Ask Mr. Tech # 2 II Alive Volume 1 Number 1 March / April 1993 QUESTION: I have a functional Apple II (not II+). I would like to upgrade it to a II+ or a IIe so that it will be more compatible with today’s add-ons. Is this technically feasible? If it isn’t feasible, can you suggest an upgrade path? ANSWER: Many of us here at II Alive remember our first experiences with the Apple II fondly as our introduction…
Ask Mr. Tech # 1 II Alive Volume 1 Number 1 March / April 1993 QUESTION; I’m trying to use a genealogical program with earlier Apple models (II+, lie, and lie) using DOS 3.3. In order to adapt this program to the IIGS, the program requires that each disk be processed through an “Advanced Configuration Routine.” This routine asks for ASCII Decimal codes for the printer. I’ve listed the codes that I need for my IIGS and Image Writer II….
by Don Grout II Alive Volume 1 Number 1March / April 1993 Computer software exists for almost every educational application. There is software for science simulations, math drills, word processing, accounting simulations, history tests, geography, music, art, and foreign languages. But is there something inexpensive (or free) that an ordinary classroom teacher, with minimum computer skills, can use for one-on-one computer study or review in virtually any subject area? Absolutely-if you can enter data and have a little familiarity with…
II Alive Volume 1 Number 1 March / April 1993 Sneak Peek, Page 9: “Drift Dodgers” subhead, fourth paragraph: A page length of 2.1″ does not mean 2 inches and one line (at ‘1/6’ or ‘1/8’ depending on the lines per inch setting) as implied in this article. AppleWorks instead takes your request of 2.1″ and uses the closest page length your printer supports with the current lines per inch setting. (Actually, AppleWorks keeps track of the total length of…
WHAT ABOUT THE VIDEO? Paid If Alive subscribers will be receiving the II Alive video late in May, 1993. We apologize for the delay; however, we’re sure you’ll agree, once you see it, that it was worth the wait. We decided to add coverage of Apple Expo West, which isn’t until April 23-24, to the video. For the first time you’ll be able to get the feel of an Apple Expo even if you can’t attend-you’ll even get an up-close…
GENERAL: II Alive welcomes article submissions from anyone, whether you’re a professional writer or just an ordinary Apple II lover with some tips to share. We don’t reject submissions purely on the basis of typos or grammar – if an article’s content is unique, enthusiastic, creative, or otherwise grabs us by the lapels and screams “Publish Me,” we’re willing to overlook a few mistakes. On the other hand, the fewer mistakes a submission contains, the less work we have to…
II Alive Volume 1 Number 1 March/April 1993 In April 1993, the Apple II turns sixteen years old (counting from its official 1977 introduction at the West Coast Computer Faire). Talk about your “mature platforms.” But at sixteen, the Apple II is far from dead. In fact, the Apple II is experiencing a renaissance of sorts, made possible, in part, by IIGS System 6. The latest trend seems to be bringing Macintosh-like functionality to the IIGs via software. High resolution…
By Bill Carver II Alive Volume 1 Number 0January/February 1993 If your printouts don’t look quite as good as you’d like them to, do something about it! Simple things like a printer cleanup or a good ribbon can help immensely, and there are also software solutions that can make your printing look its best. In the end, you may decide you need a new printer to replace your ImageWriter- today’s latest mode ls make laser-quality output surprisingly affordable. This is…
by Don A. Hoyt II Alive Volume 1 Number 0January/February 1993 Even if thunder rumbles from your database reports thanks to their massive accumulations of accurate facts, your readers may respond with gaping yawns. After all, some people sleep better in a storm. It’s lightning that does the trick. To put lightning into your reports, don’t create a new Tables format. There’s a better way! AppleWorks’ greatest strength is its integration- the ability of the word processor, database, and spreadsheet…
by Joe Gleason II Alive Volume 1 Number 0January / February 1993 The Beagle Bros name has been synonymous with high quality software since Bert Kersey started the company twelve years ago. Kersey originally put the legend “Est. 1980” in the Beagle Bros logo as a joke-but it turned out to be no joke after all: Beagle Bros is one of the oldest and most-respected brands in the computer industry. The “Est. 1980” joke is typical of Beagle Bros’ sense…
II Alive Volume 1 Number 0January/February 1983 WELCOME to the premiere issue of II Alive, the new publication that celebrates the Apple II. Unlike the articles in certain other supposedly Apple II publications, each and every article in II Alive is about getting more from your computer. The Apple II will always have the spotlight. No cynicism-no compromise- no excuses. And no Macintosh. The Apple 11 and the Macintosh, though they’re both manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc., are more different…
by Jim Flanagan The computer, if I remember my history lesson correctly in this, our baroque age of computing, was born of a need to do arithmetic computations at high speeds — speeds which are affable by contemporary measure. Today, while computers are able to fit upon our desktop, they are still far too large, while they are orders of magnitude faster, they are still too slow, and while they store compar- atively incredible amounts of data, it is not enough….
by Mike Smith LAMIR Software Corporation The hot word in programming these days is modularity. HyperCard is a good example of an application that is designed to use modules of code written in another language to extend the limited functionality of HyperTalk: hence the names of these modules (XCMDs, or external commands, and XFNCs, or external functions). You can do much the same thing for any application through the dialog box calling method — adding code to documents in the form…
by Dan Shafer Browse. The lowest level of access to HyperCard. All you can do if you’ve been relegated to the ranks of the “browsers,” is go from one card to another. Open a new stack. Go Home. Not much else. So, you’d think the go command would be the simplest, most straightforward word in the HyperTalk vocabulary. You’d be wrong. In recent weeks, my CompuServe friends and I have been talking about two interesting aspects of this often-used but…
Elon GasparPresident of Bright Star Technologies, and developer of HyperAnimator Joseph MatthewsHyperAnimator Programmer The future evolution of the Macintosh interface may well include something Apple calls an “anthropomorphic agent” — a software-based lifeform that would reside in your computer, talking and listening to you, acting for you at your behest. Such an agent would be a kind of artificially intelligent alter ego, a software version of yourself that would know something about your style, your passions, your work habits, that…
How and Why to Use External Commands and Functions By Christopher Watson It is now evident that a new trend in programming has attracted a significant part of the Macintosh community. In growing numbers, novice programmers use HyperCard and its built-in language, HyperTalk, as a springboard toward involvement in higher levels of development. This makes good sense for several reasons. To begin with, HyperTalk is well suited as a beginner’s language, and learning it provides a quick and easy method…
by Raines Cohen Last January’s MacWorld Expo in San Francisco featured a number of announcements exciting to HyperCard developers. Some were notable in and of themselves, while some represent milestones in discussions that began long ago and are likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The most talked about software of the show was, of course, SuperCard from Silicon Beach Software. SuperCard is a HyperCard-like package that is highly compatible with the Apple product yet goes beyond what HyperCard can now…
By Dennis Austin It takes a lot of planning to put together a memory policy, and you never get it right the first time. No matter how much time you spend, it always seems you could be using memory more efficiently. The memory manager offers a wealth of tools for its control. The grow zone function is probably the most powerful, but it is only a tool, not a solution. This article explains ways you can use the grow zone…
Programming in C By Allen Holub Most Mac compilers claim to support the ANSI C Standard, in fact they support a subset of ANSI. Among the features most often omitted from that subset are the new preprocessor directives. The program described in this article corrects this problem to some extent. It is a C preprocessor that augments the standard preprocessor used by your compiler, expanding macros itself in order to support token pasting and the five predefined macros specified in…
“Copyright law does not provide a publisher with any protection against possible law suits brought by users who are unhappy with the performance of the software or who have somehow been damaged by a serious problem with the software.“ by Paul GoodmanMacTech QuarterlySummer 1989 – Page 84 It’s finally finished. For the last two years your company has been working on its newest software product. Countless days, evenings and weekends went into design, programming, testing and debugging. All of the…
