USE CURSOR KEYS TO SCROLL TEXT. USE CURSOR KEYS TO SCROLL TEXT. 8 Bit HELP! MESSAGES Part 1 HELP! MESSAGES Part 1 To: 999 (all members) From: D5B (Jon Ripley) Subject: Initialising variables If you are writing a program and you need to initialise a lot of variables your program could end up looking like this; A=0:bricks=0:name$="":lives=0:monster$= An alternative to this which is much quicker to type and also saves on program space is to have the following in your program; PROCsetup . . . DEF PROCsetup LOCAL A,bricks,name$,lives,monster$ ENDPROC BASIC creates the LOCAL variables, stores the previous value, which is always null if the variable doesn't exist prior to the procedure being called, and the variables will be created. This is a much neater solution to the alternative! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (All Members) From: D4J (Oliver Debus) Subject: Compact automatic DFS init 10REM Init Programme for COMPACT 20REM Date:08.10.1995 30REM filename: Cr!BOOT 40: 50*SPOOL"!BOOT" 60PRINT"*BASIC" 70PRINT"REM Initializing BBC Master Compact DFS ..." 80PRINT"A%=&81" 90PRINT"X%=0" 100PRINT"Y%=&FF" 110PRINT"Z%=(USR(&FFF4) AND &0000FF00)DIV 256" 120PRINT'"IF Z%=&F5 THEN *FORM80 0 |M N" 130PRINT 140PRINT"CHAIN";:PRINT CHR$34;:PRINT"SETUP";:PRINT CHR$34 150*SPOOL If one writes software for his BBC and wants to make sure that it also works on the Master COMPACT the above programme might be useful. When using SWR (Sideways RAM) Version from the Welcome Disc the computer asks one to press CTRL-BREAK-D and then enter *FORM80 0, No. It appears to be stupid to tell the computer to format a disc and then just before it can go ahead say no! I guess the reason for this is that the software of the SWR image doesn't initialize correctly after a CTRL-BREAK or when first used after loading. When using the *FORM80 command the computer comes through the initialization procedure that should have been executed automatically. However one (like me) might get fed up always typing in this line. In future you can use my above programme which detects automatically if your system is a Master Compact when booting. If it is one the *FORM80 .. command is being executed and the gets on with loading the file BASIC file "SETUP". I called the above file CrBOOT because it creates a !BOOT file which does what I described above. Yours, Oliver Debus (ID:D4J) ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, From: D4J (OCD) Subject: spaces between lines and line numbers in BASIC for BASIC 4 users Having typed in a Basic programme on a Master one might have put spaces between some line-numbers and line but not with others. To get rid of these extra spaces follow this procedure: *SPOOL "filename" NEW LISTO 1 *EXEC "filename" BYE! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, From: D4J (O.Debus) Subject: Digitised Pictures Last weekend, when I was at home I wanted to get rid of some material I had collected to be digitized, so I digitzed it and stored the graphics onto disc and then threw away the paper. I have done about 11 640k ADFS discs. The material is not EDITED and cut out, which means there's also a lot of rubbish that goes with it. Due to the lack of time and the fact that I don't have Wapping Editor on my Compact I cannot EDIT the stuff in the near future. However if somebody wants to do it (has a Wapping Editor) I'll hand it to him/her and it can then be published by 8BS (probably only about 3 to 4 discs will come out). Please let me know (via Chris at 8BS) ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D5B (Jon Ripley) Subject: Messaging on a Master Master users may have noticed that the Break key is close to the up-arrow key. (I have noticed this several times and subsequently had to re-enter messages!) However, all is not lost for this annoying habit that fingers have of pressing the wrong key. (Especially after you've just entered a lot of text!) There is a a small hole to the left of the Break key and if you insert a small flat-head screwdriver you can turn a nice little switch that switches off the Break key so yoy can press it as many times as you like but not lose a message! This works simply by putting a little obstruction under the key thus stopping it from being pressed! To undo this and resume the Break key's normal operation just turn the screw the other way! Clockwise turns off Anti-clovkwise turns on ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D5B (Jon Ripley) Subject: NEC Pinwriter 6+ I have recently aquired the above printer and I was wondering of any members have a copy of the manual thay I could buy/borrow. If I can borrow a copy then I will refund all postage costs involved. You can contact me at; ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D3H (David Colton) Subject: Printer Leads/Switch I have two printers, and would like to obtain a switch to enable me to connect both to my BBC Master 128. Could anyone please advise? I am also seeking a program which will enable drawings/plans to be printed. Again I would appreciate any assistance on this matter. I may be contacted (evenings) at ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D3L (STEVE MASON) Subject: CARNIVAL HAS ANYONE A COPY ON 40/80 TRK 5.25" DISC OF THE ABOVE.MY COPY HAS BECOME CORRUPTED MUCH TO MY YOUNGEST'S DISMAY.THANK YOU TEL:0121 550 7268 ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: L1M (Janny Looyenga) Subject: BEEBUG Volume 2. Thanx to K6X (Cluke) who was so kind to send me some photo-copies of the missing and damaged files taken from his Beebug magazines, I managed to repair the Issues. I have sent these files to Chris too, because I got mine from the 8BS library. I sent him already the missing HHog file. About the Composer program: Starting with the question:"Would you like to load a tune? (Y/N)?" is rather confusing when you get an error by pressing Y(es) (Channel), while expecting to hear a Demo tune... TUNE is not included; unless you have made a Tune yourself, always press N)o! Also missing from Issue 6 (forgotten to tell you) the DEMO Swarmer! Where is it? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To : 999(All) From : D5E (K.Burrows) Subject: Wordwise+ I am not sure if the v.2 OS, or the 1770 DFS of my BBC B+ is the cause of one or two anomolies. One of these is the erasing of a space between two words as I scroll up in a Wordwise Plus document after amending a line and word wrap takes place. If the cursor was at the left hand side for example, say after inserting a line after breaking text into a paragraph, then after word wrap takes place, the cursor will likely be between the first and second words and the space between them will have vanished. This has happened fairly consistently since plugging my version 1.48 ROM into the Model B+ and moreso, I feel fairly certain, while editing and spooling the ASCII !Mesg files. It seems to put something other than spaces in higher up also, because in preview mode it looks like extra carriage returns have been entered, so I have to edit out what look like spaces in edit mode and put a proper space in again. I rarely used the spool facility on the Model B with a version 1.48 ROM. The only anomoly with that, which I suspect is because the ROM has a corrupt location in it, is that if I try to use the double line-space control code, it promptly deletes the file in a very hard reset which seems to make the tape relay click; something is audible anyway. I am not really concerned about the last anomoly, which I only included out of interest as well as to point out I am using a comparatively new (to me) version of Wordwise Plus; though I have had it years, but used the earlier one which came with a later Model B for simplicity. However, I am curious to know if the first problem with the ASCII files, particularly when spooled and re-loaded to edit further, has been encountered by any other 8BS members. Maybe the group already knows about this among other problems because I have read in the past that Wordwise Plus is by no means perfect, and another company brought out an enhanced version of it to try to improve it. Is there a known way to bring the shadow RAM into use on the B+ while using Wordwise Plus? The ability to edit longer documents as well as run longer programs was one of the main reasons for moving onto the Model B+, yet I cannot find a way of doing so and still see it in the proper preview mode. *SHADOW only enables the shadow RAM at the next mode change, but it does not seem possible to type MODE 135 or anything against a colon or operating system asterisk on menu page to do the trick; *FX114 being no different to *SHADOW. Has anyone got a solution? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: K3H (ALBERT SCHOFIELD) Subject: TAPE TO DISC ON THE BBC B Several members have been enquiring about the operation of Vine Micro's REPLAY tape to disc system so here goes with a rundown on it. REPLAY first appeared in 1985 and had to be tailor made for each make of DFS. It was activated by entering *REPLAY and some software used this command to block the use of REPLAY. So in 1988 Vine Micros brought out a MARK 2 version of REPLAY which would work with any 1770 DFS double density only. This version did not use the *REPLAY command but was activated just by pressing a push button switch which was usually mounted on the back of the computer. In 1989 Vine Micros ran foul of the new copyright laws and were banned from producing any more. If you have a REPLAY system fitted it is probably one of the original types. If you enter *REPLAY and get BAD COMMAND then you have the MARK 2 version. I will deal with the original version first. Insert a blank formatted disc into drive 0 and type *REPLAY or *REP. and the main menu will be displayed. Press the function key f5 to initialise the disc. Then press key f1 to create a new file. A filename can now be entered which can be up to twenty characters long. The name will appear flashing white to indicate that it is ready to be saved to. Now press BREAK and load in your game as normal. When it is fully loaded press the REPLAY switch just once. The two keyboard control LEDs will start flashing. Press key f0 and the game will be saved to disc. To reload the game in future type *REPLAY or do a SHIFT/BREAK. The menu will be displayed and the appropriate key may be pressed to load the game. The game can originate from either tape or disc. With the mark 2 version the discs have to be specially formatted. Place a disc in drive 0 and press the REPLAY button. The two keyboard LEDs will flash alternately. Press key f4. The message "Shall I format this disc ?" will appear. Press Y and answer the questions regarding the disc drive. The disc will be formatted and the menu will appear. Press SPACE and the utilities menu will be displayed. Press C to create a file which can be up to 31 characters long. Press break and load in your game. When it is fully loaded press the replay button and then press f0 and the game will be saved to disc. To reload the game press the REPLAY button and then key f0 and the menu will appear. With the mark 2 version it is not essential to create a file first. The game can be loaded in first and then the REPLAY button pressed followed by the f0 key and the game will be saved with the filename "UNSET". This can be renamed afterwards if desired. Here is a list of the buttons that can be used:- f0-SAVE TO DRIVE 0. f1-SAVE TO DRIVE 1. f4-ACCESS DRIVE 0. f5-ACCESS DRIVE 1. SPACE-RETURN BACK TO PROGRAM. More next month. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: K7T (Douglas Ambrose) Subject: Corrupted Discs I recently lost a Basic program on a corrupted disc. With the aid of the Advanced Disc Toolkit I was able to find the address, and SAVE the relevant part of the disc. I then EDITed the new file so that the start and finish appeared to be correct for a tokenised program. However, it would not LOAD but gave the message "Bad program". In the end I had to load it into EDIT, and detokenise by hand. I could then "Return to language" - Basic, and it would run. My question is therefore, How could I have done it more easily? Is there any way of achieving the opposite of *EXEC so that a corrupted program can be automatically detokenised to give a text file that can be easily edited? EDITOR.......... You may recall a program that I wrote, called "BasRead" in 8BS-23. This is the program that I use in these sort of circumstances, it reads the file from disc and detokenises it. If you have set the output to "SPOOL", it saves it back to disc in ASCII format that can then be edited more easily to remove bad parts before *EXECing back as a BASIC program. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: 3WU (Fred Price) Subject: Disc Copying If you have a program that you want to copy and the program copies over. But when it is run, it will only call up the first heading and will not call up any more of the program. The program in question is the game called CLOGGER. Is there something that blocks you from copying it and is it possible to get round this problem? CLOGGER is a 40/80 program that I got when I only had a S/S 40 drive and this is the first time that I have needed to copy it for someone but alas it is not to be, So can anyone help me with this one. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, PRESS SPACE