DATA 111

502 WADSWORTH ELECTR. PUB. CO. 389

503 WANG ELECTR. PUBL INC. 162

* WANG LABS INC. 443

* WAREHOUSE SOFTWARE 106

504 WCB COMPUTER 678

* WESTIC0 299

90 WHITAKER H.L. CO. 690

505 WHITESMITHS LTD. 204

509 WILLIAMS, MARK CO. 109

510 WINTEK CORP. 684 440 WOOLF SOFTWARE 628

513 WRITERS DIGEST BOOKS 220

514 WYNDHAM GROUP 604

515 WYSE TECHNOLOGY 215

516 X COMP 275

*Correspond directly with company.

720 November 1983 © BYTE Publications Inc.

History will record as a profound irony

that the most powerful word processing package

ever created for the IBM® Personal Computer

wasn't created by IBM.

LEADING EDGE.

Leading Edge Products Inc., Fortune 1300 Division, 21 Highland Circle, Needham Heights, Mass. 02194 (800) $43-3436 (617) 449-6762 Headquarters and Retail Division, 225 Turnpike Street, Canton, Mass. 02021 (800) 343-6833 (617) 828-8150

*IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation,

See us at Booth #3327

Si/Fall '83

November 28-December 2,1983 Circle 261 on inquiry card.

America's First Pre-Programmed, Ready-to-Run Truly Portable Computer!

The Micro Executive Workstation™. The TRS-80 Model 100 is one present that can be used by any executive— anywhere! This is a true portable computer that works on batteries or optional AC adapter. It's small enough to fit easily in a briefcase, yet powerful enough to serve as a desktop microcomputer. And it requires no "extras" to get started.

Ready to Use. Turn on Model 100 and five built-in management programs—plus your own files—are instantly listed on its eight-line by 40-character liquid crystal display. The full-size typewriter keyboard and the powerful editing functions of Model 100's personal word processing program make it a breeze to jot down notes or write letters and reports. Model 100 also works as an appointment calendar, address book, phone directory, plus a

telephone auto-dialer. You can even write your own BASIC programs.

A Portable Terminal. With Model 100's communications program and built-in auto-dial modem, you can access national information services, such as CompuServe® and Dow Jones News/Retrieval®. Or connect Model 100 directly to another computer—micro, mini or mainframe— using the RS-232C interface. Model 100 also includes a parallel printer port and a cassette tape interface.

Available Nationwide. You don't have to go out of your way to buy this gift! You can get the 8K Model 100 (Cat. No. 26-3801, $799) or the 24K Model 100 (26-3802, $999) at any Radio Shack Computer Center, participating store or dealer near you.

Radio /hack

The biggest name in little computers

A DIVISION OF TANDY CORPORATION

Prices apply at participating Radio Shack stores and dealers CompuServe is a registered trademark of CompuServe, Inc. Dow Jones News/Retrieval is a registered trademark of Dow Jones & Co., Inc.

Circle 386 on inquiry card.