Part 2 To: 999 (all members)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Text compressor
In the last issue I asked Chris if
he'd like a text compressor for the
magazine. Here it is!
The compression routines themselves
were written by Andrew Black in 1991
as part of a PD archiver. I extracted
the relevant bits and added the menu
and other bits.
When you run the program you will be
asked whether you wish you compress or
decompress a text (ASCII/Teletext)
file. The current directory is then
catalogued, you will then be prompted
for the name of the file to load and
what the processed file should be saved
as.
The file is then compressed or
decompressed as required. A reduction
in size of 30%-40% is usually achieved.
The current version can only compress
ASCII files at present. If you try to
compress a different type of file you
will probably get an error.
Future versions might be able to
compress all types of file.
To: 999 (all members)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Bad Program Repair
'BPrgFix' is a neat little program
which can be used for repairing
corrupted BASIC programs.
To use the program, your corrupted
program should be loaded.
Enter:
MODE 7
PAGE=&7000
CHAIN"BPrgFix"
This loads the program into an area of
memory that is hopefully out of the
way of your program.
You are asked to enter the PAGE value
of the corrupted program, on a Master
this is normally E00 (1900 on a BBC
with DFS or 1D00 if you also have
ADFS, 800 if you are using a second
processor or 10000 when using BAS128!)
The program then attempts to restore
your program. When the program
finishes, PAGE is set to the start of
the program and you should be ready to
SAVE your repaired program.
To: 999 (all members)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Formatting BASIC listings
No, this isn't another programming
article. But it is a great little
program (originally a 1 liner) which
you can use to help make reading BASIC
programs easier.
This program works by intercepting
OSWRCH (Operating System WRite
CHaracter) and each time a ':' is
printed the cursor is moved to the
start of the next line.
This helps to visually split-up
multi-line statements in a BASIC
program.
When you run the program, the machine
code is assembled and you are asked if
you want to either run the code or
save it to disc.
The program is disabled by pressing
Break.
To: 999 (all members)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Converting View files
Although View is a popular
wordprocessor there are many people
who do not own it. For these people it
can be very difficult to read some
text produced in View on another
wordprocessor.
This program works by removing all
formatting and highlighting commands
embedded in the text. Leaving you with
an ASCII representation of the text
which can be loaded into Wordwise or
*Typed.
When you run the program you will be
asked to enter the filename of the
View file to load and the name of the
file which the converted text will be
saved as.
As the text is processed in memory you
could use the same filename to save
the text as.
To: 999 (all members)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Random Words
This odd utility can be used for
generating random words using a
formula which generally produces words
which are pronounceable. (The question
is if you have to be drunk at the
time...)
If Superior's Speech! program has been
loaded the program can attempt to say
each of the words it produces.
This utility is ideal for parties and
making up names for stories...
To: 999 (all members)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Starship Traveller
This program is very similar to one
that appeared a few issues ago... This
isn't a rip-off but is instead a
one line game that I wrote several
years ago (when tapes were still
fashionable, well, not THAT long ago
but you should get the idea!)
The program uses up the maximum line
length available in BBC BASIC.
You must navigate through a field of
stars. Hold SPACE to move up and
release SPACE to move down.
You must enter the gap at the other
end of the screen.
On each level the number of stars
increases. What is the highest level
you can complete?
I hope that people will list the
program and try and figure out how it
works (and why it works!).
You might want to load the 'FormBas'
utility first as it will make reading
the program a lot easier.
To: 999 (all members)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: ELIZA
This program is based on the famous
psychology program called ELIZA.
I wrote this in 1992 and have since
lost my notes so I cannot tell you
much about the history of ELIZA.
You can have some surprising
conversations with this implementation
and some quite funny ones as well!
Good Luck!
To: 999 (all members)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Starship Traveller Cheats
If you would like to add a life
counter to the game enter the
following, L% is the number of lives:
45L%=3
55L%=L%-1:IF L%=0 CLS:PRINT"Game
Over..." ELSE L=L-1:GOTO10
When you lose a life you will return
to the start of the level you died on.
Alternatively, for infinite lives enter
this instead.
60L=L-1:GOTO10
It is essential that you use GOTO10
instead of RUN, otherwise the game
will not work properly. (Try it and
see!)
To: 999 (all members)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: New BBC screen modes
It is possible to have more than the
usual eight screen modes on the BBC.
This program assembles short machine
code routines to select these extra
modes.
When you run the program you will be
asked which mode you want to assemble
the code for, you can enter any number
from 0 to 10.
Modes 0 to 7 correspond the the normal
BBC screen modes and modes 8 to 10 are
as follows.
Mode Text Graphics Colours Memory
8 10*32 80*256 16 10k
9 20*25 None 4 8k
10 10*25 None 16 8k
You are asked if you would like to
save the code that generates the mode
or to run the code.
If you are using these modes in Basic
programs you should first select Mode
5 (when using mode 8) or Mode 6 (when
using Modes 9 and 10). This is to
ensure that HIMEM is properly set.
PRESS SPACE