The Rainbow Vol. 09 No. 01 - August 1989 - TRS-80 Color ...

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I oeoeeee oooeeoe eeee•••••• • ••••••••••••• • ••••••••••••• • ••• ••• • ••• • • •• •• ••••• • ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •• •••• • •••

Color Computer 3 

w/128K Ext. Basic $129* 

Color Computer Disk Drive 

Drive 0 $179* Drive 1 $149 TandyFax $1029 

BIG SAVINGS ON A FULL COMPLEMENT OF RADIO SHACK COMPUTER PRODUCTS 

COMPUTERS 

Tandy 1000 HX 1 Drive 256K 

Tandy 1000 TX 1 Drive 640K 

Tandy 3000 NL 1 Drive 512K 

Tandy 4000 1 Drive 1 Meg.Ram 

Tandy 5000 MC 2 Meg. Ram 

539.00 

799.00* 

1279.00 

1959.00 

3799.00 

PRINTERS 

Radio Shack DMP-106 80 CPS 169.00 

Radio Shack DMP-132 120 CPS 199.00* 

Radio Shack DMP-440 300 CPS 549.00 

Radio Shack DWP-230 Daisy Wheel269.oo• 

Tandy LP-1000 Laser Printer 1899.00 

Star Micronlcs NX-1000 144 CPS 199.00 

Star Micronics NX-1000 Rainbow 269.00 

Panasonic KXP 1180 192 CPS 249.00 

Panasonic KXP 1191 240 CPS 299.00 

Panasonic KXP 1124 192 CPS 

Okldata 320 300 CPS 

399.00 

369.00 

Okldata 390 270 CPS 24 Wire Hd 515.00 

NEC Pinwriter P-2200 170 CPS 399.00 

MODEMS 

Radio Shack DCM-6 

Radio Shack DCM-7 

Practical Peripheral2400 Baud 

Practical Perlpheral1200 Baud 

52.00 

85.00 

229.00 

149.00 

CALL TOLL FREE 

1-BD0-343·8124 

• LOWEST POSSIBLE PRICES 

• BEST POSSIBLE WARRANTY 

• KNOWLEDGEABLE SALES STAFF 

• TIMELY DELIVERY 

-- 

• SHOPPING CONVENIENCE 

TRS-80 is o registered trademark of Tandy Corp. 

COLOR COMPUTER MISC. 

Radio Shack Drive Controller 99.00 

Extended Basic Rom Kit (28 pin) 14.95 

64K Ram Upgrade Kit (2 or 8 chip) 39.00 

Radio Shack Deluxe Keyboard Kit 24.95 

HI-RES Joystick Interface 8.95 

Color Computer Deluxe Mouse 44.00 

Multi Pak Pal Chip for COCO 3 14.95 

PBH Converter with 64K Buffer 119.00 

Serial to Parallel Converter 59.95 

Radio Shack Deluxe Joystick 26.95 

Magnavox 8515 RGB Monitor 299.00 

Magnavox Green or Amber Monitor99.00 

Radio Shack CM-8 RGB Monitor 249.00 

Radio Shack VM-4 Green Monitor 99.00 

PBJ OK COCO 3 Upgrade Board 19.95 

PBJ 512K COCO 3 Upgrade CALL 

Tandy OK COCO 3 Upgrade Board 24.95 

Tandy 512K COCO 3 Upgrade 149.00 

COLOR COMPUTER SOFTWARE 

The Wild West (CoCo3) 

Worlds Of Flight 

Mustang P-51 Flight Slmul. 

Flight16 Flight Simul. 

TAPE DISK 

25.95 

34.9534.95 

34.95 34.95 

34.9534.95 

COCO Uti I II by Mark Data 39.95 

COCO Max Ill by Colorware 79.95 

Max 10 by Coiorware 79.95 

Auto Term by PXE Computing 29.95 39.95 

TW-80 by Spectrum (CoCo3) 39.95 

TeleWrlter 64 49.95 59.95 

TeleWriter 128 79.95 

Elite Word 80 79.95 

Elite Calc 3.0 69.95 

CoCo 3 512K Super Ram Disk 19.95 

Home Publisher by Tandy (CoCo3) 35.95 

Sub BoHle Slm. by Epyx (CoCo3) 26.95 

Thexder by Sierra (CoCo3) 22.45 

Kings Quest Ill by Sierra (CoCo3) 31 .45 

Flight Sim.ll by Sublogic (CoCo3) 31 .45 

OS-9 Level II by Tandy 71 .95 

OS-9 Development System 89.95 

Multi-View by Tandy 44.95 

VIP Writer (disk only) 69.95 

VIP Integrated Library (disk) 149.95 

Prices o re subject to change without notice. 

Please coli for shipping charges. Prices In our retail 

store may be higher. Send for complete 

catalog 

*Sale prices through 7/31/89 

P.O. Box 1094 

480 King Street 

littleton, MA 01460 SINCE1973 

IN MASSACHUSETTS CALL 1508) 486-3193

A Worthy Trip 

Editor: 

I've used my Color Computer for quite 

some years now. It started with my eldest 

son on an old gray CoCo with 4K seven 

years ago. 

I live in Holland, but recently had the 

opportunity to visit the United States at 

RAINBOWfest, Chicago. 

RAINBOWfest started on Friday evening 

and before the opening there were 

large queues waiting in front of a large hall 

of the hotel, which contained some 20 

stands, all from firms familiar to readers of 

THE RAINBOW. 

The first thing everyone wanted to visit 

was the Tandy booth, to check out any 

bargains. There were several to be found as 

well as ample supplies of CoCo 3s, monitors, 

mouses, modems, Orchestra90, printers, 

etc. 

It was interesting to come face to face 

with people I've done business with. Some 

even remembered my name from my order 

forms. I also met people who design the 

hardware and software, as well as some 

contributors to THE RAINBOW. 

The lectures were very well attended, 

and after a while became full of familiar 

faces. The trip was well worth it. 

Exploiting the Power 

M. Van Warne/en 

Oedelum, Belgium 

Editor: 

With the CoCo 3, Tandy introduced 

Microware's OS-9 Level II and a windowing 

environment, Multi-Vue. Last Fall, 

Tandy introduced the THOR technology 

(Tandy High-density Optical Recorder) as 

their gateway to a low-cost optical disk 

drive. Microware has recently released Rave, 

a graphics application generator for 

generating Multi-Vue-like programs that 

fully exploit the power of an optical disk. 

Put all of these together, add an objective 

C compiler, and they become the home 

equivalent of Steve Job's NEXT computer 

($7000 at last price). If Tandy's smart with 

pricing, they could blow it out of the water. 

Too bad they can't make it portable- it 

would be great for students. 

John Tyler 

Pittstown, New Jersey 

6 THE RAINBOW August 1989 

HINTS AND TIPS 

Editor: 

In addition to Albert Schriefer's suggestion 

on ways to configure a DeskMate-3 

disk, ("Letters to THE RAINBOW," May '89, 

Page 6), here is another way of making it a 

40-track single-sided or double-sided disk. 

First format a 40-track disk with your 

OS-9 system disk. Load the following 

modules in memory: OS9Gen, Copy, Ma kd i r 

and Dsave. Replace the OS-9 disk with the 

original DeskMate 35-track No. 1 disk. 

With the 40-track disk in Drive 1 and the 

35-track DeskMate disk in Drive 0, enter 

the following commands: 

OS9Gen / d1 

then press ENTER 

/d0/os9boot 

then press ENTER and CTRL-BREAK 

Dsave -s48 / dO / d1 ! shell 

With the OS-9 disk back in Drive 1, build 

the following patches: 

For single-sided 40-track disks: 

dO 

c 18 23 28 

v 

for double-sided 40-track disks: 

dO 

c 18 23 28 

c 19 01 02 

v 

Repeat the procedure for d 1. 

Build a startup file that includes those 

patches for your new 40-track DeskMate 

disk. Don't forget to copy the module MOD 

PATCH on this new DeskMate's CMOS. 

You may as well include in your startup 

file a patch to change the disk step rate by 

changing byte 14 from Value 00 to 03 ... . 

Editor: 

Andre Beausejour 

Charlesbourg, Quebec 

Foiling Around 

I read in THE RAINBOW some while ago 

about some person asking about a fix to 

stop the cursor from flickering when using 

the Hi-Res Interface with CoCo Max III. 

The response said it was interference from 

your TV or monitor that caused this interference 

and suggested moving your monitor 

and interface further apart. This is o.k. if 

you are able to do it, but the way my system 

is set up, it's physically impossible. 

On a whim, just the other day, I decided 

to try to stop some of this interference by 

wrapping aluminum foil around my interface 

and part of the cables on either side 

and, to my surprise, it worked! I found that 

by wrapping five or six layers off oil around 

the interface, you can stop close to 50 or 60 

percent of the interference without moving 

anything. I also put a couple layers underneath 

my monitor for extra shielding. I 

hope this helps many fellow RAINBOW 

readers with the same problem. 

Duane Doucet 

Yar. Co., Nova Scotia 

REVIEWING REVIEWS 

Editor: 

I want to thank Don Dollberg for his 

review of Start OS-9: A Hands-On Guide 

to OS-9 Levell/ on the Color Computer 3. 

We at Kenneth-Leigh Enterprises were 

overjoyed at his comments. 

The Appendix on Compact Disc-Interactive 

has been included in the latest edition 

(it was included only on the disk in the 

First Edition). The Second Edition contains 

a great deal of new material, forms for 

joining the OS-9 Users Group, and a free 

DELPHI sign-up offer. The book is slightly 

smaller to fit better next to the computer. 

Purchasers of the First Edition can write 

or call Kenneth-Leigh Enterprises for information 

on the DELPHI sign-up offer 

and on our low-cost upgrade policy to the 

Second Edition. 

Thanks again to Don Dollberg for his 

fine review. 

PaulK. Ward 

Washington, DC 

INFO PLEASE 

Editor: 

What happened to the Pen Pal section of 

the magazine? I'm sure I am not the only 

one who noticed it's missing. 

THE RAINBOW is more than just information. 

It is a club letter to all CoCo users.

I Print#-2, 


Eight Years Strong 

B 

y now, most of you have had a month to pe ru se o ur Eig hth Anni versary Issue last 

month and. for long-time reade rs ofT HE RA INBOW, I know some of you wondered 

why my column did not mentio n anything about it. W e ll , the truth is that I was 

simply confused abo ut the month for whi ch 1 was writing, thinking the column th at ended 

up in 1 ul y's issue was for the 1 une issue . Of course, you reall y don ' t need me te lling you 

th at the anni versary is upon a ll of us because it says so o n the cover. 

As is done every year. the anni versary issue features a surprise. This year it 's a booklet 

of O ne-Liners. (Incidenta ll y. if you mi ssed last month's issue , you can still get the bookl et 

from us.) I tho ught the booklet was an appropri ate way to celebrate an anni versary (whic h. 

except fo r Br te, may make us the longest continuously-published compute r magazine in 

the worl d). 

I have always been exceptiona ll y partial to One-Liners, pe rh aps, because they hark 

back to the earl y days of the Color Computer. when the CoCo came w ith an astonishing 

4K of mem ory. By the time the system overhead was accounted fo r. the re was abo ut 2K 

fo r program writing. I admit th at 2K is quite a bit mo re th an the average O ne-Line r (or 

T wo-Line r), but th e bi g deal in those days was fittin g a usable program in to the avail able 

me mo ry. 

Nope. those 2K spreadsheet programs were not as fancy as the program s we have 

today, but l think if you asked anyone to wri te a program th at would do something '" major" 

I ike spreadsheetin g, word processing, data communications or the li ke, and required it to 

fit in 2K. you would be laughed out of the door. But it was do ne . 

When T HE RA INBOW first started , one of the most-often asked questions was wheth er 

the owne r's CoCo was working ri ght because the screen sho wed abo ut 2K memory 

avail able and the "salesman to ld me it was a 4K machine." That questi on, o f course, was 

repeated when Tandy came o ut w ith the "amazin g'' 16K upg rade and the memory 

avai I able was some 14K. 

Indeed , I remem ber the clay whe n m y local salesman call ed me to say the 16K upgrade 

was in , if I wanted it. I sped home, got my CoCo, and sped over to Rad io Shack on my 

lunch hour to have a "full -bl own"Color Computer. The two days ittook to have it in sta ll ed 

were among the longest of my I ife! 

T he interesting thing is th at I never ran out of mem o ry when I had the 4K CoCo, but 

I di d when I got the 16K upgrade . I am sure I simply was m ore careful about w hat I was 

writing o n the " little machine ," and fi g ured th e sky was the limit w ith the " bi gger" one. 

Of course. I knew a I ittle more about programming by the ti me the upgrade was avai I abl e. 

Some earlie r iss ues of T HE RA INBOW had a few interesting debates abo ut programming 

structures. But one of the most inte resting debates was the one th at went on in my own 

office- whether to com press code in li stings or run it so th at it was easie r to read. 

We fin a ll y decided we woul d use the easy-to-read fo rmat for o ur BASIC li sti ngs. 

although th at meant we had to reject one o r two programs. In orde r to s imply get them to 

fit into the CoCo's memory, the authors would pack the li stings, e liminatin g the spaces 

between keywords. 

We tho ught an importa nt part of o ur job was to teach o ur reade rs a li ttl e something 

about how programs worked, and if it was hard (or, sometimes, a lm ost impossibl e) to read 

them . it woul d be diffi cult at best to f ig ure o ut the logic of what the w rite r was try ing to 

do. W e have kept that gene t·al philosophy up to the present day. 

The exception to th at rul e. o f course, is o ur One-Liners (and Two-Line rs). But each is 

an exercise in programming skill s, and it reall y isn't hard to fo ll ow a sing le line's logic. 

A nd, too. they do remind us o f o ur earl y days with CoCo, where every byte was precio us. 

- Lonnie Fa lk

18 

Listing 1: KEYSB IN 

00090TITLE KYAHEAD . ASM 

00100 ************************* 

00110 * KEYA HE AD * 

00120 * MAY BE LOA DED TO ANY * 

00130 * LOCATION * 

00140 * MUST NOT BE INSTALLED * 

00150 * BEFORE REPEAT * 

00160 * COCO Ill ONLY * 

00170 ************************* 

00180 

00190 * FI RST SECTION 

00200 ************************* 

002 10 * START UP ROU TINE * 

00220 * INSTALLS KEYA HEAD IN * 

00230 * OPERATING SYSTE M * 

00240 ************************* 

00250 START ORCC #$50 

DISABLE INTERRUPTS 

0026 0LDD $10D 

INTERRUPT JUMP ADDR 

00270STD SUBONE,PCR 

00280LEAY SUPER , PCR ADDR OF SUPER 

00290STY $10D SUPER IS NEW INTERRUPT 

00295 

*E NTRY PO I NT 

00300LEAX BUFFER , PCR ADDR OF BUFFER 

00310STX WRPTR , PCR INITIALIZE WRITE PNTR 

00320STX RDPTR . PCR INITIALIZE READ PNTR 

00330LEAX BUFFER+SIZE,PCRADDR OF TOP OF BUFFER 

00340STX TOP , PCR ADDR OF TOP INTO TOP 

00350LEAX READ , PCR ADDR OF READ ROUTINE 

00360STX $A0DA JMP FROM INPUT 

00370STX $F781 JMP FROM INPUT H RES 

00380STX $A569 JMP FROM INKEY 

00390LDA #$4F CLRA CODE 

00400LDY #SADEB JMP FROM BREAK POLL 

00410STA . Y+ INSERT CLRA 

00420LDD #$1212 2 NOP ' S 

00430STD ,Y INSERT NOP ' S 

00440LDD $A000 POLCAT VECTOR 

00450STD KEYSUB , PCR 

00460STX $A000 READ IS NEW POLCAT 

00465 

*VECTOR 

00470ANDCC #SAF 

TURN ON INTERRUPTS 

00480RTS 

BACK TO BASIC 

00490 

00500 * SECOND SECTION 

00510 ************************* 

00520 * SUPERVISOR * 

00530 * CONTROLS TIME * 

00540 * DISTRIBUT ION * 

00550 ************************* 

00560 SUPER TST TOGGLE . PCR I.JHO ' S TURN IS IT 

00570BNE POLL POLL ' S TURN 

00580INC TOGGLE . PCR NEXT TIME POLL ' S TURN 

00590JMP [SUBO NE. PCR] JUMP TO ORIG INTR 

00595 *ROUTINE 

00600 

00610 ************************* 

00620 * KEYBOARD POLL * 

00630 * USES POLCAT , WHICH HAS* 

00640 * BEEN LIFTED OUT OF * 

00650 * OPERATING SYSTEM * 

00660 ************************* 

00670 POLL CLR TOGGLE . PCR NEXT TIME ORIG INTR 

00675 *RO UTINE 

00680JSR [KEYS UB,PCR] JUMP TO POLCAT 

00690BEO POU T2 NO KEY 

00700LDX WR PTR , PCR WRITE POINTER 

00710STA . X+ STORE NEW CHARACTER 

00720CMPX TOP . PC R TOP OF BUFFER 

00730B NE POUT NOT TOP OF BUFFER 

00 740LEA X BUFFER , PCR RESET WRPTR TO BOTTOM 

00750 POUT STX WRPTR , PCR STORE WRPTR 

00760 POUT2 LOA $FF02 CLEAR INTERRUPT 

00770RTI RETURN FROM INTERRUPT 

00780 

00790 * THIR D SEC TION 

THE RAINBOW August 1989 

If you are using EDTASM, Repeat and 

Key Ahead can be merged into one program 

(this is best from a performance point of 

view). First, delete all lines up to and 

including Line 90 in both programs. Make 

sure the li stings include all comment and 

blank lines. Then, use the following command 

sequence: 

LD REPEAT 

LOA KEYAHEAD 

N100 . 100 

M2210,8300 : 12200 , 1 

02200 

D6400 

D7500 

D8200 

E2225 

50 

Then change the constant in Line 6300 to 

#Sl5, and the constant in Line 7400 to #4 . 

This command sequence assumes lines 730 

and 840 are included in the REPEAT listing. 

BASIC Program 

If you are not already familiar with any 

of these procedures, or do not have any type 

of assembler, use the included BASIC program. 

The BASIC version of Key Ahead can be 

used with a minimum of effort. Note that 

the line numbers are not consecutive multiples 

of ten , as is customary. The BASIC 

versions of Key Ahead and Repeat can be 

merged together so that a ll functions can be 

performed by one program, without any 

modification. The only requirement is to 

type in the programs exactly as they are 

listed. RE M lines and lines not serving any 

purpose are there for a reason. Like the 

assembly language versions, Repeat and 

Key Ahead can be started separately , but 

the repeat speeds will be wrong. So it is best 

to merge them. The repeat speeds are corrected 

when the programs are merged. 

Unfortunately, automatic merging can 

only be clone with a disk system; but it is 

possible to merge manually by noting line 

number duplications. Remember that lines 

from KEY AHEAD take priority over lines from 

RE PEAT. To merge the two programs, Key 

Ahead must be saved to disk in ASCII 

format (i.e., SA VE " KEY AHE AD" . A). First 

load REPEAT , then type MERGE " KEY AHEAD ". 

Applications and Caveats 

When Repeat and Key Ahead are running 

together, the repeat speeds no longer 

depend on what type of applications program 

is running (BASIC or machine language). 

Repeat speeds depend on the delay 

constants and the interrupt rate only. 

When Key Ahead is running with machine 

language application programs with 

flashing cursors, many times the cursor

Find the hidden balls with a shooting ray of light 

he Black Box, a new twist to the 

game of Hide and Seek, requires 

skill, logic and luck. In this game 

the computer is the hider and you are the 

seeker. The computer has hidden five balls 

within the "black box" (an 8-by-8 grid), 

and you must find them. 

Your only tool in finding these hidden 

balls is a ray oflight that you shoot into the 

box. The ray of light must follow certain 

rules as it travels through the box, and the 

presence of the balls affects its path. Upon 

shooting the ray of light into the box, you 

are shown where the ray exited the box, if 

it did actually exit the box. From this information 

you must deduce the positions of 

the balls within the box. When you think 

you have correctly located a ball, you may 

mark it on the grid. The object of the game 

is to gain points by locating the five balls in 

the fewest possible moves. 

The rules governing the movement of 

the ray of light inside the box are as follows: 

• Barring interference, the ray of light 

travels in a straight line and the exit point is 

exactly opposite the entry point. 

• If the ray scores a direct hit on a ball, it 

does not exit the box, but the entry point is 

Evan Veal is a student at the College ofWilliam&Maryin 

Williamsburg, Virginia.He 

is majoring in computer science and his 

hobbies include programming on the CoCo 

and writing science-fiction short stories. 

The 

ack Box 

By Evan Veal 

marked with a hit marker and a beep is 

sounded. 

• If the ray of light approaches a ball 

from the side (i.e., the ball is in Row 8 and 

the Light passes down Row 7) it makes a 90degree 

turn away from the ball. This is 

called a detour. The light is guided by these 

three rules and all phenomena observed are 

properties of those rules. 

A reflection occurs when the light exits 

at the same place it entered. This suggests 

that either the light was detoured in such a 

way as to send it back to its entry point, or 

that there is a bal1 in the square immediately 

adjacent to the square where entry was 

attempted. The latter is true due to the third 

rule. If the ball is directly adjacent, it triggers 

the 90-degree detour before the ray has 

had a chance to enter the box. Thus, the 

only possible direction fortheray of light is 

out of the box. 

The ray of light can be detoured any 

number of times before it exits the box or 

hits a baLI. One should note that, under 

normal circumstances, the ray of light should 

always exit the box or register a hit. However, 

certain exotic ball combinations can 

cause the ray of light to be trapped in an 

infinite loop within the box, neither exiting 

nor hitting a ball. This causes the game to 

seemingly hang-upafteryou fire a ray. This 

occurence is very rare, but if it happens, 

press BREAK and run it again. 

The following diagrams illustrate common 

light path patterns in The Black Box: 

• Figure 1 illustrates a simple detour.

U4NR2U4R5BD8BR4,U8R5ND1L5D8R5U3N 

L2D3BR4,U4NU4R5U4D8BR4,R4L2U8NL2 

R2BD8BR5,NU3R4U8NL2NR2BD8BR4,U8D 

4R2NE4F4BR4,NU8R5BR4,U8F4E4D8BR4 

.U8F8NU8 BR4,N R5U8R5D8BR4 

50 DIM NUM$(40),L$(15,2),CL(0,10 

) ,CC(0,10) , CS(0,10) ,CD (0 ,10) ,GR( 

9,9) ,ZX(9) . ZY(9) ,BL(5,2) ,8(10, 2) 

, MV$(40,2) ,M(20,2) ,AL$( 26) 

60 DATA U8R5D4L5D4BR9,U8R8D8NL8N 

H2NF2BR4,U8R5D4L5R1F4BR4,R5U4L5U 

4R5BD8BR4.BR3U8NL3R3BD8BR3,NU8R5 

NU8BR4,BU8D4F4E4U4BD8BR4,BU8D8E4 

F4U8BD8BR4,U2E4U2BL4D2F4D2BR4,BR 

3U4NE4NH4D4BR8 ,BU8R8G8R8BR4 

70 FOR N=0T09:READA.B : ZX( N)=A: ZY 

(N) =B: NEXT N 

80 FOR N=1T026:READA$:AL$(N)=A$ : 

NEXT N 

130 NUM$ ( 1 )= " R4L2U8NG2BR7BD8 ": NU 

M$(2)="NR6U4R4U4NL5BR7BD8" : NUM$( 

3 )=" R5U4N L2U4N L5BR5BD8 ": NUM$ ( 4 )= 

"BR4 U6D2NR2 L4U4BR10BD8 ":N UM$(5)= 

"R6U5L4U3R5BR5BD8 " 

140 NUM$ ( 6 )= " NU8R5U3 L5BR10BD3 " : N 

UM$(7)= "U2E6NL7BR5BD8 " :NUM$(8)= " 

NR5U4NR5U4R5D8BR5 ": NUM$(9)= "BU5N 

R5U3R5D8BR5 ": NUM$(0)= "N R8U8R8NG8 

D8BR5 " 

150 FOR N=10T040 

160 K$=STR$(N):K1=VAL(MID$(K$ , 2, 

1)):K2=VAL(RIGHT$(K$,1)) 

170 NUM$(N)= NUM$(K1) +NUM$(K2) 

180 K$= '"' 

190 NEXT N 

210 PCLS :COLOR2,5:LINEC4.3)-(12, 

10),PSET,BF:GET(0,0)-(15,15),CC, 

G: CO LO R3. 5: LINE ( 2, 2) - (12, 12) , P S E 

T.BF :G ET(0,0)-(15 ,1 5),CD,G 

220 PCLS : GET(0 ,0)-(15,15) , CD ,G 

230 L$(1 , 1)="3,3 ": L$(1,2)="R10D1 

0U 5 N Ll0 D 5 Ll0 U 10 " : L$ ( 2. 1 ) =" 1 , 10" : 

L$(2 , 2) ="R1 2H6G6 " 

240 L$(3 , 1)="7,2":L$ (3,2)="R4D5R 

4D2L4D5L4 U5L4U 2R4U5 ":L$ (4,1)="3, 

3" :L$(4 , 2) ="R1 0G10R10 H10 " 

250 L$(5,1)="3 ,3": L$(5,2)="R10NG 

10D10NH10Ll0U10 ": L$ ( 6,1 )= "BM1, 5" 

:L $(6 ,2 )= "R14G7H7C1D5C3R14H7G7 " 

260 L$(7,1)= "7, 2":L$(7,2)="D6L3F 

5E5L3U6L4 ":L$(8 , 1)="3 , 7": L$(8,2) 

="R2U2R2U2R4D2R2D2R2D3L2D2L2D2L4 

U2L2U2L2U3 " 

270 L$(9,1)= "3 ,3": L$(9,2)= "R10D1 

0 Ll0U 10 F 10 " : L $ ( 10. 1 ) =" 3, 3" : L$ ( 10 

, 2 )= " R10D10Ll0U10 " 

280 L$(11,1)="6,7":L$(11,2)= "U 6R 

406R4D3N L12L 2D4L8U4L2U3R4 ":L$ (12 

,1 )= "7,9":L$(1 2. 2)= "S2U10R4D10F8 

L20E8S4 " 

290 L$(13.1)="2,1 3":L$(13,2)= "U8 

NR4U4R4ND4R8D8N L4D4L4N U4L8 ":L $( 1 

4,1)="2,1 4" :L$(14,2)="U12R6ND12R 

606NL12D6Ll2 " 


300 L$( 15 ,1 )= "7 ,1 0":L$(15,2)=" U5 

H2U1R5D1G2D6R4D4L9U4R4" 

310 PMODE3,1:PCLS:SCREEN1,1:COLO 

R2 , 5 

320 MV=0:P=1:BL=1:M=0:C0=0:MA=0: 

TD=0 : SC=5 

324 . 

325 ' DRAW GAME SCREEN 

330 FOR Y=24TO 168 STEP 18:LINE( 

86,Y) - (230,Y),PSET:NE XTY 

340 FOR X=86TO 230 STEP 18 :LI NE( 

X,24)-(X, 168),PSET:NEXT X 

350 LINE(81,18)-(235,173 ),PSET,B 

:LINE(81,18) -(60,0) ,PSET,BF:Ll NE 

( 2 3 5 , 17 3) - ( 2 54, 191) , P SET, B F: LINE 

( 2 3 5 , 18) - ( 2 54 , 0) . P SET . B F: LI NE ( 81 

, 173)-(60 ,1 91),PSET,BF :LINE(60,0 

)-(254,191 ), PSET,B 

360 FOR Y=24 TO 168 STEP 18:LINE 

(60,Y)-(81,Yl,PSET:LINE(235,Y)-( 

254,Y) ,PSET:NEXTY:FOR X=86 T0230 

STE P 18:LINECX,0)-(X,18),PSET:L 

I NE(X, 173)-(X,191),PSET:NEXTX : PA 

INT(203,172),2,2 

370 DRAW"BM3,30C2;"+AL$(2)+AL$(1 

2)+A L$ ( 1)+AL$(3)+AL$(11) 

380 DRAW"BM13,46C2;"+AL$(2 )+AL$( 

15)+AL$(2 4) 

390 LI NE(0,18)-(50,54),PSET,B 

400 DRAW"BM6, 109C4;"+AL$(19)+AL$ 

(15)+AL$(12)+AL$(22)+AL$(5) 

405 DRAW"BM8, 132C4;"+AL$(2 )+A L$( 

1)+A L$(3)+AL$(11) 

410 DRAW"BM10,154C4;"+AL$(1 1)+A L 

$(9)+AL$(12)+AL$(12) 

414 . 

415 ' PLACE BA LL S 

420 FOR X=1T 08:FOR Y=1T08 : GR(X,Y 

) =0 : N EX TY , X 

430 FOR N=1T05 

440 X=RND(8) : Y= RND(8) 

450 BL(N, 1)=X:B L( N, 2)=Y 

460 GR(X,Y)=-1 

470 FOR M=1T05 

480 IF M=N THEN M=5:GOT0500 

490 IF (8L(M,1)=8 L(N,1)) AND ( BL 

(M,2)=8L(N,2)) THEN GOTO 440 

500 NEXT M,N 

640 DRAW"BM0,174C2;"+AL$(13)+AL$ 

(15)+AL$(22)+A L$(5)+AL$(19)+"U2B 

U2U2" 

644 ' 

645 ' START POLLING ROUTINE 

650 PUT(0,176)-(30,184),CL,PSET 

660 DRAW "BM0,18t:2 "+NUM$(MV) 

670 X2 =X1:Y2=Yl 

680 X=JOYSTK (0) : Y=JOYSTK(1) 

690 Z=INT(X/7):GOSUB1770:X1=ZX 

700 OX=Z 

710 Z=INT(Y/7):GOSUB1760:Y1=ZY 

720 OY=Z 

730 PUTCX2, Y2)-(X2+15, Y2 +15) ,C S, 

PSET 

740 GET(Xl,Yl)-(X1+15,Yl+15l,CS,

G 

750 PUTCX 1, Yl)-(X1+15 , Yl+15),CC , 

PSET 

760 A=PEEKC65280) : IF A=254 OR A= 

126 THEN COLOR1,5 : LIN ECX1,Y1)-(X 

1+15,Y1+15) , PSET,BF : CO LOR3,5 : GOT 

0780 

770 X2=X1 : Y2=Y1 :GOT0680 

780 SOU ND150,2 

790 IF OX0 AND OX9 AND OY0 

AND OY9 THEN GOT02020 

800 IF OX =0 AND OY=0 THEN 2190 

810 IF OX=0 AND OY=9 THE N 2190 

820 IF OX =9 AND OY=0 THEN 2190 

830 IF OX=9 AND OY=9 TH EN 2190 

834 ' 

835 ' SAVE MOVE - CHECK IF REPEA T 

840 K$=STR$ (OX)+ " , "+STR$ ( OY) 

850 FOR N=0 TO MV 

860 IF MV$( N, 1)=K$ THEN 900 

870 NEXT N 

880 MV$CMV,1)=K$ 

890 GOT01000 

894 ' 

895 ' REPEAT MOVE PROCESSING 

900 Z=OX : GOSUB1770 : X1=ZX 

910 Z=OY : GOS UB1760 : Y1=ZY 

920 X$=MV$CN ,0) : GOS UB1940 : X=K1 : Y 

=K2 

930 L=P 

940 P=VAL(M V$(N ,2)) 

950 IF P=17 THEN P=L : COLOR4,5 : MV 

=MV-1 : GOTO 1720 

960 IF P=18 THEN P= L: CO LOR3,5 : MV 

=MV-1 : GOT01530 

970 ZP$= "Y" 

990 GOTO 1600 

994 ' 

995 ' CONVERT X,Y TO GRAPH I CS LOC 

AT IONS 

1000 IF X1=62 OR X1=236 THEN GOT 

0 1020 

1010 IF Y1=1 OR Y1=174 TH EN 1070 

1020 IF X1=236 THEN 1050 

1030 Y=IN TCY1/18) : X=0 

1040 FLG$="X+1 " : GOTO 1120 

1050 Y=INTCY1/18) : X=9 

1060 FLG$ ="X-1": GOT01 120 

1070 IF Y1 =174 THEN GOT01100 

1080 X=INTCCX1-66) / 18) : Y=0 

1090 FLG$= "Y+1 ": GOT0 1120 

1100 X=INTCCX1-66)/18) : Y=9 

1110 FLG$ ="Y-1 " : GOT01120 

1114 ' 

1115 ' PROCESSING OF BEAM PAT H 

1120 IF LEFT$(FLG$,1)= "Y" THEN 1 

320 

1130 IF RIGHT$(FLG$ , 2)= "-1" THEN 

GOTO 1230 

1140 IF X=9 THEN 1580 

1150 IF GRCX,Y)=-1 THEN 1510 

1160 IF Y+1 -1 THEN IF X=0 AND G 


RCX+1,Y-1)=- 1 THEN 1580 

1180 I F Y- 10 TH EN IF GRCX+1 , Y- 

1)=- 1 THEN FL G$="Y+1 " : GO T011 20 

1190 IF Y+1 9 THEN IF GR(X+1 , Y+ 

1)= -1 THEN FLG$= "Y-1": GOT 01 120 

1200 IF GR(X , Y)=- 1 THEN 15 10 

12 10 IF X+ 1 10 THE N X=X+1 : GOT 01 

120 

1220 GOT011 20 

1230 IF X=0 TH EN 1580 

1240 IF GR(X,Y)= -1 THEN 1510 

1250 IF Y+1< 10 THE N I F X=9 AND G 

RCX -1, Y+1)=-1 TH EN 1580 

1260 I F Y-1>- 1 THEN IF X=9 AND G 

R(X - 1,Y -1)=-1 THEN 1580 

1270 IF Y-10 THE N IF GR(X -1, Y- 

1)=- 1 THEN FL G$= "Y+1": GOT01 120 

1280 IF Y+19 THE N IF GRCX -1 , Y+ 

1)=-1 THEN FLG$= "Y-1 " : GOT01 120 

1290 I F GR( X, Y)= -1 THEN 1510 

1300 IF X- 1-1 TH EN X=X-1 : GOT01 

120 

1310 GOT011 20 

1320 IF RIGHT $CFLG$ , 2)= "-1 " THEN 

GOTO 1420 

1330 I F Y=9 THEN 1580 

1340 IF GR(X,Y)= -1 TH EN 1510 

1350 IF X+ 1-1 TH EN IF Y=0 AND G 

R(X - 1,Y+1)=-1 TH EN 1580 

1370 I F X- 10 THEN IF GRCX-1 , Y+ 

1)=-1 THEN FLG$= "X+1": GO T01120 

1380 IF X+19 THE N I F GRCX+1, Y+ 

1)= -1 THEN FLG$= "X-1 " : GOT0 1120 

1390 IF GR(X ,Y )=-1 TH EN 1510 

1400 I F Y+1 10 TH EN Y=Y+1: GOT0 1 

120 

14 10 GOT011 20 

1420 IF Y=0 TH EN 1580 

1430 IF GR(X ,Y )=- 1 TH EN 1510 

1440 IF X+1-1 THE N IF Y=9 AND G 

R(X- 1,Y-1)=- 1 THEN 1580 

1460 IF X-10 THE N IF GR(X-1,Y 

l)=- 1 THEN FL G$= "X+ 1" : GOT0 11 20 

1470 IF X+ 19 THEN I F GR(X+ 1,Y - 

1)=- 1 THE N FLG$= "X- 1" : GOT0 1120 

1480 IF GR(X , Y)=- 1 THEN 1510 

1490 IF Y-1- 1 THEN Y=Y- 1: GOT01 

120 

1500 GO T011 20 

1504 ' 

1505 ' *** HIT *** 

15 10 COLOR3,5 

1520 MV$( MV ,0)=MV$( MV, 1) : MV$(M V, 

2)= "18 " 

1530 LIN E(X1,Y1)-(X 1+15, Y1+ 15),P 

RESE T,B F 

1540 LI NEC X1,Yl ) - CX1+ 15, Yl+15), P 

SET,B F 

1550 GETCX1 , Yl) - (X1+15,Yl+15) , CS 

, G

2120 BL=BL+1 

2130 GOT0680 

2_40 BL=BL-1 

2150 FOR H=N TO 9 

2160 B(H , 1l=B(H+1,1) : B(H,2)=B(H+ 

1, 2) 

2170 NEXTH 

2180 GOT0680 

2184 ' 

2185 ' MENU SELECTION 

2190 J1 =JOYSTK(0) :J2=JOYSTK( 1) 

2200 IF J242 THEN LINE(0,140)-( 

56,159) ,PSET,B 

2215 IF (J2>=21) AND (J242 THEN 310 

2243 IF (J2>=21) AND (J2- 10 THEN SC=SC - 

1 

2440 NEXT N 

2450 IF SC=0 THEN S0=0:GOT02500 

2460 A=SC*100:8=1 -( MV /32) :SO=INT 

(A+(B*125)) 

2494 ' 

2495 ' DRAW END SCREEN 


2500 LINE(0,95)-(57 ,160 ),PRES ET, 

BF 

2510 DRAW "BM0,120C2; "+AL$(19)+AL 

$(3)+AL$(15)+AL$(18)+AL$(5 ) 

2520 SO$=STR$(S0) 

2530 DRA W"BM3,136C3 " 

2540 FOR N=1TOLEN(S0$) 

2550 K$=MID$(S0$,N,1l 

2560 IF K$= " " THEN 2600 

2570 IF K$= "" THE N 2600 

2580 DRAWNUM$(VAL(K$)) 

2590 K$= "" 

2600 KS= "" : NEXT N 

2610 LINE(0,15) - (56,55),PRESET , B 

F 

2620 DRAW "BM6.12C2; "+AL$(16)+AL$ 

(12)+AL$(1)+A L$(25) 

2630 DRAW"BM0,25C2;"+AL$(1 )+AL$( 

7)+AL$(1)+A L$(9)+AL$(14)+ "BR4U1B 

U2U3R5U4L7D2 " 

2640 DRAW "BM9 ,45C2; "+AL$(25)+ "BR 

6"+AL$(14) 

2650 J1=JOYSTK(0) 

2660 IF J132 THEN LINE(25 ,34)-( 

3 9 , 48) , P SET , B: LINE ( 6 , 34) - ( 21 , 48) 

,PRESET ,B 

2680 IF PEEK(65280)=254 OR PEEK( 

65280)=126 THEN GOT02690 ELSE GO 

T02650 

2690 IF J1

XC XD YC 

-8 16 -8 

0 10 -3 

-16 32 -16 

-4 8 - 4 

-2 . 5 5 -2 .5 

YO 

16 

6 

32 

8 

5 

Equations 

you can have the y point PSET as ( ... ,19 1- 

V ,C)-this makes our display a little more 

realistic-looking since most graphs are 

numbered from low to high as you go up. 

Final! y, we' II define all our variables at the 

start of the program (so BASIC will have 

locations for them immediately), renumber 

the program, and combine lines where 

possible-to get that extra added speed. If 

your computer will handle it, you can also 

insert the fast poke (POK E 65495. 0) in the 

., 

Table 1 

INTC32*CSINCXl *S INCXl+COSCYl*COSCY)) ) AND 3 

INTCEXP(X)*CO S( Y)) AND 3 

INT(SORCABS(X*X-Y*Y))) AND 3 

INTCX*X+Y*Y) x( X:X+Y*Y) -2(X*X -Y*Y)) AND 3 

INT((X*X+Y*Y) *( X*X+Y*Y)*(X*X+Y*Y)- 

(X*X-Y*Y)*(X*X -Y*Y)) AND 3 

first line. The final program should look 

about like Listing 3. 

With the mechanics of the program out 

of the way, let's have some fun with it. 

Since the equation makes designs, start by 

changing it to X* X-Y *Y. What a difference 

a sign makes! 

Another variation is X*X+2*Y. You can 

make the numbe rs cubic powers 

X*X*X=Y*Y*Y, but if the value before you 

AND it with 3 is too large, you will get a 

METRIC INDUSTRIES, INC. 

Model101 

Serial to Parallel Printer Interface 

* Works with any COCO 

* Compatible with "Centronics" Parallel Input Printers 

* Just tum the knob to select any one of 6 baud rates 300-9600 

* Comes complete with cables to connect to your printer 

and computer 

* Can be powered by most printers 

Model1 04 Deluxe Interface 

with "Modem Switch" 

* Same Features as 101 Plus 

* Built in Serial Port for your Modem or other serial device 

* Switch between Serial Output and Parallel Output 

* Comes with cables to connect to your computer and printer 

* Can be powered by most printers 

Model1 05 Serial Switch 

* Connects to your COCO to give you 2 switch selectable 

Serial Ports 

* Comes with a 3 foot cable to connect to your computer 

* Now you can connect your Printer (or printer interiace) 

and your Modem (or other serial device) to your COCO 

and flip the switch to use either device 

* Does not require power 

Cassette Label Printing Program 

* New Version 2.1 prints ?lines of information 

on Cassette labels 

* Comes on Tape with instructions to transfer to disk 

* Menu driven, very easy to use 

* Save and Load Labels from Tape and Disk 

* Uses the features of your printer to print standard, 

expanded, and condensed characters 

* Automatically Centers Each Line of Text 

* Allows editing of label before printing 

* Program comes with 24 labels to get you started 

* 16K ECB required 

Some of the Printers 

That Can- 

Supply power for the 101 and 

1 04 are Radio Shack, Star. 

Okidata. Brother, Juki, and 

Smith Corona. 

Some of the Printers 

That Cannot - 

Supply power for the interiaces 

are Epson, Seikosha, 

Panasonic, Silver Reed and 

NEC. If your printer cannot 

supply power to the interiace 

you can order your interiace 

with the "P" option or you can 

supply your own AC adapter. 

We recommend the Radio 

Shack 273-1431 AC adapter 

with a 274-328 connector 

adapter. 

Write or call for more 

information or for technical 

assistance. 

Ordering Info 

Function Call Error. You can only AND a 

number if it is between -32768 and +32767. 

Another variation is to use SIN and cos. 

But since their value is only between -1 and 

+I, you must include a multiplier in the 

formula, such as I NT ( 32* (S IN ex )+COS (Y)) 

AND 3. If you use LOG, the starting coordinates 

will usually have to be greater than 

zero (try to find LOG COl or LOG( -32)). 

Another way to vary the display is to keep 

the formula the same, but increase or decrease 

the distance. Try Listing 3 again, but 

use XC= - 16, XD=+32, YC=- 16, YD=+32 . Finally, 

you can vary the AND number. Try 

using . .. AND 2 in the formula computation. 

Table 1 is a list of functions and their 

coordinates I've found interesting to graph. 

You will find many more on your own. 

That's it for The Graphics Comer this month. 

Next time we'll investigate one-dimensional 

arrays and use two ML programs to 

create a graphics display that really zips 

along. 

(Questions or comments concerning this 

article may be addressed to the author at 

Route 2, Box 216C Mason, WI 54856- 

9302. Please enclose an SASE when requesting 

a reply.) 

*Free Shipping in the 

U.S.A. (except AK and HI) 

on all orders over $50 

* On orders under $50 

please add $2.50 for 

shipping and handling 

* On orders outside the 

U.S.A. please write or ca ll 

for shipping c harges 

Price List 

Model101 

Modei101P 

Model104 

Modei104P 

Model105 

35.95 

41.95 

44.95 

51 .95 

14.95 

Cassette Label Program 6.95 

Pin Feed Cassette Labels: 

White 3.00/100 

4 Pin Din Serial 

COCO Cables: 

Male/Male 6 foot 4.49 

Male/Female 6 foot 4.49 

Female/Female 6 foot 4.49 

Other Lengths Available. 

All items covered by a 

1 year warranty 

You Can Pay By: 

* VISA or MasterCard 

* Or send check or money 

order payable in U.S. funds 

Metric Industries Inc. 

P.O. Box 42396 

Cincinnati, OH 45242 

(513) 677-0796 

August 1989 THE RAINBOW 37

DESKTOPH and Epso n-compatible printers. 

Your DESKTOPH program w ill have to be 

altered to work w ith DRIVERHT or DRIV 

E RH E, by merging with it one of four patch 

program s - HALTER, HAL TERD , HAL TERE , 

and HAL TERDE - of Listings 3, 4, 5 and 6, 

res pective ly . W hich one of the patch programs 

you mu st merge w ith DESKTOPH 

depend s on what version of th at program 

you are using. Prese ntly, there are effectively 

four different ve rsions of DESKTOPH . 

These different ve rsions are an outgrowth 

of sel ling to m any tlESKTOPH use rs a builtin 

sc reen dump, enhancements or both. The 

four versions are as follows : 

e V ersion I - The ori ginal DESKTOPH 

w ith 2, I 0 or 19 fonts, w ith or w ithout the 

word processor input feature introduced in 

The Desktop Publisher: A Reprise (September 

'88 iss ue of THE RA INBOW). 

• V ersion 2 - L ike Version I with the 

exception th at a patch program merged 

with DESKTOPH gives the 0 command sc reen 

clump capabi lities . 

• Version3-Like V ersion l , but a patch 

program merged w ith DESKTOPH prov ides 

so me new command s. 

• Version 4-A combinati on ofVersions 

2 and 3. 

The programs HALTER, HAL TERD , HAL 

TERE , and HALTERDE are assoc iated w ith 

V ersions I , 2, 3 and 4 res pectively, of 

DESKTOPH . Each of these patch program s 

gives the 0 command of DESKTOPH the 

ability to transfer co ntrol to ORIVERHT or 

DRIVERHE . Those of you with Epson or 

Epson-compatible printers w ill have to 

change Line 725 of the patch program 

assoc iated w ith your version of DESKTOPH . 

ln that line you w ill ha ve to replace DR I v 

ERHT with DR!VERHE . 

Each patch program ex pand s the powers 

of the 0 command further. It adds an 

option to the 0 co mmand allowing you to 

look at the directory of the disk in Dri ve 0. 

For later prinring, you w ill be sav ing eight 

or 12 sc ree ns on disk by mea ns of the Save 

Screen option of th e 0 command. To keep 

trac k of what f iles are already on the disk, 

you may occasionally need to use the directory 

option of the 0 command. Each patch 

program gives DESKTOPH the ability, by 

means of the 0 and I commands. to add ress 

drives when sav ing and l oad ing sc reen 

fi les. If you have more th an one drive, you 

may want to save sc reen f iles on a disk in a 

drive other than Drive 0. You should then 

append to DIR in Line 725 a drive number 

1, 2 or 3 correspond ing to th e dri ve you 

intend to employ. Some of you hav ing 

Version 2 or Version 4 of DESKTOPH may 

need to change L ine 725 , by rep lac ing 

THENCLS : EXEC&Hl49 w ith the BAS IC com- 

mands in the corres ponding part of L ine 

725 of your present DESKTOPH . For instance, 

many of you using HDUMP10 5 sc reen clump 

need to make the replacement: 

THENCLS : PRJNT#-2,CHR$(27) : CHR$(20 

: EXEC&Hl32A. 

When you have typed the patch program 

for DESKTOPH and made, if neeclecl , any of 

the discussed chan ges in L ine 725 , save it 

in ASCII f ormat. For example, to save 

HAL TERD in ASCII fo rm at, type : 

SAVE " HALTERD " , A and press ENTER. 

Baud Rate 

1200 

2400 

4800 

9600 

Table 1 

Value 

4 1 

18 

6 or 7 

I 

Tomakethenecessarya lterat ionofD ESK 

TOPH, do the fo llowing: Get out the disk 

containing your version of DESK TOP H and 

its font fi les, then make a backup copy of 

th e disk. Put away the ori ginal and work 

w ith the back up copy. For compatibility 

w ith 0 RIVE RHT or OR [ V ERH E, your DES KTO PH 

version must have the fi lename DH . Therefore, 

inse rt th e disk co ntaining DESKTO PH in 

the dri ve and type: RENAME " DESKTOPH/ 

BAS " TO '' OH/BAS " and press ENTER . Now 

enter LOAD " OH " , then insert in the drive the 

disk containing the patch program - 

HALTER . HALTERED, HAL TERE, or HAL TERDE . 

If your patch program is HA L TERDE . for 

instance, type: MERGE " HAL TERDE " and press 

ENTER . Do similarl y for any one of the 

other three patch pmgrams, but w ith its 

name instead of HAL TERDE . Finally, insert 

the disk containing DH in your drive and 

type: SAVE " DH" and press ENTER. 

Depend ing on what pri nter you have, 

you may have to change some lines of th e 

dri ve r program , ORIVERHT or DRIVERHE, 

whichever one you will be using. The poke 

command in Line 5 of eac h of these programs 

is employed to set the baud rate of 

your particul ar printer. If your prin ter operates 

at 600 baud, you need not change Line 

S. Otherwise, delete the apos trophe from 

L ine 5 and replace the qu estion mark w ith 

the va lue assoc iated w ith the baud rate of 

your printer. These va lues are gi ven in 

T able I . If the control codes for initiating 

the 800 or 960 dots- per- line graph ics mode 

are otherthan 27,20 or 27 , 19, res pectively, 

for your DMP printer, you need to change 

L ine 740 or 730 of DRI vE RHT , accordingly. 

If you have a printer that is Epson-compatible 

but not an Epson, you may have to 

tailor-make DRI VER HE to fit the needs of 

your printer. Tailor-m aking DRIVERHE involves 

changing seven DATA statements 

containing Epson printer-co ntrol code 

sequences. Lines 650 through 670 contain 

the control codes for a two-column printout. 

Similarl y, lines 720 through 750 hold 

control codes needed for three-colu mn 

printouts. The first DATA value in eac h of th e 

lines specifies the number of va lues in the 

control code sequence represented by the 

remainder of the DATA statement. Lines 650 

and 720 are identica l and spec ify the control 

code sequence for line spac ing. 

For ordinary printing your printer provides 

a line spacing of one-sixth inch, which 

produces six lines of print per inch. For the 

printer graphics modes the line spacing 

must be a closer, 7/72 inch. The Epson 

control code seq uence yielding the required 

line spaci ng is 27 . 49 . In lines 650 and 720 

the initial value of 2 indicates the following 

va lues. 27 ancl 49 represent the control code 

sequence. Chec k your printer manual to see 

w hether or not 27 . 49 is the control code 

sequence for a I ine spac ing of 7/72 inch. If 

your printer has a different control code 

sequence for that line spac ing, modify I ines 

650 and 720 accordingly. If the control 

code has three values, for instance, in addition 

to changing the control code sequence, 

you wi ll have to alter the initial value to 3. 

In such a case, the DATA statement would 

end with fou r zero values instead of the five 

required for the Epson printer. It may be 

that your printer automatically adjusts the 

line spacing to f it the graphics modes. In 

that event, you need to replace the initial 

va lue 2 in lines 650 and 720 w ith 0. However, 

if your printer does not have automatic 

line spacing adjustment and you make 

the 0 for 2 substitution, your printout w ill 

show noticeable gaps between lines. 

BAS IC lines 670 and 740 also dea l with 

line spacing. They hold control code sequences 

for the return to one-sixth inch I ine 

spac ing. T herefore, check your manual for 

a 27 , 50 control code sequence, and if needed, 

make changes in lines 670 and 740 analogous 

to those made for I in es 650 and 720. 

Lines 660, 730 and 750 contain the Epson 

control code sequences for specifying the 

graphics modes. L ines 660 and 750 are 

exactl y the same. The graphics mode indicated 

by each of those two lines is the one 

w ith a dot density of960dots per line ( 120 

dots per inch). The fi rst two values, 192 and 

3 indicate a m ax imum of 192+ 3*256=960 

clots that are to be printed per line. If your 

printer manual has a different control code 

sequence for thi s graphics mode, be sure to 

change I ines 660 and 750 so th at the codes 

specify a maximum of960 dots printed per 

line. 

Line 730 holds the control seq uence for 


margin s to 0; type t Chronic le; return the 

screen to the higher resolution; select the 

text font again; make the right-column 

margin settings according to Table 4 or 5; 

and press ENTER twice. Fill the rest of the 

screen and save it as the top-right column. 

Because a si ngle-sided 35-track di sk 

does not have the capacity to hold more 

than eight screen f iles, the screens assoc iated 

with the three-column printout must 

be recorded on two disks, six screens per 

disk. The screens representing the top half 

of the printout mu st be saved on one di sk 

and th ose fo r the bottom half must be on the 

other di sk. 

Thu s, the two disks must be swapped 

five times during the process of generating 

and sav ing i2 screens fo r the three-column 

printout. In Table 9, the process is illustrated 

for a pair of disks associated with a 

six or less character fil ename, DUMP . 

In D.RIVERHT or DRIVERHE, the two disks 

needed fo r a three-column printout need to 

be swapped once onl y after the top half of 

the page has been printed. Because you 

may want to have several copies of the 

three-column printout, it is well th at the 

di sk swapping has been minimized in the 

dri ver programs. 

Editors Note: The patches in listings 3 through 6 

are in tokenized f ormat on this month's RAIN 

BOW ON TA PE/DISK. In order to use them, you 

need to save lhem in ASCI! format on a.fi·esh disk 

using the A option of the SAVE command. 

l 

/ 

/ 

\/f 80 .......... 120 530 ........ 120 

,.:..J 160 ........ 132 590 ............ 66 

260 ·········· 45 660 .. ...... 170 

360 ........ 227 END .......... 36 

450 .......... 27 

Listing 1: DRIVERHT 

0 ' COPYRIGH T 1989, FALSOF T,IN C 

5 ' POKE150,? 

10 PCLEAR2 : CMP :W IDTH40 : CLS3 :LO CA 

TE7 , 2:ATTR0,2 : PRINT"HIGH CAPACIT 

Y SCREEN DUMPS ": LOCATE11, 4 : PRINT 

" FOR TANDY PRINTERS ": LO CATE11 , 6: 

PRINT " BY H. ALLEN CURTIS " : LOCATE 

18. 8: A TT R3 , 2: PRIN T" FOR " ; : LOCATE 1 

4 , 1l : ATTR7 , 2:P RINT "F ALSOFT , INC " 

20 LOCATE13,13:PRINT "COPYRIGHT 1 

989 " ; : LOCATE13,14 : ATTR0 . 2 , U: PRIN 

T" " ; : ATTR0, 2 

30 LOCATE3 , 18 : PRIN T"TY PE 2 OR 3 

DEPENDING ON WH ET HER YOU 

WANT A 2 OR 3 COLUMN PRINTO UT, 

RESPECTIVELY ." ; : LOC ATE 15,14 

40 K=1 : C=0 : X=&Hl000 : W$( 0)="12 " :W 

$(1)="TRIO " : W$ (2)="1/4 " :W$(3)=" , 

Ml ": M$= "PRESS SPACE TO CONTINUE 

" : DIMS$(13J . C( 13 ) 

50 S$(0)="1F314F8D3027028A018D27 

27028A028D2 127028A048D18 27028A08 

8D15 " : C(0)=1763 

60 S$(1)="27028A l08D0F270 28A208D 

0927028A408A807EA285308850E684D4 

5039 " :C (1)=2617 


Before this arti cle concl udes, be aware 

of the fo ll owin g: For a two or more page 

continuation of a two- or three-column 

printout, use two or more word processor 

input fi les. Employing one long word proc- 

essorfile is very time-consuming while the 

REST file is being derived afterthe filling of 

every screen. Each word processor fil e 

should terminate at the end of a paragraph. 

If REST becomes empty before a screen is 

completely filled, position the cursor to the 

beginning of the next line. Then use the 

ASCII fil e option of the I command to fill 

the remai nder of the screen and foll o wing 

screens with inf01mation from the next 

word processor f il e. 

(Questions or comments concerning thir 

article may be addressed to the author at 

172 Dennis Drive, Williamsburg, VA 23185. 

Please include an SASE when requestin fPl 

reply.) 

70 S$(2)="C6 80 D7508DC 0045026FA39 

86 1897 528 D3E8D 2D8D358DE933410A 51 

26F8 " : C(2)=3227 

80 S$(3)="8D2634408D338DDB33410A 

5126 F835 408D1 88 D2A8D CD33410A5126 

F88D " : C(3)=2788 

90 S$(4)="0A0A5226D0 3939007EA285 

338829 1E32C6 28 D75 1398E7071BFFFA2 

398E " : C(4) =2969 

100 S$(5) ="727320F78E7A7820F28D1 

F86128DDC8 DA3C6788D1F1F238DDF C67 

88D17" : c ( 5 )=356 0 

110 S$(6)="1F238 DDEC6 788D0F8DDD0 

F6F39C6FED76FCE40001F32398E4000A 

6C0A7 " :C(6)=3365 

120 S$(7)="80A6C0A7805A26F5398DE 

517FF6CC6 F08D E8 1F238DA8C6F08DE01 

F238D " : C(7)=4163 

130 S$(8)="A7C6F020C78DCC861C17F 

F53C6508DCD1F238D8DC6508DC51F238 

D8CC6 " :C(8)=3837 

140 S$(9)="5020AC8DB117FF388D181 

7FF778 D16 17FF798D 11860117FF 29860 

DBDA2 " : C(9)=3173 

150 S$( 10)="8586 1EBDA 285208C30C9 

01904FC6A0A7805A26FB39ABCDEFABCD 

E FA BCD " : C ( 10) =4121 

160 K$=INKEY$ : IFK$ ="" THEN160ELSE 

IFK$= "2"THEN280ELSEIFK$ "3"THEN 

SOU ND 60 , 3 :GOT01 60 

170 LO CATE3,1 8 :PR I NTSTRING$(1 20 . 

32l : LOCATE10,18 : PRINT"A FEW MOME 

NTS PLEASE ";: LOCATE15,14 

180 FORI=0 T010 : FORJ =lT029 :A$=MIO 

$ ( S $ ( I ) . 2 * J - 1 , 2 ) : A=V A L( " & H "+A$ ) : 

C= C+A:POKEX,A:X=X+1: NEXT:IF CC( 

l)T HEN CLS3 : LOCATE8 , 12:PRINT "1YPI 

NG ERROR IN LINE " ;50+10* I : ENDELS 

EC=0 : NEXT 

190 GOSUB720:GOS UB680 

200 K$ =INKEY$ :I FK$= "" THEN200 ELSE 

IFK$= "N"THEN 500 

210 GOS UB690 

22 0 K$ =1 NKEY$ : I FK$= " "THEN220 

230 GOS UB710

240 LOCATE4 , 1l : PRINT"OF A TRIO 0 

F FILES INDICATE THE 

LEFT , MIDDLE . AND RIGHT 

PARTS OF THE TOP 1/4 OF THE 

PRINTOUT . L2. M2, 

AND R2 INDICATE TH 

E NEXT 114, ETC . 

EXC 

EPT FOR THE LAST 2 

250 LOCATE4 . 17 : PRINT "CHARACTERS, 

THE FILENAME OF ALL 

FILES MUST BE THE SAME . " : LOCATE 

6,20 : PRINTM$ ; 

260 K$=INKEY$ : IFK$= "" THEN260 

270 GOT0500 

280 K=2 :W$(0)= "8": W$(1)= "PAIR ": W 

$(3)=" ": LOCATE3,18 : PRINTSTRI 

NG$(120 , 32) : LOCATE10 , 18 : PRINT "A 

FEW MOMENTS PLEASE "; : LOCATE15 , 14 

290 S$(0)= "1F314F8D3027028A018D2 

727028A028D2127028A048D1B27028A0 

880152702 " :C(0)=1804 

300 S$(1)="8A108D0F27028A208D092 

7028A408A807EA285308850E684D4503 

9C680D750 " : CC 1 )=3197 

310 S$(2)="8DC0045026FA39861B975 

28D2E8D1D8D258DE933410A5126F88D1 

68D258DDD " : C(2)=3261 

320 S$(3)="33410A5126F8800A0A522 

6E039390D7EA2853388151E32C63CD75 

1398E7071 ": C(3)=2812 

330 S$(4)="BFFFA2398E727320F78D1 

B86128DE18DB8C6788D1B8DDC8DE4C67 

88Dl38E7A " :C(4)=4284 

340 S$(5)="7BBFFFA20F6F39C6FED76 

FCE40001F32398E4000A6C0A780A6C0A 

7805A26F5 " : C(5)=3985 

350 S$(6)= "39128DE48D85C6F08DE88 

DA98DB1C6F020CB8DD4861C17FF74C65 

08DD58D96 " :C(6)=4662 

360 S$(7)= "8D9EC65020B88DC117FF6 

18D158D918D11860117FF58860DBDA28 

5861EBDA2 " :C(7)=3755 

370 S$(8)="85209E30C901904FC6A0A 

7805A26FB39ABCDEFABCDEFABCDEFABC 

DEFABCDEF " : C(8)=4960 

380 FORI=0T08 : FORJ=1T031 : A$=MID$ 

( S $ ( I ) , 2 * J -1 , 2 ) : A=V A L( " & H "+A$ ) : C 

=C+A : POKEX,A : X=X+l : NEXT : IFCC(I 

)THENCLS3 : LOCATE8.12 : PRINT "TYPIN 

G ERROR IN LINE "; 290+10*I : ENDELS 

EC=0 : NEXT 

390 GOSUB720 : GOSUB680 

400 K$=I NKEn : IFK$= "" THEN400ELSE 

IFK$= "N"THEN500 

410 CLS3 : LOCATE6 ,4: PRINT "YOU SHO 

ULD HAVE READY 8 FILES 

(SCREEN IMAGES) FOR LOADING . 

420 LOCATE6 , 6: PRINT "THE SCREEN I 

MAGES OF ONE PAIR OF F 

ILES SHOULD CORRESPOND TO 

THE TOP FOURTH PART OF THE 

PRINTED PAGE. ANOTH 

ER PAIR 


430 LOCATE6 , 10 : PRINT "SHOULD CORR 

ESPOND TO THE NEXT FOU 

RTH PART OF THE PAGE . ETC .": LOCA 

TE8 , 20 : PRINTM$ ; 


450 CLS3 : LOCATE6 ,4: PRINT "T E LAS 

T 2 CHARACTERS OF EACH 

FILENAME MUST INDICATE WHERE 

THE SCREEN IMAGE IS TO 

BE PRINTED . FOR I 

NSTANCE, Ll AND R1 

ENDING THE FILENAMES 

460 LOCATE6,9 : PRINT "OF A PAIR OF 

FILES I NDICATE THE 

LEFT AND RIGHT PORTIONS 

OF THE TOP FOURTH OF THE 

PAGE . L2 AND R2 IND 

I CA TE 

THE NEXT FOU 

RTH , ETC . EXCEPT 

470 LOCATE6.14 : PRI NT" FOR THE LAS 

T 2 CHARACTERS, THE 

FILENAMES OF ALL FILES 

MUST BE THE SAME ." 

480 LOCATE8 . 20 : PRINTM$ ; 

490 K$= IN KEY$ : IFK$= "" THEN490 

500 GOSUB670 


520 IFK$= "3"THENPCLEAR4 : ENDELSEI 

FK$= "2"THENPC LEAR4 : RUN "DH "ELSEIF 

K$ "1"THEN510 

530 WIDT H32 : CLS : PRI NT@130 , "ENTER 

PART OF FILENAME COMMON TO AL 

L FILES . ( I F YOU HAVE MORE 

THAN 1 DRIVE. YOU MAY ADORE 

SS A DRIVE BY APPENDING A COL 

ON FOLLO WED BY THE DRIVE NUMBE 

R TO THE FILENAME PART . 

540 IFK=1THENCLEAR200 , &H3FFF : K=1 

: X(1)=&H109A :X(2)=&Hl0D4 : X(3)=&H 

10ED : X(4)=&H1108 ELSECLEAR200 , &H 

3FFF : K=2 : X(1)=&H1085 : X(2)=&H10BC 

: X(3l=& H10CC :X(4)= &H 10DF 

550 L$(1)= "Ll ": L$(2)= " L2 ": L$(3)= 

" L3 " : L $ ( 4) =" L 4" : M $ (1 ) =" M 1 " : M $ ( 2 ) 

="M2 " :M$(3)= "M3 " :M$(4)= "M4 ": R$( 1 

) =" R 1 " : R $ ( 2) =" R2 " : R$ ( 3) =" R3 " : R$ ( 

4)="R4 " :0(1)=0 :0(2)=240 :0(3)=480 

:0(4)=160 : H=&HFFA2 

560 PRINT@326 ," »> " ;: LINEINPUT 

F$ 

570 A=INSTR(1 , F$ ," :" ) : IFA>0THEND 

$=RIGHT$ ( F$ , LE N( F$) -A+1) : F$=LEFT 

$ ( F $ . A- 1) ELSE D $= "" 

580 IFK=2T HENFORI=1T04 : POKEH , &H7 

0 : POKEH+1 , &H7l : LOADM F$+L$(I)+ "/ 

HR1 "+D$,0(I) : LOADM F$+l$(l)+" /HR 

2"+D$ ,0(I)+8192 : POKEH , &H72 : POKEH 

+1, &H73 : LOAD M F$+ R$ (I)+" /HR1 "+D$ 

, 0 (I) : LOA OM F$+R$ (I)+" / HR2 "+0$ , 0 

Cil+8192 : POKEH.& H7A : POKEH+l , &H7B 

: EXEC X (I) : NEXT : GOT0660 

590 FORI=lT02 : POKEH,&H70 : POKEH+1 

, &H7l : LOA DM F$+L$(I)+ "/ HR1 "+0$ ,0

Color Computer I, II, III 

Free Software for Drive 0 Systems 

CoCo Checker ... Test roms, rams, disk drives and & controller printer, keyboard cassette & more. 

Tape/Disk Utility .•• Transfers disk to tape and tape to disk. 

159' 95 Driveo 179 95 Drive 0 269 95 DriveO& 1 

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• Single Case · 

• Double Sided Slim Line Drive 

• Case holds 2 slim line drives 

• 2 Double Sided Slim Line Drive 

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• Heavy Duty Power Supply 

• 2 Drive Cable 





• Gold plated contacts 

• Controller & manuals 


• Controller & Manuals 


• Controller & Manuals 

Other Drive Specials 

119 95 

2nd Drive 

for new Radio Shack 

includes: 

• Slim Line DS/00 Drive 

• Cabling & Instructions 

• Mounting Hardware 

Full Ht Drive ............................ 89 95 

Full Ht Drive Ps/Case ........ 129 95 

Slim Line Drive ...................... 99 95 

Slim Line Drive Ps/Case ... 139 95 

2 Slim Drives Ps/Case .... .. 239 95 

Disk Controller ...................... 59 95 

Single Ps & Case .................... 44 95 

Dual 1 /2ht Ps & Case ............. .. 54 '95 

Dual Full Ht. Ps & Case ........ 79 95 

Disk Controller .. ... .. .. ...... .... . .. 59 95 

10 Diskettes 9 95 

with free library case ................ .. 

Quality Add-On's for Tandy 1000, SX, TX, SL, TL, 3000, 4000 

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259.95 

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1 0 meg kit . . . . . . . . . . . . 249.95 

20 meg kit . . . . . . . . . . . . 299.95 

30 meg kit . . . . . . . . . . . . 339.95 

TANDY 1000 

1000, SX, TX,3000,4000 

2nd Floppy 

360K TEAC $119.95 

720K Mitsubishi $99.95 

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HOURS: MON·FRI. 9-6, SAT. 1Q-4 (EST) 

HARD DRIVE KITS 

40 meg .. ...... . . .. . 

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1000, 1000A, SX, TX, SL, TL 

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Controller 

Will run 1 or 2 

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Supports drives up to 120 megabytes 

$99.95 

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EXCEPT CANADA AND A. P.O.'s 

C.O.D.'S ADD $2.30 

MASTER CHARGENISA ADD 3% 

1 YEAR WARRANTY UNLESS 

OTHERWISE NOTED 

PRICES TERMS CONDITIONS 

SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT 

NOTICE

4)= "R4 " 

530 PRINT@326, "»> " ; : LINEINPUT 

F$ 

540 A= I NSTR( 1, F$ ,": "):I FA>0THEND 

$=RIGHT$(F$,LEN(F$) -A+1) : F$=LEFT 

$(F$ , A-1)ELSED$= "" 

550 IFK=2THENFORI=1T04 : POKE&HFFA 

2,&H70 : LOADM F$+L$(I)+ "/HR1 "+D$ : 

POKE&HFFA2, &H71 : LOADM F$+L$ (I)+" 

/H R2 "+D$:POKE&HFFA2,&H72 : LOADM F 

$+R$(I)+ "/HR1 "+D$ : POKE&HFFA2 , &H7 

3: LOADM F$+R$(I)+ "/HR2 "+D$ : POKE& 

HFFA2 , &H7A : EXEC&H1284 : NEXT : GOT06 

30 

560 FORI=1T02 : POKE&HFFA2,&H70 : LO 

ADM F$+L$(I)+ "/HR1 "+D$ : POKE&HFFA 

2,&H71 : LOADM F$+L$(I)+ "/HR2 "+D$ : 

POKE&HFFA2,&H72 : LOADM F$+M$(I)+ " 

/ HR1 "+D$ : POKE&HFFA2,&H73 : LOADM F 

$+M$ CI)+"/HR2 "+D$ 

570 POKE&HFFA2 , &H7A : LOADM F$+R$( 

I)+"/H R1 "+D$ : LOADM F$+R$(I )+ "/HR 

2"+D$ ,8192 : EXEC&H1298 : NEXT 

580 O$=D$ : I FO$= " "TH ENO$= " 0" ELSEO 

$=RIGHT$(D$ , 1) 

590 CLS : PRINT@194, "INSERT DISK W 

ITH SECOND SET OF SCREEN FIL 

ES IN DRIVE " ;0$:PRINT@258, "AND 

PRESS SPACE. " 

600 K$=INKEY$ : IFK$0 " "THEN600 

610 FORI=3T04 : POKE&HFFA2,&H70 : LO 

ADM F$+L$ (I)+" / HR1 "+D$ : POKE&HFFA 

2, &H71 : LOADM F$+L$ (I)+" / HR2 "+D$ : 

POKE&HFFA2 , &H72 : LOADM F$+M$(I)+ " 

/HR1 "+D$ : POKE&HFFA2,&H73 : LO ADM F 

$+M$( I)+ " /HR2 "+D$ 

620 POKE&HFFA2,&H7A : LOADM F$+R$( 

I)+ " / HR1 "+D$ : LOADM F$+R$ ( I )+ " / HR 

2"+D$ ,8192 : EXEC&H1298 : NEXT 

630 CLEAR200,&H7FFF : GOT0470 

640 WIDTH40 : CLS 3: LOCATE10,10:PRI 

NT "1 LOAD FOR DUMP ": LOCATE10 , 11 : 

PRINT "2 RETURN TO DH " : LOCATE10 , 1 

2: PRINT "3 EXIT PROGRAM ": RETURN 

Listing 3: HALTER 

18 ON ERR GOT07000 

25 GOSUB820 : POKE&HFFA 2, &H 70 : SAVE 

M"OUT1 " , &H4000 , &H5FFF,&HAC73 : POK 

E&HFFA2,&H7l : SAVEM "OUT2 " ,&H4000, 

&H5BFF , &HAC 73 : POKE&HFFA2,&H7A : RE 

NAME "OUTl/BIN "TOF$+ " /HR1 ": RENAME 

"OUT2/BIN "TOF$+ " /HR2 ": DRIVE0 : RET 

URN 

30 GOSUB820 : RENAMEF$+ "/HR1 "TO " IN 

1/BIN ": RENAMEF$+ " /HR2 "TO " IN2/B IN 

": POKE&HFFA2,&H70 : LOADM "IN1 ": POK 

E&H FFA2 , &H71 : LOADM " I N2": POKE&H FF 

A2,&H7A 

35 RENAME "INl/BIN "TOF$+ "/ HRl " :RE 


650 DATA 2, 27 ,49 ,0 ,0,0 ,0,0 

660 DATA 5, 27 ,42 , 1,1 92 , 3,0 ,0,0,0 

670 DATA 2, 27 ,50, 0, 0 ,0 ,0 ,0 

680 CLS3 : LOCATE3 ,8: PRINT "DO YOU 

NEED TO RE VI EW FI LE AND 

FIL EN AM E REQUI RE MENTS FO R EXECU 

TING THIS SCREEN DUMP? (Y/ 

N) "; : RET URN 

690 CLS3 : LOC ATE6 , 5:P RIN T"YOU SHO 

ULD HAVE READ Y "; W$(0) : LOCATE6 , 6 

: PR IN T"FILE S (SC RE EN IMAGES) FOR 

LOADIN G. THE IMA 

GES OF ONE "; W$(1) ; " 

OF FI LES SHO ULD CORRES PON D 

TO THE TOP " ;W $(2) ;" OF THE 

PRINTO UT. ", 

700 LOCATE6 , 10 :PR I NT"ANOTH ER ";W 

$(1) ; " SHO UL D COR RES PON D 

TO THE NEXT "; W$(2); " OF THE P 

RIN TOUT, ETC .": LOCATE8 , 20 

: PRINT M$;: RETURN 

710 CLS3 : LOCATE4 , 6: PRINT "THE LAS 

T 2 CHARAC TERS OF EACH 

FI LENAM E MU ST I ND ICATE WH ERE 

THE SCREEN IMAGE IS TO 

BE PRI NTED . FOR E 

XAMPLE, Ll ";W $(3) ;" AN 

D R1 ENDIN G THE FI LENAMES ": RETUR 

N 

720 DATA 2, 27 , 49 ,0, 0,0 ,0,0 

730 DATA 5, 27 ,4 2,3 , 128 , 7,0,0 ,0,0 

740 DATA 2,27,50 ,0 ,0,0,0,0 

750 DATA 5, 27 , 42 , 1, 192 , 3,0, 0 ,0,0 

760 CLS3 :LOCATE13 ,8: PRI NT"GRAPHI 

CS MO DE": LOCATE10 , ll : PRI NT"1: 96 

0 DOTS PER LIN E": LO CATE 10 ,13 : PRI 

NT"2: 1920 DOTS PER LINE " 

770 K$=I NKEY$ : IFK$ ="" THE N770ELS E 

I FK$="2"THE NR ETU RNELSEIFK$ "1"T 

HENSOU ND 60,10: GOT0 770 

780 X=X-18 :FORI=0 T09 : READA : POKEX 

+I, A:N EXT : POK E&H1290 , &H29 : POKE&H 

129 4, &H28 :R ETU RN 

NAME "I N2/B I N"TOF$+ "/HR2 " : DRIVE0 : 

RETU RN 

170 IF K=21T HENHPUT ( U, T)-( W-1,T+ . 

5*D) , 4 : H PU T ( U, T +. 5*D)- ( W -1, T +D) , 

4: L= U: GOT065 

17 1 I FK=95 THE NI=2* H+2 :HP UT(L , T) 

( L+ 1, T+D), 1: IFL>W* . 5T HENHGETCU , T 

) - ( W- I -1 , T +. 5 * D+ . 5 ) , 6 : H PUT ( U+ I , T 

) - ( W -1, T +. 5*D+ . 5) , 6: HGET ( U, T + . 5* 

D+ 1 . 5 ) - ( W- I -1 , T +D) , 6 : H PUT ( U+ I , T + 

. 5*D+1. 5)-( W-1 , T+D) , 6: GOT0175 

172 IF K=95 THE NHG ET(U +I, T) - (W-1 , T 

+. 5*D+ . 5),6 :H PU T(U , T) - (W-1-I , T+ . 

5 * D+ . 5 ) , 6 : H GET ( U+ I , T +. 5 * D+ 1 . 5 ) - ( 

W-1,T+ D) , 6:HPU T(U, T+ . 5* D+1 . 5) - (W 

- 1 - I , T +D) , 6

275 IFK$= "0" OR K$= "o"THENCLS : LO 

CATE8 ,9:PR I NT "1: SAVE SCREEN ON 

DISK ": LOCATE8,10 : PRINT"2 : DIR ": L 

OCATE8,11 : PRINT "3: HI C SCREEN D 

UMP " : GOT0725 

370 INPUT/11 ,D, S: CLOSE/11 :I FD >7 AN 

D D11 AND D15T HEND=23 

720 END 

725 K$=INKEY$ : IFK$= ""THEN72 5E LSE 

IFK$= "1"THENGOSUB25 :GOT0230ELSEI 

FK$= "2"THENCLS : DIR : PRINT " P 

Listing 4: HAL TE RD 


25 GOSUB820 : POKE&HFFA2 , &H70 : SAVE 

M"OUTl " ,&H 4000,&H5FFF,&HAC7 3: POK 

E&HFFA2 ,&H 71 : SAVEM "OUT2 '' ,&H 4000 , 

&H5BFF,&HAC73 : POKE&HFFA2,&H7A : RE 

NAME "OUTl / BIN "TOF$+ " /HR1 " : RENAME 

"OUT2/BIN "TOF$+ " /HR2 " : DRIVE0 : RET 

URN 

30 GOSUB820 : RENAMEF$+ "/ HR1 "TO " IN 

1/BIN " : RENAMEF$+ " /HR2 "TO " IN2/BIN 

" : POKE&HFFA2 , &H70 : LOADM " I N1 ": POK 

E&HFFA2 ,&H71 : LOADM " IN2 " : POKE&HFF 

A2 , &H7A 

35 RENAME "IN1/BI N"TOF$+ "/HR1 " : RE 

NAME " IN2/BIN "TOF$+ " /HR2 ": DRIVE0 : 

RETURN 

170 IFK=21THE NHPUT(U ,T)-( W-l,T+ . 

5 *D ) , 4: H PUT ( U, T+ . 5 *D) - ( W- 1 , T +D) , 

4 : L=U : GOT065 

171 I FK=95T HENI =2*H+2 :HPU TCL ,T ) 

( L + 1 , T+D) , 1 : IF L> W* . 5TH EN H GET ( U, T 

) - ( W- I -1 , T+ . 5 * D+ . 5) , 6 : H PUT ( U+ I , T 

)-(W -1,T+ . 5*D+ . 5) , 6:HGET(U,T+ . 5* 

D+ l . 5 ) - ( W - I -1 , T + D ) , 6 : H PUT ( U + I , T+ 

. 5*D+1. 5) - (W -1,T+D) , 6:GOT01 75 

172 IFK=95THE NHG ET(U+I ,T)-(W -1,T 

+. 5 * D+ . 5) , 6 : H PUT ( U , T) - C W- 1 - I , T +. 

Listing 5: HAL TE RE 


25 GOSUB820 : PO KE&HFFA2 , &H70:SAVE 

M"OUT1 " ,&H4000,&H 5FFF,&HAC73 : POK 

E&HFFA2 , &H7l : SAVEM "OUT2 " , &1-14000 , 

&H5BFF,&HAC73 : POKE&HFFA2 , &H 7A: RE 

NAME "OUTl/BIN "TOF$+ " /HR1 " : RENAME 

"OUT 2 I BIN " TO F $+ "I H R2 " : DR IV EO : RET 

URN 

30 GOSUB820 : RENAMEF$+ "/HR1 "TO " IN 

1/BIN ": RENAMEF$+ " / HR 2"TO " IN2/BIN 

": POKE&HFFA2 , &H70 : LOADM " I N1 ": POK 

E&H FFA2 , &H71 : LOADM " I N2 " : POKE&H FF 

A2,&H7A 

35 RENAME "IN1/BIN "TOF$+ "/HR1 " : RE 


RESS SPACE TO CONTINUE "ELSEIFK$= 

"3"THE NDRI VE0 : RUN "DRIVERHT "ELSES 

OUND60 , 3:GOT0230 

726 K$=INKEY$ : I FK$= " "THEN726ELSE 

230 

820 GOSUB485 :CLS:LOCATE12,8 : PRIN 

T" FILENAME : " ;: LINEINPUTF$:Z$=RI 

GHT$(F$ , 2) : I FASC(Z$)=58THENDR I VE 

VALCRIGHT$(Z$,1)) : F$ =LEFT$ (F$ , LE 

NCF$)-2) :R ET URN ELSERETURN 

7000 IFERLIN=2330 THEN2340 

7001 IFERLI N=50T HE N60 

5*D+ . 5), 6: HGET ( U+ I, T +. 5*D+ 1. 5) - ( 

W-1,T+D) , 6: HPUTCU,T+ . 5*D+1 . 5)-C W 

-1 - I , T +D) , 6 

275 IF K$ ="0" OR K$= "o"THENCLS : LO 

CATE8 , 9: PRINT "1: SCREEN DUMP ": LO 

CATE8 ,1 0 :P RINT "2: SAVE SCREEN ON 

DI SK " : LOCATE8 , ll :P RI NT" 3: DIR " : 

LO CATE8,12 : PRINT"4: HI C SCREEN 

DUMP " :GO T0725 

370 INPUT/1 1,D, S: CLOSE#1 : IFD >7 AN 

D D11 AND D15THEND=23 

720 END 

725 K$=INKEY$ : IFK$= ""THEN725ELSE 

IFK$= "1"THENCLS : EXEC&H1249 : GOT02 

30ELSEIFK$= "2"THENGO SUB25 : GOT023 

0ELSEIFK$= "3"THENCLS:DIR : PRINT " 

PRESS SPACE TO CONTINUE "ELS 

EIFK $="4"THENDRI VE0 : RUN "DRIVERHT 

"ELSESOUND60 , 3: GOT0230 

726 K$=INKEY$ : IFK$= "" THEN 726ELSE 

230 

820 GOSUB485 :CLS : LOCATE12 ,8: PRIN 

T"FILENAME : ";: LINEINPUTF$ : Z$=RI 

GHT$(F$ , 2):IFASCCZ$) =58THENDRIVE 

VALCRIGHT$(Z$,1)) : F$=LEFT$(F$ , LE 

NCF$)-2) : RETURNELSERETURN 

7000 IFERLIN=2 33 0THEN2340 

7001 IFERL IN =50T HEN60 

NAME" IN2/BIN "TOF$+ " /HR2 " : DRIVEO : 

RETURN 

170 IFK=21T HENHPUT CU,T)-( W-1 ,T+. 

5*D),4 : HPUTCU,T+ . 5*0)-( W-1 , T+D) , 

4 :L=U : GOT065 

171 IFK=95 TH ENI=2* H+2 :H PUT(L ,T) 

( L+l , T+D) , 1: IFL>W* . 5THENHGETCU, T 

) - C W- I - 1 , T +. 5 * D+ . 5) , 6: H PU T ( U+ I , T 

) - (W-1,T+ . 5*D+ . 5),6 : HG ETCU,T+ . 5* 

D+ 1. 5)- C W-I- 1, T +D) , 6: H PU T ( U+ I , T + 

. 5*D+1. 5) - (W -1, T+D) , 6: GOT0175 

172 IF K=95 THE NHGET CU+I ,T> - CW-1 , T 

+ . 5 * D+ . 5 ) , 6 : H PU T ( U , T) - ( W -1 - I , T + . 

5 * D+ . 5) , 6: H GET ( U+ I , T +. 5 * D+ 1 . 5) - ( 

W-1,T+D) , 6: HP UTC U, T+ . 5*D+1 . 5)-(W 

- 1 - I , T +D) , 6

A program for timed drills in both 

multiplication and division 

Time Test 

By Mary C. Crooks 

ime Test is a new approach to 

computer-aided drill on multiplication 

and division tables: It is 

the way I give my third-grade son twominute 

timed tests on the multiplication 

or division table he is trying to master. 

It duplicates the handwritten test strip 

that his teacher gives him in school. 

After setting a timer for two minutes, I 

give him the strip and a pencil. This testtaking 

practice, closely approximating 

the actual test, gives him more confidence 

than just working on the comput 

er using a drill program. 

The program is short and can be 

further shortened by removing the REM 

statements (lines I 0 through 29), which 

contain credits and explanation. This 

saves 548 bytes of memory. As those 

REMs state, Time Test creates and sends 

to the printer randomly generated 

problems testing on the multiplication 

or division tables or on a mixture of 

Mary Crooks, a busy housewife and 

mother of two, has been programming 

for about a year and helped to organize 

and run the computer center at her sons 

elementary school. She holds a degree 

in art and enjoys all things creative. 


both (review test). 

All you need is a 16 K Extended Color 

BASIC disk or cassette system and print- 

Line 

30 through I 00 

II 0 through 300 

340 through 350 

390 


470 

480 through 510 


610 through 680 


er. In lines 660 through 670 I use an 

Epson MX-80 to print out the test 

strips, utilizing its TAB command to 

Function 

Reserve memory, dimension array, show title screen 

Get keyboard input on chose of test type (Variables X, 

A, Y) 

Determine type of problem if review (Variable Y) 

Specifies multiplication table to test if review (Variable 

AA) 

Create multiplication problem (Array E$) 

Specifies division table to test if review (Variable AA) 

Create multiplication problem (Array E$) 

Loop counts problems created 

Print out problems created (Array E$) 

Get keyboard input to end or start again 

Table I

was needed for their TRS-80 Color Computer. 

OS-9 was already established and 

running in 6809 business computers around 

the world when it came to CoCo. 

In a way, because Microware released 

OS-9 for a world of professional programmers 

, engineers and developers, it is not 

particularly surprising that a dichotomy 

resulted - that of the OS-9 users and the 

non-OS-9 users. 

Over the years, OS-9 and the Color 

Computer have both changed substantially. 

Many would say that it is about time some 

real applications for OS-9 showed up. 

(Actually, as we will discover, the applications 

have been there all along; it is more a 

problem of who knew about them than a 

lack of software). Many say at last we have 

some programs running under OS-9 that 

make sense and are relatively easy to use. 

But there are those who disagree, maintaining 

that OS-9 is still too rigorous and 

complicated, and that it is designed for the 

programmer, not the average user. 

Are they right? What makes OS-9 the 

most talked-about operating system in the 

Color Computer Community? What do you 

need to run OS-9? In addition to answering 

those questions, I'll provide you an extensive 

look at applications. 

Down to Basics 

OS-9 stands for Operating System 9. It 

is an operating system, not a language. The 

best way to conceptualize this is that an 

operating system gives the computer its 

personality-and its arms, legs, eyes, ears 

and brain, if you will. It literally tells the 

computer what it is, and then connects it to 

the outside world, which means you, the 

user, and any peripheral equipment, like 

printers and disk drives. If you could break 

open an operating system to see what makes 

it tick, you would see hundreds of short 

little programs, all designed to make the 

computer store and retrieve information, 

organize and sort files, even manage the 

system memory. 

Without some kind of operating system 

under which the applications run, the 

computer is nothing but bits of electronic 

circuits, metal and plastic. This is where 

words you might have come across, like 

Kernel, l OMAN, RBFMA N. Pi pe man , tees and 

daughter processes, come into play. These 

are just a few of the different elements that 

make up an operating system like OS-9. 

Someone out there is undoubtably saying, 

"But you can program in OS-9. Doesn't 

that mean it's a language?" 

The answer to that question is no. OS-9 

contains certain commands and utilities 

that basically serve to let the user communicate 

information within different areas of 

the operating system (through a program 

called the shell). Programming also refers 

to the operating system's command language. 

You can program or instruct the 

operating system to perform tasks for you 

by "talking" to it in its command language. 

The Art of Mastering OS-9 

Mastering any new language, operating 

system, sport or musical instrument all 

have something in common. They require 

study, research, an investment of time for 

learning, practice, patience and, above all, 

the drive to succeed. OS-9 is no exception. 

One reason why OS-9 is so powerful is 

its ability to do several tasks simultaneously. 

This is called multitasking. In the 

world of computers as a whole, this is not so 

fantastiC, but for all the CoCo users, this is 

quite amazing. OS-9 picks up where the 

computer itself leaves off, and not only 

gives him or her an ability to do several 

tasks simultaneously or concurrently, it 

also gives the user the ability to run several 

different computers (or terminals) simultaneously. 

To some people this may not seem 

so important, but for someone who needs to 

do several tasks in rapid succession or at the 

same time it is extremely important. The 

user who needs to print a document while 

editing another or working on a spreadsheet 

is a good example. On the CoCo 3, 

pressing the SHIFT and BREAK or CTRL-C 

keys simultaneously moves a task or procedure 

into the background, allowing the user 

to continue with another program or job. 

Another reason why the operating system 

is called powerful is its ability to direct, 

redirect and accept files and keyboard input 

and output data generated by the computer 

to any device the operating system recognizes 

(actually, several at once), to derive 


computer-generated data, and use it for 

input in another program. This is call ed a 

Unified 110 Theory. It's a mouthful , but try 

and imagine a CoCo as an octopus, with 

each arm be ing a printer, modem, keyboard 

or screen, hard drive, RAM disk, etc. The 

CoCo interacts with these dev ices simultaneously. 

Now consider the CoCo running RS 

DOS and its own BAS IC language. How 

many things can you do at once? Can RS 

DOS filter a file to have it completely 

changed before being printed or stored on 

disk? Can it open eight windows at once? 

Not li kely. If it can, it cannot perfo rm the 

myriad of mul tiprogramm ing tasks OS-9 

can. (Few MS-DOS users have reason to be 

programming in DOS. MS-DOS, by the 

way, is just another D isk Operatin g System, 

with a slightly diffe rent orientation 

than OS-9, but is remarkably similar in 

some respects.) 

Actuall y, you need to know very I ittle 

about OS-9 to use it extensively. Let's take 

a look at some of the differences in OS-9 

and what they mean to you, the user. 

Years ago, when Rad io Shack in troduced 

OS-9 fo r the CoCo, the re was onl y 

Level I OS-9. because most of the software 

development compute rs and business 

computers had only 64K of memory (RAM) 

avai !able. New releases of OS-9 were created 

by M icro ware as computer tec hnology 

progressed. Not long after OS-9 Level I 

68 

T he Kernel: The law when it comes to how 

things are clone in OS-9. It handles inp ut. 

outp ut . memory management - all the bas ic 

dec isions nee clecl to keep an operating system 

operatin g. 

IOMAN : The Inp ut/Out put manager. It is 

responsible ror traffi c cont ro l, handling all 

the req ues ts for inp ut and output from devices 

I ike disk dri ves. 

Clock: Gives you the time or day. and 

handl es all interu pts from the 60-cyc le 

powerline to make it seem li ke many things 

are happening ar once. 

RBF (man): Ma nages all random files and 

directory inl"orm ati on on any dev ice rhat 

stores informati on in bl ocks of clara . 

SC F( man) : Managin g informa tion sent . one 

charac ter

74 

For the CoCo user, there are really only a few choices when it comes to OS-9, and some of these choices depend on your hardware 

setu p; that is, the type of CoCo and peri pheral equipment you have. In fact, if you have a CoCo I or 2, and have 64K of memory, you 

are limited to OS-9 Level I. 

There are several versions of OS-9 Level l. The most widely-known and -u sed by CoCoists are releases 1.00.0 I and 2. 00.0 I. (See 

Figure I below for minimum system requirements.) The diffe rences between these versions include upgraded graphics capabil ity, hard 

drive support, and some " bell s and whistles" that make 0Sr9 Levell a little easier and more convenient to li ve with. In earl y OS-9 clays, 

Level I was the only version avail able anywhere for any _computer. 

L evel II users must have 128K of RAM to run OS-9, and as you may surmise, this is where the CoCo 3 comes in . The CoCo 3 comes 

with 128K RAM standard, just enough to support important elements like windows, extended graphics and the M ulti-Vue operating 

environment. OS-9 Level II is really "shoe-horned" into the 128K machines, and if you are at all considering becoming a seri ous user, 

it is strongly suggested that yo u upgrade to 5 12K. While it is poss ible to operate OS-9 from a single di sk drive, at least one more d ri ve 

is strongly suggested for any real use of OS-9 - the bigger the drive the better. If you are making a hobby of OS-9, you will probably 

need a hard dri ve before you know it. See Figure I. 

Level I Level II Level I Level II 

--- 

Requires 64K RAM YES NOI Confi guration Menu N0 4 YES 

Requires 128K RAM NO ,y Es Enhanced Command Set NO YES 

Requires CoCo 3 NO YES Self-Booting With 

DOS Command YES YES 

Supports 7 Windows NO YES 

Hi gher Processing Speed NO YES 

Utilizes 512K N0 2 YES 

Supports 2 Modem Ports N0 4 YES 

Advanced Graphics N0 3 YES 

Prints at 9600 Baud N0 9 YES 

Runs Multi-Vue NO YES 

Supports Multiple 

One Disk Drive Required YES 8 YES 8 Hi-Res Displays NO YES 

Supports Hard Disk N0 4 YES Easy-to-understand 

Manuals NO' YES 6 

Supports Double- 

Sided Disk N0 4 YES Supports Analog 

RGB Monitors NO YES 7 

Supports 40-Track Disks N0 4 YES 

Supports Composite 

Supports 80-Track Drives N0 4 YES Monitors N0 7 YES 

Footnotes : 

I . OS -9 Level II requires 128K minimum to opera te. 5. Most users wo uld argue that th ese manuals are unders!anclable on ly to a 

soft ware engineer with a degree in programmin g. Some might disagree th at 

2. Hard ware is available to upg rade to 5 12K. which might then be utili zed the manuals are user-hostile. 

by OS-9 in 64K bloc ks. 

6. Most use rs agree th at the OS-9 Le ve l l I manuals, while still q ui 1e rigorous, 

3. There is some support for advanced graph ics in later versions of OS-9 parti cularl y to the nov ice, are usab le and understandab le to the user, mak ing 

Levell such as Levell version 2.00.0 1. T his is limited by th e hard ware or th e manuals to Level II user- understandable, not qui te use r- fri endly. 

the CoCo i!Se lf. no1 specifically by OS-9. 

7. Hard ware limitati on of CoCo I and 2. 

4. Software is available such as SDisk by D.P. Johnson and o1her u1ili1ies 

from third pa rt y vendors to suppo rt device dri vers to use other th an sing le- 8. You can run OS-9 on one disk dri ve. but a minimum of two is strongly 

sided double-dens i1y 35-lrack dri ves. and other devices such as hard drives. suggested. More serious users will like ly need a hard d ri ve as well. 

modem packs, speec h synthesizers. etc. There is some li mited suppon for 

more !h an s1anctard support 111 OS-9 Level I Version 2.00.0 I. 9. OS -9 Leve l I Ve rs ion 1.00.0 I prints a1 a maxim um rate of 2400 baud. 

0 

THE RAINBOW August 1989 

Figure 1: OS-9 Level I vs. OS-9 Level II

Tandy has ensured this place for the Color 

Computer. They are throwing in all their 

support to it, and we know the CoCo will be 

around for a long time to come. Of course, 

OS-9 users can relax and breathe easier, 

because long after the CoCos are gone (if 

they ever go), OS-9 wi ll still be there. 

A Rainbow of Colorful Applications 

OS-9 is exciting, new, and on the forefront 

of what is to come. But what good is 

any of that if you can 't get the computer to 

work for you? What is needed is the right 

tool forthe right job, and with OS-9 you can 

be assured of finding exactly what you 

need. Word processors, spreadsheets, 

communications, databases and high-level 

lan guages are all there for the asking. 

One of the things that makes OS-9 so 

powerful is its ability to use available tools. 

That is to say, if someone has already 

written a program that plays "The Star 

Spangled Banner," you do not have to 

reinvent the wheel by writing it again for 

incorporation into your own patriotic program. 

You may be able to utilize the program 

like taking a book out of a library. 

Another powerful feature ofOS-9 is that 

with in a relatively short period of time, a 

user can learn how to make his or her own 

ideas work with a minimum of programming 

effort. For new users, this is not as 

important as finding software to get the job 

done for you now, not when you have 

learned enough to do it yourself. 

The following is an extensive list of 

software applications available to the CoCo 

user. The list is comprised entirely of products 

and companies advertised in THE RAIN 

BOW. (Products highly recommended for 

new users are preceded by an asterisk.) 

Tandy Corporation 

OS-9 Levell and OS-9 Level II operating 

systems: Tandy has li censed OS-9 from the 

original manufacturer, Microware Systems 

Corporation. OS-9 runs on 6809 computers 

like the CoCo 1, 2 and 3, and a globespanning 

array of other computers, including 

the 68000 series computers. 

Mufli-Vue: This is an excellent windowing 

system designed to take advantage of the 

capabilities of OS-9 Level II windows and 

the CoCo 3. It has a major shortfall when 

used on a 128K system, in that you can keep 

only one Lo-Res window open at a time. If 

you are serious about Multi-Vue and OS-9, 

you must have 5 l2K to get good use of the 

program. With a combination of 5 12K RAM 

and multiple drives or a hard disk, this is a 

great way to use the CoCo to its full poten- 

tial, by running a number of different programs 

si multaneously in separate windows · 

(see photo below). 

OS-9 Development System: This is a series 

of software tools, bundled together and 

sold as a package called development tools 

from Tandy. They are neither the best, 

fastest, strongest, nor fullest-featured, but 

they can get the job done. The system 

includes an interactive debugger for testing 

programs and accessing the CoCo's memory; 

a screen editor (SC RED) for editing text, 

but this has too few formatting commands 

for use as a serious word processor; and a 

Relocating Macro Assembler (RMA), which 

functions as a macro assembler and linkage 

editor. RMA lets you write, test and then 

assemble separate parts of the program. 

Utili ties include Mak e, which helps keep 

track of programs and files that need to be 

updated because of system changes; Touc h, 

which updates the modification date of 

files; and a virtual disk or RAM disk driver 

for high-speed storage in RAM - just 

don 't forget to save the information on the 

RAM disk before shutting off the system. 

Lastly, there is a set of 12 commands for 

OS-9 that make life a little easier when programming. 

OS-9 Pascal Version 2.0: This high-level, 

structured computer language was originally 

written to provide simple solutions to 

complex problems, and to actually teach 

programming. The OS-9 version is very 

faithful to industry standard, and has a 

native source code translator that can run 

programs at four to five times the speed of 

the compiler using P-code methods. This 

version cannot teach you Pascal, but does 

include references for learning it. Pascal is 

not as popular as C, or some of the other 

languages that now make code (programs) 

easier to transfer and translate between 

computer systems of different types. 

OS-9 C Compiler: This is a programmer's 

language. It is one of the most popular and 

powerful programming languages available 

today. It produces programs that are 

very easy to move to computer systems of 

different types. C works in terrific combination 

with the 6809 (CoCo) and OS-9 

(like UNIX), since all three were essentially 

made for each other. It is not an 

instruction manual, but a reference manual 

(not for beginners). 

TIS Word, TIS Edit, TIS Spell: This versatile 

set of three programs makes a good, 

solid word processing trio for everyday 

use. The heart ofthese three separately sold 

programs is TIS Edit (also available under 

RS-DOS), which is a screen-editor type 

program. Don't expect miracles from this 

package, but it can handle the basics well. 

Tl S Word is a formatting system that works 

on any OS-9 text fi le, a,lthough it is specifically 

geared for TIS Edit files. It is a graphically-oriented 

program, which shows you 

what your printed pages will look like, and 

then allows you to print or edit them. It is 

interesting, very easy to use, and sophisticated 

enough for general purpose everyday 

use. TIS Spell also works with any OS-9 

text file, and spell-checks it for you. TIS 

Spell has a full-featured correction capability 

against a 100,000-word master dictionary 

and a quick dictionary of more commonly 

used words. The combination makes 

for a relatively fast, effective spell checker. 

This program requires a little knowledge 

about OS-9 pathnames and command formats. 

* DeskMate: This integrated set of programs 

for the CoCo 1, 2 or 3 was what all 

the rage was about four years ago, when it 

was introduced for the CoCo. It was an 

instant hit running under OS-9, and turned 

the attentions of many users towards OS-9 

for the first time. DeskMate is versatile and 

easy to learn and use with a mouse and 

icons. It has calculator, filer, telecom, text, 

paint and spreadsheet programs to work 

with. They are all bare bones as far as 

programs are concerned, but can make a 

good introduction to OS-9, or if your needs 

are very simple and straightforward make 

for a very easy-to-use little package. Don't 

count on any serious text or number crunching 

or graphics masterpieces. It does include 

an excellent manual, one of the best 

for OS-9 applications. 

* DeskMate 3: This is a rewrite of Desk 

Mate to take advantage of the CoCo 3's 

upgraded capabilities. 

* Phantomgraph: This package allows the 

graphing of data, either input from the 

keyboard or from a spreadsheet file (like 

DynaCalc). It provides good graphing 

capabilities for the CoCo 3, and a good 

demonstration of OS-9. 

DynaCalc: This is the be all, do all and end 

all of OS-9 spreadsheets. Watch out, Lotus 

August1989 THE RAINBOW 75

1 -2 -3! A comprehensive manual foc uses 

on program use, not OS-9. Once the system 

is configured and set up correctl y, users 

(familiar with spreadsheets) will have no 

trouble. Novices, be patient, you can learn 

thi s more rigorous program wi th some dili 

gence. It is a powerful spreadsheet implementation 

and well worth obtain ing. 

OS-9 Profile: Thi s database management 

system is easy to learn and use, parti al 

thanks to a well -written manual. It is a 

powerful and flexible database management 

system for OS-9, li kely to be all the 

database most users wi ll ever need. N ine 

different types of screen design and numerous 

report formats make thi s a versatil e 

package. 

* Biosphere: A simulation of an ecological 

system in a future setting. T hi s is actually a 

quite rea li stic, well-designed and elegant 

si mulation, with good graphi cs - an excell 

ent va lue. 

* Korom·s Rift, and Rescue on Fractal us: If 

you li ke high-powered graphics, a good 

chall enge and fast acti on, these two games 

are for you. In Koronis Rift (see photo 

above), you are looting hulks full offuturistic 

weapons and tools for survival, while 

being shot at by nasty guardian saucers. In 

Fractalus, you are t1y ing to rescue a clowned 

space pi lot in sim ilar peril ous situ ations. 

Both are fun arcade-style strategy games, 

and are excellent demonstrations of OS-9 

Level II (CoCo 3) graphics. Great for beginners, 

who want to have fun with OS-9. 

* Rogue: Thi s is an im plementation of an 

old favorite game. W ith OS-9 Level II 

graphi cs it is challenging and enjoyable as 

a combin ation maze/dungeon style game. 

* Tondv HnmC' Puh/ishC'r: Thi s low-end 

desktop pub li shing system from Tandy 

would actuall y be very good fo r an introduction 

to OS-9 and productivity. Thi s is a 

fa irl y simple-to- learn and -use program fo r 

creating integrated text and graphi cs 

(newsletters) on a page. TH P has a number 

of different graphics, fo nts and styles to 

work with. It does. however. expect text to 

be generated by another editor under OS-9, 


although you can enter text directly into 

THP. 

Note: This is a good sampling of programs 

avail able from Tandy, nota complete li st of 

OS-9 titles ava il able. 

Frank Hogg Laboratory 

Scu lptor: The most powerful software 

system made fo r OS-9. It is a 4GL (Fourth 

Generation Language), SQL (System Query 

Language) and an appli cati on generator, 

database system and programming language. 

all ro lled into one. Once you know 

it, it is ex tremely easy to use as a programming 

language, and you will be abl e to 

wri te program in about one-tenth of the 

time you could wri te the same thing in C. 

Thi s is a very seri ous developme nt system . 

It is not for novices. Sculptor runs on a 

5 I 2K CoCo 3 with fl oppy dri ves, but a hard 

drive is strongly recommended. O n sale for 

$ 199.95 ($60 fo r upgrade to Version 1.16). 

If you want to pick a language to learn, 

Sculptor is it. Programs that run on the 

CoCo are directl y transportabl e to PC or 

other computers (modified at runtime). 

DynaStar/DynaSpe /1: In my opini on, DynaStar 

is the best, most seri ous word processor 

under OS-9. It is very sim ilar to 

Wore/Star in command fo rm at, has pull 

down menus and Help screen. A good SOcolu 

m n screen (in / w7 or whi chever screen 

you want) is easy to insta ll, and you can 

format text and use many diverse printers. 

Bold, doubl e-strike and unde rline are all 

supported with WordStar work-alike 

commands. DynaStar ($99.95) has a mail 

merge feature, 29 configurable macros, and 

edits f il es larger th an memory. Now that is 

word processing! DynaSpe/1 ($75 or $25 

with DynaStar purchase) is a spell checker 

fo r DynaStar or any text un der OS-9. It has 

a 20,000-word dictionary, which is surpri singly 

small , but is genera ll y considered the 

best spelling checker fo r the CoCo 3 running 

OS-9. Written by Dale Puckett. 

The Wi::: U nquestionably one of the f inest 

OS-9 terminal programs avail abl e. Bill 

B rady. the program 's author (a nd ed ito r of 

MOTD). is a programming ace when it 

comes to OS-9. Thi s program, although 

difficul t to install for the nov ice, is most 

reward ing in its operation. W indows fo r 

dialog, system messages, conference mode, 

up/downloads, she ll commands- The Wiz 

has it all. For the CoCo 3 onl y. $59.95, 

incl uding free Wi::Pro d isk. 

Inside OS-9 Level II: Thi s authori tative and 

compre hensive look inside OS-9 Level II 

for the CoCo, by Kevin Darling, is not for 

the novice. Thi s 200 plus-page book 

($ 19.95), publ ished by FHL, is onl y for 

those interested in the bi ts and bytes and 

memory registers that actuall y comprise 

OS-9 Level II, and how they work to make 

the operating system function. 

Second City Software 

''' Check-09 M\1 \1 ersion 2.0: T his handy, 

easy-to-use, versatile program runs under 

Multi-\lue to balance your checkbook. It 

works well , is easy to install, and even 

inclu des an editor now to enable adjustments 

to be made after the fact when needed. 

It even incl udes A TM transactions for your 

records. Thi s is the first program I have 

seen under OS-9 that actually makes doing 

financial work fun ($25 .95). 

* The OS-9 Solution: This easy-to-install 

and -run program replaces 20 of the most 

commonl y used commands under OS-9 

Level I or II. A menu fo rmat a ll ows you to 

type onl y the first letter of a command, and 

a fil e stack poi nter on the screen points to 

the file that the com mand w ill act upon. 

Other commands check free d isk space, 

format disks, etc. T hi s is a great program 

fo r novices because it all ows them to interact 

di rectl y with the shell by providing 

Help screens and good docume ntation. The 

Solution works under both OS-9 Level I 

and Level II, however, in its current release, 

some aspects of The Solution do not 

work under Level II ($24.95). 

.. 

, .. 0 0 • , ' , • } --_ ._ ,_ j ()X X 

... _ 

* Ultimuse Ill (see photo above): Thi s program 

is one of the best exam ples I've seen 

of what OS-9 Level II can reall y do. The 

program is designed to ed it and play m usic 

scores through a MIDI keyboard synthesizer. 

It is the only example of a program of 

thi s type running under OS-9 th at T have 

seen. Ultimuse Ill uses windows and a 

mouse for control. There is careful, thorough 

documentation, and even a tutori al 

fo r the novice user to install the program 

quickly and easily. The documentation 

carefully expl ains all terms, and shows

78 

Table 1: Vendors from Microware's OS-9 Sourcebook 

Did you think OS-9 was only for the CoCo, and onl y ava il able here at home? Well, think again. 

It is also not just the softwa re of which we speak, OS-9 runs on myriads of computer systems, and has numerous versions. There is 

OS-9 Level I, II, OS-9/68000, OS-9 Professional, and OS-9 Industri al. 

All oft he manu facturers listed under"Hard ware" build OS-9 systems that run exclusively OS-9! Apple computers, the Atari ST series, 

even Tandy MS-DOS computers, and any other compatibles can run OS-9 as well , with the installation of a 6809 or 68000 processor 

board. Some computers are designed to run OS-9 and MS-DOS plugs into them, not vice-versa. (For info rmation on the difference 

between OS-9 Level II and OS-9 Level I see Figure l.) 

Software vendors: 

Clearbrook Software Group, Inc. 

Box 8000, Suite 499 

Sumas, Washington 98295 

604-853-9 11 8 

Erina,Seri11a. for system mode debu gging, MSF 

(MS-DOS File Transfer) and many other titles 

fo r producti vity and soft ware development. 

Computer Systems Center 

36 Four Seasons Center #332 

Chesterfie ld, M I 630 17 

3 14-576-5020 

DynaCalc fo r OS-9, an excellent , poweJt'ul and 

versatile spreadsheet program. 

Computer Systems Consultants 

1454 Latta La ne N. W. 

Conyers, GA 30207 

404-483-4570 

Super Sleuth. Cmodem, cross assemblers and 

debugging simulators fo r app lications, development 

and producti vity. 

Trend Computer Systems 

828-A Dodsworth 

Covina, CA 9 1724 

8 18-33 1-4 114 

CNC: machine shop estimating software. 

Specialty Electronics 

909 North Cleveland 

Eni d. OK 73703 

405-233- 1632 

Accounrs Pavable.Accoums Receil'able, books. 

Southeast Media Div C. P. I. 

5900 Cassandra Smith Rd. 

Hi xson, TN 37343 

6 15-842-4600 

Stylograpil/Merge/Spe /1, Sculptor 4GL, Sah·e, 

Virtual Terminal, high-level programming languages 

and more fo r OS -9. 

Plus Five Computer Serv ices 

765 Westwood Drive 

St. Louis, MO 63 105 

3 14-725-9492 

MUMPS, a character string manipulation language. 

Windrush Micro Systems, Ltd. 

Worstead labs 

North Walsham, Norfo lk NR28 9SA 

England 

0692-404086 

Screen Editor II I (screen/tex t ediror) and ma ny 

other applications. 

LLoyd l/0 

P.O. Box 30945 

Portl and, OR 97230 

800-227-3719 

CRASMB, CRASMB 16.32 (mnemonic addressing 

and mode handling) fo r softwa re development. 

THE RAINBOW Augu st 1989 

Gimpel Software 

3207 Hogarth Lane 

Collegevi lle. PA 19426 

215-584-426 1 

Generic Lint (d iagnostic fac ili ty for the C lan 

guage) and other programming too ls. 

H. C. Anderson Computer. A/S 

Englandsvej 380 

DK-2770 Kas trup 

Denmark 

45 1-5:;4-404 

Cad FinanceOne (G/L, budgeting, P&L's,etc.). 

Hardware Vendors: 

AAA Chicago Computer Center 

120 Chestnut lane 

Wheeling. lL 60090 

3 12-459-0450 

Elektra-series computers. 

Compcontro l B.V. 

Stratumsedij k 3 1 

Postbus /P.O. Box 193 

5600 AD Eindhoven, Holland 

3 1-40-1 24955 

CCS systems and CC board level CPU, storage, 

comm hardware. 

Data Comp Div ision C.P.l. 

5900 Cassandra Smi th Rd. 

H ixson, T N 37343 

6 [5-842-4600 

Mustang 68K computers. 

DEC 

8-2-52 Nankohi gas hi 

Suminoe-KU, Osaka 559 

Japan 

0723-37- 11 0 I 

SP-series computer fo r software development 

and VME (Versa Modul e European) CPU 

boards. 

EKF Elektroni k GmbH 

Weidekamp Str. I A 

D-4700 Hamm I 

West· Germany 

0238 1- 12630 

68K computers and board level programmingoriented 

prod ucts. 

Fairli ght Instrument s 

15- 19 Bounda ry Street 

R ushcutters Bay, N.S.W 20 11 

Australia 

(02) 33 1 6333 

Fairlight Seri es U CMI for audio and music producti 

on. 

GESPAC SA 

3, Chemin des Aul x 

1228 Plan-Les-Ouates. Geneva 

Swit zerl and 

(22) 713 400 

Gescomp software development system and 

board level CPUs, 1/0 boards, communications 

ports, and more. 

H. C. Andersen Computer A/S 

Englandsvej 380 

DK-2770 Kastrup 

Denmark 

45 I 52 44 04 

Dragon 200 OS-9 Level I system. 

Matri x 

J 203 New Hope Road 

Raleigh, N C 27610 

(9 19) 833-2000 

6809 and 68000 software developmenr systems 

and numerous board level prod ucts. 

MJ.l. 

Les 3 Fontaines 

B.P. 11 0 

951 I 0 Cergy Pontoise, France 

30 735225 

MS-seri es systems and GMl-seri es board level 

products. 

P EP Modular Computers GmbH 

Am Klosterwald 4. 8950 Kaufbeuren 

West Germany 

0834 1-8 lOOt 

68K systems and board level products. 

Robcon O Y 

P.O. Box 46 

SF-0277 J Espoo 

Finland 

(3580) 859 1 I 

Board level 68K CPU and l/0 products. 

Synt.el Microsystems 

Queens Mill Road 

Huddersfi elcl HD I 3 PO 

England 

0484535 10 1 

HS6000 Compu ters, board level systems and 

controllers. 

Windrush Micro Systems 

Worstead Labs 

North Walsham, Norfolk NR28 9SA 

England 

0692-404086 

Omega computer systems and numerous board 

level products. 

XYZ Electronics Inc. 

RR 12 Box 322 

Indianapolis, Indi ana 46236 

(3 17) 335-2 128 

System 7 Computer for software development, 

numerous board levels. 

0

any way you choose, and can even completely 

generate new fonts. It will do graphics 

as well. since the graphics

I Feature 

Put another nickel in 

The Nickelodeon 


By William G. Budenholzer 

5 in g along? That's what they wanted 

to do. So, after typing a few hundred 

OAT A statements, the CoCo was playing 

some fam iliar tunes. A touch of CoCo's 

colorful low-resolution graphics offered 

some visual interest, but it needed more, a 

lot more. 

[twas difficult to manually compil e the 

long li sts of numbers needed for the SOUND 

command. It also needed word s. I tried 

sav ing notes on tape and the word s were put 

on screen to coincide with the notes, but it 

wasn't user-friendly. Extended Color 

BAS IC's PLAY command was the inspiration 

for a song editor. 

The graphics develop into a piano resembling 

an old upright, with space for the 

words, as in a player piano. A one-line 

routine centers the words in this space. The 

editor has two modes of operation, the first 

mode allows direct entry of the words and 

notes using Extended BASIC's PL AY elements. 

The second mode al lows you to use 

the computer's keyboard as a one octave 

musical keyboard. Both modes support 

vari ous editor functions such as Insert and 

Delete. 

Overture 

To more easil y explain how to use the 

editor, first key in the program, then save 

and run it. When the mai n menu appears, 

press BREAK and type N=30 : GOT0600 . Then 

press ENTER. This should return you to the 

main menu.

,380,490 ,460,470 : IFIN THEN340ELS 

E330 

230 REM*****INSERT 

240 PRINT : INPUT "ENTER LINE #" ;LN 

: IFLN=0 THENRETURNELSEFORI=N+1 T 

OLN STEP-l :S$(I)=S$(I- 1) : W$(I)=W 

$(I-1) : NEXT : N=N+l : INPUT "NOTE , WO 

RD " ;S$( LN) , W$( LN) : RE TUR N 

250 IN=1 : PRINT : INPUT "ENTER LINE 

#"; LN : IFLN=0 THENRETURN 

260 FORI=N+1 TOLN STEP-1:S$(I)=S 

$ ( I -1 ) : W $ ( I ) =W $('I -1 ) : NEXT : N=N+ 1 : 

TN=N :N =L N: GOSUB340 : GOSUB 180 :I N=0 

: N=TN:RETURN 

270 REM*****CHECK 

280 PRINT : PLAY "V3 1L202T2 ": FORI=1 

TON- 1 : P R INTI ; : PRINTS$ ( I ) , W $(I ) : 

PLAYS$( I) : NEXT : RET UR N 

290 REM*****NE W SONG 

300 PRINT : PLAY "L202T2 ": N=1 :0=2 : L 

=2 :S$(1) ="": W$(l) ="": RETURN 

310 REM*****KEYBOARD EDITOR 

320 CLS : POKE282 ,0 

330 GOSUB340 : GOT0330 

340 F=0 : PRINTN ;" L"L;" O"O:" ?";: GO 

SUB510 :I FA$ =" L" THENF=6ELSEIFA$= 

"0" THENF=5ELSEIFA$="I" THENF=1E 

LSEIFA$ =" 0" THENF=2ELSEIFA$= "C" 

THENF=3ELSEIFA$= "N" THE NF=4ELSE I 

FA$ ="E" THENF=7ELSEIFA$= "P" THE N 

F=8ELSEIFA$= "T" THENF=9 

350 IFF THEN220E LSEIFAS< "a" THEN 

PRINT : RETURNELSES$=N$(K(ASC(A$)- 

96)) : IFS$="" THENPRINT : RETUR NELS 

ES$(N)=T$+L$+0$+S$ :P RINTC HR$(8) : 

S$(N); : PLAYS$(N) : L$= "" :0$="":T$= 

360 INPUT " WORD "; W$(N) : N=N+1:RET 

URN 

370 REM***** ' L' 

380 PRINTCHR$(8) ; "L"; : GOS UB510 : I 

FA$= "+" THENIFL=1 THENL=2ELSEL=L 

*2 

390 IFA$= "=" THENIFL>1 THENL= L/2 

ELSEL=1 

400 IFL>16 THE NL=16 

410 L$= " L "+STR$ ( L) : PRI NTL : RET URN 

420 PRINTCHR$(8) : "0"; : GOSUB510 : I 

FA$= "+" THEN0=0+1 : IF0>5 THENO=S 

430 IFA$= "=" THENO=O-l : IF0

It's simple - Give a RAINBOW gift certificate ... 

Let a gift subscription to THE 

RAINBOW carry the premier Color 

Computer magazine right to 

your friend 's doorsteps. THE 

RAINBOW is the information 

source for the Tandy Color Computer. 

Each month, your friends will 

enjoy the intelligent programs, 

reviews and articles written exclusively 

for their CoCo. 

First, your g itt wi II be an 

nounced in a handsome card. 

Then, all year 'round, they'll remember 

you and your thoughtfulness 

when they get each edition 

of THE RAINBOW - pages 

loaded with delightful programs, 

regular columns and plenty of 

helpful hints and tips. 

Generosity benefits the giver, 

too. There'll be no more tracking 

down borrowed copies of THE 

RAINBOW. Your collection will be 

safe at home. 

Give a RAINBOW gift certificate 

and let your friends in on the fun. 

THE RAINBOW is the perfect companion 

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Get your order to us by August 

25 and we'll begin your friends' 

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issue of RAINBOW. 

AR 

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7 

•

I Software 

CoCo 3 

King's Quest III- 

An Animated Adventure Extravaganza 

First, the bad news: King's Quest Ill 

requires 512K. Now that that's out of the 

way, let's get to the good stuff! King's 

Quest Ill from Sierra On-Line is a graphics 

Adventure game that is certain to knock 

your socks off! As Gwydion, you are a 

young slave boy seeking to free yourself 

from the evil wizard Manannan and discover 

your true destiny. Along the way you 

must battle giant spiders, fmd magical items, 

weave spells and defend yourself from a 

host of dangerous people and critters. 

Now this might not sound like anything 

new. After all, Adventures have been around 

for years. What makes this one so special? 

Let's take a look. 

The graphics in King's Quest Ill are as 


breathtaking as they are extensive. Each 

screen conveys not only the contents of 

interest in solving the game, but an entire 

mood appropriate to the setting. From the 

lavishly ornate wizard's bedroom to the 

shabby robber's hideout, from the dank 

cave of the oracle to the sparkling streams 

and waterfalls of the countryside, the meticulous 

attention to color and detail succeeds 

in drawing you right into the story. 

You can almost feel the cool grass of the 

forest and the parched sands of the desert. 

The already excellent graphics are further 

enhanced by animation. The water in 

the waterfall actually falls! Birds and chipmunks 

move in the trees, the dog wags its 

tail, and the shopkeeper dusts his shelves. 

Gwydion, of course, also moves throughout 

the story, directed either by arrow keys 

or joystick. Some scenes even require a 

strong dose of video game skills in order to 

maneuver past deadly obstacles. 

In many games extensive graphics have 

also meant a skimpy game scenario. The 

big advantage of text-only Adventures used 

to be their greater complexity and scope. In 

King's Quest Ill, though, there are four 

major settings: the wizard's house, the 

countryside ofL!ewdor, the pirate ship and 

the kingdom of Daventry. Each is fraught 

with puzzles and perils easily the equal of 

other entire games I have played. 

Humor is another ingredient no decent 

Adventure should be without. But while 

some games play everything for·laughs and 

get old quickly, King's Quest Ill is delightfully 

effective in using humor often enough 

to keep the game funny without smothering 

you in dumb gags. There is also a nice blend 

of visual and descriptive humor. Being 

thrown out of the Three Bears' house by

looks at two spec ial moves. castlin g and en 

passam capture. 

The nex t lesson is somewhat more cletai 

led. covering chess notati on (fo r record 

keeping). demonstrated with ac tual onscreen 

moves. 

The desired resul t. winning. is the aim of 

the game as presented in Lesson 4. 

An aside: Chess is ve ry often referred to 

as a battl e. the board as a batt leground and 

the pieces as so ldiers in an army. Hi story 

shows that many famous mili tary commanders 

and tac ti cians were av id chess 

players. The development of the game spans 

several ce nturies . 

Back to the lesson at hand. Lessons 5. 6 

and 7 disc uss in some detail. aga in with 

grap hi c examp les, va ri ous moves in what 

may be descri bed as the openin g, mi cl clle 

and clos ing phases of th e ga me. In each 

case. we ll -known ploys are give n. Learn to 

try out the Sicili an Defense. the Skewe r 

Attack and ways to check mate or to at least 

sta lemate if yo u are. peri sh the thought, 

los ing. 

By the time you have studied these 

lessons. maybe with a reference manu al 

and chessboard at yo ur side. yo u shoul d be 

ab le to play yo ur first ga me with either a 

hum an opponent or an electroni c one. 

Program operation is simple and straightfo 

rward . There is no manu al to cling to 

becau se th e program is all menu -d ri ven 

with onscree n tex t in large. easy-to- read 

characters. regardless of monitor type. 

I have viewed Chess Made Easy with a· 

TV and a Hi-Res monitor capab le of composite. 

RGB and monochrome green modes. 

It looks good in all modes. even with the 

arti fac ts fo und on the telev ision, th ough the 

hi gh resolu tion te nds to crowd the graphics 

close to the left side of the TV. 

A little "quirk" was noted in operati on. 

however. that depends on what viewing 

mode yo u are in . When you choose a lesson 

nu mber. yo u are prompted fo r the type of 

monitor. to press C fo r compos ite moni to r/ 

TV orR fo r RGB. 

When C is selected and a lesson is 

finished. the program loo ps back to the 

main menu; no problem. However. when R 

is selected and the lesson compl eted. the 

program seems to start a retu rn to the main 

menu . bu t then locks up on a bl ank sc reen. 

No real problem here either if yo u don't 

mind enterin g RUN " CHESS . BAS " aga in . 

Also, yo u ca n sim ply type and enter any 

des ired lessons such as LOAD " LESSON2 " , 

then run , without go ing through the me nu s. 

I fo un d CoCo Chess/Ware's program 

infom1ati ve, helpful' and quite user-friendly 

with a very nominal cos t. 

It defi nitely has to improve my standing 

in the chess world , wh ich is th at of an 

unknown with ranking somewhere between 


never hav ing beaten my sons-in-law and 

gloatin g over a coupl e of easy-level computer 

chess game win s. Chess Made Easy, 

where were yo u when I needed you? 

(A ftamonow Soft wa re, 46 Howe St., Milford, 

CT 06460, 203-878-3602; $20) 

-Jim Franklin 

'-s-' coco 1. 2 & 3 I 

u 01-t-w-a-re----'------' 

Disk Doctor 

Blocking Out 

the Bad Sectors 

Disk Docror is a disk repair utili ty that 

run s with Hyper-I/O on yo ur CoCo I, 2 or 

3. requiring at least 64 K of RAM . It is 

wri tten in BAS IC and mac hine language and 

run s with th e co mm and RU N " DO CT OR " after 

Hvper-110 has been loaded. Disk DoC/or is 

used to locate and block out defecti ve sectors 

on your hard dri ve as we ll as on your 

fl oppy disks. We all have experi enced 

defec ti ve disks and I/0 errors. Disk Doctor 

serves as an effective too l to prevent such 

errors. and it is easy to use. 

The program starts by presenting a colorful 

titl e page and then prompting the user 

to enter the dev ice name of the di sk to be 

checked. If yo u wa nted to check one of 

Hyper-I/O's Mass Storage Areas, you would 

enter I HOI A. where A is one of the MSAs to 

be checked. To check a floppy. yo u wo uld 

just enter /DO . The computerbeginschecking 

all of the sec tors of the spec ified dev ice, 

displ ay ing the current track num ber so yo u 

know at a glance what the computer is 

do ing. lf it finds a defecti ve sector, the 

track. sector and granul e are shown onsc 

reen. 

Because Disk Doctor onl y read s the disk 

when checking fo r sector errors. it can be 

used on any disks- including th ose with 

data on them - but it ca nnot check a disk 

that has not been fo rm atted. Once the disk 

test is compl ete, yo u are given the option of 

blocking out any defecti ve sectors fo un d. 

This is clone by mak ing the granul es that 

relate to the defective secto rs in the GAT 

(Granul e All ocation Ta ble) appear to be 

full. Thi s meth od prevents bl ocked-out 

secto rs from be ing wri tten to in the future, 

and so prevents disk cras hes and flO errors. 

As eac h sector is processed yo u wi II see 

the granul e num ber followed by one of 

three messages: 

I. Blocked Out - thi s means that the 

program has successfull y blocked out the 

defec ti ve sector as we ll as its related granule 

on the di sk. 

2. Already in Use- thi s means th at the 

granul e containing the defective sector 

already has data wri tte n in it and, as a result. 

cann ot be blocked out. 

3. Directory Error - thi s means that 

Track 17 has a bad sector and th e compute r 

can't block it out. Some salvage proced ures 

are desc ri bed in Disk Doctor' s three-page 

manu al. 

If you I ike, yo u can even generate a hard 

copy of the test res ults for each disk checked. 

Thi s printout includes the defec ti ve track , 

sector and granule as well as the elate checked 

and th e disk name- a handy record that 

can be kept fo r reference. 

Disk Doctor is a we lcome utility, especiall 

y for hard dri ve users with Hyper-I/O. 

It does its job quick ly and eas il y and is very 

reasonabl y pri ced. Besides, anyone who 

li ves in Cocoa Beach must know what he's 

doing. 

(KB Enterprises, 435 Brightwa ters Dri ve, 

Cocoa Beach, FL 32931 , 407-799-3253; $17.95 

plus $ 1.50 S/1-1) 

- Robert Gray 

LHa-fdwa-re------' 

HD-1- 

Feature-Packed 

Hard Drive 

Howard Med ical has a package deal for 

you if yo u're in the market fo r a hard drive 

for yo ur CoCo. Wi th the pri ce of hard 

dri ves continuall y com ing clow n, it's a good 

time to evalu ate the possibili ty of add ing a 

hard dri ve to your CoCo setu p. The package 

I received consisted of a Seagate ST- 

225 20-Meg half-height hard dri ve housed 

in a case with power suppl y and fan. 

Also included was the XT-RTC hard 

dri ve interface made by Burke & Burke. 

"RTC" refers to an on- board, quartz crystal, 

controlled real- ti me lithium battery 

back up clock, whi ch is optiona l. The term 

"XT" refers to the PC compatibility of the 

hard dri ve as we ll as the in terface board. 

This fea ture alone, in my opini on, makes 

the package an attrac ti ve deal. If yo u were 

ever to purchase an MS -DOS compatible 

such as a Tandy I 000, you wo uld already 

ow n a hard dri ve and interface card th at 

plugs directly into it. 

The XT board plugs in to the CoCo interface 

board, and these two boards are housed

difficulty. Even at the lowest level, I had 

trouble and pushed my troops too hard. It's 

a good thing that thi s is only a game, or I'm 

afraid that the good old United States of 

America would be populated with lots of 

red flags! 

(SPORTSware, 1251 S. Reynolds Road, Suite 

414, Toledo, OH 43615, 419-389-1515; $21) 

1 Software 

Nine-Times 

An On-Disk 

OS-9 Magazine 

-David Miller 

OS-9 Level II I 

OS-9 enthusiasts will be interested to 

know that there's a new magazine on disk 

devoted to the OS-9 operating system. It's 

called Nine-Times, and it's published six 

times a year. The magazine requires the use 

of a CoCo 3, l28K or 512K RAM, and OS- 

9 Level II. A joystick or mouse is recommended, 

but the program will work with 

the keyboard arrow keys using information 

provided in the four-page printed 

instructions. Nine-Times can also be installed 

onto a hard drive if you have one. 

Running the magazine is fairly straightforward, 

assuming you have some operating 

knowledge of OS-9 Level II. 512K 

users will find it a lot easier than will l28K 

users, who must go through several steps to 

make room for Nine-Times. 

If you have 512K, all you have to do for 

starters is merge the STDFonts and STDPt rs 

files contained in the SY S directory on your 

OS-9 master disk. You will also have to 

load the RunB, SY sea ll and In key modules 

from the CMOS directory of your BAS IC09 

config disk. Then after loading in any of the 

window screens other than the standard 32column 

screen, you enter at the prompt: 

OS9 : mag. After a few seconds the colorful 

Hi-Res main screen of Nine-Times appears. 

Nine-Times uses the familiar point-andshoot 

technique for selection of its options: 

Print Files, Departments, Articles and 

Programs. Each selection results in a pulldown 

menu with a list of various options 

avail able. Selecting Print Files lets you 

send text files to a printer if you have one 

hooked up. Departments has several files 

that tell you all about advertising rates in 

the magazine, subscription information, 

ordering back issues and similar information. 

The Articles selection contains various 

newsworth y items of interest, as well 

as tutorial programming examples. This is 

also the section of the magazine in which 


you will find editori al comments. Selecting 

Programs results in a li stin g of programs 

available in that iss ue of the magazine. 

Making a selecti on of a program li sted 

gives you a preview of what the program 

does and how to execute it, but you have to 

run the program outside of the Nin e-Times 

magazine environment. I think it would be 

a nice feature to be able to run the programs 

from within the magazine framework, but, 

as it is, you can ex it the magazine to get 

back to the OS-9 prompt. Because Nine 

Times is memory-resident, you can simply 

type r unb ma gaz ine to get back into the 

magazine environment. The rev iew iss ue 

contained an assortment of l 0 ready-to-run 

OS-9 utility programs. They all worked 

fine and are currently enjoying a spot on my 

hard drive. 

Nine- Times is just the kind of software 

the OS-9 community needs. If OS-9 is to 

become a more popular operating environment, 

then it must also lend itself to becoming 

a little more user-friendly. Nine-Times 

is certainly that. The on-disk magazine is a 

nice idea, and editor Jordan Tsvetkoff is to 

be commended for such a well-designed 

program. 

(JWT Enterprises, 5755 Lockwood Blvd., 

Youngstown, OH 44512, 216-758-7694; 

$34.95 per year for six issues) 

-Jerry Semones 

1 Softwar-e·--_c_oc_o --'-- 1, _2 &_3_,1 

Roots- 

The Basics of 

Assem.bly Language 

One of the things that keeps most people 

from programming in assembly language 

is the amount of work it takes to do very 

simple tasks. To print "he ll o" on the screen 

in BASIC, one merely types PR IN T " HELLO " . 

In assembly language, doing the same thing 

requires many lines of code. That's why 

GSW Software has written Roots. Roots is 

an assembly language source code file that 

contains over I 00 routines that take care of 

everything from disk and cassette I/0 to 

reading the joystick ports to clearing the 

screen. Most of the routines will work on 

any Color Computer, but some will work 

only on the CoCo 3. 

Roots comes on a di sk that contains two 

files, ROOTS.ASM and FONT . DAT . The file 

ROOTS. ASM is an ASCII file containing the 

assembly source code. FONT . DA T is a font 

file containing a font for printing text on 

hi gh-resolution graphics screens. Theoretically, 

the programmer who wants to use 

some of the routines from Roots just puts a 

line in his program that instructs hi s assembler 

to include the ROOTS . ASM source code. 

Then whenever he wants to use one of the 

routines, he sets up the required conditions 

and calls the routine with a J SR routine. For 

instance, to clear the CoCo 2 text screen to 

black, the following two lines are required: 

L DA ItO 

JSR CLSA 

When I program , I use th e C compile r 

and RMA under OS-9. However, before I 

purchased OS-9, I used Color Disk EDTASM 

for my assembly language programming. 

So, I pulled it off the shelf and shook off the 

dust. EDTASM would not load or include 

ROOT S. ASM. Every time I tri ed to load it I 

would get a bad line number error. I booted 

OS-9 and did some checking. As I mentioned 

earlier, ROOTS. ASM is a straight ASCII 

file. EDTASM has its lines strictly formatted 

with line numbers and tab characters. 

After deciphering EDTASM's file format, I 

wrote a program to convert ROOTS . ASM to 

an EDTASM file. Once this was done, the 

file loaded and assembled perfectly. I then 

set out to write some programs. 

I have a natural bent toward graphics, so 

I attempted to write a graphics program . 

Almost immediately I had problems. It 

seems to me that many of the CoCo 3 

graphics routines were written specificall y 

for a 128K CoCo. Since my CoCo has 

512K, this caused problems. The routines 

would not allow me to set up the graphi cs 

screens where I wanted them, and would 

only clear them if they were within the 64K 

address space of the program. From my 

examination of the code, I believe they 

would work in 128K, but I had to modify 

them so they would do what I wanted them 

to do. The other routines I tried worked 

fine. The manual documents them quite 

well, so any programmer should be able to 

change things to suit hi s own tastes. 

I found Roots to be a well-designed 

package. The 35-page manual provides 

complete descriptions of all the routines 

and variables used in the source code file, 

and also instructions for calling them. I 

recommend that the author include an 

EDTASM version of the file because I'm 

sure many people still use it. Also, the 

routines such as LPEEK, LPOKE , LPUT, LGET , 

etc. , should be generali zed to 512K. Aside 

from these criticisms, I thought Roots was 

very helpful and a great timesaver. If you 

plan to program in assembly under Disk 

BASIC, this is for you. 

(GSW Software, 8345 Glenwood, Overland 

Park, KS 66212, 913-341-3411; $25) 

-Robert L. Marsa

The following products have recently been received by THE RAINBOW, examined 

by our magazine staff and issued the Rainbow Seal of Certification, your assurance 

that we have seen the product and have ascertained that it is what it purports to be. 

4-D Chess, a 3-D chess game with a time 

element. Users can "time out" their pieces for 

strategic effect. Comes on disk for the CoCo 3. 

Microcom Software. 2900 Monroe Ave .. Rochester, 

NY 14618, (800) 654-5244; $24.95 plus 

$3 SIH. 

CAR, the "Computerized Auto Record," a program 

that sets up a disk file for keeping track of 

automobile maintenance and costs. It reminds 

users when to change the oil, and rotate the tires, 

etc. Requires a CoCo I, 2 or 3 with at least 64K 

ECB. E.Z. Friendly, 118 C01·/ies Ave .. 

Poughkeepsie. NY 12601 . (9 14) 485-8150; $9.95 

plus $1.50 Sl H. 

CEBBS, a "CoCo Electronic Bulletin Board 

System" that runs on a CoCo 3, requiring an RS- 

232 pack, a Multi-Pak or Y -cable, at least one 

disk drive, and an auto-answer modem with a 

DTR lead. Features compatibility with Hyper-// 

0 and includes a 45-page manual. KB Enterprises, 

435 Brightwaters Drive. Cocoa Beach, 

FL32931, (407) 799-3253; $59.95 plus $/.50S! 

H. Also distributed by Microcom Software. 

Color Schematic Designer, an interactive schematics/CAD 

program for the CoCo 3 that features 

a workspace larger than the screen, pulldown 

menus, three circuit layers and three fonts. 

Requires a CoCo 3 and a disk drive. Microcom 

Software. 2900 Monroe Ave .. Rochester, NY 

14618. (800) 654-5244; $39.95 plus $3 SIH. 

Donut Dilemma, an arcade game rewritten to 

support the CoCo 3. The player must fend off 

menacing, bouncing donuts and travel up 

through I 0 bakery levels to throw the switch on 

"Antonio's Donut Factory." On disk for CoCos 

I, 2 and 3. Game Point Soft'>vare. P.O. Box 

6907. Burbank. CA 91510, (818) 566-3571. 

$ 19 .95. 

Extended ADOS-3, a CoCo 3 enhanced DOS 

that shares space with ADOS-3 in a !6K EPROM 

and adds the following: a 512K RAM disk; a 

menu utility for file execution; wildcard COPY 

and KILL commands; file dating; key repeat; 

block move/copy of BASIC lines; text screen 

dumps and more. For 128K/512K CoCo 3s with 

ADOS-3. SpectroSystems, !Ill/ N. Kendall 

Drive .. Miami, FL 33176. (305) 274-3899; 

$39.95 for disk, $64.95 with ADOS-3, $2 SIH. 

Font/Icon Editors, a utility disk of icon and 

font ed itors for Cer-Comp's Wi1idow software. 

Includes JconEdir (for creation and editing of 

icons - comes with a set of 16 icons) and 

F ontEdit (for creating and editing character 

fonts). Comes on disk for the CoCo 3. Requires 

Window Master. Cer-Comp, 5566 Ricochet Ave., 

Las Vegas, NV 89110, (702) 452-0632; $19.95 

plus $3 S!H. 

KJV on Disk #39, the books of James, I Peter, 

II Peter, and I, II and III John of the King James 

version of the Bible on disk in ASCII files for the 

CoCo I, 2 and3. BDS Software. P.O. Box485, 

Glenview, IL 60025, (312) 998-1656; $3 SIH. 

Master DIR, a directory database program that 

lets the user create a master directory file of over 

2200 disk directories from as many as 250 disks. 

Requires a CoCo 3 and a disk drive. 

SPORTSware, 1251 S. Reynolds Road, Suite 

414, Toledo. OH 43615, (419) 389-1515; $18. 

MC-1 Mini Controller, a floppy disk controller 

that works on CoCos I, 2 and 3 with or 

without a Multi-Pak. Features a 24/28-pin socket, 

a switch for selecting between DOSs if a DOS 

pin is installed, and gold-plated edge connectors. 

C.R .C. Computers, 11 Boul. des Laurentides. 

Laval. Quebec, Canada H7G 2S3, (514) 967- 

0195; $75. 

Omni Utility 2.0, an update of the disk utility 

featuring support for multiple drives, capability 

for backing up a section of a disk as opposed to 

a whole disk at a time, and the ability to compare 

two files to see if they are exact duplicates. On 

disk for the CoCo 3. GSW Software, 8345 Glenwood, 

Overland Park, KS 66212, (9 13) 341- 

3411; $20. 

Revenge of the Mutant Miners, a version of 

the Mutant Miners arcade game written for the 

CoCo 3 and a disk drive; joystick required. 

Players travel up I 0 levels of mines, using 

ladders, transporters and springboards, avoiding 

mutants all the while.JR &.IR Softstuff, P.O. 

Box 118, Lompoc. CA 93438, (805) 735-3889; 

$19.95 plus $3 SIH. 

The Seventh Link, an epic Adventure in which 

the player must guide a party of travellers as they 

try to save their homeworld of Elira from destruction. 

Features scrolling-screen graphics, 

dungeons, sea journeys and battles with monsters. 

On disk for the CoCo 3. Oblique Triad, 32 

Church St. , Georgetown, Ontario, Canada L7G 

2A7, (416) 877-8149; $38 U.S., $48 Cdn. 

Slots & Cards, a computerized trip to the gaming 

tables of Vegas. Players can try their luck at five 

slot machines, four video card games (including 

Blackjack and Five-Card Draw) and keno. 

Features color graphics and comes in a threedisk 

set for CoCos I, 2 and 3. MichTron, 576 S. 

Telegraph, Pontiac, M/48053, (313 )334-5700; 

$39.95. 

Snake Pit, a one- or two-player "wormy"-type 

game on disk for CoCos I, 2 and 3. Players try 

to block off each other's snake without running 

into walls or snake bodies. Game Point Software, 

P.O. Box 6907, Burbank, CA 91510, 

(818) 566-3571; $19.95. 

• SofScrn, an ML text enhancement utility 

(40- and SO-column) that lets users design nondestructive 

text screens, offering control of the 

destructive carriage return and cursor. Users can 

print to or erase from screen without clearing 

other data. On disk for the CoCo 3. W. Lee 

Pearson, P.O. Box 2319, Owensboro, KY 42302, 

(502) 684-5680; $14.95 plus $2.50 S!H. 

Window Master V.2.21, an upgrade of a windowing 

environment under Disk BASIC. Features 

include support for multiple fonts and up to 

31 windows. New features include a revamped 

calendar program, graphics demos, and a configuration 

program. Requires a 128K or 5l2K 

CoCo 3, a disk drive, a Hi-Res Interface, and a 

joystick or a mouse. Cer-Comp, Ltd., 5566 

Ricochet Ave.,Las Vegas,NV 89110, (702)452- 

0632; $69.95 plus $3 SIH. 

• First product received from this company 

The Seal of Cert(fication is open to all manufacturers of products for the Tandy 

Color Computer, regardless of whether they advertise in THE RAINBOW. 

By awarding a Seal, the magazine certifies the program does exist- that we have 

examined it and have a sample copy- but this does not constitute any guarantee 

of satisfaction. As soon as possible, these hardware or software items will be 

forwarded to THE RAINBOW reviewers for evaluation. 

-Lauren Willoughby 


VIDE 0 DIGITIZER 

T 

he Rascon Video Digitizer is a stateof-the-art 

image processing system 

designed to take advantage of your 

Color Computer 3's graphic capabilities. 

The Rascon Video Digitizer connects 

easily to any color or black & white video 

camera, video recorder or video disc 

player and captures images with 

precision accuracy. 

Why settle for a 256 x 256 image area 

when the Color Computer can display so 

much more? We asked that question 

ourselves. Our only answer was to provide 

an image area of 640 x 200 and 

320 x 200! Say good -bye to those 

useless !a-resolution images created by 

other digitizers on the market. 

Life is not simply black & white, that's why 

we added living color to our Digitizer. 

Now, through the use of advanced 

programming techniques, 512K Color 

Computer 3 owners can capture images 

from their video camera and display 

them in 4096 Super Hi -Resolution 

graphics! 

FEATURES 

Support of 640 x 200 16 Level Grey Images 

Support of 640 x 200 4 Level Grey Images 

Support of 320 x 200 16 Color Images 

Support of 4096 Hi-Res Color Graphics in 512K mode 

Support of Multiple Image Buffers in 512K mode 

Control of Contrast & Brightness via Control Knobs 

found on Digitizer 

Professional. Easy to Use Pop-Up Menu System 

Designed Exclusively to Take Advantage of the power 

of the Color Computer Ill 

Built in Histograph utility to Aid in Image Quality 

Easy to use Paint and Palette editing. no need for additional 

Graphic editors 

15 Day Full Money Back Guarantee 

Interface through Joystick Ports 

Requires additional cost of Y.COble or Multi-Pak interface 

P.O. Box 6907, Burbank. CA 91510-6907 

(818) 566-3571 • BBS: (818) 772 -8890 

Toll Free: 800 877 -2232 ext. 139 

RASCAN DS-69b 

YES NO YES NO 

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Capture images effortlessly. Simply select 

the image capture option and turn your 

Rascon unit on. Within seconds your 

image will be captured and displayed 

on your screen. Images can be fine tuned 

by use of the contrast and brightness 

knobs found on the Rascon unit. 

Rascon also features a professional 

pop-up menu system which will allow for 

easy palette manipulation and color 

painting of captured images. 

The Rascon Video Digitizer comes 

complete with Rascon driver software, 

an easy to read manual, sample graphic 

images disk and print driver disk (supporting 

most printers). Although no further 

graphic editors are necessary to produce 

quality images, Rascon images can be 

easily loaded into ColorMax and 

CoCo Max graphic editors. 

Whether your interests are in desk-top 

publishing, report generation or simply for 

fun, the Rascon Video Digitizer will 

provide you with images of near photographic 

quality! 

THE 

RASCAN 

VIDEO 

DIGITIZER 

$159 95 

NO RISK GUARANTEE 

If you are not completely satisfied 

with the performance of your 

Rascon Video Digitizer, you may 

return it. undamaged within fifteen 

days for the full refund of the 

purchase price plus shipping costs. 

Personal checks. money orders. and American C.O.D. orders accepted. 

Inc lude S3.00 for SIH. S2.50 extra for C.O.D. orders. [Cal. res . add 6.5% tax.) 

ATTENTION PROGRAMMERS: Game Point Software is looking for talented 

writers. Top royalties guaranteed.

Listing 1: ECB Interest Program 

100 ' CALCULATE INTEREST IN ECB 

110 IN=(18 . 4/12l/100 

120 INPUT " LOAN AMOU NT:"; PR 

130 PRINT " MD INTR TO PRIN BALAN 

CE " 

140 PRINT 

!50 FOR I=1 TO 24 

160 CI=PR*IN 

PR=PR+IN-150 

180 PRINT USING "## ## .# #### .## 

iNNNt . !Nt " ; I , C I , 1 50 · C I . P R 

190 NEXT 

Listing 2: Bubble Sort in ECB 

100 ' BUBBLE SORT IN ECB 

110 DIM A(l00l 

120 FOR ! =0 TO 100 

130 INPUT A(!) 

140 IF A(!)=0 THEN GOTO 160 

150 NEXT I 

160 [=[ ·1 

170 LS=I-1 

180 SW=0 

190 FOR J=0 TO LS 

200 IF A(J)

RAINBOWTECH 

OS-9 Level II 

OS-9 Makes Big Showing at Chicago 

H 

igh visibility-If! had to describe 

OS-9 at RAINBOWfest Chicago, 

those two words would do the job. 

This month presents a look at a few of the 

rising stars of the OS-9 world who were 

there, a discussion of the new products that 

were demonstrated, and Maxie, a mouseand 

menu-driven icon editor in the Multi 

Vue Shell. 

Questions and Answers 

Kevin Darling and friends presented the 

"Overview ofOS-9" session at noon Saturday. 

Along with Gary Robinson of Tandy, 

James Jones of Microware, Kent Meyers, 

Kevin Pease and Paul Ward, Darling 

moderated a question and answer session 

bar none. 

The session started with a request for 

audience feedback regarding the design of 

a possible OS-9 Users Group 68K computer. 

Kevin Pease had been working on 

the project for several months and needed 

to get a feel for the needs of OS-9 users. 

Questions included: What do you want? 

What applications do you need? Should 

this computer run 6809 software? Do you 

want it to use dual6809/68000 processors? 

What about a 68K computer with a GIME 

socket and a DA T that would let you use 

two megabytes of memory - and still be 

CoCo compatible? The audience met the 

challenge of his questions. 

Most of the audience wanted cheaper 

Dale L. Puckett, a freelance writer and 

programmer. serves as director-at-large 

of the OS-9 Users Group and is a member 

of the Computer Press Association. His 

username on Delphi is DALEP: on packetradio, 

KO!-IYD @ N4QQ ; on GEnie, 

D .PUCKETT2; and on CIS, 71446.736. 


By Dale L. Puckett 

Rainbow Contributing Editor 

and easier word processors, spreadsheets, 

business software and educational software- 

all running under OS-9. They also 

were clearly addicted to the CoCo OS-9 

CLEAR key. 

Why can't I pluck down $300 and buy 

an application program that will do something? 

Inquiring minds wanted to know. 

Word PeJfect and WordStar are being ported 

to UNIX. How do we get these programs on 

OS-9? 

James Jones explained that 80 percent 

of Microware' s business is in the controller 

market and they don 't have the resources to 

support any more business. That's why 

they haven't been actively interested in the 

personal computer market. Yet, as he reminded 

us, OS-9 is the only operating 

system NASA trusts to run real-time software 

aboard the space shuttle. 

Gary Robinson explained that Tandy 

buyers don't have time to pursue developers 

and encouraged OS-9 users to convince 

RS-DOS developers to get on the OS-9 

bandwagon- and then take their products 

to Tandy. 

Paul Ward said he thought we must 

attract the developers first, especially the 

ones who are young and hungry- people 

at companies who already use UNIX. He 

thought they would be the easiest to lure 

into the OS-9 world and issued a call for all 

C programmers to port any and all UNIX 

programs into the OS-9 environment. The 

seminar audience responded in kind. 

"Give us the tools!" "Fix up the C 

compiler!" At this point Gary Robinson 

noted that even though the C compiler is 

not in stock at Radio Shack stores any 

longer, it is available by mail order. 

But, that brought up another question 

popping up at RAINBOWfest. Will there 

be an upgrade for the OS-9 C programming 

package? The answer, "Probably not." Yet, 

with all the interest expressed in Chicago, 

maybe someone was listening. 

James Jones explained the difference 

between the Level I and Level II compilers, 

noting that the Level I compiler works 

under Level II. He also noted many patches 

available on the electronic forums that let 

you set up your machine in a number of 

different ways. 

This mention of OS-9 SIGS on CIS, 

DELPHI and GEnie prompted Darling to 

repeat a survey. Last year, during our 

seminar, Kevin asked the au dience how 

many people were active on an electronic 

forum. Six hands went up. This year more 

than half the audience held up their hands. 

Ward then jumped in to point out that 

68K C programmers are in big demandearning 

$60K per year in some cases. He 

gave, as an example, a new fiber optic 

experiment for NASA and the University 

of Maryland. 

Taking a positive note, James Jones 

announced a magic number - 515-224- 

1929. Jones told the audience they would 

be amazed at the programs available for 

OS-9 68K. 

"You just don't see the ads," Jones said. 

"The problem is that people just haven't 

heard much about recently developed OS- 

9 software." Jones encouraged the audience 

to get a hold of The OS-9 Catalog and 

The OS-9 Sourcebook. Both publications 

are free, from Microware. 

Jones told the group he thought CDJ 

(Compact Disc Interactive), means a lot to 

CoCo OS-9 users because it lets them get 

ahead of the learning curve before these 

new machines hit the market this Christmas. 

He said many opportunities would be 

available for people with OS-9 experience. 

When the questions turned to problems, 

the group discussed the myth of programs 

only being 64K long with OS-9. Not true!

memory. 

Wh at's the nex t step in the evolution of 

Multi-Mentt? ·'Multi Tnnls. which lets yo u 

create buttons and scroll bars," Alphonso 

sa id . "''ll probably add thi s capability to 

Multi-Menu. but I may release it as a separate 

package you can integrate with Multi 

Menu. 

" If I make it a se parate package, I'll 

inclu de all the things needed to build a 

completely mouse-driven inte1face,'' he said, 

" including automatic dialog boxes and an 

automatic method to open and read or write 

to a file selec ted from a I ist of files presented 

in a dialog box simi Jar to the Macintosh 

standard file dialog." 

Alphonso believes there 's a speed problem 

with Multi-Vue. noting that the time 

required to update the mouse pointer drags 

clown the system a bit. But he had n' t seen 

the new GShell+ module. whi ch was enhanced 

by the OS-9 Users Group. 

What else does Alpha Software se ll ? 

"Le,·el II T nnls is a group of programs 

that does a number of things I' ve always 

needed to clo." Alph onso said. " It gives yo u 

wild card commands to efficientl y move 

files around . There's a set of tree di spl ay 

commands that give yo u a visual ass ist 

when yo u are tryin g to find a file. You can 

li st an entire directory and actuall y break 

out any fi le. " 

The OS-9 Lerel/1 BBS Release 3 .0 is 

Alphonso's most popular program. "We 

have more than I 00 people using it,'' he 

sa id . Ou r users are spread throughout the 

country and Canada. We're busy now setting 

up a support group fo rthe board. Mike 

Camera will take charge of the new service. 

Not all of hi s customers. are usin g it to 

run a pub lic bulletin board. A few are using 

it as a pri vate E-Mail system. Some even 

use it as a menu to run their own OS-9 

app lications. 

"Most people reall y li ke it. '' Alphonso 

sa id. "Especiall y the people who prefer 

OS-9. I' ve had a few people who don ' t 

know a lot about OS-9 a1icl have had troubl e 

running it. Others said it forced them to run 

OS-9." 

Did he have to overcome any techni ca l 

problems whil e writing it? 

''We II . there was the carrier-detec t problem,'' 

he said. "The AC I APAK driver has thi s 

capability built in. but it doesn't always 

wo rk quite right." 

Alphonso wrote a routine th at ki ll s any 

process started by the parent if carri er detect 

is lost. It also took him a whil e to solve 

the baud-rate detection problem. The program 

now se ts itse lf up fo r 1200-baud 

operation and wa its for a use r to press the 

ENTER key. Depending on what OS-9 returns. 

it sw itches the speed up or down. 

Alp honso was able to te ll which direc- 


ti on to sw itch the speed to because one 

speed ret urn s an arrow, the other returns a 

junk charac ter. He checks thi s character, 

then resets and goes. If nothin g happens in 

four seconds. he resets and goes back to 

1200 baud. 

A pub I ic doma in version of Gala tic 

Cnnflict . a game first published in THE 

RAINBOW in November, 1986, is now 

bundl ed with BBS Release 3 .0. It was translated 

to BAS IC09 by John Sebella and Melvin 

Gaskins of Hobart, Indi ana. 

Hyper-Tech - Another Rising Star 

Keith Alphonso wasn't th e on ly yo ung 

man at RAINBOWfest, Chicago determined 

to capture a piece of the pie crea ted by OS - 

9's increased popularity. 

We were also pleased to meet and interview 

Eri c Cri chl ow ( HYPERTE on DEL 

PHI) and hi s fri end Chester Simpson. Eri c, 

17 and Chester, 19, teamed up with Mike 

Haa land to form Hyper-Tech in June of 

1988. Together, the trio plans to introd uce 

several exc iting new OS-9 products in the 

near future. 

C ri chl ow's labo r of love is Shel/mate, a 

$25 program that em ul ates the popular 

hands-free fil e management techniques of 

the Mac intosh and Ami ga on an OS-9 stage. 

It's used to copy, delete, move and rename 

f iles. It can also li st files. print them or 

di splay pictures from them - even arc and 

de-arc them. 

"Shel/mate lets yo u perform essentially 

every operation you could ever want." 

Crichl ow sa id. " It's especiall y handy when 

you need to move a large number of files 

and want to do it with ve ry few keystrokes 

or mouse moves. When I' m through I hope 

Shel/mate will have everything Multi-Vue 

has built into it-and much more. Besides, 

it's my fi rst C program . .. ev,e rythin g I 

learn will go into constant upd ates of the 

program. 

So how did Hyper-Tech get started? 

"We felt the Color Computer 3 offered 

an amazin g amount of potenti al no one was 

explorin g under RS-DOS or OS-9,'' 

Cri chl ow sa id. "We fe lt the on ly way to do 

anything to help the CoCo reach its potential 

was to write some programs ou rselves." 

By thi s tim e, Chester was already proficient 

with assembl y language programming 

under RS-DOS. Mike and Eri c were 

starting to learn C. Cheste1· was already 

workin g on graphi cs and animation programs 

under RS-DOS. 

Chester began to design a graphi cs and 

animat ion development system. Mike 

started talking to di stri butors and learn ed 

there was a big demand for easy an imation 

programs. Chester's passion became a major 

projec t. 

Chester's OS-9 product is so youn g it 

doesn't even have a name. An RS -DOS 

version already on the market is ca lled 

Jnwgemaster. JmagemastN runs on a 128K 

system and ed its 64-by-64 pi xel graph ics 

images th at can be used to create grap hi cs 

images fo r autom ati on sequences. 

Eri c and Mike wa nt to do many thin gs . 

"Tandy and Microware gave us much power 

and opportunity in the OS-9 Level I I windowing 

system. Hard ly anyone has clone 

anything with it," Crichl ow said. "We wa nt 

to do things with Multi-Vue win dows that 

most people think are impossible.'' 

For example? 

"Graphics! Me nu s' A clipboard standard," 

Cri chl ow sa id. I' m also attempting 

to set up windows yo u can move and resize. 

I fi gure it can do it th e same way Multi- Vue 

does. If you cli ck on the menu ba r, but not 

on a se lec ti on. it will know yo u are ask ing 

to move the window." 

How will he do it? 

'Til dei ni z the window and give yo u a 

box the same size as your original window . 

Then. after yo u move the box and res ize it. 

I' II read the parameters of the box aga in and 

open a window the size yo u want at the 

locati on yo u req ues t. In th e meantime, I 

will have saved a buffer wit h all the data 

that was in your wi nd ow ori ginall y. After I 

crea te the new window. I'll write it back 

out aga in. 

MVCanvas Promises Speed a nd Ease 

MVCam·as is another Hyper-Tech product 

that lurks on the immediate horizon. In 

fact. it may be available by the time you 

read thi s column. 

" We plan fo r MVCanms to be j ust as 

fun cti onal as any RS-DOS pai nt program 

- bar none," Simpson said. " It will also be 

just as quick. You' ll be able to access a popup 

menu th at hold s all of the draw in g tools 

from the menu bar at the top of your sc reen. 

Thi s means you' ll have th e entire screen 

free fo r yo ur arti sti c masterpiece," he sa id. 

"MVCc/17\ 'C/S is an intelligent program.'' 

Mike grabs a piece of the screen and 

holds it in a buffer, then uses a Mulli-Vue 

ca ll to make the buffer hi s pointer. Thi s lets 

Multi- Vue handle moving the image around 

the sc reen. 

MVCanms also supports large fonts. 

While Mike works on the program , Chester 

is creatin g the new fonts- rang in g from 8by-8 

to 24-by-32 pixels using lmagemaker. 

It was th e impress ive speed of MVCan 

,·as that prodded Chester to make the move 

to OS-9. To him , speed is everything. 

Simpson is presentl y workin g on a graphics 

program that can transport im ages back 

and forth between RS-DOS an d OS-9 programs. 

He hopes to be ab le to save an image 

to the OS-9 clip board. transfer it to an RS 

DOS disk and then load it into lmagemaker

-or vice versa. 

The beta version of MVCanvas I received 

May 5th had the font capabilities 

installed. You could also load and save 

clips and manipulate them. It also has an 

Undo feature command at the top of its edit 

menu. Just think, they told Mike it couldn't 

be done. 

Hyper-Tech had not yet announced the 

price of MVCanvas during RAlNBOWfest. 

The first people to hear about the new 

program will most likely be people who 

check into DELPHI or CIS. Hyper-Tech 

plans to post a demo there as soon as the 

program is ready for release. 

After they release Shell mate and MVCanvas, 

Eric, Chester and Mike hope to do a lot 

with integrated Multi-Vue windows and 

graphics packages. 

Disto4-in-1 Board with RGB Hard Disk 

Chris Rochon's wife, Johanne, gave birth 

to a beautiful baby daughter earlier this 

year. At RAINBOWfest the couple's 

company, CRC Computers, gave birth to 

another great OS-9 product. 

The new 4-in-1 card, designed by RAIN 

BOW 's Tony DiStefano is an answer to the 

Multi-Pak hater's dream. When you add 

this plug-in card to your Disto Super Controller 

II, you can throw away your Multi 

Pak Interface. With this combination you 

have a floppy disk controller that does not 

halt the processor when it's reading to or 

writing from the disks; a real-time clock; a 

Centronics parallel port; an RS-232 p01t 

able to work with Tandy's AC I APAK drivers; 

and a hard disk interface able to communicate 

with either an SASI or SCSI disk 

controller. You're in business! 

I kept my Multi-Pak because I use the 

512K RAM disk card, also designed by 

DiStefano and sold by CRC. This outboard 

RAM disk is indispensable to me when I 

am experimenting with a C program or 

running the fantastic mouse-/menu-based 

word processor, Window Writer, from Owl 

Ware. 

The new 4-in-1 from CRC is fantastic. It 

comes with cables designed to plug directly 

into your hard disk, as well as your 

parallel and serial devices. All its components 

are rated at two megahertz, so you no 

longer need to slow down your CPU when 

you perform 1/0. Yet, the cables aren't all 

you receive with CRC's 4-in-1 card. You 

also receive OS-9 drivers for the real-time 

clock, parallel port, RS-232 port and the 

hard disk interface. And not only do the 

drivers come in the package, they are easy 

to install and work well. All you need to do 

to get up and running with this new card is 

to OS-9 a new OS9B OOT file, using the 

OS9Ge n utility. 

But, I expected the best. The drivers 

were written by Kevin Darling. Despite the 

enthusiasm, that' s only half the good news. 

Next month, I'll tell you how we're using 

the new Disto/CRC 4-in-1 card with a new 

SCSI controller, and drivers from Roger 

Krupski at RGB Computer Systems. This 

combination was made in heaven- especially 

for people who want to be able to 

reserve a portion of their hard disk drive for 

RS-DOS use. But the best thing about this 

combination is that it lets you boot automatically 

into OS-9 when you turn on the 

power. Again, we'll have more about this 

combination next month. 

Robert Moody's Maxie 

Maxie, Robert Moody's deluxe BASIC09 

icon editor described in the July column, is 

not included this month because of magazine 

space limitations. However, because 

we want you to share our enthusiasm, the 

28listings that make up Maxie are included 

on this month's RAINBOW ON DISK. The 

executable I-code modules, as well as the 

source code are also available for downloading 

from the RAINBOW ON DISK section 

of the DELPHI Color Computer/OS-9 

Online Forums. 

Because Robert Moody wants to share 

his bag of tricks with the rest of the Color 

Computer Community, we will print the 

BASIC09 source code for Maxie over the 

next three issues so that you can study one 

short module at a time. After we've mastered 

the pieces, we' ll dig into the main 

program and see how Moody brings the 

total product together by excercising the 

smaller and shorter tools. It's amazing what 

people can do once you get them started. 

Maxie was born after Moody studied the 

listing of our MVShe/llast August. It 's an 

amazing program. In it you'll find many 

secrets to fully exercising the Multi-Vue 

menus system, getting the most out of your 

CoCo's mouse, and performing magic using 

0S-9's GET/ PU T buffers. 

TCP-IP for OS-9 

We ran into James Jones from Microware 

at RAINBOWfest Chicago and he had 

good news for amateur radio operators. He 

had just received a public domain version 

of Phil Kam's TCP-IP implementation from 

Peter Dibble. It had been written inC using 

the OSK (OS-9 68K) compiler. Peter received 

it from a German group, and promised 

to send me a copy. I' II try to get it in the 

OS-9 Users Group library. When I receive 

it, I'll try to put out a note on the packet 

radio network also. 

That' s it for August. I hope you're enjoying 

your summer and will join us again 

in September for more exciting OS-9 news. 

Until then .. . Keep On Hacking! 

NEVER BEFOREII 

INTRODUCING THE SUPER DISK 

Never before has there been a system like the 

SUPER DISK and it's companion manual. Here 

are it's main features: 

THE SNOOPER Examine ALL tracks and sec· 

tors of a disk, even those meant to be HIDDEN. 

Read, write, copy, auto-search for file starts (even 

multiple start addresses). Do quick hex to decimal 

conversions. Find SECRET data! Auto-analyze 

disks to discover unusual formats, and MORE! 

THE PROTECTOR Authors, protect your work! 

Use THE PROTECTOR to defeat PIRATES. The 

SECRET methods revealed allow you to create 

virtually unlimited protection schemes, including 

multiple level protection. Even protect BASIC 

programs! 

FORMAT PLUS Custom build your own secret 

disk format. (Use with THE PROTECTOR) 

COPY PLUS Will automatically analyze and copy 

virtually any disk. You'll need this to make copies 

of your disks made with THE PROTECTOR! 

THE MANUAL contains instructions to fully utilize 

THE SUPER DISK. Also included are facts about 

copy protection NEVER BEFORE published. 

Learn the untold truth about disk management. 

Authors, you've spent days, weeks , months 

developing commercial software. Don't Give It 

Awayl Protect it! 

THE COMPLETE SUPER DISK SYSTEM 

$49.00 

SPORTSware SUMMER SPECIALS 

WARGAME DESIGNER II $24.00 

WGD ICON DISK #1 14.00 

INVASION NORTH 14.00 

ATTACK ON MOSCOW 14.00 

ROBOT COMMAND 14.00 

DUNGEON WARRIOR 14.00 

GHOST HUNTERS 14.00 

ORC AMBUSH 14.00 

ZULU REVENGE 14.00 

DESERT RATS 14.00 

FORT APACHE 14.00 

TECH WARS 14.00 

ROTC 14.00 

ISLAND DOMINATION 14.00 

MAIL MASTER 10.00 

GRIDIRON STRATEGY 19.00 

WEEKLY WINNER 2.0 15.00 

NEW CATALOG ON DISK 3.00 

BLACK GRID 19.00 

COC03 WHEEL Revised 4/89 19.00 

COC03 HINT 19.00 

BIG SCREEN 12.00 

FUN PACK Flipped Disk, Pegs, Flags 18.00 

CC3 CRAM 12.00 

CC3 FLAGS 19.00 

MASTER DIR 19.00 

PENINSULAR WAR 19.99 

THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 19.00 

REBELS NORTH 19.00 

QUATRA BRAS 19.00 

VISA & MASTERCARD accepted 

FREE SHIPPING 

SPORTSware 

1251 S. Reynolds Road, Suite 414 

Toledo, Oh1o 43615 

{419) 389-1515 


Racksellers 

These Fine Stores Carry THE RAINBOW 

The retail stores listed below carry THE RAINBOW on a regular basis and may have other 

products of interest to Tandy Color Computer users. We suggest you patronize those in your 

area. 

AlABAMA FLORIDA KENTUCKY 

Birmingham Jefferson News Co. 

Little Professor Book Center 

Boca Raton 

Clearwater 

Great American Book Co. 

The Avid Reader 

Hazard 

Henderson 

Daniel Boone Gulf Mart 

Matt's News & Gifts 

Brewton 

Florence 

Greenville 

McDowell Electronics 

Anderson News Co. 

M & B Electronics 

Dania 

Davie 

Ft. Lauderdale 

Dania News & Books 

Software Plus More 

Bob's News & Book-Stare 

Hopkinsville 

Louisville 

Newport 

Hobby Shop 

Hawley-Cooke Booksellers (2 Locations) 

Simon's Castle News 

Madison 

Montgomery 

Tuscaloosa 

AlASKA 

Foirbcnks 

Madison Books 

Trade 'N' Books 

Turtle's Records & Tapes 

Arrow Appliance/Radio Shack 

Gainesville 

Jacksonville 

Merritt Island 

North Miami 

Clarks Out of Town News 

Paper Chase 

Book Co. 

The Open Door 

LOUISIANA 

Baton Rouge 

Lockport 

New Orleans 

Monroe 

City News Stand 

N Doctor/Radio Shack 

Sidney's News Stand Uptown 

The Book Rack 

Baker & Baker Booksellers 

Beach Almor Bookstore 

Panama City Boyd-Ebert Corp. MAINE 

ARIZONA Pensacola Anderson News Ca. Bangor Magazines, Inc. 

Cottonwood A & W Graphics Co. Pinellas Park Wolfs Newsstand Brockton Voyager Bookstore 

Flagstaff 

Lake Havasu 

City 

Phoenix 

Sierra Vista 

McGaugh's Newsstand 

Book Nook 

Houle Books 


Software, Etc. (2 Locations) 

TRI-TEK Computers 

Livingston's Books. Inc 

South 

Pasadena 

Starke 

Sunrise 

Tallahassee 

Titusville 

Poling Place Bookstore 

Record Junction. Inc. 

Radio Shack Dealer 

Sunny's at Sunset 


DuBey's News Center 

Computroc 

Caribou 

Oxford 

Sanford 

MARYlAND 

College Pork 

MASSACHUSETTS 

Boston 

Radio Shack 

Books-N-Things 

Radio Shack 

University Bookstore 

Eastern Newsstand 

Tempe 

Tucson 

ARKANSAS 

ASU Bookstore 

Arizona Small Computer 

Books. Etc. 

Computer Library 


Software. Etc. 

GEORGIA 

Atlanta 

Bremen 

Forest Pork 

Jesup 

Thomasville 

Toccoa 

Borde(s 

Bremen Electronics/Radio Shack 

Ellers News Center 

Radio Shack 

Smokehouse Newsstand 

Martin Music Radio Shack 

Cambridge 

Ipswich 

Littleton 

Lynn 

Swansea 

MICHIGAN 

Allen Park 

Out Of Town News 

Ipswich News 

Computer Plus 

North Shore News Co. 

Newsbreok. Inc. 

Book Nook. Inc. 

Eldorado 

Fayetteville 

Ft. Smith 

Little Rock 

Howard's Newstand 

Vaughn Electronics/Radio Shack 

Hot Off the Press Newsstand 


IDAHO 

Boise 

Moscow 

Book Shelf. Inc. 

Johnson News Agency 

Birmingham 

Durand 

E. Detroit 

Hillsdale 

Border's Book Shop 

Robbins Electronics 

Merit Book Center 

Electronics Express/Radio Shack 

CALIFORN IA 

Berkeley 

Buena Park 

Canoga Park 

Citrus Heights 

Hollywood 

La Jolla 

Los Angeles 

Manhattan 

Beach 

Marysville 

Napa 

Northridge 

Oakland 

Rancho 

Murieta 

Redondo 

Beach 

Sacramento 

San Francisco 

lyon Enterprises 



Software Plus 

Levity Distributors 

Stef-Jen. Inc. 

Universal News Agency 

Butler & Mayes Booksellers 

Center Fold Newsstand 

Circus of Books (2 Locations) 



Bookland 

Bookends Bookstore 


DeLauer's News Agency 

Software Plus 


Deibert's Readeramo 

Tower Magazine 

Booksmith 

IlliNOIS 

Belleville 

Centralia 

Champaign 

Chicago 

Decatur 

East Moline 

Evanston 

Kewanee 

Lisle 

Lombard 

Newton 

Paris 

Peoria 

Springfield 

Sunnyland 

West Frankfort 

Wheeling 

Software or Systems 

Books & Co .. Inc. 

Bookmark 

B. Dalton Booksellers 

Book Emporium 

K-Mart Plaza 

Northgate Mall 

Book Emporium 

Norris Center Bookstore 

Book Emporium 

Book Nook 

Empire Periodicals 

Bill's N Radio Shack 

Book Emporium 

Book Emporium 

Sheridan VIllage 

Westlake Shopping Center 

Illinois News Service 

Book Emporium 

Sangamon Center North 

Town & Country Shopping Ctr. 

Book Emporium 

Paper Place 

North Shore Distributors 

Holland 

Kalamazoo 

lowell 

Muskegon 

Niles 

Perry 

Riverview 

Roseville 

MINNESOTA 

Burnsville 

Crystal 

Edina 

Minneapolis 

Minnetonka 

Roseville 

St. Paul 

MISSOURI 

Farmington 

Flat River 

Florissant 

Jefferson City 

Kirksvi lle 

St. Louis 

Fris News Company 

The Book Raft 

Lowell Electronics 

The Eight Bit Corner 

Michiana News Service 

Perry Computers 

Riverview Book Store 

New Horizons Book Shop 

Shinder's Burnsville 

Shinder's Cr ;stal Gallery 

Shinder's leisure lane 

Shinder's (2 Locations) 

Shinder's Ridge Square 

Shinder's Roseville 

Shinder's Annex 

Shinder's Maplewood 

Shinder's St. Pauls 

Ray's N & Radio Shack 

Ray's N & Radio Shack 

Book Brokers Unlimited 

Cowley Distributing 

T&R Electronics 

Book Emporium 

Book works 

Castro Kiosk 

INDIANA 

Angola D & D Electronics 

NEBRASKA 

Lincoln Nebraska Bookstore 

Santa Monica Midnight Special Bookstore Radio Shack 

Omaha Nelson News 

Software. Etc. Berne White Cottage Electronics 

San Jose 

Santa Rosa 

Stockton 

Sunnyvale 

Torrance 

COLORADO 

Aurora 

Colorado 

Springs 

Denver 

Glenwood 

Computer Literacy Bookshops 

Sawyer's News. Inc. 

Harding Way News 

Paperbacks Unlimited 

Computer Literacy 

El Camino College Bookstore 

Aurora Newsstand 

Hathaway's 

News Gallery 

Bloomington 

Crawfordsville 

Dyer 

Franklin 

Ft. Wayne 

Garrett 

Indianapolis 

lebanon 

Martinsville 

Nappanee 

Book Corner 

Koch's Books 

Miles Books 

Gallery Book Shop 

Michrona News Service 

Finn News Agency, Inc. 

Boakland. Inc. 

Borders Bookshop 

Indiana News 

Southside News 

Gallery Book Shop 

Radio Shack 

Richards K-40 Electronics 

NEVADA 

Carson City 

Las Vegas 

NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Manchester 

West lebanon 

NEW JERSEY 

Atlantic City 

Cedar Knolls 

NEW MEXICO 

Bookcellor 

Hurley Electronics 

Steve's Books & Magazines 

Bookwrights 

Verhom News Corp. 

Atlant:c City News Agency 

Village Computer & Software 

Springs The Book Train 

Richmond Voyles News Agency. Inc. Albuquerque Page One Newsstand 

Grand 

Junction Readmore Book & Magazine IOWA 

Santa Fe Downtown Subscription 

Longmont 

DELAWARE 

City Newsstand Davenport 

Des Moines 

Fairfi eld 

Interstate Book Store 

Thackery's Books. Inc. 

Kremers Books & Glfl s 

NEW YORK 

Amherst Villac e Green-Buffalo Books 

Newark Newark Newsstand 

Brockport Lift Bridge Book Shop. Inc. 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA KANSAS Brooklyn Cromland. Inc. 

Washington. Hutchinson Crossroads. Inc. Elmira Heights Southern Tier News Co .. Inc. 

DC Chronicles Topeka Palmer News. Inc. Fredonia On Line: Computer Access Center 

NewsRoom Wellington Dandy's/Radio Shack Dealer Hudson Falls GAWest&Co. 

World News. Inc. Wichita Lloyd's Radio Huntington Oscar's Bookshop 

126 THE RAINBOW August 1989

NEW YORK (cont'd) 

Johnson City 

New York 

Rochester 

Unicorn Electronics 

Barnes & Noble-Sales Annex 

Coliseum Books 

Eastern Newsstand 

Grand Central Station. Track 37 

200 Park Ave .. (Pan Am #1) 

55 Water Street 

World Trade Center #2 

First Stop News 

Idle Hours Bookstore 

International Smoke Shop 

Jonil Smoke 

Penn Bock 

State News 

Walden Bocks 

World Wide Media Services 

Microcom Software 

Village Green 

World Wide News 

NORTH CAROLINA 

Cary 

Chapel Hill 

News Center in Cary Village 

University News & Sundry 

Charlotte Newsstand lnt'l 

Hickory C' Bocks & Comics 

Jacksonville Michele's. Inc. 

Kernersville K & S Newsstand 

Lexington Martin's News Stand 

Marion Boomers Rhythm Center 

Winston-Salem K & S Newsstand (3 Locations) 

Rainbow News Ltd. 

OHIO 

Akron 

Canton 

Chardon 

Cinc innati 

Cleveland 

Columbiana 

Columbus 

Dayton 

Dublin 

Fairborn 

Findley 

Lakewooc 

Lima 

Miamisburg 

Parma 

Warren 

Xenia 

Youngstown 

OKLAHOMA 

Taklequah 

Tulso 

OREGON 

Eugene 

Portland 

Salem 

PENNSYLVANIA 

Allentown 

Altoona 

Bryn Mawr 

Feasterville 

King of Prussia 

Malvern 

Reading 

Temple 

West Chester 

York 

RHODE ISLAND 

Newport 

Churchill News & Tobacco 


Thrasher Radio & TV 

Cinsoft 

Erieview News 

Fidelity Sound & Electronics 

B5 Software 

Micro Center 

The Newsstand 

Bocks & Co. 

Wilke News 

Wright News & Bocks 

Bock Barn 

News-Readers 

Sandbox Micro Systems 

Wilke's University Shoppe 

Open Bock 

Lakewood International News 

Edu-Caterers 

Wilke News 

Bookmark Newscenter 

Book Nook. Inc. 

Fine Print Bocks 

Plaza Bock & Smoke Shop 

Thomas Sales. Inc. dba Radio Shack 

Steve's Bock Store 

Libra Bocks - Bock Mark 

Fifth Avenue News 

Rich Cigar Store. Inc. 

Sixth & Washington News 

Capitol News Center 

Checkmate Book 

Owl Services 

Newborn Enterprises 

Bryn Mawr News 

Global Bocks 

Gene's Books 

Personal Software 

Smith's News & Card Center 

Software Corner 

Chester County Bock Co. 

The Computer Center of York 

Tollgate Bookstore 

Bellevue News 

SOUTH CAROLINA 

Charleston Hts. Software Haus. Inc. 

Clemson Clemson Newsstand 

Florence Ray· s # 1 

Greenville Palmetto News Co. 

Spartanburg Software City 

TENNESSEE 

Brentwooc 

Chattanooga 

Knoxville 

Memphis 

Nashville 

Smyrna 

Bookworld #5 


Guild Books & Periodicals 


Davis-Kidd Bookseller 

Computer Center 

Davis-Kidd Booksellers 

Mosko's Place 

R.M. Mills Bookstore 

Delker Electronics 

TEXAS BRITISH COLUMBIA (cont'd) 

Big Spring 

Desoto 

Elgin 

Ft. Worth 

Hartington 

Poncho's News 

Maxwell Books 

The Homing Pigeon 

Trinity News 

Book Mark 

Chilliwack 

Coquitlam 

Coortenay 

Dawson Creek 

Golden 

Charles Parker 

Cody Books LTD 

Rick's Music & Stereo 

Bell Radio & TV 

Toks Home Furnishings 

UTAH 

Provo Valley Book Center 

Langley 

Nelson 

New West- 

Langley Radio Shack 

Olive(s Books 

VIRGINIA minster Ciady Bocks LTD 

Danville K & S Newsstand Parksville Parksville TV 

Hampton Benders Penticton D.J.'s 

Lynchburg Self Serve Software Four Corner Grocery 

Norfolk 1-0 Computers Sidney Sidney Electronics 

Turn The Page Smithers Wall's Home Furniture 

Richmond Volume I Bookstore Squamish Kotyk Electronics 

WASHINGTON 

Port Angeles 

Seattle 

Port Book & News 

Bulldog News 

Vancouver Active Components 

Friendlyware Computers 

Granville Book Co. 

Siliconnections Books LTD 

WEST VIRGINIA 

Huntington Nick's News 

100Mile 

House Tip Top Radio & TV 

Madison 

Parkersburg 

South 

Charleston 

Communications. LTD 

Valley News Service 

Spring Hill News 

MANITOBA 

Altona 

Lundar 

Morden 

L.A. Wiebr Ltd. 

Goranson Elec. 

Central Sound 

WISCONSIN The Pas Jodi's Sight & Sound 

Appleton Badger Periodicals Selkirk G.L. Enns Else. 

Cudahy Cudahy News & Hobby Steinback Frey Ent/Radio Shack 

Kenosha R.K. News, Inc. Virden Archer Enterprises 

Madison 

Milwaukee 

Waukesha 

PicA Book 

University Bookstore 

Juneau Village Reader 

Holt Variety 

NEW BRUNSWICK 

Moncton Jeffries Enterp rises 

Sussex Dewitt Elec. 

ARGENTINA 

Cordoba Information Telecommunications 

NEWFOUNDLAND 

Botwooc Seaport Elec. 

Carbon ear Slade Realties 

AUSTRALIA Labrador City N.P. Investments (Mall Drugs) 

Blaxland 

Kingsford 

Blaxland Computers 

Paris Radio Electronics 

NOVA SCOTIA 

Halifax Atlantic News 

CANADA: 

ALBERTA 

Banff 

Bonnyville 

Brooks 

Calgary 

Claresholm 

Drayton Valley 

Edmonton 

Fairview 

Fox Creek 

Ft. Saskatche - 

wan 

Banff Radio Shack 

Paul Terc ier 

Double "D" A.S.C. Radio Shack 

Billy's News 

Radio Shack Associated Stores 

Langard Electronics 

CMDMic ro 

D. N.R. Furniture & TV 

Fox City Color & Sound 

AS. C. Radio Shack 

Ft. Mall Radio Shack. ASC 

ONTARIO 

Angus 

Aurora 

Concord 

Exceter 

Hanover 

Huntsville 

Kenora 

Kingston 

Listowel 

South River 

Toronto 

Micro Computer Services 

Compu Vision 

Ingram Software 

J. Macleane & Sons 

Modern Appliance Centre 

Huntsville Elec. 

Donny "B" 

T.M. Computers 

Modern Appliance Centre 

Max TV 

Dennis TV 

Gordon and Gotch 

Grande QUEBEC 

Cache The Stereo Hut LaSalle Messageries de Presse Benjamin Enr. 

Grande Pont. Rouge Boutique Bruno Laroche 

Centre 

Hinton 

lnnisfail 

Leduc 

Le thbridge 

Lloyd minster 

Okotoks 

Peace River 

St. Paul 

Ste ttler 

Stra t11more 

The Book Nook 

Jim Cooper 

L& S Stereo 


Datatron 

Lloyd Radio Shack 

Okotoks Radio Shack 


T avener Software 

Walte(s Electronics 

Stettler Radio Shack 

Wheatland Electronics 

SASKATCHEWAN 

Assiniboia 

Estevan 

Moose Jaw 

Nipiwan 

Regina 

Saskatoon 

Shell brooke 

Tisdale 

Unity 

Telstar News 

Kotyk Electronics 

D&S Computer Place 

Cornerstone Sound 

Regina CoCo Club 

Software Supermarket 

Everybody's Software Library 

Gee. Laberge Radio Shack 

Paul's Service 

Grant's House of Sound 

Taber 

West lock 

Pynewooc Sight & Sound 

Westlock Stereo 

YUKON 

Whitehorse H & 0 Holdings 

Wetaskiwin Radio Shack 

BRITISH COLUMBIA JAPAN 

Burnaby Compulit Tokyo America Ado. Inc. 

Burns Lake 

Campbell 

River 

VT. Video Works 

TRS Electronics 

PUERTO RICO 

East Isla Verde The Color Computer Store 

Also available at all B. Dalton Booksellers, and 

selected Coles and W. H. Smith in Canada, 

Waldenbooks, Pickwick Books, Encore Books, 

Barnes & Noble, Little Professors, Tower Book & 

Records, Krach's & Brentano's, and Community 

Newscenters. 


Advertisers Index 

We encourage you to patronize our advertisers - all of whom support the Tandy Color 

Computer. We will appreciate your mentioning THE RAINBOW when you contact these firms. 

Alpha Products . ............... 21 

Alpha Software Technologies ... 95 

Burke & Burke ...... .. ... .. .... 35 

CRC/ Disto .................... .41 

Cer-Comp Ltd .................. 53 

Colorware . ....... . .. . ......... 19 

Computer Island .... . . .... .... 101 

Computer Plus .... ... . ..... ..... 3 

D.P. Johnson ..... .. ...... . .. . 123 

Danosoft ... .. . . . .............. 45 

Dayton Associates of 

W. R. Hall, Inc .............. 97 

Dr. Preble's Programs ..... ... . 111 

Frank Hogg Laboratories ....... 81 

Game Point Software ..... .43, 109 

Gimmesoft ................... .47 

Granite Computer Systems ..... 16 


HawkSoft, Inc . . . .. .. . . . ...... . 119 

Howard Medical .......... 130, IBC 

JR & JR Softstuff ............. 119 

JWT Enterprises ... .. ...... .. .. 77 

Ken-Ton Electronics ... .. ... . . 101 

Metric Industries ..... ........ . . 37 

MichTron ............ ... ..... . BC 

Microcom Software .... 7, 9, 11, 13, 

15, 17 

Microtech Consultants 

Inc ... .......... . .. ........ 59 

Oblique Triad ..... ...... .. .. .. . 73 

Orion Technologies ...... . ... . . 65 

Owl-Ware ....... .... . ... 69, 70, 71 

Perry Computers . ... ........... 23 

Questron .... . .. ..... ... . .. . ... 73 

RAINBOWfest ... .... . ... .. . 82, 83 

fE Call: 

Belinda Kirby 

Advertising Representative 

(502) 228-4497 

o Call: 

Kim Vincent 

Advertising Representative 

(502) 228-4492 

The Falsoft Building 

9509 U.S. Highway 42 

P.O. Box 385 

Prospect, KY 40059 

FAX (502) 228-5121 

Rainbow Gift Subscription .. . ... 89 

Rainbow on Tape & Disk .. , ... IFC 

Ru laford Research ..... . ... . ... . 8 

SO Enterprises .. ...... ..... . ... 25 

Second City Software ......... 129 

Simply Better Software ......... 55 

Spectrosystems ................ 57 

SPORTSware .. . .... . . ........ 125 

Sugar Software ................ 51 

Sundog Systems .............. 121 

T & D Software . . . . . . .. . 29 , 63, 115 

Tandy/Radio Shack ... . . ....... 33 

Tepco ................ . . ....... 79 

Tothian Software ... ......... .. . 34 

True Data Products .... . ...... . 49 

Vidicom Corporation ... . .. ... . . 77 

Zebra Systems ... ......... .. ... 31

20,000,000 Bytes or the equivalent to 

125 R.S. 501's on line are packed into 

this hard drive, pre installed and ready 

to run . This complete, easy to use 

package includes a Seagate· 20 Meg 

Hard Drive, a DTC 5150 Controller and 

interface: heavy duty case & power 

supply, and a 1 year warranty. This 20 

meg Hard Drive will also work with 

Tandy and IBM clones. Basic driver, 

$29.95, lets you access this hard drive 

without need for OS-9. New Case with 

FAN. 

20Meg 

HD-2 30 Meg 

HD-3 40 Meg 

30 Day Money Back Guarantee 

Howard Medical's 30-day guarantee 

is meant to eliminate the uncertainty 

of dealing with a company through 

the mail. Once you receive our 

hardware, try it out; test it for 

compatability. If you're not happy 

with it for any reason, return it in 30 

days and we'll give your your money 

back (less shipping. ) Shipping 

charges are for 48 states. APO, 

Canada and Puerto Rico orders are 

higher. 

BF111===== 

Howard Medical Computers 

1690 N. Elston 

Chicago, Illinois 60622 

Order Status and Inquiries 

312-278-1440 

Show Room Ho urs 

8:00- 5:00 M-F 

10:00- 3:00 Sat.

DISTO DC-7 

• Mini Disk Controller for CoCo 1, 2, 3 

• Includes RS 1.1. Modifyed to access DS 

Drives $75 (2 ship) 

RS 1.1 DOS 

• ROM Chip for Disk Controller 

• Works for CoCo 2 or 3 

MICRO WORKS DIGITIZER 

• DS-698 Color 1.5 Second/Picture $150 

• DS-69 B& W 2 Second/Picture $100 

YCABLE 

WORDPAK-RS 

MEMORY 

• 512K Bare Board 

• Populated 512K & Software 

for CoCo 2 

Howard Medical Computers 

1690 N. Elston 

Chicago, Illinois 60622 

Order Status and Inquiries 

312-278-1440 

Master Card • Vi sa • 

American Express 

C.O.D. • School P.O.'s

The Rainbow Vol. 09 No. 01 - August 1989 - TRS-80 Color ...

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