-------------------------------- ** ** ** ----------------------------- -------------------------------- ** ** ** ----------------------------- -------------------------------- ** ** ** ----------------------------- -------------------------------- ** ** ** ----------------------------- ------------------------------- ** ** ** ---------------------------- ----------------------------- *** ** *** -------------------------- ---------------------------- *** ** *** ------------------------- ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE MAGAZINE July 4, 1992 Volume 1, Number 6 Issue #92-06 Published and Copyright (c)1992, Atari Computer Corporation 1972-1992 (20 Years Of Service) Editor - Ron Kovacs Contributing Editor - Ed Krimen Assistant Editor - Bob Smith PD Reviews - Ron Berinstein Atari Corp - Bob Brodie (Director of Communications) | | | TABLE OF CONTENTS | | | ||| THE EDITORS DESK..............................Ron Kovacs What's New! ||| THE Z*NET NEWSWIRE...................................... Latest Atari and Industry News Update ||| ATARI ADVANTAGE EXCLUSIVE............................... Info on the next HOT issue of Atari Advantage! ||| MISSIONWARE CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS.............CompuServe Conference on Flash II ||| LYNX OWNERS UPDATE...........................Robert Jung Reviews from AtariUser Magazine ||| TELECOMMUNICATIONS UPDATE............................... Special rates and information from GEnie! ||| OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING................Zack Urlocker Portfolio Owners Column ||| THE SOFTWARE SHELF........................Ron Berinstein Latest PD software available! | | | THE EDITORS DESK | | | By Ron Kovacs | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- We are now releasing weekly issues! This is Issue #6 and contains a Portfolio folder that accompanies the Portfolio Owners Column in this edition. This week marks the 8th anniversary of the Tramiel family ownership of Atari Corporation and the 20th anniversary of the original Corporation started by Nolan Bushnell. Sam Tramiel addressed company employees this week at the annual company held picinic outside Atari headquarters. Atari Advantage Magazine will have an exclusive article and interview with Bill Rehbock about the new Atari Falcon computer. Atari reviewed the article this week and we are told that it is something EVERYONE should read as it goes into great detail. Subscription information along with more on the Falcom story appears in this weeks edition. Lastly, I would like to welcome Bob Smith of Orlando Florida to the staff of Atari Explorer Online. Bob has over 10 years expirence with Atari computers and will be writing articles for Z*Magazine and Atari Explorer Online. Look for his first article next week. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend. | | | Z*NET NEWSWIRE - INDUSTRY UPDATE | | | From Z*Net News Service | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- ATARI DEVELOPER CONFERENCE HELD Last weekend Atari held a developer conference in London with over 120 developers in attendance on June 27th. Attendance at the confernce was by invitation only which included staff from Atari Sunnyvale including Sam Tramiel, Bill Rehbock and John Skruch. In addition to the Atari personal, a few experts where brought along to discuss features of the Falcon and specific information on programming the DSP. Reactions from the intense one day affair were positive and widly enthusiastic. While some at this event were not Atari developers, the features of the new machine captured the imaginations of all. NAGY MIFFED ATARI MUM Last week Issue #826 of ST-Report contained defamitory information about AtariUser Editor in Chief John Nagy and Atari Corp.. Nagy called the editor of the publication to complain and request removal of the issue from all the distribution services, later a new issue was released minus the offending comments. The file however generated over 355 downloads on GEnie alone before the replacement was uploaded. Nagy was pleased with the action taken, however, officials at Atari Corp had no comment on the matter. NACO TO ANNOUNCE JOINT PROJECT At a news conference next week, the National Association of Counties (NACo) and IBM will announce an agreement promoting a new methodology for use by county governments. The methodology was originally developed by IBM Corporation to enhance decision-making and organizational planning at IBM and other companies within the private sector. Adapted to the public domain, the process, called Strategic Choices for Local Government Leaders, will assist counties in establishing shared visions and priorities through consensus and in making critically important choices and tradeoffs as they implement them successfully. SPA SETTLES ACTION The Software Publishers Association and Consolidated Micro Services announced the settlement of a copyright infringement suit brought against Los Angeles area computer dealer Consolidated Micro Services and its owner, Gary Johnson, by SPA members Fifth Generation Systems, Lotus, Microsoft, Novell, and WordPerfect. As part of the settlement of the suit, CMS agreed to make a contribution to SPA's Copyright Protection Fund and to distribute a policy against unauthorized copying or distribution of software to all CMS employees. Since 1988, the Software Publishers Association has filed over 150 lawsuits on behalf of its members and obtained numerous search and seizure orders against businesses, computer dealers, bulletin board services, and educational institutions that have violated its members' copyrights. The SPA's anti-piracy hotline, 1-800-388-7478, accepts calls reporting software violations. PC/TELEVISION SHIPS 50/50 Micro Electronics announced this week Wednesday that its PC/ TELEVISION" product is now shipping. PCT is a new add-on board for IBM-compatible computers that incorporates a 119 channel tuner capable of handling VHF, UHF and cable TV frequencies. Standard cable TV coaxial cable can be connected directly to the card as well as an external TV antenna. Other input devices can include a VCR, laser disc player, a video camera or an internal private broadcast TV cable. The product is compatible with all IBM XT/AT (286/386/486) style computers and runs under MS-DOS 3.1 or higher. MULTIMEDIA NOW AVAILABLE IBM has announced the availability of Multimedia Presentation Manager/2 (MMPM/2), a set of extensions to the 32-bit OS/2 2.0 environment, providing an architected platform for applications to incorporate sound, graphics, video and images through the use of an easy-to-program, high- level interface. ADOBE ACQUIRES OCR Adobe announced the acquisition of OCR Systems, developer and marketer of optical character recognition systems for DOS and Windows-based, and Macintosh computers, and provides leading edge technology for recognizing hand print for pen-based computers and forms processing. Adobe will continue to support current OCR Systems products and existing customer obligations. OCR Systems and NTI operations and continuing employees will be moved to Adobe's Mountain View headquarters facilities. MAXTOR INTRODUCES NEW PRODUCT Maxtor has introduced the MXT-340, an inch-high drive with 340-megabytes of formatted storage capacity. The MXT-340 uses the same components and features the same fast seek times and data transfer rates as its parent drives, the inch-high MXT-540 and the full-height MXT-1240, which provide 540MB and 1.2 gigabytes of formatted storage capacity, respectively. MICROSOFT ENDS LICENSE Z-NIX Microsoft terminated its licensing agreement with Z-Nix Computer and brought suit against Z-Nix and three of its distributors. The lawsuit follows a two-month Microsoft investigation revealing distribution of tens, and possibly hundreds of thousands, of copies of Microsoft Windows 3.1 software manufactured by Z-Nix and sold stand-alone (without Z-Nix hardware). Microsoft sued the company for copyright and trademark infringement, as well as breach of License Agreement. ATARI WITHDRAWALS APPEAL Nintendo and Atari Corp. announced that Atari has withdrawn its appeal of a jury verdict and judgment in favor of Nintendo in Atari's antitrust case against Nintendo, which was recently tried in Federal Court in San Francisco. Nintendo will not proceed with its request to recover certain court costs from Atari. | | | ATARI ADVANTAGE TO INCLUDE EXCLUSIVE FALCON COVERAGE | | | Special Announcement | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | o | ATARI ADVANTAGE ANNOUNCES COMPLETE FALCON COVERAGE! | o | | | """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" | | | o | ATARI ADVANTAGE is proud to announce the first North | o | | | American hands-on preview of Atari's hot | | | o | new '030 computer -- THE FALCON. | o | | | | | | o | Complete Falcon coverage in the June/July issue of ATARI | o | | | ADVANTAGE features over 10 devoted pages, including | | | o | uncensored, up-close photographs that give you the first | o | | | look at Atari's new entry level marvel. | | | o | | o | | | Detailed explanations on Digital Signal Processing, video | | | o | capabilities, and many other Falcon facets take you into | o | | | the architecture and clarify all rumors. We will also | | | o | unravel the mystery of true color, stereo digital sound, | o | | | how RAM sizes work, and other Falcon features which has | | | o | everyone else guessing. | o | | | | | | o | Don't have a subscription yet? If you'd like to get your | o | | | hands on this issue before it has sold out, you can do so | | | o | by purchasing the June/July of ATARI ADVANTAGE from your | o | | | local dealer or directly from us. To reserve your | | | o | personal copy, please fill out the form below. | o | | | | | | o | Order your subscription today so you can be assured of | o | | | getting this issue (which is sure to be a collector's | | | o | edition) and future exciting issues covering the latest | o | | | developments in the world of Atari. | | | o | | o | - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SUBSCRIPTION "2 FER" SPECIAL """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Yet another way to take ADVANTAGE of us! Find a friend and the two of you can subscribe for $15 each! Don't have any friends? $30 will buy a two year subscription. It's hard to lose either way! Like all great offers, this one is good for only a limited time! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Sorry, we can't take telephone orders for a subscription at this low price. Just print, clip and mail or E-Mail the following form: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - All subscriptions submitted with this form will begin with the June/July issue which includes the Falcon coverage. ( ) YES! I want to take ADVANTAGE of the 2 fer offer. Please begin two, one year subscriptions for me and my pal for $15 each. ** ( ) YES! I want to take ADVANTAGE of the 2 fer offer, but I want to keep the savings to myself. Please enter my two year subscription for $30. ** ( ) YES! Sign me up for a one year subscription at the regular price of $22. ** ( ) YES! Please send me the June/July issue with complete Falcon coverage. I have enclosed $4 which includes postage and handling. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ** In Canada and Mexico add $6 per year for postage; outside the U.S., Canada and Mexico add $10 per year for postage. Subscriptions payable in U.S. funds. ( ) Check or money order enclosed ( ) Bill Me - Subs only ( ) Charge my: ( ) VISA ( ) Master Card Card # _______________________________________________ Signature _______________________________ Date _______________ (Signature required for processing all billed and V/MC orders) Name ____________________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip ________________________________________________ Phone _____________________________ CIS920630 Please make checks or money order payable to ATARI ADVANTAGE Magazine. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ATARI ADVANTAGE Magazine PO Box 803 Merlin, OR 97532 (503) 476-3578 CompuServe: 70007,3615 GEnie: AT-VANTAGE PDN: ADVAN2 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// | | | MISSIONWARE CONFERENCE HIGLIGHTS | | | From CompuServe | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- Pattie) Tonight, we have as guest speaker John Trautschold of MissionWare Software. John's company brings us FLASH II, the long- awaited sequel to Antic's popular telecommunications package. First off, John, would you like to share any opening comments? Pattie) What made you decide to market Flash II? John Trautschold) The opportunity came up to pick up the program from Antic. They were originally going to market Flash II from SunSoft Systems. When Antic went under, we moved in and bought the rights to the program. Missionware Software needed something big and this was it! Terrence M. Miller) There has been talk about Flash II supporting Shadow transfer protocol. Comments? John Trautschold) Flash II doesn't support Shadow, however, it includes its own background transfer program called Silent Line. Terrence M. Miller) What form of protocols does Silent Line support and does it use the "ramdisk" method that Shadow utilizes? John Trautschold) Yes, Silent Line is a type of RAMdisk...it's reset proof so it should maintain any files in the system if the system crashes or is reset. Right now, SL supports Xmodem, Ymodem, Modem7, WXmodem and SEAlink. It'll eventually support Zmodem and (hopefully) CIS B as well. Bill @ AIM) If I'm a fence sitter currently using some other package (Flash, Interlink, STalker, etc.), what specific features does Flash II have that could lure me into getting off the fence? John Trautschold) ooohhhh...big question. Let me try to answer in general terms and then let you all ask any specifics. First of all, Flash II fully supports Vidtex here on CIS as well as the B transfer protocol. Additionally, we support VT100, 101, 102, 2 and 300 emulations. Online GIF and RLE viewing is also possible (87a GIF only for now). All popular protocols are built in, as just mentioned earlier for the Silent Line question. Unlike Flash I, you can now "point and click" all of your setup paramemters for each board you call. You don't need to create a DO script for that purpose anymore (although you still can if you want). We now support a total of 30 online function key macros...20 are individually set for *each* board, the other 10 are global. I've probably forgot a bunch, but let's leave it at that for now... Bill @ AIM) The DO file capabilities of Flash II are compatible with the old Flash...are all the old commands still implemented? They do the exact same things? John Trautschold) Yes, all old commands are still implemented. We have found, unfortunately after the first release, of some incompatibilities. We've now got Al Fasoldt on board as a beta tester. Al's rather famous for his extensive notes on DO scripts, and he's helping us find problems. We've also added some new script commands for the added features in Flash II. john barnes) Is Flash II MultiTOS aware? John Trautschold) Well, let's say we're working on becoming MultiTOS compatible. Currently we are not, but we should be by the time Atari releases MT. john barnes) What about Kermit support for mainframe users? John Trautschold) oops...yea, I forgot (see, I told you) to mention that Kermit is also supported. RobH) Back to protocols, I'm afraid. Will or does Flash II support the CIS B+ protocol. I want those resumable d/l's on my Atari. John Trautschold) Yes, Flash II fully supports CIS B+ and B. Pattie) When will Flash II be available? I understand it's being upgraded? John Trautschold) Flash II is available right now. We're working on a maintenance upgrade which will be made available to all current owners. It's not quite ready yet...I'm hoping it'll be done in a month or so. It'll be shipped to all registered owners for free. Terrence M. Miller) What is the suggested retail on Flash II? And why should the added protocols entice me from some excellent(cheaper!) shareware? John Trautschold) The suggested retail is $49.95. We're also upgrading from older versions of Flash for $29.95 (plus $4 shipping and handling). As far as why to upgrade to Flash? Well, it depends on your needs. There are some good shareware programs out there. In addition to the added protocols, we've also got much more support for terminal emulations, and will be adding more later. We've also got support for ANSI emulation and support the IBM graphics character set. Again, it all depends on what you are happy with and what your needs are. Terrence M. Miller) FULL ANSI emulation? John Trautschold) As far as well can tell, yes! I regularly dial in to one ANSI board that uses a lot of graphics, and it works great (with a caveat I'll explain later) and we also have a beta tester who's been testing ANSI games and is quite happy with the results. Now, the caveat. We've got a bug we're working on the TT *only* that munges up the lower half of the IBM graphics set. Paul is working on that and should have it fixed shortly. There are no problems on an ST though in either color or mono. john barnes) Are there any enhancements in the typeahead and editing areas? Does it support the Clipboard using, for example, STeno? John Trautschold) Typeahead first...We now support a separate pseudo typeahead 3-line window. We currently do *not* have a TA history buffer, but we'll get that in eventually. The TA also has limited (replace only) editing capabilities (I'm using it now). We don't currently support the Clipboard protocol, but it's on our to-do list and will be included in a future upgrade. The editor has a lot of enhancements, such as better cursor control, the ability to separately edit line feed and carriage return characters, and the ability to either display or turn off the control characters separately from the CRs. Added cursor controls include control cursor functions for moving a word at a time or to move the cursor to the top of the window or the bottom; shift cursor functions for page scrolling, home to move the cursor home, or shift home to move the cursor to the end of the buffer. We also support more block functions such as cut and paste and copy and move functions. john barnes) How well does three-line TA work for conferencing? John Trautschold) Well, I'm using it now and it works great! I can pre- edit my message and send the whole buffer at once! john barnes) Finally, will you support an X-Windows server soon :-)? John Trautschold) Uh.... Ron Hunt) John, what do I need to do to upgrade my old (1.52) version of Flash? John Trautschold) All you need to do, Ron, is send in your old Flash 1.52 master disk, along with a check for $34.00 (or $33.95 if you prefer). You'll get your old disk back, along with an entirely new Flash II package, including a 226 page manual, etc. BTW, for those of you interested, the address for upgrades and orders is Missionware Software, 354 N. Winston Drive, Palatine, IL 60067-4132...or call 708-359-9565. We take checks, Visa & MC. Brian Amundsen) John your new program sounds really nice. Will my 1.6 script files import and be used by the new version? John Trautschold) Well Brian, they should, however, as I mentioned earlier, we've found some incompatibilities, especially in the area of the use of double and single quotes for strings, '|' conversions to CRs, etc. We're working on fixing those problems. You may have to make some modifications to get your current scripts to work. If in doubt, you could email me a script and I could check it out ahead of time for you. Brian Amundsen) If my master disk was Version 1.12 but updated from CIS downloads what will be my upgrade costs? John Trautschold) No problem...as long as you've got a master disk. The upgrade is still $30 plus the $4 s&h. Bill @ AIM) John...what shows will Missionware be attending in the "near term" and do you do upgrades at the shows for people who bring in their old Flash master disks? John Trautschold) Right now we'll be at Milwaukee this Sunday and in Indianapolis in July. We're also making plans for Glendale, although that's not firmed up yet. Yes, we do upgrades at the shows as well, but of course you don't have to pay s&h there! :-) Upgrades at shows are the same as by the mail...you get an entirely new package...I just need to see and mark your old disk. Bob Cummins) OK, will there be any converter for dial directories? John Trautschold) No, at the present time there is no plan to convert the old dial.dir file into a flash2.lst file. The differences between the two are so many, it would be quite difficult to do. Pattie) Before we close up, John, can you tell us about the other products MissionWare has? John Trautschold) Yes, Missionware Software has two other products. One is called lottODDS and is a lottery game playing program. The other is a printer text driver utility program called Printer Initializer. Ron Hunt) John> a quick question about GIF...how do you implement it in medium resolution? 4 colors? Also, does the GIF option work in monochrome and if so do you use dithering? John Trautschold) Ron...yes, 4 colors on the ST but a full 16 on the TT. No dithering Ron...at least not yet. GIF does work in monochrome but it takes the lighter colors and makes them white and the darker colors and makes them black! :-) Pattie) John, how are the sales of Flash II doing? I understand that Antic was proud of the number of Flash packages out in the market over time. John Trautschold) Pattie...sales have been pretty good! I think they'll pick up even more when we start heavy advertising later, in conjunction with the upgrade. | | | LYNX OWNERS UPDATE | | | AtariUser Reviews | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following article is reprinted in Atari Explorer Online by permission of AtariUser magazine. It MAY NOT be further reprinted without specific permission of AtariUser. AtariUser is a monthly Atari magazine, available by subscription by calling (818) 332-0372. Awesome Golf (Lynx) Forget those 5:00 AM tee-offs. With AWESOME GOLF, you can now play the links on the Lynx. This is a full featured golf game, allowing you to play on one of three courses. Each hole features an overhead map where you survey the course and aim your shot. You pick your club from a bag of 14, then take your best stroke, done with a power bar using three button presses: one to start the swing, a second to set the strength, and a third to determine hooks, slices, and fades. To round things out, hints are available to beginners, and a driving range reports useful statistics. AWESOME GOLF plays golf with detailed realism. Each club's range, usage, and effect on the ball are accurately duplicated, and the texture and properties of the terrain and green are crucial factors. Games can be for either 9 or 18 holes, feature three levels of wind, and handicapping of individual players. You can even select the clothing, race and sex of your player, and women golfers are allowed to tee off closer to the hole. The only flaw is the multiplayer option (up to four); the ComLynx option is almost pointless, as it would have been easier to allow multiple golfers to play on one Lynx. Graphics on AWESOME GOLF are highly detailed and smoothly animated. Swings are seen from behind your player, while the ball's flight is viewed from overhead. Still images highlight events such as bogeys, penalties, and birdies. The voice of your caddie is occasionally heard, making remarks, congratulating strokes, and laughing at blunders. This is a very good golf game, capturing the details of the sport with enough features to enhance its appeal. AWESOME GOLF should not be missed. Atari Corp., $29.95. - Robert Jung Tournament Cyberball (Lynx) Welcome to the 21st century, where robots play in sports too deadly for humans. This is TOURNAMENT CYBERBALL, the futuristic game based on American football--to a point. The ball heats up during play, so the offense must carry the ball far enough to cool it down, else face an explosion. Smart coaches save game funds to replace the basic robot players with enhanced models at any time during play. Up to four can play TOURNAMENT CYBERBALL, against each other or one of four computer coaches. On field, each player controls a robot, making the passes and blitzes needed to win. But once play begins, weaknesses appear in this arcade conversion. There is no difference in ability or in plays among the six available teams. Handoffs are unpredictable, reducing the value of running plays, and opposing passes are difficult to intercept. Robots never suffer any damage, and the "turbo defense" option has been removed. The game pace is too fast in some spots and very sluggish in others. Additional flaws are largely shortcomings of the Lynx conversion, a loss only by comparison to the arcade version. While a player unfamiliar with the original may be interested, the legion of arcade TOURNAMENT CYBERBALL fans should avoid this title. Atari Corp., $39.95. - Robert Jung XYBOTS (Lynx) The robots are at it again. EarthBase 26-B has been overrun by alien Xybots, and now you must infiltrate the station, battle the enemy, and stop the takeover. XYBOTS is an adaptation of the Atari Games arcade title, where one or two players explore a space station from a first- person perspective. This is a respectable conversion that retains all the features of the original. You wander through each level's maze, grabbing coins and keys, while fighting Xybots with unlimited shots or an energy-draining zap. Reach the exit, and you can buy more equipment before going to deeper levels with more surprises and dangers. The game is easier than the coin-op--the robots aren't too bright and you start off well-armed. Experienced players can use Warp Exits to travel to higher stages quicker. About every tenth level is a fight with a Master Xybot, but the main game is maze-running and robot- blasting. The Lynx graphics are almost identical to the arcade. The stations are sparse, but your fighter, Xybots, and other items are animated and detailed. A minor gripe is that rotating the view is done in harsh 90- degree increments, which can be disorienting. Sounds effects are copied closely, and although the mechanical voices have been removed, in their place are several techno-rock background tunes. While the difficulty has been scaled back from the arcade version, XYBOTS on the Lynx offers enough of a challenge to keep the typical player back for more. Atari Corp., $39.95. - Robert Jung | | | TELECOMMUNICATIONS UPDATE | | | Special GEnie News! | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- Whether you're a serious business user seeking research tools and software to help you do your job, or just one of those people who simply can't get enough of a good thing, GEnie's "Hot Summer Days" sale is for you! From June 15 to September 7, GEnie's prime time hourly connect charge is being reduced from $18.00 per hour to $12.50 per hour; in Canada the reduction is from $25.00 to $16.00 per hour. That's savings of over 30%! And it makes GEnie Services rates most competitive with CompuServe's -- 24 hours a day. (Note: GEnie*Basic pricing is NOT applicable during prime time hours. Reduced prime time rates are in effect in the United States and Canada only, and apply at speeds up to 2400 bps.) If you're looking for software, GEnie has over 100,000 downloadable files of shareware, freeware and demoware covering the spectrum from business utilities and productivity tools, to graphics and fonts, and education and games. Software is available for virtually all personal computing platforms. GEnie also features online support from many hardware and software vendors. GE Mail is also included in the sale, with the same lower connect charges in effect. And when it comes to fun, don't forget GEnie's industry-leading selection of Multi-player Games! The lower daytime rates mean more competitive action in such hits as Kesmai's award-winning Air Warrior, the all-new MultiPlayer Battletech, Dragon's Gate, Federation II and Gemstone III. For the business user, or serious researcher, GEnie's new gateway to Advanced Research Technologies' ARTIST system provides an intelligent interface to databases provided by Dialog Information Services, Inc. The first three offerings are: GEnie Reference Center (keyword REFCENTER), with reference information on subjects such as business management and directories, industry news, the environment, computers, engineering, the sciences and world events. GEnie NewsStand (keyword NEWSSTAND), with access to more than 900 full- text publications, including 12 major newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post, plus hundreds of popular magazines and industry newsletters from 1980 to the present. GEnie BookShelf (keyword BOOKSHELF), which accesses the electronic version of R.R. Bowker's "Books in Print" directory of more than 1,000,000 titles and more than 40,000 book reviews. GEnie and ART will continue developing and providing new business- related services. Watch for their introduction coming soon. GEnie also offers access to: Dow Jones News/Retrieval (R) (keyword DOWJONES), one of the world's most comprehensive services for the investor and researcher, with more than 50 databases containing information from thousands of sources. Investment ANALY$T (keyword ANALYST), providing vital stock market information without requiring the use of specialized software. Three essential services are available to investors: Current and Historical Quotes, Stock Performance Analysis and Stock Screening & Selection. Charles Schwab Brokerage Services (keyword SCHWAB), the leader in cutting edge technology for fast securities trading at a discounted price. GEnie users receive an extra 10% commission discount on every online trade executed. You can trade in stocks, bonds options and mutual funds, enter special trade conditions on your orders, receive real-time quotes, check trade confirmations and review your detailed account balance and position data. Public Opinion Online (keyword POLL), a comprehensive collection of public opinion surveys conducted in the United States. POLL covers the spectrum of public interest: politics, government, public institutions, international affairs, business, social issues and attitudes, and consumer issues and preferences. The Trade Names Database (keyword TRADENAMES) is a worldwide directory listing more than 280,000 consumer brand names and their owners or distributors. It is the electronic equivalent of the Gale Research Inc. print publications "Brands and Their Companies" and "International Brands and Their Companies." The Business Resource Directory(TM) (keyword BRD), a searchable database that functions like an electronic "Yellow Pages," an electronic Personnel Service/Resume database, and an electronic reference library -- all rolled into one. The BRD is a marketing tool for businesses and for individuals looking for work, and a way for individuals or businesses to locate services, supplies, associations, agencies, wholesalers, distributors, software for business, and other business resources. The Official Airline Guides Electronic Edition (R) Travel Service (keyword OAG) not only offers access to airline schedules, fares and availability, but also arrival and departure information from selected major airports, access to more than 42,000 first-class and deluxe hotels, essential destination details like climate and visa requirements, and over 90,000 listings of vacation adventures, tours and cruises. But all good things come to an end, and so will this sale. These rates are in effect until September 7, 1992. Some services mentioned above are subject to additional charges. Check the online rate pages for additional details. So enjoy a Summer of Savings on GEnie, the home of Hot Summer Nights III and Hot Summer Days, too! ------------ Here are some questions about Hot Summer Days which may come up, along with the appropriate answers. 1. Are GEnie*Basic Services included in the Hot Summer Days Sale? No. This is a sale on GEnie's prime time hourly connect rate. GEnie*Basic Services remain applicable only during non-prime time hours. 2. Is 9600 baud service included? No. The sale is applicable on speeds up to and including 2400 baud. 3. Are remote access surcharges applicable? Yes. The sale does not affect our cost for those lines, so the $2 per hour charge will still apply. 4. Are all countries included? No. This sale includes the U.S. and Canada only. 5. What are the rates? The U.S. hourly rate will be $12.50 per our instead of the normal $18 per hour rate. The Canadian hourly rate will be $16.00 per hour instead of the normal $25.00 per hour. These rates are in effect Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM local time. 6. Are Chat Club rates in effect? No. Chat Club rates are in effect only during non-prime time hours. 7. Are databases and services subject to surcharges? Yes. The same surcharge rate structure which applies now will apply during the sale. This sale is only on GEnie's connect charge. 8. Can I use my Gift of Time during the sale hours? Of course! Gifts of Time apply to connect rates at any time of the day or night. 9. How long will the sale last? Hot Summer Days will be in effect from Monday, June 15 until Monday, September 7. 10. Why is GEnie offering this promotion? GEnie wants to make this summer an exciting time for its customers. GEnie hopes to attract daytime usage currently spent on other services. | | | OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING ON THE PORTFOLIO | | | by Zack Urlocker | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- Although many of the concepts of object-oriented programming originated on powerful workstations developed at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), there's no reason they can't be used on even the tiniest of today's computers, including my favorite palmtop, the Portfolio. In this article, I'll explain the fundamental concepts of object-oriented programming and show how they're applied in writing a simple video poker game called Tahoe 5. The Tahoe 5 program and Turbo Pascal source code are attached to this edition of Atari Explorer Online. Why Objects? Although structured programming goes a long way towards encouraging programmers to build efficient, reliable systems, these techniques ignore one important fact: it's generally easier to reuse something than to create something new from scratch. Object-oriented programming extends structured programming to allow you to create software components, known as objects, which can be reused across a variety of applications. The more reusable objects you have at your disposal, the less time you need to spend writing, testing and debugging new code. There are three cornerstone concepts that describe object-oriented programming. These concepts are encapsulation, polymorphism, and inheritance. Encapsulation means that an object consists of both data and related functionality. We can think of an object as "smart data" since it has embedded functionality. For example, in the Tahoe 5 program, I defined a deck of cards as an object that contains data, including an array to keep track of the cards that have been dealt, and functionality in the form of procedures for initializing the deck and dealing the next card. In Turbo Pascal, an object definition is like a record definition, but it contains procedure headers for the object's functionality. For example, here's the definition of the deck as an object: TDeck = Object dealt : array [0..52] of boolean; procedure init; function nextCard : integer; end; We can declare variables of type TDeck just like any other user-defined type. When we want to call one of the object's procedures, known as methods, we use the familiar dot notation. For example, I can declare a deck, initialize it and deal five cards as shown below. Var MyDeck : TDeck; Begin MyDeck.Init; for I := 1 to 5 do writeLn(MyDeck.NextCard); ... Anything in a program that consists of data and related functionality can be defined as an object. In the Tahoe 5 program I created objects for the deck (TDeck), the cards (TCard), the poker game itself (TPokerHand), and for controlling the user interface (TDisplay). The most interesting of these is the TPokerHand object which contains the data for the game (such as the amount bet and cards dealt), plus the rules for dealing and evaluating the hand. The TDisplay object contains all of the code for managing the user interface, including handling keyboard input, displaying help messages, drawing the cards, etc. Since all of the user interface code is encapsulated into a single object, this is the only code that needs to be rewritten to port Tahoe 5 to another machine. The Cards and Poker units are shown in Listings 1 and 2 respectively. Poly-what? Polymorphism, the second cornerstone concept, comes from Greek and means literally "many shapes." We use the term to describe the fact that different objects can respond to the same generic method call in different ways. For example, I could have a different type of card deck, perhaps a pinochle deck, which would define its own init and nextCard procedures. Even though a pinochle deck might be stored differently in memory (using a larger array), it can use the same names for its methods. In one sense, you can think of polymorphism as allowing us to define objects that share a common protocol of methods, much like you might have different hardware components that all connect to a standard serial interface. The benefit of polymorphism is that you can create objects that are "plug compatible," since they respond to the same method calls. That allows you to write more maintainable code, since you tell the objects what to do using a generic method call, and the objects themselves handle the details of how to do it. Polymorphism is implemented in Pascal by declaring methods to be "virtual," so that a generic method call can be used. Inheriting Code The third cornerstone concept is inheritance. Inheritance allows us to create new objects from existing ones. This makes it easy to create objects that are just like existing ones, but a little different. For example, if I wanted to create a poker game that plays "deuces wild" instead of 5 card poker, I could just create a new object that inherits from the standard TPokerHand object and defines different methods for evaluating the hand. The rest of the code, for dealing, holding, initialization would be inherited automatically. Here's how we declare an object type that inherits from an existing one: { An object which inherits much of its behavior } TDeucesWildHand = Object(TPokerHand) procedure eval; { evaluate the hand differently} end; Note that we don't have to copy any of the code from the ancestor object type TPokerHand. The compiler takes care of these details for us. Inheritance makes it possible to easily customize applications for different needs without rewriting code. The more you use object- oriented programming, the more adept you become at creating reusable objects that can be extended via inheritance. Learning more The concepts of object-oriented programming are straightforward and, in some ways, deceptively simple. The real challenge comes in applying the concepts to a programming problem and creating your own reusable objects. I invite you to explore the code for Tahoe 5 and come up with your own variations by using the three cornerstone concepts of encapsulation, polymorphism, and inheritance. If you've been waiting to break into object-oriented programming, or programming your Portfolio, now you've got a perfect reason to do both. About the author Zack Urlocker is product manager for Turbo Pascal at Borland International and has taught object-oriented programming to thousands worldwide. The author appreciates the kind support of BJ Gleason for his Turbo Pascal Portfolio unit. The Tahoe 5 program and source code may be obtained by sending $10 US to the author at P.O. Box 67301, Scotts Valley CA, 95067 USA. Add $5 for shipping outside North America. The Portfolio Turbo Pascal Unit Tahoe 5 was written using B.J. Gleason's Portfolio unit for Turbo Pascal. The Portfolio unit emulates many of the standard functions and procedures from the standard Crt unit and also provides many procedures to take advantage of the Port's unique capabilities. For example, there are functions and procedures for displaying menus, messages, changing the status line, and using the speaker. Some of the procedures are shown below. PortBox(X1,Y1,X2,Y2,Border : Integer); PortMessageWindow(X,Y : Integer; Title, Message : String); PortSetCursorMode (Mode : Integer); PortStatusLine(X,Y,OnOff : Integer); PortKeyClick; PortDial(Number : String); PortSound(Tone, Length : Integer); In Tahoe 5, all of the user interface code is contained in the TDisplay object. This object uses mostly standard Crt procedures such as gotoXY, writeLn, readKey, etc. However, I also used a few of the Portfolio- specific procedures to provide more control over the cursor and to add some music. For example, if you win big, you'll hear a lively tune played as follows: procedure soundWin2; begin portSound(50, 15); portSound(48, 15); portSound(48, 15); portSound(50, 15); portSound(52, 30); portSound(52, 30); end; | | | THE SOFTWARE SHELF | | | By Ron Berinstein | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Ladies and gentleman, you are all invited to the great Atari software sale! Yes sir, quaranteed specials. Specials so good that you'll leap for joy, run to computer, feed it your disk, and sit joyously for hour after hour!" "Folks the proof is simple," said the above quoted Atari software dealer. "Just come to my Yucca Valley store on Sunday early in the morning and I'll show you some Atari Computers with so many software bargains that the ground will rumble under your feet, that the earth will move, that you will postively feel the power, and you will be saved, yes sir, saved from the possibility of weekend boredom forever!" Well, being that I am your consumer representative I went to the store and feel compelled to tell you he certainly did whip up some earth shaking specials! Right after the demonstration news crews came from everywhere to cover the event. Hustle and bustle filled the town. People went in all directions, at once! The only folks that seemed unmoved had their offices in the Maytag appliance building. Reports did mention that certain real estate salesman however, were not too terribly moved by the demo and were seen packing up their IBM's, and moving to other terrains. Unfortunately soon after the Avant Vector program ran, his hard drive crashed, half the store in fact crashed, so did a nearby mountain, and most of the buildings that were once located next door. People sure do respond to good price on a program I concluded. The following programs aren't on sale, though they are guaranteed to be rewarding, and worthy of your attention. ANIMAP.LZH ANIMAP program to animate the color satellite weather maps available on Compuserve. Displays first as downloaded, second with enhanced geographic boundaries, and last with computer enhanced graphics to highlight active weather areas. Color only. CALAMUS CONTEST WINNERS (graphics file) These are the winners of the Calamus Creativity and Design contest. In most cases, you will need Calamus 1.09, Calamus SL, or a Calamus demo program to view these files. First place through fifth place honarable mention are included. FONT KILLER FONTKILL.LZH Here is a little helper for Pagestream PostScript linotronic service bureau users. It will strip out unwanted and unneeded Type 1 fonts from your PS files, making them _considerably_ smaller. If you don't know why you would want to do this in the first place, enclosed with this program is David Troy's article all about PostScript, Lino service bureaus, and all sorts of related material. Practically free shareware by D.Small. MAC READ MACREAD.ARC This is the file MACREAD.TOS. It transfers Mac files to the St line of computers. ISOSTASIS 1.2 DEMO This is the DEMO version 1.2 of Isostasis. It is a DEMO to the extent that vowel conversion is not complete. (AEIOU) This program will convert WordUp 3.0 files to Word Perfect (Atari) format and vice versa. Version 1.2 includes Word Perfect 4.2 (IBM) capabilities. It will also permit you to import ASCII files into those formats. Eventually, it will be expanded to include a variety of different formats. WordFlair is to be one of those formats. ZOO 2.10 RELEASE 4 New release of the ZOO archiver. This version contains a couple of minor bug fixes. ZOO now comes very close to LH5 (Quester LZH) in terms of compression. HPCHROME DESKJET PRINTER UTILITY HPChrome prints DEGAS and NEOCHROME pictures in color on DeskJet printers. CPX CALCULATOR This is a German calculator CPX. It's very easy to figure out, even though the docs and CPX title are in German. ERG SPACEWAR VERSION 1.27 ERG Spacewar version 1.27 (newest version to date)....a strategy board- type game for the ST in medium resolution. 1-4 players, each takes turns. When "Play-by-mail" option is enabled, the game is saved after each turn, and can then be file transfered to the other (next) player. VERY ADDICTING. Shareware fee is $5 (game is completely UNcrippled and playable though.) GEM-VIEW 1.1M GVIEW11M.LZH New Features: - [1.1m]: IFF-Color-Images now will load right (wrong only in 1.1l) - [1.1l]: o Greyscale-Dithering Algorithmus for 4, 8, 16, 64 and 256. o GEM-View now run under MultiGEM without any problems. o 'CNTRL-SPACE' iconifies the application (needs IconManager)! o A GEM metafile can translate into rasterfile in each resolution. Posible prombles in HC- or TC-modes. - [1.1i]: o Supports MacPaint- and PBM-Pictures. o Supports ImageLab- and JPEG-Images. o Color scale adjust (GLOBAL-Dialog). o Color-Dithering Algorithmus for 4, 8, 16, 64 and 256 colors. o [HELP]- and [UNDO]-Keys. Reset the colors for the picture, & restores the old color. o Supports TRUE-COLOR BMP images. o Processes TRUE-COLOR images. o GEM-View run on HC- and TC-graphic cards. (Tested on Wilhelm Spectrum1TC) Note: You may have to be careful when using this program in Medium resolution. MENMAK.LZH A program to ease the construction of Menus in GFA basic. MEMSET.LZH A utility that allows you to set the amount of memory on your ST in 512K blocks from 512k to 4 meg, useful if you want to check if a program will run with all memory configurations. FINANC.LZH Shareware accounting package, for home accounts. Simple to use with quite powerful features. CYPHER.LZH Utility to scramble files and make them only accessible with a password. WINCVT.ARC This program is for Atari developers that want to port a GEM based program to Windows. It converts a resource file (designed for the ones created by Laser C resource editor) to a Windows .RC file. You'll need the .DEF file (on the Atari side) that contains the symbol names and wincvt will make you a new one with definitions appropriate for Windows. It does NOT convert icons or boxchar's but does get all your text, boxes, and edit entries in the right places. Source file is INCLUDED. As is. Runs only on Atari. TYMINP.LZH A GDOS font non slanted italic Times. Includes files for 3 screen resolution plus printer files for 360DPI printer (NEC 24 pin PANA 1124 and bubblejets). Screen fonts are not great. Printer fonts quite good. Font sizes 6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,24,30 and 36 point. TYMILS.LZH, TYMILQ.LZH, TYMIEP.LZH as well. FSZCMP.LZH This file will compare the length of a file with its expected length, if it is too long (or too short) you will be notified. It knows about the internal structure of 20 different file types. It is handy for cleaning up downloaded files that contain extra bytes at the end. It can operate in batch mode. RUFRSC.LZH If you downloaded RUF110.LZH and have a color monitor, you need this file! The package as originally uploaded has a RSC file tuned to mono monitors which caused problems reading some dialogs. This file is a color tuned resource file for you to use to replace the mono one. (If you downloaded RUF110.LZH and it has two folders labeled Color and Mono, you DON'T need this, you already have it!) RUF110.LZH Newest version of RUFUS, the German telecom program. This is version 1.10 Latest update to RUFUS, the great German Telecom program. This is version 1.10 and is in English. Many improvements over the previous version including a completely reworked capture buffer with full text editing features, a new phone directory unlimited in size, and more! Tested on TOS 2.05 and 3.05 (according to author). If you tried RUFUS before and like it get this update! (This file replaces previous upload and contains RSC files for mono and color. WHATIS.ARC WHATIS61.LZH New version! WHATIS 6.1 identifies over 125 file types - ARCs, LHarcs, PRGs, pics, ACCs, animations, etc... GSFNT4.LZH GSFNT3.LZH GSFNT2.LZH GSFNT1.LZH 4 files of GhostScript fonts. All 4 files un-LZH to a total of 2.3Mb of fonts (about 80 or so). Use the latest Questor LHARC utility to decompress. GS241C.LZH GhostScript is a freeware PostScript interperter for the Atari ST/TT computers. It allows PostScript file output on HP DeskJet, HP LaserJet, Epson compatibles, Bubblejets and others. This LZH includes two versions of the TTP file, one is the original version of GS and the other includes 2 drivers for the HP DeskJet 500C. GLPDEMO.LZH GEMvelope 2.84, an easy envelope printer for the ST/TT. Fully usable demo with a couple of convienece features removed. It can extract addresses from any word processing document and merge a series of addresses from a database file. Support for Tracker/ST, Cardfile and other database users. Can print POSTNET bar codes. Ideal for laser printers (inc SLM804/605). PAINTPOT.LZH Paint Pot - an DEGAS-like art program designed just for kids, and adults who like to play with kid's software. Color only. Use latest version of QUESTER's LZH program to extract (-lh5 archive) TT Compatible in ST Low Resolution using 24BIT.PRG only. No docs in archive. TOS_CEH.LZH This replaces the TOS Critical Error Handler...the alert box that says "Disk Not Responding...RETRY|CANCEL" when you don't have a disk in your drive. This new version includes a 'FAIL' options which lets you escape the unending RETRY|CANCEL dance. However, it doesn't use an Alert box so your screen gets messed up. Use UNLZH.PRG Docs are in German. TMSHET18.LZH V1.8 is designed to quickly handle the daily point of sale transactions for a recording studio or other business that charges an hourly rate, time for a technician and vends a limited amount of items. Calculates transactions, keeps track of balances and inventory, prints receipts and custom forms & does a variety of reports. Calendar, address book, & More! WINEMAKE.LZH This is a wine making data base, containing several recipies and other info needed for the production of wine. From the United Kingdom. TT Compatible using 24BIT.PRG only. ST High Resolution ONLY (monochrome) C_BUF3.LZH The Cowboy Serial Port Expander will expand your serial port buffer to up to 31K. It expands the input buffer, not the output buffer like some programs (i.e.AUXINIT). This way, if you happen to run a BBS for example, you can still get maximum use from STalker on that machine while also having your board running, avoiding batch download problems. SOUNDLAB.LZH This is SoundLab, Damien M. Jones' long awaited sample editor. This program is fully operational, and is not crippleware. It IS shareware for $20. Registration includes some next extras, outlined in the documentation. SLAD_UPD.LZH If you've already downloaded Sound Lab, you don't need the entire archive again, just this file. This is the Soundlab.TOS file with the bug fix in it. CHERRYHI.LZH Improve the readability of text on your high resolution screen with this font. Requires Warp-9 to load. Refer to its manual for auto-loading instructions. JEKYL120.LZH Jeckyll 1.20 is a new full streaming full duplex file transfer protocol. This archive comes with Hyde 1.1 which is the easy-to-use shell program for Jeckyll. Author claims that this is the best file transfer protocol around! Comes with full documentation. Shareware from Holland FRMT11V3.LZH Format 11 v3.0 by Matt Orsie. With this diskette formatter you can format Single-sided or Double-sided, choose 9, 10, or 11 sectors per track, and choose 80, 81, 82, or 83 tracks; with or without verify. MS-Dos boot sector option too. You must use a utility that can insert a Random Boot Serial #(ala Knife ST) since all disks have same boot serial # RECIPE31.LZH A database dedicated to the storage, retrieval & printing of recipes. Allows organization of recipes into 22 catagories. Can print in ASCII, NX-1000 or GDOS formats. Allows batch printing of up to ten recipes at once. Will compute which recipes will fit together on a page. Search feature allows easy locating of your favorite recipe. CALAST.LZH This file contains Astrological data for Bill Aycock's excellent Calendar program. UNPACK.LZH UPUNPK.LZH Universal Program UNPACKer v1.08 (92/06/08) Currently, the recognized formats are: Pack-Ice, Pack-Fire, LArc's PFXPAK, 4PAK/PACK ENGLISH, DCSquish, BRAsoft, "POPI" (POmpey PIrates?), JAM Packer, Paradox Packer, and more! P.S. I checked with the author of WHATIS to try and find out the true meaning of the filetypes demo'd in Yucca Valley, and I am sure he'll update you in his next version. Also, I passed along a good copy of a PD terminal program to several of the local airports, you know, to help them reconstruct. Plus... well enough for now! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To sign up for GEnie service call (with modem) (800) 638-8369. Upon connection type HHH and hit . Wait for the U#= prompt and type XTX99436,GEnie and hit . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To sign up for CompuServe service call (with phone) (800) 848-8199. Ask for operator #198. You will be promptly sent a $15.00 free membership kit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A special limited time offer is available for subscribers to AtariUser Magazine. The regular $19.95 subscription price is now just $15.00 for a full year or $25.00 a year for first class mailing. For more information contact AtariUser at (818) 332-0372. Credit card or billing is available. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Editorial material, including article submissions, press releases, and products for evaluation, should be sent to the Z*Net News Service Post Office Box 59, Middlesex, New Jersey, 08846. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can subscribe to the bi-monthly hard copy Atari Explorer Magazine for $14.95 for 6 issues, $39.95 for 18 issues. Canadian subscribers should add $5.00 per 6 issues,foreign subscribers should add $10.00 per 6 issues. Checks must be drawn in US funds on a US bank. Send orders to Atari Explorer, Post Office Box 6488, Duluth, MN 55806. VISA and MasterCard orders, call (218) 723-9202. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Atari Explorer Online Magazine is a weekly publication covering the Atari computer community. Material published in this edition may be reprinted in non-commercial publications unless otherwise noted at the top of the article. Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff. Atari Explorer Online Magazine is Copyright (c)1992, Atari Computer Corporation. Z*Net and the Z*Net Newswire are copyright(c)1992, Z*Net News Service/Ron Kovacs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Atari Explorer Online Magazine "The Official Atari Online Journal" Copyright (c)1992, Atari Computer Corporation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~