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Next disk program notes
***PROGRAM NOTES***
SAMSCRATCH:-
This is your free Sam word processor, with which you can write
to the Supplement. It only has the basics in, but you should
find it adequate for your needs.
The program can hold files of up to 160 lines long, which can be
saved or loaded to disc or tape.
The controls are as follows:-
Pressing any of the alphanumeric keys will give you that letter
or number. If these are used with the SHIFT key, you will get
upper case letters and the symbols on the top row. E.G. !@#$%&.
You can lock the program into upper case by pressing CAPS. This
will be shown at the bottom left of the screen by CAPS ON or
CAPS OFF. The cusor will automatically wrap to the next line
when it reaches the line end, but note that there is not a word
wrap, so you will have to make sure that there is enough space
on the line to complete your word.
The cursor keys will move the cusor around the screen and if the
key is kept pressed with the cursor at top or bottom of the
screen, the latter will be scrolled up or down as necessary.
The "ENTER" key will take the cursor to the start of the next
line, and scroll the screen up, if needed.
The keys F1 to F5 are used for extra commands. These are:-
F1=Inserts a blank line at the cursor position, moving any text
below it down.
F2=Deletes a line at the cursor position, closing up the text to
fill it.
F3=Takes you back to the top of the file, and places the cursor
at the top left of the screen.
F4=Is used to SAVE a file to either tape or disc.
F5=Is used to load a file from either tape or disc.
F6=Prints out you masterpiece: F7=Inserts a character at the
cursor position: F8=Deletes a character at the cursor position.
All the above keys are on display at the bottom of the screen
for your reference.
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BRIAN'S DEMO
This is the first demo that Brian Mumford has ever done, and
he's very pleased with it. It makes great use of the ROLL
and SCROLL commands, and his handling of the screen is very
precise. BREAK the program to see how he did it.
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DAVE'S DEMO This demo is done by storing 14
stips of screen and using MEM$ to flip them onto the screen.
There is also a background screen on which it all works.
As before BREAK the program, to see the workings.
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PICCIES:- These are just a few SCREEN$ done in MODE 4, to show
what can be done on the Sam. Two of the screens,(WIZBALL and
HUNDRA) were taken off the Spectrum and redone in FLASH, tidying
up the attributes in the process.
SOUNDS:- A routine sent in by Simon Goodwin, to give you extra
sound commands in you programs. There are instructions within
the program, and an option to erase all the BASIC, except for
the routine. This can then be MERGEd into you own program for
your own use.
Please note that SAM SUPPLEMENT will have to be reloaded if this
option is used..
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RESCUE:- This is a complete Sam game. It uses MODE 4 graphics
and is very addictive. The program has redefinable keys, and
contains all instructions for play.
This program is Public Domain, and can be copied freely.
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HOOP DEMO:- This is another S.Goodwin program and it shows the
power of Sam BASIC. Good use is made of the sound chip, plus
PALETTE LINE is used to give a border effect.
FUNNY FACE:- Another very clever use of the Sam's extra BASIC.
Using ~GET~ and ~PUT~ and 2 of the Sam's available screens, the
program gives a very good simulation of a sprite. Notice how you
can even see the background through the holes in the face.
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INVERT:-Another Andy Wright contribution. This one uses GRAB and
PUT to turn the screen upside down. It's a very short program
so as before, BREAK into it to see how it's done.
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AUTOMENU:-A very smart program, which reads in a DIRectory and
displays all 80 files on the screen at once. From here you can
then do no end of clever tricks, such as HIDE, PROTECT, LOAD etc
any of the files. The display also shows disc space used and
free, plus an abundance of other disc info.
The program is fairly self explanatory, needing only single key
presses to operate, but I would suggest that a few minutes spent
practicing on a ~spare~ disc, may save a lot of aggro.
When using the progam ~Q~ would normally NEW the machine, but
for ease of use for the Supplement, I've made "Q" return to the
main Supplement menu.
This program was written by Brian Gaff, all in BASIC, and is a
very useful program.
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JUSTIFY:- This is one of those small, but useful, DEF PROC's
that can be merged into your program, and used to give neat
screen layouts. Using PRINT on the Spectrum to try and justify
the text was bad enough, but the Sam indents the listing which
makes text justification a very hit and miss affair. This small
routine overcomes the problem, and has the bonus of being very
easy to use.
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DISCSPEED:-A small program that checks the operating speed of
your drive(s). It is very simple to use, and doesn't damage the
disc in any way.
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TEXTPLOT:-This is another routine for you to use in your own
programs. It allows you to plot strings on the screen at any
pixel position, rather than having to PRINT them in character
positions. Full instructions are included within the program and
there is an option to erase all but the routine.
As before this option means loading the Suplement from scratch.
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VARILIST:- This is a very useful routine for all you programmers
out there. How many times have you got to a stage in a program
where you were defining a variable, and couldn't remember if you
had used the name before. This routine can be called at any time
and displays all the variables used. It even gives the values
that are held in numeric variables.
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CIRCLE:- A very neat little routine which uses the Sam's palette
command to the full. Guaranteed to make your eyes boggle.
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