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EDITORIAL RAMBLINGS by Dave Tonks
As I sit and write this, I have just come back from my 3rd All
Formats show in as many weeks. I really don't know whether I'm
unpacking from the last, or getting ready for the next. The
shows have been held in Leeds, London and Birmingham, and as far
as the Supplement is concerned, they have all been a great
success. We have made many new members, and met a lot of current
membership. I can honestly say that a good (but tiring) time has
been had by all.
This issue is strange in certain respects. I don't know whether
M.Smiths letter had any bearing on it, but I seem to have been
swamped with games. As I don't really want to hold on to them
until future issues, because of the backlog that can arise,
several of them are in this issue. There are of course the usual
semi-serious DEF PROCs and routines, but you will find that
there are more "leisure" type programs than normal. As I have
said before, I can only publish what you send me, so it's all in
your hands as to what the mag contains.
I shall leave you now to make up your own mind...BYE!!!
S.J. Monk, 31 Southbourne, Washford Farm, Ashford, Kent TN23 2UB
0233 626085
Dear Readers
After reading the letter from Mathew Collinge in
SAM Supplement issue 11 , I felt that I just had to write with
my views and opinions . I try not to get involved with the
childish banter like my computer is better than yours, or this
program is better than that , that's for bored teenagers , but
some of Mathew's comments angered me somewhat .
I was the writer of the Decorating database that Mathew thinks
is pointless, I know it's far from Earth shattering programming
and it's of no use to the game-playing fraternity but it is of
use to some of us , the same as a stone database would be to a
collector of stones , and there are such people around , just
because you are not one of them don't knock it .
It's to Clubs and organizations like the S.D.C. and OUTLET that
myself and others like me turn to for help , guidance and ideas
O.K. we might only use or like one or two programs one month but
for me its the inspiration or the ideas I get from other serious
users that makes a magazine for me .
Don't get me wrong I have no objections to games or demos or the
people that get enjoyment from them but I personally think they
are more than well catered for in other publications .
I use my SAM mainly for what I think the original purpose of
a computer was and thats for data storage and retrieval. I have
just about everything that's of use to me stored on a disk
somewhere from wage records ,serial numbers through the usual
addresses , bills ,video's etc even my entire stamp and first
day cover collection is logged on disk . I get a lot of
enjoyment out of writing the various databases and their upkeep
so whats pointless about that ? .
As for the SAM supplement I think that the balance is just right
that's why I keep subscribing and will continue to as long as it
continues in the present or similar vein . If it ever becomes a
games-orientated mag I will drop it like a stone (and maybe
enter it into the stone database !) just like I have with the
newspaper stand rubbish i.e. YS and Crash .
Dave the Ed is right in my opinion, some of us take a long time
to experiment and write something and to have it published in
the Supplement is a very nice reward , however small or simple
or pointless it may seem to you Mathew , it is a great sense of
achievement for me and others like me.
So if anyone out there is still reading this letter if you want
to write a database for stones then do so , have a go , feel the
sense of achievement.
________________________________________________________________
C.W.G. Coppin, 167 Sleaford Rd, Bolton, Lincs, PE21 7PF
Dear Editor,
I was interested in your defence of the standard of
the SAM SUPPLEMENT magazine programs and I thoroughly agree with
your remarks. I think that the balance of types of programs is
about right.
Some of the graphic explanations of the Sam's basic are not
lucid. For instance,I never properly understood the manual's
explanation of the Pallette command. How could you pour any of
the 128 colours into pots which were already full of the basic
colours? I realised from your demonstration that when the
Pallette function operated with colours from the Pallette range
all the paintpots were emptied and not refilled with the
original colours until the pallette command was entered on its
own. Similarly other explanations are also very vague. When I
want to use some of the functions which are similar to those on
the Spectrum e.g.UGD listings within basic programs, I have to
refer to the Spectrum manual. Of course with the introduction of
the many new functions this has become impossible. How does the
command SCREEN$ (RC) work in practice and what does RC mean?
What does NMI mean, I think it refers to the BREAK button on the
back of the SAM. The SAM Manual does however mention most of the
commands even if it does not explain them properly. It WAS
written before the SAM was finished. I believe that several
programming books are being written. I hope they will be in
layman's English and not full of unexplained TECNO BABBLE.
I like to write programs in simple basic terms. You have
already published one of them and I am always picking up tips
which could be useful from the SAM SUPPLEMENT.
I was intrigued by your SNAPROM program. Following your
instructions I easily converted the SPECTRUM ROM to MULTIROM and
loaded 7 or 8 fairly long programs from tape to the SAM in
running order,but as soon as I gently or otherwise pressed the
BREAK (NMI) button the program either locked up or crashed on
every occasion. I could play the programs from tape of course
but it would be easier to get my SPECTRUM 48K out. With programs
transferred to disk however it would be a different matter. If
you ever get a MESSENGER interface for rental please put my name
down so that I can transfer a few favorites to disk.
I bought my SAM in 1989 and it has since been upgraded to 512K
with 2 disk drives. I subscribe to 2 disk magazines both of
which are excellent.
Keep up the good work!
Ton Voon
166b Coningham Road
Shepherd's Bush
Lomdon W12 8By
Dear Dave Tonks,
Regarding a pre-printed letter to software houses asking for
more programs, I agree emphatically! It seems as if the
publishers do not even acknowledge that the SAM Coupe exists, so
it is up to us to make sure they do know. It is nice to see more
programs being written, but this is merely a trickle compared to
other computers. Unfortunately, software companies would
probably look at their revenue sheets more than any letters, so
there has to be weight behind these letters - maybe something
saying that "If the software is up to my standards, then I
would definitely buy a copy. Hopefully this will be the start of
something big.
Onto Matthew Collinge's letter about the quality of programs.
While I cannot say how good the current programs are - I'm too
lazy to look at the BASIC - I also feel that there are too many
similar programs. However, if these are the programs sent in,
then they are all that the editor can play with. The solution to
this would be a 'requests page' whereby readers can put down any
programs they would like to see (and not some abstract phrase
like 'a game') and maybe ask for some solutions to general
problems. Since I asked for it, I may as well start something:
To swap between two settings (say, 0 for off and 1 for
on), instead of an IF statement (IF x=0 THEN LET x=1:ELSE LET
x=0), you can type LET x=1-x. Now my question is, how do you
change between THREE settings?
Back to Matthew's letter, I think your reply, Dave, was correct;
anyone new to programming would get a big confidence boost from
seeing their material being published; I know I did. But the
whole point about a computer is that they are meant to make jobs
easier for us. So, sorry to pick on D. Hooper, a program like
the VAT ADDER was unnecessary; to add VAT onto a price, you just
multiply that price by 1.175; to subtract VAT, you multiply by
0.825. See the pattern? It is much EASIER than using the
procedure.
Anyway, I hope D. Hooper isn't scared for life; his solution to
checking for letters in the calculation was very clever - I
would not have bothered to put it in myself.
I agree that this 'disczine' is meant as a communication ground
for SAM owners, but what has been sorely lacking is this
'constructive criticism' you were talking about. I personally
would like to receive any concerning my programs but there is
not much in the way of feedback. How about readers writing in
saying which programs they really enjoyed? I loved playing
PATIENCE myself (I wasted so many hours on it!), but the best
amendment for that is to add a line that prints how many moves
you took (the best place for it is in the INPUT window;
PRINT #0). My highest record is 80. Anyone topple that?
Finally, I have some ideas for modifying the MAIN program, such
as remembering which menu it was last in (a reader requested
that), the palette colours for texts, and the last text printed
(so it doesn't have to be reloaded if wanted again). This can be
done by POK(E)ing a few bytes of memory that will not be
over-written when a new BASIC program is loaded.
Other improvements included redefining F9 to LOAD "MAIN" (I
always manage to press ESC by accident), Next page selected with
"N", ENTER, or RIGHT ARROW, and Last page with "L" or LEFT
ARROW, and a two digit number to jump to a page (ala OUTLET). I
have other ideas, but concern restructuring the program; those
above are the easiest to implement.
Thanks for letting me talk so long. My fingers are begining to
hurt.
P.S. Love those stars!
ED's reply...
Matthews letter certainly caused a few letter to arrive, but
whatever you say about what's in the mag, it all rests on what
the members send me, as Ton has said.
As regards to modifying the mag, several suggestions have been
sent in, and if I put in all of them, there would be no room for
the programs.
I don't see how I could come back to the page of text from
another program, as the program would have overwritten the text
file.
I'm trying to keep everything as simple as possible to make the
mag as compatible as possible with the variety of program sent
in..
________________________________________________________________
Dave Tonks, Editor, Sam Supplement
Dear Dave,
Sincere congratulations to you and your team on the
first anniversary of the Supplement. It has never failed to give
me a lot of interest and pleasure, and the odd chuckle or two,
particularly when the dreaded sods law raises its ugly head. I,
perhaps along with others in the early class of geriatrics, went
into cardiac arrest on loading in your first-birthday number,
thinking that that old gremlin was up to his tricks again. I'll
get you for that, my old son, one fine day! From that you will
guess that your jape worked and had the desired effect, and I'll
bet it worked throughout your long-suffering membership.
However, a good joke is less amusing second time around and it
certainly begins to pall when the reader of Issue 12 comes back
to reload it a number of times, so to save others the slight
task of investigating, it is easy enough to by-pass - thus:
When the title page comes up hit "ESC"; then
type in the direct command: "sound 28,0: goto 280" and
you have got a nice colourful new "LINEFEEDS?" page!
This assumes that you have found a note of the familiar tune
permanently a-playing; if it is not you have been fortunate
enough to hit ESC during a bit of silence, and "sound 28,0",
which switches off the sound chip, is not needed. (It generally
is). No doubt this is kid's stuff to most of your members, but
bear with us boneheads, please.
Now, may I put up a bit of a gripe? I think it applies to some
of your contributors rather than to your good selves! It is that
some of the progs are not very user-friendly. As an example,
could I mention the "Label" prog in Issue 12 and suggest that in
the first screen I would have expected to be informed whether
the prog will make pages of labels on a double column adhesive
labels type paper, or whether it prints a single column of
labels on ordinary paper, or whether it has some other motive. I
have found the earlier prog in Issue 8, but am not any wiser, so
I shall have to experiment with the progs to know whether they
will meet my particular need. Again, I do not think it is clear
what one is supposed to do for the "border" one is invited to
use, is it?
Just to show that I have not picked on one worthy subscriber,
what about CARBASE in Issue 10? There is a brief note in "Prog.
Notes", not really enough of a description to clue one in -
surely something informative should have introduced the prog -
starting with "Please enter the Reg. No." leaves me in the dark.
And MENUMAKER - Issue 11, starts with "Insert disk for Menu".
Even with the prog notes and having got half way through I still
don't know what the result of the prog is to be!
Then there's CASHFILE in Issue 10 - surely some of the Prog
Notes should be in the first screen together with "DO NOT USE
RUN..." This point is so important when you've typed data for a
couple of hours!
I do hope members will not think all this too pernickety, or
whatever - I only wish I had some of their programming ability,
and my motive is to make things easier for those of us who are,
perhaps, like myself, a little less bright or quick in the
uptake - or something.
Congratulations again, do maintain your excellent standards, and
best wishes for another 12 issues, and more.
Yours etc., John Saunders.
Chalfont St. Giles.
EDs note...
Thanks for that critisism John, perhaps other members could add
their thought to that.
As regards the front ends, as from this issue, if you hold down
"SPACE" after pressing F9, the mag will boot straight to the
main menu. This will mean quicker loading after you have seen
the front end a couple of times. Your tip for bypassing isue 12s
front end will be useful to some members.
________________________________________________________________
From:- Edwin Blink Flora Elstrodt
Crouwelstr. 60. Kam. Onnesstr. 172
9731 ME. Groningen 9727 HS Groningen
Holland Holland
Tel:050 4256674 Tel:050 263930
Dear Dave,
We would like to let you know that the Sam Coupe now also
available in Holland, and that we also will give a one year
warranty, service and repairs for the Sam Coupe.
Might this be interesting for "SDC"?. Well only you can decide
this. We would be pleased if you print this.
Yours Sincerly
E & F
Well, I've printed it, and I must say that Edwin's English is
much better than my dutch!.
Anyway, if there are any of you out there in Holland who need
your Sam serviced, you know who to contact now.
From: Mike Haine.Riverside,Welsh Rd. Offchurch,
Leamington. CV33 9AH.
Dear Ed. Re. DAVE Kingsnorth (issue 11) and earlier comment by
Frank Harrop and others on Tasword 2 etc. We see many such
critical comments. But they so seldom get down to specifics.
What is meant by a word processor specific to SAM? What are the
specific shortcomings of the SAM version of Tasword 2? I should
have thought that there was much to be said for keeping to a
program familiar to so many and only adding to it facilities
which make better use of the improved machine, or where
shortcomings exist.
I have used Tas.2 on the Spectrum, pretty well since it
first appeared. I have made many changes to it to suit my
convenience and many of these have been passed on to other
owners of the prog. As soon as the SAM version appeared I
acquired it and promptly changed the features as I had in the
Spectrum version and also made more changes to use the 2 disc
system. I also have a list of other changes I am working on. I
also have a list of things I would like to see in a word
processor, beyond those I think can easily be added to Tas 2..
Some of those are in OUTPRINT; but why oh why have I got to
learn a fresh keying system!!! There surely cannot be any
copyright reaon for not copying the same keypresses.
Many of the changes I have made in the SAM version of TAS
2. were in the last but 1 issue of this mag; yet no mention was
made of this by DAVE (K). Have you tried the mods DAVE? In fact
I have another batch of changes which I will supply to anyone
sending me a disc and SAE and details of your set up (also any
comments you care to put on the disc.(You must have a copy of
Tas2).
I use Tas.2 for all sorts of things, including a file
system. (Details of that shortly). I also load all the text
files from SAM SUP, OUTLET, FRED and the like straight into TAS
2. I can then read them and with its editing facilities, erase
bits I don't want to keep line by line, add comments, reminders
etc. and then save it, or more likely, print it out using the
2colour mod I have made to Tas 2. The latter prints out the text
in 2, 64 char columns ie 128 chars across an A4 sheet and 116
lines per sheet.
(As I write this on Tas,2 I have my sam sup 16 abstracts and
notes in RAMDISC 3 and can swop it in seconds to check on it as
I require).
As I seem to have said elsewhere recently, when you
consider how much effort goes into writing a new prog., such as
a wordprocessor, think how much better it would be to expend
that effort in evolving an established one!
So I do plead for more detailed criticisms of progs and
suggestions for improvements in included facilities. I am sure
that authors will find such to be a source of inspiration rather
than be offended.
Re Matthew Collings. I keep such records in Tas. 2
files. It is very easy to insert, delete, add to items using the
Text editing facilites. If you need more memory space than in
the TEXT file area it is easy to dump sections into higher
pages, especially if you have "Superdos"
Re the ED's comments, I agree that the standard is being
maintained. It does try and cater for a very varied readership.
One can only hope that it does not "GO OFF" in an attempt to
increase sales as so many, if not all, the printed mags have. I
personally think that the letters are most important and would
like to see more, as well as articles. I think that a section on
"SAM's secrets would be well worth while I keep finding out
little things like why if I KEY 24,225, where 24 is the adddess
code for the F7 key and 225 the code for POKE, then when I press
the F7 key I get "LIST". I solved it at last. On reset the ROM
redefines some of the Keyword codes so that keys F0 to F7 give
the codes 218 to 228. The reason is not clear, but mucked up a
prog I am writing to set the key codes easily.They can be
nullified by POKE &5800,255. After this the key will give"POKE",
and any other key give the keyword in the keyword list in the
technical manual. (Do not do this while you have a prog loaded
as it may upset it.
There is another aspect which could be explored, namely
hardware. I find it annoying that we have to keep investing in
new hardware when existng items could fairly easily be modifed.
A bit of cooperation between a few lads (or/and lasses) with
a little electronics experience (like me) should make all sorts
of things possible. Beware hardware which has its own ROM built
in! Any software required to operate a hardware add on is much
better on disc to load into RAM. There is then a good
possibility of working on it for improvement. (The SAM DOS is a
good example.)
I think the inclusion of names and addresses in letters
is an excellent idea, I often see some item which suggests I
write to the author.
Lastly I would like to commend the article describing
the basic prog for BIGPRINT. This provides a very good way of
learning how to program. Anyone interested should follow thro it
and try to understand the function of each line. Then experiment
for yourself. I have written a few descriptions of this sort for
m/c routines if anyone is interested... BYE FOR NOW.
Eds Note..I would certainly like to see your descriptions of M/C
routines, please send them in. The would compliment the articles
that Geoff Bobker is doing for the mag.
________________________________________________________________
Mr M.J.Smith 36 Lattice avenue, IPSWICH, Suffolk IP4 5LJ
Tel 0473-712470
Dear Dave
SDC ISSUE 12
Many thanks for the birthday issue, the front screen was pretty
good, but with each issue I wait to see what else is going to
happen in the way of animation. The more you do the more we
expect. Anyway, the overall look and presentation of menus,
items and even the disc labels is very professional and an
excellent advert for Sam.
HOWEVER, your pseudo FORMAT routine must have caused a few
anxious seconds - some of the older members might not be able to
stand too many japes like that. Anyway, hopefully no heart
attacks and I have sent off to Brian for six more issues - keep
up the good work.
As regards encouraging software firms I spoke some time ago to
Campbell Systems about Masterfile and was told that MGT had been
offered a licence to modify it and market a SAM version.
Presumably this option was not taken up at that time - would the
offer still be available for Samco ?.
I am using and can recommend your Video Titler routine to anyone
with a video camera. When can we have some different BIGPRINT
characters please ? and have you any other features to add to it
like fades to black or white. I started to build in some of the
fade routines that others have recently sent in but have been
unable to get the fade to white to work. Loading in the
alternative code as instructed does not work for me. The
possibility of fading to other colours was also mentioned.
I had previously enquired of Hall Video Productions whether they
were bringing out SAM versions of their Sectrum routines. They
simply returned my letter with a note scribbled on it to the
effect that their programs would not run on SAM. I felt that was
a pretty pathetic response and lost interest in them. Perhaps I
should have bought one of their programs and done my own
conversion just to prove them wrong. Maybe, one day, although I
am hoping that once Flash is working properly with the mouse I
shall be able to make better use of that in this connection.
I just hope that Samco get their act together for this Christmas
and can demonstrate to the industry and the public just what SAM
can do when equipped with Masterdos, MasterBasic and Flash plus
mouse etc. as well as showing Prince of Persia which I hope is
going to match the pre-launch hype.
Anyway, congratulations and Happy First Birthday SDC with best
wishes for many more.
Yours sincerely M.J.Smith
EDs Note...Thanks for the good wishes. My main problem at the
moment is lack of time, but I will get around to upgrading the
Titler A.S.A.P.
Why not have a go at defining your own Bigprint set?