From: D9U (Ray Thomas)
Subject: Lottery check Program
This program was devised to avoid the
weekly chore of checking for winning
lines in the lottery syndicate at my
place of work.
The original version was programmed on
an Electron but is currently running
on a new Master 128 which I purchased
recently.
My initial effort was functional but
pretty boring so I asked my friend Roy
Dickens (20G) to write a Display
Screen.
I think you will agree that Roy has
done a splendid job!
From: D6G (Sprow)
Subject: PROGRAM - SlimDFS
This is another of my "squash it into
a page" utilities which I believe will
be of extreme interest to members.
Using SlimDFS frees up ONE AND A HALF
KILOBYTES of memory,ie.page is
reduced to &1300.Yet the features of
DFS are still available!
To use simply *RUN the program,and it
will install itself in page &C.There,
it checks whether Acorn's DNFS 1.20
chip is present (sorry,it's only
written to work with this DFS) and
will stop if it cannot be found.
However,as the majority of us have
DFS 1.20 it will move the private
workspace (see the Advanced User Guide
for more details of what this is) down
into what is normally used as the
cassette buffer.
Page is then dropped by 1.5k and
that's it.You'll need to restart BASIC
now using *BASIC so that it is
informed of the movement of page,now
typing PRINT ÷PAGE reports 1300.
This is a boon to people writing large
games,and programs,and who don't want
to have to "relocate".There's plenty
of memory now.
Let me know how you get on,
Robert Sprowson.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
For the majority of users this section
can be ignored.
1.Due to limited space,it is assumed
that the DFS chip is installed in the
lowest priority socket.This must be
the case.
2.As the private ws is moved,swapping
between filing systems is possible
EXCEPT for the tape filing system as
it's buffers would overwrite the vital
information stored at &900 to &AFF.
3.The number of files allowed for BGET
and BPUT operations is reduced to
1,and an error "Too many open" will be
flagged if you try to open more.
4.Other than that all the DFS's
functions remain the same.
For further details
SEE www.york.ac.uk/÷rps102/bbc/bbc.htm
for a more formal manual & latest
version
EMAIL rps102@york.ac.uk
WRITE 6 Bollinbrook road,Macc.
8BSmail me - I'm D6G
From: 3WU (Fred Price)
Subject: Geordie Broon
Once more our intrepid Geordie is on
your screen and that poor lad from the
north east has had to leave the pit
due to health reasons and is working
in a new job as hard as usual?,(with
his tongue in his cheek)
So as usual put your paper in the
printer and see how Geordie keeps
abreast of things in his new job when
you bring in. GBSJOB
The most difficult thing about the
Geordie Broon stories is that they're
written in the old Geordie accent. It
makes hard work trying to keep lines
to rhyme, and now and again I have to
alter a word to keep it in context so
how would you the reader like to see
it? In its true and proper form as
spoken by those to whom it is second
nature a letter in the Mag or ring me
on 0191 567 91 35.
FRED
PS they still tark like this yer naar
thave nivvor larnt a thing yit aboot
how to tark reet so be warned but its
still Inglish langwidge yer naar
marra.
Phred Apreece
"SCRABLE" By Derek Hill, E2G,
21st April 1997
"SCRABLE" is a small program to choose
seven random letters for four players
at Scrabble.
These are presented on screen very
simply because so far that is the only
task set. The next step would be to put
them on screen in as attractive a
display as possible, together with a
board, but that is another story.
In a Scrabble bag there are 100 letter
tiles. There are 26 letters in the
alphabet, and one tile which is a blank
(£) making 27. Each has it's own score
in the game. These three ( letters,
numbers of each, and scores ) are read
from DATA into 3 numbered lists for use
by the program.
A procedure ( PROCchoose7 ) is used 4
times to choose 7 random letters from
the bag for the players. It uses a
function to do some of the details in
converting the random number into a
letter.
From: D7Y (Andrew Medworth)
Subject: Password Generator
Documentation
At school we have a number of
independent computer networks of RM
PC-5100 monsters. Each pupil has his
own user name and password . Many
people would just choose their own
name, as they can't be bothered to
remember a more secure password. Even
those who do use a more random
password may not use a totally random
one - they will almost certainly
subconsciously choose a password that
is relevant to them in some way.
But my program helps you choose
truly random passwords for real
security. It's easy to use -
the purple question is the one that
immediately needs answering. If you
choose a password length longer than
39 characters it will be truncated to
39 characters. If you really need a
random string of more than 39 letters
the program will not need much
doctoring.
If you can't remember a password as
random as this then there are some
on-screen tips in the program. But
here's an extra one.
As a password for me, ANDREW would
be useless - it would be the first
thing any unscrupulous person trying
to hack my area would think of. But
if you add in a few numbers to this -
eg AN8DRE3W - or substituted a few
letters for numbers - eg A2DR33 - then
you have a much stronger password, but
a more memorable one.
Happy memorising !!
Andrew Medworth (D7Y)
45 Milton Avenue
Bath
BA2 4QZ
Tel 01225 422892 out of school hours
please!!
From: D2G (Neil Parry)
Subject: Magazine Search
With this disk you will be able to
search through the 8bs Magazine Menus
contained on this disc. At present
these include issues 28 to 55
inclusive. All the issues contained on
this disk are ADFS but these contain
the same information as the DFS
issues. On startup you will be
presented with a menu, I will describe
briefly how to use these and what will
happen. All the time displays that you
will see in this program are approx;
well thats what you get for using
chimpanzees as a basis for time.
Blame Paul for it. I hope you find this
program as useful as I have, I know
it is slow but if you can think of a
way of speeding it up then you are a
better programmer than I am, well let's
face it, that's not going to be too
difficult. Thanks for putting up with
my drivel.
1: Specific Search
This option allows you to search
through the complete database for any
string you wish. The program is not
case sensitive, so you can enter
anything you wish.
2: Title Search
On pressing number 2, the program will
produce a list of all the current
Issues you have on disc.
3: Block Search
On pressing number 3, you will be
presented with another menu.
A:Magazines B:Utilities
C:Games & Demos D:ADFS
E:Articles F:Adverts
G:Program Info H:Messages
When you press the above key the
program will search through and
display the appropriate menu you
requested above.
4: Issue Search
On pressing this key you will be asked
for an Issue Number, the search is
quite quick for a change.
5: Printer (On/Off)
Well I don't really have to explain
this one do I?
6: Add Issue
This is the fun one, very slow but I
am working on it. You first have to
use Mr Harston's menu reader, load this
in, select Output File, give it a name
(I use 8BS), transfer this file to
your Mag Search disk and press 6. You
will be asked for a file name. This is
the one you just saved. After this
point DO NOT PRESS BREAK OR TURN OFF
YOUR MACHINE or your Data file will
become corrupt. The program will do
the rest. If you don't want to do this
Chris has said he will add up to date
versions on the magazine disks.
7: Paged Mode
Select to have the page scroll up or
use the SHIFT key when neccessary.
Criteria This program should work on a BBC or
Master computer. So far it has been
tested on a BBC with DFS and a Master
with ADFS & DFS. If you have a twin
drive and use this in drive 1, make
sure there is a disk of the same
format in drive 0 as the program
checks 0 to see what format to use.
Acknowledgements. Thanks to Johnathan for program
assistance beyond my knowledge and
his menu reader without that this
program would never have existed.
Chris for many a long phone call and
lots of ear bashing from me.
and lastly thanks to John Ripley for
the disk identifier program.