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Disk 24 program notes
LABEL MASTER by D.Tonks
On loading the program you will be presented with a screen
containing a picture of a disc label on the left and an empty
square on the right. At the top of the screen there is a menu
bar with 3 items on it, namely LABEL, BORDER and EXTRAS.
All options are selected using the cursor keys and space.
Pressing the left/right cursors will cause the highlight to move
to the left or right, and pressing the down cursor will bring
down that particular menu.
Whilst a menu is down, pressing left/right cursors will close
the current menu and open the next one.
Once a menu is open, another highlight lets you select from the
menu using the up/down cursors. If "SPACE" is pressed the
highlighted option is chosen, and, if practical, acted upon. I
shall call this "CLICKING" from now on, (shades of 16 bit!!!!).
If you put the highlight onto the top menu item (the title) and
click, that menu is closed down.
I'll now go throught the items on each menu and give you a
description of what they do.
LABEL
New Label..
Clears both the label and the directory and sets
everthing back to how the program loaded.
Read DIR..
Reads the directory of drive 1 into the window on the
right.
Select DIR..
Gives you a highlighted bar in the directory window.
Using the up/down cursor will move the bar, and if
there are more items will scroll the directory up
when the bar is at the bottom of the window, and
down if the bar is at the top.
Clicking at this point will put the highlighted
filename onto the label.
The last file is always called "END" and clicking on
this takes you back to the pulldown menus. You can
also end this phase by pressing either the left or
right cursor.
Add Name...
If the names on the directory are not quite what you
want on the label, this option will allow you to
input a 10 character name of your own, and put it on
the label.
Add Title..
Alows you to change the disc name, which always
defaults to "SAM DISC".
Printout..
This clears the screen, and puts your label at the top
left. It now dumps it to a your printer, as a disc
sized label.
The program as it stands is set up for an Amstrad 2000
DMP so it should work with most Epsom compatibles.
The XVARS in line 1 of the program control how wide
and how deep the dump goes,and these could be changed
if needed. Refer to the back of your Masterbasic
manual for details.
* * * BORDER * * *
This gives you the choice of five different borders for your
label. Simply click on the border of your choice and it will
appear. This can be done at anytime, and does not affect any
label being worked upon.
* * * EXTRAS * * *
Fonts...
Clicking on this will bring up an icon with which you
can select one of 19 fonts in memory. Use the left/right
cursors to change the font used on your label. The label
is updated straight away for you to see how it looks.
The rest of the screen will stay in the normal font and
is not affected by font selection.
Sam Font..
This will default back to the standard Sam font for
your label.
Left TXT..
Clicking on this option will take all your label
entries to the left of the label.
Right TXT..
Clicking on this takes all entries to the right of the
label.
Center TXT..
Clicking on this will center each entry on the
label.
Nos On/Off.
Note that this option only works if the text is to
the left of the label, and will have no effect
otherwise...
The option numbers your entries on the left of the
entry in consecutive order.
Clicking on the option a second time cancels the
numbers.
----------------------------------------------------------------
AUTODATE
by Colin Rout
When Autodate is loaded you will be asked to input Today's date.
This should be entered as six digits without any spaces, dashes
or any other signs generally used in a date.
When you have entered these you will be asked "Is this correct
(Y/N)?" If you use the former of these options the date will be
inserted and the program will then go on to the directory. If
you use the latter you will be able to insert a new date.
You will also be asked "Do you wish to check the date's
validity?"(C). If you press C you can then enter first the day
(two digits) then the month (one or two digits) and finally the
year (four digits), and then the program will confirm the day of
the week of the date in question.
You will be given the opportunity to change the date if it is
incorrect otherwise it takes you to the directory.
This program can be saved by GO TO 150.
It can only be used if you have MasterDos.
----------------------------------------------------------------
SAMSCRATCH AMENDMENT FOR
CITIZEN 120-D OWNERS
BY COLIN ROUT
I have been experimenting with the printing of Samscratch to
enable me to use all the different configurations available for
my printer, a Citizen 120-D. I have amended the print routine to
work with it and to provide most of the available options.
My thanks go to Dave Hall who very kindly pointed me in the
right direction to get me started.
I started by amending the DEF PROC print_set lines 5090 - 5180
by deleting the items that did not apply and replacing with
commands that I needed. I LLISTed the relevant lines to make it
easier and worked with a pencil to start with, I was told that
this is the best way.
I found that I needed to put in more options than there were
originally displayed so I had to re-arrange the screen layout.
I then amended lines 5190 - 5370 deleting codes not applicable
to the Citizen 120-D and adding any necessary ones, although a
good many codes seem to be fairly universal.
I have included the options that I use regularly and some that I
use occasionally. There are still a few that I left out but I
don't use them very often. I have inserted a new option on the
Print Menu, a facility to return to the Main Menu. I
occasionally find that when I need to print just a small part of
the text that I have forgotten to obtain the line numbers and
this gives the opportunity to return to check. I have RENUMbered
from line 5090 so this DEF PROC now goes to line 5420.
As I use single sheets of paper with my printer at present, I do
not need lines 3245 and 3251 part of 3200 - 3257 DEF PROC
printer. These lines are used for paging and form feed the paper
after printing. Instead of deleting the lines, I have just
inserted a REM after the line number so that the program ignores
them for now but they will still be available when I need them.
My instructions may be too simplified for some members but I
often think that people who know what they are talking about in
reference to computers and programming often leave out
information that is important to beginners and improvers.
I enclose a listing of the amended part of the program. I hope
this is of some help to other members with a Citizen 120-D or
anyone else whose printer is different.
Once you have made your amendments and have saved your amended
program ( Press CNTRL and S ) and created your masterpiece then
Read On.
##### ***** #####
When the PRINT Menu is displayed you have a choice of several
styles of print as follows :-
1. Draft 2. NLQ 3. Pica 4. Elite 5. Proportional
6. Compressed 7. Emphasised 8. Doublestrike 9. Expanded
A. Italics B. Underlined C. Vertically Enlarged D. Graphics
E. Reverse Print F. Pound Sign G. Hash Sign
Once a style of print has been selected it will remain in that
mode unless 'R' for RESET is selected first or alternatively the
printer is switched off.
There are a few things to be considered before printing.
If you wish to print a pound sign you must use '#'(hash) in the
text, and then select 'F' first in the Print Menu.
Note :- You cannot print '£' (pound) & '#' (hash) signs at one
printing.
If you are using the Graphics facility select 'D' next.
If using underlining everything is underlined including spaces.
If you want to underline one word or one sentence you could
print that separately.
When using Expanded you must consider that the letters are
printed double the width and you will only get half the amount
of words across the page.
This is another case of printing a line separately.
You must also leave a blank line above the line you wish to
print as the program will not allow the start and finish line to
be the same.
Note : If using Samscratch 85 compressed (6) must always be
selected.
##############
I think that I have just about covered everything but if
something goes wrong and you have a problem, if I can help I
will. Send all complaints to the address on my letter or ring
and bend my ear.
----------------------------------------------------------------
BRIDGE DEAL by Ettrick Thomson
The real-life operations of shuffling, dealing, and sorting
within hands, are done by one equivalent operation using a
technique that may be applicable elsewhere. The "pack", formed
in z$ at Line 330, represents the cards in "bridge" order, ie
A,Spades; K,Spades;..,2,Spades; A,Hearts;..;2,Clubs. The hands
are selected by going through the cards left in the pack, in
order, and selecting or rejecting each card. The loop LL170-190
does this; c indicates the card inspected, n the number of cards
still to be chosen in the hand, and m the number of cards still
to be inspected, in the working copy of the pack in p$, for the
hand being dealt with. For the 1st hand, we start off with
c=1,n=13,m=52; for the other hands, c=1,n=13, but m is 39,26,13.
Each card inspected is chosen with probability n/m, which gives
equal probability to all the sets of hands that might be chosen.
If a card is rejected, then (L170), m is decremented, c is
adjusted to indicate the next card, and n is unchanged; if
selected, it is printed, then L220 decrements m, withdraws the
card from p$ (which means that c does not have to change to
indicate the next card), and n is decremented by the NEXT n of
L230.
Serious readers might want hard copy: DUMP would provide, except
for the UDGs providing the suit symbols. So L205 gives an
alternative to L200, and L335 to L330, replacing the suit
symbols by S,H,D,C.
----------------------------------------------------------------
CASHFILER by Phil Seddon
This is an update of a program by Phil in a previous issue of
the mag. It is very easy to use and you now have no excuse for
your bank balance getting into a mess.
----------------------------------------------------------------
'OLE HOUSE by Tim Wells
This is a good rendition of Shakin Stevens hit THIS OLE HOUSE,
using the Sound Machine. As before, the file is cut to save disc
space, so follow the instruction to get a full Sound machine
file.
----------------------------------------------------------------
14 OUT by D.A.Lorner
Another neaat little card game from Mr. Lorner. So eay and yet
so frustrating. Full instructions included.
----------------------------------------------------------------
MASTERSCRATCH by Dave Hall
An updated version of Samscratch, using Masterdos and 512k
memory. Full instructions are in "READ.ME" file.
----------------------------------------------------------------
SABATEUR MAPS by Bob Evans
A truly gigantic map of the game SABATEUR. Each screen is
actually several maps. There is even a map on how to put them
all together.
----------------------------------------------------------------
SKITTLES by Ian West
A nice little game showing what can be done with just a small
amout of BASIC knowledge.
----------------------------------------------------------------
GM SOUNDS by Andy Wright
A set of PROCS which allow you to use sounds from GAMES MASTER
in your own programs.
NEW INDEX
This is a temporary index to replace the original, which is
still being worked on. There is a complete code block of all
issues up to 24.
----------------------------------------------------------------
TIME PROCS by M.Nicholas
These allow you to read the time and date into a string, for use
within a proram.
----------------------------------------------------------------
MAP GAME by D.Hall
Test your knowledge of English places with this geographical
game.
----------------------------------------------------------------
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