Ampermanager released by A.P.P.L.E.

Seattle, Washington — July 24, 2020 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) is proud to announce the availability of a new manual for Ampermanager: Amper Soft & DOS Manager” written by Rick Sutcliffe in 1983.

Ampermanager enhances the BASIC programming language on the Apple II by interfacing machine language routines directly to Applesoft with the ampersand (&) command.   Three additional utilities will help you write EXEC files, launch commands from menus, and read or write disk blocks in ProDOS, and any Track/Sector pair in DOS 3.3. 

Availability

Ampermanager: Amper Soft & DOS Manager” is available through the A.P.P.L.E. bookstore with production and fulfillment by Lulu.com.  A disk image is available on the Apps page. Source code for Ampermanager is available from our A.P.P.L.E. Github page:  https://github.com/callapple

Over 70 Features Include

  • Table of Contents PDF
  • Shorthand for often-used Applesoft screen handling commands.
  • Turning on and off lowercase input with simple commands.
  • Enhanced INPUT facility and PRINT formatting, often referred to as PRINT USING.
  • Better direct interface with the Apple’s memory and DOS, including reading and writing specified track/sector locations on a disk.
  • Enhanced string manipulation routines.
  • Management of user-written machine language subroutines.

Author

Rick Sutcliffe — a.k.a. The Northern Spy, is professor of Computing Science and Mathematics at Canada’s Trinity Western University.  He has been involved as a member or consultant with the boards of several communities and organizations, and participated in developing industry standards at the national and international level. Rick has been a mainstay in the Modula-2 and A.P.P.L.E. worlds for more than 35 years.  He is a co-author of the Modula-2 programming language R10 dialect.  Additionally, he is a long time technology author and has written two textbooks and nine alternate history science fiction novels, one named best ePublished science fiction novel for 2003. His columns have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers (paper and online), and he’s a regular speaker at churches, schools, academic meetings, and conferences.  His “Northern Spy” column has made regular appearances in Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine.

Producers

Brian Wiser Producer of books, films, games, and events, as well as an Apple consultant, historian and archivist. Designer, editor, and co-producer of dozens of books including:  Nibble Viewpoints: Business Insights From The Computing Revolution, Cyber Jack: The Adventures of Robert Clardy and Synergistic Software, Synergistic Software: The Early Games, Graphically Speaking: Enhanced Edition, What’s Where in the Apple: Enhanced Edition, and The WOZPAK Special Edition – an important Apple II historical book with Steve Wozniak’s restored original, technical handwritten notes. Producer/Director of the documentary film Done The Impossible: The Fans’ Tale of Firefly & Serenity, his Browncoat Cruise convention with Firefly cast, and an extra in the movie “Serenity.” Co-producer of Beagle Bros and Applied Engineering websites, the retro iOS game Structris, and co-producer/writer for CallAPPLE.org and Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine. Brian is also the author of The Etch-a-Sketch and Other Fun Programs.

Bill Martens — Apple historian and enthusiast, programmer, President of Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) and co-producer of Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine, and books like: Cyber Jack, Synergistic Software: The Early Games, Nibble Viewpoints, The WOZPAK Special Edition, and What’s Where in the Apple: Enhanced Edition. Bill also co-produced and co-programmed the retro iOS game Structris. Bill is the author of ApPilot/W1, Beyond Quest, The Anatomy of an EAMON, and multiple EAMon adventure games. He is a systems engineer specializing in office infrastructures and has been programming since 1976. And he is the production editor for the A.P.P.L.E. website CallAPPLE.org, writes science fiction novels in his spare time, and is a retired semi-pro football player.

Publisher

Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) has been a global Apple user group since 1978, with membership peaking near 50,000 in 1985.  Offering many services, A.P.P.L.E. is also a book publisher and game developer, and has produced dozens of new book titles since 2013 and over 100 Apple software titles.

A.P.P.L.E. published the The WOZPAK Special Edition – a detailed book containing Steve Wozniak’s restored handwritten notes and printouts about his Apple II computer, as well as forewords from Steve Wozniak and other Apple legends. They also publish books such as: Graphically Speaking: Enhanced Edition by Mark Pelczarski, Tome of Copy ProtectionCyber Jack: The Adventures of Robert Clardy and Synergistic Software, Synergistic Software: The Early Games, Nibble Viewpoints: Business Insights From the Computing Revolution by Mike Harvey, What’s Where in The Apple: Enhanced Edition, The Colossal Computer Cartoon Book: Enhanced Edition by David H. Ahl, A.P.P.L.E. 1978 and 1979 magazine Compendiums, and the retro iOS game Structris.

Press information is available at: www.callapple.org/press

Books are listed at: www.callapple.org/books

Author: Brian Wiser
Brian is an A.P.P.L.E. Board member and Managing Editor of Call-A.P.P.L.E.. He is a producer of books, films, games, and events, as well as an Apple consultant, historian and archivist. Brian designed, edited, and co-produced dozens of books including:  "Nibble Viewpoints: Business Insights From The Computing Revolution," "Cyber Jack: The Adventures of Robert Clardy and Synergistic Software," "Synergistic Software: The Early Games," "Graphically Speaking: Enhanced Edition," "What’s Where in the Apple: Enhanced Edition," and "The WOZPAK Special Edition: Steve Wozniak’s Apple-1 & Apple II Computers."  Brian also co-produced the retro iOS game "Structris." Brian was an extra in Joss Whedon’s movie “Serenity,” leading him to being a producer/director for the documentary film “Done The Impossible: The Fans’ Tale of Firefly & Serenity.” He brought some of the Firefly cast aboard his Browncoat Cruise convention and recruited several of the Firefly cast to appear in a film for charity. Brian speaks about his adventures at conventions around the country.