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Disk 8 News


                                                                
                        O U T R Y T A                           
                        =============                           
                                                                
            A REVIEW BY PETER BELL AND FRANK HARROP             
                                                                
                                                                
This  is  a  joint  report,  as one of us can touch type and the
other  is a "pick-and-peck" typist, so we reckon we should cover
all  members  typing  abilities. Between us we have used Tasword
Two, Tasword Plus Two, Tasword Three and Wordmaster.            
                                                                
OUTRYTA is designed by R.J. Wilkinson, and issued by CHEZRON    
SOFTWARE of OUTLET fame.                                        
                                                                
Our  copy  was  a  pre-launch  version, minus manual, as this is
still in course of preparation, but because of the well designed
programme, and particularly with the HELP PAGE being immediately
available, it did not take us long to familiarise ourselves with
it.                                                             
KEYBOARD scan rate is ideal for touch typing, but others should 
not dwell too long on the key to prevent double lettering.      
NOTE: POKE-ing SVAR 521 with a higher number has no effect.     
                                                                
The  programme  auto-loads from disc on BOOT UP, and once loaded
the first screen has a top section giving running information on
Page,  Line,  Column, Total lines, File Length, Wordwrap on/off,
Caps  on/off,  Justify on/off.                                  
                                                                
Pressing  INV at any time displays the first HELP page, which is
very  detailed  and  comprehensive,  and shows commands given by
using  the  EDIT  plus  a  letter,  and those given by using the
Function  keys.  Another  press  of INV calls up the second HELP
page.  This  lists  the  printer controls for the fonts with the
choice of English or U.S. characters. In printer control mode, a
capital letter switches on the font and the same letter in lower
case switches it off.(e.g. B and b switch Bold on and off, C and
c  switch  Condensed  etc.)  RETURN  takes you back to text from
either  HELP page. It has its own very chunky font which gives a
very clear easy to read white on black screen display.          
IN USE                                                          
This  report  has  been  written  using  the  programme  without
difficulty, and the following points are made on our experience.
                                                                
FILES                                                           
For  loading a file, and also when saving, the disc directory is
listed  when  requesting the file name. There does not appear to
be  any  way  of  deleting  a file from the disc from within the
programme.  Max.  file size is 700 lines for both 256k and 512k,
(12 pages), as extra memory is not utilized.                    
                                                                
PRINTER CONTROL                                                 
So  far  no  provision  seems to have been made (a) for altering
printer  codes to suit different printers. Double Height, Double
Width,  Overscore  and Reverse are listed, but do not work on an
Amstrad  DMP  3000  or  a  Brother  M1109,  which are both Epson
compatible.  (b)  for the start and finish lines of printing, so
that  part  of  a document can be printed. (c) for form feeding.
There is, however, a choice of line feed on/off from the printer
options, as well as page length (set at start-up at 1 and 58).  
BLOCK OPERATIONS                                                
The  start  and  end  markers  for  a block are with the printer
options, yet the MOVE is on the HELP page. MOVE is a misnomer in
fact,  for  it  does NOT move the block but copies it to the new
cursor  position.  Because  of this you get an error report "not
enough  memory"  if  you try to move a block within a full page.
The  "Delete  marked block" function unfortunately did not work,
as the paragraph remained obstinately in place at the end of the
operation.                                                      
                                                                
REFORMATTING.                                                   
There  are two methods of reformatting a paragraph. One by using
the Command (EDIT + F), and the other by using Function Key F3. 
In  both  instances  the  cursor  and  a character have to be in
column 1.                                                       
This  means  that  an  indented  paragraph  will not reformat by
Command,  unless the line of type is pulled over until the first
character is in column 1.                                       
Using  Function  F3,  each  line  of  the paragraph is formatted
separately,  which  looks  odd, as it stretches a short line out
with  words and spaces to fill the line, but this does mean that
a character is brought into column 1. Using the Command (EDIT+F)
now  will  complete  the  task.                                 
                                                                
WORD  COUNT  is  excellent  and file information at head is also
nice to see. There is no SEARCH/REPLACE facility.               
                                                                
The  ERROR  reports  are  very helpful enabling you to return to
the document, without lockup.                                   
                                                                
MARGINS.                                                        
Hopefully  margin  settings will be included in the final issue.
At  present  TAB works on a one-off basis, moving over 6 columns
at one jump, but cannot be set to a particular column.          
                                                                
The  screen  provides  for  a  fixed width of 64 characters - it
would  help  if  provision  could  be  made  for  less  than  64
characters  across the screen, as well as extending the width to
128  characters to provide for printing in condensed mode across
an A4 sheet.                                                    
CONCLUSION                                                      
On  reading all the above, you may be feeling that we have found
a  lot  of  faults with the programme. On the contrary these are
just  constructive  suggestions of what we hope might finally be
included.  Others  may  have  their  own  ideas.  Of course, the
Manual, when ready , may well cover a lot of the matters we have
raised,  and  we  look forward to perusing a copy in due course,
when available. We congratulate the author on what looks like be
ing  to  the SAM COUPE  what Tasword in all its forms was to the
SPECTRUM. It is very easy to use, even without the manual. We do
not  know  what its published price will be, but think it may be
£12  although  it was on special offer (minus manual) at the All
Formats  Fair  in March.                                        
                                                                
We  hope  the  author  can  be  encouraged  to continue with its
development to make it really great.                            
                                                                
                                                                
OUR VIEW?    A RECOMMENDED BUY.                                 
________________________________________________________________
GM BASE            A review of the                by            
version 2.0        all-new database          Frank Harrop.      
                                                                
Members who have earlier copies of SAM  SUPPLEMENT  will  recall
that the original GM base 1.1 was covered in  Issue  4  (Reviews
p.15).                                                          
                                                                
The new version has been entirely re-written and  re-vamped  and
is compatible with both 256k and 512k models, and  uses  Mode  3
graphics to full  advantage  to  give  a  clear  and  attractive
layout.                                                         
                                                                
On bootup the opening screen gives all the  main  file  options,
including Create, Load, Edit, Print, Save etc. and includes Copy
so that a back-up copy of the programme may  be  made.  Do  this
first - DON'T  work  on  the  master  copy  -  keep  that  safe.
Selection from the options is by using the cursor keys. If  LOAD
is selected then a directory is displayed from  which  the  file
name can be entered. Database filenames have  the  suffix  ".db"
but only the name need be entered.                              
When a file is loaded, (and a small demo file is included on the
disc giving useful SAM contacts), then  not  only  is  the  name
displayed on the opening menu, but the number of  records  which
can be accommodated in the file.                                
                                                                
If you wish to create a new file, then the name may be up  to  7
characters in length. Up to 10 fields are permitted  with  names
not exceeding 8 characters, and each  field  may  be  up  to  40
characters in length. When all the fields have been entered then
the maximum number of  records  which  can  be  accommodated  is
displayed and you are then invited to enter the number you  wish
to provide, up to the maximum given.                            
                                                                
Very comprehensive  facilities  for  dealing  with  entries  are
provided including Delete, Insert, Select, Sort  (by  choice  of
field), Append, Edit and Search, all clearly displayed on screen
and called using the function keys. In addition an entry can  be
copied, a dump to printer of the screen, and for continuing  the
search if more than one entry contains the required information.
As with the earlier version, search will find the missing  entry
even if only part of the item in  the  field  is  entered;  e.g.
"Elec" will find Electronics.                                   
                                                                
For those with Epson compatible printers, the print out  can  be
of single or selected records, and with a choice of Pica, NLQ or
Condensed in draft or emphasised.                               
                                                                
I was a little disappointed with the original GMbase because  of
the limit of 250 entries. Not only  is  this  latest  version  a
great improvement as regards layout and  facilities  (and  there
are hidden extras by way of error checking, and  taking  account
of blanks in some records when sorting by field), but the number
of records must satisfy  almost  every  user.  To  give  you  an
example, I repeated the layout I used for  testing  the  earlier
version. It had 9 fields, of  assorted  lengths,  and  I  wanted
provision for 1200 entries - with 256k, 1300 was  the  max.  but
with my 512k the programme informed me I could have as  many  as
3400!                                                           
                                                                
                                                                
As with the first issue, this is a very easy  to  use  database,
with all the facilities you might need, easy to set  up  and  no
difficulty to operate.                                          
                                                                
By the way those of you who took the earlier  version  on  trust
have not been forgotten - it will load all your earlier  records
(although still with that limit of 250) - you will not  have  to
re-type them all. GM Software will also issue you the up-date if
you return your original Master disc together with a  remittance
of #2.                                                          
                                                                
The cost of the new version is #7-95 and is available from :-   
GM Software, 48 Main Road, Crynant, Neath. SA10 8NP.            
                                                                
RECOMMENDED.                                                    
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
              The PC / SAM suite (Supplement Issue 7)           
                       ------------------                       
                         by Ian Spencer                         
                         --------------                         
              A review by Gary Thomas (GM Software)             
                                                                
Sam's Basic is a truly excellent Basic, both  fun  and  easy  to
use, and provides the programmer with an  excellent  opportunity
to develope quality, well constructed BASIC programs.  The  only
frustrating  thing  is  that  it  does  not  have  the   Editing
facilities  to  allow  the  programmer  to  fully  utilise  its 
capabilities. Wouldn't it be great  of  you  could  use  a  word
processor, or a programmer's development utility.               
                                                                
Those Sam owner's who have access to an IBM PC,  or  compatible,
now have the ability to develope their  programs  using  one  of
these Editors and also write text,eg, manuals, letters, etc,  on
their PC, and to transfer the data to the SAM Coupe.            
                                                                
                                                                
Ian Spencer,  of  Specmaker  fame,  has  developed  a  suite  of
programs that enable a SAM user to transfer PC data  from  a  PC
Disk, to a Sam Coupe disk. This data can then be loaded as a Sam
Basic program, providing the correct syntax is  used,  or  print
out the data, either  to  the  screen,  or  to  a  printer.  The
programs also allow the user to create specmaker files which can
be used in Wordmaster, or Tasword Two.                          
                                                                
There are three programs provided :-                            
                                                                
PCLOAD                                                          
-------                                                         
PCLOAD is the utility that copies the required file from the  PC
Disk to the SAM Coupe disk. The user is requested to  enter  the
drive number which will contain the PC Disk.  The  program  will
then display a directory listing of this disk.                  
                                                                
It should be  noted  that  the  program  will  only  read  disks
formatted to 720kb. Details  of  how  to  perform  the  PC  disk
format is included in the documentation.                        
The program actually allows the user to enter a subdirectory  on
the PC disk and to load files  from  that  directory.  Once  the
directory is displayed the  user  can  enter  the  filename  for
loading.                                                        
                                                                
The user is now asked to enter whether the file should be loaded
in transparent mode. There was no information on this option and
the end product, ie, the loaded file,  was  the  same  following
conversion in both normml and transparent modes .  More  details
will probably be  available  when  the  documentation  has  been
completed.                                                      
                                                                
When the file has been loaded  the  user  can  select  Specmaker
type, or not, and then the program asks  for  the  Sam  disk  to
be placed in drive 1 and then it saves the new file,  minus  the
standard MS-DOS file extension, on to the SAM disk.             
                                                                
Easy isn't it?                                                  
                                                                
I converted a number of files and had no problems whatsoever.   
PCKEYIN                                                         
--------                                                        
                                                                
If the file converted is in SAM BASIC format then  this  program
allows the user to enter the filename; it will then be  read  in
by the program as a  BASIC  program.  Once  the  file  is  fully
converted  the  PCKEYIN  will  erase  itself  leaving  only  the
converted program.                                              
                                                                
PCPRINT                                                         
-------                                                         
The PCPRINT program allows the user to do a screen, or  printer,
dump of the converted file.                                     
                                                                
Conclusion                                                      
----------                                                      
These programs will allow the PC/Sam developer  to  use  a  PC's
superior Editing, Word processing  facilities  to  develope  Sam
programs, letters and documents. Then copy these  files  to  the
Sam.                                                            
I transferred a number of  files,  including  the  GM-Base  user
manual which was written on the  PC  in  Professional  Write,  a
Windows based PC word processor. The problem was that  I  always
got caught using the company's paper. No need to  do  that  ever
again.                                                          
                                                                
Ian Spencer has developed an excellent package. I am not sure he
will sell many because the number of Sam Users with PCs must  be
low. For those with PCs then this product is an must.           
                                                                
I will be testing the programs with a Z80/8086 Cross Assembler I
am purchasing from the PC Public Domain. I will let you know  of
my findings.                                                    
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
.                                                               
                                                                
                 ****** M U L T I D U M P ******                
                 *                             *                
                 * Colour Screen Dump Utility  *                
                 *      for the SAM Coupe      *                
                 *                             *                
                 *   Version 2.0 reviewed by   *                
                 *                             *                
                 *     S C Greenfield 1991     *                
                 *******************************                
                                                                
                           ** INFO **                           
                                                                
MULTIDUMP is  as  you  might expect  yet  another  printer  Dump
routine,  but aimed at  STAR LC10 Colour  Printer owners wanting
that little bit more class in their printouts, namely colour.   
Having  obtained Version 1.0 some weeks  ago I was amazed at the
quality  of  the  copies even  though  somewhat  limited  by the
printer only being able to print seven colours to match those of
the SAM's PEN range.                                            
So I was very pleased to hear from the author a Mr Darren Talbot
that he had at last managed to master the art  of mixing his own
colours on the LC10C, this is achieved by the  first pass of the
printhead printing the PRIMARY COLOUR as 01010101, and  the next
pass  is the SECONDARY  COLOUR printed as  10101010, for example
the colour to be printed may be a  light Brown which is first of
all  printed as Black in the  primary colour then overprinted in
Orange,  as the secondary colour, which  in itself is created by
overprinting Red onto Yellow from the printers ribbon.          
There are in  actual fact just four colours on  an LC10C printer
ribbon these being -                                            
                                                                
                      1st band BLACK                            
                      2nd -"-  BLUE                             
                      3rd -"-  RED                              
                      4th -"-  YELLOW                           
                                                                
                                                                
The LC10Colour printer is in fact just a seven colour printer,so
the seven  colours which  are available  as stated  in the  STAR
users manual are as follows -                                   
                               0 = BLACK                        
                               1 = RED                          
                               2 = BLUE                         
                               3 = VIOLET                       
                               4 = YELLOW                       
                               5 = ORANGE                       
                               6 = GREEN                        
                                                                
And  from  these  colours the  author  has managed  to  create a
staggering sixty three (63) colours, (hues) and if you take into
consideration the paper you are printing on as a  sixty  fourth,
as with SAM screens only sixteen colours can be used and printed
out at any one go, I think that I should  point  out  that  this
program like version 1.0 will only Dump MODE 4  Hi-Res  screens.
These are roughly the different  hue  variations  available  for
each of the 7 printer colours -                                 
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
               BLACK = 7 variants including GREYS               
                 RED = 7 variants including BROWNS & PINKS      
                BLUE = 7 variants including CYANS               
              VIOLET = 14 variants including REDISH BROWNS      
              YELLOW = 4 variants light and dark                
              ORANGE = 8 variants including SANDY GOLDS         
               GREEN = 16 variants including TURQUOISES & KHAKIS
                                                                
each of the variations include both light and dark hues to  give
the 63 different colours available with this program.           
                                                                
                        ** THE PROGRAM **                       
                                                                
                                                                
The  program itself  is  very  user  friendly  as  a  series  of
parameters  have to be first  entered before loading and dumping
of your desired screen can take place, they are the following:- 
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
1.Colour look-up table, PEN 0-15 eg:-                           
                                                                
           PEN    PRI     SEC     PEN     PRI     SEC           
            0  =   0       0       8   =   0       0            
            1  =   2       2       9   =   5       4            
            2  =   5       1      10   =   5       6            
            3  =   3       3      11   =   6       4            
            4  =   2       6      12   =   5       3            
            5  =   2       7      13   =   2       3            
            6  =   4       4      14   =   1       5            
            7  =   7       7      15   =   4       0            
                                                                
Changing colour could not be any simpler simply press  key  Y/N,
inputing Y will prompt you for PEN no, followed by PRI  and  SEC
colour No values to be entered once changed and  you  are  happy
pressing N takes you to the parameters:-                        
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                        ** PARAMETERS **                        
                                                                
1. Single or Double Height (just press S or D)                  
2. Mode 0-6, refers to printer graphic mode -                   
             0= 60   Dots to an inch                            
             1= 120  Dots to an inch                            
             2= 120  Dots to an inch (double speed)             
             3= 240  Dots to an inch (quadruple)                
             4= 80   Dots to an inch                            
             5= 72   Dots to an inch                            
             6= 90   Dots to an inch                            
3.Width 1-3 (1=one third paper, 2=half paper, 3=full width)     
4.Margin    (1-76)                                              
                                                                
Once all have been entered you are prompted for a SCREEN to load
then  its down to the  printer which depending  on the amount of
colour swaps  needed can  take between 30-40  minutes to  print,
even longer in some circumstances, one such screen I did took up
to 90 minutes to do as I had asked for a violet  type background
instead of  a black  one, and  for the  printer to  create  this
colour alone needs some four print  passes, one each of the four
colours on the ribbon, and as I did the dump in mode 3 (240 DTI)
width 2, it took some 12  passes for each print  line where this
colour occured on the screen, but the end result was well  worth
the waiting.                                                    
                                                                
                      ** MULTIDUMP CODE **                      
                                                                
The  code is  itself very  short just  some 400  bytes long, the
Basic  part  of   the  program  which   contains  the   relevant
information  is very  well put together  and is  itself about 5K
long, the whole program AUTOboots as soon as F9 is  pressed, and
is completely ERROR  trapped with  on "ERROR  GOTO", the  author
also  supplies an all  Basic program  for printing out  a colour
chart complete with PRIMARY & SECONDARY colour values shown next
to their relevant colours for your attention, you are advised to
print this  chart out first  before going any further  so as you
can see what colours are available and their values for when you
care  to swap  them around or  to try  and get  a, or as  near a
colour match of the SAM's palette table.                        
                      ** COLOURSWAP V2.0 **                     
                                                                
There is one other program  also on the disk and that  is called
apropriately,  'COLOURSWAP' which  simply loads  and  displays a
screen$ with the 16 PEN  POTS underneath showing the 16  palette
colours that  make up that particular screen  with a pop-up type
menu showing what your options are.                             
                                                                
                      ** COLOURSWAP MENU **                     
                                                                
                       1. CHANGE PEN COLOUR                     
                       2. LOAD A SCREEN    (RETURN DOES A DIR)  
                       3. SAVE SCREEN                           
                       4. HIDE MENU                             
                       5. VIEW SCREEN NORMAL                    
                       6. RAM LOAD                              
                       7. RAM SAVE                              
                                                                
Briefly 1 changes the desired colour on screen, in front of your
eyes in  other words, 2 does  what it says, 3  likewise, 4 views
the screen with menu removed (key must be held down for this), 5
loads the  current  palette settings from  memory for screen  as
when first loaded in from disk, 6 saves any new colour values to
memory.                                                         
                                                                
                ** FLASHMOD V2.0 inc MULTIDUMP **               
                                                                
A better way of doing colour swaps on the displayed screen is to
use FLASH, using the MULTIDUMP routine from within.  How?  Easy,
use the FLASHMOD by Dave Tonks from issue 3 of  SAM  SUPPLEMENT,
this in case you don't know  is  an  enhanced  FLASH  basic  for
replacing certain options in the FILE MENU in FLASH, namely  CAT
for DIR (more SAM related) and QUIT for MENU,  which  creates  a
sub-menu containing some extra  features,  some  of  which  have
appeared in the pages of OUTLET, namely Graphshrink for one.    
                                                                
The author  of MULTIDUMP  has  enhanced this  FLASHMOD basic  to
allow his program to be loaded into memory  when FLASH is loaded
under the name of MULTCODE.F (code 17300,400) and for the option
to be  called  using the  new  menu  option created,  this  runs
identical  to MULTIDUMP when  called and once  finished printing
returns  you to  your  FLASH  working  screen, this  way  it  is
possible to carry out all  your  artwork,  change  your  palette
colours around and then print your masterpiece out  in  glorious
colour, returning you when finished to carry on from  where  you
had left off and by no way upsets any of the other print options
available, and in my opinion now makes FLASH  a  truly  powerful
art package indeed when combined with these other features.     
                                                                
FLASHMOD  is automatically created  by first booting  it in then
swapping with your FLASH disk when prompted.                    
                                                                
The  FLASH EXTRAS menu created by  this new FLASHMOD should look
something like this -                                           
                                                                
                     ** FLASH EXTRAS MENU **                    
                                                                
                       1.RETURN TO FLASH   (exactly that)       
                       2.COMPRESS A SCREEN (squashes screen)    
                       3.INVERT A SCREEN   (spectrum colours)   
                       4.MIRROR A SCREEN   (mirrors beneath)    
                       5.MULTIDUMP         (colour printout)    
                       6.STOP              (basic)              
                                                                
                       ** POINT TO NOTE **                      
                                                                
I only got this new FLASHMOD from the author because I asked was
it at all possible  to create this mod  to which I was sent  the
newer FLASHMOD to do just that, so anyone thinking of buying the
MULTIDUMP program and wants the mod as well will have to ask the
author very nicely I'm afraid.                                  
                                                                
                           ** PRICE **                          
                                                                
MULTIDUMP costs £3.95 on  disk and you  have to supply your  own
disk as well, there is also an assembly listing for an extra £1,
the COLOUR  CHART and COLOURSWAP  programs are inclusive  of the
price of  MULTIDUMP as  is  the post  and packing,  turn-a-round
takes between  3-5 days  I  have found,  but I  suppose  depends
really on where you live, in all a very good and speedy service.
                                                                
                        ** CONCLUSION **                        
                                                                
Overall MULTIDUMP is excellent value  for money and as far as  I
can  see therr  are no  bugs, I  think  MULTIDUMP is  well worth
having in any SAM software library, as I have already stated the
end results are  very good not at all speckly  or muddy but more
like what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) and  a real must for
frustrated STAR LC10C owners wanting a little something  special
from their   printers, other than  monochrome graphic  printouts
all  of the   time,  by my  calculations if  correct taking into
consideration the height, graphic mode,width etc, it is possible
to print a total of some 42 different screens with this  program
and with a little experimentation some great results can be  had
not to mention some fun with your colour printer.               
Finally, SAMCO will  I believe in  the near future  be bundling 
this  excellent utility   with   all  of   their STAR   LC10/200
Colour printers that they sell.                                 
                                                                
            WARNING -   COLOUR RIBBONS ARE NOT CHEAP !          
                          LERM SAMDISC                          
                         --------------                         
                    DISC UTILITY FOR THE SAM                    
                                                                
Reviewed by Rob.Evans                                           
                                                                
     There are a lot of utilities about like this one as you    
 well know, but this one combines a lot more features than      
 you might think::                                              
                                                                
 MENU No.1:- DIR-FORMAT-VERIFY-NEW                              
 The Dir can be either drive one or 2, and  Directories  can  be
changed at will.                                                
                                                                
Format is done in a new way to the standard, it first formats  a
track and then verifies it, then formats the next and and so on,
if a track doesn't verify, it's formatted again up to  5  times,
if it doesn't format after this then scrap the disc.  Verify  is
useful as you can VERIFY a suspect disc at any time.  After  the
use of any of the above you will go back to MENU.               
 No.2:- you now get:- HIDE ON-HIDE OFF-PROTECT ON-PROTECT OFF-  
 START-COPY-ERASE-UNERASE-INFORMATION.                          
                                                                
When you choose one of these options, you will get a sub-menu:- 
                        ALL-MARK-END                            
                                                                
  ALL does every file on the disc, MARK does  only the files    
 you have marked and END starts the  option  you  have  selected
off.                                                            
                                                                
Then program comes with a good clear manual, and is very easy to
use. It is also clear to understand what  is  going  on  at  all
times, and the display is well laid out.                        
                                                                
There are some nice details like the "p"  and  "h"  against  the
file names to show that they are either protected or hidden.    
Another nice touch  is  that  it  will  erase  protected  files,
without the need to unprotect them first, which saves time.     
As mentioned before, files can be marked, and  only  the  marked
files acted upon, which means that you can set up the files  for
erasing, protection etc, and the program will then get  on  with
it, with no further work on your part.                          
                                                                
It would take much more room than I have  here  to  explain  all
that this program will do, but it is probably the  only  utility
which has everything in it that you need, all at once.          
                                                                
Recommended.                                                    
                                                                
Available from:Lerm Software,                                   
              11 Beaconsfield Close,                            
              Whitley Bay,                                      
              Tyne and Wear,                                    
              NE25 9UW                                          
                                                                
Price:-£10.99                                                   
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
.                                                               
                       FLEXIPAGE (UPDATE)                       
                                                                
  Readers of  my  reviews  of  FLEXIPAGE  will  recall  that  my
enthusiasm for the programme itself was somewhat overshadowed by
my concern at the complication of the instructions, covering  as
they did the instructions for use with both Spectrum(s) and SAM,
and thus containing much material irrelevant to SAM,  which  was
confusing and, at times could be misleading.                    
                                                                
  I am delighted to report that the programme for  the  SAM  now
has its own  specific  and  comprehensive  68  page  instruction
booklet. The instructions  are  now  uncomplicated  and  direct,
resulting in better concentration on the  programme  itself  and
less worry about sorting out the correct commands to be used.   
                                                                
  David  Wornham   has   also   found   time   to   update   the
programme itself rather  significantly.  FLEXIPAGE  is  supplied
with the current (1990) DOS, is compatible with  Masterdos,  and
there are available simple amendments to enable its use with the
'old' DOS. Use with Masterdos confers the ability to use ramdisk
memory with its attendant advantages of enhanced speed. There is
now the ability  to  use  SCREEN$  pages  in  full  colour,  and
providing you are using the current version  of  FLASH  and  the
1990 DOS, a converter is provided to make use of FLASH  produced
pictures. Finally, there is a wider choice of text characters.  
                                                                
  Of the three distinct programmes available on the  disc,  FREE
FORMAT EXERCISE is the most specialised, providing the means for
conduct of a training exercise. Appropriate  facts  and  figures
are arranged as pages so as to make the exercise as  interactive
aand constructive as possible. (I  suspect  that  this  was  the
objective which David first set out to achieve  in  writing  the
programme).                                                     
                                                                
  The AUTOMATIC MODE provides a neat way of producing,  say,  an
advertisement, or a demonstration for continuous display.       
                                                                
  The INTERACTIVE MODE is probably  the  mode  which  will  find
most use amongst average computer  users.  It  can  be  used  to
develope programming skills for 'adventuring' type games. As  an
educational  aid,  this  mode  lends  itself  to  production  of
exercises devised for specific objectives according to age,  and
also for training/teaching programmes for any ages.             
                                                                
  In its updated version, FLEXIPAGE makes good use of the  SAM's
capabilities, and I can thoroughly recommend it, particularly to
someone involved in production of  teaching/training/information
programmes.                                                     
                                                                
  Finally, good news,  the  updated  disc  and  new  instruction
booklet are available to previous customers, from David Wornham,
at a cost of £1.50 and return of current disc. Free  updates  of
the disc only continue to be available against the return of the
current disc and S.A.E.                                         
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
      OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO N E W S OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO     
                                                                
I'm happy to report that the April All  Formats  Show,  held  in
Birmingham, was a great success.                                
The Sam team was there in force as usual, and interest from  the
public was very strong.                                         
Attendance for the show  was  extremely  good,  and  we  on  the
Supplement stand were kept busy for most of the day.            
                                                                
Before the show  started,  there  was  a  meeting  of  Team  Sam
members, with Alan Miles giving a complete rundown  on  how  the
Sam was doing generally.                                        
He told us that at the moment  sales  were  slow,  but  this  is
partly due to the time of  the  year.  He  said  that  the  main
selling period of the year is a couple of months leading  up  to
Christmas, and that anyone involved with the production  of  Sam
products should make sure that they  would  be  ready  for  this
time.  He  went  on  to  say  that  things  like  packaging  and
presentation are all important, if the high street shops were to
stock the Sam.                                                  
  The good news for the end user is that more software is on the
way. Dansoft, a Danish software  house,  are  writing  PIPEDREAM
which is a spreatsheet/database type program. They hope to  have
it ready by September 91. Also Ocean have given  permission  for
some of their titles to be converted, the  ones  mentioned  were
Robocop II, Puznic, Navy Seal and Rainbow Island. This can  only
be a good thing for the end users, as although many of  you  are
not games players, it  will  generate  more  interest  from  the
general public, which  in  turn  generates  more  interest  from
software houses.                                                
Other software houses which are prepared to write  for  the  Sam
are Infogram and 21st Century (formerly Hewson).                
                                                                
As to the high street shops stocking Sam, Tandy  have  shown  an
interest, especially in the fields of MIDI  and  education,  and
the Scottish chain, Clydesdales, are also interested.           
                                                                
There is now a TEAM SAM logo, and as soon as I  receive  a  copy
this will be incorporated in the Supplement.                    
                                                                
There will be no more  ROM  upgrades  after  3.0 as this ROM  is
as good as anyone needs with no major drawbacks.                
                                                                
As to the hardware  front,  the  MESSENGER  is  nearly  finished
followed closely by the MOUSE. These will be the  last  hardware
from Samco for a while, as Samco will let the independent  firms
carry on with extra bolt on bits, whilst they  concentrate  more
on the software side.                                           
                                                                
I think that all in all, the future for the  Sam,  although  far
from spectacular, looks very good indeed, and in  the  years  to
come  will be as well known as the Spectrum is now.             
                                                                
                                                                
              OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO             
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
                                                                
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
O                                                              O
O                I   M   P   O   R   T   A   N   T             O
O                                                              O
O                                                              O
O   IF YOU BROUGHT A COPY OF THE MASTERDOS UTILITY DISC        O
O   FROM OUR STAND AT THE ALL FORMATS SHOW IN BIRMINGHAM       O
O   ON APRIL 21ST. PLEASE CHECK THAT YOU GET A FRONT SCREEN    O
O   AND THAT MASTERDOS FLASH WORKS, AS A FEW OF THE COPIES     O
O   THAT WE HAD TO DO WHILST AT THE SHOW, HAVE 2 FILES         O
O   MISSING FROM THEM.                                         O
O   IF YOUR COPY IS SUSPECT, THEN PLEASE RETURN IT FOR         O
O   REPLACEMENT.                                               O
O                                                              O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
                                                                
                                                                
.                                                               

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