I've been having problems typing in line 5000 of "Zurk" (March 1985).
Please help.
Douglas Hiatt
Largo, FL
Line 5000 contains the phrase "SET1=L1*256" We are going to assume
here that you're using the BASIC XL cartridge from OSS. This BASIC is more
powerful than Atari BASIC and - has several extra commands One of these
commands is SET and thus, it cannot be used as a variable without special
precautions. See page 131 of your BASIC XL manual on this. "ZURK" runs
as published and should work in BASIC XL if you change all the SETs to
some other variable name -ANTIC ED
TYPO II TYPO
TYPO II (January 1985) does not work on my 1200 XL. It doesn't accept
the SET commands. Any suggestions?
Mary Mitcham
Houston; TX
The original instructions in "How to use TYPO II" read "BASIC XL
cartridge owners type SET 5,0", etc. We have subsequently cleared up the
wording. -ANTIC ED
SOME THOUGHTS ON AL
In most issues of Antic, there are type-in programs listed in BASIC
as well as in assembly language. I've spent many hours typing in AL programs
and found that none worked. In particular, I've had problems with "Keyboard
Commander", (March 1985). Can you help me?
Henry Jennings
Detroit, MI
If the AL listing is an addendum to a BASIC program, it's printed
primarily as a study example for serious AL programmers. Unlike BASIC,
machine language is unforgiving. One mistyped bit of code and your computer
will lock up. "Keyboard Commander" loads into Page Six. So does MAC/65.
Unfortunately, there is only room for one program in Page Six, and the
big orange super-cartridge is not about to let it be "Keyboard Commander". "Keyboard Commander" will run on Atari Assembler Editor
Atari BASIC and ACTION!. It will not run on MAC/65 unless you relocate
the code. -ANTIC ED
OKIMATE 10 REVISITED
I think that your comments on the Okimate 10 were a bit harsh. Perhaps
you were using the wrong type of paper. True, dumps on plain paper are
barely readable. However, I used black on white dumps on thermal paper
(I use IBM PC Compact Printer Paper, # 1503926). For color prints, try
Scotch 501 Transparency Film for Plain Paper Copiers.
Alan Fillmore
Bakersfield, CA
Several readers have suggested that we used the wrong type of paper
in reviewing the Okimate 10. Well, Antic finds it refreshing to
be considered too tough on an advertiser for a change. We recognize that
some readers have had better results with that printer than we did. When we reviewed the Okimate 10, we used the paper
printhead, printer and ribbons provided by the Okimate Corporation. We
followed the company's instructions-but then wound up spending most of
a workday tinkering with the configuration in order to get even the slightly
improved results we printed. We assume that a major company would ship a working
pre-tested piece of equipment to assure the best possible review. If we
were, in fact. provided with a bad printhead that we didn't recognize at
the time, this is a noteworthy problem that might be faced by anybody purchasing
the printer.-ANTIC ED
OF BITS AND BYTES
What is so special about the number 256, as in 10 PEEK A(195)* 256?
Kevin A. Scott
Algonquin, IL
The highest number you can have in any one address is 256 Your Atari
is an eight-bit, binary computer "Binary" means it only understands two
numbers, 0 and 1. These numbers are called "bits". Eight bits make a "byte"
and the maximum different combinations of eight bits is 256 (0-255). Since memory is nothing but a sequence of byte addresses,
and we want to reach more than 256 of them, we put two bytes together and
have 256 combinations times 256, or 65,536 These double-byte numbers are called "words" and the
two bytes that make up a word are called the "low-byte" and the "high-byte':
When the low-byte goes beyond 255 (remember 0-255) it returns to zero and
the high-byte is upped by one. This means that each unit in the high byte
is equal to 256 Now if for example, the high-byte contains 2, its value
is 2*256, or 512. And if the low-byte contains 50, the two bytes together
equal 562. Words are stored in the Atari in a backwards order of low-byte
followed by high-byte If the number 562 was stored in locations 88 and
89, 88 would hold 50 and 89 would hold 2. The formula to find the values
of these two locations is: WORD =PEEK(88)+ PEEK(89) *256-ANTIC ED
BATTERIES MOVES
Batteries Included, publishers of PaperClip (reviewed in Antic last
month) moved to 30 Mural Street, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 1B5 Canada.
However, please don't order products from them by mail.
ANTIC VOL. 4, NO. 2 / JUNE 1985 / PAGE 6