Edited by
C.J.Richardson.
Welcome to 8BS issue 25. The format of
issue 25 is exactly the same as it was
in issue 23. You will find that the
huge majority of the articles are in
teletext format, and, as before, you
can read these articles in an 80 column
mode if you really need to by using the
converter.
You can also print out any of the text
files. To read a teletext article type
the 3 digit code number and press
RETURN.
To read a teletext article in mode 0
enter the letter A followed by the
three digit code. To print out an
article, enter the letter P followed by
the article code. The codes required
are summarised in the menu.
A new addition to the menu is something
which allows you to use keys other than
the cursor keys to scroll up and down
the text.
Instead of preceding the item code with
an "A" or "P", put the letter "C". For
instance enter C105. Then simply press
the up key followed by the down key.
Hey presto, the teletext file can now
be read with the keys you selected!
An addition to the teletext converter
7to3 is a marked printout. Respond to
the question MARKED PRINTOUT? with "N"
and the whole file will be printed.
Respond with a "Y" and then enter the
phrase that you want the text to be
printed out from. For example, if you
want to print out just the instructions
for the program DBASE in this file
enter:
From the main menu A101 (or P101)
Reply Y to the question
Enter Versatile Database
The file will then be printed out
from the first occurence of the
phrase you enter.
I have attempted to make program
documentation more easily understood.
To see what is on offer, just whizz
down this article.
stop, read the text in yellow which
tells you:
1. Who wrote (or sent in) the program.
2. What the program is for.
3. What the filename of the program is.
4. The names of any other files that
are associated with the main program
, eg. data files.
5. The language that the program uses.
There then follows a brief description
of the program.
Finally, the instructions, unless they
are held in a separate file.
is being edited by Daniel
Shimmin. So send off your submissions,
discs and 50p's to:
D.G.Shimmin.
1 Oakwood Drive
Heaton
Bolton
BL1 5EE
The deadline for issue 26 is mid March.
The issue date is the end of March.
Don't forget to vote on the Repton
screens competition.
In two parts. The part you are reading
now is section 1. Select section 2 by
pressing BREAK now. Or type *thi2 from
Basic. When using the mode converter
you will be asked whether you want part
1 or part 2.
I do hope that not too many of you have
seen this excellent article before. I
acquired it only recently and found it
quite amusing. I hope that you find it
entertaining too.
Or where's the dustbin?
By Steven Flintham.
Submitted by K1D.
By: 2J3
Use: Versatile Database
Program name: DBase
Associated program/file/s: Dbdat DBsort
Language: Basic
General info: A database that I wrote for a friend
for his Commodore 64. He wanted to keep
a record of his dives.
There are 11 field headings in the
database. These headings are easily
altered, so you can tailor it to suit
your own needs.
Instructions: From BASIC type *Utilinf
By: 2J3
Use: Test/revision database
Program name: selftes
Associated program/file/s: none
Language: Basic
General info:
I wrote this program at the request of
someone who is new to computers and
wanted to be able to enter a series of
questions and answers into a database
so that she could have the program ask
the questions for revison.
Instructions: FROM BASIC TYPE *UTILINF
By: Miroslaw Bobrowski
Use: List a basic program in memory.
Program name: listbas
Associated program/file/s: none
Language: Basic source for machine code
General info: Prompted by BASREAD in issue 23.
Instructions: CHAIN "LISTBAS". Press f0 to list any
BASIC program you have loaded into
memory. You will find that it doesn't
always print out exactly the same as
typing LIST, as it filters out control
codes, the programming technique is
well worth examining.
Sent in by: 20G
Use: Displaying text
Program name: space
Associated program/file/s: none
Language: Basic
HIT A
KEY
General info: An amusing program giving hints and
tips on how to display text.
One of the procedures inspired me to
write a "one liner" to do a similar
thing. The main 8BS menu contains a one
line PROCedure which is called by
PROCprt("string"). When selecting the
mode converter for "About this issue"
you will be asked whether you want part
one or part two using this method.
Enter A101 from the main menu.
Instructions: The instructions are displayed by the
program itself.
By: Steve Flintham
Use: Menu systems
Program names: DirctC1 to 4
Associated program/file/s: DirctC1 to 4
Language: Basic
General info:
Examples for the magazine article.
Instructions:
To be used in conjunction with the mag.
By: Miroslaw Bobrowski
Use: World time calculator.
Program name: BigBen
Associated program/file/s: None
Language: Basic
Instructions: Contained in the program.
By: 6EE
Use: Read a cut from AMX
Program name: AmxView
Associated program/file/s: C.Arbeit
Language: Basic : AmxText
Instructions: *AmxText For a full description.
z
By: 2J3 z
Use: Tape> Tape/Disc/Adfs z
Program name: Tcopy zzzzzz
Associated program/file/s: none
Language: Basic assembler
General info: Backs tape up to the present filing
system.
Instructions: From Basic type *UTILINF
By: 2J3
Use: Info on ADFS and DFS catalogues.
Program name: Ofcats
Associated program/file/s: none
Language: English
General info:
Inspired by a comment in the messages
section. This is a mag article really
but presented in a basic program as an
experiment.
Instructions:
Read the text, then experiment with the
program
Sent in by: 27N
Use: Various short utilities
Program names: Archives:Utilrc1 Utilrc2
Associated program/file/s: BDARK
Language: Archived BASIC
General info: Two Archives including a large number
of very short but useful utilities.
There is no documentation for any of
these utilities. But most are self
explanatory.
Instructions: Copy BDARK and Utilrc1 onto a blank
disc. Type *BDARK Utilrc1 <RETURN>.
Repeat this procedure with Utilrc2.
There are a large number of files, each
of only a few lines, load each one
separately, read it and run it to see
what it does. Some look quite useful.
Edited by
C.J.Richardson.
Use: Game
Program name: Fall
Associated program/file/s: none
Language: Basic
General info: 2 player game. Get your counters to the
bottom of the grid before your opponent
Instructions:
Contained in the game.
By: Steven Flintham.
Use: Game.
Program name: Joker.
Associated program/file/s: Jokes JokerD
Language: Basic
General info: A large bunch of merry quips, typed in
by the fair hand of Steven. ADFS
Archimedes owners will find a version
of this in directory ARCHI.
Steven is keen to hear from all of you
about this one, he may improve upon it.
I feel it only fair to warn you that
because of the flag system used to keep
a tally of jokes told, the program can
be very slow on the BBC and Master.
So WAIT until the disc drive stops
before getting fed up and !BOOTing up
again. The jokes are worth waiting for.
Instructions: WAIT until the disc drives stops.
It can take several minutes!
Also, see the separate info file JokeD.
Use: Demo
Program name: anim
Associated program/file/s: none
Language: Basic
Use: Demo
Program name: shapes
Associated program/file/s: none
Language: Basic
By: Miroslaw Bobrowski
Use: Demo
Program name: Hexlife
Associated program/file/s: none
Language: Basic assebler for 6502
General info: Miroslaw's version of a basic program
which took 21 minutes to produce 14
generations. This program does it in
2.5 minutes.
By: YJ2
Use: Cosine functions
Program name: Trig1 and Trig2
Associated program/file/s: none
Language: Basic
General info:
A couple of very short programs from
YJ2. A poser here. Easy for some, more
difficult for others. Can anyone fix
Trig2 so that it will print out the
data correctly without having to insert
spaces in the string?
Instructions: The space bar is used in Trig2 to step
through printout.
By: 2J3
Use: Sound samples
Program name: Rhythms 1
Associated program/file/s: RH1RUN RH1
: RH1CO
Language: Basic, Machine code and data
General info: A sample from my latest disc.
Instructions: I have added a new facility to this
sample. Increase or decrease the speed
of playback using < and >. A bar
accross the bottom of the screen gives
an indication as to the speed. Play the
sampled rhythms using Z X C and V. ADFS
users will find more samples in the
ADFS menu.
By: 2J3
Use: Wordsearch
Program name: ws600-2
Associated program/file/s: pr600-2
Language: Basic and data
General info:
Written using the wordsearch generator
from 8BS issue 20. ADFS users will find
another 2 wordsearches in the ADFS
menu.
Instructions:
The program pr600-2 will print out the
file ws600-2. Have your printer at the
ready.